The train slowed as it entered the underground station in Yokohama, Kanagawa, until it finally came to a stop with a long metallic screech, followed by the electronic chime announcing that the doors were opening.
The train ground to a complete halt beside the platform. The doors slid open, releasing a wave of passengers who scattered through the station in different directions, some still staring at their phones, others carrying shopping bags, and some simply trying to get home after a long day.
Among them was a blond boy who looked far too out of place for someone trying not to attract attention.
Dash was wearing completely casual clothes that night. Dark pants, sneakers, a simple T-shirt under a jacket, and a cap that, according to him, was more than enough to count as a disguise.
As soon as he stepped out of the train, he walked over to one of the station signs and stopped to look around.
For someone so used to solving almost any problem by simply running until he found the answer, being forced to search for someone in the middle of a crowd like this felt strangely frustrating.
Dash stood on his tiptoes.
Nothing.
He looked left and right until he spotted a raised hand above the crowd.
A familiar head of red hair appeared just beneath it.
Dash smiled slightly and walked toward Kirishima, who was leaning against a pillar with his phone in one hand.
"You actually came."
Kirishima slipped the phone into his pocket.
"So did you."
The two started walking toward the stairs leading out of the station.
When they finally reached the surface, they were greeted by Yokohama's nighttime bustle. Headlights swept across the avenues, neon signs illuminated the fronts of buildings, and dozens of people moved along the sidewalks without the slightest idea why two U.A. students were there at that hour.
Kirishima pulled out his phone again.
"So..."
He opened the group chat.
"...looks like it's just the two of us."
Dash looked at the screen over his shoulder.
The replies hadn't changed.
Almost everyone had been against it.
Some because they thought the idea was stupid.
Others because they were absolutely certain Aizawa would personally kill them if he found out.
Kaminari had sent a whole string of messages saying he wanted to help, followed almost immediately by another one saying that, after thinking about it for five minutes, this was probably the worst idea they'd ever had.
Sero had been even more direct.
Sero: No.
Mina had spent nearly half an hour trying to convince Kirishima to give up on the idea.
Dash still wasn't exactly sure how that had gone.
Kirishima sighed and put his phone away.
"To be fair, I get where they're coming from."
Dash looked at him.
"What we're doing is incredibly stupid."
"Can you stop saying that?"
"But it is."
Kirishima crossed his arms.
"We're going after a villain organization that attacked our training camp and kidnapped Takeda, and we don't have an actual plan beyond 'get there and figure something out.'"
Dash frowned.
"I have a plan."
"What is it?"
"Save Takeda."
Kirishima stared at him.
"That's an objective..."
"Sounds like a plan to me."
"That's not how plans work."
Dash opened his mouth to answer, but Kirishima continued.
"Still..."
He looked toward the city lights.
"...I can't just stay home knowing he's trapped with those guys."
Kirishima clenched his fist.
"Takeda would've gone after any one of us if we'd been the ones kidnapped."
Dash didn't even have to think before answering.
"I know."
"So... if there's even a chance Takeda is at the location you fou—"
"Dash!"
Both of them froze when someone shouted from behind them.
Dash's eyes widened.
He knew that voice.
Slowly turning around, he recognized the blond girl with two horns rushing out of the station entrance, weaving past people as she headed straight toward them.
"Pony?!"
Kirishima looked just as surprised.
"Wait, how did she know we'd be here?"
Pony crossed the last few meters at almost a run.
Dash hurried toward her as well.
"What are you doing he—"
SLAP!
Her palm struck Dash's face hard enough to snap his head to the side.
Kirishima brought a fist to his mouth in shock.
"Ugh..."
His face twisted as though he'd felt the slap from where he was standing.
Dash slowly turned his face back toward her.
Red finger marks were already beginning to appear across his cheek.
"P-Pony...?"
"You idiot!"
She was furious.
Absolutely furious.
"Coming here and putting yourself in danger again after what happened to you at the camp!"
"I-I..."
"The girls told me everything!"
She shoved her phone toward him, showing him the messages from their girls-only group chat.
"What were you thinking?! Especially after I told you how much I worry about you?!"
Pony pointed a finger at him.
"Don't you know how dangerous this is?!"
"I know!"
"You could get hurt!"
"I know!"
"You could die!"
"I KNOW!"
Kirishima remained a few meters away.
He couldn't hear every single word over the sound of the cars and the crowd around them, but he understood the energy of the conversation perfectly.
Pony was gesturing furiously.
Dash was trying to answer.
She pointed at him.
He pointed at himself.
She stomped her foot.
And Dash looked more confused and tense with every passing second as the argument continued.
Kirishima grimaced.
"This is getting ugly..."
Then Pony suddenly grabbed Dash violently by the collar, nearly lifting him off the ground.
Kirishima's eyes widened.
"Hey, take it easy!"
He started walking toward them to intervene, especially since they were beginning to attract way too much attention from the pedestrians nearby.
"Pony, wait, we're in the middle of the stre—"
But she pulled Dash toward her, forcing him to bend down.
And Pony kissed him.
Kirishima froze mid-step.
Dash froze too.
Actually, Dash seemed to freeze in every possible definition of the word.
His eyes went completely wide while Pony kept one hand tightly clenched around his collar for several seconds.
She finally pulled away a few moments later, though she didn't release his collar immediately.
"That was for making me think you might disappear again..."
Dash remained completely motionless.
His left hand was still pressed against the red cheek she'd slapped, while the rest of his face had somehow turned almost just as red.
"Aaaa..."
While his brain was still struggling to come back online, Pony grabbed his free hand and started dragging him down the sidewalk.
"Come on."
Kirishima remained frozen just ahead of them, still stunned by what he'd witnessed.
Pony walked right past him without slowing down.
"Hurry up! Takeda isn't going to save himself!"
Kirishima blinked, staring at Dash as Pony dragged him away by the hand.
Dash passed him with the exact same frozen expression, mouth slightly open and eyes staring somewhere far beyond the boundaries of reality.
Kirishima spent another few seconds processing the scene before finally snapping out of it and running after them.
"Y-Yes, ma'am!"
As he followed them down the sidewalk, he glanced at the still-paralyzed Dash again.
"So... is this what they call hardcore love?"
----------------------------------------
The League of Villains' bar was strangely quiet for a place full of people who, according to the news, had just pulled off one of the biggest victories against U.A. in recent years.
The television mounted high on one of the walls was broadcasting the school's press conference. Nezu stood before a row of microphones, accompanied by Aizawa and Vlad King, while reporters fired questions at them so quickly they barely had time to give complete answers.
At the bottom of the screen, a red banner displayed the night's headline.
U.A. UNDER PRESSURE AFTER ANOTHER VILLAIN ATTACK AND STUDENT DISAPPEARANCE. VILLAINS VICTORY?
A commentator spoke over the footage.
"...this is already the third major incident involving U.A. students in just a few months. Although all forty students present at the training camp survived, with only four suffering minor injuries, experts continue to question how a group of villains managed to locate and infiltrate a facility that was supposed to remain secret."
The footage changed to photographs of the devastated forest.
Then to police vehicles.
Then to a picture of Ryo.
"The missing student, Rito Takeda, remains unaccounted for. U.A.'s failure to protect one of its own students has drawn growing criticism from parents and members of the public."
Twice leaned over the counter, watching with a grin beneath his mask.
"Look at that! We're celebrities!"
Dabi, slouched against a couch a few meters away, let out an irritated growl.
"Turn that shit off."
Spinner grabbed the remote and switched off the television, tossing it onto the counter with a snort.
"Victory, my ass."
Twice turned toward him.
"I agree!"
Then he shook his head.
"I completely disagree!"
Spinner ignored him.
"They're talking like we destroyed half of U.A. and casually walked away."
He gestured around the room.
"In reality, we didn't do jack shit."
Twice nodded dramatically.
"One minute we were peacefully walking through the forest, and the next, we were taking a nap on the ground!"
Spinner fell silent.
"...That's exactly what happened."
Magne rested her chin on her hand.
"Everything happened way too fast."
She looked at Spinner.
"By the time I realized something was wrong, I was already waking up here at the bar."
Spinner scoffed.
"I don't even remember seeing who hit me."
"Neither do I."
Magne then looked away.
"Well..."
Her eyes swept across the bar.
"...except for you two."
Mr. Compress remained leaning against one of the walls, arms crossed and head slightly lowered. Ever since they had returned to the hideout, he had been much quieter than usual.
On the other side of the counter, separated from the others, Toga sat with her upper body sprawled across the wooden surface.
Her arms were folded on the counter, her head buried between them.
Spinner turned his attention back to Compress.
"Alright. I'm gonna ask one last time."
Compress raised his head slightly.
Spinner pointed at him.
"You're absolutely sure it was some kid who did all that?"
Compress dug his fingers into his own arm.
"How many times are we going to have this conversation? I've already told you three times that it was him!"
Twice raised both thumbs.
"We could totally believe you!"
Then lowered both of them.
"But we never will!"
Compress took a deep breath.
Spinner shook his head.
"It's nothing personal, man. It's just hard to believe."
Compress pushed himself away from the wall.
"You can believe me or not. But I saw it."
Compress raised one hand and pointed toward his own abdomen.
"He didn't even hesitate! He shoved his hand straight through that weird guy's body like it was butter!"
Magne grimaced.
"You sure you didn't hit your head? We're talking about a kid here."
Compress slowly turned toward her.
"I'm sure!"
"Concussions can make you see some pretty weird things."
Twice nodded vigorously.
Compress clenched his fist.
"I'm serious!"
He pointed at all of them.
"You weren't there! You didn't see what I saw!"
Spinner seemed to think for a moment.
"Still... a kid killing someone..."
Twice spread his arms.
"It'd make more sense if it was All Might!"
Spinner looked at him.
"All Might wouldn't kill someone."
Compress threw his hands up in frustration.
"You're missing the point!"
Everyone looked at him again.
"If we let that kid out... he's going to slaughter everyone in here!"
Dabi opened one eye.
Spinner raised an eyebrow.
Magne stared at Compress as though she were still trying to decide whether he was exaggerating.
Compress pointed at Toga.
"Ask her! Vampire Girl knows what I'm talking about!"
But Toga didn't respond.
"Hey!"
Nothing.
"Tell them!"
Silence.
Twice waited a few seconds before turning toward Compress.
"Looks like you're on your own."
Compress clenched his fists.
"I..."
He looked at Toga one more time before exhaling and giving up.
"Forget it."
That was when black mist began gathering in the center of the bar, the dark mass rapidly expanding before taking on a humanoid shape.
Spinner lifted his head.
"Finally. Any news from Pale Hands? Haven't seen him since I woke up."
Kurogiri didn't answer him.
His yellow eyes briefly swept across the room before settling on Mr. Compress.
"You... My Master wants to speak with you."
Compress raised an eyebrow under the mask.
Kurogiri began expanding his body until it formed a large portal.
"...He wishes to see the boy."
----------------------------------------
The second hideout was located in a considerably quieter part of the city.
Dash was the first to stop in front of the gate.
The building before them was large, square, and dark, with no lights on in any of the windows and a facade old enough to look as though the rest of the street had forgotten it existed.
Dash narrowed his eyes.
"This one's different from the others."
Kirishima approached the gate and gripped two of the bars with his hands, peering inside.
"Yeah."
Weeds grew through cracks in the pavement, some tall enough to partially cover the concrete. There were even more of them along the walls and in front of the entrance itself, where small plants sprouted from old cracks.
Kirishima frowned.
"It looks abandoned just from the outside."
Dash scanned the facade.
"Doesn't look like someone's house either."
Pony stood beside him, staring at the dark windows.
"We need to find a way to see inside before we do anything."
Before they could make a move, two voices approached from farther down the sidewalk.
Two men were walking toward them, clearly drunk. One carried an almost empty can and laughed at something the other was saying, stumbling slightly every few steps.
As they passed the trio, the first man slowed down when he noticed Pony.
"Hey, princess!"
Pony raised an eyebrow.
"Wanna grab a drink with us?"
Dash immediately frowned.
Before Pony could even answer, the man's friend smacked him across the back of the head.
"Quit being an idiot."
"Ow!"
"She's obviously with someone."
The first drunk looked again, only to see Dash firmly holding Pony's hand.
The other drunk grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Come on."
"...Fine."
Dash kept watching them as they walked away, arguing with each other.
Pony glanced down at his hand still holding hers, a small smile forming on her face before she leaned slightly closer against his arm.
Which immediately made Dash turn red.
Kirishima watched the two men disappear into the distance before looking back at the couple beside him.
"That's a problem..."
Dash tore his gaze away from Pony.
"What is?"
"Not many people come through here, but someone passes by every now and then."
Kirishima pointed toward the entrance.
"If we start messing with the gate or trying to look through the front windows, someone's going to notice."
Pony looked at the building.
"So what do we do?"
Kirishima gestured toward the side.
"We go around back."
Dash looked toward the narrow alley between the warehouse and the neighboring building.
"It's pretty dark..."
"I know," Kirishima replied. "But for now, it's our best option."
With that in mind, the three made their way around the building.
The alley was even tighter than it had looked from outside. The walls of the two buildings nearly met in some places, leaving barely enough room for one person to pass through comfortably. Old boxes, pipes, garbage bags, and small puddles of water were scattered across the ground.
Dash glanced around as they moved forward.
"This place is way too cramped."
Kirishima carefully stepped past a pipe.
"But listen. First, we need to make sure it's safe before we make any moves."
"Right."
Dash looked up and spotted a window near the second floor.
The metal bars protecting it were rusty, but the glass still appeared intact.
"Hey. We could peek through there."
Pony looked up.
"Won't it be too dark?"
Dash studied the window.
"Probably."
"Good thing I brought this."
Kirishima opened the small backpack he was carrying.
Dash and Pony watched as he pulled out a pair of night-vision binoculars.
Dash blinked in surprise at the sight of them.
"Where the hell did you get that?!"
"Internet. You can buy pretty much anything online these days."
Pony took the device for a moment, examining it.
"This looks expensive..."
Kirishima scratched the back of his neck.
"It was..."
"How much?"
"Doesn't matter."
Pony looked up at him.
"Kirishima."
He sighed.
"It was expensive, okay?"
Kirishima took the binoculars back.
"But I figured they might come in handy for the mission."
He slipped the strap around his neck.
"And if they help save one of my friends' lives, then I honestly don't care how much they cost."
Dash stared at him for a few seconds, the tension in his expression easing before he lightly punched Kirishima in the shoulder.
"That was pretty damn manly of you."
Kirishima grinned.
"Thanks."
Dash looked back toward the window.
"But now we need to get up there."
Kirishima raised his head as well.
"Yeah."
Pony smiled.
"I can help with that."
A few minutes later, Dash and Kirishima were suspended in the air in front of the window.
Two pairs of Pony's horns floated beneath their feet, supporting them like small platforms while she remained on the ground, controlling their movements.
Dash pressed his face close to the glass.
"I can't see anything..."
Kirishima adjusted his footing on the horns.
"Perfect. Means this beauty's finally gonna be useful."
He raised the device to his eyes, and the interior of the warehouse came into view.
The place was enormous.
There were several stacks of boxes, old equipment, structures covered in tarps, and dust.
A lot of dust.
"What do you see?"
Kirishima kept looking.
"A bunch of junk."
He slowly moved the binoculars across the warehouse.
"But I don't see anyone."
Dash pressed his fingers against the wall.
"Then maybe this isn't the right place."
"Maybe."
"I'm not seeing anything but dus—"
Kirishima froze.
Dash noticed immediately.
"Kirishima?"
No response.
"Did you find something?"
The redhead remained completely still.
Inside the warehouse, two figures had just entered his field of vision.
One of them was extremely tall.
He wore a dark suit, and his face was completely concealed behind a black mask connected to thick tubes.
But it was the second figure that made Kirishima's heart stop.
"Takeda..."
Dash's eyes widened.
Kirishima brought the binoculars even closer to his eyes.
Ryo's body hung helplessly in the air as an enormous hand engulfed his entire head, fingers spread around his skull while the masked man held him aloft as though he weighed absolutely nothing.
----------------------------------------
5 minutes before
A black portal opened inside the abandoned warehouse.
The mist swirled for a few seconds in the middle of the empty space before Mr. Compress stepped through it, his shoes landing on a dust-covered floor.
Compress looked around.
The warehouse looked even worse on the inside than it did from the outside. Rusted beams crossed the ceiling, old metal shelves were stacked against some of the walls, and large sections of the floor remained completely empty.
"Are you sure this is the place?"
Kurogiri finished assuming his humanoid form.
"Yes."
Compress continued looking around.
"Doesn't exactly seem like the kind of place where I'd expect to find your Master."
He took a few steps before noticing several large metal tanks in the back.
Some of them stood nearly three meters tall and were lined up near the rear wall of the warehouse. Several thick pipes descended from the ceiling and connected directly into them, while cables, hoses, and small monitoring lights remained active despite the abandoned state of the rest of the building.
"And what exactly are those?"
"Just a few toys I'm still putting the finishing touches on."
Compress froze when he heard a voice behind him, instinctively turning around to see who it was.
All For One stood a few meters away in the darkness, his presence filling the space so completely that the entire warehouse seemed to shrink around him.
Kurogiri lowered his head slightly.
"Master."
All For One responded with nothing more than a small nod.
His masked face then turned toward Compress.
"It seems you have something to deliver to me."
It took Compress a few seconds to understand.
"Ah."
His hand went to the inside pocket of his coat.
"R-Right..."
He pulled out the small blue marble and held it out toward All For One.
All For One took it between two fingers, examining the tiny object in silence for a few seconds.
Then he tilted his head slightly.
"What are you waiting for?"
Compress blinked.
"Excuse me?"
"Release him."
"...Now?"
"Naturally."
Compress pressed his lips together beneath his mask.
"I'm not sure that's a good idea..."
All For One raised his nonexistent eyebrow.
"That boy is extremely dangerous."
A brief silence followed before All For One repeated the word, almost curiously.
"Dangerous?"
Compress nodded.
"Well, if that is the case..."
The arm holding the marble began to grotesquely increase in size, muscles swelling over muscles as new structures seemed to form beneath the skin. His fingers grew longer, his palm larger, and his forearm took on almost monstrous proportions.
All For One raised the deformed hand.
"...then I will take the necessary precautions."
He held the marble back out.
"Now."
Compress swallowed.
"Release him."
This time, he did not argue.
He snapped his fingers.
The marble came apart, and Ryo reappeared in midair in an instant.
His eyes widened.
"Wha—"
The change was so sudden that he did not even have time to understand where he was before an enormous hand completely engulfed his head.
All For One brought his masked face closer.
"My apologies for such a rude introduction."
Ryo's eyes widened in confusion.
"But I'm afraid I'll have to borrow your quirk."
But the moment All For One activated his quirk, everything disappeared.
He opened his eyes in a place of absolute darkness, with no clear sense of distance whatsoever.
Only darkness.
He remained still for several seconds.
"...Interesting."
His voice echoed without any discernible direction.
All For One looked around until he noticed a humanoid figure in the distance.
It was Ryo.
Or at least some representation of him.
The figure was completely black, nearly indistinguishable from the space surrounding it except for the thin white outline tracing its body. Its eyes were two empty white spheres, fixed directly upon him.
All For One frowned.
"So this is..."
The figure did not move.
"...your vestige?"
All For One took a small step forward.
"Curious. So even a quirk like yours retains an imprint of its user's conscious—"
The sentence never finished.
The entire left half of All For One's body simply vanished in a perfect arc the next instant.
His single eye widened.
Reality returned all at once as the connection was violently severed.
All For One released Ryo and stumbled backward so abruptly that he nearly lost his balance. He dropped to his knees several meters away, breathing heavily as his right hand shot toward the left side of his face, the part he had been certain had just disappeared.
Kurogiri moved immediately.
"Master!"
All For One did not respond, his breathing ragged and uneven.
Kurogiri knelt beside him.
"Are you injured?!"
Mr. Compress stared at the scene in confusion.
"What the..."
That was when he felt a crushing pressure rising behind him.
Ryo was getting back up.
His head remained lowered for several seconds as his green aura began leaking from his body.
Unstable waves rippled through the air, rising and falling in intensity without any discernible pattern. Small green sparks crawled along his arms, and the dust around him slowly began drifting away from his feet.
Compress felt sweat forming beneath his mask.
Ryo slowly raised his head, his glowing green eyes settling on all three of them.
"I knew this wasn't a good—!"
A wave of air tore past him and struck Ryo.
A gigantic mass of compressed air ripped through the warehouse, obliterating walls, beams, machinery, and practically half the building in a single attack. The roof was torn away along with huge sections of the structure, and the blast continued outward, ripping through the neighboring buildings before finally disappearing into the horizon.
Compress covered himself on instinct.
When he was finally able to look again, half the warehouse simply no longer existed.
A gigantic opening stood in its place, dust blanketing everything in sight.
Chunks of shattered wall were still falling.
Compress stared at the corridor of destruction.
"...idea?"
All For One was still kneeling, but now one arm was extended forward.
Smoke rose from his hand.
Then two green points appeared within the massive cloud of dust.
They glowed like headlights in the haze as Ryo's figure slowly emerged from the smoke.
His clothes were partially torn and shredded, but his body showed no visible signs of injury.
Ryo clenched his teeth in anger.
"This whole villain game..."
The green aura exploded around him, completely blowing away the cloud of dust that covered the area.
"...is really starting to piss me off."