Mystery from Another World--MHA

Part 113: Karen

"I'm sure they will use them as bait." Hawks attempted to be comforting. "Not that it means they won't de-quirk Dabi...but is that really such a bad thing for us?"

The LOV glared at him.

"I knew it," Spinner said, "Pros have no honor!"

"Oh, you cannot tell me you wouldn't say the same thing if it were me or Rumi," Hawks said.

"Actually you'd be useless to us without your quirks, so not really," Compress said flatly.

Silence.

"That was low, Hawks," Mirko surprisingly spoke up, "We don't need them to lose their quirks to beat them. That's like breaking someone's leg before a match."

"That's in The Karate Kid," Wally said, "Everyone hates it there."

"Sometimes you can't let your enemy have the luxury of being at full strength," Hawks said, "That's just war."

"This is not war," Wally said.

Hawks looked dark. "You don't know everything, West."

"Actually removing someone's quirk is closer to crippling them for life," Shigaraki commented, "Master would do it. But Dabi is one of us."

"So it's okay as long as it's not one of you?" Mirko said testily, "That's real enlightened... You're all just as bad. At least I expect this from you, though." She gave Hawks a poisonous look.

The ninja was loving this. She simpered to herself.

"Stop being such a snob," Compress said, "We have to level the playing field. We're outnumbered."

"It's still dirty," Mirko said, "even for villains... I used to fight bad guys with more of a sense of honor back in high school. Things sure have changed."

"Seems to me like Pros and Villains aren't all that different." Wally rubbed his chin. "Maybe you're not like that, Bunny Girl. But I think there's some Pros I've seen who'd jump at the chance to remove a Villain's quirk. Sheesh, that prison they have keeps them in check, doesn't it? If it was possible, I think they'd do it."

Mirko leaned on her hands and scowled.

"So why didn't you take that chance?" Wally asked her seriously, "I heard all about it. You seem to really care about being fair. Why?"

Mirko shrugged. "Why not?"

"That's not much of an answer."

"You know how my motto is no regrets?" Mirko said more slowly, "I'd never live it down if I won a fight, not because I was trying my hardest, but because I took the power from my opponent. It's a coward's way out. That's why."

"Are you calling Master a coward?" Shigaraki chose to take that personally.

"Sounds like I am," Mirko said.

Shigaraki almost started as if to attack. Wally grabbed him and held him back. "Easy there. She's entitled to her opinion. You've said plenty of things about All Might, haven't you? You can dish it out, but you can't take it."

Shigaraki stopped. "Let go of me."

"Only if you back off," Wally said, "No one is killing anyone on my watch. Got it? I don't have a problem running half of you half way around the world if that's what it takes."

Shigaraki stepped back.

"At least there's something in your way of thinking that's not purely opportunistic," Compress allowed for Mirko, "but it is egotistical. If you couldn't beat your opponent, and you refused to use any advantage on them, you'd die."