Chapter 34

Shota and Emi were assigned to the raid of Chisaki's main base. Shota would have liked Mic to be there but we, alongside Gran Torino and Gang Orca, headed up the Shie Hassaikai base close by to make sure they'd have a place to ambush Chisaki if he escaped. Over the last week, they'd slowly been closing the ring in on Overhaul, taking out bases furthest away and closing inwards. Today was the end of that. Shota glanced around at the task force. Their heaviest hitters were gathered. The highest ranks, Ryukyu, Mirko and Hawks, alongside Rock Lock, Fat Gum and, surprisingly, Sir Nighteye, Mirio standing proudly next to him.

" Nighteye?" Shota asked. " Are you sure you should be here?"

" Ha. Don't worry, Eraser. I won't be going in." He reassured him. " However, I still wish to oversee this venture. I started this investigation. I wish to see it finished. I can deal with Villains on the outside with the police and then wait for results. I wouldn't want to get in the way with my injuries."

" You wouldn't get in the way, Sir!" Mirio reassured him.

" Ha. I appreciate your kind words, Mirio, but I'd rather let you focus."

" I guess you SEE your best role in this battle, eh? Eh?" Emi nudged Shota. Mirio laughed.

" I'm sorry. She's awful."

" Damn straight she is." Hawks agreed as he and Mirko approached the group. "Everything's ready to go, Nighteye. Cops are armed. Heroes are primed. The enemy probably won't see us coming."

" We're ready to kick ass, take names and arrest avian assholes." Mirko announced. " No offence to our own avian asshole, of course."

" Thanks for confirming you were insulting me, Moon Rabbit." Hawks chuckled. " Anyway, we're just waiting on your word." Sir Nighteye smiled.

" I'll admit. It's nice to be counted on again. I haven't done something this big since I worked alongside All Might." Nighteye exhaled, calming his nerves. " Everyone into position."

" Right!" Shota and Emi looked at each other before joining the rest of the heroes. Shota looked around. He spotted his kids. Bakugo doing squats to warm himself up. Kirishima nervously conversing with Fat Gum and Tamaki. Asui looking ahead with an unnaturally steely eyed glare from the girl. Tokoyami seemed calm as always outwardly but inwardly, Shoto couldn't tell.

" They'll be fine, Shota." Emi reassured him, catching his darting eyes. " Trust them."

" I'm trying." He admitted. " But as their teacher, I can't help but worry. I don't trust myself not to try and protect them recklessly. Can I ask you to have my back, Emi?" Emi smiled lightly.

" You're my friend, Shota. I'd be an idiot not to."

" Thanks. That puts my mind at ease."

" Everyone!" Shota and Emi quickly got ready at Nighteye's voice. " You know what we must do. Our prime target is a rescue mission. We must save the niece of the leader of the Shie Hassaikai whose name we believe is Eri Chisaki. We'll likely face a lot of resistance. They may be Yakuza, but they have an array of equipment that makes them possibly deadly. Don't lose heart. We must stop them here." The group nodded before beginning their advance on the facility, warrant in hand. Today would be the day the Hassaikai fell.

An explosion from above shook the building. " Man, sounds like Rikiya is getting right to work." Setsuno laughed. " Hey, Temp Squad. You hearing this shit?"

" I don't understand why they had to do this so early in the morning." Himiko complained, rubbing her eyes. " I'm so sleepy."

" Same. I'm so tired. I'm super energetic today. Wide Awake. " Twice exclaimed. Hitoshi simply rolled a shoulder, eyeing the mafia trio they'd been stuck with. Setsuno, Tabe and Hojo. Also known by the moniker of the trash trio. Not the most flattering of names, but they considered themselves that and had pride as that.

Hitoshi, of course, had been briefed by Toru of the plan a day in advance. While the heroes attacked, Izuku and a few others would slip in and rescue the young girl trapped in this base for themselves. Hitoshi had known about her for a while now, ever since Toru found her. He wanted to save her quick, but knew he couldn't. Either way, he'd been searching for holes in the Shie Hassaikai's defences.

On the grounds of a possible internal rebellion, he learned that would never happen. Of all the Shie Hassaikai, the henchmen feared the new boss while also being too loyal to the old boss, who was still being held in the building in a coma, to run off. The Eight Precepts, alongside Chronostasis and Mimic, were too loyal to Chisaki. Like Izuku, Chisaki had saved them all personally. Izuku wondered if he had better luck with the two he got a hold of. Toru forgot to say. Either way, it was his time.

" Hey." Hitoshi spoke up. " I know this is a bad time, but about that offer you gave us before."

" Hmm?" Setsuno looked up at him.

" I'd like to accept it. It may be a bad time, but I'd like you to know you can trust us to have your back."

" Woah? Seriously?" Setsuno asked, surprised. " You've decided to ditch that loser Shaggy Rocky?"

" Duh." Himiko said with a smile. " We wanna play with the strongest people. You guys are way more fun than that dusty dude."

" We were going to tell Chisaki the next time we met, but it seems as though that might not be until after this mess is sorted out. It would be better if you didn't have to watch your back, wondering if were going to turn on you, right?" Hitoshi put his hand out towards Hojo.

" I am glad you have made the right decision." Hojo said, shaking Hitoshi's hand. Setsuno threw his arm around the purple haired boys shoulder.

" Nice to have you guys on board." Setsuno said chuckling. Tabe nodded excitedly

" We play to win. I am the best loser. Twice said with a shrug. Hitoshi slowly moved Setsuno's arm off his shoulder.

" So then. Hojo. Setsuno. You never said. How does your quirks work?" Hitoshi asked, looking down at his hand, massaging his wrist. " If I know, we can work around them better. You know ours but we don't know yours."

" Yeah, that's fair." Setsuno nodded. " Mines called Larceny. I can steal shit that's in other peoples hands."

" Like, you walk up and make 'em hand it over?"

" Nope. It's like a attractive force. I just will it and it comes to me."

" Man, that would make so much things so easy." Himiko said, sounding amazed. " You could just yoink guns and stuff from gangsters and cops."

" And yours Hojo?" Hitoshi asked, pacing.

" Crystallise. I can grow blue crystals across my body from my skin. They are very durable."

" Charge time?"

" None."

" I see. " Hitoshi stopped next to Tabe. He looked up, smirking as he raised his fist. " Like this right?" Blue crystals pushed out all over Hitoshi's fist before he brought it down, smashing the crystal coated arm down on top of Tabe's head, sending the Yakuza sprawling to the ground, knocked out with blood staining his mask. Hojo and Setsuno froze in shock.

" T-That's not your quirk! That's mine!" Hojo exclaimed. " How!" Himiko burst out laughing.

" Jinny! Toshi! Look at their faces!" Himiko said between fits of giggles. Hitoshi shook his head, returning to the other League members and raising the voice modulator around his collar " They thought we were serious! Ah ha ha! What morons!"

" You people are so stupid. Did you really think we'd ever betray Tomura and Izuku and join you filth?" Hitoshi asked. Setsuno growled angrily. He reached to his side, pulling a gun from it's holster.

" You bastards!" Hitoshi held his hand out, pulling the gun from his grip across the room. He caught it, looking over it.

" You're right. This is quite useful." Hitoshi chuckled. " 1 minute has passed."

" 4 minutes to go, huh? Heh. We'll be done in half the time." Himiko giggled, pulling her knives out.

" Come on. Let's crush 'em." Twice said, pulling some of his tape from his costume. Hojo covered his body with his quirk. Setsuno got ready to fight himself, drawing a knife. Hitoshi smiled, expanding his voice modulator to the full helmet, coating his arms in Hojo's crystals using Copy. Hitoshi was glad he finally got to stop pretending to like the creeps in the Yakuza. He was going to enjoy this.

Eri flinched at the commission above, trying to quiet all the noise by pulling a pillow over her head. She hated loud noises. It brought back bad memories. Her mother screaming at her and hitting her for being a cursed child after she rewound her father. The loud machinery used by Chisaki. Of being torn apart and stitched back together over and over and over and-

" Eri?" Eri bolted up at the voice. Her heart calmed slightly as Toru took her mask off, smiling at her kindly. She knelt down to her eye level, speaking calmly. Soothingly. " Hey. Are you alright?" Eri wasn't sure how she kept managing to get away from Chisaki, but over the last few weeks, the invisible woman had become a welcome sight. Calming. Nothing like anyone else she'd met. Eri slowly clambered off her bed and slowly stepped towards Toru only for another loud bang to sound above her, causing her to flinch and trip over her hospital gown. Toru caught her.

" M-Miss Toru?" Eri asked nervously. " W-What's going on?"

" We're getting you out of here. That's what."

" N-No!" Eri squeaked. " I-If you do that… he'll find you and… and he'll…"

" He won't hurt you or anyone again. Don't worry me and my friends will make sure of that." Toru held Eri close. " We'll save you. I promised that. Now I'll fulfil it. Please. Trust me."

" I… I…" Eri didn't want to hope anymore. She'd done that before and it had always ended in tragedy. But no-one like Toru had ever existed in Eri's life. She was different. Warm. Kind. Strong enough to even evade Chisaki. She'd tried escaping on her own and no-one came for her. Even when she ran into a hero, he did nothing. She didn't want to suffer anymore. Maybe, finally, she could get away. " Save me." She sobbed.

" Of course." Toru told her, determined. " Come on. Let's get you to safety." Once again, Eri left the safety of her room- her cell. This time, she wasn't coming back.

Mirio ran through the underground base dodging moving walls and corridors as the entire building shifted around them. Ryukyu and Hawks had stayed above after they had been assaulted by one of Chisaki's Eight Precepts above ground, giving everyone else the go ahead to move onwards. As they entered the place however, the underground started moving wildly. Aizawa theorised it was on of the higher ups of the Shie Hassaikai, Mimic, using Trigger to keep them back from Chisaki. " This is taking too long." Mirio said through gritted teeth. The ceiling above him pushed downwards, threatening to crush them. It was met by a powerful explosion, clearing it away.

" Get your ass in line, Tintin!" Bakugo shouted at him.

" He's right Mirio. You can't fight if you're this distracted." Tamaki told him as they ran.

" Sorry." Mirio told them. " I'm just worried about her, y'know?"

" Mirko." Aizawa spoke up. " We won't get anywhere if we're all together like this. Don't wait for us. Take Lemillion, Dynamight and Red Riot and push onwards. We'll handle things here. Find the girl and Chisaki."

" You sure?" Mirko asked, glancing back at him.

" He likely can't focus on two groups at once." He told her. " Leave Mimic to Rock Lock, Ms Joke and I. You and Fat Gum can push on and deal with Chisaki. We'll catch up later."

" Are you certain, Eraser?" Aizawa nodded.

" He's likely trying to push back the biggest threats. As the one who can erase quirks without resorting to bullets, he'll likely keep targeting me."

" We'll play decoy." Ms Joke said confidently. " Leave this guy to us. Just get that little girl."

" Hmm. It's a good enough plan." Rock Lock nodded. " Fine. I'm in."

" But if you do this, you're putting yourself at risk." Fat Gum stated. " I can't just let you-"

" Keep your personal feelings out of this, Fat Gum." Aizawa said sharply. " It's not rational. We're here to protect kids. So protect kids." The two caught each other's eye. Fat Gum caught the hidden message in that statement. So did Mirio. Aizawa wanted him and Mirko to protect him, Kirishima and Bakugo as well as Eri. Mirio smiled. For as scary as his reputation made him out to be, Eraserhead was really a good man. Mirio wouldn't let him go.

" Let's move." He stated.

" I'm with the kid." Mirko agreed. " You're welcome to stay if you don't think you can keep up, big man."

" Hey. Just cause I'm fat doesn't mean I'm slow." Fat Gum growled. With one last look at Aizawa, he turned back to the corridor. " Riot. Eater. You guys ready?"

" Always." Kirishima said confidently. Tamaki simply nodded. Bakugo punched a hand in his fist.

" Let's stop waiting around then. Let's go!"

" Right." Mirio nodded. " Stay safe, guys."

" Quit worrying about us. We've bee in this business longer than you realise." Rock Lock sneered. " A living corridor won't be enough to kill us."

" Good luck, everyone." Ms Joke smiled. Aizawa simply nodded. Without another word, Mirko took off, Mirio and Bakugo hot on her tail, Tamaki, Kirishima and Fat Gum taking the rear. After a while, the corridor calmed and straightened out, letting them freely enter the very depths of the lab. Seems Aizawa's gamble paid off. Now there was nothing to stop him. Mirio stared dead ahead, ready to make up for past mistakes. Then the floor opened up beneath him.

" 4 minutes have passed." Hitoshi said, jumping back to avoid a heavy blow from Hojo. Intercepting the crystalline man, Twice made a clone of Rikiya and put it to work. On the far side of the room, Himiko and Setsuno danced. Himiko had long since lost her knives to the man but she was able to still put up a fight with her fancy footwork and dance like motions Hitoshi was almost certain she'd picked up from living alongside Mina for so long, alongside the injection devices that shot out at awkward angles, keeping the thieving Yakuza on his toes.

" Careful, Toshi." Twice pushed him back as the Rikiya clone smashed passed them, dissolving against a newly formed crater in the back wall. " Y'know, for trash they're taking their time to go down."

" Trash we may be." Hojo bellowed. " However, Overhaul decided that we pieces of trash had worth. For him, we shall fight fiercely."

" Even trash… has pride." Setsuno announced leaping back to Hojo's sides after escaping a furious serious of blows from Himiko. Both sides panted, taking a slight moment to breath.

" Five minutes is up." Hitoshi muttered. " Twice."

" Got it." Twice removed the glove of his suit and moved to high five Hitoshi. However, as he moved, so did Hojo. In a quick motion, he went to deliver a crystal infused punch to Hitoshi's head. Twice pushed Hitoshi down, taking the blow directly to the chest, getting pushed across the room.

" JIN!" Himiko screamed.

" Twice!" Hitoshi growled. His hand shot out, grabbing Hojo by the arm. Hitoshi grew crystals on his arms again and delivered a series of brutal blows to the bald man. Hojo deftly dodged away from the attacks. Hitoshi glanced backwards" Is he…" Himiko reached down to check Twice's pulse. Then, Twice laughed.

" You… hurt me." He breathed as he sat up. " You broke… my fucking ribs! And I'm still here!" Then he laughed again. Then he coughed. " Man, that hurts..."

" What?" Hojo looked shocked.

" This guys lost his last marble me thinks." Setsuno muttered. Twice pushed himself to his feet. He tore the mask from his face and coughed up blood before breathing heavily.

" Sorry… Sorry. Let me… compose myself." He chuckled. " Here's a fun piece of trivia about me, Yakuza bastards. I once used clones of myself for everything. Thought all I needed was me, myself and I. Then, all the clones fought and killed each other off cause we didn't know who was the real deal anymore. It's how I got this scar." Twice slowly put his mask back on. "And I never knew. Not 100%. Couldn't tell if I was the real deal. Not until today. That force woulda destroyed a clone. But I'm still standing. Know what that means, friendo?" Around Twice, a number of clones appeared. All of them Twice. They laughed before stating in unison. " In a word, it means you're fucked."

Hitoshi and Himiko watched in awe as Twice got to work. Clones spawned clones that spawned clones and all of them charged forwards the two Yakuza men. The real Twice stood between the two, arms folded and watching the spectacle unfold. Hojo and Setsuno started out quickly dispatching clone by clone but as one replaced another over and over, they couldn't with stand the tide. By the end of Twice's assault of clones, both were on the ground, bloody and half dead. Twice watched as, at a thought, the clones fell apart.

" Twice. Are you alright?" Hitsohi asked.

" All this time, I wondered if I really had the right to think myself as real." Twice answered wistfully. " Now I know. I was always the real one. Honestly. It's a weight off my back." He looked up at the two. " Toshi. Himiko. Thanks for being there for me."

" Aw. Jinny." Himiko brought her good friend into a hug. Hitoshi was caught by surprised as she dragged Hitoshi into it as well. " We're in this together. Us. Mina. Everyone. Let's find a place where we can all be happy and free, right?"

" Ha. Right." Twice said happily. Hitoshi let out a laugh.

" Right. Let's crush these Yakuza bastards. Then we can meet up with the others." Hitoshi stated. Himiko did not let go. " Himiko."

" Just a little longer, Toshi?" Hitoshi sighed. But he relented. This was his family now. He could let himself indulge in that fact for a little while longer.

Mirio crash landed somewhere in the facility, the voices of Tamaki echoing down after him briefly before the hole closed up. He groaned in annoyance for letting himself get caught by such an obvious trick. Seemed that Mimic wasn't so blind after all. Mirio got up off the ground and looked around. He could be anywhere now, with all the twisting a turning the corridors had been doing. Further down. Back on the surface. Across the area. He didn't knew. He decided waiting around wouldn't solve anything and got moving.

Nothing happened for about fifteen minutes. Just him running through the halls, passing through the odd wall or two and thanking his costume designers for letting his costume make the trip with unlike his regular clothes. He listened for the sounds of the ongoing battle. The roof shook sometimes, sending dust down from above. Mimic must still be going. He hoped everyone was alright. A distant cry echoed through the tunnels. Mirio tried not to let his minds make voices he knew out of them.

Mirio stopped. The sudden sound of a pair of boots running down the corridor. Mirio quietly crept, listening as the running got closer and closer. He held his breath and held against the wall. A figure burst out from a side corridor. " M-Miss Toru!"

" Don't worry. We're almost there."

" No! Behind us!" The figure gasped, spinning on her heel. Mirio cursed under his breath before stepping forwards. He noticed her as the figure put her down.

" Get behind me." They said. The figure in question was dressed in a bulky, white stealth suit with an odd, almost skull like mask. There voice was distorted by their mask, making it hard to tell their gender. They pulled two daggers from their belt. But the young girl behind her interested him more.

" Eri!" Mirio exclaimed. The girl recoiled at the sound of her name, hiding herself behind the mysterious figure.

" Stay away from her, Hero." The last word came full of mocking and venom. It was very familiar.

" You're not a part of the mafia, are you." The figure didn't answer. " Are you with Izuku?" This got their attention. " I'm Lemillion. Me and him made a deal."

" I see. So you're Usagi's hero contact." The figure relented, putting their knives away. " Call me Violet."

" Violet? Ah. One of the mysterious villains we don't know the identity of. From the outfit, I'm going to guess Ghost"

" If that's what you want to call me, fine." Ghost told him bluntly. " So then, Hero. Are you gonna do your job or stand here talking?"

" Oh. You're right. We should get moving." Mirio crouched down, looking at Eri from her hiding spot behind Ghost. " I'm going to get you out of here, OK?" Eri looked back at him with a look of fear and distrust. She shuffled slightly, moving closer to Ghost and clumsily grasping at their gloved hand with her own. Mirio tried not to outwardly express the hurt he felt in his heart. That this young girl would trust a Villain of the League more than a hero like himself. Then again, he supposed, maybe it wasn't that surprising. He stood up. " Do you know of a way out?"

" Assuming the doll like moron hasn't messed the corridors up too much, it should be straight down here." Ghost gestured to the winding corridor Mirio had just come down. " Lead the way, Hero." Mirio didn't like the mocking tone Ghost had everytime they said the word hero. He guessed Izuku wasn't the only one who needed help in the League but that sentiment could wait. He nodded.

" Follow me." Ghost picked Eri back up into her arms and nodded before joining Mirio in running down the corridors. The League. Eri. People like them who didn't trust heroes. Mirio didn't know what happened in their lives but he knew one thing. He wanted to help them. To start, he'd have to make up for his mistakes. He'd save them all. One person at a time.