There wasn't really a lot that Izuku was afraid of while he was tied up in a Villains basement. And that didn't really make a whole lot of sense when he thought about it. Not even slightly. His arms were shattered beyond all belief, yet somehow he was still conscious, and unable to feel any of the inevitably excruciating agony that was going throughout his entire system, in a nearly pitch black and cold basement, with some of the most dangerous criminals that he'd ever met in the other room still debating on what to do with both him and Bakugou. With both of them unable to do anything to stop them thanks to their powers both being restricted for various reasons, the pair was helpless, unable to combat any choice that the Villains were going to make. The entire reason that they wanted the Explosion Quirk user in the first place was still unclear, and that should, in any real, sane person's case, make them even more afraid of their captors. Held hostage and not even knowing why they were being held hostage? That should freak anyone out, or at least psychologically torture them. Perhaps that was the entire point of keeping them in the dark, both literally and figuratively, though that was just speculation at this point.
All the various attitudes and personalities of these individuals certainly didn't help in making the two students here feel any sort of ease whatsoever. Quite a number of the Villains here seemed entirely devoted to the ideals of Stain, even though the League Of Villains didn't stand for any of those tenants, by Shigaraki's own admission to Izuku back in the Kiyashi Mall. So he'd either changed his mind about that completely in the space of a few days, or was taking advantage of the faith that these people had in the Hero Killer. Two in particular were noteworthy in this area – The Fire Quirk user whom Izuku had picked up as Dabi, and the lizard-like one whom he had learned was called Spinner, at least as an alias, through the conversations that he'd managed to overhear. Both idealized Stain, bordering to the point of fanaticism. In Spinners case, it was pretty much fundamental adherence to all of his idols philosophies. Given Izuku's history with said serial killer, this should have made him uneasy.
Dr. Compress and another member, whom Bakugou claimed to have picked up was known as Magne, seemed to be slightly more sane and reasonable than the others, though that didn't exactly mean they were stable in any way. Both were smart and, in spite of the limitations that they had, their Quirks could easily be used to devastating effects. Years of time to practice their abilities, and no doubt hours spent figuring out the ins and outs and limitations of their abilities gave them a unique and bizarre advantage against a lot of their opponents that many just wouldn't be able to see coming. In some ways, their ability to be rational was even more horrifying. They weren't going to be blinded by idealism, and they'd be more likely to be a lot smarter than those who were acting on faith and fundamentalism. Not to mention the one called Kurogiri, the mist guy with the Warp Gate Quirk. He alone made everything that Izuku could think of difficult, and near downright impossible to escape from. Not a single plan that Izuku had formulated was able to get around Kurogiri's existence, which made him a seriously major obstacle to get by. His Warping Quirk was simply much too effective at keeping people in place.
Then there were the downright insane. Toga, Twice, and Shigaraki were perfect examples of people who simply put were not stable. The ones who just fell right outside all semblances of stability and ended up downright terrifying because of them. Those who had broken minds, or brains that were twisted from the moment that they entered the world.
Any number of things could make someone like that horrifying. Malicious and harmful, broken and twisted personalities, medical conditions like homicidal psychopathy or sociopathy, or in some cases, just being broken in more varied ways. Everything from the lunatics to the downright psychotic existed on this spectrum, and were to be feared by any sane and rational individual.
Toga in particular was one that Izuku was concerned over. Blatantly psychotic and obsessive – Specifically over him, for whatever twisted reason – to the point of sometimes just standing there, trying to amicably and cheerfully chat and converse with him, and making off comments about how attractive she found him whilst he was drenched in blood and beaten black and blue. At one point, she had even attempted to make her way inside the cell to, in her words, 'Adjust' him, though Shigaraki prevented her from doing such a thing, claiming that the green haired boys use wasn't finished. What his use was, he still didn't know.
If Izuku had a single bone in his body that was worth any kind of rational sense, he should have been terrified. Terrified of the Villains. Particularly terrified of Toga and Shigaraki. Terrified for his own safety, and his own life.
But he just wasn't.
He wasn't scared of these Villains, and he wasn't afraid of what they could do to him. What they would say they were going to do with him, or anything else even remotely along those lines. Not right now, anyway. He just didn't have it in him to care about that sort of thing. Like the cold that left him barely any ability to feel anything in his surrounding area, his ability to feel fear simply was non-existent right now. He just didn't care. Not right now.
So maybe he was j the one that was going insane.
Yet to him, there were far more pressing matters at the forefront of his mind right now.
"… Kacchan?" He called out quietly, so as not to alert the Villains that he was attempting to communicate with his fellow hostage. The Villains might not even do anything if they learned that the two of them were talking, but he didn't feel comfortable in any way with letting them know that they were having a conversation. He just didn't want to risk the possibility of them being heard and listened in on. "Kacchan? Are you alright?"
"Fuckin' vampire bitch drained a bunch of blood from me, how do you think I'm doing?"
A sigh escaped Izuku's lips as Bakugou's response came flying at him. They were the first words that the constantly angry teenager had said to him in quite a while after the incident, but he didn't seem to be too badly affected. It was as good as he knew he was going to get to the Explosion Quirk user basically admitting that he was okay – Pissed off and angry, and passive aggressive. Were his hands free, he'd no doubt be downright aggressive, and trying to blow a hole through the walls, or the metal bars that made up his cell if that wasn't going to work out for him. He wasn't yelling, but that was probably because he didn't want the Villains to hear the two of them just as much as Izuku didn't want them to.
That Villain, the girl, Toga, was unsettling for a worryingly large number of reasons. Her very clear and prevalence psychosis, her total obsession with Izuku despite not even knowing the guy for more than what amounted to a few conversations, her violent tendencies, the fact she hadn't been seen without a knife, and the further fact that she was disturbingly cheerful in her sadism all mixed into making this girl one of the scariest people in the League. Someone so cheerfully unhinged and armed with deadly weaponry – She was dangerous. She was probably one of the most dangerous people here.
Especially considering her Quirk.
Before being warped away right in front of the pair of Yuuei pupils, the mentally unstable blonde had demonstrated her power after taking a large sum of Bakugou's blood, and a small amount of Izuku's, the latter of which she was giggling and blushing to herself about throughout the entire process. Based on what Izuku could understand from what he'd seen, Toga's Quirk wasn't particularly powerful in terms of sheer destructive power. Compared to a lot of those in Yuuei, and in the League of Villains itself, her power was actually fairly weak, since it didn't enhance her combat prowess whatsoever. Nothing like Muscular's Muscle Augmentation Quirk, or Dabi's flame powers. Nothing like One For All, or like Acid, or Explosion, but when in the hands of the person that it was in, the damage that it could do was not at all negligible.
For someone like Toga, the Quirk was perfect. On a practicality stance, it seemed to function by ingesting blood from her chosen target, whereupon she gained the ability the transform her appearance into the person that she taken blood from. The transformation recreated the person that she wanted to disguise herself as to a near flawless degree, with the exclusion of some cuts and blood that she had splattered over her recreation – Her Quirk apparently allowing her just a small bit of creative flexibility in this respect.
Making it the perfect power for infiltration, provided that she had access to someone who was a member of the group that she wanted to infiltrate to regularly get blood from, and to prevent there being two of the same person in one location, then she could probably keep that infiltration up for as long as she desired. Since they Villains held onto two Yuuei pupils, the risk of detection was minimal…
The thing that made this Quirk, and this girl particularly dangerous, was just how much knowledge she had about both Bakugou and Izuku. This was a person whom belonged to a group of criminals that seemed to know a disturbing amount about the Hero course and its students. They knew their names and Quirks thanks to the Sports Festival, and they had been able to get at least a rough idea for the sort of people both their hostages were just by watching them, from the snippets they had from publicly available clips of the students, and what little bits of interaction they had had with everyone during the Forest Lodge attack. They knew how to overpower them, and those who had fought against the tougher members of the class were capable of telling the blood drinking girl the various ways to avoid such attacks, and how to avoid getting into such scenarios in the first place, full stop.
It didn't take much to figure out that she was using her disguise to try and infiltrate the rest of their classmates. What they had chosen Bakugou for was honestly uncertain. There may have been a reason for them selecting the Explosion Quirk user, or it might have been a totally random selection process. Either way, given that Bakugou had been the Villains initial target… Sending 'Him' back would no doubt be the cause of a large amount of discussion and possibly controversy surrounding Yuuei.
And again… While it was at the forefront of Izuku's head…
He wasn't worried. "…It's been maybe a day since that girl left, right?... She must be interacting with everyone right about now…"
"You do know what that Vampire's gonna do, right?"
Glaring at his former friend, Bakugou flatly questioned the current One For All inheritor, with little to no emotion in what he was saying. He voiced little concern, though it was probably due to the fact that he wasn't one to openly show concern for others in the same way that most other people would be comfortable showing it. His expression though, did convey a slightly different feel. More towards the lines of curiosity and a small trace of what seemed to be inquiry. There was still absolutely clear anger towards virtually everything around the blond boy, towards Toga, the Villains, and just about everything about the last day.
Day and a half? Two days? Izuku honestly wasn't too sure how much time had passed anymore. He had been forcing himself to stay awake since he regained consciousness, because he didn't want to risk the Villains sneaking up on them and doing something - Who knew what - To them. Mixed in with his shattered arms, and the rest of his injuries that hadn't been treated, and with the stress and concern he had about what was happening to the outside world... He simply had no idea how what had happened to him had affected his perception of the passage of time. It could have been a week since he'd been anywhere else, and he wouldn't be able to tell.
Though they looked greyer due to the darkness of the room, Bakugou's red eyes met with Izuku's green ones. It was hard to see the emotion that Bakugou no doubt had within them, but Izuku guessed that they were just as full of that particular brand of rage that he was known for.
Perhaps it was because the pair of them had been kidnapped together, or maybe it was because he had been forced to spend a large chunk of time with Izuku, even if it was against his will. Maybe it was because they were in this terrible situation together, or maybe it was just because there was little else to do. Whatever the reason was though, he was actually speaking to Izuku in a more civilized manner. Or as civil as one could be given their situation. He would still yell when he felt that it didn't matter if the Villains heard what he had to say or not, or if he was just pissed off by whatever Izuku did or said. He'd usually find something to be annoyed at Izuku with if there wasn't something blatantly in front of him.
There just wasn't the same irritation that there normally was in his voice. Perhaps it was that he'd managed to force himself to calm down to try to assess the situation better. Maybe he just didn't care enough in this situation. Maybe there were more important things on the easily angered boy's mind.
"… Yeah." Of course Izuku knew. There wasn't any doubt to what was that she was doing. There was no other reason for her taking their blood, and using her Quirk. There was no other reason for her to be warped away by the Warp Gate Quirk user. Her plan was clear.
Merge into the rest of the group, and hurt them. Attack them from the inside.
If Toga's obsession with her green-eyed hostage was anything to go by… The thought did make him shudder, but there was absolutely no doubt in his mind.
Izuku already knew who her target was going to be. Toga was going to target Mina.
Target for what... When he thought about what Toga no doubt planned to do, it should have sent a shiver up Izuku's spine. It should have made him try to batter his way out of his cell with everything that he had. It should have made him cry and scream and fight like hell to stop her before she was warped away.
And yet… He wasn't worried.
"So, what, you don't give a shit?" Bakugou questioned, almost like he was reading Izuku's thoughts. Maybe he had better eyesight in the dark and was able to read Izuku's expression, or it was just the resigned tone of his fellow hostage that brought him to this conclusion. "So, that fucking Vampire psycho can stab up Raccoon Eyes and you won't give a shit?"
"Of course I care!"
Izuku spoke loudly and flatly, his very tone making it abundantly clear to the spiky haired blond that he wasn't going to allow himself to be accused of not caring for the fate of the person he held dear. It was the only time he ever raised his voice towards the far more volatile boy, at least in conversation like this. It was the first time he'd done that to anyone else for that matter. The truth was, he was worried. At least, he was worried as much as anyone would be for their significant other.
He was incredibly concerned for Mina's safety. He was concerned about everyone's safety. With someone as maniacal as Toga on the prowl, anyone who was unfortunate enough to fall for her trickery was going to be in immeasurable danger. A knife to the back, picking people off one by one, figuring out classified information from the Heroes, sabotaging their group from the inside… There were so many ways that he could see it all going horrendously wrong. How every single scenario that he could think of was more than likely to end up with catastrophe for the rest of Class 1A…
If Toga just played everything by ear, and went along with what people knew and said about Bakugou, and based on what she also knew about his personality… Then her disguise was going to be incredibly convincing. What she would do exactly was still a matter of debate…
And while Izuku was concerned about his girlfriend and his friend's safety…
"…But… Everyone in our class… Especially Mina…" He quietly said, looking at his shattered arms as he did so. Like they were reminders of his own limits, the barriers that he just wasn't going to be able to push aside while he was like this…
While he was weak. Too weak to even control the power that had been invested into him. Too weak to save a single person.
Too weak to save himself.
Mina though… His friends… His classmates… "…Everyone is strong." He said, his voice not wavering at all as he spoke, with confidence and certainty in the people he was talking about. "Everyone can… Mina…" A brief pause, as he remembered his girlfriend's pink face, smiling gently as he recalled the features that gave her that unique and bizarre appearance. "…Mina is strong. Everyone is. I… They can look after themselves. They can figure it out… And fight off that Villain. Of course I'm concerned, Kacchan…"
His eyed moved back to look at Bakugou, to make eye contact. To try to convey what little hope he had about the situation. He wasn't worried, but he was concerned. That was the only coherent way he could think to put it...
"…But I have faith in her."
Initially, it didn't quite register to Mina that she was being charged at with a knife, aimed straight for her throat. It was so sudden, and she had been so right in her guess, that it almost felt surreal. Like a dream almost. Like nothing that was happening in front of her was real. Or rather, she didn't want any of it to be real. She wanted it to just be some sort of joke. Some kind of illusion by someone who had a Quirk that could project imagery. Something that meant that this wasn't the real situation that she was going to have to deal with. That this wasn't how she had been tricked. That this wasn't happening.
Bakugou had, for the longest time, been nothing but scum to her. Someone who was only here because Izuku was the better, more forgiving, and downright merciful person, and had kept quiet. His Quirk was strong and he himself was a skilled fighter, which was how he entered Yuuei in the first place, but she didn't have any doubts that a school, famous for its Heroism emphasis would just allow someone who had been a colossal bully previously to just remain with them. There would be questions, and investigations about such a thing, like a criminal who was now applying for the police. He was only even in Yuuei because Izuku hadn't ratted him out. Scummy things kept happening from him though. Everyone saw, and just assumed that had been how he'd always been. Like he was someone who was aggressively short tempered, and hyper-competitive. Really, the only people who had known what he'd really, truly been like, were Izuku and Mina.
An overview would be good enough though. That was why she'd fallen for this disguise. That was why she'd fallen for this person and their tricks. His personality was so clear for anyone to see, that the Sports Festival would be all the reference someone needed to get an idea as to how Bakugou functioned.
Tricking someone into believing they were Bakugou wouldn't really be too difficult - Just shout and swear a lot. That was how everyone had been tricked.
And that was why Mina was about to get herself killed.
She didn't make any effort to move as the impersonator charged for her, switchblade knife held downwards, and raised, ready to plunge into her flesh. Her legs didn't freeze in place. She wasn't even that scared of what was happening in front of her. There wasn't any fear that was keeping her in place. There wasn't any terror.
No, what was keeping her locked in place was sheer disbelief. Shock. Bewilderment. Lots of confusion, and another bundle of questions that she now had to add to the already exorbitantly long list.
A Quirk of some sort?
How did this 'Bakugou' know her first name?
Why were they using her first name?
An imposter?
Brainwashing?
What in the hell was going on? These were the questions, the things that were running around in the pink girl's head. Suddenly, the last day had to be called into question completely. Every single word, every single sentence, interaction, and action that 'Bakugou' had taken had to be analyzed and thought about carefully.
Why was this person here?
What did they want?
What had their plan been from the get go?
Suddenly, next to nothing about the last twenty-four hours made any sense whatsoever. everything that 'Bakugou' had done... Everything that she'd done... It had all been part of some sort of plan?
How did this person know about One For All?
How did they know Izuku was the one who had inherited it?
Did this confirm what All Might had said? That All For One was the one lurking in the shadows, without any question anymore?
Had Izuku's Quirk been stolen? Had that been true? Was Izuku now Quirkless again?... Or had that just been yet another lie, designed to make Mina lose her mind and confirm what the imposter had said?
Did... Did she just reveal Izuku's Quirkless nature...
... For no reason?...
"Die, you skank!"
The sudden insult thrown her way suddenly shot her back into the reality of the situation in front of her. The Bakugou replicator had clambered over the bed in the room, and was now halfway through falling back to the ground, with her knife now rapidly descending toward the Acid Quirk user. Everything suddenly returned to its normal time frame for her.
She was being attacked. And her body suddenly realized it.
She was going to die if she didn't react to this threat.
Something she downright refused to do right now.
Mina ducked, managing to narrowly avoid a knife to the throat by the literal hair on the top of her head. Had she been a single second later in that regard, she wouldn't have made it. Sharply, she adjusted her head, to lock eyes with her attacker's yellow ones, and, pushing herself off the wall with her left hand, slammed her right fist into the gut the impersonator, aiming straight for the stomach with the goal to knock the air straight out of their system, and maybe bring this fight to a quick, decisive end.
No such luck.
Though she did manage to hit her target, it didn't have the devastating effect that Mina had hoped that it would have. Her opponent did stagger for the briefest of moments, but they 'Bakugou', simply got back up, and prepared to swipe against Mina again, this time, aiming for the chest - A larger target, and one that would be harder to avoid a strike against.
"Get back!"
Mina yelled aloud just reflexively, throwing a back - right - leg kick, aimed directly towards her targets torso one again, the intention to be to knock the knife wielding person back, to try and give her enough time to fire up her Quirk, or make a run for it - Which one yet, she hadn't fully made up her mind on. She was mostly playing this entire fight by ear, and hoping to God that it worked somehow.
Unlike her kick attack.
This time, her attacker seemed mostly unphased, her hit making her mark in a more bony and protected area. Maybe against the hip bone or somewhere that her target simply wasn't going to feel much pain in. Though she'd put in as much force as she could into that one kick, it hadn't done much. It only bought her a second before she was being charged at again.
'Bakugou' was relentless. Unwilling to back down, and not letting any of Mina's stopping attacks get the better of them.
Another charge. This time, Mina didn't have the time to react like she had before.
She had maybe one second.
One second before a knife would enter her jugular vein and end her life.
Right then and there.
Without any prayer of survival.
No.
No way.
No!
"Not like this!" Her right arm darted at the quickest speed Mina could manage, slinging to attempt to grab either the knife or the arm, whichever came into contact first, with her Quirk coating her palms in a thick layer of the deadliest Acid she could manage.
It was a completely in vain effort - She was simply too late to be able to make contact with her target in any way. A layer or two of Acid where the knife would hit her wasn't going to stop the blade from slicing into her flesh, and it certainly wasn't going to be enough to save her life. Her legs simply weren't going to cut it. As she moved her arm, she was still bringing her leg back from the previous kick. Even dropping all the strength in her leg and falling down onto the ground wouldn't help her survive for more than a single second longer, and being on the ground would leave her with even fewer options to defend herself, and less ways to evade her target.
And her hand simply wasn't going to be able to reach its target in time.
So this was it.
"Die!" 'Bakugou' screamed at the top of 'his' voice, plunging the knife straight towards the acidic girls exposed neck.
She was going to die here.
Not only was she going to die here... She wasn't able to just say that she was sorry.
To Izuku.
That was the only thing that was going through her mind right now.
Just how royally she had fucked everything up. That that was how Izuku was going to remember her. That she wouldn't even get to say that she was sorry. It was just going to end like this.
Unceremonious. Helpless. Certainly less than Heroic. She wasn't going to die fighting Villains or protecting civilians. She'd end up being discovered by someone who expected to find Bakugou. Maybe not even for days before someone realized something was wrong while this imposter hid her corpse.
What a way to go.
Still - She wasn't going to just accept it without a fight. Every single shred of energy went into pushing her arm faster and faster, not that it would do her even the slightest bit of -
"Ashido!"
Everything that happened next became a blur.
Within the short space of a second, what should have been the last second of her entire life, the entire situation changed around the pink girl.
The first thing that had changed was that her vision was now no longer relaying the image of 'Bakugou', smiling and grinning sadistically as he screamed and made his best effort to shove a knife into her body. Instead, she was greeted with a short-sleeved jacket, suddenly in front of her, the sound of metal snapping and ringing out throughout the room: a distinct clinking as sharp metal hit the ground. time stopped once again, for a few seconds this time.
Muscular arms extended from either of the sleeves, hardened as rock, open wide, to protect anyone from getting through his guard. to stop her from being attacked all over again. That should have been what gave her savior away. Clearly it was the work of a Quirk. a Quirk Mina was familiar with. But for some reason, in her adrenaline-fueled system, that wasn't a clear indicator of who the one who saved her life was.
What finally gave it away, after just a few seconds of total cluelessness, was long, spiky, red hair.
Red hair she knew wasn't natural.
Standing in front of her, taking the attack for her, with his Quirk active to protect them both, was Kirishima.
As soon as Mina realized this, time suddenly began again.
"Rraaaaaaaaaargggghhh!" Hardening his right arm to be as strong and as durable as it could possibly ever be, Kirishima suddenly took a step forward towards his stunned opponent, caught off guard by his sudden entrance and quick reflexive defense of his classmate, and launched a solid, straight forwards reverse - punch that was aimed at and connected, straight for the side of 'Bakugou's', face. The red eyed boy didn't hold anything back whatsoever.
The impact was loud.
And the imposter was suddenly sent reeling back, knocked almost straight across the room. A combination of shock, letting their guard down, and the pure strength that Kirishima possessed all combined in causing the Bakugou lookalike to be knocked right off their feet and sent flying towards the other side of the room.
It wasn't until everything settled down for a moment that Mina was able to use her words again. All she was able to do was take a single step to the side to get a better look at the one whom had saved her, to see his face, his sharpened teeth on display as he bore them like fangs. Shock was evident in her system. All she could say was his name. "Kirishima?!"
Thoughts intruded her brain as she looked at her classmate. What the hell was he even doing here? Where had he come from?
Why had he bothered to rescue her after the way she'd spoken to him just a few hours ago?...
"I heard screaming. Got here as quick as I could." He explained briefly, before looking towards the Acid Quirk user. "You alright, Ashido?"
Black and gold eyes were met with red ones. Mina had a ton of questions that she needed answering at the soonest point possible. Part of her was tempted, against all rationality, to demand some answers right here and now, but the smarter part of her told her that now certainly was not the time.
Fight now. Speak later.
"... Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay." Mina shook her head, before taking a step forward, and stood next to her middle schoolmate, her Quirk causing her to generate little droplets of corrosive liquid from her palms. "He didn't get me. I can still fight, no problem."
'Bakugou', picked themselves up from the ground, the yellow eyes still staring daggers into the Hardening and Acid Quirk users. For a moment, the entire building was completely silent, at least to Mina, while silent exchanges were passed between the two of them, and this unknown person in the form of her classmate. Their eyes darted between the girl whom had been their target just a few moments ago, to the red-haired boy with razor sharp teeth that had just arrived. No one moved. No one dared to right now.
"That isn't Bakugou." Kirishima stated flatly, and obviously. Though he certainly wasn't saying it for the benefit of Mina. She already knew. Incredibly well. His voice was strained, and everything about him suggested pain. Mina could see that his eyes were narrowed, and there was a lot of strain them. There was pain in them. A mixture of other things that for someone like Kirishima, whom hid his self-doubt behind a confident facade, spoke way too loudly. The cracks in his shield, in his hardened state, was just too loud. "Some sort of Shape-Shifting Quirk?..."