Top pic credit: JeezArtz

Violet POV:

2:45am.

Phew. Alright. Just me and Endeavor now. Hopefully, things go smoothly from here-

"I already told ya, you can't carry me, kid!!" Endeavor nagged out when I tried to move forward with his body weight, causing a twinge of annoyance to settle in my chest.

There's no more time to be difficult!

The annoyance immediately amplified inside my system as I gripped Endeavor tightly and yanked him forward-hearing him grunt in pain for my manhandling as I forced him to walk.

"Call it karma for skipping arm day, alright?! Now come on! We can't waste anymore time!" I yelled at him as we hobbled towards the bashed in basement door.

I felt my adrenaline gradually starting to amplify, but this time I welcomed it....knowing I'd probably be in a situation where I'd need to fight very soon.

It would be a miracle if I get Endeavor out of here alive-

No. Stop that. I can't let my negative thoughts amplify, or I'm screwed. So is Endeavor. Keep it together.

Endeavor did his best to limp quickly, though Tsuyo knew exactly what they were doing when they broke his leg....ensuring to ruin it in the worst way, so Endeavor would be as slow as possible.

Ugh. Ruthless. Let's hope I don't run into them.

Within seconds, Endeavor and I had crossed the threshold of the melted basement door, giving him his first taste of life in over 48 hours, now that we were in the hallway.

Of course, it smells like Dabi's fire and burning bodies, sooo not the best welcome back into the real world for Endeavor. Oh well!

"Go right." I instructed the gigantic man with a wheeze of exertion, doing my best to support his body weight as he leaned into me.

"I know." Endeavor nagged out, practically hopping on one foot as we began to walk as briskly down the hallway as possible.

"No you didn't. You've never seen this area before." I groaned out, gripping my arm around his back tightly as I supported his frame.

"I heard your shitty plan thirty seconds ago, in case you forgot I was there. You did seem rather distracted." Endeavor stated lowly, gritting his teeth in pain as we walked.

My eyes widened slightly at his threatening insinuation, realizing he must have noticed the.....comfortable way that Dabi and I were interacting.

Shit. Was I caught?!

No! No way! He's delirious right now! What does he know?!

"Ohhhh-why are you so difficult?!" I simply hissed out, ignoring the blaring alarms that were pounding into our eardrums as we hobbled down the empty hallway.

"Me? You listen up, and you listen good, kid. Maybe I haven't been keeping up with your progress on this mission as well as I should have. But, I mean it when I say it-don't get too comfortable with that villain, Dabi. He'll be behind bars for the rest of his life, faster than you can even process." He threatened with a grumble, placing more of his weight on my frame.

I felt a sour mood settle in my chest at his words, feeling reality hit me in the face harder than I could process.

Dabi and I have been in our own little bubble these past months. But, obviously that won't last forever. There will come a time when this entire situation will blow up in our faces. There will come a time where we're forced to choose what path we want to take next.

And I can't say I'm confident that this path will be one with each other. Especially, when our ideals couldn't be more different.

Of course, I can't tell Endeavor this. Frankly, I don't want to even acknowledge anything about the future at this particular moment as all I could say was...

"I know."

In a perfect situation, that would have been more than enough to end the conversation peacefully...

....except, the tone of my voice gave me away slightly. I sounded upset. Closed off. Quiet. All things to create a perfect elixir of suspicion for Endeavor, regarding my 'professionalism' towards Dabi.

My dry, bitter sounding agreement easily gained his attention, bloodshot eyes looking down at me with a first glance of surprise...

....before his gaze dwindled down into denial and authority.

"For your sake, you better know." He stated lowly, letting his threat hang in the air.

My teeth grit down in frustration at his words, yet I simply gripped him tighter and focused on our surroundings.

Endeavor doesn't have any concrete proof that Dabi and I are together. Right now, all he's got is a little bit of suspicion, while he's delusional and on death's door. Not a great argument for him, if you ask me.

Not to mention, there's a time for this forbidden love talk-and it's not now.

No. Right now, I need to focus. I need all my wits and adrenaline, amplified in the perfect storm, I need to prepare myself for when we will run into trouble.

There's been no one so far in the hallway. That's a good sign. Maybe all the bad guys are on Dabi's side of the mansion. He did go the busier way, towards the lobby.

I wonder if that was intentional on his part to help me.

Though, he does always say I'm not that special. Don't overthink it!

"Speaking of difficult," Endeavor groaned out in slight pain and a subject change, wiping the blood sweat from his forehead as he applied more weight on his broken leg.

Good. He seems extremely tired. Not that I want him to die! I just hope he'll be too tired to remember this conversation about Dabi...

"What do you plan to do exactly if we run into someone? I'm out of commission right now for a fight. We'll need to hide." He finished, earning a furrow of disbelief in my brows.

What? Is he serious?

His words caused another hive of frustration to immediately start buzzing in my chest, making me inhale deeply as I tried to control myself and help him walk.

Does he still not believe that I am capable of this?

"I didn't plan for you to fight anyone, Mr. Todoroki-and I didn't plan for us to hide, either. If anyone comes after us, I was going to take care of it." I said a little bitterly, picking up our walking pace just a bit faster down the red, blinking hallway.

He let out a small, almost condescending, chuckle at my words, sounding as if that was the most unbelievable thing he's ever heard.

Wow-

"If it weren't for these damn quirk handcuffs still on my wrists, I'd be able to handle it all. You should have called for backup." He muttered out in frustration, practically ignoring my response as he attempted to get the handcuffs off himself once more.

I felt my frustration slowly amplifying into anger as it appeared that Mr. Todoroki still didn't believe I could do this, causing me to unintentionally dig my nails into his back as I held him tightly.

"If I called for backup, I would have blown my cover with Midas-and what was that laugh for, anyways? Do you think it's funny that I planned to fight the enemies coming our way?" I asked a bit lowly, not having as much patience as I normally do.

Thank the jewels for that one.

Endeavor's face morphed into confusion as he looked down at me, studying my growing frustration.

"Huh?-" he tried, barely even getting a word in before I cut him off aggressively.

....and unintentionally.

"Let's not forget who put you here. It's amazing how you can still think so low of my skills after that. How much you still underestimate me, and treat me so fragile. I can assure you, I'm more than capable of getting you out by myself." I spat slightly, causing Endeavor's eyes to spark in confused anger for my sudden disrespect.

"Exactly. You put me here. If it wasn't for your immature Violet antics, I'd have two working legs and a face that wasn't bleeding!" He hissed out in annoyance, trying to hobble faster and keep up with my increasing walking speed.

I grit my teeth in irritation as I practically stomped down the hallway with his giant frame, huffing underneath my mask as I did so.

"Yes, well, we can't always get everything we want!" I reprimanded, stumbling slightly at Endeavor's heavy body.

I'm already sweating profusely from trying to carry him.

And the gigantic man seemed to notice this, too, as he spoke-saying nothing helpful to the situation.

"Let me ask you this, what do you plan to do with me if someone approaches us? I'm nothing more than a deadweight on your shoulders at this point." He explained dryly, looking around the dark hallway as vigilantly as he could in his condition.

Excellent question, Endeavor. Please don't ask more.

"Well-I don't know. I'll figure it out-look, hopefully, we won't even encounter anyone, anyways." I said with losing patience as we turned the sharp corner to continue down the hallway.

And it seems I spoke a second too soon. Because, the second we turned the corner, my worst fears came true as I saw three of Midas' men charging straight at Endeavor and I.

Shit!!! That happened way too fast!!

"Oh no..." I breathed out in slight panic, staring wide eyed at the no-name villains I didn't recognize coming straight towards us.

Slowly I felt the panic starting to amplify in my veins and debilitate me....causing a mental breakdown to start brewing in my mind...

....before Endeavor's next words completely knocked some sense into me.

"Go hide. I'll take care of it." The injured number one said to me lowly, tired eyes burning hot as he prepared to take on the men by himself.

Wait.

Hold on a minute. Let's pause...

You're telling me that this man would be more comfortable fighting these villains with a broken leg...an infected other leg....a broken face....quirk restraining handcuffs...and a state of delirium, rather than have me save him?

What a dick!

That makes me angry.

"Just-shut up and let me handle it!!" I yelled at Endeavor as my veins burned white hot with fury, no longer feeling any bits of panic in my system as the villains charged at us.

Yes! That's right! Get angry. This is what I need right now.

And while Endeavor is irritating the crap out of me, he did make an excellent point earlier that I never got to address-what do I do with him when I need to fight someone? I need free hands.

I didn't get any time to think about it as the first no-name villain closed in on Endeavor and I, preparing to swing their large, spiked bat right at our faces.

"Ooop-" I peeped out, acting on instinct as I quickly-and not gracefully, pushed Endeavor full force into the wall.

To save him from the hit, of course!

"Hey!!" He growled out in irritation, unable to say anything else as he slammed face first into the wall and collapsed to the ground in a heap.

We'll come back to him later!

For now, I was too focused on trying to dodge the aggressive, spiky bat swings from this lunatic-quickly ducking under their hit in the nick of time.

I heard the bat cut through the air above my head, unable to retaliate with a hit as they were quick to swing lower for my torso.

Forced to stay on the defensive, I quickly shuffled to my left with a dodge, ignoring Endeavor's nagging instructions from the floor as I shuffled backwards once more to get my bearings and miss the consecutive, aggressive swings.

This guy is using a weapon, which makes me assume he must not have a quirk. Good for me.

Knowing there were two more enemies coming up behind him, I ducked under his next swing, maneuvering my body to his side, before gripping his wrist that held the bat.

These villains don't know who I am, meaning they don't know my quirk. And while I won't make any showy, flashy moves with my quirk....subtle ones should be fine.

Forming a sharp set of crystal claws from my fingertips, I immediately gripped the man's arm tighter and stabbed them through the bone of his wrist, causing him to cry out in pain and drop the bat.

Wanting to make sure he couldn't retaliate, I kept the claws bolted in his arm as his partner came up behind me-forming a sharp spike of crystals to the bottom of my combat boots, before extending my leg out for a hard kick.

I watched my crystals jab into the thigh of the second attacker, causing his eyes to widen unexpectedly at the weapon he wasn't aware I had; releasing my crystal claws as I threw the first attacker into the second one.

Both men hit the narrow wall of the hallway, collapsing on top of each other as the third attacker jumped over their fallen frames.

My fight stance tightened up as the third man somersaulted to his feet-before his fists immediately doubled their size and came barreling towards my face.

Okay. This one has a quirk. He can make his wrists bigger, I guess? At least my quirk is cooler than that. Oof-

Not wanting to use my weapons unless I absolutely had to, I quickly formed a crystal dagger from my palm, sliding under the man's fist before jabbing my knife into his enlarged knuckles.

His hissed in pain, but slammed his hand towards the side, attempting to crush me against the wall before I quickly rolled to the other side of the hallway.

"Crap." I muttered as I grabbed my crystal knife, forced to duck under the man's other giant fist as it came towards me-

"Crystal steps!" Endeavor called out raspily to me from the ground, making me jump in surprise as I forgot he was here.

But, it also made me jump in surprise, because I realized Endeavor was trying to give me fighting instructions. Real fighting instructions that didn't involve sitting out of the fight or running away.

Mentoring instructions! About time!

Forced to use my quirk a little more and listen to his words, I quickly formed a pair of crystal pillars underneath my feet, flipping myself up onto the man's giant fist with ease.

I was quick to disintegrate my crystal steps, trying to cover my tracks as well as possible.

"Form a blanket!" Endeavor instructed me vaguely, trying not to say too much so the enemy wouldn't understand.

But, I've trained with him enough to understand, immediately taking his advice as I lifted my arms and formed two crystal blankets around both of the man's giant fists, pressing my hands together as I manipulated their shape and lined the blankets with sharp crystal stakes.

The man cried out much too loudly in pure, unadulterated pain as I watched my sharp crystal stakes plunge into his fists from all angles, immediately putting him out of the fight-and possibly the feeling in both of his hands. But, details, you know.

Ignoring the large amount of blood beginning to spew from the man's shrinking fists, I quickly hopped off his frame and ran to Endeavor, expecting to see him angry that I just took out three enemies so brutally.

But, as I approached him-that's not what I saw at all....so unprepared for the look of pure, shocked pride that painted his bloody face as he looked at me through hazy, nostalgic eyes.

"You....you used her moves just now. Exactly how she would have." He said quietly, seeming to have regressed in his health a bit as his awareness was a little less sharp than a few moments ago.

Crap. I really need to get him out of here.

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess I did." I smiled weakly, not too concerned about the knowledge of using my mother's moves as I quickly disintegrated all evidence of my crystals.

It's funny. I always used to be so focused on using my mother's moves. Now, I didn't even notice it until Endeavor pointed it out.

But, regardless, I couldn't care enough-trying to keep my calm for Endeavor's weakening state as I applied another layer of healing crystals to his wounds, hearing him gasp back to awareness a few moments later.

If this man dies here today, I will never forgive myself.

"Come on, Mr. Todoroki. We gotta keep moving. I'm gonna get you out of here, okay?" I said reassuringly, forgetting my grievances with him as I held out my hand to his slumped frame.

He looked at me through tired eyes and labored breathing, stubbornly acting as if he was debating on taking my hand, before clasping his hand in mine a few moments later.

"You're probably lying again." He muttered lightly, causing me to chuckle as I helped him stand.

"No. Not at all. You'll definitely be fine. Yep. Totally." I said intentionally condescending, smirking lightly at his groan of annoyance as he draped his arm over my shoulder for support.

He's so fucking heavy. My body feels like it's breaking.

But, I got him into this. And I'll get him out.

"You're growing into your mother's sass." He uttered raspily, starting to hobble forward down the hallway with me as his guide.

I chuckled softly at his words, smiling at the image of my mother's face, before getting my focus back once more.

That was too close of a call with those villains. I need to be more careful and aware of my surroundings.

"Keep walking. Come on, you can do it." I wheezed out in exertion as I practically carried Mr. Todoroki forward.

"Stop treating me like an old man. It's annoying." He coughed slightly, making me roll my eyes at his stubbornness as we stumbled through the mansion.

"Well, right now you're using me as a cane. That makes you about ninety years old at the moment." I huffed, ignoring the burning of my muscles as we approached another corner to turn.

Okay. Remember. Be more vigilant.

I gradually pulled back on Mr. Todoroki's frame before we turned the corner, causing him to look at me in pained question.

"I'm gonna....hmm..." I trailed off in a slight whisper, looking around to decide what to do with all this man.

"I guess I'll just set you right here, while I check to see if the coast is clear. Don't wanna leave you alone though." I finished, shuffling our spot over to the wall of the hallway so he could rest against it while I made sure the area was safe.

Endeavor simply nodded in agreement, and that should have been the end of it.

But....me, being me...

"Ha. Too bad I can't put you in, like, a baby backpack or something, right?" I snickered awkwardly, immediately pressing my lips together in silence when he glared at me.

"Get the hell away from me." He muttered as I set him down, causing me to nod quickly as I rose to my feet.

"Noted." I grinned sheepishly, slowly walking towards the corner of the hallway now.

I pressed my back into the wall as I inched closer to the clearing, barely peeking my head around the corner...

....to see two no-name villains walking towards our position. They hadn't spotted us yet.

Thank goodness I checked first!

No time to overthink it. They are about to close in on Endeavor and I.

With confidence amplified in my veins, I sprinted out from the corner without hesitation, immediately earning the attention of the two men.

But, I had the element of surprise! Ta-da! Jazz hands!

Needing some momentum for the fight, I jumped the bottom of my foot up onto the wall, pushing off to give myself some air above the two villains.

Let's see if they have quirks.

With momentum on my side, I quickly closed in on the first villain, slamming the bottom of my boot straight into their face.

They were big though, barely stumbling backwards, as the second villain geared up for attack.

Both men are bigger than me. I need to stick with the fast paced power.

Rather than go straight for the second villain, I ran towards the one I'd already attacked, taking his moment of shock to wrap my arm around his shoulders and swing my lower body forward.

I let my legs propel towards the second attacker at a powerful fast pace, watching the laces of my boot connect with his jaw and send him flying back into the wall.

Quickly shuffling back onto my own balance, I swiped my foot underneath the first attacker's ankles, causing him to take a hard fall onto his back and hit his head.

It will have to do for now. I'm not looking for kill shots on these attacks. Just enough for temporary debilitation to get Endeavor out of here.

Gaging I had about two minutes before these guys got their bearings, I quickly ran back to Endeavor-thankful to see he was still there, slumped against the wall.

"Coast is clear. Come on, come on." I said with a little more urgency, wondering where the main players in this game were at the moment.

Kaito. Tsuyo. Midas. It makes me uneasy that I haven't seen any of them, yet.

And, Dabi. I haven't seen him since we separated at the basement. I hope he's okay-

"Shit-" Endeavor hissed out as he stood, quickly gripping his nose when a faucet of blood started to pour from it.

Great. Now he's losing more blood.

"I think we're almost there." I wheezed out as I began dragging him forward, grimacing as he was forced to limp faster on his broken leg.

"Stop saying things that aren't true." Endeavor coughed out, thinking I was messing around again.

I cringed in pain as my shoulders cramped from carrying Endeavor's weight, starting to feel a little tired from the exertion.

"No. No. No. Seriously. We really are. I recognize this hallway. We have about three more turns before we make it to one of the balcony doors. Once we're outside with reception, we can call Kurogiri." I said genuinely, gradually forcing Endeavor to walk a little faster.

He didn't complain about my fast moving pace, obviously sensing the urgency as he bit the pain and kept up.

Just a little further, and we're there.

Hopefully, we don't run into any more problems-

"Duck!!" Endeavor yelled abruptly, immediately shoving me to the floor before I could process.

Oh great!

I heard him hiss in pain from behind me, turning around on the floor to see someone had slammed him into the wall.

Oof! He can't take anymore injuries!

Having no time to get to my feet, I quickly assessed the opponent to make sure they weren't familiar-and she wasn't, immediately forming a crystal rope from my hand, before throwing it to wrap around the villain's ankle.

Once the rope had tangled in her ankle, I immediately yanked it backwards, causing her to go flying off her feet and fall to the ground.

But, that wasn't the end of it. Nope, not even close.

Because what she did next caught me off guard-grabbing my crystal rope around her ankle, before pulling on it with all her strength.

This time, I was the one to go flying forward off my feet, landing on my stomach and barely able to register the foot that was coming towards my temple.

So she's fast and more aware than the others. Great!

I gasped in alarm as all I could do was roll to the side, hearing her foot slam into the ground where my head had been a few moments prior.

Unable to get to my feet, I simply somersaulted backwards out of instinct, knowing she'd try to attack me once more in my new spot.

And she did as I heard her foot connect with the wall where my head had been-realizing she kicked it hard enough to make a hole in the dry wall.

Jeez. Who hurt you, girl!?

"Crap." I wheezed out as I frantically bear crawled backwards forced to lift my hands every few seconds when she came too close to stepping on them.

Realizing she would close in far too quickly, I decided to go with a different tactic as I dropped down onto my back, lifting my legs into my chest as I anticipated my unexpected drop would cause the villain to trip over me.

And she did, continuing to run straight at me, before I pressed the bottom of my feet into her stomach and lifted her over me.

Her momentum allowed me to kick her backwards off my frame, giving some precious time to get back to my feet and gather my bearings.

"Phew. Okay. Endeavor, how're you doing over there?" I asked breathlessly, feeling my eyes go wide as the female villain had already gotten to her feet and was charging straight at me.

Why are we going so fast????

"Well, I-" Endeavor began, before I quickly cut him off.

"Cool! That's awesome! So great! Let's talk more about it later!" I called out in a rush, forming a crystal bat from my hands as the villain closed in.

With the bat in hands, I ducked from the woman's punch, quickly hitting the bat into her back and causing her to stumble forward.

"Hah! I guess you could call that-pfffffttttt-a home run. Huh, Mr. Todoroki, huh?" I chuckled much too genuine, looking to Endeavor for validation as I waved my bat around.

He looked at me as if I was the biggest moron on the planet, sighing in agitation as he shook his head.

"You're gonna kill me faster if you keep that up." He grumbled, causing me to grin.

"Because I'm so funny?!!-" I asked, unable to finish my thought as the female villain, quickly turned around to face me again...

I watched as she wiped a bit of sweat from her face, grinning at me wickedly as she pulled out a gnarly looking knife from her holster.

Damn it!!

"Oh." I said blandly as I assessed the sharp knife, causing her to chuckle as she slowly walked towards me.

"Mhm. Gonna cut out your tongue first, so you can't make anymore of those god awful jokes." The female villain grinned, immediately charging at me now with her knife in hand.

That's a little aggressive!

"Okay, honestly, it sounds like you're a little jealous of my super witty one liners. I learned all my humor from Friends, if you'd like to try it yourself-" I trailed off, forced to back up and dodge as she stabbed her knife straight towards my face.

I quickly shuffled out of the way, using my bat as a makeshift shield when she went for a jab to my side.

Spinning on my heel for a little more distance, I slid onto my knee and attempted to slam my bat into her kneecaps-cursing to myself when she gripped the bat and chucked it backwards out of my hands.

I quickly disintegrated the bat in its place now, continuing to cover my tracks as best I could.

"Uh-oh!" I blurted out loud as the villain's knife came stabbing towards my eye, forming a crystal gauntlet around my wrist faster than I could even process.

I grimaced in exertion as the woman's blade clanked loudly against my crystal armor, forced to press back against her arm as the sharp tip of the knife came towards my face.

"What the hell are you doing over there?! Stop messing around!" Endeavor nagged from the side, catching my glare of annoyance.

"Oh yeahhhh. It's a real party over here!" I groaned, quickly forming a sheen of crystals around my other fist before slamming it into her stomach.

Finally, the woman wheezed as the air left her stomach from my hit, allowing me the time to stumble back to my feet and wipe the drop of blood from my mouth.

Okay. Now I'm getting tired-

Already knowing she wasn't done, I formed another crystal blade from my hand, barely able to brace myself for her frame as she came barreling at me like a damn tank.

This one's gonna hurt.

I cringed my eyes shut as she slammed into my midsection, crashing me straight back into the wall with a brute force that caused the air to leave my lungs, and a hole to form in the wall.

With her arms still around me, I immediately jabbed my crystal knife straight into her shoulder blade, twisting the weapon and slicing it outwards-hearing her cry out in pain from the attack.

Her iron hold on my frame loosened slightly, allowing me to form a patch of sharp crystals over my elbow and repeatedly jam it straight down into the space where her shoulder and neck connected.

With a growl of frustration, she was forced to release me, backing up and allowing me to slam my crystallized foot straight into her chest.

She flew backwards into the wall from the force, causing me to go for a stab to her abdomen, before she kicked the bloodied, crystal knife out of my hand.

Remember to get rid of that evidence later.

Too focused to care that the weapon clattered to the floor, I spun on my heel and extended my leg-sweeping her feet out from under.

She didn't go all the way down, stumbling to her knees, but that was enough as it gave me the chance to connect my crystallized fist to her face and punch her as hard as I could.

Blood flew from her mouth and nose as her head whipped to the side, yet I saw her stance prepared to go for a counterattack.

I'm getting exhausted. I can't give her the chance to attack me again.

Becoming desperate to beat her attack, I immediately grabbed a handful of her hair by the roots, slamming the back of her head straight into the wall with the intention to knock her out.

My body was tensed in adrenaline, prepared to continue fighting on the chance she still didn't go down....

....however, I sighed in relief a few moments later as her eyes rolled back in her head, body going limp as she collapsed to the floor in an unconscious heap.

Thank goodness.

"H..Hah....hooo. I really gotta start attending those arm days, I think." I heaved out in pure exhaustion, barely coming down from the adrenaline high I'm becoming so used to...

....before my blood ran cold as I heard Endeavor gasp for air.

My eyes widened as I quickly lifted my head in his direction, about to shit and die right there when I saw the one sight I had damn begged my fate I wouldn't see.

The sight of Kaito, smiling at me wickedly as he choked Endeavor.

Shit. Shit. Shit. He knows me!!! I can't let my cover get blown.

I quickly ran through the last few minutes in my mind, trying to make sure I got rid of every crystallized thing I made.

I think I did. The only things crystallized right now are my elbow and my fists. But I have gloves and a jacket on, so Kaito can't tell.

But, what do I do? How do I fight him? He knows my quirk!

I remained frozen in place for a moment as Kaito easily choked a half dead Endeavor, grinning at me smugly as he waited for me to make a move.

"Who knew it would be so easy to kill the Number One Hero? Sure, I may get in trouble with the boss man for this later. But, he's too holed up in his lab at the moment to know exactly what happened here." Kaito chuckled sinisterly, clearly egging me on with his next words.

"Unless, that is, you plan to try and stop me?" He questioned, glaring into my masked face with challenge as he choked Endeavor harder.

Crap.

Realizing I'd have to face Kaito in hand to hand combat, without my quirk....I decided to at least give myself a little distraction, whipping that cool gun from my back pocket quickly, before switching off the safety and firing it straight at his face.

...at least, I think it's off??-yep, it's off!

Not too thrilled that I probably just sent a million people to our location with such a loud sound, I charged at Kaito immediately after I shot the gun, knowing it would be enough to at least slow him down and allow me to get close.

As expected, he quickly formed a shield of iron over his arm, blocking the shot to his face and causing it to ricochet back into the wall.

"And you're a quirkless runt, too, huh? Well, don't you got some balls, trying to break out the Number One." He chuckled, roughly throwing Endeavor back to the ground as I charged at him.

And while I was already closing in on Kaito, pulling the regular dagger out of the holster on my leg...

....I already knew going into this, that I don't stand a chance against him without my quirk.

Debatably my worst idea ever! Debatably.

Kaito grinned once I got close enough, slamming his iron arm straight into my side and causing me to go flying into the wall.

Wait! No, actually. Not just straight into the wall. But through it, too!!

Because, why stop there, right?!

"Hey!!!" Endeavor yelled as I crashed all the way into the adjacent room, luckily restraining himself from using my name.

I coughed heavily as I landed on the cold, polished floor tiles of the new room-the lobby of the mansion, to be exact, choking for air from such a hard fall as I attempted to crawl away and get to my feet.

Sure. It's not a fair fight without my crystals. But, has he always been this strong?!

Could I actually take him in a fair fight? Honestly, I'm not so sure right now-

"Crawling away like a coward now? You're just pathetic!" Kaito yelled out aggressively-as if he actually had any authority in this place.

Shit!!

Grabbing the gun from my pocket once more, I turned around on the floor to face Kaito-going for another desperate shot to slow him down, before it came out blank.

And another.

And another.

Wow. One single shot. Really?!?? What is this, Russian Roulette??-

"Hah!! I see you found my Russian Roulette gun." Kaito laughed as I threw the empty gun to the side, finding it hilarious as I opted to grab one of the regular daggers from my holster instead.

Of course he would play that-it wouldn't even work on him with his quirk!

Kaito easily kicked the dagger out of my hand, causing the item to clatter as he closed in on my position way too quickly now.

Uh-oh-

My eyes went wide as Kaito loomed over my position like a demon, forming iron claws from his hardened hands as he prepared to crouch over me.

"Can you imagine how much I'll go up in the ranks when I bring the boss the head of such a daring intruder?" He chuckled lowly, attempting to take a single step closer...

....before a wave of blue flames immediately slammed into him from the side.

I jumped in surprise at the abrupt attack, quickly looking upwards to try and spot Dabi.

But, before I could even think about finding Dabi...my gaze was attracted to the countless patches of blue flames and falling debris in the lobby of the mansion, only now registering the chaotic screams and crashes in my, previously ringing, eardrums that let me know there was basically an entire war going on in here.

Damn. Was I that out of it, to where I didn't even notice?!

Oh my god.

Dabi. What did you do.

And a few moments later, I spotted the man himself, grinning as he came up behind my frame....grin wide and face full of his own overexerting blood as he looked down at me with murder lust.

"Heh. Been wanting to do that to him for a long ass time. Piece of shit never knows when to shut up." Dabi chuckled lowly, wiping a speck of blood from his cheek stitches before looking back to Kaito.

Unfortunately, Kaito had been able to form an iron shield, mere milliseconds before Dabi's fire had been able to reach him, coming out of the attack with only a few cuts and bruises.

Also unfortunately, Kaito's eyes widened as he immediately recognized Dabi's flames, looking back to the two of us with realization as he scrambled to his feet.

"What did I tell you about making a scene?!" I hissed out to Dabi quietly so Kaito wouldn't hear, happy that he was okay-but, not happy that he basically just blew our cover.

Dabi shrugged at my words, sighing contently at the chaotic sound of screaming, burning people and crashes as he assessed his destruction of Midas' mansion.

"I dunno. But, it sounded a lot like blah, blah, blahhh." Dabi drawled out obnoxiously, chuckling smugly when I rolled my eyes in annoyance.

Yet, I didn't miss the intense sweep his gaze made over my frame, checking with focus for any debilitating injuries, before his shoulders subtly relaxed in relief when finding none.

I groaned softly as I attempted to scramble to my feet, about to officially reveal myself and remove my face mask like Dabi did...

That is, before...

"You burnt, ugly shit!" Kaito yelled at Dabi, spitting up blood as he got to his own feet. "So, you're the one behind this, huh? No surprise there."

I tensed up when he immediately turned his yellow eyes on me, watching them glow with blood lust as he tried to put the pieces together.

"And I bet that means you're the cunt bitch I've been waiting to kill, huh? Well, why didn't you just say so?" Kaito finished lowly, clearly already running through the most painful ways to kill me as his demeanor started getting more....scary???

I opened my mouth to speak, about to accept my fate and respond, before....

"Hah! Please. You're dumber than I thought if you think that idiot had enough balls to come here. The bitch can't even look at her own reflection without pissing herself in fear! This was all me!" Dabi cackled ferally, fully removing his sweatshirt hood from his head to gain all the attention on him.

What?

Dabi just covered for me, and there could be one of three reasons to why that is.

The first is that he's simply sticking true to his words, wanting all of the attention on him all the time, like he said.

The second is that he cares more about me than he'd like to admit, and he's covering for me to protect me.

And the third is that he doesn't think he's going to make it out of here alive, and he wants to ensure I won't be going down with him.

But, the third option....still leads to him caring more about me than he admits.

Maybe it was because of my amplified emotions, or maybe it was my unresolved abandonment issues coming back full force....but either way, I felt my throat choking up at Dabi's kind gesture for me, not intending to leave him alone and let him go through with this....

....until I saw Endeavor attempting to crawl through the hole in the wall and find my position.

Crap. There he is, huh? Ugh.

I've done wrong by him. Put his life in danger, because of my inability to control my emotions. This whole situation is my fault.

I need to make it right. I need to get Endeavor out of here alive. That's the right thing to do.

"Go." Dabi said to me much gentler than I'd been expecting, causing me to look up at him.

And in this moment, he looked different. So different from how he normally looks. He wasn't grinning like a feral lunatic. He didn't have a look of murder and villainous intentions behind his eyes...

No. He was looking down at me softly. Blue fire and rays of sun peeking through the skylights as his backdrop. In this light, his stitches and his black hair weren't visible. Just his eyes and the unburnt skin of his face. The sun made his hair look lighter-so much lighter.

Immediately, a wave of physical pain stabbed into my heart as I looked up at him....feeling my lip quivering with a wave of hysteria that threatened to bubble over.

It hurts. Oh god, it hurts to look at him.

Why does it hurt to look at him, Violet?

It hurts so bad. I just want to reach out and touch him. I need to touch him. I need to know he's real. To know he's here.

Why does it hurt so much?

Please don't leave me again. Please. Please!!!-

'Again.' Why do you keep saying again.

As if he's already left you once before.

"I..I...." I choked out inaudibly, melting my fearful eyes into Dabi's blue ones so desperately.

Sensing I was on the verge of a breakdown the more I looked at him, flecks of panic flashed across Dabi's eyes, not reaching any other feature of his face as he quickly broke my gaze.

"Go," he repeated lowly, trying to gain back his hard exterior as he looked back to Kaito. "I'm not telling you again. I'll hold him off, and that's it."

He says that like he's not legitimately prepared to sacrifice himself for me right now! Why is he so stubborn!!! Ugh, I hate him!

But, really, I....

....I decided to take his advice, forcing myself to scramble back up to my feet and take off in a sprint towards Endeavor, ignoring Kaito's yells at me to stop as I left him to Dabi.

My legs felt heavy. So heavy. My lungs burned. My eyes stung with tears from looking at Dabi in such a different light for too long. And god, my stomach hurts!

But, the door to the outside of the mansion is practically within my reach. And I am willing to, quite literally, die to ensure Endeavor makes it there safely.

And it seems I may get my wish as a figure in all black immediately leapt down from the burning balcony on the second floor, forcing me to halt in my tracks as they blocked my path to Endeavor.

Oh. Shit.

It's Tsuyo. Why, why, Whyyyy???

Having no choice but to stop on my heels, I couldn't help but feel thankful for the mask on my face at this moment...definitely not wanting Tsuyo to have full proof that I'm the one who caused this.

Certainly....they must have some sort of an inkling it's me though. Right...? Which means they might not hurt me??-

My thoughts-and hope were both immediately cut off at my incorrect assessments, feeling a rush of adrenaline coat my veins when I watched Tsuyo quickly pull a scary looking knife from their holster without hesitation....causing me to gulp with nerves as I remained frozen in my tracks.

"If you're as smart as you've made yourself out to be," Tsuyo said to me calmly, voice sounding robotic and dead behind their voice changer, "then you'll call it quits right now and beg for mercy."

A tempting offer, really! Especially when they gave their knife an intimidating twirl to let me know they weren't messing around.

Unable to say anything for fear my voice would be recognized, I simply remained frozen in place as I tried to get the balls to make a move-watching Endeavor trying his best to crawl towards the exit in the background.

That man is having a rough time over there...

From my left, I could hear Dabi's signature cackle, followed by the sound of his flames and the charring of his skin as he fought off Kaito for me.

Well, Tsuyo. It looks like we're both about to be disappointed in how not smart I am!

Letting out a peep of nerves-and not wanting to fight Tsuyo with how exhausted the day had made me, I went for the simple tactic-the signature Violet tactic I've become so used to.

Running the fuck away!

Running towards Endeavor, to be exact-breaking out into a sprint, and catching Tsuyo off guard as I quickly ran past them and went straight for Mr. Todoroki's position.

A desperate idea, sure. But, he's only about twenty feet away from the exit. His escape is within my fingertips.

Endeavor looked up from his crawl as he heard the chaos of my footsteps, eyes immediately going wide as he spoke with full warning.

"Duck!!" He yelled to me, eyes focused on my right side.

No surprise. I expected Tsuyo to attack. I was just hoping I would have at least gotten a bit closer to Endeavor first.

Looks like it's also time to start going for runs, too! Woooo, so many eye openers for self improvement today!

Oh well. Time to improvise.

On cue, I felt Tsuyo grab the hood of my jacket harshly, roughly yanking me backwards off my feet.

Accurately expecting them to try and hit me in the back of the head, I quickly ducked-watching their knife clad fist swing aggressively at the spot my head had just been in.

But, even so.... I noticed Tsuyo was trying to hit me with the hilt of the knife, rather than the sharp part.

I quickly shuffled backwards to give myself time to reset my fight stance, tiredly circling the space with Tsuyo as we waited for the other to make a move.

Instinctively, they ran their gloved hand up their suit, seeming as if they were trying to find a specific jewel to use on me-before realizing they were out.

I assume they've spent this time in their own fight of trying to find Dabi and I. Lucky for me, they seem to have exhausted their resources for now.

Sensing I was preparing to run again, Tsuyo spoke once more-saying more words in this single sentence than they've said to me in weeks.

"It's easy to see you're exhausted. Even if I can't see your face, your body language says it all. Give up now, before you give yourself a worse fate." They said lowly, gripping the dagger a little tighter in their hands when Kaito looked their way.

"Tsuyo, I need backup!! Hurry up, and kill that one already!! Stop messing around!! Please help me!!" Kaito suddenly boomed from across the room, taking a fisted face of fire from Dabi.

And while their counterpart was getting his ass handed to him by Dabi, Tsuyo didn't even look over at him, keeping their masked face on me as they tried to talk me down once more.

"You won't win. Do you hear me? You will not win this. So give up now and surrender. That is all you can do now to survive." They said, almost sounding concerned in their words, giving their knife an active twirl in their hands when Kaito looked over in desperation.

"What are you doing over there?!? Come on, hurry up!!!" Kaito screamed at Tsuyo, hurling a desperate spike of iron Dabi's way.

I grit my teeth in stress to Tsuyo's words, knowing they probably wouldn't go so easy on me when I tried to run a second time.

But, Dabi's already fighting past his limits and so is Endeavor. It's up to me to end this.

Trying to give myself a better distraction, I turned my attention back to Tsuyo, feeling my adrenaline running high as I grabbed a regular dagger from my holster and chucked it at them abruptly.

To my surprise, and apparently theirs as well-I watched the dagger immediately plunge into their shoulder, causing them to gasp and stumble backwards as I took off running past them again.

Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit!!! Ahhhh, I did it!

I'm so dead!!

Five feet away from the exit. Endeavor is so close to getting outside. And I am so close to shitting my pants!

Once he's outside, we can call Kurogiri and get him out of this mess-

My thoughts were cut off when I felt something wrap around my feet and tangle them up, unintentionally letting out a peep of surprise when I went crashing to the floor harshly.

Ouchhh. That's gonna bruise.

"Hey!!" Endeavor yelled to me in concern, attempting to redirect his pathetic, little crawl path towards my position to help.

A whole mood.

"No!!" I yelled out to him loudly, quickly looking down to see Tsuyo had thrown their nunchucks around my ankles. "I can handle it, Endeavor. Go now!!"

The Number One Hero grit his teeth in conflict as he saw me struggle to get the nunchucks off my legs, not moving just yet as he debated on what to do.

Still??? We are still doing this???

A groan of frustration escaped me when he didn't move, causing me to pull my phone out of my pocket and slide it across the polished floors to him.

"Trust me, Mr. Todoroki! Please! For once....trust me and have faith that I can do this. That I can save you." I said calmly, meeting my unmasked eyes with his own.

He looked at me closely, eyes grimacing subtly in with more conflict as he placed a hand over my phone when it came his way.

I didn't expect him to say anything to my comment. I either expected him to listen to my words and go, or give some stubborn reason about why he should stay and take care of this.

What I didn't expect, were his next words.

"It's not that I don't trust you." He stated calmly, eyes swimming with memories of the past as he looked at me with nostalgia.

I looked at Endeavor in confusion to his words, kicking off the nunchucks as I tried to process them.

However, I didn't get the chance as Tsuyo easily picked them up, not even stopping their walking pace as they met my spot on the ground.

My entire vision was rocked as they flipped their knife in hand, slamming the blunt hilt of it straight across my face and causing me to gasp.

"Damn it!!!" Endeavor yelled in fury, doing exactly what I told him not to as he came crawling over.

What are you going to do about it, you dead bug?!? Just leave!!

I choked in pain at the hit Tsuyo landed on me, reaching up to grip my hurt cheek and gather my bearings.

Though I didn't get the time to as they wrapped their nunchuck around my extended wrist, using it to yank me off the ground harshly, before sending their elbow straight into my forehead when I was propelled forward.

So much for going easy on me!

"Shit.." I breathed out a bit too loud as my head began to feel woozy, feeling Tsuyo grip my collar when I stumbled slightly on my feet.

They turned their gaze over to Kaito, only harshly shoving me down to the floor when they saw he was watching.

"I told you-you should have begged for mercy when you had the chance." Tsuyo said in monotone, looming over my frame as they hesitantly pulled a purple jewel from their uniform-positioning it a certain way to ensure it would reflect brightly for the entire room to see.

Uh-oh!-

"Oi. I wouldn't even try that, if I were you. I'll fucking burn you to a crisp before you can touch her with it." I heard Dabi rasp out exhaustedly from across the room as he caught the jewel's reflection-clearly keeping an eye on me during the fight.

"You're next." Tsuyo said to Dabi, very slowly lifting the jewel as they prepared to use it.

Really, they could have used it on me by now. Too much anticipation!!!-

"And you're dead!!!" Dabi yelled ferally, throwing Kaito across the room by his collar.

And it seems that Tsuyo waited too long to use their golden opportunity to kill me, as Dabi struck first.

The stitched man shot a heavy line of fire straight up to the chandelier above Tsuyo's head, immediately causing it to fall and go crashing down towards them in the blink of an eye.

Quickly powering down the jewel, Tsuyo didn't even try to pursue me anymore, leaping backwards to ensure they wouldn't get squashed under the flaming chandelier.

And while Dabi's intention with that attack was strictly to save my life, it actually had a dual purpose as it created a barrier between Tsuyo and I, allowing me the time I needed to force myself up to my feet and help the half dead Number One Hero out the door.

"Come on!!" I yelled to Endeavor, not so gently yanking him up to his feet.

He didn't protest to any of my orders anymore, forcing himself to put as much weight on his broken leg as he could as we made it to the exit.

The outside air hit us so freshly once we got outside, the soft rustle of the early morning leaves contrasting humorously against Endeavor and I's frantic wheezes.

Endeavor gripped my phone in his bloody hand, clicking the screen on to see there was a passcode.

"What's your passcode?" He asked urgently, causing my foggy brain to try and process the numbers.

But, I couldn't think of the specific numbers. Not when my vision is spinning like this.

All I could say was...

"Mom's birthday."

Immediately after I said it, I began wracking my muddled brain for the numbers, not knowing if Endeavor would be able to even remember such a small detail about my mother.

But a few moments later, I heard him talking with Kurogiri, showing me that he did in fact enter my passcode correctly and call the right person.

Who knew.

"Alright, kid," Endeavor said once the familiar purple portal began appearing on the stone steps of the mansion. "Let's go. We gotta get you to a doctor."

I chuckled softly at his words, finding it a little funny that he thinks I'm going with him.

There's no way I could ever leave Dabi here alone. He's too important to me.

Oh.

Shit.

He's too important to me-

I shook my head slowly to Endeavor's words, wishing for the first time in my life that we could have a longer moment to chat.

But, there's no time. Time runs out when you least expect it. Those are always the moments where you realized you took it for granted. Where you realize you want more.

"Say hello to your kids for me, Mr. Todoroki." I smiled warmly, giving him a genuine nod of friendship as the portal fully formed behind him now.

His eyes widened in what looked to be panic as he realized I wouldn't be coming with him....making me a little surprised and confused that he seemed to care so much.

I never thought he cared. He probably doesn't.

"It wasn't a request, Sasaki. You're coming with me. I'm not leaving you behind." Endeavor said lowly, causing my smile to become a little more touched at his gesture.

Maybe he does care. Or maybe he just feels bad for me. Who knows.

I don't think I ever will. But, it is nice to think about.

Holding Endeavor's gaze, I quickly pressed both my hands into his chest, causing his face to morph into shock and panic as he was sent off his feet and through the portal.

"Carla!!!" Endeavor yelled accidentally as he fell back into the portal, saying my mother's name in a mixture of anger, and panic, and pain for my fading face as a fog of purple slowly began to close around him.

His words hurt as I haven't heard my mother's name spoken aloud in years.

But, they also gave me an epiphany that needed to be acknowledged. A chain around my neck that needed to finally be broken and put to rest.

Something I finally acknowledge. Something I finally accept after endless years of wanting. Of wishing. Of trying.

And even though Endeavor had already disappeared past the portal and he could no longer hear me...I still needed to say it-if to no one, than at least the trees and early morning light.

I need to say it for me. Out loud. So that at least something in this universe knows the truth.

I needed it to be said that...

"I am not my mother, Mr. Todoroki. And I never will be."

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Next Chapter Title: Home Is Where The Heart Is.

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