"Madame Grape?" It was Izuku's voice.
She sat up, holding her chest again. She moved her hand. "Izuku...What are you doing here?"
"Oh my gosh, Madame Grape, are you okay?!"
"Of course I'm alright. I had a bit of a fight last night, but I wasn't injured." She winched. "Or...maybe I was."
She looked at her glove, which now had blood stains on it. She checked her jacket. Blood stained a large spot on her jacket where Siren had shot her last night. She touched her hand. Blood was still flowing out of that wound, the one caused by the officer.
"What..." She looked at Izuku. "You. Tell me what this is."
"Oh sh*t!" Ochaco covered her mouth. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that! Madame Grape, you're bleeding! What happened?"
"Bleeding? Is that what this is?"
Izuku and Ochaco looked worried.
"Is it a bad thing? I'm assuming it's a bad thing from your concerned faces."
"How do you..." Izuku started. "Have you never gotten cut before? Like, a papercut? Or a...well, you don't really have a nose to say. I mean, you do, but...This is turning out so weird."
"I've gotten cut before." She touched the back of her right hand. "And this happened then too. But now I have a name for it."
The Officer from last night walked up to the cell. "Nice to see you're awake, Madame Grape."
"Rodger, was it?"
"Uh...yeah. Listen, you should get some rest. I feel bad about what happened last night. I could tell you were scared and you didn't mean to shoot him, and Siren getting involved was probably why you were so on-edge."
"Siren?" Tsu asked. "You mean the villainess who kept trying to flirt with Shi?"
"Of course she was involved," Izuku said angrily. "She doesn't know how to keep her nose out of other people's business."
"Siren...She shot me." She touched the wound on her body, winching. "Aah!"
"Madame Grape, don't touch it!" Rodger exclaimed rather loudly. "You need to let it heal on its own. We tried to wrap your injuries last night after I tasered you, but you kept thrashing around and made it impossible to work on. I assumed that you'll be able to heal it fully on your own if you didn't want us touching them."
"But...what does this mean?" She looked at the blood on her gloves again. "Besides that I need to make some new gloves."
"Thankfully, the injuries weren't too bad. They didn't cut all the way through your body. We had to take th bullets out though, but you were still making that impossible. If you'd be more willing to cooperate today, we can get them out of your hand and body so you can heal properly and fully."
Izuku spoke again. "Well, the blood means you got hurt really badly. That's the only way I can really explain it. Usually people already know this stuff automatically..."
"But I have gotten hurt badly. My body was even destroyed before. And this never happened before. I wonder if this is because my Darkle is blocked in here? And it can't leak out as Darkle because I can't use it? I know it was Darkle last night..." She touched the injury on her hand by accident. "Aah! I need to stop doing that!"
Rodger rubbed his neck. "Madame Grape, we need to treat your injuries before they get worse. Could you come over here please?"
She got out of bed, listening to their conversation as she prepared to leave.
Ochaco spoke first. "Where's the Police Chief? Did something happen? Is he just doing something right now?"
"He was shot last night. Madame Grape was frightened and she had a gun that I can only assume she took from Siren after she'd taken it from the officer. Unfortunately, Madame Grape had excellent aim, and he died. I was put in charge for now, since I was actually able to calm her down last night, but it probably won't last long."
"Oh, that's so sad!"
"Yeah. I just wish we could find out why Madame Grape was so terrified last night. Siren obviously had something to do with it, but the security footage is still downloading so we can't see what went on yet. It should be ready later in the day. Luckily, you don't need to talk to her today. We need to get those bullets out and then she needs to heal."
She watched whoever talked, waiting for them to either notice her or finish the conversation. Thankfully, it ended there, and Rodger held up the handcuffs again.
"Excuse me! Why do you have those? I thought you were the nice one! I'd actually started to like you!"
"Madame Grape, we barely know anything about your Quirk, and it seems dangerously strong as well. We need these in order to keep all of the officers safe. Especially since you threw a fit every time we tried to help you..."
"I don't need help. I can do this myself."
"Madame Grape," Tsu said, "those are inside of you. You can't take the bullets out on your own, ribbit. It's impossible."
"Froppy makes a point," Rodger said.
"Perhaps it's the name. Rodger. My Sour Bunch with that name acts just like you. Maybe that's why I feel I can trust you. I don't care, do what you must. I'm nothing more than a plaything anyways..."
"O-okay...You keep creeping me out, and your Sour Bunch too."
He opened the door and she held out her hands. The heroes prepared to fight, but she didn't try anything. She just accepted the cuffs and started following Rodger.
"This is weird, even for Madame Grape," Ochaco whispered. "I wonder what's wrong."
"I'd bet Siren had something to do with it," Izuku whispered back. "She called herself a 'plaything,' and as far as Shi told me, Siren calls people she 'flirts' with that all the time. But the question, why would Siren target Madame Grape specifically? She normally doesn't go for girls."
"The only reason I can think is that maybe she wanted to use her for something. With so little knowledge of Madame Grape's Quirk, she'll probably have villains targeting her to either take her out or try and work with her to become the new number one villain."
"And that might also be part of the fact she's currently the most dangerous villain right now," Tsu added. "Especially since we practically know nothing about her Quirk. Dimentio knows things, right, ribbit?"
Izuku nodded. "Yeah, but the Police Chief didn't want me talking to him. He didn't trust Dimentio, and I can honestly see where he's coming from. It took a bit to trust him too. But I wonder...Maybe Rodger will let Dimentio talk to her? He seems less stern than the last Chief."
"We can ask him," Ochaco suggested.
"Officer Rodger, I have a question."
"Oh? Go ahead. We're almost there. She's not being a pain today, so that's nice."
"We have insider information about Madame Grape, but it comes from a slightly untrustworthy source."
"Who's the person?"
"Remember Dimentio?"
"Oh. You want to try having him talk to her?"
"Yes, actually. I was hoping you might let us do that. Plus, I think he's pretty free now, and he can teleport here whenever. Plus, if they really are related, maybe she might feel more comfortable telling him things. We might get better information that way."
Grape coughed, causing the group to stop. She pulled her hand away from the bottom of her mask, blood dripping from the bottom of it. There was something in her hand.
"I told you I can fix the problem myself." She sounded out of breath, and in pain.
She opened her hand to reveal a blood-covered bullet. There was also black on it, similar to what had come from her mask when Izuku saw her sick that one day. Her hand was shaking lightly, the bullet gently rolling in her palm.
Rodger grabbed it. "Oh, that's not good. Now your face is bleeding too. We need to go faster."
"What are you on about? I told you I am fine, and then I prove it! And you still want to drag me to the medical facility?" She was covering the bottom of her mask with her hand now, and still looked like she was in pain.
"Yes. But we're almost there, so hang on for just a moment." He started off again. "Deku, I think you should let Dimentio talk to her, but we need to be careful. He tricked hundreds, maybe thousands of people. He isn't a fully trustworthy source."
"But he did seem so sure that Madame Grape was his sister," Izuku said. "And he said he would never lie about his family. Oh, I bet if we get in contact with his father, we can see if he's telling the truth then! Dimentio said he was still alive, after all. Is it alright if I call him?"
"Go ahead, I'm not stopping you."
They waited as Rodger explained Grape's condition to the man behind the counter. He started writing stuff down as Rodger came back.
"He'll just be a minute. But I don't want Madame Grape going in there alone. Would one of you two ladies mind going in there with her? I think she'll be more comfortable with a fellow woman with her."
"I really wouldn't," she muttered, but nobody heard her.
Tsu raised her hand. "I can, ribbit. I think I should have a chance to see if I can talk to her."
"Great. Thank you, Froppy."
Rodger brought Grape and Tsu with him to the room when the man called them. Grape felt more uncomfortable than ever, the feeling of the hospital making her uneasy. Tsu could tell how she was feeling.
"Yeah, hospitals can be a bit scary and lonely, ribbit. You should ask Izuku, he used to go into the hospital all the time. He'd shatter his bones into confetti almost every day."
"He sounds careless," Grape said truthfully.
"Well, he developed his Quirk really late, so he wasn't used to it. He didn't know his own limits, and that's what kept breaking his bones, ribbit. I bet you also didn't know your own limits when your Quirk developed. Almost everyone has that point in their life."
"I didn't develop my power, I am it. It would not exist without me, and me without it. Does that make sense, frog?"
"My name's Tsuyu, but everyone calls me Tsu. My hero name is Froppy, if you want to call me that."
"Tsu, such a cute name for a cute girl."
"Oh, how nice..." She got a bit flustered at the compliment. "But you're the pretty one, ribbit. You don't even have a body and you look great."
"Ah." She didn't seem to care for the compliment much.
"Alright, can you sit here please?" The nurse motioned towards the seat.
"It's so unattractive. If you wanted someone to use the seat, you could have at least gotten a good one."
"Don't mind her," Tsu said. "She has a high taste in interior design. You won't be in the seat long."
Grape sighed. "Alright." She sat down on it.
"Okay, the doctor will be in here in a few minutes. We'll see what we can do then. Your name was Grape, right? Aren't you a villainess?"
"Does that revoke me of healing privileges?"
"No, it's just...You're so nice for a villian." The nurse left.
"What's that supposed to mean? Am I not supposed to have manners?" She scoffed. "Just because I'm a dark witch, everyone assumes I'm evil? What have I ever done that was that vile? Besides murdering those people and trying to bring a tragedy to the world of course. But it was only two people! It's not like I attempted genocide or something absurd!"
"I thought the Madame was part of your name," Tsu admitted.
"That's just what my Sour Bunch calls me. It's a sign of respect. I like it when people use the name on me, of course, but I never introduce myself in that manner. It feels too formal for a first meeting. I have been wondering why everyone here is calling me that though..."
"People must think it's your villain name like I did, ribbit."
"Villain name?"
"Pro villains and pro heroes get to have a disguise name. Izuku's name is Deku, and mine is Froppy, for example. People must think Madame Grape is your villain name since that's what your Sour Bunch calls you, ribbit. Also, Sour Bunch is a really cute name for a band of thieves."
"What else was there to choose? The names Elder, Vile, Undercity, and Thieving Bunch have already been taken. You can't use the same name twice. It makes me wonder what my heir would name the Bunchlings next..."
"Heir? So you get to have your kid as the next leader?"
"K-kid?! I would never have a child! They're too much work! All they do is cry and complain! They're messy, disgusting, and have no human decency. But...I do get to choose a Bunchling to take the role as leader when...when it comes time for me to die. I already have one in mind for if I were to get killed in battle. But if I do live to old age, I want to pick the perfect one. I want to make sure the Bunchlings get a better leader than the rest of them. A leader that would actually take them to victory, unlike me..."
"You seem like a great leader."
"How so?"
"For starters, your Sour Bunch jumped straight to protecting you when we first met. And they gave up when you were captured, meaning they trust you to lead them into battle and that when you fall, they fall too."
"Thank you for that, but I still think Attila deserved this role." She grabbed her brooch tightly. "I shouldn't have gotten this role. I'm not ready. I keep failing them. I'll go down in Bunchling history as the worst leader they've ever had. And it was all because Rex wanted to use me. But now that I killed him...I can't pass the role to anyone else. I feel like I stole his dream from him. He was doing the training just so he could become leader one day. And I took that from him. The only thing I could do was make him second-in-command. He's the one with the plans, not me. When I did make a plan of my own, we failed so horribly that I actually fell in battle to Peach, of anyone! But we still keep failing, and it's all my fault. We're loosing money, and we might just loose our home too, if this keeps up. I know my power's a lot stronger now, but it's still not enough. I couldn't best Darethend, I couldn't even beat Peach, so how do I ever hope to become a great leader now?"
"I think you're being too hard on yourself. You should look at the bright side of things. For example, you failed your first few plans, right? Well, now you know what not to do when it comes to being a thief, ribbit. You can learn from it, and get better from there."
"Maybe you're right..."
The doctor entered. "Ah, you must be the patient. I heard you got in a gun fight with another villainess? She was fine, from what I heard, but her arm's broken. How did that even happen?" He was trying to joke to lighten the mood, but that just seemed to make Grape feel worse.
"I snapped her arm because she touched me. And I don't like people touching me."
"Okay, that went wrong really fast. Anyways, you need some bullets removed? Where were you shot again? How could bullets not fully cut through? Unless they shot your mask, which I can see that not being able to make the bullets break through."
"Can you not see the blood stains? I need to make myself new clothes, thanks to her."
He looked at the blood on her jacket. "I wonder if your Quirk saved you from being shot the whole way through. Anyways, the operation might take a while, and you'll be asleep the whole time, so it shouldn't hurt. It might be a bit of a pain if you don't like to be touched, since we'll have to in order to get those bullets out."
Grape coughed into her hand again, revealing a second bullet. This one was only half of the bullet. "Oh, that's not good. Where's the other half?"
"Oh, and she keeps doing that," Tsu said. "And that's probably not healthy either."
"Grape, can you cooperate with us for a minute please? And Froppy, you'll need to leave."
"I get it. I was just the moral support. See you in a bit, ribbit."
Tsu left and rejoined Izuku and Ochaco at the café nearby. They were waiting for Dimentio to pick up the phone call again. He answered as soon as she'd sat down.
"Izuku!" He sounded a lot happier than before. "How have you been? Sorry for taking so long to answer, I'm actually with my father right now!"
"We've been great," Izuku said. "I can't really say the same for Grape though."
"What happened to Grape?"
"Who are you calling, Dimentio?" A voice asked.
"Just a couple of friends from school."
"You went to school?"
"I'm not hopeless, you know." His face lit up again. "But anyways, why are you calling so soon?"
"Actually, we wanted to talk to your dad," Ochaco said.
"Davidonell? Why? He's not even that interesting, he just studies magic all day long."
"Hey, don't insult me! I'm the one who gave you that mouth. I could do it ten times worse to you!" Davidonell spoke off-screen.
"Oh really? Try then. I've been through so much, I probably can't even get hurt anymore."
"You're only a jester because you seek attention and validation because you lacked that as a child, even though you know jesters are outdated."
"Oh okay. Ouch. You got me there. But why do you want to speak to David? We're on our way to a movie."
"It's about Grape and Darkle. What would happen if she, hypothetically speaking of course, got shot by a gun?" Izuku asked.
Dimentio got quiet suddenly, then looked off-screen at Davidonell. "I think you should take this call."
Davidonell accepted the phone.
He did not look like what they were expecting.