Notes: Phew... I literally cranked this chapter out in 4 days! not too bad! while I wanted to do a lot more this chapter, my schedule was busy due to my wife and I purchasing a new home out of state. yep... moving out to another state by the summer.

But... I was too excited for this chapter to not post something, so here we are!

Gripping his damaged arm, Gang Orca breathed slowly as he looked outside the window. The harrier jet both he and Endeavor were inside rushed over the landscape below, flying them towards their destination. The whale hero finished wrapping his own many injuries, but the broken bones inside his arm were still shooting pain through his body. "Shit. Call the medical team in to meet us by Mount Fuji." He said to the pilot.

"Yes sir," the pilot responded, getting onto his mic and putting in the orders, but gasped as the flaming fist of Endeavor slammed into the seat beside himself, turning to see the flame hero glaring at him.

"Increase the speed! We have to get there now!" he shouted at him.

"I'm going as fast as we can!" The pilot yelled back, "We still have twelve minutes until we reach Fujiyoshida, and another five to the mountain."

"Then get any top hero there now!" He shouted, his fist scorching the empty seat. "We can't leave them there!"

"Endeavor!" Orca grabbed the furious man and pulled him back, forcing the battered hero into the other seats. "You need to calm down."

"They need our help…" Endeavor panted and coughed up some more blood, wiping it from his mouth but still glared forward. "Call anyone high ranking nearby and-

"Endeavor…" Orca sighed in defeat, "Every other top ten hero is either busy on their own missions, or are too far away. The only hero of that caliber within a hundred and fifty kilometers is Ryukyu, and she is engaged in her own mission. The top heroes in the city are already on this mission with Shishido. Any other heroes nearby heading there now are far honestly too weak to do anything. They may only be putting themselves in the crosshairs of the hunters."

Clenching his fists, Endeavor looked ahead through the windshield, being able to make out the mountain in the distance. He gritted his teeth and forced himself back down, struggling to wrap his injuries with his pain filled arms. He couldn't believe he and the others were such fools, falling right into this trap set up by these villains. He could only hope Burnin, Katara and the others could hold out until they got there.

"Where's Mirko now?"

Bounding down the freeway, Mirko whizzed past the cars driving as she rushed forward. She breathed hard as her legs launched her with every step, ignoring the small stinging she felt from the injuries. And now, she took a few deep breaths as she wiped the sweat forming on her brow, shaking her head in frustration as she saw the mountain growing closer every moment, the distance at this pace pushing her own endurance after her fight. But she knew she couldn't stop; she had to get there as fast as she could.

"Eight minutes left… come on!" She shouted to herself, lowering her body and clenching her fists. "You kids better not die on me!" She had to get back. If she couldn't keep her promise and keep those kids safe, she had no right to call herself a hero. She had to make it. "Don't you die on me!"

Katara glared as she stared at the leopard seal step towards her, his weapons at the ready. The water and bamboo around her swayed with her hand movements, aiming at the hunter and waiting to launch forward. She looked past him for a moment to see Takeshita unconscious on the ground, the water beginning to flow past his damaged body. She knew she had to get him out of here and to the surface for help, but first she had to get past this man here.

"You're strong, kid. Much stronger than I imagined," Kavik stated, his eyes watching the movement between the water and bamboo. "How about you just end this now, and I assure you we will treat your hero friend's injuries."

"After you were the one who did it to him? No thank you!" Katara shouted and thrust her arms forward, launching several water streams at the leopard seal. As he flipped himself over the whips, Katara turned and arched her other hand, shooting multiple stocks of bamboo at him as well.

Kavik glared and smashed his way through the incoming stocks, his steel weapons breaking the hard plants apart before they could strike him. His small ears perked up as he heard the water rushing at him from behind, flipping in the air and evading the streams but leaving him exposed to the bamboo shooting at him. He blocked the stocks as they pushed him back to the ground, spinning the weapons in his hands and cracking through the other stocks trying to pierce him. He only had a moment before he crossed his arms shielding himself from an incoming water stream crashing into him pushing him back, feeling the water encircling him and beginning to freeze. He growled and quickly flexed his body breaking free of the ice, leaping out of the way as a wave of water almost engulfed him. As he splashed over the rising water, he hissed as he felt the current suddenly pull around his feet.

'Well this isn't good…' He said out loud, jumping up as the water around him rushed up and nearly engulfed him. Kavik turned and swung at the many ice spikes shooting his way, the ice and steel cracking against one another as he also barely evaded the bamboo coming from the side. 'She's growing stronger with the extra water. And now with the bamboo, it's growing hard to read her movements…'

Katara gritted her teeth as she whipped her right arm out while pointing her left hand up, guiding another stream from where Kavik was and launched it up at him. She could see he was now being forced on defense, pushing him back and away from Takeshita. Seeing the chance, she quickly swiped her hand around and created a raft of ice underneath the hero and carried him towards her. "I have to get this done quick." she said to herself, quickly thrusting her right hand up again and creating a massive stream of water behind her, her hands sweeping and shifting its shape.

Yelling as he cracked through another pair of bamboo stocks, Kavik turned to go for Katara herself, his eyes widening as he saw the newly formed water dragon behind her. At first he was surprised, but quickly hardened his gaze as he tightened his grip on how twin weapons. He had seen this several times, of heroes using intimidation in their attacks to throw their opponents off, and this seemed no different now. "Water is water, not like this changes anything…" he whispered to himself, tightening his stance and ready to face the attack. "Come on, kid. Don't do anything rash and hurt yourself."

"I'm not the one who's going to get hurt here," Katara growled out, guiding the dragon so it danced in the air just beside her. "Now get out of the way, or you will be the one begging me to stop and let you go."

"No chance, kid. And even if I was tempted, I'm more afraid of those above me then you." Kavik hummed out.

Glaring, Katara thrust her arm forward and launched the dragon forward, the water beast rushing through the air at the hunter. Kavik exhaled and tightened his muscles, jumping to the side and swinging his left weapon at the dragon's mouth to split it down the middle…. But was stunned as the water didn't give like before.

"What?" he gasped as the weapon was ripped from his grip, jumping back as the dragon rushed past him. "What was that?"

Katara smirked internally as she guided the dragon through the air, it's size larger than the ones she had made before. But this time… she did something different.

Kavik himself flipped back into the now waist deep water, his mind spinning quick as the dragon flew straight at him. He went to move once more, but found his legs frozen in the water. Growling seeing he couldn't break out in time, he tightened his core and punched forward at the incoming attack. The moment his hand struck the water, he immediately felt something was off, gasping as the dragon engulfed his body and slammed him back across the cavern, the dragon plowing through and beginning to break the stone wall. After a few moments, the cavern went silent, Katara seeing the hunter's still leg sticking out from the crushed stones.

Taking a breath, Katara lowered her arms seeing she was done, turning to the unconscious hero floating behind her. Lowering herself to the ice, she gathered water in her hands and put her focus on his shattered arms. "You'll be alright, don't worry." She said, "We'll get this fixed and help everyone else." Before she could heal however… The sound of rocks shifting made her heart jump.

She flipped around, seeing the hunter was gone now.

"What?" Katara gasped out, quickly forming several water tentacles around herself. Her eyes darted back and forth through the water, before suddenly seeing movement rushing underneath the surface. She thrust her hands forward, launching out dozens of ice spikes at the dark shape rushing through the water. She thrust her palm out, sending a powerful wave engulfing the entire section of the cavern. The current rushed through the area, the tumbling water becoming a churning mess as it slammed into the rock face sides. Katara quickly pulled a layer of water around herself, forming her octopus arm technique for any movement.

Her eyes looked for any movement, but didn't see anything come forth… only for the water behind to burst outward. She flipped around and launched her water tentacles forward, but could only watch in shock as they were shattered by the seals massive arms, his right hand clenched tight and knuckles arched forward. Katara quickly pulled water up in front of her, but before it could harden fully, Kavik's hand plowed through the barrier and into her chest. The impact was followed by a loud crack, Katara unable to scream out as she felt several ribs break from his strike.

"Gah!" Katara could barely wheeze out as she collapsed downward, almost falling beneath the water in agony and clutching her chest. Unlike before, she felt her cracked bones underneath, unable to get her breathing stable as her body felt like convulsing.

Panting, Kavik stared down at the buckled over waterbender, his burgundy bodysuit torn and shredded along with multiple bruises and cuts on his body. "Not bad, kid. You compressed the water in your technique, increasing it's density and making it much stronger than normal water. Not bad."

Katara's mouth trembled in agony, the unbearable pain in her chest feeling even worse than when the nomu struck her at the USJ. While she had the ice that shielded her somewhat back then, but this man's attack wasn't just brute force; it was directly targeting her vital points in her chest. Her hands clenched at her chest, unable to stop the unbearable pain to her ribs and lungs. The sudden kick to her stomach throwing her against the wall only added to the torment, sliding down the rock and splashing into the water.

"I truly am impressed, in all honesty," Kavik growled out, stretching his shoulders and ripping off the shredded shirt over his body. "You are beyond anything we expected. I have faced several heroes, and you are beyond those I've taken down. I would even give you the honor to say you could become one of the top heroes once you graduate."

Katara coughed out in pain, bringing her hands up to heal her injuries. Before she could, however, Kavik's enormous clawed hand gripped her throat and pushed her against the wall. She gasped out as she grabbed at his solid arm, flailing to break his gasp as he pressed hard into the stone, determined to make her pass out quickly. "Unfortunately, you won't be making it to graduation. I have my job to do." He growled, pressing his hand harder to end this fast.

Katara's heart hammered in fear as she felt both her air and blood flow being cut off to her neck, her panic rising every second he pressed. Her eyes began growing hazy, struggling to focus as her head grew fuzzy. She quickly waved her hand to gather water, but Kavik's other massive hand grabbed her hand and pinned her motions. Her mouth trembled as the pain increased in her neck, but soon the darkness began clouding her mind. Her eyes slowly rolled as her thoughts faded to nothing, before all consciousness began slipping away, replaced with the dark void of nothingness.

…

…

…

As her arms went limp, Kavik hummed in satisfaction as he released her, watching Katara's limp form slide down into the water. Grunting, he used his foot to push her unconscious body up, her head slumped down just above the water. "Finally…" He growled out, not expecting this kid to cause him so much trouble. He cracked his neck before spitting to the side. "Son of a bitch… these damn quirks are becoming more powerful as time goes on."

He reached down and grabbed her hair, tilting her head up to look at her face. He could see she was powerful, and her being a student of course made her a desirable hostage, but he knew there was more to it with why Dabi was after her. "What the hell is it that made you so desirable to be targeted?"

His answer came at that moment… When her eyes burst open glowing white.

"What the?!" Kavik gasped as the water around her burst outward, throwing him back as he skidded to a stop, looking back up in shock to the girl before him. "What the hell is going on?"

Katara stood up from the wall, her glowing eyes unblinking as she stared at the hunter. She raised her hands and thrust them forward, the entire body of water around her rushing out from her and slamming into the hunter. Kavik gasped out as he braced his body, feeling the current behind the water even stronger than before. He dove back into the water and burst through the pool, racing around as he tried to get to the teen from the side, but the current inside the water began pulling so fast, even he couldn't break through. He was thrown out of the water and slammed into the wall, coughing as he looked over to the girl staring his way. "What the hell's going on? Her attacks are stronger than before…"

Katara's bright eyes never left the hunter, her hands going out to her sides and waving in small circles. Streams of water rose up and formed into dense discs, soon rotating so fast they whizzed like buzz saws. Her cold gaze narrowed as she launched them forward, the water wheels racing forward right at the hunter. Kavik leaped out of the way as they crashed into the wall, his eyes widening as it cut straight through the stone wall like a blade, turning back and leaped out as dual water streams launched at him. He could only dodge a few more times before he was ensnared by one of them, thrown through the air and slammed into the steel door.

Coughing out, Kavik, stood up as he felt the blood dripping down his forehead. He tried jumping to the side, but gasped as one of the water arms grabbed his arm and yanked him backwards, throwing him across the warehouse and slammed him into the other wall. Kavik felt something crack as he fell to the ground, splashing through the water and trying to keep his focus. He looked up as the water parted in the center, the rising waves aimed towards him as Katara walked on the solid ground towards him. "What… what the hell is this kid?!"

Katara remained silent as she raised her right hand up, gathering the water up and into ice tipped streams pointing straight at the hunter. She gritted her teeth as she launched her attacks forward, leaving no place for him to escape as the waves of water crashed on top of him and into the stone wall. The stone cracked outward before shattering, the wall giving out and collapsing into the other nearby tunnels. The water soon settled down as the waterbender lowered her hand, the glow in her eyes fading before returning back to normal. She stood still for a moment before she blinked, followed by a panicked gasp as she collapsed to her knees in pain.

"Wha…" Katara panted in both pain and confusion, her hands gripping her broken ribs as she looked around herself. "What just…" she gasped as she blinked hard, the last thing she remembered being Kavik's hand around her throat. and now she was on the ground, her head spinning like crazy.

"Katara…"

Katara's eyes widened when she heard the voice in her head, recognizing the powerful tone immediately. "Kyoshi?" she huffed out, wanting to bring water up and healing her chest. First, she closed her eyes and focused, reopening her eyes and seeing the avatar spirit in front of her. "What… what happened?"

"You were almost defeated just now," Kyoshi whispered as she came closer, "You were in that man's grasp and you passed out."

"I…" Katara reached up and felt the bruising on her neck, attempting to breathe but felt her chest ache once more. She summoned water and brought it to her body, her healing immediately soothing the immense pain in her body. She looked around in utter confusion, not knowing what was going on. "What… What happened? Where did he go?"

Kyoshi sighed as she leaned down towards the teen. "I had no choice but to step in and save you just now."

"What?" Katara almost let the water fall in shock to the statement, "What do you mean?"

"I had to force my spiritual energy out to take control of you just now, since you were out it allowed that to happen."

Katara's eyes widened in shock to what she just heard, her mind thinking back to when Aang lost control of his avatar state. She looked around to the shattered walls and cracked stones, seeing the slashes made from water throughout. "How… you were using me as a vessel?"

"I had to, otherwise you would've been captured there. And that's the only chance I had." Kyoshi explained, "I used up a large portion of spiritual energy to perform that, and I won't be able to lend you energy unless you are able to tap into it yourself."

Katara remained silent as her healing continued, feeling the pain disipate as her bones were mended together. She felt frustration knowing she still wasn't able to tap into that energy herself yet. She then looked towards the shattered cave wall, seeing it open up to another cavern path. But her concern grew when she didn't see Kavik among the rubble. "Did he get away?"

"It seems so," Kyoshi grumbled, "I was hoping we could've finished him off there."

As Katara finished healing her ribs, she couldn't help but noticed the way that last statement sounded. She glanced up to the avatar spirit, seeing the hardened gaze on the womans face. "Finish him off… you mean kill him?"

Kyoshi turned to face Katara, her face stern and unchanging. "If it happened to come to that, perhaps."

"You were going to have me kill him?" Katara asked, her brow furrowing as she looked to the deep slashes through the stone walls. "And you made that decision on your own?"

"I made a decision to keep you safe," Kyoshi retorted, "I assumed you would've been grateful for that."

"I would've liked to have at least been asked in that choice," Katara glared as she stood up, wincing from the slight pain that remained. "You were going to just kill someone else and have it done through me?"

"Are you saying he wouldn't have deserved it? He's an assassin for hire that has taken how many other lives, and yet you are going to show him mercy?" Kyoshi glared back at the teen, "What happened to the girl who came from a place of war? One who was ready to take the life of the man who killed your mother?"

"I chose to be better than that man! I let him live because I knew taking his life wasn't going to make it better for me, but only add blood to my hands." Katara shouted back, not ever expecting to feel this way to Kyoshi. "And I did the same to Stain, because I am better than the killer he is despite what he did to Tensei."

"A man like that would've been better buried in the ground." Kyoshi shot back, shaking her head and looking away. "Sometimes safety is brought when the threat is finished off for good."

"I am not a killer, and I won't change that," Katara snapped back. She thought back to when Aang was so adamant to avoiding killing Ozai, something she felt was not thinking of the greater good. But over the last few months her eyes had opened up seeing the ideals of being a hero, and she wanted to be above the criminals and villains she was facing. "I can't thank you enough for helping me there, but I am not going to lower myself to the level of these people!"

Kyoshi stared down at the girl beneath her, sighing to herself and closing her eyes. "You have become powerful, far more powerful than any waterbender has become on their own. But I must tell you, Katara… the honorable mindset of the heroes here is admirable… but there will be times crossing that line will be the difference between life and death."

Katara didn't have the chance to respond as Kyoshi faded away, her spirit flowing back into the waterbenders form. Breathing hard, Katara shook her head in frustration as she stepped through the water, looking down to her hands and squeezing them tight. She didn't expect to have an argument ever with Kyoshi, but the fact she was used as a puppet to almost kill someone just made her blood boil. She pushed through the water back towards the ice block where Takeshita was to-

Her anger and frustration vanished when she saw the ice was barren… with no hero laying on top of it. "Wh-what?" she looked around frantically, seeing if he had slid off the ice and was floating nearby. Quickly dispersing the water there, she saw he wasn't there or anywhere nearby.

He was gone.

At the back of Mount Fuji, the single hidden cave between the rocks was the only unsealed exit left on the mountain. Coming out into the light was Itkomi, the woman dragging a mass of webbed victims behind her and out to the open air. Her many eyes were narrowed in annoyance, seeing they still had to load up, and be out of the area before other heroes began showing up. The further they got ahead, the better. She looked over to the cargo truck hidden in the brush, ready to load up their victims and be out.

Her senses suddenly picked up movement from above, one of her sets of eyes turning to see two newcomers dropping down. Landing on the ground first, the fox woman Vixen grinned as she walked towards her boss, her hands out to the side in success. "Look who's back, baby," She chuckled out to herself, looking past to see the pile of webbed bodies behind her boss. "Wow… Looks to me like the plan was a success."

"For now," Itkomi huffed out and let the webs go slack, watching as the falcon user Sokudo landed behind Vixen. "You were able to escape?"

"The police were foolish enough to take me to where Mirko was going to show up, which meant I was able to get out myself so feathers could pick me up."

"Hmm…" Itkomi sighed in surprise and looked to the cave behind her. "The others had better be finishing up with the kids inside and bringing them now."

"They got away from you?" Sokudo asked in surprise, which made Vixen snicker out.

"Please, they probably just scattered like rats and ran away." Vixen said.

"The few heroes were more distracting than I had expected, but they and the officers are here behind me now. Muteki took down Shishido, so the others are bringing the stragglers now." Itkomi pulled out the keys in her dress and tossed them to the falcon user. "Bring it over here and start loading them up. Let's be out of here in ten minutes."

"Got it." Sokudo nodded and walked towards the hidden van.

Vixen cracked her neck and walked over to grab some of the captured hostages, but noticed Itkomi's foot tapping impatiently. "What?"

"Were you able to contact Haraka and Fisi after they encountered Mirko?" She asked, earning a head shake from the fox woman.

"Of course not. They didn't keep their phones on them for this mission," Vixen shrugged. "Sokudo said they were going to abandon that other guy and they were going to head to the meetup spot when they were clear."

The loud thud behind caught their attention, turning to see a wet body sprawled on the ground. Itkomi eyed the green jacket the man wore, one of her spider legs reaching and flipping him over. She then saw it was the bamboo hero, Takeshita, unconscious and barely breathing. She snickered in amusement seeing another hero captured, looking up to… "What the hell?" she muttered out in surprise.

Kavik was standing there, his body battered and covered in several deep lacerations across his chest and stomach. The gash on his forehead leaking blood was not nearly as shocking as his left arm hanging limp to his side, the shoulder slumped over and dislocated. Ikomi's mouth hung open in disbelief, never seeing him so injured before. "Jesus… this guy did all of this?" She asked.

"No. This guy was hardly a threat," Kavik huffed out, wincing as he grabbed his injured arm. "It was that damn girl."

"Girl?" Itkomi asked, "What girl?"

"The water user that works for Endeavor," He growled out, "The one who was the point of all of this from the beginning."

The others including Sokudo sat in silent shock from his statement. "That kid?" Vixen said in disbelief. "The first year girl? You mean to tell me she did all that to you?! Come on! Don't be pulling some shit on us!"

"Shut your mouth," Kavik inhaled deeply and slammed his shoulder into the stone hard, yelping out in pain as he felt the socket pop back into place. He breathed hard as he shifted his arm, working the pain out as he looked up to them. "That girl is no normal kid. She fights beyond most pros I've ever seen. But… there's something else about her. Some kind of… power inside her that was unleashed. I couldn't face it anymore, so I grabbed that guy when I could and got out of there."

"You ran away?" Vixen glared at him, not expecting number three in the hunters to run from a fight. "You let that frail girl- GAH!"

Vixen's words were silenced as the powerful hand of Itkomi gripped her throat, lifting her off the ground and to eye level, the leader staring harshly at the fox woman. "For more than a week you were spying on Endeavor and this kid… studying her relation to the others and her talent. You made it clear she was a first year student… and not once did you ever say anything about strength like this…" She hissed out, her spider legs twitching in rage.

Vixen gasped as she grabbed onto her leaders palm, her eyes wide in horror. "She… She never showed anything to that extent!" she pleaded. "Her… water quirk was f-fast… but nothing we hadn't seen!"

"Apparently not…" Itkomi growled, throwing the fox woman to the side. Ignoring the hunters gasps, she arched her knuckles tight making them crack as she gritted her teeth together. Below her and Muteki, the most capable hunter was certainly Kavik, and to see someone like him injured like this was not something she ever expected. Now she began to wonder if those other kids inside were almost as strong as this girl, meaning the other members would be having trouble dealing with them. But her real frustration focused on the flame user that had planted this idea in her head.

"Dabi… that son of a bitch was probably hiding some more things from us," She hissed to herself as she walked towards the cave. "Load them all in the van and keep a perimeter. Any heroes show up, either take them down or lure the stronger ones away. And if you see that Dabi come out… Kill him."

"What?" Sokudo said in surprise, "But we haven't even finished-

"I don't care. He's kept enough secrets from us, and now he's fucked off to who knows where…" She stated, looking over to Kavik beside her. "If I'm not back out in ten minutes, take the truck to the new base and I'll meet you there later. You make sure the others follow my orders."

Kavik exhaled and nodded, the others looked at each other in both fear and agreement, moving over and grabbing the hostages as their enraged leader walked into the cave once more, the creaking of her spider legs shifting echoing in the darkness. "I'll finish this myself."

Katara made her way through the cavern maze, looking back and forth trying to find where in the hell she was supposed to go through now. Her shoulders were covered in a massive water whip, along with water covering her upper body like armor, making sure she brought enough water with her through the cave in case that hunter or any of the other members came across her. She also had several of the stocks of bamboo pieces strapped to her back, knowing Takeshita's weapons could be handy later. But the thought of the missing hero only brought a wave of guilt to Katara. was supposed to have protected him since he was injured, and she had grown too distracted with Kyoshi that she didn't see where Kavik had gone. As she ran down the stone hallway, her thoughts went back to what the avatar spirit said to her.

In her life, Katara had never tried to directly kill someone, the closest coming to when she faced her mothers killer, and the hero killer Stain. She wanted to both times, she really wanted to, but she knew killing them would only have lowered her down to their level and make her no better. She knew in this world, she had been told a real hero would never kill someone because taking lives was the line to not cross. But it wasn't just that ideal that stuck in her head, thinking back to Aang's turmoil with crossing that line despite facing the fire lord. She now saw it was a morality line that he was refusing to budge on, knowing there had to be a way to stop him without becoming what Ozai was.

But… something continued to eat at her over the subject.

She knew killing was wrong, but… if some of these people were killed, it meant innocent people would never have to suffer again. She knew some people would never change, and if they had the chance to break out of prison, they would certainly do the same thing once again and kill more. If they had been stopped for, then others wouldn't be victimized and experience more pain and suffering. And then… she her mind thought back to her battles in her old world, and the many things she had done.

The tanks they blew up at the northern air temple. The hot air balloons she destroyed in the fire nation capital. Combustion Man.

Had she helped taken lives indirectly? Could she be criticizing Kyoshi for something when she probably did the same thing? Her mind was growing confused as she moved further through the cave, but the sudden burnt smell entering her nose broke her focus. She rounded a corner and found herself in another corridor, but noticed the scorched snake man on the ground, and her widened eyes saw the familiar woman face down on the ground.

"Burnin!" She yelled and ran to her side, flipping her over and holding her head up. "Burnin, you alright?!" her mouth fell open in fear as she saw the purple swelling on the womans neck, her veins a deep blue running up towards her face and arm. She could hear the labored breathing from her, her eyes locking onto the fang marks through the torn clothes on Burnin's shoulder. "Oh shit…"

Bringing her hand to the shoulder, Katara's water glowed as she began treating the wound. Immediately, she could sense the foreign material coursing through he sidekicks body, worried how much her healing was going to do against venom. She looked up to Burnin's discolored face, worry growing as she was afraid her healing wouldn't counter this. She knew the best thing she could do… was to get it out of her. "Hold on Burnin… Hold on."

Closing her eyes, she removed the water from her hand and lifted her palm over the injury, moving it up and over Burnin's neck and down her arm. It was faint, but she could sense the traces of venom spreading throughout the body, taking a deep breath and waving her hand back towards the wound. In her unconscious state, Burnin winced and shifted as the movements began, the pain spreading once more as the venom flowed back through her body. "I'm sorry, hold on…" Katara whispered, her hand bending the toxic liquid back through Burnin's veins and up her arms. As she reached the wound, Katara pulled back away, with several drips of the yellow venom dripping out of the bite.

Exhaling, Katara moved her hand up to Burnin's face, her fingers shifting as she felt the venom inside. She grimaced as her friend gasped out in her sleep, the toxins shifting inside causing agony, but she knew she had to get it out. She pulled her hand down the woman's neck, guiding the venom down and towards the two puncture wounds before she began pulling it out. After a moment, both of the bite marks began leaking out the venom, tainted red with the blood caught with it. Soon, it stopped, the waterbender sighing in relief as she didn't sense any more.

Looking down to Burnin's face, she noticed the discoloration of her face and her veins were slowly dissipating, feeling relief when her breathing also seemed to stabilize. She covered her hands in water again, bringing them down and enshrouding the sidekicks' burnt arms and damaged stomach. While she was thankful the venom she was able to bend, she was concerned by the many injuries throughout Burnin's body. "Don't worry… we are getting out of here." She said out loud, hoping to get her up soon so they could find Kendo, Bakugo and the others quickly.

But a sudden chill went up her back as she heard chuckling from behind.

Flipping around, Katara readied her water as she looked to the darkened tunnel, raising her hands and aiming her water whip in that direction. As soon as the blue flames lit up in the darkness, her eyes widened, watching as Dabi's ignited hands lifted up to his sides, his maniacal grin lit up as he approached.

"Now this a situation that I couldn't have made better today," He chuckled as he stepped into the cavern opening, "I got both you, and Endeavor's favorite sidekick together and all alone. This has worked out better than I could've imagined.

Notes: DUN DUN DUN!

A lot has happened here for Katara's development, including a moral dilemma growing with Kyoshi.

And yes, venom is a modified saliva, which in humans is 99% water. so yep, it can be bended.

While I wanted to do more with Bakugo this, I unfortunately didn't have much time to write this week. Fortunately, already working on the next chapter.

But for now, I can't wait to see your thoughts on the story so far. please rate and review. Till next time!