"Five Minutes to go!"

Hearing the pilot's announcement, Endeavor stood up again from his seat and looked through the windshield once more. His heart beat faster as they saw the city pass by, and the large mountain across the lake now. "Keep going…" he growled out as he wiped away the excess blood on his face. "Keep going."

"Once we land, we will gather everyone we can and get them out immediately," Gang Orca said, "Take whoever is injured and get them to the hospital."

"Affirmative." The pilot answered, flicking his headset to the next channel. "This is Foxfire three, approaching Mount Fuji from the west. What's the status of the ground forces?"

"We are two kilometers out, and several other heroes will be there in ten minutes!" the female voice on the other side answered.

"What?" The pilot asked the officer in surprise. "Your forces were supposed to be there by now."

"There were civilians hiking nearby. We had to get them out of the line of fire before we risked engaging them."

"No more delays! Get there now!" Endeavor shouted into the pilot's ear. "You better not let those hunters-

A sudden impact to the jet's left side caused the trio inside to gasp out, stumbling as the impact came once more from the right. "The hell was that?!" Orca yelled out, the warning lights going off.

Another hard impact from the left came again, this time followed by a loud crack and metal being split. Leaning forward, the pilot's eyes widened as he looked to the wing. "The hell?!"

Outside, the hunter Sokudo was slashing at the wings engine, his talons cutting through the metal and ripping at the internal wires. Reaching the center, he growled as he severed the main alternator cutting off the power. Immediately, the plane began dipping down towards the lake.

"Shit, the left wing engine's dead!" the pilot shouted, switching all power to the right engine. While it stabilized, the jets speed was cut by more than half, seemingly crawling through the air. Glaring at the the villain outside flying away, Endeavor's flames burst out from his face and shoulders.

"I'm going on!" Endeavor shouted, stomping towards the side door, causing Orca's eyes to widen.

"What are you doing? You can't-

Orca's words went silent as Endeavor punched the door open, leaping out of the jet and unleashing a powerful blast of flames from his feet and his pack propelling him through the air. He gritted his teeth as he pushed through the intense pain in his body, launching himself towards the mountain itself and ignoring the hunter eyeing him from across the sky.

"Crazy bastard…" Sokudo hissed out, both surprised and frustrated at the hero's actions. After choosing to keep watch from above for incoming heroes, he was certainly surprised to see the jet coming in the distance. His vision had allowed him to see Endeavor and Gang Orca inside, the top hero arriving faster than they had predicted. "Damn it… This isn't good!" he shouted as he flapped his wings thrusting himself through the air towards the flying flame hero, but gasped as a sonar pulse struck him, nearly causing him to fall from the sky.

"Keep it steady!" Gang Orca yelled, the hero now standing on top of the jet and staring down the hunter. "We'll keep him occupied!"

Shaking his head, Sokudo regained his bearings and gritted his teeth, flapping his wings and eyeing the jet now hovering between himself and Mount Fuji. "Shit… Now what?" He hissed to himself tapping his earpiece on, only hearing static as it had been shorted out from Orca's attack. "You got to be kidding me…"

"I got you, Orca," The pilot announced as he kept his hands steady, keeping the jet balanced and up and flicking his mic back to the police force. "Code red, code red. We have engaged one of the hunters in the air. Our jet is damaged, but Endeavor is still heading in!"

Flapping his wings, Sokudo burst forward at the whale hero, but had to dip down and out of the way of the other sonar blast. He glared and barrel rolled to the side, his eyes focused on the attacking whale hero. So focused in fact… he hadn't noticed the white blur that had already rushed along the shore line near the mountain base.

"We have engaged one of the hunters in the air, But Endeavor is still heading in!" The voice rang through the radio, causing Vixen to almost break character as she held it in her hand. Squeezing it in frustration, the fox woman took a breath before clicking the button.

"Ten-four, we are nearing the cave soon. No sight of anyone yet. Out." She calmly said before dropping the radio to the ground, growling as she stood up from the dead officer beneath her. She looked around to the several other cops that had tried ambushing them, their bodies across the ground. "We have to go now."

Kavik dropped another officer from his grasp, looking at the fox girl in confusion. "What's going on?"

"What's going on is Endeavor is flying here right now," Vixen snapped out. "Apparently bird boy didn't bring down the jet he saw coming, and now the damn flame hero is coming here as we speak."

Growling, Kavik knew even injured that Endeavor was too strong for the two of them to hold off. He gripped his own aching shoulder and stomped towards the hidden van. "Let's go. We stick to the plan and head to the new base."

"Without the boss?" Vixen asked. "They still have the kids to bring out."

"You heard her orders. They will be out of here before Endeavor arrives and catch up. We need to get these hostages out for the next step."

Cracking her knuckles, Vixen walked after the leopard seal, but stopped as one of the cops grabbed at her ankle. She glared down at the wheezing man, dropping down and driving her claws into the man's throat. As he gasped out and dropped dead, the fox woman wiped her bloody hands on the man's clothes before catching up and hopping in the van's side door. "Let's get going."

Exhaling, Kavik turned the car on and drove forward through the tree covered path, the many captured and unconscious hero and police restrained in the back. The van bounced down the pathway, down and away from the mountain side and taking the victims further away from safety.

Katara stood in utter disbelief at the figure in front of her, his dye colored hand lowering away from his face. "You… how are you…" she muttered, earning a chuckle from Touya.

"What's wrong? It looks like you've seen a ghost," Touya snickered out. "I gotta say, you aren't that far off."

"How…" Katara stepped back in shock. The more she looked at him now, the more she was seeing Shoto in him. "You… you died years ago!" she shouted.

"Oh, did your crush tell you that? I'm so honored the little prized child even noticed a sibling missing," Touya taunted, his hands igniting once more. "I assumed my name would have been scrapped from their memories by now, just like everyone else who wasn't what he aimed to create!"

Katara barely reacted fast enough as she brought her water back up, shielding herself from the blast of flames rushing at her. She gritted her teeth as she felt the heat pushing through, her eyes however focused on the crazed look on the man's face as he stalked towards her. She swiped her arms, pushing the water out and redirecting the flames away before rolling out of the way of another blast. "What are you doing?! Your family thinks you're dead, and you are out here with these villains?!"

"Isn't it obvious? I can spell it out for you!" Touya shouted as he leaped towards her, his burning hands lunging towards her newly formed ice shield. Blue flames erupted out as he collided against her barrier, his intense fire sizzling and melting the shield. "Any sane person who's spent more than two hours with Endeavor would understand what I'm doing!"

"Gah!" Katara yelped out as the force of the fire broke through her ice and shoved her back to the ground, panting as she gathered her depleting water source back around her. She watched in worry as the crazed man stalked towards her, a sickening feeling growing inside her as he came her way. "Why… why are you doing this?!" She shouted out. "All of this! Your family all thinks you died, and you tried to kill me and Shoto, your own brother!"

"The little prize should be thanking me for freeing his soul from being a tool for that man," Touya sneered as he couldn't help but laugh. "All of us were simply test dummies for Endeavor to experiment with, to become something greater than him. As you see… I was the first, and he convinced me how I was going to be the hero to surpass All Might, my flames to be the symbol for his legacy… But once I wasn't going to live up to his standard, I was nothing more than garbage to that man. Cast aside, left to be forgotten, just like the others that came after me. None of us were that perfect kid that Shoto was."

As she raised her hands in readying her defense, Katara noticed the light shake in her hand at his words. The sudden shock from all of this was so much, and while she didn't want to listen to his words… he was saying things so similar to what Shoto told her. She breathed in and clenched her fists for a moment before glaring at him. "So is this because you're jealous you weren't the favorite? Is that why?!"

"Jealous?" Toys tilted his head in amusement to her words. "Is being told from the day you were born you were destined to be a hero simply to learn a tool for a man, only to be cast aside for the replacement jealousy? Or is it finding out everything in the Todoroki family was nothing but a stepping stone for Endeavor to engrave his name in the heavens? Are you going to say you've seen anything different, huh? Or are you just too infatuated with Shoto to see anything?!"

As he rushed her way, Katara engulfed her arms in water and shot forth her water whips grabbing onto his arms, the intense flames dissipating. Only a second passed however before his entire body seemed to give off heat, his chest expelling bright blue flames as his insane grin never left his face.

"I'm seeing things more clearly now than I ever did living in dear old Dad's shadow! And now that's why all of this happened today! The hunters bring down so many heroes, a mission led by Endeavor and failing miserably! To watch this society that drools over that man see the failure he is, losing hope in the one hero they look up to now! And you… you are a perfect pawn to be played, the one thing that gives any sense of joy and comfort Shoto has before it's ripped away from him. I'd like to thank you for making this possible for me!"

Katara gasped as the fire burst out from his body severing her water whips, backing up as the flames rushed out around a majority of the cavern. She stared in worry as Dabi continued to expel his quirk, his fire seemingly even more powerful than it was before. But more than his fire coming her way, but the maniacal grin and insane look in his eyes that sent a sickening crawl down her spine. She stepped back as she looked around, seeing the bright fire now encircling the far exit she came through now. She breathed hard as sweat dripped down her forehead, the intense heat becoming nearly unbearable. And with Burnin unconscious behind her, the only option she had was to get out of here and keep her safe.

"You're crazy…" Katara growled out as she stood up straight and glared at him. "What kind of idea is this that you're trying to kill your own family?!"

"Family? You mean the thing that left me to rot in despair? A man that never even gave two shits about the kids he created other than their quirks? A mother who sat idly by as she was too cowardly to do anything? And your precious Shoto, the one kid dear old dad even looked at, was only a pathetic little gimmick, a prized tool that was only made to keep that family name in the limelight? I feel so bad for hurting them I could cry… except my tear ducts have already been burned away!"

Leaping out of the way of another blast of fire, Katara crawled back up and shot her water stream at the laughing Touya, his flames clashing with her water and only growing larger. The intense burning fire was now scorching off parts of his black coat, smoke expelling off his skin itself as he only continued to laugh. Yelling out, Katara whipped her water around and-

BOOM!

The entire cavern suddenly was rocked by a powerful impact, the pair of them stumbling slightly. "The hell?" Touya grumbled as he looked around, several rocks breaking from the ceiling.

"What the…?" Katara panted as she felt another powerful impact, feeling the ground itself shaking. Several cracks formed through the cavern walls, splintering up and racing through the rocks. She was confused by what was happening, but she immediately saw the opportunity coming from this mystery. She quickly gathered her water and shot out striking Touya in his chest, ensnaring him and throwing him across the cavern and freezing him against the wall.

"Bitch…" Touya growled out, his flames igniting from his chest and bursting his body free.

Seeing she only had one chance, Katara shot her water whip and grabbed Burnin's body, yanking her through the air and tossing her through the pathway not on fire. Running after her, Katara panted as she saw Touya now out of the ice and his flames engulfing his arms. "You should have learned by now Ice doesn't bother me, girl!"

Shielding herself from the flames coming at her, Katara winced as the heat made her hands feel like they were burning. She felt her feet skidding as she was pushed back, yelling out as she shoved the water forward and pulled at the loose ice on the ground behind Touya and slammed into his back. As he stumbled slightly, she took the moment and shot her water into the freshly cracked rocks overhead, gritting her teeth and yanking downward, breaking the ceiling apart.

"Damn you!" Touya shouted as the boulders collapsed between him and the two girls, the falling rocks building up and filling in the pathway. As the boulders crashed down however, both Touya and Katara locked eyes once more, insanity running through one's eyes and confusion running through the others. As the falling rocks filled up the rest of the path, Touya exhaled flames as he walked up and slammed his fist into the stone, although he couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Hiding again? Just like you're hiding from the truth, aren't you?!"

From the other side of the stone wall, Katara panted as she dropped to her behind, staring up at the crumbling rocks as the cold laugh echoed through the barrier. "You're insane… You're absolutely psychotic!" she screamed out. "

"Insanity is inside everyone, girl… Some just decide not to hide it under the term hero." Touya laughed from the other side, "Why don't you go and tell little Shoto about all of this? See if he even cares if his long lost sibling is here, or dad… see if that beast would allow a challenge to his name to live on… that's if you can get out of here."

Katara shivered as she crawled backwards, turning and gathering her remaining water into her gauntlets, which only amounted to one and a half of her gauntlets. She breathed hard as another loud impact rocked the cavern, her eyes darting around as more cracks formed on the walls. She moved over to Burnin and hoisted her up, grunting as she stood up with the unconscious sidekick on her back. Walking down the pathway, she tried to focus on saving her friend, except the laugh behind the rocks made her skin crawl.

"Go on and run, Katara… try and crawl your way out of this place with your little friend there. I'm sure the hunters will take you by the hand and lead you out of here if you ask nicely. That is unless I meet you at the exit before you make it anywhere."

Squeezing Burnin's leg in utter frustration, Katara walked away from the rocks and down the pathway. As if to taunt her, his laugh grew louder and echoed through the passage, following her even as she moved away. She stared blankly down the rock hallway as everything flooded her mind over and over. Her emotions weren't angry, or sad… but of complete confusion and disbelief. She almost couldn't even process what was going on, the entire situation changing everything she thought she knew.

As another powerful impact rocked the pathway, she furrowed her brow and adjusted the sidekick on her back, sweat falling down her forehead from the weight she was carrying… and the weight of the revelation she just made.

Two Minutes earlier

Inside the main entry cavern, Bakugo and Kendo stared in amazement as the rabbit hero stood up through the dust in front of them. Sitting up, they watched as Mirko stepped forward, the intensity radiating off the heroine causing both of them to shiver slightly.

"What, no hug for your old pal?" Mirko snickered as she cracked her knuckles. "I've been looking forward to running into you for years, and you can't even say hello?"

Taking a breath, Muteki couldn't help but smirk at the hero and give a small shrug. "What can I say? You never gave me a call, so I figured you had become too famous to hang out with me."

Mirko could barely hear his sarcastic remark, her heart rate beating so loud she could hardly hear herself think. Her breath came in deep inhales, from both the intense run she had getting here, and the fact she was actually face to face with him. She glanced for a moment seeing Bakugo and Kendo on the ground, giving a small nod their way. "You alright, kid?" she asked.

"Fine…" Bakugo growled, getting up to his knees. "Not like this idiot is going to bring us down."

Mirko didn't respond as she turned back to Muteki, her muscles twitching ready to go. "I've been waiting for this day ever since you disappeared… I hope you haven't forgotten my promise I made, you bastard."

"I certainly haven't…" Muteki answered, taking a few steps to the side. "I honestly thought the others would've been able to hold you off longer than they did." His eyes then shifted to the cuts across her body, especially the large bite just above her knee, causing him to chuckle. "It seems they still gave you a good run."

Licking at the blood dripping over her lips, Mirko only grinned his way. "You should've come as well, unless the tough guy I once knew turned into a pussy after all these years."

Feeling his ego bubbling up, Muteki took a breath to keep calm. "You're wrong about that. I simply didn't want you to get in the way of my job."

"Job? Your job?" Mirko's grin shifted to a scowl at his words. "You mean when you became a criminal after you killed those people?!"

"That's just a bonus with what I do," Muteki snickered as his hands raised to his side. "I realized I don't care about a little blood under my claws. I think anyone would respect my choice to do what I like."

Mirko's ear twitched at his sentence, her legs flexing as she leaned forward. "I'll show you how much I respect it!"

Bursting forward, Mirko whipped her leg around right at Muteki, the man's arms crossing and blocking her strike. The impact sent a shockwave through the area, the wind rushing out and blowing Bakugo and Kendo's hair back. Muteki's arms shook slightly from the force he took, but he kept steady and smirked. "You hit a lot harder than the lion hero, I'll give you that." he taunted, causing her eyes to widen.

"You…" Mirko growled and spun around with a wheel kick, missing as Muteki ducked backwards and leaped away. She leaped after him and spun forward, dropping an ax kick down and shattering the ground as Muteki evaded once more. "What did you do to him?!" she shouted as she threw a spinning back kick at him. Muteki spun to the right redirecting her kick before throwing a punch at her face, which she dodged as well.

"He's alive, but I doubt he will be returning to hero work anytime soon!" Muteki sneered as he brought up his knee blocking another incoming kick, kicking out and pushing her back before unleashing several punches. Mirko bobbed and weaved evading his blows, but couldn't escape his taunts as he came at her. "Seems like your best hero here wasn't up to the task you gave him! If only you were here to do anything about that!"

"Rah!" Mirko yelled out as she leaped forward and drove her knee at him, the raptor user clashing against it with his own. The loud crack rang in the air before she flipped back onto her hands dodging one of his claw swipes, flipping back up and leaping over his leg sweep and driving her forearm against his blocking forearm. "Only because you were too much of a bitch to face me!"

Muteki's smile fell as she gripped his hand and flipped her body around, throwing her legs over his body and whipping him around and throwing him against the far wall, grunting as he stood up to move out of the way just as she launched her body and dropped kicked his direction.

BOOM!

The impact from her smashing into the cavern side caused a tremor to shake the entire mountainside. The wall shattered outward in a twenty meter radius, quickly followed by Mirko kicking off the wall creating another powerful shake to the mountain as she spun through the air at him. "Luna Arc!"

"You always were so strong!" Muteki yelled as he tightened his arms, crossing them in front of his body as her heel slammed down into them. He gritted from the immense force, his feet shattering the ground from being pushed down, yet his arms held strong and blocked her technique. "You have grown stronger than last time we were together… And so have I."

"Tsk…" Mirko hissed out as she flipped backwards from his claw swipe the pair taking a moment as they stared each other down. While she was doing her best to hide it, Muteki noticed her chest rising up and down at a decent pace, the first time he could think of seeing her like that. He knew she wasn't at one hundred percent now, especially with the injuries she was already dealing with, making him grin even wider.

"How the times have changed, haven't they?" Muteki taunted, "I always was behind you, and now it seems that's not the case, Rumi."

"You lost the right to call me that the day you killed someone…" Mirko warned, "Just like you never will hear me use your name. I care to remember that name of who he once was."

As the two faced off against one another, Kendo's mouth was hung open in shock to their power, seeing how much of a difference there was between Shishido and them. Her awestruck stare was broken as Bakugo shoved her shoulder. "Hey, get these damn things off me now!" he shouted at her.

"Oh… y-yeah." She shook her head as she grabbed his wrist, inspecting the cuffs as she reached into her pouch for some tools and pulling out the fine tipped screwdriver. "Hopefully this works."

"Well make it work! I gotta get back at that asshole and-

"Stay back, god damn it!" Mirko shouted out, not taking her eyes off of Muteki. "Don't you even think about getting involved in this, sparky."

Both teens turned in surprise to her demand, Bakugo's eyes widening in anger. "What?!" He growled out, "The hell you talking about? You wanting to do this on-

"Shut the hell up for once, kid…" Mirko warned him, standing up and taking a deep breath, "You don't stand a chance against him. And…" She clenched her fists and brought them up in front of herself. "He's mine."

Muteki's internal pride was his weakness, always making him want to prove he was better and stronger than others. Even now, he knew the best option would be to use the gun he had hidden in his waist belt, to end this in an instant and get out of here before more heroes had the chance to come. He knew that in a normal fight, he would still not be able to beat his old friend in a one on one fight… but this wasn't a normal fight, and after already beating Shishido, his rush couldn't be stopped now. Besides… he knew that weapon would take away any challenge in a battle.

"Alright," Muteki shifted his feet and raised his hands, arching his knuckles and smirking. "Let's see who's on top after all this time."

Both Mirko and Muteki kicked off the ground, slamming their forearms against one another. In the blink of an eye, Muteki threw out a three punch combo that mirko evaded, the rabbit throwing a switch kick up making him block. She quickly followed it by two left kicks before spinning and adding a wheel kick, but he ducked underneath and lashed out his claws with several palm strikes. Mirko flipped backwards out of the way as he pursued, landing on her hands and spinning on them as she whipped her left leg at his blocked torso, the impact causing her to wince slightly from the bite above that knee.

Something Muteki noticed immediately.

"Must have been hard running all that distance that fast…" He laughed as he spun his tail around knocking her leg away, following it with his own reverse roundhouse and a four punch barrage to the evading rabbit. "... Coming straight into another fight without taking a moment's rest to catch your breath. And dealing with those injuries as well!"

"This shit is nothing!" She shouted as she burst to the right, skidding before whipping her left foot up and clashing with his incoming kick, hissing as she yanked her leg back just as his toe claw slashed down at her. She blocked his incoming punch above her head and drove her fist into his stomach making him buckle over. "I could lose my damn leg and still beat the shit out of you!"

"That's funny coming from you, because I was the only one who could keep up with you!" Muteki reminded her as they threw opposing kicks, their shins crashing into one another several times. "You pushed your quirk to limits even pros couldn't imagine, and mine has just as much potential as yours!"

"Yeah? And yet you were always trying to keep up!" Mirko shouted and leaped over his slashing foot claw and landed a spinning back kick to his chest.

Muteki grinned through the pain and slashed his claws up cutting her arm as she pulled back. "Maybe before, but a lot has changed since then!" he roared as they clashed in a mix of punches and kicks, countering the other with their similar fighting styes. "Even you have limits to your endurance! That's why I had those guys give you trouble before you came here!"

As the pair of them burst across the cavern in several more engagements, Bakugo and Kendo stared in disbelief as the two clashed. While the raptor and the rabbit's battle felt normal to them, they were nearly moving in what looked like blurs to the teens, only seeming to stop for a second before bolting across the cavern. "Holy shit…" Bakugo muttered out, having to focus to even keep track of their movements through the area.

Kendo blinked for a few moments before she remembered the handcuffs, turning back down and working the small tip inside the keyhole. "Turn this way! I can't feel what's inside and- Gah!"

The sudden gust of wind from another of their powerful clashes made her gasp, fumbling the screwdriver for a second to Bakugo's annoyance. "Hurry up, damn it! Get these things off!" He shouted, unable to take his eyes off the battle before him.

"Luna fall!"

Mirko smashed into the ground as Muteki rolled out of the way, kicking one of the large upturned boulders at the hunter as he stood up. Muteki growled and punched through the rock, shattering it and gasped as Mirko burst through the center with a sidekick to his stomach. Coughing out, he drove his elbow down into the bite on her leg causing her to wince out, taking the chance and landing a spinning wheel kick to her face. Despite her tanking the attack and coming at him again, he couldn't help but see her breathing harder now, her exhaustion obviously taking hold of her and slowing her movements slightly.

For once, he wasn't slower than her.

"You should have caught your breath before jumping down here, then you wouldn't have put yourself in this situation!" Muteki shouted as he blocked one of her powerful sidekicks before throwing a straight punch with his other hand, missing as she leaped and threw her other leg out kicking his shoulder. Taking the pain, he still grinned and charged at her. "Come on!"

Redirecting his punches away from her, Mirko grinned back at him as she dropped into the splits underneath his kick, whipping her foot around and sweeping his other leg out and making him fall. Pushing up with her hands, she front flipped and brought her heel down towards his shielding arms, the impact forcing him into a crater a meter deep. "A run across Japan won't keep me from you!" She yelled as she flipped backwards, hissing as his claws caught at her calf as she pulled away. Despite the pain, she spun midair and drove her foot into his side as he stood up launching him into the cavern wall. "I'll chase you across this fucking country over and over until you are brought in!"

Spitting out blood, Muteki dug his claws into the stone beside him, ripping out a chunk in each hand as he charged forward again. He swung at her with them like boxing gloves, the stones barely missing her weaving head as she threw a flying knee to his chest. Muteki gasped out, but grinned as he slammed both stones into her arms shielding her head, shattering the rocks over her before digging his claws into her wrists. "And I'll be one step ahead of you just like I've always been!"

Mirko gasped out as his knee drove into her own stomach, just before he threw her to the side and landed a flying kick to her, sending her crashing through the cavern wall. "Shit!" Bakugo shouted as he watched her crawl out of the rubble. "Hurry up with these damn things!" He screamed at Kendo.

"I'm trying!" she retorted, fiddling in the key hole for the spring. "I've never done this before!"

"Just break them off with your damn quirk!" Bakugo demanded, watching as Mirko launched herself at the raptor once more.

"How, by breaking your hands?!" Kendo gritted her teeth as she kept meddling with it, finally hearing a small click internally. "Got it!"

As the cuff sprung open slightly, Bakugo growled and felt the pressure easing up.. "Finally…" He sneered and looked up again, watching as Mirko was spinning through the air as she landed another powerful kick to Muteki's shoulder and threw him to the side. "Get the rest of it fast!"

Panting, Mirko glared down at the fresh cut on her upper thigh, just above the large bite that was leaking blood again. "Damn it…" she muttered, flexing her legs as she leaped forward once more, fighting through her exhaustion and throwing a pair of kicks, parrying Muteki's own kick. As his claw raked against her open wound, she couldn't help from wincing out and stepping backward.

Taking several deep breaths of his own, Muteki grinned and flexed his claws. "I thought the great Mirko never feels pain? Isn't that what you used to tell me all the time?!" he shouted before adjusting his stance with his left leg forward. "The unstoppable bunny that could fight all day? Where is she, huh?!"

Baring her teeth, she sprinted at him once more, knowing she would have to end this soon. She leaped at him and threw a flying sidekick at him. Muteki sidestepped and grabbed her leg, ready to slam her down to the ground only for her to yank forward, driving her other leg straight into his chest, throwing him against the ground. As he slammed back, she leaped and went to drop kick into his stomach, but missed as he quickly threw himself up with his hands before plowing his fist into her side, twisting his wrist and feeling something crack inside. Gasping out blood, Mirko yelled as she still drove her foot into his side, launching him through one of the stone columns nearby.

"Holy shit!" Kendo shouted at the fight going on, forgetting to keep at working on the cuffs as she stared in disbelief. How either of the two were even standing was beyond her, but for Bakugo, even he couldn't speak at the sight before him.

'Their speed… their power. It's on a whole other level…' He whispered internally, realizing he had never even seen Mirko going all out this whole time he was with her. As the two animal quirk wielders clashed once more, Bakugo didn't want to admit it, but could sense the difference between him and them.

'If I tried to fight that bastard…' He paused as Muteki's kick was stifled by Mirko's foot on his shin, but he swiped his claws and slashed down her arm before catching one of her punches. 'I'd only be in the way… I'd be the one holding her back as she covered me.'

"Rah!" Mirko yelled as she caught Muteki's other hand, the pair facing off for a moment before she threw a heatbutt splitting his forehead open. As he stumbled back, he growled and launched himself forward and thrust his claws at her once more, only for Mirko to corkscrew midair and drive her fist into his mouth and sending him stumbling back several steps. As he looked back at her, she raised her brow at his grin, only making her chuckle out. "What's this? I finally knock some damn sense in y-

Mirko suddenly stumbled forward, her head feeling light and dizzy. "Huh…?" She muttered, just as her ears twitched to the dripping sound to her left. She glanced down, her eyes widening as she saw the massive cut down the underside of her forearm leaking blood at an alarming rate. She gritted her teeth, understanding why he was laughing now. "Bastard…"

"Took you long enough to notice…" Muteki chuckled and wiped some of the blood from his eyes. "You always said I would never land a serious blow on you. I guess this is as serious as you can get."

Clutching the deep wound, Mirko could feel the blood wanting to push out, meaning he hit the radial artery. She felt her head spin, stepping back as she took another deep breath. "You bastard… you were always shit in school, I'm shocked you could read where the arteries were." She growled out, feeling her arm shake slightly.

"I told you… I'm not the kid who followed your shadow all those years ago," Muteki said, tightening his fist. "I've learned a lot since then, and field experience is the best kind."

Before she could react, Muteki burst forward and drove his fist into her stomach, the impact ringing through the cave and making the rabbit hero gasp out, dropping to her stomach and coughing for air.

"Mirko!" Kendo shouted, dropping the tool in shock as the hero fell.

Feeling the one cuff loosen free, Bakugo ripped his hand out and raised both of his hands. "You bastard! Die!"

Leaping out of the way of the explosion, Muteki stood back up and took several breaths, stretching from the many hits he took as well. He glared at the two teens and clicked his tongue. "You should've just stayed in those cuffs."

"Oh yeah? Come and put them back on me!" Bakugo yelled out, his palms sparking at his sides.

Muteki sighed and began walking towards the two teens… but stopped and caught the ice spike flying at him from the right.

"Huh?" Bakugo and Kendo both said in surprise, looking over and seeing a familiar face standing there.

"Get away from them!" Katara shouted, the waterbender at the mouth of the cavern Bakugo and Kendo had come through before.

"Katara!" Kendo yelled, relieved to see her alright.

"And so all the kids are here now," Muteki said between pants, shattering the ice in his hands. "Makes this much easier for me now."

Katara glared as she pulled her water whip around her body, having followed the tremors through the cavern until she came upon the terrible sight before her. After setting Burnin down beside her, she had pulled her water out as fast as she could to stop him before he tried anything else. "You're not going to hurt them anymore!" She shouted, not even sensing the smallest bit of hesitation from the outnumbered hunter.

"You kids are stubborn, not knowing when to quit when you can." Muteki muttered, not wanting to waste his time with the teens. He reached behind his back for his gun… only for his eyes to widen when he didn't feel it. He patted for it before his eyes darted around, realizing it must've fallen during the battle somewhere. "Tsk… whatever. I guess I have to break some limbs in the end to make you cooperate."

Gritting his teeth, Bakugo's hands glowed at the ready, smoking as they were set to go off once more. "I'll make you extinct for real, dino boy!"

"STAY THE FUCK BACK!"

Mirko's scream echoed through the cavern, making the three teens turn in surprise to the downed hero. As she crawled up to her knees, she panted several times before grabbing a handful of her long hair, tying it into a tourniquet around her bleeding left arm. "I told you… that you are fighting me… and me alone…"

"What?" Katara said in shock, but caught a glimpse of Mirko's stare in her direction, causing her heart to skip a beat from the intensity. She didn't even need to be told anything else, lowering her hands and the water as well.

Muteki stared at the rabbit hero as she wobbled up to her feet, hissing through his teeth at her defiance. "You are already beaten… and you want to keep going?" He huffed out, ignoring the teens behind and stepping her way once more. "You'll bleed out if you keep this up."

Wrenching on the hair, Mirko winced as the tightness made her arm go numb, but sighed as the blood slowed its descent. Her head hung forward, her hair sprawled out in front of her. "If I let those kids fight you, I know you'd hurt every single one of them. And if another person got hurt in front of me by you, it would mean I'd failed just as much as I did all those years ago." She coughed and spit out more blood. "I promised you… I'd beat the shit out of you if I ever found you."

A small laugh slowly built up from the bleeding rabbit, growing louder and causing the teens skin to shiver. Even Muteki eyed her cautiously as she looked up, her crazed grin stretching ear to ear. "And I never break a promise to a friend, you fucking bitch!"

Keeping her left arm tucked into her side, Mirko raised her right hand and pointed at the hunter. "Until the moment I can't breathe, I'll be coming at you over and over so you better not take your eyes off me!"

Rolling his shoulder, Muteki growled as it popped before stepping forward. "Alright, then. Let's go!" he shouted and dug his toe claw in the stone below. "Let's see who's standing after this."

Bursting at the hero, Muteki unleashed a barrage of punches at the Mirko, the rabbit's single hand blocking each punch as it came her way. Even as he threw a pair of switch kicks, her hand moved and blocked both the low and high attacks. Throwing her own kicks out, Muteki blocked the first two before redirecting the third and landing a powerful straight punch to her chest. As she stumbled back, he lunged forward to slash at her face, only for her right leg to swing up and kick his hand away before driving her foot into his sternum showing him away. Only a moment passed before they shot across the cavern, sprinting parallel before slamming several attacks into one another.

"Come on!" Mirko yelled out, ignoring the slash to her shoulder as she drove her foot forward blocking his next kick, spinning back and landing a wheel kick before swinging her leg back and roundhousing him. Her single hand blocked another claw swipe and drove upward, her palm cracking into his chin.

"Gah!" Muteki growled and blocked another kick with his knee, their legs shaking as they pushed against one another until he felt his getting pushed back. 'She still has this much power?!' He shouted inside, jumping back and kicking out with his toe claw. As it grazed against her cheek, Mirko hissed out and swung her leg over his, shoving it down and whipping her other leg and into his shoulder, launching him through the cavern and giving chase. Flipping off his hands to his feet, he kicked off and launched at her once more, the pair of them moving so fast the teens could barely keep up.

Even Katara sat open- mouthed, her eyes darting back and forth as the two animals clashed over and over. While not to the level in Kamino, she was having the similar feeling she had back then, seeing two forces at a level far above anything she knew she was capable of. The level of power displayed was leagues above the hunter Kavik, their speed, skill and strength in another caliber. She now understood why Bakugo and Kendo did not intervene in this battle; Even if she had more water, she knew she would only be a burden if she tried to intervene.

Flipping over his tail, Mirko landed her thighs around his head and flexed them together, barely stopped in time as Muteki's hands gripped at her powerful legs. His arms shook to her immense strength, doing everything he could to keep her from crushing him. Smirking, Mirko flipped her weight and took him with her, launching him through the air and slamming into the cavern side. Coughing out, he attempted to kick off the wall to get away, only for her next kick to slam him back into the hard facing. "Damn you!" he shouted and slashed out at her, but missed as she flipped back into a one armed handstand.

Balancing on her single hand, Mirko's legs began unleashing a barrage of kicks at her foe, crashing into Muteki's blocking arms and body over and over. Her feet became blurs as she increased their speed, not stopping her assault as the wall behind him began splitting from the force. The wind being generated from the attacks whipped through the cavern, leaving the trio of teens staring in awe as the rabbit hero refused to stop her assault.

"Grr!" Muteki winced as the unending attacks began making his arms go numb, the occasional kick getting through and landing on his body. He roared out and reached out, gasping from a direct kick to his stomach but catching her leg and driving his own foot into her stomach, his toe claw ripping into her stomach and hooking out. Mirko gasped as she grabbed his leg and keeping it from tearing out the side, jumping back and pulling him with her as she drove her knee into the bottom of his leg making him yell out. Yanking the claw out straight, Mirko screamed out as she leaped at him, spinning like a top as her legs whipped around like a buzzsaw.

Ducking as she whizzed by, Muteki glared as her leg cut right through the stone pillar behind. As she kicked off and launched at him again, Muteki leaped over her attack as his tail reached back and ensnared the rabbit hero's neck, yanking down and slamming her into the ground. Not giving her a chance, he dropped down and began throwing powerful blows at her, growling as her good hand still redirected his punches away from her head and body to the ground beside her. She then whipped her leg up, her flexible limb hooking around his stomach and yanking him to the ground as she spun up. The raptor roared out as crawled off the ground, only to gasp as she spun on her back and drove her knee directly into his right eye.

As they both jumped to their feet, Muteki hissed as his eye was busted shut, a massive gash going from his forehead to his cheek. "You don't know when to quit!" He yelled out in rage, earning another grin from the rabbit.

"I Just don't like to quit. There's a difference!" Mirko shouted and shattered the ground as she burst forward, ducking underneath his swiping hand and driving her foot into his stomach. Blood spurted out of his mouth from the impact, but he dug his claws into her calf and landed another powerful kick to her side. As she pulled away, he quickly drove his claws into the wound on her stomach, her hand stopping him from completely going through her as they glared at each other face to face. "Quitting is what you did; running away after what you did and becoming a pathetic criminal!"

Baring his teeth, Muteki thrust an elbow into her face sending her stumbling back, punching at her blinded face to bring her down. But her ears twitched as she dipped back and forth, evading his attacks and catching one just before he landed, growling as he pulled back but couldn't break from her grip. Her eyes opened up through the blood, staring right into his soul as she laughed. "And that was your problem… You ran away instead of facing me all those years ago. It would've been less painful for you!"

Mirko drove her good leg into Muteki's stomach making him gasp out from pain, bringing her foot back and slamming into his shin. Muteki yelled out as something cracked inside his leg, dropping to his knees as he thrust his other hand at her face. Mirko however kicked upward knocked his hand away, her leg swinging up and capturing his held arm between her calf and thigh before flexing together, the force snapping his arm at the elbow.

"AHH!" Muteki screamed out as his bones shattered inside her grasp, his arm falling limp to the side as she released him. Not giving him a chance, Mirko spun on her other leg, screaming as she drove all her power into a final kick straight into Muteki's chin. The loud crack rang through the cavern, the impact sending a shockwave out and causing the observers to almost forget to breathe.

After a moment, Muteki's eyes rolled over white, the hunter losing consciousness before slumping forward, collapsing onto the ground before the victorious Mirko.

Panting rapidly, Mirko stared down at her former friend, a strange sense washing over her body seeing what she had finally accomplished. "I told you… What was going to happen." She managed between breaths.

As the silence fell over the cavern, the three students stared in shock and disbelief at the battle that had happened, unsure what to say after all of that. Bakugo and Kendo glanced at each other, both of them realizing who they were up against if Mirko hadn't shown up. Kendo had a sense of relief, while the other had utter frustration; knowing he was still nowhere near the strongest still. Katara stood silent as well, but as Mirko turned their direction, her eyes widened as she saw the hero stumble and fall to her knees.

"Mirko!" She shouted and ran down the cavern, quickly joined by Bakugo and Kendo as well.

Laughing, Mirko wheezed and coughed before looking up. "What… I'm just out of breath. Give me a minute and I'll be fine."

As they approached, they now saw just how injured she was; her face was smeared in blood from the gash above her forehead, along with the many slashes and cuts over her body. The worst however was the deep wound in her stomach, the massive bite above her knee making her leg shake. The most crucial however was the slash running down her left forearm, still draining blood despite her makeshift tourniquet. "Like hell you're fine! You look like shit!" Bakugo yelled out, only making Mirko snicker.

"Still take it over your ugly mug." she teased, making the teens eyes twitch in rage.

"Hang on!" Katara said, bringing her water up to her hands and activating her healing, focusing on the deadly injury on her arm first. "I'll close this up." Closing her eyes, Mirko simply nodded as she tried catching her breath, the exhaustion from the pair of fights and the run hitting her hard.

"Don't die on us, Cottontail!" Bakugo shouted out, gritting his teeth as the glow enshrouded the hero's arm.

As worked on the cut, Katara's eyes went over towards her classmates, seeing the cuts over their faces. "You guys alright?" Katara asked, her eyes going to Kendo's bloody hands. Still , she earned a quick nod from the red head.

"Yeah… we are fine." Rubbing her neck, Kendo sighed in relief. "Glad to see you're okay too."

"Thanks, but we need to get out of here." Katara said, "Burnin is out from poison, and there are still the others after us inside."

"We still have that spider bitch somewhere, and that damn league of villains asshole in here," Bakugo sneered as he punched his hand. "I still need to pay that bastard Dabi back for taking me at that camp."

Hearing the mention of Dabi caused Katara to nearly stop her healing, her mind

Imagining the crazed fire wielder once more. But now that name meant nothing to her, especially since she knew what it really was now. She breathed hard as she looked at the others, unsure how to even explain a situation like this now. Would they even believe something so crazy, and how would that affect everything else around her? Her mind began running scenarios, imagining the pain that Shoto was going to feel when he learned the truth of what really happened. As she finished closing up the injury, however, Mirko suddenly perked up, her ears twitching at the sound of something approaching.

"We aren't alone…" Mirko hissed as she turned around, staring down the dark corridor to the right. After a few moments, the others could hear the footsteps approaching, their senses on end as they watched. Soon, the light revealed the outline of the very tall figure, and the four spider legs shifting behind as the wielder came into view.

"All the flies gathered in one spot for me, making this so much simpler." Itkomi couldn't help but grin as she approached, her six eyes locked onto her prey with hunger. "I would've lost my temper if I had to hunt you down one by one."

Taking a breath, Katara clenched her fist as she stared at the arachnid woman; the leader of the hunters. "It's her."

"I'm not one to drag unnecessary things out." Itkomi stated, shooting her web to the side. She latched it onto something and yanked it back… pulling into her grasp the gun Muteki had dropped. "Let's end this, shall we?"

Notes: The final battle has begun! the Leader of the Hunters!

Wow Mirko is a fun but hard one to write! what a fight!

Oh... you wondering what's going to happen with our blue fire wielder? I have some special things planned for that.

Please leave your thoughts on this chapter! love your support!

Till next time!