They continued forwards, cutting through the city as fast as they could. Olly was distracted with worry for the Origami Craftsman, and River had to keep up with the speed of the dogs. They ran much faster than he was able to, so he was mainly just being dragged around on his feet, as if he were waterboarding on the road.

"Hey, hey! Dance to the music!" A high female's voice came from a roof nearby.

A puppet jumped down, landing in front of the group. She looked like a clown, with puffy pigtails and diamond-shaped eye markings. Dimentio put a lot of effort into her design. She held two pink pompoms, tapping them to her neck ruff.

"Are you ready? Follow my moves!"

She kicked Wendy in the face and jumped backwards to avoid being hit. Wendy clutched her bat, but River stopped her from charging.

"The Doom Dogs smell something," he told her. "This is too easy. Why is there only one?"

Another one jumped from the roof, holding a sword longer than the length of his lanky body. He looked like a jester, clothed in blue and dark blue. A third came, which looked like the one Olly killed in the town. This one had a bigger upper body build, holding a hammer like Olivia's.

Olivia held her hammer tighter. It towered over her, but succeeded in making her look menacing even though she was scared.

The pompom puppet shook her pompoms. "Follow my moves! Dance to the music!"

"Pompom, Sword, and Hammer," Kirishima named them. "Which one should we take out first?"

"We should run a test," Olly said, although Kirishima was talking to Izuku. "We strike all three. We see how they attack. Pompom has quick attacks from what we've seen, but she's likely to be the weakest. If I had to choose one, I would say Hammer there looks the most well-built for battle."

Sword spun his weapon in a flashy way. "Battle time!" He sounded more insane than Izuku would have liked, hitting a tone similar to Toga, but more masculine. "DIE!"

"Or they attack first!" Wendy cried.

Sword charged them, aiming to Olly. Olly deflected Sword's attack, but didn't react fast enough and was stabbed in the arm. River unleashed one of the Doom Dogs, which jumped and bit Sword's head. Sword killed the dog despite being unable to see.

"No!" River yelled. "Feebee!"

Izuku gave him a look, but said nothing.

Hammer charged Izuku. Izuku ducked from Hammer's swing and Kirishima responded by punching Hammer in the center back with his Quirk. Hammer staggered, so Izuku tripped him. Bakugo blew up Hammer's back, then tore off the puppet's head. Blood gushed from the neck.

Bakugo grimaced. "This guy has a weird, f*cked up sense of 'fun.'"

Olly stabbed Sword's arm, then sliced it off. He kicked the puppet down, then stabbed his chest. Olly wiped his sword clean on his sleeve, then resheathed it.

"Okay, now for Pompom." Wendy spun her bat. "Time to say goodbye to your little parade."

"My party isn't done yet!" Pompom exclaimed. "Come on out and dance!"

She jumped up and down, shaking her pompoms. Hammer and Sword both rose from the ground, twitching and limp. They still had their injuries, but they were back from the dead.

"DRAT!" Olly cried. "Pompom's a healer!"

"That explains why she was playing it safe," River said.

Olivia readjusted her grip on the hammer. "We need to stop her if we want to kill the others. But the other two work as her body guards, so we have to go through them first! This is so confusing!"

Olly pushed Sword back by deflecting his attack. "Izuku, Kirishima, and Bakugo can deal with Hammer. River and I have Sword. Olivia, you, Mimi, and Wendy can take out Pompom!"

"A-are you sure?" Olivia checked.

"Yes! I believe in you, Olivia!"

Olivia adjusted her grip again. "Okay...I'll try."

Mimi rushed for Pompom first. Pompom kicked Mimi's thin limb away, then kicked her in the gut. Mimi staggered back a bit, Wendy taking her place.

"Die, you d mn doll!"

Wendy swung at her, but Pompom kicked her hand, forcing her to release the bat. Pompom kicked the weapon away and kicked Wendy in the face. Mimi took the opening to trip Pompom. Mimi sprouted more of those limbs from her neck and tore Pompom's legs off. Mimi's head was nearly upside down, which Olivia thought was very creepy. Olivia hurried over, hammer in hand, and raised it above her head. Pompom waved her pompoms as fast as she could.

"Join the parade! Join the parade! Dance to the music! Follow my moves!" She twitched violently on the floor, as if she were trying to recover her ability to walk.

Olivia slammed her hammer down on Pompom, the puppet shattering in blood and splinters. Olivia flinched away from the blood.

Mimi smiled. "Nice job. Now, let's go help the boys."

Izuku, Kirishima, and Bakugo just landed a finisher blow to Hammer, combining their Quirks into one powerful attack to Hammer's stomach. The puppet exploded similarly to the way Pompom did, and his legs fell to the ground in a blazing heap.

Olly was struggling a bit with Sword, who seemed to learn Olly's attacks. Olly was forced to play a defensive stance instead of actually killing the puppet. Mimi grabbed the puppet from behind and tore it in half with the limbs. Her legs retreated back into the gap in her neck, her head snapping back to normal. Olly put his sword away.

"Thank you for helping me. River refused to let any of the Doom Dogs out until Sword lost his weapon." Olly looked at the dead Doom Dog on the ground. "And I can understand why."

River looked up. "It's starting to get late. We should get some rest if we want to fight properly."

"Yeah."

They found a nearby building, which housed a few citizens and a cat. Despite being dogs, the Doom Dogs had no reaction to the stray cat, staying near River instead of chasing the animal.

River pet one Doom Dog's head. "So, what's the plan? We can't storm Dimentio's fortress without one."

Mimi crossed her arms. "Like a plan would work. He's prepared for everything. He even left his own magic behind to get his plan done. Without Mario, we're pretty much done for."

Olly started sharpening his sword, which Izuku noticed wasn't paper in this world; besides the handle. "Izuku and I found out he still has the Chaos Heart inside of him. At least...just half of it."

Mimi stood from her chair. "WHAT?! Seriously?! He was already deadly! Now we can't do any damage to him unless we have the Pure Hearts! Argh!"

"Pure Hearts?" Izuku asked. "Is that like, the opposite of the Chaos Heart?"

Mimi sat down again. "Yep. But the Pure Hearts died with Super Dimentio. So there's way to get them back. Unlike the Chaos Heart, we don't know how to re-summon them. Bleck knew that, but the Dark Prognosticus was destroyed when Super Dimentio blew up. Also, Bleck might be dead? I'm not sure where he went off to. He and Tippi just up and vanished."

"Super Dimentio?" Olly asked.

"B-blew up?" Izuku gasped.

Mimi crossed a leg over the other. "Yeah, Super Dimentio was the combination of Luigi and the Chaos Heart. Dimentio possessed it right after so he could do what he wanted. He was invincible and got cocky. If he founds out he's probably still invincible, he'd get even worse than he already has gotten. And yeah...he blew up when Mario killed him. The Chaos Heart couldn't take that much damage and released all its dark magic at once; making Super Dimentio blow up. Thankfully, Dimentio saved Luigi from such a demise. But it still probably hurt."

"Why would Dimentio save Luigi?" Olivia asked. "That seems really unlike him."

"I wish I knew why, but Dimentio was hard to read. I spent the entire time I worked with him trying to figure out what he was hiding. I don't think I've ever found any of his secrets out though." She chuckled a bit.

"What else do you know about Dimentio?" Kirishima asked. "Maybe if we have some personal info, we might be able to plan an attack from that?"

Mimi shook her head. "I don't know how to beat him. But, I guess I can reveal the secrets I do know. It's not like I care anyhow. Let's see...Dimentio mentioned once, in a passing statement to Bleck, that his mask was a gift by an old friend of his a long time ago. He dresses like he's stuck in the Renaissance. He dies his hair yellow."

"What?" River laughed. "Yellow? How do you know that?"

"I went to put my hair up for the day and walked in on him dying his hair! I don't know why he chose yellow, out of anything, but I couldn't say it looked nice because he threw a shoe at me when I started to question."

"My hair is naturally yellow," Olivia said. "Maybe he wanted to be blond."

"I don't think so, Olivia." Olly scoffed lightly. "Blonds are usually stereotyped as airheads. And he seems to trust in stereotypes."

"What makes you say that?"

"Jester? Purple and yellow? Uses magic? He's three different villain stereotypes crushed into one!"

"You're purple and yellow too."

"But there's a difference with me; I've changed. He's...gotten worse."

"We've got company," Bakugo said. He'd decided to watch the streets for anymore puppets. "This one looks even more b st rdly than the other three we fought."

The rest of the group, besides River, who decided to stay with the citizens, up and went to the door. This puppet, around the same height as Izuku, wore a pink and dark pink jester's robe, with black pants and bells on her shoes. She swung the slicing end of a guillotine in her right hand, the metal of the blade scraping the street as she walked, calling for Izuku.

"Izuku Midoriya! Where are yooou? Lord Dimentio says it's time to play!" Her short, straight hair swayed side-to-side as she looked in the nearby buildings. "He did tell you about his good old pal Piper, right? Piper Millhouse?"

Mimi looked a bit scared, which was a first from her so far. "What's with that puppet? She feels so different from the other ones. She's too lifelike."

Olly grabbed the hilt of his sword.

Izuku tapped a hand to Olly's. "Wait, don't. She had blood on that weapon of hers. Didn't Dimentio say something about her?"

Kirishima peeked over Izuku's shoulder. "That's her all right. She's been prowling the streets for a little bit now. Olly saved me from her attack, actually. She's the Hero Slayer. She's been killing heroes left and right. She's too fast, we can't fight her like this."

"She's killed a few villians too," Bakugo added.

Olly removed his sword a bit. "I'll provide a distraction. I'm the lightest and fastest of all of you, so I should be able to drag her away from town. You can advance to Dimentio's fortress. If we don't kill her now, she'll keep hunting us down. She might even go back and block our entry to Dimentio. Even if I don't kill her, I can at least stall her long enough for you to get to Dimentio."

Olivia raised her voice a bit too much. "What? No! Olly, you're going to get killed!"

Bakugo shushed her violently.

Olly removed the sword completely. "Olivia, if I can save Kirishima from her, I can stall her. You guys need to start moving as soon as I attack her, alright? The sound of the metal should help drown out your footsteps. I hope I can at least disarm her."

Olivia stepped in front of him. "Olly, you're crazy! She'll kill you! I can't loose you again! I thought you were gone for good the first time!"

Olly tapped a hand to her chest. "Olivia, you fulfilled my promise before, right? Can you do it again? Accompany Izuku to Dimentio's fortress and help him defeat Dimentio. As your king-no." He shook his head. "As your older brother, I ask this of you. I know you can be brave, Olivia. You won't be alone, okay? And...if anything does happen to me...Please take care of the kingdom for me."

Tears filled her eyes as she mouthed him to stay. He only smiled and walked off, leaving her in Izuku's care. He walked to the center of the street, Piper coming to a full stop, staring into his eyes. Olly glanced at the group, then motioned slightly with his arm for them to start moving forward.

Olly pointed his sword at her. "Piper, you come looking for Izuku, right? He's not here. But if you want to know where he's hiding, you'd have to tear that information from my cold, dead hands."

She giggled gleefully, an image of Shiguraki coming to Izuku's mind. "Oh? So you just met me and you already want to fight? I like your spunk, kid." She spun her weapon faster, the scraping sounding louder and louder. "But Dimentio never told me to fight you...But since you're intruding in Lord Dimentio's plans, I guess I'd have to kill you either way. But your hands won't be cold. They'll be warm because you'll be coated head-to-toe in your own blood!"

Olly seemed to regret his decision, seeing just how quick she was. She moved with almost no time to react, opening only the tiniest window of attack. She tried to hit Olly first, striking right for his head. Olly ducked as fast as he could. It wasn't quick enough, however, as she sliced his bangs clean off. He flinched away from her, watching his folded hair thud to the floor, silent as the night.

"Holy Bibliofolds, this was a mistake."

She went for his head again. He knew when to duck this time, and sliced her thigh as she leaned forwards from the force of her weapon. She screamed and kicked Olly in the head.

Olly got to his feet. "Oh, you aren't that tough. You just scare them first. But not me. I'm not afraid of death."

Piper grabbed the wood of her weapon and whipped around. "There you are."

"Oh no. Izuku! Run!"

Izuku glanced behind him to see Piper staring right at him. He handed Olivia to Kirishima and prepared to face her himself.

Piper laughed instead. "Oh, poor old King Olly isn't afraid to die! But your sister on the other hand...How would you feel if I killed her?"

Olly felt his heart rate spike. He protected Olivia with his life. Piper knew things she was never told. She dashed towards Izuku, weapon in hand. She ran right past him, charging for Olivia. Piper was going to kill an innocent life. Olivia wasn't even her target, and she was going to kill her just to spite Olly.

Olly felt a burning inside him. It wasn't anger, or anything he recognized. But it was there and it was bright. It was different, and it felt wrong. But it gave him energy, power. It gave him what he needed to save Olivia on time.

His Magic Circle appeared, but not under his feet. It appeared behind his head like a halo of knowledge and power. He dashed after Piper, catching up to her faster than she to Olivia. He drew his sword, fire engulfing the blade. Without a thought, Olly stabbed her chest with the flaming sword. Flames devoured her, and her weapon clanged to the ground in an eerie silence of relief. He resheathed his sword, standing straight.

"Olly? What was that? Where did you get those wings? A-and that Magic Circle doesn't look like your own."

Olivia's voice snapped him out of his trance, and he looked around a bit disoriented. His head hurt, as if he were stabbed through the eyes. His legs ached and blood poured down his back.

"Ol...ivia...?" He grabbed his head. "My vision isn't working. Everything is too bright...Where are you?"

"No wonder you can't see, your bangs were cut clean off!" She hurried off and grabbed his bangs. She returned and placed them in Olly's hand. "I bet your eye's sensitive to light, being under your hair for so long!"

"But it's night."

She giggled. "We're right by a streetlight. That's probably how Piper saw us. I'm so sorry!"

He tried to pat her shoulder, missing a few times and finally patting her head. "Why apologize? It was Piper's fault you were attacked. I landed one hit on her and she acted like a coward." He rubbed his eyes. "Oh, my vision is coming back!"

"That was amazing!" Kirishima cheered. "I didn't know you could do all that!"

"All...what?" He rubbed the side of his head. The throbbing died down but still hurt a lot.

"You grew wings!" Olivia said, shocked. "And you had a different kind of Magic Circle. It looked so strange compared to the Thousand-Fold Arms and Vellumental circles. It was abstract, and riddled with diamonds. And it was pure white. And you still have the wings. You can probably see them since your vision's returning."

Olly touched the feathered wing, a single white feather falling loose and fluttering to the ground. "Wings...and a halo?" He touched the Magic Circle. "I think this is the power of the Ancient Ones. The Toads in Shangri Spa are dressed as angels."

"So the Ancient Ones are angels?" Izuku asked.

"I'm not entirely sure." Olly rubbed his wrist. It burned like it was stamped with hot metal. "The only Ancient One I know is Kaaptan Teeowed, and he's anything but. He did steal, however, so he could have been revoked his magic for all I know. He kind of refuses to tell me about the other Ancient Ones, so I'm left in the dark."

Izuku noticed the purple scar on his eye again, this time it was wider and formed a crack of color on his eye. "Olly..." The crack looked like if you folded paper when it'd been painted over. "Do you feel alright?" No wasn't the time to mention it. Everybody knew about it now except Olly, and he was mainly concerned for Olly's vision.

"I'm fine," Olly said. "Let's get some real rest and head out again tomorrow."