Tomura Shigaraki was NOT having a good day. All in all, this was due to his carefully planned, meticulously detailed plan going awry at every turn.
First, All Might was late and the kids he was supposed to be teaching turned out to be at least Sidekick level, on top of that badass Eraserhead living up to the hype. Then that green haired brat had stolen his thunder by kidnapping one of the students, right after he practically gave one of the students his identity!
And then All Might, in a fit of rage and wallowing in failure, had destroyed Nomu in ten punches. Ten. Punches. Only double what he would've needed to beat the artifical human in his heyday. So yes, he was growing weaker, but not at a level Tomura could hope to kill him at, especially when his grunts were either too scared or quickly dispatched to do anything worthwhile.
Kurogiri had warped him away in the midst of his vow to kill the Symbol of peace. Then he'd had to endure Garaki giving a rant/lecture on how Tomura had wasted Nomu before an appointment came up and he left to adopt his kindly doctor persona/
"Well, what will you do now?" The calm voice asked over the videophone. "Yes, you have failed in our objective and you have every right to be frustrated. But will you let that get to you?"
Tomura composed himself for his master.
"I know I shouldn't; this is just a reset, not a game over...but I'm so freaking pissed off! We had everything planned and then that brat came along and steals our thunder by grabbing a student! No one will take the League seriously now, they'll all think he was the top player...!"
"Does the public know?"
That gave Tomura pause.
"Um...Pardon?"
"Answer me this Tomura; does the public know that Izuku Midoriya was not part of our League?"
Tomura thought hard but quickly, and under his father's hand, a smile overtook his face.
No.
No they did not.
"Remember this: Power is important, my boy; but power is not just strength or a Quirk honed to near perfection. Information and controlling its flow can be just as grand. After all, turning one's weakness or anonymity into strength is a major part of success."
And then Tomura realized that through that brat's actions, he had gained something after all: The knowledge that All Might had a failure to his name and most importantly the knowledge that UA did not do through background checks on the brats they allowed in.
His master must've realized this, as his tone became happier.
"You are scheming now, are you not? Good. Use what information you have or can get to make the world fear your name, Tomura Shigaraki. If you need help, do not hesitate to ask. Until then? I leave everything to you."
The call ended and Tomura began to visualize his new recruitment strategy...that is until he was reminded of that brat's involvement in affairs. Why was Master so determined to have that greenette shine and grow too, anyways?
"I'll get rid of you and that gang of yours soon enough, Izuku Midoriya." Tomura promised to himself as Kurogiri poured him a glass of Bourbon. "Until then, keep doing whatever it is you do so I can ride your coattails until the finale..."
TSR
At the same time, UA was hounded by the Press and two very enraged parents.
"WHERE IS MY BABY GIRL?!" Maji Ashido roared for the 10th time, his wife Nia trying in vain to hold him back from attacking someone else aside from that reporter. She was not at all against her husband's rage, but she was giving the school the benefit of the doubt.
The illustrious Hero school may have pushed back and captured many criminals and no one else was seriously injured, but Mina's kidnapping had rendered most of that moot. Especially in the case of All Might, with many of the reporters baying for an answer as to where he had been.
Said Symbol of Peace, now in his weathered and skinny 'true' form, was ordered to hide in the lounge room by Nezu until after the hastily assembled Press Conference. In spite of disagreeing with this, he did as he was ordered, watching TV while trying to gently coax any information he could out of the one student who had not been sent home.
All Katsuki Bakugo had said since the teachers had first asked him about his relationship with his classmate's kidnapper was:
"I want a lawyer."
Thirteen had been rushed to the hospital and along with the bruised and battered Eraserhead, was being alone amidst the hundreds of questions. Indeed, the Ashido parents had expressed the deepest thanks of the two pros for all they had done, and Shota Aizawa, the true identity of Eraserhead, had outright told everyone the second the press release was finished he would begin hunting for his kidnapped student.
With that, the Press was all but ordered to keep this short and sweet and for once, they obeyed. Tehy got the details of what had happened and already many were already planning stories on how UA may have allowed a bully in and one of the bully;s victims had become a villain. By the next day, 'Deku' would be on the fast track to Destro and Peerless Theif infamy...
But life and fate had other plans as suddenly, the screens and intercom flickered off before coming back to life:
"HA HA HA HA! I AM HERE!"
It was a clip from All Might's 10th year anniversary as a Pro
"GREETINGS CITIZENS! I KNOW THE WORLD CAN SEEM LIKE SUCH A DANGEROUS PLACE; WHERE VILLAINS LURK AROUND EVERY CORNER...MAYBE YOU THINK YOU'VE REACHED YOUR LIMIT? BUT FEAR NOT! BECAUSE I WILL ALWAYS BE HERE WITH A SMILE ON MY FACE! AND IF WE STICK TOGETHER, EVERYTHING'S GOING TO BE OKAY. JUST KEEP YOUR CHIN UP AND GO BEYOND, PLUS ULTRA!"
The screen then flickered again, with several laptop tabs and windows opening and closing before another voice took over.
"A wonderful speech that is actually apropos of this situation."
The screen the flicked to reveal two gloved hands pouring a cup of tea.
"The world is changing, and sadly it will not be as grandiose and awe-inspiring as All Might. But it is a change that is sorely needed. You see, there was once a time when 'Hero' meant just doing the right thing and never giving up. No costumes, no villains, no money...Some fame yes, but all of it passing with a few exceptions. If you are receiving this message then congratulations, you have become part of history in the making; the start of a new age; one without 'Pros' and 'Villains', instead replaced by mere humans. And age where Hero is only used when it is truly deserved."
The camera then moved up to reveal a grey moustache sipping on the tea before turning upwards into a smile.
"After all, All Might has indeed done more than any other human...and that is what you have all forgotten; he is a mere man. An exceptionally powerful one, but one nonetheless. Are the few failures he has worth destroying what he has done? Does being ravaged by time and age mean he should be blamed for all that goes without him? Well, this is where you get to decide. Go back, your journalistic hounds, fanboys and aspiring heroes. Search for the incident of All Might's battles with a deplorable human with the Quirk of turning into Sludge. To clarify, the one about a year ago in Mufasta. You will find most of the answers you seek there. As for the rest? Well, wait and see. TTFN; Ta Ta For Now."
The screens then went blank.
TSR
Mina stood tall, waiting for the door to open so that she could attempt to escape.
True to her kidnapper's word, her Quirk returned after a two hour nap, easing much of the worry the teen girl had felt overtaking her form. She had then quickly decided to try and escape or at least get an idea where she was. As truthful as 'Kenji' had sounded about her being returned home in a day and a half, she was not about to take any chances; the further away she could get away from her kidnapper the better
Even if said kidnapper was surprisingly apologetic and if he sounded cute.
So, now that it was around dinner time, Mina had begun to form a ball of acid in her arms, either to melt her way out or fling at whomever came to bring her food. In theory, a sound idea...if not for the fact that Mina's acid did not have too many adhesive properties, or at least not enough for the ball to be as big as she wanted.
She had been at this for three hours and the orb was now only as big as her palm.
"...In hindsight, I did know this was going to be tricky." She mused to herself as the door creaked open and she readied to fling the acid she had gathered at whoever was checking up on her, then high tail it out of here.
But when the door opened and in walked in the single cutest little girl Mina had ever seen, she hastily dropped the orb of acid behind her and tried to compose herself as if she had not been doing anything.
"Oh wow, you're pretty!" The little girl smiled and Mina's pink face flushed with purple as a blush overtook her. "Oh, I-I'm sorry...!"
"No, no, no!" Mina assured the little girl. "Its okay, sweetie! I'm just...not used to being called pretty."
The little girl rose an eyebrow in confusion.
"...Why?"
Mina couldn't help but chuckle at the simple ways a child thought before realizing something:
There was a little girl. No older than 6. in a place of villains.
Mina now had a new objective; if not herself, at least get this little girl out of here.
"What's your name, sweetie?"
"Eri!" The little one beamed, Mina feeling her cuteness begin to overwhlem her.
"I'm Mina; do you know a way out of here?"
Eri's face suddenly became sad and Mina began to fear for the worst...
"W-why would I leave Mr. Deku and the others?" Eri asked, her tears beginning to well up. "T-they saved me from Mr. Chisaki...Deku and Mr. Gentle tell me stories, Kenji-nee makes me toys, Jin gives me apples and Toga taught me to braid and gets me good clothes..."
Mina knelt down and hugged the little girl, regretting her question...and making a point to find out who this Mr. Chisaki was: If Eri considered Deku and the others she mentioned as better people...
"I'm sorry, sweetheart." Mina cooed. "I'm..."
"Are you scared?" Eri guessed. "I was too. But Deku and the others are all really nice to me and Kenji told me that you're our guest..."
Kenji. Eri remembered how sincere she had seemed and began to lose her will escape and trust what she had said.
A rumble ended the sweet moment and Eri broke the hug to take Mina's hand and drag her out of her room.
"Dinner is ready!" Eri beamed as Mina realized how hungry she was. As the little girl directed her elsewhere, Mina once again focused on her surroundings; rusty metal halls as she recalled. Now she could smell something relaxing and calming; something that reminded her of summer vacation...She then heard the crashing of water and caught a glimpse of window that showed the setting sun and a large body of water.
Mina's layout searching was interrupted by the smell of stir-fry and the clanging of metal. Eri had brought her to a mess hall, where the food was layout; stir-fry, noodles, apples and much to Mina's delight, Okra. Her stomach rumbled again and she let Eri drag her towards the table and they reached for plates.
A beefy arm grabbed two plates and served them hefty portions. An arm that belong to a burly person in shades.
"Kenji-nee!" Eri beamed, reaching for a hug, the server picking her up and handing Mina a plate. "Mina is really nice and pretty; she tried to save me cause she thought you were mean..."
Mina began to cower, but Kenji just chuckled
"Did she now? Well, thank you for looking after Eri-chan...Mina was it?"
Mina did not.
"...Yeah, he definetly did grab you for the reasons he said AND cause your adorable."
"Um...Where is...?" Mina started, only to hear the clashing of metal again.
"IZU, IZU! HE'S OUR GUY! IF HE CAN'T DO IT I'MA CRY!"
The three girls looked to see Mina's kidnapper clashing with a blonde girl in a cardigan who used butterfly knives and box-cutters against his wrist blades.
"Stop being obvious!" The girl shouted "Shake it up!"
Deku ducked and delivered a kick that his foe barely dodged before attempting to chop at her lefg, which she dodged..but gave him time to get behind her.
"Good, keep me distracted..." The girl beamed.
"TOGA, TOGA! WIN IT ALL! SHOW THAT SCHOOLGIRLS CAN BE TALL!"
All looked at him.
"What, you try rhyming, I ain't no Doctor Seuss!" He voice then became scholarly. "Altough this has been going on...aren't you hungry?"
The two teens paused, and Toga kicked Deku to the ground before helping him back up, a smile on their faces.
"Two out of three?" Deku asked.
"Nah, you've improved enough." Toga waved.
It was then that Mina realized something; her kidnapper had been holding back.
"No not really, the clones are only half as strong as the original. HA! YOU DONE GOT PUNKED!"
Mina yelped and grabbed Eri away from the seemingly bipolar man in black and grey
"Don't worry, that's a side-affect of overusing his quirk." Toga said as Deku caught his breath. She the gasped and rushed over to Mina. "Hi there! My name's Toga! Kenji said you like monster movies and dance, is that true?"
Mina was unsure how to feel; this girl seemed nice...but she had been kicking Deku's butt,,,It was then that Deku realized something
"E-E-E-ERI! W-W-WHY IS S-S-SHE...?!"
Eri smiled adorably
"I wanted to meet her and show her how nice you and everyone are."
Mina then got a good look at her kidnapper; messy green hair, freckles, emerald eyes...no make that eye; one of them was surrounded by burns and was pure white.
'Oh my gosh...He's adorable!'
Her thoughts were confirmed when...
"My masks!" Deku screamed as he began to frantically flip everything over. "Where are my masks?!"
"Here." A new voice entered.
"Oh, thanks Gentle...GENTLE?!"
Now standing in the room was an older looking gentleman in a tuxedo like costume, accompanied by a red haired girl in a similar costume around Eri's size...but Mina saw the budding form a teenager.
"So..." The girl said. "What ya have to say, Izu?"
Deku, or 'Izu' as he was also known, smiled weakly before promptly turning around and running as far as he could, only to find a blue aura to surround him and send him flying towards the redhead.
"Wait. Wait, wait! KENJI! KENJI, STOP THE MAGNETISM" The girl demanded in a hurry. "HE'S TOO FA...!"
The two slammed into each other and went rolling, manking all others wince.
"Oh well. At least it wasn't me this time." Toga nodded, Twice and Kenji following suit and high fiving her.
"sorry, Manami!" Kenji called out as she and the older gentleman helped the teens up.
"La Brava, Magne!" Manami AKA La Brava groaned.
"Well, you called Deku Izu, so..."
The older gentleman then walked over to Mina, his dead eyes making her uneasy. He then reached for the tea pot and poured himself and her a glass before taking a deep breath and bowing.
"Young lady, I apologize profusely for your abduction. It was not part of our plan. If Deku has done anything ungentlemanly and or perverse to your person, I assure you that he WILL be punished for it!"
"WHY IS EVERYONE ASSUMING THAT?!" Deku shouted to the heavens, making Mina giggle when he cowered under Gentle's glare.
"Then by all means, tell us exactly why you thought kidnapping a UA student was a smart idea." La Brava demanded.
"I was pushed into a corner!" Deku explained. "Tomura was going to go on a killing spree, I was set up against five students and Mina..."
"Oh first name already...!" Manami and Kenji cooed, Mina giggling in spite of everything, mostly because Deku was blushing. Eri put her food and hugged Deku's leg, making him smile and mess with her hair before he continued.
"...Mina seemed like the person who came up with the plan that took my clone down. Besides, she's a triple threat; powerful Quirk, atheletic and able to work with others? Yeah that frog girl..."
"Tsuyu." Mina cut in, then clamped a hand over her mouth.
"...And others seemed strong, but i thought it would make sense to grab someone...Oh god, I kidnapped someone how I did not consider how this would look! Mom is going to kill me if she ever finds out!"
He then fell to his knees and grovelled at Mina's feet
"GOMENASAI!"
Mina was now very unsure how to feel; yes she was kidnapped, yes these were criminals...but the seemed to be misguided more than anything else.
"Awww." Toga cooed. "Its kind of cute! Our Izu and Mina; a match made in Stockholm...Or..wait, was Stockholm or Lima when the kidnapper falls...?"
Gentle and La Brava both cringed
"What in the name of all that is sacred is romantic about Stockholm and or Lima Syndrome?!" The diminutive girl asked. "I don't care what Beauty and the Beast says, holding someone against their location is not romantic; its abusvie and demeaning!"
"And Lima Syndrome is just plain unprofessional behaviour for a villain." Gentle added. "That's what got the Peerless Thief after all!"
"Does that even count?" Kenji asked. "He was a rapist."
"I'm sorry, the Peerless Theif?" Mina asked. "Who was that?"
Gentle and Deku looked at her in shock.
"D-does UA NOT have a famous villains class?" Gentle asked. "You kids are being entrusted with teh future and know NOTHING of the past?"
"I think they learn that in third year..." Deki mused.
"...Fair point. Well, enough of that. Let us eat. Also, by all means young lady, do try to escape." Gentle mused, shocking Mina. "Just know that it is a non-stop three day swim to the nearest port and we have only motorboat that is in...less than ideal condition."
"Said I was sorry!" Twice moaned.
"...Then how are you guys able to come and go so easily?" Mina asked.
"A fair question. This oil rig was used by the Meta Liberation Army as an interm base it the army's early days. One of the original Destro's subordinates had a tunnelling based Quirk and made such a tunnel that connects directly to Mufasta's sewer-line to this rig."
"The Meta Liberation army?" Mina asked. "Okay, is there anyone ELSE we Hero students don't know about?"
Now everyone seemed nervous, so she dropped it and the began to eat.
"On the upside!" La Brava beamed. "Gentle, the video of you hacking into UA has a million views already and people LOVE IT!"
She then smiled warmly as Deku.
"Thank you, Izu!"
Deku just blushed and kept eating.
Mina looked to Toga.
"So, you said you had some old monster movies?" She asked.
"Yep! And slashers too! You wanna watch some?! Deku can't stomach them..."
"If these movies scare Eri-Chan, I swear on my dad's life, wherever the heck he is," Deku cut in. "I will toss them into the ocean!"
Somewhere Abroad
"ACHOO!"
A fire alram rang and the sprinklers in the office activated.
"Dammit, Hisashi! Cover your mouth!"
"Sorry!"
Back to the rig!
After dinner, Mina finally had to ask.
"Are...are you guys really villains? I mean, yeah ya kidnapped me, but yoy feed me good, you take care of Eri..."
"That...is a hard one to answer." Gentle said. "If you ust have some answer, most of us were rejected or lost amidst society...but then we found each other."
In spite of not saying anything, Gentle gave Mina a lot to work with.
"Mina! Movies are set up!" Toga called out. "And Izu and Eri are joining us for the first few! They're Pre-Quirk age!"
Mina, her interest peaked, dashed away to join her fellow teens and little girl in a marathon.
The three adults and older teen smiled at scene.
"I hate to say it, but maybe this time Lima Syndrome could be good..." Manami sighed.
"Izuku and Toga really could use a friend..." Kenji smiled sadly.
"They're so cute! I love it, platonic or romantic!" Jin added.
TSR
A few hours later, Gentle left through the secret tunnel and made his way to a scuzzier part of town, where he found someone waiting for him.
"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me."
A katana that seen better days was then levelled at his face.
"You have some explaining to do, Gentle." A man adored in red and badge with many blades and wild black hair growled.
"...You were so much more affable on the web." Gentle smiled.
"That was before your supposed protege kidnapped a UA student."
Gentle sighed. He adored Izuku, he truly did, but that boy was going to give him so much trouble.
"Before anything else, at least allow me to tell you the story of the kidnapper." Gentle begged. "If you are not convinced, we shall part ways."
His company ran the blade across Gentle's nose and licked the blood before sheathinghis blade and sat down, producing a burger meal.
"You told the press it was about a year ago, right? I know the basics of the incident."
Gentle, frozen in place, recollected what he knew and tried to chose his words carefully."
"Well...do recall what I said about All Might being human as I tell you this..."
To be continued...
Read and Review, would ye kindly?
I know you were probably expecting the origin of this ragtag band of misfits and that was theoriginal plan, bur what I had seemed lacking so instead I continued where we left off.
Hope you like where the story is going, thanks to all you loyal readers for reading and reviewing the first chapter.
Stay safe and have a great day.