I own nothing. May contain Out of Character moments. Warning, this chapter contains a sexual assault scene. And while it is brief and is stopped before things go too far, that shouldn't downplay the severity of the issue. More of my thoughts at the end of this chapter.


"Fenghuang speaking. Ah, Master Eclipse, how goes patrolling on your end?"

Currently, Mineta and his teacher just finished purchasing a mid patrol snack, some Swedish street food called Tunnbrödsrulle. It was essentially a grilled hot dog in flatbread with mashed potatoes, shrimp and mayo salad, onions, lettuce, ketchup, and mustard as condiments. The shorter boy took a big bite out of his as he listened to Fenghuang speak into her phone.

"I see, sounds like trouble. Intervene if an opportunity presents itself. If not, we'll be at your location shortly to support." She said before hanging up. His teacher had this slightly hardened look on her face and Mineta knew they were about to get into trouble. So wrapping up his snack and placing it in the small plastic bag it came in… He decided to ask for it.

"So… Villains?"

"Not yet at least, didn't use their Quirks. However, they are a volatile sort in the middle of making a grave mistake. We're going to a vacant business building just a few blocks from here. Let's stop them before they bloom into true criminals." Fenghuang said before going into a run. Mineta quickly followed suit, chasing the flow of his master's feather cloak. And while his mind was focused on that, since he didn't want to lose his teacher. The shorter boy noticed something.

"I'm… Actually keeping up with someone?" Mineta thought. Normally, at a full sprint, he would slowly lose ground. This was mostly because of his shorter legs, causing him to spend more energy to catch up. But now, he could keep up with a strangely fast 48 year old. Granted that wasn't a good indicator. Perhaps Mineta should file the thought away to test it another day.

But it certainly feels good not to be left behind.

Soon enough, they've arrived at their destination. And already could Mineta hear something going on at the highest floor, but just barely. He felt a pit forming in his stomach, memories going back to the USJ attack. He even found himself reflexively going for the baton at his hip. This action actually calmed Mineta's heart a bit. It was as if the weapon had offered some of its steely resolve to him.

"Grape Shot, we don't know what will happen in there. So I'm giving you my permission to use your abilities and training as you see fit. You may be a student… But before danger, you are a Hero. Remember that." Fenghuang said, her shoulders squared and her back straight.

"Yes Shifu, I'll do my best." Mineta said, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"Don't forget, Master Eclipse is also here. Shout 'waning' if things look particularly hairy. But based on his information, the situation shouldn't go that far. Let's go." She added before opening the door, footsteps silent. Mineta followed, keeping his stride just as light. The two of them slowly snuck around the first floor, with Fenghuang keeping all her senses open. It was a level of focus that reminded the shorter boy of Aizawa. Was this what it's like to prowl for Villains?

"Stop, someone by the stairs." She said, holding her hand out to Mineta. The shorter boy slowly walked around his teacher's legs and peered around the corner. And sure enough, there was a high school student loitering around. He looked older than any of Mineta's classmates, so Mineta reasoned the guy was a third year. And judging by his piercings, rough features, and body language, he was a delinquent. A thug.

"Looks like this is the place, allow me to show you how to draw a guard out." Fenghuang said. She then gestured for Mineta to go into a nearby door. He quickly did so, keeping it slightly open for her to follow him.

Fenghuang first removed a wallet from her hip pouch and laid it on the ground. She then hit the ground with her staff, letting out a resounding thud. She then stealthily made for the door Mineta was hiding behind. And in a surprising move, closed it shut.

"How will we know he's even there if we can't see?" Mineta whispered.

"To defeat your enemy, one must know how they think. Our foe is a thug; do you think he'll ignore the money I've left out?" She asked, holding up something between her fingers. Squinting, the shorter boy was able to make out a length of transparent thread. Mineta began nodding to that and waited for it to move. Soon enough, it did. That thug really was interacting with her wallet.

The shorter boy was about to move into action, until Fenghuang stopped him. "Prey is at their most vulnerable when they think they're safe. See?"

The thread began to uncoil, slowly getting shorter and shorter. The guy definitely took the bait and was walking the other way. Otherwise the thing wouldn't be doing that. The Heroine then carefully opened the door and snuck out. Mineta followed, watching his teacher from behind as she came up to the thug's back. Fenghuang then raised her staff slowly before bringing it down abruptly. A soft 'thwack' was heard when the length of wood met skull. But despite how light strike seemed, the thug came tumbling down.

Mineta walked closer as his master retrieved the wallet again. He inspected the thug and found him peacefully snoring against the dusty floor. In fact, there wasn't even a mark where Fenghuang had struck. It was like the guy just fell asleep mid walk.

"Use your Quirk to bind him so we can safely move forward." She instructed, gesturing to the thug's hands and feet. Mineta nodded before adhering the guy's limbs to the floor. With that, the two moved onwards through the stairway. As they climbed up, they encountered no further persons that could bar their path. But something did unsettle Mineta with each step closer to their destination.

The noise from the top floor started to reach his ears. Based on what was said, Mineta could tell it was a losing struggle with a girl going against several guys. And that stirred an unnatural sensation within his gut.

"Know your place; you girls are only good for one thing."

An unruly laughter mixed with lecherous whistling shot through Mineta. It made that sensation he felt crawl around even further. But despite how unnerving it was… There was something tempting about it. Like wandering towards a flame, Mineta shouldn't get close… And yet he couldn't stop himself from yearning for it.

"Quit struggling!"

The shorter boy's very being stirred a little more upon hearing a loud punch. He then could hear what must be the boss thug's laughter. And what the guy said next guided Mineta's imagination towards more deviant thoughts.

"Finally… Keep her down, she's mine."

The mocking laughter that overwhelmed the despairing cries silenced his heart. Mineta finally understood what made him feel the way he did. The perverse side of his mind was whispering to him. It gently massaged his brain with lust laced fingers. It wanted him to listen a little more, allow it to play out for a little longer.

It sought to play the Villain before playing the Hero.

It was a demented idea, one he'd bury like the others. But no matter how much he forced it down, how hard he pulled the plug, it kept surfacing to poison him. A leech that refuses to let go.

"Young Mineta, focus on me."

Like the sun rising over the horizon, the darkness retreated from Mineta's mind. The path forward revealed itself as his eyes focused on reality again. And the first sight he saw was Fenghuang, charging into a room with 11 thugs and 2 girls inside. But she wasn't fazed; her strong and reliable back proved that. Just like the Hero Mineta admires.

Fenghuang began whirling her staff around, the feathered cloak on her shoulders flying off. The Thugs, only now realizing there was a new foe, were immediately struck in a beautiful arc of white. All 11 were sent reeling back, with some straight up bowling over onto the ground. Two were knocked out right away.

They were the lucky ones.

"I'm only offering this to you once. Surrender or I will be forced to correct your mistakes." Fenghuang said as she nestled her staff in her underarm. Mineta flinched at her words. Not because of what she said, but how she said it. If Midoriya had a lion hidden within him, then she had a phoenix. And it was raging.

"Oh fuck, it's The Radiant Wing! What do we do!?" One of the thugs screamed, clear terror in his voice.

"There's nine of us and only one of her! Charge her!" The boss shouted. One of them did so, clearly not knowing what he was doing as his fingers became needles. Fenghuang whirled her staff around, motion almost invisible had it not been for its colors. The charging thug's feet was swept from beneath him and he crashed onto the ground. She then slammed her staff on the guy's solar plexus, knocking the air out of him.

Fenghuang returned to form as the downed thug couldn't even stand again. "Foolish choice, now face your punishment."

The biggest thug activated his Quirk, lengths of chain rain down his arm and he began wildly whipping it towards her. The Heroine's staff began spinning again, deflecting the all attacks with ease. Those stray chain strikes flew all around, hitting the other thugs all over. Three were hit right in the groin, going down and stayed on the floor.

One thug tried to attack Fenghunag from behind. She simply stepped aside, letting him pass right by… And straight into another chain, hitting him straight in the nose. The Heroine then smacked the thug in the back of his head, causing him to slump over.

The chain thug charged in, this time with chain wrapping his forearms. It still didn't stop him from swinging them around like an idiot. She dodged the first before stopped the second with a little more effort. Fenghuang then moved under his arm while keeping her staff on the other side. She turned towards his back, faster than the shoulder could move.

A sickening pop echoed through the space as the chain thug collapsed screaming. Fenghuang silently glared at two of the remaining three thugs. They immediately booked it, the fear clearly apparent on their pants.

Mineta snapped out of being an observer as the fleeing thugs approached the door. He quickly grabbed the balls on his head and focused. Their panicked pace were actually easier to trace than a calm one. This was mostly because of what his teacher said earlier. To defeat your enemy, one must know how they think.

And when a coward runs, their stride is as fast and as far as they could make it.

The shorter boy threw his hairballs, landing at where the two's next step would be. And immediately after, they stepped on it, got stuck, and fell face first into the floor.

With those two dealt with, Mineta looked up back at his teacher. Only to see the situation escalate as the last thug, who was definitely the leader, was holding a gun to one of the girl's head. Fenghuang relaxed her form but kept her staff at the ready. Not a word was spoken between any one, letting the pained groans of the other thugs fill the air.

"I'm going to walk away… If you or that midget of a sidekick follows, I'll fucking blow her brains out." The boss thug threatened, jamming the gun harder into the girl's temple. The girl's eyes shrunk as she kept still, not even daring to breathe. The other girl, bloody and with clothes partially torn, weakly reached out to her. And Mineta could hear his heartbeat thrashing within his chest.

"You have witnesses who've seen your face. And I doubt you have the resources or connections to cleanly get away." Fenghuang said calmly, almost in a taunting manner. Mineta's heart stopped, what was his teacher doing? And then his eyes caught a shimmering shape to the left of the boss thug.

Oh…

"Not after I put one of these in you." The thug said. As he aimed the gun, things played in slow motion for Mineta. The gun was pulled in one direction, away from anyone. At the same time a force rotated the thug's wrist to an unnatural angle. A look of pain flashed through his face as the gun was pulled away. It then hovered there, aimed directly at the thug.

"Kidnapping, sexual assault, brandishing your Quirks, attacking a Pro Hero, AND illegal possession of an unmarked firearm… You sure like to test your luck." A voice said. The shimmering shape became more and more visible, revealing a man who wore a long cloak and a bamboo hat draped with cloth, both inky black in color.

"Excellent timing Master Eclipse, we were in quite the predicament." Fenghuang said with a smile.

"It is what you taught us Shifu. Enemies are at their most vulnerable when they think they're safe." Eclipse answered, voice giving no sense of his emotion.

"I still have a hostage! I'll break her neck! I'll kill her." The thug shouted, locking the girl's head with his arms. The cloaked man turned back to him, glaring. And Mineta could tell, even though he wasn't the target, Eclipse had the coldest and most contemptuous eyes anyone could bear. It was like Todoroki's and Bakugou's glares combined together and multiplied by a hundred. Or even a thousand.

"You won't, I'll make sure of that." He said, finger resting on the gun's trigger.

"Y-You wouldn't…"

"Do I look like All Might to you?"

Mineta swallowed the lump as the boss thug stared down the barrel of his own gun. The shorter boy could even see the cold sweat running down his teacher's face. How was this any better than the other situation? If anything, this is a whole lot worse. What kind of Hero threatens to shoot someone at point blank!?

At least Snipe gives warning shots.

But luckily, the thug boss let the girl go and got on his knees. He then put his hands up, clearly shaking.

"Grape Shot, restrain them for the police. But be wary, the mission isn't over until we're back at the temple." Fenghuang instructed, gesturing to the thugs who were barely moving. Mineta nodded as he quickly stepped into the room. He first went to the boss thug, who would most likely try to get away. But as he stuck the hair ball to him, he didn't resist and continued to sit in quivering silence.

Eclipse pulled the slide back on the gun and removed the magazine. He then tossed the latter to Fenghuang as he pocketed the former. From here, as Mineta continued to stick the thugs to the floor, the two Pros began to aid the two girls. Both of the Heroes offered their cloaks to them as well as comforting words. All the terror and pain was finally over.

But despite this, Mineta could still feel a weight crushing him. The screams and cries from before had left marks on his mind. It honestly made him question his worthiness as a Hero again. But not because he felt particularly weak or useless, he felt stronger than ever before. Rather, it was his other half that made him doubt.

He was a degenerate standing before the long slippery slope called lust. And while Midoriya had held Mineta back from jumping it… The shorter boy knew it couldn't be long before he truly messes up. The incident at the Sports Festival was just the beginning of what he was capable of.

He was a potential threat, a predator in a rusted cage. And he hungers for the pleasures of the dark side.


And that has been Chapter 42...

This wasn't an easy sort of thing to write. I had to draft this chapter several times before now, figuring how to traverse this minefield. But while I managed to get to where I am, I don't think I was anywhere close to being as tactful as I wanted to be. However, this was something I needed for Mineta's development.

Because Mineta's perversion is inherently part of his character, he tends to act out, consciously or otherwise, in order to satiate his lust. And while he ultimately dislikes this part of himself, that hasn't stopped him from having perverse thoughts about women. So to have him grow from this to try and find a healthier means to process that lust would require a big shock.

This is that big shock.

Again, there could've been a more tactful approach... But often a person's character is often found in the dark and the only true way to test one's self.

But what do you think of all this? I'll understand if you're upset by this sudden jump into dangerous waters. So please, lay it into me. Strike me with your criticisms and I shall happily accept them. It is my punishment for leading us down this road in the first place. I await your response...

Until Next Time. T1.