Katsuki sat on the crumbling boardwalk and stretched as he waited for Shinso to show up. When he'd suggested the beach as a training location back after the entrance exam, he wasn't expecting to have almost died there. He'd had to practically fight his old hag to convince her to let him go out, but the doctors said there wasn't anything to worry about and his strength was already almost back to normal, which was more important than ever with classes beginning in a few days.

All Might: Why is everyone using that beach...

Jana: It's just a thing in the multiverse. I don't know why either but Dagobah beach training works so...

Mina: Maybe we should train there or something.

Nezu: Or I make a new training ground based on it.

There was no guarantee the Shinso was going to show his face, but hey, at least Katsuki was trying to pass it on or whatever the redemption program wanted him to do, and he wasn't about to turn his nose up at some extra physical training so that he was ready to face the villain factory when he found them. If Shinso really wanted to be a hero then it was up to him to put in the work. If he wasn't willing to do that, then that wasn't Katsuki's problem.

"This place is a mess."

Midoriya: It's not anymore.

Inko: Yeah, thanks to you.

Jirou: Still can't believe he cleaned up a whole beach...

Katsuki glanced up and saw Shinso hesitantly picking his way across the rotting boards, nose wrinkled in disgust at the smell. Katsuki turned back toward the beach and scoffed "Yep. One wrong move on these boards and you'll fall through, so watch where you step."

"That's comforting." Shinso said wryly. "Why are we here instead of, I don't know, a normal gym or park? Wasn't there a villain attack here a couple of days ago or something?"

Mirio: Yeah... Ogawa...

"Something like that..." Katsuki clenched his fists, "But that just means it's more of a mess than usual. And we're here because it's good for training. If you can get used to being aware of where you place your feet to avoid falling through a boardwalk, then you'll be more aware of how and where to step on a rooftop to move silently or to avoid traps, depending on what you need. If you can get used to running on sand, and you won't immediately roll your ankle when you're faced with a street filled with debris. And if you build muscle hauling trash, then that'll help when you're taking down villains. Now come on, you're gonna help me clean up this beach."

Shinso raised an eyebrow skeptically, "Seriously?! This whole beach? Are you actually insane?"

Midoriya: Well I did the same thing!

Gran Torino: Over ten months, they don't have that much time.

"Probably." Katsuki shrugged, "But I don't think you have a whole lot of room to talk. You're trying to do the impossible too, right? Unless, of course, you did get into the hero course after all and you're not counting on a hail mary during the sports festival."

Shinso(deadpan): I hate you.

Bakugo: The feeling is mutual.

Shinso was notably silent, not that he expected anything different, and Katsuki stretched, "Come on, let's get started. If we wanna be heroes, we're gonna need both mental and physical strength. All the determination in the world isn't going to be enough if any thug on the street can overpower you."

He jumped down off the boardwalk and onto the sand, only to slip a little on the landing and end up on his hands and knees. This sand was what had made the chase with Ogawa so difficult. When Shinso when he started laughing at him, Katsuki just brushed the sand off his hands and raised an eyebrow, "Alright, you think you can do better? Let's see it."

Shinso's eyes widened slightly, but he quickly rose to the challenge and jumped down after Katsuki. He didn't do any better.

(everyone laughed)

Katsuki's laugh echoed across the beach as he reached a hand down to help Shinso up, "Looks like we both have work to do, Eyebags. Show me what you got."

Dabi groaned and spread the pictures out in front of him again. He'd pulled on every single one of his connections to get even this much, but it still seemed like things were missing. He could trace the villain factory's influence, he could figure out a few people they'd abducted, but there wasn't even a single clue as to where they were located or who the people behind it were. No wonder the police hadn't been able to find Endeavor in time, it was like trying to figure out what a puzzle was supposed to look like based only on the edge pieces.

Toga: Right Dabi's looking for them too. I forgot.

It didn't help that he was distracted by... well, by everything really. He didn't know how he was supposed to feel about his sibling at this point or even how he wanted to feel. On the one hand, it was their fault, and Shoto's fault in particular, that he'd been cast aside by Endeavor and forced to go beyond his limits just to prove himself, but on the other hand, they were still his family. They still had a connection and a shared history that he couldn't just erase. It made everything so much more complicated. Why couldn't he have just killed his old man like he'd always wanted? It would have made things so much easier!

Todoroki(looking at him sympathetically): Yeah, everything involving him is just way too complicated. But on a side note, why is it my fault?

Dabi: Well if you haven't been born then that stupid flaming trashcan would've still wanted me and this whole thing wouldn't have even happened!

Endeavor: To be fair I don't think it's Shoto's fault he exists, that's my fault.

Hawks: Wow, the flaming trashcan admits it.

He kept telling himself that the articles he kept reading about the Todoroki siblings were evidence for his investigation, but even that excuse was starting to wear thin. Now that Endeavor was gone, the villain factory most likely didn't give a $@^&* about the family he'd left behind, which meant that the only thing Dabi was learning from his research was that he was curious and stupid.

He still kept reading the articles.

Shigaraki: Have you gone soft or something Dabi?

Dabi: I don't know! Other me just needs to get a new purpose in life since my only purpose was to kill Endeavor! He's going crazy or something!

Spinner: Like you aren't at least a little crazy?

Fuyumi had apparently taken custody of Shoto and Natsuo was old enough to be his own guardian, which was a hell of a lot better than Dabi had gotten when Endeavor cut him loose. Reporters kept bothering what was left of the Todorokis for tell-alls and exposes on Endeavor's abuse, but they'd apparently decided to try and put it behind them, because they never answered any of the questions. Dabi supposed that it was easier to forget, or at least pretend that they'd forgotten, than to face everything that the *&%$! had done to them, but that was a luxury that was really only available to Natsuo and Fuyumi. It wasn't like Dabi or Shoto could forget what they'd gone through when the evidence of it was branded onto their skin.

Todoroki(touching his scar and looking at Dabi's): I think you had it worse.

Dabi: Well obviously! You didn't burn alive!

Dabi shook his head and forced his attention back to the information in front of him as he willed it to make any sort of connection. He'd hoped that there would be some sort of pattern to the disappearances, but the only thing he'd learned was that the villain factory was well connected enough to disappear anyone they set their eye on. Everyone from small time crooks like Ogawa to the former number two hero had just disappeared one day without a trace, only to return different or not at all. Trying to track down the villain factory was like trying to find bigfoot.

Momo: Except no one's willingly talking about the villain factory...

Maybe if Kacchan were willing to work on the case, the two of them might be able to put their heads together and come up with something. He had a good head on his shoulders, but the heroes had somehow convinced him to wait until he got into the hero course to start investigating full-force. It was really annoying, but there wasn't much Dabi could do about it except for be patient. He hated being patient.

Bakugo: Hold on you want us to work together? You kidnapped me!

Dabi: Other me didn't do that!

His staples started itching, which meant that he was probably tired and had been at this for too long, but Dabi just rubbed at them and kept going. He wouldn't be able to get a restful sleep anyway with all these questions buzzing around in his brain, so what was even the point in trying? He sighed and rearranged his notes again, his eye catching on an article announcing that his little brother was going to be in UA next year. Before he could think better of it, Dabi grabbed the paper and burned it to ash. The only thing his family had ever given him was pain, so what did he care if Shoto was really going to be a hero? He'd left that path behind a long time ago, so now the only thing to do was find the people who had taken Endeavor and give them a piece of his mind. Unlike perfect little Shoto, Dabi wasn't made to be a hero.

Shigaraki: None of us were.

Izuku hadn't seen any of his usual heroes in days and it was starting to throw him off. Every night that he'd gone out, there was a different mix of heroes and he was starting to get concerned. Why in the world was Mt. Lady patrolling in Amplifier's usual area? It just didn't make sense! What had happened to Eraserhead and Amplifier? Even Rock Lock should be out here, but he wasn't! Did it have something to do with the berserker attack? Or, well, the not actually berserker attack, but still, were they okay?

Mitsuki(realizing): Oh he didn't know the bees had poison!

Jirou: Well that's going to be a very scary realization...

With those thoughts in his mind, when he saw Eraserhead perched on the edge of a building, Izuku grinned in relief and bounced up to him, "Hey Eraser! Long time no see! Where have you been?"

Eraserhead, for some reason, looked shocked, "Viridian! You're alive?!"

"Um, yes?" Izuku pouted. "I told you I wasn't trying to die anymore! I even stayed away from that tentacle monster! Don't you trust me?"

Aizawa: I do but I didn't know that you were immune to poison!

Tsukauchi: Only that poison specifically because he's quirkless.

"No." Eraserhead shook his head. "I mean yes, you did very well, but when you didn't show up in any hospitals after the attack, we were worried and feared the worst. The rest of us were hit pretty hard by that poison. They just barely let me out of the hospital yesterday."

Izuku tilted his head in confusion, "What poison?"

Kirishima: The one that Queen Bee used to try and kill Ogawa...

Eraserhead raised an eyebrow at him and spoke slowly, like he thought Izuku was an idiot for some reason, "The poison the bees were filled with? You know, the massive swarm that descended on the beach like some biblical plague? Ring a bell?"

"They were filled with poison?!" Izuku exclaimed.

Tamaki: Yup...

He felt fine! Had the ones who stung him just been duds or was he about to drop dead at any moment? Should he go to the hospital? But Eraserhead had already pretty much recovered, so if it were going to affect Izuku at all, it would have already, right? Why would it affect Eraserhead and not him?

Recovery Girl: Because you're quirkless.

"Yeah, it was pretty nasty stuff." Eraser sounded exhausted. "It latches onto the quirk factor, so we're lucky the hospital was able to get everyone the antidote in time. We think the berserker actually escaped and the villain factory was just trying to tie off loose ends. We were pretty worried when you didn't ever show up to get medical attention,"

"Oh..." Izuku's mind raced. A poison that latched onto the quirk factor was unique, and the villain factory had most likely been hoping that it would degrade the quirk, or quirks, enough that it would be difficult to figure out what they had been trying to do. It was really concerning that they had access to a poison like that, but it explained why Izuku wasn't dead! But he couldn't really say that to Eraserhead without explaining the whole quirkless thing. "Um... don't worry about me, I, um, I didn't get stung? At all! I'm totally fine!"

Vlad: He's a terrible liar.

Aizawa: Come on other me, figure out he's quirkless...

Eraserhead narrowed his eyes skeptically, "All those bees and you didn't get stung once?"

"I, um, found cover?" Izuku tried. "And the bees weren't going after me anyway, they were trying to go after that, um, well, it wasn't a berserker, so I see why they were trying to get rid of him... it... them? It's complicated."

Eraser's eyes narrowed, "What are you talking about? What could he be other than a berserker?"

Kurogiri: An amalgamation of quirks...

"Um, well, according to what I dug up, he's kind of an amalgamation of several different quirks? Maybe even different people?" Izuku said hesitantly, grabbing the notebook, he'd prepared. "I know it sounds ridiculous, but I noticed that the quirk seemed like it should be part of the next generation, like the child of the people the Villain factory abducted, but that's not possible in the time frame we're working with. But, from what I've learned about quirk transfer, I think it makes sense for one quirk to be mixed with other quirks during the whole transfer process. I tracked some of the abductions that were linked to the villain factory, and I'm pretty sure I know whose quirks they used!"

Eraserhead sighed in exhaustion, "Of course you do. I don't even know why I thought you would take a break after almost dying. That would be intelligent. Alright then, let me see what you found."

(everyone snorted)

Izuku handed him the notebook and Eraserhead started thumbing through it. While he was distracted, Izuku silently stood up and faded into the shadows. He probably wouldn't have any better opportunity to get away, and he'd already passed on the important information that he needed, so as soon as he got off the roof, Izuku ran to find another person to save. He hadn't died yet, so he was gonna keep fighting.

Inko: And please don't almost die again Izuku?

Midoriya: It's a dangerous job mom.

Inko: Yes but I don't want to lose you, okay?

Midoriya: Yeah, I'll stay alive mom, I promise.