The HPSC Director's office is bathed by a bright sunlit luminance. The balcony behind her offers a wide window opening for beams to blow in with a light breeze. Yet, only darkness dwells from within the room. She herself is the shade of all her conducted shady business here. Her most recent associate that has come by to pay a visit, David Shield, seems to have a similar status quo these days. He enters the room with the assistance of mechanical helper arms, one of which closes the office door behind him.

The HPSC Director stands up from behind her desk to greet her guest. "I must say, Mr. Shield, I wasn't expecting this visit!" She presents herself with a smile but her eyes may as well betray her as she stares at the man's additional appendages that give him an otherwise new appearance.

Shield studies her back with just as much of a critical stare. "All the more reason why I'm grateful that you cleared your calendar on such short notice", though he too is more than capable enough to play the part of displaying surface level pleasantries.

The Chairwoman works closely with customers relating to the hero field that she keeps tabs on all things hero related. Even if she didn't, any knowledgeable fool would know about I-Island & David Shield. "Why but of course! After your absence, it was the obvious thing to do!"

What with recent developments, however, there are sure to be different sets of circumstances and conditions. "You didn't report my resurgence to the authorities", David Shield is curious about his technical missing person's case and how that might affect things moving forward should he wish to keep his affairs relatively private for the time being.

The HPSC Director, catching on, wears a thin smile. "We ARE the authorities here, Mr. Shield.." After Captain Tsukauchi's passing, the HPSC truly may as well be. Nevertheless.. This is a subtle wink that whatever is discussed here can be kept privately.

"I suspected as much", he figures that hero work and police work are kept at a considerable arm's length; that means the HPSC has their own way of doing things separately sometimes, "Just had to be sure."

"Then it was right to presume this is a discussion meant to be off the record", the Chairwoman works her way around her desk to speak with Shield a little more personably.

"Not necessarily", but the scientist stays at a distance. The step back makes them both pause.

Mildly confused, the businesswoman inquires further about the inventor's secret visit. "Why here, Mr. Shield? Why us?" She's back to staring at him suspiciously again.

She's right to be suspicious about his intentions. Especially since he inquires about an arrested pro hero that got 'exposed' and disregarded, "You have access to your former agent Hawks and thus are the only people capable of releasing him without causing a fuss."

The Hero Public Safety Commission deemed their former agent unuseful and gave up on giving him any chance at 'redemption' from within the perception of a public eye. That doesn't mean they are willing to just hand him over to somebody else though, "And why would you need Hawks?"

"I don't need Hawks", it isn't until David Shield clarifies on the conditions of his request that the Chairwoman catches on to just how 'under the table' the matter of this visit truly is, "I require the Vulture."

She understands that this arrangement wouldn't be about putting Hawks in some sort of spotlight to aid Shield in a revival of I-Island per say. Rather, the reason Shield is staying so secretive about his resurgence must be the same reason why the likes of Vulture is being requested. "And again I ask … why?"

"The same reason I'll also require Stain's services", Shield only amplifies the woman's curiosity by additionally inquiring about an inmate who has no heroic background at all.

"This is.. Quite the unexpected leap from I-Island.." She doesn't hide her confusion. When it comes to these type of affairs, there is no sense in beating around the bush. "When you requested to meet, I was imagining a meeting of circumstance relating more to your area of expertise in technology.." She does a little more digging to get to the bottom of what it is Shield is really up to here.

"I'm here on behalf of a business associate", it makes slightly more sense when Shield says there's a third party partner involved, "You'll have to excuse the extra measures" The HPSC is aware of when he worked with Wolfram AKA Doctor Doom. Hero work is not always so black and white but this might make for a different shade of gray that not even the HPSC likes.

"And you'll have to excuse my reservations", the Chairwoman closes herself off when fixing the man with a skeptical stare. Contrary to what someone may think about them should their underhanded tactics come to light, The Commission is still aligned on the side of 'good' in a battle of good & evil. They don't negotiate or work directly with criminal classes of characters.

"They were to be expected", Shield understands this well enough. He himself was willing to stoop so low but knows that an organization such as the HPSC won't be so accommodating when it comes to illegal activity on this level. Even The Commission has 'standards'.

The HPSC, despite its tactics, still functions as the foundational centerpiece of Hero Society. It wages war with criminal groups like the Yakuza. No truces are in effect. Goals are not aligned. As such, The Commission will not work with villains or villain organizations. This could pose a conflict of interest but remains ever the fact of the matter at hand.

The HPSC Director humors her guest by inquiring further as to what a villain group might want with the requested inmates, "We COULD release these inmates to make better use of their talents", she also intends to gather valuable intel this way, "But to what avail?"

Shield smirks and shrugs, "You could put bomb collars around their necks and make them work to shave time off their sentences", he too finds this humorous apparently.

The Chairwoman huffs out a short laugh. "Don't think we haven't thought of it", she knows that government mandated sentence serving missions aren't what Shield or a villain group are actually suggesting though.

"That was meant to be a joke", Shield sees the look that the woman is giving him and ceases his act of amusement. The suddenly serious switch comes with the snaking of his robotic tendrils.

"Mr. Shield, I fail to see what you – or your associate – are aiming to achieve with this unprecedented request" The HPSC Director warily walks backwards as the elongated metallic arms draw near.

"Oh, you misunderstood, my dear…" The scientist stays stationary while his helper hands do his dirty work of holding the Chairwoman still, "This was not a request."

"You may have once been held in high esteem but you are hardly in any place to make demands", the HPSC Director puts on a brave face despite resisting the restraining force of Shield's tentacles.

"No?", Shield is not fooled by the woman's act. But he still makes way for the office entrance to open, "Maybe my associate is…", so that someone else can handle the 'negotiations'.

Tomura Shigaraki and Himiko Toga stride into the room. Shigaraki wears a navy blue suit whereas Toga wears a contrasting red pencil skirt and blazer. The bunned blonde flashes a toothy grin before using the Chairwoman's lap as a cushy chair to sit on. Shigaraki stays standing, and stays just as silent as when he entered the room while Toga giggles.

"That's…", the HPSC Director recognizes Shigaraki as the leader of the League Of Villains from the USJ attack at U.A. Her eyes are wide with horror when realizing the type of people David Shield aligned himself with.

"Yes, and I'm his secretary!" Toga produces a pen knife that she uses like a pin prick to take the director's DNA. "I'll need your signature in blood, please!"

"You've aligned yourself with not just villains but psychopaths?", the Chairwoman roughly pulls away from the knife wielding woman sitting on her while looking at Shield with a harsh glare.

"You talk as though the HPSC hasn't", but Shield is unphased. This may be a shift from the likes of Doctor Doom but it's nothing entirely new. And he feels content with the fact that Hawks now classifying as the villain known as Vulture qualifies his case a bit further.

"You won't get away with this", the HPSC Director turns her gaze to Shigaraki instead then; only periodically does she flit her eyes to the door with an expectancy of guards bursting through it at any given moment, "You won't even walk out of here."

"You're half right", but the villains have thought of that already too, "I won't be going anywhere" Himiko Toga licks the blood off her pen knife and transforms into the Chairwoman via her quirk. "It's a good thing I like your hair", the mirror replica of the HPSC Director primps her appearance a bit more.

"What is this… ?", the Chairwoman breathlessly asks a terrifying question that she fears she already knows the answer to.

Like a chameleon blending perfectly into its environment, Himiko Toga disguised as the director takes a new seat behind the desk of the office, "Isn't it obvious? I'm your fill-in!"

After having been quiet for so long, Tomura Shigaraki finally speaks up. "As you so kindly put it, a 'villain' is unable to waltz in and make an appointment with an HPSC director to sign off on any sort of dealings.." The surprisingly good strategist unveils what this meeting was really about this whole time when rhetorically asking & answering the proposed question, "But David Shield on the other hand.. ?"

"You knew I would have never agreed to anything", the Chairwoman realizes Himiko Toga can now forge her signature – and anything else for that matter – on behalf of the villain's interests.

Shigaraki shares a look with Shield and says, "It takes a tactician from time to time."

A subtle jailbreak, though ambitious in its own way, can't be all that this power play is about establishing. The duped director asks, "What is your plan Tomura Shigaraki?"

"You can call me Kingpin now", things become a little clearer when Tomura Shigaraki reveals an alias that he now goes by that not even she had been made aware of… "Or, as some people have come to call me instead… Tombstone."

"Because there's nothing left except for a tombstone once Shiggy gets his hands on his enemies!", Himiko Toga makes light of the fact that this powerful force of evil is acquiring control of both the criminal underworld & hero society's threshold when there is nothing to make light of when it comes to such a dark extremity, "And there's not anybody Tombstone can't touch!"

Tea never really was Aizawa's thing, that had always been Nezu's, so it's not all that surprising when it's a serving of coffee that is being passed over on a petri dish instead. Toshinori takes the cup with a small bow of his head to express appreciation. The two of them occupy the recently renovated principal's office – Aizawa's placement in the position calling for changes & adjustments to be made – the police & HPSC had also wanted to do a full investigational sweep of the room considering Nezu's criminal alter ego.

Aizawa settles into the seat behind his desk with a tired sigh. Even with sleepless nights as an underground hero basically behind him, he still has huge bags beneath his low hanging eyes. The responsibilities of U.A have befallen unto him and so he still remains restless. "Now.. Why did you want to see me, All Might?"

"Please, call me Toshinori" The depowered hero holds up a hand and offers a smile to try and alleviate some of the recently appointed principal's tension. He feels Aizawa may need a reminder that their shared company is a friendly kind and not strictly or solely just professional.

"All Might will do", but Aizawa's terse response shuts that down immediately. It's not like Aizawa wasn't like that before what happened but the brooding and moodiness has only since then steadily increased.

"Alright", Toshinori chalks it off as nothing particularly personal; trust issues are to be expected ever since Nezu's betrayal. The gaunt man sets his coffee cup down and leans forward, "I'm sure it's obvious enough already why I'm here though."

"I'm not Nezu", Aizawa somberly shakes his head. That's a fair point by comparison that the two principals operate on completely different levels. Toshinori might have forgotten that somehow what with how much Aizawa would work with Nezu previously. Even so, Aizawa takes a guess while holding up a recently filed document via being made into a manilla folder. "But I imagine it has to do with our new transfer student, Melissa Shield."

Toshinori nods, confirming that Aizawa is correct in making that assumption. "I appreciate you allowing her to attend at U.A", he did complete and sign most of the documentation himself afterall since he's now her legal guardian based on a technicality.

"Even if not for the good word that you put in, it's hard not to consider her a reasonable applicant what with her qualifications.." Aizawa dismisses the case with a careless wave and a lazy yawn. As far as he's concerned, there's not much to discuss with the recently registered student.

"That's actually what I wanted to speak to you about", but Toshinori has other things in mind regarding the girl's enrollment, "Whereas academics ARE an important aspect of development–" He swallows as he continues to say, "-that's not exactly what I think U.A has to offer Miss Shield."

Aizawa pauses as he looks up at Toshinori, "She IS a highly capable and intelligent young lady already", the principal raises a single eyebrow, "But I'm not quite sure I follow…" He revisits the physical record for the girl's enrollment in case there's something that he's missed, "Power Loader loves having her in his class."

"Of course, and I'm not trying to disrupt those studies!" Toshinori waves away the principal's concerns. Though, Toshinori still has his own. He falls back into his seat and sighs, "I just .. The reason I thought it best to have her attend U.A is to be a KID, Aizawa; she doesn't need to upstart a company or pick up from where her father left off – but should instead be enjoying her youth!"

Aizawa forces down a frown. He would argue that he's not running a daycare. Even as a teacher, he wasn't very big on allowing his students to be rowdy or to get away with goofing off. "You know I'm not particularly fond of fun being placed over coursework", he makes it a point to help Toshinori understand what U.A as an institution is meant to be and why there's not much room for distractions in such an environment.

Toshinori leans forward again, "Maybe not but I know you're not as cold blooded as Nezu–" He stops short while trying to refute Aizawa's comment with one of his own; he realizes he accidentally screwed up by saying something that could be taken in the context of Aizawa's Lizard incident. "Sorry, poor choice of words, that wasn't meant to be a verbal jab or anything."

Aizawa looks away – down at his absent arm – he places a hand over the side of his missing limb. "No offense was taken", the quiet response he gives Toshinori doesn't sound so sincere but neither of the men push the issue any further.

Toshinori instead clears his throat and gets them back on track with what this meeting is about, "Miss Shield– Melissa needs the guidance that comes from having friends!" He waves around the office as though he's gesturing to the entirety of U.A, "I want her involved with the student activity here."

Aizawa hums to himself. Slowly, his face softens. Even he managed to make friends during his hero studies. "Not to worry", the rambunctious few that he had the privilege of growing up with remind him a lot of Class 1-A, "There's no short supply of people who have a knack for putting themselves onto others."

Despite being physically invisible, Toru Hagakure sure has a way of making herself stand out with a bright & bubbly personality. The translucent girl cheerfully claps her hands together while welcoming Melissa Shield to U.A. "I'm so excited that you're here, Melissa! Now it's our turn to show you around!"

But by contrast, the blonde girl beside her is not so joyful. "Let's just hope it doesn't come with the collapse of Japan…", Melissa's moodiness and lack of merriness casts a cloud over her head in a metaphorical sense.

Whereas when Hagakure winces it goes unseen, she visibly loses some of her excitable energy by a shift in demeanor. "What happened on I-Island was scary.. But I promise you're safe here", she places a hand on Melissa's shoulder as an effort to offer some comfort in what must be a frightening change of pace.

Melissa forces a smile. "Sorry, that was a joke in bad taste, I didn't mean anything by it" She returns the consoling gesture by placing a hand on the other girl's shoulder just the same, "I really do appreciate you showing me around, Hagakure."

Even if it can't be seen, the smile Hagakure has after that can be heard when she replies, "Call me Toru! It's only fair since I call you by your first name!"

Melissa laughs a little, "And here I thought you and the others might find me offputting after what happened", her concerns about fitting in suddenly seem to be well alleviated while in good company, "I didn't want to be a reminder of something bad."

Hagakure waves away those silly concerns. What with everything else to worry about after I-Island and moving to a whole new country, that should be the furthest thing from a genuine issue. "We've had our own fair share of close calls with villains so don't worry about it!", Hagakure reassures Melissa that it's no big deal.

While Melissa appreciates what the kind girl is saying and doing for her, she can't help but feel a few stares on her as they walk through the halls. It could be because she's an American foreigner or because of I-Island or both. Whatever the case, "Still..", she worries that not everyone will share Hagakure's same sentiment.

Hagakure has gotten pretty good at noticing the subtle shifts in a person's behavior since her own expressions of feelings are so easily missed. As such, she spots Melissa's teen angst immediately. "Hey, I know what oughta cheer you up!" She figures there's no better way than to solve that problem than with actions instead of words to prove there's nothing to fret over, "A trip to the mall!"

Melissa blinks back her surprise before trying to turn down the offer. "Oh, I wouldn't want to make you go out of your way–"

"It's not out of my way at all! Everyone in the Hero Course is going for a shopping trip to pick up supplies for a training camp we're gonna have out in the mountains somewhere! Come along with us!", but Hagakure is insistent with an elaborated explanation as to why it'd be a 'good idea'.

Melissa looks away, suddenly shy. "I don't know – I wouldn't want to be the odd one out", she feels like something of a third wheel weaseling her way into their friend group.

"Nonsense! You're totally welcome to come along!", but Hagakure persists. To prove her point, she flags down a familiar Gen Ed student to show it's not just a mall trip for Hero Course students. "We can also invite Midoriya! You remember Midoriya, right?" Hagakure grabs ahold of the boy from the I-Island trip and pulls him into their conversation.

"A- Ah! H- Hi.. It's been awhile", he's startled by the sudden inclusion he's been given and awkwardly waves while chuckling just as nervously.

Though Melissa does recognize him, she notices there's some slight changes to the boy's appearance. She can't quite place it all what is so different but the most notable alteration is rather evident. She asks him, "No more glasses?"

Izuku Midoriya holds a hand up to his face to feel it, as though he himself is only now realizing his glasses are missing. "O- Oh!", Midoriya then starts to fumble to pull them out and put them on.

"I'm just messing around", Melissa can't help but laugh at how easily flustered the guy gets. It's one of the few genuine laughs she's had since the I-Island incident. Figuring it can't hurt to tease him some more, she adds, "You look cute either way."

"ANYWAYS!", Melissa is surprised when it's Hagakure who seems to be more bothered by the flirtatious joking; the girl does her best not to be too invisible by planting herself directly between the two of them. "What do you say, Midori? Care to join us for a trip to the mall?"

"Um..", the bashful boy nervously scratches the back of his head while trying to think up a proper response to give. His hesitation makes both of the girls back off a bit.

"I understand if you're a little wary", Melissa believes it's because of her that he's so hesitant about joining them and apologizes, "The last time we spent time together, you got thrown out of a window, and Spider-Man of all people saved you.."

"I- It's not that.. !", but Izuku is quick to deny that as the reason for his uncertainty. He's the one who's now suddenly apologetic.

Seeing that she can use this as a method to guilt trip the boy into joining them, Hagakure seizes her opportunity, "Then you're free to come!" She grabs him and Melissa by the arm each, ACTUALLY seizing this as an opportunity. "This time I won't let you out of my sight! That way there won't be any Spider-Man stuff to worry about!"

Melissa smiles, grateful for the girl's consideration, "Sounds great to me."

Whereas Izuku has to fake a smile. Unbeknownst to them, the two girls have their issues with his alter ego and he's now restricted in being able to do anything as that alter ego because of a forced mall trip. "Yeah.. Great.."

A sizable enough tank to fit Daiki Sai in took some personalized craftsmanship. However, Garaki is always up to such a task when it comes to the creational challenges of making Nomu projects. Much like when he had spliced scorpion genetic coding into Mashirao Ojiro, the mad scientist now utilizes rhinoceros DNA to develop this Nomu's structural system. An increase in what was already a large body mass developed from soft skin tissue to a harder baseline. The head harness Daiki so often wore with an artificial horn on it is now replaced with an organic horn.

Tomura Shigaraki – Tombstone – looks on at the latest addition to the roster of his villainous league. The liquid from within the tank glows dimly within the dark atmospheric room. It casts a low light that creates shadows along Tombstone's face. As with any good group, it was important for him to acquire a heavy hitter. Now that he has one, there's not much more recruiting left to concern himself with anymore. Especially since he was able to make due with what's otherwise an easily overlooked bottomfeeder that simply needed some leveling up.

The steadily rising criminal Kingpin receives a call from his cellphone. He's careful not to touch the device with all five of his fingers when fishing it out of his pants pocket. The caller ID makes him wish that he could just simply decay and do away with the phone though. He answers the call, not bothering to hide his irritation. "Have you finally got an update for us, Electro?"

"Hell yeah", his spy within U.A replies with a contrasting tone of excitement, "It's a juicy one too!"

Tombstone's interest becomes piqued at that. Usually there's nothing worthwhile to report from his spy but it seems things are finally starting to turn around. Though he doesn't like having his patience tried or tested ever still, "Then hurry up and spit it out already."

"Our friends in the Hero Course are going somewhere secluded real soon here", Denki Kaminari shares the insider intel he has as a student that Class 1-A will be taking a training camp trip, "Might make for a perfect opportunity for you to pay them another visit."

Tombstone's chapped lips lift at their scarred ends to form a small sinister smile when he asks to know more about this opportunity to strike at the heart of U.A's Hero Course, "Where?"

"I don't know ALL the details yet", Kaminari's lack of an exact answer makes him fortunate that they are talking over the phone at a distance and aren't meeting to discuss this matter in person; Tombstone's free hand twitches with the urge to grab and dust something – or someone, "The school staff are keeping a lid with information that's on an otherwise 'need to know basis' so I'll have to share with you the location later."

"Fine", Tombstone exercises his restraint by focusing on the benefit of having more prep time, "My collection of your new colleagues is nearly fully assembled anyways", he returns his gaze to the still 'marinating' Rhino Nomu.

"Great! I've been itching ever since the USJ to have another shot at something like this", it's also good to know that this gradually growing group of villains are all also on the same page of eager readiness to act already.

"Me too..", Tombstone scratches below his chin – as if he has stubble there, even though he doesn't – before he bites on the bottom of his lower lip, "Which is why you'd better not disappoint me with any failure.."

There's a slight pause from Kaminari. "Come on, boss man, you'd not have much to go on without me!" The feigned confidence shortly after doesn't fool Tombstone because of that brief break.

As such, Tombstone feels it's important to give his plant at U.A a much needed reminder about the significance of that role. "Yes, you are the most crucial part of this operation's main objective" He looks at the folder that's been built around Hitsohi Shinso and tells Kaminari to not forget there's more to this position than just being an informative, "Keep at it so things go smoothly."

Kaminari hangs up his call with Shigaraki. That demanded deed of his villainous duties is done all too easily. He turns around while putting on his face's best facade of a friendly smile. "Yo, Shinso, let's partner up for this one!" Luckily, he thought ahead by inviting Shinso to Class 1-A's camp preparation mall trip.

Shinso is none the wiser to Kaminari's fake persona, "I thought you were busy taking a call", he has his own act of being disinterested while raising a curious eyebrow.

"Call's over!", Kaminari waves his phone around before putting it away in one of his pockets. With his hands freed, he grabs his 'buddy' by the shoulders. "Let's hit the shops!"

Across the way, the residential pinky of Class 1-A takes notice of Kaminari's suggestion. "I for one think splitting up into groups is a great idea!", Mina Ashido snatches up the two girls nearest to her with a grin as wide as her raccoon eyes, "I call dibs on going with Yaomomo and Tsu!"

Like a domino effect, soon enough, everybody else starts pairing off. Some students go it alone like Shoto Todoroki and Fumikage Tokoyami. Otherwise, it's a big commotion of who gets to go with who. Games of rock, paper, scissors & thumb wrestling wars break out amongst each and every bunch. Manga Fukidashi panics as he struggles to find someone to join. Meanwhile, Setsuna Tokage relishes in the chaos.

Tenya Iida stiffens from the stress of a tense atmosphere and his instincts to try to take control of the situation start to kick in, "Everyone be more orderly about this! We didn't create signup sheets!", though nobody takes him seriously with how he chops his arms robotically while trying to give orders.

Toru Hagakure turns towards her closest companions, which happens to be Melissa Shield and Izuku Midoriya. "I guess it's only fair for us three to partner up since I invited you both", she extends her invitation since things are slightly shifting surrounding the group mall trip.

"Sounds fine to me!", Melissa expresses that it's no issue for the minor change in plans. She then checks with the boy beside her to see if he feels the same way, "Midoriya?"

But Izuku is a bit distracted at the moment, "Huh? Yeah.. Sure..", his response is not fully committed as neither is his attention. He's too busy staring off into the distance to watch his childhood bully flirt with MJ.

Although… he also watches when Eijiro Kirishima disrupts Katsuki Bakugo and Itsuka Kendo's private talk. Kirishima does so by inserting himself into the conversation with a direct approach, "Bakubro! Wanna look at weights together?", to which Izuku can silently admit to being grateful for.

Though, Kirishima's interruption doesn't last long. "Nah", Bakugo rolls with it and drapes an arm around Kendo's shoulders, "I already got my date for the day."

As mesmerized as he is by watching this exchange, Izuku doesn't notice Kyoka Jirou's proximity until the girl practically puts herself directly in line of his field of vision. He blinks, startled and surprised. But when his eyes fall on her, he sees that she's looking past him. "Mind if I tag along with you guys?", he turns around to see she's addressing Hagakure and Shield.

"Uh..", Izuku looks back to see she's also staring at Kaminari and Shinso as the reason for her request – he, Shield, and Hagakure are her second choice – something silently tells him in the back of his mind to turn her away.

Before he can, Hagakure grabs him by the arm and takes the authority to speak on he and Shield's behalf, "Just don't drag us down!"

Jirou takes notice of Hagakure's affectionate grabbing. "I'll do my best not to..", suddenly she remembers her slight crush on the boy and has to play it off with a fake smile.

MJ also sees this interaction and also has her jealousy rekindled over a shared mutual crush – Izuku was the one to give her the 'MJ' nickname afterall – and so she slips out of Bakugo's arm to head in that direction. "Actually.. I think you should go with Kirishima", she politely excuses herself to switch on group arrangements, "I'm gonna see about joining the gals and Midoriya."

Bakugo doesn't hear her excusion as polite though. He hears an insult. "You'd rather go with the quirkless nerd?!", he snarls like an angry pomeranian that just had its treat taken away from it.

MJ stops to look back, but not for any other reason than being upset to hear Bakugo ridiculing Midoriya for being quirkless, "What's that supposed to mean? Are you forgetting that we talked about people without power earning it? What makes Midoriya any different from me?" Her defense of Midoriya only makes things worse when she pokes Bakugo with an accusatory finger, "Or you?"

"Don't ever compare me to that loser!", Bakugo aggressively grabs the girl by her wrist to move her finger away from his chest. In the heat of the moment, with his temper so high and his habit for letting his quirk quite literally pop off when angry, his hand sizzles against MJ's skin.

Kirishima's eyes widen when he notices this mistreatment and the way that MJ is wincing out of pain. "Hey, man.. Calm down.." He pushes them both apart to prevent any further issues.

But, again, this only increases Katsuki Bakugo's anger. He views Kirisihima's interjection as a challenge. The irate blonde boy puffs out his chest with flaring nostrils. "You don't wanna get in between me and my girl, shitty hair!"

She's never really needed a boy to stand up for her and come to her rescue before and she doesn't need one now either, so MJ decides to defend herself at this point. "Who said I'm your girl?!", she shoves Bakugo back from Kirishima and herself to put distance between them all. The effort of a push makes her wrist ache so that she has to hold and rub the minor burned area. Bakugo doesn't even realize what he's done to harm her even after she tells him, "Maybe your ego still needs a reality check."

With all of his pent up aggression and nobody to direct it at between MJ & Kirishima, Bakugo seeks out his usual punching bag. "Oi! Nerd!", he roughly grabs Izuku by the shirt to drag the boy away, "You and I are gonna have a little private chat!"

Just about everybody makes a move to do something and stop Bakugo's brutish manhandling – but Izuku holds up a hand behind Bakugo's back to make the group of people hold off – they warily wait as the two disappear around a corner together. The thing is, as Izuku got carried away, he wasn't being forcibly moved. Izuku willingly went along. He wasn't his squeamish sort of self. What was odd.. was Izuku appeared to be smiling.

In a secluded spot, Katsuki Bakugo slams Izuku Midoriya against a wall. It's just like back at Aldera when the childhood bully would stuff the shorter boy in a locker. The feeling of power makes Bakugo grin. It's been awhile since he's had this feeling of superiority over someone. All he wants to do is enjoy it and blow off some steam – his hands smoke in a literal sense of that notion – and the quirkless weakling that dared to get in his way both times at U.A and with Kendo makes for the perfect way to do so.

Until… Izuku looks down at the hands holding him. It's as though the burning glow of Bakugo's hands are scorching skin instead of a shirt by the way he reacts, which is odd behavior because Bakugo HAS scorched the other boy's skin before. Izuku surprises Bakugo with even odder behavior by somehow pivoting their positions. Izuku grabs Bakugo and spins them around to pin Bakugo against the wall instead.

"The fuck– ?!", the arrogant bully is shocked to see himself get overpowered by someone he's always known to be a scrawny quirkless weakling. He momentarily believes it to merely be a stroke of luck that the nerd caught him off guard but he's unable to pry or shake off the grip on him even now. Izuku is somehow stronger than him in a match of physicality.

Izuku leans in close, the warmth of his breath a whisper in Katsuki Bakugo's ear when he says, "...We're not your punching bag anymore.. Kacchan.."

That Izuku would have the nerve to taunt him makes Bakugo BEYOND furious. But he's still too bewildered by this extreme change of power dynamics and behavior to properly react. Bakugo shudders and shakes while being pinned under someone who should be lesser than him – he feels as trapped in a corner as he literally is – the fear of being powerless meshes with his rage. There's not much he can say or do while within this set of circumstances.

Izuku releases Bakugo and backs away with a smug smile. Bakugo wants to blast it off the damned dork's face. But he's still mentally reeling from the imbalance in the world that he'd somehow be weaker than a quirkless person. Even after Izuku walks off, Bakugo remains standing stationary as though he's just been traumatized. He feels violated – as though HE was the one who just got bullied and belittled – and he doesn't know what to do about it.

Or.. maybe he does.. Katsuki Bakugo pats his pants pocket, feeling something that he brought with him inside of it.

That was the last straw.

Katsuki Bakugo has had enough with feeling so helpless.

There was his loss at the Sports Festival. There was the way he got completely disregarded and dismissed by Best Jeanist during his internship studies. Then he failed his Final Exams.

It's bad enough that he has everybody looking down on him all the time but the fact that they all have validity to do so REALLY pisses him off. All Might, the hero he aspired to be like most, completely overlooked him. The girl who All Might chose instead to be the next symbol of peace rejected him too now.

Worst of all, he wasn't even capable enough to prove himself superior to a quirkless wannabe. He feels doomed to be the one who has inferiority these days. Shitty Hair who saw him as 'manly' or whatever at one point actually dared to challenge him now! Somehow, everybody perceives themselves as better than him … and they just might be right to think that.

Katsuki Bakugo shakily holds the vial of quirk enhancing drug fluid that Kaminari gave him back during the Sports Festival. It's a mockery of him as a man and yet it just might be what he needs now more than ever to get himself back up to par. It's not exactly like Trigger – maybe it's still not legal – but Kaminari told him it's something different. He tells himself he isn't stooping to a lower level than he's already at by considering taking the damned stuff.

But if that were true, then he knows he shouldn't feel so ashamed and shaken. He looks around the public bathroom that he's hiding out in, praying that nobody walks in on him. It's like he's a little boy about to do something bad and he's scared of getting caught in the act. That makes him feel even more pathetic. Bakugo grips the vial in his hand so that it doesn't slide out due to the amount of sweat that he's started to secrete.

He's tried all other avenues. He did everything he could to make it on his own. He worked himself to the bone by increasing his exercise regime. He's trained himself as much as possible each and every time after all his failures in an effort to improve. But it hasn't been enough. Bakugo swears as he swears to himself he's tried doing all that he can when it comes to legitimate methods of getting stronger. All the restless nights are starting to take an effect on his mind as much as his body as he gets worn down.

But what is in his hand isn't some sorta smoothie or protein powder. What he's contemplating drinking is far from simply being a pre-workout mix. It's not even merely just steroids. This is a drug that he's considering taking. It's something that he doesn't want to take but he's starting to feel that he has to if he's to ever have a chance at getting better.

Bakugo pops the lid off of the vial before holding it up to his lips. He hesitates but ultimately does sip at the serum inside of the glass tube.

As soon as he tastes the tangy liquid on his tongue, he immediately regrets his decision. He stops short, not even drinking near half of the fluid.

Bakugo spits and sputters as he tries to get the residual remnants of the drug out of his mouth. He gets his face under a sink faucet to get a direct flow of water in his mouth instead so that he can gargle it and try to wash the drug out.

Bakugo also pours out the remaining fluid of the drug so that he'll never accidentally give in to the temptation to take it ever again. He watches as the green liquid goes down the sink's drain.

However… He's already messed up by making his choice before that.. There are no takebacks.

When Katsuki Bakugo looks up at himself in the bathroom mirror, it's not his own reflection that he quite sees staring back. A malformed version of himself, green and grinning, looks back with wild & frenzied yellow eyes.

"No! No! I didn't mean to–", Bakugo backs away to escape from his shameful side in some vain hope that he can still come back from this.

"Too late!", but the ugly part of himself won't let that happen, "You've already admitted that you're too weak!"

"NO!", Bakugo falls to his knees with his tormented head in his hands.

When he raises his face back up, it has a crazed toothy grin that is more feral than any of his own ever were. "Now… Let ME take control and show how much stronger I am!", THE GREEN GOBLIN rears his ugly head while taking control of Katsuki Bakugo's body.

AUTHOR NOTES

Happy (belated) Halloween!

You're right, CapoPerk, only trouble is coming with all of these villains starting to surface!

Ah, Mob.k - who shall suffer more? - Toru Hagakure or Izuku Midoriya?

Thanks for binge reading and catching up, Racan! Hope you continue to stick around!

Till next time!

-Courtesy of your spooky author!