(everyone stopped and looked that the title. That didn't sound good.)

Katsuki's eyes widened in horror and time seemed to slow down as he took in the scene in front of him. Rock Lock had finally managed to immobilize about half his tentacles and the others hung uselessly as Eraser took his quirk. Amplifier was wrestling with him as she tried to force his arms behind his back, and Katsuki expected to see rage and murder in the monster's eyes, considering how violently he'd been chasing him just a couple seconds before.

Instead, to him, his friend just looked broken.

Inko: Oh Katsuki...

He'd changed way too much. Katsuki swallowed down a gag as he filled in the blanks about what Ogawa must have been going through to make that big of a difference to his body and quirk. Katsuki felt tears at the corners of his eyes. He'd failed him. He hadn't been good enough to save him and instead, Ogawa had gone through hell and saved himself. He'd chased after Katsuki to try and find some semblance of safety after his world had been practically destroyed, just like Izuku had all those years ago.

And Katsuki hadn't even recognized him.

Midoriya: Kacchan...

Amplifier raised her fist to give a final blow and Katsuki finally managed to shake himself from his thoughts, "Stop!"

His shout was enough to make her hesitate and she turned to him with shock that quickly morphed into anger as he started running towards them, "Kacchan! What are you doing?! I told you to run away!"

Mirko: Don't hurt Ogawa!

"@#&*$ that!" Katsuki snapped. "Don't you recognize him? Think about it for two seconds! Who do you know that has a tentacle quirk and got disappeared by the villain factory?!"

"Recognize..." Amplifier's face wrinkled in confusion for a moment before dropping in horror. "But... but his quirk isn't... he can't stretch... and the ink!"

Kurogiri: They changed him...

Katsuki scoffed, "Yeah, well apparently that's changed." He hurried to Ogawa, who was starting to struggle in the heroes' hold again. "Hey man, it is you, right? I'm gonna kill you for disappearing like that, you know that right?"

Ogawa struggled a little more at that, "You... you have to help me save him! He's... he's still there! I can't... I don't know how to be a hero, man, I can't do it on my own! You... you have to help me save him."

(Kurogiri flinched a bit at that, thinking about all the gaps in his memories, wondering what exactly happened to him.)

He was getting more agitated by the second and Katsuki felt a hand on his shoulder as Rock Lock came up behind him, "Step back, Kacchan. You don't know what those people did to him, he might not be the person you remember."

Midoriya: Sensei no!

That must not have been the right thing to say, because Ogawa went crazy as soon as he heard it. Eraserhead must have had to blink, because any tentacles that weren't straining against Rock Lock's quirk instantly flexed and grabbed at anything close to launch at the heroes, "Shut up! You don't understand! You lucky hero! Get out of our way!"

With one last grunt of effort, Ogawa broke through Rock Lock's quirk and Katsuki took an involuntary step back as all of his tentacles started writhing around in every direction. A few that had been anchored farther away and stretched as the fight moved snapped back like an elastic band and both Rock Lock and Eraserhead were hit full force by tentacles moving at slingshot velocity. Katsuki shouted and ran to Rock Lock's side, only to realize he had been knocked out by the blow. He couldn't see where Eraserhead had landed. Amplifier was trying to keep a hold on Ogawa's arms, but there wasn't much she could do. Even without his monster of a quirk, Ogawa was bigger than she was and whatever modifications those villains had done to him had only made him stronger. Within seconds, he had twisted out of her hold and shoved her to the ground.

Hagakure: Oh no no no no!

Ojiro: Sensei!

Katsuki had to do something. He still hadn't been given permission to fight, but that didn't matter because he wasn't about to explode Ogawa just because he was panicking and not thinking right. Exploding his way out of this would be taking the easy way out and yes, running towards Ogawa when any single one of his tentacles could probably take his head off was probably one of the most terrifying thing he'd ever done in his life, but he wasn't a coward that just relied on violence to get his way anymore.

His feet moved before he could think.

Mitsuki: Katsuki get back here you brat!

Shouta landed in a rough roll and hissed as he took stock of the damage. He was definitely going to have to reup his vaccinations after this, and his head was buzzing like there was no tomorrow, but nothing was broken, so he could still fight. He hadn't seen what happened to Rock Lock or Amplifier, but he wasn't naive enough to think that the monster wasn't going to hurt Bakugo just because they had history together. Real life didn't get perfect fairytale endings like that.

He rolled his shoulders and was about to jog back to the fight when a marble hit him hard beneath his shoulder blade. Instantly, he whirled around to see Viridian running toward him as fast as possible, pointing above his head the moment that he made eye contact. Shouta glanced toward the sky and his blood ran cold as he realized it wasn't his head that was buzzing.

That was a lot of bees.

Tsukauchi: Great can this possibly get any worse?

Viridian was slightly out of breath when he reached him, "Queen Bee. Can't find the host. If she injects a berserker with trigger..."

Endeavor: She's not going to give him trigger though...

Nezu(grimly): She's going to kill him.

Eraser instantly activated his comm, "This is Eraser, we need backup and medical on Dagobah beach." He turned to Viridian. "See if you can get a vantage point. Queen Bee can fill her drones with anything, even explosives, so use your slingshot, but don't get close. The berserker is after an informant of ours, Kacchan, so it's likely Queen Bee is here to help with an abduction. I'm not about to let that happen."

Bakugo: He's not trying to abduct me!

Viridan nodded once, then disappeared to follow his instructions. At least the kid was following directions for once. He'd be a great hero if he'd just let them help him. Shouta ignored his injuries and sprinted back to the fight, yelling as he went, "Everyone get to cover! Now!"

It seemed like everything was just combining to give Izuku nostalgia today, even though logically, a life threatening fight should have been enough to distract him from the memories. But no, the informant they were trying to protect just had to have the same nickname as his childhood best... whatever they were to each other. Izuku knew they weren't the same person, obviously, but it was still a painful reminder. It was like a war drum inside his head that beat louder with every footstep.

Dabi: Oh so you hear someone with the name Kacchan and don't think that it might be the same Kacchan you know?

Midoriya: Well he never lets anyone call him that!

Weak. Useless. Worthless. Quirkless. Deku.

(both Midoriya and Bakugo winced)

Izuku pulled himself up onto the top of a refrigerator, then a dryer, an oven and finally what looked to be a smaller refrigerator and perched at the top of the pile. He was used to ignoring those voices when he fought, so it didn't take much thought to shove them aside and focus on staying alive and saving everyone he could. He grabbed his slingshot and set his eyes on the approaching bee swarm. He loaded a marble and fired off his first shot, knocking a couple of bees out of the air, but otherwise not doing any damage. He was going to need a different strategy.

Nezu: Maybe hacking them would work...

Amplifier shouted a warning, but Katsuki resolutely ignored her as he barreled toward Ogawa, avoiding the tentacles that were going crazy around him. He grimaced as one of the tentacles whipped at his cheek, leaving a weird stinging sensation behind, but Katsuki just grit his teeth and ignored it, "Ogawa, man, listen to me. The heroes can help you, but you've gotta calm down a bit, alright?"

"The heroes don't..." Ogawa's eyes were blown wide with panic and whatever those monsters had drugged him with, "They don't understand! I have to... I have to save him!"

Tsukauchi: And we will. Before... (he glanced at Kurogiri)

"Alright, then we'll save him." Katsuki didn't know what he was signing up for, but at this point he didn't care, he'd figure out a way to do whatever it was. He was being given a chance to save his friend and he wasn't going to waste it. "We'll save him, I promise, but you gotta calm down and let the heroes help you."

"O-okay. Let you help me. Okay." The tentacles slowed down and Katsuki held up his hands cautiously as he inched closer. "We'll save him. We'll..."

Hagakure: It's working...

Momo: Don't jinx it...

Katsuki had almost reached him when Ogawa tensed up, "Hey, talk to me, asshole! What's going on?"

"No! No, no, no, no, no, no!" Ogawa started freaking out again and his tentacles whipped around like crazy, forcing Katsuki to drop onto his stomach to avoid getting knocked into the trash, "They're here! They're going to... "

"Who's here?" Katsuki had to scream to be heard above the rush of wind as Ogawa's tentacles cut through the air. "Talk to me you idiot! Who's here?!"

Midnight(whispering): Queen Bee...

The stillness of Ogawa's body contrasted starkly with his wildly moving tentacles as he slowly turned to look at Katski, his eyes impossibly even wider than they'd been before, "Can't you hear them, Bakugo? It's the bees."

Izuku wasn't going to be able to fight the bees with a slingshot. He might be able to take down the berserker, but oddly enough, the monster wasn't what scared him. Berserkers were terrifying, yes, but Izuku had fought them before and knew how to deal with them. But Queen Bee was still a mystery. She was a hive mind that Izuku couldn't just fight and the only time he'd gone against her in the past, he had downright lost. When he went up against a berserker, he knew what he was risking and knew more or less what the monster would do, but with Queen Bee, he had no idea. She was a complete wild card and that made her the biggest risk.

Kendo: And we still don't know who the host is...

Tetsutetsu: Hang on... Queen Bee possessed one of us, right? We know it's a girl and... Kendo... you were there... (everyone stopped to think about that and Kendo paled)

Kendo: Wait... you don't think it was me... do you?

Monoma: I hope not...

Eraserhead had told him to stay at the beach and get a good vantage point, but he had also told him to keep his distance from Queen Bee, so Izuku hoped he wouldn't be too angry about him leaving. He wasn't going to be able to fight the swarm physically, that much was obvious, but he had hacked the swarm before, so that meant he could do it again!

Nezu: Just hurry please.

Izuku just couldn't get over the fact that when he had left the beach and started asking the remaining civilians if anyone knew where he could find a computer, one of the police officers had immediately offered him the one from his car. There wasn't even any question of why he was asking or anything, the police had just recognized that he was a vigilante and given him what he needed. It was weird, but nice.

He didn't have time to focus on the strange warm-fuzzy feeling, though, not when there was a villain he needed to stop. Izuku had parked himself on the pavement just off the beach so he could still run and join the fight if needed and typed rapidly to recreate a simplified version of the program he'd used to try and hack the bees before. He didn't actually need to be able to give them orders or track their location or anything, because if their self destruct feature still worked the way it had last time, then simply attempting to hack into them would be enough.

One of the bees flew past him, then doubled back and Izuku pushed himself to type faster. He could do this. He just had to take control.

Inko: What if they sting Izuku?!

Toga: The bees are full of poison! If they find out what he's doing-

Bakugo: Don't you dare die on me Deku!

The buzzing was loud enough to make his brain rattle as the largest swarm of bees Katsuki had ever seen descended on the beach. Somehow, when he'd found those bees near Ogawa's apartment, he had somehow just been thinking about a couple of bees, like one or two in a fly on the wall situation, not a whole swarm! He kinda got why Ogawa was freaking out now, this was terrifying.

Ogawa was clearly panicking, frantically moving his tentacles to knock as many bees out of the air as he could as the swarm attacked. Katsuki himself wasn't faring much better. He hoped that Eraser would forgive him for using his quirk, especially since some of the trash was now starting to light on fire, but his explosions were currently the only thing between him and becoming a horror movie victim. Partially wrecked bees were starting to cover the sand from both their efforts and Katsuki shimmied backward through the sand to try and reach Ogawa, wincing as some of the bees stung him before he could explode them. The stings hurt way more than they should have. Katsuki had been an adventurous kid, he'd been stung by plenty of bees before in those woods he used to play in, but none of their stings felt like someone was pushing peanut butter that someone had set on fire underneath his skin! There was no way they could fight this. They needed to get to cover, now!

Mitsuki(gasping): Katsuki!

He was almost close enough to make a grab at Ogawa when he suddenly felt something wrap around him and he was dragged away, "No! Stop! I gotta...!"

Eraserhead growled as he pulled Katsuki to his feet, "Come on."

Katsuki dug his heels into the sand, "But he...."

Aizawa: He's not letting you get close, Bakugo, just run okay?!

"Won't even let you get close enough to grab him." Eraserhead said. He looked worse for wear, several bee stings forming welts across his face and hands as he grabbed Katsuki by the collar and started dragging him toward the water. "We can't save anyone if we're dead!"

Todoroki: Oh no they got sensei too...

Midoriya: Please hurry other me...

There was a splash as Eraserhead dragged him underneath the water with only just enough warning for him to take a deep breath. The thin layer of protection and the cold water on his stings felt so amazing that Katsuki almost cried in relief, but he still kicked and punched at Eraserhead to get him to let go. He didn't. He just kept dragging them deeper and deeper into the water.

They had to breathe eventually, though, so it wasn't long before Eraser let them come up for air. The bees swarmed above the surface of the water where they'd disappeared, but seemed to have lost track of them in the darkness, at least for the moment. Katsuki struggled against Eraserhead's hold, "Get off me old man! I have to..."

"These bees can be filled with anything." Eraserhead said firmly. "And since it's not trigger, I have no idea what it is, but I know it's not good. I'm sorry."

Mirio: It's poison...

"Can't you at least try to grab him or something?!" Katsuki wished he could let loose a giant explosion and take out the whole swarm in one go, but even if he hadn't been soaked to the bone, Ogawa was in the middle of that swarm. If Katsuki used an explosion that big, he'd take him out as well. "Cancel his quirk and use your creepy scarf thing!"

Bakugo: Hurry already you old hobo!

Aizawa looked at him with determination and wiped the water out of his eyes, "This is going to give away our location. Get ready to go under."

Katsuki nodded and took a few deep breaths as Aizawa let go and let him tread water, his feet just scraping the sand beneath him. Aizawa's scarf shot out and he activated his quirk. Even when it was wet, Aizawa's hair defied gravity as Ogawa lost control of his tentacles for just long enough for the scarf to wrap around his waist and yank him toward the water. There was a split second where nothing happened, and then the entire swarm rushed toward them.

(everyone froze)

1A: Sensei!

There was a splash as Ogawa hit the water and Katsuki took a deep breath as he went under too. Even though they couldn't swim, the bees swarmed right by the surface, buzzing loudly enough that Katsuki could still hear them even underwater and a sick feeling of dread chilled him even more than the water could as the realization struck him.

They were only safe for as long as they could hold their breath.

(everyone was panicking and the change in scene didn't help)

Izuku yelled in triumph as he finally made his connection with the swarm. A few of the bees had identified him as a threat, but their buzzing was more annoying than anything else as he swiped them away. He'd gotten a few stings, but figured the bees must not have any venom or anything, because it didn't hurt as much as a normal bee sting would. It was basically just a pinch like when he accidentally stabbed himself on one of Mom's sewing pins, so it was pretty easy to work through. Izuku couldn't help grinning as he instructed his program to latch onto the correct frequency and target every bee he was close enough to connect to.

Midoriya: Hold on wait they're supposed to have poison and they hurt Kacchan and sensei...

Tsukauchi: Hm... oh.

Then he ducked his head and pressed enter.

Midoriya: Please let it be in time...

Shouta's lungs were burning, but he knew what was waiting for them the moment they came up for air. Whatever the bees had injected them with was starting to burn even more as it spread out from the injection site and if it hurt that badly from just a few pokes, Shouta didn't want to think about what would happen when the bees were able to reach them again.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light above the surface of the water and the buzzing stopped. Shouta glanced over at Bakugo to see if he'd tried exploding something again, but he was still underwater, clutching onto Ogawa for dear life. Shouta didn't trust it, didn't know what was going on, but he was starting to get light headed and he had to breathe eventually or he'd pass out underwater. He hesitated for as long as he could before going up for air.

Nezu: Viridian was in time...

He gasped as he breached the surface and he could hear Bakugo coughing behind him, but to his surprise, no bees came after him. His eyes were stinging from the salt, but he resolutely wiped away the last of the water and looked around, shoulders sagging with relief as he realized that the bees were finally gone. The only sign the swarm had ever been there at all was a mess of old parts coating the water.

"Come on." Shouta huffed, stumbling slightly on the wet sand as stood up and started walking toward the beach. "We all need medical attention."

Recovery Girl: Hurry...

Bakugo didn't answer, so Shouta turned around to see him trying desperately to keep a limp Ogawa's head above water as his tentacles spread out around them. Bakugo looked up at Shouta with more panic than he'd ever seen the boy show, even when he'd been telling them about being cornered by Stain.

"Sensei..." Bakugo choked on the words as they came out. "Sensei, he's not breathing."

Hagakure: No, Ogawa!

Bakugo: Don't you dare die! Don't you