Toga grinned and shoved her electrified knife into the light switch on the wall and Izuku flinched as the lights surged and then went out. Then there was a crash and Izuku covered his head as the wall was blown apart beside him. Light filtered in from the street lamps outside and Izuku could see several figures silhouetted against the darkness, but he didn't have the time to tell which heroes they were as he army-crawled toward the new opening.

A pair of boots stepped in front of him and Izuku looked up, finally letting some Midoriya tears fall when Eraserhead crouched down in front of him, "Hey problem child, this is a pretty big mess you've gotten yourself into."

Midoriya: Yup...

Izuku sniffed, "Let me guess, I'm grounded?"

Eraser smiled, "Definitely. Now come on, let's get you back to the school so you can serve your sentence properly, okay?"

(a few people chuckled)

Izuku nodded frantically and tried to stand up, but his broken leg collapsed under his weight and Eraser had to catch him, using his capture weapon to strap him to his back. Izuku heard Shigaraki start laughing hysterically and froze in terror, "That's not a good sign."

"Are you sure?" Eraser smirked into his capture weapon. "Did you really think you could just get kidnapped and not have everyone show up to save you?"

Izuku's eyes widened, "Everyone?"

Joke: You're an idiot if you think we won't come to help.

Eraser nodded, "Nighteye even peeked into Toga's future before she left to make sure we had everything we needed."

All Might(surprised): He hasn't done that in a long time...

Izuku perked up, "And do we?"

"Almost." Eraser said. "We just need a bit of Kurogiri's blood."

Kurogiri: Ah. I see.

Izuku's eyes were finally starting to adjust to the low light and the wheels in his head started turning as he took note of Ms. Joke, Mr. Brave, and Lemillion alongside the other heroes that had come to save him, "Joke! Use your quirk on Kurogiri!"

Joke grinned in response and Kurogiri's deep laugh echoed around the room. Izuku leaned forward slightly, "Lemillion! Use Blackwhip to hold him!"

Mirio: I'm there too!

"Will do, Deku!" Mirio grinned and wrapped the warper up, the darkness making it hard to tell where one quirk stopped and other started. "Got him!"

Izuku grinned, "Toga! Now!"

The other heroes held off the rest of the league as Toga shifted into Tsu and leapt forward over the fight. Kurogiri was still under Joke's hold, so his response was just delayed enough that Toga was able to switch back and slide a knife between two of his armor plates, wiping the blood off with her hand and licking it off her fingers with a smile.

Toga: Yes! Also Kurogiri, I wonder what your blood tastes like?

Kurogiri(retreating): You're not going to find out.

"Party's over." Eraser said quietly. "We win."

"What?" Izuku looked around the room. "Already? How?"

Bakugo: I think it's obvious, you stupid nerd!

He screamed as the floor suddenly dropped out from underneath them and he curled himself tighter around Eraser, burying his face in his shoulder as he braced for impact. The jolt was much gentler than expected and Izuku opened his eyes when someone started poking his cheek, "Deku? Are you okay?"

Izuku gasped, "Uraraka?! What are you... you shouldn't have come!"

Uraraka: I didn't go anywhere. You did.

Uraraka giggled, "I didn't come anywhere. You're safe now, Deku."

"We're back at UA." Eraser said gruffly. "Nighteye foresaw Toga using Kurogiri's quirk, so we made sure she knew the exact location of here, as well as several special holding cells in Tartarus for the rest of the league. As soon as she got his blood, she warped us here and dropped the rest of them straight into custody. You did good kid."

"Don't praise him, Aizawa." Recovery Girl griped as she slammed open the door. "Now as for you, I hear you thought it was a good idea to sacrifice yourself! Of all the stupid, idiotic ways to get your self injured..."

(Midoriya winced. Apparently he gets scolded by Recovery Girl in every world.)

Izuku shrunk in on himself as Eraser set him down on the bed, "Sorry Recovery Girl. It won't happen again."

Inko: It had better not!

"It better not." Uraraka warned. "We don't want to lose you, Izuku."

Iida: Yes, we really don't.

He smiled sheepishly, "Sorry."

Recovery Girl kept grumbling under her breath as she took a look at Izuku's leg and Uraraka sat down beside him and squeezed his hand, "Thanks for coming back."

Izuku shrugged, "Thanks for helping save me. I saw Toga turn into you a few times."

Kodai: All of us gave her our blood.

Tsunotori: Except probably Monoma. Toga practically already had his quirk.

"Good." Uraraka said firmly. "I mean, we all gave her our blood. It was the only way Aizawa could keep up from showing up in person."

Aizawa(grumbling): I hate how it was literally the only way none of you commited vigilantism.

"Thanks for not doing that." Izuku felt his eyelids start drooping as the adrenaline washed out of him like a wave. "Uh... I don't... I'm glad you're safe..."

Hound Dog: Just rest, Midoriya.

He yawned and Uraraka giggled, "Get some rest sleepyhead. You deserve it."

Izuku nodded and slumped against her, asleep before his head even hit her shoulder.

You are cleared to proceed. Target is about two hundred feet ahead.

(everyone paused. That didn't sound very good.)

Aoyama smiled and put his phone away, grateful that Nezu had suggested he cultivate a good relationship with the marketing students. It had been their idea to manage some leaks before the press conference later, and who was better for the job than the sparkling spokesman of 1A?

(everyone sighed in relief. It was just Aoyama)

Midoriya: Aoyama can you stop being unintentionally creepy?

Aoyama: I have no idea what you mean.

Of course, they'd had to approve the plan with Nezu, who had been delighted by their proactive thinking and even more pleased with their plan to turn the talking points in their favor. The current narrative that the media had been running with was that of Deku as a weak victim, so if they could introduce a few strategic truths to the debate right when the kidnapping was the only thing that anyone was talking about, then they might be able to set the tone for the questioning this afternoon.

Mic: Yeah, that'll be good.

Aoyama strolled along the street, making sure that the reporter the marketing team had identified, Taneo Takuda, saw him before he walked into the coffee shop. He stood in line, keeping an eye on Takuda out of the corner of his eye as he gave the barista his order and waited for his cup, smiling in satisfaction when he saw the reporter fall into line a few people behind him. After he got his drink and sat down, it didn't take long for Takuda to take the bait and slide into the booth across from him with his own coffee, "Hey, it's pretty busy today, I hope you don't mind me sitting here?"

Midoriya: Oh, it's him! He's a nice reporter.

"Oh, non, Monsieur!" Aoyama assured him. "It's not a bother at all!"

They both sipped their drinks in silence for a few moments before Takuda made his next move, "So... forgive me if I'm being rude, but I think I recognize you from the UA sports festival. Class 1A, right?"

Aoyama: Oui! Quite right.

"Oui." Aoyama put down his drink. "It is such a sparkling class, don't you think? So many future heroes shining brightly enough that it's practically blinding, non?"

Takuda nodded enthusiastically, "I was happy to hear they saved your classmate. You know, the quirkless one that got kidnapped."

(a few people halfheartedly glared at him.)

Aoyama laughed, carefully keeping the look of displeasure off his face, "Oh, monsieur, you make it sound like he didn't do half the work!"

Takuda's eyes widened, "Really? Perhaps I'm missing a part of the story. How about you enlighten me?"

"Well, I'm not really sure I'm supposed to say anything..." Aoyama said bashfully. "You are a reporter, non? Why else would you be so curious?"

Thirteen: Come on, take the bait.

Mt. Lady: I'm sure he will.

Takuda smiled and put his hands up in surrender, "Alright, you got me, but I'd be willing to keep your name out of it, if you'd prefer. Just an unnamed, anonymous source at UA, how does that sound?"

It sounded exactly vague enough to start circulating ideas without making them seem like the opinions of a single student, "Well, I suppose..."

Nezu: Oh, that's decent.

Takuda pulled out a notebook, "So? You say Deku did half the work?"

Aoyama smiled, "Oui! When he sacrificed himself for the rest of us, he knew he was going to be taken by those fiends, but he at least had the good sense to take a tracker along with him. With their very location being broadcast, the league, well, they didn't have anywhere to run to!"

Takuda made a few notes, the interest in his eyes clear, "Did you say that he sacrificed himself? What do you mean by that?"

Todoroki: He meant what he said.

"I'm not sure I should say..." Aoyama bit his lip. "But I'm sure you're aware that Deku is quite the talented strategist, non? He even caught the attention of our dear principal Nezu! Well, I'm afraid he caught the attention of the league as well... they gave him the choice to come quietly or... well, I'm sure we're all grateful that there weren't any major casualties."

Tamaki(wincing): Yeah... really grateful...

Takuda looked like he'd hit the jackpot and Aoyama hid a satisfied smile behind his hand. Those details were juicy enough that they would catch everyone's attention and introduce the idea of Deku being the hero he was, rather than a biologically weak victim like everyone was predisposed to think he was.

"Of course." Aoyama continued. "The rest of us did our best to help with the rescue, but our support was mostly from the sidelines, as we won't be getting our licenses until the next exam. Still, our class is quite impressive, non?"

"Extremely." Takuda grinned. "Thanks for the off record interview, kid. I owe you one."

Aoyama(chuckling): Actually, I owe you.

Aoyama watched him leave and smiled as he took a sip of his coffee, "No, thank you."

Tsukauchi looked over the paperwork for the league of villain arrests. A big part of him couldn't believe that had actually worked, but another part of him knew never to doubt one of Deku's plans, or in this case, plans inspired by Deku. With the entire power of class 1A and the righteous fury of the hero underground against them, the league hadn't stood a chance. Kurogiri had been the most difficult to take down, but after Toga had warped away the rest of the league, he didn't have any exact locations to be able to retrieve them, so he couldn't just leave without his teammates. He'd slowed down from the bloodloss, so they were able to overpower him in the end, and he was currently being held and observed in Tartarus, just like the others they'd captured during the raid.

Which led to Tsukauchi's current frustration. As part of their intake into Tartarus, each of the league had undergone a physical and a host of tests and there were some... interesting revelations hidden in the results.

Compress: Right, Nana Shimura's grandson, Endeavor's kid, and a supposedly dead UA student...

Toga: Wow we're a complicated bunch...

Tsukauchi didn't even know how to begin breaching the subject of Shigaraki being Nana Shimura's grandson with All Might, so he figured he'd do the smaller revelation first. Or, well, not smaller, but not directly tied to his best friend and his mystery quirk.

Joke: Oh, he's going to tell Eraser about Kurogiri, isn't he?

Eraser let the phone ring several times before picking up, "Tsukauchi, I swear to god! Whatever this is, couldn't it wait a day or two?"

Aizawa: No.

"It could, but I don't think you want it to." Tsukauchi responded seriously. "The genetic tests turned up something concerning about Kurogiri's true identity."

Midnight(sighing): He's not going to take it well, is he?

Mic: Well he's mentoring Shinso so maybe they'll get the idea quick enough to use his brainwashing to fix him.