[Kicking off a new arc. Hope you're excited-- this one's going to be a rollercoaster.]

"I get up, I get down, and I'm jumpin' around And the rumpus and ruckus are comfortable now Been a hell of a ride, but I'm thinking it's time to grow

 Bang! Bang! Bang! 

So I got an apartment across from the park .Put quinoa in my fridge, still I'm not feeling grown Been a hell of a ride, but I'm thinking it's time to go

 Bang! Bang! Bang! (Here we go!) 

 [Chorus] So put your best face on, everybody Pretend you know this song, everybody Come hang (Come hang), let's go out with a bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! I'm way too young to lie here forever I'm way too old to try, so whatever Come hang, let's go out with a bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! 

...

Mirko was hopping around the city on a lead, mentally bopping, and not giving a crap about anything else but the sheer thrill of the job.

It was one of those days it was just fun to be a hero.

She dropped onto a small, dark street, where she'd gotten word someone who looked like Spinner had been spotted going in and out of an empty Laundromat.

It seemed like a rookie mistake, so she didn't trust it, but it was worth following it up just in case.

She busted the door open without much trouble and cocked her ears forward. Nothing.

"Just as I thought." She went farther inside, scanning for anything unusual.

But there was only a line of broken down washers and dryers.

Roaming back toward the door, she felt something rattle under her feet. She looked down, then she bent down and pried a tile up off the floor...revealing a metal trap door.

Great.

This definitely wasn't normal. Didn't this neighborhood used to have a gang in it back in the day? Maybe this was different because of that...or it was just for storage.

Mirko started to pry it open...then something bit her in the neck. She reached her hand back and pulled out a...needle?

She turned to give a surprised stare at Toga, who was leering behind her. "Nighty night."

Mirko took a wild swing at her before blacking out.

* * *

"Why did you bring her back here?" Dabi's raspy voice was saying.

"We weren't sure what to do with her. Should we just kill her without a plan?" Spinner's nasally voice answered.

"How did you sneak up on a Pro with super sensory abilities, Toga?" Compress spoke.

"Duh, I masked my presence. Piece of cake," Toga said smugly, "It's hard not to think, but it worked."

"How did they find us?" Spinner wondered, "That was a new location."

"People have lived in that neighborhood a long time, and they were bound to notice something unusual," Compress said, "I never thought it was a good site. We're running out of places."

"How depressing," Twice said, "Fantastic!"

"Well, I know one way to cheer us up. Let's kill her!" Toga said.

"We still don't have a plan," Spinner said.

"She's a Pro. It's gonna be good for our Cause no matter what," Toga said, "And I want to."

"Sounds good, baby!" Twice said, "Not on your life!"

"I don't know about this," Dabi said, "It seems like a waste. No#5 hero-- we could do it with more style."

"When you think about it, either way it looks good for us. Her being totally helpless makes us seem more threatening," Compress said.

"Or like bullies," Dabi said.

"What? You have a problem with killing now?" Spinner said.

"I've just never killed someone who couldn't fight back," Dabi said, "Feels wrong."

"Even the 5 of us together might not be able to handle a Pro of this grade without more of a plan. I say this is a golden opportunity," Compress said. 

"Let's each do something. I'll stab her!" Toga sounded way too excited.

"Oh, oh, can I shoot her!?" Twice said, "Ew, no way!"

"I guess it'd be easy enough..." Spinner said.

"At least wait till she's conscious," Dabi said.

"The look on her face would be fun..." Compress said.

Mirko smiled to the floor. Then she launched herself upward-- even with the rope on her wrists she only just noticed was there-- and flipped over, smacking Compress into the floor with enough force to almost knock him out on the spot. He started coughing.

The other villains backed up.

"That sporting enough for you?" Spinner snapped at Dabi, swinging his huge assortment of swords. Blades went flying off it toward Mirko.

She dodged most of them, but there were too many to evade in that cramped space, and a couple grazed her legs and torso, drawing blood.

I can't believe I got captured by these jokers! she thought furiously, I'll make them pay for that!

Despite her actions, she was far from back to full strength from the drug. She landed kind of unevenly and not with much distance between them... Where were they? A parking garage from the look of it. Oil was everywhere.

"Pros are so annoying!" Toga whined, tossing some knives. Mirko dodged, but if she kept this up, she'd exhaust herself doing only that. She struggled to get her hands free.

Even drugged, she was moving faster than most of them, but Toga was uncannily fast, and she never seemed to run out of blades. She kept tossing them and somersaulting closer to Mirko, laughing crazily.

Spinner came in from the other angle, swinging again. Mirko jumped onto his swords and smacked them into the ground, but she was holding still too long, and Toga nicked the side of her face.

"Blood!" she kept saying.

The effort of moving made Mirko nauseous, but she ignored it and reeled back from Twice...who seemed only there to take a swing at her.

But then there were more Spinners.

They didn't all have swords though. But that didn't stop them from picking up the knives and closing around her.

Mirko kept moving, but she was reeling more than walking now, and it was obvious to all of them that she wasn't recovered enough to really put up a fight. They were tearing into her like wolves into a fresh kill. For every 5 she dodged, they could get one hit in.

Dabi wasn't attacking. He was just watching silently. Mirko was covered in blood now from all those cuts.

Nothing really deep yet-- Toga was enjoying herself too much for that. "I want to be just like you now!" she said.

Dabi felt a little sick. Toga was just so...creepy.

He glanced at Compress, who was finally up and pulling out some marbles-- no doubt some objects that would finish the job off.

This wasn't fair, Dabi thought to himself. This wasn't for a cause. This was just them enjoying themselves because they wanted to spite a Pro...but he could do nothing to stop this. He didn't have the pull with the others Shigaraki did. He wasn't a leader...and he'd just look soft if he did.

He turned away to stare at the wall. Maybe it'd be quick. At least the Pro wasn't screaming. She was too proud for that. She wouldn't have screamed if they tore her limbs off.

But she did collapse finally, as the dizziness got to be too much to keep her balance.

Dabi moved out one of the side doors. Just to get some air.

It'll be over soon, he thought.

"Dabi?" Shigaraki walked up. "What are you doing out here? Exposed?"

"Oh...you're back," Dabi said dully, "Where you been?"

"I had to confer with the doctor on the state of the---this is not the place to talk about it. What if someone sees us?! Inside!" Shigaraki snapped.

"Oh, there's a show going on in there," Dabi said, biting his lip, "That pesky Pro Likstar was hanging around found us. They're having some fun with her now."

"What? They brought a Pro here?" Shigaraki pushed past him angrily and went inside. Dabi followed him.

"I think she's done fighting," Spinner was saying.... Maybe he was uncomfortable with this too. He was hesitating. "Maybe we should just make it quick."

"What are all of you doing!?" Shigaraki yelled at them.

They all jumped.

"Oh, boss, you're back..." Compress said, "Pardon our rudeness. We caught an a intruder earlier and were merely trying to finish them off."

"You brought a Pro to a hideout!" Shigaraki yelled, still mad, "Why didn't you just send the police a ------- invitation to arrest us while you're at it!?"

"Oh, don't worry. She was alone," Compress said, "She's famous for that, remember? Not much fight in her. Toga drugged her."

"Toga seems to have a habit of doing that and then not following through," Shigaraki muttered.

"Hey!" Toga cried, "That wasn't my fault. I'll kill her right now if you want." She put her knife closer to the hero's throat. Mirko didn't move, though she was trying to.

Dabi covered his mouth like he was going to be sick.

"Wait!" Shigaraki said, "You didn't consult me before doing this! Are you acting independently now?"

"Well...but it was spontaneous," Twice said, "Dabi kills people without permission."

"Ordinary scum! Not Pros. That's definitely going to draw too much attention," Shigaraki said, "We're not ready for that right now. And you've left too much of a trail. We plan these things. We don't drag them to our lairs!"

"Huh...he has a point," Compress said.

"Weren't you saying it was fine?" Spinner snapped at him.

"I didn't think about that part," Compress shrugged, "Sorry, my love of showboating does get the better of me at times."

"Maybe you lost some brain cells along with that arm, then!" Shigaraki was cutting.
[#RWBY references.]

"But what do we, then?" Spinner said, "We have to go through with it now."

"No," Shigaraki declared, "It's too risky."

"But we'll be implicated even if we only go this far," Compress said.

"Well...that's not as serious," Shigaraki said.

Dabi spoke, "After failing with Endeavor, taking down Top Pros is going to be harder to do discreetly. Someone could already be looking. We should just dump her and get out of here."

"At least let us kill her before that," Toga said.

"No," Shigaraki said, "I'm not rewarding you for going behind my back, Toga!"

Toga pouted. "Party Pooper."

"Besides, we just got that Likstar woman off our backs. What do you think she'll do to us if we kill someone she knows?" Shigaraki added, "We don't need someone to have an excuse to tip off anyone else."

"I forgot that part... Does Likstar know the no#5?" Compress said. 

"Oh, yeah, they're probably friends," Dabi said.

Mirko struggled to sit up. Hearing all this was making her angry. But she couldn't muster the control.

"D--- it," Spinner muttered, "We needed a victory today."

"They'll be other chances," Shigaraki declared, much like All For One. "Who knows? Maybe in the near future we'll get to finish even this Pro off, but not today. We need to move out, now. Get your stuff if you don't have it."

"I hope it's not a dump this time..." Twice could be heard saying as the chewed out villains slunk away.

"I think this is the smarter call," Dabi said.

"Did I ask your opinion?" Shigaraki snapped, "The only question is now, what to do?"

"If you wanted my opinion, I have an idea," Dabi said.

"Proceed..." Shigaraki grumbled.

"Just dump her somewhere really embarrassing, like in front of a police station. That'll raise some eyebrows. The Media will cover it too."

"Ah, that's a good idea, Dabi," Shigaraki approved, "Those Heroes will be so humiliated! It's almost as good as killing one!"

Mirko refused to accept this kind of defeat. She sat up.

"I cannot believe she's still conscious." Dabi was genuinely amazed, though not impressed. "They aren't human anymore."

"So who is?" Shigaraki refused to be impressed. He regarded the Pro coolly. "Send a message to those other heroes for us: We'll always be one step ahead."

Mirko glared at him. "Go screw yourself!" she said through gritted teeth.

Shigaraki didn't care in the least about that retort. He just snapped his fingers and black goo emerged from the air.

"That stuff is so gross, every time," Dabi commented.

He took out his phone and shot off a short text message while Shigaraki was busy yelling at the others to hurry up.

"So...the nomu ready?"

"No...it's so annoying," Shigaraki whined, "and so is having to check in person because of the Pros potentially hacking the location. But it's not so easy to move all that equipment. Blasted heroes!"

"Yeah, well, we'll get 'em soon enough," Dabi said flatly.

* * *

Mirko was dropped in front of a station not that far away, and she fell on her face at once. People began screaming, but it all blurred together, and her head swam. She thought a familiar voice yelled, "Rumi?!" before she passed out completely.

Waking up hours later, her head was pounding, and she was hooked up to an IV. She hated hospitals! She tried to sit up and saw dark spots.

"Hi," Hawks spoke, standing in the doorway, "What perfect timing. I was just dropping by for a quick little check in, and here you're up finally."

"What happened?" Mirko rubbed her head.

"You tell me. All anyone said was you were drugged and cut up like a gang fought you," Hawks frowned, "but if I know you, it wasn't any common gang... Please, tell me it wasn't more of those metas."

"It was the LOV," Mirko said, wincing as her eyes throbbed, "I ran into them..." She trailed off.

"And...you survived? Alone?" Hawks was amazed. "Wow...even Endeavor couldn't do that... Impressive."

"How did I get here?"

"Your friend called 911, and then police were on it too. The paparazzi didn't even have a chance to gather...though I'm sure they'll track you down by the end of the day, but... At least that sight was spared form public TV...though...I'm sure it's all over social media..." Hawks shrugged. "Could be worse..."

Mirko shook her head. "This was on purpose...to humiliate us."

"Technically, it only humiliates you, right?" Hawks was not being comforting. "So cheer up. We all screw up sometimes, right?"

"Get bent!" Mirko flipped him off. "Go away!"

"Wow, ouch. That's how you treat your old friend, huh?"

"Are we old friends?"

"Double ouch." Hawks shook his head. "Well, guess I'll leave you alone, then." He turned, then froze. "You?"

Likstar came walking past him. "I just can't seem to avoid you, Hawks... Rumi? Are you okay? You're finally up, huh?"

"Why are you here?" Mirko was not in the mood to see her.

"I called the ambulance," Shine said oddly, "Oh, you didn't know that?"

"And how in the h--- did you know to do that...?" Mirko stopped. She might be out of it, but she could still put it together. The LOV must have tipped her off...but why would they do that?

Hawks was staring.

Shine glanced at him. "You can go now... I'm sure you want to talk to me, but it can wait, can't it?"

"I'm getting used to that at this point." Hawks waved nonchalantly and walked away.

Shine sat down in a chair by the window. "I got a very odd text, anonymous, but I have a gut feeling it was from Dabi... He knew I would help. I'm sure there's a wild story behind this, but I am more relieved right now than curious."

Mirko stared at her blankly. "Dabi?... This is an odd way of gloating... That jerkwad."

"I believe it was helping, actually," Shine said crisply, "I have a feeling...this is my favor."

Mirko had to think for a long moment before remembering what she was talking about, then she swore.

"I didn't need you of all people to help me."

Shine looked at her with some irritation, then shrugged placidly. "Whatever." She picked up a magazine. "Why don't you tell me what happened? If you remember, that is... Then again, you probably don't. You were beat up pretty badly."

"I remember," Mirko answered, before realizing that was probably a ploy to get her to talk, then she frowned, but she leaned back because her headache was getting worse.

She didn't want to talk about it...but Shine might not go away unless she did. She told her a very brief version, omitting most of what was said.

Shine nodded thoughtfully. 

Perhaps to make herself feel better, Mirko couldn't help jeering. "This must make you finally realize those freaks are not trustworthy."

"This changes nothing about what I thought of them." Shine was irritatingly calm. "Except the part where they didn't kill a Pro... That. I confess, is puzzling me. I suppose they thought this would be more humiliating."

So she did know them.

"But then again, so would a casualty," Shine went on, "Do you not remember why they let you go?"

Mirko was not about to tell her the reason, of all people.

"Probably it was as you say, to humiliate the heroes. But it doesn't."

"No?" Shine looked up. "Well, I'm surprised you of all people would think so. But good for you."

Mirko frowned, then winced.

"Well, I'll let you rest instead of talk." Shine got up. "I need to get back anyway. You're welcome and all that, though you didn't thank me."

"I didn't ask you to do anything. Why should I thank you?" Mirko said.

Shine turned to look at her from the doorway. "Don't take this the wrong way, I like you and all, but at times you are a b-word, Rumi." She smiled sassily and left the room.

Dang it, that was a good burn too. Mirko smacked the side of the bed...which hurt.

* * *

All the hero students heard about the incident by the end of the day. The news covered it quite a bit.

Class 1-A asked Shine about it, since they knew she knew Mirko, and she told them the Pro would pull through.

She only told her smaller circle that the LOV let her live on purpose.

Shoto was sure it was for a bad reason-- but lucky, in this case.

Momo was more inclined to wonder why they would. And why Dabi would tip Shine off again.

"Why doesn't he just switch sides?" Bakugo wondered snippily.

"Because he would get little thanks for doing so from the heroes, and he couldn't pursue his vendetta. Why do all villains not just switch sides?" Shine replied dryly.

"Will you defend them forever? What they did was still brutal," Shoto said, "and horrible."

"I know that," Shine said, "but it stops short of their usual MO...except for Overhaul...and even so, her quirk is intact, so I am puzzled. But I can't exactly go ask them, per our new arrangement. I'm not sure I want to know, either. Some things are better not to see.

Shoto shook his head. "What about truth?"

"Very good, Shoto, but until you are willing to see the whole truth about a person, you can't claim to care about that," Shine shrugged, "Not to be mean to you... Sorry, but you still don't want to allow any better motives for them."

"Why would they beat someone to a pulp if they had better motives?"

"Study gang violence sometime. Not all things are seen the same way as you. Not that that makes it okay, but motive wise, it's not the same." Shine shrugged. "And it is misguided, but not pure evil when they live up to those standards. Protecting your own is one thing."

"I still don't know if compromising with the LOV is right though. I'm sorry," Momo said to Shine, "I am glad you broke it off, even if it was better to have them trust you."

Shine shrugged. "You can have your own opinion on it. I kind of miss it, myself. It was fun, in a dangerous and sad kind of way. But one thing to another."

Wally leaned on the wall. "I wonder if it's a message to us, though, too. Like: We're not gonna stop just because of one thing you did."

"Who knows?" Shine shrugged. She wasn't sure whether to be glad the LOV stopped short of murder this time, or scared that this happened at all.

She also suspected Mirko had done exactly what she'd told her was a bad idea and gone after them on her own. Without back up. Shine had worried she'd try that before but didn't really think the other woman was taking her advice to heart. Maybe she even wanted to ignore it more for that.

Shine also knew there was more to it than Rumi told her. Dabi must have thought so, anyway. But she didn't want to say that to the Heroes without more proof, and she didn't seem likely to get that any time soon.