Shigaraki and the League of Villains head out of the room into the main section of their hideout. They leave the boys in the bar alone, though Kurogiri guards the opposite side of the door that the villains had left out of. The boys sit in silence initially, not knowing where to begin with one another. Though they had been in the same class for almost half a year, the two had never gotten along. From their very first meeting, Akira had not liked Bakugo - and the feeling had been mutual. Bakugo had always thought Akira's lazy act was all to imitate his father and show everyone that he was the son of Eraser Head. 

However, things are different now. The USJ had shown Bakugo that Akira had been hiding a secret power. Though he had not gotten any answers at the Sports Festival, he had during their final exam. This power of his - it had wanted to take Bakugo's life. Part of it scares him, but it mostly pisses him off. Akira hates this power and takes it for granted; he has always fought with half of his potential. That irritates the blonde the most. 

"So..." Akira begins to speak. Bakugo jumps at the distortion in his classmate's voice. It sounds both like an echo and demonic at the same time. Noticing this slight jump, Akira pulls his features back through gritted teeth. His ears, teeth, and fingernails return to normal but much slower than when it had appeared. Once his looks return to normal, he starts to say, "I can ex..."

"What the hell are you?" Bakugo spits out. His tone is initially confused and slightly shocked, but the blonde turns his demeanor around immediately. He grits his teeth. "And I don't want any lame excuses this time!" His body is arched forward due to the heavy cuffs around his hands. However, even so, his serious nature does not make him any less intimidating. "They called you a..."

"Vampire," Akira finishes his classmate's sentence. The son of Eraser Head had never liked to use that word to describe himself. He is human - his third Quirk simply gives him vampire-like features.

Bakugo grunts in frustration. His eyes look at his contained partner up and down. He asks, "So, how long have you been like this?"

"Excuse me?"

"You look like a fifteen year old, so were you like bitten recently or..."

"What..?" Akira shouts. His frustration is evident, but he takes a few deep breaths to calm himself. "Are you asking if I was turned into this?" He tries to emote with his hands, but Akira is too confined to move. 

"Isn't it obvious?" Bakugo shouts back. 

"I'm human, " the son of Eraser Head tells him. "I... What you saw is just how my third Quirk manifests."

Bakugo's anger rises again. "Third Quirk?!" he yells. "Just how many do you secretly have anyway?!"

Akira flinches in pain. "Could you keep it down, Bakugo?" The boy waits a split second for the pain to pass. He continues, "I have three quirks in total: Erasure - which is my dad's, obviously; Earth God - which is my mother's; and Vampire - which I guess you can call mine." He looks down at his feet.

The blonde listens to his classmate's explanation. "Why did you lie to the class and say you only have two?" Bakugo questions. Akira rolls his eyes at the statement. This makes Bakugo's anger rise. "Don't mock me!" he yells. His loud voice makes Akira flinch in pain again, so he chills himself out. "You're trying to be the best, aren't you? You're trying to be a hero like Teach," he exclaims, "so why wouldn't you use 100% of your power?!"

"I can't just..."

"Why not?!"

"It's unregistered, okay?!" Akira's eyes go wide once the statement reaches the air. He swallows the lump that had reflexively appeared in his throat. 

Bakugo's own eyes go wide in response. "W..." He cannot find the words. It did not make any sense - why would his own teacher not register his child's quirk?

The question comes reluctantly. "Look, I know you want to be a hero, but you need to know the whole truth." Akira sighs, "Just like in every part of the world, nothing is black or white - everything is grey. The Hero Public Safety Commission is no different. Yes, they keep the peace between those with Quirks and those without, but they aren't above doing the wrong thing for what they consider the right reason.

"My Third Quirk appeared pretty much as soon as my parents took me home from the hospital - I guess you could actually call it my first Quirk. My parents... would use their blood in my bottles to sustain me."

"What the hell does this have to do with the Hero Public Safety Commission?" Bakugo interrupts.

"I'm getting there." Akira continues, "My mom was a scientist who had studied Quirks, and her father before her did the same." The boy stops as he feels an angry burn in the back of his mind. Once it settles, the story goes on. "And at that point, my father had been working as a nighttime hero for a while. They knew how the world really operated." Akira diverts his eyes downward, even though he could not move his head. "They saw similarities between my Quirk and fictional vampires. In fear that it would only become more like the fictitious monster - which it did, they didn't register it.

"Everything was fine after that. And when I awoke my father's Quirk at three-and-a-half, my parents registered it. My dad told me that even if my now Third Quirk got out, they could say it was just a late-bloomed Quirk. It would be too late for the Hero Public Safety Commission to do anything. A toddler is a lot less easy to get rid of than a baby, especially when that toddler is associated with the number two hero's family. 

"But when my mom's Quirk appeared nearly six months later, things became an issue. They couldn't not register it at that point. Because my Quirks were so incredibly different, my parents knew that the Commission would keep a closer eye on me no matter what. I guess it eased their minds a bit when I registered into UA - I guess in their minds it was no question I would be a hero like my old man, even though I have no idea if that's what I want to do anymore."

"What?! You're not s..."

"No, I'm not going to join them, you explosive imbecile!" Akira retorts. He lowers his voice and states, "I know that my powers literally made it impossible to keep them a secret, but the one other secret that literally is the reason for my inner turmoil is so none of your business that it isn't even funny." Bakugo tries to hide his astonishment in his silence. 

Finishing, Akira says, "I know this is a lot to take in, but my parents didn't register my Quirk for my own safety, and the reason I don't use it is for the safety of others." The son of Eraser Head's eyes once again divert from the blondes with a look of guilt riddled in them. "You of all people should know that."

"You can't control it." Bakugo's statement is more calm than either had been expecting. Akira nods while Bakugo cocks his head to the side. He asks, "Then why didn't you vamp out when they all started cutting their hands?"

Akira's head comes back up. He extends his hands out the best he can. "The hell if I know," he explains. "You've seen how much trouble I had up to this point. I have no idea what..."

The door the villains had exited out of opens suddenly, slamming into the wall. Tomura Shigaraki walks in with his hands in his pockets. His villainous posy follows behind. He and a few others set some jars of liquid on the bar table. "Well, I hope you boys had a good talk," he chortles, "but we have some much more important things to discuss."

The five students board the train after their discussion in front of the hospital. Yaoyorozu holds up the tracking device's receiver she had given to the police earlier that day. "The coordinates say Kamino Ward: Yokohama City in Kanagawa Prefecture," she tells the boys who are listening. "Our travel time will be about two hours from here. We should arrive around ten o'clock tonight."

Midoriya looks to Todoroki nervously. "Did you mention this to the rest of the class? Do they know what we are doing tonight?"

"Yes," he answers, "and they tried their best to talk us out of it." He takes a bite of the food he had ordered. He had to keep himself full of energy just in case his... Akira... had to feed.

Kirishima jumps in, mouth full of food, "Yeah, even Ururaka ganged up on us and tried to get us to change our minds." He briefly thinks of the girl telling them to think about what the boys would want, and that they would only end up making everything worse. "Anyway..."

Midoriya sits in silence, clearly thinking about everything that had transpired the nights before. Todoroki enters the conversation again. "Just to make sure - you know we're going against everyone's wishes and being completely selfish by doing this. You all can go back if you want." The half-and-half boy had no intention of not getting Akira back tonight. 

"Does it look like I want to turn back?" Kirishima spats. He squints his eyes while turning back to look at the floor. "Bakugo wouldn't think twice about going after the villains if he were here." He finds Todoroki again. "And Akira would do exactly what you're doing if he knew anyone from our class was taken."

Todoroki knows in his heart that his friends are right. If he had been taken instead of Akira, he would probably be back at UA by now - Akira would have followed them and ultimately destroyed their operations in his pure rage. The son of Endeavor forces his eyes shut hard. Then, he looks back up to the boy across from him. "What about you, Midoriya?"

Midoriya stares at his lap. "He's my friend," he explains. He finds himself looking back up at his classmates with a more determined face after getting lost in his own thoughts. "I refuse to turn back."

"I see," Todoroki replies, "all right then."

The group stays silent for the remainder of the trip to Camino Ward. Once they arrive, they are met with busy streets and bustling shops. "So this is Camino Ward," Midoriya comments while spying the new sights around him. 

Todoroki notices, "It's so crowded." He thinks back to Akira again. His dad has always made sure to keep him in less populated cities his entire life. Their internship pops into his head for a moment. He did okay while in Hosu, but his bloodlust also wasn't as bad at that point. His hand almost reaches for the bandage on his neck. Hopefully that is enough to sustain him until we find him.

"The villains could be hiding anywhere in this city," Kirishima exclaims. He starts running forward dramatically. "Just tell me where to go!"

Yaoyorozu stops him by shouting, "Now wait a second!" She gets the boys' attention. "From now on, we're going to have to be extremely careful. These criminals already know what we look like, remember?" She holds her hand to her chest. "We have to consider that we could be attacked at any moment."

"Oh, that's right!" Midoriya shouts. He brings his voice down and crosses his bandaged arms over his chest. "Stealth mode!"

Todoroki almost rolls his eyes. "You're standing out even more, Midoriya." 

Ida finally decides to interject in their conversation. He holds his hand up to his chin in thought. "We won't get any scouting done if we're recognizable." 

Kirishima scratches the back of his head. "Okay, so what do we do?" he asks.

Yaoyorozu tries to hid her excitement as she points to a place behind her. The sign reads "Dirt-Cheap Doni Oote". She tells them, "Though it is a bit old school..."

Soon the group find themselves in the thrift store shopping for clever disguises. Midoriya tries to blend in with his speech, but only ends up embarrassing himself. Todoroki picks out a blue outfit with a blue-haired wig to match with long enough bangs to hide his scar. Yaoyorozu gets a new pink dress, hairspray, and sunglasses. Ida is dressed up like a dealer at a casino with a fake mustache and suspenders to match the slicked back hair. Kirishima walks out in brown pants and jacket with his hair down and horn-like accessories. 

Once they all dawn their disguises, they head out. Midoriya continues to try to match his language with is looks, getting comments from Kirishima. Ida also tries to sound tough, but it is not fooling anyone. Yaoyorozu enjoys every minute of this. Todoroki looks to the female in question. "Yaoyorozu, couldn't you have just made this all with your quirk?"

Immediately, she begins defending herself. "That's against the rules! We have to make sure we do not affect the economy with the use of our quirks!"

Clearly, everyone in the group figures out she just wanted to go shopping. 

Yaoyorozu motions down the street. "Our destination is this way, everyone," she says.

Before they begin walking, someone exclaims, "Wow, its UA High!"

The group all stop nervously, but then find the large screen on one of the buildings. They spot Vlad King, Principal Nezu, and Eraser Head all bowing to the crowd. Todoroki sees a version of Akira's father he had never seen before: his hair is slicked back; his scarf is nowhere in sight, and he has on a tuxedo.

"We are here to apologize," Mr. Aizawa tells the reporters. Even though no one else could notice, Todoroki can spot the bags under Mr. Aizawa's eyes had grown. There is just a hint of sadness in his voice that makes Todoroki angrier by the second. "A recent incident allowed harm to come to 28 new up-and-coming heroes, and we staff were ill-prepared. We take full responsibility for any trauma caused by our negligence. It is our duty to train heroes, but also to protect the heroes in training." They bow once again to the reporters. 

"This is crazy," Kirishima comments softly. "He hates being on TV."

"I'll take the first question!" A reporter's voice comes from the screen. "Since the beginning of the year, UA students have had four encounters with villains. This time, there were students who were gravely injured. How did you explain this to their families? And what are some of the specific steps you're taking to ensure their safety in the future?"

Midoriya's hand balls into a fist. "They're treating them... like villains."

Ida keeps his voice just as quiet and looks at Todoroki. "Do you think that they know that Eraser Head's own family was affected by this incident as well?" he questions.

Todoroki shakes his head. He answers, "No, from what I understand nobody outside the walls of UA know Akira is the son of a pro hero."

"Maybe if they did, they would go easier on him?" Kirishima throws out the idea.

This time, Yaoyorozu steps in. "No, in fact I think that would only make it worse. I do not want to think less of people, but they may try to get a rise out of Mr. Aizawa by commenting that he let his own son be captured by villains." No one but Kirishima notices that Todoroki's fist balls to the point his knuckles turn white. 

Principal Nezu answers this one: "We will increase patrols around the school grounds and review security measures within the school. The safety of UA's students is our top priority - make no mistake about it."

Murmurs begin to fill the crowd that had been drawn to watch the broadcast on the Camino Ward street. 

Shigaraki had put on the broadcast of the UA Press Conference. As he watches it, Akira's anger begins to rise. He watches his father speak to the crowd. The son of Eraser Head knows that his father must have been advised not to say anything about his own child being one of the kidnapping victims. However, he can see how much stress his capture had put on his father. The pro normally does not sleep a lot, but he looks like he had not slept or eaten in days. 

The blue-haired villain turns off the TV while Mr. Aizawa is in the middle of speaking. "Isn't it strange?" Shigaraki questions. "The heroes are becoming the bad guys." He extends his arms out to the side. "Seems like they're not dealing with this very well at all. So much criticism, but everyone makes a mistake or two, right? It's not like they're supposed to be perfect. Modern-day heroes sure have it rough. Don't you think that's true, Bakugo? What about you, Akira - as the son of a so-called hero?" Akira grits his teeth at the villain.

Spinner, the lizard-like villain against the far wall, begins speaking, "Once a hero receives payment to protect people, they aren't the real heroes anymore. That's what Stain's actions taught us." 

Akira's blood runs cold for a moment as the image of Stain standing over him with a knife to his heart comes back. He closes his eyes hard, hoping nobody caught his weakness.

"A hero in this current system only cares about money and glory. And since society buys in to those idiotic rules, anyone deemed a loser is shoved aside," Shigaraki tells the boys. "So we want to pose some questions. What is a hero? What is justice? Is this society truly fair? Soon, everyone will be asking. That's when we know we've won." The leader cocks his head as he stares at Bakugo. "And you like winning, don't you?"

After a moment, Shigaraki turns to the patchwork villain. "Dabi, release him." Akira and Bakugo's eyes go wide at the statement.

Dabi turns and looks to his leader. "You know he's just going to fight back." 

"We're trying to recruit him, so we should treat him as an equal," Shigaraki tells him.

Akira butts in, "I thought you were trying to recruit me too. Are you scared of me or..." 

The son of Eraser Head cannot finish his sentence before Dabi has a hold of his hair, slamming his head back into the chair. "You'd like that, wouldn't you, Dracula?" Akira knows he is not trying to call him by his hero name; instead, he is using it to get a rise out of him. "You getting hungry or something?"

Gritting his teeth, Akira stares at Dabi through one open eye. "I'm actually quite full at the moment. The most I'd be doing is kicking your crispy ass into the ground." Dabi pulls at his hair harder; Akira can feel heat radiating from his enemy's palm. He smirks, "Want to go for Round 3?"

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Dabi questions. He pulls up on the boys hair before letting it go. He struts around him. "You know what I would like to know?" Dabi appears in front of him. "I'd like to know how you healed yourself after I nearly killed you the first time."

"Dabi, what do you mean?" Shigaraki asks.

Dabi stands up and walks over to the bar. "I left the mini-Eraser Head half dead with a hole in his chest before losing him in the woods. I beat him to a point where he should have gone on a rampage, if our information is correct." At this comment, Akira's eyes begin to black out on the rims. A creepy smiles crosses Dabi's lips. "Now I know they didn't find any animal corpses drained of blood in the woods - only a few that were caught in the crossfire." He leans against the bar table. "And they didn't find any human corpses either." His face grows dim. "So there's only one explanation," Dabi explains. "The kid drank from one of his classmates."

"Interesting," Shigaraki coos, "so somebody knows the kids a monster and is helping him hide." The villain leader stands up and heads towards the vials close to Akira's chair. "I wonder who it could be." Shigaraki bends down to Akira's eye level. "You want to tell us who it is?"

Akira growls under his breath. "Nobody helped me," he retorts. "I found Moonfish out in the woods. I'd already knocked him out, so I took advantage of situation."

Shigaraki chuckles just once. "Now, that's interesting, because all the police found on Moonfish was a bruise from your punch that knocked him out." Akira slightly turns in irritation. "They never found any puncture wounds on his body." He strolls up to the black-haired boy and lowers his voice. "Now I'll ask again, who helped you?" 

Akira keeps his mouth shut. Instead of speaking, he growls at him. Shigaraki makes a "tsk" noise through his teeth. He walks back to the vials on the table. He grabs the orange one and extends his hand to Kurogiri. The whisp-like man hands the villain a syringe. "This serum is an altered form of barbiturates, which is more commonly known as..."

"Truth serum," Bakugo finishes the villain's test under his breath.

"Brains and brawn - looks like he's got the full package," Toga comments, which gets looks from every other person in the room. 

Shigaraki inserts the needle into the vial, getting a large amount of orange liquid in the syringe. Akira's face looks worried. "Y... You should know that most sedatives and other injections don't work on me..." he nervously starts saying.

The villain leader finishes his sentence, "Because your body processes things faster than human ones do." An evil smile comes to his face. "We just have to get the answers before your liver processes it completely." Shigaraki starts walking over to Akira with the needle in hand.

Akira starts panicking - for multiple reasons. His mind flashes with memories of his past that his second half tries to block with each passing moment. Another part of him worries for the boy who cares so much about. He desperately tries to move away, but the heavy restraints restrict him from doing so. Regardless, Akira still tries to pull away. 

This time, Shigaraki holds Akira by the hair, thrusting his neck to the side. He stabs the needle into his neck, pushing the plunger down and letting the orange liquid enter his body. 

The villain moves away from Akira until he can see the boy completely. The look of panic on the son of Eraser Head's face brings a certain amount of joy to Shigaraki. "Now that should loosen your tongue a bit." 

Akira feels weird - the barbiturates are already working. He can feel his body relaxing - his anxiety depleting against his will. However, even though his body reacts one way, he tries to keep his mind alert by repeating one sentence: 'Don't speak'.

"Aizawa," Shigaraki exclaims in a sing-song voice, "who helped you?"

Immediately, everyone can see the struggle on Akira's face to keep his mouth shut. His lips curl inwards forcefully, and his hands grip the sides of the chair in desperation. This is torture, Akira tells himself. 

All of the villains in the room seem to be enjoying the sight, even if they do not say so themselves. Shigaraki walks behind Bakugo's chair with an excited pep in his step. "Come on, you know you want to tell us."

Akira's lips uncurl, but he forcefully grits his teeth. He takes in many sharp deep breaths. Just ride it out, he thinks. Don't speak - just ride it out. 

Shigaraki, after almost thirty seconds after the injection, turns bored. "This is taking too long," he notes. He looks back to his favorite lacky. "Dabi, make him speak - by any means necessary."

Dabi stands straight up. He does a small bit of a bow. "It would be my honor."

His demeanor - like a switch - goes from calm to insane in less than a second. He grabs Akira's neck with one hand, letting it ignite in blue flames. The boys eyes go wide as pain begins filling his body. The patchwork villain extends a hand behind his back. Somehow, Twice understood this action. A knife is placed in Dabi's hand. He spins it in his fingers before thrusting it into Akira's shoulder. The boy screams, but that scream quickly turns into a growl. "Who did you bite, bloodsucker?"

"Todoroki!" Akira yells through the pain - unable to hold his tongue any longer. "Shoto Todoroki!"

"See, now that wasn't so hard." Dabi's flames go out as he lets go of the boy and the knife. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Shigaraki seemingly unsatisfied. The villain again smiles, then grabs the knife again and begins twisting the instrument lodged in Akira's shoulder. "How did it happen?"

It takes longer, but the boy breaks again. "I was dying and about to lose my mind to bloodlust. We made a pact during our internships: he promised to kill me if I was about to lose control. He didn't want that to happen, so forced me to drink his blood." Once his explanation fills the air, Dabi pulls the knife from Akira's shoulder. The son of Eraser Head flinches, but relaxes as the hole begins to heal and the barbiturates finish processing. I'm sorry, Shoto, he whispers to himself. I tried.

After a few moments of silence, Shigaraki throws the syringe down on the floor. It shatters into a million pieces. "Damn it," he snaps. He begins scratching at his neck.

Dabi goes over to one of the booths and sits down. "Isn't that the one person she said he should never..."

"Shut up!" Shigaraki screams. The boys watch as he becomes more unhinged, digging his nails deeper into his neck. 

"Tomura Shigaraki," Kurogiri's deep voice fills the bar. He is calm, the way he had always been. "Be still. There is still a way to turn the boy's situation in our favor." Kurogiri motions over to the vials the villain leader had just been using. 

Shigaraki removes his hand from his neck. "Yes, yes, that's right," he exclaims, "but that will all depend on Bakugo." He motions towards the teen in the heavy cuffs. "He's smart enough to know he can't take us all on at once, right? After all, UA students are so clever."

You've clearly never had a conversation with this kid before. 

Dabi, unsure, looks to his right to the Deadpool look-alike. "Twice, you do it."

"Sure thing! No way!" the villain responds.

Dabi retorts, "Just do it."

As Twice approaches the boys, Compress begins to speak, "I do apologize for such forceful methods, but please understand that we aren't some kind of unruly mob committing crimes without a third act in mind." Twice kneels down next to Bakugo, who just stares at the villain. Compress finishes, "We didn't kidnap the two of you by accident."

Shigaraki stands up straighter. "Even though we come from different backgrounds, everyone here has suffered because of people, rules, and heroes who try to hold us back." Bakugo is now released from his cuffs. "I'm sure you're the same." 

As soon as Bakugo gets a chance, he knees Twice in the face. The villain falls backwards, and Bakugo goes for Shigaraki. He sets of an explosion in his face. The other villains in the room watch shocked as the hand falls off of Shigaraki's face.

In the dust cloud, Bakugo runs towards Akira. He uses smaller explosions to release the restraints - being specifically careful with the one around Akira's neck. As Akira tries to stand, he feels his limbs are harder to move. "They must have put a sedative in the barbiturates - it's still wearing off," the black-haired teen comments only loud enough for Bakugo to hear. 

He makes out a nod from the blonde as he feels an arm grab his numb right wrist. Bakugo slings Akira's struggling form over himself. The two back up towards the window until they are against the wall. "Shigaraki!" Twice's voice rings out as the dust clears. 

"I'm done listening to your pointless talking," Bakugo yells at the villains. "Can you not get to the point, or do you just like hearing the sound of your own voice?" The blonde grits his teeth - Shigaraki has still yet to move. "Basically, you just want to cause trouble, and you want me and Baby Teach to join you." Bakugo's eyes grow angrier by the second. "Well, screw you!" 

Akira watches the whole thing unfold. He starts to regain feeling in his limbs, just strong enough to stand on his own. He takes back his arm from Bakugo, who still does not leave Shigaraki's gaze. 

Bakugo holds up a now free hand. "I like to win - I want to win just like All Might. No matter what you have to offer me, that will never change. Do you understand?"

Akira can feel the pull on his powers becoming greater. He could feel his claws beneath his fingernails. His desire to break the floor beneath him to feel the earth against his feet is also increasing exponentially. "I have a feeling you all know more than you should about me." Akira's voice gets lower and more threatening. "If that's the case, you would know that I'd never join any organization that promotes violence just for the hell of it." He shakily puts a hand on his heart. "I've worked too hard and too long to control this thing inside of me. You may think it wants what you do, but you're dead wrong." Akira lets his eyes glow as his hair rises above his head. "I'm the Red-Eyed Hero: Dracula, and the son of the Pro Hero, Eraser Head. There's no way I'd ever join your joke of an organization!"

The convention all is crowded with reporters. Mr. Aizawa sits in between Vlad King and Principal Nezu. He is uncomfortable in more than just one way. If he had it his way, he would be on the front lines with Endeavor and All Might trying to save his son and Bakugo. However, because his son is involved, he had been advised by the Hero Public Safety Commission to fight the villain's on the public relations front. His "brother-in-law" had agreed with their ruling, so here he is - getting hounded by the press. Go at this with a level head, his "brother-in-law's" words ring in his head. If you put too much of your emotions into the press conference, they could use it against you.

A reporter breaks Aizawa out of his thoughts: "You spoke about keeping the students safe, Eraser Head. But according to our information, you encouraged them to fight during the attack on the training camp, putting them in grave danger. What was your reasoning for this?"

Mr. Aizawa inwardly groans - This is exactly why I work underground. He leans closer to the mic and answers, "I concluded that because we didn't know the full situation, allowing them to use their Quirks would help would avoid the worst possible outcome."

The same reporter retorts, "And what would that outcome be? Do you think 26 victims and two kidnapped children is a win for UA High?"

It takes everything in Eraser Head not to stand and scream at the reporter. No one in the world knows you're also hurting, Shota, Principal Nezu's statements from before the conference ring in his head. As much as I hate to make you do this, we have to assure the public that UA is stronger than ever. "I assure you things could have gone much more poorly. I feared every student would be tortured and killed in the end." The "tortured and killed" part of his statement threatens to make bile appear in his throat. They have no idea that my own son is most likely going through that right now, Shota thinks to himself.

Principal Nezu jumps in to save Eraser Head. "Most of the victims were harmed by the gas attack. We've determined it to be the result of a poisonous Quirk used by one of the villains. It's thanks to the quick actions of Ms. Kendo and Mr. Tetsutetsu that injuries were kept to a bare minimum. Additionally, we're providing mental health counseling to every student, though at the moment, we do not see any signs of serious psychological trauma."

Again, the reporter comes back at them with more rebuttals, "So, you've found a bright spot in this tragedy?"

"We're relieved that an entire class of burgeoning heroes still has a future," Principal Nezu rewords his statement. 

"Can you say the same thing for the abducting, Katsuki Bakugo and Akira Aizawa?" Eraser Head makes an almost inaudible grunt at the mention of his son's name. "Bakugo enrolled at your school with excellent marks and went on to win the Sport's Festival. Before that, he survived the powerful sludge villain attack and was eventually saved by All Might. The boy is obviously strong and heroic. On the other hand, the violence he displayed during the finals and his attitude during the awards ceremony both show that he cannot control his temper." He pauses to let that information seep into the three heroes on the panel. "In terms of Aizawa, he has displayed exceptionally high marks going into his enrollment at UA. Though he placed third in the Sport's Festival, many believe that he could have won against Bakugo if he had not been pulled from his final match. Aizawa is one of the very few who possess two extremely different quirks, one similar to your own - Eraser Head." Many can see the hero in question ball his fist. "What if these were the real reasons the boys were abducted by the villains? What if they're brainwashing them right now, pulling them toward the path of evil? How can you sit there and tell us they still have a future?"

Eraser Head stands up, which makes Vlad King a bit nervous. Surprising everyone, he bows and replies, "As Katsuki Bakugo's teacher, I take full responsibility for not taming his violent behavior. However, his actions at the Sports Festival were born of his deep-seated convictions. He's trying harder than anyone to in his pursuit to become the top hero." 

Eraser Head stares down at the reporter who had asked these questions while still bowing. "And in terms of Akira Aizawa, I want to clear the air for just a moment." He straightens a bit. "That boy is my only son." This causes eruptions of chaos within the crowd. "If that doesn't put enough faith that he won't turn evil, then maybe this will. My son witnessed my fiancé die at the hands of a villain when he was eight years old after they broke into our house while I was on patrol. His ultimate goal at UA is to become one of the greatest heroes so no one has to go through what he did." 

Mr. Aizawa's gaze tightens at the reporter who had asked those questions. "If the villains think they have a chance with either of those boys, then they are grossly mistaken. I can guarantee you that much."

The reporter, even though the evidence goes over seemingly well with some of the media, does not let up. "But that isn't evidence though. I asked you for concrete information, not how you feel. I understand having faith in your students, one of which being your own child, but none of what you said can guarantee either boy stays on the path of a hero."

Before Eraser Head can pound his fist on the desk, Principal Nezu jumps in, "We're doing our best with the intel we currently have available. I have no doubt the police will break this case very soon. We won't rest until our missing students are returned to UA."

The boys watch the television broadcast from the villain's headquarters. Bakugo scoffs, "Ha! Did ya hear the teachers? They get me more than I thought." He looks at Akira. "And damn, you got a sad as hell backstory, Bloodsucker."

"Dude, can you focus?!" Akira shouts. Dad used my old reasoning for being a hero to try to convince the public to trust me.

I'm not trying to be a buzzkill here, but that didn't seem to convince anyone. In fact, it probably put Pops in more hot water.

We'll deal with that later. 

Bakugo screams, "We may not be at camp, but we're still allowed to fight!"

Akira moves his hands around more. "And that stupid sedative is wearing off, so all of you are basically screwed now!" He extends his claws and crouches down. His fangs and ears extend while his eyes black out and irises glow red. "And I don't have to hold back with you freaks."

Magni readies herself. "They must've figured out they're important to us. What clever boys."

Dabi disagrees, "No, they're fools."

"I don't care whoever you go after, but that patchwork dick is mine," Akira exclaims in a low voice to Bakugo. 

Toga claps her hands together. "Let me stab them!" she gleefully says. 

Compress comments, "A clever performer would've acted like we were winning them over. Now that they've broken character, they're finished."

"I do whatever I want, when I want, and I won't even pretend otherwise," Bakugo tells them. He holds up his hand, ready to set off an explosion any minute. "And I'm tired of being surrounded by a bunch of lame ass wannabees..." He turns to look at Akira. "...aren't you, you gothic bastard?" Akira smirks and gives him a nod.

Shigaraki slowly holds up a hand, which freaks Kurogiri out. "Tomura Shigaraki, don't..."

"None of you lay a finger on them," he speaks to the other villains while holding up a hand. He grabs the hand that had fallen from his face from off the ground. "These "heroes"..." He places the hand on his face. "...are still valuable pieces." He composes himself for a moment. He then explains, "I really wish you both would have listened to what I had to say. I thought we all could come to an understanding."

"What, you think we're the same?" Bakugo says. His response is shaken, like he remembers something. He smirks, "Not a chance."

Akira retracts his vampire-like features as he stands up straight. "There's no way I could go along with people like you," he responds.

Shigaraki sighs, "Then I don't have a choice. The heroes said they'd continue their investigation of our group, so we don't have time to stand here and talk." The villains tops mid-idea and turns to a computer screen behind him. "Master," he exclaims, "lend me your power."

The voice on the other end of the computer comes in. "That is a wise decision, Tomura Shigaraki."

Suddenly, Akira feels his body convulse. He finds himself going to the floor, getting the attention of everyone else in the room. "What's... going on?" he questions. 

I recognize that voice! Mizukage spoke with him one night long ago!

"C... Calm... down..." Akira stutters. He finds Shigaraki smiling at him from across the room. 

A loud "whooshing" sound fills the room. Pain slightly fills Akira's being before the sensation is replaced by numbness. Bakugo looks back at the villains across the bar to see Dabi holding a tranquilizer gun. "I told you we should have kept dosing him," he tells the rest of the group.

Bakugo grabs Akira before he can fall forward. "What the hell? I thought you would have sensed that before it hit you!" he snaps softly.

"You... put to much faith... in me. If... you didn't notice... I was otherwise... preoccupied." Akira cannot feel any of his limbs - hell, he cannot even hold up his head. 

Somewhere else in the Camino Ward, the group of UA teens find themselves at an otherwise abandoned-looking building. Yaoyorozu hides behind a corner as she looks down at the tracking device. "Okay, this is the spot the tracker is broadcasting from," she tells the boys. 

Kirishima is the one closest to her, so he gets a good look at the building. "So that's their hideout? Not a bad one, I guess."

Yaoyorozu says, "Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. According to the tracking history, the villain hasn't left this location for the past day, but that's all we know." She turns back to the rest of the group. "One villain is hiding here, but that could be it. They might have Bakugo and Akira somewhere else. We're going into this operation completely blind for the most part. Please try to proceed logically."

Ida brings his head down. "I don't like this," he tells the group. "None of us are good at sneaking around. We need Hagakure, Jiro, or ironically enough - Akira here. If I think things are going to be the least bit dangerous, we're done. I won't hesitate to call the police either, to make sure my friends are safe."

Midoriya turns back to the building. He answers, "Thank you, Ida. Now what can we do with what's in front of us? Let me see here." And then the mumbling pursues. 

Kirishima comments, "It's been a minute since I've seen him this weird." Then, while everyone is distracted with Midoriya, he takes Todoroki aside to where the rest cannot hear them. "Do you need me to do anything when we find Akira?"

The fact that Kirishima knows most of Akira's secret is still a little disorienting for Todoroki. He nods and explains, "I don't know what they're doing to him, but I wouldn't doubt that there's a great chance that he needs to feed when we find him." He glances at the other three before continuing, "I'm sure Bakugo knows already, so he's not my concern. What I need you to do is to get Ida, Yaoyorozu, and especially Midoriya far away from me and Akira. I don't want them to question what he's doing."

"Got it," Kirishima replies with a nod of his head. 

The group moves to a vending machine close by. They keep their heads on swivels as they look back at the building. "Nothing has changed since we got here," Yaoyorozu says.

Kirishima notes, "There's no lights on, so it looks like nobody is home."

Todoroki gathers the rest of the group. "They're hiding this lair in plain sight. It looks like any other abandoned warehouse."

Midoriya notices the gardening by the building. "The weeds by the door look thick and undisturbed," he tells everyone. "There must be another way to get in. Maybe someone's quirk is hiding it. We can't just enter carelessly - it could be a trap. If we could just get inside some..." Suddenly, two very drunk men come and try to lure a few of their group away for who knows what.

Todoroki pulls the group away from the streets. They stop at another alley close by. "It's not crowded, but there are people around."

"We can't draw attention to ourselves," Yaoyorozu reiterates. "So what's our next move?"

Midoriya analyzes the building and its surroundings. "Let's go around back. We would be out of the way, and we could get some solid intel on this place."

The group squeezes between the building and the one next to it. Yaoyorozu comments that she may get stuck, but Midoriya tells her to power through. As they go, the green-haired hero spots a window. When Todoroki comments about them seeing in the dark, Kirishima says, "Don't bother making anything, I brought something to help." He takes a pair of night vision goggles out of his pocket. "When I thought about what we might have to do, I thought we may need them." Midoriya replies by commenting on their value, but he is quickly shut down by the red-head. 

"Kirishima will serve as our scout," Todoroki explains to the group. "Back him up Midoriya." 

Soon Midoriya is on Todoroki's shoulders, and Kirishima is doing the same to Ida. He looks through his night vision goggles. He first comments on the place looking trashy, but soon finds something that shocks him enough to lose his balance. "What's wrong?" Todoroki shouts. "You weren't spotted, were you?"

Kirishima shakily hands his set of goggles to Midoriya. "T... The back left..." he stutters out. "The corner, Midoriya, look!"

The future Symbol of Peace grabs the goggles and finds what had freaked Kirishima out. He sees several vats with brains above the surface. "Are all those... Nomu?!"

"A master? I thought you were the boss around here, but you're a sidekick," Bakugo tries to intimidate Shigaraki while holding Akira up.

Shigaraki points to the two UA students. "Kurogiri, Compress, it's time to put the boys back to sleep." 

Compress sighs, "I can't believe they're such bad audience members. It's almost impressive."

"If you want me to listen then get on your knees and beg!" Bakugo shouts.

"Don't let them get close to me!" The devilish voice comes out of Akira's nearly unconscious body. Bakugo remembers this side of the boy from their final exam. Compress keeps moving towards them as they back up closer to the door.

Suddenly, a knock comes from the other side of the bar's door. "Hello, I've got a special delivery here." Before anyone can think, All Might smashes through the wall - ready to save the two UA students being held captive by villains.