Chapter 178 - 24-25

Chapter 24: The Beasts are Released

7:30 PM

"Oh, You simply must check out the art of the second floor! The artist must have put years of effort into it!"

"Oh, Tomikara-Sama, you simply must consider investing in…"

"Ah, the food here is simply delectable! We will have to find a chef willing to move to Yancheng!"

Mezou suppressed a groan, clearing his limbs of ears. "Nothing suspicious. Just…"

Yaoki nodded. "The expected smarmy rich people?"

"I wouldn't put it that, way, but… yes."

Yaoki sighed, fiddling with his tie. "Come on. Let's go take a walk before Daisentou's big speech."

Mezou followed after his mentor, shrugging. If he was going to have to guard an art show for four hours, why not at least see the art?

~---TWILIGHT EXHIBITION: THE ERUPTION---~

8:00 PM

"Oh My! Young man and miss! Your suits are simply immaculate! You must tell me where you had them made!"

Mezou did his best not to flinch as the enthusiastic man quickly looked him up and down, making various ogling noises. At least it was at the clothes rather than at him. Yui simply remained stoic, and he was once again grateful he had paired up with her over any of his other classmates. Tooru probably would have socked the man.

Thankfully, Konatsu came in to save them. "The island's local tailor commissioned them their outfits on rather short notice, Nakaoji-san. Perhaps you can commission her. But for now, please stop ogling at my interns."

The man's eyes widened. "Ah! My apologies. I am told I can be a little… overbearing. I shall leave you to your night!" The man spun around. "Sebastian! Extend my trip here! I simply must pursue the clothing of this place! Oh, and get me another glass of the champagne!"

"Yes, sir."

As the man sauntered off, Yaoki scoffed from his position next to Konatsu. "Weirdo."

"Cotts! You can't say that." "What? His Purple Highness retired like, fifteen years ago now! He's just weird." "Still, be polite!" "I can barely hear myself speak in here, what's the odds he can?"

As their mentors whisper-bickered, Mezou smiled lightly alongside Yui. Admittedly, there was something… pleasant about dressing a bit fancy.

The pair sported matching red suit jackets, which certainly stood out. Mezou's suit matched his cousin's own outfit by being cut off at his arms, alongside his grey undershirt, allowing for full manoeuvrability in case of emergency. Yui had done something similar, trading the first offered pencil skirt for more manoeuvrable dress pants. It also meant she could skip out on heels, which she was extremely grateful for.

(Mezou would have gone for his favoured blue, but his mentors had insisted on 'team synergy.' With their own red outfits. It hadn't even worked, as while Cottus, Shakespeare and Tin Man had stuck to the colour scheme, Illucient, Swordpow, and even Hound had dressed in some kind of blue, much to the group's despair, until Illucient had settled the bickering by talking about 'opposite synergy' or something.)

"Augh, never mind. Let's go pretend to be fancy and look at art."

The group of four set off towards the highest floor, their mentors letting off small talk while Mezou and Yui simply took everything in.

8:25 PM

The Three floors of the school had been all but converted, the various classrooms filled up with art, although it was still to some degree obvious that it was, in fact, a school. If Mezou knew more about art, he'd have something to say about it, but the comments of 'disparity between two things' from various people sounded logical enough.

Mezou also knew that the residents of Nabu had become extremely good at finding weird places to put stuff in the last three days, storing desks and supplies in backyards, houses and businesses, and being able to find it all and bring it back out once all the snobbish people were gone again. He would know, since he helped.

"The Eurasian Cultural Exhibition ensures that we cover all different walks of life from all sorts of viewpoints. This year, we have a focus on heteromorphic art, and-"

The tour guide walked past them, leading on another group as the four of them grouped around a massive painting.

Yaoki scoffed. "Unity. What a name."

The picture was… certainly something, at least. It covered almost an entire wall, placed over a whiteboard. It was made up of dark cracks through the red background, claw marks and purposeful burns marring the edges. At the top left corner of the page , a small depiction of a man, practically a stick figure, seemed to be scrambling to repair the page, cloaked in a yellow aura.

The analogy was... unsubtle, considering the country of origin.

Konatsu leaned down at the plaque. "The artist was Chinese. Any idea of the theming?"

While Yaoki shrugged, Mezou looked closer. "China was the epicentre of the quirk wars. They are infamous for having the most diverse population groups when it comes to quirk types. Even now, studies have shown that people from the country and its surrounding countries are far more likely to have their quirks diverge from their parents' quirks than almost anywhere else. Needless to say, for the first hundred or so years after quirks emerged, the country... wasn't pretty."

Yaoki whistled. "You know your stuff, Mez."

He shrugged. "I've always enjoyed history. It's natural to look at art as a product of its environment."

[you'll be helping with next history homework.]

Even through sign, it was obvious that it wasn't a question.

"Very well."

8:35 PM

["Look. I know it sucks, but half of what we're getting paid for here is to make sure all the Pro Heroes are happy. You do this while Yaoki and Konatsu look after Shouji and Kodai, and I'll put aside enough of the budget to get you whatever it is you want. Deal?"]

Alright, Kento was maybe starting to get why Terashi loathed interacting with other Heroes as much as he did. Because... wow, were these people assholes sometimes.

There was the flat layer of respect for any Hero, sure, but some of these people did not return said respect, in his opinion.

He was at least grateful there were no Americans here, but the Europeans weren't that much better. Pompous jerks, most of em! (On second thought, Japanese Pro Heroes weren't much better. But it wasn't his job to go around talking to them, so it wasn't his problem!)

Unfortunately, he was one of the two of their group that could speak English fluently (Even if most of the people here had learned modern Japanese as the language of Heroism, they always liked to be talked to in their mother tongue, and if they were happy, they left better reviews) and Terashi was busy talking to the grumpy looking HPSC bureaucrat that was here for whatever reason, which left him to do the rounds.

It was pretty much a coin flip whether or not the mix of 'attends art shows' and 'is a Pro Hero' combined to form a nice guy or a jerkwad. Majestic was nice, sure, but then there was Side Swiper, who could fill a room with the ego on them, and Earthshaper was just racist, which was so strange in the modern day that it was almost impressive. Needless to say, he left talking to him for Terashi to deal with.

And he couldn't even snark them, since he had to be formal. Like come on!

At least he had managed to get through most of them in the first hour. He was fully planning on heading straight back to brooding in the corner with Hound and Tinman the moment he could get away with it. But, of course, there was one more to handle first.

Endeavour stood in the back of the room, brooding. He sported a charcoal black suit and a glass of champagne. To his left, The younger Todoroki (cute… wait, right next to Endeavour, don't risk it) stood, wearing a rather fancy dress and matching her father's drink (Come to think of it, so did everyone else. Now he felt awkward for Katsuya insisting that they should all avoid the drinks 'since they were on duty', but hey, they were getting burgers later, so who was he to complain.), although she looked rather uncomfortable, not taking a sip. Poor girl.

He thought back to one of Terashi's words of wisdom before the event had started, during the planning for what Kento had internally dubbed 'operation make the Heroes give us good reviews so the HPSC can pay us more, maybe'.

[

"Do I really have to talk to Endeavour?" 

Terashi sighed, rubbing his forehead while his copy paged through notes. "It sucks, but he's the number two Hero. His review is worth like ten of the other ones."

"Fiiiiiine. Any tips?"

Terashi nodded as his copy looked up. "Right. For all things good and pure, do not mention internships, U.A, or Shouto Todoroki to him unless he brings it up first."

"Why?"

"His son chose to intern under someone else, and he's apparently pissed about it."

]

Right. Tread carefully. Having your own kid reject your internship (To go to an Underground Hero, no less. Rough.) when you're the number two must be a big blow to your ego.

He had already talked to the man once, although it was painfully awkward, mostly a chipped greeting with Yaoki and himself before he led Endeavour to his hotel, a few observations exchanged but not much more. Apparently Yaoki had taken the younger of the two Todoroki's on a much longer tour, her apparently much more polite. Lucky.

But… if he talked to the guy once, he could do it again!

He adjusted his gloves, doing his best to look casual, and sauntered over.

"Endeavour-san! I'm glad to see you made it!"

8:40 PM

"That man is… very naked."

"Stunning observation, Nanashi."

"Screw if. Hey, Kodai, take my phone so we can get a picture of me next to the wiener!"

"Mmh!"

"Aren't we supposed to acting as security?"

"Ah, relax. Now, quick, before someone looks at us weird!"

8:45 PM

"Sir…" I must ask… is being here truly necessary?"

Geten flicked his eyes around, spying the various art pieces dotted around the building. He can't say he has a passion for it, but he can acknowledge that some of the art is definitely quality.

But of course, He is well aware that it is not the true reason they were here.

Rikiya simply laughed airily. "Do you worry for my safety, Geten? I am touched, truly."

He shook his head, back-pedalling. "No, of course not! I would protect you if the need comes to it, but-"

Another chuckle. "My friend, don't worry! No matter what happens, we are in no danger."

Geten looked to Rikiya, confused. "Sir?"

"What is happening tonight is… simply inevitable. It would have been fortunate the keep the beasts as a valuable tool, but… they are simply too impulsive. To reveal our reach would be to risk losing many secrets. There is no doubt the Heroes will deal with them, even if at a cost. Their leader fortunately sees us as a good second option should they fail, so he is unlikely to make any attempts at our lives."

"Of course. But still… why must we be here?"

Rikiya simply smiled.

"My dear, for what other reason is there to attend a show other than to see it with your very own eyes?"

8:50 PM

"It is… a shame that people of that sort managed to infiltrate our group. There is so much good to be done in Heroics, but many people choose to go about it in a way most disapprove of. I do wish U.A would tell us the name of the boy who assisted in the arrest. I would love to speak to him."

Hah. Liar. At least the man had the dignity to be subtle about it. Unfortunately for said the new HPSC 'practical training manager', Terashi could lie even better.

Being practical, there were only so many reasons a member of the HPSC would attend an art show. Maybe it was for the fun of it, but he'd met Hitsuji Irui a few times, and the man had never been much for art.

(He would know. Back in the day when he worked under the same banner, he learnt such work tended to suck the life out of you.)

Terashi nodded, keeping up small talk. "Of course. U.A's new project is made of a fascinating bunch. How is the recompense for the children going?"

There were about ten children on Nabu Island who fit the bill for being trained into HPSC Heroes. It had been easy to tell all of their parents to keep an extra careful eye on their children. Getting Eisei home for the two weeks had been harder, but the HPSC weren't the only ones who knew how to slip money into the right pockets, so getting him 'surprise leave' was only practical.

Irui shook his head. "I can't say I know. It was taken out of our group's hands."

Terashi shrugged. "I see."

Irui was quick to steer the conversation away from his work, after that. Terashi had always been good at appeasing him back when they were in the same section, and he was still good at it now.

Eventually, Irui chuckled, taking another long sip of his drink. "Ah, it's always nice to catch up, my friend! It's a shame my extended stay here was cancelled!"

(Because proper investigation revealed that all your options were unviable, asshole. Now stay off this island.)

Terashi didn't voice his thoughts, instead putting on his best smile.

"It certainly is. Perhaps I can pay you and your wife a visit the next time I visit the mainland?"

As a small ding played over the speaker to announce the big presentation, Terashi waved his goodbyes to the man, muttering under his breath.

"If you're not arrested by then."

Ah, but he had sent his files to Mr. Principal a while ago. All he had to do was continue looking after his group.

He sighed, stretching. Good food was on the horizon. Just had to tough one more speech out.

9:00 PM

"Well, he didn't cuss me out, if that's something?"

"It's better than him telling you to sod off, at least. I'll consider it a win."

"Hell yeah!"

The group of Heroes had reconvened, standing at the edge of the main hall (which, thankfully for their sanity, had air conditioning.) alongside the large group of guests.

Dotted around the hall, various members of Nabu island, hired as waiters and assistants, stood around, doing their best to hide scowls. No one here was fond of the upper class, but money was money.

Yui spotted a few recognizable faces in the crowd. Yotsubashi stood to the side with Geten, chatting softly with some member of the Japanese government. The Pro Heroes who had attended the event all gathered in a cluster as well, with the exception of a few, like Endeavour, who kept to themselves. Outside of them, famous musicians, politicians, and businessman and women dotted the crowd, gossiping and laughing.

(Just like the people of Nabu island, Yui really would have rather been anywhere else, but, even as an intern, her presence as security alongside her mentors would be getting her a paycheck. It wasn't Hero work, since she didn't have a licence, and it wasn't work, since she was a minor, but Illucient had told her not to worry about it and to accept the money. She'd give said money to Father, which would always help.)

They stood like that for a while, standing in line. Yui managed to shimmy herself enough that she could pet Tetsudou, but elsewise it was exceedingly boring.

Eventually, and thankfully, a large bell chimed.

The crowds quieted down, looking at the stage in the front of them. Yui, of course, recognised the man who stepped onto the stage, the crowd clapping in his wake.

Daisentou had swapped the black suit she had seen him in for a matching white one, matching his sleek coat which unfurled at the top like seafoam. As before, his bizarre prosthetic covered half his face, clashing with his suit. Considering the man had ties to art, she wouldn't have been surprised if the contrast was intentional.

While the excitement of the crowd continued, Yui spotted another two figures, standing on the edge of the stage, at attention. The first one was an incredibly large heteromorph who resembled a beast of some variation. She wasn't entirely sure how they had managed to get a suit on him, but it looked fit to burst. Yui could only guess he acted as security, even if that was perhaps a little biased.

Next to him, Yui spotted a young adult woman. She stood dead still, simply watching the affairs, her eyes almost the same foggy white as her hair. Her outfit didn't look very formal, so Yui guessed she shared the role of security with her larger companion. After all, in the age of quirks, looks could be deceiving.

As the clapping died down, the man nodded, standing in front of a provided podium. "Thank you, and Good Evening."

He looked across the crowd, smiling.

"While I'm sure most of you are already aware, I am Yugami Daisentou, although I am professionally known as… the Curator."

"Wait… shit-"

Yui looked to her left, Where Illucient had a panicked look on his face, but he was trying to school it.

While most didn't seem to react to the name, a few members of the crowd, mostly a decent portion of the pro Heroes, tensed.

"Unfortunately, the previous manager of this show suffered a rather unpleasant injury, meaning I was given the opportunity to take his place this year. Nonetheless, I am glad so many have gathered here on this fine evening. Nabu island is awfully isolated, after all, so many of you must have made quite the trip."

The man's mouth was concealed by his prosthetic, but from the visible side of the man's face, it was obvious that he was grinning.

Her eyes turned to Illucient again. His eyes were set, looking down at his phone.

No signal.

"Now… I'm afraid I have a rather sad announcement to make."

*Rumble*

Members of the crowd began to mumble, looking around. The Curator chuckled softly.

*CRASH*

"I'm afraid you are all now hostages."

A group stormed in, surrounding the crowd. They brandished weapons of all sorts, from guns to clubs to fists. More notably, they were all Heteromorphs.

While Yui and the rest of Gulch agency braced, Endeavour quickly roared, a clump of fire appearing in his hand. "You dare-"

*Thump*

Endeavour fell to the ground amongst the screams of the other guests. Moments later, others suffered the same fate.

"Ah. There we go. Fast acting quirk-based paralytic, courtesy of a good friend of mine. The wonder of quirk activated poison means it was snuck into your drinks without preamble. Now…"

As crowd quickly began to collapse on mass, stumbling to their knees or simply collapsing outright, the... Villain walked away, his two guards following right behind.

"Drop."

Yui turned to her mentor, who had whispered the order, just barely heard over the crowd. It was then that she came to a realisation.

None of them had eaten or drunk anything.

Konatsu followed through first, faking a collapse to her knee, swearing quietly. The others were by her side, trying to support her, only to 'drop' a moment later. Yui and Mezou did the same, but Yui's brain was going a mile a minute.

As the Villains surrounded them, weapons braced, a single thought crossed her mind.

It was all up to them.

9:01 PM

The three of them had been at home when it started.

Mahoro had been talking about their day while Eisei had listened, quietly sipping his tea.

Theoretically, as a 'higher up' member of Nabu island, he had all the rights to attend the fancy art show happening a short enough distance away, but he could say he saw much of a point to it.

He only had two weeks to spend with them before he was gone for another three months, and he was making the most of it.

*Tweet*

Katsuma looked up from his own food. "Something upset the birds…"

He shrugged. "I suppose so. I'm sure they'll calm down later. They're a pretty hardy bunch."

At that, both children laughed, and he smiled. He had missed this.

"Papa?"

Eisei turned to his daughter. "Yes?"

"Tomorrow, can we-"

*CRASH*

At that moment, the door was flung open, and everything started to go wrong.

9:10 PM:

*click*

"Ow! Watch… my… man hands!"

"Shut up."

"Psh... Asshole."

As A bulky Heteromorph shoved Swordpow along, now sporting a pair of quirk supressing cuffs (likely stolen from a supply ship. It made sense why they never got to see inside – about the best place to hide two hundred people as you can find – at least until they snuck into the forest, he guessed.), Mezou did his best to remain calm.

The Villains had worked quick, gathering up the weakened crowd and overwhelming anyone foolish enough to attempt to fight anyways, rounding them up in the main hall in a large clump. A large number of guards had dragged most of the other pro Heroes... elsewhere, the rest spreading out across the building. He had no idea how many were guarding the remaining civilians, nor how many were outside the building, let alone where in the building the main Villain had disappeared to.

Mezou and his group had been dragged into a classroom, where they were monitored by a group of four guards. All Heteromorphs with simple weapons. They were being underestimated.

At least they were all good at acting. Mezou, for his part, was lucky in that, with his large size, he was able to pretend to be somewhat resistant, having instead surrendered to protect his allies. "what purpose does this serve?"

A man, a large pig heteromorph, looked to him with far more kindness than he did to any of the none heteromorphs. On closer observation of the various groups being rounded up… they were saving the mutants for last. "I'm sorry to include some of our kind in this… but we can hold no longer. A dramatic show of force shall rouse our brothers from all across the globe. And the Wild Ones shall thrive."

A name. Wild, Wild… Wild… The Wild Villains.

[

Mezou looked to his teacher with confusion. "That's a bit of a weird thing to name yourself." 

Aizawa-Sensei shrugged. "They didn't choose the moniker themselves. They simply considered themselves 'of the wild'. The name was coined by the media."

Mashirao raised his hand. "And they're all gone? Just like that?"

A nod. "Probably. By official definition, they are marked as 'Defunct' rather than 'Destroyed'. Since it's entirely possible that many of them went to ground when All Might wiped out their main base."

"What were they like?"

"Freedom fighters in the worst definition of the word. Sure, they wanted equal treatment, but they wanted it to be achieved by taking it from everyone else. Most modern Heteromorphs are ashamed to be associated with them, so much that they don't like to talk about them, although there are of course many who may agree with their ideology. Thus, it stops being a group…"

]

"And becomes an idea."

Mezou turned to Tinman, Hound at his feet, the only other actively mutant looking members of their group.

He raised a single hand, still pretending to look weakened. Hold.

Mezou did so as the Villain finished putting cuffs onto Cottus and Shakespeare.

Eventually, he turned to Tinman. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to cuff you as well. I assure you, you and the boy will not be harmed, as will the rest of your group, should they not resist. Believe it or not, we would like to limit the casualties of this event."

The pig faced man looked sincere, but Mezou worked under the assumption that he was either lying or unaware of the collective's intentions.

He stepped forward, and Tinman frowned. "May I say one last thing?"

"Very well."

Tinman smirked. "My quirk's a transformation type anyways."

*WHAM*

Instantly, the other guards turned to face the three of them as Tinman landed a very, very solid headbutt on their captor, knocking them out cold. He quickly dashed forward, grabbing a hold of the cuffs on his teammates. The metal quickly collapsed, absorbed into his arm. Meanwhile…

"BOOF!"

*CRASH*

Another Villain was launched back, landing against the classroomm wall with great force, falling unconscious. Hound turned around, growling at the other Villains in the room.

TETSUDOU – HERO NAME: THE ACTUAL DOG HERO: HOUND – QUIRK: POWER! There's an incredible well of power hidden behind such a vague sounding quirk! Everything Hound does is, quite literally, multiplied in power! Thinking, running, hitting, she can do it all, and he does it way better than a normal dog! How Pawsome!

Freed from their bonds, they quickly managed to overwhelm the remaining guards.

A moment later, Illucient quickly took charge, pacing. "Good job, you three. Shakespeare."

"What's my job, Boss?"

"Get together a team and get to the cell tower. We need to get communication online and call for backup."

She nodded. "I want Rule and Sword."

"Mmh!" "On It."

"Cottus."

"Wha'd'ya need?"

The Hero's voice was calm, but their posture was set, serious.

"Break through and track down the Curator. We can't let him broadcast this if we don't want them achieving their desired chaos."

Cottus growled, but complied, moving to leave the room. "Tentacole. Hound. With me!"

"Right!"

Illucient looked to Tinman, manifesting his double. "The two of us will do our best to free the remaining captives. Good luck."

Tinman slammed his fists together. "Just like old times."

Mezou nodded, taking a deep breath, before following after his mentor.

Time was short, but they would stop the Villains.

He would not allow for chaos to reign.

Chapter 25: A finale, one of many

"Move it!"

Katsuma did his best not to whimper as he walked along behind Daddy. It was easier said than done.

Villains had come for them during supper! They were big, and they had big clubs, and-

Daddy gently squeezed his shoulder, and he took a deep breath. The Heroes would save them.

The Villain who was threatening them, a man who looked kind of like a horse, shoved them into some kind of building.

Rubbing his eyes, he saw that it looked like the big factory they weren't supposed to go near.

They wound through a long hallway before they ended up in one of the side rooms.

"Eisei!"

Ms. Yuika ran forward, still dressed in her work uniform. Daddy looked at her, relived. "Yuika! W-what on earth is going on?"

While the adults talked, Katsuma looked to his sister, who in turn was looking around the room. At least she looked equally nervous, so that meant it was okay for him to be nervous too.

The room had most of the people he knew lived on Nabu, plus a few people who he had seen in the hotels and boats. Every so often, another Villain looking person would throw in a few more people, nodding to the guards in the room.

Mahoro turned to him, her usual smiled swapped with a frown, tinged with worry, but when their eyes met, she smiled, giving his hand a squeeze.

She looked to the nearest guard. It was a big wolf man, standing at his attention, wielding a metal club of some kind. He looked like how daddy did, sometimes, when he got back from a long trip.

All tired and… fuzzy. That was the right word to use.

Mahoro seemed to notice this too, as she glared at the man's eyes, and he didn't even move.

It was weird.

She gripped his hand, moving towards the other kids that were beginning to clump together in the room.

With nothing else to do but panic, Katsuma chose to follow.

~---TWILIGHT EXHIBITION: RULE AND TENTACOLE---~

~ {1} ~

Yui skidded to a stop, almost crashing into Shakespeare.

She looked ahead, seeing a group of guards glaring at them. They had made it to the bottom floor, but-

Shakespeare scowled. "I've only got so much parchment. Swordpow! The wall!"

Swordpow smirked. "That I can do for ya!"

He smiled, taking off a glove. Quickly, A substance – Mercury – leaked out, before quickly moving, forming-

"EAT FIST, WALL!"

*CRASH*

The wall broke open, crumbling behind the power of the punch, and Swordpow smirked, the gauntlet that had appeared on his fist dissolving back into his hand. "Alright, come on, before the dust settles and they chase us!"

SHIRAHAMA KENTO – HERO NAME: THE ARSENAL HERO: SWORDPOW – QUIRK: MERCURY ARMOURY! Liquid Metal flows through this Hero's body, and, more importantly, leaks out of his hands! While it typically comes out as Mercury, a rather soft metal, Kento can manipulate it, solidifying it beyond what should be possible, forming many different powerful weapons! It takes a lot of control, though, so he can't manifest complicated objects without risking extra leaked metal, which can be super dangerous!

The Trio dashed out of the building and onto the streets. Yui looked back, seeing the guards simply… staring at them?"

"Not following!"

(Guh. Force now, feel sick later, Yui.)

Shakespeare looked back for a second, before she nodded and continued to move. "They probably can't!"

"Eh!? Why not!"

Shakespeare slid into an alleyway, coming to a stop.

"Did you get a good look at their eyes?"

Swordpow shook his head. "I was a little preoccupied."

"Fair enough. Outside of a couple of them, have any of the Villains said anything bar simple statements?"

"Nope… Spill the beans, lady! We're in a hurry!"

"Yeah, yeah, just making sure I'm not crazy. Looks like a case of mass influence."

Yui looked to her, tilting her head. [What do you mean?]

Shakespeare poked her head out of the alleyway, spotting no one. "The Wild Villains are a pretty early piece of the Hero ethics curriculum, yeah?"

She nodded. It had taken a bit for her to figure out the Villain Group's identity, but once She did…

"The goal of purging all non-mutants is… lofty. Crazy. Just a little unethical. Et cetera. Even the staunchest advocates for equal treatment of Heteromorphs consider it out of line. How could you recruit this many people, let alone have them work so… quietly, while they all have this ideology and the confidence in a group that's already failed once?"

Swordpow frowned. "Unless most of them don't."

"I can't guess what many of brainwashing they used, or how permanent it is. On such a scale… the people were probably already interested in the idea, but wouldn't go so far as to do it. More of a push than a force."

[Still, it isn't right. They need help.]

"True. Which is why we need to hurry and call for said help. Whether or not you like our friend the Commission, they're always good about breaking quirks like this."

"Well then, let's go!"

With that, the trio set off again, dashing through the streets, towards the direction of the island's cell tower, but…

Shakespeare stiffened as she continued to run. "Where is everybody?

"The Villains must have rounded them up too. No idea where, though…"

The empty streets were… unnerving. Even during late hours, there should be lights on, or the occasional person on their porch, but… there was simply no one.

Shakespeare slid to a stop again as they reached the point where the streets faded into nature, staring up. "All the more reason to get this done. Brace, you two. We're about to have some resistance."

Nabu Island's cell tower was perhaps the most technologically advanced thing on the whole island. It stood tall, poking into the skyline. It matched modern equivalents across the world in speed and was overall top of the line.

Beneath it stood the maintenance building, sitting at the bottom of the large hill where the tower stood. It was a small thing, three rooms at most, and Yui had been close to it a sum total of once, when Cottus and Shakespeare had worked to realign a radio dish for the old couple that operated the thing.

Said couple was nowhere to be seen, presumably taken away with the rest of the islanders. The door was ajar, allowing her a peek at the machinery inside, if not for the figure standing in front of them.

Yui identified him as the Heteromorph that had been guarding The Curator (it was a tacky Villain name, but it was easier to call someone who wanted them dead that over their actual name).

He had discarded the top of his suit, standing bare chested. The lack of clothing revealed his absolutely massive size. The closest thing she could compare it to would be All Might, but the man only barely lost to the Hero in terms of stature.

His arms and back were coated in a thick fur, but it did nothing to hide the amount of weight he likely could throw behind any punches, supported by ginormous claws in place of fingers on hands covered by metal gauntlets.

The man sniffed through his long snout, turning to face them, and grinned, revealing sharp teeth.

"Finally. And here I was, thinking that there wasn't going to be anyone who could pick a fight with me!"

*CRASH*

The Villain crashed against the wall, falling unconscious. Mezou ran forward, placing his hand on the man's chest, ensuring that he hadn't caused any long-term damage with the throw.

"Brainwashing?"

Mezou nodded, placing the man upright. He had put more force into the grab then he had intended, but outside of a minor concussion when he woke up, the man would be all right. "That's my best guess. Each person has a lot more control over their actions than from a quirk like Slackjaw's. I'd wager it's some kind of motivation or willpower suppression."

Cottus nodded, checking the body for weapons, finding none other than the leopard man's sharp claws. "Right. Best be careful not to overdo it then. Any guess on our odds of tracking the cause down?"

Mezou shook his head. "Every unit here is operating independently. Even if the source is working for the group rather than being an external contractor, they're probably long gone."

"Damn… guess we just gotta stop it at the source, then." "Grr…"

The trio continued to make their way through the hallways of the school, taking care of any Villains on the way. At some point, Mezou heard a large crash, which he could only hope was Yui and her group escaping. They ran into a few rooms where hostages were being stored, but they were forced to sneak past them, lest they put them in any danger.

Cottus scowled as they passed another group of Villains, hiding as they marched past. He pulled back his excess limbs, focusing on moving through the hallways as quietly as they could. "Each group seems to have at least one person of sound mind ordering around the rest. A smart plan, if not an unstable one."

Mezou nodded. "The structure of command doesn't need to be stable. All it needs to do is last until they have as many eyes on them as possible when they pull the bottom brick."

"And kill everyone here, starting a chain reaction that will set about their planned revolution…" Cottus shuddered. "Let's hope Shakespeare and the others can…"

They turned a corner, and whatever Cottus intended to say faded away.

At the end of the hallway, Mezou spotted a plaque for the principal's office, their best bet for where they'd find Curator. In the middle of the hall, however…

"Heroes identified as Pro Hero Cottus, Pro Hero Hound, and Pro Hero in training Tentacole. I would advise you turn around from this location and return to the location from which you came."

The woman spoke in a flat tone, devoid of emotion. She stood in the centre of the hallway, still wearing the outfit Mezou had seen her in before, resembling a military uniform more than anything. In her hands was a… mop. He could only guess it tied into her quirk.

Cottus stood, being careful not to move. He gestured to Hound and Mezou, getting them to do the same, despite how antsy the dog was.

"I'm afraid we can't do that, Miss. You just told us our names. Can you do us the dignity of telling us yours?"

The woman continued to remain absolutely still. Her eyes seemed to be foggy, mist cloaking her vision far more than any other Villain they had found. Mezou could only guess that her brainwashing had been far more thorough than any of the others.

 "I am referred to by the codename Zookeeper. I must warn you that if you approach any further, I will be forced to engage you in combat."

"Thanks for the tip, Zookeeper-san. You seem awfully cooperative for a Villain, though. You don't really match any of your cohorts, either."

She was the only Villain they had encountered so far that didn't seem to have a mutant quirk. Mezou could guess that was one of the main reasons the woman seemed to be much more deeply brainwashed than anyone else present.

("I cannot do anything else. This does not concern you.")

Mezou could also only guess that said brainwashing was not exactly consensual.

"I have been instructed to follow orders to the exact, and I have been ordered to guard against anyone who is not an ally who approaches this office."

Cottus frowned. "And there's no way we can convince you to do otherwise?"

"Correct. I will fight to the best of my ability when prompted."

Cottus turned to Mezou, shaking his head, whispering. "She's clearly not happy about this arrangement."

Mezou looked to Zookeeper, who still had not moved. "She can be helped."

"Yes. But that means we need to get past her. There's no helping her until we take down the actual Villain."

Mezou nodded. "Very well."

The trio stepped forward, and Zookeeper instantly tensed, shifting into a battle position. "You have advanced with the intention of reaching my master. Thus, I will defend him."

From Zookeeper's unused hand, a frothy substance emerged. It looked like foam, but-

*THWIP* *THWIP* *THWIP*

"MOVE!"

Mezou leaped out of the way as the formed soapy orbs shot forward like bullets, narrowly missing the trio. Mezou snapped back to Zookeeper, who was continuing to manifest more soap, causing it to leak onto the floor and walls around them.

Cottus sighed, manifesting six arms on each side, Mezou doing the same. "Well, if we must fight…"

The man charged forward, Mezou and Hound right behind them.

"Don't think we'll go easy on you!"

Eisei wasn't going to pretend he wasn't on the verge of having a nervous breakdown, honestly. He couldn't deny that there had been a certain tension on the island over the last few days, but he had though it was due to all the rich people coming down, not… this!

By his rough estimate, the Villains had gathered up about eight hundred of Nabu's one thousand residents in the factory, with around a hundred other people he didn't recognise, mostly those who had been on the boats and ships that had gotten people here. Accounting for the roughly fifty islanders who had taken up jobs at the art show… he could only hope everyone who wasn't here was either very good at hiding or running rather than…

On the bright side, they were deposited in groups throughout the building. He knew most of the adult heteromorphs were taken somewhere else, but most of them were very much not happy about it, so he wasn't worried that their group was gaining more numbers.

The adults in his own group of about thirty had been quick to organise themselves, circling around the sick and the elderly. Poor Akari was given special vigil, considering she was pregnant, but fear was palpable across the room. The children were sitting nervously, the six of them…

There were supposed to be eight.

Eisei's eyes bulged, and he snapped around to the person nearest him in the clustered room. "We're missing two kids!"

Instantly, those surrounding him scrambled, frantically looking around for them, the children who were already accounted for looking nervous.

Where could they have-

*SPLASH*

"HEY!" 

*ZAAAAAAP*

All eyes turned to the corner of the room, where one of the guards had fallen over with a thud, unconscious. Little Nensei stood, face nervous, the ooze that typically covered his left arm missing, a large liquid ooze instead covering the guard's legs. Next to him, Yuuto stood, his left arm alight with the sparks his quirk allowed him to use. The boy smiled sharply. "Taser combo!"

All eyes turned to the two boys. Nensei at least had the dignity to look nervous as he recollected the sludge that made up his arm, while Yuuto looked around. "What are you guys waiting for? There's three more guards in here!"

Ah.

"I think you brats have the right idea!"

*WHAM*

Another guard was knocked over, falling to the wrath of Kana-San's walking cane. She smiled, giving the man another kick. "There's five of us for every one of them!"

Before the other two guards could react… a few members of the room reacted first.

Despite both of their large statures, the isn't much you could do against so many people. Eisei quickly moved to the children, making sure they were all alright.

While Katsuma was trembling, Mahoro was looking to the adults, eyes wide. "Woah…"

Eisei shook his head. "Don't get any ideas, ok? This isn't what you're supposed to do normally."

Mahoro simply huffed.

A moment later, the other two guards had been knocked out by an air blast from Hiroto-San, who laughed with a determined glare. "Alright, kids, don't copy that one!"

Eisei looked to the door, finding that no one had come to the commotion.

Despite their lack of training… they had overwhelmed the Villains.

"What now, Shimano?"

Eisei looked back, finding all eyes on him. "M-me?"

Yuika-San nodded, having already stolen one of the Villain's batons. "You're the smartest one here, Eisei. I for one have a few stern words for these Villains, but we'll trust your judgement."

Eisei took a step back. They wanted to fight the Villains!? But…

He thought back to the two teenagers he had met on the ride back home. They were probably either fighting... Or worse. What kind of person would he be if he left them to fend for themselves?

He walked up to the first unconscious guard, giving Yuuto a light pat on the head, before reaching down and grabbing the baton. "There are eight Heroes currently on Nabu island."

He walked to the centre of the room, all eyes on him. He took another breath.

"They have done their best to help us, despite how low the pay here is, how hard it is for them to stay afloat. Now, we can only assume that they're dead or are fighting for their lives and ours."

He smiled.

"What say we islanders return the favour to them?"

The adults smirked.

"YEAH!"

"Not you, Mahoro! You kids are staying behind us!"

"Aww!"

"You seem a lot more present than the rest of these people." Shakespeare's voice was calm, but she was braced, ready to dodge.

The man began to laugh, a deep bellowing noise emerging from his throat. "Hah. Those weaklings are a means to an end. They won't last a second in our new world."

"You hold no loyalty to your comrades?"

"Nah. I'm here to fight, and Curator's the one who'll give it to me."

"I see. So there's no chance of you allowing us to pass through?"

He shook his head. "Nope. That'd end the party before it started, ya' know?"

Swordpow tapped Shakespeare on the shoulder, moving forward. "So, it's a fight you want, then? Fine. What's your ruleset?"

The man smiled. "All out combat. When either party can't move anymore, it's a won fight. You win, and I let you pass. I win? I crush your little skulls beneath my claws."

Swordpow gulped, but he stood his ground. "Fine. That alright with the two of you?"

Shakespeare nodded, face set in a grim frown, as she pulled out a piece of parchment. "I hate Villains like this…"

Yui did her best to school her nerves. She was certain the man's threats weren't simply empty words.

Swordpow threw his remaining glove to the side, but he didn't begin the fight. "One last thing. What's your name?"

The man growled, but the smirk didn't leave his face. Instead, he braced, moving into a new position. "Me? I don't have a name anymore, But the other Wild One's call me Bearhead!"

The giant Villain released a guttural roar, leaping forward at a massive speed, forcing the three of them back. It was to be a fight, then.

*SLAM*

Swordpow, meanwhile, smirked, releasing a large amount of mercury from his hands, which rapidly solidified into a shield. The collision was solid, forcing him to slide back, but he held his ground.

Bearhead grinned. "So, you Heroes can fight! Good!"

Shakespeare hissed as the man slammed his fists into the ground, forcing Swordpow to leap back, reabsorbing the shield. "Alright, Rule, here's a lesson."

She quickly began to write down a sentence on her parchment.

"Know how to support your DPS! Blessed by his willpower, the Hero of The Arsenal found himself able to fight on!"

A shining glow burst out of the mentioned Hero, and he smirked. "Thanks, Konatsu! Next dinner is on me!"

"It already was, asshole!"

"Ah, Details!"

Swordpow dashed forward again, this time with increased speed. As he did, he manifested that which he was named for, creating two sleek grey Sabers, one in each hand.

*SWISH*

The blades clashed against the large Villain's gauntlets, locking them in place. Bearhead grinned sharply. "That party trick 'aint so bad, but it won't be enough!"

Bearhead began to slowly push back, and Shakespeare quickly snapped to Yui. "In about twenty seconds, that guy's about to figure out that he can end this fight quicker by going after me. I'm going to stall, and you need to find a way to cinch it, alright, Rule?"

Her voice was calm, but their face betrayed her true emotions, and Yui couldn't help but balk.

"But…"

Shakespeare shook her head, forcing a smile. "You've got this, Rule. I've handled worse. We'll get something nice to eat after this, alright?"

Yui gulped, nodded, and turned around before her body could complain, sprinting out of view.

Shakespeare's prediction was likely correct, as while she couldn't see the conversation as she sprinted into the building next to them, she could hear the woman.

"COME AT ME YOU ASSHOLE! I'VE BEATEN BIGGER THUGS THAN YOU DURING HIGH SCHOOL!"

*CRASH*

"Gah!"

Hurry.

She looked around the room. There were no signs of struggle aside from the smashed in door, which was reassuring. The room had another door that led to a bedroom, a cabinet, two chairs, the large screen and keyboard that controlled the cell tower's relay, and a-

There.

Yui grabbed their saving grace, dashing back out the building.

Bearhead was staring down Swordpow, hand coated in blood.

Swordpow glared at him. carrying Yui's Mentor in his arms, the Woman's own right arm twisted and mangled-

(The Blood on the heteromorph's arm wasn't his own, then)

She saw red.

She ran forward, holding tightly to the object in her hands, pushing her quirk into it.

The mass in her core moved forward as fast as she could will it, as if her very body was responding to her determination.

 As she felt the transfer of Size begin, she swung the object back before bringing it forward, letting gravity do the rest.

The object, a simple stone used to hold open a door, swelled in size, turning from a stone to a rock to a boulder to-

"RAH!"

What was practically a small meteor landed against Bearhead's back with a loud, thundering noise.

*CRASH*

For a moment, as the sound reverberated through the area, all was still.

The Villain in front of them did not move, breathing heavily, before laughing softly.

"Ain't that… a bitch."

*Thud*

And fell to the ground, unconscious.

Swordpow whooped. "You did it, kid!"

She did it.

Yui shook her head, trying to refocus herself. Such a large growth so quickly had tired her out, but unlike the last time she had done it at the U.S.J, she didn't fall unconscious.

She ran forward, looking to her mentor, who was hissing in pain, but was still smiling.

"Good job… Rule. You should be… proud."

Yui did her best not to panic, instead nodding, squeezing her mentor's able hand.

Swordpow set Shakespeare onto the ground. "Shit… this is bad, I- "

She shook her head, sending a mock glare that didn't really look like a mock glare towards the man. "We won, you Idiot. Now go get a message out before I rip your arm out too. We've gotta go track down the islanders, too."

The man's eyes bulged, before he quickly shot up. "Right! Good idea!"

As Swordpow disappeared into the building next to them, Shakespeare smiled gently at Yui. "You're… gonna be a great Hero… Rule. You… wanna know why?"

Yui nodded. She had used words enough today, in her opinion.

Shakespeare smirked.

"You're maybe the only Hero I've met… who would… willingly choose not… to pull out a one liner when doing a move like that."

~ {2} ~

*THUNK*

"Hah! You just got SCRAP-"

"Not the time for one-liners, Tin."

Kousuke grunted, landing a solid hit to some poor Villain's privates. "In my humble opinion, now is the perfect time for one-liners. Lighten up the situation!"

Terashi sighed. "And now I remember why I sometimes regret accepting your proposal for this damn agency."

"Oh, boo Hoo. Now come on. We've got twenty more rooms to clear!"

Terashi sighed, but smiled, manifesting his double to begin tying up the newly knocked out Villains while Kousuke checked on the captives. Fortunately for them, very little effort seemed to have been put into actually training the Wild Villain's mooks, so the two of them were able to handle whatever they would throw at them with fairly light effort. The partygoers, meanwhile, weren't doing so hot. Most of them were able to move around enough that they would be able to evacuate when the coast was clear, but some had been given much higher doses of poison than others.

He managed to even feel sorry for Yotsubashi, who was either very much worried about his bodyguard or was an extremely good actor. Probably a little bit of both. Thankfully, as far as he could tell, the poison wouldn't have any effects on anyone in the long term.

So, they told everyone to stay put, the promise of eventual rescue keeping even the grumpiest captive calm.

At some point, the pair had defeated a snake Villain who was slipping their venom into water as fast as they could, so Terashi could at least know they weren't sourcing their poison from another group.

Kousuke looked to him as they stood next to another door, looking ahead as a group of Villains walked past them, not noticing their presence. "The Villains that aren't guarding anything are convening somewhere."

He nodded, crashing into the room, landing a swift kick to the side of a fish heteromorph. "Look out the window!"

The room (an English classroom) had a few Villains and fewer hostages (a bureaucrat from Klayd, completely knocked out, some celebrity he didn't recognise, and a waiter.), so it was fairly easy to defeat the present Villains. Kousuke poked his head through the window, scowling.

"They're all gathering by the entrance."

Terashi nodded, repeating the Villain tying up process like clockwork. "I suppose they're waiting for orders from their boss."

Kousuke nodded. "Right… that'll be tough."

His friend smirked, moving out the room after addressing the hostages. "Still easier than that big attack in Tsurugu."

"And I still had flesh and blood arms at that point."

"Details."

Terashi quieted back down as the pair moved to the next room. "This is the one they dragged Number Two into. Get ready for opposition."

His partner nodded, and he grabbed the door handle. It was ice cold.

He slammed the door open, reading to fight, until-

"S-Stop!"

The room was a rather strange sight to witness. A cold layer of ice lined the floor and snaked up the walls. It also coated the feet of the four guards of the room, rending them unable to move. The cuffs that were presumably meant to be tied to the hostages were instead covering each guard's wrists.

One of them had been gagged, for extra measure, whimpering.

He heard the telltale click of a gun, and his eyes snapped to the centre of the room.

Of the five hostages in the room, four of them had been knocked out entirely. They all looked to be pro Heroes, so he could only guess they had been poisoned extra.

Meanwhile, the fifth hostage seemed uninhibited, and was, more importantly, pointing a gun at him.

He quickly raised his hands in surrender. "Miss, you can lower your weapon. I'm a Hero."

The woman, who he recognised as the daughter of Endeavour, breathed a sigh of relief and lowered her weapon. "Oh, thank goodness. This gun isn't even loaded."

He nodded. "Good. I imagine this ice is your handywork?"

Todoroki nodded. "Since my father, is, uhm, well, you know, I got myself a licence to use my quirk to defend myself. I'm a bit out of practice, sorry."

Kousuke chuckled. "I doubt anyone would hold it against even you if you didn't have a licence right about now, miss. And if this is what you consider out of practice…"

Terashi smiled. "Nevertheless, you're a civilian. We're going to go on ahead, so stay here, alright? Keep guard of these four if you can. And whatever you do, don't leave until someone picks you up."

Todoroki nodded, clenching her fist around the weapon she was holding like a lifeline. "I understand. Stay safe!"

*Rumble…*

Terashi shrugged. "About as safe as we can be. Come on!"

Kousuke nodded. "You got it!"

*THWIP*

Mezou dodged another bullet of foam, once again forced back down the hallway.

Despite being, well, foam, the projectiles were painful, hitting with more force than he had expected. More notably, however, was their effect on his and Cottus' quirks.

Any impact against either of their grown arms caused the limbs to rapidly dissolve, thankfully cutting off when it reached their standard limbs.

Somewhere along the line, he heard Cottus mumble something about a cold case. Missing Woman, kidnapped from her home three years ago. Quirk: Cleaning. It fit the bill.

Annoyingly, it meant that the two of them were fighting without quirks, considering they couldn't use up too much energy, since their next opponent was an unknown.

Thankfully…

"Boof!"

Hound charged forward, landing a solid headbutt on the woman, pushing her back. Down the hallway, before leaping back to avoid retaliation.

Cottus shifted his weight, preparing to go on the offence again. "I don't know whether to be embarrassed or proud that the dog is fighting way better than we are."

Mezou shrugged, unsure of what to say, while Hound simply huffed.

Zookeeper stood back up, staring them down. She looked back, realising that there wasn't much hallway left behind her. She was set to lose the war of attrition.

Still without emotion, the woman pointed her mop forward. "It appears I am to lose this fight."

Mezou nodded. "That is correct. Would you like to surrender?"

She shook her head. "I'm afraid I cannot."

Zookeeper closed her eyes, before clenching her fists around her Weapon's hilt.

Cottus glared. "I know this kind of move! Brace!"

A glowing pulse glowed from the woman's hands, and the soapy foam that had built up around the hallway began to shift.

"Better yet, RUN!"

Zookeeper opened her eyes.

"MASS CLEANING!"

Mezou closed his eyes, braced for impact, but-

The impact never arrived.

He opened his eyes to a wall that hadn't been there before, which rapidly dissolved into a hallway devoid of foam.

Cottus breathed heavily, his left arm contorted into a very much wrong shape under the strain of manifesting as many limbs as he did at once, completely covering the three of them.

Hound whined, running up to Cottus as he slid down the side of the wall, breathing heavily. "Heh… how's that for a cool move…"

Mezou looked to the arm. It was mangled, broken in a few places. But if they were quick enough about it…

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Nothing about that injury should be permanent."

Cottus matched his sigh, chuckling. "Thank hell… go check up on the Villain, would you? I'll catch up in… a second."

He heavily doubted that, but that was beside the point. He quickly turned to Zookeeper, who was clearly on her last legs, having fallen to the ground, skin flaking as a clear sign of quirk overuse.

Mezou sat down next to her. "Are you alright?"

She nodded slowly, her breathing heavy despite a lack of pain on her face. "It appears I have failed in my function, which means I am to return to…"

Mezou shook his head. "That would be unnecessary, Zookeeper-san. Once the police arrive, you will be taken into protective custody, where they will do their best to uncover your former Identity and remove as many of the quirks affecting you as possible."

A deep breath, as if the pressure remaining on her was released. "I see. That is logical."

He nodded. "Good. You may sleep, now."

Mezou was not designed with a response, the woman in front of him simply sinking into unconsciousness. He picked her up, gently moving her to the side.

Cottus nodded, pulling himself up, much to Hound's disapproval. "Alright. Just one more thing to go. You think you can handle this, Tentacole?"

Mezou nodded. "I have plenty of energy left."

Cottus smiled, wrapping his jacket around his broken arm with a wince. "Then let's go."

Yugami (-Real name discarded, weak, like the rest-) scowled as he watched the happenings over the cameras.

All this effort, and these ingrate Heroes were on track to ruin it.

Months of recruitment and mental shifting. Years of logistics, of training, of finding, of paying. He had even given up his damn secret identity to make this happen, and yet…

All it took was a few people not drinking their god damn poison.

His plan had been perfect! Planned down to the letter, accounting for incompetence to a degree he thought was reasonable.

Clearly, he was wrong, since his horde was failing.

His skin itched behind his mask. Not yet.

Deep breath.

Losses could always be used to your advantage.

He had done it once when All Might had ripped their group to shreds, allowing him to claw his way to the top of the chain of command.

Bearhead would hold the line, no doubt, even against the Heroes that had broken out. Thus, no support would be coming. Not for a while.

The last checkup had reported that they had found most of the island's citizens, and there was little resistance. All he had to do was get the media's eye on them before he could dispose of them all.

Whatever damage that brat had done to Zookeeper's conditioning would be repaired, and the combat had proved that Cleaning could be used effectively in combat, if not with support. He had paid good money for her, so he wasn't going to lose that tool just yet.

Most annoyingly, however, he would have to reacquire that repulsive creature the Doctor (a snivelling man, but a useful one) had used to refresh his commands to his horde, but it was worth it until he could use the chaos of his revolution to acquire more loyal members.

Three of them were coming close now. The necessary footage was acquired, ready to be broadcast everywhere in mere minutes, and his important people were still in positions that would let him recover them.

All he would need to do first would be to crush some insects.

Put on your brave face, Nanashi.

He took a deep breath, letting the pulsing feeling of pain in his arm descend into a dull hum. (Thank you, Shouji family genetics, for once coming in handy.)

Tentacole (Mezou, fifteen, damn it all.) pushed open the door in front of them.

The principal's office was rather down to earth, all things considered. The few times he had met the woman; she had been a respectable lady who truly did wish to educate the youth of her home.

The pile of memorabilia swept to the floor next to the desk was… indicative.

Sitting in the woman's chair, The Curator (Of course the snivelly man had survived the first destruction of the Wild Villains. No one had found a body, and he certainly wasn't amongst those arrested.) sat, glaring with his one visible eye, smirk just about visible over his covered mouth.

"Ah, the Heroes of Nabu island. Come to squash another civil rights movement like your equivalents on the mainland?"

Nanashi couldn't help but snort. "Ah, yes, a civil rights movement. And I'm the prime minister now too, huh?"

Curator shrugged, smirking in a way that oozed repulsing confidence. "Ah, it was worth a try. You are aware there is no way you can win this, yes? You may have… disrupted my progress, but you have only succeeded in stalling for time."

Like Nanashi was doing right now, considering his own phone had rumbled for a second before losing signal again.

"Sure, if that's what you want to believe."

Mezou remained quiet, standing right behind him, sending a solid glare in the Curator's direction.

The Curator, for his part, was unfazed. "I suppose that just makes this all the more dramatic."

The Villain pulled out a phone. Nine PM. Prime time news hour.

"I'm afraid even if you somehow succeed, it will be too late. Hookclaw?"

The phone connected with a harsh buzz as it connected to the radio.

*PSH* "CURATOR, SIR! WE'RE…" *PSH* "THE HEROES AND CIVILIANS…" "GET THE #### OFF OUR ISLAND OR EAT SWORD!" *PSH*

Nanashi grinned. "Not quite going your way?"

He almost wished he had a camera, only to capture the expression on the Villain's face, rapidly switching from bewildered to furious, before switching into a much calmer expression. "A problem for later. Bearhead?"

*PSH* "…" *PSH*

The radio broadcast was filled with silence, the only noise the whistling wind and the silent, slow breaths of the Villain, unconscious.

Mezou took charge, presumably smiling under his mask. "It appears that we have overcome your forces, Curator. Would you like to surrender?"

The Villain's eyes shot up from his phone, his composure shattering.

From Nanashi's former encounters with that expression, either they had just won, or something was about to go very, very wrong.

"No… NO!"

*CRASH*

The desk the man was sitting in front of was thrown to the side as the Villain's body began to pulse, shaking.

*Rumble…*

"I WILL NOT LOSE! I'VE SACRIFICED TOO MUCH TO GIVE IN TO SOME INSOLENT ####ING HEROES!"

Oh-oh.

Curator quickly pulled a syringe out of his pocket, glaring.

"My plan isn't over… until I'M DEAD!"

Nanashi's eyes widened. "TRIGGER!"

Mezou prepared to dash forward to try and stop him, but a moment later, the man had already taken the dose.

The Villain's body pulsed, and began to swell, growing in size.

If they weren't quick enough, they would be crushed.

Damn it, damn it, damn it- THERE!

With one solution available, he took it.

He grabbed Mezou with his one arm, hoping like hell Hound would get the message… 

And leaped through the window.

"GRIP OF THE FURIOUS!"

Mezou landed on the pile of arms with a thud, wincing. It hurt, but he could still fight. Next to him, Hound landed with a flourish, seemingly uninjured.

"Sheesh… no luck with arms, today…"

Cottus got up, returning the many arms he had manifested to save them from the fall into himself, wincing. "I'm at my limit. Let's hope backup gets here soon…"

They had landed on the school field, empty. Looking back to the school's entrance, Mezou could spy many of the remaining Villains, all staring at the three of them.

"Grrr…."

"That is... a lot of Villains."

Cottus grunted. "I wish that was our only problem."

Mezou followed where his mentor was looking. He turned to face the top floor of the school, where…

Oh dear.

A hulking figure leaped emerged, breaking through the roof, before preforming a giant leap, breaking the floor beneath it.

*CRASH*

Mezou's could only hope that no one inside was harmed.

The figure, Curator, he was fairly certain, now, crashed in front of them, glaring. His body had shifted, growing in size into a giant creature.

His lower body had swelled, with thick blue and white skin covering powerful muscles. His head, meanwhile, had shifted into a truly monstrous form, laced with teeth.

"Is that… a Whale!?"

Cottus nodded. "He's not supposed to be that big, though. Must have been a damn strong dose of trigger…"

"BY MY ORDERS, NONE OF YOU HEROES WILL LEAVE HERE ALIVE!"

The Villain let out a titanic roar, eye's becoming bloodshot.

"GORAAAAH!"

"Welp… NOW WOULD BE THE TIME TO RUN!"

Curator stormed towards them one all fours, each step shaking the ground.

Mezou quickly helped his mentor to his feet, the pair quick to run back.

"What do we do!?"

"Stall! What else are we going to do!"

*SMASH*

Mezou leaped to the side alongside the others, narrowly dodging the Villain's attempt to charge into them, teeth gnashing.

"Right. Keep doing that!"

Curator continued to chase them, occasionally going for a smash move, but they managed to stall for a decent while, until-

*WHAM*

Mezou dived as a fist collided with the ground behind him.

The Villain towered over them, roaring.

Curator raised a fist.

(It was then, for a brief moment, that Mezou had the distinct feeling that he was about to die. He could only hope his death would be one of the few, but…)

"WITH FORTUNATE TIMING, THE BACKUP FORCED THE GREAT WHALE BACK!"

*WHAM*

Swordpow's gauntlet collided with the chin of the Whale Villain, and the hit was true.

Amplified by Shakespeare's power, the Villain was pushed onto his back with a roar.

Yui quickly ran forward, helping the trio of Mezou, Cottus, and Hound to their feet, quickly leading them away from the struggling Villain, Swordpow and Shakespeare on her tail until they ended up on the opposite end of the field.

Cottus huffed, eyes wide. "I thought… I was a goner… nice save."

Shakespeare nodded. Her right arm bandaged just enough to allow her to function, but Yui had the feeling the moment any remaining adrenaline wore off, she would pretty much instantly collapse.

"You can owe me later… and here I thought we had busted the biggest Villain here. What the hell is that?"

Mezou sent a glare in the Villain's direction. "The Curator. He took a dose of Trigger and forced us out of the building. Whatever strand of the stuff he took must have been… strong."

Swordpow gulped. "Trigger that would make him that big has to have consequences. I doubt that there's much going on in his brain."

Considering the Villain was currently kicking around like a turtle, Yui could see it, but once the Curator could control himself properly…

It was then she had an idea.

Yui nodded. "Overwhelm him."

Shakespeare looked to her, nodding. "Right! It'll be hard, but if we work together, we can…"

Cottus shook his head. "The idea works, but two of us aren't exactly in fighting condition."

"I think there's a solution to that!"

The group all turned to face behind them, where they witnessed a very beleaguered Mr. Shimano running towards them, his son on his back and his daughter on his heels.

*WHAM*

"What's gotten into them!?"

Kousuke dodged an attack from a Villain, landing a kick to their side before jumping back to dodge another.

One of the two Terashi's stood behind him, fighting two Villains himself. "Probably to got something to do with the GIANT WHALE OUTSIDE!"

The two of them had dashed to the school's main entrance, wanting to help their allies, but had instead found pretty much all of the remaining Villains cowering from the lumbering figure they had heard leap off the top floor. When they had spotted the two of them, they had practically flown into a blood rage, seemingly copying the Mantra of the big Villain.

"You shall not leave here alive!"

"I heard it the last four times!"

Like it or not, two versus fifty wasn't exactly a fair fight, and the two of them were already worn out from the fight through the halls.

*WHAM*

Kousuke snapped around to spot his friend being flung across the room, landing on the other side with a crash.

"No!"

He landed a knockout punch to the side of the Villain that had thrown the other Hero, before dashing to his side.

Terashi was breathing heavily, just about holding onto conscious. He could only guess at least a couple of the man's bones were broken.

His gaze snapped to the Villain's that had begun to circle them, and he glared.

His mind churned, bringing his sight to memories of old battles, of old friends lost.

Never again.

He stood up, shifting into a guarding position. "Alright, you bastards… I WON'T GO DOWN SO EASY!"

He dodged another swing from an insectoid Villain, snapping the man's arm and throwing him across the room into another. It took every ounce of control to limit the power of the throw enough to stop it from being lethal. But more kept coming.

Pig, Dog, Wolf, Lion… He had already begun to lose chunks of metal, revealing flayed flesh underneath, but he-

*SHLINK*

"GAH!"

Someone managed to stab a knife through two notches in his metal covering, piercing through into flesh and forcing him to the ground.

The Villain stepped forward, glaring sharply and raising the knife again.

He scowled. At least he went down fighting-

*SLAM*

The Villain that was standing above him fell to the ground. He looked up, finding a figure standing over him, offering a hand.

It was… a civilian?

He took the hand, taking a heavy breath. "What's… going on…?"

They smirked offering a shoulder to lean on while a large group rushed in, quickly disabling the remaining Villains themselves. Even the angriest of Villain's couldn't beat a group four times their size.

"You did pretty good, Tinman-san, but you don't need to worry anymore. After all…"

The civilian, a young man who he had only met a few times, smiled.

"Your efforts have paid off."

It was in times where he lacked it that Mezou was grateful for his Hero costume. The thing was far more durable than he gave it credit for.

Instead, he had had to discard a large portion of his suit. The jacket and the tie where easy to discard, put taking off his tattered mask and leaving his scars open to see made him… anxious. Nonetheless, he had more important things to focus on right now.

Namely the giant hulking Villain that had managed to get back on its feet and was currently storming towards them, rage overpowering its logic.

"RAH!"

Cottus, arms healed to the point of just about being usable, scowled. "For the record, if this fails, it wasn't my idea."

Shakespeare's own arm was still a little too mangled to be useable, but the pain was at least suppressed. "Yeah, yeah. I think it's time the two of you leave."

Mr. Shimano didn't hesitate, picking up a child in each arm despite looking dead on his feet. "Right. Win this!"

The timely arrival of Mr. Shimano and his son had been fortunate, but neither had the energy to use their quirks to great effect. It was reassuring, at least, to see a couple dozen of the civilians storm into the school, hopefully easing the problems he figured the two remaining Heroes in there were facing.

Which left dealing with the big whale up to them. If they could knock him out…

Backup was on its way, as far as Yui knew, but they couldn't risk keeping the signal open and allowing the Villain's to get a message out. Thus, they could only hope, and fight.

"The Villain's here! Scatter!"

Instantly, the group of six split, all moving in different directions as the Villain roared. "NO!"

Mezou guessed that, were the Villain not on Trigger, it was likely that they would have been able to easily overcome this method of attack, targeting each of them one by one, crushing them.

Instead, the Villain's attention was split.

Hound dashed forward, landing on solid hit on the Villain's leg, slowing him down, before dashing back to dodge the ensuing swipe.

In the darkness, the Villain's sight was weakened, causing him to mostly rely on sound.

*SLAP*

A string of arms from his mentor hit near the Villain's eye, turning him around again.

Curator's skin was rock solid, but…

"The head!"

Mezou shouted out, getting his teammates attention, but it forced him back as Curator's attention turned to him.

A solid hit… and they could end it.

Hound, Swordpow and Mezou were all able to pepper the Villain with attacks, slowly whittling them down, but it wouldn't be enough… that was it.

Mezou slid close to his mentor while the Villain's attention was on the others.

"Could you hold him in place?"

He nodded. "It'll be hard. Can you end it?"

Mezou matched the nod. "With Rule's help."

"Got it. Get ready!"

The pair split again, continuing to circle Curator.

He eventually ran next to Rule, relaying his plan. He got a nod in return.

"GRAH!"

Eventually, the time arrived.

Cottus moved to a stop at his position behind the Villain.

"He's overwhelmed! NOW!"

Shakespeare smiled, coming to stand right beside him. "Alright. This is gonna be big!"

She quickly scribbled on her last piece of paper, the text so tiny it was barely legible, with just enough space to activate her quirk. She grinned.

"IN AN ACT OF GRAND BRAVADO, COTTUS FOUND OVERWHELMING STRENGTH IN THE PIVOTAL MOMENT!"

The moment her sentence finished, Shakespeare fell to the ground, but her quirk did its job. Cottus' arms began to glow a deep crimson, bulging in size. The man smirked, raising them.

"Alright! The rest is up to you all!"

A moment later, Dozens more arms appeared from Cottus, spiralling upwards in a tidal wave, before wrapping themselves around Curator's waist.

"TITANOMACHY!"

The Villain thrashed, shouting and screaming. "NO! YOU CANNOT CONTAIN ME! I AM THE WILD ONE! I AM FREE! I AM THE STRONGEST!"

Mezou shouted, just about heard over the Villain. Next to him, Yui braced, holding a bat she had borrowed from a civilian in her hand, face determined.

"You cannot be truly free if your freedom is caused by oppressing others! No matter how cruelly they treated you, you cannot become worse than them!"

The Villain thrashed, slowly whittling down the many arms holding him in place.

"NOT SO FAST!" "WOOF!"

Hound and Swordpow's step was next, the pair crashing into each side of the Villain, pinning him in place, either by weight or by blade.

Swordpow grinned. "Now, you two! End it!"

Mezou nodded to his classmate, making what should have been a truly insane choice.

Instead of running away from the Villain, the two ran towards him.

The bat in Yui's hands began to glow, growing in size. Mezou's quickly multiplying limbs quickly reached to the girl, grabbing a hold of her.

A moment later, when the two where only a short distance away, he launched her into the air with a powerful throw.

(The last time Yui was in the air, like this, she crashed into an artificial ocean. Needless to say, her reaction time has gotten better.)

While Yui reared her rapidly growing bat back as it swelled in size, Mezou dashed forward, manifesting as many limbs as he could, winding up for a punch.

And…

A

Moment

Later…

"OCTOBLOW!" "RAH!"

*WHA-KRA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!*

The.

Hits.

Connected.

~ {3} ~

SATURDAY (MORNING)

*Beep* … *Beep* … *Beep*

Yui was typically a slow riser. Her body woke up bit by bit, and she wasn't truly functional until she had eaten a full meal.

That standard didn't apply as Yui woke up, her body pulsing in pain. She shot up quickly looking around the room.

Where was she? What happened? Where?

"Yui! It's alright!"

She was snapped back into reality by a familiar voice. Right. She wasn't of sound mind.

Deep breath in. Deep breath out.

A few moments later, reset, she woke up for real.

She found herself in a hospital bed. Her clothing had been swapped out for a hospital gown, a small IV drip in her arm. She looked to her left, spotting Mezou, sitting in his own bed, smiling softly at her, his mask missing.

"What is the last thing you remember?"

Yui thought back… and her eyes widened.

"Villains. Where?"

"You'll be happy to know that they're all gone!"

Her eyes turned to the rest of the room.

The hospital room they were in was large, sporting seven beds. It had a large window, revealing early morning light. In front of her, she spotted the voice that spoke.

Katsuya smirked from his own hospital bed. He was looking a little worse for wear, the metal covering him filled with dents. His hospital gown folded over his chest awkwardly, indicating that a few pieces were even missing.

"You were the last to wake up, Yui."

She looked to the rest of the beds, where she found the rest of Gulch Hero Agency's members, sitting quietly, smiling at her. There was even a dog bed, where Tetsudou sat, panting quietly, a small bandage covering one of her paws.

It dawned on her what this meant.

Her throat was horse, unable to muster any words.

[We won?]

Shirahama, from his just about visible bed opposite Mezou's, let out a hardy chuckle. "Heck yeah we did!"

It seemed that the man's proclamation opened the floodgates, as noise erupted into the room.

"WE DID IT!" "Gulch for the win!" "Hah! Victory!" "WOOF!"

"That would be correct."

The group quieted down as the door to their room opened, a group of nurses quickly dashing in, moving to check their vitals now that they were all awake. Behind them, a figure she did recognise walked in.

Mezou was quick to raise the prompt before she did. "Aizawa-sensei?"

Their teacher turned to them, face neutral. He was in his costume, minus the capture weapon.

As the nurses confirmed they were all alright and left the room, Aizawa-Sensei put out a chair. "Kodai, Shouji, Gulch agency."

The Heroes present all nodded, looking to Illucient for reference, who nodded. His chest was wrapped in bandages, and his breathing was heavy, but he was functional. "Eraserhead."

Their teacher sighed. "Available Heroes are few at the moment, so I was brought here with the second wave of backup, both to check on my students and to force The Curator to deactivate his quirk. You'll be displeased to know that the man is currently in a coma due to the experimental strand of Trigger he used."

The Heroes all scowled at that, and Aizawa continued. "While I'm here, I offered myself to debrief you all once you woke up. Any immediate questions before I begin?"

Hikari raised a hand (the good one of the two, the other still heavily bandaged) up. "What's the final casualty count?"

Aizawa smirked, then. "Thanks to the valiant Heroic efforts of Gulch agency and their interns… zero."

"That's what I like to hear!"

Yui smiled. There efforts had paid off.

"Right. Moving on to the remaining topics…"

"The first wave of backup arrived approximately thirty minutes after the defeat of the A+ class Villain known as The Curator. While most of the active Hero presence was unconscious by then, Pro Hero Swordpow, the last conscious member of Team Gulch capable of speech, was able to debrief the arriving police and Heroes of the situation before he and his compatriots were rushed to the hospital, suffering various injuries."

"Hell yeah! I knew keeping myself upright was worth it!"

"Achem. As Swordpow claimed, many of the Villains were released from an unknown form of brainwashing upon regaining consciousness, although they are currently being kept under suspicion alongside any other captured Villains on the Charon Mobile Villain Retention Ship until their innocence is confirmed. All things willing, we'll be able to source a Polygraph Quirk to do so soon enough.

The sole exception to this is the 'Villain' known as Zookeeper, who was quickly rushed to a mainland hospital due to her harsh head injury that occurred during Curator's transformation, as well as the heavier brainwashing applied to her. The police have uncovered a missing person believed to match her, but there is no confirmation yet. Her existence is currently being kept a secret from the public eye, and various doctors and quirk scientists are working to clear her brainwashing but are unlikely to make much progress until she returns to consciousness."

"Do you believe that this may be a step in the right direction for other victims of brainwashing, Sensei?"

"I couldn't tell you… but we can hope."

"I see…

"But… all in all… we can consider this incident a complete Heroic victory, which is good, considering the optimism it is encouraging after the attack on Hosu that occurred at the same time."

"THE WHAT!?"

SATURDAY (AFTERNOON)

"Sheesh… we cut it close there, huh?"

Mezou nodded at his cousin's statement. "I believe so. If Japan had faced the news of the death of so many people in power in combination with an attack on the mainland…"

Yaoki shook his head. "Ah, but let's not think about what ifs! We won, no?"

Mezou nodded. The pair had been let out of the Hospital first, with their arms' regeneration abilities causing their injuries to be the least dramatic. They had been 'politely' instructed by their teammates to bring back news of the goings on of the island, as well as to "Secure the home front."

Thankfully, everywhere they went… they were met with support.

"Cottus! Tentacole! How are the rest of Gulch Agency!?"

Mezou smiled lightly as Eisei walked towards them, his children who knows where. Cottus nodded, shaking the man's hand. "Bored out of their minds. What's the news here?"

Eisei smiled softly as he looked over the area. "Repairs are going well. Besides the school, which is thankfully being paid for by the mainland government, infrastructure damage was minimal enough that we should be back to normal before long, but a lot of people's stuff got banged up. People are mostly unnerved by the military."

"Right…"

The government's response had been quick and brutal, what with the focus set on the mainland. Japan's military was small, but it could spare a platoon to stay on the island until safety was confirmed was set to stick around for about a month in case of a counterattack occurring before the members of Gulch Agency were healed from their rather extensive injuries. It was a small group, but they seemed friendly enough, and they had a minimal healthy fear of the island's populace.

"Anyone trying to bother any of you?"

"A few bureaucrats got on us for fighting back, but the laws regarding quirk use during Villain attacks is so messy already that we all pretty much got away with a stern warning. At least the media doesn't seem to have found out about that part yet."

Mezou flinched. The approach of the mass media had been halted by the Hosu attack, but they'd be here soon enough, and they were already talking up a storm about the attack, mainly due to the many famous people that had been present. Thankfully, Yui and Mezou's names were kept off the books, and they would be gone before the cameras struck the island.

(A lot of the news reports had been discussing the rise of non-spotlight Heroics at present, but opinions were… divisive. Nonetheless, Team Gulch was being pointed at as an example of a very proficient Hero team, so no one could hold their slight anonymity against them.)

Eisei simply shrugged. "It's better than death, you know. We really can't thank you all enough. Nabu island owes you."

The man gave a look to Mezou. "Especially you and Rule. I don't think this is what's normally supposed to happen during internships…"

Mezou shrugged. "If our presence saved lives, I won't complain, Shimano-san."

Eisei shook his head. "We'll, if either of you, or any of your classmates, for that matter, need my help, I'm at your beck and call. As are the rest of us, I'm sure."

Cottus nodded, taking a sip of his drink. "I'm just glad it's over. Now where are the kiddies? Konatsu and Shirahama wanted pictures at minimum."

Eisei smiled. "Oh! Their right over this way. I can lead you…"

As conversation led into chatter, Mezou smiled.

The act of saving people was… fulfilling.

And, if he kept it up…

Maybe he could save even those who didn't even know they needed to be saved.

The S.S Liberation (Not that the legal documents used that name, of course, but it was the name he coined when he bought the thing.) sped across the ocean, making the trip back to the mainland.

Rikiya took a sip from his glass, taking a deep breath. The Villain attack had been far more… dramatic than he had expected. He knew that the Wild Villains were going to erupt, but he hadn't expected it to be so… coordinated.

It irked him to say it, but the Heroes coming in to save the day had prevented heaps of trouble.

Needless to say, he had been quick to evacuate the island. Thankfully, he dodged any suspicion, because many of his wealth class did the same. Around when he left, he even spotted Endeavour sneaking off, a smiling (likely thanks to newly acquired blackmail. Smart girl.) daughter on his heels.

Geten was still weakened by his stronger dose of poison, but he would recover when at home.

Still… this presented one problem.

The Curator was an idiot, no matter how conniving he was, there was no way he planned such a coordinated attack on his own. Which meant…

He smirked, spinning his glass around, careful not to crush it beneath his fingers.

It appeared that they would need to do some… investigating.

Terashi settled himself down into his office chair. Getting himself here from the hospital was a pain, but there was no way he was meeting an H.P.S.C official without the home field advantage.

His office was almost just like he left it, bar some cleaning. (Thanks to a group of teenagers who had taken to doing their part by cleaning up any damage left behind. Good kids.)

Setting his crutch to the side and sitting himself upright, he looked to H.P.S.C member who sat himself down opposite him. "Now, sir, you must understand I'm busy with recovery at the moment, so may I ask we keep this short?"

The official, A portly man with shock white hair, a twirly Mustache, and a third eye on his forehead, nodded. "Of course. I won't beat around the bush. We would like to update the status of Gulch agency."

Here we go.

The official pulled out a standard contract. "We'd like you to stay on Nabu full time."

Eh?

He took a hold of the contract with his good hand. Skimming through it was easy enough. Secure your position and act as Nabu island's official Hero protection full time, gain full ownership of agency grounds, increased pay to account for the lack of commission, inspections-

Wait a second!

He skimmed back to the pay. That number… it was almost double their current pay. On top of the incident pay they were getting for stopping the wild Villains pretty much on their own…

Terashi scowled. "The H.P.S.C doesn't do something for nothing. What's the catch?"

Terashi knew most of the H.P.S.C operations from his own time there, and he could guess how its members were based of their disposition. The man in front of him was quiet, blunt, and screamed 'nobody relevant.' A background actor through and through, and someone who had about a fifty percent chance of acting in the way he expected.

He seemed to win the coin flip, as the man nodded, unphased. "It's hush money, functionally. We didn't think attacks would hit the outer islands, so they weren't as secure as they should have been. You take this money, you don't complain, and the hole is patched."

The H.P.S.C was not inherently an evil group. He knew that to some degree… they wanted to keep the peace. He sighed as he went over the facts in his head.

The pros outweighed the cons, even if it irked him. After all… there was nothing stopping him from travelling outside of the area his agency controlled to investigate a few things, no?

"I think our group will be happy to settle down. Some of us are tired of travelling, you know?"

The official smiled, shaking the offered hand.

While Terashi saw him out, he mentally began to put together an email.

Had hadn't chatted much with U.A's principal much as of late, had he?

SUNDAY (MORNING)

"So, you'll be staying here for the foreseeable future?"

Yaoki nodded as the three of them walked through the streets. "Don't say it too loudly. We're gonna surprise everyone with it later once everything's calmed down, you know?"

"Mmh…"

Mezou stretched, holding onto his bags, a decent degree heavier than when he arrived. He had secured a decent number of items to bring home with him, after all, alongside plenty of experiences.

He had a plenty long story to tell his father and friends, at least.

Finally, they arrived at the port. The ship they had intended to use was long gone, but thankfully, another ship, one that delivered emergency supplies to the island, offered to help get them home.

Mezou did his best not to balk at the sight of the rest of the agency.

Kabeya chuckled at the pair's surprise, stepping forward with the rest of the agency.

"What? You didn't expect anyone to see you off?"

"True enough." "Mmh…"

"You can consider yourselves lucky we told them you wouldn't have space in your bags for any more things."

Katsuya smirked. "We did get U.A's mail address from your teacher before he left again, though!"

Oh dear.

As various evil looking grins covered the present Heroes, Illucient led the pair towards the stairway to the ship. "That aside…"

Kabeya bowed to the two students. "It was a pleasure to have you for this week, Tentacole, Rule. We look forward to seeing you become Heroes."

*sniff* "Are you crying?" "No, you're crying!" "Woof!"

Mezou nodded, turning to his cousin. "Thank you for looking after us."

Yaoki simply grinned. "Hey, we got paid. Come back next year, alright?"

He nodded, and Yui flashed a thumbs up next to him.

"If we can, we will."

The two Heroes in training stood on the prow of the ship that would take them home as it began to move, heading back to the mainland.

As the citizens of Nabu island moved about, recovering from the attack that had made them fear for their lives, many of them looked over in it's direction, smiling even if it was unseen.

Near the edge of the sea, the present Heroes, Nabu island's protectors, waved with various degrees of cheer, happy to have met them if even for a brief time.

And…

The two of them took their first steps toward their own futures.