Monama had lost all sense of time. All his other senses were far too overloaded.

After a round of torture, the High Father stopped and repeated his questions.

Monama couldn't have answered if he wanted to. He couldn't feel his face.

"Stop..." Silk was saying. She sounded far away.

"Maybe she can speak better than she let on," one of the elders said, sounding tinny.

"Start talking, then, you little mouse," a different one said.

Monama's head swam, and he wasn't sure what Silk did and didn't say. When he cleared a little, he was on the floor, unsure whether he'd collapsed or been put there.

Not that much time had really passed, though he didn't know it.

Suddenly a new voice entered the room.

"Your Lordship...they're attackers on the island now. We just received word. A chase happened. They are heading for here. We detained them, but now a fire has started."

"What?" the leaders cried, enraged.

"It looks as though the LOV is among them, but there are heroes too, Excellency," said the messenger.

"And why did you not alert us sooner?"

"We were trying to get the situation under control ourselves before disturbing you, but then it got out of hand--"

The voice broke off. Monama heard--with painful accuracy now--a body hit the floor.

"Imbecile..." the High Father's voice said coldly.

"You...just killed your own man..." Silk said, "Monster."

"It's none of your concern," the High Father said flatly, "If the LOV is truly here, we must prepare for them. This rubbish here is no longer useful. Kill the boy. Take the woman to a holding cell."

"Why not kill her too?" said an elder.

"You know why," was the reply.

Monama noticed blandly that a marble had rolled out of his pockets... He still had one, huh? Or was it a dud?

One of the elders picked him up off the floor, sliding out some kind of bladed weapon. 

"What a waste of our time..."

Suddenly the marble exploded open.

The Meta elder jumped back.

Medea appeared, looking dazed. "What...? Where the heck is this?" She looked around.

"Run!" Silk yelled at her, before the Fisher yanked her mouth shut.

Medea's eyes got huge as the Elder reached for her.

But she burst into flames.

They jumped back.

Medea ran for it. She knocked Monama out of the one elder's grasp, as they were too busy trying to block her to hold on to him. Somehow she made her hand solid enough to grab him and drag him, with frantic strength, since she really wasn't that strong normally. But her fire seemed to make her strong, for whatever reason.

She reached for Silk also.

The High Father's wire came at her and seemed to grab the part of her that wasn't in flames. Medea suddenly screamed and dropped Monama.

"Not sure who this is, but she seems powerful." The High Father didn't act at all like torturing her while saying this was weird. "She should be a fine catch, with some reconditioning..."

"Right you are, Your Lordship," an elder agreed.

Monama could think clearly enough now to understand that they were all screwed.

Then something flew into the room... Was it metal grating?

The Metas were slammed into the far wall.

Compress was there.

He pocketed Silk before she even knew it was him.

"Run, Medea," he barked at her.

She scrambled up, rubbing her arms, and ran, bursting into flames again. She went right through the walls.

Compress turned Monama into a marble and ran away with him.

Monama didn't know what followed until he was being de-compressed in a dark hallway, lit only by Medea's fire.

Silk was untied now and explaining frantically what happened.

"And they brought us in there...and they tortured that poor boy. He was brave though, didn't say anything to them...but then they got word what happen, and it was too late... They were just going to kill and imprison us. How did you know just when to make dramatic entrance?"

"It's a gift." Compress didn't sound as bravado-filled as usual. "But...I must say, you really cut that exit close... You all right, boy?"

Monama sputtered. "I...don't know..."

"It was lucky Medea proved to be a long compressor," Compress said, "Perhaps her quirk's make up has something to do with it. Fortunately, you still had her too."

Medea looked upset. "I wish I'd come out of it sooner... I really am bad luck."

"I just said the opposite of that," Compress said.

"I just feel like people keep getting hurt today because of me..." Medea said, "especially Monama, and he doesn't even like me." She sounded close to crying. "And it's because I'm not any good at this after all, and I have terrible control..."

"There there," Silk tried to help, and gave her a hug, "It could always be worse, Darling. They could have killed us or given us stroke."

Medea just got more upset.

"Perhaps not the most comforting thing to say..." Compress said.

"Uh...well, I'm not really good at that..." Silk said, "I...am sorry I didn't do anything...Copy Cat... I mean, I wasn't sure what would be good."

Monama was kind of pissed at her, actually, but he bit back any whining about it... It kind of hurt to move.

"The good news is, if it was what I think, he should be okay in a bit," Compress tried, "so we just need to stay hidden. I could try to smuggle you all out... I haven't found the exit yet, though. I don't know where I'm going... The others called a while ago, but I was afraid to answer. Good thing too. I was really close to them. This is some kind of stone fortress, according to the Creati girl."

"They will find us..." Silk said quietly.

Suddenly, Intelli spoke. He'd not contacted them in a while.

"Hey, I heard some of that... So you're in their fortress."

"Yes," Silk said.

"Medea, you're still there?"

"Uh huh," she sniffled.

"I have one last thing I can do," Intelli said, "and if it works, we'll hit them where it hurts. But it involves you finding their control room here. They have to have one. You have reception after all...and I put all this stuff on your phone when I programmed it... I think I can use it for what I need to do without frying it. Check the case. I put a little USB chip in there."

"What?" Medea opened the case. One fell out. "Why did you do that?"

"I had this idea hours ago, I knew if I programmed your phone, it'd be easiest to use it, not traceable that way, so I planned to use you all along if I could," Intelli explained, "but it took me a while to find what I wanted over here." They heard him take a sip of coffee. "Find the control room. You can use your quirk. Then plug in that chip anywhere you can find a port-- and your phone. I can do the rest. You got a charging cord?"

"No..."

"There might be one in there. They have phones too, right?" Intelli brushed it off. "I guess I'll walk you through it if you don't have one. No worries. But you need to hurry. If they lock down that fortress island it'll be a lot harder for you to escape."

"They may already be doing that," Compress said.

Medea put her head in her hands. "I can't do this..." she said, "Don't you get it? I'll never be able to control my quirk for that long... If I try I'll get stuck somewhere in here...and they'll get me..."

She trembled.

"But, dear, we could head them off, Compress and I. We'll block up tunnels and screen them," Silk said, "Buy you time. It'll work. You can do this."

Medea shook her head.

Monama tried to move and found the feeling had returned to his limbs. He managed to get up, still kind of tingling just from the effort.

"If we don't do something," he managed, "then we came here for nothing. And if nothing comes of it, what was the point?"

He held out a hand. "I'll help you. I can use your quirk with more control."

Medea blinked up at him.

"That could work..." Silk said.

They heard voices suddenly.

"Find them!" someone was hissing, "They can't have gone far!"

"And the time is now," Silk added, pulling cloth out of her arm, "Better go."

Compress pulled out some more marbles.

"Good luck, Medea. Put on a real show stopper," he said.

Medea bit her lip, and Monama wasn't sure whether she was going to have the fortitude to pull through.

But then she took his hand and lit hers on fire.

"All right...let's try," she said quietly.

They both turned into flames and ran through the walls.

Compress tossed a barrier in the hallway, then he and Silk ran to find another one and lock it off.

"We'll seal ourselves in if we're not careful, so we need to leave an escape route or have others pick us up," Silk said.

"Those fiends will not give us much breathing room," Compress muttered, "It'll be curtains for us if the kids don't hurry. I didn't like to put pressure on them, but I don't think the Metas intend to let us get away this time."

"Ha," Silk said, "I never thought just getting away was option."

She strung more screens in the hallway behind them. They heard the Metas following them-- probably heard them or caught their trail, depending on what quirks they were using...or meta abilities, as they called them.

https://youtu.be/VKaiSaMFJtM

[This fits the Metas, doesn't it? They teach to love themselves...too much. So Sorry--Imagine Dragons]

* * *

"I can't believe she told you." Dabi was mad at Hawks and at Fuyumi.

"I kind of put it together myself too." Hawks flicked a feather away. "But I never would have guessed you were her brother... I feel weird about that whole nomu incident now."

"Oh, chill," Dabi said, "It doesn't matter now. Though you're still a prick for lying about that."

"For stopping a murder?"

"Well, if you were supposed to be on our side," Dabi returned, "I never really bought that..."

"Stop arguing," Mirko complained. She was trying to regain mobility. Momo was trying to heal everyone who'd been nearly crushed, and she had some success--they were moving again, but they felt sore.

Wally had his head in Shine's lap. He didn't seem critically injured, but after Momo healed him, he was still exhausted.

Shine was patting his hair. She was still shaken up.

"I feel kind of pathetic, going down like that," Wally murmured sleepily.

Shine smiled. "Usually the last one standing. I think you can get away with it."

Shigaraki was gazing at them like it weirded him out to see positive reinforcement.

Mirko tried to stand, sort of succeeding. "Ow...that Gravity Quirk really fricked us up..."

"You were so cool, tho, stopping her like that," Camie said.

"Yeah, I know," Mirko said, quite modestly, "but it didn't stop them all...not by a long shot... So what exactly is the plan once we get to that fortress?"

Shine looked up. "I've had an idea in my head all day...but we have to get in front of it for it to work. We'll have to fly over or cross the little bridge."

"This is impossible..." Shinso said. He had hit his limit after what just happened. "We're outnumbered, and they have a whole island of resources, and we have nothing, and we're injured. I don't know how we even got this far, but it's crazy to keep going. We'd be lucky if you just get us all away from here."

Shine looked at him oddly.

"Shinso," Momo said, "this is not the time to give up."

"Why not? Even the LOV isn't crazy enough to say this is a good idea, I don't think," Shinso said.

The LOV, all two of them, said nothing.

Compress buzzed in about then, to tell them what happened and what was following.

"Intelli told me his idea," Shine said, "We came up with it together...but it's not enough to just hack them. We need to take those Elders down that Silk described... That would be more crushing than just leaving them. I don't think they can be the real leaders of the organization though...maybe just of this chapter of it. But, no matter. I never thought we'd find the real head of it anyway, not in Japan. They've got to be hiding somewhere less hero-packed."

"Makes sense," Mirko allowed, straightening, "So, we just beat up these guys and call it a day."

"You make it sound easy," Spinner said.

"It is," Mirko said.

"Maybe for Top Pros, but you didn't do so well back there," Spinner said, "and these guys will be powerful too. We barely beat the other leader with a Giant on our side. Face it, we're outmatched. I don't even have a useful quirk."

"A quirk is what you make of it," Momo said.

"We all know that's a load of s--- spread by heroes," Spinner said, "Some quirks are just not that impressive."

Silence for a moment.

Then Shine looked up. "You're right, Spinner. Maybe that is true."

Spinner gave her a surprised look. "Huh?"

"And we are outmatched." Shine sat up straighter. "And we are tired, but we have a huge advantage here that they are never going to have. We're in the Right, and that means God is on our side."

"This again," Spinner said.

"You don't have to join us, if you feel bad," Shine said, nodding at Wally, who managed to sit up, "I'll take that fortress with two people or twelve-- it really doesn't matter...because we came here to do that."

She looked at the kids. "But don't you dare start giving up now. We're so close, and you have to got to the end to see the miracle. Those who draw back, who only commit halfway, they don't get a miracle, because they are not determined to either have one or die. I know that perhaps, if we run, we'll survive...and we can keep running and running and running. And the Metas can keep wreaking havoc on this world. And maybe we won't stop them all in one go today, but you know, most people don't single-handedly win a war. But they can win a battle, and if you win enough battles, the war will be over. Don't expect us to win this for you. You have to get up and fight."

Bakugo and Shoto stood a little more erect as she spoke, as did Camie and Momo. Even Hawks perked up a little.

Wally took Shine's hand, and she helped him stand up too. He smiled bravely.

"I for one," Shine went on soberly, "am tired of running while I'm here. We did almost just die, but we didn't. We can look back at that and be afraid, or we can look forward and seize that opportunity. If you are afraid, you can leave. Go to the boat, whatever...no hard feelings, but we don't need anyone slowing us down."

Mirko grinned at her.

https://youtu.be/olKQhfeXofU

[This song is epic, and it fit so well.]

Everyone looked at each other.

"Well, I'm game..." Bakugo said, "I think it's no time to pansy out. Y'all can be b----s if you want, but I'm gonna win this thing. We got this far."

"I'm with you on that, bro," Camie agreed. 

"Heroes always say that," Spinner said, grimly, "but do you really believe it's wise to do that?"

"Well," Momo took Shoto's hand and smiled, "it may not be wise, but if we wanted to do something safe, we wouldn't be here at all. The Metas have been a problem for so long, and we're so close to really doing some damage here... we can't back down now. Besides, Compress and Silk and Medea and Monama need us to go back them up."

"That said," Shigaraki said, very tersely, "I think we've wasted enough time. We should get going." 

***

Monama and Medea found that going through the fortress was far easier than anticipated.

Somehow, Medea's control of her quirk was better with Monama's help. Some mysterious sort of synergy was happening.

[Theories could abound, all from stress of her quirk may be alleviated by holding hands, since that can alleviate stress, or that quirks maybe can combine, or this is an ability Monama has without knowing it, sort of like Rogue in X-Men: Days of Future Past, when she helps Shadowcat... Hey, vote in the comments, if you're a theory person. See what sounds the best to you.]

At first, once she was using it, Monama let go. It was kind of awkward to hold hands after all.

But as soon as he did that, Medea started to lose more control, and then she went out all together, almost hitting the wall she was about to go into.

She almost panicked too.

They could hear people looking for them... The one thing about the fire, it wasn't subtle. They were easy to spot. As long as they could get away in time it wouldn't matter too much.

Monama worried though that the Metas might just knock in the walls. The Fortress was old and didn't look that stable anymore.

"All right, fine," he said, taking her hand again, "We'll just go like this. I don't know why, but it's working."

Medea nodded mutely.

She lit on fire again.

They were at least getting deeper into the fortress. Since they didn't have to navigate the corners, it was much easier, but they still hit dirt.

While in fire form, Monama had noticed he didn't see things or hear them the same way. The fire itself seemed to sense it, much like having nerve endings all over your body normally. You could feel the fire going through stuff, or it going through you, really.

But colors and sounds were nonexistent, like one of those silent dreams people have where you know what's happening, but don't really see it.

If he made his eyes solid again, he could see, but then they'd be hit on the next thing he went through.

True mastery of this quirk, he deduced, would require being able to time that perfectly. To look before you leaped, so to speak, but not while you were leaping. And make judgement calls and hope that nothing moved in the split second you were without eyes.

All in all, a quirk with plenty of uses, but not if you didn't have control.

He pointed this out to Medea when they stopped to catch their breath.

Medea was not that impressed with his analysis.

"Yeah, so? I can't do that," she said, "I mean, sure, I look ahead, but I've never done it that fast. I usually just run blindly ahead when I escape and pray I don't hit something bad."

"It's a wonder you're still alive," Monama said, "You could hit a car doing that, you know-- blow up the engine...or water.... Water is your weakness, isn't it?"

"I...I dunno." Meda rubbed her head. "After earlier, I kind of remember Lethe once used a hose to make me slow down. I think something about how my quirk works... I dunno how it works though, and I normally never remembered any incidents... They're coming back to me. Water doesn't stop my quirk for more than a few seconds though. Unless it's constant, like rain."

"Or a shower maybe," Monama said, "Talk about needing to cool down."

"Oh, shut it," Medea said.

"Well, I have a theory. Doesn't purple fire happen because of chemicals, in shows or something?" Monama said.

"I don't know, does it?" Medea said, "Dropped out of high school, remember?"

"Actually, I learned that from an anime," Monama said.

[If not Doctor Stone, I'm sure it's in another anime. I mean, get real.]

"Oh...wow." Medea was impressed. "I should watch more anime."

"Given the kinds of quirks I can copy are usually the kind that require either morphing or emitting something," Monama theorized, "I bet your fire is something you emit from your skin, and you probably emit chemicals too."

"That sounds gross." Medea looked at her hands suspiciously. "I don't see anything."

"You wouldn't see it, but I suspect it's constant," Monama said, "which is why you just blaze up with no warning, and if it gets washed off by water, you emit more. Maybe the chemicals run through all of your body. Normally it would be poisonous, but your quirk makes it harmless to you. Then you can turn into fire... It's like your quirk is chemical crossed with permeation-- a complex type."

"Is that what they teach you at hero school?" Medea raised an eyebrow.

"Well...that, and I kind of have to know this stuff in order to copy quirks," Monama said, "Some quirks I can't copy, usually mental-type quirks or ones that are too mutated. Which is why it's odd I can copy yours. I thought you were just pyrokinetic because I didn't see how else you could turn into fire, but not like Todoroki or Bakugo, where there's a physical component to it. I thought it was mental. I mean, Lethe's power is mental, and you're twins, so it's not too far fetched. But it could be physical also."

Medea frowned oddly. "Okay...well...that's lucky, I guess."

"And that's the first nice thing you've said about your own quirk," Monama said flatly.

"Oh, shut up," Medea growled, "You don't like your quirk either, so get off my back."

"What--?" Monama sputtered.

"Don't bother lying," Medea said, "I think your quirk is pretty useful though...at least for now." She blew hair out of her face indignantly. "I really should cut these bangs if we live through this."

Leave it to a girl to care about that at a time like this.

"It must be cool to get to use so many different quirks though," Medea said, "though it sounds kind of unsettling. But still...do you have a favorite type to copy?"

"Is that really important?"

"I'm trying to focus on something else-- more of Cece's advice for calming down," Medea said, "and you're the best distraction I have right now. We could talk about the creepy castle or almost dying, but see, that's just stressing me out more."

"All right, all right," Monama said tersely. Usually people made fun of his quirk, but Medea really didn't seem to care to do that. "Well...it's fun to copy the more explosive types. A real power rush."

Medea nodded, focusing, like this was the most important thing she'd ever heard.

Honestly no one ever took Monama that seriously, so it was kind of weird. Of course, it was just the situation.

"I will say, though, quirks with a bit more finesse are a lot of fun too," Monama said, "It's a challenge. Like one classmate who can attach things to each other. You met him-- Awase. It's harder to use that, but it's cool to succeed."

Medea nodded.

"I think yours is the perfect type to copy." Monama warmed up a little to the subject. "It's explosive, but also requires more thought, so it's the perfect challenge."

Medea reddened. "Oh, you're just saying that."

"Not really... After this many times, I think I would know," Monama said, "You see, that's what those muscle-bound idiots in 1-A don't get. You have to have brains and power when you fight, not just one or the other."

"Brains would be just one, so how are they idiots?" Medea said.

"They're idiots if they think you can always out plan someone if they're just some kind of locomotive," Monama sniffed, "Really, your quirk is perfect. It lets you fight, run, and dodge. Most people would die for that kind of quirk."

Medea tilted her head. "Well, it's no barrel of laughs," she said flatly, "I guess it's okay, for situations like this, but I still wish I didn't have it. Still, it's what I am, and I have to accept that. That's therapy, you know. Hey, you should too."

"Huh?" Monama said.

"Yeah, you spend so much time wishing you had other people's quirks," Medea said, "or wishing for more power or whatever, but you don't really need more. You just need to stop b-----g about people thinking they're better than you. I mean, you could literally be the most powerful person in the room at a given moment if you just borrowed the right quirk, or the most stealthy, or fastest, so I'd see that as an edge." She tugged her hair. "I'm being too nice right now, aren't I? Just ignore me."

"Why do you do that?" Monama said oddly, "You switch tunes in the middle of what you're saying."

"I have mild BPD," Medea shrugged, "or something similar, who knows? I switch moods really fast because I have insecurities... One minute I'm okay with admitting that, the next I'm ready to slap you if you suggest I'm anything but normal. I'm working on it... I'm learning to spot it when I start to swing that way...but it's rough. I never had to not give into it before." She sighed. "Anyway you don't even like me. It's too bad, if you did, I'd have kissed you for what you just said there."

Monama's mouth dropped open.

"But whatever. I really need to control what I say more." Medea didn't even notice. "I guess we should keep going before they find us. I feel better now... Monama?"

Monama shook himself. "Uh, right. They'll be here any second."

As if on cue, a flashlight appeared down the corridor.

Medea grabbed his hand again and turned into fire. Monama followed suit.

They charged through the wall.

After just a few more, they finally found what looked like the room Intelli had had in mind.

Someone had made a small hole in the ceiling and stuck a satellite pole through it, so there was internet in the room.

And there were a few computers and monitors, with screens that seemed to have maps of the island. With little moving dots.

"The IDs of the Metas, I bet," Monama said, "They can track their own people."

Medea put her ear to the wall. "I'd say we have a few minutes at most before they figure out we're in here. I mean, they have to think this is what we're looking for. Why else would we go farther into the fortress?"

Monama looked around. "Aha." He picked up a phone cord. "Someone was charging in here. Will this fit your phone?"

Medea pulled it out. "Yeah, wow, stroke of luck. I should thank Yaoyurozu if we live through this."

She grabbed the cord and hooked her phone up to one computer.

"All right," Intelli said, "if you allow it access to your device, I should be able to hack it from here, like those guys at Better Buy can take over your computer from their office."

"That's fricking terrifying," Medea said.

"Yes, the internet is terrifying," Intelli said, "Now put the USB in."

Medea did so.

"I want you to go to files, select all, and move them to the USB," Intelli said, "Do you know what I mean?"

"No... Look, I haven't had access to a computer since I was...I don't know, 13..." Medea said.

"Let me do it." Monama reached over her shoulder shoulder and clicked. "There."

"Great," Intelli said, "Now, in a few minutes it will be done. I'm going to send something to the email on this computer. When I do, take the USB out. Open the email, and click the message. The Email will be from Internetoverlord2050."

"Seriously?" Medea said.

"I just created the account today," Intelli said, "I'm deleting it after this. No loose ends."

"They'll find us any second..." Monama said nervously.

"Yeah, probably," Intelli said, "Can you kids hold your own while this is finishing?"

"I don't know," Medea said, "I feel...tired... I've never used my quirk this much."

"I'd be all right if that creepy priest hadn't messed with my nerves," Monama grumbled. He still felt a little shaky.

"Oh, yeah, that guy," Intelli said, "Watch out for him. If my hunch is right, he's got quite the body count. Not just deaths either. Some stuff I can't tell you kids, but you don't want him to catch you. The other elders are all real pieces of work too. Don't fight them if you can help it. Their lackeys you might be able to avoid if you go through walls though."

"That takes more energy," Medea said, "I'm not even sure we can run out of here again."

"Well, we'll just have to run a straight line this time. That would only take as long as it takes to run," Monama said, "A few minutes maybe?"

"That's a long time still," Medea said, shaking her head, "Okay...it's finished." She took the USB out.

"Make sure you don't lose that," Intelli said, "Now, email."

Medea could do that much. She opened the email. There was a new one from the username Intelli had said.

She opened it. The link was just a weird advertisement picture. "What is this?"

"Oh, you'll love it." Intelli sounded gleeful. "Open it."

Medea moved the mouse and clicked.