The panicking bunch had been pacing back and forth as we were left in the silence of our solitude, with the odd sound of the wind rustling every so often. As the silence was broken by the calm voice of Mr. Compress—speaking aloud the predicament we had been put in—I began to think.

Of course, I had a base plan, and a loose set of steps to achieve my desired outcome, but I wasn't sure whether or not we could truly pull it off.

If we had received this phone call an hour later, my plan would have been much more realistic.

No matter, this is the predicament we have been faced with, and there's nothing we can do to change the circumstances we had been left in. What we had to do, was pick up the scrapes we had been left, and use what little time we had to stall.

I stood up, leaving my mind-scape, to see Twice yelling at the other League members currently present. He was crying out that we needed to help our broker, his friend, Giran. He explained how much Giran had helped him, so he needed to repay his kindness. He needed to save his friend. Even if he were already dead, and we would only be walking into a trap, he wanted to save his friend.

The world needed more people like Bubaigawara.

More people who would try to save the people they cared for, even if it would mean putting their own necks on the line.

More people as good-hearted, and kind as Bubaigawara.

While Toga, and Twice bickered about whether everything the Liberation Army had told us was true or false, and what they thought was best for the League, I placed my hands on the two. I could feel Twice tense as my palm came into contact with his shoulder before he heard what I had to say.

"I have a plan." I spoke calmly, squeezing Twice's shoulder—as a form of reassurance. "Doctor? Did you catch all that?"

"Listening to the Villain Radio is my new favourite hobby, so yes." The Doctor began. "So the Meta Liberation Army is back from the dead! What a surprise! The waves you all are making in the underworld keep dredging these people up!!"

"How about we deploy a High-End Nomu like the one Dabi used." Mr. Compress suggested.

"That would be an amazing idea! How about I send one over now, yeah?" The Doctor replied. "All For One's power makes the manufacturing of the High-Ends so much more efficient than I could have ever imagined!! So, I'd be more than happy to send one your way!-"

"No." I cut in. "As much as I would appreciate your help, I have my own plan. I don't want to rely on others more than I already have, and I have a plan fit to take down both Machia and the Liberation Army at the same time." I explained.

"Really? How? I don't doubt your abilities in the slightest, but both our problems? In one sitting? It seems too good to be true..." Spinner questioned.

"Doctor, are you aware of Dabi's current location?" I asked, ignoring Spinner's question for a moment.

"Currently, Dabi is on the border between Mie and Shiga Prefectures" The Doctor answered.

"Perfect." I grinned. "Now, we have approximately two hours and thirty-five minutes until Machia wakes up..."

"You're mumbling again..." Toga spoke up, but I hadn't had the energy to give two fucks.

"Ok, Doctor... Warp us over then." I spoke.

We all stood, looming over the beautiful city in front of us in glee as we waited for the battle that was about to ensue; although, we knew that this would be one of the more difficult battles we would be partaking in.

We had taken the first fifty-five minutes of our allotted hour—to make our way to Deika City—to explain the situation we had been faced with to the one person of our bunch who had missed the call we had received: Dabi.

He had seemed quite aggravated that we had decided to drag him into our battle—considering that he had been busy with his own personal mission—but he soon realized that arguing was trivial when it was with me.

As Twice argued with Dabi, I caught Toga's eyes sharpening before hearing a noise emerging from the distance.

They're here...

"Someone's coming!" Toga yelled, alerting the others of the ruckus in the distance—headed straight for us.

Preparing ourselves for the start of the battle that we knew was soon to follow, we heard a voice beginning to speak.

"Not another step! I was ordered to guide you down into town!!" The voice of a hero, even I could barely recognize at first glance, explained briefly. "If you want a face-to-face with the Liberation Army's commander... Then you'd best follow me, okay?!"

Nodding to my friends, I stepped forward and gestured for the others to do so as well. Then, we began our walk of silence into the city. Our excursion was eerie and awkward—seeing as both the hero and the League had known what would occur in only a matter of minutes. The brawl that would soon break loose as soon as we were deep enough into the city. The bloodshed that would follow.

The city was dead silent as we walked through. There wasn't a child roaming, nor a car passing. There weren't the usual house noises you'd hear—passing through a town—nor an adult visible anywhere. The city seemed to be a ghost town; however, we had all known that Deika City had been one, among many, populated cities in this area. It was out of character for a city such as this one to be completely shut down on a seemingly normal day, and even more so to not be in the news—considering the recent thirst for virtually anything that the reporters could grasp.

I continued looking through my thoughts, to try and piece together the meaning of the abandoned-like city, until I heard the words of Re-Destro fill my mind again.

I get it now.

"This whole city, huh?"

"This place isn't usually my turf... But today's a big exception." The hero spoke from in front of my friends and I.

"Just as the boy says!" A man, sharply dressed, approached me. "Here in Deika City, ninety percent of the population—heroes included—are liberation warriors, lying in wait. This is a liberated district."

Ninety percent?

That's quite the accomplishment—considering the size and population of the city.

"Thank you for making the trip, and welcome! This is a day of celebration, and you are the guests of honour. Shall we start the festivities?" The man asked as hundreds of people began to swarm out of their hiding spaces, and crowded us. "This is the Meta Liberation Army's revival celebration!"

The Liberation Army's warriors weren't regular thugs like the ones we had brought in during the USJ attack, they were different. They were all highly skilled and seemed more powerful than even some pro heroes. Of course, they couldn't land a hit on me, considering I had one of the most serviceable quirks All For One could spare for me to use at my disposal: Ghost.

I maneuvered around and through those that attempted to strike me down with ease, deactivating Ghost when I needed to attack, or when I noticed someone with a strength quirk—in an attempt at replenishing my Shock Absorption stash for future use.

I tried to focus mainly on what was right in front of me—the battle—rather than what my friends had been shouting about, but upon hearing that they were not intent on giving up our broker without a fight—countering what they had originally told us—I snapped.

I activated my energy whips and slashed through everyone within a five-meter radius—splitting each and every one of the combatants surrounding me in two, swiftly.

"Off to the tower, then!" I exclaimed, feeling depleted and void of life, as I began running towards the tower Re-Destro had been holding Giran in, according to the sharply dressed man.

Although I don't know you very well...

I'm coming, Giran.

The battle was dragging on for what seemed like ages. The non-stop slaughtering was growing tiresome, and I could feel myself growing more and more bored as I awaited the stop of the hour and twenty-minute clock that turned inside my head.

"Even though we knock 'em down, they just keep on coming." Spinner remarked.

"You haven't taken a single one out yet!" Dabi retorted snarkily, causing a laugh to slip past my lips, as I punched one of the Liberation Army Warriors with a percentage of the power I had stored in my body.

I felt my mind wearing down as I continued to fight. The sleep-deprived state I had been sunk into was beginning to warp my mind and vision of reality. Everything seemed wrong. Everything seemed inverted. It was all black and white, and I felt my eyes drooping.

I hated being tired.

Feeling tired was a reoccurring feeling. I was constantly tired as a kid, and as a teenager—as I am currently—but that was more emotionally tired. Mentally tired. Tired of my sister. Tired of her friends. Tired of school. Tired of the abuse I had to endure for so long. Tired of life. However, this was different. My body was tired. I wasn't used to this, and while I hated being mentally tired, at least I knew the feeling.

Sleeping was an escape for me. At first, I didn't like to sleep. I tried to stay awake as long as I could so that I wouldn't have to face the demons that haunted my dreams as a child, but as I grew older, I stopped resisting. The mental torture of my 'friends' and 'family' was all the more ruthless in my mind-scape, but the physical strain I had left on myself from lack of sleep was so intense that I had decided to just accept what had awaited me in my slumber.

I slept more and more, drowning myself in my tears as I endured the suffering of my nightmares quietly—trying to spend less time awake and in reality, even though my dream-scape was much worse than the real world.

At least my body was rested, back then.

Now, feeling as tired as I was, I could barely see straight. The sounds that rendered through my ears were nothing but gibberish as I stared at the images of Izumi and her posse lunging at me.

Watching as my surroundings faded into black—as dark as a void, deeper than the darkest underwater caverns—and as the figures surged for my figure, I activated my whips. Jumping onto a nearby stone wall, I allowed my whips to cut through the crowd of monstrous silhouettes speedily.

The smell of metal invaded my senses as those unlucky enough to have attacked me succumbed to my whips and spilled onto the concrete in front of me in a bloody manner, and while it was fun and exciting, I still felt tired.

My adrenaline had been pumping, but I could barely feel it.

These warriors weren't enough to quench my drowsiness.

They weren't enough to wake me up.

It's still not enough...