The next 4 Carry On chapters will be released on Wednesdays from here until the end of the year.

There will be a break on the 13th due to finals, however.

Anyways, here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5

Izuku's eyes slowly fluttered open after what felt like (roughly) three or four weeks of rest. His head still ached, and his bones hurt even worse. Everything around him made him feel like he was still in a haze- nothing was registering right. Eventually, his vision sorted it out. His surroundings developed into what looked to be a fancy bedroom.

The experience was so surreal that Izuku had to blink twice to make sure. Behind him was a set of bow windows that revealed a very lucid and gorgeous landscape. The walls were painted a soothing varnishy tone, and the ceiling above him had a pleasant tan and brown pattern. Izuku had never slept on an "Olympic Queen" bed before, but he didn't think it was something to boast about. The thread count of these sheets, however, was. On the left side of his bed was a tiny nightstand with a light, while on the right side was an empty chair.

How…did I get here? Izuku wondered. What happened to him…

And then he remembered.

The forest. The cliff. The fire. The fight.

Bakugou had been kidnapped.

Izuku almost jumped out of bed at the knowledge, but his aching bones prevented him. He felt that if he placed any weight on his bones they would shatter like glass.

So here he was. Stuck in bed.

Alone.

He almost felt like crying, and he probably was, if not for the voice that suddenly piped up.

"Oh, you're awake," The speaker exclaimed. The masculine voice was pleasant and comforting, and Izuku blindly trusted him immediately despite never having seen his face. He turned to see someone was sitting in the chair by the bed. He had a long button down paisley white shirt, a leather black bomber jacket, and some brown work pants. He looked somber, but still friendly. He had snow white hair, and glowing green eyes...

(NO, he's not that guy.)

"I was worried about you- you've been in some rough battles, but this one…that was something else." The man said, with a small smile. "How do you feel? Are you okay? Do you need more pillows?"

Izuku batted his eyelids and continued to stare through the man. Exhaling deeply, the guy sighed. "If you're not saying anything because you're perfectly OK, then that's fine."

"Where am I?" Izuku finally said. There was a hint of surprise on the man's face.

"Woah. Not only did you completely materialize, but you can also talk with no issue... I misjudged your stress levels. I was honestly expecting to wait longer…" It sounded like the man was mumbling to himself. To Izuku, it was like an outside view of his own babbling about heroes and quirks.

"To answer your question is NOT a simple thing, Izuku Midoriya." The man said. "It'd take a while to fully explain, but…you're still asleep."

Izuku tilted his head. "Huh?"

"You're in your mind." The man explained. "With us."

"And you're…" Izuku squinted, still trying to play catch up.

Actually, when he squinted…the guy sorta looked familiar. In a weird sort of way. Make his figure more shadowy, give him glowing yellow eyes and…

"You're…you're from the Sports Festival!" Izuku gasped. "You appeared behind All Might, when I was fighting Shinso- I thought that was just some weird illusion meant to break me out of his Brainwashing quirk-!" The man chuckled.

"We're very, very real, Izuku. We're just in your mind." The man said. "I'm the first user of One for All- you can call me Yoichi."

Yoichi- the name fit the first user perfectly. It did have the kanji for "one" in it after all.

"The first user…" Izuku repeated. "All for One's brother…"

"There's more of us around, but…things are complicated. We'll introduce ourselves more and more as time goes on. I'm not entirely sure how we're meeting right now, to be honest." Yoichi admitted. "Even this mansion is new."

"Wait, so…this isn't apart of my dreamscape?" Izuku asked.

"No- it's actually from mine." Yoichi said. "One of my favorite comics growing up was the X-Men- they lived in a mansion, and I guess my mind made our meeting place after it. Funny, huh?"

Izuku blinked.

"Oh, that's right…you don't know who they are…" Yoichi said, now embarrassed. "Uh. It's just a cool mansion. Let's stick with that."

"Can you explain…what happened?" Izuku said, looking down at his arms. "Did you see the battle?"

"Kind of. We only saw the important part." Yoichi said. "And that's what concerns us."

"Huh?"

"You've only been in possession of this power for a short while, but already you've unlocked something that we anticipated would take another year or two." Yoichi hummed. "Izuku Midoriya, you're a curious case."

"What are you talking about? Unlocking what?" Izuku enquired.

"You know the basis of One for All- a transferable Quirk that can be passed on from one user to the next. I started it, and then I passed it onto someone close to me. Then he passed it on…and so on, and so forth." Yoichi explained. "But there's something unique that none of us truly anticipated."

"What's that?" Izuku asked.

"Our Quirk Factors started to mix and meld with each other." Yoichi said, clasping his hands for emphasis. "Our powers started to mix with the very core of One for All- and when Toshinori took over, it started to 'leak'...especially after his battle with him."

"You mean…" Izuku said.

"Yes. My brother." Yoichi grimaced. "All Might hasn't been here, but he doesn't realize- he's had a 'second' quirk ever since."

Izuku tried to think- All Might was naturally powerful. He would've picked up on another quirk, right? He'd have to rewatch all of his old fights to try and determine what it should be.

"So, you're saying…with my core being added, it's leaking even more." Izuku said.

Yoichi nodded. "You've acquired a great power, unintentionally sparked by a powerful rage." Izuku remembered- he was fighting Muscular when it happened. That's when those black tendrils showed up…

"It's called 'Blackwhip'." Yoichi explained. "This special ability enables the user to create black energy tendrils. It's great for increasing your mobility…"

"I…I don't get it." Izuku said. "Why's this happening now? You said it be a few years or-"

"I fear for the future, Izuku." Yoichi looked remorseful, all of a sudden. "I have to wonder…if One for All is responding to All for One. I lack clairvoyance, or any sort of way to see into my brother's mind, but I fear that something terrible will happen."

Izuku's face softened. The world around them seemed to fade away.

"It's not right that you alone will have to one day brave a horrible battle with him. You're one of the younger people to receive my quirk…" Yoichi said. "Children shouldn't have to clean up the sins of the past. But at the same time, the old generation can't be young and powerful enough to always do it…"

Izuku started to feel his vision fade. He started to feel like his body was floating away, up into the sky. Yoichi noticed.

"It seems that we're out of time, Izuku." Yoichi sighed, his voice now distant. "Please…with the two extra powers bestowed upon you, prepare for the worse. But don't lose your own way, either."

Izuku blinked once more, to see Yoichi looking up at him. But now, there were 7 more figures behind him. 5 of them were 'obscured' by shadows, but the remaining 2 were more visible- a man with a bald head, and a woman with black hair.

"Be the one to complete One for All."

Izuku eventually awakened. This time, he was in a rather ordinary hospital rather than a luxury one. His head and left cheek were bandaged, and his arms were in casts. He looked like he'd been in a car wreck or something.

Izuku tried to dismiss the dream as a hallucinatory experience brought on by the intense stress of experiencing many near-death experiences within the span of experience. But it felt too vivid and too lucid to be false.

Besides…

The guy said he had 'two' extra powers.

If Blackwhip was the first, what was the second? Or was it the other way around…

The Pussycats training camp trip was a complete failure. Vlad King was able to spread the word of what happened, and firemen and rescue personnel arrived 15 minutes after the culprits fled.

A bulk of the 40 students who were involved in the attack were in critical condition. The worst of the lot were Izuku, Ochako, Monoma and Mineta. Iida would've been considered in this, if not for Momo's healing spell. In fact, Momo's actions alone saved more of the students from being in worse shape. The majority of the other pupils suffered varied degrees of injury (scrapes, bruises, lots of scratches). Tooru also fell underneath the category, but it was more because she had inhaled a lot of the gas. A few people escaped unharmed, and...

One student was missing.

One of the six professional heroes had a critical head injury. Another was nowhere to be seen, leaving just a large bloodstain at their post.

Of the 12 villains involved (Dabi, Toga, Spinner, Mr. Compress, Twice, Mercury, Doctor Animo, Fistrick, Muscular, Moonfish, Brando and Nyancy Chan, Mustard), 4 had been captured. Muscular had to be rushed to a specialized facility where a trained doctor would treat his mauled body. Mustard was hauled off by a special task force, but no word came after that. Moonfish was arrested by some heavily armed Pro Heroes, but the enemy was found both toothless and docile. Fistrick was arrested.

Hey, their arrest details can't all be special.

The summer training camp the students had long since awaited ended two days earlier, and in the worst way imaginable.

As for the public…

They weren't responding well, and who could blame them? A symbol of Japan had lost a child. They were to blame for this incident, not the villains who had somehow found out where they'd gone. Let's blame the school!

The angry mob in front of UA was outraged, and for good reason. When the UA teachers assembled to discuss what was going to happen next, their meeting was attended by an overflowing crowd. Most were concerned parents, some led by activist groups...

"Yeesh." Ben said, looking over the mob from a window. "Not the first mob I've seen, but still."

"'Yeesh' indeed, Mr. Tennyson. Thank you for attending today's meeting." Nedzu said.

"Not a problem." Ben said. "There were rouges from MY peanut gallery mixed in, I'm not gonna take that lightly."

Especially when Ochako got mixed in. Ben thought.

"We took the whole villain revival plan too lightly- it seems they've already started their plans to destroy the Hero Society." Nedzu reflected.

"Even if we'd taken it more seriously, could we have prevented this flurry of relentless attacks?" Midnight asked. "After all, most organized crime has been eliminated since the rise of All Might, so all that's left is the worst."

"The BEST of the worst." Ben pointed out. "Some of my villains were mixed in- Mad Geneticist Doctor Animo, the hunter Mercury Black, machine terrorist Fistrick and Nyancy Chan for some reason...and I worry about who else they have left to show. That Nomu that Animo worked on…scares me."

"Basically, we got too complacent in this era..." Present Mic frowned. "Otherwise, there'd be no need for preparations when we realized what was happening."

All Might sulked. "I'm just mad about how useless I was..." He grimaced. "I was relaxing in the bath while they were out fighting for their lives...I only found out what was happening after Ben burst through my bathroom door."

Everyone looked at Ben.

"We're VERY close." Ben said, patting Toshi on the back.

Snipe cleared his throat. "Well, I reckon we can't pretend to be undaunted no longer. Like how we went and held the sports festival after a serious attack on the USJ."

"Letting a student get taken is a serious failure for U.A." Thirteen (now back in her signature suit) added. "They didn't just steal Bakugou- they took away the public's trust as well."

Ben grimaced. A brilliant strategy, backed up by sewing doubts into the minds of those they were meant to protect...

He hated callbacks like this.

"Media's having a field day, too." Ben said. "Take it from me- I've had bad press, but you guys are getting hounded."

Hound Dog growled.

"Sorry, figure of speech." Ben said nervously.

"We can assume that they intentionally targeted Bakugou because of that one image of him looking crazed and violent from the Sports Festival disseminated through the public." Nedzu said. "If they're actually able to win him over, then this institution is finished."

"And that's something I wanna bring up. It's kinda clear at this point..." Present Mic said, clearing his throat. "We have...a mole."

The teachers gave him a weird look, and then looked at each other. A mole? Not possible. "Explain your reasoning, Mic." All Might said. "Sounds pretty far-fetched."

"We're the only ones who knew about the location, besides the Pussycats. But if a student used their GPS-"

Midnight sighed. "Cut it out, Mic. There's no way that's possible. The reception out in that field is terrible. No GPS could've been activated there."

"Besides, an accusation like that will have you grabbing at each other's throats." Ben said. "Once you start accusing others and jumping at nothing...you'll destroy yourselves from the inside out."

Ben knew his message had been sent clear. The faces in the room knew his pain (or most of it). Mic sat back down and sighed.

"Right...sorry. That was a dumb thing to say."

"For what it's worth, I trust you all." Ben said. "But this meeting isn't about finger pointing. The Plumbers are more than happy to help beef up security around here. Heck, I know some of my friends that'd be willing to help teach."

"In light of those things, I also wanted to discuss something I've been considering for a while." Nedzu said. "And that is..."

"A PHONE CALL IS HERE!"

Nedzu stopped mid-sentence. All eyes went on All Might.

"A PHONE CALL IS HERE!"

"Turn off your phone, dude!" Mic frowned. "We're in a meeting."

All Might turned red. "A-ah. Sorry, I gotta take this." He said, as he left the room. Midnight made a face.

"That's his ringtone?" Midnight frowned. "Who on Earth talked him into that?"

Ben looked away.

All Might closed the door, and picked up his phone. "Sorry for the hold up. What's up, Tsukauchi?" He said.

"Well, I'm getting statements from your two colleagues right now, but...we've got a shocking development." Tsuakauchi's voice sounded hopeful. All Might liked hopeful. "We may have pinpointed the League's hideout."

All Might stood up a bit taller. "Go on."

"So," Tsukauchi said. "About two weeks ago, one of my men was out canvassing for information. One witness saw a man with a "patchwork face" enter a building. A building that didn't have any tenants. We searched the database for convicted criminals around 20 years of age, but none fit the profile. When we contacted the building owner, we learned that there's a bar inside. a hidden one, though, like a shelter. It didn't seem connected to the investigation at the time, so we moved on, but now..."

"It's suddenly matching something." All Might guessed.

Tsukauchi nodded. "That description of the "patchwork man" matches one of the villains who kidnapped your student- The criminal known as Twice. Given the situation, we're going to raid the place as soon as we've got enough evidence! This is all top secret, but I figured you should know. For this rescue and search/destroy operation, I'd like to ask you and Ben to join us..."

All Might went quiet.

"...All Might?"

"You're...one heck of a pal, Tsukauchi." All Might said, as he started to 'grow' back into his usual form. "When we find those criminals, I'm gonna say...'I am here...to FIGHT BACK!'"

Ochako didn't like hospitals. Not because of the cost, but just because of how isolated she felt from the world. There are valid causes for fear of hospitals nowadays. Due to administrative reporting of the patient's condition, the quality of treatment has changed from spending time with the patient to spending a minimum amount of time with a patient. Ochako loved company- to be shut out of any was just so scary.

Ochako had broken a leg and had an arm sawed into by a chainsaw. Because she was Fourarms, the attack wasn't all that deep, but it did leave her with a nasty gash on her forearm. A reminder of that horrible experience. She'd also needed a mild blood transfusion- Toga had sucked some blood out of her, and losing some blood due to a chainsaw was scary enough.

At least I didn't lose an arm, Ochako said, trying to remain optimistic. Her injuries had been mostly dealt with by doctors, but they kept her leg in a cast for a day just to make sure the bones 'set' or whatever.

Having everyone in the hospital was such a weird experience. No one had wanted to go home until everyone in the class was released. The sense of camaraderie was very high right now. Ochako had seen everyone in the class at least once.

…except Mineta. She didn't ask about him, nor did she know the full story.

So that would come back to bite her later.

But let's focus on the now.

There was another thing Ochako had to deal with, beyond broken bones and the worry of what happened to Bakugou. Something more forward.

Class 1-A and Class 1-B knew about the Omnitrix. And they had questions.

"So," Mina said, as she signed Ochako's cast. "You don't have Master Control."

"Nope." Ochako said- she'd answered this question like three times already.

"And you don't have any of the BIG hitters just yet." Ojiro said- he was still processing this.

"I have Shock Rock- I think she's a pretty big hitter." Ochako shrugged.

"And during the USJ Ben incident, you were…fighting him," Mina guessed. "Because he was testing you."

Ochako nodded.

"Alright," The two said simultaneously.

"You're all taking this very well," Ochako said.

"The shock's gonna kick in later." Mina said. "We'll just deal with that later."

"I don't think we should crowd Uraraka with questions right now," Iida said. "She's been through a lot- she was in the 'front lines', and probably needs her rest."

Ochako chuckled. "Iida, if you weren't in that wheelchair right now, you'd probably be smothering me with hugs and ignoring my wellbeing."

"I can neither confirm nor deny this." Iida said, frowning. Iida had to make a hard choice at the hospital- he opted to have the hospital remove the other mufflers in his legs, in order to make sure he was 'balanced'. Thankfully this process was less painful- he had painkillers and nitrous oxide to soothe the pain throughout the process.

"I didn't know your mufflers were removable." Kaminari said.

"Ingenium family secret. It's what keeps us running faster and faster…" Iida said. "Of course, I need to get used to them. But I'll worry about it later. Is there any news on…"

"Nope. He's still not awake." Ojiro said. "Poor guy…he was fighting so hard…"

"Deku…" Ochako sighed. For two days, Izuku had fallen in and out of consciousness wracked with pain and a high fever. No good news yet.

"I can't blame him for not waking up fully just yet- did you see that dark energy coming out of his arms?" Ojiro asked.

"Dark energy?" Iida repeated.

"Yeah, it was like…a totally different quirk." Ojiro said. "It was kinda scary."

Ochako shuddered. There's still so much we need to talk about… Ochako thought. Then, another thought crossed her mind.

"Hey…where's Ship?" Ochako asked.

"Your dog?" Mina asked. "Kirishima's been watching him- he played it smart by keeping him in his hotel room. He's sharing a room with Todoroki. I'm sure they can handle him…"

Shoto blinked. "You know, I've never had a pet before." He said, looking down at Ship.

"Really?" Kirishima asked. "I had a dog when I was younger. Ship isn't that different."

Shoto looked at Ship, and then Kirishima. Ship was 'teething' around Kirishima's wrist, awkwardly wriggling around. It was the only way to keep him from absorbing the TV.

"Did your dogs 'suck' on your fist?" He finally asked.

"How is this relevant right now?"

"Seriously, though. Are you guys like…fine with the news of me having the watch, or-" Ochako said. "I've been keeping this secret for a while, I only had to reveal it because of the attack-"

"Uraraka, we're totally okay with it!" Mina said. "We're not gonna hold it against you for hiding something like this. I'm kinda upset you didn't tell me earlier, but I totally get it."

"Plus, Shigaraki did threaten you and your parents, right? You probably wanted to prevent that from happening to us." Ojiro pointed out. "We're not gonna be angry about you being sensible."

Ochako could live with that. At least she didn't have to worry about something dumb like that tearing apart the class. Camaraderie at its best.

But sometimes, camaraderie isn't enough to stop some things.

Ochako found herself really, really hungry in the middle of the night. She needed something good to eat, right now. Not just that horrible hospital food. Didn't Kaminari mention something about a vending machine down the hall? Yeah, he said that UA had somehow talked the staff into letting them use it for free- a weird deal, but hey, free bags of chips, drinks and candy.

Now, she knew that there wouldn't exactly be many people here this late, aside from staff and those visitors who were determined to stay with their loved ones through the entirety of their stay, but it was still a little unnerving. She also couldn't help but look down at her cast a few times as she wandered the empty halls. Twinges of pain came back to her from when Toga managed to strike her with that chainsaw. Drinking alien blood was one thing, weird, but not the worst thing she'd seen that night. The worst though was that Toga managed to combine alien and Nomu blood.

If she can do that, what ELSE would she be capable of? Uraraka thought to herself.

Ochako sighed as she punched in the number of a bag of chips and a water bottle. A bunch of those villains were Ben's...no wonder Shigaraki knew I had the Omnitrix. Word probably spread around fast about a successor...

Ochako also couldn't stop replaying that one encounter with the robot legs guy. Atlas...what's the deal with it? Did something happen there?

Part of her wanted to ask Ben about it, figure out what happened, but the other part thought that maybe it was just Mercury playing mind games with her. Try to mess with her head, use it when they next fought. She shook her head, trying to get rid of those thoughts for now. If she lingered on it, she wouldn't be able to get any sleep tonight.

Ochako popped open her bag of chips, and began scarfing them down. Actual sustenance! She sighed, happy to have edible food in her mouth. And water that isn't tap! Joyous day!

She was making her way back to her room when she heard voices. Familiar ones, at that. Voices belonging to students from her class? Weird, she thought most of those still in the hospital were asleep by now. Unless they were like her and just wanted some proper food.

"Yeah, so... that's...what I'm thinking right now." A voice said- Satou's voice. He seemed pretty quiet and personal.

"That is a lot to take in..." Another quiet voice said. That was Shoto's voice.

"We totally support it, and there's no doubt the others would too. Your dreams are yours, and you can follow them if you want to. But we'll miss you." Mina's voice said.

Ochako's eyebrow went up. What were they talking about this late at night? She walked over to the group. They were in a small waiting area, illuminated by an overhead light. The group consisted of Satou, Shoto, Mina, Kaminari and Kirishima.

Suffice to say, Uraraka wasn't expecting that group specifically. She definitely wasn't expecting for Satou to be the real person of focus here. We'll miss you? What...what do they mean by that? Uraraka thought to herself.

Ochako walked into the light, which Mina noticed. "Oh- hey, didn't know you were up."

"I was hungry..." Ochako said, looking at Satou. "What are you guys talking about right now? It's pretty late- thought you'd be back at the hotel by now."

"We were...discussing something." Satou said, clearing his throat. "I'm...gonna be leaving the Hero Course."

"Leav...leaving?" Uraraka repeated, shocked at that.

"Trust me, we were all a bit shocked when he first told us too," Mina reassured.

"It's not that I don't want to be a hero," Satou said, as Ochako took a seat next to Mina. "It's that...I don't want to be a field hero. I don't see myself on a battlefield with everyone else, standing against a big villain- I wanna be the hero that like, helps take care of the citizens and cooks them meals and help restores their smiles. Y'know?"

Ochako nodded. Having someone smile was very important, especially when you were a hero...

"With...everything that happened," Satou started, "All of the bloodshed that happened...I mean I literally saw someone almost sliced in half by that Nomu. Add that on top of the stress of the USJ attack and the stuff with Stain..."

"No...no, I think I get it," Uraraka nodded, "The way you're talking about it...the attack was the last straw, wasn't it?"

"Had doubts for a while now, yeah," Satou admitted.

"It's fine to see yourself in a different place than the rest of us, Satou." Shoto said. "We get it. I feel heroes and mental health is a conversation we need to discuss more within our society..."

Ochako nodded. "Ben said no one should compare themselves to another- says it messes with your perception and what not. Especially if you force yourself to continue. Are you still gonna attend UA, or?"

"I'm gonna transfer to General Studies- I'll still be there, but I just won't be in Class 1-A..." Satou explained.

"It'll be weird to not have you in class. We're all so tight knit, so losing you would be like…saying goodbye to a family member." Kaminari said.

"A little extreme, but yeah. I get it." Kirishima said. "But Crimson Riot once said, 'You can't pour from an empty glass.' I want you to put yourself first and take care of yourself. If you work better on the sidelines rather than the front lines, then take a step back from the action hero life. We won't hold it against you if you change your mind."

Satou sighed. "Thanks, guys. It's just been in the back of my mind for a while, and…well, I think Todoroki helped out with my decision."

Shoto blinked. "I did?"

"Yeah- I dunno what it is, but after a miserable couple of weeks, you scarfing down my cheese tarts made me feel 10x better." Satou said. Shoto smiled a bit.

"They were quite good." He nodded.

Izuku eventually regained consciousness for more than 5 minutes the next day. Good timing, too. Some detectives and pro heroes were there for some further questioning. Even better timing, Izuku got the casts on his arms off.

The first person to visit Izuku was All Might. Once he'd heard about the boy overextending himself, he both wanted to hug and very, very verbally berate the boy for his actions. But, seeing the state he was in, he gave him a pass.

"Because I don't have any...limiters, I operated at a percent higher than 100% or something." Izuku explained, as he looked at his arms. 'The doctor called it 'damage beyond words'. Even after Recovery Girl came by and gave some kids her strongest dose of healing."

All Might stared at the arms, and took a deep breath. "It's incredible to think you survived an attack of this magnitude. You got away from the Hero Killer with minimal damage, but this...this is a lot worse."

Izuku made a face. "My ligaments are suffering from extreme deterioration, too. If I keep getting injured like this...I may lose the use of my arms."

All Might took that in.

"Looking back, I should've taken someone with me- but, if they got hurt too, I'd never forgive myself." Izuku said. "This is a wake up call...I need to fight smarter, not harder."

All Might nodded. "...I heard various mentions of something about your quirk, too. What's this about...'dark tendrils'?"

Izuku took a deep breath. "I don't even know where to start with that. That Blackwhip power was hard to control, and was really fueled by my emotions. I think they saved me from getting even more injured during the fight, because they helped me lash out at Muscular...and even choke him out to finish the fight."

"Interesting." All Might said, looking up at the ceiling. "And scary...never happened to me."

Izuku blinked. "About that..."

It was then that Izuku told All Might all about his dream, the message...and what Yoichi said about One for All.

"I'm inclined to brush it off as a fever dream, but...you mentioned a woman, right? What did she look like?" All Might implored.

Izuku tried to think. "Strong...very pretty. Had a nice smile, and her hairstyle kinda reminded me of my mom's..."

All Might took a deep breath. "...okay, I believe you."

"Huh?" Izuku then put it together. "O-oh! So, she was..."

"My mentor." All Might said. "I had dreams like that way back when I was your age. But I never interacted with them. Any idea why?"

"I couldn't tell you." Izuku said. "I'd feel like I'd have a better idea if he explained it better to me. Sorry."

All Might hummed. "It's fine, it's fine. This is...new info to me."

"They also said you had an extra quirk as well." Izuku said. "Have you noticed anything about yourself that's changed in the past few years? Beyond..." Izuku pointed to his side for emphasis.

"Nope." All Might said. "Beyond my shorter time limit and my aching back, nothing's all that different. I would've noticed something different about my powers."

(Note: Okay, so, I know it's a minor spoiler, but it's Smokescreen. This was written months before it was properly adapted in the anime, and before it was shown to be purple in color. Apologies for that!)

The answer should've been really clear, but All Might's mind was sort of in a haze right now.

"...All Might." Izuku asked. "Last week, you told me that sometimes we can't reach people who need saving, so we've got to do our best to save those we can reach."

"I did." All Might nodded.

"...I could reach out to Bakugou." Izuku said. "I really could- he was literally within arm's reach of me. If I had better control of Blackwhip, I could've done something but..."

Izuku felt the tears welling up in his eyes. "My quirk's built for that...but then...I just...froze up and I feel like screaming all over again-"

All Might's fatherly instincts went into overdrive in that second. He quickly wrapped the boy into a hug, and let him sob into his shoulder.

"Look at how far you've come, kid..." All Might sighed, as Izuku sobbed. "That feeling is proof that you've got what it takes to be a hero. The need to do more, and knowing you could do more...but sometimes, life just gets in the way and cuts some attempts short."

"So...what do I do now?"

All Might hardened his look.

"You leave it to me."

"So, you met Animo."

"Yep."

"Was he in the gorilla suit?"

"He was."

"And he unlocked an alien, somehow."

"Why on Earth did you name him Upchuck?"

"I was ten!"

"That's a poor excuse."

Ben had accompanied All Might to the hospital, to check in on the kids and see Ochako. She'd gotten her casts off and was walking around the hospital to get some exercise.

"Y'know- funny story. When I was at a camp, I unlocked my 12th alien too." Ben said. "I called him Wildvine. Crazy story, involving fungi, athlete's foot and a bunch of other things. But your camp experience was nothing like mine."

"Did someone tell you about…her?" Ochako asked. "She's the one who carved into my arm, y'know."

"I was informed." Ben frowned. "That's a worrying quirk- There are serious health risks to drinking alien blood, including the chance of getting a disease that's bloodborne. Alien anatomy can really mess up a body too…but in this girl's case, she has this unique ability to 'filter' the blood. You said she was only partially transformed, right?"

Ochako nodded. "Her Heatblast form was only on her left side. It was like an incomplete transformation."

Ben put a hand to his chin. "The partial transformation gives me some relief. Knowing she'll never reach full alien power means she won't be as you or me at our fullest. Doesn't mean you shouldn't take her lightly."

"I don't plan on it." Ochako said, still looking at her scar.

"Hey, don't worry. I got a nasty one too." Ben said.

"Huh?" Ochako looked confused. "Where's your scar?"

Ben pulled down his shirt collar, revealing a nasty wound on his sternum. Looked like something had pierced through his chest.

"Got this when I was around your age, from…someone I'm really glad you'll never meet." Ben said. "She shot through me when I was Heatblast."

Ochako made a face. "Yikes."

"Had to do some physical therapy, for a bit. Healing quirks were rare. The Omnitrix also kinda saved me- so, there's that." Ben said.

"On the topic of your past…" Ochako said. "I…ran into this weird guy."

Ben stopped walking.

"He said something about Atlas."

Ben stared into the distance.

"He said that to you?" Ben asked.

"Yeah."

Ben took a deep breath.

"Okay."

And then he continued walking.

"Wait! What happened with Atlas?" Ochako asked.

"A lot of mistakes, and if he's gonna drag them up…then I'm gonna kick his face in so goddamn hard." Ben growled.

Ochako made a mental note not to ask more about it for now. She'd never seen Ben look this angry.

"If it makes you feel better, I know Iida kicked Fistrick in the face really hard…" Ochako said, trying to restore levity.

"Wait, what?" Ben asked. "Good egg Iida?"

Good egg? Ochako thought. She shook her head. "Yeah, apparently Fistrick stole his brother's armor or something."

Ben cringed. "Oh, Fistrick…why do you punish yourself so?" He sighed, burying his face in his hands. "You're 50 years old, and you're wearing that juggalo makeup to hide the wrinkles…just retire, man."

Ochako blinked. "Your baddies range from 'weird' to 'pure evil' to 'people who should just retire'."

"I live a fruitful life." Ben said. "Now, where's Momo's room?"

"She's not too far from here." Ochako said, pointing down the hall. "I did have some questions about that- why'd you give her the spell book?"

"I was under executive order." Ben said, not a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

That answered all of Ochako's questions.

When they got to Momo's room, Ben and Ochako noticed a lot of Class 1-A was gathered around her bed. None of them had noticed the two. Ben raised an eyebrow, and held up his hand- he wanted to see what they were talking about.

"So, you can make another tracker, right?" Kirishima asked. "To track him?"

Ochako had heard about that- Momo and Awase had stuck a tracking device to the Nomu, in case the heroes needed to pinpoint the villain's location. That helped them prove that the villains were hiding out where they thought they were.

"I could, yes." Momo nodded. "Why?"

Kirishima clenched his fist. "...I wanna go save him. With a bunch of you guys."

Ben's pupils shrank.

"The villains did say we were on their hit list." Shoto pointed out. "But then they took Bakugou alive. We're not even sure if he's..."

Iida stared at the two like they were crazy. "You...have GOT TO BE JOKING!"

Shoji held up his bandaged arm. "Hang on, calm down. We were all there..." Shoji said. "I get it. Right now, we're all feeling a bit of regret for not being able to do anything. This is no time to let our emotions get the better of us."

"L-let's leave it to the pros." Yuga nervously said. The boy was so nervous his hands were in his pockets. "We're not allowed to fight anymore."

Tokoyami nodded. "We need to be rational here. I know I had to be saved, so I'm not one to talk."

"We're all in shock over Bakugou, and that's fine- we just have to think about this calmly." Tsu said.

"Calm?" Kirishima said, raising his voice. "CALM? YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT!?"

Ochako hadn't heard Kirishima yell like this before. His yells were usually encouraging and positive, but this was...anger.

"Even after I somehow ended up in the heat of battle, I couldn't do anything!" Kirishima yelled. "AGAIN!"

Mina looked away when he said that. That's when she noticed Ben and Ochako in the doorway. She froze up and looked back at Kirishima, motioning for him to stop.

"If I don't act now, I'm no hero!" Kirishima said.

"Look man, I know you're a hot head, but in this case...Iida's 100% correct." Kaminari said.

"He is...plus, if we break the law, we're no better than the villains ourselves." Momo pointed out.

Kirishima grit his teeth again. "I know, but-!"

"And here's where I step in." Ben sighed. The whole class froze up as Ben entered the room, with Ochako following behind. "If that's what you wanna do, fine. I'll just have to ask UA to keep you all here."

"Mr. Tennyson!" Iida said, a bit shocked. "How long were you-"

"Long enough." Ben said. "I'm shutting this down. Now."

The whole class was taken aback by Ben's answer. Even Ochako was.

Kaminari's eyebrows went up. "Hey, we were just DISCUSSING it, no need for such an extreme reaction-"

"No, there is." Ben said, raising his voice like a dad would when scolding his kids. "It's VERY needed right now."

"W-wait, so- what if, I dunno, you had us go in with you pros?" Kirishima stammered.

"How did your last encounter end? With multiple hospitalizations, a missing student, and a kid in intensive care. Look at Izuku! His arms are broken and he looks in no shape mentally or physically to go save your classmate." Ben countered.

(Izuku sneezed.

"Bless you," All Might said. "By the way, do you hear yelling?")

"Mr. Tennyson has a valid point!" Iida said. "Even if all of us were able bodied, are we able in spirit?"

"You against the League is NOT a winning battle." Ben said. "I don't care if one of you has the Omnitrix, or amazing quirks, or heart- that's not gonna cut it against these guys."

"Okay, wait- so you did that in the past, right? You went off on your own and did whatever!" Kirishima said. "You were LITERALLY a kid vigilante!"

"And that was stupid of me. I'm not the biggest stickler on rules, but Heaven help me, if something happens to one of you kids, I'm just gonna-" Ben paused, and clenched his fist. He took a deep breath, and exhaled deeply.

"...Sorry for yelling, it's just. God." Ben said. "I like you kids. I like you a lot. I like one of you so much that I gave them an Omnitrix. My COUSIN liked one of you so much her old spellbook."

Momo's eyes widened when she heard that. Jirou's jaw dropped too.

"All of you, without a doubt, have a good heart. You wanna go rescue your friend, who may or may not be alive. You're young, stupid and think you're invincible. But here's the thing. Right now, we are in the midst of a crisis that doesn't need anymore kids getting hurt. Just because you fought a bunch of D-listers your first week does not mean you're on par with me or All Might- it means you can take down a D-Lister with minimal effort."

Ben's words hit the crowd like a bomb. He was right- their powers barely held a candle to the League right now.

"This is a real, real situation- and a bunch of rookies are going to make this more complicated. You aren't going up against a bunch of weird circus freaks, or some junkies in tricked out road vehicles- you'd be going up against mass murderers, monsters who have overwhelming quirks, and manipulators who can turn your mind inside out with just a few select words. You're all not ready."

The class stood there, motionless. Ochako felt like there was someone watching them, from behind. Her eyes lit up as she saw Izuku and All Might. Izuku awkwardly waved at her.

"Mr. Tennyson is trying to protect us. If that's what he wishes, then so be it. We can trust him." Iida finally said, after the silence.

"If you kids were older, maybe I'd let it slide…but honestly, my villains are scary. I'm shocked Bakugou even survived the kidnapping…" Ben admitted.

"Doesn't that mean they want him for something?" Ochako asked.

"Stealing him away wasn't meant to try and convince him to come and be a villain- it was showing that they could just do that now. They're evolving." Ben explained. "I'm sure this rescue may be a trap for getting something from me, or All Might. Another big reason I don't want any of you guys there."

The class looked nervous. Kirishima finally gave a defeated sigh.

"Fine. I'll...I'll drop it. Sorry. That was stupid." Kirishima said.

"It's fine." Ben said. "But, know this. The raid's happening soon. Me, All Might and our team are gonna make sure that hand-wearing freak gets locked away for a long time. Can you all live with that?"

The class muttered in agreement.

"And trust me. From here on out, you all have nothing to worry about. I'll bring Bakugou back, no matter what."

"Can you guarantee he'll be in one piece?" Kirishima asked.

Ben didn't answer.

"Yes." All Might said, now muscular and stepping through the doorway. The class gasped.

"All Might!" Mina said. "We didn't know you-"

"I was looking for all of you! I just wanted to check in." All Might said, flashing a grin. "I only managed to find Izuku here..."

Izuku awkwardly walked in. He was still out of it, but everyone was shocked to see him awake.

"M-MIDORIYA!" Iida yelled, nearly flinging himself at the boy to hug him.

"H-hey, guys. I...just woke up, not too long ago. We heard shouting, and..." Izuku made a vague few gestures. "We only heard the tail end of the speech, though."

"I'm really good at those." Ben nodded.

"I...I have to agree with Ben." Izuku said. "Normally, I'd be willing to go up and try and rescue them, but..." Izuku looked down at his arms. "I'm really in no state to do that."

"Just leave it to us." All Might said, flashing a big thumbs up. "You started the job- and we'll finish it."

And everyone could live with those words.

More people were discharged after tonight. Ochako, Iida and Izuku were among them- and then they were promptly escorted to the hotel across the street. Until the raid was properly over, Ben wasn't taking any chances with the possibility of them going out and doing their own thing. Thankfully, they had some of the 'chill' sidekicks watching over them. Pierce and the receptionist (who Ochako learned her name was Eunice) watched over the hotel like hawks.

The bird, not the Pro Hero. If Hawks were watching these kids, he'd take them to the raid.

God he's such a mess. I'd kiss him.

Iida and Izuku shared a room, and Ochako shared one with Tsu. The group decided to hang out, and also discuss Izuku's new power.

"...from what I can make sense of, my quirk's got an 'internal' and 'external' factor." Izuku skillfully lied. "I've been so focused on keeping my power inside my body- but, after that battle with the Muscular guy, it just…came out. I think it's fueled by my negative emotions and stress."

Iida hummed. "Interesting. You probably have the most diverse quirk I've ever seen." He admitted.

"Once you know how to use it well, how do you plan to use it in battle?" Tsu asked.

"Well, Iida and I developed Shoot Style to try and reduce some stress on my arms- and I need that 'relief' more than ever." Izuku said. "From what I remember, the 'whips' were like…a spider's web, or something with properties of both rubber and gum. Long, stretchy, sticky…If I wanted too, I could focus more on my ranged attacks. Or learn how to use the environment to my advantage- I could use my Shoot style to break up the ground and then use my whips to latch onto some chunks and toss them around-"

Izuku's rambling was back in full force. Ochako snickered at it, before her eyes noticed something on Izuku's nightstand- a basket.

"Hey, where'd that come from?" Ochako asked. Izuku stopped his rambling, and looked over.

"Oh, yeah... that was from my mom. She came to see me in the hospital earlier, but I don't remember it all that well." Izuku remarked as Ochako approached it.

"There's also a note here..." Ochako said, opening it. She was hoping for a nice letter or a "get well soon" message, but what she got was:

To Midoriya:

Sorry I punched you in the junk. Thanks for saving me when you didn't even know me. Get better soon so I can thank you in person.

- Kota

Ochako blinked, and Izuku made a face.

"My first…thank you message…" Izuku muttered, looking a teensy bit embarrassed.

Ochako understood why.

Iida cleared his throat. "...hey. If I could have a moment…"

"Yeah, what's up?" Ochako asked, as she put the note down.

"I'm glad to see the both of you are all right, but…please." Iida said. "Don't do anything reckless like that again."

"I don't think I'm gonna be doing anything dangerous for a while," Izuku said. "I need to focus on my powers-"

"No, I mean..." Iida took a deep breath. "Of all people, I feel you two should know better. Izuku, you're the one who criticized me for my rash actions during the Hosu incident. I don't blame you for the encounter with that 'marble thief', but...I felt like you fell into the same pitfall I did."

Izuku's face softened.

"Ochako- you promised me you'd stay out of any trouble following the incident with that 'Potential' villain. Again, I'm not shaming you for trying to stop the villains, but..." Iida took a deep breath.

"I...couldn't just sit there and do nothing." Ochako said. "But, I'm sorry I broke the promise."

"It's fine." Iida said, taking off his glasses. "As class president, naturally I worry about my classmates. I worry if they're doing well, if they need help, and so on. Seeing...everything that happened these past few days, and especially seeing you two severely injured...it brought back bad memories of my brother in the hospital."

Tsu closed her eyes. "I can see why you were so against everyone going in to try and save Bakugou."

"I was worried that their vigilante act would take them somewhere there's no coming back from." Iida said. "I didn't...want to lose more friends this week."

The four just sat there in silence for a few moments. This situation was a lot more dramatic than Ochako would've thought. For a moment, she wondered how Class 1-A would recover from this emotional ordeal...it didn't seem like things would get better for a while.

...but, right now, they needed an emotional reprieve.

And it started with a noise in the vents. It was small, like something was hopping towards the vent above them. The group looked up, confused.

"What was that?" Izuku asked.

The four stood up, and looked up at the vent. Ochako was somewhat nervous, but her fears were alleviated when she heard a small noise.

"...Ship?"

Ochako gave a sigh of relief as Ship oozed from out of the vents and landed on her head. He quickly reformed and wagged his tail. "SHIP~!" He said, as Ochako pulled him off.

"Oooooh, Shiiiiip~!" Ochako smiled, speaking in a sickeningly cute voice. "Mommy was so worried about you! Did Kirishima and Todoroki treat you okay?"

"Ship!" Ship replied. Everyone else began showering the blorpy in pets and cuddles.

"He's even cuter now than I get to hold him…" Tsu smiled, as Ship wriggled around.

"Ship was incredibly valuable in helping me defeat Fistrick- that reminds me, I have to get him some batteries…" Iida muttered.

"...you know what everyone needs?" Izuku asked. "A visit from Ship. They need something to relieve their nerves."

Ochako hummed. "Well…I guess since everyone knows about the watch, it'd be fair to tell them about Ship. Plus, who can resist his adorable face~?"

When in doubt, remember- Happiness is a warm Mechamorph.

(He's warm from the vents.)

Tonight was the strategy meeting for the League of Villains raid. A good raid emphasizes six essential elements: planning, preparation, intelligence, coordination, execution, and safety. All Might, Ben and Ruby walked into the office, noticing a lot of big faces in the crowd.

"I haven't been out in the field in a while." Ruby said. "It's going to be interesting in these circumstances."

"Hey, don't worry." Ben said. "That one machine hero did it. So can you."

"Are you sure she's...okay doing this?" All Might asked. "I mean, what if-"

"Don't worry, Toshi." Ben said, putting up his hand. "We already got it figured out."

"If you're certain, then," All Might nodded. Saying that there were big faces in the crowd was an understatement, really. Just to name off a few of the gathered heroes, there was the hard-to-miss Gang Orca, the composed as ever Kamui Woods and Edgeshot, even the...to be polite, less than approachable Endeavor was part of this.

Also some real 'dark horse' picks were mixed in- Tiger from the Pussycats, Mt. Lady, and Ortheon Hero ClairVoyance. Ben was most shocked to see Mt. Lady in mix- what was she doing here?

"Heya," Ben said, as he and Ruby were walking over to her. "You're a new face."

Mt. Lady smirked. "I'd wondered when I'd meet you. I thought Edgeshot was joking when he said Ben teams up with every pro at least once."

"I mean, yeah. Helps figure out who what I'm working with out there in case something like this happens and the team's aren't exactly the expected," Ben shrugged. It made some sense, knowing about others' powers in the face of a real threat like this.

"Fair." Mt. Lady shrugged.

"This is my wife, Ruby Rose- this is her first time out in the field in a long while. She's been...busy." Ben said, as he introduced her.

"Busy in what way?" Mt. Lady said.

"...writing." Ruby lied.

"You are terrible at lying," Mt. Lady shook her head.

"And you can just tell that, huh?" Ruby asked.

"I mean...your reaction just now did give it away a bit."

"Don't worry. I'm not telling." Mt. Lady smirked.

"Alright- just keep it away from the media." Ruby muttered. "I don't like the public prying into my life. Last time they did that, they invaded my dad's cabin on Patch to try and get 'access to my humble beginnings'...and then my dad punched a cameraman for going into my room."

Mt. Lady blinked.

"He's gonna be a great grandpa." Ben said. "But, uh...why are you here?"

"Oh, they didn't tell you? This isn't just a raid on the League's hideout anymore. They got new intel about a Nomu factory. So unless the raid team wants to deal with freshly made Frankensteins, the factory's gotta go, too," Mt. Lady explained.

"I figured there was one- I was just wondering when they'd find it. I can tell you right now, Animo and Nomus DON'T mix." Ben shuddered.

Ruby's eyes narrowed. "...there's something YOU'RE hiding too." She smirked.

"Huh? What're you talking about?" Mt. Lady scoffed, "I've got nothing to hide."

Ruby smirked. "Come oooooooon. Tell us."

"You guessed she's preggers..." Ben pointed out. "You tell us your secret."

"To be fair, I didn't guess that specifically, I just figured it wasn't writing," Mt. Lady admitted.

"Oh...and I just...told you, oh..." Ben realized.

"Waaaay to go," Ruby teased.

"...still, spill the dang beans." Ben frowned.

Mt. Lady sighed. "Fine..." She looked around, and leaned in. "That little brat is my cousin."

"'Little brat?'" Ruby repeated softly.

"The one you're...also gonna save," Mt. Lady clarified, turning away from the duo in embarrassment.

"...oh my god," Ben realized, "Bakugou?"

"Yeaaaaah..."

Ben blinked. "...I mean, now that you mention it, I see SOME resemblance-"

Mt. Lady shot Ben a nasty look. "What's THAT supposed to mean!?"

"Oh, look- temper. I PERSONALLY haven't met the kid, but he threw rocks at Ben-" Ruby pointed out. "So, take that as you will."

"I...ugh, yeah, ok, sometimes temper flares but, honestly that's a lot of people in our family," Mt. Lady admitted, "Just...make sure he comes back, yeah?"

"I already promised those kids I'd bring their friend back." Ben said.

"Friend?" Mt. Lady asked. "That's a bit too far."

"Acquaintance."

"Still too much."

"...pal?"

"...good enough."

"Tennyson!" the familiar gruff voice of Endeavor called out, "Get your ass over here. I'm not filling you in on the plan like last time."

"Leave it to Endeavor to be straight to the point as usual," Ben sighed.

"Nice meeting you..." Ruby said, as she and Ben walked over. Mt. Lady raised an eyebrow.

Isn't kind of dangerous for a pregnant lady to be ON one of these raids? She wondered.

Ben and Ruby walked over to Endeavor, who, of course, looked pissed. "Tennyson."

"Enji." Ben smirked.

Endeavor's eyes drifted over to Ruby. "You again. Where have you been?"

"Oh, doing what you should be doing."

"Which is?"

"Spending time with my family."

"What did you just sa-?" Endeavor began. That clearly struck a nerve with the burning hero.

"Alright, Endeavor! Now's not the time for fighting amongst ourselves!" All Might interjected.

"Yeah, that was...dangerously close..." Ben said, stepping in front of Ruby. "And I know you wouldn't say that under...other circumstances..."

Ruby smirked. "I'm just feeling really, really great right now."

"Right! Well, come on. Like he said, the briefing is about to start. It's gonna be a long night, I can already tell," All Might said.

"Are we still waiting for anyone else?" Ruby asked.

"Just the one. His train from Hosu is running late." Endeavor said.

"Hmm, we may have to fill him in when he arrives," Tsukauchi said, "More time we spend waiting, the smaller our window gets."

"You're bringing him around?" Ben asked. "Kinda dangerous to bring an old man around."

"He's still plenty spry for his age. I saw him in Hosu too, you know." Endeavor frowned.

"Besides, back in the day, didn't you get backup from your grandpa?" Tsukauchi asked.

"I mean...yeah...but...ok, fine," Ben conceded the point. He really couldn't argue about it with that bit of info brought up.

"It was when we were like, rookies..." Ruby muttered.

Tsukauchi cleared his throat. "So, thank you all for coming tonight. I cannot understate how important this mission is for everyone involved- while the boy IS quite powerful, he is still facing with an overwhelming force of villains..."

"I heard a few were Tennyson's..." Endeavor muttered. Ben shot him a dirty look.

"Yeah. Shocker. My villains are petty." Ben sighed.

"I'd rather not clean up UA's messes. But, as an alum, I would like to not see its reputation be ruined by this." Endeavor said.

"This isn't UA's call you're heeding." Tsukauchi said. "Try to see the big picture. The preservation of our entire hero society is riding on this operation."

"This is just the latest move the League's taken, Endeavor," All Might spoke up, "They have already endangered the innocent in thee major operations, counting the training camp attack now. That is all they're going to have after tonight."

"We've had people monitoring the bar from afar. Looks like they don't have any sort of complex security system, and no one's really come in or out. They probably got a full house, looking after that kid." Tsukauchi said.

"Sounds like a quick smash and grab then. Standard procedure," Endeavor said.

"It would be. If it weren't for the secondary target," Tsukauchi added, "We're well aware of the warping Quirk that one of the League's members possesses...and we know where he'd open his rifts. On the other side of the city...there's a Nomu factory. In order to do this right, minimize the damage, we're going to need to hit both sites simultaneously. Two teams, each acting in perfect sync with the other. When Team One breaks into the bar, Team 2 will need to begin their assault on the factory."

"Team One will consist of All Might, Ben, Ruby, Endeavor, Kamui Woods, Edgeshot, ClairVoyance and a large police force. The rest of you will handle the Nomu Factory." Another police officer said.

"Quite a line up." Ruby said.

"Why isn't Tennyson on the other team? Isn't his arch enemy making the Nomu for the League?" Endeavor questioned. He had a point.

"I need to see something for myself." Ben said. "And I made a promise to save the kid."

"I can understand your fears, Mr. Tennyson." Best Jeanist said, walking over. Ben noticed Best Jeanist was wearing a new outfit- a mix of black and blue jeans, fitted perfectly to his body, and a jean jacket over that. "When I invited Bakugou to my agency, I had hopes to curb his behavior- I'd say he's one of the most headstrong individuals I've ever met."

"I can agree with that, Jeanist." Ben nodded. "He was ready to take me down a while back- you should've seen his battle with Rath...it was like he was immune to risks."

"And that's something even more to focus on." Best Jeanist said. "There's no doubt he'll take drastic actions at some point."

"Best to stop him before he gets wild." Ruby said.

Gang Orca chuckled. "So, you couldn't do squat to change him, huh? You always had a good reformation rate for problem students."

Best Jeanist covered his face with his hand. "The boy is the living definition of unshakable pride. Right down to the hair follicles."

"I've got a personal stake in this as well..." Tiger frowned. "They took my partner, Ragdoll, away from us. She was the first person I told about...everything. If they did something to her, so help me God-"

"Easy, Tiger." Kamui Woods spoke. "We don't want to assume the worst, especially in a delicate situation."

"I'm sorry...I'm the only active member right now, so I'm a bit on edge." Tiger sighed. "Mandalay's watching over her nephew and Pixie-Bob. She gives us her best wishes."

"We're gonna need more than best wishes, sonny."

All Might flinched at that voice- he spun around to see Gran Torino, walking in. "Sorry I'm late- damn train was taking too long, so I just said 'screw it' and jettisoned myself here."

I don't think you used that word right. Ruby thought, as Gran Torino walked in.

"Ah, Mr. Torino. You're just in time for-" Tsukauchi said.

"I heard everything! My ears are better than most of yours." Gran Torino scoffed, before walking over to Toshinori. "I know the plan. I'm going with Team 1."

"Smart move. No one will expect an elderly guy moving like a Kineceleran in motion." Ben chuckled. Ben winced when Gran Torino struck his leg with his cane. "AHH! Oh, what the hell!?"

"Was that sarcasm I detected, kiddo!? I still know some of your grandpa's recipes, and so help me God I WILL come to your house and ruin your kitchen with the smell!" Gran Torino threatened.

"No, then it'll ruin the smell for-!" Ben covered his mouth. "...I mean, no."

Gran Torino scoffed again, as Endeavor rolled his eyes. "Why is this old man with us, exactly?"

"With the situation as big as it's become...we can be sure HE'LL make a move, too." All Might explained.

"Him...you can't be referring to-"

"All for One." Gran Torino frowned.

That name made Endeavor displeased. "The man of myth still persists, eh?"

"We're against the clock here, people!" Tsukauchi said, putting on his vest. "Don't gve those villains time to pull anything off!" The group of heroes started to leave the room. Their meeting place was only a few blocks away from the supposed headquarters of the League...why not pay them a visit right now?

They're never going to expect our move today, Ben thought. They're too focused on soaking in the fact that UA messed up.

The gathering separated into the streets after leaving the building. Ruby reached out and took Ben's extended hand without thinking.

"So. Are you ready for your first assignment back on the field?" Ben asked.

Ruby's hand was tight around hers. "If Cass is there for real and tries the thing..." There was a gloom that settled over Ruby's silver eyes. "I won't show her any mercy."

Ben cracked a small smile. "That's the spirit." Ben adjusted the dial on his Omnitrix, as All Might walked over.

"Hey, Toshi."

All Might glanced over at Ben.

"Payback time, am I right?"

All Might grinned. "Absolutely. Time to turn the tables on Shigaraki..."