A/N: Alright, ladies and gents, let's get into it. Because this is a chapter I've been looking forward to getting to pretty much since the beginning of the story, I decided to release it a couple of days early. Now that I've overinflated your expectations, I hope that you still enjoy the chapter! XD

P.S. There is artwork that accompanies this chapter that has been posted on my Instagram account. It details the final scene of this chapter, and it's the first in a series that will cover the next 2-3 chapters.

Never Regret

Ten Years Ago…

"Dad… Can I go inside now?" Kurai wheezed before coughing violently. "I'm dying out here." He was covered in sweat that caused his clothes to cling to him uncomfortably in the summer heat, and he just wanted some lemonade in front of his favorite T.V. program.

"If you can cough that hard, you can take another swing at that ball," his father said with an amused smile. "You would have been watching Dragon Ball five minutes ago if you had put in the practice that you swore you completed."

"How did you know I was lying?" Kurai complained. "You always figure it out."

"And yet, my son, you continue your attempts to deceive me," the older Hogo-sha replied, still with that superior smile of his. "You would know how I saw through you if you looked a little harder at yourself as you are now- but that is a lesson for another time."

"What lesson do I need to learn right now?" the boy whined. "I'm thirsty."

"Hello, Thirsty, I'm Dad," his father snickered, causing his son to groan louder. Moving closer, the man clapped his son on the shoulder and said, "You need to understand the importance of diligence, son. You will never be of any help to others like you say you will if you continue to be lazy."

"I practiced my swings!" Kurai insisted.

"Not long enough to work up a sweat, which is what a real team player would do," his father countered. "Son, you know that you have properly given enough effort to something, only when you are exhausted right down to your very bones."

"I am tired."

"Tired and exhausted are two different things, son," Hogo-sha said patiently. "Tired is when you feel a bit sore, either in the body or mind, but are still capable of complaining about it, like you are now. Exhausted is what happens when you work yourself properly, to the point where you went even further than your body told you that you could, and still emerged successful in your endeavors. You wouldn't have the energy to complain if you were exhausted."

"What does 'endeavor' mean?" the little boy asked. "Isn't he that fire hero?"

"He took his name from the word that I'm trying to teach you about," his father answered. "It means when you work hard to finish something. Not every endeavor is successful, son, but every attempt is satisfactory when you work yourself as hard as you possibly can, and then some." Giving his son a smile and another pat on the back, he added, "Son, when you think you're done, always give it one more push, and if you really were done, that's that. But don't ever let yourself wonder if you could have made that final effort, when it seemed like your goal was just out of reach. Don't ever allow hindsight to disappoint you. If you run out of endurance today, just borrow some from tomorrow."

"…Dad, what does 'hi-sight' mean?" Kurai inquired, at which his father rolled his eyes to heaven.

"Finish these ten swings and then ask your brother."

"I don't wanna! He's bossy!"

"You're the older brother, boss him back!"

Present Day…

"So what were you and Uraraka talking about?"

Kurai cocked his head at Blake as they walked underneath the night sky in the woods, one eyebrow raised. "This and that," he answered vaguely. "Why?"

"Whatever you said totally changed the way that she acted around Ruby," the American girl answered. "Whatever it was that you did say… Thanks."

"For what?"

"Ruby is always looking out for other people," Blake answered. "She doesn't look after herself well enough, if you ask me or Yang. To have someone else keeping an eye on her is a relief for her sister."

"I wasn't really-" Kurai suddenly cut himself off, holding out a hand to keep his partner from advancing any further.

"What are you doing?" Blake asked him as he started looking up at the night sky, his brow furrowed.

"You smell that?" he asked in a tense voice.

As soon as he spoke the words, Blake realized that there was a not-unfamiliar scent in the air, but it seemed out of place. It smelled like- "Is that smoke?" she asked, her eyes going wide as they detected an ominous blow glow coming from deep within the forest.

"If it is, I'm betting that light we're seeing is the fire that's making it," Kurai said, his voice strained. "And I dunno about you, but I've never seen a natural fire turn blue."

"Is it a villain?" Blake asked, all of her senses on high alert as she unconsciously moved to place her back against Kurai's.

"I wanna say 'hopefully not', but my class' unlucky streak demands that I answer otherwise," Kurai groaned. "We need to get back to camp- there's no telling how many there might be, or if it's just the one person that's doing this."

"What about the people ahead of us?" Blake asked worriedly. "We should warn them about what we've seen. Look, we're in a bend that starts us on the loop back to the cabin- we might be the only people on the path that have seen this."

Kurai hesitated before he nodded and said, "Okay, but we're not cleared to start a fight with anybody. Even if you have a provisional license, it's not valid in Japan. We can only pass on what we've seen, and warn the others."

"Then let's get going," she replied as they began to run down the path, heading deeper into the forest.

"How did this happen?!" Mandalay gaped as she gazed upon her wounded teammate at the mercy of a murderous villain that called himself Magne. The beefy criminal held Pixie Bob's head underneath a large metal rod that was poised to crush her skull at the slightest provocation. He was accompanied by a lizard-man, who was armed with a massive sword that looked like it had been scrapped together from dozens of other weapons.

"We are the vanguard action squad of the League of Villains," the scaly man said with a proud smile. "I'm Spinner, and I'm here to see that Stain's will is carried out!"

Iida made a noise of disgust as he said, "So these are the kind of people that he ended up inspiring."

"The training camp was a secret- most of the teachers didn't even know where it was!" Izuku said in a trembling voice as Tiger stepped between them and the villains. "How'd the League find us?!"

"That doesn't matter right now," Mandalay told him. "Everyone needs to know what's happening, and you kids need to get somewhere safe!" A frown creased her features before her thoughts echoed throughout the forest, saying, "Everyone, listen up! Villains have attacked the camp, two of them are here in the clearing, but I don't know how many more are in the forest! Students, return to camp at once, and do not engage the enemy!"

Izuku almost turned to run with the other students, but a horrible thought suddenly occurred to him. "Mandalay!" he called as he turned back toward the pro hero. "Kota! I know where he is right now!" If I'm right, and he's out there by himself…!

"Stay here!" Aizawa ordered as he dashed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

"But-!"

"Sit down, Missy," Vlad King said sternly, his permanent scowl deepening as Mina stood up from her seat. "Even if you did go out there, you're not cleared to fight. This disaster is the adults' responsibility, so we're gonna clean it up. It's our first priority to make sure that you kids stay safe."

"C'mon, Ashido," Kirishima said as he urged his friend back into her seat. "I know you're worried about Hikari, but I'm sure he'll be fine. He's smart, and probably the strongest fighter in our class. If any of us have a shot at making it out of this okay, it's him."

"I don't want him to be okay, I wanna be out there, with him, facing danger," she said miserably. "That's what a good girlfriend does, right? Support their boyfriend when he's in trouble?"

"Trust me, if we were given permission to fight, I'd be charging out the door right alongside ya," Kirishima told her as Vlad moved to watch the door for any signs of movement from the outside. "I mean, all of our friends are out there, probably scared for their lives again. I wanna go help them, but our hands are tied."

"If something happens to Kurai again, so help me…" Mina groaned as she put her head in her hands. "I don't wanna see him in a hospital again, Kirishima. I can't take seeing him in pain like he's had to be."

"He won't be," her friend said as reassuringly as he could. "His brother fixed him up, remember? His quirk won't hurt him anymore! If he gets permission to fight, those villains had better watch out, cos he'll be laying down some serious hurt."

"Taking a shortcut was a terrible idea!" Blake shouted as she ducked underneath a shadowy tendril that tried to crush her into paste. She and Kurai had decided to head back toward the camp via a more direct route after receiving Mandalay's telepathic message. However, they had run into a problem most unexpected.

"Like I knew this was gonna happen!" Kurai yelped as he blasted another shadow away from himself. "Tokoyami! Chill the hell out!"

"I… can't! Control it!" the boy groaned out from the depths of a massive shadow. "Run! Save yourselves! He'll…! He'll kill you!" Dark Shadow unleashed a terrifying roar that shook the forest before taking a casual swipe at a cluster of trees, all of which splintered at his touch. In the dead of night, the creature had grown larger than a house, its shape less distinct, but all the more powerful for it. Trying to tell which shadow belonged to Tokoyami's power and which ones were natural was all but impossible.

I knew Dark Shadow was more powerful in darkness, but this is insanity! Kurai thought as he took cover underneath one of the fallen trees, Blake joining him soon after. He remembered how he had been wounded by the creature in the Sport's Festival- how strong it had become after being immersed in only partial darkness.

"What do we do?" Blake hissed in a tone that only Kurai could hear. "We're supposed to be avoiding villains, not our own classmates!"

"Speaking of classmates, what the hell happened to Shoji?" Kurai asked worriedly as he looked around the trees in vain. "He was partnered with Tokoyami."

"Which one is-?"

"Tall guy, six arms, always wears a mask," Kurai explained shortly. "He should be somewhere nearby. Unless…" He shuddered as he realized the implications of the unfinished thought. As Dark Shadow is right now, there's no telling what he'd do to Shoji if he was caught off-guard. He nearly killed us just because we showed up!

"Hikari, we need a plan," Blake said in a sharp tone. "We have to get back to camp, no matter what it takes."

"No matter what it-?" He stopped before fixing a furious look on his partner's collected features. "Are you suggesting that we abandon Tokoyami?!"

"He told us to get away, and we don't have the means to fight his monster," she replied through thin lips. "We should go while it's not paying attention to us."

"What if that was Xiao Long, or Rose, or even Schnee in the middle of that?" Kurai demanded angrily. "Would you abandon them if they told you to run for it?" Blake hesitated, and Kurai felt a deep shaft of disappointment wrench his gut as Dark Shadow began to tear through the trees in the direction away from them. "You have a lot to learn about being a hero if you can't answer that without even thinking about it," he said bleakly. "Go on ahead, if you want. I'm not leaving my classmates' side."

"Hikari, I didn't-"

"Hikari? Belladonna?" a familiar voice panted as the owner staggered into view. "I thought I heard voices."

"Shoji!" Kurai leaped to his feet, intending to greet his classmate, only to stop in horror as he realized that one of the larger student's left hands was missing. "Dude, your…!"

"It's not as bad as it looks," Shoji panted as he kept the severed stump close to his body, keeping his voice low as to not attract Dark Shadow's attention. "It hurts, but I can grow a new one with my quirk."

"Here, let me help with that," Blake said as she pulled her black bow from her head, using it to bandage the wound, which Shoji thanked her for.

"What happened?" Kurai asked his comrade.

Shoji replied by telling them that he and Tokoyami had just received Mandalay's message when they were attacked by a villain. Tokoyami's control over Dark Shadow during the nighttime was tenuous at best, but when an attack severed Shoji's hand, the monster raged out of control, lashing out at everything in sight.

"I was almost wondering if the shadow had done that to you," Kurai muttered as he indicated Shoji's wound. "Question is, how do we help him?"

"You heard Mandalay, we're supposed to go back to camp," Blake insisted.

Before Kurai could berate her, Shoji preempted him by saying, "If you feel that you need to run away, you're welcome to do so. I'll keep Dark Shadow busy so that you can get through."

"Not alone, you're not," Kurai insisted. "And we're gonna do better than just distract him. We're bringing Tokoyami back to camp with us, safe and sound."

"Just saying that isn't gonna make it happen," Blake pointed out. "We'd need a way to contain his quirk without it killing us."

At least she hasn't just up and left, Kurai thought. "Dark Shadow has a weakness to bright lights," he explained. "If I can hit him with an attack that generates a lot of light, it should weaken the monster enough for Tokoyami to get control of him."

"What, like a Kamehameha?" Shoji grunted, his wound clearly bothering him again.

"If I did that and hit the wrong place, I might accidentally kill him." Kurai closed his eyes and murmured, "I need to be able to hit him in exactly the right places, and I need to do it fast enough that the shadow won't have time to retaliate."

"How will you do that?"

"I'll do… this." As he finished the last word, his hair began to change colors, even as a glowing symbol resembling an eye began to appear on his forehead, in between his eyebrows.

"All right, big boy, you wanna dance?" Yang asked challengingly as she popped her knuckles while staring up at a massive villain calling himself 'Muscular'. "Last chance to run before I open a can of whoop-ass on you." She had followed Midoriya after he had informed Mandalay that he knew of Kota's location, saying that he shouldn't be allowed to go off on his own. She was certain that the teacher was mad at her for ignoring her shouts for them to come back, but they had more important things to worry about at the moment.

"Ha!" the villain guffawed as he cast aside a huge cloak that had hidden his bulky frame. His left eye had been lost in a battle years ago, and so a false replacement sat in the empty socket, but his right eye gleamed with a bloodthirsty delight. "You sound just like the last few posers I took down before I joined the League. None of them lasted more than a second against me- but that didn't make the sight of their blood in the streets any less thrilling!"

"Careful, Xiao Long!" Midoriya grunted as he clutched at his left arm. "He's strong!" Next to him, Kota was trembling in mute horror as he stared at the massive villain that would have splattered him against the mountainside that he had been hiding in, had not Midoriya swooped in at the last second to save his life, and getting injured in the process.

"I can see that, buddy," she grinned as her purple eyes flared red. "But so am I." Slamming her fists together in front of her, her hair burst to life with a golden fire as she squared off against Muscular, whose eyes had taken on a hungry gleam. "Let's go, big guy!"

"Yes!" he crowed. "Show me your blood!" His muscle fibers burst through his skin, tripling the size of the limb right before he smashed his fist into Yang's body, sending her straight into the side of the bluff with a pained cry, her aura dying instantly as she was buried under a pile of rocks.

Midoriya's jaw dropped as he realized that in all likelihood, Yang was dead under the rubble. Now it was just him standing in between Muscular and Kota, and he was exhausted from the day's training. He couldn't escape someone with Muscular's speed if he had to carry the child. I've only got one option if I'm gonna keep Kota out of his hands.

"Hey," he whispered to the frightened child as he fixed a smile on his face while taking up a fighting stance against the terrifying villain, whose arm was reducing itself in size- apparently Midoriya didn't constitute as much of a threat as Yang had. "It's gonna be okay, promise. I'm going to save you, Kota."

"Ha!" Muscular laughed again as he slowly stalked toward his prey. "Don't make promises that you can't keep, kid! I dunno what kind of quirk you've got, but you don't have nearly as much fight in you as that chick did! Spilling your blood is gonna be a breeze!"

One for All, Full Cowling!

"You're not getting past me, you hear?! You stupid villain!"

"I don't like this one bit, Hikari," Blake said from next to her partner, who neglected to look at her in turn.

"It was this or run away, and I won't leave Tokoyami," he said as his brow furrowed harder, the glowing indigo eye on his forehead shining slightly brighter as he faced the sounds of something massive crashing through the forest. "They're coming, but two of them went down."

"I told you that they weren't very durable." Blake shifted uneasily as Dark Shadow roared its challenge to the nighttime.

"Yeah, well, it would've been suicide to send Shoji by himself, and I can't move around very fast like this," he replied grimly, his now-purple-blue hair ruffling in the breeze that carried the scent of smoke. "Your shadow clones make enough noise to keep it occupied, and that's all that we needed after Shoji got its attention."

After comparing notes on their quirks, Blake revealed that although it was difficult and draining to do so, she could produce several of her shades at once, and have them act independent of one another, though they all disappeared after taking even the slightest bit of damage. Kurai had her generate five of her duplicates, which followed Shoji, who made as much noise as he could with his Dupli-arms in order to attract the attention of the monster. After he had done so, he had temporarily made himself scarce while Blake's clones led the beast toward Kurai, who was waiting for the precise moment to launch an attack that would disable Dark Shadow without harming Tokoyami.

The newest bellow set Blake's teeth on edge, and she unconsciously edged closer to Kurai as she muttered, "He's almost here…"

"I know, let me concentrate," Kurai growled, two small balls of indigo-colored energon appearing at his command, one in each hand. "I only get one shot at this."

No sooner than he had spoken than did Dark Shadow burst into their line of sight, allowing them to see Tokoyami straining with all of his might to keep the monster at bay, but only in vain. "Get away!" the boy pleaded. "Now!"

"Can't do that, Tokoyami!" Kurai shouted back, his arms already moving. "Sorry in advance!" The two bolts of energy flew forth at his command, arcing away from each other, and distracting Dark Shadow long enough for him to will the projectiles to change course and collide right in front of the dark beast. The resulting explosion produced a flash of light so brilliant in contrast with the dark that they had been wandering around in that Blake and Shoji were blinded for a few moments.

"Hikari, what's going on?!" the girl demanded, dreading the sense of impending doom that told her that she was about to torn into pieces by Dark Shadow. "Did you get him?!"

"We got him," the boy said tiredly, filling Blake with relief. She heard some movement, followed by the words, "Tokoyami? You alright?"

"Forgive me," the other boy said, kneeling in the dirt. "You could have been killed because of my lack of control. And Shoji-!"

"I'm okay," the tall student said as he walked into the small clearing that Kurai had used for the ambush. "No one is hurt because of you, Tokoyami. If it were the other way around, you'd tell us to think on this later, right? If we're all okay, then we should worry about getting back to camp."

"Two problems with that," Kurai said as his hair faded to black and the symbol of the eye disappeared from his forehead. "One, I picked up on something going on up ahead. Did someone get past you two while Dark Shadow was rampaging?"

"It's possible," Shoji answered tiredly. "Maybe some of our classmates that were behind us continued on the path after Dark Shadow went into the trees."

"Okay, cos I'm pretty sure that there's two or three people up ahead, and I don't think that they're getting along." Kurai rubbed his head painfully before he added, "The second problem is that I'm low on power, and I can't see very well. If we run into more trouble, you guys won't be able to rely on me."

"Then rely on us," Blake told him, causing him to turn a skeptical look on her. "I know I said we should run, but you were right. I just… Look, I'll tell you the story another time, but the important thing is that I was wrong. You just showed me that we always have more than two choices. So I'll show you that even someone like me can become a hero."

"…Okay, Belladonna. Your call this time. Do we go check out the fight, or do we rush back to camp?"

"You killed his mom and dad…!" Izuku grunted as his body lit up with bio-electricity once again. "And you won't even take the blame for it?!" His veins surged red with raw power right before he launched himself at Muscular, who was laughing at the two boys.

"What're you gonna do about it, pipsqueak?!" he guffawed. "Hit me with that puny power of yours' again?!"

One for All…! Deku grimaced as he braced himself for the agony of broken bones. One hundred percent! "Detroit… SMASH!" His blow landed on a surprised Muscular's face, sending him careening into the mountainside to be buried in a landslide right next to where he had put Yang's body.

Kota yelled out in fright as the gale force winds that resulted from the powerful blow knocked him out into open space, with nothing between him and a seventy-foot drop to the tallest tree beneath him. Before he could fall too far, though, something caught the scruff of his shirt and held him firmly in place, allowing his feet to dangle against the rock face of the cliffside.

"Gotcha," a muffled voice grunted. "Sorry 'bout that." A few seconds later, Kota found himself sitting on solid ground, which allowed him to turn around and see Izuku, panting tiredly with his shirt torn to ribbons.

"Thank you," Kota began. "I'm sorry I-" He let out a gasp as he beheld the older boy's right arm, which had turned an ugly purple from his shoulder all the way down to his fingertips. "Y-Your arm!"

"I know, but it couldn't be helped," Midoriya answered as he looked back at the rubble piles. "I had to leave my legs unbroken so that we could get back to camp, hopefully fast enough to avoid any other villains. Hop on my back so we can-"

The sound of shifting rubble and a pained grunt cut him off, and caused both boys to seize up in fear when they realized that Muscular was the one pulling himself out of the rocks. "Wow," he chuckled as he reached into his right pocket. "I didn't expect that out of a kid. I gotta say, you got me more fired up than anyone has in a while- probably not since those Water Hose losers! So now I'm gonna crush you, and spray your blood all over these rocks! It'll be one hell of a painting!" He roared with laughter as he reached up and put something on his left socket- a new artificial eye, this one deep red in color, like blood that's been left to dry for a night.

"Stay back!" Deku shouted, instantly powering his arm back up to full charge, not caring that such an act might completely obliterate his limb. All that mattered was keeping his promise to Kota- making sure that he would be safe, no matter the cost.

"Nah, I think I'm gonna start the bloodshed for real, now!" Muscular's entire body began to swell in size as his muscle fibers tore and rebuilt themselves outside of his skin, enhancing his strength enough that a flicker of doubt began to take hold in Deku's mind. "Showtime, kids! Let's see… your BLOOD!"

With a rush of wind, he was upon Midoriya, his fist coming down for a blow that would reduce the boy to paste if it connected. Muscular let out a shout of ecstasy that mingled with Kota's scream of terror into one, terrible noise.

Before either Deku or Muscular's blows could land, however, a new element was reintroduced to the picture. "Ultimate Move: SUN DRAGON FIST!" A girl's voice entered the scene, followed by an explosion of white-yellow energy that heralded Yang's interference, as the bloodied- but still very much alive- girl shot out of the rubble that had buried her and delivered a vicious uppercut to Muscular's jaw that punched through the swollen muscles and broke the bone, launching him skyward at a high velocity.

"Xiao Long?!" Deku gasped as he let his power fade away, Muscular's body continuing to climb even now. "You're not-?!"

"He hit a lot harder than I thought he would," the blond girl admitted as she clutched at her midriff, where a black-and-blue bruise was growing. "Too bad for him, I hit harder."

"That looks bad," Midoriya said worriedly as he gazed at her toned stomach. "You've probably got internal bleeding, and there's definitely some broken bones." Somewhere in the forest, a resounding crash announced the end of Muscular's journey. From the sound of things, even that brute wouldn't be getting up for a while.

"You'd know, huh?" Yang grunted as she pointed at his arm. Before he could make an excuse, she said, "Never mind. Right now, you need to get the kid back to camp. You can move faster without me, and he's the priority. Send some help this way, and I'll start making my way on my own, got it?" As she spoke, Kota kept switching his gaze between the two of them, his eyes filled with tears that he could not explain.

"Are you sure?" Midoriya asked her doubtfully. "I don't wanna leave you in your condition."

"Look, you're gonna get help faster for both of us if you move without me," Yang said as she sat down and leaned her back against a large rock that had been knocked out of the mountainside earlier in the fight. "I'll stay here, if that makes you feel better. That way the teachers know exactly where to find me."

"…Alright," Midoriya finally agreed, crouching in front of Kota as he did. "Get on, now. We gotta get her some help."

"O-Okay," Kota sniffled as he clambered onto the older boy's back, trying not to hurt his arms any more than they already were. "I'm sorry I caused you guys trouble."

"Don't worry about it, kid," Yang said with a tired grin. "Go with Midoriya- he'll take good care of you."

"Come on," Deku grunted as lightning illuminated his body. "We'll be back with help, I promise."

"Midoriya," Yang said before he could leave. "Remember to tell the teachers what the villains are really after."

"I won't forget," he promised. "Stay strong, Xiao Long. I'll be back soon!" With a burst of wind and lightning, he darted off into the night, leaving the blond girl alone on the mountaintop.

"I hope you're good for that, Midoriya," she coughed painfully as blood dribbled out of the corner of her mouth. "Cos if you're not, I'm pretty sure Dad's gonna kill all of your teachers when he finds out that I didn't make it." Her eyes slowly drooped closed, which in turn allowed her to pass out of awareness.

A/N: Trigger warning for disturbing themes (including cannibalism) and graphic violence. If this makes you uncomfortable, please message me, and I will be happy to give you a written summary of the events leading up to the conclusion of this chapter so that you may continue on to the next installment upon its release.

Kurai let out a string of curses that would have gotten him killed by his mother as Todoroki erected an ice wall between them and their enemy. The other students were looking askance at him, he was sure. Certainly, he uttered some colorful language every now and again, but the oaths he had just used would have impressed a sailor.

"And I thought Bakugo had the record for foulest mouth in your class," Blake commented.

"Shut up!" he snarled, his head pounding like a drum that worsened with every second that passed. "This is some grade-A shit we've gotten ourselves into!"

"Someone wanna tell me what the hell is going on?!" Bakugo shouted at no one in particular. "Why're there villains here, and why's Saiyaman freaking out about it?!"

Kurai's group had run into Todoroki and Bakugo- the former of which was carrying an unconscious student from class B- shortly before they were attacked by a villain; one that Shoji claimed was the person responsible for severing his hand. Since Kurai couldn't see, he asked for a description of what the others were witnessing, even as Blake moved to get out of the line of fire. As soon as they told him that their opponent was a man dressed in a shroud, save for his mouth, which spat out blades upon blades, the young man began to sound like Bakugo on a bad day.

"That guy is called Moonfish!" Kurai shouted as cracks began to form in the ice, while the villain on the other side let out a ghoulish scream. "He's a serial killer that's supposed to be on death row with zero chances of parole! The judges denied every appeal that he came up with!"

As more cracks resounded throughout the night, Tokoyami took the time to ask, "How do you know this man?"

"My dad didn't make the arrest, but he worked on enough cases related to this nutjob that I know we should all be very, very scared of him!" Kurai hissed as the icy barrier began to break apart. "Todoroki, don't let him anywhere near us!"

"Wasn't planning on it." The instant the frozen wall broke apart, Todoroki created another one, though this one was noticeably weaker than the first. "He's persistent."

"Stop…! Hiding!" the deranged Moonfish wheezed, sounding as though his mouth and windpipe were filled with liquid of some kind. "Beautiful flesh! It's mine! It belongs…! To me!"

"What does he do to the people he kills?" Blake asked as they began to spread throughout the trees in an attempt to hide themselves from the crazed villain as he used his blade-teeth to continue cutting at their defenses.

"His MO?" Kurai growled as she forced him down behind a tree trunk. "He eats his victims, sometimes alive."

"Oh my-!" Blake sounded like she wanted to be sick, and even Bakugo was being surprisingly quiet after hearing that bit of news.

"Yeah, and that includes pro heroes, one of whom was formerly ranked number seventeen!" the blinded boy added angrily. "Much as I hate going against the teacher's orders, there is no choice here. We don't fight this bastard, we will die, that I can guarantee."

"Now that's something I can get behind," Bakugo grinned as he readied his quirk for battle. "Who knew that Saiyaman had it in him to break the rules?"

"This is gonna be self-defense, plain and simple," Kurai warned the others, even as Todoroki went to work creating another ice wall in order to buy them some more time, much to the frustration of their pursuer. "We're allowed to use our quirks to protect ourselves in situations like this, even without adult supervision."

"I'm less worried about what the teachers will say than I am about getting eaten by a homicidal maniac!" Blake hissed at him.

"Hey, I'm scared, and my brain goes either comedian or legalistic when I am," Kurai shot back. "Sorry, this part comes from being raised by a cop. You get scared, start telling yourself what you know out loud, so you don't freeze up!"

"We don't have time for this," Shoji grunted as the newest ice barrier began to crumble. "He's coming."

"I'm hitting my limit for what I can do with my ice, and I can't risk setting something on fire," Todoroki warned them. "Bakugo, you need to be careful, too. A big explosion could blind us."

"Don't give me orders, Icy-Hot!"

Something clicked in Kurai's migraine-addled head, and he sat up straight. "Dude, that's it!" he exclaimed. "Bakugo, make a big blast, I don't care which way!"

"He'll set fire-!"

"Everyone else close your eyes, and let me handle Moonfish!" he interrupted Todoroki as he concentrated past the stabbing pain in his skull, willing his power to tell him what his eyes temporarily could not. "I don't have energy to spare!"

Come on, body… he growled internally. I know I'm at my limit, but that can't stop me right now! …Come ON! Go beyond!

His forehead flickered with light, and his hair began to shift colors as he forced his body through the pain, allowing himself to see in every direction, past the trees and the ice wall that was soon to crumble. It allowed him to see Bakugo moving out from behind the tree that he had ducked behind, his palms facing each other in front of his chest as he drew in a deep breath. He could see Moonfish, ravenously tearing apart the frozen obstacle that kept him from his prey, practically drooling in anticipation of his favorite meal.

"Attention all students!" Mandalay's voice cut into the proceedings, startling both parties enough to delay the standoff for a moment longer. "By the authority of the hero Eraserhead, you are hereby granted permission to fight back! Defend yourselves and return to camp as soon as possible! Ragdoll, if you can hear me, go help Eraser with a student on the rise two clicks east of camp, they may be seriously wounded! To the student named 'Kacchan', stay away from the villains- they're after you!"

Realizing that this might be their best chance, Kurai leaped out of his hiding place and shouted, "Bakugo, NOW!"

"Don't give me orders!" the blond shouted back as he pivoted on his heel. "Go to HELL!" His scream was accompanied by a burst of light comparable to military-grade flash bombs that blinded everyone in the vicinity, even those that had shut their eyes against what was to come- and one very surprised villain that had suspended himself in the air by using his deadly metallic fangs.

"Light!" he wheezed as his teeth began to thrash about wildly, desperate to cut and tear into the students that he had been pursuing. "Too bright! Need to see…! Flesh! My pretty, wriggling meat! It's… MINE!"

"You have so got to die," Kurai growled before firing an energon blast that smashed into Moonfish's face, stunning him momentarily- but not knocking him out like he had planned. "Oh… crap." As the last vestiges of his power faded away, he found himself standing alone in the dark, armed with nothing but his senses of sound, smell, and touch.

"Did you get him?" Blake called out from where she was still hiding.

"No," Kurai answered flatly, straining his ears to try and get a sense for what was happening around him. "I hit him, but I'm out of power, and now I'm a sitting duck."

"I can smell it nearby…" Moonfish wheezed, sounding like he was getting closer. "My… beautiful FLESH! Give it to me!"

"Get out of there!" Shoji shouted. "He's coming at you!"

He must have changed some of his hands into eyes after Bakugo's attack so he could see, Kurai realized as he took a hesitant step that led to him snagging on a root and crashing into the dirt, bruising his ribs, a shin, and a very unfortunate place that made him want to curse violently again.

"Bakugo!" Shoji's voice rang through the trees once more, and Kurai had sinking feeling in his gut at the tone. "He's coming for you, not Hikari!"

"Huh?!"

"Yes!" Moonfish wheezed as he continued to move through the brush. "You, I must take! But no… No… No, no, no… It's supposed to be mine, all mine! I can feast! On all of them! YES!"

Wait, Mandalay said that they were after Bakugo! Kurai realized. In all the craziness of the moment, he hadn't paid much attention to what the woman had actually said, only that it had distracted Moonfish enough for them to attack. He's a sitting duck now, and you're completely out of power! Great plan, Hikari!

"Son, when you think you're done, always give it one more push." His father's words came back to him, then. "And if you really were done, that's that. But don't ever let yourself wonder if you could have made that final effort, when it seemed like your goal was just out of reach."

But I am done, he thought tiredly as he gathered up his legs underneath him, even as he heard an explosion to his right. I'm blind, my strength is gone, and I couldn't put out enough energy to power a lamp, much less take this guy out.

"Don't ever allow hindsight to disappoint you." He could almost feel his father's hand on his shoulder, lifting him up, encouraging him to give more than he had. "If you run out of endurance today, just borrow some from tomorrow."

His feet were steady beneath him, and he could feel the heat from one of Bakugo's blasts, which he seemed to be generating at random, trying to fight off an enemy that he could not see. But Kurai could hear Moonfish- his ragged breaths in between the blond boy's attacks, the sound of old wood as it was torn apart by something metallic, and the ice chunks that broke under the force of the villain's massive fangs.

Okay, Dad.

Kurai's legs bunched up underneath him as energon surged into them, allowing him to shoot forward at the speed of a bullet from a rifle, but not at Moonfish. No, his target was at the center of all the fire and sound, and he flung his right arm out at the last second to catch Bakugo in the chest and push him out of the way of a jagged tooth-blade. At the same instant, Kurai unleashed a beam of raw energy in the direction that the tooth had come from, smashing into Moonfish's torso, and blasting him into a thick tree, which then promptly exploded. The villain was unconscious instantly, many of his fearsome incisors torn out by the roots by the force of the blast, never to be used again.

Kurai crashed into a tree as Bakugo went rolling away, sputtering angrily. The blinded boy hissed sharply as his right arm throbbed with pain from the point of contact with the large trunk that had stopped him from hitting the ground again. "Jeez, not being able to see blows," he growled as his headache intensified. "On the other hand, I can't believe that actually-"

"Hikari!" Blake shouted hoarsely as she ran up to him. "You-! You-!"

"Yeah, yeah, that was dumb," he said as he waved his left hand dismissively, his right arm hurting too much to move at the moment. "It wasn't premediated, I just-"

"Hikari, you need to sit down, right now!" Shoji ordered as he approached, something like panic in his voice. "Right now!" The second utterance was followed by Kurai being forced to sit, much to his irritation.

"Hey, what gives?!" he demanded, his head swimming from the pain now. "Don't do that, I might actually hurl."

"Hikari, how do you not feel that?" Todoroki asked breathlessly. The alarm in his voice really got Kurai's attention, so he tried to look for his friend, but still could not see anything in the gloom that had veiled his eyes.

He heard another set of footsteps approaching before the owner recoiled with alarm. "Lady Luck and gods have mercy," Tokoyami gasped.

"What exactly am I supposed to feel?" Kurai asked as he shrugged, wincing at the pain in his arm. "I guess I hit that tree with my arm harder than I thought I-"

"That's the freakin' point, Hikari." Bakugo's voice, contained in those five words stopped Kurai dead in place, forget the fact that he sounded legitimately frightened for once in his life.

He never calls anyone by their name, except for Kirishima and Uraraka.

"Guys…?" Kurai asked in a quavering voice as he began to feel something wet drenching his right side, starting at his pectoral muscles, and trickling steadily down his ribs. "What's wrong with my arm?"

"Hikari-"

"Todoroki," Kurai grunted as he blindly reached out with his left had to grab his friend's shoulder like a vice, panic filling his voice as his body began to grow cold, and his head swam like a child drowning in the ocean. "What's wrong with my arm? Why can't I move it?"

Even as he asked the question, his mind flashed back to the second that he had blasted Moonfish and moved Bakugo out of harm's way. He remembered feeling his hand connect with Bakugo's chest, and then nothing from that arm but pain… and a sound.

The sound of something heavy hitting the forest floor.

Back at the camp, Mina suddenly shivered, goosebumps breaking out on her skin as she rubbed her arms to try and warm back up. Kirishima saw this, and moved away from where he had been talking with Iida in order to approach her.

"Hey," he said with a concerned frown as he sat next to her. "You okay?"

"I… I dunno," she replied as she placed a hand over her heart, almost unconsciously. "I've never felt like this before, but…" She hesitated, unsure if what she was going to say was foolish or not.

"But what?" her friend prompted gently.

She looked him in the eye and whispered, "Kirishima… I feel like someone just walked on my grave."

"Why can't I move my arm, Todoroki?"

"Hikari…" the heterochromic boy answered in a scared voice. "I'm sorry. You don't… have an arm there. Not anymore."

"Oh g-" Kurai choked out. "Oh God…" His stomach spasmed, and he was violently sick all over himself and others. Before any of them could even recoil with involuntary disgust, a loud, piercing scream of raw, animal agony erupted from Kurai's lungs, carrying for miles throughout the forest.

Deku: Oh... Oh man...

Mataras: Yeah... In spite of me looking forward to getting to this part of the story, believe me when I say I took no joy in doing that to Kurai. He definitely didn't deserve it.

Kai: Then what the hell gives, dude?! You could kill me with that!

Mataras: ...

Kai: Oh nuts, you're thinking about killing me off right now, aren't you?

Mataras: It's crossed my mind, yes. And before anyone says I'm exaggerating the extent of his injury, allow me to elaborate that as I'm writing this story, I'm consistently consulting with three different medical professionals regarding the types of injuries that human beings can and cannot survive, and one of them is also a My Hero Academia fan. All three have assured me that it is more than likely for someone who has sustained Kurai's injuries to die without swift medical attention- something that you guys are several hours away from receiving under the best of circumstances.

Deku: Which these are not...

Kai: Kinda early to be killing off your main character, isn't it?!

Deku: He did say that he plans to continue the story past your death...

Kai: Oh, damn.

Mataras: Nothing is set in stone until it's in the past. The future is forever in motion.

Kai: Don't quote Star Wars at me, asshat!

Mataras: Hey! That's a lot of hostility I'm picking up on- and it's unappreciated.

Deku: Well, honestly, can you be mad at him? You cut off his arm!

Mataras: I didn't do anything. Moonfish, on the other hand, kinda... ate your arm.

Kai: That's worse!

Mataras: I'm sorry! Really, I am!

Kai: ...Damn, he never apologizes for anything. Is he being sincere?

Deku: I think he is.

Kai: I don't know what to do with that!

Mataras: I wish I could tell you that I'll make it up to you, but... Seriously, you're one of my favorite characters that I've ever made, original story or otherwise. If I had done this to pretty much any of my other characters, I don't think it would have bothered me so much. But... You're a hero, mate. And heroes deserve better.

Kai: But heroes don't always get happy endings, do they?

Mataras: Unfortunately not.

Kai: Damn, even after Akarui worked so hard and sacrificed so much for me?

Mataras: Don't you worry- he has a part to play in what follows.

Deku: Wait, is he gonna replace Hikari as the main character?!

Mataras: Would you look at that, we're out of time!

Kai: Every time! Every frickin' time! Gah!

Mataras: Next time- Jaws of the Forest

Kai: Go Beyond!

Deku: Plus Ultra!

Next time on Your Hero Academia: Survival...

"I'd stay right where you are, if I were all of you," another new voice said as slender shadow began to emerge from the tree line. "If you value the life of your wounded comrade as much as a hero should, you'll do well to allow Mister Compress to escape."

"Wounded comrade?" Tokoyami repeated as his shadow withdrew into his body. "What is she-?"

"Guys, where's Hikari?!" Shoji asked as he looked down at his empty hands. "He was just right here!"

"Eh?!"

"Oh, children?" the shadowy figure said as they came to stand in the moonlight. She turned out to be a young woman, probably in her early twenties, with long black hair that veiled most of her face, allowing only a single amber eye to look at them with a strange intensity. As she stepped into plain view, she held up a black-gloved hand to display a small marble, identical to the ones that Compress had been showing off earlier. "I believe this is what you're looking for."

"Dammit!" Todoroki swore as he and the others prepared for combat, knowing that if they didn't resolve this quickly, they would lose any chances at rescuing Bakugo from the other villain.

"Ah-ah," the woman said with a slow shake of her head before she waved her free hand and engulfed an adjacent tree in flames. By the time the young heroes realized that she was the one who had driven back Dark Shadow, the tree had been reduced to a pile of embers that their new enemy then extinguished. "I promise not to do the same to your friend if you stay where you are and behave. Move to attack me, and you'll lose both of your friends."