Hey folks! Welcome back to more of "Through the Rough"! We're about to reach the halfway point of the World Heroes' Mission Arc, and things are looking up for our heroes. Now that they've come together to seize control of the situation at hand, heading out of the country to Klayd and hopefully clear their names.

So how will things go from here? Well, let's find out!

THROUGH THE ROUGH

"How close are we to the border?" Rebecca asked of her boyfriend while riding in the truck's flatbed with Connor the next day.

"Should be just a half-hour," Izuku replied.

"Though I'm not sure the truck's gonna make it that far…" Rody muttered in admittance, looking at the fuel gauge as the meter was low, "We're running pretty close to empty…" he pointed out.

"It's probably better we don't make it that far," the One For All inheritor noted, "I'm sure the authorities are still out looking for us at every possible checkpoint…" he added seriously.

"Which means we'll have to be careful with how we're getting through…" Rebecca grumbled, letting out a sigh, "It's never easy, is it?" she presumed. Meanwhile, Connor was in deep thought, seemingly staring off into space. He glanced over to the Cat Leaper Quirk user curiously. Something about her felt so… familiar to him. But he wasn't sure if he could place it. Rather… he could hardly believe it. "Mister Connor, are you okay?" she asked, causing him to snap out of his stupor as he blinked.

"Oh, sorry…" he apologized with a chuckle, rubbing the back of his head, "Just reminiscing about old times, I suppose…" he noted, looking toward the partly cloudy sky, "I was there that for our daughter's birth," he recalled to Rebecca's surprise, "Next thing I knew, both she and my wife were gone," he mentioned, exhaling a sad sigh.

"I'm really sorry, Mister Connor…" the Cat Leaper Quirk user apologized.

"Oh, don't you worry!" the portly man assured, "I've still had my best years ahead of me thanks to people like Rody and his family," he pointed out, causing the brunette-haired teen driving to perk up in surprise, "Ever since their father left, I've… helped them out every now and again," he noted on.

"Aw, that's sweet," Rebecca said.

"Yeah… it is…" Rody agreed, letting off a little smile. Just then, he and the others heard the engine sputter. "Oh, crap…" he grumbled. The truck was barely able to make it to a stop just near a canyon. "Ugh…" Rody groaned, putting his hands onto his face out of exasperation, "Of course the damn thing poops out…" he muttered.

"But we're close," Izuku assured, pointing out their current location on the map he had. Moments later, the group disembarked from the truck, venturing towards the border. It was beyond a canyon, as the One For All inheritor took out a pair of binoculars to get a closer look at the checkpoint they'd have to head through. He could see a train station where several officers in riot gear were stationed, checking passengers that had just arrived.

"I guess they must've realized where we were heading…" his girlfriend concluded as she narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah, the path is way too heavily guarded…" Izuku concurred with a nod of his head, "We're not gonna be able to go this route without fighting our way through," he pointed out before looking up at the cliffside, "Our only choice is to scale these ridges," he decided. Rody gave off a somber expression after a moment. "Alright, let's go," the One For All inheritor said, crouching down expectantly as he moved his bag around to be on his stomach, "Get on my back. Hurry," he beckoned to his new friend.

"Deku, take this," he requested, causing him to turn around and see that he was holding the case out to him.

"What's the deal?" he asked in surprise.

"It'll be difficult for you to carry me with that injury from the arrow," Rody pointed out, "And as much I hate to admit it, I doubt I can climb these cliffs like you," he mentioned, "So this is where I say goodbye," he confirmed to his freckled friend.

"Hold on!" he yelped, "The truck's out of gas…" he pointed out, remembering that they had the borrowed vehicle parked nearby. "I can't leave you alone in a place like this…" he mentioned worriedly.

"Come on…" Rody huffed, "You know how fast I can run in a pinch," he noted boastfully, "I'll scrounge up some food for me and the old man, and we'll wait for you," he told him, "You and Rebecca go figure out what's up with this case," he insisted of the One For All inheritor, "That's what we're here for," he declared firmly.

"But, Rody…" Izuku uttered out.

"Don't worry, lad," Connor assured, chiming into the conversation, "Once you're both set, you can come back and find us," he affirmed, "Neither of us are being targeted, so I think we'll be fine," he added confidently.

"Mister Connor…" Rebecca said, sounding worried.

"Countin' on you, heroes," the brunette-haired teen remarked reassuringly. In spite of his reluctance, the One For All inheritor took on a determined expression, nodding to his friend. As he approached to grab the case though, he suddenly heard the sound of a helicopter soaring by. Rebecca heard it as well, looking up and letting out a gasp. An aircraft was flying over her and the boys. Inside were Beros and another man.

He was a tall man with slicked back brown and black hair, an extremely wide mouth, and large bulbous elbows. He wore a grey combat suit similar to the archer beside him, though his version had sleeves going to his upper arm. Accompanying his suit were cream-colored boots, and a pale-gold, horned mask that obscured the upper half of his face. All of his fingers barring his thumbs had black iron balls on their knuckles.

"They found us!" Rebecca yelled in warning to Izuku and Rody, getting their attentions as they gasped. Beros then fired off a few arrows, heading towards the group below. The Cat Leaper Quirk user quickly drew her Happy Blasters, aiming them up and firing to shoot down the incoming arrows. More were coming, however.

Fortunately, Izuku was quick to grab Rody, activating his Full Cowling and leaping away with him in his grasp in an instant. In the meantime, Rebecca holstered her weapons, assuming her Overdrive form before picking up Connor and jumping away into the forest with him. They landed down safely, hearing blasts go off from afar.

"Stay here, Mister Connor!" the Cat Leaper Quirk user advised, ready to leap off, "I'll be back to get you soon!" she promised. However, the portly man suddenly grabbed her by her left wrist. She looked back at him in surprise, seeing the expression of concern upon his face.

"Please… be careful…" he insisted pleadingly of her. She was somewhat confused by his demeanor, as he hadn't been this worrisome over her all throughout their journey. But she gave off a determined expression.

"I will be," she vowed in response, enticing him to let go before she hurried off. He watched on, trembling with concern. Meanwhile, the archer villain continued firing off arrow after arrow, while Izuku was racing up the ridges as fast as he could. Projectiles that could've struck him were knocked away thanks to the energy blasts Rebecca from her weapon, as she was speeding up the ridge herself. However, it left her wide open as a few arrows veered around towards her.

"Dammit…!" she cursed, quickly pivoting around and kicking the arrows away, grimacing as she wound up nicked by them in the process. She sped up to one of the ridges, landing upon it for better footing. A trio of arrows that came her way were quickly shot down thanks to her blasters.

"I will not fail again!" Beros declared fiercely from the helicopter, making another arrow she set onto her bow-like hand shine a bright green before she launched it. Izuku gritted his teeth as he ran up the cliff as quickly as he could, evading her arrows all the while as his hat fell off. She scoffed in frustration.

"Use these…" her partner insisted, detaching a few iron balls from his knuckles. She grabbed them, setting one onto her bow-like hand before letting it fly. As it soared toward the teenage boys, it suddenly enlarged, crashing against the ridge just a few yards away from the boys. Rocks fell nearby the station as onlookers watched in concern, wondering what was going on.

"Aw, damn!" Rody exclaimed in fright while still being carried, "They're gonna flatten us!" he yelled out. The enlarging iron balls were still coming, shattering more and more of the cliff. Beros was ready to fire off another one, when suddenly, the helicopter tilted as she stumbled for a moment. She then noticed the energy blasts that were striking the aircraft, coming from the Cat Leaper Quirk user's blasters.

"Tsk…" the archer villain scoffed, firing off an iron ball that enlarged and headed towards her. Izuku and Rody glanced back, letting off horrified gasps.

"REBECCA!" they screamed, thinking that she was about to get crushed. She grimaced, unsure if she could evade it. But all of a sudden, a figure rushed in and slashed the iron ball in half. The Cat Leaper Quirk user gasped in surprise to see that it was Homura, who wielded a lone energy blade in her hands.

"What?!" Sidero exclaimed in shock, while Beros grimaced.

"We need to focus on the case!" she insisted firmly, "Hurry!" she yelled to pilot, who veered the helicopter back toward the ridges where the boys were still climbing.

"Who's the other chick?!" Rody inquired aloud as he and Izuku were still scaling the ridges.

"That's one of our classmates…" the One for All inheritor responded, "But… what's she doing here?" he wondered aloud. Those thoughts were halted once he saw that the helicopter was coming toward them, with more enlarged iron balls sent their way, breaking off more of the cliff.

"Izu!" Rebecca cried out from afar. He and Rody had gotten knocked off in the process. But he steeled himself, having a black energy wrap around his right fist before unleashing a tendril that latched onto the tail boom of the helicopter. By doing so, he was able to swing himself and his friend away from the falling rubble, heading above the aircraft attacking them.

"Saint Louis Smash…" he started to bellow, rearing his right leg back, "AIR FORCE!" he roared, swinging it forward to unleash a pressurized blast of air onto the helicopter, blowing it back as the pilot inside screamed from losing control. Meanwhile, the two boys crashed onto the ground from the blowback of the attack, getting caught up in a plume of dust. The One for All inheritor tumbled down the hill before slamming back against a rock to come to a stop, making him wince. "Rody!" he called out to his brunette-haired companion, "Are you okay?!" he immediately questioned in concern.

"Yeah… maybe…" he responded weakly, pushing himself up from the ground onto his hands and knees as bits of gravel fell off of his back. He then perked up as he noticed something. "The case!" he exclaimed, seeing that it wasn't beside him. He looked to his right and spotted it, quickly getting to his feet and running over to grab it. But at that moment, Izuku noticed the shadow of the helicopter come over him.

"Watch out!" he yelled. Before Rody could even think to turn his head, two large iron balls struck the ground behind him. Their impacts propelled him and the case forward over the edge of the cliff, along with pieces of rock. Fortunately, he caught the case by its handle with his left hand, using his right to grab onto a piece of the ledge before he could plummet, though he dangled helplessly. "RODY!" the One For All inheritor screamed. Another iron ball crashed down right next to him, causing him to reflexively brace himself from the plume of dust that erupted.

In the process, Sidero himself had leapt out of the helicopter, landing down upon one of his iron balls as he lifted another one up over his head. He was ready to crush Rody off of the ledge. Grimacing in realization, the brunette-haired teen did the only thing he could think to do.

"DEKU, CATCH IT!" he screamed, throwing the case as he far as he could back onto the cliff.

"I'm coming!" Izuku yelled, seeing the case land nearby. However, he was stopped as another few arrows were shot his way from Beros, who was still in the helicopter. Her partner remained where he was, ready to throw the giant iron ball onto Rody.

"FOR THE SALVATION OF… HUMANITY!" he loudly proclaimed. At that moment, the piece of the ledge that the brunette-haired teen was upon broke, causing him to start falling.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed. But at that moment, a rush of ice caught him, making him slide uncontrollably as it carried him back up to the cliff. Meanwhile, the ice was also entrapping Sidero in a makeshift prison, immobilizing him. Rody found himself brought back to Izuku, who was quite surprised.

"Wait… he began, taking notice of the building ice around the masked villain, "is this… Todoroki?!" he guessed, whipping around to see the Half-Cold, Half-Hot Quirk user up on a nearby ledge.

"Seems like you learned nothing from Hosu, Midoriya," he remarked to his freckled classmate, "Your codes are still hard to decipher," he pointed out. At that moment, he was suddenly ambushed by an arrow shot toward him from Beros, only for it to be knocked away by his girlfriend's energy blade, which she had pitched out upon arriving.

"Stay focused, Shoto!" she advised, readying her energy blades in her hands again. The archer villain growled. She attempted to ready another arrow upon her bow-like hand, but then noticed a figure approaching from the side of the helicopter.

"Aw, don't even try it!" Katsuki yelled as he blasted himself up to the aircraft, rapidly firing concentrated bursts from his right hand through a hole he formed with his left. The helicopter flew away, only to suddenly have to swerve in order to evade the arrow-shaped blades shot below from Homura, who had formed a bow of light her left hand while nocking arrowing with her right.

"They're definitely slippery…" she noted with narrowed eyes, firing off another arrow. They were closing in on the aircraft, but unfortunately kept getting knocked back due to Beros' arrows. Meanwhile, Shoto rode an ice wave over to where he had entrapped Sidero.

"Wait!" he yelled to the Half-Cold, Half-Hot Quirk user, getting his attention, "Free me! I'll do whatever you want!" he desperately promised.

"Tell me everything you know, and maybe I'll consider it!" Shoto responded.

"Fine, yeah! You got—!" Sidero's answer was cut off as a few arrows rained in and struck him, causing the Half-Cold, Half-Hot using to reflexively slide away, while the ice crumbled apart. The helicopter soared by, with Beros glaring from inside it.

"Die, you traitor!" she yelled out angrily.

"Damn it…" Shoto cursed, knowing that the only way to end this skirmish was to stop her, "Guys, take her down!" he called out to his comrades.

"Don't give me orders!" Katsuki shouted while blasting himself after the helicopter. The archer fired off more arrows toward him. He maneuvered his body, firing off blasts to propel himself far enough away as the projectiles pursued him. They wound up getting struck down by the arrows shot from Homura.

"Bakugo, ground the helicopter!" she called out.

"I thought I said don't tell me what to do!" Katsuki roared back, blasting out and planting himself on the front of the aircraft. With their enemies practically having them pinned, Beros understood that the situation wasn't favorable. And to make matters worse, she reached into her quiver, only to find that she had run out of arrows. She widened her eyes in realization.

"We're out of control!" the helicopter's pilot screamed, causing her to narrow her eyes with frustration. Her mission was a failure. And now there was only one thing that she could do.

"Stand down and come quietly!" Katsuki insisted. However, he then gasped in surprise. They saw the archer villain let her hand reform back to normal as she placed it over her heart.

"For humanity's salvation…" she said, closing her eyes before stepping forward… and falling out of the helicopter over the cliff.

Meanwhile, the aircraft crashed from afar, while its pilot had jumped out and deployed his parachute, descending toward the ground below. The resulting explosion could be seen from the train station. Katsuki landed back down onto the ground, having escaped the blast.

"Are you alright?" Homura asked as she approached.

"Tch," the Explosion Quirk user scoffed, "Crazy cultists…" he muttered out.

"Huh…" Izuku sighed with relief, thankful that things hadn't gotten worse. He then gasped with realization, running off. "Rody, are you alright?" he asked of his brunette-haired friend as he approached.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure how…" he admitted in reply. He then blinked in realization, not knowing where he had tossed the case. "Where is it?!" he questioned with panic, looking around quickly.

"Right here!" Rebecca's voice responded, getting their attentions as they saw her running over with the briefcase in hand.

"Thanks, Rebecca…" her boyfriend said gratefully, making her smile, "Are you okay?" he asked of her.

"Good for now," she replied, handing him the case, "I'm gonna go get Mister Connor," she confirmed, hurrying off.

"Huh…" Rody exhaled with relief, "Glad that's all over…" he noted, letting off a little smile. Shoto and Homura then approached.

"How did you guys find us?" Izuku inquired curiously of them.

"All thanks to their flashy attacks," the Half-Cold, Half-Hot Quirk user replied as he glanced off into the distance, "We spotted you from the train," he noted.

"So, is this person the one you were talking about on the phone?" Homura assumed as she pointed at Rody.

"Yeah, that's right," the One For All inheritor replied with a nod, "He's been pegged as a criminal like me and Rebecca," he pointed out, "His name's Rody," he introduced.

"Hey, thanks for the assist," the brunette-haired teen remarked with gratitude as Pino flew out from his hair, chirping happily.

"It's no problem at all," Homura assured, while her boyfriend smiled.

"Ugh… quit all the mingling crap!" Katsuki roared as he suddenly stomped in, causing everyone to flinch in surprise, "We need to focus on that damn case!" he insisted, pointing toward it, "It's somehow connected to Humarise!" he noted.

"What?!" Izuku exclaimed in shock, "Wait, are you sure about that?" he questioned on.

"Yes," Shoto answered, "Our goal was to save both it and you," he told his classmate, "We thought it was possible we'd be able to get some useful intelligence," he pointed out.

"Well, we couldn't figure out anything from what was in there ourselves," Rody noted in reply, "Just a bunch of notebooks and crap," he mentioned, with Pino chirping sadly.

"And without someone to interrogate, we're likely not going to find out what's so special about it…" Homura added grimly, much to the frustration of everyone else. Rebecca returned to the scene with Connor in tow, transforming back to normal. As they ventured over to join the group, the Cat Leaper Quirk user blinked upon noticing something

"Hey… look at the case!" she pointed out, getting the group's attention as they looked over to see that there was something sticking out of the briefcase, having been loosened likely during the scuffle.

"A secret compartment!" Izuku exclaimed. A few moments later, the group had descended down the cliff to hide themselves in the shade, away from the crash site so that police wouldn't find them. Upon looking into the secret compartment, they discovered a small brown object that looked to be a puzzle device.

"What is that?" Homura wondered aloud, seeing the One For All inheritor fiddle with it.

"How does it even work?" Rebecca inquired on. She and the others watched her boyfriend attempt to solve the puzzling contraption.

"Try pressing it right here…" Shoto suggested.

"That'll just make it go back to how it was…" Izuku noted, starting to get a little frustrated.

"That looks difficult…" Homura pointed out.

"Still not working…" the One For All inheritor grumbled.

"Ugh, hand it over!" Katsuki demanded out of annoyance, "I'll blow it up!" he declared.

"What?! No!" his rival exclaimed, "You can't do that, Kacchan…" he said in exasperation. All while the group struggled to figure out the device, Rody eyed it curiously. It seemed familiar to him. And then he blinked in realization.

"Deku, can I see that for a second?" he requested, grabbing the contraption out of his friend's hands.

"Do you know how to solve it?" Rebecca guessed, slightly widening her eyes in surprise

"I did a puzzle like this before when I was a kid," Rody replied, starting to fiddle with the contraption piece by piece as everyone looked on, with Connor giving off an expression of surprise, "Let's see… This, this…" he mumbled, twisting, turning, pushing, and pulling on pieces of the puzzle, "Oh, yeah!" he exclaimed after he heard a click, "I think I got it!" he exclaimed, twisting it open. Two small objects fell out, though they were caught by Rebecca. One was an SD card, while the other looked like a long, purple computer chip. Izuku took the latter into his grasp to inspect it.

"I'm not sure what this is…" he noted as he held it at different angles.

"Looks like some kind of computer thing…" Rebecca pointed out as she crouched down to get a closer look.

"We need to figure out what's stored on this card…" Homura concluded as she held the SD card between her fingers.

"There's a town at the foot of the mountain," Shoto pointed out, chiming into the conversation, "We can investigate there," he affirmed.

"Right, good call," Rebecca agreed. As the group gathered their things, she took notice of how perplexed Rody seemed as he stared at the completed puzzle. It was exactly like the one his father had given him…

"Is something wrong?" the Cat Leaper Quirk asked, getting his attention as he perked up.

"Oh, uh, no," he assured in reply with a stutter, "We should get moving," he advised, standing up and walking after the others. Both Rebecca and Connor looked at him worriedly as he passed by, wondering if there was more to what was seemingly bothering him.

X

Rain poured outside of the Humarise main base. Silence filled the halls, while in the foyer, Flect was receiving a report from the Otheon Police commissioner general. Unfortunately, he didn't have good news.

"The targets fled to the neighboring country of Klayd," he confirmed from a holographic screen in front of the Humarise leader, lowering his gaze with shame, "I'm afraid I don't have the authority to search inside their borders, sir…" he pointed out.

"No matter," Flect said, causing him to perk up in surprise, "If they have fled the country," he began, "then they won't be able to interfere with the plan while it's being carried out, will they?" he inferred, raising up his dagger like before, "The time for revelation and the great reckoning has come!" he declared to his many followers, who were gathered below him.

"For humanity's salvation! For humanity's salvation! For humanity's salvation! For humanity's salvation! For humanity's salvation!" they chanted again and again.

"For the salvation… of humanity!" their leader exclaimed amidst their chants. He pressed the button upon the handle of his dagger, making it glow brightly. An ominous purple glow appeared once again from another section of the base, humming with charging energy. And around the world, several Trigger Bombs were being activated…

END

And that ends another chapter! To be honest, I could've finished this chapter within the last one, but I decided that splitting it up would be better. Now we're halfway through the arc, and action's abound! Hope you're all excited to see how I end this arc!

Thanks for reading!