Nezu observed the med-bots as they loaded young Hagakure onto a stretcher. Recovery Girl had already been made aware of the situation, as unprecedented as it was, and she and Hound Dog were both prepared to receive the girl and give her the best chance at recovery. Now all that was left to do was contact the girl's parents and find a way to keep Queen Bee in custody without her processing a host.

Koda(realizing): Right, she can't live without a host. What are they supposed to do?

Endeavor: I have no idea.

Despite her parasitic nature, Nezu couldn't help but feel a certain kinship with the villain. They were both quirked animals, after all, and if her experience with All for One had been anything like his time with his own captors, then she had undoubtedly suffered far too much at the hands of humans. Animals like them had to stick together, so he wasn't about to simply throw her to the wolves.

Recovery Girl: Nezu...

A chill went up his spine and Nezu's fur stood on end as a portal whirled into existence just down the hall. Shigaraki stuck his head through the portal and grinned widely behind the hand on his face as they made eye contact.

Gran Torino: Uh oh.

So much for taking time to revel in their victory.

"I'm just gonna hack the cameras real quick." Izuku muttered. "I don't want to accidently put Ingenium in danger by scaring him in the middle of a villain fight."

Iida(faintly): Yes, please don't.

"Good practice, problem child." Eraser nodded approvingly. "But you're not going to have to hack into things anymore, you know. We can get you your own comm once you have your license."

Izuku blinked back a tear and tried to ignore the way his heart sank, focusing on getting visuals of Ingenium, "Your brother's in Hosu right now, right?"

Kamui(sadly): He's not going to get a license though, is he?

Mirko: Stupid Hero Commission would never let him.

Mt. Lady: Why can't the kid just have a break for once...

"Yes, he is." Iida said. "Are you having trouble finding him?"

"No." Izuku said quickly. "It just always takes a minute to..."

He trailed off as he found Ingenium. At first glance, it seemed like a good time to interrupt, but something seemed off somehow. Ingenium was looking around like he was looking for something... or someone. Was he in the middle of a chase? He wasn't running, though. Was there something Izuku was missing?

Iida(shrilly): Yes you're missing something!

Hound Dog: Iida calm down please. I know you're worried about your brother but you can stop screaming.

Izuku frowned and scrolled through the cameras near where he'd found Ingenium, looking for any bit of context, and he went cold with dread as he caught a glimpse of a bright red scarf disappearing into the alley that Ingenium was about to walk into.

He scrambled to connect to the comms, "Ingenium. This is Viridian. I need you to stop right where you are."

Denki started giggling and Iida looked mildly concerned as Eraser sighed, "Did you have to be so dramatic, kid? I know this is a prank, but making him panic is illogical."

Todoroki: This isn't a joke.

Izuku just gave a quick shake of his head to get them to be quiet as he turned his attention back to Ingenium, "Are you looking for the hero killer right now?"

Iida's eyes widened and Denki slammed a hand over his mouth to muffle a gasp. Eraserhead frowned and walked around so that he could look over Izuku's shoulder. On screen, Ingenium was shaking his head.

"I was actually looking for another guy." Ingenium chuckled nervously. "Why? Should I be worried?"

Iida: Yes!

Izuku took a deep breath and let himself fall into his vigilante mode, "He's in the alley right beside you. I'm still working on getting a visual of the alley itself, but my guess is that he's lying in wait for either you or another hero. Don't go into the alley alone."

"Obviously." Ingenium gulped. "Okay, most of my team is off chasing the criminal we've been tracking, but I could probably spare one or two to help out here, assuming that Stain doesn't move. Maybe Crawler could..."

Aizawa: Right, Crawler helped defeat him before.

Spinner: Hold on, isn't Crawler a kid?! How many times has Stain been defeated by teenagers?!

Shigaraki(laughing): What, can't believe that your precious Stain isn't strong enough to defend against children?

Izuku found a camera facing the alley that he could zoom in on and get at least a semi-decent view of the alley, "Ingenium! Look out!"

Stain had gotten impatient and Ingenium barely managed to dodge the katana as it sliced through the air near his stomach, "Woah! Not cool. Uh, Viridian, I gotta..."

Iida: Tensei!

"Focus on fighting." Izuku said firmly. "I'll see if I can't get you some back up."

"Um..." Iida looked between Kaminari and Izuku in concern and confusion, "What's happening? The third round is supposed to start soon, but..."

Midoriya: Go. I-I can handle this.

"Go." Izuku said firmly, eyes still glued to the computer. "You worry about winning, I'll worry about your brother. Same goes for you, Denki. Don't go over your limits and make yourself a complete idiot, though."

"Right." Denki gave him a reassuring smile, but Izuku could tell he was nervous underneath. "Just a partial idiot. Got it."

"Good." Eraser jerked his head toward the rest of the student areas. "You boys go fight and leave the heroism to us."

Iida: Do you think... do you think that Tensei...

Uraraka: I hope they can save him this time...

Shigaraki didn't stop grinning as he stalked down the hall toward Nezu, "Kurogiri, you go take care of the vigilante brat. I'll squash the bug. Now, rat, hand her over."

"I do not believe that I will." Nezu said calmly. "Queen Bee has been arrested, so giving her back to the villains would be rather counterproductive. I'm sure you understand."

"Nice try." Shigaraki's grin got wider. "But killing a few npcs is always a fun part of any quest."

Mei: Principal Nezu!

He lunged forward and Nezu dropped, protecting the jar with queen bee as Shigaraki disintegrated part of the wall behind him. Nezu immediately went for his ankles, biting and scratching at the exposed skin and just managing to scramble backwards as Shigaraki grabbed his waistcoat. It ripped and dissolved into dust and scraps as Kurogiri disappeared and in the split second that Nezu was distracted trying to figure out a way to get him to stay put, Shigaraki grabbed the jar.

They both reached for Queen Bee as she tried to flutter away from her ruined prison, but Shigaraki was taller and reached her first as she flew toward the ceiling. Nezu watched in horror as his hand closed around her and the last remnant of the hive dissolved into a small handful of dust and blood. Shigaraki wiped his hand on his pants and turned to him, "Main quest: completed. Side quest unlocked: Cat and Mouse."

Mineta(gasping): They just- he just killed her!

Nezu gasped. He'd never been the best in physical fights, his intellect and small stature making him much more effective as a strategist rather than a head on fighter. It didn't make him any less of a hero, but it did mean that he had to know when backup was necessary and now definitely qualified. Nezu ran down the hall, pressing a secret combination on the floor tiles that only he knew and Shigaraki's hand closed on air as a trap door opened and Nezu dropped down into a tunnel. He slammed the door behind him and used the brief reprieve to turn on his comms and radio the heroes on duty, "Hero team C, report to the student tunnels. Hero B, standby for possible evacuations of sections F through M. Present Mic. Midnight. Contact the backup announcers and report to my location. We have a security breach."

Shinso: Didn't he handle Stain in Deku?

Shouta had to firmly make sure that Kaminari and Iida were well on their way toward the festival before he was able to turn his attention back to Viridian, but he knew the kid wasn't going to run right now, not when there were people to save. He hadn't even noticed Shout'as capture weapon loosening. The kid's attention was completely on the screen and he seemed to be giving a report of the situation to Crawler, although he would interrupt himself occasionally with observations about Stain's quirk or strategies that Ingenium could use to keep himself alive and uninjured until back up arrived. It was ridiculously impressive, but Shouta could see the way Viridian was vibrating restlessly, body practically begging to be involved in the fight himself. No wonder the kid had chosen to go back to fighting on the streets instead of staying virtual after breaking his arm. He wanted to fight and save people like a real hero.

Inko: Yes... he does...

"Sho!" Hizashi ran up toward him, only briefly glancing toward Viridian on the floor. "Nezu said you were probably busy with the kid. We have a problem."

"Obviously." Shouta snorted. "What are you doing away from the announcement booth?"

"I had Amplifier take over." Hizashi panted. "There's been a security breach. Shou... it's him."

Midnight(realizing): Shinso can try to free Oboro!

Shouta frowned, hoping that he was misunderstanding, "Who?"

Nemuri joined the conversation, jogging toward them with her whip at the ready and sections of her costume already ripped for easy access to her quirk, "The league of villains, the villain factory. Whatever you call them. Whoever they are, they got in with Kurogiri."

"Kurogiri?" Shouta breathed.

Kurogiri: Yes, me.

Hizashi nodded, "Oboro is here."

Shouta glanced toward Viridian. The kid was so in the zone, he hadn't even realized the others had arrived, "I can't..."

Midoriya: Sensei, just go. You might not get another chance to save your friend.

"Shouta." Nemuri pleaded. "We might not get another chance to save him."

He cursed under his breath. The kid would stay put for as long as it took to save Tensei, so if they could save Shirakumo quickly enough... Nemuri was right, with a teleportation quirk in the equation, they wouldn't ever get another chance to save him.

"Fine." He forced himself to turn away from his problem child. "Let's get this over with quickly."

Bakugo: I have a weird feeling if he saves Ingenium fast enough the nerd's going to get away again.

There had been a weird delay before the third round. Hitoshi wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he assumed that Present Mic had gotten sick or something, because some woman was doing the announcing right now. His first match was against Inasa, the wind guy he'd brainwashed during the cavalry battle, which meant that he might have figured out how his quirk worked. He was stronger than he'd been before, but that wasn't going to do much good against a literal tornado. How was he still screwed?

Shinso(groaning): I'm always screwed.

The announcer lady sounded excited as her voice echoed over the speakers, "Is everybody ready to watch these epic battles?! First round is the 1A's human tornado, Inasa Yoarashi who'll be fighting the underdog from General Studies, Hitoshi Shinso!!!"

Hitoshi took a deep breath and took a step forward when he felt something wrap around his wrist and hold him back. He swallowed a yelp and whirled around to see Eraserhead staring at him intensely, "You're forfeiting the match. Come with me."

"What?" Hitoshi was suddenly filled with rage, "Look, I know it's not the best matchup and I might not win, but you're not even going to give me a chance?! This is my last chance to get in the hero course and you're not even going to let me try?!"

Mirio: It's not that.

Eraserhead gave him a look, "You're already guaranteed entry into the hero course, getting far enough in the sports festival was just a formality, and it's better to not advertise your quirk anyway. You have to understand that I wouldn't be asking you to do this if it wasn't an emergency."

Hitoshi blinked, "I'm already guaranteed... wait, what do you mean an emergency?"

Nejire: Well someone's out of the loop.

"Do you remember when Kacchan took you to break the brainwashing on a friend of his?" Eraser asked. When Hitoshi hesitantly nodded, he continued. "What if I were to tell you that Ogawa wasn't the only victim?"

Hitoshi's eyes widened as he realized what Aizawa was getting at. He wasn't quite sure he was ready, but when Eraserhead looked at him, there was a challenge in his eyes that Hitoshi couldn't turn down.

"So, Shinso." Eraserhead raised an eyebrow. "Are you ready to be a hero?"

Shinso: Ready.