Felix had scarcely sent Izuku away into the warp portal when Pixie Bob showed up on the plateau. She wasted no time, sending waves of jagged rocks towards Felix. Kurogiri swallowed them immediately, shielding the boy from the hero.

“You must leave now, Sentinel.” The gas-being was somehow sounding strained despite not having any vocal cords. “Or you’ll risk getting captured by the heroes.”

“How about Muscular?” Felix insisted.

“Sorry, I… can’t transport him this time. I only have enough energy to warp myself away. Hurry, before she overwhelms me!”

Felix hissed in annoyance, flying straight into the air as Kurogiri dispersed himself into the air. An pike of Earth rose up from the cliff at incredible speed towards the escaping psychic, but it was still too slow.

Inertia crashed into Felix as he accelerated sharply, disappearing into the distance with a sonic boom.

~ ~ ~

The last portion of the mission was the easiest part of the night: Playing dead. Or at least, pretending to have been knocked out by Mustard’s indiscriminate gas. After all, it would have been mighty suspicious if Felix conveniently went missing after the villains attacked the training camp.

A plethora of bad news greeted Felix when he ‘regained consciousness’. Half of the forest had been burnt down by Dabi’s fire, while fifteen students were in serious condition after inhaling Mustard’s gas. Thankfully, everyone was too preoccupied by the shock of the attack to question why Felix was mostly fine despite being knocked out by the very same gas.

Aside from Bakugo and Izuku, the third member of the Pussycats, Ragdoll, had also been stolen without Felix’s notice. As for the villains, most of them had disappeared without a trace except for Mustard, Muscular, and Moonfish, who were taken into custody.

The next morning arrived, and the heroes were immediately swarmed by the media for their apparent incompetence. Felix switched off the live broadcast five minutes into the hearing. He could not take it. Though he was not aligned with the heroes, it still infuriated him to watch the public mindlessly tear down the people who risked their lives saving them on a daily basis.

A few more hours passed, and Felix found himself meeting up with his classmates to pick up Momo, who was about to be discharged from the hospital. Tenya, however, had intercepted him at the courtyard before he could enter the building.

“Pagonis, I need to speak to you about something.” A familiar hardened look was etched on Tenya’s face.

Felix’s heart skipped a beat, but he kept his expression neutral.

“About?”

“I have failed as a class rep. I failed to protect my classmates. I failed to stop the villains from hurting our class.” Tenya’s head was bowed. “And I pray you will forgive me-”

“Tenya, it’s not your fault-”

“-For breaking the rules once more.”

Felix’s mouth slammed shut as he stared at his classmate. As with the hero killer, his eyes harboured the look of someone determined to cut down anything in his way. Except, it was not coated in vengeance this time, but sheer will.

“The villain attack was too sudden. There’s no way even the pros are able to locate our friends in such a short period of time,” Tenya continued. “But you are stronger than them; I’ve seen it with my own eyes. And most importantly, your quirk allows you to locate even the faintest of presences. That’s how you caught Edgeshot, didn’t you?”

The psychic folded his arms.

“As a mere student, I know I don’t stand a chance in a head on fight with them.” Tenya sighed. “That’s why I have a huge favour to ask of you. A covert operation. Just you and me. We’ll locate our friends ourselves and extricate them without anyone noticing.”

“And who will take responsibility for your actions if you fail?”

The boys whipped their heads towards the voice. Momo, Ochaco, Todoroki, Tsu, and Kirishima were marching up towards them.

“Do you really think the two of you are enough?” Todoroki said. “I’m going with you.”

“I couldn’t do anything either,” Kirishima added. “If I don’t come along, how can I call myself a hero or a man?”

“I’ll do anything to make sure Deku’s safe, even if it means breaking the rules.” Ochaco nodded firmly.

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“Everyone! You’re being too emotional about this,” Tsu said. “No matter your feelings, breaking the rules makes you no different from the villains.”

Felix looked away. If their plan hinged on his ability to locate Izuku, he couldn’t simply pretend to fail without drawing suspicion. But he also could not reject them outright either, nor could he go with their plan without exposing himself.

“How do you intend on finding the League Of Villain’s hideout in the first place?” he asked. “There are limits to the range of my telekinesis, you know.”

“I don’t like the idea of breaking the rules and entering such dangerous territory either. But we will stand a higher chance of success if we have a plan.” Momo pulled out a receiver. “Before I was knocked out by a nomu, I managed to get Awase from Class 1B to attach my transmitter onto its body.”

The girl pressed a button, and a location blinked on its small screen. “I’m not sure if this will lead directly to the villains’ hideout, but following this should at least give us some clues.”

“No, stop! Are you crazy?” Tenya waved his hands frantically. “There’s way too many of us for this to be a covert operation. Doing this increases the chances of failure exponentially. It’s not safe for you!”

“And it’s safe for you?” Todoroki retorted. “These aren’t just some random thugs; these are villains you’re talking about. You’ll need backup. We’re more competent than you think, class rep.”

“I’m sorry, but I cannot be a part of this.” Tsu stepped back from the group. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. But I seriously hope you’ll reconsider.”

The girl stretched out her tongue and leapt out of view without another word.

“Fine. Midoriya and Bakugo are in danger every minute we spend doing nothing. If we go, we go tonight,” Tenya said grudgingly. “I have a ground rule. This is strictly a stealth operation. Anything happens, we run. And if we have to fight, leave the fighting to Pagonis. I’m sure we can all agree that he’s stronger than most pros too.”

The squad agreed emphatically.

~ ~ ~

Felix pushed open the bar doors to the sound of Bakugo’s voice. He braced himself for the incoming outburst. That boy was not going to be happy when he finally found out who had betrayed him.

“It’s so strange. Why are the heroes being criticised?” Shigaraki switched off the broadcast, turning his attention to the blonde boy tied up to a chair. “The way they handled things was just a little off the mark.”

“Everyone makes a mistake or two. Nobody’s perfect- Oh hello there. Didn’t get to greet you earlier, I’m Magne.”

Felix smiled politely at the muscular looking woman in triangular sunglasses. Her smooth shoulder-length hair was of a reddish magenta colour, and her squarish jaw was also thinly covered in facial hair.

“You!” Bakugo yelled as expected, struggling even harder against his restraints. “You traitor! I knew there was something familiar about your fighting style! Bastard, we trusted you!”

“Where’s Izuku?” Felix asked, ignoring the feral boy.

“In another facility, why?” Shigaraki replied.

“There might be a rescue attempt tonight. Be sure to separate these two boys just in case. We don’t want to lose everything in one fell swoop.”

“Come on, are you doubting our capabilities?” Shigaraki said. “Besides, Katsuki Bakugo isn’t our hostage. He’s our guest, a potential recruit. Dabi, lose his restraints.”

“You crazy? This guy’s gonna fight, y’know.”

“It’s fine. If we’re scouting him, we need to treat him like an equal. Besides, I’m sure he’s sharp enough to know when he’s outmatched.”

“Twice, you do it.”

Felix stepped in front of Bakugo. “I’ll do it.”

His eyes glowed, and the ropes fell off Bakugo’s wrists. The boy thanked him by hurling an explosion in his face.

“So that’s how it is, huh?” Felix said languidly.

“That’s… how it is, you League… Of Scums…” Bakugo struggled to speak, his body completely flattened on the ground by the invisible telekinetic force. “You want to use me, don’t you? Fat chance! I’ll take down a few of you with maximum firepower and escape!”

“Even if he wasn’t going to join us, he should have pretended we were winning him over.” Compress folded his arms and shook his head. “He’s done it now. What a stubborn child…”

“If you want me to listen to you, then get on your knees and beg. I won’t do something I don’t want to, even if I’m only faking it!” Bakugo growled, casting his rage-fuelled glare at Felix. “Unlike some people, I’m not good at being a traitor.”

He yelled again as his body slammed back roughly. Ropes knotted themselves around his body this time, binding him firmly against the chair once more.

“I wish you would’ve at least tried listening to me,” Shigaraki sighed. “I thought we could come to an understanding. Heroes and villains are two sides of the same coin.”

“I have nothing in common with you. You’re wasting your breath.”

“The heroes are still investigating us, y’know?” Felix reminded their leader. “You might want to make some preparations.”

“I take it Master has already told you about your duty with All Might?” Shigaraki said. “Handle him, that’s your job. I can take care of the rest.”

“You’d better.” Felix made for the doors. “If the heroes joined forces with him, they might give me a little trouble.”

“But would you lose?” Dabi asked.

The psychic turned back, a small smirk playing on his lips.

“Nah, I’d win.”