Four people stood together in the blood-stained laboratory, glaring at each other with hateful eyes, each in a combat stance or wielding a weapon. On the one side was the Hero Killer Stain, and his temporary ally, Izuka Midoriya, and on the other side was the two remaining leaders of the Eight Precepts; Chronostasis and Mimic. Izuka was wearing a dress of burning white flames, the ground beneath her feet melting at the intensity of the heat she was releasing, while Stain was beside her, drawing his weapons and allowing them to get close enough to the fire to be heated by them, turning the steel red hot. Mimic was shaking in rage, unable to believe the girl before him was speaking so disrespectfully to them, in fact, he was so furious, he burst out of his costume to reveal his true form.

Joi Irinaka, Villain Name: Mimic, was not in fact a tiny man like his costume suggested, but a tall, well build man with pointed features and a pronounced chin. His hair was light and very spiky, almost like Katsuki's if the boy decided to model himself on a porcupine. He wore a plain white shirt, pinstriped pants and suspenders and designer black shoes, making him the picture of a Yakuza Leader. His usual, tiny form was the result of his quirk: Mimicry, which allowed him to enter objects and fully control them like they were his own body, however this was usually limited to objects roughly no bigger than a refrigerator... at least until he pulled out a syringe.

"You little brat! You think we'll let you get away with threatening us!? I'll pound you to mulch and when you revive, I'll do it again and again until you learn to obey us! When we get Eri back, I'll show her your broken body and she won't dare run away again!" Mimic screamed, stabbing the syringe of Trigger into his leg while Chronostasis sighed and the Hero Intern and Hero Killer prepared to defend themselves.

As it wasn't an overdose like it was with Gammon, the change wasn't a massively physical one, with only a few pronounced veins on Mimic's forehead that could easily have just appeared because of his rage. Unfortunately for the Villain, Izuka was taking no chances and his threats had just angered her more, something he learned very quickly as a searing hot fist burnt itself into Mimic's torso and sent him flying backward, screaming and with a smoking, blistering burn on his chest. Chronostasis was shocked, but he quickly recovered and ducked just as a scorching hot blade sliced through the air where his neck had just been. Stain was determined to kill him, and Chrono doubted that Seraphim would be willing to stop him at the moment. Overhaul's assistant was forced to lunge forward and draw both his gun and a knife to fend off Stain, who clearly outmatched him in ability, and since Chrono had to be still to use his quirk, he couldn't use it without giving Stain the chance to kill him. Fortunately for him, his partner was about to give him a chance...

"L-Little Bitch!" Mimic cursed, his shaking hands pressed to his burn. Izuka narrowed her eyes and waved her hand, firing numerous small fire darts at him, but before they hit, the man sunk into the wall. With Trigger in his system, Mimic could take control of much larger places... particularly large buildings and tunnel networks like the Eight Precepts Base.

The entire base began to shake, as if struck by a massive earthquake. Chronostasis and Stain were forced to stop their short exchange as the room began warping like it was made of clay, and Izuka was forced to grab Stain and take flight just to so she could tell which was was up. Everyone in the base was effected, with many being sucked into the moving ground and trapped, both Police, Hero and Yakuza alike. The Police in the camp outside were forced to evacuate the property as it began to shake and rumble, then rise out of the ground. Tenya, Shoto and Koda stared up in shock and horror as the tunnels and stone of the Eight Precepts Base rose out of the ground and twisted themselves together into a giant, rudimentary human Golem; a Colossal Stone Construct completely in the control of Mimic. Everyone still inside the thing was trapped there, either bound by the stone that Mimic was possessing or knocked senseless by the sudden shifting. Much of Jyaku Ward was beginning to crumble and collapse as the ground was taken out from under the buildings to form Mimic's giant puppet, causing widespread devastation across the district.

"What the hell is going on!?" Shoto yelled as the Skyscraper sized being stepped over the Police and walked a few steps, crushing a few cars and a single building, though thankfully no people.

At that moment, the Colossus staggered a moment and two people shot out of it; one being All-Might, who punched his way out from the thing's abdomen, and the other being Endeavor, who melted his way out from one of its arms. All-Might and Endeavor quickly moved to ensure the Police and the Interns were okay, before turning their attention to the Colossus.

"I don't know how, but the Precepts have turned their entire base into that thing! Everyone but us was trapped inside." All-Might explained, "I tried punching my way forward, but every time I tried, the stone would shift and one of the trapped people would be in my way! It was all I could do to get outside!"

"It was the same for me. Drake, Ingenium and Eraser are all trapped. Last I saw, Miruko was free and hopping upward, but she might be caught by now too." Endeavor growled.

Suddenly, the Colossus began to speak, or rather, it's entire body began emitting a voice as if it was a giant speaker; "WE ARE THE EIGHT PRECEPTS OF DEATH! YOU TOOK OUR BOSS AND ONE OF OUR ASSETS; I'M GOING TO TAKE THEM BACK!" Mimic's voice echoed, before the Colossus began moving towards U.A. The school was a fair distance away, though for a being of that size, it would be a short hike at best, which would cause unimaginable destruction to everything in its path.

All-Might clenched his fists and grit his teeth furiously; even as big as it was, his power would be more than enough to destroy the Colossus, but Mimic had been clever; with all the Police and Heroes trapped inside the massive thing, All-Might couldn't risk destroying it, or he might kill some of the hostages, and even if he willingly sacrificed them (something he'd never do) he would still likely cause immense damage to the surrounding area with his punch, either from the force itself or the rubble of the Colossus.

Endeavor spat on the ground; "Clever little shit. He's got us by the balls. If we do nothing, he'll rampage and destroy half the city, and if we fight him, it'll kill the hostages."

Koda squeaked at the idea of that, so he did the only thing he could think of. He turned to Gorilla, the Noumu he still controlled, and gave it an order; "S-Slow that thing down! Grab it and try to hold it or something." he ordered desperately.

It was obvious that the hulking brute was useless against the Colossus (it was barely the size of the thing's pinky toe... if the Colossus had toes that is) and did little more than grab a hold of the thing's leg and dug its heels in, pulling with all its might to try and slow the Stone Behemoth. It wasn't effective, but it gave All-Might an idea.

"Blue Zephyr, are you still linked to Seraphim?" he asked.

Tenya nodded; "Yes sir."

"Contact her. I have a plan, but I need her help." All-Might declared.

Tenya obediently focused on the link so he could speak telepathically with Izuka. The girl in question was now in what remained of the laboratory, which had become the twisted heart of the Colossus. Once the ground stopped shifting, she had tentatively landed, allowing Stain to let go of her hand and land too. Chronostasis was on the ground, apparently knocked out by whatever Mimic had done.

"Izuka!" Tenya's voice echoed in her head.

Izuka blinked, "Tenya? What is it? What happened out there?"

"I don't know how, but somehow the entire enemy base has become some sort of massive stone statue. It's destroying everything and making it's way to U.A!" Tenya explained. Izuka's blood ran cold; U.A... there was no mistaking it; Mimic was going for Eri! She briefly wondered why but quickly guessed that Mimic simply assumed Eri would be there, since it was the safest place, and he couldn't go for Overhaul, since very few people knew exactly where Tartarus Prison was.

"Damn it! Tenya, listen; I think this is the power of Mimic. He took some Trigger and I think his quirk allowed him to possess the whole base!" Izuka said urgently. The Precepts were Trigger Dealers, so there was likely tons of the stuff in the base, a base that Mimic now had full control of.

Tenya compounded the bad news, "Everyone inside the base has been taken hostage. Only Endeavor and All-Might escaped, but they can't destroy the statue without killing the hostages."

Izuka growled; if she didn't hate cursing so much, she'd probably be swearing enough to make Katsuki blush. Calming herself and once again snapping her emotions into her mental fortress, Izuka responded; "Ask All-Might what he wants me to do."

Tenya relayed the message and All-Might replied; "There's no way that this Mimic character will let you escape. He'll block your way with the hostages. Izuka, you need to find and either destroy all the Trigger, so he can't keep up his new power, or defeat the main body. Our Intel states that Mimic's real body still exists within the things he controls. If you can get to it and defeat it, the Colossus will collapse."

Tenya, beginning to feel like an awkward telephone, passed the orders along with Izuka, who responded with a simple "Got it!" and got to work.

With All-Might fully confident that Izuka would be able to destroy the Trigger or defeat Mimic, he turned to Endeavor. "While Izuka works, we need to get to work on slowing or stopping this thing! We need to buy her time!"

Endeavor nodded, then looked to the south. Just a short distance south was Dagobah Municipal Beach. "Do you think this thing is water proof?"

Shoto looked at the Colossus and cracked his knuckles; "If it isn't, I'll make it water proof. What's the plan."

"If we can get that thing to the ocean, we can use your ice to fight it more effectively, plus we can slow it down and since it's in the sea, when it's destroyed or defeated, it won't cause any real danger or collateral damage." Endeavor explained.

"How do we do that?" one of the Police Officers asked.

Endeavor smirked and looked at All-Might; "What do you say, Number One Hero? Think you can toss that thing?"

All-Might cracked his knuckles; "You've got it!" he yelled, before running at the Colossus and position himself right beneath the thing. Shoto, seeing the Hero's intention, used Plus Ultra Mode to cover the Colossus in a layer of frost, nearly knocking himself out in the process; this would ensure that any gaps that water could flood into would be blocked by ice. Then it was All-Might's turn; focusing all his power, the Number One Hero struck upward with a palm strike. The strike didn't hit anything, but the immense air pressure of the attack was enough to crack the ground beneath All-Might as well as send the Colossus several miles into the sky. At top speed, All-Might leapt into the air, hopping along the Colossus body until the Hero was able to jump into the air at just the right angle that the Colossus was directly between All-Might and the ocean, with no tall buildings in the way. With another incredible Palm Strike, All-Might sent the Colossus careening into the water about a quarter mile away from the shore with a mighty cry of "HAWAII SMASH!"

As the Colossus was so far out to sea and wasn't actually very fast, the Heroes were able to quickly make their way to Dagobah beach, where they began doing all they could to slow the Colossus down while they waited for Izuka to take out Mimic. Shoto knocked himself unconscious by overusing his Plus Ultra Mode to freeze a huge section of the coast, making it incredibly hard for Mimic's monster to move and allowing the Heroes to walk on the ice to reach it. Tenya was a one man rescue party, as every time the Colossus swung at someone other than All-Might, he'd race to the would-be victim and save them before they could become a blood splatter on the ice. Koda helped in the only way he could; using birds to blind and annoy the Colossus, his controlled Noumu to help intercept attacks and the creatures of the sea to attack and chip away at the Colossus' ankles. Endeavor, much to his annoyance, was limited in what he could do without melting the ice or endangering the hostages, so he swallowed his pride and flew around, using his flames as a jet, to bother and distract the stone behemoth. All-Might alone was able to do much against the creature, as his amazing strength allowed him to grab the thing's fists and hold it in place. Now, they just had to wait; either the Trigger would run out, Mimic would be beaten, or the Heroes would be doomed.

[INSIDE THE HEART OF THE COLOSSUS]

Izuka was racking her brain, trying to figure out how to escape the laboratory turned twisted heart. Most of the walls contained a hostage that would be hurt if she busted through them, and the places a Hostage wasn't blocking were too thick for her to smash or melt through at her level of power. "How do we get out of here and find Mimic?" she muttered to herself.

"If these Hostages were all Yakuza, I could just slice them up, but that bastard has used the Police." Stain piped up, finishing his own examination of their predicament. "We could always sacrifice one anyway. It would be a necessary sacrifice."

The Police that were trapped in the wall all had their mouths covered by the stone that bound them, but their panicked eyes and cold sweat showed they clearly didn't like Stain's plan. Izuka growled, "We are not killing anyone! Just give me a moment to think." she said, going over every person she'd linked with. None of her classmates or anyone she'd linked with in the past had a quirk that could destroy stone without harming those trapped inside; Aoyama, Mina, Eijiro, Sato, Kyoka, Tokoyami, Shoto, Kacchan and Momo could all do it if they were willing to risk the lives of the hostages, but as Izuka wasn't, that was a moot point.

Momo was her most likely option, so she opened the Link; "Link Up: Creati!" she called.

The Link opened immediately and Momo's voice entered Izuka's mind. "Izuka? Is something wrong?"

"Momo! It's a long story, but can you think of anything that could destroy stone and not a person? It needs to be something I can use quickly and without much finesse; time isn't on our side." Izuka said urgently.

Momo's link tensed as the girl realised the seriousness of what was happening."Oh! Let me think... I can think of one thing; Hatsume's Super Solvent! I'll spare you the details for now, but Mei Hatsume developed it to destroy non-living materials. It's supposedly an environmentally friendly alternative to demolition. She gave me the formula! Be careful with this stuff; it'll spare flesh, hair and plants, but it'll decay everything else like Shigaraki's quirk."

Momo relayed the formula quickly, which Izuka was thankfully able to grasp, if only barely. Izuka was pretty impressed with Mei Hatsume; the girl had been working on a whole bunch of amazing Hero Items and was already becoming famous (or infamous) amongst the Support Community for some of her gear, especially in the aftermath of the Sports Festival.

"Great! Thank you Momo! I'll need to keep the link open to make this stuff, but I'll be silent for now! I'll fill you in when we get back to the Dorms" Izuka promised before allowing the Link to go quiet.

She turned to Stain; "Alright, we have a way out, but I'm going to need to trust you." she said seriously.

Stain merely raised an eyebrow, so Izuka explained; "The three quirks in my body are all very demanding on my body and energy. I need to eat huge amounts of food to stay at 100% percent, and because of that, I burn through fat really fast. If I overuse my quirks, I could essentially starve myself to death in a single day, Evolution be damned."

"Why tell me this? It isn't exactly a weakness that can be exploited and I doubt it'll have much baring here." Stain pointed out.

"The reason is that the person I'm linked with can use their quirk to create objects from their body fat. My linked version of that quirk will use a lot more than theirs would, plus it's now late evening and I haven't eaten since early this morning! Put simply, I'm going to be next to useless soon, so I'll need to trust you. Can I do that?" Izuka said seriously. She knew she was being foolish, even entertaining the idea of trusting these Villains, but if the choice was between trusting Stain and risking being captured by the Precepts again, well, she'd to trust the guy that had already saved her from being raped.

Stain chuckled. He may have a major idealogical difference with this girl, but he had to admit that he liked her spirit. She also seemed to understand the idea of sacrificing oneself for the betterment of society as a whole. That was enough for Stain, at least for now. "You have my oath that until the Precepts are dead or arrested, I will do nothing to harm you or impede you. That good enough?"

Izuka nodded, then quickly shook Stain's hand. The man gasped as he felt her linking with him, strengthening his quirk and flooding his body with a feeling of completeness. The Girl snatched her hand away soon after, talking to Stain in his head; "I've linked with you so we can speak this way. Now we can plan without giving anything away. For one thing, that Chrono guy is faking being knocked out."

Stain smirked, "I know. His breathing is too irregular for him to be really unconscious, and I was watching him like a hawk during the shaking earlier. He didn't get hit, he's just faking so he can get the drop on us."

"Keep an eye on him. We don't know his quirk or if he has some Trigger on him." Izuka ordered. The Hero Killer found it amusing to be ordered around by a fifteen year old girl, but he didn't bother arguing; he remembered enough of his early Hero Training to see the sense in her orders.

Izuka turned her attention back to the wall and began using Momo's quirk to pump our Hatsume's Super Solvent. The stuff was thick and green, and stank strongly of a mixture of industrial strength glue and motor oil, and while it was harmless, it did make Izuka feel vaguely sick to have the stuff emerging from her bare hands. She smeared it around one of the trapped Police Officers and the stone seemed to turn to mush, like paper being sprayed with water. It slopped to the floor like sludge, along with a portion of the Officer's uniform. The officer panted in relief at his freedom and profusely thanked Izuka as she produced a paint can and a paintbrush with Momo's quirk (Momo had informed Izuka that anything made of tin would be able to resist the Solvent, so the can and brush handle were both made of the stuff and a small clipping of her own hair for the brush bristles), filling the former with the Solvent. "Use this to free everyone you can. It won't harm people." she said, before creating some more for herself and making her way out.

The once straight corridors had become a twisted maze with even less sense than the original layout, and to make matters worse, neither Izuka nor Stain had a clue as to where Mimic or the Trigger supply would be, though they reasoned they would be together. Stain was also worried to see that Izuka wasn't kidding about her weakness; the girl was noticeably thinner and her lithe, muscular limbs were much frailer looking. She had previously looked like a slender, but healthy young woman, but now she appeared malnourished and the white flame dress was a little smaller as Izuka struggled to maintain her current level of power. Thankfully, they didn't have to hunt Mimic Down... the Gangster brought them to him.

The stone floor beneath the duo's feet opened up, causing them both to fall downward into a seemingly bottomless pit. They were dropped into a massive room (Izuka had to use her wings to ensure they landed safely) and were surprised to find no hostages on the walls. The room appeared to be numerous rooms mashed together into a huge, makeshift arena and while there were no hostages, most of the low-level Yakuza had been dumped into the room too. By the look of things, if that Lab had become the Colossus' heart, then this place was the stomach.

The hole they'd fallen through closed above them and a stone replica of Mimic's real face emerged from the ceiling. "I HAVE YOU BOTH NOW! EIGHT PRECEPTS OF DEATH; KILL THESE TWO FOOLS! HERE'S SOME TREATS TO HELP!" Mimic declared with a vicious grin as dozens of stone hands emerged from the floor, each one injecting a Gangster with Trigger. Izuka and Stain watched in horror as the small army of Yakuza began warping and changing before their eyes, most of them having their Emitter and Transformation Quirks active, while the Mutation types were transformed fully into bizarre monsters.

Trigger effected each person differently; Emitter Types were generally unchanged in appearance, but their quirks were hundreds of times stronger. Transformation Types were similar, though their transformations were much more prominent and inhuman. Lastly, Mutation Types had their quirks change to be almost unrecognisable; for example, a Yakuza with eight eyes and limbs due to a Spider Mutation Quirk found himself warped into a large, almost humanoid Tarantula complete with mandibles and a spider's abdomen. Izuka gulped, "W-Well at least they have less Trigger now..." she said, trying to get control of her emotions. Her weakened state meant it was harder for her to control her Mental Fortress, so her emotions slipped through a bit.

Stain scowled and drew his katana and one of his Tantos. The situation was bad; Izuka couldn't fight at 100% right now and both were outmatched by the sheer numbers of the Trigger Empowered Precepts. "Sorry Girl, but they'll be no getting out of this without killing most of these fools."

Izuka groaned; "I can still fight!" she yelled, though even her voice was sluggish now. "I'll just need to be smart with my remaining power."

With that, Izuka began focusing all of her flames (minus those that made up her dress) into a dense, pale blue aura of fire around her body. She then activated One for All at only 5%, just to help supplement her weakened body. "Angelic Aura: Reserve Mode." she announced, a mix of blue flame and green lightning crackling around her.

The Drugged up Yakuza came down from the high caused by the initial Trigger exposure and attacked, many of the Mutation Types leaping and dog-piling the duo. They were soon sent flying by an explosion of flame, scattering the crowd as Izuka and Stain leapt into battle. Stain sliced through the Mutation Types with ease, cutting off limbs and slicing throats until the floor was slick with blood, while Izuka used her link with Aizawa to prevent the Emitter and Transformation Types from activating their boosted quirks as she danced around them, taking them out with strong kicks to the head and the odd fireball. Izuka's usual style was fairly liberal in its use of flame, creating and blasting it at will, but as Izuka was weakened, she manipulated each fire attack carefully, so the flames would do their damage, then be pulled back into Izuka's aura.

As the fight went on, more and more Yakuza fell, most only able to inflict minor wounds on Izuka or Stain before falling. To the shock of Stain and the secretly observing Mimic, as the fight went on, Izuka actually grew stronger. The reason for this was a genius strategy that Izuka and Katsuki had come up with together, and was only to be used in emergencies; when Izuka was pushed to using her flames conservatively, she would attack and allow her flames to linger on the enemy just long enough to set them (or their clothes) on fire. The fire would then engulf them and before they could be killed or permanently wounded, Izuka would suck up the flames and use it to restore her rapidly decreasing Stamina. The enemy would be scorched and Izuka would get more flames to play with and recharge herself; it was a win-win situation, though Izuka hated it since she felt it was cruel. Still, in a life or death battle, Izuka couldn't allow herself to give up a valuable strategy. Plus, with Stain dismembering so many Yakuza, Izuka had a lot of fuel for her flames as she reluctantly burned the arms and legs Stain chopped off and absorbed the flames.

The Precepts were reduced from almost a Hundred Trigger-enhanced Gangsters to a pile of unconscious and dead crooks and it was only Izuka using her healing fire to consume the spilled blood that stopped them all slipping and sliding on the crimson-stained floor. Izuka looked at the dead with pity as Stain wiped his blade clean on someone's tie. "Well, that was surprisingly easy. I'd have figured that Trigger was more potent than that; most were barely tougher than normal." Stain commented.

The Hero Girl blinked; Stain had a point, the Precepts should have been much stronger with the Trigger in them; the Overdosed Gammon had been much tougher. Izuka had a hunch though, and as she examined one of the unconscious gangsters, her hunch was confirmed. "Stain, take a look at this." she called. The Killer meandered over to her and looked at what she was doing. Izuka had opened the mouth of one of the crooks and was pulling his tongue taut. "While I trained in Medicine with Recovery Girl, she taught me a bit about Trigger. It has three effects; the first being the boost to the user's quirk. It also weakens their sense of reason, which I think is part of why these guys were so dumb when fighting us, but the third effect is that their tongues turn black."

Stain nodded along and examined the tongue of the Gangster; it was darker than normal, but not black. Izuka continued; "I think the stuff used here was either watered down or a lower dose."

"That would explain why they weren't much stronger, though the Mutations were still a pain." Stain muttered.

"YOU'RE RIGHT!" Mimic's voice echoed, his face once again appearing from the stone ceiling, "I GAVE 'EM WATERED DOWN TRIGGER, SO I COULD USE THE MAJORITY OF THE SUPPLY! DAMN IDIOTS COULDN'T FINISH YOU OFF THOUGH. CHRONO, YOU TAKE 'EM OUT!"

Without warning, the ceiling opened up and Chronostasis, or at least some form of him, slammed down into the middle of the room. Mimic had clearly loaded him up with an Overdose of Trigger before dropping him into the room as the man was much larger, appearing to be slightly larger and buffer than Hero Mode All-Might as opposed to the skinny man he'd been before. His cloak and Precept Mask were torn and the trousers he wore underneath had barely been able to stay in one piece, though they were now shorts instead of full trousers thanks to the size difference of the wearer. Chronostasis hair, including eyebrows and body hair, was all shaped and arranged into arrows though as she'd never seen him without a mask, Izuka didn't know if this was natural or because of Trigger.

"MASTER KAI!" the man roared, the drug overdose hindering his mind.

Izuka and Stain entered combat stances, only for the man to stop moving. Suddenly, the hair on the man's forearms stretched out like an arrow and managed to nick Izuka just enough to draw blood. Izuka scowled, only to discover that her every move was now a bit slower. It was like her body was now moving a second slower than her mind, causing a slowdown or lag. The Girl scowled; the man's name was Chronostasis, so his quirk likely involved time in some way. Stain was attacked too, though when the hair arrow struck at him, Stain parried it with his sword. When moving, the hair arrows appeared to be very tough, to the point that Stain couldn't cut them. He parried a few more slashes, including those aimed at Izuka and after a second of the initial strike, Izuka was able to move normally again.

"Stain! His quirk is similar to yours. If he cuts you, you're slowed down like a time lag. It only lasts for a second though." Izuka yelled, carefully ducking beneath another arrow and blasting it with fire, only to find that it didn't have any effect. Stain growled and ran at Chronostasis, whose body hadn't move an inch since his attacks began, relying entirely on his hair arrows (though with the hindsight of the man's quirk, they now appeared more like Clock Needles). Without moving, Chrono's hair defended him, extending and wrapping around him to block Stain's sword and Izuka's fire. Izuka back flipped to evade a retaliatory strike, conjuring a massive swarm of fireballs as she went, then launched them all at Chrono with a cry of "OPHANIM SQUALL!"

As with her earlier attacks, her fireballs struck the clock needles and popped like balloons, leaving no sign of damage. Izuka was about to try a punch with One for All when she was suddenly stabbed through the forearm by one of the needles. She cried out in pain, only to find her body was now lagging a minute behind her brain, though unfortunately for her, pain signals were unaffected. The girl grimaced; Chronostasis had used her own attack as a cover to stab her and even though the blade had now retracted, it took more than a second for the slowdown to stop. Stain noticed this and jumped to the girl's defence, parrying clock needles that attacked from all directions, all while Chronostasis stayed locked in a seemingly impenetrable defence. The man was pushed to his limits as he desperately blocked and deflected attacks, his skill with a blade being the only thing that saved both of them from a grisly death. After a minute, Izuka snapped back to normal time and promptly cried out in pain from her earlier wound before healing it.

"That time my body was a minute behind my mind, and it took a minute for me to recover!" Izuka explained as she grabbed Stain and flew up, chased the entire time by the relentless needles. "I think the time of the lag is identical to the duration of the effect. Lag a minute and it lasts a minute."

"We need a way to take the bastard out." Stain yelled, knocking away a needle attempting to blind side them as they flew. "Our attacks do nothing to his hair needles and as soon as we get close, he blocks us with them. We need a ranged attack too fast for him to defend against!"

"He's already blocked my Ophanim Squall, which moved as fast as I could make them!" Izuka yelled back, swooping down to dodge a needle trying to cut her off. She'd tried to erase the man's quirk with Aizawa's Link, but with the needles attacking so frequently, she didn't have an opening to do it without turning herself and Stain into a human shishkebab; as soon as she looked directly at Chronostasis, she'd be attacked or have her vision obscured before she could activate the quirk. In addition, she couldn't use Momo's quirk to create a gun or anything like that as while the flames she absorbed could fuel her, they didn't replace the fat reserves needed for Creation. Her best bet would be to allow herself to be killed to regenerate those reserves and hope Stain could hold out for the three minutes on his own.

Stain seemed to come to the same conclusion; they weren't winning this without a real sacrifice, but it wouldn't be the girl's. Squirming enough to force Izuka to drop him, Stain fell to the ground and charged at Chronostasis in a kamikaze attack and for the first time in the battle, he was cut by the needles, or more accurately, he was crucified by them as they pierced through his hands and pinned him to the wall.

The Hero Killer grimaced in pain, but his thoughts were focused on the strange feeling in his chest. It had appeared when Izuka linked with him, and the Killer knew it was the power of the Link; his evolved quirk, but he had refused to use it. In battle, relying on an unknown force could only end in trouble, but now, Stain was out of options. He allowed that power out, entering his own Plus Ultra Mode.

The second his power activated, Chronostasis completely froze, including his hair needles. Stain looked at the man curiously, until he realised what had happened; Stain's blood felt different from before, almost like it was a few degrees hotter and that was the clue that lead him to his conclusion; Stain's quirk: Blood Curdle, would paralyse a person whose blood was ingested by Stain, but with Plus Ultra Mode, Stain could also paralyse others by touching them with his own blood. Blood Curdle: Plus Ultra turned his blood into a powerful paralysing agent that only needed skin contact to work.

Chronostasis' body was completely frozen, his hair needles stuck in the positions they'd been in when Stain's Plus Ultra Mode activated. Izuka sighed with relief and charged forward to attack, not knowing how long Stain's improved quirk would last (and since Stain was stuck in a time lag, he couldn't tell her). Chrono had been in the middle of preparing a defence when he was frozen, so while he was partially shielded by his needles, there were enough openings for her to hit him; all she had to do was take him down in one blow!

"Sorry Aizawa-sensei, I know I promised not to use this, but this is my best shot!" Izuka whispered to herself, before gathering all her remaining energy. "Plus Ultra Mode: Seraphic Light!"

The Light burst forth from within Izuka as her flames took on the concentrated, holy power of pure light and her two flaming wings split into six, each as white as snow to match her white flame dress. Izuka put her hands together and the palms turned to crystal as they had during her fight with Kacchan at the Sports Festival. Gathering all the light within her, Izuka shot it all out in a single golden ray, striking Chronostasis and bathing him fully in the light. Katsuki had told her, after their fight, that the light had hurt but not very much, instead seeming to "Harm his Spirit" instead of his body, draining him of energy. It was the manifestation of Izuka's greatest desire in battle; to be victorious without taking a life, to win and to save in one fell swoop.

"DIVINE RAY!" Izuka shouted.

After five full seconds of blinding light filling the room, the ray finally faded and Izuka landed, losing her Plus Ultra Mode as she knelt on the floor, exhausted. The last time she'd used it, she'd passed out, but this time Izuka was clinging to consciousness, having gotten a little more used to the power. A few hundred more uses and she might be able to use it without wanting to nap for the next month! Chronostasis had collapsed to the floor, all his hair needles now slack and weak as all his stamina had been drained away by the Divine Ray, leaving the man unconscious. With the defeat of Chrono, only Mimic remained of the Eight Precepts and Izuka was determined not to sleep until he too was beaten.

Looking to Stain, Izuka pulled the slack needles out of his hands and helped sit him down while they waited for the time lag to end, which would likely be in two minutes since he'd been stabbed by two of the minute needles. In the meantime, Izuka used fragments of the clothes of the unconscious Yakuza members as makeshift bandages for Stain's wounds, as she lacked the energy to use her quirk. She was only maintaining her modesty by essentially downgrading her fire dress to fire underwear, and as soon as Stain was bandaged up, Izuka took some simple pants and a dress shirt from one of the knocked out gangsters for herself to wear, sighing with relief as she was finally able to release her flames. Most of her links were closed now and all her quirks were gone or too weak to use. She'd only managed to keep a single link open, choosing Stain's since it would be useful for tactical planning if they got ambushed again.

"Ugh... That Plus Ultra Power really saved us." Stain groaned as the remnants of Chrono's quirk left him.

"Yeah... I'm completely drained though. I can barely muster a candle flame." Izuka replied, watching as Stain took his sword and cut a portion of Chrono's hair. Without the man actively controlling his hair, it looked like the needles were as soft as normal hair, so Stain took the opportunity to shave the unconscious man completely bald, only sparing his life as thanks to Izuka for providing the power that saved them.

"What should we do now? I'm useless now, so I can't heal you if you get hurt, and we still have Mimic to deal with." Izuka pointed out.

Stain hummed thoughtfully; "I'm guessing that the fight going on outside is keeping Mimic busy, or else he'd have noticed our victory by now. This gives us time. If I start some fires, will that be enough to get you back in the fight?"

Izuka shook her head; "No, my body is too fatigued. Even if I absorbed enough fire to fight again, I'd collapse the moment I exerted myself." she explained, remembering the feeling from her training against Blade Jester.

"Not to worry! I'll cover for you!" yelled a cheerful voice just as the ceiling broke open and Miruko dropped into the room, having kicked her way into the tunnel. "Hiya Seraphim, Hero Killer." Miruko greeted, chirping Izuka's name while growling Stain's.

Izuka, with all the energy she still had, squealed excitedly, "The Rabbit Hero: Miruko! Oh, I wish I had my notebook! I really love you!" she gushed. Stain deadpanned as he watched the girl's reaction to the Pro... it bothered him a bit that a True Hero was gushing so much over this woman, who Stain considered to be only barely a step above the usual fakes. Miruko grinned and patted Izuka's hair roughly; she respected those that spoke their minds like Izuka had done.

"Nice to meet you too kid. Your buddy, Anima, told me a bit about you while he was interned with me! He said you were a pretty amazing kid, and I agree that you kind feel like a Rabbit. It's always nice to meet a fellow Bunny Gal!" Miruko said happily, her long eats twitching.

Izuka blushed and whined cutely. Even other Pros were started to call her a Rabbit! Shaking herself out of her embarrassment, Izuka looked up to Miruko; "How did you manage to find us?"

"My ears picked up that last move of yours, Seraphim, so I hopped over as fast as I could. I've been looking for the guy controlling the tunnels, Mimic or something, but can't find 'em. I did find this though!" she smiled, handing Izuka a small duffel bag.

Izuka blinked and looked inside, gasping with delight when she saw the contents; it was her costume! Her clothes, pendent and earrings were all here! "Thank you so much! I was afraid they'd be lost for good! I owe you one!" the girl cheered, shuffling off to a corner to change into her costume while Stain and Miruko looked away. Izuka was quick and soon rejoined the two, now dressed fully in her costume and with her hood up. She was tugging happily on the ears of her hood, overjoyed to have it back. "Alright! I feel so much better wearing this! What should we do now, Miruko?" Izuka asked.

The Rabbit Woman stroked her chin in thought, "Well I couldn't find the guy controlling this place, and when he talks, his voice seems to come from everywhere, so I can't use my ears to track him down. He sounds like a pretty hot-tempered guy though, maybe we can use that to draw him out."

"Insulting him and the Precepts would likely get a strong reaction. I got the impression that he's rather hot-tempered." Stain begrudgingly added. Stain and Miruko were glaring at each other, each eager to attack the other but holding back for the sake of defeating their mutual foe. Izuka only barely noticed as she munched on a protein bar that she'd left in the pouch of her costume, specifically so she could recover a bit in situations like this. It was chock full of vitamins and herbal medicines designed to quickly reduce fatigue; it wouldn't be enough to get Izuka back into the fight, but it would be enough to ensure she didn't become a burden.

Sighing happily now that her stomach wasn't painfully empty, Izuka rejoined the conversation; "Now that I've got a bit of food in me, I can do a little more. I probably have one or two moves left in me. Just enough to use my wings for a few minutes and maybe one good attack." she said.

"Good, because we might need it. You're a kid, so do you have any good insults to tease this Mimic guy and piss him off enough to reveal himself?" Miruko asked.

Izuka grinned like a Cheshire Cat, "I'm not much for teasing, but my boyfriend is! I'll channel him." she said before taking a deep breath.

"HEY MIMIC! WE KICKED YOUR BUDDY'S BUTT! HE WAS EVEN WEAKER THAN THAT OVERHAUL CHUMP!" she screamed with a mischievous smirk.

"THE FUCK DID YOU SAY!?" Mimic's voice roared from all directions.

"YOU HEARD ME! CHRONO WAS A BIG WEAKLING AND OVERHAUL WAS ALMOST AS PITIFUL! THEY BOTH WENT DOWN TO A KID! I BET YOU'RE EVEN WEAKER!" Izuka shot back.

"YOU LITTLE BITCH! I'LL GRIND YOU INTO PASTE!"

Izuka scoffed mockingly, "OOH, I'M SO SCARED... NOT! BIG BAD MIMIC IS TOO MUCH OF A COWARD TO FIGHT A LITTLE GIRL! WITHOUT YOUR HOSTAGES, YOU'D ALREADY BE BEATEN, YOU LOSER!"

Realising what the girl was planning, Miruko smirked and joined in, "HA! KID'S RIGHT, YOU'RE A MASSIVE LOSER! THESE PRECEPTS ARE ALL PUSHOVERS! FIGHT ME IF I'M WRONG! COME ON, JUST ME AND YOU, NO HOSTAGES!" she bellowed.

"DON'T WASTE YOUR BREATH, HERO." Stain added, "THESE PRECEPTS CAN'T DO ANYTHING ON THEIR OWN! THEY'RE JUST PARASITES!"

The entire Colossus began to vibrate, as Mimic shook with boiling rage. Izuka couldn't see him, but she was willing to bet he was red-faced and had veins popping out all over his face. If Mimic had been in his normal mental state, he might have been able to take their taunting for the obvious trick it was, but with an ever increasing amount of Trigger addling his brain, he could barely think beyond his rage. In his fury, he forgot all about why he'd kept the hostages in the first place and promptly roared back.

"FINE! YOU WANT TO FIGHT ME, THEN BRING IT ON!" Mimic roared. The stone swallowed up the three heroes and all the gangsters, both dead and unconscious, and began spitting them out on the outside of the Colossus, along with all the police officers he'd captured and Ingenium, Flare Drake and Aizawa. Most of them fell into the sea around the Colossus' feet, while those that would fall on the ice were saved by either Endeavor or All-Might. Izuka conjured her wings to save Miruko and Stain, swooping down to drop them both alongside the other Heroes.

"Izuka! Well done my girl! Without the hostages, we'll win in an instant." All-Might declared.

The girl grinned happily, dismissing her wings. She only had one good move left in her, but it didn't look like she'd need it now. Most of the Police were quickly taken to the solid ground of Dagobah Beach, and they noticed the road above was full of civilians and a news crew recording the whole affair.

Mimic screamed at them all; "I DON'T NEED HOSTAGES! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!"

All-Might and Endeavor stood side-by-side and glared up at the now empty Colossus. Only Mimic remained inside, and neither were willing to allow the man to harm anyone, even if it meant killing him. "We'll do this together." All-Might said, charging his fist with a huge amount of One for All's power.

"The Number One and Number Two, fighting shoulder to shoulder. Let's do it." Endeavor smirked, "I'm going to show the entire world the new me... the Flame Hero is gone. I am Endeavor; the Rekindled Hero!" he declared, concentrating his Hell Flame into his fist.

The Colossus roared in Mimic's voice and raised a foot to stomp on the two heroes. The two Heroes jumped, using their quirks as boosters and easily smashed upward through the foot, up the Colossus leg and into the thing's chest.

"REKINDLED PROMINENCE!"

"LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA SMASH!"

The Hero Duo blasted upward, crashing through the Colossus chest up into it's head with so much force, the entire thing crumbled to rubble on All-Might's side and melted into magma on Endeavor's. When the two emerged out of the top of the Colossus' head, they had Mimic's true form, unconscious and critically wounded, on the ends of their fists. Allowing Endeavor to take Mimic, All-Might used a final Texas Smash to blast the rubble of the Colossus out into the far ocean, where it sunk into the depths. With all the members of the Eight Precepts of Death now either in prison, dead or in police custody and their base left as little more than rubble at the bottom of the ocean, the gang was officially finished, their plans gone for good.

The fall of the last of the Precepts and the successful rescue/escape of Izuka brought the operation to an end, leaving only the clean up. The unconscious gangsters were examined and then loaded into Ambulances or Police Trucks based on the seriousness of their injuries, while the dead were bagged and left to the side until the living had been dealt with. Chronostasis, Mimic and the surviving Expendables were taken by the Tartarus Prison Guards to be treated there before being moved to their cells. Among the Police and Heroes, there were no lives lost and only a few minor injuries among the police, none of which would require more than a bandage or a quick dose of healing.

The only serious injuries on the Hero Side was Aizawa-sensei, who was still unconscious and hurt from the Trigger that had effected him so strangely. He was taken to the hospital to ensure he was treated, and to research exactly why he had reacted to the drug in such a way. The EMTs were sure that he would live and was unlikely to suffer any permanent injury.

Endeavor melted the rest of Shoto's ice (the boy was still unconscious and being looked after by Koda and Tenya) and everyone reconvened on the beach, happy to be done with the Eight Precepts. Unfortunately, as the heroes escorted Izuka up to her fellow Interns for some rest, the presence of Stain was finally noticed.

All-Might shoved Izuka behind him as he and the other heroes surrounded the Hero Killer, leaving the Villain trapped in the centre of a circle consisting of All-Might, Endeavor, Miruko, Ingenium, Flare Drake, Manual and all the Interns. There was no opening for the Killer to escape through and Stain knew at that moment, this would be the end of him, one way or another. He slowly turned to face All-Might, noticing Izuka peeking out from behind the Number One, trying to get through but being firmly held out of Stain's reach.

"All-Might. The Ultimate True Hero... I've wanted to meet you for a long time now. Seraphim is your apprentice, right? She's done you proud; she's a True Hero, unlike others I could mention." the man looked over his shoulder to glare at Tenya, who looked away in shame.

"Hero Killer, if you truly feel that way then surrender. Escape isn't an option and I know full well that you helped Seraphim in dealing with the Precepts; you have my thanks for that, but your crimes cannot be forgotten. Face your crimes as a man worthy of respect." All-Might offered, holding out his hand to the Killer.

Stain chuckled darkly, "Both this sham-filled society that worships fakes, and the criminals that wield their power for petty mischief and selfish gain... they were the targets of my purge. All for the sake of a better society." the man took All-Might's hand, "... I cannot fall now!"

All-Might froze, his body trapped by Stain's quirk. The Hero Killer had slipped off the bandages Izuka had placed on the wounds on his hands, allowing them to freely bleed. With his Plus Ultra Mode active, a drop of Stain's blood in All-Might's palm froze him, paralysing his body. Before the others could figure out what happened, Stain spun around, waving his arms out and splattering his blood onto all those in the circle, paralysing them all. Only Izuka, held out of the way by All-Might had been spared.

With the Heroes frozen and the Police unable to get through them to Stain, the Killer was able to continue speaking; "Seraphim and All-Might; two lights in this pit of imposters! I need to fix it! To save the world, one person must be offered up as a sacrifice! A conduit for the blood and sins of society! I will stain myself in the blood of those that befoul the name of "Hero" and then fade from this world with all those sins! The only one allowed to kill me... is the Heroes of Light!"

Stain drew his sword and lunged forward, aiming to kill Tenya. He had been the one Stain saw as the start of his defeat; the fake who had drawn Seraphim to him. He would be the sacrifice to show the world his resolve! His death would be shown all over, as the news crews continued to record all that happened.

Izuka screamed out in horror, knowing full well that Stain was about to kill her friend. Tenya couldn't even defend himself! Acting fast, she conjured all the power she had left and created a spear of fire, a move she had seen Endeavor use before. She leapt over All-Might and took aim at Stain, whose back was to her now. With a heavy heart and no choice left to her, Izuka threw her fire spear just as Stain raised his blade to behead Tenya. Her attack struck first.

Stain gasped as the spear of flame pierced through his back and ran him through, impaling him completely. The flames lingered there, burning his chest with unbearable pain before they spluttered out along with what remained of Izuka's power. Izuka felt to the ground, panting hard and clinging to consciousness while Stain slowly turned, his wound on full display. His sword clattered to the ground and the Hero Killer was breathing hard... this was the end for him. Izuka's Spear would kill him... only her own healing might have saved him, but by ensuring Stain wouldn't kill her friend, the girl had ensured Stain would never kill again.

Unable to choke out the words he wished to say due to the pain and the hole in his lung, Stain instead chose to use the open link with Izuka to speak; "You killed me..." he said, half disbelieving and half relieved.

Izuka teared up, her lip quivering as she spoke back over the link "I-I'm sorry. I had no choice... if I hadn't, you'd have killed Tenya."she said miserably. Stain stayed silent for a second, only broadcasting calm over the link, as if trying to comfort the girl.

"So, this is how my crusade ends. Killed by the light... I did say that only the Heroes of Light would be allowed to kill me, so it looks like I got my wish." Stain said, feeling his pain fading as death approached.

"I'm sorry... I truly didn't want it to end this way. You were my enemy... but I didn't hate you, or want you dead." Izuka confessed.

Stain laughed, "Of course you didn't... you're a True Hero. I knew I would die this way, it was just earlier than I thought." tears began to pour down Izuka's cheeks. The girl knew she'd had no choice; if she had done nothing, Stain would have killed Tenya and quite possibly a few others too... if she had to choose to kill him in order to save them, she would make the same choice again, even if it broke her heart. Stain saw the tears slipping down her face and continued; "Do not cry for me... Our beliefs differed and in the end, you did what you had to. Your resolve was stronger than mine. You have my respect."

Izuka sniffled and struggled to her feet, wanting to stand proudly as Stain slipped away. As much as she hated his actions, Izuka had to feel some degree of respect for the man's resolve, so she decided to send him off with one last secret. "Stain... You said you would only be killed by me or All-Might... I think you deserve to know; All-Might is my father. He adopted me when I was small and is the only true father I've ever known."

Stain's expression turned from resigned pain to joy, "HA! Amazing, so in a way, I was defeated by both of you. I have a confession of my own to give; I ask that you don't tell anyone this. My true name is Chizome Akaguro. Remember my name and make the world a better place."

Izuka put her hands together in prayer and bowed, "I will. Rest in peace, Chizome."

"Before I fade, I have one last thing you should know. Shigaraki is a mad man, but he wasn't lying before. All for One truly is still alive. We spoke once when the League first recruited me. Be ready, he will come for you. Do not let him take you..."

With the last of his strength and all of his indomitable will, Stain spoke aloud, so all could hear him; "My crusade has fallen... I say this, here and now, you are a worthy Hero Izuka Midoriya. You may never accept my methods, but I believe this world will be better in your hands than in mine. I proudly lay my life at your feet, Eternal Hero: Seraphim!" he loudly declared, before finally taking his last breath and slipping away, falling to the sand.

After 31 years of life, the Hero Killer Stain, Chizome Akaguro, died on Dagobah Beach, surrounded by Heroes including the one that finally ended his bloody crusade.

With Stain's passing, his quirk lost its power and the other Heroes were freed. Izuka, with what little energy she had left, limped forward and knelt at Chizome's side, removing his mask and closing his eyes. She even picked up his sword and placed it on his chest, gripped in his hands. She stood back up and looked at All-Might, who was looking at her with longing, desperately wanting to embrace the girl and comfort her, but knowing he couldn't without risking his relationship with her becoming known by the public. Izuka smiled weakly at him, a sign that as bad as it was, she would be okay. Finally, she passed out and was caught by Tenya, who looked tearfully at the girl. She'd saved his life again... Tenya knew his debt to her could never be repaid, but he swore he would try.

The events of that day would be remembered as the Eight Precepts Uprising, and while the public would never be told of Izuka's kidnapping or the precise reason for any of the day's events, they would remember it as the day that the Eight Precepts of Death and Stain were defeated for good, and the day that they all learned that the League of Villains was a real threat after all.