' We have to act fast. I am sure they will soon be suspicious as to why is it taking me so long,' Ejji said.

Mariko stood up and with half-closed eyes, walked to the table with her support items. It was extremely difficult to keep the balance right when everything around her was shifting or spinning, but she knew she had to completely trust her body and muscle memory.

'The kids are in a van on the ground floor,' he informed, his voice now neutral.

She picked up the items and put on the vest along with the glove. She clenched her fists a few times, trying to warm up the limbs after lack of movement for so long. As she rotated around, Tsukisaku was already standing in front of the door. He glanced towards her and then turned his head to the entrance. He lifted his hand to open the door and in the same second, the door was sent flying, slamming into the boy's body, pushing him to the back of the room.

Mariko's eyes widened, as she spotted a second shadow figure, much taller and wider than any other silhouettes she had seen before. The height of the villain standing at the door had to be at least two meters, but the width of his body was what scared Mariko the most.

'Strength enhancing Quirk?' she asked herself.

'I knew you are a filthy rat!' the muscular-man shouted. 'Maboroshi should never let you in!' he yelled at Ejji, who was lying immobilized at the back of the room.

As the man turned himself towards Mariko and rubbed his fists together, she felt her body tremble in fear. The blurry vision and the danger before overwhelmed her. She felt like a little, defenseless child again, staring at the oppressor, waiting for the inevitable.

' If you are so scared... how must Ejji feel? How do the children feel?'

With that thought, her mind cleared and rage boiled her blood. In a split second, she activated her Quirk, small, bright-green flames covered her eyes. The man screamed in anger and leaned forward, then charged at her with incredible speed. The student shot a grapple above her, grasping a vertical, metal pipe. She bent her body, avoiding the impact with the man, who stopped and slid a few meters forward, destroying the table on his way.

'You heroes and your fancy equipment,' he commented, spitting on the ground, as Mariko sat on the concrete column above the villain.

He turned on his heel and looked down at wounded Ejji.

'Oh no,' she thought immediately.

Okaido dashed forward, grasped another pipe and swung herself towards Tsukisaku. She landed a few meters in front of the boy and looked at the muscular-man with rage. She channeled her draining aura towards the enemy, creating a link between their bodies. At first, the man was confused, but then he just chuckled and leaned forward again, charging at the two of them. Mariko quickly picked up the boy and dodged the charging attack. The villain smashed into a pillar, which broke in two. Senchi's eyes widened, but she did not let the fear rule over her heart.

The gigantic shadow figure quickly turned towards Mariko and dashed forward with something in his hand. Senchi wanted to jump away, but something hit her feet, knocking her on the floor. The world around her continued to spin as she tried to get up. Her distorted eyesight and the weight of the boy slowed down her movements; the villain grabbed Ejji and straightened his forearms, swinging them at Mariko like a sword.

Senchi shot a grapple and slid on the floor, but before she dodged, the blade sliced through her right leg, all the way from the ankle to the middle of the calf, cutting through the fabric of her shoes.

She shouted in pain and pulled herself upwards, jumping on one of the pillars.

'No time for the first aid,' she thought, and blocked the pulling mechanism of the Binding Cloth. 'Neutralize him. NOW!'

The young hero dashed forward, ignoring the pain and blood leaking from her wound. She wrapped the Binding Cloth on the concrete balk above the enemy and felt the rage soar through her body. The link of draining energy darkened and her flames grew bigger, weakening his body. In a blink of an eye, she landed on the enemy's back. The villain tried reaching her, but his unnatural, Quirk-enhanced muscles prevented him from grabbing Mariko. He grasped Tsukisaku once again to swing his blades at the woman, but this time, she was prepared.

'Improvised ultimate move! RAPID DRAIN!' She placed her hand on his scalp and lifted it in a sudden movement, felling the boost of energy.

She knew that she cannot store it for long and the power-up has to be released almost instantly. Because of that, she pushed herself from the man's back and wrapped the Binding Cloth around his neck. She flipped above the man's shoulders, tightening the binding weapon. He swung his hand at her, trying to grasp her mid-air but she rotated around his arm and using the energy she had drained from the opponent, kicked him with her steel-toed shoes on the top of his head.

Mariko's flames shrunk as she caught Ejji and ran towards the door, hearing the body of the muscular man slam unconscious behind her.

She placed Tsukisaku on the ground and examined his body, ignoring her own wounds. She checked his pulse, and applied a dressing onto his damaged head, securing it with an elastic bandage. Her hands were shaky, as the link of the energy with the KO'ed villain was still active.

She sat down and closed her eyes, breathing deeply. Then, she recalled the Binding Cloth back to the gauntlet.

'It's OK. He is neutralized,' she calmed her rage, deactivating the link. 'We cannot drain him to death. It's OK now.'

Mariko exhaled slowly and opened her eyes. She looked at her own leg and opened a few pockets in her vest, administrating the first-aid. Her own ligature looked a lot less professional than the one she wrapped Ejji's head with.

' There is no time.'

She picked up the boy and gritted the teeth feeling her bleeding calf. Mariko blinked a few times, trying to clear her spinning, blurry vision. She cursed under her breath and walked down the dark corridor, which led to a small staircase. She stood at the top of the stairs and placed Ejji's feet on the floor, then grasped his arms and put his body on her back.

'Fuck!' she spat out and then released a few meters of the Binding Cloth, securing the boy's ankles around her waist.

She then leaned forward and walked down the stairs on all fours, carefully placing her hands on each step. Mariko stopped mid-stairs, rubbing her eyes with annoyance, her rage for the silver-haired man growing stronger.

'What a dumbass Quirk,' she thought.

She walked all the way down the stairs and entered another spacious room, which looked almost the exact same as the previous one, but this time, she saw a van parked a few dozen meters in front of her. The vehicle stood in front of the garage door, with the engine turned off. She stopped and slowly stood up, listening carefully to her surroundings. The only thing that she was hearing were quiet sniffs coming from inside of the van.

She untied the Binding Cloth and recalled it to the grapple gauntlet, then she placed Ejji on the floor, supporting his back on the nearest wall.

Senchi walked to the van, being careful not to make any sound. She still had no idea where the silver-haired man was.

When she opened the car's trunk, she saw the two siblings from before. The children were sitting at the very end of the car, cuddled together, their bodies trembling in the spasms of fear.

'Hey,' Mariko said softly, leaning towards the kids. 'You are safe, come with me.'

The kids hid their faces away from the girl and started to cry again.

'Shhh, shhh,' she whispered softly. 'It's all fine now.'

The children did not react, still scared of her.

'It is most likely the man's Quirk. The kids are way too scared to come to me willingly. Besides, my Drain is active and it doesn't look very friendly either,' she thought of her green flames and the dark aura.

Mariko looked behind her and noticed a door at the end of the room. She turned her head back to the children and placed her right knee on the entrance of the van's trunk. She opened her mouth and closed it right after. She thought for a few moments and then she got an idea.

Senchi slowly started swaying to the melody, which she started humming. She mimicked some instruments and snapped her fingers to the beat of the song she was thinking of.

'Totsuzen no kisu ya,' she started very softly. 'atsui manazashi de. Koi no puroguramu wo,' she glanced behind her shoulder again. The little boy slowly lifting his head to look at her. 'kuruwasenai de ne. Deai to wakare, jouzu ni uchikonde.' She smiled at the kids, both of them now looking at her. 'Jikan ga kureba owaru... Don't worry!' she changed the lyrics of the 'Plastic Love' song and reached with her hand towards the children, who crawled from the back of the van and grasped her palm.

She hugged both of the kids, singing to them softly, feeling their small bodies trembling in despair. She stroked their hair and continued soothing them with the song, glancing behind her from time to time.

'Hop on my back and hold on as tight as you can,' she instructed, turning her back to the children.

Just as they started climbing, the door swung open and she saw the foggy silhouette from before. She quickly stood up and gestured the kids to stay inside the vehicle. Without hesitation, she dashed towards the man.

The villain smirked and stretched his right arm forward. Mariko's eyes widened, as she noticed a gun in his hand. She immediately stopped and stood in the line of fire between the opponent and the children.

'Smart,' he commented and slowly walked towards her. 'Hands above your head.'

She did as was told.

'Good,' he said, standing to her side. 'Kneel.' He placed the gun's barrel on her temple.

Okaido slowly lowered herself to her knees, thoughts spinning through her head. She kept her anger inside of her, waiting for the right moment to release it. He pushed the gun towards her head, making her body tilt to the side. She shut her eyes, fear slicing through her heart.

Maboroshi heard her shallow breath and smirked to himself, feeling completely in control of her life.

'Enough of those hero games,' he said.

She took a deep breath, feeling the gun's barrel against the side of her head. As she slowly exhaled, her brain reminded her of a disarming tactic she had read about a while ago. Most of the villains press the firearms against the body of the victims, because it makes them feel very good, feel like they are in control. But what they most of the time don't realize is that it makes it easier for the victim to strike back.

Mariko instantly opened her eyes and punched the man's forearm to the side, while leaning forward, avoiding the bullet. The man pulled the trigger and the incredibly loud sound damaged Okaido's ears, blood escaping from her wounded eardrums. She activated the drain and grabbed the gun, dropping it's magazine to the floor. She pushed the barrel backwards and the last bullet hit the floor. The man swung his fist at Mariko, who dodged the hit and then aimed his gun at her, pulling the trigger.

They both heard a click and Mariko grinned, the pain her body was in putting her in a state of an immense fury. She grasped his arm and swung her leg at his ribs, delivering a kick. She wrapped her body around himself and using the grapple to increase the momentum, swung around him, slamming him on the ground. The ringing sound in her ears prevented her from hearing anything, so she had no idea that just as she did that, the police sirens started singing in the distance.

The man twisted his body and kicked her on her shoulder, then grabbed her head.

The second he touched her, Mariko froze in fear. He was no longer a tall silhouette covered in shadow. He was the very embodiment of her worst nightmares. She pushed herself to the concrete floor, terrified of the vision in front of her. She was barely able to see the world around her, but the person grasping her head seemed to be the All for One himself.

She felt as if her blood froze and her muscles were immobilized. The creature in front of her shifted and the body of the All for One changed into a mass of clay, from which a purple, spiky hair emerged. As the clay fell down, she saw Hizashi's corpse, which then turned into Midnight, Mirio, Eri, Present Mic and then Aizawa.

'NOOO!' she screamed and felt the tears falling from her eyes.

Aizawa's skin was melting, revealing the black, rotting flesh behind it. She saw his bones, the blood from his wounds dripping everywhere around her.

'You didn't save them,' the corpse said, some of the wounds sealing back in it's normal condition, just to fall apart a second later.

The ringing inside her ears changed into whispers, driving her insane. She did not know if she was dead or living her worst nightmares.

Mariko shut her eyes and focused on her only two senses which were not manipulated by the blind man's Quirk - her touch and smell. She slid her palms across the dusty floor.

'I am still in the warehouse,' she told herself, feeling her body shake in fear. She took a deep breath in, smelling the gunpowder from the shot before.

When she opened her eyes, the flame covering her eyes exploded and the man's grasp weakened. She continued draining him, feeling her left shoulder go numb. The hallucinations in front of her glitched and she saw the shocked face of Maboroshi.

She shot her grapple, wrapping it around the nearest column and pushed herself from the ground, freeing herself from below the man. The hallucinations stayed, but she was no longer focusing on them.

'It's just a Quirk,' she said to herself, the rage exploding inside of her.

The villain took a few steps backwards, visibly terrified. She placed her feet on the concreate column and propelled herself towards the man, using the stored energy. She recalled the grapple and fired it again, delivering a powerful kick to the drained man's head. He partially lost balance and took another step backwards, positioning himself a few meters in front of the door.

Mariko rotated around the column and turned herself into a human-projectile. She pointed her heels at the man's body and pushed her elbows to her sides. With incredible force, she landed at the man's chest, kicking him out of the building along with the door, which ripped out of it's hinges.

She jumped on the wall and pulled herself towards the column, quickly returning to the van. As she peeked inside, her heart dropped to the ground. Both of the kids were laying dead inside the wan, their small limbs pierced with multiple knives, bathing them in their own blood.

Mariko closed her eyes, feeling the burning tears. She heard hostile voices whispering to her ears. Her sensory organs were going insane, as she tried not to throw up.

Suddenly, she felt a touch on her face - a small hand brushing away the watery trails on her dirty cheek.

Mariko smiled through the tears and reached with her hand towards the corpses of the kids, feeling two small hands grasp her palm.

'I can't hear you,' she said quietly. 'Please hold onto my vest.'

With that, she turned around and waited for the kids to climb her back. New tears fell from her eyes, as she swallowed the burning sensation inside her gullet.

'I did it.'

She cleared her throat and started humming the melody again, calming the kids on her back. Using the energy from the Drain, she nullified the pain in her right leg and walked all the way to the staircase, supporting herself on the nearest walls. Like a sleepwalker, she inspected the walls and ground before her, until she reached Ejji. She picked up the boy, ignoring the vision of his massacred body and turned around, following her instinct and carefully turned towards the entrance door.

Mariko sniffed as she felt the two children hug her back. She started singing softly, not quite sure if she was calming down the children or herself, trying to stay sane while new hallucinations appeared in front of her.

'I'm just playing games.' She took a step towards the light peeking through the empty doorway. 'I know that's plastic love,' she sang in a calmer tone.

As she took another step forward, the police cars and two ambulances pulled up in front of the warehouse, surrounding the area. The police officers pointed their guns at the doorway.

'Police! Come out! You are surrounded!' the officer screamed through megaphone.

'Dance to the plastic beat,' Mariko continued. 'Another morning comes...'

Ms. Joke left the armored police vehicle and saw Present Mic, Midnight and Eraser leave the sports car parked on the side. All four of them stood in front of the police cars, preparing for anything that might come through the door.

'Hands above your shoulders!' police officer ordered, but Aizawa held his hand, stopping the police from doing anything, noticing the dark aura around the doorway. Two of the policemen examined the man laying in front of the warehouse, cuffing him and transporting him towards the ambulance.

Midnight looked at Mic and Shota, inspecting their tense faces. The children on Mariko's back grasped her neck and hugged her tighter, seeing the police cars in front of the warehouse. As the young hero, carrying three people, stepped through the empty doorway, Eraserhead's heart dropped to the floor.

'She's fine!' Hizashi grasped Shota's arm and leaned forward, in a sign of relief.

'I'm just playing games.' Mariko continued, stepping outside of the warehouse. 'I know that's plastic love...' She trembled at the sight of more hallucinations. She tilted her head to the side, trying to look away from the visions. As she saw more nightmary silhouettes, the whispers got louder, so she started singing over them.

'Dance to the plastic beat!' the group surrounding the warehouse heard. 'Another morning comes...'

Through a glitched hallucination, she saw the spinning police lights and then smiled to herself. As her Quirk and the adrenaline slowly faded away, she stopped, slowly collapsing to the cold ground before her.