It was another long time to be in the car. By now the pre-game stress was setting in, and Shine didn't talk nearly as much while driving. Wally talked more, saying random jokes and comments that no one was laughing at. Even Camie didn't act as carefree as usual.

Medea looked out the window and couldn't help but think of her brother...where was he now? Could he be close? Should she just forgive him? Or was what he did unforgivable?

Shine liked to say nothing was unforgivable...maybe if he was sorry. But if he was sorry, wouldn't he have found her by now, unless he couldn't. As mad as she was, Medea didn't want the Originals to torture him and kill him.

The landscape flattened out as they went. More and more trees, the further away from the city they were, they couldn't see the horizon anymore.

The most conversation was what Shine eventually had with Kayla as they reached the stage of the drive where she was just going to keep going dead ahead for a long time and didn't need to ask for directions.

Iida had switched cars with Hawks per Shine's request, because she did not want him there if Kayla told them anything too graphic.

"I want to know what kind of voodoo stuff they are into." Shine was blunt. "Why can't I see her?"

"I don't understand." Kayla said.

"The only times I can't go to someone directly are if they are dead, or blocked on purpose." Shine said. "You said she's going to be kept alive, most likely. So she's blocked, and it has to be intentional by now. They know something about me, or it's just a side effect of their ways. So what do they do?"

"I wouldn't know, I'm not into that part of the group's method." Kayla said.

"You have to take blood oaths." Shine said.

Kayla hesitated. "Yeah, well...I did that."

"You're going to need to get that taken care of." Shine said. "Or you will never leave them...more accurately, they will never leave you."

Kayla looked up. "Do you...do you know stuff about me now?"

Ren glanced up.

"I know that your part in all this is haunting you more than you want us to know," Shine said, "and I sympathize. I've known a lot of people like you. I want to help you really leave, Kayla, but I can't do that if you draw back now. Just how committed are you?"

"You think I'm leading you into a trap?" Kayla laughed, "Well, I could be."

"I know that you're inclined to still agree with them," Shine said, "You know it's horrific, what they're doing, but they draw you in, don't they? And you're not sure you'll resist when it gets down to the wire... That expression make sense? You know, let me just switch to English."

To herself she sounded the same, but the others all began to hear her in English.

Shine repeated what she'd said.

"How did you know that?" Kayla admitted this now that she thought they couldn't understand her.

Mirko and Hawks still could, but they said nothing.

"I know about cults," Shine said, "My own dad was in one for years. Not by the time he had me, but I heard about it. I've heard more, too. Unfortunately, many of them claim to be Christian, but we can spot the real from the fakes, we who really believe. Tell me more about what they taught you."

"Why would you want to hear that?" Kayla said dully, "What good is it to you?"

"This is my business, Kayla. 'For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age...' [Ephesians 6:12] and   'the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty...casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God...' [2 Corinthians 10:4-5] Which all means that it's a mistake to think this fight is just against people. Ideas, philosophies, and mindsets are our biggest problems. I've always fought those. So, yes, I'd like to know. And don't your types always like to talk about their ideas?"

Kayla tapped her fingers on the door.

"You know, quirks are a recent development," she said. It was rhetorical. "So are heroes, in that sense of the word. We in the Originals just think it was meant to stay that way. A lot of us hold the opinion that quirks were some kind of genetic experiment, done by the powers that be, and not natural. They cause so many problems. That monster there," she looked at Shigaraki, who didn't know what she said, but knew it was about him and frowned, "I've heard his story."

"All of it?"

"I've heard enough. He killed his own family. Because of his quirk. He's not the only one. There're thousands of cases like that globally."

"But it was not on purpose."

"Maybe, maybe not. Talk to the people who've lost people because of some kid's quirk going haywire in school or in public. It's hushed up when it happens, except as propaganda to get people to support the hero system more. You know, in some countries, they just seize powerful children off the streets and out of their home and recruit them to be part of their Task Force. All kinds of reasons. Quirks have done nothing to improve our world. They haven't advanced medicine or made the economy better. They say we have peace now...but how long could that last? The Metas declared war. How long before it turns into an all out war of the world? People with the strongest quirks will destroy everyone else. It would take months, at most... All this, and you wonder why I think we'd be better off without them."

"Oh, no, Kayla, I understand that perfectly," Shine said, "and I agree, quirks have made people even more stupid and stubborn than they already are by nature. They remove the most basic humility of being able to know you're not a superhuman...but they don't actually make people not human. They have the same weaknesses as before. Dialed up, maybe, or maybe not. They're about the same, from what I've seen."

"I think you are too easy on them," Kayla said.

"Kayla, what if I told you that I've seen societies where everyone is not super-powered, just like they were here...and all the problems you just listed are still present? Just because of weapons, technology, money, or religion gone wrong? Would you believe me?"

"I don't know if I would," Kayla said, "It could not be this bad."

"You have to be careful when you start saying the world could be better than it is, if you had your way. You're guilty of hubris, thinking you can do things better than God."

"If God is real, then He's not doing anything about this," Kayla said.

Shine laughed.

"What?" Kayla said, "This is so funny to you?"

"It is." Shine's eyes gleamed in the mirror. "Because I know that's not true, firsthand."

"Or really?" Kayla was skeptical.

"Yes, because I am the answer to what you just said," Shine said, "God sent me. Didn't you yourself say we're like gods? That is our goal, to be like God...not in power--that's just a bonus-- but in character. Goodness is power, actually, as George MacDonald said."

Kayla blinked at her. "You're serious?"

"Don't your cult leaders claim God appointed them to do what they do? To keep things pure?" Shine said.

"Well...yes, but...you're not like them," Kayla said.

"Well, thank goodness for that," Shine smiled wryly, "I'd hate to think I've become that static. So, that said, you don't really believe in God, but that makes you worse than ever. If you're going to help people get kidnapped, their identities stripped, and their quirks removed, at whatever cost, then, you ought to at least have the delusion it's your Divine Right, because otherwise, you're just a psychopath who's cruel because they think they can be."

"I'm surprised to hear you say that. Don't you types always say it's not really God's will to do these things?" Kayla said.

"Oh, of course, that's so Old Testament," Shine said, "We don't do things like that. People are not so simple now. But all that was made possible because of Jesus--that's what we believe. I've seen it work, too. Not that anyone ever believes me when I say that...but, I don't know, people can be misguided, but if they truly think it's God, then if God shows them it wasn't, they may abandon their course. It's worked many, many times. It is easier to convince most people who worship some kind of god that they are worshiping the wrong one, then it is to convince someone who despises the idea of god because they think they have it figured out. The hubris of skeptics is quite beyond me. I live in the age of reason and doubt, same as you--well, sort of. To me, quirks are the next rational step in a list of folly, a step down the stair, mind you. Because once we've said we're smarter than God and better than God, what else is there to do but snatch at godlike powers and become gods ourselves? If we can. What else is a quirk?"

"But that is not what we do," Kayla said.

"Oh, I think your group is even worse," Shine said, "because you don't have the honesty to admit you're the same as the quirked people. You are just as arrogant, hateful, and vengeful as them. More so, even, because you all think you are the victims here. If what you say is true, then they are victims of science or nature or some weird combination of both. You want to purge them or cure them, and I guess I understand that, but you treat them like less than animals. Not your brothers and sisters who are just under some terrible curse. And for that, I despise your group. I'd have nothing to do with any God or any group that denies people compassion. And you, Kayla, are worst of all. You keep your power because you know it's not really what determines who you are, and if you're a good person or not, but you wouldn't stop it from happening to someone else. We call that being a coward, in my country."

Kayla was silent for a long moment. She wiped some tears away.

The other weren't sure why she was upset, but Shine's tone had told them it was serious, and they didn't interrupt.

"You don't understand," Kayla said finally, sounding watery, "This is all I've known. If that's all wrong, I don't know anything else. And how can it all be wrong? Quirks cause a lot of problems...and you, you don't have one."

"But I do not hate people who do. I don't care," Shine said, "I am sorry for them, if it causes them problem, but I have the gift of being able to help them, which is precious to me to have. There's so much pain in this world, Kayla, I want to make it better. That's how I handle it... Either you can help, or you can do nothing, or you can add to it. Doing nothing is adding to it, however. That guy, there," she meant Shigaraki, "could tell you that, I've no doubt. Quirks are not worse than any other problem we have as humans. As I see it, they are just extensions of our nature. Evil and Good gifts and tendencies are part of us anyway. Quirks have put a physical manifestation of it out there. Who knows? My homeland may do the same. I know others that have... What you ought to understand is that it does not make any difference whatsoever. Why hurt when you can heal? That is what I think. I mean, even if helping is taking a knife and doing surgery sometimes, it's not the same as hurting."

Kayla wiped her face some more. She was quiet for a while. Finally she said, "Maybe we're not the same."

"If you give up that fast, I don't think we are," Shine said grimly, "if you accept that as all you're going to be. Maybe, though, this was for a reason."

Kayla nodded. "Yeah...maybe... I'll think about what you said. Fair enough? But don't ask me to like all these freaks."

"I don't think you should call them freaks. You're one of them," Shine said, "I am not...but I don't call them freaks, do I? I could judge you too. But I'm not. I don't exalt myself above all of you because I'm 'pure', which is a ridiculous term for regular humans. We are far from pure. I'm pure because I was made clean by the Lord, not because I don't have some second rate superpower. I'd be as dirty as anyone else without that. And the thing is, Kayla, I'm satisfied. I'm still growing, but I'm not hateful towards myself or anyone else because of what I am. I'd say that's a good sign it's working. Can you say the same about what your people think?"

Kayla shook her head. "Not sure that's the goal."

"It's not the goal of what I believe either," Shine said, "It is just a benefit, a sign that it's good. Two kinds of people go through life without hate--one group are people who accept everything because it's easier than believing anything, and I despise that philosophy, though I do see why it's appealing. The other group is people who understand what is right, and it gives them peace to understand that. That's what most of us spend our whole lives wondering and hiding from. When you've got it, you feel right. You don't need to hate. I have to choose to keep thinking that way, at times, because I get hurt still. I won't promise you it's easy. But in the end, it's life, and the rest of the solutions are death. They lead to death too. You can see that as well as I can."

Kayla sighed.

"So," Shine returned to Japanese suddenly, "about Ibara...why did they take her? Surely they had all of us monitored."

"I don't know all the reasons, but I think it had a lot to do with not wanting you to know they were there. Any other group of yours they attacked would have recognized them," Kayla composed herself enough to answer.

"What was all that about?" Shigaraki asked.

Shine shot him a warning look. "We were just talking about some things."

"Why do they want Likstar and West so badly?" Mirko asked.

Kayla shrugged. "I don't know all of that either, but if I guessed as just a plebeian, they can use their power to their advantage."

"Which I knew already," Shine said, "but we have no interest in that."

"They think they can convince you if you simply get away from the heroes, no doubt," Kayla said, "and you may find it more compelling than you think."

"No matter how good it looks," Shine said, "I am rarely fooled by a facade that's masking murder and exploitation. Too used to it."

"What's so compelling about targeting people and killing them?" Hawks said, "Anyone can do that. For any reason."

"You think that is all there is to us?" Kayla said, "You'll see. When we arrive, you'll finally understand, maybe." She glanced at Shine. "It may not change what you think. You've got a much better handle on things than anyone I've met outside of our group, but I think these buffoons might have a lot to learn."

"I think they do have a lot to learn," Shine said, "and so do you. And so do I. I don't know it all."

"I wouldn't hold your breath for us changing our minds about you." Mirko crossed her arms.

"I don't expect much of you, Number 5," Kayla said coldly, "Why would someone at the top ever bother to look down?"

Mirko frowned.

* * *

Ninety minutes later, they were coasting down a small road that was even deeper in the woods.

Kayla took the driver's seat.

"We can't drive all the way in," she said, "You don't have the IDs or codes. The security at the camp isn't that strict because we're openly recognized by the county. They don't care if we live here. It's a sanctuary city, like I said, more like a town than a camp. We just call it a camp because of the training facilities, but those aren't connected to the main town. A lot of people there never even go that direction. We can come and go freely."

"So it's like a gated community?" Wally said.

They were all on the phone now to discuss this.

"Yes, like that," Kayla said, "which is good for you. No one will be too suspicious. No one comes here who is not quirkless or going to be, so they feel safe. We have our own police force, but there's hardly any crime. They won't be expecting you. If you came in with me, no one will think twice about it. But you still need codes. However, there's a back entrance that only those on the directors staff know about--and only some of them. I can get us in that and then drive to the main camp."

"Why not go straight to the training facilities?" Momo asked, "If that is where Shiogazi-san will be?"

"Because, first of all, that's exactly where you're most likely to be recognized," Kayla said, like Momo was stupid, "and second, it will look odd to unload a bunch of you without ID. So you're going to just casually wander that direction like you're on a hike. From then on, I won't be able to help you anymore. I'm going to double back and go in first, try to find out where their newest shipments are."

"Can you stop referring to our friend like an object?" Iida interrupted.

"It is how we talk about them," Kayla said, "and if I don't talk like this, someone will find it odd. Do you want me to give us away?"

Iida was silent.

"Anyway," Kayla went on, "the lake divides the town from the barracks (that's what we call the training area). It's along a walk around it, or you can boat over it, but you can't sneak up on them if you do that. There's a lifeguard station that's really a watchtower."

"Wow, they think of everything," Wally said.

"Yes, they do," Kayla said darkly, "They have watchdogs here...literally. They work well on people without quirks. But I have a feeling," he glanced at Mirko in the mirror, "they'd raise her pretty fast too."

 Mirko shuddered. 

"Of course you should be able to handle that," Kayla said, "but they'll alert them that you're there. We don't have cameras everywhere."

"Just like before," Shine said, "No video evidence."

"It's part of our policy," Kayla said, "We don't want the world making documentaries about us. Some crazy quirk groups would love to hunt us down. The Metas are one of them. After you humiliated them, I'm sure they'd like a good win." She pursed her lips.

"So you do know about each other," Hawks said.

"Of course," Kayla said, "Our goals are completely opposed. How wouldn't we know? We hate the Metas more than you do. Unlike them, we don't have heroes hiding in our ranks. We hate heroes too. But Metas are harder for us to take down. Our fights with them do not make the news, as you can imagine. We plan them carefully. No one is left to talk about it."

Hawks winced.

"I've never clashed with them personally," Kayla went on, "I couldn't have spied on them otherwise. Meeting all of you was a stroke of luck. I got credit for that. My supervisors thought I played you. I thought it was better to go with that narrative. I'll be in their good graces. I'll be treated well here, as long as they don't figure out I brought you in. Now before we go in, I want you all to swear not to kill anyone."

"Why would we swear that?" Shigaraki said.

"We can stop right now." Kayla hit the brake. "You can't make me cooperate. I made sure of that. You don't know where to find my family."

"I'm pretty sure I could find them," Ren said, "Hacker, remember?"

Kayla's eyes widened.

"But we're not going to do that," Shine said, "and I think we can agree that there's been enough bloodshed. So unless they attack us and leave us with no choice, which is rarely true, I think we can promise that. But, if they do try to kill us, Kayla, at least one of us may have no other option. That's on them, you understand."

Kayla bit her lip but nodded. "All right, but no revenge or petty killing, or...I'll alert them myself that you're here."

"All right, calm down," Wally said, "We all have a policy anyway."

"I don't," Shigaraki said.

"You're working with us for now, so you do," Shine said, "What you do on you own time, we don't talk about...at least not in front of her."

Kayla started driving again. They were all tense now.

Almost too soon, though it felt like it took forever, they pulled up to a small gate. Not very intimidating looking. 

Kayla punched in some kind of code, and it opened and she drove in. Wally followed before it shut.

There was a crossroads right away, with signs that Shine read for them. One said "Clarity Village" and the other said "Pure Camp."

The village was to the left, and Kayla drove that way.

They could see houses through the trees now--they were much sparser in here.

Shine stared murmuring a song about "Pure flow, water around..."

They kept going.

It wasn't that far, though. Kayla pulled into a small, dirt parking lot. 

"All right, get out," she said, "Don't talk to anyone. Well, maybe you English speakers can. You won't seem out of place. The rest of you better not. Don't gape. Look like you planned to come here. There're maps in the shops. The barracks aren't on the map, but the lake is, so just go to the opposite side. Should take you an hour or so. If I've got the info by then, we'll have to move fast. I can text you. I'm going to delete the text from my phone as soon as I send it. I was never here."

They got out. Their legs were almost numb from sitting so long.

Camie straightened her clothes and hair, but she said she didn't feel too glam right then.

Kayla drove away.

"We're one car down," Wally said.

"We may have to borrow one..." Shine said, "Ren can do that."

"I can," Ren confirmed.

Mirko pulled up her hood on her jacket to hide her ears. "Well...let's get on with it. I can't believe we have to walk through this whole creepy village."

"It's a learning experience," Ren said, "When will we ever get a chance like this? Let's go."

They made their way over the parking lot and toward where a path led in.

The dirt turned into concrete and a regular sidewalk, and the street was paved. A little farther in, and it looked like a regular city. Cars, buildings, none of it looked like camp cabins.

The air was brisk and fresh in the woods.

"Wow..." Camie muttered.

Medea blinked too.

* * *

Clarity Village was...beautiful...and peaceful.

To crowded city dwellers, it was almost too quiet to be comfortable. People were milling around, driving, going into ships...and it took a full 3 minutes before any of the Japanese 'tourists' realized what it was that looked so weird to them.

There was not a single quirk in sight. No one had animal parts, no one had oddly colored skin (pink, purple, green, etc. Don't make any racist comments), no one had a cactus head. [Was a real thing in one shot.]

Not a support item or hero poster in sight.

Shine let out a long sigh. "Wally...it looks...just like..."

"Home," Wally said, "It looks just like anywhere we might visit, doesn't it?"

"Ouch..." Shine put a hand to her chest. "I suddenly really miss my street and my family."

"I wonder how GL and Supes are doing..." Wally said, "They'd be so shocked if I told them about here."

"Uh...guys..." Monama said, "come back to earth, please."

"It feels like we have..." Shine said slowly, "This place is so quaint... Well, I guess we better keep moving."

They started walking farther in, along the sidewalks.

Wally went in a shop and grabbed a map. The people inside were friendly. He was friendly back.

"This is so weird," Ren said in a low voice, "I've never seen so many people without visible quirks gathered together."

"They don't have quirks, Ren," Mirko said.

"Oh, right, I keep forgetting. I keep looking for it," Ren said.

"Yeah, same, bro." Camie tugged her hair. "Which is funny, 'cause, like, none of us here even have visible quirks except for Hawks and Mirko."

Hawks had hidden all his feathers in his backpack. It was kind of stuffed.

"I feel so lost without my wings," he said.

Mirko wiggled her ears under the hood. "I don't like acting ashamed of it."

"Can we keep walking?" Shigaraki said irritably.

They did.

"This is what it's like for me," Shine told the kids, as she could not resist turning this into a teaching moment, "I go outside, and everyone else has the same kind of appendages--and just regular human appendages. I've gotten so used to quirks, I forgot how weird it was at first."

"But you hardly show it," Momo said. 

"It took a lot of self control," Shine said, "I was already used to seeing weird stuff, luckily, but, I mean, Shoji has 6 arms. Koda's face looks like a rock. You have to get used to stuff like that."

"I guess I never thought about it," Camie said.,
"Anyone else feel exposed, even though we don't look any different?"

"I see why you made Icyhot stay home now," Bakugo said, "These weirdos would definitely have noticed him. No one has two-toned hair here."

"Well, you could dye it," Shine said, "but my guess it they don't want to look like they have a quirk, so they don't."

It was something the heroes were so used to accepting that they found the lack of it unsettling.

The village was so quiet too. People greeted each other on the street. Some greeted the group, who just nodded and smiled because they couldn't risk speaking. Shine wanted them not to use English, even. Their accents would give them away.

"How is my accent?" Iida asked.

"Terrible," Shine said.

"Oh..." Iida looked a little put out.

"I'm sure ours is just as bad," Shine said.

The village was a lot bigger than a "village." No way they'd be able to walk the whole thing in an hour, let alone the lake, so they got on a tram. There were a few of these.

No one gave them a second look except to ask if they were new, and then smile and say welcome to Clarity.

The language was not lost on Shine and Wally, who both watched too many post apocalyptic movies to miss the "re-education" aspect of it. But other than that, the people didn't act brainwashed. Because, Shine said, they probably weren't. They were just here to be safe.

In fact, Wally easily struck up a conversation with one older man about it, pretending to be a new comer.

Saying he was quirkless here didn't get any kind of weird reaction like it did at UA. The man just nodded. "Well, this is a great place to live," he said, "No one with quirks ever comes here. We have our own police force, and the community puts on events all the time. You play bingo?"

"Uh--" Wally began.

"Eh, you're probably too young," the man answered his own question, "but they have lots of events for youngsters too. You got a lady?"

"Yeah, engaged, actually," Wally said.

"Well, good for you." The man slapped him on the back. They didn't hesitate to make contact here the same way either. "Both of you will love it here."

He told Wally more about the village, just ordinary stuff, like sports and parties and prices. All of which sounded, according to Shine, about normal.

"You all thought this was going to be scary," she said, smiling at the looks on their faces, "but this doesn't really surprise me. Amongst themselves they have no reason to be hostile. They want to have a safe community for their families. I bet they do not even know what goes on here."

"How can they be so oblivious?" Bakugo said.

"How could you be oblivious to that part of the city we went to where rejects live?" Shine said, "You've lived there your whole life. You're a--you know what--and yet you knew nothing. Nor did you care. And you wonder why they prefer not to ask? Not to look into it? They have a nice city here. Why should they care if there's other stuff going on? There usually is."

"But you don't believe that," Momo said.

"Even I don't always like to look, Momo," Shine said grimly, "I can't do everything. Pick something, try to make it better. Pick as many things as you can, but you can't address every problem. This is what I do. I equip people to go out and find their passion. That's my passion. That and healing and taking in the people no one else wants. Wally and I coincided there. I love that man...but I'm not trying to end world hunger or unfair laws. That's not my battle. I have to pick mine. Basically, I can't judge these people. They're way of making the world better is being a safe haven for each other. That's not bad."

"But they..." Mirko sputtered.

"Shh," Shine said, "before someone notices us."