"Okay, I believe you. I believe you." Professor Peach said, placing a hand on Cardin's shoulder. "Alright. Just tell us everything."

Cardin shook his head feverishly. "No time, there's just no time. We need to get back to the labs and stop him. No, no we shouldn't."

"Dr. Merlot." Peach said slowly. "Are you sure?"

"Shit, yeah." Cardin glared at her. "Had no idea it was him until we got here. And when we did, shit just fell on its head."

"If you didn't know," Peach said, slowly, "Then what brought you here in the first place?"

"The Mayor of Sumire." Cardin spat that sentence out as if it were particularly bitter tobacco. "Is a real jackass. He ordered us out here when they village radars detected an energy blast from this island."

Peach's face hardened. "Hold those thoughts. When we get out of here, we're taking this up with the Headmaster. What did you find out about this 'energy spike' you followed?"

"Yes, Professor." He nodded. Percy watched him curiously. He talked and acted differently than he usually does but is he really that different? "The madman Merlot built himself a portal. His Semblance is Teleportation and he used it on a portal door and more. Under those animals' guidance." Cardin leaned against the door.

Percy heard that term used often to degrade the Faunus from them, but the way he said it now made Percy pause any reactionary thoughts. It was fear he spoke of them now. "Mr. Winchester, your talk of Faunus will be among the things we will take up." Peach said sternly.

"What did you say?" Cardin asked in confusion before cackling. "Faunus? Why in the Gods names would I talk about Faunus?"

"Uh, guys." Midoriya's voice cut off the conversation, glancing around. "Where'd Grif go?"

Percy looked around, cursing himself for his carelessness. They left Grif outside. If only he'd been less of a fatass with terrible taste in food, he'd be here safe. But then again, it might work in their favor. "Okay. If the mist is as bad as you're making it out to be," Percy very much doubted it but hey, he'd seen enough strange stuff he didn't completely discount it, "We need to get off the island soon. Professor, you said there was a truck nearby?"

Peach nodded. "It's deactivated. I can try to activate it but I don't have much experience."

"Okay," Percy muttered. So, car's out for the moment. He glanced to Harry and Midoriya. He knew Harry for sure wouldn't know how to do it, and while he was less sure of Midoriya, his instincts were less than optimistic. "We need to leave now. Cardin, get your mace. We'll need every hand we can get. Midoriya, watch our backs. Make sure nothing gets the chance of sneaking up on us. Harry, you're our recon. Guide us out of here. If we can't get the car working, then we'll have to try and go on foot. Good?" No one said anything so Percy took that as a yes. "Good. Let's move it." Percy pressed the button which made the doors hiss then pull open. Midoriya ran back to pull the mace from Russel's skull, handing it to Cardin. He stared at it for a moment before taking it.

"Why?" He asked as they left. Percy ignored the question, trying to find Grif. "Grif, where are you?"

"In heaven, after you left me to die you dicks." Grif's voice echoed along the canyon walls. Percy saw Grif kneeling right by the truck Peach had pointed out earlier. The mist Cardin had talked about before was rolling towards them. To Cardin's credit, Percy's instincts were going off like Christmas carol bells in his head. That mist was very wrong.

"Follow me. This way!" Percy called, running to the armored truck. When he got there, he saw Grif holding what looked like a leather case with wires extending below the truck. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like? Hot wiring the car." Grif said, connecting it to something that looked like a battery in the case. "Please remind me to thank Ice Bitch if we ever get off this fucking island." As he finished, another spark, and the truck roared to life. "Alright! Am I good or what?" He then looked up to see the mist moving in on them. "Where'd that come from?"

"Get in!" Percy said quickly, making for the driver's seat. But Grif held a hand to Percy's chest.

"Uh, what do you think you're doing?" Grif asked, looking up. "I'm the team leader. I'm driving this thing."

"Alright, you do that. Shotgun!" Percy said, going around the other side and getting in. The seat had surprisingly good cushioning for an armored truck. Midoriya and Harry got into the backseat with Peach sliding in last. Grif got into the driver's seat, revving the truck to life.

"Head for the warehouse, Mr. Grif." Peach said. "The Bullhead is back there. We need to…"

"No." Cardin said. "Head into the mist." Percy stared at him in disbelief. Wasn't this the same guy who practically was crapping his pants at the thought of going into the mist?

"I thought you said the mist was bad news." Harry piped up. Percy was grateful he spoke; it came out much better than what Percy had to say.

"I did." Cardin's hands were shaking now but he held them in his lap. "But the source is still in Merlot's lab. We need to get in there and shut it off. If we don't, Sumire's going to be wiped out and there will be others."

Peach looked at Cardin then the mist. She looked conflicted, hesitant. Then she sighed. "Alright. Mr. Grif, go in."

Grif moaned. "Why can't we be sane people for once?" For once, Percy had to agree with Grif. He put the truck in reverse, spinning around as if doing a wheelie on a NASCAR track. They came to a halt. "Hang on. This is gonna be bumpy!" Grif put it in Drive and sped through. The mist was coming right for them before engulfing their vision. It didn't look any different than ordinary mist, but it came up on them fast.

Peach turned to Cardin. "Okay. Since we're going to do this, you need to tell us everything now. What happened on the island?"

Cardin was starting to sweat now, wiping droplets from his eye socket, but he nodded shakily. "Okay. I will. We started…" The ground thumped below them to where Percy flew out of his seat for a second. It came again, a third time.

"Oh shit." Grif said, staring out the windshield. Percy glanced through it too and his mouth gaped at the sight. He'd seen some big monsters, huge in fact, but this one took the cake for sure.

Izuku Midoriya did everything he could not to tremble, each step from the monster lifting him up. His mind flashed back for a moment to UA's initiation where the Zero Pointer, as big as the skyscrapers around, stared down at the students who ran in fear. Midoirya himself was scared at the time, but he imagined if he saw this beast then, he would have started crying. If Midroiya had to guess, the Zero Pointer wouldn't have even made it up to this thing's knees. It had rough grey flesh on six legs with a faint body that Midoriya could barely see, tentacles in place of its head and all long its spine. Even from inside the truck, he felt its rumbling call in his very muscles.

Midoriya looked down at his arms which felt like cords of steel keeping himself calm. Is this the sort of monster he would be expected to fight? How many of them are there? Is this the worst that awaits them or is it more? Midoriya didn't know, but seeing the creature here, he understood know why Cardin was so adamant to go back. All the training, everything that Midoriya had fought and fought for now faded from his mind. He even began to doubt if All Might could even catch the attention of this thing.

"Oh Gods." Midoriya looked to Professor Peach who didn't even try hiding her fear. In a strange way, it made Midoriya feel better. "This is why I stay at Beacon."

"That wasn't here before." Cardin said, his voice cracking.

"We continue on." Grif said

"Continue on?" Midoriya asked, his voice higher than he remembered it being. "We might anger it if it finds us."

"Yeah?" Grif shot back. "And what if it doesn't? It's so high up, unless we really fuck up, then it won't see us."

Midoriya opened his mouth to fight then closed it. If the mist did obscure their vision, maybe it does for this thing too. "But what if it can see through mist? What if it can cross the ocean? A creature of that size could…"

SLAP! Midoriya stopped talking when he felt the slap across his head. Grif was looking back at him, clearly annoyed. "Enough with your overthinking everything shit. We're going to whip these shitheads around but if people die in the process, hey, shit happens. We're doing what we can here and that's it. Full stop. Adios, extra thoughts. You got it?"

Midoriya stared at him for a moment, comprehending the words he said. 'We're doing what we can here and that's it. Full stop. That's it. Full stop. Full stop. Full stop. He's right.' Midoriya's eye widened at the last thought. The planning had gotten Midoriya so far in life so he so badly wanted to say something back to Grif, but he couldn't. They weren't equipped to deal with something like that, except Harry. Although from its sheer size, he even doubted Harry could help out much. They couldn't do anything on it. But whatever is causing this to happen, that they could take care of. Midoriya gave a shaky nod. He glanced to Peach who was studying him curiously. "Professor Peach, get on the comms for the closest settlements and tell them to prepare for that thing's potential arrival." He glanced back at Grif. "Full stop. Is that good enough for you?"

He couldn't see Grif's face under his helmet but he had the feeling he was grinning and gave a thumbs up. "That's the sort of careless attitude I love to see."

"Careless?" Midoriya asked as Grif sped on, the beast disappearing into the mist. They drove through the rocky pathway, ducking and weaving through the rocky valley. As they were driving, Midoriya would feel the back wheels of the truck dip down then slid back up like they were driving over pot holes. Grif didn't seem fazed at all by it. Midoriya glanced back. The 'rocky' ground had given way at certain points, and something that glowed a neon green seeped upwards. "What's that?"

Cardin and Peach looked. "One of Merlot's experiments." Cardin said bitterly, his earlier fear wanning a little. "He's been trying to mine that raw Dust shit from the ground, make the Grimm easier to control."

"Easier to control? Grimm?" Midoriya asked, wondering what this Merlot was thinking about. It didn't make sense to him. Midoriya took a breath and tried to wash those thoughts out. Grif really was onto something with that.

Peach wasn't so skeptical, in fact, her worry seemed to deepen. "Are you sure?" Before Cardin could answer, there was a loud thump that knocked them around. "What was that?" Peach called up.

"We got an infestation on our hands!" Percy called out. Midoriya leaned forward. Sure enough, there were dozens of bugs flying in front of their windshield. One of the bugs landed on the windshield, its stinger pointing to them then thrust forth. The windshield splintered under the weight but held.

"Oh no you don't!" Grif shouted, jolting the truck to a stop. The sudden motion startled the bug, getting it to fly back into the mist with its buddies. Grif sped off again. "Damn spider webbing." Grif muttered as he sped on.

"Slow down!" Percy shouted but it was too late. The truck sped off the rocky ledge, crashing into the one below.

"Yeeeeeeehhhhaaaawwwwww!" Grif shouted along the way down. The impact was strong enough for the windshield to shatter. "Yes, I love that!"

"Are you insane?" Peach shouted while Cardin watched with wide eyes. "You could have gotten us killed."

"Lady, I've nearly gotten killed more times than I can count." Grif said dismissively. "I've had Warthogs thrown at me, got shot at by my team, blah blah blah. You gotta roll with the little jolts like that."

Peach paused her tirade, looking at him with concern as they were driving over more filled pits with ooze and down another divet. Through the mist, Midoriya could make out a series of metal towers that looked in much better condition than the radio towers near the beach but these too looked abandoned. Below the bridge between them, Midoriya saw a huge nest built with the same bugs from earlier swarming around it, climbing in and out. There was a loud shriek and the bugs swarmed around a creature flying in the sky. It looked an awful lot like a green kite with brown wings and they were going at it against each other. "What did you say? Your team shot at you?" She looked to Midoriya's teammates with suspicion, ignoring the battle.

"Not us." Harry shook his head. "His old team."

"The Red team. And what a bunch of bullshit it all was anyways." Grif grumbled. "Did I ever tell you how I got the stitching on my body and mismatched skin?" Midoriya shook his head. "Sarge, the asshole who called himself my leader, wants me to die. Not just die either but die the most humiliating way possible. He apparently decided that getting run over by an Atlesian tank wasn't bad enough so he gave me emergency surgery after stripping some of Simmon's flesh and organs and donated it to me using a pig anatomy diagram. He even threw in his butt for good measure."

Midoriya's mouth was agape. Was that how the stitches came about? He'd been wondering about it, but that was far worse than even his worst ideas. Even Cardin looked a little green at that. Peach simply looked scandalized. "He killed your teammate to save you?"

"No, Sarge gave him artificial organs in their place though his spleen became a very active volleyball." Grif said dismissively. "He even finally figured out how to make the base's fax machine work. Anytime he wants official orders to be signed, all Simmons has to do is squat down and he takes it away. Sometimes shit gets on the papers, but meh, what's life without sacrifice?" They drove under the bridge now and after the next divet, reached a metal gate built into the rocks. The doors were blown wide open, metal shards scattered all around them. And were there bunnies hopping about the front entrance?

"Wow. Okay then." Cardin said, shaking his head. He pointed to the doors. "Drive through that door. It leads down to Merlot's lab."

"No, I refuse to move on from that." Peach said, staring at him. "I am taking charge of this mission and when this is over, I hope to enact the full effect of Spencer Clause of Beacon's constitution. Your insanity is going to get your teammates killed."

Midoriya had honestly forgotten about that, and Ozpin's conversation, until she brought it up. He looked between Peach and Grif, realizing the situation that put them in.

"Respectfully speaking," Percy said as he unbuckled and got out of the truck, "We like it the way it is."

"Please, as if Spencer could do anything against me." Grif said, "What's he going to…" He never got to finish his question. One of the bunnies leapt to Grif who caught it in time. Midoriya was horrified to see that they had the bodies of bunnies but were scaly rather than fluffy and had crocodile heads.

"Hold it!" Percy shouted, pulling out Riptide and swinging it down. The bronze sword cleaved the head off the rabbit making it fall onto the dashboard.

"Every man for himself!" Grif shouted as they all got out. The bunnies were hopping towards them, jaws wide open. Grif fired off several grenades, blowing some of the bunnies to smithereens. Midoriya saw one get close to him and tried to punch it, but the monster dove out of the way in time, sinking its jaws into Midoriya's arm. The pain was like his arm being broken and Midoriya yelled, using his other arm to try and pry its teeth out of his flesh. Its jaw was strong and held on as much as he could, but Midoriya was stronger. Midoriya pulled the top jaw and before it could try and sink its teeth again, Midoriya pushed it away from him. As its jaws tried to reach for him again, Midoriya was ready. He lifted his right leg and kicked it into the far wall. Midoriya watched as its blood splattered against the wall and lay against a part that stuck out. As Midoriya was about to let out a breath, he heard a whipping in the air. He jumped out of the way. He watched as a thin strand glinted against the tower lights before landing on the rocks. It didn't even wait a second before it started hissing and the rock turned molten black. It looked like a spider web almost, Midoriya thought as he looked around frantically for the source. The answer came in the form of a grey spider the size of Midoriya's head. It hissed and lunged for Midoriya. All he could do was dodge to the side as it landed to the ground, lifting one leg and smashed it. The boot he wore hissed and sizzled violently. "Ah!" Midoriya yelped, lifting the boot from the spider that was now officially crushed. The metal boot was scalded and black where he stomped but it still held up. Not bad metallic support, but Midoriya knew that if the rocks had melted, that spider web had to be at least 700 degrees Celsius. That depended on what rock was being melted and… Midoriya's thoughts stopped when he felt a set of talons scrap his shoulder. Midoriya flinched as the sensation stopped, reaching for the shoulder and seeing his blood on his hands. Where? Midoriya saw what looked like a pterodactyl he would see in history class but this one was purple in skin with four wings instead of two. It screeched at him and charged again, intending to cut his face open. 'Smash!' Midoriya thought, raising a fist and punching this creature. It went rocketing into the mist and out of sight. "It's tearing into us!" Midoriya called to his teammates, Peach and Cardin who were still fighting. "Get to the lab!"

"He's right." Percy added. "Go! I'll cover you!" Percy held his sword, looking for his next opponent. While Percy's back was turned, Midoriya saw a tentacle beginning to slither out from a gap in the rocks. Midoriya stared at the tentacle for a long moment. It seemed so familiar to him but Midoriya couldn't place it. All he could do was call, "Behind you!"

Percy didn't even acknowledge him, just swung his sword. SHUNK! The tentacle's tip was severed in a moment and the tentacle retracted in pain. Another one tried to grasp at Midoriya but he held it back by pure strength. It spread further apart, revealing lines of gaping holes running in a vertical line with gnashing teeth inside each. Midoriya watched as he held, mesmerized. He had spent so much time studying heroes and villains that being in the presence of a real monster, so close to it, Midoriya, couldn't help himself studying every detail of the tentacle. All of these things appeared because of the mist, that much was obvious. But how? Another swish, and the tentacle he was holding was severed. "Thanks."

"Go!" Percy shouted. Midoriya was taken aback not only at the order but his face. He looked wild, angry and focused. And yet, something about the ease of this look told him this was an element Percy was very comfortable in. "What are you staring at? Just go!"

Midoriya broke from his stupor (Grif's advice was seeming better by the moment) and he ran for the lab entrance. Harry, Grif, Peach and Cardin were already there and waiting. "Come on, come on!" Midoriya heard the voice and channeled more of One for All into his legs, his speed increasing a thousandfold before rolling onto the ground. Harry pulled him onto his feet.

"You alright there?" Harry asked, looking concerned. Midoriya nodded in acknowledgement. Honestly, he wondered how they hadn't killed each other yet with how different they were.

"We need to help…" Midoriya said before he stopped, his voice trailing off. He had seen many fights between heroes and villains in his youth in Japan, he fought against the League of Villains at the USJ, Stain, and even at the Training Camp. But Percy, the way he handled the tentacles and the bugs that had taken a recent notice of them was unlike anything before; it was almost majestic in its fluidity. Percy's sword was less sword now and more a rainbow-like arc of bronze cutting through anything that got in his way. A spider got onto the truck's hood, sending a web at him. Percy didn't waste any time slicing the web in half. Midoriya watched as the blade sizzled but retained its shape. Midoriya's eyes widened. What kind of a sword was that?

With each swing, he took a step backwards towards the gate. By the end, a bug tried to swing in and sting him. In a flash, the silver shield was activated and he held it up. The bug slammed into it, flying off. The shield had a large dent in it now but still was intact. The tentacles were starting to creep along the metal walls, reaching for them. "Now!" Peach shouted, slamming something on the wall.

Percy leapt backwards as a second set of doors Midoriya hadn't noticed before slamming shut. It severed several pieces of the tentacles, the tips twitching violently as they tried to reattach. Percy let out a sigh of relief. "Good timing, Professor. I was worried they'd have me for lunch meat with a side of ketchup."

Peach looked at him shakily. "You almost died because of these Grimm or whatever they are and you're joking about?" She tried to keep herself calm, Midroiya could see, but her fear and shock were plain to see.

Percy just shrugged. "I've fought Grimm and worse in the wilds for so long, being threatened with death is just an everyday occurrence for me." Midoriya studied Percy's posture and was honestly scared at what he saw. He didn't look scared; in fact, Midoriya realized just now Percy would slouch in class and seemed to be sullen a lot. Now, though, he stood straighter, his eyes had a gleam of life of them. He looked like a very different person now, even more than when he would fight one-on-ones.

Peach was shaking now. "You're insane. You and Grif, you're both insane!" Her voice had officially cracked now and she took several steps back in fright. Midoriya, for the first time, took in their surroundings. They were standing in a grey tunnel held up by metal pillars. Lights lined the walls and red crates were laid out under the pillars. The mist was still here, though lighter.

"Can we have this conversation later?" Harry asked, pointing his pistol in that direction. "Something's coming for us."

Midoriya raises his fists, waiting for what it was. He heard the repetitive clicking as well and something dark was slithering into view, something slick rubbing against the metal floor. It was a snake, its head as big as Midoriya's body. It glanced from one to the next and then opened its mouth. Midoriya could see inside it, the long black tunnel into its belly but there was something else. There were circles lining the inside of its mouth and he saw them vibrate as it hissed. It wasn't a normal hiss, almost like a rattle being shaken, its hot breath making Midoriya sweat a little. It closed its mouth, watching them closely. Harry stepped in front of Midoriya. "What are you doing?" Midoriya whispered in alarm. What was he thinking?

Harry sent back a smile. He was afraid, but something told him Harry knew exactly what he was doing. "I want to try something." As Harry spoke, the snake lifted its front half of the body, its mouth open again.

"Whatever it is, do it fast!" Midoriya said.

As Harry turned back, something flashed past both of them. Professor Peach had thrown her metal ball into the snake's head, ice forming on its face. "Run!" Peach shouted, but the snake opened its mouth, breaking the ice into pieces. It lunged, biting at Peach who dodged out of the way as she caught the ball in mid-air. Then Harry did something that even Midoriya was baffled by. He started hissing. The snake turned to him, but didn't attack. Harry hissed again, taking a step forward. The snake tilted its head, opening its maw just enough to hiss back. Harry seemed to respond, but his tone sounded forceful. The snake stared at him for a moment before its head lay on the ground again. To Midoriya's amazement, it started slithering away from them, disappearing into the darkness.

Midoriya turned to Harry who looked just as surprised as Midoriya felt. And he wasn't the only one either. "Harry, that was amazing!" Percy exclaimed, clapping him on the shoulder. "How did you do that?"

"Yes," Cardin said, shaking. In the light of the tunnel, he looked even paler and worn out than ever. "We would all like to know."

Harry spared him only a glance before coughing into his hand. "Yeah, I should have mentioned before that I'm a Parseltongue."

"Parseltongue." Peach repeated. "You've got Magenta-Cyan Syndrome too?"

Harry shook his head. "Maybe. I never took the test to diagnose it really. All I know is that my family has a hereditary ability to communicate with snakes. If I wanted to, as you saw, I can even command them to do my bidding. They called it Parseltongue."

Midoriya ran the options in his mind. The implications alone were astounding. "Is it just for snakes? Are there other reptiles it works on?"

Harry spluttered at that. "Dunno. I never thought of it."

"Sure could have used that skill a time or two." Percy said, smiling kindly. "Come on, we need to move on."

They went off together with Grif into the tunnel. Cardin stayed back, looking at them in disbelief before his face hardened and went off. Midoriya was going to join them but Peach held him back. "Mr. Midoriya." Peach said, looking thoroughly shaken now. "I never knew what your team really was like." She shook her head. "They're insane, they all here. I'm going to bring this matter to Headmaster Ozpin when this is done. You're a good student, one of my best. If you need help at all, please reach out. Okay?"

Midoriya glanced away from her, seeing the backs of his teammates disappearing into the misty hallway.

"Greetings, and welcome to Merlot Industries where we're building a better world. Today!" Midoriya jumped, seeing a holographic screen in the top-right corner leading into another corridor with octagons on the floor.

"Tell that to Mt Glenn." Cardin growled, his fist wrangling the mace at his side. Midoriya wanted to know more about that, but said nothing as they continued on. As they rounded the corner, Midoriya saw the snake from earlier slithering down into a gapping pit in the center of another room, its tail swishing as it disappeared.

Midoriya glanced down. Midoriya couldn't see the bottom of the pit, and seeing how hostile it could be, Midoriya really didn't want to go down there fi he could help it. But if they had to, they would.

Harry Potter stared down into the pit below, waiting as Midoriya and Peach caught up. He thanked his quick thinking for considering Parseltongue. It's clear that was no ordinary snake, but snakes seem to work like snakes no matter where they come from. And using it on other reptiles, relations to snakes? That had never once occurred to him. "What's the plan?" Harry asked, glancing around. Then his eyes settled in Cardin. "Oi, Cardin." He stiffened. "You were here not long ago. Where are we?"

Cardin glanced to Harry and whatever he had in mind, he reconsidered. "We're on the assembly line. Merlot's building robots of his own design as security. My team…" He paused, his remaining eye glazing for a moment. "I mean, we destroyed many of them but who knows how of them there are around."

"And you made it all the way to the lab?" Harry asked imploringly.

Cardin took in a shaky breath and nodded. "I also found this." He pulled out his Scroll and held up for Harry to see. It was blueprints of the layout for the underground facility. "It's a schematic of the facility. Even if I get eaten or whatever, you'll know how to get there."

"How did you get out in the first place?" Peach asked.

"Near the lab," Cardin explained, "There's an emergency dock with a dozen Bullheads all fueled and ready. We took one of them to get out, but…" He shivered. "One of those damn things knocked us out of the sky."

"What kind of thing?" Peach demanded. "We need to know what we're up against."

"It looked like a kite of sorts." Cardin answered. "It seemed to think we were prey. None of us knew how to fly so it knocked us out without a fight."

"Okay." Harry said, rubbing his goggles. This was going to be tougher than he thought. "Which way to the lab?"

"Here." Cardin pointed out an alcove Harry hadn't noticed before. "That's an elevator that takes you down to the lower levels. It's just…"

"Just what?" Percy asked, raising his sword almost instinctively.

"Yeah. We don't need this dramatic shit. Just spit at us." Grif commented. Harry wrinkled his nose at the crude statement, but Grif was right.

Cardin stared at the elevator. "You'll have to see it to believe it. That animal I told you of, I left its body in the Assembly Line."

"I will examine it. If its what you claim." Peach said, sending a glance his way.

"You still think I'm talking about Faunus here?" Cardin's voice was a little shrill now with indignation.
Peach shook her head. "I've seen things I haven't before. I have to assume that's the case until I get a look myself. Show me the body."

Cardin nodded and led them to the alcove. Harry and his team followed behind, stepping inside. "Keep your body parts inside." Harry took a closer step, which was cramped but not Ozpin elevator crammed. Cardin pressed some buttons on a metal panel nearby. The metal box flew down. It reminded Harry of the box to the Ministry of Magic only it wasn't as smooth. The trip stopped as soon as it began, the far wall lifting up to reveal another corridor. This one had more mist in it but nothing was attacking them yet. On the far wall was the rim where a glass panel would have separated them from another robot assembly line except the glass was shattered.

"W-Wha?" Cardin stuttered staring at the shattered glass. "He was here. I saw him. He was laying right here."

"So what're you saying? He's invisible or some shit?" Grif said, shaking his head the way a parent would at their child making a silly mistake.

"He was there earlier. What the fuck is going on?" Cardin's voice was shaking worse than before, just like in the tunnel.

"Stay back." Peach said, taking small steps to the window pan and examining it. Something did seem to catch her eye as she knelt down to examine. "Cardin's right. There's blood on the shards." She said then examined further.

"Come on! We need to go!" Harry said, practically stepping from foot to foot.

"Patience, Potter." Peach said, pulling out a monitor and holding it against the glass to examine. It beeped. "No. This can't be right."

As Midoriya was staring, he heard it. It didn't sound monstrous like these things in the mist, just soft footsteps. Midoriya glanced to the side. He could only see the figure's shadow, a figure wearing a jacket and a fedora hat. It lifted a hand as if ready to attack. Midoriya acted immediately, swinging around. The figure who was behind them was a man wearing a yellow rain coat with a gold suit underneath and black fedora. What struck Midoriya, his eyes widening, was his face. There was a massive gash on the left side of his face with something like brown hair tucked underneath and ulcers all across his face. The most egregious was an eye-shaped slit right in the middle of the forehead. "Smash!" Midoriya shouted, raising a fist. It connected with his face, sending him flying into the far wall.

"Who was that?" Harry asked, raising a pistol.

Cardin's hand was shaking now to where the mace dropped. "Cardin?" Midoriya asked confused.

"It's the beat. The animal." He picked up the mace. "We can't let them live. We need to kill it now."

"What is it?" Midoriya asked, returning his attention to the man who sat up. The fedora slipped off, blood dribbling down his face. More brown showed under the mask. That wasn't normal at all, and Midoriya raised his fists. He paused when it grabbed at its face and ripped it off.

"Lookatat. You killed mah face, humes." The creature said, staring at them. It really was an animal, just as Cardin was saying. The brown Midoriya saw earlier was fur, singed from the punch Midoriya gave. It had the head of a rat with yellow fangs bore at them and drool dribbling down its mouth. Even Midoriya flinched, taking an inch back.

"Huh. I expected an uglier mug than that." Percy said, raising his sword and stepping next to Midoriya.

The rat-man-thing chuckled then charged at them. The flesh fell from his arms, revealing brown furry arms with talons for fingernails that looked ready to tear them apart. Percy swung his blade but the rat-man ducked under the swing, its talons digging into Percy's side. "Aah!" Percy shouted, stabbing Riptide into the rat-man's side. Neither side gave in, just stared at each other hatefully.

"Leave him alone!" Midoriya shouted. This thing had hurt Percy. Midoriya knew that to be a hero meant he needed to be better than the villains he fought, that was one of the first lessons UA instilled in him, but he would make this thing hurt for what it did to Percy. He punched the rat-man in the leg. CRUNCH! It let out a scream, a very inhuman scream before crumpling. Midoriya caught its raincoat and in a moment, Midoriya headbutted the rat-man. Blood flew from its mouth but it recoiled, its jaw open and ready to bite down on Midoriya's head. BANG! Midoriya felt its body slacken. Midoriya turned to see Harry holding his pistol. It twitched a little before stopping. Midoriya laid it on the ground.

"I'm sorry." Harry said, flinching as he put away the pistol. "I've never killed a thing in my life. But I couldn't…"

"It's alright, Harry." Midoriya smiled graciously. "You saved my life probably." He stood up. Everyone crowded around the corpse.

"Oh Gods." Peach mumbled, holding a hand to her mouth. She gagged a lot but managed to keep herself together enough to take a picture of the corpse. "What have have we gotten ourselves into?"