Magne grinned widely as she propped up her metallic magnet, eager to aim the weapon at Electric Arrow and the girl.

"Just follow my lead, Midoriya," Magne sang slowly. Though she talked in a low calm voice, the blood lust that she tried to conceal was now starting to ooze out.

"Watch and see how it's done."

But before she could properly raise the magnet and use the full extent of her quirk, I threw out a hand in front of her leaden staff.

"Wait!" I blurted out, my mouth and brain operating entirely on their own.

Magne lowered her bludgeon expectantly. "You better not be backing out on me at the last second," she huffed at me. I watched as her sigh formed a puff of air that flew and weaved into the cold.

I slowly looked back at Magne, who now had an impatient look on her face, unsure of what to say. My hands had moved before I had a chance to think; I'd spoken before I knew what I was going to say. I knew what I was getting into when I joined the League, and I still do, but... I...

I turned to the bar's alleyway and saw our target again; but now he had the girl pinned against the brick wall and was kissing her neck, spreading his spit everywhere on her body. Her resistance against him turned sloppy, and her pleas were steadily drowned out by the hero's rough bites.

Electric Arrow ran his hands through the woman's purple hair, and then they slipped down her black dress...

"Please stop--!" she cried out, though I barely caught it, "Stop!"

Her tears stained her face, and her quiet screams tore at my heart. And to think that a hero was doing this to her... someone who should be the first to help, someone who should keep peace... this piece of shit isn't worth anything!!

I grabbed tightly at the rusting bars, the blood getting cut off from my hands and rushing to my head instead as I screamed with a hatred I didn't think I had in me.

"Get the fuck off her you bastard!!"

The fucker's hands froze on the girl's thighs as he quickly turned around to search for who had interrupted him. Once his grey eyes locked with mine, I could practically see the relief tug at his features.

"A fucking kid...?" he smirked. But then his gaze moved to Magne, and there in his pupils was the heart-dropping fear that had everyone abandon him as a hero. It flashed brightly, and in an instant it was gone.

"Ha," he breathed, "has luck finally shined upon me...?"

Suddenly, the hairs on my arms stood on end and an electric charge pulsated through the thin air. Before my brain could really register what I knew was coming, voltaic rays of lightning struck and laced together at one point, becoming a full-fledged arrow of sheer electricity.

Electric Arrow seemed to have produced it out of nothing but simply drew his hands back in an archer position. Streaks of electricity statically touched the surrounding buildings and surfaces, lightening the scene, the friction stinging the air.

He aimed it directly at Magne and me, grinning maniacally.

"Shit," Magne muttered.

"Get down!!"

I pushed Magne underneath the rails as Electric Arrow let go of the bolt. We'd managed to get out of the way a millisecond before the thing could electrocute us; only a short streak of electricity charged my green hair as it hurtled past. I turned around just in time to see the arrow of lightning combust into single galvanic rays once it collided with a taller corporate building. They simmered into heat that mixed with the air, leaving nothing of its existence but the singed spot it marked the windows with.

Magne stared at the dreaded spot a second longer and then turned to me, a look of disbelief, panic, and anger contorting her features.

"Why the hell would you say that and reveal our spot??" she freaked out, flailing her arms as best she could with the limited space we had. "We could've gotten him from behind and ended it then and there!!"

She jabbed her thumb at Electric Arrow anxiously. "And if you've noticed, he's not exactly helpless!! This job's gonna take some effort nooowww," she whined.

I grunted to myself.

She's right. I shouldn't have said anything; now we've lost the element of surprise. On top of that, all the strategies I'd come up with seemed to unravel with the uncertainty of Magne's quirk, and not knowing either she or Electric Arrow well enough to predict their reactions to specific moves.

My head suddenly stopped spinning a million miles an hour. Why do I always make things difficult for myself?

"Magne," I said, "what's your quirk?"

She looked at me a bit surprised, but obliged anyway. "My quirk's called Magnetism. I can polarize people around me within a 4.5-meter radius. Men will go south and women go north."

Her eyes directed to her giant magnet beside her. "I can't polarize myself though."

My brows furrowed as I tried to come up with a strategy.

So I had the right idea of what Magne's quirk might be. Her staff then is probably used to magnetize people toward her. She could use that on Electric Arrow, but his reflexes have gotten a lot faster than from what I remember... he could send another voltaic bolt at us and have no chance of missing. And being hit by that even once should be enough to keep us out of the fight-- maybe even kill us.

I stared back at the burnt spot on the face of the building.

Yeah. It'll definitely kill us.

"Aww," Electric Arrow's voice boomed from behind us, "did I miss? Well, I guess it's been a while."

His footsteps echoed closer to the base of the apartment we hid in.

"But it is you, right? You're Magne, known for committing nine armed robberies, three murders, and 29 attempted murders... right?"

I looked at Magne from the corner of my eye.

That can't be true... She... she did that?

All Magne did was smirk to herself. "So he did see me..."

"Do you know the bounty they've got on your head? D'you know how much money that is? 90 million yen is more than enough to set me back on track! The police will take you dead or alive, but they wouldn't mind if I did the deed for them, don't you think so?"

He came closer.

What was he planning to do? Decimate the entire building from the ground up?? Pro-heroes have the freedom to do pretty much anything they want as long as they capture the villains, but they do have limits. Immense property damage can end a hero's career and put them on the blacklist. There's no way...

"Magne, I think we--"

But before I could even get my words out, Magne stood, magnet in hand. She aimed it right below us over the railing.

Panic shook my system, aware of what she was trying to do. From what little I could see of Electric Arrow's pleased face, I bet he knew too. He did nothing to resist but spread his arms out like before, charging his bolt with the apparent drawing of an electric bow and arrow.

He was going to kill us.

"MAGNE, WAIT--!"

The flash of lightning blinded me though my eyes instantly closed shut. Before I could even figure out if I was dead or not, a rough kick to my stomach jolted me backwards across the apartment roof.

My back hit the metal rails, nearly making me vomit up my insides. I quickly open my eyes, a palpable electricity stuffing the air. Once the formless blobs disappeared, I was taken aback by the face-off Magne and our target were in.

Using her wide magnet to block herself against Electric Arrow's bolt, Magne grunted, her veins popping out of her arms. The hero's smirk grew bigger as he applied more pressure to her barrier, coming in closer. Magne slid back but didn't lose her footing.

"What the hell are you doing??" she accused, not taking her eyes off Electric Arrow once. "You're quirkless, right? Just get out of here!"

I froze to the spot.

"H-how did you--?" I interrupted myself. How she found out wasn't important.

"What about you??" I stammered out, grabbing at my black shirt.

I can't just go, can I? I can't run and leave her to fight him by herself... if I do that, then what was the point of me being here?

If I run... I'll be as worthless as I ever was.

"I'll be fine--" Magne finally met my eyes. "I don't go down easy."

Electric Arrow pressed closer, grinning wildly with a striking bloodlust in his eyes. "Won't it be fun to find out?" he teased.

She redirected her focus to her opponent, baring her threateningly.

I backed away, clenching my fists so tightly I could already feel the crescent-shaped marks beginning to form. There isn't anything I can do now... I thought that I would at least come up with a strategy in time, but my mind's still blank.

It's not like I can help her fight, I'll only get in the way...

My eyes stung with tears as they rolled down my face.

How do I always end up so useless...?

I ran back to the bronze rails, my foot on a solid bar.

"I'll go get help!" I shouted back, but Magne and Electric Arrow had already moved to the roof of another building without my noticing. She jumped back from him, avoiding another voltaic ray Electric Arrow sent her way.

He grimaced. The bastard was already getting tired of the cat and mouse chase.

I tore my eyes away from the scene and made an agile jump down the building, the wind of the leap drying my tears. I wiped my face with my black sleeves.

I have to be quick.

My green eyes scanned the street for a dark alleyway, which I'd found out to be a shortcut straight downtown to Kamino Ward while Magne and I had surveyed the city. My body stilled with focus as I finally pinpointed the narrow entrance.

Shifting all energy into my legs and keeping my breathing in check just like Kurogiri had taught me, I darted down the path with all the force I could muster.

This is the only thing I can do... I can't mess even this up... because Magne's depending on me..!

My train of thought is suddenly interrupted by my tripping over a large object in the middle of the alley. I fall face forward on the street, crudely scraping my face on the rough pavement. Blood steadily seeped out the cut and I pressed the heel of my hand against it.

"Shit," I muttered to myself. "What kind of rock--?"

I stopped short when my ears picked up the sweet, low whimpering of someone hurt. Looking up from my uncomfortable position on the concrete, my green eyes were met with wide deep blue ones. Crouched in the side of the alley, in her short and torn black dress, was the girl Electric Arrow had been with.

She sharply inhaled from the sight of me, and then looked down quickly. The bangs of her violet hair curtained her face, concealing it from view.

"You're that girl from before, aren't you? Why are you still here??"

Every few minutes the main street would illuminate in bursts of light. The static is still in the air; I can practically feel its stinging sensation on my eyelashes. They're really fighting this to the death...

"It's dangerous here! You could get hurt--"

She bit her lip anxiously, pressing her leg closer to her chest.

My eyebrows creased in confusion, but when I looked down...

That's when I noticed the bloody gash that tore across the knee of her left leg. Bright red blood flowed out steadily, despite her best efforts at holding the laceration together.

"Oh, you're already hurt..." I whispered.

It's my fault she's like this... but what else could I have done...? Let that piece of shit have his fun groping at her?

The girl watched me as I stood up and tore a long strip from the cuff of my black pants. Stretching it out, I tightly tied it around her wound to serve as a tourniquet.

It came off so easily... I knew this material was flabby...

I let out a sigh. "This should stop the bleeding for now."

She looked up at me with a surprised expression, and her wispy bangs fell to the side of her face. Seeing her clearly now, the girl looks to be around my age.

"Do you always think aloud?" she asked me.

Taken aback, I met her eyes, but looked away just as she did. "Did I say that out loud? I heard I do that a lot.."

I tightened the makeshift bandage, making sure it wouldn't unravel if she were to run.

"You have to get out of here, Ms... umm..." Nice to know I still can't talk to girls...

"Kokoro."

Our eyes met again.

"Kokoro," I repeated.

Our line of sight wavered, and the ground shook with a threatening thud, the pavement crumbling and cracking from the source of the influencer. Kokoro and I staggered beside each other as we watched the fissures spread eagerly from the root of impact— similar to the beautiful formation of a delicate spider's web. And sure enough, in the center of the wispy trap was the spider who'd finally caught the fly.

Electric Arrow had a tight grip on Magne's neck, pinning her to the ground with his knees. It didn't seem necessary though; her legs cracked underneath the weight and gave way to unusual and terrible positions. Her left leg stood upright as if the joint itself popped out of socket, and the right one bent in the middle of the femur, where bending is impossible.

My heart dropped to my stomach with realization.

Magne's legs are broken.

I searched her face for some form of awareness of what had happened. But her eyes were closed, and her face bloodied. I could see no puff of air as I had before.

Fear shivered up my spine, pounding my brain.

She's unconscious.

Or dead.

"Whew," Electric Arrow sighed, "that didn't take too long."

His face saturated in condescension. "Kinda disappointing, actually."

Rage once again flew into my system before I had a chance to think. My head hummed with such a fury that all I saw was an uncontrollable red, and the only thing I could think is that this piece of shit hurt Magne with a prideful satisfaction that only ceased when he realized how weak she was.

There was no chance at restraining myself, so I threw caution to the wind and screamed,

"GET AWAY FROM HER!!"

Electric Arrow looked up alertly, but once again rested when our eyes met. Instead, a devilish smile and terrifying bloodlust dominated his features.

"Right, the kid from before..." He slowly stood, a lock of brown hair falling out of place.

"You seem to have a knack for yelling, don't you?"

Kokoro cowered behind me, grabbing at my shirt.

The man took a single step into the midst of the alleyway, the moon's light being the only thing illuminating us.

His voice was angry, but an undercurrent of excitement ran through it, like he hadn't had this much fun in a while.

It shook me straight to the core.

"It's pissing me off."

.

.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

A/N: Ahhhh it's been so long!! I'm so sorry everyone!

School's been taking all my time, so I had to focus on that for a bit.

I also really didn't want to half-ass this chapter; I wanted to give you something you'd enjoy, so let me know what you think!!

Thank you for reading everyone!

Don't forget to vote and comment!!

Love yall to the moon and back <3