Hitoshi knew something was wrong when Aizawa didn't show up. Sure, he'd said he'd be a little late, but Hitoshi was pretty sure an hour didn't fall into that category. Still, he gave it another half-hour just to be sure before calling him.

He didn't answer.

Mei: Get help!

Hitoshi frowned and dialed Bakugo. Aizawa had been going to get Viridian, so maybe Viridian knew where he was. The phone almost went to voicemail before Bakugo picked it up, "What the $&*@ do you want, eyebags?"

Hitoshi barely waited for him to finish, "You have Viridian's number, right?"

There was a moment of silence on the other end, "...Yeah? Why?"

Inko: But Izuku's gone too...

"Look, can you call him and ask if he's seen Eraserhead?" Hitoshi asked. "He was supposed to go grab him and meet me an hour and a half ago, but he still hasn't shown up."

"Fine." Bakugo huffed. "I'll call him, but you owe me for interrupting my patrol with Edgeshot."

Bakugo: Hurry up other me!

Hitoshi rolled his eyes, "Whatever, just tell me what he says."

Bakugo hung up without another word and Hitoshi waited impatiently for him to call back, pacing the rooftop for what felt like an unreasonable amount of time, but when he looked at his phone it had only been about five minutes. Five minutes was long enough to contact a vigilante, right? Maybe he should call back?

The phone rang in his hand and Hitoshi almost dropped it in his haste to pick it up, "What's going on, did he answer?"

"Viridian isn't answering and when Edgeshot tried to make contact through Eraserhead's comm, it had been turned off." Bakugo answered tensely. "You need to get to the police station immediately."

Mitsuki: Exactly!

Denki was really grateful for all the hours he'd sparred with Izuku, because this Gran Torino guy was just as crazy as he was. The first thing he'd done when Denki arrived was pretend to be dead, and the second thing he'd done was challenge him to a fight, so it had been an interesting evening. He'd only managed to get one good hit in so far and the only reason he'd gotten that much was because it was Gran Torino's first attack and he had electrified his whole body, so when Gran Torino kicked his back, he got shocked at the same time. He had currently switched to hitting Denki with a plastic plate, which he wasn't quite sure was an improvement.

Kaminari: No, definitely not an improvement.

Finally, Gran Torino stopped and Denki immediately doubled over, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. Gran Torino just shook his head, "Your phone's been ringing off the hook kid. Might want to answer that when you get a minute."

"Ugh..." Denki dragged himself over to his bag and fished out his phone. "Kaminari here... 'sup?"

"Took you long enough to answer Dunce face." Bakugo answered gruffly. "Look, if Izuku's mom calls and asks where he is, he's with you, okay?"

Inko: Katsuki Bakugo!

"Umm, what?" Denki blinked. "I mean, okay, yeah, totally, but why?"

"Because Auntie Inko doesn't know he's Viridian, you idiot." Bakugo snapped.

Denki squeaked, "You do?!"

Bakugo: Obviously!

He could almost hear Bakugo rolling his eyes, "We grew up together, you idiot, of course I know. But you're dating or whatever, so I told her that he was out with you on some last hurrah before your internships or whatever."

"I... I am not even going to question how you know that." Denki decided. "Uh, but again, why? He usually goes out after she goes to bed."

Another phone started ringing and Denki looked at Gran Torino, who waved him off, "I'll answer it, you enjoy your break while it lasts."

All Might: You'd better. They're few and far between.

Denki grimaced and turned his attention back to his phone call, "So, like, obviously I don't have a problem with covering for him, but why is he with me again?"

There was a long moment of silence before Bakugo groaned, "Look, we don't know where he is. None of the heroes can contact him and his phone is turned off. I had to call Auntie to make sure he hadn't just slept in or something, but he wasn't there either. Izuku will kill me if I make his mom worry and it turns out that he just forgot his phone or whatever, hence why he is with you. Don't mess this up."

Inko: I appreciate you lying for Izuku but Katsuki, next time I want to know if my son's been kidnapped!

Bakugo: Yes Auntie Inko.

"I... I won't." Denki swallowed. "But, uh, do I need to be worried? I mean, does this happen all the time or..."

"Izuku has a habit of disappearing when he's doing vigilante stuff, but he's usually okay in the end, just a bit banged up." Bakugo answered quickly. "It's just that no one knows where Eraserhead is either, so everyone's on high alert right now. Don't worry, we'll find him, you just worry about covering with Auntie Inko if she calls."

"Will do." Denki nodded. "Call me when you find him."

Tsukauchi(worriedly): If they find him...

Mt. Lady: Don't say that!

"Sure, whatever." The line went dead as Bakugo hung up.

Denki turned back to Gran Torino, anxious to work out his nervousness with another spar, only to see him staring back with a worried look on his face, "Grab your things, kid, we gotta go."

"Uh... okay!" Denki hurried to grab his backpack, shoving his phone in his pocket and tugging on his shoes as Gran Torino rushed out the door. "Where are we going?"

Mic: The phone call must've been about Shou's kidnapping...

Gran Torino furrowed his brow and stared straight ahead as they hurried toward the train station. Denki wasn't even 100% sure they'd closed the door, But Gran didn't seem to care, "Did Toshinori ever tell you about All for One?"

All Might: Not me...

Denki swallowed nervously, "Uh, yeah, I know about him. Evil, immortal guy that steals quirks. Why?"

"Apparently, your teacher and some vigilante kid just went missing." Gran Torino glanced at him. "And we're pretty sure he's the one that took 'em."

Izuku woke up sore and disoriented. Had he slept wrong last night or something? He hadn't gotten injured recently, so there wasn't any reason for him to be this sore. Maybe he should tell Mom he was getting sick?

Inko: Oh thank goodness he's alive... (no one wanted to say 'for now')

"Problem Child?" Eraser's voice filtered through the mental haze. "Are you with me?"

Izuku jolted and started to freak out when he couldn't move very far. He was tied to a chair. Why was he tied to a chair? The memories of the ambush started filtering back in and Izuku started thrashing, trying desperately to get out of the ropes, "No, Kacchan... and then... but what... why... no..."

Mitsuki: Calm down Izuku... please... you can't get out if you panic...

"Viridian." Eraser's voice was steady and calming, so Izuku latched onto it for dear life. "You need to calm down. We've been captured and we both need to have steady heads if we expect to find a way out of this. Now breathe with me, okay?"

Izuku obeyed without hesitation, letting himself match Eraser's breathing and using it to ground himself. He... he hadn't felt this helpless since the sludge villain had tried taking control of his body. He hadn't missed the feeling, but after a few minutes he managed to calm down enough to actually be able to look around. Eraser was tied to another chair beside him and they were both facing the door. Izuku tested the ropes again, but they didn't budge. How were they going to get out of this?

Toga: Come on Izuku, get out of there... you can't die now after everything...

"You back, kid?" Eraser asked. "They took my scarf and knife. My goggles too for good measure. Pretty sure they took most of your weapons too. You have more freckles than I expected."

Izuku looked down and saw that, yes, his entire tool belt was gone, but then his brain caught up and he realized his goggles were nowhere to be found, "Oh no."

Ojiro: That's not very important right now Viridian!

Eraser rolled his eyes, "I was gonna find out what you look like eventually, kid. It's not a big deal. Just put me one step ahead so I can track you down if we get out of here."

If.

Midnight: No no no you've got to get out! We didn't get Oboro back just to lose you, Shou!

Aizawa(swallowing): I know, Nemuri... I just...

Izuku took a deep breath, "This is the work of All for One, right?"

Aizawa nodded, "Almost definitely. That broker who arranged everything, Giran? He mentioned the symbol of evil, so it's a pretty safe bet that it's not just the villain factory, but All for One himself who ordered our capture. All Might said he injured him badly a few years ago, which is probably why he didn't grab us himself."

All Might: Should've killed him...

Izuku nodded numbly and glanced toward the door. All for One would be walking though that door at any moment. A man who could give and take quirks. It would have been Izuku's dream as a child, but now... now it was just a nightmare.

"Kid?" Eraser's voice was hesitant as he interrupted his thoughts. "I don't want to make you panic again, but you deserve to be prepared for the logical outcomes of this, okay?"

Izuku swallowed hesitantly and nodded.

Shoji: I think he already knows...

Eraser looked at him, voice cold as he just stated what Izuku had already put together, "Even if we survive, we're probably both going to be quirkless after this. You realize that, right?"

Tetsutetsu: But Viridian's already quirkless...

Izuku froze. Eraser was going to be quirkless. Nothing would change for Izuku, he didn't have anything to lose, but for Eraser, it was probably going to feel the same way it felt for Izuku when he was four: like the end of the world. He couldn't let Eraser go through that like he had. He needed to say something to comfort him, something he wished he'd heard when he had had to come to terms with the fact that he would never have any power at all, something a little better than I'm sorry.

Hagakure: Wait... is he...?

Thirteen: I think he is...

He wouldn't let Eraser think he was all alone, because he wasn't. Izuku wasn't going to abandon him, and he'd fight tooth and nail if the commission tried to take Eraser's license alongside his quirk because he knew that Eraser would be an amazing hero, even without a one. He needed to let Eraser know that it was going to be okay. There were cameras in this room, there had to be, so Izuku kept his voice to a low murmur, just barely enough for Eraser to be able to hear him, but not loud enough to be intelligible if someone was watching them.

"In my experience," Izuku couldn't bring himself to look anywhere but the floor as he took a deep breath, "being quirkless isn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be."

Mirio(gasping): He finally told him...

Nejire: Now they just have to get out of there...