The groups finally rejoined each other just about when it was getting dark. It had been a really long day.

But Shine and Wally had both recharged and should be able to use their abilities at least moderately.

They were waiting for Intelli to give them the go ahead, so they had a few minutes while he was finishing up.

Shine thought Mirko looked strung out when they arrived, but then the woman pulled her aside through some of the trees, away from the others.

Shine knew it had to be bad.

But when Rumi told her about her...fight with Ren, Shine was stunned. It seemed kind of personal...but then the part about the LOV made that make sense.

Rumi didn't even dwell on Ren's part in it, just said that he was giving her s--- over it.

Shine heard his points though, and Rumi presented them in the biased way annoyed people usually do, but Shine could read between the lines fairly well.

"Ren is worried about you," she summed it up.

"As if I need it," Rumi scoffed.

"You don't have to do that with me," Shine said gently, wondering if the woman would ever let her guard down even for a second.

To her surprise, Rumi suddenly slumped slightly.

"Yeah, well...so maybe I'd thought of all the things he said too," she said, "most of it, and the rest of it was pretty d--- convincing. Maybe I am pushing my luck here. I don't even know what would ever make those weirdos change their tactics."

"The question of the hour," Shine said. "But, if you already thought of it, didn't you decide what to do before?"

"I could be wrong..." Rumi almost mumbled.

Shine choked back a laugh. It was hard enough for the hero to admit she made a mistake.

"This whole thing has really put you out of your zone," she said instead.

"Don't patronize me, Likstar. I'm not a kid," Rumi said.

"Sorry, uh, I just meant to be understanding," Shine said, "Rumi, I don't even have a comfort zone anymore. I just do what I need to do, so I feel like this a lot."

"Like...what?"

"Like I don't know what I'm doing... Geez, if you don't feel that way most of the time, I'd like to know your secret," Shine said, "We all have to grow though. But Ren's concern makes sense to me too. I can't say I've never thought of all of what he said. Down to the part about AFO."

"Really? That much," Rumi said, "I thought over-analyzing was his thing."

"No, I have a lot of free time. He's right, you know. You could be in danger," Shine said.

Rumi bit her lip. "I should leave, then."

"Is that what you think you should do?" Shine said.

"I don't know," Rumi admitted, "I usually know. It seemed so clear before. Actually, I thought this mission was going pretty well, and nothing really bad had happened around them, so maybe it was the right idea. But Ren has a point. All that could go away instantly. We can't trust them."

Shine was silent for a bit.

"You agree with that?" Rumi said.

"I... There're two kinds of trust," Shine said, "There's 'I trust you to do what you said', and that's good...but there's also 'I trust you to know the right thing to do.' And that's a lot harder. And it's rarer. And... people can be really inconsistent about it. It's easier to tell someone what to do, and know they'll do it, then to know, on their own, they'll do the right thing."

That struck Rumi as 100% true.

"Yeah, that's a good observation," she agreed, "Sums up my feelings about teamwork pretty well."

"And I get it," Shine said, "but there's a few things to think about. Do I always know the right thing to do? If I never trust anyone to know, then I assume I know best. Now I literally have a book that tells me the right way to handle everything, but it can't cover every situation in my life. Some of it I have to walk out, and it takes faith-- and Guidance...and most of us go by that. If it's not God, it's a human we think knows a lot. Here it's mostly heroes-- and All Might. You see what I mean? For the LOV, it's AFO."

"And AFO is evil," Rumi said.

"True enough," Shine said, "and the more I learn about Shigaraki, the more that becomes apparent to me. I don't know if this is a saying, but it should be-- you can tell a lot about someone from how they treat their kids, adopted ones included. You will do things to your kids you'd never dream of doing to people who could defend themselves...or leave."

"That's dark," Rumi said.

"My dad was abusive," Shine said, "I would know... Not really bad...well, depends on what you mean by bad, but..." She looked off at the edge of the forest. "The point is, I know what people can get away with. That Doctor is no help, probably only makes it twice as bad. Shigaraki runs the LOV, so if they control him, they control the others. Dabi had a mind of his own enough to leave, but Dabi had options. You see the problem? The LOV may not want to do anything to ruin this, but what they want will not come into the equation."

"Yeah, Ren basically thinks it's all up as soon as AFO gives an order...which they seem to think he'll do...even though he's in prison."

"As if that would stop him," Shine said, "I'll bet they've been in contact, recently, even. At least, him and the Doctor have to be in some kind of cahoots. I know the type of the doctor. Obsessed with playing God, willing to work for anyone who has a use for that talent and gives it free rein. They don't care about human souls, they just want to experiment. They treat people like canvas or a statue. It's nauseating."

She shook her head.

"And there's no chance whatsoever of that...?" Rumi wasn't sure what she was asking.

But Shine seemed to get it.

"I've been asking that since I found out about it," she said, "Wally and I have talked it over, but he's not sure either. We've seen people overcome a lot of brainwashing...if you hit the right chord...but doing that is hard. I do it usually by accident when I do. I just follow the Lead... Look...all I know is, if you know what someone needs, you can hope they will want it. But you can't make them want it."

"I don't get it," Rumi said, "That's not an answer."

"I can't tell you what to do," Shine said, "You know what Ren wants you to do."

"You're not agreeing with him," Rumi said.

"When did you ever care what I told you?" Shine shrugged.

"Don't pull that with me," Rumi said.

"Then don't bs me," Shine retorted, "If you want to know what to do, ask upfront. Stop posturing. What good is your pride doing for you right now? You know, I don't care about it. No one else does either."

"A lot of people do, actually."

"They aren't here, so they don't have to know," Shine stage-whispered, real conspiratorially.

Rumi still looked around, as if on impulse, anyway.

"You encouraged this," she said, "I just expected you to have some counter for what Ren said. Some weird, overly optimistic statement."

"I've never had that. I told the LOV once that I knew perfectly well they could try to kill me, and I was afraid every time I talk to them," Shine said.

A pause. "You were?" Rumi said.

"I was," Shine said, "I've been less afraid now...but is it gone completely? No... Maybe it's just smarter to be afraid. You can feel fear, but not let it become a part of you, and that is what I try to do. If you're not actually ever afraid, you're an idiot. Jesus was afraid. Enough to sweat blood. Even knowing we're doing the right thing, we fear pain. That's only human."

Sweating blood? Gross. Rumi didn't even know that was biologically possible.

[Animals can do it, if they're really, really frightened.]

"So, if you're scared that's fine," Shine said, "but I can't tell you to assume the right thing to do based on fear. I'm not one to do that. I don't get the feeling you're one to either. So, laying that aside, is all Ren said enough reason to call this off?"

"What exactly am I getting out of it, if I'm not any safer?" Rumi said.

"Ah, that's a good question," Shine nodded, "What are you getting out of it?"

Silence.

"Are you waiting for me to say something?" Rumi said.

Shine laughed. "So nothing."

"Nothing really comes to mind," Rumi said.

"Good," Shine said, tugging her hair, "That's a good start. Getting nothing out of something is always a good sign we're on the right track."

"Huh?"

"It's fine if we do get something back, but Love doesn't start with that question. You can't wait for a reward to start loving," Shine said, "And, by the way, doing the right thing is Love. It's not a feeling, necessarily, and it's not an ushy, gushy thing like you think. It's just being unselfish, that's all. It's okay to ask for things in return, but the trick is to know that you will do the same thing, regardless of whether or not you get something back. The Word says to not borrow, but lend and don't ask for it back."

"You'd go broke," Rumi said.

"And who needs money?" Shine shrugged. "We're told that God will give us all we need. That has always been true in my life, from money to cars to friends...to love. I can admit I need things, because I know if I ask, I'll get them. And if I don't get it, I don't need it. It's as simple as that. What do you need, Rumi?"

"Now you're really not making sense," Rumi said, weirded out, "And your faith-based answers don't really work for me."

"Then you are asking the wrong person for advice. By all means, ask someone who will agree with Ren," Shine said dryly, "I thought you didn't want that answer. Look, God's brand of Wisdom is what I have, and that is foolishness to the world. Any world. 'The foolishness of God is wiser than Man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than Man's strength...but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the strong.' [1 Corinthians 1: 25, 27]. What did you think I would tell you?"

She had a point. Rumi knew this was what she was about by now.

Shine, for her part, wasn't sure if she was making sense, but it was all that had come to mind for her.

And she wasn't sure what Rumi should do. What she would have done was different. She had a mission to reach people like the LOV. Rumi's position wasn't like that. At least, that's not what the Pro thought. If she just wanted to be safe...or free...then what could Shine tell her? Ren had laid it out pretty well.

"So what do you want?" she tried again, "If you want out, then...get out, Rumi. Don't force yourself to do something you'll resent later. I mean, the last thing I want is for you to tell me later that I pushed you into it and you thought it was a bad idea... I've heard that one before."

"I wouldn't let you push me into it," Rumi huffed, "But...wait....why would I want to stay? If that was the point, I wouldn't be there."

"Honey, you are overthinking this way too much, then," Shine said. "If you didn't want to stay, there was no reason to come to me to talk you out of listening to Ren, was there?"

Ooh, she had her. She could tell but the look on her face. Her ears twitched too. Such a telltale sign of emotion.

"And there it is," Rumi said finally, "That observation you always just pull out of nowhere... Yeah...duh. Why did I come to you, then? But what's wrong with me? Why would I want to do this? I don't like them."

"Is exciting, isn't it?" Shine said, "And you like the rush."

"Well...yeah, okay," Rumi said.

"But it could be more... I think you might be getting interested in their case," Shine said, "but I should warn you now, caring hurts. If you're afraid of that...it'd be better just to back out... I mean, I wouldn't, but you shouldn't get involved if you're just going to pull out once it starts to get painful."

"What?" Rumi gave her a weird look. "Why would it?"

"Oh, it will," Shine said, and she spoke gravely, because she had so many years of experience of this, "The more you care, the more it hurts. Love and pain go together. And even if that love isn't a feeling, like I said, just doing the right thing will get you fired up. And it if doesn't go the way you want, it hurts like hell. I've been through so much, just here, not even talking about the last worlds I was in, hurting for people...and because of them." She rubbed her arms. "I decided a long time ago not to let that stop me... That's a hard choice, but I was persuaded there was better reward for love than the security of not doing it. And truthfully, I've considered giving up on it...and I thought I might as well just curl up and die then. It hurts to love because this world isn't perfect, but without love, you're just a walking zombie, not much better than those nomu. So, I won't stop. But all the super heroes I know who aren't here, have all found the same thing. Some of them more afraid of it than others... [*Cough* Batman.] But...all in all, we all know we have to care. But, hey, Rumi, you can keep living that shallow Top Hero facade if you want. Who could blame you anyway? It's painless enough. True, it's not really living...but it works for a lot of people, right...?"

She looked away. "I'd think less of you, but I'm just one person. You can have the good opinion of thousands, even millions of other people if you keep living that. It'd be hard to turn down... Why did you even start? That's what I wonder."

Rumi was quiet.

"Real question," Shine said, just to clarify.

"I got it." Rumi shrugged. "I don't even know. You dragged me into it."

"I did not."

"Well, it sounded fun at first." Rumi laughed dryly. "Wasn't so fun after that. I don't know--it's important, isn't it? You're from another world, for crying out loud. Who passes that up?"

"Surprisingly, a lot of people will."

"Well, that's lame... I'd regret that the rest of my life, and I don't live with regrets... I've been a top hero for a while. That's nothing new to me. I'm always looking for the new, the next thing. So this seemed like that thing. But I never thought it'd get this complicated."

"Preaching to the choir."

"I do not know what that means."

"It means welcome to my world," Shine said.

"I'll give you this," Rumi said, "You're never boring. But I don't want to stop being a hero."

"Rumi, don't take this the wrong way, but ultimately, that has very little to do with the matter at hand. Whether you're a hero or not, I mean," Shine said, "Keep being one, but it won't make it any easier. Maybe not any harder, who knows? It's a fact that won't matter if things keep going the way they are."

"Yeah, well, if that's true," Rumi shrugged, "then I need to know what else is going on. Stay ahead of the game.."

"It will hurt," Shine said.

"I'm not afraid of pain," Rumi said, "I'm afraid of failure and missing my chances. Of not going all the way..."

"You will fail," Shine said, "and then you have to try again. I've failed. We all fail."

"Just when do you fail?"

"I do. I failed to stop Endeavor just today. You were there."

"Oh..." Rumi didn't really consider that a failure.

"Anyway, if you're staying with the LOV, we really ought to get back there. I'm sure Intelli is ready now," Shine said.

"Right." Rumi squared her shoulders. "Well, good talk. Ren just worries too much." She walked away.

Shine shook her head. "You're a brave woman, Rumi," she said quietly, "Brave...but you really have no idea what we're going to be in for, do you?" She looked up at the sky. "I hope you take care of her when this all blows up out of our control. Because I know it will. Always does, doesn't it?"

No reply, except a star twinkled at her. Shine smiled wryly.

* * *

Intelli finally gave them the go ahead signal.

The plan was put into action very quickly for all that build up.

Camie and Silk both snuck Shinso down to the transport base, which looked like a regular shipping warehouse, appropriately enough.

Shinso had a designated target-- one of the trucks that was leaving. Intelli said it had illegal Meta weapons on it, no doubt.

They had to time it just right, but Silk was stealthy, and she blended into the background with her screens until the driver of it and the three guards who were going to escort him, all Metas in disguise, were the most out of sight of anyone else in the loading dock.

Camie got them to move by kicking a loose screw over the ground.

"Wow." Mirko was watching and listening, with Momo's binoculars. "I have to admit, that Utsushimi girl is resourceful."

"Camie is not the ditz most people think," Shine said proudly, "Let's hope her enemies don't figure that out though. Her clueless facade is certainly one of her greatest weapons."

"Yet again, you make no sense," Mirko said.

"I get it," Compress commented, "but you have to admit, our own Silk is the star of this show."

"Compress, I don't care about your girlfriend," Mirko sniffed, "but it's not going badly...yet."

"Such pessimism," Ren said.

Mirko was still mad at him and made no reply.

Ren sensed the tension and didn't try to say anything else to her.

"When do we go?" Wally asked, "I mean, I could have done what they're doing a lot faster, Babe. Not that I'm questioning your idea."

Shine smirked dryly. "If you did it, they'd notice because it would be too sudden. This way is more subtle. But no worries. We'll have more action than we could want if this works... That's a big if. We're putting a lot of trust in Silk. And Monama."

"Yes, I really don't like that part," Compress sniffed, "I can do it just as easily, you know, and better. Why don't you trust me, Likstar?"

"I hope that's not a serious question," Wally said.

Compress sniffed again.

"Even if I trusted you more than my own mother," Shine said, "the heroes will feel better if there's one of each. You know that. Relax about it."

They heard scuffling.

"And pow," Camie said over the line, quietly, "Got 'em. That was surprisingly easy... Silk has mad skills."

"Not too shabby yourself, Ditsy Hero," Silk said, "but now is big moment for brain-drain kid."

"Brainwash," they heard Shinso correct her.

"What's the difference?" Silk asked.

Wally stifled a nervous chuckle. 

The heroes were practically holding their breath. The LOV was much less on edge. They were in peril too often, really, to feel as tense.

"I hope I get to do something finally if this works," Spinner muttered.

[Spinner has just been the LOV's Killer Croc/Sakura--but more likable. Let's hope that turns around.]

Shinso called out to the driver with the voice of one of his guards. 

The driver answered-- and froze.

"All right, you're up, West," Shinso said quietly. 

Wally dashed everyone down to the cargo truck in about 60 seconds flat.

"Ouch," Dabi said, "That kind of hurts."

"Sorry, I'll try not to chaff your sensitive hide," Wally said dryly.

Mirko tilted one ear. "I don't hear anyone else coming. We should hurry... This is my least favorite part of this plan. I sure hope you really know what you're doing."

"I think it's exciting," Ren said to no one in particular.

Monama tapped Compress. "Show me how it's done, and it should be easy."

"If any single one of us gets dropped mysteriously," Compress warned, "whoever's left will kill you slowly, kid. You're just lucky Medea said we could trust you."

Medea didn't make eye contact right then. She just ran her toe over the uneven pavement.

Monama tugged his collar. "Right..."

Compress compressed Spinner. "I'll just keep this one," he said, "I've never had my own quirk used on me. Does it hurt?"

"No," Bakugo said.

"Oh?" Compress said, "Do you remember anything while you're in there? I've always wanted to ask that."

"No, it's like being put to sleep, a--h---," Bakugo said.

"Fascinating," Compress said.

"How have you never asked anyone that?" Shine was puzzled.

"Too busy threatening them, usually, once they are out of it, I guess," Compress said.

"You know, I'd find it way more creepy if someone asked me what it felt like right after I popped out of marble," Wally said, "like in The Princess Bride, with the psycho doctor/torturer."

"That must be an old movie, 'cause I've never heard of it," Camie said.

Shine gaped. "What? The most classic movie ever...? Oh gosh, I'm assigning that when we get back. If you can't quote that movie, you can't get married."

"What?" Shoto said.

"Uh...it's a home-schooled joke..." Shine said, "Sorry, I wasn't serious."

"Half serious," Wally said, "but I like that part where the Giant doesn't throw the rock, and it's civilized...and the part where the Spaniard says, 'Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya--'"

"'You killed my father,'" Shine started quoting with him, "'Prepare to die!!'"

"Is this really the time for this?" Shigaraki interrupted them, annoyed.

"Look, I did it." No one had noticed Monama compressed Bakugo. "That was actually pretty easy."

"Easy?" Compress was insulted. "What I do is not easy! You're just scratching the surface. The planning, the organization--"

"My hold on that guy is going to wear off, and he'll remember all this," Shinso warned.

Monama compressed the rest of the hero group, except Shine and Wally.

Shine worried it might kill them. The whole other-world-thing could make the effect different.

"But we can follow easily without them noticing us," she said, "as long as the rest of you are in there. Stay on line."

"Your turn," Monama said to Compress.

"I'm really kind of nervous now. It's my first time." Compress leaned away.

"Darling, you're holding us up," Silk said, tapping his shoulder, "Is all right. I will personally put you in my pocket."

"He's already there..." Wally hissed to Shine smugly.

 Shine choked on a laugh. "Wally! You'll blow our cover if you keep being funny."

"Hey, I can't help but be me, Sunshine."

Monama compressed Compress.

Leaving just him and Silk now.

"Do not drop anyone," Shine reiterated.

"I'm not stupid, Miss Likstar, and luckily, this outfit does have a lot of pockets," Monama said.

"Get on truck." Silk sprang in nimbly herself and started making a tapestry to disguise her presence.

Monama got in behind it.

The driver was coming out of it.

Wally and Shine untied the guard, who also snapped out of it.

Given how hazy being in Shinso's power made people, they all weren't really sure what happened. Were they just spaced out? They looked all over for any sign of attackers...and didn't find one.

"I dunno, maybe we should look more or hold off," said one guard.

"This cargo is urgently needed," the driver Meta argued, "We can't just delay it on some weird hunch. You want to explain that to the boss?"

They shrugged. 

"Well, I'm keeping a doubly careful look out for anyone following us," the guard said.

"We should check the inside too," said another.

They looked inside. Nothing was moved... They even went in, but Silk and Monama were hidden so carefully again the back wall, they never got close enough to find the fabric.

"It's all the same," the guard got out, "It'd be pretty hard for anyone to tamper with it and leave it just the way it was. Nothing opened either... We just spaced out."

"At the same time," the smart one, obviously, grumbled.

"Maybe someone set off some device inside," suggested another, "It just affected us. Remember that one kid who came through who could discombobulate people?"

"Yeah...yeah, that has to be it," they agreed.

They got in the truck and drove away.

"Good, they're as stupid as I thought," Intelli said over the line to the two DJs.

"To be fair, most people just want to do their job and not ask questions," Wally said, "but I really thought we were busted for a second there."

Shine was cutting through the tires of some of the other vehicles while the drivers were getting boxes.

"Might as well make them think this was our target all along," She said to Wally, "They'll be more likely to get the heck away from here if they think that. And that is what we want, isn't it?"

"I love it when you get all sneaky like this," Wally said, brushing his hands together, "Very attractive quality in a partner."

"Wally, stop messing around and start breaking things!" Shine was embarrassed.

"Yes, Ma'am!" Wally saluted. He broke some stuff.

"Weird couple," Intelli muttered to himself.

* * *

The truck was on the road for easily two hours straight.

Monama and Silk got thrown around a lot. Silk tied them both down with her cords, so they wouldn't bash their head on the walls, but it was still a bumpy ride.

Wally and Shine checked in every now and then and informed them they'd busted up a lot of things in the warehouse, and some people had come to check it out. For the time being they'd be confused on that.

For a while, nothing else notable happened, but then Ibara called in. She's stayed with Endeavor, since she felt like it was her duty to help her team.

"How's it going?" Monama asked in a hushed voice, though no one could possibly have heard them over the ruckus of boxes shifting around.

"I've been using my vines to stop the enemy cars from escaping," Ibara said, "but something's going on right now. I think reinforcements arrived. Endeavor told me to hide in the alley and just wait...but..."

"Well, how many Pros came to back him up?" Monama asked.

"I think maybe 8? He didn't think he needed too many, but we thought they'd be on high alert after our other two attacks. Maybe they sent in back up also," Ibara said.

"Well, Ibara, you should just lie low, and more heroes will arrive," Monama said.

"Typical," Silk muttered.

"Ibara, want me to just get you out?" Shine asked. 

"Oh, no, Miss Likstar, you should definitely save your energy," Ibara said, "I'll be fine--"

Suddenly she stopped talking...

The line crackled. Then it went dead.

"Ibara?" Monama said, alarmed now.

"Uh oh..." Wally said over the line, "Does that mean she's in trouble?"

"It either means that or she lost her comlink," Shine said, "or she turned it off... Should I just bring her here?"

"You could bring anyone with her," Wally said, "I should go get her."

"I think it may be past that," Silk said, "You have to stay on target, Western."

"Okay, I thought it was the accent, but are you actually saying Western?" Wally said.

"That is what Ren call you, nyet?" Silk said, "Is your name, right?"

"Actually, no, it's--"

"Does this really matter right now?" Monama cut in.

"I still say is bad idea to get off track," Silk said, "There's a bunch of pros there who can help her and probably already have. If you expend energy to get her, you not have any left for our fight, maybe."

"Silk, that is not good logic," Shine said, "and we're not going to listen to it. Go ahead, Babe."

Whoosh...

"Uh..." Wally said a few minutes later, "guys...she's not here."

"What?" Monama said.

"I mean, I just looked all over this place, and the Pros are getting their butts kicked too. I knocked a few Metas over on the way...and green girl isn't here", Wally said, "Unless she's invisible now or underground... I'm gonna be seen too if I don't get out of here. I don't like this."

"How could they just make her vanish?" Monama cried, "Another warper?"

"Is probably a simpler explanation that than," Silk said.

"Such as?" Monama demanded.

"I not know," Silk admitted.

Shine sighed.

"All right...Wally...I hate to say it, but...better just portal to her."

"Righto," Wally said.

Another pause.

"Uh...I can't," Wally said.

"Oh...shoot, neither can I," Shine said.

"Does that mean she's dead?!" Monama almost had a panic attack, as he knew how their power worked.

"Not necessarily," Shine said, "She's just shadowed maybe. The metas are into some stuff, from all I hear from Hawks, so it's possible. Let's not assume the worst."

"She's missing in the span of 10 minutes, and I'm not supposed to assume the worst!" Monama said.

Silk slapped him. "Get a grip!"

He blinked at her.

"Now we deal with this once we arrive," Silk said, "If they can't find her, there is nothing we can do except finish our mission, and maybe Intelli can track her down if the Metas did take her. So stay focused! Remember we have important mission."

Monama gulped.

"Good," Silk said, leaning back.