Midori the Villain

Chapter 28: The Cover Up

Dabi and Tomura had been bickering all day, and it was starting to get on Kurogiri's nerves. Despite the friendship building between the members of the league, it didn't stop the quips, and insults passed both ways. Toga did little to help the situation as she just watched and hummed with her normal grinning expression.

"Both of you stop your squabbling." Kurogiri tried to calm them and eyed the time. "It's nearly sundown. Karma should be home from school and we've business to attend to. The new weapons Giran promised have finally arrived, and we have to go over our strategy for the Stain collaboration."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah let's get going then." Tomura grunted, and stood up from the chess table. Knowing Izumi liked the game he and Dabi had both been practicing to give her more of a challenge. "I still say you cheated." Tomura pointed his finger in Dabi's face. Kurogiri's warp opened up.

"It's impossible to cheat at Chess. At any rate we're villains, it's in our code to cheat." Dabi rubbed his ear irritably. At Tomura's narrowed glare he sighed. "Look just give it a rest already. You're giving me a headache."

"I'll give you more than a headache you damn-" He started as they stepped into the warp and came out on the other side in Izumi's apartment.

"DON'T TOUCH ME YOU FILTHY FAKE!"

Izumi's rage-filled voice caught all of them off guard. They stood in the living room all shocked as Izumi's quirk whipped around out of control pinning down a large unfamiliar figure. It struggled and thrashed, little sparks of fire leaking out under the mass of her tentacles.

"Queeny's killing someone!" Toga jumped and clapped. "Oh goodie!"

"Not goodie, she's lost control of her quirk!" Dabi quickly ducked a stray tentacle. "She's gonna kill us all unless we stop her!"

"KARMA!" Tomura shouted her name. "STOP IT NOW!" When he was ignored Tomura sneered. "Kurogiri use your warp and get me right behind her."

"Right" He opened one up and both Tomura and Dabi jumped through grabbing Izumi by an arm and trying to subdue her.

"Karma! Karma calm down!" Dabi tried to shake her loose by she jerked against them punching and thrashing. He let out an oof as a stray elbow caught him in the ribs and Tomura grunted when her foot kicked out and caught his thigh.

"IZUMI!" Tomura finally shouted her name and turned her face closing his mouth over hers. The kiss finally broke the rage and Izumi blinked and slumped, her eyes returning to normal and her body going limp.

"T-Tomura?" Izumi held her head, her face deathly pale and her vision blurring from her loss of energy. "What happened?"

"That's what we'd like to know." He pet her head sighing with relief as things went back to normal. Thankfully all the windows and doors were undamaged which meant that no outside forces would be looking to investigate. Still she'd demolished a lot of furniture including the interior decorations and plants. "Just who the hell pissed you off?"

"My guess is this guy." Toga squatted next to Endeavor's limp corpse and she poked him in the cheek to make sure he was dead. "Nice work, Queeny."

"What?" Izumi looked up and her eyes went wide. "Oh shit!" She ran to the corpse and shook him. "Shit! OH SHIT SHIT SHIT!" She slammed her fists on his chest. "FUCKING SHIT!"

"What's wrong, who is…" Dabi came around the broken table and his own eyes went wide as saucers. "Is that… Endeavor!?"

Izumi nodded and she fell back and held her head cursing again.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I just… he got me so angry! He hit me and I…"

"He hit you?" Tomura sneered and kicked the limp body. "Good riddance!"

"Pot and kettle…" Dabi muttered but crouched down to look at his dead father. "Unbelievable… he's really dead. I can't believe you killed him before I got the chance to."

Izumi clenched her teeth and rocked back and forth. When furniture started to float Dabi panicked and grabbed her shoulders.

"Oh no you don't, get a grip Karma!" He pulled her hands away. "It's just a dead hero. You're a villain, you've killed people before haven't you?"

"I only kill those that deserve it! I don't kill for-" She started to argue and Dabi yelled back at her.

"He DID deserve it! Look at me!" He shook her until her head snapped up. "He more than deserved to die after everything he's done! You've done your job! Now own up to it!"

"Zombie face is right, Karma." Tomura motioned to the corpse. "Even you yourself said he reminded you of Master. You killed him because he forced his control onto others. Just because Endeavor was a hero doesn't excuse him for the same crime… in fact it increases it."

"You're right…" Izumi said calmly after a moment and her head starts to return. "You're right, forgive me for flipping out." She took a long deep breath and slouched back against the wall. "Thank you, I almost lost my head again."

"Don't mention it. It's our job to ensure that you keep a cool head" Dabi ruffled her hair and stood up. "So use that cool head to figure out what to do about this. You've already got one death suspicion on your record. If the police find out Endeavor was killed in your home…"

"They won't…" She stood up and dusted herself off. "Kurogiri do you have the weapons?"

"Yes…" He dropped the cases from a warp onto the floor of the living room.

"Toga use your new toy." She stood and walked to her stroking a hand over her face. "Find a good spot to inject the needle so it doesn't leave a trace. Collect as much of Endeavor's blood as you can. We're gonna need it."

"Yes Queeny!" Toga giggled and opened up the case. She initially frowned at the ugly design but grinned at the sharp and pointy that was attached. "Hehehe."

"Remove his clothes and pack them away in Toga's empty weapon's case. Dabi go outside and see if you can find Endeavor's driver and car. Once everything's in place Toga will pose as Endeavor and carry out my plan."

"Right…" Dabi nodded and everyone started to get to work. Izumi excused herself to the bathroom. She splashed cold water on her face, took more deep breaths to keep herself calm then looked at her reflection.

"Three deaths on my hands… one of them accidental. I can't believe how easily I lost control. How long has that anger and hatred been boiling inside me?" She held the scarred half of her face. "Shoto… Dabi… just how much influence do the two of you have over my heart? A heart I promised to Tomura."

"Karma…" Tomura knocked on the door and she quickly turned off the water and dried her face off. "Have you calmed down?"

"Yes…" She opened the door and looked him straight in the eyes. "I'm sorry for the fuss. I should be used to death and destruction by now."

"You wouldn't be Karma if you were used to it." He cupped her face, keeping a pinky off each hand. "You never could stomach killing."

"I had no problem killing Sensei… the doctor was my first and it left a foul taste in my mouth. I'd never had any intention of killing Endeavor but now that I have I'm both sick and satisfied... but Sensei I killed without remorse or sickness and it left me feeling strong." She turned her eyes down. "Why does murder feel so different each time?"

"You act in the way it relates to you. Take it from someone who's done his fair share of killing and destroying." He pulled her to his side and made her look at Endeavor. Toga was happily draining blood from the stripped body, bruises on his neck standing out more now that his skin had gone pale. "Fighting for yourself is a lot easier than fighting for others. Try and make each death a little personal and it helps with the guilt and disgust." He stroked fingers through her hair then pressed his face into it inhaling her scent. "Zombie face made a point before. You're a villain… and a villain who can't stomach murder is weak. You're not weak are you, My Queen?"

"No…" Izumi's chin lifted as if to defy the guilt and sickness inside herself. "You're right, My King. I'll hardly gain Stain's favor if I let something like this rattle my chain." She turned to him and rose up on her toes to kiss him. "Thank You."

"I think you can do a little better than that." He nipped her bottom lip and pulled her in closer to deepen the kiss.

"Hey love birds, mind saving that until after we dispose of the body?" Dabi said with obvious jealousy and irritation.

"Mmmm point taken." She pat Tomura's chest smirking up at him. "Later… I promise." She walked back to the body. "We'll keep his body preserved back at the Nomu lab. Toga assume Endeavor's form and go to the Todoroki estate. Tell his children he'll be leaving for awhile, and tell Shoto he should choose another agency to intern with. Also make the necessary calls to his agency and inform his sidekicks that they are to resume their responsibilities as per the norm."

"Yes ma'am!" Toga saluted and she started stripping. While the boys made embarrassed faces and averted their eyes, Izumi watched with fascination as Toga transformed into Endeavor, clothes and all. Fully in character Toga adjusted the tie on his neck and took the personal effects Kurogiri handed to her.

"Once you've completed your objective of solidifying our alibi make your excuses and leave the estate. Endeavor will go missing for a time and when the moment is right we will stage his murder at the hands of our very own organization."

"Isn't that a bit risky?" Dabi questioned.

"It is but it's a profitable one. We are the organization that was shamed when attempting to kill All Might. No one wanted to take us seriously despite the risk we took. Now we get to show them things are different." Her lips suddenly curved into a wicked smirk as the idea fully came to view in her mind. "Yes… just imagine their reactions when they realize that we somehow managed to capture the #2 hero without a trace or witness to the event. We should make his death a grand spectacle… flashy and bold, and expose it to the world for all to see. Heroes and villains alike wouldn't dare call us riff raff after such a display of power."

"Now that's what I'm talking about." Tomura laughed and nuzzled into her temple. "I love the way your mind works."

"It does sound enticing…" Dabi smirked. "I'd like the chance to see my old man be put to shame. Just one question… how do we expose the death without exposing ourselves? Don't want heroes knocking on our door and ruining the fun."

"Just leave the planning to me." She flicked hair out of her face and turned to Kurogiri. "I'll put together a list of things I'll need to make this work including a couple of new recruits. Meet with Giran and offer him a generous sum if he finds the people and items I need. Also we'll need to scout for a temporary structure. I don't want to do the dirty work in one of our regular hideouts just in case the heroes manage to identify the layout."

"Yes, My Queen…" Kurogiri bowed.

"Alright then… you all have your assignments." She took one more look down at Endeavor's cold corpse and sneered at it. "Get this piece of trash out of my sight."

~The following day~

It took time, but in the end Izumi went with the Hero Uwabami for her internship. Izumi knew her to be a non-fighter type, a hero who specialized in search and rescue as well as support. It wasn't the path she expected to take, but she knew so much about tact and strength and battle. Now she wanted to know more about the rescue portion of heroic work and Uwabami seemed to be a good fit.

"You were also chosen by Uwabami-san?" Momo said with some surprise and delight.

"Yes… I know I had plenty of others to choose from but she works in the core of the city and she's really popular. I want to see if she lives up to the hype and what she can show me in terms of hero work."

"Agreed, I'm quite excited to be working with you Midoriya-san. Though I must admit I'm nervous as well. You performed so much better than I did."

"Hey none of that, Yao." Izumi pat her chin to keep it from tilting down. "We're gonna work great together, just you watch." She smiled and then looked to Shoto who was staring down at his internship form. "So how pissed off was your father?"

"Hmmm?" Shoto glanced up staring a bit blankly at her. "Oh… did he talk to you?"

"The man had the nerve to come knocking on my door… I can't believe the gall of him." She got angry still thinking about it. "I sent him out on his ear… I'm expecting I'll be hearing from the police soon."

"Huh?" The question came out of several mouths that lingered around including Shoto and Momo.

"Your father said he's reopening Sensei's heart attack case." She looked away and down. She hugged herself her fingers clenched in the sleeves of her jacket. "He showed me pictures of Sensei's body, tried to intimidate me into interning with him. I probably said some things I shouldn't but I was just so damn angry that I didn't care."

"Wait a minute…" Shoto stood and glared. "You mean to tell me he tried to blackmail you, Midoriya?"

"He wouldn't call it blackmail, he'd call it exposing the truth. Well he can dig all he wants, all he'll find is that Sensei was a brittle and sick old man with a bad heart. I look forward to making a fool out of him." She turned up her nose.

"So that's what he meant when he told Fuyumi and I he had a special case he was working on. He's trying to pin you down for murder." The anger and disgust was apparent in his voice and was music to Izumi's ears. He stood up and rounded Momo's desk to stand in front of her.

"He'll try and he'll fail." She pat his cheek giving him a sly smirk when he bare his teeth. "No need to mount your white horse, Shoto. I can take care of myself." She turned up her nose. "Let him make a fool of himself. I don't care in the slightest."

"Izumi this is serious…" Shoto took her shoulders. "You don't know my dad like I do. He doesn't believe in failure. He'll find and use any evidence at his disposal."

"There's nothing for him to find, so leave it alone. If I make a move to stop the investigation it's just going to look bad on me. So let him poke around and look foolish, because it doesn't matter. Sensei is dead, he had a heart attack…" She brushed him off and turned away. "End of story."

There, Izumi thought as she quickly exited the room. The seeds were planted, and her role in place. She'd play the angry yet disinterested party. She established that she met with Endeavor, and Shoto established he met with Endeavor afterward. Her alibi was sealed.

Now all that was left was for Giran to do his part and find her the recruits she'd need for her elaborate message with the League of Villains as the highlight. It was a waiting game now, and patient planning was key in the success or her overall plan. Even if aligning themselves with Stain ultimately failed, no one would be able to ignore the group that killed the #2 hero.

After school was done for the day she went home to change, and then signaled Kurogiri to warp her into headquarters. She'd slipped on training clothes so she could practice with the weapons she had contracted, as well as test out the other new toys she'd requested.

"What's with the jewelry?" Dabi asked when Izumi handed him a simple metallic bracelet.

"S.O.S tracker beacons." She stated simply and strapped one on herself. She pressed the square at the top and Kurogiri's phone went off alerting him to her whereabouts. "We can't afford to lose Kurogiri so I'm stationing him at home base. These trackers will allow us to contact him if we're in need of rescue. A single press tells him we need immediate pick up. A double press is for him to contact us and set up a meet up point, and a triple press means heroes are in the vicinity and he should take extreme caution."

"Convenient and efficient as always… are these for me?" He opened the case with his name on it. He lifted up the clothes inside and rubbed the material through his fingers. "Fireproof?"

"Very… They were tested against magma so they'll hold up against even the highest of temperatures." She rubbed her hands over the fabric. "I hope they're to your tastes."

"Looks like…" he pulled up a pin with a sword on it and snorted. "What's this?"

"Don't laugh, it's a symbol." She took it out and turned him to her. She pinned it to his jacket smiling affectionately. "You're my knight aren't you? Every knight needs a sword."

"Could've given me a real one, but I wouldn't know what to do with it. So I guess this works." he rubbed it gently. There was a definite loud skip to his heartbeat and it irritated him that he was so touched by the small gesture. To keep up appearances he faked disinterest and poked around the other gadgets she was pulling out. "Who's this for?" He lifted up a long metal whip and snapped it making her laugh.

"Mine…" She grabbed it and rolled it out cautiously. With a quick flick, thorn-like spikes protruded out. She focused her quirk into her hand, funneling the energy into the device of her whip before cracking it again and cutting a chair to ribbons. "My quirk is a part of my identity. If people recognize me using it as "Karma" I risk getting found out. I felt this was a more efficient way to hide it. By putting my energy into the whip I can control it as I like without the need to surround it in aura. I can also shoot small beams of energy from the thorns adding to its range and efficiency."

"You've thought of everything haven't you?" Dabi mused gently brushing back the hair that fell into her face again. His smug smile grew when he watched her cheeks go pink.

"I wouldn't say everything." She gave a careless strug and returned the smile."Just the essentials. Comlinks for keeping in touch, the SOS devices for rescue and escape, specified weapons that enhance our quirks and abilities, and last but not least…" She opened the final case grinning at what was inside. "Some chemical warfare."

"What?" Dabi poked his head in and his brow rose. "Poison?"

"Among other things…" Izumi lifted up one vial in particular. "Colorless, odorless, tasteless, and can pass the most strict of autopsies. I used the exact same poison to kill off Sensei."

"Which explains why you were so confident when police and insurance investigators were poking their noses into your business." Tomura said as he entered the room. He took a quick gander at the objects already pulled out of the cases then opened the one with his name on it. His brow rose when it only held a pair of gloves. "What's this?"

"Oh I almost forgot about these." Showing some excitement Izumi set her weapons back in the case and ran to him. "Here try them on." She pulled one out and held it out to him.

"Karma, you know I can't-"

"Just try it on, silly goose." She snagged one of his hands and shoved it on herself. Tomura's eyes blinked in surprise when the glove didn't disintegrate on touch. "Each finger is stitched in with a separate padding…" She touched each finger individually. "So your quirk doesn't affect them. They also have heat and touch sensors so they feel like you're barely wearing anything at all." She placed the gloved hand over her cheek and his had tensed a moment. He gently brushed the fingers along her cheekbone and up to her temple.

"Do you like them?" She asked with hopeful eyes.

"What the hell are you doing to me?" He whispered and pulled his hand away from her. Her eyes saddened but the brightened again when he slipped the other gloved on and flexed his fingers in and out. "As I thought…" He looked back at Izumi with a serious expression. "I'm no good without you."

"Tomura…" Her smile was so bright that everyone in the room forgot they were villains. Both Dabi and Tomura realized then and there that she was doing something no villain had done before. She was turning them into a family, giving them support, love, devotion… and it felt strange.

Izumi's phone rang, saving them all from the touching and pure moment. Reading the caller ID Izumi's lips twitched at seeing Toga's "Black Rook" on her phone display.

"She's making contact… which means the final piece is in play. All that's left is Giran to finish our shopping list." She answered, and after having a brief conversation with Toga she hung up and her grin split her face. "When we pull this off, there's not a single person alive who will be able to ignore us. We're going to make history boys..." She turned around gripping her phone, the crazed look in her eyes making the sweet atmosphere from before completely fade away. "I can't wait to see what the world has to say about it."

~Ask Briry~

Briry: Shorter chapter, but I've been having to work a lot of graveyards lately so not as much time to write *sad face* At any rate I'll do what I can to punch the next chapter out faster. I've also made some progress with my KH fic and The Cursed Kingdom, I just need to tweak a few things and I should be able to post those soon-ish.

Next Chapter: Bad Mass Communication