The LOV, such as they were, were in the same place-- only in the daytime, it was pretty much empty.

"You know, it smells better than the warehouse," Shine said.

"Compress sprayed freshener everywhere," Spinner said.

"Ah," Shine nodded.

"Uh..." Hawks blinked. "Why are we...? Uh...wow, so I'm finally meeting the whole family, Dabi?"

"What is that jackass doing here?" Dabi was mad.

"Keep your personal beef out of of this or don't use him as a carrier pigeon next time," Shine snapped.

"Hey, I thought it was an inspiration. Nobody would think of that!" Dabi was defensive.

"Exactly," Shine said, "So shut up."

"Rude," Dabi said.

"Are you done having...whatever this is?" Mirko nudged Shine impatiently.

"Hey, Rodger Rabbit, we're having a conversation," Dabi said.

"I'd be Jessica Rabbit," Mirko said.

"No, Rodger," Dabi said.

"This is the stupidest fight ever," Shoto spoke, annoyed, "Can we please just get the information and go?"

"What? Afraid your clean hero hands will soak up the stench of our villainy?" Dabi said.

"Something like that." Shoto narrowed his eyes.

The irony-- if he only knew, Shine thought.

"Not so fast." Shigaraki was in rather a snippy mood after all the inconvenience. "We weren't expecting Hawks. How do we know this is not a trick?"

"Oh, brother." Shine turned to Hawks. "Can you swear in or something? You won't turn them in as long as we're working with them on this case. What you do after is your business. We both know you won't turn them in anyway, yada yada."

"I...feel offended," Hawks said.

"Good," Spinner said, "I never liked you anyway."

"Have we met...?" Hawks said.

"No," Spinner said. 

[Not in this canon.]

"Just make up your mind," Mirko told Hawks.

"I'd still like to know how you're involved in all this," Hawks said, "and who's holding out on me."

"The answer to that, Hawks, would be everyone," Shine said dryly, "Do you agree or not?"

"Uh...fine, I guess... I'm still lost here," Hawks said.

"Good enough, Shigaraki?" Shine asked.

"No...but I guess it's as good as we'll get," Shigaraki said.

"Did you just...accept something as a compromise?" Shine was amazed.

"What? No... Anyway, whatever. You're not going to like what we found." Shigaraki nodded. Compress opened his hand, and a marble snapped into a file.

"Our new recruit is quite talented. They got the whole 411 on the place, and no one will be a whit the wiser."

"You really think whoever finked won't warn Overhaul with the right tip?" Aizawa said, annoyed, "They'll know we're coming."

"Actually, my friend ensured that's not going to happen," Compress said, "But enough of that. You're welcome by the way."

"Who did you kill?" Miss Joke was horrified.

"No one. That would leave evidence," Spinner said, like that was obvious.

"Eww." Mirko shuddered as if the idea of being that meticulous about murder was gruesome to her.

"I'm not going to ask," Shine said.

"We're not going to tell you," Dabi said.

"Anyway," Compress tossed Shine the file, "we even thought to have this put into English for you. So no whining that we gave you defective stuff."

"But if it's English, the rest of us can't read it as easily," Mirko said.

"That was a bonus of the idea," Compress admitted.

"Either that was really petty or really considerate." Shine opened the file.

"Who's good at English?" Miss Joke said.

Momo raised her hand.

"I hated that class so much," Mirko reflected, "and the professor was a real perv too... Took a few semesters to realize it..."

Shine shot her a look. "Wow...were they native?"

"No," Mirko said.

"That's why," Shine said, "Too many movies, I bet... Anyway...let's see.... This isn't a map."

"I thought you needed a picture." Shigaraki was grumpy.

"Wow, you guys pay more attention than I thought." Shine picked up a photo. "Wait...this...looks kind of like..." She peered at the paper under it, and then she dropped it.

"What is it?" they all asked.

Momo picked it up and started reading. "I don't understand why these two words are together.... Concentrate....and Camping?"

"Concentration Camp," Shine corrected, "an old one...from WWII."

"I thought those were all destroyed," Miss Joke said.

"Some weren't," Aizawa said darkly, "You can read all about it on the internet."

"I remember that, but it was in a crack theory video," Shoto said.

"It's true," Compress said, "Though most of them aren't operational, but if you're willing to put in the work...it's a good hiding place. The Locals never would go there-- think it's haunted by ghosts of the war prisoners."

"I read about the German ones, but the Japanese ones...I don't know much about," Shine said.

"Let's just say...you don't want to," Aizawa said, "And you're saying Eri is at one of those."

[In case anyone is wondering, this is historical fact, though not often talked about. There were a few concentration camps for Japanese POW in WWII. 1 out of 3 prisoners died there. It's a really gruesome location to pick. However, the one in this story is going to be made up, not based off any of the real ones... Honestly that's probably for the best. If you are a history buff, you can read about it at this link: https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/japanese-concentration-camps.html] 

"Well, technically, the informant just said that's where Overhaul's gang is hanging. It's big enough for them all, and no one would look there. It's kind of genius," Compress said, "Though with his germaphobia...well, karma is a b----. But if Eri is with him, she'll be there. Assuming all this is accurate...but we think it is."

"Nice," Shine said, "You guys do your stuff."

"Duh. How else do you think we keep evading the Pros?" Dabi said.

"You...do realize there are 4 of us right here?" Miss Joke said.

"Yes." Dabi raised an eyebrow.

No one responded to that.

"How many people do you think will be there?" Shine asked.

"Can't tell you," Dabi said.

"Well, I do suspect they won't have as many as before," Spinner spoke up, "Twice was saying the gang was pretty mad when they found out what was going on...the wider gang. But his loyal minion followers would never leave him... As I recall, you met a few of them. Not you, Likstar."

"I remember," Aizawa said darkly.

"Uh...I don't know what you mean," Todoroki spoke.

"It wasn't pleasant," Aizawa said, "And we had a Lemillion and Suneater and Fat Gum with us that time."

"But we have a Likstar, Todoroki, and Momo with us this time," Kaminari tried to hype them up.

"Let me guess," Dabi leaned on the counter and looked at him, "you're the dumb one."

Kaminari's face fell.

"He's the sweet one," Shine defended him.

"So, dumb." Dabi was merciless.

The other villains snickered.

"What's so funny? That someone has a heart?" Shoto said snippily.

"Yeah, pretty much," Dabi said.

Mirko thumped her foot. "Well, we got the location. How do we get there?"

"Good question," Shine said, "Anyone have a plane handy?"

Hawks coughed. "If someone has a map...I believe I can assist on this one."

Shine bit her lip. "Of course... I miss Wally already."

"Well, we might be able to help you find the spot..." Compress said. He tossed a marble up in the air. "But, I don't know, I feel like we've helped too much."

"But all this is no good without being able to get there," Shine said, "Speed was the whole point."

"Perhaps we could persuade them," Mirko said menacingly.

The LOV backed away from her a little.

"One beating wasn't enough?" Spinner said.

He shouldn't have said that. Mirko jumped and smacked him into a table, sending the whole thing backward-- She could easily have broken his ribs, but his scaly skin seemed to protect him a little.

Compress and Dabi moved to grab her.

"This is really your loose cannon, isn't it?" Dabi was snarky.

Mirko gave them a warning look. "You want a rematch? Because I can so do a rematch right now."

"Uh...Rumi..." Hawks spoke up, "Is that really the best idea?"

"What? Are you saying I can't handle it?" Mirko snapped.

"No, he's saying it's stupid. Knock it off," Shine warned her.

"Well, now we really don't want to help," Shigaraki spoke, "All we did, and you're not even grateful. Typical Pros."

Shine swallowed, then she looked Mirko in the eye. "Rumi, thank them."

"What?" Mirko looked like she was going to throw up. 

Dabi and Compress grinned slyly.

"And apologize to Spinner," Shine said, "or at least do one. That's not a suggestion. This is unprofessional."

"You can't just tell me what I should do." Mirko was mad. "I'm not your lackey."

"Shut up and do what she said, idiot!" Bakugo didn't like how tense the atmosphere was getting. The LOV was taking all this personally, judging by their expressions.

"This is so typical..." Dabi muttered.

"I knew it," Spinner said, "It doesn't matter what you do. You're still worthless..."

Momo and Jiro looked at them with some surprise. Was that what they thought?

"Uh, look, I apologize on her behalf." Hawks decided to be the bigger man. "And thanks, really, for being so helpful...but, hey, don't let Rumi's...uh, temper, stop you from helping your...friend? Sorry, what is your relationship exactly?"

"Call it an ally," Shine sighed, "for lack of a better word.... I'm sure there must be one."

"Like those people who smuggled for both sides in a war but without the smuggling," Dabi suggested.

"This is starting to make more sense." Hawks gestured between them. "I'm glad too. I really thought you were together or something, and that was weirding me out."

"You thought what?" Shine was offended. "I have a boyfriend!"

"I didn't know that!" Hawks was defensive now. "I mean, you have to admit, it looked really suspicious."

"Ew," Dabi said, "Also, one track mind."

"Well, this is nice and all, in a completely banal way," Shigaraki cut in, "but I don't think a secondhand apology makes up for disrespecting our League, and if you'll recall, it didn't go so well for the last group that did that, so perhaps you should leave while you're still in one piece."

The students shuddered.

"Uh...come on," Miss Joke said, "You know, you can't be that petty... What about Eri?"

"Technically, we did what we said," Compress said.

"You scum--" began Aizawa. 

Shine stabbed her sword into the floor, rattling it and startling everyone. Her eyes blazed gold for a second, then once they were all completely still, she spoke.

"All right, Tomura, fair enough. I am sorry. I can't control everyone, but we have common cause, as you know. What can we do to make it up to you? Anything?"

"Unless you want to be humiliated, you really shouldn't ask that," Shigaraki said, a little too deviously.

Dabi snapped his fingers. "I have the best idea. Let's make one of them do something really embarrassing to restore balance."

"Can I punch them and not get in trouble?" Spinner asked.

"That's too easy," Dabi said.

"We're not gonna strip..." Kaminari hung out with Mineta too much.

"Uh...why would you even go there?" Compress was weirded out.

"Mineta..." everyone from UA said at the same time.

"I don't know who that is, but it sounds perverted," Shigaraki said.

Then most of them laughed, nervously. 

"True.... He's been a little better, though," Shine said, "I gave him a lecture."

"So that's why, huh?" Aizawa said, "I thought so. Stop threatening students."

"Stop lying to them," Shine shot back.

"Okay, time out for both of you." Miss Joke made the time out sign. "Lets make this simple. We're wasting time. If the LOV doesn't have a way for us to make amends, shall we just forgive and forget..? Pay for the table maybe?"

"The table is okay..." Spinner rubbed his back.

"Just get the song and dance over with," Bakugo grumbled, "This is so stupid. Why do we need to restore balance?"

"Villains have rules, Katsuki," Shine said to him sternly, "and we must respect them. One is turnabout is fair play, is it not? But the LOV is very protective of its members, and we've now compromised our trust."

Mirko gave her a weird look, then shrugged.

"They've attacked us, like, a dozen times, and one kick is us compromising?" Kaminari protested.

"Yeah, if anything we should be demanding reparations." Jiro was mad.

This was turning into a fight fast.

"But this is not about us," Shine struggled to maintain order, "If you want to talk personal grudges, do it on you own time. Are your hurt feelings worth Eri's safety?"

They all started at her stormily.

"And we're here under a white flag," Shine added, "So yes, one act of aggression is compromising, and all of you should be smart enough to know that in a room full of killers who are on the edge, any little thing can push them over it."

The League didn't even bother to deny this or get offended. They just nodded.

"Finally, some reason," Shigaraki said.

"Rumi." Shine waved at her.

Mirko made a very annoyed sound. "My humble apologies. I was provoked."

"Spinner." Shine raised an eyebrow. "Can you please not provoke her? Let's leave the past in the past for this one operation and forget it happened. Afterward, do as you like."

"I'll do it, but only for Kurogiri's sake," Spinner said.

"Fair enough." Shine put her hands together. "Anything else?"

"I still want action," Compress said, "I mean, how committed are you? We're in a very embarrassing position right now, helping our enemies. Why don't you balance it?"

Shine rolled her eyes. "And how should I do that?"

"I don't know, get up on stage and do a song and dance number, like the angry Pomeranian said." Dabi was being sarcastic because he was tired of this conversation.

But Shine shrugged "Okay, that's easy enough."

"What?" Dabi said, "I was kidding."

"But it's feasible, and it won't take long, and if it'll make you all feel better about this, I'll do it," Shine said, "After all, it's for Eri...and Kurogiri, I guess... I mean, working for Chisaki is a fate I wouldn't wish on anyone."

"Dang it, why is she so...rational?" Spinner whined in a low tone he didn't think anyone heard.

"Hold on, this actually sounds fun." Compress held up his one hand. "After all, I am a performer. I've always wanted to heckle someone else. And Miss Likstar likes to make us all feel ridiculous. This is perfect karma."

"This has to be a nightmare." Aizawa put his head in his hands. "No one would ever do something this stupid in real life to settle an argument."

"Like the dance of shame or something." Kaminari was into it. "Hey, that's so harsh, though. Likstar didn't even start it."

"Why don't you help then, sparky?" Dabi said.

"Oh...uh..."  Kaminari didn't like the looks the LOV was giving him.

"That's perfect," Shine said, "You can help me with music...please?" she asked nicely.

"Uh...okay, I guess..." Kaminari said.

Jiro slapped her forehead.

"You're serious?" Mirko said.

Shine got on the karaoke stage resolutely. "If this is what it takes, then yes."

"This is dumb," Shigaraki said.

"Are you gonna stop it?" Dabi asked him.

"No," he said, "Compress seems to be having fun with it, and we want him in a good mood later. Anyway, it's their time to waste."

Dabi shrugged. "Valid point."

Kaminari picked up a guitar. "Uh...well...can it be any song?"

"Oh, please, and pick one that doesn't make sense." Compress practically had popcorn.

"It's kind of hard to perform knowing someone is going to make fun of you..." Kaminari said.

"Why do I feel like this is some weird fantasy Compress has about humiliating heroes?" Spinner hissed to Dabi.

"Yeah, getting that vibe," Dabi agreed.

Mirko grabbed her ears. "Someone just kill me now."

"Gladly," Shigaraki said.

She shut up.

Shine whispered to Kaminari something, and he started playing some sick chords.

"Wait...why do I know this?" Dabi rubbed his head. Then he remembered-- it was on the list of song titles she gave him...that he'd looked up...for some reason.... Why had he done that?

"Put your hands up, open wide, put your hands up, side by side, 

age don't matter, like race don't matter, like place don't matter, like what's inside.

Let the kick drum kick one time, breathe out let your mind unwind.

Eyes on the ceiling, looking for the feeling, wide open let your own eyes shine.

Yeah, it's where the fight begins, yeah underneath the skin, beneath these hopes and where we've been.

Every fight comes from the fight within.

{I am the war inside! I am the battle line! I am the rising tide! I am the more I fight!

Eyes open, open wide, I can feel like the crack of my spine, I can feel like the back of my mind.

I am the war inside!}

I get the feeling that we're living in sci-fi, I get the feeling that our weapons are low-fi, 

Ain't no killer like pride, no killer like "I", no killer like what's inside.

Yeah, it's in the air we breathe, yeah it's in the blood we bleed,

beneath these dreams and what we've seen, we are the kids of the in-between....

Yeah, every fallow deed, yeah every tree or seed, 

big things come from the little dreams, every world is made by make believe."

While the situation was weird, Shine played it off naturally, and Kaminari felt a little less stupid following her lead.

In fact, though the LOV was prepared to mock them mercilessly, her song choice was so dark, they were kind of caught off guard. 

Then they thought it was kind of cool, with the whole killer part...

And they sort of just forgot to heckle...

Know your audience-- that's the key to theater. Compress should have seen that one coming.

On top of that, even the heroes didn't find it as cringey as they expected. Kaminari wasn't bad.

Mirko was the most annoyed.

"D--- it," some of them heard her mutter, "Why is she this cool?! It doesn't make any sense."

Hawks though Rumi was having some kind of crisis.... Maybe because of getting beat up by the League?

When they finished, Shine had the cheek to take a bow and then high five Kaminari.

"I always wanted to do that... The band is so underrated."

"That was so embarrassing...but kind of cool..." Kaminari said, "I feel conflicted."

"Eh, just own it." Shine slid off the stage.

"Are we good? Everyone feel avenged?"

"I hate to admit it," Compress said, "but that wasn't a complete failure... Fine. I suppose you can have this."

He tossed the marble at her, and it turned into a piece of paper with coordinates on it. "Let's just hope those are accurate." 

"Thank you." Shine bowed. "Well, team...let's go, I suppose... Do we have to fly?"

"Would you rather walk?" Todoroki asked her. He was a little tense.

"Watch your tone," Aizawa warned him. 

"You can handle this many?" Miss Joke asked Hawks.

"This is nothing, as long as we don't fight a Nomu or something along the way," Hawks said humorously.

But no one thought it was funny.

* * *

Before they had gone, however, Shigaraki told Shine to talk to them alone--and this time, he meant alone.

With some difficulty, Shine prevented Mirko from inserting herself into the conversation again.

"What is it?" she asked, once the others had gone outside.

"You remember what Overhaul was making bullets to do?" Shigaraki didn't waste any time.

"Stop quirks," Shine said.

"Not just stop," Compress moved his fingers, "remove altogether. Permanently."

Shine raised an eyebrow. "Oh...ah, that's right, Lemillion... So it really is permanent."

"Looks like it," Spinner said.

"Clearly that's not something we want him to have." Shigaraki ran one finger over the counter. "So, how about as a favor to us for our help, you make sure to find out if he's made any more, then either steal it or destroy it."

"Didn't you steal the other ones?" Shine said.

"Your point?" Compress said.

"Do I look like a secret agent?" Shine asked, "Or a thief?"

"Watch it. We might get offended," Shigaraki said.

"I'm sorry, but if I can't ask you to do heroics, you can't ask me to steal and destroy things," Shine said.

"You want Overhaul to have that kind of power?" Dabi spoke up.

"You think I want you to have it instead?" Shine was savage.

Point well made.

"Well, you should try trusting us more," Shigaraki said.

"For your sake, I really hope that was a joke. I can never tell with your voice," Shine said.

Maybe that was a sore point, because Shigaraki glared at her. "We haven't used the drugs yet, have we?"

"I can't depend on that. You know that," Shine said.

"Well, just destroy it, then," Shigaraki very reluctantly compromised, "We'll never get in there to do it ourselves. Better than him having it."

"I don't know. I'm going to focus on Eri, so I can't promise you anything," Shine said, "And if it's between saving her and going after that creep, I'll save her. He'll be caught eventually. Without Eri he can't make those things anyway, right? How many could he have made?"

"Depends on how much of her he's willing to take apart right away," Dabi said.

Shine looked sick. "I... Don't...say things like that...before..." She covered her mouth.

"All right, don't make her faint, Dabi," Compress said, "We need her awake."

Dabi looked put out.

"Well, I anticipated you disagreeing," Shigaraki surprised everyone by saying, "I have a back up plan. One of us will just have to go with you."

"What? But you said that wasn't something you wanted to do," Shine said.

"Well, it's not the best option, but we do have a little insurance." Shigaraki put his fingers together smugly. "You're going to make sure they come back in one piece. Didn't you say you'd do anything we needed as long as it wasn't bad? What could be less bad than us stopping Overhaul?"

"You want to stop him for revenge. I want to rescue someone," Shine said.

"Well, we want to rescue Kurogiri," Compress countered.

Shine looked a little taken aback. "Huh...well...okay, fine. Who?"

"Well, that's the thing-- it has to be someone the gang wouldn't recognize as easily," Shigaraki mused, "and Toga and Twice are both out, then. Plus they can't stand you."

"Fine. I'll do it," Dabi spoke up.

Everyone looked at him.

"I was going to say Compress..." Shigaraki said.

"No, he's down an arm. It's fine. I got this. No one knows who I am," Dabi said, "Compress is too recognizable. They took his arm, remember?"

Compress rubbed his stump.

Shine looked at it. "I'm sorry," she said.

"It's not like it's anything that can be helped," Compress dismissed it.

Shine smiled, then her eyes glinted gold. "Who knows? You might find it can be."

She thought of her last mission.

They gave her puzzled looks.

"Well, I don't mind," Shine added, "but I cannot guarantee anyone's safety, not even the other students. And it means having to work with the Pros. Can you bring yourself to do that?"

"As long as they aren't Endeavor, heck, I've been dealing with Hawks' idiocy anyway. What's three more?" Dabi shrugged. "I make the most sense. Who's not gonna notice Spinner's TMNT look?"

"Stop it with that," Spinner snapped.

"Fine," Shigaraki said, "Just don't do anything stupid. And make sure you get those bullets."

"I'll have fun explaining this to the team..." Shine muttered.

"And one more thing, Likstar," Shigaraki said, just as they were turning to go out, "If Dabi doesn't come back, I'll kill you."

Shine just looked at him, silently, before walking out.

[Anyone surprised by that? But really, who doesn't want to see more of Dabi?]