Chapter 17:

I haven't been completely honest with you guys.

Here's the truth: The only reason I made this story is so I have an excuse to write about a Villain AU where they rob banks every now and then. Hell, even kidnap and ransom some random politicians or CEOs. Just different types of heists and guns and shit.

"A-Akusero, how could you…" Mina felt betrayed. Her friend, no, her boyfriend, was never on her side. To think he would act this malicious. Whatever the relationship they had in the first place, was flushed down the toilet, burnt, and the ashes were scattered in the most polluted oceans. "Please, tell me you're not actually going to…"

*I'm sorry, Mina.* Izuku felt remorse for what he's about to do. He didn't want to do this. Not to her. Not to his friends. Forcing himself to stop hesitating any further, he set down the plus-four card. *That's a plus-four from Shinso, Tooru, Mineta, and Me. Sixteen cards, Mina. I'm so sorry.*

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Mina cried out while accidentally melting her own cards. Her grief was immeasurable. This has to be the end. This is it. They were only dating for a week but it had to end so quickly.

"Oh for fucks sake, can you two lovebirds stop your melodrama? You just woke up everyone asleep in the bus." Shinso complained while Mina and Izuku were busy doing whatever type of flirting they were doing. Mineta looked at all of them, a little confused. The brainwasher was the one to invite Mineta to play with them.

"Don't make me come there," Aizawa warned them from the front of the bus. The two instantly quiet down. Well, Mina instantly quiet down. Izuku's mouth was restitched. Not as tight as it used to be so he could still talk. Not that anybody knew yet that he could talk. Anybody but Mina, but she can keep a secret.

The training camp's location would be changed at the last second, just as Sensei predicted. Good thing Tomura had a backup plan. Izuku's phone is currently being tracked by Paul so the Australian Hacker could update Kurogiri on the coordinates of the camp.

"Ready up, we're making a rest stop by the cliff," Aizawa announced to his students just as they made the stop. Everyone quickly got out to stretch their legs. Well, most were willing to get out. Izuku was paranoid, seeing as how Aizawa withholds a lot of information from them. Not to mention the fact that withholding information could mean life and death in a battlefield, he's not confident in stepping outside. Luckily for him, Mina pushed him off the bus.

"Why are you even nervous, Akusero?"

*RING RING*

*Give me a moment. It's my dad.* He lied. It was Paul. He answered the hacker's call.

"Hello, mate, enjoying your camping trip?" Paul's greeting was answered with a hum. That seems enough for the League's resident hacker. "Well, now, I only wanted to give ya a heads up! I did a little research on that land, and it turns out the Wild Wild Pussycats owned the place. Aren't ya a fan o' them or something?" This time, Paul's question was met with silence. "Right, anyway, I sent a drone there to keep an eye on the landscape and for any changes. Tomura is busy preparing the entire squad right now. I'm currently in my apartment since Tommy boy ain't having his hacker out in the field. Don't worry about Ragdoll detecting it. She can only see detect living beings. Alright, now that your well informed, good luck!"

He appreciated the fact that Paul ignored the part where Izuku will have to break up with Mina during this event. "Staying with someone that genuinely liked and cared about me… I can't even do that right." He shoved the thought to the back of his mind and got together with his soon-to-be former classmates.

*Sorry, my dad called.* Even with that excuse, it didn't stop Eraserhead from glaring at him. Izuku can worry about that later since the teacher had no evidence against him.

The Pussycats introduced themselves to the class, and as much as he tried to resist the urge, he got a little bit too excited. He did manage to keep it subtle. Mostly subtle.

"Oi, Akusero, you're feeling a little giddy when you saw the Pussycats. C'mon, they're not that great." Shinso is a fucking hypocrite. Everybody and their mothers knew how much Shinso loved cats like how everybody and their mother knew how Izuku loves redheads, which explained his focus on Mandalay. How did everyone found out?

"Oi, Akusero, why are you staring at that karate chick?" Shinso asked him as soon as he realized Izuku was staring at Kendo.

*What?! NO I'M NOT!* Izuku tried to deny it but there's no use. Mina caught on to it quick and joined Shinso in teasing him.

"Oh, cheating on me already? How shameful~" That immediately drew the last straw, causing him to write the true reason without thinking about it first.

*N-No, I just like her ginger hair!* Silence followed as Izuku ripped the paper in half a second after writing it down and showing it to his friends.

"You're into redheads?" Tooru was the first to ask. Izuku shook his head aggressively.

"Oh my god, Akusero got a redhead kink," Shinso added in.

*NO I DON'T!*

"You know, pink is a lighter shade of red. Maybe that's one of the reasons you're attracted to me." Mina wiggled her eyebrows seductively while flaunting her curly hair. Not being able to bear this embarrassment, he wrote down one last thing and ran off. The three friends looked at what he wrote.

*AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH*

"Oh, right, logical ruse, your training camp begins now," Eraserhead told them. The class tilted their head in confusion until they realized what he meant. Mandalay called out to them.

"Our lodge is over there." She pointed at the lodge in the distance. "It will take you a few minutes to reach it by bus, but…" She patted Pixiebob, giving the blonde Pussycat the signal to then throw them down the cliff with a mudslide.

"REACH IT BY NOON IF YOU WANT TO EAT LUNCH, KITTIES!" Ragdoll yelled at them from up the cliff. Yaoyorozu checked to see if everyone was okay, and thankfully had the result of nobody being severely injured. Except for Izuku, who had Mineta land on top of him.

"Akusero, are you alright?" Yaoyorozu patted his back as he got up. He made sure the grape boy was okay before giving the class president a thumbs up.

"Could this get any worse?" Mineta had to jinx everyone. Something has started waking up behind me. It wasn't an animal but an Earth Beast created by Pixiebob. "Ah shit. Me and my big mouth."

Before the beast could even squish the grape, Bakugou, Iida, and Izuku jumped into action. Bakugou blew up half the body while Iida kicked off the other half. Leaving only the head, Izuku shot at it, blowing it up in one hit.

"You brought THOSE here?"

*What? The explosive rounds? Yeah, I mean, it did blow off Stain's entire arm. You think rubber bullets are gonna work on these things?*

"Sometimes, I question your ethically subpar methods of taking down targets." Iida rested his face on his palm, still remembering Akusero using the explosive rounds to mutilate and destroy Stain's arm. Akusero, however, shrugged nonchalantly.

*If it works, I'm not complaining. Besides, it's not like I'd use these on anyone.* He shoved the note on Iida's face, insisting that he'd use it.

"Shut up, Iida. Stop writing, Akusero. We got more coming. HEY! YOU GUYS BETTER KEEP UP BACK THERE! YAOYOROZU, MAKE A COMPASS! THE MORE WE KNOW THE DIRECTION WE'RE HEADING, THE FASTER WE GET THERE!"

Like a medieval captain, Bakugou led the way, explosions blazing. "Now that's part of him that I remember." Izuku thought to himself as he followed the explosive blonde into the forest.

Everybody was doing their own thing to take down the beasts, from melting them to blowing them up with cannons. Izuku knew he'd eventually run out of bullets so he had to explain to Yaoyorozu on paper on how he created them. She became his current supply of explosive ammunition, and he's very thankful for that. He'll have to treat her sometime later.

Back at the bar...

"Yo, Paul, Tomura here. How's the update on the students?"

"Good news, the target; Shoto Todoroki, is with them even though he failed miserably on his exam," Paul answered through the phone while the group in the bar heard some typing noise. "And it looks like they're currently fighting some earth beasts. Don't worry about them. Anything else, mate?"

"That'll be all, Paul. Thanks for the update," Tomura exited the call and faced Kurogiri. "See, Kurogiri? I told you investing in a hacker can help us in the long run."

"I see."

"Now, here's the bird's-eye view of the entire campgrounds from Paul's drone," Tomura showed the photo to the Vanguard Squad. The entire photo showed the lodge, the cliff, and the forest surrounding it. "You guys will be transported to this rendezvous point." He pointed at the cliff. "After three days, since, I got a gut feeling that these heroes are paranoid. You'll strike at night so the chances of these heroes getting reinforcements are slim."

"Will the leader be there when we get transported?" Dabi asked Tomura.

"No, he won't be for a while but he'll get there eventually. All of you remember the name of the one we're kidnapping?"

"Yeah." Everybody answered.

"Shoto Todoroki," Dabi said, feeling uncomfortable when he uttered the name. They all spent a long time discussing this, based on Izuku's time in UA. It was supposed to be Katsuki Bakugou but Izuku said that he's not as volatile as he used to be. The next was Hitoshi Shinso, but Izuku also waved it off, since he was sure that the brainwasher was dead-set on being a hero. Finally, they settled for Shoto Todoroki. Based on what Izuku said, the student was cold and bitter towards others. There was also this aura of arrogance and spite surrounding the boy.

Tomura noticed Dabi shift uncomfortably when the latter said the name. He could only confirm one thing from that, but it was already obvious enough. "Toga, remember to take some blood from at least three students."

"Roger that, Tommy!"

"Dabi, and Twice, keep those teachers occupied."

"Sure! FUCK NO!"

"You got it."

"Compress, when you get the chance, nab the target."

"And I will do it with grace, Shigaraki."

"The rest of you? Distraction and destruction. Keep those heroes busy and don't let them catch wind on why we're there, got me?" Tomura eyed each one of them as they all nodded. "Sensei, do you have anything to say?" He turned to the television. It suddenly flickered and showed the man in a mask.

"Take a nomu," The figure said before the camera showed everyone the nomu they'll be taking. "This is Tool-Arms. The Doctor made it so that it will listen to either Tomura or Dabi's commands. Use it wisely. Also, this Ragdoll hero, take her to me."

"Thank you and yes, we'll capture and take her to you, Sensei." Tomura bowed his head. The Television flickered off. They'll invade the camp on the third day, but everybody was already feeling tense. Except for Paul. He's at his apartment drinking beer and keeping a close eye on the students and heroes for any updates through his drone.

The Camp Lodge...

Everyone was slowly walking out of the forest right in front of the lodge. Some were too hurt, too tired, or just too hungry to even say anything. Izuku? He was pissed. They didn't have to deal with this, but here they are, missing lunch. They had to make do with eating berries or fruits. Hell, they had to force drink Aoyama activated charcoal when he ate some poisonous berries.

"Oh good, you're here. You're also late for lunch." It was past noon. Aizawa had the gall to look bored upon seeing them. He would probably blow his cover but it's going to be worth it. He walked over to Aizawa, who looked at him skeptically. He didn't give his supposed homeroom teacher any time to react when he kicked him full force in the balls.

"MMMPPPHHHH MMPPPPHH MPH MMPPPHHHH!" While those were the words that came out of his mouth, courtesy of a stitched mouth, Izuku actually meant 'Screw you, asshole!'

"BARA! WHY DID YOU KICKED AIZAWA-SENSEI IN THE TESTIC-" As if the timing is right, some random kid punched Iida in the balls.

"You're too loud, dirtbag." The kid chided Iida before walking away.

"Kota!" Mandalay exclaimed when she saw the kid, supposedly Kota, punch Iida in the balls. He likes this kid already. The sad part, nobody checked to see if Iida was okay. Well that, or everybody was just too tired. At the very least, the Pussycats did congratulate them.

"-Especially these three," Izuku readjusted what he's hearing just in time for Pixiebob's speech. "They were the first to act. I am so having fun with them, three years from now."

Before Pixiebob could do anything to them, Izuku presented her with a note.

*I'm taken. I also prefer Mandalay over you. She's a lot better, old hag.* The last line pissed her off. Izuku found that satisfactory.

Lunch was pretty great. Of course, he had to resort to a blender again to eat. Good thing the curry was good, otherwise, there's no way to salvage his loss of appetite. Surprisingly, the hero did not expel him on the spot for kicking him in the balls. Almost everyone patted him in the back for what he did, save for a few people.

He tapped Mina on the shoulder, catching her attention. She turned to face him from her conversation with Uraraka. He held up his chopstick up, near her mouth. She realized what he's going for and gladly chomped down on the curry.

"That's so cute!" Uraraka cheered Mina on with glee, happy for her friend. Tooru did the same, except she's a bit more expressive with those shaky shoulders.

"Both of you are so sweet that it fucking disgusts me," Jirou quipped in a playful tone. Shinso seems to agree with her. "Actually, we forgot to do that speech."

Izuku lifted an eyebrow, curious about said speech. Jirou noticed and immediately stood up. She got near his face, and whispered to him, "If you break her heart, you're dead."

She backed away and ate her food again, acting like nothing happened. First off, that wasn't actually a speech. It's just a sentence. Second off, he was wowed by how serious she is. He visibly gulped while she continued eating. Shinso got up close to him and whispered, "What did she say?"

He didn't write anything, he just gestured to his friend by pointing at Mina, making a heart shape with his hand, breaking it, and then pointing to Jirou, and then using his finger to slice it across his throat. Shinso got the message and grew a little bit wary of Class 1A. "Man, this class doesn't fuck around."

"Damn right." Jirou agreed with Shinso, having heard all of it thanks to her enhanced hearing.

"Right, you can hear everything we whisper to each other, but I don't think you'll ever hear Akusero talk for real," Shinso told Jirou. Mina smiled knowingly at Izuku. Izuku stared back at her and subtly shook his head, telling her to keep quiet.

He went back to sipping his food from his glass, occasionally feeding Mina like a good boyfriend. She did the same thing for him when she blended the curry and rice, and made him drink it, much to the visible confusion of everyone on the table. They both thought it was funny, and that was enough.

Dinner ended and it was time for the hot springs. Izuku has not felt this relaxed in forever. Not that he meant he was stressed all the time. It's nice to just stretch his feet every now and then. Until he stopped Kaminari's hand and glared at the electric student.

"Sorry."

"..."

"What's under your mask?" The electrifying idiot asked him. He rolled his eyes in response and turned away. He grabbed the hand again, glaring at Kaminari again. "C'mon, I just wanna know."

"I saw it," Bakugou interrupted, gaining both their attentions. Everybody in the boys' Hotsprings is now staring at him. "Under that guy's mask is nanya."

"Nanya?"

"Nanya fuckin' business. Leave the guy alone, asshole." Bakugou went back to his relaxed state after telling Kaminari off.

"But-"

*Spark Spark*

It took two sparks from Bakugou's palm to shut him up. Izuku has never felt thankful for his former friend since forever. He nodded in gratitude to him, which was returned with another nod. Of course, Kaminari fucked it up.

"Didn't you bull-"

"Hey, fag."

"STOP CALLING ME T-" Kaminari went limp again. Everybody looked at Shinso, who shrugged.

"What? Guy can't keep his mouth shut on things." Shinso went back to sleeping while Izuku patted him on the shoulder.

"Mineta, what are you doing?" Iida asked Mineta, who was staring at the wall separating the boys from the girls. "You better not be thinking of doing what I think you're gonna do."

"...No. Just… just facing the past." Mineta muttered and walked away from the wall. Izuku would admit that he was proud of Mineta for that moment.

"I guess he took my advice to heart."

"So, when is Shinso releasing Kaminari from his control?"

"When I'm done relaxing."

"Shinso, as the vice president, I humbly ask you to release him." Iida requested, which Shinso followed without hesitation. Kaminari went back from his limp state with a loud gasp. He breathe in as much air as he needs.

"Dude, you could have at least commanded me to breath!"

"Oh shit, really?" Shinso was shocked by this new information. Then again, he didn't keep people brainwashed for long. "Sorry."

"No biggie, and uh, for the sake of not getting brainwashed again, sorry for getting personal, you two."

"Yeah, yeah shut the fuck up." Bakugou went back to relaxing in the hot spring. Izuku shrugged and did the same. Out of eyesight, Kota listened in on the heroes-in-training with their small talks.

"Stupid heroes…"

Girl's Side...

"You two sure move fast for a couple. Kero." Tsuyu told Mina bluntly, who curtly nodded.

"Just remember not to go too far with your romance," Yaoyorozu lectured her pink friend, still wary of the gun-wielding student from the General Studies Course. "I apologize as I must admit that he makes me worry about you."

"What? Nah. Akusero may look all tough and violent, but he's a big softie on the inside. You just need to hang out with him a lot to get him to open up," Mina replied to Yaoyorozu's worries. "There's no need to worry about him. He's been through a lot. He was an orphan, a villain cut off his tongue, he-"

"A VILLAIN DID WHAT NOW?!" Jirou exclaimed unexpectedly as everyone but Tooru was shocked by what happened to Akusero.

"Oh right, he never told you guys. Yeah, a villain did that. He was lucky someone took him in even if he was mute AND quirkless. Apparently the man taught him gun-fu and that's why he's so good with guns."

"Too good. Kero." Tsuyu told her. She knew that there was no way he would have calculated a shot that ricocheted off the wall and ceiling five times before hitting her on that one battle training.

"I have to admit, I still feel bitter about that quick match we had at the Sports Festival." Uraraka reminisced the time he had one-shotted her with a headshot just as soon as their match began in the event. It was an embarrassing loss for her. She wasn't over it for a few weeks and the memory of it still hurts.

"He did tell me that you're a threat up close. He wanted in on the hero course so he took you out quick," Mina explained to her friend. "I mean, Todoroki didn't even make it through the race!"

"Oh, I remember that clearly. I saw Todoroki's face as I was passing by the clinic. He was livid." Yaoyorozu told everyone.

"Yeah, I bet that humbled him, and so did that loss on their actual fight, right? Kero." Tsuyu asked Yaoyorozu. The rich girl nodded, recounting the time she saw Todoroki again with an even saltier look on his face after another loss from the apparently quirkless student.

"Ironic how a quirkless guy destroyed the strongest student in our class, right?"

"I don't know. Bakugou seems like the strongest in our class."

"I guess he is, but he's quiet despite his loud quirk. Kero."

"Can you blame him? He's carrying some big guilt on his shoulders!" Jirou exclaimed, now understanding what Bakugou told her at the cafe back at the internships, as well as his sudden freakout. "I don't know, but I think Shiozaki was the first to notice something off about him. What happened to this Midoriya guy, it really shook him to his core."

Everyone fell silent, wondering what emotional turmoil Bakugou went through.

"Akusero was the first to step in and defend him," Mina broke the silence. "I mean, my boyfriend has a point! Sure, Bakugou did what he did, but at least now he's trying to change, right? Remember when he stopped that boulder from falling at you from that rescue training, Kyoka?"

"Yeah. Well, he did scream at me after and told me off for not being careful. He does care in his own way. Or that time he took a hit for Akusero back at the Beast Forest earlier?"

"Yes, and Akusero paid him back quick by shooting off the beast's head."

"See? Everyone has the hero spirit if they tried!" Uraraka pumped up her fist, inspired by both Bakugou and Akusero. "You got yourself a good catch, Mina!"

"Gee, thanks." The pink girl smiled sheepishly as they continued to talk in the hot springs. After the bath, they all rested for the night, tired after a long day.

The Next Day...

The first day of training is exactly what Izuku expected. Everybody is going through hell. Everybody but him. The perks of pretending to still be quirkless. Well, without his gun, he might as well be. It also wouldn't be a good time to use his other quirk given to him. Eraserhead, as punishment for yesterday, made him run fifty laps around the camp. It wasn't much but he could always use some cardio.

Nothing to soothe his mind other than the tune of 'Pumped Up Kicks' while running around the camp. He was joined by Iida but he knew he wouldn't be able to catch up with someone who had engines for legs. If he notices Eraserhead not looking, he'd make a short stop on Mina's side to encourage her. His vocal abilities being limited due to his stitched mouth, he resorted to giving her a thumbs up every time. She said she appreciated it.

"Looking good, girl!" He gave her another thumbs up while she was busy suffering from her own acid after dissolving some rocks.

"T-Thanks, babe!" She gritted her teeth through the pain. Now he remembers why he liked her. She got grit. He picked up a bottle of water and gave it to her. She gleefully took it and drank the entire thing. "She must have been thirsty."

"Get back to running your laps, Kitty!" Ragdoll suddenly appeared out of nowhere, causing him to throw a punch at her out of reflex. She caught it easily while still keeping the blank smile on her face. "Good muscle memory but you have to control your instinct, kitty! Now, back to running!"

She gave him a little bit of push to get him running again. He waved goodbye to Mina as he started doing laps around the camp again.

"FUCK!" He let out another explosion, bigger than the last one. It's painful, but that's the list of Bakugou's worries. "I need to get stronger…"

He didn't stand a chance against All Might. He's thankful for the help, but that only meant that he's too weak. If he's too weak, he won't be able to fight. He needs to be the best for his sake. He dipped his hands again in the boiling water, gritting his teeth as it burns his forearms.

"FUUUUUUUUCK!"

"I know it's painful, but would you yell something that isn't an expletive?" He turned around to see that it was Shiozaki, the vine girl. He rolled his eyes and went back to his training. She didn't take that gesture too well. "So will you-"

"IF YOU HAVE TIME TO COMPLAIN THEN YOU HAVE TIME TO TRAIN YOURSELF!" He snapped at her with the old temper he thought he buried. He noticed the sparks coming to life on his palms aiming itself at Shiozaki's general direction. He immediately directed the explosion upwards before it could hit her. He clenched his fist after the burst, feeling angry at himself. "I lost control…"

"Just…leave me alone. Please." He looked at her, his eyes showing signs of begging. She was quiet for a moment, never flinching from the explosion that almost came her way. Sighing loudly, she left.

"Fine," That was the only thing she said before leaving him. "It wouldn't hurt to take a break and let Koda perform his voice training, Bakugou."

"You could have started with that, Shiozaki!" He snapped back at her but found that she's already gone. He mumbled to himself about her being a complete annoyance and went back to his quirk training. He did give himself a five-minute break after ten big explosions to give Koda time to train his voice.

He stretched and shook his hands, trying to take away the aching from them. No point going too much over the limit if it retires you early. He's not in the mood of blowing his arms off. A tap on his shoulder broke him out of his thoughts, making him jump. He instinctively sent a small explosion on whatever tapped him from behind, only to see it was Akusero, who blocked the attack with his forearm.

"SHIT! Sorry. We gotta get-" He was stopped by Akusero with a hand gesture that meant stop. He took out a notebook and wrote down a sentence.

*My fault, not yours. I should have approached you from the front.*

"We still need to get the burn patched, idiot. Why are you even here?"

*I just ran through my last ten laps for the day. Seeing that explosion is always pretty cool. You don't mind me watching that, right?*

Bakugou looked at him like he saw a ghost. He shook it off and went back to the boiling pot. "Yeah sure, do whatever you want. Just get that burn patched quick. I can take the heat from Eraserhead."

*I can ask Yaoyorozu to make me a medic bag. Don't worry too much about it.*

"And Akusero," Bakugou called out to the enigma who beat him in the Sports Festival. "The way you said about my quirk…how it's cool. You remind me of Midoriya."

Akusero looked down on the ground and then began writing on his notebook. Bakugou could see sweat trickling from his forehead. *Oh, Midoriya? What about him? Was he your friend before you…?*

"...I don't know. Either way, I'm the worst friend he could have." After saying that, Bakugou went back to his quirk training, letting out bigger explosions.

Izuku glanced at his former friend, experiencing several emotions. "You need to forgive yourself… Kacchan."

{-To Be Continued...

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this one. Leave a like, comment, and subscribe. Peace!