[Chapter 4]

Intelli Saiko was busy preparing for a lovely evening dinner. The pale girl had just finished a quick shower, done her nails, and got dressed in one of her best outfits.

She inspected herself in the mirror, letting out a quiet hum of satisfaction. Not too flashy nor shabby. Picture perfect. Her hair was fashioned into a hime-cut and cascaded down her back like a silver waterfall, perfectly straight all the way down to her waist.

Saiko was finally ready to head out with a smile on her face. It promptly disappeared when her phone rang with a specific chime, the screen displaying two words that soured her mood for the entire night.

'Unknown caller'.

Her knuckles grew white around the small device before relaxing, the girl answering the call with a low sigh.

"Hello?" Saiko answered, eyes closed. Her lips pursed into a thin line of displeasure as the caller began speaking. "Mm-hm."

She turned around and marched right back towards her wardrobe without a second thought, preparing a new outfit. What a shame, especially since she'd spent so much time getting ready earlier.

"Uh-huh." Saiko continued nonchalantly, browsing through the neatly arranged assortment of jackets and blazers. "Where?"

The girl listened idly, noting down every detail while multitasking. Gray or black? Hmm. Definitely black.

With one hand still on the phone she put on a black tie, grimacing in discomfort. She hated the damn things but her next assignment called for professionalism. Showing up in the casual outfit she had on earlier would just slow things down.

"Alright. I'll be there in fifteen minutes." Saiko ended the call, taking a quick glance in the mirror. A pale girl in a dark blazer paired with a skirt stared back at her, eyes cold as ice. A single, golden monocle adorned her left eye, the girl placing a cute beret atop her head to complete the outfit.

She made her way to the condominium's elevator and headed to the helipad. A chopper was already waiting for her, engines spooled up and ready to go at a moment's notice. The HPSC didn't spare any expenses when it came to dealing with problems.

"Where to, ma'am?" the pilot asked once she stepped in.

"Tartarus." Saiko said.

She took the opportunity to make another call via the helicopter's built-in phone, idly looking down at the city below as they began the journey to Japan's most famous maximum-security prison. The line rang once, twice, before the recipient picked up.

"Yo! What's up?" A cheery voice on the other end answered.

"Hello, Hatsume-san?" Saiko began evenly. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to reschedule tonight's meeting."

"Ah, shoot. Wanted to share some new designs with you, too. Work again?" A small pause. " Wait, are you on a bird?"

"I'm not leaving the country again, if that's what you're worried about." Saiko said. "Just a little off the mainland."

"Gotcha. Dinner next weekend?"

"That'd be lovely." Saiko smiled. "See you around, Hatsume-san."

"Seeya! I'm off to make more babies~"

Her smile vanished the moment the call ended, Saiko coming back to reality while rain pounded on the helicopter's windows relentlessly. The girl spent some time contemplating her next moves all while sipping some tea from a thermos she'd brought along, formulating a plan of action. With her free hand she texted a contact within the prison and made a few arrangements, eying her phone from time to time to skim over the details she got.

Lightning flashed in the skies above. The roaring wind caused some turbulence, but it was nothing the military-grade aircraft couldn't handle. A few minutes later they entered Tartarus airspace, Saiko leaning against the window and eying the automated gun emplacements on the island that tracked her craft like hawks watching a sparrow. One round from any of those massive guns could turn them into a flaming piñata.

The pilot radioed in for their landing to be authorized and soon they touched down on the island itself. Two tall, lanky six-armed men were waiting on the helipad as an escort, stiffening when Saiko stepped out into the rain under her black umbrella. These two remembered her.

"I'll be back in half-an-hour or so." Saiko told the helicopter pilot who nodded in response. "Get yourself a coffee or something in the meantime."

She turned her attention to the two elite guards that escorted her into the building, slightly amused at their silence. Their horned helmets hid their faces and any expressions Saiko could use to psychoanalyze them. She idly wondered if they'd implemented that after the last time she was here.

"Gyges-san, Briareos-san." she smiled, not caring at the way one of the men's hands trembled and curled into fists. "Long time no see."

The men said nothing as they escorted her deeper into the bowels of the metal hellhole. The Yutani Counterquirk Maximum Security Special Prison, more commonly known as Tartarus, was in fact an artificial island that extended all the way down to the ocean floor, most of its inmates imprisoned beneath the waves. Any escape attempts via breaching the walls would simply result in one digging themselves a watery grave.

When Saiko stepped into the elevator with the two men they still kept their silence, with only Gyges acknowledging her existence by pushing one of the buttons that indicated their next location. B-07.

As above, so below.

Unlike regular visitors, someone of Saiko's standing didn't need any documentation. The regular HPSC personnel handled most of the heavy lifting, but Saiko was a specialist. There were certain privileges she enjoyed.

The hallway they entered next was lined with automated gun turrets, robots and towering mechs that tracked the trio's every move, stone-faced prison guards standing behind reinforced glass windows watching her closely. She spied what must have been a new recruit; he was young, doe-eyed, and reacted with shock when he saw her.

'What's a kid doing here?' he asked the man next to him. The glass made the next room soundproof but she read their lips easily.

'That ain't no kid. Look at the badge on her shirt collar, she's one of them freaks.' the older man growled. 'A Praetorian.'

'Shit, for real?' A female guard drew closer to the glass, eyeing Saiko curiously. 'She's so young…'

'Wait, what are you guys talking about?' The rookie blinked, so naive and innocent.

'You don't know? A few years back, the government had this thing called Project Praetor where they'd take kids and do all sorts of fucked up things to them. Human augmentation. ' the veteran guard said. ' They were trying to make supersoldiers; warriors and thinkers. They'd pierce and stimulate these children's brains directly from behind their ears…'

Saiko's scars itched and she tuned them out. Annoying. The badge on her shirt collar gleamed a dull gold under the irritating fluorescent lights, two spears crossed over a round shield. A totem to represent her sacrifice for the nation.

Gyges and Briareos stopped when they reached a checkpoint, simply standing apart to allow for a weapons check. Saiko rolled her eyes and started depositing her hidden blades atop the cold steel table.

The guard manning the counter raised an eyebrow when she finally put down her seventh and last knife.

Rule of knives. Always carry more than one.

Once they were sure she was clean the trio made their way into the prisoner block, ignoring the cries and wails of the incarcerated within. Some sobbed, others raged. Some made crude and vulgar gestures towards Saiko, promising things that could scar a regular person's mind for weeks. She'd seen worse.

Along the way Saiko stopped at one cell in particular, Gyges and Briareos stiffening when she made her way closer to the glass. They said their first words to her when she knocked on it politely.

"Ma'am. Step away from the glass." Briareos said.

"Miss Intelli, that isn't advisable." Gyges began moving closer, his brother backing him up. "You're not cleared to interact with Prisoner #4501—"

Saiko ignored them. Oh, now they had a reason to speak to her. The thin man huddling in the corner of the cell looked up, eyes sunken and hollow as he stared at her.

"Hello, Moonfish." Saiko said. "How are you feeling?"

Moonfish rose to his full height, towering above her when he got closer. Months ago he would have leapt across the cell, teeth scratching at the reinforced glass in an attempt to tear her to pieces. Now he looked much better, bearing a semblance of sanity.

"Hello." Moonfish echoed. "I'm doing… okay. Very sleepy. Medicine… makes me slow. But think clearer."

"That's good to hear. Why are you still in a straitjacket?"

Moonfish looked down at his bindings and chains, then back up at Saiko.

"I asked for it. Can't let him get out again."

"I see. Farewell, then." Saiko waved, then leaned in towards Gyges. "Up the dosage."

The six-armed man simply nodded, saying nothing.

They finally reached their destination, another cell with a reinforced glass door instead of a metal one. These were for the less threatening villains the prison held, with the supermax at the very bottom of the facility holding the most dangerous individuals. The man she was here to see today was barely a blip on the radar, much less a footnote.

The Sludge Villain rumbled to life upon seeing visitors in front of him, surging against the glass like a living tidal wave of green. He snarled and howled incoherently, beating against the barrier like the barbarian he was. The moment he saw Saiko his grin grew dark, sickly yellow eyes sweeping over her body hungrily.

"You brought me fresh meat, warden? Come on, throw her in here! Lemme have a little fun!"

Saiko frowned. He wanted to behave like an animal? Then she would treat him like one. She held her hand out behind her and Gyges slipped a small remote onto her palm. There was only one button on it, and Saiko pressed down with a sense of satisfaction.

The cell lit up with blue light, the Sludge Villain letting out an agonizing screech of pain as an electric current tore through his semi-solid body. He cursed and swore, thumping against the glass with all his might.

"You goddamn little whore! When I get out of here, I'm going to—"

Saiko pressed the button once more.

"Aaarrggghhh, fuck! Gonna kill you! Gonna fill your lungs with sludge, burst out every one of your holes—"

She pressed the button again.

And again.

And again.

Soon the Sludge Villain was a smoking, whimpering pile on the ground, Saiko observing him carefully while sipping from her thermos. She did not reel back when he pounded the glass in one last futile attempt to scare her, merely dangling the remote in front of him to remind him of his place.

"W-wait. Don't—"

Saiko smiled and hovered her finger over the button.

"Don't! Stop, stop!" The Sludge Villain begged, defeated. "Okay, I'll talk."

"That's more like it." Saiko sat down on a chair Briareos had pulled out of nowhere, crossing one leg over the other. "Mr… Sludge, was it? Well, no matter. We have no need for names down here. I'm going to ask some questions, and you're going to answer them. I promise I won't shock you again if you answer honestly."

The villain nodded, shrinking down to sit on the floor. Saiko pulled out a pen and notepad, scribbling on the pristine paper.

"Do you remember how you got caught? Tell me the details."

"All Might." The Sludge slurred. "I robbed a bank, and… All Might was chasing me. He caught me in the end."

"Of course he did." Saiko sipped her tea. "In his official report All Might made a note on how you were knocked unconscious by a civilian before he apprehended you. What did this civilian look like?"

"It was a… a girl. About your age." the sludge's eyes flickered across her petite form again. "Bright green hair with yellow highlights. Clover symbols on her cheeks, like the playing cards. Dressed in this weird, cutesy outfit. Like one of them cosplayers."

"Interesting." Saiko said, taking down a few more notes. "How did it happen?"

"I was trying to take a hostage when she appeared out of nowhere. I nearly had him!" the Sludge Villain complained. "There was this bright flash of light and she was there, ready to hit me. The light burned, and when she punched me it felt like the world was exploding. Just… poof. Gone. I didn't even see it coming."

Saiko paused, raising an eyebrow. Her pen cut bold lines into the paper as she underlined a few key words.

Hostage. Light. Girl. Clover. Outfit.

"This hostage you mentioned. What did he look like?"

"Uhh… Dark green hair, standard black gakuran uniform." Sickly yellow eyes narrowed in concentration. "Plain-looking kid. I think he had freckles."

"You think ?" Saiko said dangerously.

"Okay, he definitely had them!" the Sludge Villain reiterated. "Green hair, freckles, plain looking. That's all I can remember, I swear!"

"I see. That narrows it down, doesn't it boys?" Saiko smiled.

Gyges and Briareos said nothing, shifting uneasily behind her.

"Tough crowd." the pale girl shrugged and reached into her pocket, pulling out two photos. "One last thing. Do you recognize these two individuals?"

She put the photos against the glass. They contained two nondescript individuals, a short raven-haired woman in her late twenties and a thin, bald young man.

"Should I?"

"Think hard." Saiko warned. "You'd better."

"Nah, I don't recognize them." The Sludge Villain leaned back smugly, liquid lips peeled back into a leer. "Can't help you there, girlie. You're gonna have to find these two nobodies by yourself."

"They weren't nobodies." Saiko raised her thermos, gulping down the last of her tea. "This is Kawashima Takashi, age 33. Recovering cancer patient."

She tapped on the bald man in the photo, and the Sludge Villain's smile slipped off his face. A hint of recognition flashed within his eyes.

"Hey, wait…"

"This is Okawa Kiyomi, age 27." Saiko pointed at the woman in the other photo, letting her finger trail down the image until it rested on the woman's belly. "And Okawa Satoshi, age 0."

She let the truth sink in, watching the Sludge Villain's eyes widen in horror.

"When you robbed that bank, you tried to take over two people in your escape before you found your third target under that bridge. Two of them, whose bodies were too weak to host you. One of them had been undergoing chemotherapy. The other was pregnant." Saiko's voice was cold enough to freeze helium. "You murdered three innocent people that day."

"I… I didn't know…" the villain gasped, his sludge form trembling. "I didn't mean to—"

"But you did. I don't have the right to enact justice on you here and now…" Saiko snapped her fingers at the camera. "But I can do this ."

Gyges and Briareos seemed surprised when a guard entered the corridor with a cart, not knowing she arranged it beforehand. The guard stopped in front of the Sludge Villain's cell, his face set in grim fury and disgust. Saiko placed her empty thermos in front of the glass, drawing attention to it.

"When All Might brought you in, he did so with you stuffed into two soda bottles. Interesting how you can fit in such a small space." Saiko tapped on her thermos. "I hereby revoke your right to stay in this cell. Instead, you'll be staying in a canister around the size of this thermos until your trial. No light, no sound, nothing. You'll be all alone with your thoughts for the next few months. Reflect on that."

"No! You can't fucking do this!" The Sludge Villain shrieked, panicking. "I have rights! Y-you promised!"

"I promised I wouldn't shock you again, and I didn't." Saiko wasn't smiling anymore. Beside her the machine on the cart was powering on, a vacuum that would suck up the villain and force him into space no human should ever fit in. "Rights? This is Tartarus."

The Sludge Villain banged against the glass with his shoulder, yelling desperately and cursing at all of them. Saiko picked up her thermos and turned away, having gotten all she needed from the criminal.

"Put him in the bottle." she commanded, and began her exit out of hell.

The hallway was filled with the Sludge Villain's screams as the machine began to pull him into it like water draining from a bathtub. He cried, sobbed and howled as it took more and more of him into itself.

Then there was silence, followed by the squeak of cart wheels on clean tiles that echoed in the dark.

[x]

Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi was glancing at the bottom of his coffee cup.

The coffee machine was broken. Again. Evidenced by the grumbling of his fellow officers as they gathered around for the briefing he was hosting.

"Alright, settle down." Tsukauchi cleared his throat, quieting the small crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen. Anybody have any questions before we begin?"

His cat-headed colleague, Tamakawa Sansa, raised his hand.

"Anybody have any questions not related to when the coffee machine will get fixed?"

Sansa put his hand down.

"Okay. Let's get down to brass tacks." Tsukauchi thumbed a remote while simultaneously pushing a box of donuts across the table. "Everyone take a donut, thanks for your hard work last week."

A dozen hands reached for the box, and a murmur of contentment rippled across the room. It was for morale, Tsukauchi reasoned. Yeah. Morale.

"Back on topic. The recent cases involving Anomalous Entities, or 'Entities' for short, have no known pattern attached to them. These Entities were at first thought to be related to the 'Spontaneous Villain' incidents that took place in Naruhata a few years back, but our informants and deep-cover operatives in the underground tell us that the flow of the drug known as 'Trigger' is still as per normal." Tsukauchi continued, his laser pointer circling the image of a map projected on the screen. "We're expanding the scope of our investigation. The incidents seem to be escalating based on the number of individuals involved and the frequency of occurrence, so the Hero Association has deemed it necessary to attach a pro-hero to help out. Everyone, you've already met Aizawa-san, aka Eraserhead. He'll act as a liaison."

Multiple heads turned towards what looked like a homeless man sleeping in the corner. Only the way his tired eyes peeked through his messy shoulder-length hair indicated that he was awake.

"As you guys already know, Eraserhead's Quirk allows him to neutralize any and all Quirks he looks at. He's coming along so we can hopefully stop these Entities before they can start rampaging." Tsukauchi continued. "No one even knows that these things are. But what we do know is that these creatures will not attack as long as they are not provoked."

One of the officers raised his hand, and Tsukauchi motioned for him to continue.

"If we know that, why hasn't the Hero Association told their boys to not hit them?"

Tsukauchi hesitated.

"Protocol dictates that we treat these Entities as villains in order to find a way to neutralize them as quickly as possible. Any damage caused is considered collateral." Aizawa answered for him, every head in the room turning to his corner. "I don't like it either, but the Association has ordered all heroes to respond with appropriate force if and when we encounter any one of these creatures. In other words, they're throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks."

A ripple of murmurs circulated the room. The underlying implication was there, plain to see for anyone who was even remotely aware of these incidents. The Hero Association couldn't find a way to deal with these things, and were more concerned about their reputation than actually solving the problem at hand. The two unlicensed vigilantes succeeding where they failed only made things worse, bruising the pride and egos of the people at the top. Tsukauchi sympathized with his sleepy-eyed friend, but there was nothing either of them could do. It was simply above their pay grade.

"Moving on." Tsukauchi coughed. "Conventional weapons and tactics appear to be near useless against these creatures. Though we've proven they can be harmed by powerful Quirks as seen in yesterday's briefing, there's only two individuals that have been able to combat them effectively."

He clicked on his remote, and a video of two girls standing side by side appeared on the main screen. The pair curtsied to the cheering crowd while two defeated Entities faded away into particles behind them.

"This is the last few seconds of the first high-quality video of the two of them working together. You can find the rest online." Tsukauchi said. "I'm sure there's no need for any introduction to Japan's newest vigilantes; Magical Girls Miracle and Mustard."

More murmurs swept through the room. For most of them it was the first time actually seeing the two vigilantes' faces up close, many having dismissed news of the pair as a joke or novelty at first. That soon changed when the girls proved they could hold their ground against the Entities, their power easily equivalent to at least a pro hero in the top 100.

"Shit." an officer said. "They're so young."

"Fuckin' hell… look at this one." Another man breathed, glancing over Miracle's childish smile with worry. "She's just a kid. No older than my son."

"They've got to be what, fifteen, sixteen?" someone asked.

"Try fourteen." One of the female officers spoke up. "My daughter's that age, and she's around their size and height."

"We've got to stop them before they hurt themselves or worse, someone else." A senior officer said. "Any leads?"

"Facial recognition is spotty at best. No known matches in our database or in any of the juvenile detention centers." Tsukauchi listed. "We're working on getting the records from the various Middle Schools in the areas which these two have appeared in, but we've still got zero leads so far. It's like they're ghosts in the system."

The detective took a moment to catch his breath, his gaze traversing the room.

"Whoever these girls are, they've shown themselves to be capable of dealing with the Entities. Some of the higher-ups suspect they might even be related to the creatures somehow. That's why the Commissioner General has authorized the use of live munitions in order to capture these two for interrogation—"

A wave of protest erupted around the table.

"—capture by any means necessary. I know, I know. Look, I don't want to enforce it either." Tsukauchi sweated. "But the chief is ready to eat my ass if we don't comply. If it's not me giving the order, it's gonna be someone else. Best we can do is use tranq and suppressor rounds instead."

He pulled one out of his pocket and held it up for them to see. The bullet seemed to gleam with malice, its razor sharp needle tip glinting under the light.

"Titanium tipped, with a Quirk suppressant payload. Subsonic, non-lethal." Tsukauchi told them. "Every one of you will receive a box of twenty each."

"No." Sansa said, standing.

The room quieted when the two officers' gazes met, a pregnant silence filling the air. Tsukauchi's tone was cold and even, every word that left his lips measured with restrained frustration.

"What do you mean, 'no'?"

"It doesn't matter if they're non-lethal rounds or not." Sansa clarified, his catlike eyes narrowed to slits. "I ain't shooting no kids."

"Those kids have enough power to collapse buildings with their bare hands. You saw how the green one caught a truck as if it was a pillow." Tsukauchi tried, exasperated. "The purple one shoots plasma from her hands, for goodness sake. The heroes have proven that the two of them can take it—"

"That's the thing, boss. I'm no hero, I'm just a cop." Sansa said. "And if being a so-called hero means firing on children, you can count me out. I didn't sign up for this shit."

"Hey, watch your mouth. Who the hell do you think you are?!" A senior officer demanded. "You'd better follow that order, or you're out of a job. Insubordination is a serious charge, boy."

"No, he's right." Another officer defended Sansa. "We're supposed to protect civilians, and now the top brass is telling us we're free to go weapons hot on a buncha kids?"

"That's not what they meant and you know it—"

"How's that boot polish taste on your tongue?"

Then the arguing began, the entire room bursting with an explosion of noise as everyone tried to speak at the same time. It took a moment or two for everything to calm down but not before a few choice swears and accusations were let loose with only their discipline preventing fists from flying. The group decided to take a collective five-minute break before continuing the briefing.

Tsukauchi groaned and sat down next to Aizawa, content to let them simmer down. His colleagues usually weren't this unruly, but everyone was on edge lately. Tensions were running high ever since the Hero Asscociation kept blaming the Police for their own incompetence, despite knowing full well that the officers weren't trained or equipped to deal with the strange creatures.

The Association made the cops their scapegoat when the complaints started rolling in, not giving a damn about the brave men and women who put their lives on the line to stall the Entities while their own Heroes sometimes even refused to intervene; claiming that their Quirks 'weren't suited for the situation'. It was absolute chaos, with Tsukauchi caught right in the center of it all.

"Sometimes I really hate this shit." The veteran detective growled, massaging his temples.

"Me too." Aizawa said quietly, his tired eyes still focused on the screen.

Magical Girl Miracle smiled back at him. From the footage he'd seen she really wasn't faking that innocent demeanor. She seemed like such a sweet girl, so how did someone like her get involved in this mess?

Aizawa brought his hands together under his chin, thinking. They'd get to the bottom of this eventually, but first they needed to find out who these 'Magical Girls' really were. Two girls in middle school… he'd better start looking, then.

The underground hero continued to stare at Miracle's picture, burning her face into his memory. Aizawa exhaled, muttering three words under his breath.

"Who are you?"

[x]

Midoriya Inko stared at the girl sitting across from the dinner table, not quite sure what to make of the entire situation.

She'd come home to find a complete stranger in her house, making dinner. As if that wasn't weird enough, the stranger was wearing her son's clothes . Inko's eyes narrowed, scouring over the girl's face and finding a pair of frightened yellow eyes that matched her gaze for a moment before quickly looking back down again. The small girl squirmed uncomfortably, her hands clenched and trembling atop her lap.

"Now that we've all calmed down, let's try this again." Inko sighed, placing her palms onto the table. "Who are you, and what are you doing in my house?"

The blonde flinched, shrinking into herself.

"I-I'm… um, I'm M-Mi…" she said in an awfully small voice.

Inko leaned in a little closer. This girl looked like she couldn't have hurt a fly.

"I'm Mikumo Akatani!" the blonde girl said timidly, eyes flickering upwards to meet Inko's again. "Um, I'm a f-f-friend of your son M-Midoriya-kun. He, um, let me in. N-nice to meet you."

"Of course he did." Inko sighed, leaning back with hidden relief. Not a thief, then. "Care to explain why you're cooking?"

"I-I was hungry." Mikumo mumbled. "Um, I-I made some for you too…"

Inko sniffed the air. The fragrant scent of Katsudon lingered in the air, still warm and delicious. A second, stronger fragrance was there too, the older woman blinking when she recognized it. Beef stew, her favorite. This girl knew what she liked? Izuku made it from time to time, but usually it'd be cold by the time she got back from work.

She stood and made her way over to the stovetop, raising the lid of a pot and looking within. The stew smelled amazing, and when she sampled it… Not bad. Not bad at all.

"This is exactly the way Izuku makes it." Inko said quietly, looking back at the blonde. "Did he teach you?"

Mikumo looked confused for a moment before nodding rapidly, lips arranged in a tiny, wobbly smile. Inko didn't react outwardly, but a strange sense of nostalgia thrummed within her. Hmmm. A girl who was wearing her son's clothes, who knew how to cook his mother's favorite meal…

"Hmm. Let me ask you a few questions. What's Izuku's favorite food?" Inko tested her.

"Katsudon."

"His favorite hero?"

"That's easy. It's All Might."

"His Quirk?"

"He doesn't have one." Mikumo answered without a moment's hesitation. "U-um, it makes no difference to me."

Inko smiled to herself, satisfied. Mikumo knew her son well, could cook, and didn't care that her baby boy was Quirkless. Most people shunned the Quirkless and treated them like second-class citizens, but this girl…

She would be a great daughter-in-law.

"Are you Izuku's girlfriend?" Inko asked, hoping she'd say yes.

Mikumo blinked. Then she choked on empty air, blushing furiously as her cheeks reddened.

"No! N-no, I mean—! We're just f-friends, I swear!" she exclaimed, pupils turning to dizzying spirals. "He, I, Um, we're not—"

The girl continued the sputter unintelligibly and Inko couldn't help the small smile that crept across her face. She was so adorable! Even her muttering was exactly like Izuku's.

Well, I suppose she can tell me when she's ready.

"Okay, I get it." Inko laughed. "Friends it is, then. To be honest, I'm glad he actually has a friend he can count on. He hasn't had any of those in ages—ah, forget I said that, Mi-chan. Can I call you that?"

Mikumo winced, looking awkward. "Sure?"

"Right. So the two of you are close enough to the point where you can wear his clothes?"

"U-um. It's a long story…"

"We have all night, sweetheart." Inko grinned. "At least till Izuku comes home, then ohhh boy. Do I have questions for him."

"Oh, he won't be back that early." Mikumo straightened, fiddling with her fingers nervously. "Y-you know how he's been doing lots of training recently, right? He just went for a night run so he'll probably be back sometime after midnight. You should just go to sleep first instead of waiting."

"Did he, now?" Inko's eyes narrowed.

"Y-yeah, he totally did." Mikumo stammered. "I… He told me you would only be back after midnight too, so, um, I was planning to leave after I made dinner for you two."

Something fishy was going on here, but Inko couldn't quite put her finger on it. This girl seemed so familiar, from the way she spoke to her mannerisms. If Inko had a daughter she imagined it would be someone like Mikumo, a bundle of nerves and sunshine just like her Izuku.

"So he told you that too? I see you've made yourself comfortable." Inko said. "But here's the thing, Mikumo-chan. Why are you here, specifically? Give me the short version."

"Um… There's trouble at my home and I don't have anywhere else to go." Mikumo admitted, looking ashamed of herself. "Midoriya-kun told me I could stay here from time to time until things were sorted out, so I brought my stuff, and um, myself."

Inko closed her eyes, lips pursed in thought. Of course he would do that. Her son had a good heart, and would always offer help to those in need. Then the reality of the situation came crashing down.

Oh my god, my son brought a homeless girl home.

"I'm not actually homeless…" Mikumo said timidly, Inko not even realizing she'd said her thoughts out loud.

The woman stood, beginning to walk around the rectangular table. Poor Mikumo started panicking, hands held up in surrender while tiny tears beaded at her eyes.

"I-I'll only be here from time to time, I swear! Please, I won't trouble you—"

Her words were cut short when Inko engulfed her in a warm hug, holding her tight. Mikumo seemed to turn into a block of solid ice, freezing where she sat until Inko started patting her on the back.

"It's okay." she whispered, her tone soft and motherly. "Sweetheart, you can stay here as long as you need to. You're gonna be okay."

Mikumo hugged her back, trembling a little. The girl seemed so afraid of her, shying away when Inko finally let go.

"Oh, you must be hungry. Come, let's have dinner!" Inko straightened, going into housewife-mode. "We can talk while we eat. I'd love to hear about how you and Izuku met…"

Mikumo seemed to wilt like a dying flower.

[x]

"So let me get this straight." Matsuda leaned back to dodge a mean left hook. "You are now your own girlfriend."

"No, she thought I was my girlfriend!" Izuku explained, ducking low to avoid the high kick that scythed above her head. "I managed to make her think that 'Mikumo' was just a friend."

"'Mikumo Akatani?'" Matsuda grinned. "Boyish name. Sounds cute."

"Thanks. I came up with it on the fly." Izuku said shyly.

"How did she even catch you? Like hell I'd be caught in my female form at home. Always took a shower at a nearby swimming complex and transformed afterwards."

"I should have done that… B-but won't there be girls there when you shower?"

"Dude, we're girls."

"Oh, right."

Izuku and Matsuda continued talking while sparring in their civilian forms, the two Magical Girls training since the past few days had been rather uneventful aside from a few petty crimes they stopped. No Angels, either. Now that it'd been cleared of trash Dagobah Beach became the perfect training ground, its pristine sands and beautiful morning sunrise view making for a great motivational backdrop.

"I mean, it's not like I spy on them or anything." Matsuda shrugged, closing in with her guard up. "Besides, I can't do anything since I don't have a—"

"Yes, okay, you don't have to remind me!" Izuku sputtered, going into her own guard stance as well. "Back on topic. So I told her I was just a friend who needed some place to stay from time to time, and it worked!"

The two girls circled, testing each other's defenses with light jabs and kicks. What was considered to be 50% strength for them could still easily shatter concrete and bones alike. Luckily for them, the impacts at that level hardly hurt thanks to their enhanced durability. They were already strong in their civilian forms, and the Magical Girl forms and costumes only boosted their strength even further. For lack of a better term, they were overpowered.

"Pffft. You keep believing that, man." Matsuda chuckled. "So what happened next?"

"I waited for her to fall asleep before I flew out of the house and transformed." Izuku said. "We had a talk the next day."

"Was it about the birds and the bees?"

"No! No, it wasn't. She was just checking if my story matched Mikumo-chan's. She told me to take good care of her. It was so embarrassing… thinking about is just, gyyaaa! She asked me if I was into blondes and I said yes in the heat of the moment…"

One-two. Low kick. Backspin elbow.

The two girls exchanged glancing blows, performing acrobatic dodges while striking and weaving. Matsuda got the upper hand for a moment when she landed a painful calf kick, but Izuku recovered and shoulder-checked her. She worked with the momentum and wrapped her lithe legs around the fallen girl's, trapping her in a figure four leg lock.

"Shit. Okay, lemme figure out how to get out of this one…" Matsuda winced.

"You can do it." Izuku offered, holding constant and even pressure. "There we go, there we go!"

Matsuda twisted her core and rolled, forcing Izuku to do so as well. That was enough for her to loosen her grip, and the brunette escaped the hold and jumped back to her feet almost instantly. They were learning from each other, adjusting to each other's punches and kicks, elbows and knees. The fun part was how they both had two bodies that shared one mind, so anything they observed in their male forms could be quickly learnt and adapted when they swapped to their female bodies. Whenever they weren't busy the two of them made an effort to watch all sorts of combat-related videos, from pro MMA fighters in the octagon to pro Heroes fighting villains on the street. The former was more applicable than the latter heavily relied on their Quirks.

"What was the story you gave?"

"Well, um, I lied through my teeth." Izuku admitted guiltily. "I lied to my mom… but it was a white lie. I just told her that 'Mikumo Akatani' and 'Midoriya Izuku' helped each other with homework, and a friendship was formed just like that. Is that how people make friends?"

"Don't look at me, man." Matsuda said. "Hell if I know."

Izuku dodged an incoming fist, but it was a feint as Matsuda dropped low into a tackle and sent them both into the sand. The brunette straddled her, taking a mounted position while Izuku brought her arms up to guard her face.

"That's it, arms up, keep your arms up!" Matsuda warned, pummeling against her guard. "Don't let me trap you there!"

The blonde bucked her hips and threw her opponent over her, the two of them jumping back to their feet and circling like a pair of tigers.

"Peek-a-boo or Philly-shell?" Izuku mused, shifting her arms. "Which is better?"

"Philly-shell for me. I can't see shit when I use Peek-a-boo." Matsuda took on the aforementioned stance. "Either way our arms aren't big enough, so maybe just dodging is better."

"Good point." Izuku said. "Okay, then I'll try Peek-a-boo."

They exchanged a few more blows, Izuku parrying and letting a body shot glance off her defense. She never knew how good it felt to exercise, to have her heart pumping while the adrenaline lit a fire within. She definitely needed to try it as boy-Izuku.

Red sneakers blurred with movement, throwing up sand with rapid steps. Matsuda forced her to defend by stepping in low and close, then broke her guard with a powerful uppercut. Slim arms tightened around Izuku's neck when she circled around in an instant, trapping her in a rear naked choke. Something soft pressed against her back, causing the blonde to blush.

"Heh heh heh. How you gon' get outta this one, big boy—whoa!"

Izuku's only response was to reach down and grab the back of the other girl's knee, throwing her upwards with a surge of superstrength. Matsuda pinwheeled into the air and made a complete rotation before crashing back down again, right on her back.

"Ow." the brunette complained.

"Should have lifted me off the ground." Izuku extended her hand.

Matsuda took it, getting back up again with her help.

"Alright, time out." she sighed, making a 'T' with her hands. "Take five."

The two of them took a break, sitting down on the edge of the main path parallel to the beach. They simply admired the sunset while cooling down, wiping the sweat from their brows while sipping at bottled water. Izuku wasn't too sure about the training bra she had on at first, but apparently it did its job.

A few boys their age gave them lingering looks as they walked by the pair. Izuku blinked, wondering what that was about. She wasn't wearing anything cute, just a regular dry-fit t-shirt and PT shorts. For a moment she wondered if the sweat was making her look weird before shrugging to herself, deciding she didn't really care.

"Dude, check this out." Matsuda leaned in closer, showing Izuku her phone. "Do you use Qwoter?"

"Not really, why?"

"We're trending again. See that?" she scrolled a little, Izuku looking confused at the memes some users had made of them. "You have no idea how popular we are! Man, if only we actually got paid like heroes."

"I just wanted to help people, like All Might." Izuku mumbled. "I don't think the Hero Ranking system should be based on popularity…"

"That's just how it is. But being popular has its own perks. We got fanart, fan videos, but most importantly, this." Matsuda pointed to one tag in particular. "Hashtag MMAngel. People online have figured out we're good at fighting Angels, so they devised this method to inform us of when one appears."

"They're calling them 'Angels' too?" Izuku squinted at the screen. "Not that I'm complaining. As long as it works."

"Technically the government is calling them 'Anomalous Entities', people just started associating the abbreviation 'A.E' with the word 'Angel'."

"Huh. So how does this… taggy thingy work?"

"It's supposed to trend when an Angel appears. I've set my phone to notify me when it does—"

Matsuda's phone started lighting up with notifications the moment the words left her mouth, causing the two girls to blink in surprise.

"Like that?" Izuku asked quietly.

"Shit." Matsuda groaned. "Back to work, then."

[x]

Miracle and Mustard touched down in Korusan City, the two Magical Girls looking up at the site of the Angel's assault. Izuku wondered why nothing happened for the past few days, trying to find a pattern behind the Angels. This time the entity took up residence between two office buildings downtown, a massive silken structure hanging between them. The Heroes were already attacking it, large segments of the pristine white chrysalis blackened with scorch marks.

"Oh no…" Matsuda groaned, staring at it with visible dread. "Tell me that's not what I think it is."

Two gargantuan, insectoid legs peeked out of the cocoon, another two wrapped around a bus full of people. The passengers within screamed for help, begging to be freed as the Angel finally showed itself.

"It's a spider." Izuku said in disbelief, watching its eight-eyed head peer around at the surrounding heroes before darting back into the nest. "A really, really big spider."

That was a bit of an understatement. This Angel was the biggest one they've encountered so far, a creature the size of a large ferry. Most of its body was hidden by the gigantic cocoon-like nest it spun around itself, but from what they could see it resembled a tarantula, its hairy legs covered in white fur. The same legs curled around the bus tighter, dragging the vehicle deeper into the nest while its occupants screamed again.

Both Magical Girls charged in, prioritizing the hostages. They surged past the reluctant heroes, diving right into the midst of the creature's den.

To their surprise they found it cowering in the corner, two of its front legs raised in a threat display while it pressed itself against the far wall with the bus still in its grip. Its crimson eyes met the girls', the singular horn protruding from its forehead starting to glow with an eerie golden light.

"What's it doing?" Mustard exclaimed, raising a fist coated with plasma. "Don't you hurt them, you eight-legged freak!"

"Wait!" Miracle held up a hand, inching closer. "Wait."

The emerald Magical Girl started edging forward, keeping her movements slow while raising her hands. Matsuda looked skeptical but didn't open fire, trusting her battle-buddy to know what she was doing.

Trapped hostages begged for her to save them but Izuku simply nodded and held a finger to her lips, motioning for them to calm down. Thankfully, they did. The Spider Angel's horn stopped glowing, all eight of its orblike eyes focusing on her. Izuku could see it trembling.

"It's afraid." Izuku realized, her voice echoing across the chamber. "It's afraid!"

Matsuda put her hands down, the plasma dissipating from her palms to show that she meant no harm. She started to get closer as well, and when they were right in front of the Angel it seemed to shrink back into a defensive position, worried that they might hurt it.

"I understand now." Izuku whispered, eyeing the scorch marks that peppered the arachnid's body. "You only took those hostages so they would stop attacking you, right?"

The Spider Angel said nothing but rubbed its pedipalps back and forth rapidly, stridulating and warning them not to come any closer. Its urticating setae were hairy spikes, ready to be launched at them like a hail of arrows. Yet the creature didn't attack, backing away in fear. It was more afraid of the heroes than they were of it.

Miracle took a step forward and the Angel raised its body, showing her a pair of ebony fangs the size of utility poles. The message was clear.

"What are you doing?!" Matsuda hissed.

"Trust me. It's okay, big guy. Um, big girl?" Izuku tried. "I'm gonna need you to let those people go, okay? You're scaring them and everyone outside."

Eight crimson eyes looked between the two Magical Girls, then at the bus below it. Izuku now knew that it could understand her.

"Please, let them go." Izuku told the Angel. "If you do, we'll get them to safety and try to talk the heroes outside into not shooting at you. Can you do that for me?"

The Angel seemed to consider it for a moment. Nine whole heartbeats of silence passed, Izuku finally exhaling with relief when it gently pushed the bus towards them. Beside her Matsuda let out a breath as well, relaxing slightly now that innocent lives weren't in danger.

"Thank you. Now, let's—"

An ominous rumbling shook the nest like a baby's rattle, followed by the acrid scent of burning silk. The Spider began quaking with fear, looking upwards with dread. Miracle and Mustard followed its gaze, up to a point in the ceiling where the structure was starting to smolder.

Angry orange flames burst through the webbing like a chainsaw, a burning man leaping through one of the many breaches he created. His face was aflame with the power of his Quirk, a roaring conflagration already building up in his hands. Izuku recognized him in an instant, the hero's signature flames causing the surrounding temperature to skyrocket.

Number Two Hero, Endeavor.

"There you are, bug." Endeavor growled, preparing to attack. "Time to exterminate you."

There was no doubt. This was the man the Angel was so afraid of, who'd attacked it earlier. Izuku marched forward in an attempt to stop the confrontation, stepping between the paths of the two.

"Endeavor-san, wait! It's just afraid—"

"Out of my way, girl." Endeavor barely even looked at her. "I'll deal with you later."

His hand burned white-hot and shot forward. A river of fire burst from the man's palm like a raging torrent, ready to roast the Angel where it stood. The giant creature began to panic, climbing around the walls of its nest with surprising speed and agility that belied its size.

"Wait!" Matsuda leapt forward, but stumbled a moment later when something struck her on the left shoulder. "Ah, fuck! What the hell?"

The crack of a rifle's report echoed only half a second later.

She reached up to the puffy sleeve of her dress and pulled something off, throwing it to the ground. A bullet with a metal tip. Izuku's eyes widened, and she turned towards the direction of the shot—

Her hands came up just in time to catch the bullet before it hit her face. The sniper rifle's booming report reached her ears once more and she dropped the projectile in disbelief.

They're shooting at us.

"Goddamn it!" Matsuda spat, wrenching her hand upwards. A wave of plasma cut down the webbing above, giving them some cover.

Endeavor didn't stop. Dazzling flames leapt from his arms and set the structure ablaze, with everyone still within. The passengers trapped in the bus kept screaming, terrified from the battle. The Spider Angel's horn kept glowing, flickering, as if it was hesitating to use its Quirk.

What?

The Flame Hero had no such qualms. Endeavor was a living flamethrower, sending fire everywhere and destroying the foundations of the nest. Countless heat rays lanced from his fingertips but the Angel leapt from wall to wall to avoid them, possessing the traits of a jumping spider. A scattershot of spiked quills filled the air and sped towards Endeavor when the creature flicked its hind legs, the flame hero defending by manifesting a curtain of heat that disintegrated most of them mid-air.

The hostages weren't so lucky, defenseless when the remaining quills hurtled at them. Matsuda quickly flung her hands outward and created a wall of plasma. Izuku brought her hands together in a thunderclap that created a shockwave. Together, their combined efforts stopped the bus and its occupants from being turned into pincushions.

"Whoa, the ground—" Mustard yelped. "Fuck!"

Silk crumbled beneath them, the foundations weakened by Endeavor's razing of the nest. The bus entered freefall as the ground fell away into nothingness, both Magical Girls speeding downwards and catching the multi-ton vehicle together. The both of them managed to get the hostages back to solid ground safely after a few seconds of controlled flight, then headed back up to stop the fight.

"Endeavor-san, please stop!" Miracle begged, both her and Mustard stepping into the path of his attack. To his credit, he did stop. "It'll only attack you if you hurt it!"

"I know."

"T-then why?"

"Because it is a monster. An abomination." Endeavor's steely glare looked right past her and at the Angel. "It's a hero's job to destroy monsters."

Heat rose from the man's shoulders, distorting the air around him. He was charging up… Izuku recognized the attack pattern, her eyes widening with horror at what he was going to do next. Matsuda snarled, not knowing what was coming and preparing an attack of her own.

"You wanna go, old man?" the purple Magical Girl scowled, plasma roiling off her from. "Bring it on, I can take it!"

"Down!" Izuku yelled, pulling her comrade away before she took the attack head on.

She wasn't about to risk either of their lives. Even if they could take it, Izuku didn't know if the sheer heat of Endeavor's signature finishing move would boil their brains in their skulls. She'd made plenty of notes on him, after all. This was an attack he only used when he got serious… When he wanted to completely and utterly annihilate whatever was in front of him.

"Prominence Burn!" Endeavor roared.

The flames reduced the cocoon into ash and cinders, trapping the Spider Angel within a horizontal pillar of pure energy. It shook with overwhelming pain, burned alive while the windows of the two buildings it made its nest on cracked and shattered from the sheer heat. Izuku could only watch while it twitched and shuddered in agony, and she imagined it would be screaming if it had vocal cords.

Then it really did scream.

Izuku clutched her head when a spike of agony struck her brain like a sledgehammer pounding a nail, the Angel sending a psychic distress call out into the world. It was a wail of pitch-black despair, a deafening cacophony of pain that caused her knees to buckle. Four simple words.

PLEASE

STOP

HURTING

ME

It faded as soon as it began, the mental scream fading into nothing. Izuku blinked the stars out of her eyes, gasping for air. Loud choking and coughing from beside her indicated that Matsuda had experienced the very same thing, the horrified look on her face telling Izuku that they'd made the same conclusion.

The Spider Angel was defeated, collapsing into multicolored particles. But that scream, long and painful… it had been with the voice of a child.

Was the creature just a child?

Miracle and Mustard drifted back onto solid ground, dazed and confused. The grateful hostages from earlier cheered from afar while the heroes surrounded the two girls, demanding their surrender. The same heroes who just waited outside the nest, now swooping in to take credit for resolving the situation. The words went unheard, flowing past their ears.

Both of them exchanged a glance before they shot into the air, right past Endeavor who sent a fireball their way. They ignored the attack, ascending higher and higher. Izuku looked back at the scene of the carnage, focusing on where the Spider Angel had been. Now there was nothing left of it or its nest save for ash and dust.

There was nothing left here for either of them.

Why? Izuku questioned. They were so close to getting the Angel to calm down. They'd even successfully convinced it to let its hostages go. Why had things turned out this way?

Because this is the way heroes truly are , a dark part of herself whispered. All they've ever cared about was themselves.

Tears of denial started to bead at her eyes. That wasn't true. Heroes were supposed to be the pinnacle of justice, paragons of superpowered society. Heroes were… they were…

Izuku and Matsuda flew through the city, zooming past billboards and neon signs that displayed images and advertisements starring so many beloved heroes.

These people were superstars, rock musicians, models, actors, celebrities. They were everything except the heroes they were supposed to be. What of Endeavor, then? Was he a hero? As the man holding the highest tally of resolved cases in history, he must be.

…right?

Izuku didn't know anymore.

Deep down, maybe she didn't want to know.

[Chapter 4 End]

Thank you for reading!

The Angels are not the enemy.

They never were.

There is no magic.

There never was.