Wow, the respond was much better this time around especially on AO3.

As such I will deliver! I am currently up to chapter 50 on my end and finally well into the third round of the Sports Festival. All I can say is...hot damn I am having fun and I can't wait for all of you to catch up!

Keep up the support and we might just get there sooner rather than later!

Time to hit the ground running!


My Hero Academia Untold: The Knights of Fafnir

Saga I: Dusk

Arc II: The Incident

Chapter XXIV: The Invasion Part 1


"Some of the greatest battles will be fought within the silent chambers of the soul."

-Ezra Taft Benson


Toshinori sat slightly slumped in the comfort and sanctuary of Principal Nezu's office, breathing heavily into a portable oxygen tank. It was a simple but effective treatment to ease the pain and make his condition tolerable. Despite the mask, he could smell a fresh pot of a strong tea currently being brewed by the animal educator as he eased into his seat with a slight wheeze.

"You should have been more careful, All Might," Nezu cautiously chided the skinny man as he began to pour tea for himself.

"I know; I still find it difficult not to step in when I can," said Toshinori, his voice unusually soft. He re-adjusted himself on the couch and accepted a cup from his boss. He was ready to hear a lecture, only to be surprised when Nezu locked the door to his office.

"We have a small update on the investigation," Nezu stated as he settled on the seat opposite where Toshinori sat. "On one hand, it appears that Kai Doumeki is either extremely lucky or cleaner than we initially thought. We found nothing linking him directly to corruption at the hands of the Neocons. Aside from circumstantial evidence that wouldn't hold up in any hearing."

Nezu held up his teacup to his snout.

"Let alone prosecution."

Nezu took a small sip of tea, allowing Toshinori to speak, yet the pro remained silent, allowing Nezu to continue.

"Thankfully, Sir Nighteye was prepared for such a possibility and still made plans to open an inquiry from within the Diet itself to investigate the Neocons," Nezu took another sip. "Specifically, one of the heads, a gentleman named Hideyoshi Anno, the Majority Leader in the House of Representatives. If we can't pin the Chief-Superintendent one way, then we will find another way, likely at the source itself."

Toshinori finally found his voice after sipping tea and letting the information sink in.

"Has there been anything new from any of the other teams? Endeavor? Gang Orca?"

"Gang Orca and others have noticed that there has been a sharp decrease in crime on his latest patrols," Nezu answered before pausing to sip more tea.

"And there some rumors speak of a new alliance growing in the underworld called The League of Villains," he took another tentative sip. "And if what we are hearing is true, they are apparently recruiting in droves. While the only update I've gotten from Endeavor is that his contact is currently...' Babysitting'."

"Babysitting...interesting term to use..." Toshinori shook his head. "But as for the rumors in the underworld. There's usually some manner of truth to them, given what happened last week. I can't help but feel a bit more on edge, like something big is about to happen."

"Is there anything else? Anything at all?" Toshinori questioned as he set his cup down on the table.

"Nothing else, really," Nezu answered while shaking his head.

"So far, it has generally been quiet, but other than that, I'm worried for some of our foreign Hero Course students," the cat-bear let out a sigh that quickly turned with rare annoyance in his voice. "The nerve of them having the students complete that ludicrous language exam that has been so haphazardly tacted on."

Toshinori looked at the ceiling, almost turning to prayer as his thoughts turned to his long-deceased master. What would she have done in his spot? Between teaching, working, and doing his part in the investigation. It was all starting to collectively eat away at him. This wasn't as simple as catching a villain and making all their problems disappear with a single punch. This problem was layered with complex and unknown variables that only added to their shared stress. Especially since they didn't know who exactly was a friend or a foe.

'Hopefully, we'll make another breakthrough in the investigation soon,' Toshinori thought before taking another sip of his tea.

Unaware that the breakthrough would arrive in an unexpected form.


Lemillion looked on with Suneater and Nejire-Chan as they stood on top of one of the fake buildings of the Collapsed Zone. From their vantage point, the senior trio could see that their fellow senior Tentacole had managed to stay near the entranceway with Thirteen and several students from both Class 1-A and 1-B; they were currently dealing with the Black Mist villain and a couple of underlings.

It didn't take long for The leader of the Big Five to theorize that Midnight and everyone else had been blown away across the USJ. This also meant that anyone who wasn't lucky enough to be paired up with either Midnight or Blink would likely find it difficult to find their way out of the enclosed areas, such as the Conflagration and the Downpour Zones.

Assuming they ended up in either one.

Lemillion could also see that some of the students had landed in the same area as them. But after seeing who was there, he became a little less worried. Those wild cards should be able to take care of themselves. Especially the one who loves to blow things up.

"Nejire-Chan, Suneater," the young man finally spoke up, getting his teammates' attention and pointing over to one of the training zones. "We need to make sure that we can get everyone out of here."

"Suneater, head to either the Downpour or Conflagration Zone. Find everyone you can leave and guide them to the exits," the toon-faced teen pointed to the other zones. "Nejire-Chan, I want you to fly around and rally everyone in the open areas and try to guide them back to the entrance, avoid possible contact with any villains. I'll be backing up Vlad and Eraserhead."

"Right!" Nejire-Chan answered, blasting off with a pulsing wave of energy coming from her limbs.

"Sorry, Lemillion," answered Suneater as he pointed out the goings-on in the central plaza. "It looks like they have the heaviest hitters on the sidelines. It's better if we both back them up; we can trust Blink to take care of the enclosed zones."

Lemillion may have been their leader and usually had solid judgment when analyzing a situation. Yet, he also knew to listen to reason and caution from his best friend.

"Alright..."Lemillion answered before leaping off from his spot. "Let's be quick then!"

"Understood!"

The battle in the USJ has begun, and no one knows just how significant today's events will be in the years to come.


"GO TO HELL!" Katsuki roared while he continued to fight on, blasting foes left and right as Hanta and Minoru trapped and bound them with their quirks. They had landed in the dead center of the Collapsed Zone with a few others from Class 1-B. In his wrath, the blond bomber showed no mercy to the villains for not only interfering with their training but also knowing that Eri was out there, most likely scared out of her mind.

"Next to ya, fam!" Camie called out as she pinned a villain about to attack an illusion of Ibarra. Meanwhile, the real Ibarra stood above in a standing prayer posture, using her vines to scout the area and strike down villains when they got close to her companions.

"No luck finding anyone else. I think it's just us here," Setsuna called out to them as she reformed her body back to normal. She split herself up earlier to do aerial reconnaissance and scout out for other students or teachers in the area. "But good news! I think I found a fast way out of here! Also, damn guys, you made quick work of these villains!"

"These weaklings got nothing on us! Now let's go! Tape Arms swing on ahead with the Grape and set up some traps. I'm not dealing with any more weaklings! Not while Eri could be out there!" Katsuki barked his orders while sensing another villain getting closer, trying to ambush him from behind. "Scales! Hurry up and show us the way out! Weeds! Keep feeling out for everyone else! Bad Trip! Keep making illusions and make sure that more of these weaklings end up falling into those traps."

Setsuna quickly scoffed as she crossed her arms in a huff of annoyance. Camie couldn't help but burst into a fit of laughter as she found her newly appointed nickname hilarious. Finally, Ibarra looked on, scandalized by the explosive blond's language and arrogance in addressing them in such a manner.

"A 'please' would be nice, good sir," Ibarra stated with irritation as she stepped down to everyone else's level. All while staring down Katsuki, who in turn simply mirrored Setsuna's reaction, scoffing at the idea of needing to be needlessly polite. Meanwhile, in the background, Hanta and Minoru both begin motioning their silent apologies to all of the girls. The duo knew Katsuki well enough by now to know that he wouldn't apologize to any of them anytime soon.

"My name is Ibarra Shizosaki," Ibarra introduced herself. Before motioning towards the tall, winking blonde in a tight black catsuit with white boots and sporting a rather large, poofy-looking black beret. (*1)

"That's Camie Utsushimi, and that is Setsuna Tokage." Ibarra finished when she motioned to the dark-green-haired girl in an equally dark-green(*1) scaly bodysuit who wore a mischievous smile while looking at the ash-blond teen. "Not Bad Trip, Weeds, and Scales. Honestly, must you be so rude?"

"Indeed, Shizosaki, and while we're at it, who died and made you leader?" Setsuna said in a mockingly haughty tone while parting some stray hairs out of her face with her hands.

Katsuki looked at the three girls with some annoyance, save for the attractive-looking blonde, until he felt the villain behind him about to strike. He decided then and there to make said villain an example at that moment when the villain lunged, hoping to catch him off guard. Instead, he was swiftly caught by the face, pinned down to the ground, and singed by a swift explosion.

Boom!

"That's why I'm in charge," Katsuki answered as he stood tall over the now groaning, soot-covered villain. The girls stood silent, stunned by the bomber's swift counterattack.

"We don't have time to waste. Now move your asses or stay out of my way," Katsuki finished up as he made his exit with Hanta and Minoru in tow. They needed to get moving; they needed to find everyone. Especially Eri, and then fuck-up everyone who decided to mess with their class.

"That was a pretty lit display. I like totes like a guy that walks the way he talks, ya know?" Camie admitted before deciding to willingly follow him. Leaving the remaining girls from 1-B to reluctantly follow them, knowing there wasn't much else to do.

Besides, the other students might need assistance sooner rather than later.


Kashiko Sekigai had been flung violently into a body of icy water, chilling her to the bone as pain rapidly spread across her back. The ringing in her ears was deafened by the water filling them. She flayed wildly in the freezing liquid, trying to steady herself, given that she had been given no warning to breathe before being forced into its depths. When she managed to get some of her bearings, she felt movement from the ripples of the water surrounding her; she wasn't alone.

The girl opened her eyes only to be met with the wide-open maw of a sharkman swimming towards her at full speed, eager to rip out a large chunk of her. Kashiko quickly began to panic since her Quirk was completely useless in this situation; her movement was hindered by the strength-sapping water surrounding her. So all she could do was accept what she thought would be her end as she closed her eyes and braced for the impact until...THUMP!

The lass opened her eyes, finding salvation among two newcomers. The first was a blue-haired boy with golden eyes wielding a long, shiny silver pole in a defensive stance. The second was a handsome, dark-haired boy whose whole lower half seemed to be spinning, allowing him to swim faster than while fighting off the sharkman. He even managed to get in some powerful spinning strikes that could be heard from underwater. Seeing her chance, Kashiko began swimming upward, followed quickly by the first boy who helped her. He grabbed her arm before rapidly pulling her the rest of the way to the surface.

"AH!" Kashiko breathed in as she managed to get some air into her burning lungs before coughing heavily, but she was still grateful for every breath she managed to get.

"Over here, Yoarashi!" She heard the boy from Class 1-B say as he broke through the surface.

"Is she okay, Mizuoji?!" She heard the second boy say as he also breached the surface of the cold water. She couldn't hear the response as the air above them suddenly began to whirl around like a helicopter flying above them. Kashiko looked up to see a large boy flying above the trio in a massive brown fur coat costume, topped with a tall, fur-lined hat. He flew above them easily, slowly descending reach out with his arms.

"Hand her here!" Inasa called out, getting closer to the water's surface.

"Sorry about this," The boy with the golden eyes said with some embarrassment as he grabbed Kashiko by the waist, making her squeal with surprise. Only to be suddenly launched into Inasa's arms, thanks in part to the boy's water Quirk.

"We will meet you at the boat!" The boy ordered Inasa before motioning the other to dive back under the water. Inasa simply nodded while trying to keep a steady grip on the white-haired girl.

"Sorry about that!" Inasa yelled out between the whipping winds. "But the water is filled with villains that almost managed to get us! Mizuoji and Kaibara are the only ones with quirks that help them move well in the water."

They rapidly approached a boat in the middle of the fake lake of the Flood Zone. The ship already had one other student on it. It was here that Kashiko realized that aside from herself, everyone else here was from Class 1-B. As Inasa landed on the boat, he let Kashiko get on her feet, only for her to collapse to her knees, shaking from her sudden near-brush with death.

"You alright there?" A young man with nut-brown hair and wide fish-like eyes asked who Kashiko recognized from when she took the entrance exams: Kosei Tsububara.

"Yeah, a bit of a rough landing," Kashiko managed to joke, doing her best not to let the situation get to her and hoping to have learned from the battle trial. A moment later, two splashes were heard, followed by two heavy thumps; the girl turned to see the two boys who had saved her had returned. The blue-haired one was wearing a bright blue and white wetsuit-like costume, only without the silver pole from earlier, while the good-looking dark-haired boy was wearing a dark windbreaker with a spiral pattern and now soaking, long, white trench coat.

"How bad is it down there, Mizuoji?" Kosei asked nervously as he helped Kashiko get on her feet.

"I lost count after fifteen, Tsuburaba," Shino answered with some frustration.

"I lost my staff when two of them proved a lot cleverer than I thought. We almost got overwhelmed down there," The young man sighed, exhaustedly looking at his dark-eyed companion with an annoyed expression. "And for future reference, Kaibara...Give us more of a warning next time instead of just jumping right in."

"Hey, it's what heroes do, right?" Sen said with a hint of sarcasm as he leaned against the deck railing, breathing hard and wiping the water from his eyes. "She landed smack dab in the center of the lake with those underwater assholes. I couldn't just leave her to deal with that."

"Thanks for the rescue, everyone," said Kashiko as she looked over the boat's edge. "Hey, how come you guys didn't just make your way to land instead of being here on the boat?"

Before anyone could answer, however. Kashiko had part of her answer after seeing the warzone in Central Plaza. Even from here, Kashiko could see some intense fighting still going on between the villains and the teachers.

"We weren't sure where it could be safe to land," Sen answered, getting up and pointing at some of the water villains who were starting to appear from the depths. "Between scouting for a spot and needing to fly back and forth since he can't carry all of us and fly safely. Someone would be left behind to deal with them, so even if we're trapped on the boat, we still have safety in numbers."

"If we had a way to know exactly how many there are and where they are in the water, we could make a break for it," Kosei answered a bit nervously. "Mizuoji and Kaibara could both swim faster thanks to their Quirks. I can use my Quirk to make platforms to escape, while Yoarashi could fly you out."

'A way to know where all the villains are, huh?' Kashiko thought before remembering some of the features of her support gear. "I think I have a good way to do that."

"We are all open to ideas," Shino answered with a slightly more optimistic look on his face.

Kashiko responded by pulling out a small round device from her costume's utility belt while trying to think a bit more outside the box like Momo, Katsuki, or Izuku might have done in her situation. She needed to go beyond and hopefully lead them to salvation.

"Hear me out."


Water poured and roared as Eijirou, Mina, Itsuka, and Tetsutetsu were slowly making their way in the heavy rain and whipping winds of the Downpour Zone. They had been lucky to not have encountered any villains so far, but none of them wanted to take any chances as their collective fighting strength was hampered by the conditions. Mina's acid would be too diluted, thanks to the unyielding rains. While Tetsutetsu could suffer from corrosion if exposed to water for too long in his iron form.

"This way," said Itsuka as they deftly moved into another alleyway, granting at least some cover from the violent winds. She had taken the lead of this makeshift group because she could remember seeing the exit for the Downpour Zone on the map she had been given earlier. Knowing that the group needed to head east, she was thankful that the fake streets still faced their correct orientations in the cardinal directions.

"I don't think we're that much farther away," Itsuka whispered as, despite the heavy rains, she could see the dome's edge, which should house the exit.

"That's good," Mina sighed in relief as she shivered in the cold; her costume was not built for such conditions.

"It's not the manliest course of action," said Eijirou, relieved they were almost safe. Unharmed and ready to reinforce their friends when they get outside. "But better to play it smart."

"That's my class rep for you," Tetsutetsu praised proudly, making Itsuka blush just a touch as she was simply doing her best under the circumstances. After a few more tense moments, the four made it to the edge of the alleyway, with the exit being visible just a couple of blocks away northward.

"Hold on, just a sec," said Itsuka, raising an enlarged hand and leaning against the wall, slowly leaning at the corner to take a peek. In an instant, the excitement she had been feeling had instantly turned into stone-cold fear. Nearby the exit were several bodies, with a lone individual in what appeared to be a black and gray costume wielding what appeared to be two long swords waiting for them. She could see a long trail of blood that had been mixed into the water. Leaving a long spread of reddish water trailing from the source that was slowly making its way past the alleyway they were hiding in.

Itsuka pulled her head back, her heart racing, and quickly clamped her mouth with her hands to keep herself from screaming from the sheer shock of the sight. She couldn't tell if the bodies were of villains or fellow students from this distance. All she knew was that whoever that guy was was bad news and that they needed to be careful when dealing with him.

"What's wrong?" Eijirou asked with concern. "Villains?"

Itsuka slowly managed to whisper to them. "There's someone there with what looks like swords...with a lot of bodies by his feet."

"Bodies?!" Mina almost screamed out, her pink skin nearly going completely pale at the thought. The four stood there momentarily, trying to think of a way to approach the situation.

"What should we do?"

"Maybe we could go around, then we double back?"

"But isn't the exit right there?"

"Maybe we can sneak past this guy?"

Everyone had an opinion but no real solution. Finally, Eijirou decided he needed to see the situation himself. He slowly began mirroring what Itsuka had done and moved to take a peek for himself. Carefully leaning to the side, Eijirou could see just like Itsuka said. There were several bodies a short distance away...however, there was no one around.

"Kendou...you said there was someone there, right? Someone with blades?" Eijirou whispered as he leaned his head more, trying to get a better angle.

"Yes, why?"

"I don't see anyone there; it looks like he's not there anymore."

"But where could he..."Itsuka was about to ask out loud when she felt a sudden chill run down her spine. Her instincts automatically kicked in, forcing her body to move independently. "MOVE!"

Using her powers to make her hands large, Itsuka grabbed her companions and moved as the blade-wielding villain descended upon them from the rooftop. Unfortunately, he had managed to slice a fair bit of Itsuka's enlarged left hand. She screamed as she let her friends go, and her hands returned to normal, blood flowing freely from the large slice that had been carved from her hand to the bone.

"Kendou!" Tetsutetsu reacted, turning his body into iron and moving to protect his team. He could avoid rusting in the water if he could win fast enough.

"You've got good instincts, girl." The blade villain said with a hiss, wearing a half mask that muffled the mocking tone of his voice.

"I happened to see you the first time with my heat vision; you all stick out in the cold thanks to your body heat...still. I'm left disappointed as it seems that my target isn't here. No matter...as I can at least still claim a bounty." The man finished as his pale, snake-like eyes turned to Mina; her bright yellow eyes stood out much easier, thanks to her black sclera.

Mina froze as she could almost feel the man's intent on hunting her down, to kill her, paralyzing her with fear as she stared into those sharp, lethal gray eyes. Eijirou, however, wouldn't allow it, following his iron echo fighter's example. He began to harden up to his own body and joined Tetsutetsu in going on the defensive.

"If you want her...you'll have to get through me!" Eijirou proclaimed as he stood his ground, determined not to flee or simply standby like a coward as he had once done before, especially not to the one who had shown him that bravery firsthand...not to his horn buddy.

"Cute, but stupid," The blade villain said, rolling his eyes while rubbing his blades together to create sharp slicing sounds that only served to rattle the young heroes' nerves.

"NOW, TIME TO DIE!" The man roared as he started charging at them. Only to be met with a bright blue flash and a swift kick in the face that sent him skidding back.

SLAM!

"Get the fuck away from my juniors!" Blink roared in response as he appeared before the four first years. His fists were covered with steel-layered gauntlets without turning to look back at his juniors. The American began giving out orders with no humor found in his voice, only the voice of a Hero who knew just how dire the situation was.

"You four need to leave now."

"Wait, what?!"

"Springfield, no! We can't leave you!" Eijirou and Tetsutetsu both began protesting. Before Blink interrupted, he kept his bright blue eyes on the blade villain.

"I know you want to help me, guys, but I'm your senior! And I'm ordering you to let me handle this! Please leave and get to safety! Now Go!"

The young man didn't yell or scream, but his tone left no room for arguments. Itsuka knew, despite her desire to stay and fight. She was injured, and Alexander was doing his duty as a senior; leaning on Tetsutetsu's shoulder, she motioned everyone with her head to move despite the iron lad's resistance.

Mina likewise put her hand on Eijirou's shoulder; she usually wouldn't go for such a move, however, between feeling useless thanks to the rain and knowing that the villain wanted her dead. Now, Mina wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but she was at least smart enough to know that they would all just be a hindrance, not an asset remaining here. Then, there was Itsuka, and with that kind of injury, Mina knew the 1-B Rep needed to get first aid as soon as possible.

"Kiri..." Mina whispered, her voice telling Eijirou everything that needed to be said.

'Damn it.' Eijirou thought before yelling out to Alex. "We'll come back with help! I promise!"

"Heh, as if I'd die here, Rockman," said Blink with a grin forming under his mask. "I still got bets riding on some of my ships, and I ain't dying til I collect! Now you take care of everyone else, alright?!"

The four first-year students struggled for an opportunity to escape. They could see the Blade villain bidding his time, trying to find the right moment to strike. At least until Alex slammed his fists together, making the metal ring out hard and catching the Blade villain's attention.

He was his opponent now.

"Eyes on me, asshole!" Blink yelled out as he moved into a defensive boxing stance. "Move now, guys! He won't get past me, I swear it!"

The four moved silently towards the exit, looking for other possible threats around them. Grateful that Alex was shielding them from harm. The villain known as Pit Viper smiled, knowing that if even three of the five had all fought him at once, he wouldn't stand much of a chance. The dead bodies near the entrance had largely been due to infighting that escalated into killing each other. A fight had broken out about who among themselves would claim the bounty money if they collectively caught their target.

He didn't kill them all by himself, but they didn't need to know that.

However, that being said, he could tell that the boy standing before him now wasn't one of the petty first years. No, a simple glance was enough to show that this one had experience. Yet, with that experience, he must have known that fighting alone would increase the likelihood of death.

"I hope you made peace with yourself, Hero," Pit Viper said mockingly as he began circling his new opponent. "You'll regret sending them away and costing me the hassle of earning my pay."

"Holy shit just shut the fuck up! My only real regret is being stuck with you instead of some hottie villain. At least then I get some eye candy as I fight," Blink answered sharply, trying to get back into character without worrying about his juniors. "But noooo...instead, I get a discount wanna be Stain that goes after kids...it's rather sad, honestly."

The assassin felt a surge of anger brewing under him. 'A wanna be discount Stain?!'

"But that's what we get for being Original Characters in fanfiction. No one cares about us..." said Blink, confusing the assassin, who simply stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Wha-" He started only to be interrupted by Blink, who used his Quirk to get a swift flurry of punches, making the steel gauntlets clash with steel blades.


Across the USJ at the summit of the Mountain Zone, a fierce battle raged on as a united force of Ochako, Momo, Kyouka, and Denki from Class 1-A fought alongside Yui Kodai and Yosetsu Awase from Class 1-B. Ochako clashed with a riot shield and baton, feeling somewhere between royally pissed and worried sick about Eri. She hoped Izuku or somebody trustworthy was with her, keeping her safe from these dangerous villains. Given that, all she could do now was clear out these villains before going off to look for her.

Ochako spared no mercy to any villain who had the misfortune of getting too close.

"On your left!" Yosetsu yelled at Denki before sweeping a villain off his feet and following up by using his Quirk to weld him to the ground, laughing as he did. Denki instantly heeded the advice and dodged a villain's attack easily before getting a chance to counterattack with his trusty stun rod. He smacked the villain with a satisfying zap as the weapon knocked him out.

"Thanks, dude!"

"No problem!"

Momo, having learned from the battle trial. Managed to keep her cool as they fought against the invaders, from giving orders, making weapons, and covering Kyouka. Who was busy scouting for more villains or other students in the area. She was managing to juggle between the three with surprising ease.

The future hearing hero remained kneeling, her earphone jacks planted into the ground. She needed extra time to focus and isolate the various vibrations and sounds. While difficult, it was not impossible as long as she could maintain focus. All while keeping the makeshift machete Momo had made for her on hand if a villain decided to test her.

"Yaoyorozu?" Yui called out as she blocked a villain's attack with the staff she had been given. She countered this by turning the villain's clothes tiny and constricting them. Buying her time to swiftly strike the offender back with a few good hits to the face.

"What is it, Kodai?" Momo answered after striking a villain dead center in the stomach who had gotten too close to Kyouka with an expertly timed jab of her staff before finishing her off with a well-balanced high kick.

"I think they're after Kaminari," the typically quiet girl responded softly while motioning her head towards Denki, who did seem to have far more villains after him than anyone else. Some of them carried expressions of greed and eagerness to catch the golden-eyed lad.

"Sorry for the wait, Yaomomo," Kyouka suddenly said, seemingly done with her scouting. "There's another villain somewhere in the ground over there."

Momo watched as her Kyouka pointed to the area where Denki was heading, not realizing the conversation that she and Yui had been having at the moment.

"Oh no, it might be a trap...we need to move now!" Momo ordered the plan while mentally counting down the remaining villains who hadn't been captured yet. "Uraraka, Awase, Kaminari, group back up together! We'll then push them back as a group! Kodai, make that staff as big as you can! And get ready to have it rolling, Uraraka!"

As the group moved to obey, Momo saw one villain catching up by taking advantage of Denki's blind spot. The Vice President answered this dilemma by throwing her staff like a javelin, knocking out the villain and saving Denki as he dashed his way back to the group. Finally, she created a flash grenade while kneeling behind Yui's staff, now the size of a large Greek pillar, and pulled the pin before giving one last order.

"Get behind the staff and cover your ears and eyes now!"

As the group arrived in time to heed her warning, Momo arched the small device across. It exploded with a violent flash of light, leaving the remaining villains blinded or stunned. Momo wasted no time seeing that most of the villains lined up perfectly for her follow-up.

"Uraraka! Launch it!"

Ochako only had to look for a moment to realize what Momo meant before doing it. The brunette quickly placed her hands on the pillar and used her Quirk.

"SHIFT!"

The pillar launched forward, knocking the remaining villains down like bowling pins.

"STRIKE!" Denki proclaimed with a laugh.

"NICE ONE!" Yosetsu exclaimed with an excited jump.

"Come out now!" Momo ordered the hidden villain, who she knew was still a threat. "I know you're out there! Come out and surrender!"

"Is there someone else, Kodai?" Ochako asked, unsure of the situation.

Yui simply nodded as she grabbed a handful of metal nuts and bolts from one of the pouches of her costume and threw them overhead. The metallic pieces instantly grew in size as they ascended, only to land with a heavy crash around the area where Kyouka had pointed towards.

"Damn it, it seems like you kids really are something else." A more menacing voice said suddenly as a villain arose from the ground only inches away from where some of Yui's makeshift weapons had landed. Sparks started zapping in his hands.

"An electric type," Momo breathed out, knowing that someone like him, even by himself, could be far more dangerous thanks to a quirk like that.

"So, he's kind of like me, huh?" Denki questioned, looking at the electric villain with the skull-shaped mask. '...I think I can use my rod to absorb his attacks...'

"Seems like it's up to me to take care of all of you," the skull villain stated as his hand began to draw more power, getting ready to unleash it. "I don't mind, given that I can collect the bounty on blondie solo. No need to share the prize now, right?"

"What the hell does that mean?" Yosetsu asked, looking at the stunned Denki.

'A bounty?' Momo questioned, staring in shock at the confused boy.

'Someone put a bounty on Kaminari's head? Why?'

"Time to die!"

Seeing that the villain was about to strike with his Quirk. The group had moved to brace themselves for the attack when he was suddenly shot by a massive arcing beam that slammed him against the mountain face behind him.

"Phew! That was a close one!" They heard a familiar bubbly voice say above them.

Nejire-Chan had arrived.


"COLD, TOO COLD!"

"I'M FREEZING!"

"DAMN IT! HOW DID I GET STUCK WITH ONE OF THE STRONG ONES?!"

"OH MY GOD, SHUT UP YOU PUSSIES!"

Shouto found his situation almost comical to a degree.

The moment he landed in the Landslide Zone surrounded by several villains, he responded by shooting first and asking questions later. So, he ended up freezing everyone in the area almost instantly. Unfortunately, this also included his homeroom teacher, Midnight, who had landed a few feet away with no warning of what Shouto was about to do when he made his move.

Upon realizing his error, he was quick to unfreeze his half-frosted teacher.

"I do hope you have learned your lesson, young man," Midnight added with a slightly sultry touch to her voice as if she was trying to get a reaction from the young lad. She quickly praised the young man when she was restored but warned him to be more careful before acting out with his powers to avoid friendly fire.

"Yes, ma'am," answered Shouto in a deadpan voice, leaving his teacher slightly disappointed.

"Well, good...now," Midnight added, looking around at Shouto's handiwork. After seeing the chance to gain some intelligence from the plenty of the groaning villains here, a wide, perverted grin began to form on her face. As she found several helpless villains crying and pleading for their mercy...just how she liked them.

"Mr. Todoroki, are you familiar with role-playing?" The educator asked as she looked around the frozen and complaining villains for the perfect target that would fall for her charms, all while she pulled out her favorite riding crop.

"I've played Dungeons and Dragons with my mom and siblings; that's a role-playing game," Shouto answered bluntly, unsure where Midnight was going with this. "But I don't think now would be a good time to play."

Midnight suppressed a giggle from the unexpected and yet innocent answer.

"Well, I was thinking more, Good cop, bad cop," said Midnight. She motioned Shouto to follow, and she strutted among the complaining villains. "But I think I can work with D come along, Mr. Todoroki. I think it's time for a lesson in gathering intelligence the fun way."

"Good morning, boys!" Midnight called out playfully to the groaning villains. "I understand ya'll came to have some good fun, but you forgot the most important rule! Consent! Remember, consent is very sexy! We need to come from a place of understanding and come up with rules like, what's a good safe word? "

"THE FUCK ARE YOU ON ABOUT, LADY?!" Yelled one of the frozen villains, only for Midnight to quickly teach the naughty rogue a lesson.

SMACK!

"EEEEYYYY!" The villain let out a piercing shriek that only seemed to encourage Midnight's antics and made the other frozen rogues cringe in fear and, maybe, in one case...excitement? The woman was quick to flick her riding crop to the offending villain's chin as she began clicking her tongue with disapproval.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, oh my dear boy," Midnight began as she leaned towards the man, giving the villains behind her quite the view. "I'm talking about your invasion! No word? No invitation? Somehow getting past security to party crash? Naughty, naughty!"

SMACK!

"ECK!"

"Alright, you naughty boys!" Midnight continued as she stepped away from the first villain with the cadence of Drill Sergeant and her riding crop in full display. "Momma is currently very mad at you for forgetting your manners! So, in exchange for my forgiveness, I want answers! The sooner, the better!"

"I'LL TALK! I'LL TALK!" One of the villains quickly yelled out in desperation. "JUST PLEASE UNFREEZE ME!"

"Y-YEAH! WH-WHAT HE SAID!"

"I'M DYING HERE!"

"PLEASE MOMMY, I'LL BE GOOD!"

"You are in no position to make demands!" Midnight warned the villains with her crop. "Answers first, and then I'll consider having you freed!"

"Heh, you're nothing but talk!" The biggest villain who, while still mostly frozen, didn't seem to mind it or was at least good at hiding the pain from the cold temperature. "Unlikely these pussies, I can not only handle the cold, but I also have a brain! Ain't no way you can keep us frozen like this! Not without risking hypothermia! Killing us could lead to some serious problems for you!"

Midnight slowly turned her attention to the big villain, who instantly swallowed hard when he saw the woman's face. Everything in that expression told him he might have just put the biggest target on his own ass...possibly quite literally, too.

"Why, hello there, big boy~" Midnight exclaimed with a delightfully giddy tone in her voice. "It looks like we have our first volunteer, Mr. Todoroki."

"Uh..."

"So, you said that the cold isn't doing it for you, huh?"

"Umm..."

"That's perfect! I've always wanted to try some temperature play with someone who can handle playing it more rough!" Midnight proclaimed with a moan. "Mr. Todoroki, be a dear and get ready with more ice and some fire, please."

The big villain watched as the student, who had frozen all of them, ignited flames on his left hand and an ice-cold mist on his right.

"T-two Quirks!?"

"A hybrid Quirk," Shouto corrected quietly as he awaited for his teacher's instruction. "As for you not dying...well...if by the end some of you end up passing before we are done...well..."

"As my father Endeavor once said..." The boy's flaming hand seemed to spark up more aggressively with every word. "'No body...No case...No problems...'"

"Hgk!" The big villain grunted with wide eyes as he looked at Shouto in a new light. "En-En-Endeavor's ss-s-son?! I...I...I think I need an adult..."

"Oh...but honey..." Midnight spoke up as she drew ever closer with her riding crop, even giving the frozen man a lover's caress on his cold, frozen cheek. "I am an adult."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"


The flames of the Conflagration Zone roared like hellfire, with several of the buildings often being set continuously on fire for training purposes. But now, they ironically served as death traps for several students who found themselves inside the blazing training grounds. Tsuyu leaned against Fumikage as the heat slowly wore her down. Her costume did very little to protect her from the merciless heat that threatened to cook her alive if she stayed there any longer.

"Stay with me, Asui. I will try to get us out as soon as possible," Fumikage whispered as he half-carried the frog girl. He did his best to move as swiftly yet as silently as he could despite the heat eating at him as well, though not as severely as Tsuyu. It also didn't help that the bright light from the flames made it difficult to use his powers effectively, at least without rapidly draining his energy on the off chance they could encounter enemies.

He had no time to lose.

"Ribbit... call me Tsu...please," Tsuyu said weakly, her breathing growing more and more labored. This made Fumikage more concerned as he fought his sudden embarrassment. He had never called a girl by her given name. While he had already observed Tsuyu's habit of asking everyone to address her like that, it was still a strange concept for him to grasp. The two continued to walk down an empty fake street, trying their best to find their way out, when they heard different sounds.

Or, more accurately, voices.

"What do we do with her, Monoma?" Someone asked with a concerned voice.

"She may have been with 1-A, but we obviously can't just leave her here," Another voice responded before he let out an annoyed sigh. "Though I don't know how to convince her to join us."

"Ma-maybe I can try to reach her?" A shy voice squeaked up. The two from Class 1-A slowly got closer, only to discover a few students from Class 1-B, much to their relief.

"Excuse me!" Fumikage called out to them, making the trio turn. One was a blond male with blue eyes who wore a tuxedo-like costume with some watches on his belt. Neito Monoma was his name. If Fumikage remembered correctly, before looking at the other two teens. The second was Hiryū Rin, a dark-haired boy donning what appeared to be a jiangshi outfit.(*2) The third was Kinoko Komori. A short girl with brunette hair in a long bob-cut style that covered her eyes and wore a toadstool-themed costume with a matching hat. Just behind the three of them, the two animal teens spotted Eri, who was huddled under some of the fake rubble.

Trying to hide and keep herself out of reach from the teens she didn't know.

"Eri! Ribbit," Tsuyu croaked out, seeing the state Eri was in. Fumikage drew himself and Tsuyu closer to the trio of teens to calm and reach the child.

"Oh, good! You guys know her, right? Can you help us get her out of here?" Kinoko asked with relief, seeing the two coming their way. Fumikage was about to answer when a cruel, screeching voice rang out from the flames.

"Oh! Leaving so soon?!"

"Oh, crap, villains!" Hiryū exclaimed as his arms became covered in scales before aiming them down in the direction of the voices. Neito followed suit after touching his classmate and copying his Quirk. Soon, they saw the villains appear from down the road, with some seemingly manifesting from the very fires of hell themselves.

"My spores will burn up in this heat! I don't think I can fight!" The brunette said as she fearfully stood behind her classmates.

"Komori, help the two from 1-A grab the little girl and get out of here," Neito stated to her with a voice mixed with confidence and nerves as he held up his scaled arms along with Hiryū. "We'll cover your retreat."

The brunette nodded before moving to help Fumikage support Tsuyu and get themselves closer to Eri. The villains were approaching slowly, seemingly using caution as they moved to surround their targets. Their pacing only made the two teens from 1-B more and more nervous, with the heat of the flames frying their senses.

"Eri, ribbit, it's me, Tsu! Come with us, ribbit!" the frog girl called out, reaching for the little horned girl who only attempted to make herself smaller by curling up.

"We'll get you out of here and get you back to Midoriya and Uraraka," Tsuyu said softly, trying to calm the nervous girl down as quickly yet as calmly as possible.

When the names of her surrogate parents were said, Eri slowly looked up from her knees. She saw a worn-out Tsuyu with Fumikage and the unfamiliar brunette from the other class who kind of looked like Ochako.

"Back to Papa and Mama?" Eri asked, her words surprising Tsuyu and Fumikage and confusing the mushroom brunette. The two animal teens simply looked at each other momentarily before agreeing silently with a simple nod. They let Eri's comment slide as they had no time to lose with pointless questions.

"Yep, ribbit back to them, come on! Let's go, lil' tadpole," Tsuyu answered with a wobbly smile that gave Eri the confidence to reach out for her. Unfortunately, the second Tsuyu grabbed onto Eri, one of the villains began calling out with a vicious cackle.

CRACK! SNAP!

"Not so fast, dearies!" Her voice rang out, making almost everyone who heard her shudder as she carried a cruel-looking segmented metal whip that was currently set aflame.

"Don't touch the girl with the white hair, but you can kill the teens. We don't need them," said a familiar, reedy voice that made Eri tremble with fear. Among the villains approached a man with a bronze-laden brown bird mask and bone-white hood whose arrow-like hair extended outwards from the hood's hem.

"Chrono..." Eri managed to breathe in fear as she realized who that was. The villain, Chronostasis: Overhaul's right-hand man, her nightmares were coming true. They were here to claim her back.

"Hello, Eri. It's nice to see you again," Chronostasis said, his unmoving mask staring right at her.

"You've been gone from us for quite some time. I think it's about time for you to come back to our brand-new home," the man said in a tone so flat and yet so cold that, despite the flames, everyone who heard it, be they students or villains, felt a chill run down their spines.

"It's time to come back home to your dear old...Dad."

/

Above them all, Ryu watched the scene unfold as he stood inside one of the burning buildings. Having extinguished the flames with his powers. His face was blank and emotionless. On the surface, he seemed perfectly calm and collected. Internally, however, he was fighting himself.

'Leave them; it will make the job easier.'

'...'

'Anno would be over the moon, UA attacked by villains, several students dead. He proposes more education reforms and boom, you're done, and you can move on.'

'No! Go and save them! Fuck Anno's plans; their lives aren't worth sacrificing for such a small thing!'

'...'

'Sure, but do you know what will happen if you don't cooperate; they will suffer, and you will die.'

'My life isn't worth theirs, and when the fuck have I ever cared if I lived or died? I know my fate regardless of the future.'

'You're better than this! You know that this isn't the only way!'

'I'm just a pawn here...'

'This isn't the only board at play. You know that!'

'Don't you remember why you're here? Why you're really here? For them?'

Ryu bit down on his lip in anger, his left hand striking the wall in frustration. He couldn't forget about them. After all, Ryu is here for them. He had debts to pay, and while he could pay them with his life, he would leave so much behind, so much left unfinished if he died today. He still had so much left to do...

'You are not a hero; you will never be a hero. You are a fake. So just run and be done with it.'

'Yeah, you're right about that...'

'Exactly, you have your plans, and your plans for the future require sacrifices to be made, blood to be paid. Your finale would simply be pushed back, not altered.'

'Wrong! You have a chance to be better! You want a better world?! Then you need to be an example for that world!'

'That world is meant to be built by real heroes...something I'm not.' Ryu turned around, ready to walk away, until he heard it.

A scream. Ryu turned again to see the whip villain had started lashing out at his classmates. Striking at them with a cruel, flaming whip, the remaining villains surrounded them, trying to cut off their retreat. He saw Fumikage shield Tsuyu and Eri with his body as some of the embers also managed to burn them.

"STOP YOU, IDIOT!" He heard the man in the bird mask yell out as another villain charged up a large blast of fire aimed right at them.

'You're a fool.'

/

"DARK SHADOW! SHIELD US!" Fumikage ordered as he tried to run as fast as possible despite the burns on his body. However, when he saw the flames coming their way, he knew they wouldn't be fast enough. The shadow beast reacted to his master's command, immediately grabbing everyone and expanding itself as much as possible. Trying to protect them from the blast coming their way. Fumikage knew it wouldn't last, and all he could now was simply brace for the flames that would spirit them away into the next life once it ate through Dark Shadow.

SQUAWK!

Dark Shadow began to scream, whipping violently around the students as the flames started eating it away. The blazing heat of the hungry flames could be felt, needling its way through the dark creature's form.

Hiryū closed his eyes and prayed.

Neito simply braced himself alongside his classmates, ready to face his end.

Kinoko desperately fought back the tears of fear.

Tsuyu gripped Eri with all her might, trying to shield her and begging forgiveness from her family for leaving them so soon.

Eri simply cried for her two surrogate parents as she began to glow slightly, her horn getting bigger.

Fumikage simply accepted his fate and his failure and slowly closed his eyes.

'I'm sorry, everyone...I failed you.'

Everyone felt the flames get closer, hotter, and brighter as Dark Shadow's squawks and screams slowly dissipated. While the bright light finally began to pierce through it. The gang held their breath, and for a single moment, it seemed like it was over as it got darker and somehow...

...cooler?

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" One of the villains screamed.

Fumikage opened his eyes and found out the following in order.

First, They were somehow still alive.

Second, The flames were somehow being pulled away from them.

And Third: An ally had finally joined the fray.

The hellish flames that had threatened to kill them were being sucked away, being consumed by Ryu, who seemed to struggle to eat up that much fire at once. The boy's chest cavity seemed to expand and stretch painfully with crackles of bone as the remainder of the flames disappeared. Ryu pulled his head back for just a moment before unleashing the fury of hellfire back at the villains with a great big and deafening,

"ROARRRRRRRRRRR!"

The villains who had been unfortunate enough to have nearby the blast were currently on fire. Desperately attempting to put out the flames by rolling on the ground as they screamed out their pain. A few of the other villains were shaken by the display of power they had just witnessed. Some of which proved to be easy targets for the rapid-fire scales of Neito and Hiryū. The Fire eater, however, wasted no time as he quickly slipped off his scarf and unbuckled his black emergency bag.

"Asui! Wrap Eri in my scarf! It's fireproof! You guys need to go now!" Ryu yelled hoarsely as he threw the red scarf and black bag at the others. He was already in a lot of pain, given how big that blast was. Every heartbeat and breath following was more painful than the last. "The bag has a coolant gel for those burns; now go!"

"What about you, Kasei?!" Fumikage called out as the group moved to escape from the scene, thanks to the suppressing fire support from Hiryū and Neito. Ryu answered by sucking up more fire from a nearby burning building. His powers processed the flames to heal his internal injuries.

"I've got the home-field advantage! KEEP GOING THAT WAY! YOU'RE ACTUALLY NOT THAT FAR FROM THE EXIT!" Ryu roared out, pointing to the exit's direction with one hand while drawing out a collapsible metal baton with the other. "NOW GO!"

"We can't just leave you here, ribbit!" Tsuyu called back, managing to get her breath after knowing they had been saved.

Ryu knew they wouldn't leave him behind, not willingly, at least. Yet he also knew that they were just wasting time and ultimately decided not to give them a choice in the matter. He made a wide cone with his hands around his mouth and sent out another fire blast toward his classmates.

"Kasei wh-!"

The blast formed a wall of fire between them and the remaining villains. Ryu then turned on his heel and stood between them.

"I SAID GO! GO, GODDAMN IT!"

Fumikage realized that no matter what. This was the hand of cards that life was dealing out. Tsuyu was still getting weaker from the intense heat; he was still in pain from the whip attack, and everyone had almost died mere moments ago. Ryu was here to buy them time to escape while giving them little choice in the end.

"Thank you, Kasei." He said quietly, motioning for everyone to move on.

It was a tough choice but a practical one in the end. Yet as the bird boy led the others away, he felt a tiny bit better; the burns on his back no longer stung like they did moments ago. Even Tsuyu seemed livelier than she had moments ago. Began to bundle Eri in the red scarf before easily holding her close to her chest.

All the while, the little girl looked behind the marching teens over the frog girl's shoulder. Eri feared for the dark-haired boy. She had always noticed that out of everyone in the classroom. Ryu had been one of the ones who tended to keep his distance from her, and yet, despite that. Here he was, trying to save them all, ready to fight alone.

Possibly to his death...

"Thank you..." Eri breathed out with the slightest of whispers.

/

Ryu moved like lightning, yet methodically between the remaining villains. Managing to get some quick and easy strikes with his baton and martial arts techniques he had learned from one of Japan's top cops. Yet, for every villain, he managed to strike down. Three more seemingly took their place. Eventually, however, the numbers proved too much for him to take on alone at his current power level.

As exhaustion gradually made its heaviness known in his aching heart, lungs, and muscles.

Then, the ever-clever Chronostasis managed to stab Ryu in the leg with a length of his own hair that shot out from his hood. When the massive, arrow-shaped strand of hair stuck him, Ryu suddenly felt himself involuntarily grow slower as the world around continued on without him. The masked man's Quirk was starting to take effect, and the surrounding horde of villains began to encroach on him.

'Guess…I'm not going anywhere soon,' Ryu thought bitterly as he bit down on his lip. As the sharp pain began running up and down his body from the stab, refusing to cry out from it. Instead, he tried to stand tall, golden eyes looking forward, ready to face his doom. While he slowly inhaled another blast of fire despite the protests of his lungs.

However, his thoughts turned to his family, the people he would leave behind.

'Taki...Maki...Sachi...I'm sorry...just remember...I love you all...with everything I have...'

"Well, well, well, boys lookie here," The whip villain said cruelly with a gleeful face on her now ashened features. "Look at those pretty yellow eyes he's got; guess we found one of the ones with a bounty on his head."

That snuffed out the fire in his chest.

"What?" Ryu managed to gasp out despite the pain he was in. His face was in complete disbelief. 'A fucking bounty?!'

"Don't waste your time on him! Focus on the girl!" Chronostasis ordered the remaining villains. Only to be met with laughter and pushback from the other villains.

"You're not our boss, Birdman!" Another imposing villain with large tusks that stuck out of his face spoke up.

"The bounty for killing this one is staggering," he laughed some more at the slowly indignant man with the bird mask. "If you want the little girl, pedo, you're on your own. We're here for the cash."

Chronostasis looked at them with frustration but knew it wouldn't be wise to pick a fight with this many villains. Not to mention, Eri was with a weakened group; with his Quirk, stealing her away and bringing her back to Overhaul would be much easier now.

"Fine then, enjoy the money," Chronostasis said, backing away with a small obnoxious bow. Only to turn and make a run towards the gap of the flaming wall, releasing his Quirk on Ryu as he did.

"OH NO, YOU DON'T!" Ryu roared, quickly inhaling to fire-blast him away. Only for him to receive a bone-cracking sledgehammer of a punch to the gut that sent him flying toward one of the walls of a nearby fake building.

SLAM!

"AGH!" Ryu coughed a large amount of blood as he flew into a nearby wall before he landed violently on the street, only hearing a heavy ringing in his ears while his vision blurred. He was sure that punch had at least cracked some of his ribs. The young man gasped, tasting the iron from the blood and clutching his side as he sluggishly attempted to get back up.

Once the pain kicked in, Ryu realized that those ribs were broken instead of just fractured.

'That's it for me. I can't shoot out flames like this... guess I'm fucked...' Ryu thought as he saw the villains move in for the kill. His vision slowly faded to black, and his last thoughts turned to the group he had saved.

'I just hope that they got away... I'm sorry, guys... I… tried…'

And then... the world turned to black.


Author's Commentary

I remember when I first wrote these chapters for the USJ years ago and at the time it had been the most challenging set of chapters I had written at the time. I was still learning new things and there were mistakes made. The remastering helped fix somethings, but this final version is the one that I think really puts everything together.

The expanded scene with Shouto and Midnight which used to so damn boring and simple, I feel is much more funny and expansive on both of the characters' personalities. But that's not the only major difference, in the previous version, the USJ was a two-parter. Now, it is a three-parter with more scenes and details that should help out those previous issues.

We'll will get on to the battle in the main plaza starting in the next chapter, so don't worry about those characters you haven't seen yet!

(*1) Costume Adjustments: Setsuna's Canon outfit is confirmed to be blue, which threw several others and me off. Most of us thought it was green (which also makes more sense, really). So fuck it, made it green sue me. In the case of Camie and Inasa, Shinketsu makes their students wear the school's combination cap with their costumes. (Something they don't have here, but I still wanted them to sport some headgear that seemed in character and could match well with their costumes.) Hence, the beret for Camie and the Ushanka appeared to best fit nicely with their respective outfits/characters.

(*2) Jiangshi: Hiryū is the third known foreign-born student at UA.

(With the first and second being Yūga {Japanese-French} and Poni {Japanese-American}, respectively.) and is of Chinese origin. His in-canon costume is based on the "Jumping Vampires," which is found in mainland Asian mythology. (Though this could be translated as hopping zombie or hopping vampire, I've seen both.)

You may have noticed that I avoid using direct terms like Senpai, Kohai, san, sama, etc. And use terms like Senior, Junior, Upperclassmen, Boss, Lord, Master, etc. I often find reading random Japanese (in Romaji, no less) really grating when reading fics, especially when everything else is still in English. I make exceptions for reading fics with Honorifics, but that is as far as I personally extend that annoyance.

I personally refuse to use direct Japanese honorifics because I find them entirely unnecessary. In my stories, honorifics are implied to be used, which helps make dialogue far less clunky when read out. (In the case of podfics, it is far easier on the voice actors. Because I believe in making life simple, rational, and logical.)

When it comes to specific terms, I do my best to translate or adapt to what I can. I'm honestly used to doing this already being bilingual.

ZX