A Necessary Change

Heroes called the Tsukauchi, Nezu, Aizawa, and Sir Nighteye in droves, all stating that they were ready and could deploy at a moment's notice. Though it was hours before they were due to attack, most of their soldiers were prepared to lay down their lives. The think-tank sent the heroes off with their blessing.

Momo couldn't think of a more incompetent babysitter. Not only was Maria a shallow social climber, but she was work oriented. In all of his planning, All For One had an horrifically simple oversight; Maria was also effected by the taboo that had been set on Yaoyorozu. The moment Momo submitted her code, the screens of the agency showed a single message.

Destroy anything related to the agents and attack at the Villain Tower with the heroes. This is the last mission.

Within moments after sending her work, she stood and exited the building as calmly as she could, despite her racing heart. Her time with the suits had been short and fruitful. Everyone believed the orders had come from one of the suits, so they did not hesitate to obey.

Doctor X saw the message while he watched Phantom Thief's villain debut on the Dark Web. His predecessor, the Doctor X before him, had given instructions for such complete messages. Doctor X began to clear notebooks of information into a briefcase. USB drives with matching data were placed in his lab coat. In his haste to leave the lab, he failed to activate the Nomu – thus denying All For One the strongest part of his army.

Inasa Yoarashi, otherwise known as Gale Force, was the first on the scene, followed closely by Yo Shindo and Seiji Shishikura. Gale Force and Shindo began their attack at once. Gale Force used his wind to attack in tandem with the vibration quirk, which was used not to destroy the earth, but warn villains of a potential attack and signal to their allies. The brains of the operation, Sir Nighteye and his team, knew that fighting out in the open was their best option, as most of the meatheads filled with bloodlust would be the first to run out.

Gale Force was able to shatter a significant portion of windows. Though most of them were false, random ones on each floor were true. Though he was giving villains an out, he also gave heroes an in.

"My turn!" Ashido, the Alien Queen, called out happily. Even as she spoke, a blockade of ice formed around the tower. Icy Hot released a steamy breath and glanced at the forsaken structure. While there wasn't enough height for his barricade to cover the skyscraper, his ice fully encompassed the sidewalk around it, save a twenty meter wide area in the front, which was large enough to allow for some fighting.

As predicted, the boldest villains went out first. "How enthusiastic of them," Shindo chuckled merrily as he watched the villainous troops rush out, their various quirks activate. Gale Force glanced to Icy Hot, who nodded his consent. Both Alien Queen and Icy Hot were projected up to the roof, where they were to engage in combat from above. Alien Queen used her acid to decimate the lock of the first door they encountered. Shortly after they landed, they were joined by Overkill, Red Riot (Kirishima), and Chargebolt (Kaminari).

Down on the ground, Gale Force continued to add to the fighters, careful to space them in groups of five, at the very least. With a wave of his hand, Seiji kept guard on Gale Force and turned nearly a dozen potential assailants into nothing more than meatballs.

Fat Gum, Kamui Woods, and Mount Lady acted as protectors and backup for the gate squad.

Gale Force sent in Snipe, Midnight, Gang Orca, and many other easily recognizable pros. By the time Flint pulled up on a thick boulder with several of her former-vigilante agents, the idiots had become nothing more than a thick slurry of staring eyes and scrambled bodies littered over the ground.

"What position are you guys?" Gale Force asked, aware that he wouldn't be able to recognize every hero. They had created a simple system to bypass the herd of unfamiliar faces.

Flint opened her mouth to answer, just in time for a bolt of lightning to strike Gale Force in the chest. While not dead, he fell to the ground. Black, magnetic sand rained down from above, dropping onto anything metal it could find. Fortunately, the attack did little against Fat Gum, Woods, and Mount Lady, but it kept Flint from accessing the multi-use rock collection in her buckled pockets. Just in the nick of time, Kamui Woods caught Gale Force, who had his eyes rolled back in his skull.

Acting at once, Flint summoned an earthen barrier and floated it above those assembled. While it diminished their sightlines, it also enabled them not to get zapped. She looked to one of her agents, who thankfully had another electric quirk.

"There's your opponent, Shellshock," she said with a wry smile.

Shellshock (OC) unstrapped a pogo stick from his back and electrified it. With the extra energy, he jumped far higher than the device's original intent.

Zeus (OC) began to activate his black sand when a pogo stick jammed into his gut. Shellshock continued his assault; jumping on various parts of his opponent's body, even as Ryukyu flew onto the scene, her dragon form out and ready. As soon as Shellshock was clear, Ryukyu's jaws snapped over Zeus's torso to restrain him. Even before she could truly get a grip, Zeus conjured a powerful, point blank charge of lightning into the hero's gut. While it would have killed a normal human, the blast only stunned the dragon. Ryukyu fell to the ground, her body phasing back to normal. Zeus slipped free of the once-dragon's slackened hold and rolled to his feet, glad that he hadn't hit his head on impact.

Shellshock used the opening to bounce with their pogo stick straight at Zeus. In the same moment, Flint sent a boulder aimed at the villain's already sore gut. While she would have normally gone for a kill, there were too many heroes around, and the agents were no more. Not only had she destroyed her cell phone, but the tracking device in her suit as well.

Zeus moved to the side. As excellent as his quirks were, he didn't have the battle experience or training necessary to win the fight. Though Shellshock missed and slammed into the pavement beside Zeus, Flint curved her projectile and slammed her rock to his stomach, changed the shape, and shoved the villain to the ground. It only took a few swift motions of her arms to cover him in a tomb of stone.

Red Riot, Overkill, Alien Queen, Chargebolt, and Icy Hot worked as a brutally effective team. Overkill took the lead and acted not only as bait, but as a first alert for his comrades. As soon as he shouted orders, his peers sprang into action. With him as the brains, and them working as a cohesive unit, they were nearly undefeatable.

When they got to a thick, metal door that blocked off the hall, Alien Queen used her acid shot to carve out a doorway. White fire instantly burst through, along with nearly twenty villains. For a moment, Overkill's squad could do nothing more than stare. Each had become overwhelmed with an insatiable curiosity, as if their life goal was to stare into the flames.

Chargebolt kept enough sense about him to notice that the other team wore gas masks over their faces. At the same moment, Overkill realized they were under some sort of quirk. Since he had freedom of motion, he managed to block an assailant's attack only a hairsbreadth from his face.

The sidekicks rallied themselves into the most confusing battle of their lives. They would feel random swells of peace, fear, and had to fight a sudden urge to turn on their own. "Damn it!" Overkill shouted. "What the fuck is going on?"

A blonde young woman, likely no more than a few years older than the sidekicks, fired off a shot at Icy Hot. He knew his instincts and reaction time were excellent. The move was so clear, he should have easily been able to dodge – yet his brain remained calm, as if telling him that the fire couldn't hurt him.

Just like that, he was washed over with an ivory blaze.

Creati (Momo) had only managed to slip into the Villain's Tower before Zeus's arrival. Nobody had looked twice at her as she rushed in through the front doors. She even ran past Zeus himself, but he hadn't so much as glanced at her. She suddenly felt as if she knew how Invisible Girl felt, for everyone to look pas her. Creati had been able to see herself in her car mirror, and nobody had impeded her in traffic, which meant that whatever quirk was set upon her didn't effect objects, but only her, Momo Yaoyorozu.

As soon as she saw that the villains had gas masks on, she made one for herself. She surged forward, creating extras for her nearby once-classmates. Creati was stunned when Icy Hot stood perfectly still and allowed himself to be injured. The white-hot fire would have killed anyone else. Though he was rooted to the spot, Icy Hot managed to collect what few senses he had and counter the heat that would slowly but surely damage even his body. Icy Hot lifted his left hand and used his father's ultimate move – Flash Fist. Not only was he able to get the white flames away from him, but he knocked his assailant off her feet.

Creati shoved the masks into her friends' hands. In Overkill's she left a note. For fear that her own name may be forgotten, she stole her teacher's identity.

You're fighting Jibe. Her quirk is Pyromania, so don't trust your emotions.

Flint

Overkill read the note and tossed it to the ground. He relayed the information and tossed the masks to his friends. The group was far too befuddled by the ivory embers and their moodswings to give the random delivery much thought, despite the fact that Flint was nowhere in sight.

"Almost too little too late, Flint," Overkill declared with a scowl. For a moment, the white fire around them puttered out of existence. With the smell of it gone and their new gear in place, the sidekicks were able to trust themselves again. Overkill shoved on his mask, not overthinking its arrival, all thanks to the taboo quirk on Creati. He stepped closer to Jibe (OC), his palms filled with explosions.

Alien Queen, Red Riot, and Chargebolt resumed the battle around them. Now that they could trust their heads, they found that they could take on the Villain Alliance's newest goons with ease. In less than a minute, they were unconscious and shoved into a visible part of the hall, where reconnaissance heroes would grab them as the raid progressed.

"Any last words, Scum?" Overkill said as he rounded on Jibe. Though the blast had been impressive, she seemed to have only been knocked off her feet. If only the agents still existed, Overkill would have murdered her in a heartbeat.

At the inquiry, she snorted. "Yeah. Get a real job."

She threw her arm back to prepare for another blast. Even without scent to create the mania, she still had a fire quirk. Only a wisp of smoke escaped the tips of her fingers before Creati knocked her out. From the team's point of view, Jibe dropped for no reason whatsoever.

Only seconds passed before Grape Juice (Mineta) and Tentacole (Shoji) rounded the corner at the most perfect moment. "Hey, you guys are done fighting, right?" Grape Juice asked in the midst of his approach. "Tentacole said you looked like you won."

"Yeah, we're through," Red Riot said through the mask, still confused by what had happened.

Icy Hot had his own theory. "Fire users are prone to overheating," he explained. "She should be out for a while."

Grape Juice had no reason to doubt it. Overkill took off his mask and shoved it at Grape Juice. "Just in case she wakes up, wear this. If she lights a fire, she can fuck with your emotions." Grape Juice nodded and pulled a sticky ball off his head. He shoved each of the captives' palms on the purple sphere, trapping their hands more effectively than hand cuffs.

The five fighters progressed through the tower, where they encountered very little trouble. Like at the USJ attack, the Villain Alliance was stuffed full of green members and only a few problematic warriors. Battle Fist (Kendo) and Death Arms moved the fallen foes from the Villain Tower. Less than an hour within the onslaught, over three quarters of the Villain Alliance was soundly defeated.

The moment Kota felt rumble, he suspected something extreme was about to happen. A quick peek at a news channel told him that the heroes went in droves to the Villain Tower. He and some other kids took off to a back hall for many reasons. Firstly, none of them wanted to be used as bait. Secondly, the orphans didn't want to be affiliated with the villains. Lastly, and most importantly, none of them wanted to be locked up because they'd been coerced into becoming slaves.

Battle Fist and Death Arms saw the children gather and approached with hands raised in surrender. "Don't worry, guys. You're alright now." She promised them. The fact that she was a beautiful woman stilled many of the boys and won a wary trust from a few of the younger girls. "Nobody's in trouble. We want to help you find your families," she promised. Battle Fist squatted and held out her palm, which stretched harmlessly to its full size. "Now who wants to go for a ride?"

Kota only went with Battle Fist because he remembered her from the training camp. After all he'd lost in the world, he clung to a hope that maybe he could at least find Deku.

Phantom Thief's laughter ceased the moment he felt the tower rumble. He stumbled forward, as did everyone else in the room. Lemillion took the opportunity and elbowed Phantom Thief in the back of the head; rendering him unconscious and also causing a blank slate for the copied quirks.

Deku darted the instant Phantom Thief was down. He smashed his way through the walls and floors like a human bullet. In a matter of seconds, he was in the room with All For One and La Brava. While the former was unsurprised, the latter squeaked and stumbled out of her chair.

All For One appeared amused at the dramatic entry. There were only a few cameras in the control room, but All For One was beyond wishing for his ordeal to be filmed. While he had no idea why Phantom Thief had paused in his assault, All For One wouldn't let his irritation show. A tendril moved from his back to shove into La Brava. He activated her quirk, boosting all of his abilities to even more impressive limits.

"Since you're my son, I'll allow you to fight at your fullest capabilities."

He hadn't even finished speaking before he teleported, invisible, within arm's reach of Deku. La Brava's tendril remained whole and attached, keeping his booster activated. "Here's the quirk you were born with."

Whenever possible, I tried to use hero names. Sometimes there were none available, so I apologize for the smattering of names that broke through. If you have any unanswered questions left, (except for Doctor X's information), drop them in the reviews and I'll be sure to get them. I'm fairly certain I've gotten everything or have done a setup into the next chapter. My apologies for name dropping so many characters, but I felt like I wanted to drop some in to eliminate any angst against my mainly OC villains. Sorry for killing so many off earlier in the story.