It was the day afterward when Kali again took the three League members with her, this time into the auditorium part of the theater.

"And now you're going to enact the rest of the plan," she said, holding up a phone. "Do it."

Compress took the phone--then compressed it and slid it into his pocket.

"This is just not right," he said. "And we're not stupid. If this works, what's to stop you from killing us all anyway?"

Kali tilted her head.

"So we're not doing it," Silk said. "Kill us if you want."

Kali smiled very unpleasantly. "Kill you? Why would I kill you?"

"Guys, what's going on?" Spinner asked. "I'm confused."

"Shut it, Spinner, this doesn't concern you," Compress said.

"I think it does," Kali said. She suddenly grabbed Spinner much faster than they thought possible and jammed her nail file into his shoulder blade.

She pierced his scales way too easily. How sharp was that thing?

Spinner cried out in pain and shock. "What the h---?!"

"Hey!" Silk spun out some thread.

"Ah, careful." Kali yanked Spinner back. "This was just for show. If I use my quirk...well, let's just say mutant type quirks don't do so well with it. Any physical damage is pretty brutal. I mean, I should know. I killed Stain after all."

"What? You killed Stain??!!!" Spinner cried furiously.

"That's nothing. I killed Edgeshot too." Kali's eyes were terrible. "And Hantai. I've killed a lot of people. I almost killed you too, but I missed your heart on purpose. Now, are you two going to cooperate, or do I have to demonstrate more?"

"You're a horrible person," Silk said. "Special place in hell for people like you."

"I'll worry about that when I get there," Kali said. "For now, I like to be obeyed. I get twitchy when people stall." She cracked her gum menacingly. "So?"

"Don't you do it," Spinner said. "I would never cooperate with anyone who would kill Stain."

"Your compliance isn't a factor, Spinny," Kali said. "They know what I can do."

Silk shuddered.

"More importantly," Kali said, her voice getting scary, "you know you'll be compelled to do as I say anyway, don't you? You feel it, the darkness...gripping you like a cold finger, right?"

Silk and Compress started to shake.

"Want to experience that again?" Kali leaned in. "Or will you do what I say?"

"I'm...sorry, Spinner," Compress said. "We tried...but we have no choice."

"What? What is she talking about?" Spinner said.

"Shut up, or you'll find out first hand," Kali said, "or bleed out, so I suggest you all hurry."

"Someday, Kali," Silk muttered, "you'll be open, and we'll get you back for this, mark our words."

"I'm so scared." Kali was killingly sarcastic. "Stop stalling."

Compress took out the phone. "I hate my life."

* * *

Medea had gone to Ibara's house when UA closed. Ibara's family believed in hospitality.

She'd have gone to Monama's, but the supervisors would never have approved that...and a perhaps neither would his parents.

Ibara and her were trying to keep up with their homework, and Ibara was tutoring her, when her phone rang.

"I don't know this number," Medea said, "but it's probably one of the League, or it's a scam asking me about my college loan I don't have."

She swiped to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Medea?" Silk's voice.

"Silk? Oh my gosh, where have you been?" Medea sat up. "I've been freaking out."

"We couldn't get in touch before... But listen, Medea, we're in sort of trouble here," Silk said. "It reminds me of before, with the ninja, only worse, much worse... I can't explain over phone. Can you come to us?"

"Uh...yeah, of course," Medea said. "Where are you?"

Silk named the address. Medea wrote it down. "I should get more people, right?"

"As many as you want." Silk sounded pretty tense. "But it needs to be fast. We'll have to move soon... I'm sorry...uh, for the short notice."

"It's not like you planned it... Is Boss Man there?"

"Oh...he's the reason for trouble," Silk said.

"Oh, sh--...I'mma let Mirko know that," Medea said. "She's so stubborn, but I know if they just talked, we could sort this whole thing out. Right?"

"Right...Da..." Silk said. "Medea...you're right to ask why you should believe me."

Medea hadn't asked that. "Huh?"

"And I know I've not been most trustworthy in past," Silk said. Her tone changed to more persuasive. "But those days are over. I think I've proven myself now, haven't I?... Yes, I know, it's hard to trust people who've already lied to you, but remember how I helped you escape the ninja? Even when your own brother wouldn't do that. I think I deserve a little more trust."

"Silk, you're acting really weird," Medea said.

"I know is weird," Silk said, "but it's the way it is. We're allies now."

Medea's mind raced. "Yeah...yeah, we are... Okay, I'll be there. Sit tight."

"Thank you, good bye."

They hung up.

* * *

"I think I convinced her," Silk said to the others. "Though you can imagine she's a little chary after the way we split."

"Yeah, very convincing," Kali said dryly, "and whatever you were trying there, it's not gonna work. Please."

"Trying?" Silk said. "I don't get it. I did what you told me. So leave Spinner alone."

"Well, if you're genuinely that sentimental, I kind of hate you more," Kali said. "I was hoping for some kind of backbiting intrigue there. My mistake." She made a face.

Compress squeezed Silk's hand nervously.

* * *

"Something's wrong," Medea said. "Silk is not like that, not if there was an emergency. Bringing all that up makes no sense... It must be some kind of code, but for what?"

"I don't know," Ibara said, "but this sounds like something the whole group should know."

"Yeah...but we can't message them all. It'll take too long," Medea said. "It sounds urgent and everybody's all over the place now. I'd better just call a few of them, and you contact the rest."

"Okay," Ibara said, "and I will pray." 

* * *

"Definitely sounds weird," Shine said, when Medea had called her, Wally, Mirko, Monoma, the three main students, and Camie.

"What did she say again?" Wally asked. "Something about the ninjas."

"Yeah, and helping me escape them, even when my own brother wouldn't," Medea said. "Which was also weird, because Silk isn't really the spiteful type like that, to bring up Lethe."

"Lethe?" Shine said.

"Yeah..." Medea said.

"Oh, frick!" Mirko suddenly slapped her forehead. "Lethe. Lethe is missing."

"What?" Medea said.

"Lethe disappeared weeks ago," Mirko said, looking shamefaced. "The League held off on telling you because we didn't want you to look for him... There was this really messed up thing. This kid we were tailing--he knew Lethe--he got swallowed up by shadows... It was disturbing."

"What?!!!" Shine said. "And...you didn't tell us about this because?"

"I forgot you didn't know, to be honest," Mirko said sheepishly. "All the other stuff pushed it out of my mind. But he said he remembered a girl in black and that was it."

"A girl in black..." Shine mused. 

"Moto wears black," Momo said. "I mean...and you said you suspected her after the incident with AFO..." She looked away. "I mean, with Edgeshot."

"Yeah..." Shine said.

"Who's Moto?" Mirko asked.

Camie showed her a picture. "She's this psychotic girl who was in my class. She used to mess with my head, but she up and vanished a few months ago, like poof. And the whole thing was really sus."

"She's crazy," Bakugo said, "and dangerous. Her quirk allows her to corrupt other people's quirks, but it can also affect things or bodies. She twisted up a nomu once, and it went crazy, even for a nomu.

Mirko and Medea grimaced.

"Her quirk would explain Edgeshot's death," Shine said. "It's grotesque, I know. And she had a very unsettling vibe when I talked to her. I didn't like it. But kidnapping a kid off the streets doesn't seem like her MO."

"Yeah, she'd say he was dirty or something," Camie said.

"What use would Moto have for Lethe?" Mirko asked.

"What use would she have for killing Edgeshot?" Shine said. "This all can't be coincidence. She's our only missing thread on that board... My gut feeling is she's behind it... But she has to be working for someone else, then, because as horrible as she is, I don't see how these even would benefit her personally, and assuming a teenager would be heading up an organization is a bit much. It could be, but she doesn't seem like a leader to me, too unpleasant."

"Yeah, I don't think she'd lead it," Camie said. "She's more of a sneak attack kind of b----."

Bakugo smirked slightly.

"Well, we have to go help them," Medea said. "She sounds dangerous. What if she uses her quirk on them?"

"Yeah, well, this has trap written all over it," Shine said. "The last trap we walked into, 3 people died. I don't want to risk that again."

"I have to go," Medea said. "The League are the only real friends I've had since I was 13... Come on...I mean, not that I don't like you guys, but...they took me in when I was a hot mess. I can't just abandon them."

"That makes sense," Shoto said. "I think we should help her. The League may be trapped too."

"If Moto is involved, I guarantee you they're totes freaking out." Camie shuddered.

"I'd like a chance to blow her crazy a-- up," Bakugo said.

"If you meet her, you cannot use your quirks," Shine said. "Even though I do not think that would stop her, but it would give her a much faster access to them. You must try to use what we taught you, block her power. If you do that, you could beat her."

"We can do that." Bakugo was confident.

"And we'll focus on just getting the League members out of here," Momo said. "Not fighting. Right?" She looked at Mirko.

"Yeah..." Mirko said.

"I thought you were done with them," Wally teased.

Mirko reddened. "Well, working with them, but letting them get knifed by some crazy girl who kidnaps orphans seems a little unduly cold, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, you're right about that. I wouldn't wish that on dog," Wally said.

"A dog wouldn't wish Moto on a cat," Camie said.

Monoma was none too happy about this.

Medea bit her lip. "If Lethe is there, though, I'm taking him back," she said fiercely.

"Wait," Wally said, "if Lethe is what Silk meant, then...and what she said about Shgiaraki... Oh, heck no!"

A terrifying picture formed in all their heads.

Mirko looked white as a paper.

"On no!" Medea covered her mouth. "No, you'd better be wrong, Mr. West... I'll lose it!"

"No time to waste," Shine said.

* * *

The base was emptied of most of its personnel.

"Lethe is still here though," Kali told the League, "not because we need him anymore, but to give you a little extra incentive. If you don't pull this off, AFO will take his quirk and try it himself... I assume you all don't want that."

Compress shuddered.

"I don't believe Lethe would have gone along with this without you forcing him," Silk said.

"Oh, Lethe is such a weakling anyway," Kali said, "not even that much fun to mess with for me, personally. Of course, his friend was worse. That guy broke after a few days."

Spinner winced. "You're pure evil," he said.

"Well, I was named after the goddess of darkness," Kali said. "Maybe my parents had it in mind, huh?"

"You can't tell me your parents really gave you that name," Compress sniffed. 

"Oh, no, they're very forward thinking," Kali said. "I'm sure they'd be proud."

Compress shuddered again.

Paint sprang from the wall. "They're here," she said.

"Show time, Drama Team," Kali said. "Spinner comes with me."

"It'll be more convincing if he's there," Silk said. "No one would believe Spinner would be able to lie, believe me."

"She's right, you know," Compress said.

Kali tilted her head.

"Maybe that's true... Good thinking. But if you try anything, Lizard Man, I'll grab you. Remember that." 

She shoved them towards the doors.

"I have never dreaded a role so much," Compress muttered to himself.

* * *

"This is a theater..." Wally said.

"You don't miss a thing," Monoma said flatly.

Shine put a hand to her chest. "I have a horrible sick feeling about this place."

"Me too..." Camie said. "Ugh..."

Momo grabbed Shoto's hand. "I don't see the League."

"There!" Medea hissed.

Compress and Silk and Spinner were coming out of the front of the theater.

Spinner was walking funny.

"Oh my gosh, he's bleeding!" Medea cried.

Mirko and her rushed over.

"What happened?" Mirko demanded.

Spinner kind of collapsed.

"Is the Originals," Silk said. "They're all over the inside. I managed to hide us so we get out, but Spinner need help, and Boss is still in there."

"Is Lethe? Where's Lethe?" Medea demanded. "I know you said him."

Silk lowered her voice. "Lethe is there, but if you try to find him, they'll capture you. That is what they want... Portal him out here or something."

"I can't," Shine said. "The darkness in this place is thicker than pitch..." 

[<Board of Creative Consultants' Note: These vibes be rancid.>]

She recoiled. "You seem different too... This is a trap, isn't it?"

Silk and Compress and Spinner all froze.

* * *

"How did you do, Kali?" Akume asked when she returned to them.

"As usual, I have them right where I want them," Kali said. "They even thought that we're not going to kill them."

"Fools," Akume said. "Unless you disagree, AFO?"

AFO was standing behind him.

"Not at all," he said. "All of them have outlived their usefulness. They are weak links. This is the best way to get rid of them, too. It will work beautifully. Even better, that Likstar woman will be crushed."

"She's out there now," Akume said. "But don't worry, she'll never see us. We're too cloaked in here. We can slip away as soon as the show starts and watch from afar. You've prepared the boy?"

"He's furious," AFO said. "Excellent job. I would never have believed how exact that boy's quirk would be. Leaving just patches of recent events was a brilliant touch."

"Why, thank you." Akume laughed. "I told you when we were done he'd not know anything about them. All he knows is the frustration brought about by these foolish Heroes...and the death of his beloved minions. Kali, you should have been there. Your diabolical mind would have thoroughly enjoyed it."

"I'm sure I'll enjoy the show." Kali smiled unpleasantly. "You can give me the details as we go. But you should get that Lethe kid out of here."

"We need him as bait. Don't worry, we can reclaim him at any time. Those fools won't be able to stop us," Akume said.

"Finally, we'll get to see the fruit of our labors." AFO sat back.

"And...now," Akume said.

Shadows swallowed them all.

* * *

"Well? Is it?" Monoma pressed.

"Of course is trap," Silk snapped. "Why else try to warn you before? Mirko, why couldn't you just listen when we asked you?"

Mirko blanched. "When you--What? That was about this?"

"Hoped you could do something to stop this exact circumstances..." Silk mumbled.

Mirko shook her head numbly.

"How powerful are you?" Compress hissed. He was talking to Shine and Wally. "Can you defeat anything? Any kind of power?"

"Uh...well, usually we have as much power as we need to get the job done," Shine said. 

"But we can lose," Wally said.

"What level of things have you fought?" Compress asked. "Because--"

He was cut off by Toga suddenly running out of the side alley of the theater.

"Guys!" she yelled, looking genuinely freaked out. "It's Shigaraki! He's gone totally beserk!"

"What?" Mirko said darkly.

"Oh...what are you all doing here?--never mind." Toga waved her hands frantically. "I was just hanging around, right? Talking to that super cute Switch girl and that other guy, Mixer-- think there's something going on there, you know? But then I heard this horrible crumbling sound, and they both ran for it, and Shiggy comes out and he's really, really mad!" She panted. "And he looks at me, and says something like, 'I'll kill you,' and I was like, 'Shiggy, what? It's me.' And he was like, 'We don't know each other. Don't call me that." And then he tried to dust me, but I dodged, and I ran, and I turned into something else, and I came out here..." She gasped. "He's totally crazy!"

"Why would he attack you?" Silk said. "I thought it was going to be the Heroes."

"What?" Medea cried.

"We were forced!" Compress cried, putting his hand up. "They made us. We didn't want to!"

"What did you do?!!!" Mirko said.

"What did Lethe do?" Shoto was the only one paying attention to Toga's details. "Shigaraki doesn't remember Toga."

"Uh...about that..." Compress began.

Suddenly the ground under them all shook and began to cave in.

"There's...a tunnel under the theater...and basement, for props..." Silk said.

"Run!" Wally yelled.

He grabbed as many of the kids as he could and bolted.

Shine tried to portal but couldn't.

"Just run, Bakugo, Shoto!" she cried.

Shoto used Ice and reached for Medea, the only teen left other than Bakugo, who blasted off.

"Wait, no, Lethe!" Medea turned into flame. She dashed toward the theater.

"Medea, don't!" Silk cried.

Mirko shook her. "Tell me what they did! Right now!"

The Heroes were all gone now except for her.

The ground was giving in too.

"First get us out of here!" Compress said.

Mirko grabbed them and jumped a good distance away. "Talk!"

Silk started to cry. "Kali caught us days ago, before you found us and AFO killed All Might... She used...certain methods of persuasion to make sure we complied... They wanted to get Shigaraki under their control again."

Mirko drew a deep breath. "And?"

"Well, plan was to get him to turn on you all," Silk said, "but that didn't work. He's gone too far to the other side...but then they get idea. They found Lethe ages ago, apparently, and used him on who knows who around here. AFO not want them to use it on Shigaraki at first, thinking he'd lose too much progress. But this guy who works with Ujiko, he already knew how to fix it so the others would be not totally gone...just all the good ones."

"Good ones?" Mirko said.

"That's all she'd tell us," Compress said. "We thought she meant of the Heroes...but Toga... This means she meant of us too! He's...going to kill us all.

"It's so clear now. That's why she told us so much, so we'd act our part," Silk said. "They were going to kill us along with everyone else, so we couldn't talk."

The ground crumbled in.

"He's really mad," Compress said. "I've only seen him do this when he's really mad."

"Yeah, almost killed, like, 50 people last time," Spinner said.

"AFO will tell him who to hate," Silk said. "Is...factory settings, as it were... We have to run. Where the DJs?"

But here's when things took a bad turn.

Wally tried to come back--and he seemed to hit an invisible barrier.

Shine too. She'd not gotten that far away.

"What is that?" Wally asked, banging on it. "It's like what you do."

"Something is pushing at us," Shine said. She drew her sword and tried to cut through. "I can't!" 

She waved at Mirko. "Rumi, get out of here before they find you!"

"That's it, then," Compress said, as the floor decay came towards them. "We're dead. They trapped us."

Mirko looked towards the theater.

"So Lethe did it," she said.

"Da..." Silk mumbled.

Mirko put her ears back. "Lethe's power isn't permanent."

"What?" Compress said.

"Wait, Mirko." Silk grabbed her arm. "Is true, is not...but is still risky. Are you sure?"

"Are you going to do something?" Mirko said. "Or you gonna stand here and let them win?"

"We can't... They'll kill us," Compress said.

"Then someone has to go," Mirko said.

"Well, that's both crazy and stupid," Compress said.

Spinner whimpered. "I'm sorry, Mirko..."

"Don't be, Spinner, it's not your fault." Mirko frowned. "I believe they'd be able to manipulate anyone..."

"Mirko," Silk said, "let me...talk to you for second before you go try something."

She pulled Mirko aside.

"I do not know if this will work," she said, "but...we know two times Lethe's quirk was undone quickly, instead of gradually. One time was Compress and me, other was Shine and Miss Joke. I don't know if is exact formula, but from what I hear, both times, it involved physical contact."

"Huh?" Mirko said.

"And one more things," Silk said. "It...I don't know if for sure this is it, but it involved pleasant memories. I do not know if that will help. But...well...when Compress snapped me out of it, it was...well..." She reddened and tapped her lips.

Mirko gave her a weird look. "I don't want to hear this."

"It was hug for Miss Joke, if I remember right," Silk said. "Is probably depends on person, but...if you're going to try to undo this... But you know, you shouldn't."

"I'm not letting AFO have this." Mirko's eyes were fierce. "Not again... We can't abandon him like that. Bye, Silk." She leapt over the ground which was crumbling more by the moment.

"I feel like the worst person in the world," Spinner said. "We just let her go. You lied, Silk."

"I didn't lie," Silk said. "I just not tell her part where they enhanced Lethe's quirk, so this is not going to work, and she's going to die."

"And why didn't you tell her that?" Compress said.

"I wanted to," Silk shuddered. "But...when I tried, I felt like hand just grab my neck." She shook. "I couldn't bring myself to. I am a coward."

"So am I," Compress said, "because I didn't... Even though I know they're leaving us to die, I still didn't dare defy them... What kind of miserable trio are we?"

"Dead ones," Spinner said, "because as soon as we fall in there, his quirk will reach us and we'll turn to dust."

"Well..." Compress took off his hat. "If this is the end...Kira, I love you."

"I...love you too," Silk said.

Spinner looked sad.

"And, Spinner, you're...more tolerable than I expected," Compress said.

"Uh...yeah, you too," Spinner said. "I mean...you're the only friends I've ever had, so..."

"That is depressing," Compress said. "And hilarious."

"So is deprarious," Silk said.

[References... Sorry, had to lighten the mood a little.]

Spinner sighed.

* * *

"Nothing's working!" Wally yelled.

Shine stepped back. "We're wasting our time trying to break through."

"My ice won't even go in," Shoto called.

"And the decay just stops too," Bakugo said. "Someone's keeping it in that circle on purpose."

"What can we do?" Momo said.

"We might get through," Shine said, "but it could take an hour--or a day, even. Strongholds are like that."

"It's keeping all of us out," Wally said, "but Mirko got in."

"They want her in," Shine said. "And she just ran off!" She kicked a tree. "Stupid woman!"

"We have to stay calm," Shoto said. "If we can't get in, maybe someone who wasn't with us can. Call in help."

"They want the League, right?" Camie said. "They're all stuck in there."

"So?" Wally said. 

"So," Camie said, "who's the person who can give them the League, but still buy us some time maybe?"

The stared at her.

"Camie, you're a genius!" Shine said. "If it works."

"Only one way to find out. I'll be back in a flash." Wally raced away.

He returned moments later with Twice, who was wearing prison clothes.

"Sorry, man, but we need you to make copies of everyone in the League," Wally said.

"Not of myself?" Twice said.

"No, not of yourself," Shine said.

"Then I'll do it," Twice said.

They waited for him to argue with himself, then remembered.

"Tell them to get in there and try to fool anyone who's attacking," Shine said.

"Right... What going on?" Twice asked.

"We'll explain later. Just do it!" Bakugo barked.

Twice jumped and started making clones.

"Don't be mean to him. He's helping us," Momo said.

"Hurry..." Monoma said. "Where's Medea?"

* * *

Medea plunged through the theater's inner parts and down into the basement. It wasn't that far, so it was only a few minutes.

It was abandoned now.

Medea found the cells.

She checked each one.

She found someone in one closest to the end of the row. A boy about her age...

She knew him!

"Yin!" she said. "Is that you? Were you the kid they found?"

Yin looked up.

"Please go away," he begged, sounding frantic. "Just leave me alone! I don't want any more pain!"

"Yin, it's me, Medea. Lethe's sister." Medea came closer.

"No!!!" Yin cringed away from her. "Get away, devil!"

Medea recoiled...but...no, he wasn't talking about her.

"Yin, I'm not here to hurt you." She held out a hand. "You're not even tied up..."

"Cell...only place I can be... If I go out...they'll eat me..." Yin said. "I have to hide."

"This whole place is coming down. You've got to--" Medea stopped as the wall began to crack.

No time for this.

She grabbed Yin by his arm (he was thin as a stick; it was easy to pull him), and she dragged him out of the room. He protested, but he didn't fight her that much...or else he was so weak that it was easy for her to pull back.

She melted the lock of the last cell and opened it.

She lit her hand up.

Lethe...

"Lethe!" she cried.

Lethe lifted his head. His eyes were glassy. "Aya..." he said. "Is this another dream?... Go away."

"I'm real." she rushed up to him, leaving  Yin, and grabbed his face. "Yuma, it's me."

Lethe put a hand out and touched her slowly, then he looked away, scared. "They got you? It's too late... I'm sorry, I failed."

"No, I'm here to save you," Medea said.

"You can't save me. We're both in hell," Lethe said. "I...saw it... I saw his past, and I can't... It's...it was too horrible. I'm sorry, Aya, I took it. I knew it was wrong, but I had to do it, I'm sorry. he should have killed me...but..." He slumped suddenly. "Ugh...I see them...the hands..."

"What?" Medea said.

Lethe suddenly threw up. She barely got out of the way.

"Ew... Yuma what's wrong? Are you sick? You look sick." 

"My head is splitting," Lethe mumbled. "I think I might die."

"No, you're not gonna die," Medea said. She took his arm. "Lean on me... Oh my...you're all skin and bones."

"I didn't eat..." Lethe said. "I... Yin?"

Yin shuddered. "Stay away from me."

"Something's wrong with him," Medea said. "They did something to him."

"They did everything to him," Lethe said. "I had to... Aya, I had to...but then he went away, and they killed him."

"He's alive," Medea said.

"They told me his mind went," Lethe said. "I think mine has gone too... I feel so strange..." He rubbed his stomach again.

"Just focus on me. Don't think about it." Medea was scared, but if she lost it now, they'd never get out of here.

The cracks on the ceiling widened, and it started caving in.

"Run.." Medea grabbed both of them and began dragging them along. Her fire seemed to boost her strength a little.

She was literally almost dragging them, they were stumbling so much and falling, but somehow she moved fast enough to get them down the hall as the whole place began to cave in.

Then, just as they reached the stair, it caved in in front of them and they were trapped.

Yin seemed to faint then...but that might have been just as well. If he'd freaked out instead, he might have done more damage.

Medea looked around... No way out...

She doused her flame. She'd burn up all their air at this rate.

Lethe started to whimper something about dreams and hands again.

Medea felt herself starting to panic... Her breath came short.

No, no, no, she could not have a panic attack right now. They needed her! She was a Hero now. What would a Hero do?

Try to find a way out. Right, focus on the next right thing.

She drew a deep breath.

"You guys can't, so I'm going to use my quirk and try to get help," she said. "Just try to say calm."

"We're dead..." was Lethe's way of staying calm.

Medea felt around for some old equipment that she'd seen before the cave-in and then found the unburied part of the stair... She could get up to the third step before it caved in.

She stacked the stuff on the last step and got as high as she could, using the rail for support. Then she turned into flame and started to phase through it...

She'd practiced going through dirt a little at UA to see if she could, and it involved turning her feet part solid enough to kick herself upward, but keep the rest of her flame by holding her breath. Very difficult.

But it was now or never. Just enough to get back to the top...come on...

She strained...

Just when she felt her flame would be snuffed out by the lack of air, her head broke out into empty space.

She gasped and pulled the rest of herself up.

Most of the top was all caved in also, or uneven ground, but she saw part of a broken wall in the backstage area, leading out to the open again. She crawled that way and slipped out of it.

https://youtu.be/Fj1x7A6p4q4