Chapter Text
Todoroki, Shoji, and Midoriya caught Compress in midair, bringing the group of them crashing to ground in a small clearing amongst the trees. Unluckily for the three teens however, they now had more company.
"I know those brats!! Who are they!?"
"Mister. Dodge," Dabi commanded seemingly unfazed by the sudden intrusion.
Before the dust could even settle, he shot forth an eruption of blue flames. Todoroki narrowly escaped to one side, the flames licking at his shirt sleeve. Shoji and Midoriya were not as quick to react, their already unstable footing disappeared beneath them. The fire caught on Shoji's webbed arm when he shielded himself as he fled. Midoriya was blown backward. The flames engulfed the makeshift bandages that wrapped up his severely injured right arm. Before he could hit the ground and process what happened, another moved in to attack.
"Hi Izuku! My name is Toga!" A young girl wearing another school's uniform and an odd looking scarf. Her blonde hair done up in two messy buns on the side of her head. A devilish fanged grin was plastered on her face that seemed to match her scarf. She pounced and pinned Midoriya to the ground. The fire smothered by the dirt beneath them. She brandished a knife from a pouch strapped around her thigh and pressed the blade against his throat. The cold of the steel causing him to flinch as it made contact with his hot skin. "I was just thinking how much better you'd look if you bled a little more!"
What the hell?!
"Some faces from Shigaraki's hit list... that beat up kid and you were not on it!" A man clad in a black and gray full-body suit proclaimed as he slid in to corner Todoroki. He was quickly met with a wall of ice.
The flames dissipated and Compress appeared standing where he was before he vanished, brushing dirt from his trench coat. He adjusted his gloves and stepped towards Toga and the boy under her.
"Twice has a point. These boys were on Shigaraki's other list. Maybe he'd want a hand in some of the fun."
"What are you talking about?" Toga asked a bit annoyed at him for interrupting her fun.
"Need I really spell it out? Let's take this one with us too. He seemed to take a particular interest in him before. I'm sure he'd much rather be the one to get rid of him."
"At least it might get him off our back for a while. Good idea. Now grab him and let's go," Dabi agreed but was starting to show his impatience. If this took any longer things could become troublesome.
Twice leapt over the ice wall, slicing through a spike blocking his way with his measuring tape. Todoroki readied himself to counter but never got the chance to do so. Shoji jumped in, landing a blow to the unsuspecting Twice's side, knocking him away.
"Shoji!" Todoroki helped him to his feet. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine! We need to hurry and get Midoriya and get out of here!"
"But the-"
"I managed to grab them before. We need to go," Shoji cut him off in a harsh whisper. He opened his fist just enough to reveal two blue marbles for a second before hiding them away again. The two turned their attention to their other friend. They needed a distraction long enough to grab him and make a break for it. Giving each other and understanding look, they both took a step forward to make their move but a new rustling behind them stopped them in their tracks. They slowly turned in horror as out from the trees stomped a large black creature. One they recognized. A Nomu.
Compress shooed Toga off the boy and quickly secured him with his quirk before he could protest. In perfect timing, depending on who you were in this situation, several swirling purple portals opened up in the clearing.
"Times up. Let's go," it seemed more like Dabi was just growing bored rather than impatient now. Compress and Toga joined him. Twice stepped through his own portal as the hulking Nomu trudged by the other two students, not paying them any mind, to another one.
"Wait!" Shoji shouted, catching even Todoroki off guard. Compress and Dabi halted for a moment before passing through their portal. Toga continued on ahead of them completely uninterested in whatever he had to say.
Shoji might have gotten Tokoyami and Bakugou back, but now they had just grabbed Midoriya. After all he did to help them, they couldn't just let him be taken instead. No, they all had to go back together. He had to stall. "The whole reason you came here was to take Bakugou. You can't leave without him!"
"What is he taking about? You have him right?"
"It seems as though he took my bait. Sorry boys, but you simply took back decoys. We still have what we came here for," he reached a hand up and removed his mask. His face was still mostly obscured by another black mask. This one cloth, with openings only for his eyes and mouth. He stuck out his tongue, revealing two familiar blue marbles. He snapped his fingers of his free hand. The marbles Shoji possessed reverted back to their true form: two hunks of ice.
"Damnit! From back then?!" Todoroki recalled his first attack on the man before they chased him down. There was no time left. They had to make a move now before they disappeared entirely.
"And this is where we leave you..." Compress stepped back into the warp gate along side Dabi with a bow. But just then, a blinding beam of sparkling light shot out from the bushes, grazing Compress' face, shattering his mask and causing him to drop his trophies. Without skipping a beat, Shoji and Todoroki dashed forward to catch the falling captives. Shoji managed to snatch one but Dabi was faster and grabbed the other just short of Todoroki's reach.
"How sad for you, Shoto Todoroki," he smirked. "It's him. Release them."
"Where did that come from..? It made a mess of my show!" with a snap Compress revealed the spoils. Tokoyami appeared with Shoji.
Bakugou and Midoriya with the League of Villains.