"Monama," Medea paused between hallways, "there's something I think I should do."

Monama panted. "Uh, okay... What?"

"I've been thinking--I know we need to rescue them, and I'm gonna try, but...there's someone else here I need to... I mean...I need to try one more time," Medea said.

Monama understood. "Oh...uh...wow.... Um....are you sure that's...?"

"Monama...he's the worst," Medea said, ever blunt, "and he's a horrible brother...and I'm so mad at him, sometimes, when I wake up at night, or I realize I've been staring into space because I'm rehashing it all over again...it makes me almost sick...but that's just it--I'm never gonna be free if I can't face him, for once, and tell him that I don't...I don't need this."

Monama questioned the wisdom of now being the time to do that.

"If you need to confront him, can't you wait?" he said.

"I may not get another chance," Medea said.

"Are you sure that, deep down, you're not just hoping you can persuade him to leave?" Monama said.

Caught.

Medea frowned. Probably knew she couldn't lie to Monama here.

"I need to try one last time," she said, "If I could just talk and not go to pieces, maybe, I could show him it's better this way. I know he probably won't change his mind about me. I've been going over that with Cece, and even Miss Likstar warned me it can be real tough to get someone to let go. But what if Lethe isn't totally far gone yet? If I didn't at least try, am I any better than him? I mean, could you call us family?"

"I would say, after what he did, you calling him family at all is much better than he deserves," Monama insisted, "You don't owe it to him to save him, you know. He chose this."

"But he's not happy here, Monama, I can tell. Twins can read each other, you know," Medea said, "He's lying to himself... I still remember some good stuff we did together too. You didn't know him before, but he could be nice...even normal-ish. He was never mean to me outside of the memory wiping... It's just like this ugly, monstrous thing between us... I just want to put it behind me, and then I can move on with a clear conscience. Please, Monama."

Monama felt horribly like this was going to end badly. "I don't like it." He was blunt. "But I guess you've made up your mind. You don't care what I want, do you?"

"Monama..." Medea said, sounding hurt.

"Lethe is still the most important to you, so, whatever." Monama turned his back. "Go save him if you want."

"Not like that," Medea said, now openly hurt, "Not with you like this. Come on, that's going to ruin it for me."

"I think you made up your mind. Why did you even ask me?" Monama sniffed.

"I...didn't want to go at it alone," Medea said flatly.

Monama froze.

"I guess that is too much to ask," Medea said slowly, "It's a big risk...you're right. That's selfish. I ...I see why you're angry, and I know it does kind of look like I don't care. But...I'm just sort of thinking, if I really want to be good in the future, I have to put this to rest. Maybe I'm not ready yet, but we were just saying yesterday we never feel ready, and this is the only chance I got. But it's my battle. I know that."

Monama felt super guilty.

"No, don't say that." He turned back around hastily. "I'm sorry. I had no right to get all broken up over it... After all, Lethe is your only family. I can't imagine what that is like..."

Medea wiped tears away. "Don't be nice about it. That makes it worse."

"Well, if it helps, I'm still offended you would choose him over me," Monama sniffed.

"I'm not trying to do that, you moron." Medea swatted his arm. "I'm trying to choose both...or neither, maybe... I don't know how it works. Like, if I do this, I can just let it go, and then I'll be free to do things naturally. Don't you want me to be able to focus on the present, not the past?"

"I...suppose..." Monama really was not used to these conversations yet, but they always did happen around Medea. For all her snarkiness, she was the deep one.

He did like that about her, but he also felt like he just couldn't keep up at times with it, and he looked stupid by comparison.

[At least you're being honest, there, Monama.]

"If you're gonna go confront him, I'll go with you," Monama said finally.

"Oh, but you shouldn't," Medea said, "It's like suicide. It's really dangerous," she said.

"And that is exactly why letting you go alone is nuts," Monama said, "You threatened to shoot yourself before, remember? I'm not letting you get that close again."

Medea had forgotten that, actually. "I was half crazed with the shock though. I wasn't serious," she said.

"And being around Lethe makes you act crazy, so I'm taking no chances," Monama said, "Besides, I have to keep my first girlfriend for longer than 2 months, or I'll never live it down."

Medea finally smiled wryly. "Always about you, isn't it?"

"Well, I am better than them at everything." Monama was finally starting to be able to laugh at himself a little.

"All right, fine," Medea said, "I guess I can't ditch you. I was really hoping to finally, but you just kind of stick to a person."

"Really, I think that's a little uncalled for--" began Monama, before she kissed him, pushing him against the wall.

Monama had gotten a bit more used to this, but it still caught him off guard...but he didn't stiffen up this time. Tentatively he put an arm around her slowly.

Medea pulled back. "I had to get that out of the way."

"Uh huh..." Monama said brilliantly.

"Before we look for him, I still want to help find the DJs," Medea said, "I'm not failing the team for this...but then, I'm sneaking off...so be ready, I guess, if you're coming."

"I hope we're not making the biggest mistake of our lives," Monama muttered.

[Yeah, me too.]

* * *

Mirko and Shigaraki got farther than they expected to without encountering anyone worse than a few scrubs.

Mirko had a bad feeling about that.

They saw or heard a few clones drawing more fire off in the distance, so it could be they were creating too many problems for the ninja to focus on the two who were doing nothing.

No sign of Toga though.

Mirko was about ready to call it. Toga was clearly either gone or captured already.

But before she actually got around to saying it, Shigaraki said, "Didn't we come this way?"

"Huh?" Mirko stopped.

"Those doors." Shigaraki pointed to a set of double doors down the hall. "We passed them already."

"Everything looks the same down here, and you think we passed the exact same doors?" Mirko said.

"I've actually been thinking that for a while," Shigaraki said, "so I chipped some of the paint in the wall." He walked closer. "And there it is. We did pass this."

"So we went in a circle," Mirko said, "but...that doesn't seem right." She began tugging her hair outward from her head.

Shigaraki looked at her dubiously. "Did you keep track of what corners we turned?"

"I mean, mentally," Mirko said, "but that's why I'd swear we alternated too much to have gone in a circle." She tugged her hair more. "I don't get it." She took two strands and twisted them together.

Did she pick up this nervous habit from Likstar? She didn't remember doing it that much before... Shine must have rubbed off on her more than she thought.

"Stop doing that," Shigaraki said, suddenly.

"Huh?" Mirko looked up. "Stop doing what?"

"That," he said, "It's distracting."

"Mind your own business," Mirko shot back, "I'm just trying to think. How long ago did you notice this?"

"Just on the second time...maybe five minutes ago."

"It happened fast, then, probably." Mirko put her ears back. "Why does this sound familiar?"

It hit Shigaraki right then. Slowly he went down the hall and got to where they supposedly had turned, then he put his hand out.

The wall disintegrated, not like drywall, but like fabric.

Mirko tensed. "Silk." She looked around. Glaring.

She looked back. Even behind her the hallway looked a little too perfect... She listened. She could hear something like a draft rustling fabric.

Most people would never have noticed it, but Mirko didn't have high sensitivity for nothing.

"All right, Silk, we know you're there. Stop hiding." She kicked and tore a hole through the fake wall.

First mistake.

Before she pulled back, the fabric twisted around her foot and yanked her onto her back.

Shigaraki came back that way.

Silk shimmered into view. Whether it was a screen of her or the real her, it was hard to tell.

She looked different though.

[Evil Silk design by Onerose, original template to original creator.]

"Hello, Number 5," she said, her accent notably less thick, "And Shigaraki...I guess you really can't hold onto your employees. Fancy meeting you here."

"Where is Toga, you little witch?" Shigaraki had no fond feelings for Silk after witnessing the last several weeks of torment with Compress.

"Witch? Really, that's just rude," Silk said, "Darling, I don't know where Toga is. We're not exactly friends anymore...if we ever were. Such an unpleasant character."

Mirko kicked to tear the binding off herself, with success. She got up. "Why are you here? They send you to reel us in?"

"Eh, don't feel special. I just found you first. You're not exactly easy to miss," Silk said.

Mirko thought she must be moving as she was talking, because she couldn't tell where her voice was coming from.

She turned towards the last place...but Silk was good at what she did. The walls all looked totally real.

"I don't have time for this," Shigaraki said, "If you don't know where Toga is, I'll just destroy all of this and be done with it."

"Darling, never announce your attacks," Silk said.

Silken cords stretched out from all corners of the room, like some odd looking spiderweb, and started to attach to them.

Mirko struggled and had the muscle power to break it still...at first...but then it stopped working.

"It takes a bit of warming up to get it like this," Silk spoke, as cords suddenly pinned Shigaraki arms together so he couldn't reach out with them.

"At first I never knew how strong my silk could be, but turns out, it can be like steel, just take a bit of focus. Have to wind it tight... I'm a terrible match up for you, darlings. The Pro Hero who has to be mobile to use her quirk...and the villain who has to touch things in order to use it."

"This won't hold me for long," Shigaraki said.

"Well, to be honest, Sir, I don't really care," Silk said, "I just need to keep you busy long enough to take care of this Pro, and then you can go on. I'm not letting both of you slip away though. I won't go back empty handed."

Mirko strained harder.... Curse this stuff, it was really hard to break.

It couldn't be she was actually outclassed by Silk? Could it? They'd seemed even before...but that Silk had not been trying to kill her...or even really trying at all, she realized.

This one was different.

"What's wrong with you?" Shigaraki echoed the same thought. "This seems a little unusual for your style."

He wiggled in an effort to get more moving room.

Silk finally appeared for real, since she was actually moving this time.

She tugged on a thread, which wrung Mirko's arm painfully.

"Assassinations aren't really my style, it's true," she admitted, "but I never liked you anyway. I think I can live with this one."

Mirko felt something go around her neck... Uh oh. Was Silk serious?

"This is really...what you want?" She strained to not let it get tighter.

Silk paused. "What I want never entered this equation, darling, but I don't think I'll miss you." She smiled connivingly.

https://youtu.be/8fHj1P1JX5E

[Beth Crowley--Cold Blooded]

The room began to crack and crumble.

Silk looked up. "What in the--" her accent went thick again, "How did you do that? I had you pinned very seriously."

The ceiling began to fall in on them.

Silk swore and dashed back out of the way.

She didn't untie Mirko first, and the chunks of ceiling falling on the silk almost yanked her arm out of its socket and made her black out.

She held on to the edge of consciousness enough to twist out of the way as hard as she could, and the silk strands finally gave way under her weight...or maybe they stretched, because she hit the ground.

The one around her throat yanked harder though. Mirko choked...

...

Her head was throbbing now...

Mirko slowly blinked. She was still on the floor. Shigaraki was right next to her, disintegrating the silk ties on her.

She rubbed her throat and started to cough.

"Oh, good, you're alive." Shigaraki sounded flat. "For a second there, I was sure she actually killed you."

"Like...it would *cough*...be that easy." Mirko sat up. "I did black out there... How long...?"

"Just a couple minutes. She's gone," Shigaraki said, "or I killed her."

Most of the room had caved in.

"How did you do that?" Mirko realized her voice sounded strained.

"I activated my quirk through my feet." Shigaraki no longer had shoes on. "Guess Silk didn't know that was possible. For a spy, she doesn't do her research that well."

Mirko laughed--which hurt. "Stupid b----..."

"I think it's safe to say we can't go that way," Shigaraki said, "Have to warp."

That sounded like the last thing she wanted to do with her throat like this...but not much choice about it.

She rubbed her arm. "I don't know about letting her get away."

"We'd never catch her. This is her element," Shigaraki said.

"Well, heroes have to beat the odds," Mirko said.

"And you'll play right into her hands."

"If she gets away, she'll capture someone else," Mirko said.

Shigaraki was silent.

"Yeah, do you ever think there's a reason heroes do stupid, reckless things?" Mirko said, "Sometimes that's better than letting someone else get in trouble. And right now, she's looking for everyone."

"Fine," Shigaraki sighed, "Stupid silkworm."

"Bad hiring strategy, am I right?" Mirko tried to joke.

She only got a glare in response.

Shigaraki warped anyway...but right to Silk.

Silk must have thought they might do that. She lost no time in spinning a screen out at them.

Mirko moved faster than her this time. She leapt behind her and kicked her into the floor. Shigaraki disintegrated the screen much faster than before.

"How did you even escape?" Silk grunted, pushing herself up.

Mirko pushed her back down. "You don't know everything... I honestly expected a bit more of a fight."

Silk looked up. "Well, Mirko...sorry to disappoint you, but I know my limits, unlike you."

She smiled surreptitiously. "And that is why I call in backup."

Black smoke came out of nowhere into the room.

Silk yanked Mirko off her feet.

"Kurogiri," Shigaraki spoke, "why are you here? Just actually listen to me this time, d--- it!"

"I have no interest in talking to you," Kurogiri's voice answered distantly, "I'm only here to make sure you don't bother Silk too much. Shall I take them both or just one, Colleague?"

"I have other fish to catch. I don't care if it's them or not." Silk brushed herself off. "Take them both."

"Kurogiri, don't listen to that woman. Don't you remember what you're supposed to be doing?" Shigaraki sounded frantic.

Mirko suddenly kicked Silk into the wall hard, probably enough to almost break her arm.

"I swear, Silk, if I get a chance to finish this, you are going to wish you never heard the name Mirko," she said, as the smoke encircled her.

Silk looked at her through the smoke. "I already wish that," she seemed to say--it was hard to be sure.

"Kurogiri, stop it!" Shigaraki seemed to be trying to find his real body, but it wasn't in that hallway at all. "These people are not your master! Don't listen to them."

No answer.

Mirko thought quickly... Any chance Shine had spoken to Kurogiri in here? Not much of one probably, but...

"Hey, before you kill us, Smokey, did you by any chance talk to someone named Likstar?" she said.

The smoke almost...wavered? Could smoke do that?

"I don't wish to speak to her anymore..." Kurogiri said.

"Anymore? So you did," Mirko said, "Is she alive?"

"She's as she is, for now, or perhaps she's as she will be or was." Kurogiri wasn't making sense. "I don't have anything to do with her now. She upsets me."

"She's real good at that." Mirko realized the room had changed around them. "I bet she tried to fix you, like those other nomu... Too bad it didn't work, clearly."

"I..." Kurogiri suddenly seemed to choke. "I...stop...stop.... No!" His voice changed, became younger? More strained? "Don't...don't let them... Don't..."

"Kurogiri?" Shigaraki was puzzled. "What's wrong with you?"

The smoke suddenly seemed to fling them through the air again.

"Don't go to them--No, you must!" Kurogiri's voices seemed to argue with each other.

Mirko didn't catch much of it because she she was now plummeting through the air... Where was this?

It had to be in the base still...but it was definitely not the same part of it he'd been taking them too. Had he changed his mind?

This was a large training room, it looked like. They had fallen from the ceiling.

Mirko managed to break her fall by hitting one of the racks of gear and tumbling the rest of the way to the floor.

She sat up. "Shigaraki?"

Shigaraki wasn't so lucky. He'd hit the floor straight up.

Mirko ran up. No sign of Kurogiri now...

There he was...black smoke congregating in front of her.

Mirko didn't really know why the idea came to her, but she turned to face him, standing in front of Shigaraki like a pacing lion. "Just frick off already! Stop letting them puppet you around. Come on, isn't there anything real in you anymore, man?"

Shigaraki seemed to be blinking, stirring but not waking up.

Kurogiri's yellow eyes seemed to glare at her. "I miscalculated. This is the wrong room. I will rectify my mistake."

"Wait...no, you did this on purpose," Mirko said, sure of it, "You dumped us in here to give us chance to get away. You're fighting this, aren't you? Shine said something to you, I bet. That's all it ever seems to take... Well, you should listen to it." She held up her hands as if to shoo him away. "Leave us alone... Come on...er, how does she do this...in the name of her God or whatever. Yeah, that's what she always says. Snap out of it...Oboro--that's your name, right?"

There was something like a hiss from the smoke at that name, and suddenly a rack of weapons came flying at her head.

Mirko ducked them just in time. When she looked up, Kurogiri was gone.

"Did...did that scare him?" she puzzled.

Well, no time.

"Shigaraki," she turned and started shaking him, " come on, wake up. No time for this. We have to run."

No good.

Maybe it wasn't just the impact. Maybe it was the warping itself shocking him... Could it affect him because he had a warp quirk too?

[I suppose it's a little late now to mention this, but some of you no doubt wonder why he has this quirk when the nomu is the one with it on the show.

The way it was used didn't make a whole lot of sense to me unless Shigaraki could also use it, and it seems like The Doctor can clone quirks in a way, since many nomu seem to have similar ones, and AFO used the warping quirk himself, then the nomu had it also, with no space in between to transfer it.

That being the case, I'm guessing they can clone it. That's why Shigaraki has had it throughout this whole story.]

Well, standing out in the open like this was dangerous... Mirko didn't see anyone else in this room... Could Kurogiri/Oboro have picked one he knew no one would be in?

She saw why: Most of the lights were out. Kaminari's doing? Or a different problem. And there was also some pretty bad looking burns along the floor and walls... The equipment in here looked a little more specialized than just regular weapons too.

Mirko slowly started to realize this might be a training room for the elites. It looked too much like a Hero gym... That made sense--none of them would be in here. They'd be out looking for the group.

Well, it was a perfect hiding spot, then.

She dragged Shigaraki behind some of the equipment. He'd have to come out of it soon, right? Meanwhile, she should check the room... She was no Ren, but maybe something in here could help her.

At the very least, maybe she could blow something up. Someone was bound to come here sooner or later, and a booby trap would be nice.

She had to think less like a hero... If she didn't have a quirk, how would she use this room?

* * *

Shigaraki's head was buzzing... Kurogiri had rattled him good... He wasn't sure if he was awake or out...

He thought he heard yelling, but then it was silent again.

It reminded him of home again...

Or maybe that was the head injury...

Always flashing back in the middle of fights... He really should stop doing that...not that he could really control it...

There was his family again... He really only remembered bits and pieces about them too... It was all cracked in places still...kind of like how Kurogiri only remembered certain things at certain times...and then remembered himself at others.

Yes, they were sort of the same, he thought.

He wondered if he was missing something crucial also, then, if he didn't remember more than just what happened that one night...and his father...

Come to think of it, getting hit did feel a lot like that pole...

Maybe if he hadn't stopped wearing the hands, he'd feel more motivated to do this faster... He'd feel powerful...

Maybe it was disrespecting the dead though.

[Anyone else think Shigaraki thinks the most clearly when he's half out of it? Maybe it's because the real him is stronger when the mental conditioning is shaken up.]

Someone was moving him... Living hands felt so different...

[Weird thought, but I guess not for him.]

Shigaraki tried to open his eyes, and it hurt too much, so he didn't.

The last time he really remembered someone reaching out to him without fear was...Hana...

Killing her had started it all...becoming his true self...

Hana...

She didn't really deserve it though. At least she was sorry... Where did that thought come from? He hadn't thought about that since remembering it at all.

Maybe this was what happened when memory suppression was undone--you thought weird things about it...

Medea might know...wherever she was...

Oh, right, Likstar...she reached out without fear too... She really was crazy...kind of like his mother...not smart enough to run when she had the chance...

Why did he remember that now?

This wasn't pleasant. Shigaraki struggled to wake himself up out of these recollections...making his head pound more.

Hands...

"Go away!" he told them. It seemed like shouting to him, but in reality it was barely a whisper.

"Leave me alone..."

Someone reached out and grabbed him---real this time.

Alive...

"Hana..." he muttered, still confused.

"Hey," a voice broke in, "wake up..."

Shigaraki finally succeeded in snapping out of it...

Mirko was the one shaking him. "Finally... It's been several minutes."

Shigaraki stared at her in bewilderment.

"Who's Hana?" Mirko asked.

"What?" Shigaraki almost had a heart attack. Did he say that out loud...? Wait, there was no reason to be ashamed of that. Why was he panicking?... How much did he say out loud, then?"

"Uh, nevermind." Mirko thought better of it. "Are you sure you're okay? I think the warp gate messed you up... Maybe one warper really isn't a good mix with another, huh? Can you get up? This room isn't going to stay empty."

"I'm fine," Shigaraki lied. He struggled to get up. His whole rib cage felt jarred by hitting the floor. "What room is this?"

"Training room... I've been looking around for something to use if someone does come in. Most of it is just training crap..." Mirko said.

So it was...

"Where did...he go?" Shigaraki muttered.

"He ran away." Mirko sounded uncertain. "I tried something with him. It worked... I think he was trying to give us a chance to get away. He's fighting it now. That's good, right? Shine talked to him... Maybe she could help him, if we find her."

"Then we're going to find her," Shigaraki decided, "and ask her what happened."

"Sure, brainiac," Mirko said flatly, "At the rate we're going, we won't make it there without getting knocked out, choked out, or tossed through the air. Be easier for us to tear this place apart piece by piece the old fashioned way."

Shigaraki glanced at her.

"What? Oh, no, that won't work," Mirko said.

"You said it. What other option is there?" Shigaraki got to his feet. "Who knows how long it will take us to find--?"

"Boss Man?" Suddenly Medea was there, blazing.

"What are you doing in here?" Mirko said.

"Looking for you," Medea said, "Why are you in this room? Does this look like a cell to you?"

"Nevermind that. We found West," Monama said, "We've got to get him out. Mind if I borrow your quirk?" This to Shigaraki. "Fire doesn't seem like it's going to work on his cell... And Likstar must be close."

"There're a bunch of cells," Medea said, "You're right next to them. Didn't you know that? Just through that wall." She pointed to the side of the gym. "I mean, it's thick cement...but still... There's a lot of guards, but they couldn't stop us. We have to hurry though. You should too. Then get the frick out of this part of the base. I'm way shocked we made it this far without getting banged up... I'm almost starting to like this quirk, you know?"

"Good, stay on that," Mirko said.

"I don't need your coaching right now," Medea said, "You need to move your butt. But thanks." She made an a-okay sign. "We're going now, Monama, got it?"

"I got it." He stepped back from Shigaraki. "This is the fast way to destroy the cell, anyway. Faster than fire, so this worked out."

"Let's go, Babe." Medea took his hand and then dashed back through the wall.

"Suck it, Eraser," Mirko said to no one, "Well...I guess that answers that... Kurogiri, you SOB, did you do this on purpose too?"

"We have to hurry." Shigaraki ignored her celebrating. He went to the wall and decayed a huge hole in it.

"Yeah, whatever you say, Genius," Mirko said sardonically.

[Hmm...so we're going to find out what happened finally, huh?

Also, screw Silk. What is wrong with that woman?

But M&M were cute. That's my sisters' and my ship name for Monama and Medea.]