Hey all! Welcome back to another chapter of "Through the Rough"! Last time we left off, we got stared on the World Heroes' Mission Arc with our heroes beginning their worldwide mission to put a stop to Humarise. Unfortunately, it seems the radical sect of the group still remains in hiding.

So will our heroes manage to find them? Well for now, why don't we check in on the group in Otheon?

Enjoy!

THROUGH THE ROUGH

"Whoa…" Izuku uttered, dressed in his regular costume as he was carrying bags of groceries while walking along the city sidewalk, "The streets are so busy…" he noted aloud.

"Yeah, well, I guess it is the biggest city in Otheon," Shoto pointed out beside him, also dressed in his regular costume and carrying grocery bags as well.

"Still, it's pretty cool," Rebecca said, walking ahead of them in her regular hero costume with groceries of her own, "Visiting European countries is probably a once in a million opportunity…" she mentioned, "Huh…" she happily sighed, "I wish we could visit Paris one day…" she admitted with a cute blush upon her cheeks.

"That sounds nice," the Half-Cold, Half-Hot Quirk user noted with a little smile.

"Uraraka and Asui are based in France with Ryukyu and Rutherford," Izuku pointed out, "If there was a way, we could ask to trade places…" he remarked sheepishly, earning a giggle from his girlfriend.

"Yeah," she agreed. Time had passed, but the Cat Leaper Quirk user still had the thought lingering in her of what her boyfriend offered to her just before they embarked on this mission to another country. Trying to find time to themselves in these current days was going to be difficult, but Rebecca knew that by the end of this ordeal, there would be time to spare. Not to mention that they'd have the break between the last semester of their freshman year before becoming sophomores.

"You seem quite happy, Rebecca," Homura noted, also dressed in her regular costume.

"Oh, uh, sorry," the Cat Leaper Quirk user stuttered, "I was just thinking about something else," she said, "This is a good experience for all of us," she pointed out, "There're plenty of times when heroes have to be deployed overseas for work alongside other countries, so we get to see how heroes interact with each other and work as teams," she explained.

"Yeah," Izuku agreed, "Though I'm surprised Endeavor's taken charge…" he admitted aloud, "Wouldn't have Miss Clair Voyance or someone else based in Otheon been given the leading role for our team?" he inquired of the group.

"I suppose Endeavor's leadership capability outpaces those of this country," Homura presumed in reply.

"I guess that makes sense, especially considering how powerful he is," Rebecca concurred.

"Yeah," Shoto agreed, "Hey, Midoriya," he said, getting the attention of his freckled friend, "After this mission gets finished and we head back to the dorms," he began, "would you and Rebecca want to go on a double-date with me and Homura?" he offered.

"Huh?" Izuku uttered in surprise as he blinked.

"I never thought you'd be the first person to think of something like that…" Rebecca admitted as she looked back at the Half-Cold, Half-Hot Quirk user.

"We had thought of it after making our relationship official," Homura confirmed, "Shoto felt bad that you two haven't been able to really go out since being stuck in the dorms," she told the couple.

"And with spring break coming up, we're probably going to be allowed off campus, at least for a little while," her boyfriend mentioned, "I was thinking we could maybe do lunch and then a movie," he offered.

"Yeah, that sounds perfect!" Rebecca responded excitedly. At that moment, she heard an annoyed growl in front of her, getting her attention as she frowned. "Got something you wanna say, Kacchan?" she inquired of the Explosion Quirk user trudging ahead with bags of his own, wearing his regular costume as well.

"Just that you idiots are really pissing me off with this whole lovey-dovey crap…" he grumbled in response.

"Lovey-dovey?" Homura repeated in confusion. Izuku sighed.

"We're allowed to talk about stuff aside from the mission, Kacchan," he pointed out to his rival, who groaned in frustration.

"Being told to wait on standby is one thing…" he grumbled, "SINCE WHEN DO I GET TREATED LIKE AN ERRAND BOY?!" he roared in question, making Rebecca and Izuku flinch in surprise.

"It's because we're the lowest-ranking members in our group," Shoto blankly answered.

"HUH?!" Katsuki exclaimed with rage, whipping his head around to him.

"Calm down, would you…?" Rebecca pleaded, not wanting for the Explosion Quirk user to make a scene.

"The only reason we got called up in the first place is because we're doing our work studies at Endeavor's agency," Shoto explained to his classmates, "We're basically freebies that were thrown in," he added.

"And even though we're technically given the right to assist in these matters, we're still under Endeavor's jurisdiction when it comes to doing anything," Homura mentioned.

"Still…" Izuku uttered, "we have a huge responsibility here," he pointed out, "Our job is to protect the world from Humarise," he stated firmly.

"And we will find them," Shoto affirmed, "We'll make sure of it," he added in declaration.

"Yeah," Rebecca agreed.

"The stupid organization's full of obsessed idiots…" Katsuki muttered out, "Why do they believe the Quirk Doomsday Theory?" he wondered aloud, "They're taking a totally hypothetical idea and using it to justify their crimes…" he noted in frustration.

"It seems like there're lots of bad guys who wanna justify what they do," Rebecca noted aloud, glancing up at the sky for the moment, "Whether it was the League, the Hassaikai, Madame Kurenai…" she listed off, with Homura tensing up slightly at the mention of the last name, "Oh, sorry…" her friend apologized upon noticing.

"No, it's fine," she assured with a shake of her head, "I've moved past that whole ordeal now," she affirmed as she let off a little smile. Rebecca grinned back. Just then, the sound of a blast erupted as smoke billowed out from a building ahead of the group. They all perked up, looking over to see two men running out from the smoky building. One had a pink afro, while the other had a yellow pompadour. In the latter's hand was a suitcase.

"Those thieves robbed my jewelry shop!" a man yelled as he came out from the smoke, "Somebody stop them!" he pleaded. As if on cue, the quintet of students launched forward after the two men.

"Don't worry, we'll catch them!" Rebecca assured to the shop owner, letting her wing-like energy markings shine brightly upon her ankles as she sped forward.

"Aw, hell! Heroes!" the afro-haired thief yelled upon spotting the five teenagers coming after them.

"Catch up with you at the spot!" his partner promised as made his entire body aside from his head rotate like a vortex, propelling himself forward down the street.

"I'll leave the case to you!" the afro-haired villain declared, grabbing two tufts of hair from his head before blasting himself down toward an alleyway with sparkles coming from each explosion.

"They split up!" Homura exclaimed as she drew forth a pair of energy blades in her hands, turning the corner to pursue the escaping assailant.

"You chase the other one!" Katsuki yelled to Izuku, Rebecca, and Shoto, blasting himself after the Soul Blade Quirk user.

"Got it!" the One For All inheritor responded as he and Half-Cold, Half-Hot Quirk user continued their pursuit of the pompadour-haired man. He was heading down a very busy street that was packed with people.

"Move, move!" he yelled repeatedly, charging through the crowd and sending people high into the air, "Get out of my way now!" he shouted, uncaringly continuing onward. Those he had knocked into the air screamed, about to fall to their deaths.

"Blackwhip!" Izuku yelled as he jumped up and unleashed several dark energy tendrils from the orange sights of his gloves, wrapping around and catching the falling bystanders. A little boy and girl unfortunately missed his grasp, but Rebecca rushed in and jumped up to catch them, landing down and skidding to a stop.

"Call the police!" she called out to the crowd as she set the children down, "Let them know there's been a robbery!" she advised. In the meantime, Shoto used an ice wave to surf along the buildings after the perpetrator, avoiding anyone else. Elsewhere, the afro-haired villain continued to blast himself along as Homura and Katsuki were still in pursuit of him. The former then leapt upward, hopping up to the rooftops while allowing her colleague to continue the chase around a corner as he planted his foot against the side of a house before blasting after the thief.

He took notice and grabbed more tufts of his hair, flinging them out toward the Explosion Quirk user. They burst in a sparkling blast, seemingly enveloping him in grey smoke. At the top of the steps the villain had traversed, he smirked.

"Hahaha!" he cackled, "That'll teach ya…" he muttered out.

"What a pathetic blast!" Katsuki yelled to his surprise, only for him to look up and gasp to see the Explosion Quirk user high above the cloud of smoke, falling toward him, "I'll show you what a real one looks like!" he declared as an orange glow came off of his hands. However, he never got the chance.

"Warrior Maiden Single-Sword Attack…" Homura began, causing the afro-haired villain to glance up for a split second, seeing the Soul Blade Quirk user come down toward him and twist her body to add momentum, "Dragon Flash!" she exclaimed, landing a powerful slash to the ground that blew her target back. He fell over the railing on the other side and wound up entangled in a bunch on clotheslines along the way down. A nearby cat hissed in fright at the sudden sight of him. "Huh…" Homura sighed with relief as she jumped down next to the defeated villain, letting her energy blade disappear from her hand, "That was at least quick…" she noted aloud, "Bakugo, let's—"

"YOU STOLE MY KILL, LOOSE-LIPS!" the Explosion Quirk user roared in her face as he was right next to her, making her flinch in surprise as she shivered.

"A-Apologies!" she stammered out, holding her hands up in a placating manner, "I was under the assumption your attacks would have caused too much damage…" she admitted while glancing off to the side.

"HUH?!" Katsuki yelled out angrily, causing her to clap her hands over her mouth. Elsewhere in the city, Rody was lurking in the corner of an alleyway, leaning against the wall. He impatiently tapped his right foot against the ground.

"This is taking too long…" he grumbled out, "My contact better not be a no-show…" he muttered on.

"AAAAHHH!" a woman screamed from afar, causing him to blink in surprise. He peeked around the corner, only to find the pompadour-haired thief coming toward him.

"Here!" he exclaimed, handing off the case to the young man before continuing on his way.

"Wait… what?" he uttered in surprise. At that moment, Shoto rushed by upon his ice wave, continuing his pursuit of the pompadour-haired villain. Realizing the situation was out of his control, Rody took off down the alley he was in. The Half-Cold, Half-Hot Quirk user had flames erupt around his right arm, firing them off in a stream toward the fleeing fiend. However, the vortex he was building easily blew them out.

"Hahaha!" he laughed as he looked back at his foe, not noticing the wall of ice forming ahead of him, "Not gonna work on me!" he proclaimed. And then slammed into the ice wall. "GUOH!" he grunted out, losing consciousness as the vortex around him vanished.

"That took longer than expected…" Shoto admitted as he approached the villain, who slid down the ice wall. He then realized something, looking around.

"Todoroki!" Izuku called out, getting his attention as he turned to see him and Rebecca coming over.

"Midoriya, Bluegarden," he said, "The case is gone," he pointed out to them.

"Did he get rid of it?" the One For All inheritor assumed as greenish sparks crackled around his body, looking around with his girlfriend. All of a sudden, the Cat Leaper Quirk user lightly gasped as she spotted a grinning Rody running down the alley with the case in hand.

"There's a third!" she yelled, running after him.

"Turn that guy over to the police," Izuku advised of Shoto before leaping up from wall to wall as she headed for the rooftops, "Rebecca and I'll get this guy," he promised.

"Right," the Half-Cold, Half-Hot Quirk user replied, taking hold of the unconscious villain and slinging his right arm over his shoulders. In the meantime, Rebecca made her way to the end of the alley she was running down, coming to a stop. It was a busy plaza with people and cars bustling about. Spotting anyone in particular would be difficult. But then she heard some car horns go off, seeing that Rody was running across a street.

Rebecca quickly jumped onto a fountain and leapt to the other side of the plaza. She looked around for a few moments again as she thought the thief was heading down the path. Instead, it turned out he was heading up a fire escape to the roof.

"Gotcha'," the Cat Leaper Quirk user remarked aloud as she leapt up after him, jumping from platform of the fire escape. Rody grimaced upon seeing her close in as he momentarily stopped. But then Pino flew out from his ponytail, diving toward Rebecca determinedly. "WAH!" she yelped before the small bird collided squarely with her face. And then, she promptly let out a toot. "Ah…" the ash blonde-haired girl gasped as she paled. She trembled in midair weakly before starting to fall, while the little bird contently flew back and perched herself upon her owner's shoulder as he smirked.

"Stinks to be you!" he remarked before continuing up the fire escape.

"Rebecca!" Izuku called out, lunging over to catch his girlfriend in his arms before she could hit the ground.

"Ugh…" she groaned, clutching her nose with her right hand, "That was gross…" she grumbled out. Taking on a serious expression, the One For All inheritor gently set her back onto her feet as she managed to regain herself. He then looked up and spotted Rody up on the rooftops, running along them.

"He's already up on the roof?!" he exclaimed in surprise, hurrying after him with a great leap.

"Izu, wait up!" Rebecca yelled, hurrying down the street just in case. Meanwhile, Rody glanced back as Pino was chirping with panic, seeing that Izuku was still in pursuit as he leapt from roof to roof.

"I can't shake him…" he realized. But that didn't deter him in the slightest. Instead, he turned and flung the case as if it were a discus, taking a great flip over the edge of the roof to land onto the next one at the other side of the street, somersaulting onto his feet. In the process, he actually caught the case.

"Blackwhip!" Izuku yelled from afar as he leapt up and swung his left arm forward, releasing several energy tendrils from the orange sights upon his glove. Rody was swift, running away with ease as he flipped over vents and ducked under billboards. He even ran backwards at one point, planting himself on a chair and falling into another somersault before lunging away from the incoming tendrils.

"Still got it!" he remarked as he leapt over to the next building. From afar, Rebecca was watching as he continued to evade Izuku.

"Dammit…" she cursed, hurrying on ahead. In the meantime, Rody leapt onto the rafters of a complex, skipping across one after another.

"Hey, knock-knock!" he yelled as he tapped a window he passed with his right fist. It was then opened by a dog, causing the pursuing One For All inheritor to almost lose his balance, having to grab onto the window to keep himself upright. The chase continued down a telephone pole, as the thief weaved around the wires. The freckled teen found himself entangled on his way down as he grimaced.

A few moments later, Rody used the suitcase he had to ride along a clothesline to the other side of a street, knocking off any garments that were on it as he safely fell onto an awning before landing on the sidewalk. The pursuing Izuku took notice as he arrived on the scene, quickly shooting out his black energy tendrils from the sights of his gloves to snatch them before they could fall to the ground.

"Oh, thank you so much!" a woman called out with gratitude from one of the windows, waving to the One For All inheritor after he returned the clothes to her. He was looking around for a sign of the brunette-haired young man.

"He couldn't have gotten that far away yet, right?" he inquired to himself, hurrying off.

"Heh," Rody chuckled, sliding down a railing of some steps, "I think it's pretty obvious that I'm too smooth for ya," he pointed out as Pino flew alongside him, "Can't catch someone with these moves!" he proclaimed as he flipped onto the next railing over. His bird glanced back and widened her eyes to spot Rebecca jumping onto the railing behind them, sliding after them as they grimaced. "Great, her again…" the thief muttered out, hopping off of the railing and running down the sidewalk.

The Cat Leaper Quirk user was quick to leap after him, nimbly using lampposts to flip forward and close the distance. She was ready to land to then lunge out and snatch the case from him. But without warning, she was ambushed by Pino, who flew up and pecked at her head.

"Ah, hey!" she yelped. That moment she lost her concentration, she failed to see where she was heading, ending up crashing into a bed of flowers in front of a florist's shop as bystanders gasped in surprise. "Agh…" she groaned, spitting out a few petals that wound up in her mouth. She looked ahead to see that Rody was grinning as his bird returned to perch herself on his left shoulder. She growled with frustration, enveloping herself in a flash of light to assume her Overdrive form. She shot up to her feet, continuing the pursuit.

Elsewhere in the city, a blue sports car was speeding and swerving past others on a bridge. Driving was the eye patched man, who was now dressed in regular clothes. Sitting in the passenger's seat next to him was the wrapped object he had taken with him. As he kept going down the highway with determination in his eye, he glanced at the rearview mirror and spotted something as he lightly gasped. Coming up behind him on a motorcycle was an athletically-built woman with short mint green hair and sharp eyes of the same color.

She wore a gray sleeveless combat suit, with a mask obscuring the lower part of her face. Strapped to her back was a white quiver carrying arrows. Accompany her suit were bulky, cream-colored boots, and a green hooded cape with a red arrow fletching pinned to the left side of the hood. On her right hand was a burgundy red glove, and on her left the index finger was wrapped in the same material.

All of a sudden, a projectile shot in through the back windshield from her and slashed off the man's eye patch, also leaving a cut in his cheek. He swerved his car for a moment, struggling to regain control. The woman in pursuit closed in. She extended her left thumb and pinky out, making them glow in a greenish light before they shaped into the two ends of an archery bow, with a green-glowing line acting as the string. She pulled out a trio of arrows, setting them onto the nocking point and pulling them back.

They were shot in green streaks of light, piercing through the man's car. One popped his back left tire, causing him to swerve out of control. The car struck the guardrail, rolling along the street toward the other end of the bridge. Down below, Rody was passing by along a crosswalk until he overheard the commotion. He glanced up to see a part of the bridge shatter apart, with its pieces falling toward him.

"Wh-Whoa!" he stammered, frantically moving to avoid getting crushed by the debris, "Yikes!" he exclaimed as he dove forward, dropping the case in the process. The billowing smoke from the scene could be seen for miles. Izuku landed upon a small brick wall and noticed.

"An accident?!" he exclaimed in shock.

"Midoriya!" Shoto called out, getting his attention as he glanced to see the Half-Cold, Half-Hot user run by, "I'll take care of the car crash!" he decided, "You and Bluegarden find the thief!" he advised.

"Got it, thanks!" Izuku replied with gratitude, letting green sparks crackle around him as he leapt off to continue his pursuit. Meanwhile, Rebecca was nearing the scene of the accident, spotting the dust cloud veiling where debris had fallen. Inside, Rody had gone down to his stomach, bracing his head with his gloved hands. Pino flew out from his jacket and started chirping to get his attention. He perked up and saw that the debris hadn't hit them.

"Hey, we're okay…" he realized with relief. But then he noticed that the case was missing. "Huh?!" he yelped, shooting to his feet and looking around for it. Fortunately, he found it just lying off to the side. "Huh…" he sighed, going over to pick it up off of the brown cloth it was upon, "Dang, we're gonna be late…" he muttered while jogging onward. He glanced back to see not only Rebecca running after him, but also Izuku lunging toward him. "Whuh-oh!" he exclaimed, hurrying down the stairs into the subway tunnel.

"Wait!" the freckled teen yelled, landing down and joining his girlfriend as they continued their pursuit. Back on the bridge, the archer woman had been watching as the flames billowed behind her from the wreckage. She drove off on her motorcycle a moment later.

"Hold the door, will ya?!" Rody yelled as he scurried into the last train car before it took off. Inside, he fell to his hands and knees as he tried to catch his breath. Pino lied right beside him, also exhausted. "Heck of a day, huh?" he noted aloud as he stood up and grabbed the case, "Aw, geez…" he muttered out, looking himself over, "This is my best set of clothes and now look… They're all scuffed up…" he grumbled, while his bird perched herself onto his right shoulder, "Those stupid heroes… I should send them a dry cleaning bill…" he remarked.

He failed to notice that Izuku was in hot pursuit of the train, catching up to it. The conductor was panicking, wondering what in the world he was even trying to do. The brunette-haired young man seemed blissfully unaware.

"Wait, have we seen either of them before?" he asked of Pino, "Is this town even in their jurisdiction?" he inquired on. His bird tilted her head to the side, unsure herself. "Oh well," her owner sighed with a shrug of his shoulders, failing still to spot the freckled teen getting closer, "Don't have to worry about him now, huh?" he assumed. And at that moment, Izuku pressed himself against the train as if he were a frog.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" the conductor shrieked girlishly, seeing his fish-like expression pressed against the glass. Rody and Pino looked back to see the One For All inheritor.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" they screamed as their eyes bugged out. Clearly, they didn't expect such resilience from him. Just then, the brunette-haired boy felt something tap his shoulder. He turned and widened his eyes to see Rebecca there, having a cross look upon her face with her arms folded over her chest.

"Hi," she greeted sternly, causing him and his bird to grimace with fright.

X

Moments later, Izuku had hopped off onto the platform of the next station to find that his girlfriend already had Rody seemingly cornered, now transformed back to normal. He was leaning against the railing with his gloved right hand over his mouth, not sure how to properly deal with the two student heroes.

"Any update from Todoroki on the car accident at the bridge?" the Cat Leaper Quirk user asked of her boyfriend as he approached. He shook his head.

"We can worry about that later," he affirmed to her, turning his attention onto the brunette-haired young man, "Right now…" he continued, narrowing his eyes onto him.

"…Why exactly did you two chase me down?" he asked, turning his head away from him.

"Why were you running from us?" Izuku questioned back.

"I have work to do, so I was in a hurry!" Rody argued as a response.

"What kind of work?" Rebecca asked curiously, crossing her arms over her chest and raising an eyebrow.

"I move money, know what I mean?" he told her with a grin, "May not look it, but I'm a skilled negotiator," he pointed out as he adjusted his coat, "So, will ya please let me get along with my business, okay?" he requested of the pair as he started to trot off, "Thanks," he said.

"So show us what's in the case, and then you're free to go," Izuku decided, causing him to stop.

"How much are you offering me?" he inquired curiously.

"Huh?" the freckled teen uttered in confusion.

"You ask for somethin', it's only natural you should pay for it," Rody noted as a response.

"What?" Rebecca said as she blinked, "Wait, that isn't even the issue here…" she pointed out.

"We just wanna make sure it's not stolen goods," Izuku stated as he stepped forward to approach him, "There was a robbery just a little while ago and—"

"Say, you're not heroes from this country, are you?" Rody guessed as he turned to face the pair, interrupting the One For All inheritor as he flinched in surprise, "Hm," the brunette-haired young man chuckled, "Is it really okay for you to do hero work in a foreign land if you don't have permission?" he inquired on.

"Well… the thing is…" the freckled teen tried to say, unsure of how to phrase things as he lowered his gaze.

"You've got no authority in this city, so maybe rethink your tone, my friends," the brunette-haired young man advised as he approached Izuku, sticking a finger tauntingly in his face to make him back up, "Or should I tell the police that I was chased and harassed by some power hungry heroes who had no legal right to detain me?" he suggested of them, "How do you think that's gonna go over, buddy?" he asked of the One For All inheritor with a taunting grin, wiggling his finger in his face.

"Ergh…" he growled out.

"Oh, for the love of…" Rebecca grumbled out, reaching down to grab the Happy Blaster off of her left thigh.

"I'm so glad we could come to this understanding," Rody noted after a chuckle, patting Izuku on his shoulder, "If you wanna do pro work, I suggest you stay in your own country from now on," he insisted with a wink as he pointed to his former pursuant, "Later," he said in farewell, ready to leave.

"I don't think so," the Cat Leaper Quirk user remarked, causing him to perk up and gasp to see her with her weapon aimed at him.

"AAAAHHH!" he yelped loudly, "Wh-What the hell are you doing?!" he stammered in question.

"R-Rebecca?!" Izuku stuttered out of shock.

"Let's add some context here, okay?" Rebecca requested rhetorically, "You were running from the scene of a crime, you're carrying a case that looks exactly like the one that was taken from the jewelry store that was robbed…" she listed off, causing Rody to grimace from each point, "and instead of cooperating with us, you're trying to bribe us into showing what's in the case," she finished, narrowing her eyes, "If you're gonna bluff, you better think again," she quipped, "So…" she continued as she kept her Happy Blaster aimed on him, "do we hand you over to the police…" she offered, "or do you wanna show us what's in the case and prove you're not a crook?" she inquired on. The brunette-haired young man was sweating. He had no idea how to counter her points. Then again, he did have the edge of knowing that neither her nor Izuku were from Otheon, meaning they didn't have jurisdiction.

"N-Nice try…" he stammered out, "But I'll let the police know just what you two did," he affirmed, turning around and starting to walk away.

"Hey!" Rebecca shouted. At that moment, Izuku shot forward.

"Wait!" he yelled, grabbing Rody by his left arm to stop him. There was long moment of silence.

"…What's your problem?" the brunette-haired young man growled in question.

"I told you, we wanna see what's in the case," the One For All inheritor answered simply.

"If you wanna see, then flash some cash," Rody insisted back.

"Show us, and maybe I will…" Izuku retorted, trying to call his bluff.

"Tch," he scoffed out, "Show me a hundred thousand euros!" he demanded.

"You're out of your mind…" the freckled teen responded with a glare.

"Just let… go of me!" Rody yelled, trying to pry himself free from Izuku's grasp, only for him to pull him back. The two of them then started to wrestle over the case, snatching it from each other. They then both got their hands on the handle, tugging as hard as they could. "Hands off!" the brunette-haired young man shouted, clenching his teeth together.

"Hey, cut it out!" Rebecca yelled, about get between the two. But all of a sudden, Pino flew out and slammed right into her face as she yelped, falling onto her bottom. Ultimately, the tug-of-war between Izuku and Rody ended with the case flying out of their hands as they fell over, clattering along the platform. The two boys quickly scrambled over to it, trying to push each other aside in the process. But once they made their way over… they found that the case was opened, with only notebooks and paperwork inside. Awkwardly, the freckled teen turned to the young man next to him, as he was just as flabbergasted.

"I'm… confused…" he admitted sheepishly, unsure of what to make of this discovery. And little did he realize that there was more to the case than met the eyes…

X

Back on the bridge, the wrecked car at the scene of the accident had been iced over by Shoto in order to snuff out the flames. The man inside had already been taken to a hospital for treatment as police were investigating the scene. The Half-Cold, Half-Hot Quirk user had just given his report on the situation to an officer.

"Good work," he complimented to the U.A. student.

"Hey, come over here for a sec," one of the forensic experts by the car called out, getting Shoto's attention as he approached, "Take a look at these," he said, pointing toward the holes punctured through the car's metal frame, being present in many different areas.

"Where'd they come from?" another one of the forensic experts wondered aloud. Meanwhile, the Half-Cold, Half-Hot Quirk user narrowed his eyes.

'Was this an attack?' he guessed inwardly. Not too far from the scene of the accident, the archer woman was opening the case she had obtained upon a trash can in an alleyway. However, she was surprised to find the colorful jewels that were inside. She clenched her fists in frustration, kicking it aside as the jewels scattered about the ground. Moments later, she was in contact with Flect. He narrowed his eyes in disappointment.

"Unfortunate…" he said, "But so be it," he remarked, "We'll take the necessary precautions," he told his subordinate as he was speaking to her via a video call in the foyer of Humarise's base, "You shall continue tracking it down," he instructed.

"Of course," she replied over the communication, "Thank you, sir," she said with gratitude.

"Don't forget, Beros," Flect advised from her phone, "There is only one way for those possessed by the demon of sickness to atone," he noted, "And that is to give oneself to the cause of saving humanity," he stated firmly. The archer woman closed her eyes and put her left hand over her heart.

"I understand," she assured. Back in the subway, a minute had passed since the contents of the suitcase had been revealed to Izuku and Rebecca. The situation was already weird enough now that the pair had realized that Rody seemingly wasn't the thief they thought he was. But to make matters even more weird…

"I'M SORRY!" Izuku emphatically apologized, being on his hands and knees and he profusely bowed his head, "PLEASE FORGIVE ME, I BEG OF YOU!" he pleaded to the brunette-haired young man, who was shocked.

'Geez… so much for avoiding making some kind of scene…!' he noted inwardly, cringing as he could tell that people on the platform were staring.

"I'm sorry, too…" Rebecca apologized as she sheepishly scratched at her right cheek, putting her Happy Blaster away, "But you have to admit, you running didn't exactly help your case…" she pointed out. Pino chirped angrily at her, causing her to flinch.

"Hey, it's no biggie…" Rody assured in reply, "I'm just glad that you two don't think I'm a criminal anymore!" he noted as he rubbed his gloved hands, "We're good here," he assured, crouching down to gather the contents of the case and close it afterward, "I guess even heroes make mistakes and chase after innocent people on occasion," he assumed, standing up.

"So… what exactly is all that stuff now that we've seen it?" the Cat Leaper Quirk asked of him curiously.

"Uh, oh, just some paperwork stuff for one of my clients…" he answered as Pino tucked herself into the collar of his jacket, "Gotta get it over to him before he gets pissed!" he pointed out with a chuckle. Though inwardly, he was panicking.

'Oh crap, what's going on?!' he wondered, 'This isn't what I signed up for!' he yelled through his thoughts, shaking the case as he clenched his teeth angrily, 'Wasn't this supposed to be full of jewelry?!' he questioned, checking each and every angle of the object to see if there was something inside of it.

"Uh… are you okay?" Rebecca asked in concern. Rody was tuning her out, trying to retrace his steps. He got the case from the thieves, was heading toward the train station, and then…

"Ah…" he uttered out.

'No… don't tell me…!' he started to realize, remembering when he had to evade the falling debris from the bridge earlier and wound up dropping the case. He thought he had picked it up, but instead… 'I mixed up the cases!' he concluded in panic. Izuku and Rebecca watched him tremble as sweated poured down his face.

"Anyway…" he uttered as he turned to them shakily and waved, "like I said, super busy…" he pointed out.

"You're really sweaty…" the freckled teen noted, seeing him head off, "Do you feel okay?" he asked out of concern.

"Ah, hey…" Rebecca called out as he passed by her. Nothing else was on his mind other than how badly he had screwed up.

'Shoot… I need to hurry up and backtrack…' he advised to himself, 'But will the case still be there?' he inquired through his thoughts as he passed by the turnstiles, 'If someone picked it up and looked at what was inside, there's no way I'm getting it back…' he noted while going up the stairs, 'We're dealing with villains here…' he pointed out inwardly, 'I can't say 'Oopsie, I lost it!'' he inferred, grimacing all the while from how much trouble he had gotten himself into, 'This is bad…' he realized as he walked up into the plaza, still sweating, 'What am I gonna do?' he wondered.

"'Scuse me," Izuku's voice suddenly chimed in, causing him to shiver in surprise as his sunglasses fell over his eyes. He turned his head to see the freckled teen and Rebecca approaching him. "Are you positive that nothing's wrong with you?" the former of the two asked with concern.

"Oh, I'm peachy… Thanks," Rody quickly responded as he pushed his sunglasses back up over his bandana.

"Uh, okay then…" Izuku said.

"Rody, that you?" a voice called out, getting their attentions as they turned to see Connor approaching with a large grocery bag in his arms.

"M-Mister Connor?!" Rody stammered in surprise.

'Great, the last person I need to see right now…' he muttered inwardly with a grimace.

"Out working, hm?" the portly man assumed, narrowing his eyes slightly before sighing, "I keep telling you to put a stop to all this and just do some honest work for a change…" he whispered seriously to him.

"Old man, this really isn't the time…" Rody grumbled, sounding very stressed.

"Um, excuse me?" Rebecca's voice chimed in, getting their attentions as they turned to see her and Izuku there, "Your name is Rody?" she presumed.

"Uh, yeah…" the brunette-haired young man answered.

"Ooh, aren't you a lovely young woman?" Connor remarked as a compliment to the Cat Leaper Quirk user, making her blink in surprise, "From the way you and your friend are dressed, I take it you're both heroes?" he guessed.

"Yeah, that's right," Izuku confirmed in response.

"And I assume you were chasing our little friend here for being part of a ruckus…" the portly man added as he glanced back at Rody, who cringed.

"Um, it was actually a whole misunderstanding…" Rebecca noted, putting her hands up in a placating manner, "We thought he was a thief, but he's actually just a delivery boy… or something," she told him. Connor narrowed his eyes momentarily.

"Well, it sounds as if things are settled for the time being," he concluded, letting off a little smile, "I'll go ahead and get this little rascal back home without so much as a worry," he assured, walking over to Rody's side, "You two should go about your business from here on, if that's alright!" he advised of the pair of student heroes.

"Uh, thank you…" Izuku responded unsurely. Connor gave off a chuckle, followed by wrapping his right arm around Rody's shoulders and pulling him close as he yelped.

"Alright, lad…" he began in a frustrated tone, "let's get this 'delivery' of yours done and then get you back home to your brother and sister," he told him, "I'm going to be keeping a close eye on you from here on out…" he added firmly. The brunette-haired boy was still sweating.

"'Preciate the help, old man…" he began quietly, "but I already screwed up!" he exclaimed in a whisper, "I mixed up the case that had the stuff with this one chock full of books and crap!" he told him in a panic.

"Then we'll go back and get the damn case you need!" Connor affirmed in a loud whisper, "Honestly, you getting worked up like this is exactly why I don't want you involved in these sorts of things…" he grumbled. Izuku and Rebecca watched on in slight concern.

"Well, we should probably head back to the hotel," the latter of the couple advised, "I bet the others are starting to worry about us…" she pointed out in inference.

"Yeah," the One For All inheritor agreed. All of a sudden, they heard police sirens roar as cars and swat trucks zipped into the plaza, all gathering near where Rody and Connor were. The brunette-haired young man paled.

'The police?! Already?!' he exclaimed inwardly as sweat continued rolling down his face, 'How'd they know what happened?!' he wondered through his thoughts.

"Oh dear…" Connor sighed. Several riot cops and officers disembarked from their vehicles, aiming their weapons at the brunette-haired young man and the portly man beside him.

"Hands up and kneel on the ground!" one of them demanded of the pair. Rody stumbled back a few steps, falling onto his posterior.

"Um… hey guys…" he uttered out, evidently frightened as he shut his eyes. Connor obliged to the policeman's orders, kneeling down and holding up his hands after setting down his groceries.

"Don't worry, we'll cooperate," he assured.

"Please just hold on!" Izuku pleaded to the law enforcement as he held his hands out to them, "It's not him!" he assured.

"And this is a little overkill for just one person…" Rebecca mentioned as she stood beside him.

"Truth!" Rody suddenly exclaimed as he scampered to his feet and took off, "Didn't steal anything!" he proclaimed, running away.

"Hey, wait!" the Cat Leaper Quirk user yelled.

"Stop him!" one officer shouted out.

"We have permission to shoot!" another declared, "Fire!" he commanded. With that, a flurry of shots rained out from the officers' guns.

"WAAAHHH!" Rody screamed as he could hear bullets race by him. Suddenly, he was picked up by Izuku, who leapt into the air with him.

"Hang on! And try not to flail!" he insisted of the brunette-haired young man, unleashing black energy tendrils from the sights of his gloves.

"Rody!" Connor called out, quite shocked by how the situation had unfolded. So was Rebecca.

"What the heck was that for?!" she exclaimed in question, "He's not the thief, so—!" All of a sudden, another flurry of bullets was shot towards her and the portly man. For a split-second, the Cat Leaper Quirk user made her markings shine brightly. When she opened her eyes again, she watched her boyfriend fleeing the scene with the brunette-haired young man in his grasp.

"Rody!" Connor called out. Reacting quickly, Rebecca assumed her Overdrive form, letting blue sparks of bio-electricity crackle around her body. She sped over to the portly man and picked him up off of the ground, leaping away with him as the bullets were fired their way. "Whoa!" Connor yelped, "Young lady, what do you think you're doing?!" he yelled in question.

"Sorry!" the Cat Leaper Quirk user apologized, "But they were gonna fire on us!" she pointed out to his shock. They followed Izuku and Rody, as the latter was screaming while being carried along. "Izu!" the former's girlfriend called out, getting his attention, "They just shot at us, too!" she noted to him.

"What?!" he exclaimed in shock with widened eyes. They glanced back, seeing police cars in pursuit of them as their sirens wailed. They headed down into an alleyway, with the freckled teen accidentally tearing a truck's cover before shooting off down the path. Many bystanders were befuddled by him and the Cat Leaper Quirk user racing by, but yelped as they saw police cars zip in, lunging off to the side to avoid getting hit. The trio saw that they were relentlessly pursuing them, not caring in the slightest about the damages they were causing.

"Oh boy…" Rebecca muttered worriedly, grabbing one of her Happy Blasters and turning around, aiming carefully, "Sorry about this…" she apologized in advance, firing off a few shots. The energy bursts struck and popped the front tires of the leading car, causing it to swerve out of control before it crashed into a newsstand. The other cars had to screech to a halt, piling up over each other as the leading one was blocking their path.

"Rebecca, hold on!" Izuku called out, having a few of his energy tendrils shoot out toward her and wrap around her waist to help carry her along. As Rody continued screaming in horror and confusion, the freckled teen arrived at the end of the alleyway, taking a great leap. He was descending toward the city below, shooting a pair of his energy tendrils to latch onto the train riding along the bridge ahead.

He reeled himself in, landing upon it in a flurry of dust. It quickly cleared, revealing him and the others crouched around the case atop the train. They took a few deep breaths of exhaustion, having been moving for a while.

"Why would they be using lethal force on us?!" the One For All inheritor questioned.

"I've got no idea…" Rebecca responded as she put a hand onto the case to keep it from getting blown off. She looked over to Rody, who looked extremely blue in the face as his lips were dried.

"I thought that I… was gonna die…" he whimpered out as Pino stuck out from his hair, having almost the exact same expression.

"This wouldn't be happening if you just complied!" Connor noted angrily.

"Hold on a sec, Mister!" Rebecca chimed in insistently, "You weren't even involved in the whole mess, and they wanted to shoot at you, too!" she pointed out.

"Huh…" Izuku exhaled, "At any rate, let's calm down and get in touch with the others…" he advised, reaching into one of his pouches at his belt for something, "We'll take these two with us and make sure everyone knows what happened," he affirmed.

"Right, good call," his girlfriend agreed with a nod. Things did seem calm for the moment. But unbeknownst to them, the danger wasn't even close to over. All of a sudden, Izuku felt a change in the wind, whipping around and spotting an arrow coming his way.

He had the outer layer of his right glove jolt forward, flicking his middle finger to unleash a pressurized blast of air to knock the projectile away. However, it veered back around in a green streak of light, heading toward him again. Rebecca quickly drew her Happy Blaster and shot it aside.

"Hurry, go!" she yelled, hopping back to avoid the arrow from landing on its third attempt as it pierced through the roof of the train car, becoming stuck.

'Someone's after us?!' Izuku noted through his thoughts out of shock, picking up Rody and Connor in his arms just as he had grabbed the case. He looked into the distance and noticed a glimpse of reflective light from atop a hill. Upon it was Beros, who prepped another arrow on her longbow's string as its fletching glowed a bright green. She fired, letting the arrow fly toward the train as it was traveling through the suspension bridge.

The One For All inheritor and the Cat Leaper Quirk user were quick to take action, quickly hurrying over the train cars and evading the arrow. Rody regained some semblance of consciousness as he saw that they weren't out of the woods yet. The archer villain atop the hill readied another trio of arrows, nocking them back and launching them.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Rody and Connor screamed with tears flying out from their eyes as the arrows flew by, shattering the train car windows as people inside murmured with shock. Izuku took notice.

'We can't put bystanders in danger!' he realized, swinging himself along to the end of the train.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" Rody shrieked in question, unable to comprehend the sheer craziness of what he had just gotten himself involved in. He continued screaming as Izuku pulled them up toward the top of the bridge, flipping around to avoid the incoming arrows. Rebecca came up as well, firing off shots from both of her Happy Blasters to knock away a few of the arrows that would've hit her boyfriend. He kept expelling black tendrils to swing around second by second, all while the two men he carried were yelling for their lives. And then, Rody suddenly passed out from all the adrenaline as his eyes went white. With that, Izuku's hold on him suddenly loosened as he started to plummet down toward the pavement below.

"RODY!" Connor screamed in fright.

"No!" the freckled teen yelled, having to flip and dodge the arrows still heading his way. It didn't seem like he'd be able to catch Rody. But thankfully, Rebecca leapt over and grabbed him in her left arm.

"Izu!" she called out. After blasting the arrows back with more pressurized air blasts shot from his gloves as he flicked his fingers, the One For All inheritor dove toward the Cat Leaper Quirk user. Expelling more black tendrils to attach to the bridge's cables, he swung by and caught both her and Rody. Meanwhile, the police had arrived on the bridge as several cars were still in pursuit. Izuku and Rebecca continued to hurry along the bridge as they swung, with the former carrying his girlfriend and both men, while the latter was holding onto the case.

'We have to get to somewhere safe!' the freckled teen realized, letting his Blackwhips dissipate before diving toward the water below. He entered with a splash, while his girlfriend followed suit. Back on the hill, Beros scoffed in frustration, letting her fingers morph back to normal as she went over to her motorcycle. She kicked back the kickstand and drove off, knowing that her mission wasn't yet over.

X

"Idiots!" Enji yelled from the standby hotel he and the others had taken residence for the time being. Katsuki, Shoto and Homura had returned, having informed the Flame Hero about what had taken place earlier. "We're right in the middle of an important mission!" he pointed out angrily as they were in the lobby area, "You should leave the petty criminals for the local authorities to take care of!" he advised of his work study students.

"W-We're terribly sorry!" the Soul Blade Quirk user apologized with a stutter as she bowed her head profusely, "We just saw what happened and reacted…" she noted sheepishly as she looked away.

"I thought heroes we're supposed to assist those in trouble!" Shoto argued.

"You're the one who's supposed to be teaching us," Katsuki pointed out as he leaned up against a pillar, "Maybe you should've explained how to ignore crime…" he suggested uncaringly.

"That's not what I said!" Enji shouted back through a growl. "Anyway, I assume there's a reason that Deku nor Aoneko are here?" the Flame Hero guessed, looking toward his son for an answer.

"They're following someone who was working with the jewel thieves," he explained in reply, pulling out his phone from his pocket, "But Midoriya's not picking up his phone right now…" he pointed out in concern.

"You slackers!" Enji roared out, swinging his arms down, "I shouldn't have brought you with me, even if you are doing your work studies!" he noted angrily as the fire around him flared wildly. At that moment, the ringer of the Half-Cold, Half-Hot Quirk user's phone went off. He looked to see who was calling.

"It's him," he said, seeing Izuku's name on the screen. He tapped the answer icon before putting the phone to his left ear. "Midoriya, hey," he greeted, "Do you have the suspect?" he inquired.

"The police just attacked us out of nowhere!" the freckled teen exclaimed over the line, causing Shoto to lightly gasp in surprise.

"What? Why? What did you do to them?" he asked quickly, causing everyone around to perk up in worry.

"I don't know!" Izuku responded.

"Can you elaborate?" Shoto requested, hitting the speaker icon on his phone. Izuku and Rebecca had found themselves at the end of a riverbank on their respective devices, while Rody was lying on the ground and spitting up water as he tried to catch his breath. Connor was wringing out his shirt, sighing with relief as the danger was seemingly over. He looked back at the pair of student heroes, as the Cat Leaper Quirk user had transformed back to normal.

"The police barely said anything at all before they started firing at us…" the One For All inheritor explained to the Half-Cold, Half-Hot Quirk user and the others, "And when we tried to run away, we were attacked again by someone else who looked like a villain…" he mentioned.

"What about the thief you and Rebecca were chasing?" Homura asked over the line, "Did you catch him?" she inquired on.

"Hold on, Homura," Shoto advised, "Let him calm down and explain from the beginning," he insisted.

"Okay, so…" Izuku began, "Rebecca and I chased the guy who ran away with the case and eventually caught him," he told his colleagues, "But there wasn't any jewelry inside when we opened it up," he pointed out over the line.

"And then when the police showed up in full force, they started firing on him and us, along with some other guy we picked up," the Cat Leaper Quirk user herself mentioned over the line, "We're laying low for right now, but we need to find out what's going on…" she added seriously.

"Okay, we'll look into things on our end," Shoto promised. Just then, the doors slammed open, getting their attentions as they saw Clair there.

"Endeavor, emergency!" she called out, "It's about Deku and Aoneko…" she mentioned grimly.

"What?" Homura uttered in confusion as she blinked. Moments later, the group ventured into the briefing room to find out what was going on. They joined the other heroes, who were watching a local news broadcast.

"Once again, according to recent police reports," the anchor on the screen said as images of Izuku and Rebecca were up on the screen, "the suspects who are thought to have killed twelve people are at large and considered highly dangerous," he told viewers, "Both are Japanese heroes, uh, one called Deku," he stuttered out, "Real name Izuku Midoriya," he mentioned, "The other is a hero named Miss Aoneko, though her true identity is Rebecca Bluegarden," he said, "The entire nation is on the lookout for them," he noted as everyone in the room widened their eyes in shock, "There are other reports that they have two accomplices with them," he added.

"Hello?" Izuku's voice rang out from Shoto's phone, which had been taken off speaker, "Hello? Todoroki?" he called out again.

"Hey, what's going on?" Rebecca asked from the phone as well. Everyone was left speechless. And the turmoil that was bound to follow would only be the beginning…

END

And that wraps up the second chapter of this arc! I'm glad that I have my previous adaptation as a base, because these chapters are getting drafted rather quickly. More of the original content's going to be coming up in the next few chapters.

That's all for now! Thanks for reading!