NOOOOO!!
Muscular's ragged scream bounced off the dead-end alley walls. It was an animal sound, a howl of pure terror at the death descending upon him. Inko's hand, surrounded by a nearly invisible distortion of the air, lowered, ready to crush his skull.
Ragdoll took a hesitant step, her hands outstretched. "Mrs. Midoriya, stop! Please!"
Inko's hand didn't stop.
"You've already beaten him! He's incapacitated! You're going to kill him!"
Inko's bright green eyes didn't leave Muscular. The light in them was cold. There was no anger, no justice. There was nothing.
"PLEASE! PLEASE, I HAVE INFORMATION!" Muscular shrieked again, his voice broken by panic and blood. "I'll tell you where the others are! I'll tell you who they are! I'll do whatever you want! Just don't kill me! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! PLEASE, MA'AM! I'M BEGGING YOU!"
The hand stopped.
An inch from his ruined face. The vibration in the air ceased.
Muscular held his breath, his bloodshot eyes fixed on her hand. He waited for the blow that didn't come. He watched the killing intent in Inko's eyes recede, fading away.
Inko lowered her hand slowly. The invisible pressure crushing Muscular eased, just enough to let him take a shuddering breath. He was still immobilized, but he was no longer being actively tortured.
He gasped, a wet, desperate sound, relieved for a fleeting instant. He thought he'd been saved.
Ragdoll exhaled, a shaky sigh of relief. "Thank god..."
But seeing Inko's new expression, the relief froze in her chest. That look... it wasn't human.
"Speak."
Inko's voice was cold. Emotionless. A simple command.
Muscular, regaining a shred of his old arrogance now that he believed he'd dodged death, let out a weak, wet laugh. Blood bubbled on his lips.
"Speak? To you, mother hen?" He coughed, a painful retch. "I'd rather die."
Inko didn't answer.
She just lifted an index finger. Slightly.
CRUNCH.
A sickening sound echoed in the alley. Muscular's left arm, already broken, twisted at an impossible angle within the invisible prison holding him. The bone split lengthwise.
"AAAAAAAAAARGHHHHH!!!!"
The scream was guttural, animalistic, torn from the depths of his being. A sound of pure agony that made Ragdoll take a step back, her hand flying to her mouth.
"Oh my god! Stop!"
Izuku, barely conscious on the ground, whimpered weakly, disturbed even in his state. "Definitely... a good call... bringing Mom..."
"I asked you." Inko's voice was still flat. "Speak. Or your neck is next."
Muscular gasped, tears of pure pain streaming down his dirty face. The arrogance had evaporated. Only terror remained.
"Alright! Alright! I'll talk! Dammit, I'll talk! Just stop! STOP!"
The pressure on his broken arm relented. The pain dropped from unbearable to merely agonizing.
"What... what do you want to know?" he panted, spitting out a tooth.
"Who sent you?" Inko asked.
"Shigaraki! Tomura Shigaraki!"
Ragdoll tensed. "Shigaraki? The leader of the USJ attack?"
Inko ignored her. Her eyes never left Muscular. "How many?"
"I... I don't know! A group! They call us... they call us the Vanguard Action Squad!" Muscular spat the words through gritted teeth.
"Why here?"
"To attack! To break them!"
"Break what?"
"The brats! The students!"
"Be specific." Inko's voice dropped a tone, growing sharper. "Your life depends on your specificity."
"They... they want the students! The strong ones! The ones who stood out in that stupid festival!"
"Names."
Muscular swallowed. "I... I can't! Shigaraki will kill me!"
Inko lifted her finger again.
"NO! WAIT!" he screamed. "The explosive kid! The blonde one! I don't remember his name!"
Ragdoll gasped.
"Why him?" Inko's voice was relentless.
"Shigaraki wants him! He says he's got villain potential! That he's like us! An arrogant brat, that's what he is! He wants to recruit him!"
"Who else?"
"I... I don't know the names! I swear! Just descriptions!"
"Speak."
"The one who creates things! The rich one! The one with the ponytail!"
Ragdoll whispered, horrified. "Momo... Yaoyorozu..."
"Yeah, her!" Muscular hurried to say. "A walking weapons factory, Shigaraki called her! He wants her Quirk! And... and the other one!"
"Which other one?"
"The gravity one! The one who humiliated them at the USJ!"
"Ochako!" Ragdoll's cry was sharp.
"Yeah! Her!" Muscular coughed up blood. "Shigaraki hates her! He hates her more than anyone! He said he wanted to make her pay! That he wanted to break her first!"
The silence that followed was tense. Ragdoll was shaking, processing the targets. Bakugo. Momo. Ochako.
"Why?" Inko asked.
"Power! Potential!" Muscular gasped. "And to break them! To break U.A.'s spirit! To show the world that their precious future heroes can be broken! Or turned into villains!"
Inko processed the information. It was a coherent plan. Brutal, but coherent.
*****
A thick, pink fog filled everything, reducing visibility to just a few feet.
"I can't see him!" Ochako coughed violently, covering her mouth with her forearm. Her eyes were streaming, the chemical burning them. "I can't breathe!"
"He's close, kero!" Tsuyu's voice was a choked croak. She was clinging to a tree branch, her tongue extended, trying to feel vibrations in the misty air. "He's playing with us."
A sharp whistle. The sound of a gunshot.
BANG!
A bullet whizzed past Ochako's head.
"There!" she shouted, pointing vaguely into the fog. She tapped her fingers together. "Zero Gravity!"
She used a pulse of her Quirk, trying to push the gas upward. The fog swirled, briefly revealing a tall figure in a gas mask and a revolver before closing in again.
"It's useless!" Ochako gasped, falling to her knees. "The gas comes right back! It's too much! And... I'm getting dizzy!"
"We have to get out of the fog, kero. Or we won't last. The poison is affecting us." Tsuyu leaped to a lower branch, her own breathing becoming labored.
"We can't just leave him here! He's shooting at the others!" Ochako forced herself to stand.
"You don't have to leave me!" A voice, distorted by a speaker, echoed from the fog. "You just have to die! Well, well! Two girls from Class 1-A? Lucky me!"
"Show yourself!" Ochako yelled.
BANG!
The bullet ricocheted off something metallic.
"Get down!"
A large figure burst through the fog, one arm turned to gleaming steel.
"Tetsutetsu!" Tsuyu exclaimed.
"And Kendo?!" Ochako looked around.
"Here!" Itsuka Kendo appeared, using her giant hands to fan the gas, creating a small pocket of breathable air. "Uraraka! Asui! Are you okay?!"
"Barely," Ochako said, coughing.
Tetsutetsu slumped against a tree, his steel skin flickering. "Damn it! This gas... it's getting through my quirk! It's burning me from the inside!"
"We can't fight if we can't breathe!" Kendo shouted. "And he has a mask!"
"Oh, the smart girl from Class B!" Mustard's voice laughed. "Exactly! I have a mask and a gun, and you have lungs that are melting! It's not a fair fight, I know! But that's life!"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Tetsutetsu grunted, stepping in front of Kendo, the bullets bouncing off his chest. "Bastard! You're just hiding!"
"You're the shield! How noble!" Mustard mocked. "But the gas will kill you anyway! It's heavier than air, you idiots! It's pooling down here! You're breathing pure poison!"
Ochako looked at her hands. "Heavier than air..." she murmured. "And he said I couldn't float it..."
"Ochako, you're getting pale, kero!" Tsuyu said, alarmed.
"I... I have an idea..." Ochako took a deep breath, which made her cough violently. "Kendo! I need you to hit the gas! Hard! Upward!"
"What?"
"Tsuyu! At the first sign of movement, get us out!"
"Got it, kero!"
"Tetsutetsu! Get his attention!"
Tetsutetsu grinned, showing metal teeth. "Gladly! Hey, mask-wearing asshole! Your aim sucks! My grandma shoots better!"
"What did you say, you piece of scrap metal?!"
BANG! BANG!
"NOW, KENDO!" Ochako yelled.
Kendo enlarged her hands to their maximum size and slammed them on the ground right in front of them. WHOMP!
The shockwave sent a massive cloud of poison gas upward, directly toward Mustard's position.
"Shit! I can't see!" the villain yelled.
"Tsuyu!"
Tsuyu's tongue shot out, wrapping around Ochako, Kendo, and Tetsutetsu. "Hold your breath, kero!"
With a powerful leap, she pulled them out of the clearing, landing hard on a higher slope, outside the main gas cloud.
The four of them panted, breathing in the relatively clean air.
"That... was... gross..." Tetsutetsu said, returning to normal.
"We're not done," Kendo said, pointing down. The pink fog was settling again. "He's still down there. And we're trapped up here."
"You can't escape!" Mustard's voice sounded furious. "I'll find you! I'll find you and kill you all!"
BANG!
The bullet hit the rock next to Ochako's head.
"He's shooting blind!" said Kendo. "We have to move!"
****
CLANG! SPARK!
Moonfish's serrated blades clashed against Kirishima's hardened arm. Sparks flew, illuminating the dark forest.
"You're tough, kid!" Moonfish's voice was a distorted hiss through his leather mask. "I like tough meat! More fun to slice! Slice! Slice!"
"DIE, YOU DAMN TOOTHY BASTARD!"
A massive explosion from Bakugo lit up the clearing. The heat was intense. Moonfish retracted agilely, using his blade-teeth to propel himself, moving erratically between the trees.
"You can't hit me, explosion boy! Too fast! Too sharp!"
"I'LL BLAST YOU TO PIECES!" Bakugo roared, launching after him, his palms crackling.
"Bakugo, wait! You idiot!" Kirishima yelled, trying to keep up. "It's a trap! He's playing with us!"
"GET OUT OF MY WAY, SHITTY HAIR! I'M GONNA FRY HIM!"
"Meat! I want meat! Show me your meat!" Moonfish's voice seemed to come from everywhere.
Suddenly, dozens of blades erupted from the ground and tree trunks, creating a cage of steel.
"Crap! They're everywhere!" Kirishima yelled, activating his "Unbreakable," the blades screeching against his hardened skin. CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
"HA! YOU'RE JUST HIDING!" Bakugo yelled, in the center of the cage. "COME OUT AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN!"
"Fight! Yes! Slice! Slice! Meat!"
A torrent of blade-teeth converged on Bakugo from behind, a silver mass meant to impale him.
"BAKUGO, BEHIND YOU!" Kirishima screamed, too far to help.
FOOOSH!
A massive wall of ice erupted from nowhere, blocking the blades at the last second. The sound of metal striking ice was deafening.
Bakugo landed, spinning. "HUH?! YOU ICY-HOT BASTARD?!"
Shoto Todoroki stood there, his right side covered in frost, breathing hard. "Calm down, Bakugo. You were almost skewered. You were screaming so loud I found you."
"I DIDN'T NEED YOUR HELP, YOU DAMN WALKING SNOWSTORM!"
"Sure you did, man!" Kirishima ran to them, batting away a stray blade. "Thanks, Todoroki! This guy's a real problem! His attacks are coming from everywhere!"
Todoroki looked at the ice wall. "I saw him move. He's fast. And those blades... they're his teeth. He's extending his teeth."
"So gross!" said Kirishima.
"Ice! Cold!" Moonfish's voice hissed as he climbed the ice wall, his teeth digging into it. "I don't like cold! I want hot meat! Red meat!"
"I'LL GIVE YOU SOMETHING HOT!" Bakugo aimed with both hands. BOOOOM!
The explosion shattered Todoroki's ice wall, sending sharp fragments in all directions.
"Idiot!" Todoroki yelled, creating a small ice shield to protect himself. "Don't destroy my defenses! You're opening a path for him!"
Moonfish used the explosion and steam as cover, launching through the air, moving with all his blades.
"He's moving! Up high!" Kirishima yelled, pointing.
"Don't let him get close!" Todoroki sent a blast of fire. FWOOSH.
Moonfish twisted in mid-air, dodging most of the flames. "Fire! I like fire! It cooks the meat! YES! COOKS!"
"STOP TALKING ABOUT DAMN MEAT!" Bakugo propelled himself into the air with his explosions, chasing him. "AP SHOT!"
He fired a concentrated blast. Moonfish blocked it with a shield of teeth, but the impact sent him staggering toward the ground.
"Don't go alone, Bakugo!" Todoroki shouted.
"Dammit, his manliness is uncontrollable!" Kirishima ran after him. "Todoroki, freeze the ground! Just like you did at the festival! Don't let him hide in the trees or underground!"
"Good idea." Todoroki stomped his foot.
A massive sheet of ice spread across the forest floor in seconds, covering the dirt, roots, and bushes.
Moonfish landed on the ice and hissed, slipping. "Cold! Cold! COLD! I HATE COLD!"
"GOT YOU!" Bakugo yelled from above, descending with his hands glowing.
"Let's finish this clown!" Kirishima growled, hardening his fists.
****
Back in the alley, Muscular was trembling. Cold sweat and blood covered his face.
"And you?" Inko's voice turned even colder. "What was your specific mission? Why here? Why my son?"
Muscular hesitated. A tremor ran through his body. It wasn't just pain. It was fear. Fear of Shigaraki. Fear of the woman in front of him.
"I... I don't..."
Inko didn't need words. She squeezed.
This time, the invisible pressure concentrated on the open wound in his shoulder and on his burst eye.
"GYAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
The scream was different. Deeper. More desperate. A broken sound from someone who had lost all hope. "I'LL TELL YOU! I'LL TELL YOU!" he sobbed. "JUST STOP! PLEASE!"
The pressure eased, but it didn't disappear.
"The kid! Your son! Midoriya!" He gasped, sucking in air. "My mission... was the kid!"
Inko's breath hitched for a fraction of a second. It was the only sign of emotion she had shown.
"Izuku? Why?" Ragdoll's voice was a terrified whisper.
Inko shot her a glare. "Quiet. Let him talk. Why him?"
"And... and the cat!" Muscular yelled, twisting his head frantically toward Ragdoll. "The green one! Ragdoll!"
Ragdoll, who had been listening in horrified silence, froze. She felt an icy terror. "Me? Why me?!"
"Shigaraki... Shigaraki said your Quirks were... interesting!" Muscular screamed the words, forcing them out, his voice choked with pain. "My mission was to capture you alive! Bring you in! Just that! I swear on my life! I've told you everything!"
Ragdoll stumbled back, hitting the alley wall. Her hand went to her throat. Me? Why me? My Quirk? Search? How... how do they know? A cold, personal fear washed over her. She was no longer a hero observing a crisis. She was a target. She felt her own vulnerability like a sharp pain.
"To study them..." Ragdoll whispered.
"All... For... One."
Izuku's voice was a weak, pain-filled croak from the ground. Inko and Ragdoll turned their heads.
"Izuku..." Inko knelt beside him, her control over Muscular holding firm.
"He... steals... Quirks," Izuku coughed, a painful spasm. "He 'studies' them. It's him, Mom. He's behind Shigaraki. It's always been him."
The realization hit Ragdoll hard. "Study... oh god... he doesn't want to study it. He wants to take it. He wants my Quirk. And yours, Izuku..."
Inko stood up slowly. She had what she needed. The information was a list of targets. Bakugo. Momo. Ochako. Izuku. Ragdoll. Specific objectives. Capture. Study. Break them. Turn them.
Her gaze on Muscular was still cold, but the immediate killing intent had been replaced by an icy pragmatism.
"Thank you for the information," Inko said.
Muscular looked at her, hope warring with terror. "Are you... are you going to let me go? Call the police? Right?"
"No."
Ragdoll startled. "Mrs. Midoriya! What?! No! He told you everything! He's a prisoner of war, technically! You can't!"
"He's a monster who tried to kill my son twice. And he knows where we are."
"That's not what we do! We're heroes! Don't kill him!"
"I am not a hero."
Inko raised her hand again, and the air around Muscular's head began to visibly vibrate.
"NO! IF YOU DO THIS, YOU'RE NO BETTER THAN HE IS!" Ragdoll screamed.
"YOU LIED!" Muscular howled, twisting uselessly. "YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T KILL ME! YOU LYING BITCH!"
"I didn't say that." Inko's voice was barely a whisper. "I said, 'Speak'."
"Wait!"
Izuku's shout was stronger this time. He was forcing himself to sit up, clutching his bloody shoulder. "The... information... is more... important!" he gasped. "We... need him! Alive! Aizawa-sensei... Mandalay... they have to know... the targets! Now!"
Inko paused. Her hand trembled slightly in the air. She looked at Muscular, debating, and then at her son, who was watching her with desperation and pain.
He was right. A corpse was useless. A live prisoner to interrogate was valuable.
She lowered her hand.
The invisible pressure on Muscular vanished completely. With a choked groan, the villain finally collapsed, unconscious, succumbing to the pain and blood loss.
Ragdoll slid down the wall, shaking so violently she could barely stay upright. "You... you were... you were really going to..."
Inko ignored her. "Watch Izuku. I have to find Aizawa. I have to..."
Just then, a voice echoed directly in Inko's and Ragdoll's minds.
Mandalay to all units!
Ragdoll jumped. "Mandalay! Her telepathy!"
League of Villains attack! It's the Vanguard Action Squad! I repeat, it's the Vanguard Action Squad!
"We know," Inko muttered.
Reinforcements are en route! They are twenty minutes out! Hold on! I repeat, twenty minutes!
"Twenty... minutes..." Izuku whispered, trying to stand.
Pixie-Bob is injured! She's fighting an earth beast! Tiger is with her, but they're in trouble! There are multiple injured students! Poison gas reported in the forest!
"Ochako! Tsuyu!" Ragdoll cried out.
The targets are the students! They are hunting the students! Aizawa has given me permission to engage! All students, you have permission to use your Quirks to defend yourselves! I repeat, permission to fight! Survive!
"Izuku..." she whispered, horrified. "Your mother... she..."
"I know." Izuku tore a piece of cloth from his ruined shirt. "We'll talk about it... if we survive. Now... Ragdoll, help me wrap this. Quick."