It's a bright blue blaze all around. Lowly lit lazuline colors the center of an intense inferno while nearly navy hues are where the flames are more fully functional. Trees topple over as they are burned & brought down in a matter of sheer seconds. Crispy charcoal flakes float and flutter alongside fire embers. Extreme heat is all surrounding and all consuming. Ash paves a path of footprints where Shoto Todoroki trudges through what feels like a personal hell that's just been raised on him.

Todoroki's eyelids are nearly swollen shut from the sweltering sensation of straining his eyes against the conflagration's illumination. Sweat beads stream down his face and send much welcomed chills along his back as well. Soot covers him as he coughs. If not for using the ice aspect of his quirk to cool his blood flow then he'd have probably passed out or died by now. A purple fog rolls in with the smoke caused by the fire, making his breathing all the more laboress. It doesn't help that he exerts more of his energy by also dragging the unconscious bodies of two of his classmates behind him.

He couldn't leave Manga Fukidashi or Tsuyu Asui behind to roast to death. Even if it means putting his own life at risk, Todoroki carries them both away from the spreading inferno. They must have breathed in the gasses and fumes, and they were without a counteractive measure like his own to combat the adverse effects of those vile vapors. Now it's up to him alone to ensure their survival. Though they do look much more well off than him in their comfortable blissful state of slumber. Todoroki pulls Fukidashi and Asui away from the flames that follow at the ends of their heels.

Todoroki coughs, but unlike his other coughs, this one comes with a virulent spray of blood. The life liquid is frosted and frozen over, almost crystalized. If the environment that he's in doesn't kill his exterior body first, then the interior trauma that comes with the limitations of his quirk will be what brings about his end at this rate. A shaky breath he releases comes with a cloud of condensation as red as the icy blood that dribbles out of his mouth. He quivers as he freezes from the inside and burns on the outside.

Just as he feels like he's about to give out and fall over to join his classmates on the ground, he spots something up ahead. Todoroki squints his eyes while trying to make out the blurry shape of what looks like a person's silhouette. A huge hopeful part of the boy believes that perhaps a member of the Wild Wild Pussycats has found them. However, the way that this peculiar person walks through the fire has him rethinking things. Especially since Tiger is much more muscular than the guy that's stepping forth currently.

Purple patchworking of burns and staples covers this man's face. Spiked black hair flows against the fanning of the flames around him. A long coat blows behind what must be the villain that caused this fiery scene for a setting – if the lighting of more blue burning fire in the palms of his hands is anything to by, then that must be the case – and he wears a wide toothy grin that spells something S-I-N-I-S-T-E-R.

Shoto Todoroki, though he is hardly able to stay on his feet for any longer than another minute at most, stands his ground against Dabi. He throws a look back over his shoulder to check on his still indisposed classmates. So long as he's planted his position directly in front of them, he hopes it will be enough to shield them from the villain should an attack be inbound. Snowflakes drip from the crystalizing sweat on the side of him that produces the ice power of his quirk. Despite how it might only increase the harmful effects of Dabi's flames, he also ignites a contrasting color of orange fire from his other side.

Dabi sees that he's clearly got the upper hand here and laughs with absolute giddiness & glee. His flame lit hands whip out with the outstretching of his arms. It's as though he has opened himself up to a warmly welcoming hug – a very warm & welcoming hug, if there must be a pun intended – Dabi stands there, beaming both with joy and bright blue flames.

Shoto Todoroki is standoffish by comparison. He guards himself, keeping his arms up to block his body from any sort of assault or attack. The boy grits his teeth together, unable to match his enemy's grin while at such an extreme disadvantage. His skin starts to sizzle and sear as he becomes more cornered than he previously was.

Dabi's eyes level with Shoto's stare, the two of them looking right at one another in a way that glaring couldn't even accurately describe. It's an exchange of acknowledgement that no words can possibly manifest a means of expressing or conveying communication.

Well, Dabi does think of something to say… "Hello.. Brother.."

Shoto's belabored breathing hitches with his heart as he utters out the only feasible response in that moment, "Huh.. ?"

Mandalay pinches the skin crowning her forehead as she strains her mind with her quirk. Her eyelids wobble as they tightly clamp to remain closed. No matter how wide her reach or how focused she is with seeking the Hero Course students, there are just a few that she can't make contact with. When her eyes reopen, they are wide with worry. "I'm not able to fully form a telepathic connection with everyone", she looks out the window to view the resort's fiery state and makes a somewhat educated guess as to why that is, "There must be students rendered unconscious from the heat's effects."

Tiger's facial muscles tighten and tense as well. He points out that Manadaly's assumption is more hopeful than educated, "Or worse.." At the very least, he does well to leave out the added fact there is some sort of mustard gas mingled in with the fire's fumes which can be the cause of 'worse'.

The 'worse' idea that the reason she can't link with the minds of some missing students crosses her mind. And that's enough to make her fears shift into a form of fury. "DON'T even think that way", Mandalay doesn't bother biting back on her anger when admonishing her teammate.

Pixie Bob steps in between the two so that she can place a hand on each of their shoulders. It's a gesture meant to be both consoling and a means of grounding them in the moment to stay focused on the matter at hand. "What about those that you did connect with?", she asks about the next steps in their strategy moving forward.

To which Mandalay is grateful. She looks at Tiger and the two nod at one another apologetically, as well as forgivingly. "They've been given permission to exercise full force with their quirks in self defense", Mandalay reports what she telepathically told the Hero Course per their safety as an utmost priority of concern. "In the meantime, we need to focus efforts on regrouping" She then shares with her team the plan on their part moving forward.

Pixie Bob gives the team's leader a quick thumbs up. "I've got my Earth Beasts scouting the forest as we speak", her quirk proceeds with the plan by creating golems to serve both as guard dogs and tracker mutts.

"That's a start", Mandalay returns the thumbs up with one of her own. Then, she turns towards another member of the Wild Wild Pussycats that she can rely on to help per this plan. "Ragdoll, can you use Search to pinpoint and locate everyone that I couldn't?"

"Of course", it's now Ragdoll's turn to push the limits of her quirk like Mandalay had. She closes her eyes and focuses with 'Search' to search for the student's whereabouts. As the woman works, she shares her findings. "There's three south west of here.. Tiger, can you– ?"

"Already on it", Tiger hurries off to find & retrieve the students that Ragdoll located in order to commence their rescue operation as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Ragdoll's face squeezes as she forces herself to really amp up her quirk's detective field. "Picking up a few others in the east back by the lodges", she rasps out her newest findings while exerting a lot of energy to get those findings.

"I'll be the one that heads over that way then", Pixie Bob hastily heads out to help the students who may be in desperate need of a rescuer.

"And–", Ragdoll's heavy breathing takes a pause when she sucks in a big inhale of air, "..and…" Her eyes open as she looks over at Spider-Man with a surprised stare in her eyes.

Spider-Man stares back, though his eyes aren't as expressional outside of being narrowly focused. "What is it?", he asks the woman why she won't stop looking in his direction.

Ragdoll is hesitant to answer the masked individual but eventually – still reluctantly – does so, "There's something strange about your signal.. Why are there two beings present within you?"

Yaoyorozu's mouth parts, either to gasp or say something, but she forces it closed while swallowing down whichever audible reaction she may have given. Nevertheless, the wide eyed expression on her face betrays her outward response to what Ragdoll shared.

Spider-Man slowly looks around. Mandalay is patiently waiting for him to explain, as is Ragdoll. "...No time for that", but he's not so forthcoming about the symbiote should they judge him the way Yaoyorozu had. Instead, he shifts their focus back onto the importance of the situation that they're in. "Mandalay, where do you want us?"

Reminded of the raid on their resort, Mandalay gets back into that headspace. She looks up at her only Wild Wild Pussycats teammate remaining in the room. "Ragdoll, where is Kota?"

Ragdoll remembers the boy that Mandalay took in after what happened with the Waterhoses and returns to using her quirk in order to find the missing child. "He's.. His hideaway on the mountain peak – by the cave opening–"

"I know the spot", Mandalay urgently turns to go and get the boy that she's been raising.

But Yaoyorozu stops her before she can make it out the door, "Sorry but you're much more needed here.." Yaoyorozu remains rational about their dynamic and puts the domino mask that she wears as Black Cat back on. "Spider-Man and I will go to retrieve Kota", she offers an alternative course of action regarding the missing child.

Mandalay is a bit reluctant to accept that offer but ultimately relents and agrees to Yaoyorozu's suggestion, "Please.. Bring him back safely."

Spider-Man steps up to stand alongside Black Cat. "You can count on us."

What started as a cacophonous crackle has now had time to become a raucous roaring. Kyoka Jirou clasps her hands over her ears, pressing her palms as tightly closed around them as possible. The sound of a blaring blaze couples with what that devastating fire devours; bark burning and popping as they burst into flames conjoins with the trees collapsing in unison with one another. Jirou feels her footing fall off balance as her equilibrium is compromised. Her vision fades in and out with her breathing as she inhales noxious fumes.

Since her senses are awfully overstimulated by her surroundings, the girl is helpless to notice one of the giant falling trees is about to land on top of her. She happens to trip at the same moment. Fire flares while a trunk turns over to come crashing down in a flurry of flames. Jirou is only sparingly saved by the happenstance of Itsuka Kendo finding her. Kendo uses the black whip aspect of OFA to grab the falling tree and pull it away before it can crush Jirou.

"Jirou!", Kendo reels in the black whip styled extensions as she rushes to her classmate's side. The fellow Hero Course student isn't faring any better within the environmental setting. Her usual ginger ponytail has come loose so that her hair falls over her ash covered face.

Jirou manages to express her appreciation per the rescue through a couple of coughs, "Thanks.." Though she has to try using the hem of her shirt to cover her mouth & nose with how bad the fumes are starting to get – her cough becomes a gag – her breathing is harder to maintain or control.

Kendo feels herself getting tired and queasy too. She looks around, feeling a stronger sensation of danger than she had previously. When she sees a purple fog of mustard gas rolling in, she gets the hint. Kendo acts as fast as she thinks – she tears a portion of cloth from the bottom of her shirt – the cloth when tied around the bottom half of her face serves as a temporary solution to what's bound to become a big problem.

Jirou sees what her classmate did and follows suit. Though, between the two of them with now slightly exposed midriffs due to torn clothing, she can't help but blush a bit. She shakes her head clear of such thoughts. Now is definitely not the time to be concerned with embarrassing body insecurities. Not when there is a inferno increasingly closing in on her and Kendo.

Jirou snaps out of her daze completely when she sees Kendo's outstretched hand. "We need to find the one causing this", Kendo gets the other girl to her feet and they start to survey the scene.

Though Jirou knows it's a better idea to do something rather than sit around waiting to die, she can't help but ask her classmate for clarification. "The fire or the gas?", she frets over what she fears may be a disadvantageous situation.

"Does it matter?", but Kendo – Mighty Jab – has taken Mandalay's telepathic message that they are able to fight to heart, "Could be both!"

Jirou only needs to hear that once and so she nods once, getting on board with the other girl's mindset once getting a good reminder of what's important and why they are in the Hero Course, "Fair enough!" Her ear jacks jab into the ground so that they can be better utilized, "Gimme a sec then.. I got an idea.."

It's hard to listen past the sound of the flames. With her jacks plugged into the soil so that she can search through what's below rather than what is on the surface though, it's not completely impossible. She burrows her sense of hearing deep under the earth and away from the fire so that she can truly listen for specific sounds. The emission of steam and smoke from the fire is then distinguishable from a mustard gas quirk emitting similar stuff.

"Got em!", Jirou is confident that she found at least one of the villainous perpetrators behind the camp's attack.

MJ inflates her fists and smacks them together, ready to make a move now that they've got that intel. "Point me in the right direction!", she waits for her partner in crime fighting to give the good word.

Jirou points to her left, "That way!", and only goes through with unplugging her ear jacks after the fact of making sure that she's right about her sense of direction.

MJ brings her giant hands together to create a collisional clap. This results in a strong uptake of air that blows out the flames down that route. All that's left is then to clear away the mustard gas by fanning it away with her giant sized hands just the same.

However, before the dynamic duo is able to actually reach the villain that they've located, they're intercepted. "Clever girls", an interceding additional problem causes both Jirou & MJ to slam into one another, "But look where being clever got you.." They're drawn together like a magnetic force. This may as well be the case, what with the villain called Magne being who attacked them with her quirk.

"Another villain?!", MJ bites back her frustration with gritted teeth when seeing that they've been caught off guard by another ambush of sorts.

Magne unravels some sort of giant magnetic object from a bound towel. It serves as her support item, and despite its hefty size is easily swung to be hoisted up high above her shoulders. The tool glows due to her quirk, matching the same glow that surrounds both Jirou & MJ.

"I'm sorry", Jirou apologizes for not noticing Magne when using her quirk to scout their surroundings, "I couldn't hear her when fixing on just the one villain through all of this fire!"

MJ uses black whip to lasso and anchor herself to a tree. However, Magne's forceful pull proves much more powerful. The tree is torn loose from the ground by its roots. MJ is thrown by the magnetic invisibility when Magne swings her support item as a guiding tool of sorts.

"Nice try but my magnetism isn't strictly rooted to metals", Magne smirks as she shows some sick sense of humor in toying with the two girls that she's stumbled upon.

MJ braces herself when Magne swings the giant magnet that she's wielding as an attack. Mighty Jab blocks the blunt object before being repelled backwards by its force. The magnetic discharge fades with the glowing aura but it still remains ever in effect.

"Guess this one's not a Doctor Doom replica", MJ glares at her opponent when re-evaluating the manner of combat when in comparison to what happened at I-Tower.

"Then it's probably best to do away with her as quickly as possible", Jirou picks up on the subtle implication that not knowing what an enemy is completely capable of can mean their certain demise.

As such, Jirou aids her ally by attacking Magne next. She plugs her ear jacks into the ground and sends a series of heartbeat powered soundwaves through the dirt. Like a sudden sinkhole has been triggered, the soil starts to crumble apart and their footing falls inward.

MJ follows along, activating the float quality of OFA and lifting herself off from the destabilized surface beneath her. While being airborne, the hero hopeful lashes out with black whip yet again. She snags Magne with the binding ability. Then, MJ tightens their hold in order to trap and slam Magne into the dirt even further.

Magne resists by pulling MJ towards her with the magnetic effects of her quirk. But that's fine. Since putting Magne down wasn't MJ's main goal. "GO, JIROU!" MJ was instead intending on this being one great big distraction for Jirou to push past Magne as a blockade to the other villain up ahead.

Jirou darts through the treeline, making a mad dash to get out of range from Magne's quirk. Unfortunately, she doesn't get far enough nearly as quickly as she should have. Magne pulls Jirou back so that there can be no fleeing from their fully fledged out fight.

"Don't count me out just yet", Magne wipes sweat from her brow as she focuses on keeping the Hero Course pair pinned down and away from her villainous comrade.

MJ strains as she keeps putting up a fight to resist Magne's magnetism. With the combined efforts of float and black whip, she fairs fine, but it's not what she needs to get out of dodge. "We're not fast enough..", MJ worries that they can't get clear of the battle nor manage to win it at such a rate.

Jirou hears it first. But MJ's worries are quelled when what sounds like hope can be heard. The revving of engines comes from beyond the treeline.

Tenya Iida blasts through the foliage like a supercharged rocket. He goes full throttle, his engines pushing him past the scene with Magne and in the direction Jirou was aiming for originally.

Up ahead, Mustard hears the incoming sound of an engine too. He tries to reach for a pistol tucked behind his back. Iida comes barreling in much faster than he can make the grab though.

"RECIPRO BURST!", Tenya Iida takes out Mustard in one clean decisive blow.

"Mustard!", Magne is shocked by the abrupt suddenness of her partner in crime being eliminated.

Whereas MJ & Jirou share a shock that's more-so due to an extreme amount of relief to see an ally arrive within the knick of time to assist them, "Iida!"

Iida looks back, his footing teetering as his engines wind down and his body also loses steam. His glasses are as crooked as his sideways smile. "I saw what you were trying to do", but the hero hopeful gives his allies a thumbs up all the same, "Speed is my speciality."

Within the centerfold of Mustard's fumes, Iida succumbs to the gas. The boy falls over, passing out completely. If he weren't already exhausted enough, that's more than enough to do him in.

"You did good!", but MJ doesn't let Iida's assistance go to waste in such a way so long as another villain still remains, "Now leave the rest to us!" She lets him rest easy while turning to face and finish off Magne since it's what they all started here.

"Right!", Jirou sends a jolt directly into Magne with her strongest soundwave attack yet.

MJ follows through on the stunned villain with an inflated fist. The punch rocks Magne into the ground. "SMASH!", she shouts the signature title of her predecessor's moveset.

And with that, the deed is done.

Despite the last of the mustard gas dissipating, Jirou and Kendo pass out just like Iida did.

Spider-Man and Black Cat run along the outskirts of the forest. They steer clear of the fire that has now covered the entire mountain range. In doing so, they've committed to climbing a rockier terrain rather than the dirt trails made by the Wild Wild Pussycats. Spider-Man has no trouble maneuvering along the uneven cliffside but Black Cat struggles to find footholds or places to grab with her hands.

Black Cat grunts when stretching to reach a protruding branch for her to use as a foundation for footing. She has to ask if all this extra difficulty via rock climbing is really necessary, "Wouldn't it be faster to go straight through?"

"That's also more dangerous", Spider-Man turns back to help her climb; he assists Black Cat by pulling her up the rest of the way, "Don't forget about the mustard gas."

Black Cat – Yaoyorozu – uses her quirk to create a set of filtration masks; nevermind that she has to unzip the front of her costume to do so, in turn making Spider-Man look away out of respect. "Don't forget about who I am or what I can do either."

She tosses him a gas mask while fixing her own to her face. "Very nice..", Spider-Man looks down at the respirator in his hand but doesn't put it on.

Black Cat motions with a wave for him to venture into a new direction regardless. "Come on, we can cut through here!" She heads for the burning forest.

But Spider-Man stops her with an outstretched arm before she can fully enter the inferno. "Wait.." He's hesitant to go with her. Fearfully hesitant. He knows he has to admit the reason why or things are only bound to get even worse for them, "The truth is.. The fire harms us."

"Yeah, that's the general consensus for fire.." Black Cat doesn't fully comprehend what he means when he tries to explain himself though.

And so, he clarifies it a little more clearly for her. "No, you don't understand.. It harms US.."

"Oh..", Black Cat's eyes widen from behind her mask. She looks at the symbiote suit a little differently now, "Guess that gunk isn't all powerful afterall."

Spider-Man warily turns towards the fire infested forest. "You've got a point though.." His hands clench at his sides. "We can't let this weakness keep us from saving Kota."

Whatever courage Spider-Man mustered up to try cutting through the flames is quickly forgotten when his Spider-Sense scares him off though. He does a backflip in order to distance himself from what he registers as an immense level of danger. When landing in a low crouch, he sees that it wasn't just the fire he detected as a threat. Rather, a familiar foe had swooped down and now circles high up above… like the vulture that he is.

Hawks – or rather, now better known as The Vulture – is a returned rival who takes to the sky above Spider-Man. "Before you save someone, save yourself!" He taunts the vigilante with a fiendish laugh that sounds as aged & worn as the man now looks. Prison didn't do him any favors – wrinkles, hair loss, you name it and the stress induced aging symptoms are there – Hawks has undergone a complete transformation into Vulture now.

Still, the most surprising aspect about Vulture's untimely presence is the unexpectancy of it. Spider-Man has to wonder how the hell this guy even got out of prison or knew how to find him here to try exacting some kinda revenge plot, "What the– ?!"

Spider-Man's Spider-Sense alerts him to another form of danger. Again, he throws himself with a high leap and a flip to steer clear of whatever threat has come his way. Behind him, a massive blast of what looks like lightning shaped electricity decimates the rock slicken surface of the mountain they stand upon.

Spider-Man spins around to face the second enemy his danger sense detected before he himself could, "Who else– ?!"

"That's right", and he winds up seeing Denki Kaminari garbed in a form of villainous attire that has been absent for quite some time, "Electro's back! And he's got company!"

Spider-Man squints as he stares at the glowing guy who he has been yearning to give a beating. "You started an electric company?", there's just enough eager excitement to finally have a chance to give Electro a beating that he feels good enough to egg the enemy on, "Good for you."

Black Cat, on the other hand, isn't as confident with their odds. She alertedly searches their surroundings for additional threats that she without a danger detecting sense is unable to pinpoint otherwise, "That means there's more– ?!"

"Cat, look out!" Fortunately for her, Spider-Man is able to detect those threats for her. Unfortunately for her, she was right in assuming that there were other threats to detect.

A rhinoceros type of Nomu comes crashing through the treeline with its pointed head aimed right for Yaoyorozu. Spider-Man grabs her and leaps from the spot so that they don't get run down.

The rhino man slides to a stop, his heavyset body shifting around to face the two targets that he missed. Daiki may have undergone a transformation, but his voice and a majority of his memories remain. "Remember ME?", he wants to brag & boast about his powerup because of that former past, "I decided to join up with a better group of teammates."

Spider-Man's eyes expand when he actually does manage to recognize Daiki from Team Reservoir Dogs. "Oh yeaahhh, you ARE familiar – you look different though", he snaps his fingers and points at the baddie's transformative appearance as a silent way of asking about it.

But Daiki – now Rhino – isn't THAT stupid that he'd willingly expose the secret to his upgrade. He instead responds with a snide smirk, "So do you with your fancy new suit."

Spider-Man shrugs. "Yeah, but black is more thinning" His retort is aided by his motioning towards his abdomen where abs are clearly exhibited – as opposed to Rhino's still prominent gut – which is additionally aided when Spider-Man's gesturing moves towards the villain's stomach by comparison.

Rhino roars with rage, "WHY I OUGHTA– !"

Spider-Man jumps over Rhino's next charge, having successfully baited the villain. He just isn't expecting ANOTHER villain to show up with the others. A second Nomu, this one made with the genetic makeup of a scorpion, tackles him.

Spider-Man flips and rolls over along the hillside before he can successfully toss and throw off Scorpion. "This might take a while", he pivots to avoid the Nomu's spiked tail before bounding backwards. Surrounded at all sides when Vulture & Electro join back in, he casts a look back at Black Cat – but not for help – he instead insists on her getting away while she still can, "Keep going to Kota!"

Black Cat is hesitant to leave behind the vigilante while she watches him take on the squadron of villains all by himself. He catches a punch from Rhino but the catch requires two hands – which leaves him vulnerable – Scorpion's tail lassos Spider-Man's stomach and loops him around into a boulder. "Are you sure?!", Black Cat steps forwards – still reluctant to go – she wants to help him.

Vulture swoops down. Spider-Man ducks even lower to avoid getting caught. Electro sends a huge electric blast through the rocks that are in the way of his electrical attacks. Spider-Man then goes high, throwing himself off of the ground. He lands on Rhino's back for support before springing off of it to dodge an attack from Scorpion.

Spider-Man continues to do relatively well handling his own, but things get increasingly difficult for him to keep that up when ANOTHER villain joins in on the group assault. Stain – now with much longer hair and a scraggly beard – comes at Spider-Man with dual wielded daggers. Stain has ditched most of his costume, opting for a bare backed approach apparently.

"We meet again, Spider-Man!" The Hero Hunter carries a crazed grin along with his weapons. Drool flies from his mouth when he dashes forwards; he's feral while trying to slash the vigilante with his set of blades.

"Positive!", Spider-Man ignores the Hero Hunter in favor of answering Black Cat as he catches the animalistic enemy by the wrists to prevent an impalement. His attention is torn between both the attacking collection of villains and trying to urge Black Cat to leave while their attention is still solely fixated on him alone, "NOW GO!"

Black Cat gives the vigilante one final look of reluctance before sprinting into the forest. She continues the mission that they set out to do originally. In the meanwhile, Spider-Man has a singular – new – mission of his own. The objective is to simply survive.

Though surviving may be a bit hard to do right about now with all of these villains attacking… Spider-Man does a headcount as he dodges each one. Vulture is the first – a menacing mistake from his past come back to haunt him – he hates to see how a former hero can fall to such a low level as a villain. Then there's Stain – The Hero Hunter – who perceives Spider-Man as the one who is unworthy of a heroic status or title. Of course, Electro has always been a constant pain in the behind as an unexposed traitor to the Hero Course. Scorpion – Mashirao Ojiro – is yet another victim of villainy that Spider-Man can blame himself for. A regular run of the mill rogue has now been roided up as a Rhino Nomu. And lastly…

Spider-Man gazes up at the latest arrival to his aligned rogues gallery. David Shield – Doctor Octopus – uses his mechanical arms to carry himself over the mountain to reside at the top of it as king of that very same hill. That brings the vigilante's count to a sinister number of six enemies total now.

All Spider-Man can manage to say as an audible reaction to that problematic headcount against himself is, "Whoa.."

"Heh.. 'Whoa' .. ? That's it?", Doctor Octopus relishes in Spider-Man's response to being unfathomable outnumbered, "No witty remark instead?" The villain steeples his hands together while the two metal limbs above him jut out to attack, "I was SO looking forward to that."

This is the first time that a part of Setsuna Tokage's detached limbs wound up with spilled blood upon removal. She stares in wide eyed shock at where one of her arms has been reduced to a reddened stump. Flesh that typically seals itself when popping loose from her sockets has now been shredded open. What may have formerly felt like a phantom pain per her quirk now burns with an aching hot irritation.

She tries to swallow down an instinct to scream out of sheer panic, "FFF– FUUU–", that's a hard thing to do but it becomes much easier not to yell since she's seemingly lost her voice now. Her mouth dries as her blood continues to pour out from her injury. Soon, the dismembered body part is as pale as her face.

Tokage looks over at the boy beside her, Fumikage Tokoyami, and their eyes meet. It's through this meaningful shared moment of contact that Tokoyami then realizes what Tokage was trying to say earlier – it hadn't been a shouted swear word. She was trying to say his name.

"Fumikage..", she has tears in her eyes as she chokes on a sob, "I- I can't reattach it.." Her remaining arm reaches for the one that has become disconnected, but trembles too much that it doesn't dare touch the dismembered body part.

Tokoyami places a hand over Tokage's still attached hand. "It's going to be okay", he does his best to be as assuring as possible despite the dire predicament that they're in, "Just rest."

The villain who severely wounded Tokage, Moonfish, is still running rampant. Moonfish uses elongated teeth that are sharpened to a razor point to hack and slash at the trees in his way. He's trying to finish what he started as a bloodthirsty cannibal. He's coming to take another bite out of the injured Hero Course girl.

"Dark Shadow..", but Tokoyami has a powerful quirk too that he intends to use as a means to prevent Moonfish from carrying out such dreadful business, "I'm done holding you back."

In the revelry of the night, the darkness that dwells within Fumikage Tokoyami lets loose. It consumes the boy and completely covers him in an ankh-like state.

"Consider this permission to take control", Tokoyami allows the destructive force to be unleashed.

The cloak that had been draped over him slowly slides off his massively fit form. When the atmospheric air of the outdoors hits his bare body, it serves as a good reminder of what it's like to have this freeing & nonrestrictive lack of clothing in the way. He rolls his shoulders while priming his muscles. The villain already felt pretty amped up but now he's REALLY excited. To have found someone all alone all for himself to play with is elating.

"When I was promised the chance to kill kids, I didn't expect em to be this young!" Muscular wears a wickedly evil grin that he exposes to the world by removing his mask next. His one good eye settles on the young boy that he's found by a cave opening. The child wears a terrified expression under a red hat. It's a sight that Muscular is used to seeing from his victims and one that he loves. "Not that I'm complaining."

Muscular cocks a giant arm back, priming his fist. But before the punch can land and crush the child, someone swoops in and saves the kid. The snatch and grab leaves behind the boy's hat, the red cap getting smashed instead.

"You absolute monster..", Yaoyorozu under the guise of Black Cat looks back at Muscular while still holding onto the kid that she rescued from death, "You're more vile and repulsive than I ever even imagined!", she can't fathom that someone could be so evil as to not hold back on a child.

When Black Cat removes the gas mask that covers her face, her eyes glare out from behind her domino mask. Muscular is shocked to see such a stare directed at him after this turn of events. "Huh? I thought you decided not to tag along..", he's momentarily confused by her interference – but then he sees the way she's holding onto the kid that he was going to kill, "Unless..", and starts to realize why it is that she stopped him – the villain grins again, "Did you switch up on us… PUSSYCAT?!"

Within her arms, the boy named Kota Izumi who belongs to the Wild Wild Pussycats, looks up at Black Cat with tears in his eyes. Kota clings to his rescuer with one hand while pointing at Muscular with the other, "He killed them.. He killed my parents.. !"

Black Cat doesn't dare to take her eyes off Muscular but still offers some form of comforting consolement by placing one of her hands on the boy's now exposed head. "That's something we have mostly in common", she talks to Kota while fixing her focus on the villain ahead of them, "This monster killed my grandfather."

And thus, the full truth of the tale behind Momo Yaoyorozu's reason for becoming Black Cat is shared with nobody to hear it other than Muscular and Kota Izumi. She had sought Muscular out for her own personal vendetta. This had never truly been about avenging the Waterhoses. Yet, the irony of the situation is that she now has somewhat of an obligation with the dead hero team's son present.

Muscular looks at the girl and boy in front of him without so much as a shred of care though. "Can you two quit your crying? I've killed lots of people's parents and grandparents!", they're just a few more victims to add to a long list of his killings as far as he is concerned, "You're the only two keeping count!"

Muscular lurches forward as an attempt to rush Black Cat & Kota. But the smaller pair are much more nimble and Black Cat's agility awards her in being able to evade his attack in terms of the speed differentiation. She leaps out of range, but bounds back a few more hops just for extra measure.

Black Cat continues to glare at the muscular menace that shows no shameful guilt or remorse. "You don't even remember them?", she already knows the answer to her question being asked but she has to make sure she's hearing the horrendous villain correctly.

Muscular cocks his head to one side, his wide grin growing even wider. He's enjoying egging her on by genuinely not having a clue as to who she wishes to get revenge for, "Nah!"

"Tch", the ferocious feline creates makeshift claws from the ends of her gloved fingertips and strikes a stance as she prepares to face Muscular in combat, "Then maybe clawing your other eye out will help you to remember."

Muscular laughs as he launches himself forwards to meet her challenge head on. "Hate to tell you that it took more than a cat scratch to take my eye, pussycat!" His hands make a mad grab for her.

Black Cat acrobatically avoids the villain as soon as he comes within range of her. She bounces around akin to that of a ballerina while he rampages and reaches for her. With elegance and grace, she slides under his heavy loaded swipes and jumps over his head to get behind or in front of him.

"Are you gonna keep running away or are you gonna try hitting me already?!", Muscular slams a fist into the ground while throwing a fit over her ability to avoid him. He's not used to an opponent who doesn't try duking it out in a contest of strength.

Whereas Black Cat lacks the power to bring down Muscular in one fatally finishing blow, she does have her own methods. She works on wearing him down by making the musclehead exert his energy into a point of exhaustion. All the while, the femme fatale gets as many good licks in as she can. She leaves shallow cuts with her claws and lashes out with her whip for longer ranged attacks.

Muscular shrugs the seemingly ineffective injuries off like they are no more than papercuts, "Tickles", and continues with his relentless pursuit of the girl.

Black Cat dives under a hefty heave of the villain's fist. When she hits the ground, she rolls into the landing before bouncing back up onto her feet. Muscular turns around as she dashes along the cave's cliffside. He chases her right to the brim of the dropoff point.

"Come here and let me pet you already!", the villain has a manic expression on his face as he corners her on the cliff's end.

"In your dreams!", but this had been all apart of Black Cat's strategic battle plan; she purposely lured him here so that she can crack the stone with her whip and make him fall over. While Muscular tips over and loses balance, she creates a needle that is loaded with tranquilizing fluid. "And MY nightmares!", she jumps on his back where she can jab him with it.

But the syringe's needle doesn't dig in deep enough. Not when Muscular activates his quirk and a layer of fibers coats his body like armor. The fibrous foe is impenetrable so long as he has a hide as thick as an alligator's or a rhino's.

"Nice try", Muscular looks over his shoulder at the girl that he managed to outwit and catches her by the leg before she can jump off of him, "..But YOU'RE the only one about to take a cat nap, pussycat!"

Muscular closes his hand around her leg, bending the bone that he has ahold of when he applies pressure. Black Cat cries out in pain prior to even then thereafter being slammed into the stoney ground below her.

"A permanent one", Muscular practically drools with delight while still clinging to the cat-like character that he's caught; he proceeds to hoist her over his head and slam her into the ground a second time on the opposite side of the stone that they're on.

In order to keep her pinned and to prevent her from trying to flee again any further, Muscular stomps upon her stomach. She chokes more than coughs out a gag of saliva. She stays beneath his foot when he grinds his heel into her.

Kota, now witnessing the girl who had helped become a victim of the monstrous man that killed his parents, runs forward. "NO! LEAVE HER ALONE!", he activates his quirk in an effort to bravely aid her in battling the villain. But all he can manage is a tiny splash of water like his hands are a set of squirt guns.

Nevertheless, the jet-like spray of water hitting Muscular reminds him of a familiar sensation that he felt when fighting the Waterhoses. "Hey..", he turns his attention to the kid and begins to laugh, "I DO remember your folks that I killed now!" Kota falls to his knees and starts to sob. This only encourages Muscular more to torment the child. "Brat, didja know your daddy and mommy did this to my eye?" He gloats over the glory he feels from having murdered them in cold blood.

Kota weeps over the loss of his parents, mourning them all over again. Watching Black Cat fight so desperately and now hearing how they did the same before they died makes the child fall into complete despair.

Muscular looks back down at the girl that continues to put up a struggle. She tries and fails to pry his foot off. "And pussycat here.. I thought her outfit looked a little familiar", he stomps down on her again in order to cease her struggling.

Momo Yaoyorozu glares up at the muscular menace with absolute hatred in her gaze. "The Black Cat.. You betrayed him", she helps to jog the villain's memory over her grandfather's murder next.

Criminals who ran together back then often worked as brute & brains duos. Her grandfather and Muscular were no different during those days. The only issue was that these types of teamups always ended the same way – disagreements would cause groups to disband – sometimes intergang conflicts would be resolved in less than peaceful manners.

"Nah, pussycat, you got it backwards" Muscular sees things differently in regards to what led to his falling out with his former partner though, "Your grandfather was all for thieving but didn't have it in em when it came to killing!" He chuckles when recalling the original Black Cat's final dying words. "No honor among thieves, right?"

Hearing that her grandfather had some sense of moral ethics relieves Momo Yaoyorozu as much as it saddens her about his history. But to know he wasn't so willing to cooperate with such a terrible type of person does give her a good reason to go on fighting at the very least. "He may have been a criminal but he wasn't as lowly awful as you are", she makes an attempt to push herself up.

"A villain with a code", but Muscular still has the upperhand and stomps her back down into the dirt, "HA!", he cracks a few of her ribs when leaning his weight on her, "Don't make me laugh!"

If there's one thing the new Black Cat and the original have in common, it's their knack for getting in the way of Muscular's killing sprees. Something about the indifference or difference to life and their definitely differing values causes them to clash every time.

This is the last time, as far as Muscular is concerned. He slams Black Cat into the ground, intent on murdering another Yaoyorozu.

Black Cat nearly chokes on her own blood while trying to call out to the boy watching this all transpire, "Kota.. run.." One of her arms reach out in his direction but it falls to the ground when Muscular lands another critical blow on her.

Kota screams in distress, "I SAID LEAVE HER ALONE!", but his attempts to wash away the villain's sins are futile no matter how much water he sprays Muscular with.

"Wait your turn, kiddo!" Muscular hardly pays the boy any mind. He's too busy toying with Black Cat. He lifts her up by one of her legs so that she dangles upside down like a fish on a hook line, "I'm coming for you next once I finish having my fun with her!"

The incarnation of absolute evil reaches for the zipper on the front of the girl's costume … seeking to have his version of 'fun' with her in her helpless state.

Virulent virescent acid strikes a tree as Spider-Man twists his body to evade the spray of poisonous & burnable liquid. All bark on the trunk that's been struck melts under the corrosive fluid. It only takes one glance back at what could have been his own fate for Spider-Man to know it's a good idea that he keeps dodging those type of attacks from Scorpion's stinger.

While flipping head over heels to narrowly avoid the Nomu's tail swipes, he does his best to appeal to whatever humanity may still be within the villainous zombie. "Come on, Ojiro! Snap out of your brainwashing, buddy!" He doesn't have the ex-U.A student's parents present to help him out this time around but he figures it may still be worth a shot to try.

Though it's hard to do much conversing with other villains also attacking him. A spear shoots by that he has to hang his head under to not get struck with. The Hero Hunter holds a second pointed stick that's soon to follow the first throw at him. Spider-Man flips forward to put himself in the crosshairs of Rhino and Doc Ock instead. There, Spider-Man catches the other Nomu's huge & heavy fist when it comes down on him. But he's then left open for Doctor Octopus to whip him with a mechanical tentacle.

Spider-Man flips backwards as he scathes by Rhino's horned head. The heavyset character winds up becoming tangled in his ally's additional arms. Spider-Man continues to flip around and utilize the large form of his foe as a means to keep this shtick up. Although, it doesn't last long when Electro makes the vigilante deviate off course with a shower of high voltage beams. Spider-Man slides under them all while trying to get away.

He stares up at the sky where a collection of arrowheads rain down upon him. Spider-Man maneuvers his body so that the darts don't penetrate him. "You are growing tired", The Hero Hunter pulls back on a bow while preparing to fire another round of arrows, "It is almost over!" Spider-Man does well to bind the archer's arms with webbing. Except, the skilled combatant makes up for it by using a foot to fire the arrows instead, "You can't avoid us for much longer!"

"Maybe not–", Spider-Man dodges the darts that aim directly for him with the talent of a contortionist before closing in on the archer and delivering a blow to the baddie's bow, "-but at least some of us can actually get a hit in!" The Hero Hunter's weapon breaks apart from the force of the collision.

Though, the villain's resourcefulness is relentless. Stain snatches up a rock and reinvents the broken bow into a makeshift slingshot. "All in due time", he starts shooting pebbles at Spider-Man now.

The vigilante veers from being hit but still releases a sigh of annoyance, "Now you're just showing off.." He's exasperated by Stain's skill to switch up on the bow in such a variety of ways, as impressive as it is.

Suddenly, Vulture joins in by swooping down and trying to slash Spider-Man with bladed wings. The sharpened feathers miss the vigilante's spider symboled back by a hair's width. Spider-Man partially performs a cartwheel in the air to also dodge Vulture's signature move when the villain was Hawks, which is to use two feathers as broad bladed swords.

Rhino rips a tree out from the ground to use as a bat and swings it at Spider-Man. Rather than simply dodging another enemy this time though, Spider-Man instead snags Vulture with a web line and uses the two attacking villains against one another. He pulls Vulture down and swings the villain into the tree.

Rhino winces when hitting what may as well be a home run on his own teammate, "Sorry.."

"You fool!", Doc Ock chastises his dimwitted partner while expressing his frustration in the form of trying to squash Spider-Man, "Learn to orchestrate better with your allies!" His tentacles work alongside Stain to make the vigilante flee from them.

Electro shoots streams of electricity from his hands while also trying to bring down Spider-Man. Although, he too makes time to join in on the bad guy banter. He looks at Rhino to ask, "Weren't you apart of a team before this?"

Tired of getting ridiculed for his mistake, Rhino roars with rage. "I said I was sorry!" He blames Spider-Man for the screwup, and so he rushes the vigilante with the other six villains.

Spider-Man meets the attack by mimicking Rhino's move from earlier – HE rips a tree out from the ground to use as a blunt force weapon – and swings the massive plant like a baseball player. "Not as sorry as you're about to be!"

Rhino smashes through the thick tree with his horn by charging right through it. The wood shatters and splinters upon impact. The Nomu-fied villain snorts through his nose and smirks, "You were saying?"

Spider-Man has to reconsider his decision to meet Rhino's attacks with attacks of his own. He opts for an apologetic, "Oops", while upturning himself to not get caught by a big grubby hand.

That's when Vulture returns, having recovered from earlier. Spider-Man spins a glob of webbing meant to cover the flying foe's eyes, which it exactly does. Then, he spins a string of additional web to use as a leash in order to steer the villain off course.

Electro makes a discharge of power that explodes on impact with the mountainside. Spider-Man hardly clears the blast with a backflip. Where he lands is right where Scorpion strikes with the stringer end of his tail. Spider-Man bends backwards to not get stabbed by it. While moving himself on one hand to pivot away, Doc Ock joins in with a tentacle that manages to smack Spider-Man along the chest.

Vulture rebounds to try slashing Spider-Man with a feathered sword. The vigilante turns to move out of the way but ends up stepping into Rhino's charging path. The strong Nomu rams into the shorter statured character. Surprisingly though, Spider-Man doesn't get completely swept off his feet. He stands his ground. For however long that may be. Rhino pushes Spider-Man back, the vigilante's feet grinding into the ground and drawing up dirt.

When Spider-Man locks into a wrestling match with Rhino, the other villains see an opportunity to get a hit in. Scorpion gets there first, whacking Spider-Man in the side with a strong swing of his tail. Vulture gets there next, grabbing the vigilante from above to make use of the boy for a landing pad of sorts.

Vulture is directly on top of Spider-Man as they skid across the ground. Spider-Man's front gets grinded into the dirt as they glide straight into the earth. But that doesn't last long. The vigilante overturns himself and kicks Vulture off so that they separate from one another.

"This was a sweet reunion, guys, but–" Spider-Man begins to retreat with a webline aimed from the treeline. However, swinging himself out of range of the villains doesn't go over very well. Whereas Vulture is temporarily out of commission, The Hero Hunter is still around to sever the string with a bowie knife. Spider-Man is sent crashing into the fiery forest.

Surrounded by fire, Spider-Man starts to feel heat on top of pressure. He forces himself to stand up and face his foes but he's too late to regain his footing before Electro hits him with a big blast of electricity. The symbiote screeches as it gets zapped along with its host. The symbiote flails, tendrils grasping the ground in an effort to fling it and its host away from being harmed.

Rhino charges through the flames, his horn meant to impale Spider-Man. Spider-Man instead utilizes the Nomu's horn as a handhold to grab for a free ride. He hitchhikes on Rhino's back while they go crashing through the undergrowth of the forest. Spider-Man rears back with a fist to punch the villain upside the head while he can. Vulture winds up knocking the vigilante off before a counterattack can be made though.

Doc Ock's metal tendrils snake through the inferno next to continue the assault. Spider-Man bats one aside but the other three manage to grab ahold of him. The vigilante cries out, "CRUD!", while being flung through the burning foliage of the forest.

Having been drawn deeper into the forest where the fire burns greater, the symbiote severely starts to suffer now. The way the symbiote oozes around its host almost makes it appear as though it is melting from the heat. This makes the wearer of the symbiote weaker by extension, which leaves him prone to being attacked by the villainous rogues. Vulture kicks him into a blast from Electro which in turn allows for Rhino to pummel him with a punch.

When Spider-Man fights to stand back up, Scorpion's stinger stabs him in the back, and he's brought back down to his knees. Already, the stinger's acid-like secretion starts to take effect. Spider-Man hallucinates the world warping and spinning around him until his dizziness causes him to fall over onto his face.

The Sinister Six surrounds the downed vigilante, each of them eager to exact their revenge on him. David Shield gets a kick in for having his spider specimen & symbiote specimen 'stolen'. Rhino stomps Spider-Man for all the times he and his pals were put away in prison. Vulture takes pleasure in kicking the one responsible for ruining his reputation as a former pro hero. The Hero Hunter's boot beats on the boy who he deems unworthy of pursuing heroism. Electro kicks the guy who scarred his face for life. Scorpion's programming takes pleasure in beating on the person he was engineered to kill.

To top it all off, Electro zaps Spider-Man with a high voltage blast. Spider-Man screams as he's flooded with a painful electrifying sensation. The symbiote screams with him as it struggles to maintain the shape of a suit. The boy's body convulses with seizures brought on by the shock plus Scorpion's stinger stab.

Beginning to black out and lose consciousness, Spider-Man desperately turns himself over in an attempt to crawl away. But when he reaches forward to grab the ground, his hand is stopped by one of Doc Ock's arms clamping down on it. David Shield presses down on the hand so that it feels the full force of his mechanical arms.

Spider-Man cries out, this time much weaker. He winds up whimpering as he's lifted up by the robotic limb that has grabbed ahold of him. Doc Ock delights in having the vigilante at his mercy. After what happened to I-Island, he wants to make Spider-Man suffer.

Spider-Man stares through bleary vision at his enemies, feeling like this could very well be the end of his masked crusade. To have his journey be concluded here makes him worry about his mom and how she'll feel when she finds out about his secrets & lies. His last thoughts before falling unconscious are of his mother.

Watching Spider-Man go limp brings a smile to every single one of the sinister villain's faces. Although, those smirks don't linger for very long. It's Doctor Octopus who notices the boy's body twitch a tiny bit, making his smile fall first.

And then, despite being completely unconscious, Spider-Man does more than merely twitch a tad. Spider-Man kicks himself free from Doctor Octopus and lands at the center of the circle of six.

Strangely, the thing about Spider-Man … is that his body … moves on its own.

Smoke surrounds the sky. Despite being hung upside down by one of her legs, it's all Black Cat is capable of seeing. She's unable to turn her head, a flare of pain flowing through her entire body every time that she tries.

Muscular reaches for his victim while continuing to hold her in captivity. Before he can proceed with touching Black Cat in any more of a vile manner though, he's disrupted by a blast to his back that burns hotter than a splash of water.

"Oi, is that really the only way you can get yourself a chick?" Katsuki Bakugo arrives on the scene right in the knick of time. His hands pop with smaller detonations to let the villain know it was him who got that blasted round off.

Muscular drops Black Cat and turns around to fully face the fellow feral blonde, "Better than having to buy her dinner first", he grins at the prospect of kids lining themselves up to be killed by him here. Interruptions are welcomed so long as he gets to murder them.

Bakugo matches the villain's expression, his own set of teeth flashing out on full display. "You're more of an asshole than I am, pal!" The U.A student is just as battle hungry. And with a villain so vile, he feels like he can really let loose here.

"Just because I'm making you and the kid wait your turns to die?", Muscular looks between Kota and his new quarry, "Shouldn't you be thanking me for letting you live longer?" Wanting to have some more fun with them, he suggests an idea that comes to his mind. "Hell, tell ya what, I'll give you a head start to run your chicken shit ass outta here!"

But Bakugo isn't the type to play along with bad guys. Not even if it means being able to stall for time or outwit them. He'd much rather face his enemies at full force to see who is the better fighter. "The only chicken shit scumbag who's gonna be sent running out of here is YOU!", Bakugo propels himself forward with a set of blasts behind his back.

Muscular reactivates his shield of muscle fibers with a flex of his solid form, "Finally! Someone with some fight in them!" The villain gears up for an attack to lead with straight through Katsuki Bakugo's explosions.

Watching Muscular completely pass through his attacks, Bakugo switches his own gears. "You haven't seen what I really got to offer yet, fucko!" The Hero Course student thrusts himself back to gain enough ground for a more focused range of detonation.

"What are you waiting for?!", Muscular's guarded defense catches fire but doesn't fully burn while the two opponents face one another, "SHOW ME!" Flames flicker from the villain's form as he rushes through the explosions.

Bakugo is forced to fall back. He flies over the villain to dodge a counterattack while delivering additional blasts to the bad guy's back. "FUCK YOU!", Bakugo curses when he sees the villain still remaining relatively unphased.

"Fuck YOU!", Muscular continues to grin as he pursues his opponent. He's completely enjoying this type of battle. It feels like an exchange of blows even if he himself has not yet landed a hit.

"No..", it seems almost like Muscular may manage to get a punch in when he corners Bakugo by the cave's entrance. Except, that was only a lure – a bait and switch – for Bakugo to exploit the cave's tunnel system as a means to hit Muscular with a canon-like blast, "Fuck YOU!"

When the fire blows by and the smoke starts to clear, Muscular stomps his way out from the ashes with a still ever present grin. "That all you got?", he beckons the boy that he's fighting for more action.

During Bakugo's & Muscular's altercation, Black Cat works on creating another tranquilizer injection with her quirk. She waves for Kota to come over to her before holding it out so that he can take it from her.

She pushes it into the young boy's hands with an urgency, "Get this to Bakugo."

Kota nearly drops the syringe when he feels how heavy it is. It's coated with a metal base and has a large needle on the end. Nevertheless.. "But it didn't work the last time", he worries it may not be enough to help Bakugo.

"It'll work this time", Black Cat indicates to the special metal casing and the extra large needle to emphasize her point when she tells Kota, "I made sure it'd be able to penetrate him this time."

Kota looks down at the specially crafted syringe and nods, "O- Okay.." He knows with Black Cat out of commission that he's the only one who can deliver it to Bakugo.

Speaking of which…

Bakugo's hands are beginning to blister due to his quirk's limits. Quirk backlash has started to set in.

"Fuck.. I need to prove I can get by on my own power..", he pats his bloodied hands on the sides of his pants. Sparks flicker and pop when he closes them into fists as an attempt to secrete more sweat into his palms.

Kota sneaks behind Muscular's back and waves for the Hero Course student to see him. "B- Bakugo!", he happens to get the other boy's attention when Bakugo looks up to refocus on the fight that's still at hand.

Bakugo frowns when he sees the way Muscular's attention deviates from him. "Eh?! What do you want, brat?!" It's a bit about protecting the kid. But it's also about having some respect as an opponent meant to be taken seriously. For Muscular to look away from him means he hasn't earned that yet.

"Catch!", Kota makes matters worse when he tosses Black Cat's hail mary over Muscular for Bakugo to take.

When Bakugo does, indeed, catch the thrown object … he's not all that relieved or pleased to find that it's something meant to assist with bringing down Muscular. He looks up to see Black Cat staring at him – they lock eyes – she's entrusting him to do the right thing with it.

"Tch..", Bakugo is torn between his pride and 'doing the right thing' while wrestling with himself internally over whether he should keep trying to make it by with his own strength or settle for admitting his weakness ever still.

After his mistake with the Goblin drug.. He's been yearning for a shot at redemption. The training camp here was meant to boost the potential that his quirk has to offer. Even if it was a short time to try and grow in that strength, he feels that he owes it to himself to field test his current abilities.

Wishing to prove that he DOESN'T need a performance enhancer or anyone else's help, he shoves Black Cat's tranquilizer needle into his pants pocket to preserve it as a last measure. For all his pride, Katsuki Bakugo just wants to know himself whether or not he is enough with his own power & potential.

Bakugo starts by creating a sphere of light between his hands. It combusts into a larger scaled flash. Similar to the effect of a stun grenade, the blinding light takes Muscular by surprise. With one eye, the villain's field of vision is further reduced.

Next, comes the strongest move in Bakugo's arsenal. He takes to the air where he has more room to work up a bigger blast. The boy's explosive flight pattern works in a circular motion that soon propels the fire into a tornado type of ring to trap Muscular inside of a flaming cage. The twisting formation of fire builds up enough oxygen to fuel a fully fledged detonation comparable to the technique of a missile being launched.

"HOWITZER IMPACT!", Katsuki Bakugo makes impact with Muscular.

The trees that had been burning beyond the cave suddenly snuff out as oxygen is drawn in by an intake of rushing wind funnelization. Air blows about the surrounding site as everything bursts into a quick flash of fire – and then – nothing but soot and smoke.

Bakugo heaves with his chest as he barely breathes through his exhaustion. But he still wears a wide grin. That had been his biggest & best blast ever achieved.

But when Bakugo sees a large muscular silhouette still standing from within the residual smoke that has yet to dissipate, his shit eating smile slips and falls off of his face. The 'Howitzer Impact' that he considers to be his final move hardly worked.

Muscular dusts himself off like the attack had been a mild inconvenience. "No offense but that kid's dead parents gave me a tougher time than you are", the villain points out that Kota had been watching the entire time and expecting for Bakugo to win.

Knowing that he's had his loss witnessed by someone who had been counting on him only worsens Bakugo's mood. "DAMMIT!", he cries out at the world with all of his distress expressed in that scream.

Realizing he has no choice but to rely on Black Cat's help, Bakugo grabs the needle that he was given and rushes forward with it. He propels himself forward with a blast big enough to make him get past Muscular's punching range.

Then, Bakugo jumps up and jams the syringe into Muscular's one good remaining eye. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" He drives it into the villain's socket with the last of his strength.

Muscular screams while flailing from the sudden stabbing and the complete loss of his vision. But Bakugo isn't through with him yet. Bakugo yanks the needle out – and then drives it back into the villain's eye AGAIN – he sticks Muscular with the tranquilizer again & again like it's a carving knife instead of a syringe.

Muscular topples over. The bigger they are .. the harder they fall. The villain slams into the ground, passing out on his back. The tranquilizer took effect alongside the pain receptors that must have been going off the charts.

Katsuki Bakugo stands atop the defeated villain … and he begins to laugh…

"A- Are you okay?", Kota is afraid to ask about the boy's well being when the slow build of a laughter grows into something that sounds somewhat deranged.

Bakugo puts his head in his hands. His face is hidden while he keeps laughing. Kota takes a scared step forward. It's then that Bakugo looks up and he sees Bakugo's are bloodshot to a shade of being completely red … due to tears. It's not laughter. Bakugo is crying.

"No.. I'm NOT okay!", Bakugo slides off of Muscular – he staggers while trying to keep himself from completely falling over – and then he stumbles to his knees directly in front of Kota, "Tell me.. How do I stop being so weak?"

The boy, being so young, has no answer. Kota starts to tear up too. And then they're both crying. Because, it truly really is that frustrating to be so weak and to know nothing can be done about it.

Bakugo looks at Black Cat's unconscious state through his teary vision. He recognizes her with her mask torn as Momo Yaoyorozu. And he has to wonder why it is that she decided to adopt a completely different persona to prove her power in any other way than the Hero Course.

He asks aloud, "...Do I have to become somebody else entirely.. ?"

Made into a moveable & malleable marionette, Spider-Man's body now stands via being supported by a network of webbing. Strings stretch from various tree trunks and the occasional rock protrusion to serve as extenuating connector lines. A fully functioning form of puppeteer methodology allows the symbiote to control Izuku Midoriya's unconscious body as a surrogate Spider-Man. The proxy powered person moves with additional tentacle-like protrusions akin to David Shield's helper arms while the symbiote's pseudo webs act as feelers.

Much like what Spider-Man did before with a large web sewing to sense his surroundings through vibrations, the symbiote maps out the area with these anchored pseudo webs as well. Any fraction of feeling from a shift in the air makes the strings stiffen on a signaled sense of detection. No matter how the Sinister Six may surround Spider-Man at all sides, the symbiote is fully aware of where they are each positioned and where they're bound to go next. This is as though Izuku Midoriya's Spider-Sense has been fine tuned into an actual tuning machine.

And Rhino, as large and clumsy as he is, is not exactly subtle in being able to bypass this newfound ability of the symbiote's defense mechanism. He verily noisily charges headfirst through the string system, his size and stature brushing along wires while his horn penetrates a few webs along the way. The symbiote hardly has to steer the body that's being puppeteered to see Rhino coming. A singular simple glance back is all it takes to note the villain's incoming attack.

And yet, what's weird is that the symbiote chooses not to dodge Rhino's rush despite all of that meticulous preparation that it performed. It allows Rhino to ram into its host. The body it was so freeingly able to move and manipulate is then wrapped & trapped in a bear hug. Rhino continues to charge forwards, carrying Spider-Man in his arms. "I'VE GOT EM!", the villains celebrates what he believes to be a certain victory.

Even stranger, the symbiote does not bother to struggle from within Rhino's hold. It's as though Spider-Man has gone back into a slumbering state by the way that the body hunches over again. Limp-like, the vigilante may as well be completely helpless while caught in the villain's grasp. Rhino tightens his hold, his thick arms making for a bone crushing squeeze of a hug. Whereas the symbiote might be unaffected, its host should surely suffer the consequences of such physical abuse.

The symbiote responds defensively according to the situation. Instead of producing pliable extensions of itself, the suit secretes spikes that have no liquidized property. The pointed protrusions are solid and sharp as they stick out from the symbiote that surrounds Spider-Man in his still sleeping state. Rhino's beefy arms are pierced by the thorns of the suit's new exterior.

"YEOUCH!", Rhino reacts to the pain of being suddenly stabbed by releasing Spider-Man. After letting go of the symbiote controlled character, the body twists while in mid air to use the inertia of falling as an advantage. Spider-Man lands a kick to Rhino's face, "OOWWW!"

One of Rhino's ally's, The Hero Hunter, draws a dagger while dashing forwards to lend assistance. "HE'S MINE!", the blade wielding bad guy is skilled in swordsmanship that he carves with a crafty curvature at where the knife should slice.

But the symbiote controlled Spider-Man that The Hero Hunter is attacking is without any restraint that may have been there previously – aware or unaware of the strength that it possesses, it meets the incoming villain with a counter blow – a disrespectful backhand renders Stain unconscious. The villain's dagger drops and stabs the dirt instead of Spider-Man.

Electro, who had been rearing to join in on the fight, backpedals a bit. He's surprised by the show of force that wasn't being presented previously by Spider-Man. He asks the easily eliminated member of his team, "You were saying?", while warily glancing at the others.

The symbiote stands Spider-Man up, but a hunch in the puppeteered figure's shoulders remains ever present like he's slouching while on the job. A low hanging hand raises up to level itself in front of the body it is attached to. The fingers at the end of that same hand raise and lower to perform an equivalent of the classic beckoning gesture – it's as if the symbiote is saying 'bring it on' – which conveys as a wordless quip for more.

Vulture takes personal offense to the vigilante egging him and his team on. "That does it!", the flying fiend zooms forward like an aerial human torpedo.

Spider-Man – or rather, the symbiote – responds by vertically vaulting over the incoming charge. Then, while above Vulture, the manipulated body moves as a marionette to spin an upside down web. The strong stretch of string binds the bad guy's wings together. Vulture is sent crashing into the trees of the forest.

When Spider-Man comes back down, the force of the drop lands on top of Rhino in the form of a ferocious kick. Rhino is run straight into the ground. Spider-Man steps atop the villain and uses the bad guy's head as a foothold to next jump away in the direction of Doctor Octopus.

But before the symbiote steered Spider-Man can reach Doc Ock, Scorpion intercepts the leap with an opposing leap. The Nomu tackles the symbiote piloted vigilante and they go crashing into the undergrowth of the forest.

Electro steps forward to follow the fight. But one of David Shield's helper arms gets in the way. A mechanical tentacle taps the fellow villain on the chest to stop him from going any further forwards.

Electro looks down at the elongated metal appendage and then up at the creator & controller of the electronic limb, "What gives?", he asks about it interfering with his intent to pursue Spider-Man.

To which David Shield explains why it is that he is hesitating to continue combating the vigilante, "Something's changed.." The scientist's stare skewers while whispering, "He's different.." After a second of contemplation, he looks at Electro to confirm his decision on the matter. "I propose a tactical retreat."

"What?!", Electro is taken aback by the choice to call off their attack. He doesn't see the same justified reasoning that David Shield does; he thinks that Spider-Man's shift in behavior is no more than a minor one. "Just because the bug stopped joking around and got a little serious?", Electro tries convincing Shield to stay and finish what they started, "That just means we finally got em pressured enough to be on the ropes!"

But Shield additionally reminds the U.A traitor of another reason why it's best to call off the current attack on Spider-Man. "Do not forget that you have other pressing business to attend to", he taps his wrist as though he is wearing a watch.

On cue, Kurogiri opens a warpgate behind the villains. The teleportational vortex spins while waiting for them to step through it – or, well, it waits for Electro to step through – Doc Ock is meant to stay and wait for a different warpgate to open.

"Is our time up already?", Electro complains while looking back and forth between the warpgate and where Scorpion tackled Spider-Man, "We didn't even get to finish frying the bug."

Doc Ock waves off the complaint. He was used to dealing with a teenage daughter but it's times like these that he's reminded of Electro's age as well. "We'll have another chance", he shoos the younger villain off, "Now go."

Electro grumbles and groans, but he does follow the doctor's order to leave through Kurogiri's warpgate. As he does, he removes his mask. Denki Kaminari, the traitor of U.A, throws one final look back before the portal closes.

Toru Hagakure covers her mouth to withhold a gasp of shock. She had been spying on them thanks to her invisibility and she nearly compromised her position by giving herself away. Not wanting to screw up, she quickly turns to leave. The transparent teen carefully steps over twigs while being sure not to make a sound.

The direction that she goes … is towards Scorpion & Spider-Man.

What Hagakure finds is Spider-Man fighting the Nomu-fied version of her former classmate & friend. The symbiote piloted vigilante doesn't hold back so much. Scorpion's naturally armored shell casing has begun to crack and break. Spider-Man is winning. However, Spider-Man is showing no mercy. Spider-Man acts without restraint.

She shakily bends down to grab a stray branch. Her hands are just as wobbly when she picks it up. Hagakure knows that she shouldn't get involved. However, she just can't help herself. What she sees – WHO she sees – is Mashirao Ojiro being hurt. The Hero Course girl raises the branch that she grabbed up high and prepares to whack Spider-Man with it.

But before she can stealthily sneak up on Spider-Man to follow through with her plan to help Ojiro, the symbiote steers Spider-Man around to face her. Blue tones color the suit's surface as the forest fire flickers around them. She's scared by what she sees. This isn't like when Spider-Man saved her at the USJ. The way Spider-Man sensed her presence now is like she was detected as a threat.

Always prioritizing the protection of its host, the symbiote seeks a means to resolve Toru Hagakure as a potential threat. It settles on a solution in seconds. Rather than harming her, the symbiote peels back the mask covering that preserves Izuku Midoriya's identity. Seeing that it is Izuku Midoriya behind the mask might just be enough to ensure Toru Hagakure doesn't intervene any further in this current conflict.

The symbiote was correct in making this assumption and taking such a gamble. Hagakure drops the branch that she was intending on using as a weapon against Spider-Man. She's too in shock by the revelation of the vigilante's identity to notice Izuku Midoriya's eyes are closed or that his head is lulled down though. She just sees the boy that she trusted as the person she didn't and everything stops for her.

Izuku Midoriya is still fast asleep without a clue that his identity has just been unveiled to Toru Hagakure. He's unable to reach out or call out to her when she backs away from him. The girl turns and runs away, not wanting to face him this way any longer.

Quickly, the symbiote seals Izuku Midoriya's face behind a mask again. Which happens to be right on time. Doctor Octopus arrives from the thick foliage to grab and retrieve Scorpion. A tentacle wraps around the Nomu while Spider-Man is still momentarily distracted.

David Shield looks down at his creation that coats the vigilante and sneers. "We'll be taking our leave now, arachnid."

Spider-Man squints while staring up at the suspended villain. A white lensed glare locks eyes with Doc Ock's gaze. A tense air of something unspoken resides in the space between them.

Doctor Octopus carries more than just Scorpion to safety. The other three helper arms wrap around Vulture, Rhino, and Stain as well. It's a tactical retreat for the team of villainous rogues afterall.

Even if the symbiote were to try and stop them, it is soon too late to even try. Kurogiri opens a warpgate behind Doctor Octopus that swallows the villain and his teammates whole before closing shut.

The forest fire around the area rises while Shoto Todoroki falls. His frontward food skids as he slides it forwards in placement of his positioning. Shoto stops short and props himself up on one knee, determined not to completely fall over just yet. Still, he ultimately collapses while he coughs.

Dabi delights in the moment of superiority as he stands over his younger sibling. This brotherly battle has brought them to a close at long last. Then again, it was always decided who would be the victor in this set of circumstances. Dabi had merely been stringing Shoto along with false hope. The delicate little flames Dabi threw around were to just play around and truly enjoy the situation.

Now, Shoto stirs from his spot in the dirt while gazing up at Dabi. In between weakened lung choked coughs, he inquires about the villain's greeting from earlier. "What did … you mean .. ?", he wonders if Dabi truly is related to him by blood.

Dabi DOES have an uncanny resemblance to Touya Todoroki. Minus the hair colorization and the full body burns. But it just might make sense why Touya vanished all those years ago in a forest fire much like this one to now return from the dead. Shoto wonders if Dabi is actually his long lost older brother.

Before the villain can confirm or deny anything though, Tiger of the Wild Wild Pussycats jumps in between the two brothers. Tiger swings a fist that wards off Dabi.

Dabi jumps back, and recalculates his position. Before, he had the upper hand against an inexperienced and weakened teenager. Tiger is an aged and experienced pro hero though without any sort of handicap.

Tiger looks back at Shoto and the unconscious conditions of Manga Fukidashi & Tsuyu Asui. His hands form into fists when he redirects his stare at Dabi. The hero has a standoff with the villain.

Dabi chooses to flee rather than fight, "Another time then..", he begins to back away while using the fire around him as a form of cover.

Shoto strains to sit up while watching his potentially returned brother leave. "Wait..", he coughs as he tries to call out to the fading figure of Dabi, "What did you mean by what you said?!" His throat burns but he continues to shout anyways, "WHAT DID YOU MEAN?!"

Dabi disappears into the flames while whispering… "Goodbye, Shoto Todoroki."

When Hitoshi Shinso finds Denki Kaminari in the living room of his home, he's more alarmed than he is confused. Especially when he sees his 'friend' wearing the same outfit that the notorious villain known as Electro is often seen wearing.

Shinso wonders if this is some sort of prank – or a dream, and so he pinches himself – he responds with questions like anybody else in his situation would, "Kaminari?! What are you doing here?! What are you wearing– ?!"

"Just listen", Kaminari is eerily calm by comparison when he holds up a finger to hush Shinso, "There isn't much time for us to sort this out."

"Sort what out?! You're supposed to be at that hero training camp crap!", Shinso is only further perturbed by his friend's appearance and odd behavior since eerily calm has never quite been Kaminari's personality. Plus, with the initial shock out of the way, he can now rationally question the impracticality of Kaminari's presence.

"Except I'm not a hero", Kaminari 'sorts it out' in a straight & simple way to help Shinso along.

And although Shinso is shocked into silence now rather than being anxious enough to the point of word vomit, he's still unsure of what to make of this situation. He lies to himself about what Kaminari meant despite already putting two and two together in his head, "..You mean not yet– ?"

Kaminari smiles since he knows full well that Shinso is smarter than that to figure this out. "I mean I'm not trying to be no hero, bro!"

"I- I don't understand..", Shinso shakes his head in further denial of his friend being a villain.

"I'm not one of them!", but Kaminari – ELECTRO – won't allow Shinso to further drag this out, "And you know what I mean by one of them too."

Shinso takes a very slow step back. "You're starting to freak me out", he holds out some vain hope that this is all a trick.

Electro follows Shinso with a step forward, "Aren't you tired of being put down because of them? For your quirk? For something you can't help?"

Shinso feels his heart tug since this is a personal chord being struck currently. He had opened up to Kaminari about his quirk and being ridiculed because of it. To have that used against him in this way makes him hesitate. "Yeah, but–"

"NO BUTS!", Electro snaps with a spark of electricity – this sudden burst of anger startles Shinso – the room's lights flicker on and off as well, "They called ME a villain because of my quirk too .. well, I gave em a villain like they wanted.." Electro's form emits a yellow glowing field of energy, "It's a frickin' lightshow, aye?"

Shinso stares at the illuminated villain, now illuminated himself. "What do you want from me?"

Electro smirks and starts to say, "Y-"

Shinso stops Kaminari short by activating his brainwashing quirk. Getting a response from somebody that trusts him is easy. As easy as it is to break a person's trust.

"Don't pretend to know how I feel", Shinso places a hand over his heart. His fingers cling to the fabric of his shirt there, "All I wanna do is prove them all wrong – how am I supposed to do that by joining up with a villain?"

"That's only if you consider villainy as anything other than a technical term", Shinso spins around when hearing somebody else speak from behind him – he sees Tomura Shigaraki standing in a suit attire.

"You..", Shinso recognizes the villain from news reports about the USJ incident.

Shigaraki – Tombstone – adjusts his tie collar. "I see the negotiations with Electro didn't pan out all too well", he's careful not to fully touch it with all five of either hand's fingers.

Shinso warily watches the villain's cautiously meticulous hand movements, "I-"

"If you speak another word or try to use your quirk on me..", Tombstone demonstrates what those hands are capable of by grabbing ahold of a nearby tabletop object. A destructive touch that's able to turn anything into dust at a moment's notice should the villain be dissatisfied is at the villain's disposal.

Knowing that the villain is dissatisfied, Shinso swallows as he backs up. He withholds from trying to make any attempt to additionally brainwash the bad guy in front of him.

"Vigilantes are treated no dissimilar to villains", Tombstone takes that time to talk to Shinso a bit more. He strolls forwards with a scarred smile, "Or do you not perceive Spider-Man as such?" It's a valid criticism to bring up. What society deems heroes and villains is all contingent on a flimsy license essentially and not even that is reliable by the example that Hawks set as Vulture. Tombstone tempts Shinso with such thoughts, "See the problem there?"

As Hitoshi Shinso continues to back away, he winds up finding himself bumping into a corner. Or, rather, he bumps into the other villain behind him. This winds up breaking Denki Kaminari's brainwashing.

Electro zaps Shinso on the neck. It's a quick effective move to render the U.A Gen Ed student unconscious.

Tombstone squints at the U.A traitor while asking, "Why did you do that?"

"He wasn't going to listen to you", Electro catches and carries Shinso, "I could tell."

Tombstone stares at Electro a while longer. Whether the real reason was indeed to try and salvage Shinso's chances of survival by joining up with the LOV or it was a means of payback for the brainwashing, he doesn't care that much to bother. "No matter..", he waves it off with a simultaneous gesture for Kurogiri's warpgate to grant them an exit route, "The camp attack as a distraction worked.." Tombstone goes back to smiling, "We got our actual intended target."

Kaminari looks down at Shinso while dragging the unconscious corpse, "How are you gonna get em to join us?"

"The same thing that made six can make more", Tombstone looks ahead at the dark vortex in front of him and begins to walk into it, "Spider-Man has a knack for bringing together the community."

AUTHOR NOTES

Happy (early) Thanksgiving!

I'm not sure if I'll be able to write and get a chapter out next week so hopefully this longer length one can hold you over in the meantime.

CapoPerk: The feeling is mutual about this arc! This ought to be a real turning point for the story with a lot of what's to come.

Pikapowerz: Lady Deadpool WILL return at some point but not just yet with all the other craziness going on!

theMAX360: Glad you noticed the panel reference! I always wonder if anyone notices quotes or scene recreations so good to know you spotted one! As for Yaoyorozu/Black Cat, let's just say there's still much more to her story to delve into!

Thanks again to the usual crowd for always spurring me on with reviews to write and I hope to see some new readers as well when I get back!

~Courtesy of your sinister author!