The last time that Izuku had been inside of a hospital was after he had gotten shot. Yet here he was, once again within the walls of that very same hospital.

Except this time, he was there as a visitor.

An unauthorized visitor.

Officially, as in, on the record, Izuku Midoriya was dead. He had been killed in a police station fire in Tokyo which claimed the lives of several other police officers as well as famed and renowned police detective Tsukauchi Naomasa.

There had been reports of sightings of his person in the Naruhata District, but these rumors were unconfirmed.

Izuku would like for them to stay that way.

For now.

With the help of Kurogiri's Warp Gate Quirk, Izuku was able to visit someone that was near and dear to his heart in her own room while going undetected. She slept peacefully, her breaths were shallow and faint but from what the quirkless boy could deduce, she seemed healthy enough. Her color had not faded, but her hair was matted and unkempt. She appeared to have lost a lot of weight, to the point where she appeared almost sickly.

Izuku frowned as he approached her and took her hand in his own. She was cold to the touch and it broke his heart.

"Mother…"

From what Izuku had gathered his mother suffered a mental breakdown after she believed that he had died in the police station fire. What he did not know however, was that she had been moved from the psychiatric ward to hospital care after she had suffered a stroke.

As far as he knew, she would never be the same.

And it was all because of him.

He gently squeezed her hand as his resolve to see his dream come to fruition ignited like a fire in a furnace within him.

Izuku would create a world without Quirks in her honor so that her sacrifice would not be in vain.

And he would start by removing the man that was responsible for setting all of the events in motion - All For One.

But doing so wouldn't be easy. All For One was extremely powerful, intelligent, shrewd, and charismatic. He spearheaded a criminal empire as well as a countless supply of Nomus as well. Yet he constantly favored Tomura for a reason that eluded him.

Tomura did not have the trappings of a leader. Furthermore, he was reckless, hot-headed, and short sighted. For all of his resources at his disposal, he continued to fail over and over again. Izuku found out that Tomura's operation to attack U.A. was a resounding failure. When he inquired about the plan that was put into place, Kurogiri informed him that the plan was simply a full on frontal assault. There wasn't a snowball's chance in Hell that a juiced up Nomu would be a match for the one and only All Might.

He then attempted to upstage the infamous Hero Killer Stain by deploying Nomus to wreak havoc and destruction when he could have recruited Stain instead. Unfortunately, he didn't want Stain to join the ranks of the League Of Villains due to his own foolish pride. Tomura was a loose cannon and he had the potential to put every villain in jeopardy - and Izuku could not allow that to happen.

There were already fractures within the group. Izuku could tell that Kurogiri was a sensible man, so convincing him to join his cause once he usurped All For One was all but secured. Toga was infatuated with him and would follow him to Hell and back, and Dabi seemed as if he wouldn't care one way or another. From what Izuku could surmise, Dabi had an independent streak but he would be loyal to whoever was in charge. The same assumption could be safely made about Twice as well.

Still, the quirkless boy couldn't get ahead of himself.

He had no concrete plan on exacting revenge on All For One, so at that current moment it was simply a pipe dream.

"Deku," Kurogiri spoke in a quiet tone which broke Izuku's train of thought. "It's almost time for the meeting."

Izuku nodded at him as he turned his attention back to his mother and placed another hand atop of her own in an affectionate manner.

However, as he pulled away he managed to catch a glimpse at a get well card that was situated on her night stand. Curious, Izuku read it, half expecting it to be from his father.

To his shock and dismay, the card was from Bakugou.

I'm not good at these sorts of things but….I know things must be hard for you right now.

Get well soon.

Sincerely, Katsuki Bakugou.

Izuku couldn't believe it. The Bakugou that he knew would never write a get well card. His mother had to have been the one to put him up to it.

Still, as Izuku looked around the room, he noticed that there weren't anymore cards. This caused him to feel sick because there was one person who was supposed to have cared more than anyone else - and that person still hadn't shown his face.

You're letting 'Kaachan' outdo you now, father?!

"Deku!" Kurogiri called out to him once more, this time he spoke in an alarming tone. Izuku heard the doorknob turn, but thankfully he and Kurogiri managed to pass through the warp gate before the nurse that was to enter the room was none the wiser.

Back at the hideout of the League Of Villains, everyone gathered and awaited for Tomura to arrive since he was the one that called the meeting in the first place. Whatever plan that he had in store must have been a big one, because several other villains that Izuku had never seen before showed up as well.

It seemed as if Tomura was quite the recruiter since he managed to bring in six more villains into the fold. Kurogiri brought Izuku up to speed on the current events.

One of the new recruits was a man named Mr. Compress, who, as his name suggested, possessed the ability to literally "compress" his targets into small marble-like spheres.

Another new recruit was a gecko-like creature named Spinner who carried a sword strapped onto his back. He seemed to have been influenced the most by Stain's ideology as shown by his costume.

Big Sis Magne was a transgender woman that had a Quirk capable of generating a magnetized polarity around her. The exact nature of her Quirk was unknown even to Kurogiri, but Izuku was eager to see it in action due to the useful nature of the Quirk.

Another recruit that appeared to have a very useful Quirk was Mustard. Kurogiri informed Izuku that the villain boasted that his gas was capable of knocking out anyone since at the end of the day, heroes were "only human." That was a sentiment that Izuku could get behind.

The other two recruits however, were less than stellar.

One was restrained in a black straitjacket with only his mouth exposed. He had a fetish for flesh, specifically, for biting off flesh. He was for all intents and purposes, a psychotic psychopath that had very little usefulness outside of causing carnage and mayhem. The same could be said for Muscular as well, the last and final new recruit.

He had a very impressive Quirk which allowed him to augment his physical capabilities to superhuman levels. Still, he had very little in the way of brains and in the end from what Izuku was told, he was simply a mindless brute.

So in other words, he was just Tomura's type.

Still, Izuku had to give him credit - their numbers swelled. With the versatility of everyone's Quirks involved, the League Of Villains could plan an attack that could devastate the pro heroes and bring them to their knees.

"Good, everyone has arrived," Tomura began to say as he entered the room. "Let's cut to the chase. I have another new recruit in mind and we are going to get him."

This caused Izuku to give Tomura a perplexed look. What new recruit would be important enough to require an entire meeting on obtaining them?

Toga rolled in the T.V. monitor and turned it on to show footage of the U.A. Sports Festival. Izuku could not help but frown. It was his dream to not only attend U.A., but to be a participant in the festival as well.

However, what shocked him even more was that Bakugou ended up coming in first place in the festival. Though he had been literally chained, gagged, and forced to accept his gold medal. His antics almost caused Izuku to smile to himself, it was nostalgic to say the least. Perhaps there were still bits and pieces of himself that longed for days past.

Toga paused the video after Bakugou's volatile behavior was shown for all of the villains to see.

"That is our new recruit. Katsuki Bakugou," Tomura declared.

Everyone seemed interested in recruiting him and agreed with Tomura's decision. Bakugou was angry, volatile, and unpredictable. He possessed an extremely powerful and destructive Quirk and his talent for combat was practically second to none even when ranked against pro heroes.

Still, Izuku had enough.

He had to speak up.

Because Bakugou would never join the League of Villains.

"Kaacha-" Izuku corrected himself. "Bakugou would only join us over his dead body. He is obsessed with All Might because All Might always win, and Bakugou wants to win."

The room grew silent, and Tomura narrowed his eyes at Izuku's interjection.

"If that was the case, then why was he so angry after he won?"

Izuku did not have a good answer for that. At least, he didn't have an answer that was based on anything concrete. But he knew Bakugou perhaps better than anybody, which also meant that he knew his insecurities too.

"Someone probably wounded his pride," Izuku said with a shrug.

"Probably," Tomura emphasized. "That means that you don't know for sure, right?"

Izuku did not respond.

"So shut your trap. You don't even play a part in this plan. The only reason why you're here is because All For One wanted me to include you in the meeting. Know your place, Deku," Tomura spat Izuku's name out as if it disgusted him.

The tension in the air between them was thick, and one could cut it with a knife. However, Izuku knew when to back down. If Tomura was determined to proceed with his foolish plan then he wasn't going to stop him.

In fact….

A sinister smile crept on his visage, it was visible to no one present.

What am I an idiot? This is perfect!

It was all Izuku could do to not burst into a hysterical fit of laughter as his brain pieced together the events to come as if he had just been granted clairvoyant sight.

Yes, he would allow Tomura to carry out his foolhardy plan. Kidnapping Bakugou would bring not only some of the most accomplished pro heroes to walk the face of the Earth, but the ultimate pro hero as well - All Might.

That would force All For One out of hiding in order to confront him.

And as much as Izuku hated to admit it, but whenever All Might inevitable confronts All For One, he would be hoping for his victory.

Because then All Might's fall would be his own doing.

Merry Christmas! Or should I say Happy Holidays? Regardless, the hiatus is finally over. I apologize for the delay, life has been hectic for me lately but I have the trajectory of this arc mapped out in my head already, so expect a more steady stream of updaes from me.

As always, please rate and review.

Thank you!