After Mirko talked to Medea, she decided to stick around UA a bit longer.

The staff let her.

Midnight, in fact, confirmed that she was getting nervous. 

"All these weird things keep happening. I'm afraid they'll come for us next." She shivered.

It was one of those cold, rainy days, where the wind picked up a lot. It was still early fall, but it was unusually stormy already.

It kind of cast an eerie light over everything.

"You two want to join us at the dorms?" Shine asked.

She and Wally had moved back into them, since they wanted to keep an eye on the League. Shoto got permission to stay there too, from his father...reluctantly.

"That seems weird," Midnight said, "going to the students' old living quarters."

"I'm glad you think that," Shine said. "I thought that whole pervy thing was mostly an act."

"Huh?" Midnight reddened. "What do yo--? Why, you--"

"But they aren't there, and neither is their stuff. It's like an empty motel," Shine said. "So why not? I mean, we're making hot chocolate--Do you guys drink that here?"

"Of course we do. You know, Japan is not another planet," Midnight said.

Shine tilted her head. "I'm from another planet, Midnight."

She walked out of the room while Mirko laughed at the look on Midnight's face.

But they came over anyway.

"If it wasn't for the circumstances, this would be nice," Wally said, over marshmellows and cocoa and cookies. "I can't remember the last time we had so much quiet and so few rowdy kids around."

"I hate it," Shine said. She sighed. "I miss the kids... I hope they're okay."

"You just saw more of them a few days ago." Midnight sniffed. "A little freedom is nice."

Spinner was with them, but he looked awkward and kept glancing at Midnight like she was going to eat him.

"So where're the others?" Mirko asked finally.

"Compress and Silk are probably in their room," Spinner said.

"They only have one?" Midnight said with interest.

"Rooms." Spinner reddened. "I meant rooms... Shigaraki is probably up there too. I mean, in his... Which kid used which room, by the way? It would be kind of weird to have the same one as the ones who fought Stain."

"You're in Shoji's old room, and he barely had anything in it at all, so I wouldn't worry," Shine said. "I miss him... He was so quiet."

"He barely spoke to us," Wally said.

"Yeah," Shine said wistfully.

"Girls, am I right?" Wally said to Spinner. "I tell you who I miss? Kaminari, he's funny."

"Uh...sure." Spinner looked awkward.

Shoto looked up. "I miss Momo," he said. "I even miss Bakugo... It's too bad his mom wouldn't let him come back."

"According to Aizawa, it wasn't that she didn't want him out of the house, it was that she thought he'd be too hot-headed to keep a low profile," Shine reflected. "But I think maybe she's actually worried... Medea is still over at the infirmary, huh?"

"Yeah, I feel bad leaving her there, but...it's hard to watch those poor kids," Wally said. "I mean...it's just...so messed up."

They were all quiet.

* * *

Shigaraki heard the others downstairs but had no wish to join them.

He still didn't recall what happened...only bits and pieces...mostly Lethe doing things and yelling at him.

He wondered if AFO was going to track him down again...or if he had...and if he knew what happened... Was this his silent a way of saying it was unacceptable?

He stared out the window at the rain, lost in thought.

What would have happened if Mirko hadn't come as fast as she did? And what possessed her to take a risk like that? Even knowing it was probably not going to end well...

It was so confusing...

Shigaraki had the dim idea he should know the answer...or maybe that he had once, a long time ago, been able to guess things like that... He had reached the point where the past wasn't clear to him, but it was becoming clear that it wasn't...like he knew now what he didn't know. In the past he didn't know what he didn't know.

It was too complex.

Maybe he dozed off thinking about this, because suddenly his mind became more dreamlike...

He looked up. He wasn't in the room anymore... It was the theater...

He looked around.

"Tomura Shigaraki." AFO was standing not that far away.

"Master?" Shigaraki was standing in this dream, though he'd be sitting before. He stumbled closer. 

"What is this?" he asked. "Why are you here?"

"This was the easier way to reach you..." AFO said. "Impressive, isn't it? Now listen, this won't last for long, so you need to hear me clearly. You need to return to us at once. Things are about to happen. I want you here, by my side, for it."

Shigaraki nodded. "Of course...but the League may be hesitant to return..." He frowned.

"The League? They aren't loyal to us anymore," AFO said. "Leave them. Or bring them, if they're willing to come. Otherwise, they have no more claims on our time. If they don't want to come, then they don't need our support."

That seemed fair.

"Something bad happened." Shigaraki lifted his hands. "Lethe did something to me... I can't remember why."

"Regrettably, the sacrifice had to be made," AFO said. "But don't worry, Lethe will not be a problem for much longer. We will take care of him."

What did that mean?

"What are you going to do?" Shigaraki asked.

AFO gestured wildly. "Problems must be dealt with. He's no longer useful. You know what must happen."

"Master," Shigaraki began to feel a little afraid, "Lethe is useless, then, but Medea...well, she'll never get over that. Just leave him. He's not going to be a threat anymore."

"We can't take that chance...and anyway, the boy has a useful quirk," AFO said.

"It is a horrible quirk." Shigaraki definitely had some personal feelings about that. "And it shouldn't be used anymore."

"Then someone should deprive him of it... After what he did to you, how are you not furious about it?"

"Because he was forced," Shigaraki said. "Anyone can see that. It's not fair to punish him. He was trying to protect his family... They messed with his heart, those people who you're working with. They're bad people."

"As we all are, in the eyes of the world, but they know what is necessary to win," AFO said. "And our time is short, now, Tomura Shigaraki. Come find us. Akume will show you the way. Remember, I am the one who's given you everything. Don't disappoint me."

He vanished from the dream.

But it didn't end there.

A voice that Shigaraki recognized as Akume seemed to speak into his mind directly, even in that scape.

"Just in case you're having second thoughts about this, how about I remind you why you're here at all, you ungrateful wretch?"

The landscape changed.

It was the past... Yelling...

Something hit him... It felt real...

It was his father...

Shigaraki had two thoughts-- 1 was: So this was why his dreams had become so oddly lucid lately when they never had been before. 2 was: Oh, h--- no, not this again!!!!

At this moment he still knew it was a dream, so he had to wake up, right? That would stop it.

"Hey!" he started yelling. "Stop it! Akume! You b------d! Get out!"

Something like a laugh answered this...and the intensity seemed to crank up instead.

The images came faster, harder, dust, blood...

The theater was crumbling...

* * *

Downstairs, the others were still talking, when suddenly Shine sat up.

"Did...you just feel that?" she asked.

"Yeah." Wally was on his feet.

Shoto too. "It was...dark."

"It felt like a shadow," Shine said.

"I didn't feel anything," Midnight said.

"It was inside," Shine said. "It's... Oh my! Lethe! Yin!"

"I'll get them!" Wally was gone.

"I'll help him," Shoto said.

"Yeah, we should all--" began Shine.

Suddenly they heard yelling from upstairs.

"That's Shigaraki!" Mirko was up.

"What?" Midnight said.

"Shoto, I'll send you." Shine opened a portal. "Go. I'll go to the League."

Shoto ran through the portal.

Mirko was already bounding up the stairs faster than a bullet.

Shine portalled to the top floor and yanked open the door to Compress and Silk's room.

Silk was leaning on the wall, looking spooked. The room was dark, darker than it should have been even in that light.

Compress was gone.

Silk gasped. "We were just sitting in here, talking, I swear, and then it got dark, and the shadows of the bed got longer, and...he was just sucked into it... I jump over here!"

The shadow reached out like a hand toward her.

Shine sliced her sword through them, and there was a visible recoil before they vanished.

Silk sank to the floor. "Aiy..." She put a hand to her heart.

"Come." Shine grabbed her arm. "Come with me. Shigaraki is in trouble also.... Spinner! Spinner!" She yelled. "Come here!"

Mirko yanked open the door to the room Shigaraki had been in. It seemed dark in here too.

Shigaraki was swatting wildly at something, but it wasn't there... He seemed to be in some kind of trance.

"Stop it!" he yelled...

Stupidly, Mirko dashed over and grabbed his shoulders and shook him.

She had to duck as he almost smacked her right in the face.

Shine and Silk appeared in the doorway.

"Get out of there!" Shine yelled at nothing they could see. "You sorcerer!... Akume, is that you? Begone, you snake."

Her sword flashed out.

Shigaraki suddenly snapped awake. "What the--?"

He looked at them.

"Are you okay?" Mirko said, spooked.

"Oh, my Kami-kai," Silk said.

"Spinner!" Shine dashed out of the room.

Silk followed her.

Mirko let go. "What happened?"

"He was here." Shigaraki looked around like he thought he'd actually see Akume. "But...no, it was some kind of vision... How did he do that?" He put his hands to his head. "I...I saw what happened..."

"What happened when?" Mirko said warily.

"It was Akume," Shigaraki said. "He's got control of Lethe. That's... They're after Lethe."

"After Lethe?" Mirko repeated. "But West just went after him. Oh no..." She opened the window and jumped all the way to the ground.

"Mirko!" Shigaraki called. "Don't just run off. They have ways to control people."

"Yeah, well, I've never let that stop me." Mirko tossed her head. "They can't just take him back."

She bounded away down the walkway.

The wind picked up like it was trying to warn them...

Shigaraki stared towards the office buildings... He frowned.

* * *

Wally and Shoto got to the infirmary at almost the same moment.

Lethe and Yin were asleep at first. Medea was asleep in the chair next to Lethe's area.

The shadows in the room seemed to lengthen and darken, coming towards the bed.

Lethe suddenly sat up, eyes wild. "No! They're here!"

Medea jumped. "What? What do you mean--?"

Wally dashed in. "No time, kid." He snatched Lethe up off the bed, yanking his IVs out and taking Medea by her arm. He ran out of the room.

The shadows seemed to follow them down the hall.

"What...what's that?" Medea said.

"I'd light up if I were you, kid," Wally said.

Medea blazed up her hands, and it seemed to hold them a little at bay.

Shoto had run into Yin's room. Yin was up, tossing his bed clothes on the floor. "It's him!!!" he screamed.

Shoto used his fire. "Go away!" he said. "Whoever you are."

The darkness receded a little.

"You think you're strong enough to stop me on your own," a voice suddenly spoke... Was it from the wall? The shadows? Or was it in his mind?

Shoto gasped.

"What are you but a small little disciple of the real thing? And even they are nothing compared to us. Back off now, and maybe I'll let you keep your sanity, Little Todoroki."

Shoto clenched a fist and increased his fire.

"I can fight you... Leave him alone." 

"You can fight me?" the voice answered. "But can you fight him?"

Shoto blinked.

Endeavor was before him, coming at him in a rage of fury.

Shoto gasped. "Father---"

He backed up, and it was his mom... He heard the hiss of a kettle.

His legs seemed to turn into cold soba, and he went down on the floor.

Yin's cries seemed distant.

Suddenly something seemed to push back at the dark. 

"What is this...?" the voice said. "Ach! It's too far for now. Next time, boy."

The air seemed to clear.

Yin was still there.

Shoto was shaking like a leaf.

Wally rushed in. "Shoto, sorry, I had to get Lethe farther away... What's happened? Are you okay...Yin?"

Yin was deadly pale.

"They came for me again," he said. "They want me to come back...so they can kill me."

"Now, no one's going to kill you on our watch," Wally said. "Shoto?"

"Wally..." Shoto tried to sit up, and he almost fell back over, but Wally caught him. "I saw...my father...and my mom...and I heard...hissing... It was like a nightmare...and I heard someone talking to me... They said it was too far...but...it was...it was like a genjutsu."

"Okay...that's not surprising..." Wally said, "but...oh, man, I'm sorry... If I'd known, I would have come and got you right off." He put an arm around Shoto. "It's just a dream, Shoto... I know it felt real. I've been there, believe me, but it was just to scare you. None of that's gonna happen again."

Shoto nodded. "I...I know... It just...caught me off guard. I know it was an illusion." He tried to stand up, finally succeeding. "But if felt real... Actually it felt too real, like it was dialed to 90."

"Dialed to 90," Wally said. "Huh... Why does that also sound familiar...? Okay, let's get out of this room." He picked up Yin. "Come on." He led Shoto out.

Mirko had found Medea and Lethe in the hallway. Medea was shaken, but Lethe was hysterical.

Mirko slapped him.

It actually helped, surprisingly. He stopped hyper ventilating.

"They tried to take him back," Medea said. She sounded ghostly. "Like at the theater, the same kind of thing. It got dark, and..."

"Or like what swallowed Yin..." Mirko said. "It's...some kind of phasing power, isn't it?" She looked up at Wally as he brought the other two kids.

"Yeah," Wally said. "It's like that. But it's not just that now. They're messing with our minds too...at least, some of ours. They got to Shoto... Only it stopped, right?"

"Yeah," Shoto said.

"He's protected, like us," Wally said. "But Yin isn't... We have to keep him close. And Lethe too. Where's Shine?"

"She's with the League. Someone attacked them. I think it was the same guy," Mirko said.

They all rushed back that way.

The found they were too late, though.

Spinner was gone.

Shine and Silk had not made it in time.

Shigaraki said it was because Akume was trying to get them to return.

"They already tried to kill them," Shine said. "They can't actually want to use them. It's bait, that's all it is."

"Or it's an ultimatum," Wally said, "and we all know what that means."

"What's an ultimatum?" Medea asked.

"It means one of two extreme options is what you have to choose, and usually one is the one you can't afford to let happen at any cost," Shine said. "I hate ultimatums."

"Master is telling me to return," Shigaraki stated. "That is the cause of all this."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Mirko frowned. "Well, you're not going to do it, are you?"

"I must," Shigaraki said. "But taking Compress and Spinner was unnecessary."

"It's insurance," Shine said. "But I have every reason to think, if you go back now, they'll just kill them."

"Master won't allow that," Shigaraki said.

"What do--?" began Mirko angrily, but Shine shushed her.

"Before you do something hasty--again," she said levelly, "we must at least discuss it... For now, we're the only council you have--and Silk."

Silk nodded. 

"Now, we want to ensure Compress and Spinner are kept alive. It's better if you don't go now." Shine said. "Unless you get some kind of promise that they won't be harmed if you do. Is that fair enough?"

"That is a good idea," Shigaraki said, "because I do not think Akume is to be trusted."

"I wonder where you got that idea," Wally said. "Maybe it was the invading people's subconscious and giving them nightmares shtick." He sounded really mad.

"Wally has had an experience like this before," Shine explained. "Dr. Destiny...very cruel man...and this seems somewhat like it... I'm afraid for now it would be wisest for us all to either not sleep or to sleep in watches."

Shoto nodded. "I don't even want to sleep after that..."

"And all of us had better stay in the dorms," Shine said, "together...even you, Rumi."

"But...I don't live here," Mirko said.

"I strongly suspect you'll be targeted as soon as you go home if you leave us," Shine said. "Wally and I seem able to resist this and are unaffected by it. Maybe it's quirk related. Whatever the reason is, you all need to be by us. We need to figure out how to counter it." She rubbed her head. "There must be a way. I'm going to contact everyone else, get a vigil going...and tell them to be on the look out for attacks."

"You cut Compress's ties with them," Silk said. "Why did they still find us?"

"I don't know," Shine said. "I have a few ideas... Wally, I think you should check around Nezu's area, see if you find anything weird. We ought to have hunted down the rat already... All this has just distracted us. But he seems of minor concern now, still... I will check the area around the buildings. All of you stay inside."

She and Wally both went to do those things.

The others went into the dorms. 

Lethe and Yin were left on the sofas.

"Well...guess I'll be crashing here," Mirko said uncomfortably. "That takes me back to my high school days..."

Shoto sighed. "Maybe we have some soba still in the kitchen." He wandered off.

Silk sat in a chair and shivered and rubbed her arms.

Midnight brought her a blanket... The whole thing had freaked her out too, but she was trying to act professional.

Aizawa joined them later. He didn't like Eri being around in light of what happened, so he took her to Miss Joke's house. 

Mirko let Ren know she'd be staying at UA.

"Wow, creepy," he commented. "Be careful, sis... Set an alarm or something... I wish I could help, but mental quirks are not my strong suit."

"It's not on the top of my list of things I like dealing with either," Mirko said.

"Bright side, more dinner for me though," Ren said. "Now behave yourself. No making out with Shigaraki while you're there."

"What the---? How did you--?" Mirko stopped. He was just teasing her.

"Wait...whoa, whoa, whoa," Ren said. "Don't tell me--"

"Adios, Ren." Mirko hung up promptly.

That didn't stop Ren from texting her, like, a billion times demanding an explanation, but she ignored it.

Things were tense enough without thinking about that.

Mirko really didn't even have the energy to feel awkward anymore, not now. It was too somber.

Perhaps that went both ways. Shigaraki stopped avoiding them all... Everyone was afraid to be alone.

Shine and Wally came back, having looked over the area as thoroughly as they could but not finding a lot.

"I'll play music," Shine said. "At the very least, that'll make it harder to doze off... Maybe it'll help."

She put on some.

[Hold Me Jesus-Rich Mullins]

Medea curled up in one sitting room with Lethe and Yin, and Silk made herself some kind of make-shift hammock out of her threads and stayed in there with them.

The two DJs went off with Shoto to talk on their own.

The other Heroes went into the kitchen and office areas, making sure the security cameras and bots were in place...and discussing what to do about this new threat-- Of course no one had any ideas.

Left to themselves, Mirko and Shigaraki had nothing much to do--so Shigaraki pulled out some of the video games that had been left lying in the TV stand's drawers. At least it was a good way to stay up.

Mirko joined in.

They were just kind of silent.

"They'll be fine," Mirko finally said. "Compress and Spinner. They'll keep them alive. Shine's right--They're just leverage."

No answer.

Mirko sighed.

"Why would they bother with Yin?" Shigaraki finally said. "He's useless."

"Just to frick with us," Mirko said. "That's all." She frowned at the screen. "They're like video game villains. They just like doing bad stuff."

Privately, she wondered why she hadn't been a target anyway. She must be on their list... It might be more ominous if she wasn't. Would they pull a repeat of that memory wipe?

Would it work a second time?

She bit her lip.

What was to stop them from just taking them all the same way...? What made the difference? Questions she couldn't answer.

Hours ticked by, and they felt so slow...

Mirko had no trouble staying awake though.. She was wired.

Shigaraki normally would have been wide awake also-- He didn't even sleep that much regularly. But he found himself feeling very unusually tired.

He kind of wondered if it was natural...or if there was more to it. He scratched nervously.

It must have been about 4 am when he actually did doze off by accident.

Mirko wouldn't have noticed, since they weren't talking at all, but he kind of tilted to the side onto her shoulder...and she froze.

Oh, this was bad...

Wait, was he asleep?

She debated... How awkward would it be to wake him up...?

This was kind of cute, really...

But the next minute she got the answer most unpleasantly...because the room seemed to darken...

It was already dim enough with only a few lights on, but they seemed more shaded than before.

Mirko felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up, and her ears were rigid as a lightning rod.

Not good.

"Shine!" she yelled. "West! Get down here."

She shook Shigaraki. "Hey, wake up!"

Shigaraki wasn't waking up so easily.

Mirko saw something move on the floor...shadows again... They were reaching out from the corners of the room...

Later she wasn't even sure whether that was just in her mind, or whether that actually happened.

She saw them coming towards the couch...and she jerked her feet back and shoved Shigaraki upward, to get away from it.

She slipped and her feet hit the floor again. 

The shadows seemed to hook onto them like in the old Disney Peter Pan movie.

And then she wasn't in the room anymore. She was falling down some kind of dark hole...

She saw her family falling beneath her her, getting farther away.

The League too... The Heroes...

It all happened too fast. In real life it would never have made sense, but in this dreamscape, it seemed like it did.

Then she heard laughter...cruel laughter...like a villain in an old movie. But it sounded real. It was ringing through her head.

Shigaraki, in the real world, came awake at being shoved and looked around, confused.

Then he saw Mirko on the floor, but she was flailing like something was dragging her off...and it was dark...

It looked just like before.

Shigaraki wasn't sure if he was awake or this was another dream... It seemed real.

Mirko kicked at nothing...or, no, it wasn't nothing, it was a shadow...but the shadow was alive.

Creepy.

Shigaraki was going to try to touch it--then he thought better of it. That might be the perfect way to get caught.

Well...he'd put on gloves to hold the video game console, so this should be okay, right?

He grabbed Mirko by her arms and yanked her back.

He thought that would be easy--but instead there was actual resistance on the other end, like something really did have her by the feet.

"Likstar!" he started yelling. "WEST! Where are you, d--- it!"

Suddenly Wally was in the room. "Oh, sh-oot." He took out a sword and sliced at the shadows...

This time the shriek from them was audible...and they rose up for a moment along the wall like some dreadful apparition.

"Will you be frightened to death?" a voice spoke...but it seemed to speak into their minds.

Shine came into the room right on Wally's heel, eyes wide.

"What are you?" she yelled. "Answer me!"

"But you know the answer," the voice said, "and it will destroy you."

Then it was gone.

Shigaraki had a high tolerance for weird and freaky, but that rattled even him from head to foot.

Mirko suddenly blinked. Her eyes were wild. "What--what...was that?" She looked up. She didn't seem that shocked Shigaraki was right there. She seemed more uncertain. "Is this real now?"

"This is real," Shine said. But she shivered. "Wally..."

"I know." Wally put an arm around her.

"Quick, we have to check on the others," Shine said.

They both left.

Mirko whimpered...which was an odd sound from her. "That was horrible..."

"What did you see?" Shigaraki couldn't help asking.

Mirko tried to sit up-- She didn't seem to realize she was leaning on him at the moment. 👀

"I... Just...a black hole," she said. "Falling...like some sick Alice In Wonderland reference, maybe. And people...then I heard laughing." She rubbed one ear. "Normally it'd be so...cheesy, the evil laugh, but...this was seriously freaky.... How long was I out?"

"I don't know..." Shigaraki honestly didn't.

"It felt like forever..." Mirko muttered. "But it looks like it was just a few minutes... I thought I heard something about 'frightened to death'."

"That was real." Shigaraki frowned to himself. What had that meant anyway?

"Wait--are you okay?" Mirko suddenly remembered. "You weren't waking up." She grabbed his face as if checking to make sure he was awake.

"Hey, stop that!" Shigaraki said. "I'm fine."

That wasn't really true. He was pretty sure he was not fine...not after that. But what was he going to say?

Mirko backed off a little. "Sorry...it's just...it's not exactly something I've ever had to deal with...someone attacking people through their dreams... Sounds more like a bad horror movie than a Villain."

"Well, he's real," Shigaraki said.

Medea walked in, holding a blanket around her shoulders. "Guys, what's going on--? Oh." She took in the position they were in. "Sorry to interrupt. I'll come back later."

"What?" Mirko scrambled up suddenly. "You weren't interrupting anything. It was...There was--"

"Hey, you don't have to explain to me," Medea said slyly. "I didn't see anything. I thought I heard screaming though."

"Yeah, there was," Mirko said. "There was something-- Nothing happened to the kids?"

"Not yet..." Medea said. "Hey, are you taking my advice?"

"What? No!" Mirko snapped.

"Too bad," Medea said. "It'd be nice if something good happened today." She frowned darkly. "Well...guess I'll just go back to watching my brother. Have fun." She left.

"I'll kill her," Mirko said.

"For what?" Shigaraki didn't get any of that.

"Nothing." Mirko got off the floor. "I'm getting coffee."

She went into the kitchen.

Medea stuck her head back around the corner. "She's just embarrassed," she hissed at Shigaraki. "You should really talk about that thing that happened, you know. Bye." She left again.

[I can't tell whether I'm writing a shipping arc or a horror arc right now-- Knowing you guys, that's some of y'all's flavor, isn't it?]

* * *

Medea went back to Lethe and held his hand. He was spooked again.

"You've got to calm down," Medea said. "Just...try to rest."

"How can I? They're coming for us," Lethe mumbled.

Medea shook her head. "Miss Likstar says it's bad for your health if you keep freaking out and not sleeping. I'll watch you."

Lethe whimpered.

Medea thought...maybe she could do something to help.

She started to sing an old lullaby her mom used to sing to them:

[I haven't even watched this movie. I just found this song and loved it. I'm also convinced Japan's default emotion is bitter sweet, because all the anime songs I know are like that.]

It worked.... Lethe seemed to calm down finally.

[More science behind that, but I won't go into it all. Suffice it to say, singing does lower stress.]