After that dreadful pause, Shigaraki spoke. "We don't know that they caught them all... We're going to have to try to find them. I'm not just letting the d--- Originals have this one."

"Is that true?" Compress asked Silk.

"Is slight chance some of them are not captured yet, but--" Silk began.

"I suppose we'll have to try," Compress said.

Mirko was staring dead ahead.

"Well, come on, Rabbit Hero." Compress gestured at the door. "Wasting time now."

"It won't end well if they get DJs..." Silk murmured, "But I am confusion... I had thought they intended to kill them sooner or later. I heard nothing about higher ups... What was he talking about?"

"Could have been a bluff to get her to cooperate," Compress said, "I mean, he must know that woman cannot resist helping anyone, memory or no. It's brilliantly diabolical, really."

Mirko got up like one in a trance and walked towards the door.

"Wait for us," Silk objected, "Hey, don't let her go alone!"

"What are you doing?" Compress asked.

Silk was grabbing things off shelves.

"We're going blindly against the Originals, with most of team probably down," Silk said, "I'm taking extra supplies. You want to help? Start compressing this stuff. It might slow them down a bit...or if we find wounded people, maybe trade them help for a tip or something. I don't know."

"That's clever. Sir, you go after the Pro and make sure she doesn't do anything crazy. We'll be right along," Compress said.

Shigaraki slunk after Mirko, though he didn't really want to.

Mirko had gone as far as the outer hall and then paused again, because she didn't know where to go after that.

"What are you doing?" Shigaraki called, "Wait for us."

Mirko's ears went back. "Don't talk to me," she said darkly.

Shigaraki might not have understood people that well...but that was pretty unmistakable. "Are you...mad about something?"

Wrong question to ask!

Mirko turned, eyes blazing. "The h--- did you just ask me that?"

Shigaraki stepped back a little. "It's not the time for a temper tantrum. There is no time."

"Yeah, you're right. There isn't," Mirko said bitterly, "But what do I expect...? I hate you."

She said that often enough, but that sure sounded like she meant it.

"What did I do?" Shigaraki was actually puzzled. It sounded specific to him.

Mirko gave him a look of disgust. "Oh, nothing. Why am I even bothering...?"

"Why are you being cryptic?"

"Cryptic? You want me to spell it out for you?"

"Uh...yes..." Shigaraki was still confused.

"Frick you!" Mirko snapped instead.

Compress looked out, then ducked back in.

"I know we're in a hurry, my dear," he said to Silk, stopping her, "but I have a feeling interrupting this might be a bad idea... Suppose we grab something else I have a thought about?"

"So you're just going to yell. Fine then, I'm not going to participate in this." Shigaraki grew tired of her raging.

"Did you forget what just happened?" Mirko gestured frantically. "You SOB! That monster in human form just took her back! We went through all that to get her, and we just let her go." She suddenly was crying stormily again. "Actually, no, I tried to help her, and you stopped me! You just stopped me! I hate you!"

Shigaraki thought that had been saving her life... Heroes really made no sense.

"He had a gun..." he said cluelessly.

"So?" Mirko didn't seem to care about logic. "I was this close." She kicked the wall. "This close...and it's too late now... Doesn't that bother you? You freak? Or are you really just that callous? Dumb question, I know."

"I think you're delusional if you think that charging a gun was going to save her," Shigaraki snapped, not liking this turn at all.

"Oh, am I?" Mirko suddenly looked kind of dangerous. "Am I really the delusional one?"

Shigaraki didn't like that look.

"Yes, you are--"

He didn't get further than that. Before he was able to react, Mirko had slammed him into the wall, hard. And pinned him there with one foot.

Shigaraki raised a hand.

Mirko's eye weren't afraid. "Do something, I dare you," she said murderously.

Shigaraki stopped... He wasn't sure if she was going to snap his neck if he kept moving or not.

Where was Compress?

The answer was he was listening to this and had no intention of doing anything to stop it, too busy trying not to laugh.

[Yeah, Compress really can be the worst...]

"Nothing?" Mirko was scary like this. She seemed to be mocking him.  "Yeah, that's what I thought... I should have seen this coming... In the end, you never did care about her as much as the League members. Just want Kurogiri back so you can puppet him around again, is that it? She's too dangerous to rescue? Whatever you villains say."

Shigaraki literally could not answer. She was almost choking him.

"Unbelievable!" Mirko was still crying even as she was raging. "I don't know what I thought would happen differently. This whole thing was a bad idea... I guess I should take responsibility for it... I should have known better... You guys are selfish, and you're cowards in the end..."

Shigaraki coughed, which was all he could do at the moment.

Mirko frowned. 

Then she pulled back and let him drop to the floor.

Shigaraki gasped for air and gave her a confused look.

Mirko shook her head. "I know this is pointless... Yeah, we have to go look for the others, stupid idiots... I can only hope some of the actual Heroes survived this... I don't have the luxury of actually finishing this--but don't freaking talk to me!" She kicked the wall for emphasis, denting it. "I might forget, then..."

She walked away again.

Shigaraki looked up and saw Compress looking around the door.

"Are you all right, Sir?" he said.

Shigaraki rubbed his chest. "Yeah... What the h--- was that?"

"I believe that was an angry woman," Compress said, "They're very dangerous. I wouldn't mess with her."

Silk looked out from behind him. "I'm just glad it wasn't me..." she muttered, "Not sure what she would do... Always thought this about No. 5--you don't want her to snap... Not sure what she could do if she does."

"Oh, don't worry, Sir," Compress said, seeing Shigaraki's shocked expression, "I wouldn't take any of that too personally. She's just venting her frustration, and you're an easy target--I mean, it could have been any of us. And at least she didn't really hurt you too much, right? Would have been worse if it was Silk or me. Shake it off. She'll cool down once we have the others back and realize that was insane."

"Don't kill her," Silk said, "I mean, you could kill her, but we need her, and our chances aren't great as it is."

"I wasn't going to kill her." Shigaraki brushed himself off. "I'm just confused... Does she think that stopping that guy was possible?"

"They do drill that into Pro Heroes' heads," Compress said with false regret, "So who knows? It won't make any difference if she really believes it's possible or not. She's going to be pissed off."

"This is what I hate about Hero society," Silk said, "Unrealistic expectations...pressure... We really should still destroy it...or you should, I guess. But also, she is in shock... Miss Likstar is her friend. We can't possibly imagine how different it is for her to not be able to help her than a stranger or just ally, like us... That is why that was not personal... She is mad at herself."

"I think he gets it," Compress said, "Don't worry, Shigaraki can take a little temper. Toga holds knives to him all the time..."

"There's so much wrong with what you just said, Darling, but for now, let's catch up to her, if she's not mad as a march hare, and get on with it." Silk was impatient. "If I'm spending my last hours doing this, I want to be doing it, not standing around talking."

They all hurried.

[Ouch though...

In Mirko's defense, I think it was just too much pressure for her, after months of denying it, to fail hard like this.

But that does not make snapping at someone okay if they didn't do anything wrong. I'd never say that.

I hope she realizes her mistake sooner rather than later, or she might deeply regret doing that.]

* * *

When Kurogiri spat Shine and Hantai out, it was back in that first meeting room they'd met in the day before.

Shine still had his arm where she'd yanked it, but she let go at once.

Hantai moved sharply and struck her, knocking her to the ground hard.

"Just had to play hero at the end there, didn't you, Likstar?" He didn't sound totally angry, more like angry and excited...so crazy, definitely crazy.

Shine thought no memory suppression was ever going to make her forget this...

She wiped blood off her face and looked up at him, eyes blazing. "You are a coward," she said.

Hantai seemed amazed she had the gall to sass him. "What?"

Shine got to her feet slowly.

"Whatever you do to me from here on out," she said distinctly, "I will not give up my love. That is all I have. Though the mountains be removed, and the earth perish in fire and water, as the Word predicts, and though all else is gone, leave us Love. You cannot break that with all your methods, and you cannot remove it or twist it into something that it is not just for trying, Hantai."

She knew she was parodying a speech from The Princess Bride. She thought Wally would have been proud.

"And if I say you are a coward," she quoted further, "it is only because you are the most slimy weakling ever to walk the earth."

She didn't think Hantai appreciated her artistic taste in insults...uncultured swine likely had never even heard of the movie.

"Silence!" he exploded instead, lunging forward and smacking her into the table. She managed to catch herself part of the way, but it still hurt her a lot.

She wasn't moving at her normal speed, let alone a speed fast enough to counter a trained professional.

"Where is that little tool of mine?" Hantai looked around, breathing hard from the force of all that, "I wonder that he dared to leave this room without permission... Eh, no matter, he'll come back, or I'll find another way... In the meantime, Miss Likstar, how about you and I have some fun?"

He pulled out what looked suspiciously like a flail from his belt. "You want to be difficult? I can be difficult too. And I need something to kill time until the others are all rounded up."

Shine swallowed.

"Before you begin," she said slowly, "may I just ask...why? Why do you do these things? How does someone become this twisted?"

"I know you like to trick people with your pretty words, Likstar," Hantai said coyly, "and I'm not that foolish. But if you want to know why I became this way, the truth is, I don't really know. I'm not sure I see this as that spectacular, really. I just do my job well. Why are any of us what we are? You give your all to your cause, and I find that intriguing, I really do, but I can't let you keep it."

Shine caught the edge of the table, feeling kind of sick again.

"And for that, you can make peace with all this evil?" She was just stalling now. She knew it.

"I can make peace with anything, Likstar. I would kill you if I thought it was necessary, but they want you alive. No one said anything about maiming though... In fact, if anything, I'd say they encouraged it." Hantai cracked the flail.

Shine thought that was really, really going to hurt if it hit her...

[Flails are different from whips, by the way. They are, like, 7 times worse, and in old times often had lead tips to poison the wound as they were inflicting it. Look into how Roman prisoners were flogged some time. It'll really twist your stomach.

And if you weirdos think that this is hot, may I say, it wouldn't be a fun kind of pain even if you were into that. Those things hurt like hell.

It's meant to symbolize Hantai's position as the torturer and spirit breaker in this organization, as that is what flails were used to do.]

"Commander," Kurogiri's voice spoke suddenly in the room, "the hostiles are moving again. Shall I dispatch them?"

Hantai paused.

"No..." he said, smiling unpleasantly, "Why don't you let them get close, eh? I'm sure that'll give them false hope. Then we'll crush them right on the threshold of their goal. We have the time. Why not make it a show?"

"Yes, sir," Kurogiri said.

Shine was desperate enough to try something crazy.

"Oboro!" she yelled, springing onto the table and sliding across it to get distance from Hantai, who tried to hit her and missed her by inches, "I'm begging you, get me out of here! I don't care where, just so long as it's not here. I don't want to be at the mercy of this twisted psychopath there!"

"That won't work," Hantai came after her, laughing maniacally.

Shine slid off the edge of the table just before he caught her and stumbled across the room.

"Oboro, in the name of all things holy, just get me to a different room!" she said.

Black smoke seemed to fill the room.

"I cannot help you, DJ..." Kurogiri's voice said metallically.

"Maybe you can't, but I know he can." Shine backed up to the wall, panting.

Hantai was taking his time now, smiling as he walked toward her.

"I know you can hear me..." Shine said, hands shaking, "God...please...not this. Anything but this."

The smoke got thick suddenly and surrounded her.

"Wait a minute," Hantai paused, the smile fading, "What are you doing? Stop this! Stop this now!"

Then he was gone...

Or rather, she was gone...

She was tumbling through the darkness and into...was this another hallway?

Shine hit the ground and pushed herself up, sore all over.

The smoke congealed into Kurogiri for a moment.

"I don't understand...what force compelled me to obey... I don't want to help you!" He sounded shaken up for once.

Shine looked up. "Thank you," she said, "I would free you, but I don't think I have the strength to even try... Follow me out of here, even if it's at a distance, and I can help you later...all right? You must, Oboro. They'll only punish you for this, even if it wasn't your fault."

"I...will... I can't.. It is..." Kurogiri faded out in smoke, whatever he was trying to say left unfinished.

Shine collapsed.

She must have lain there for several minutes before she started to try to get up again...and then something even worse happened...

The lights went out.

Shine didn't know why.

She didn't remember Kaminari, and even if she had, wouldn't have known he had taken out some of the lights already.

She thought it must be on purpose... The Originals were screwing with her still.

Only thing worse than being lost was being lost in pitch dark and not able to draw your light sword.

Shine thought, I'm going to die in here. I'm going to die in this cult's base because I'll never find my way out of it in the dark. I doubt I could get down one set of hallways...

And I'm going to die not even knowing why I was in this world at all.

Is this what you wanted, Lord? Is this your idea of a good ending for me?"

She almost just collapsed right then.

[Isaiah 53:4-5. This song and intro is awesome, absolutely chilling. Skillet is the band.]

"What are you doing?" a voice said in her head, as she was just lying there.

Giving up... Shine thought bitterly, There is a freaking limit, isn't there? Martyrdom wasn't really off the table, but I have to admit, this isn't the way I thought it would go.

"You're not dead yet," the other voice said, "Why are you freaking out?"

Uh...because I'm not going to be able to do this, Shine said. It sounded like a whine even in her own head. I'm totally exhausted... What, is this your idea of a cruel joke?

"Do I sound like I'm joking? Do you think I just got you away from Hantai for you to just lay down and take it?"

But--

"Get up and start moving!" the voice urged.

"You know, I could just be hallucinating you," Shine grumbled, forcing herself upward a little, "All I've been through, voices in my head, of course I'm going to get false hope."

"The difference between false hope and real hope could depend entirely on how much you listen. Move!"

Shine leaned on the wall and stood up. "All right, fine," she grumbled, "I'll move...but if that's really You, Lord...you'd better be moving me...because I'm never going to last. I'm sure medically speaking, I should be passing out already..."

No answer to that.

"Yeah, this is nuts..." Shine shrugged. "But I guess that's all I do, huh...? Why stop now? I can't give them the satisfaction for just giving up and taking it... Let's go..." She usually talked to herself like this if no one else was around. "One step at a time..."

She started moving, slowly.

Still didn't seem like this would get her anywhere, but...anything was better than giving up...

* * *

Mirko didn't say a word to the three villains as they went along the base. Silk was leading the way, and she was being very cautious about it.

Mirko couldn't stop thinking about Shine...and not just her...all of it...

She hadn't seen Medea in that image that Hantai had shown, but it didn't mean she wasn't here.

Between that and the rest, she'd failed to save anyone...and been the reason Shine had had to go back with that wolf in human clothing...

How could she have been so stupid as to expose herself by going alone into the hallway like that? And she hadn't even heard him coming... Was she deaf now?

She hated the villains for stopping her...but she was more angry at herself... She ought to know better.

How many times did Shine tell her, don't go off alone on these missions? Don't do something stupid...and she didn't listen.

And worst of all, even...Shine didn't even remember her...but she still did it...

Why? 

Mirko knew why, but still. Make the selfish choice, just for once, Shine...just for once...so we can not all feel like s--- for letting you slip through our fingers.

Or just me, really... No one else seems to really care.

In a better moment, Mirko would have known that thought was stupid. The others just didn't have the same way of handling it as her...but she wasn't thinking straight right now.

She wasn't sorry for lashing out at Shigaraki either...not yet...

Odd, he wasn't saying anything about it though...or trying to kill her.... Must really not care.

"You know," Silk suddenly spoke to her, "I know is bad idea to talk to you. Nearly broke my arm already, and you hate me."

"Yep," Mirko said darkly.

"But we are all in danger anyway. Is not much difference if it's you or someone else," Silk went on, "and you have no reason to listen to me, Mirko.... We never get along anyway. One time, I think I would like you, but you're too...uncontrollable, and you do whatever come into your head, I calculate. We're not on same page, so probably you not listen anyway...but threatening your few allies left is boneheaded, and gum up works, as they say. If I you, I'd make it up before you have to rely on them in battle again."

"Oh, like you are," Mirko shot back.

Silk looked down. "If I said sorry, would it change your mind?"

"No."

"Then is no point...but maybe things aren't so far gone for you, huh?"

"Don't pretend like you care about us," Mirko said.

"I not pretend I care about you," Silk said, "I don't care if you die or not. Make my life easier, if I did live through this...but LOV needs you, and unfortunately that put me in bad position here..."

"Tell me," Mirko shot her a venomous look, "did you suggest that living arrangement idea just to watch us both?"

"At time, I not remember my own mission enough to know that for sure, but perhaps I did feel it was better," Silk admitted. 

"Then even that was manipulated by the Originals..." Mirko said.

"I understand, believe it or not, why that would infuriate you. Even those of us who work for them get tired of every move being manipulated by the higher ups," Silk sniffed, "But perhaps yes...or perhaps, in way, it was opportunity. I'm not going to say this again, so pay attention: I think we had something to learn from you. As obnoxious as you are, maybe you make LOV better, for short time anyway... If they choose to remember that in future, is up to them. At least I can see why maybe that team up was a lifesaver, in a way. I was spy, but I wasn't reason, not really. You made it work...one thing I found infuriating about you, actually. Much easier if you were insufferable."

"And just what are you trying to say, worm?" Mirko said.

Silk glared at her. "Don't call me worm... I'm trying to say, you're a fool if you let your obvious guilt here blind you to what's real. I think you are fool. I was hoping you'd try to prove me wrong, but by all means, keep this up, and give up hope of getting out of here. You not one woman show, Mirko. You can't screw over teammates and think you'll still get out of here, like rabbit out of hat. It's not magic. It's called trust... Yes, that's rich coming from spy, but think, if I not able to manipulate trust, I not be here. And so I know, the Originals will take any weakness in this group, and they will exploit it. There's worse people than me here. I think you should care about that, even if you don't like me."

Mirko gritted her teeth. "I'm not going to bail on you if that's what you mean. I'm just furious."

"And I think it's quaint that you think that's better," Silk said, "Better to just bail than to act hateful to people who need you...despicable, really. And for record, Likstar wouldn't like it."

"Don't you talk about her like you know her now!" Mirko turn to give Silk a warning look.

"Is my job to know her." Silk moved out of range. "She warned me once... If I had listened to her, this mess not have happened, I will have to think about what that means. I regret my actions... One thing though, Likstar believes that you have to be compassionate to everyone. She's a little too compassionate, if you ask me. She heal me. She not even understand that this is reason she is here... I can't begin to repay that...but maybe this will help a little...just a little. Remind you that if you throw away all she's ever told you, you are worse than me. Because you claim to understand her, but you don't get anything she stand for, and you aren't much of friend, then."

Mirko looked like she might attack.

Silk didn't want to push her luck further and went silent.

Mirko didn't attack, but she turned and kept walking, still in a huff.

"How did it go?" Compress hissed at Silk.

"Not good... I give shot," Silk said, "But who am I to try anyway? If either of you numbskulls were any good at this, I'd not have risked life to do that."

"She can't keep acting like this if we intend to get out of here," Compress muttered, "If she's got any ounce of sanity left, she'll listen to you... I'm not sure about the Boss though. I can never tell with him, if he takes things personally or not."

"Shigaraki is kind of man that will take everything personally and not know he did it," Silk said flatly, "I know that much... She'd better not let it fester..."

They glanced at Shigaraki, who was walking slower behind all of them and not looking at any of them.

"Hmm...I'd have to agree..." Compress muttered.

Suddenly...all the lights went out.

* * *

"Kaminari..." Jiro yelled, "just let go!"

Kaminari fell back. Electricity sizzled over him.

"I...think I just fried the whole place..." he said dazedly.

"You idiot!" Jiro ran up to him. "I told you to just fry the prison..."

"I...can't...aim very...well...duh..." Kaminari looked like he was getting dumb.

"Come on, don't do this now!" Jiro shook him. "I need you at 100%... Even 50% would be okay. Come on...20%, I'll settle for that."

Kaminari looked at her stupidly.

"Denki..." Jiro said sadly. Then she put her jack to the ground. "People are coming...and I don't think the lights going out is going to stop them... We have to hide..."

They'd found this room almost by accident, running from more guards and stumbled into the heart of the base. 

Kaminari had picked up on the emissions coming from it, almost by instinct--the pulse that stop people's quirks, too...

Then they'd busted in after he'd fried several people who tried to stop them, while Jiro hid out of range and took out stragglers.

It had almost been too easy for him to open the door with his quirk and take out the personnel inside.

But the idea to fry the grid in the prison was Jiro's...and it hadn't worked, because he couldn't control his power enough, and now it looked like at least half the base, if not more, had just lost power.

There was a back up generator probably...but it hadn't kicked in yet. It would take a while with something this big...or did he fry that too?

Really, it was impressive it had taken him that long to go stupid... His tolerance really had built up.

Jiro just hoped this little stunt helped the other instead of hurting them. They had no clue where anyone else was since they'd been left to themselves, and this was the most helpful thing they could think of...

Or the most damaging.... It was 50-50.

[But at least I didn't forget about them for the whole arc again, lol...

Don't worry, more angst is coming next chapter too. You're not getting a break from it till the end... I hope you're ready.]