"Most of what you want to know is not mine to tell." Gentle explained. "So, I shall tell you what I can, and you shall have to figure out the rest yourself."

His guest nodded and motioned for him to begin, however, he never dropped the rusty blade that he kept pointed at Gentle.

"It all started a little under a year ago…."

A year ago

"OH, COME ON!" La Brava has shouted. "That was the best video yet and not a single yet comment OR view in three days?!"

It was a tiring existence for them; filming Gentle's outstanding exploits to properly educate the masses on the 'gentleman villain' archetype that had all but died out after All for One had retreated into the shadows: The announcements, the attacks, the mystery in how he dd it all.

Admittedly, yes, Gentle's crimes were rather 'low level', but she saw the brilliance of his plan to slowly climb the ladder of villainy: This way, he'd go down in history as someone who evaded the Pros for a great lon while.

"Patience, La Brava." Gentle smiled as he poured them some tea. "Take a break. Have a cup and some pastries. I managed to sneak a few strawberry ones from work."

The diminutive girl sighed and moved to the table of their apartment. Maybe some sugar would do her some good. However, just before she could leap from her chair, she got a notification: A message

She opened it and sped-read it:

'Boy injured! No pros available! Come to this address! Can't step outside! PLEASE HURRY!'

(Encrypted)

A very odd and desperate message. To be sent to them of all people. Whoever this person was, they had a few screws loose! However, out of habit, she got the address…barely a half hour form them, surprisingly.

"Seems tea will have to wait."

Gentle was already in his costume and reaching for the door.

"GENTLE!" La Brava called out in worry and fear. "What're you thinking?! This whole thing could be a set up!"

"Of that, I have little doubt, my dear. But even still, do understand: I want to become a great villain, La Brava. I do not want to be a monster. Whomever sent this also knows about us and they seem to think we are good enough people to respond. Besides, if it is a trap, the heroes will no doubt be humiliated when the truth comes about."

And with those words? Her fear vanished, replaced by adoration and love for this man in front of her. Without a second thought, she leapt into her costume, and they made their way over.

The address was an abandoned and run-down building, but they spotted a light in a window. With a nod, La Brava used her beloved's Quirk to bounce upwards to the window, which was hurriedly opened. AS she fell back down, Gentle joined in the leap, holding her in his arms with his cane at the ready as they leapt into the room.

What scared them the most was the smell of sizzing flesh. And NOT beef, chicken, pork or any kind of fish. They followed the scent and gasped at the sight: A junior high student, covered in soot, bruises and with the left corner of his face practically cooked.

Standing over him was a large person in shades.

"Oh thank Kami!" they sighed. "SOMEONE finally responded!"

Present Day

"He had apparently fallen from the sky right in front of the building in the state I described. That is the extent of my knowledge to my protégé's background." Gentle said as he began to feel movement again. "From there on, until he was able to remember some details of his life, we put up his notes on various sites and sold them to the highest bidder. We have sold to both sides for what they consider 'cheap' prices, but no deaths can be attributed to my dear boy."

His company didn't seem to be convinced.

"You've had him for a year and that is the extent you know of his past?"

Gentle sighed. He should've known Chizome, AKA Stain, would not accept such paltry amounts of information.

"Very well: His name is Izuku Midoriya, son of a stay at home mother and an overseas working father. Kenji could fill in any of the blanks. But to give you an idea of his intellect…"

The gray haired man produced a student notebook labeled 'Notes for the Future' Vol. 10. Stain took the notebook and skimmed through it; finding sketches upon sketches of the false heroes he despised so much…all at the level of a Police artist of mangka. He then skimmed again, finding breakdowns of quriks, weaknesses and suggestions for attacks and suits.

The quality of these notes, if they were indeed from Gentle's protégé, gave his story weight. And to think, someone this bright was not even in high school yet when he made these notes, if the dates where any indication.

"Take me to this boy." Stain ordered.

"The way back is not pleasant…" Gentle started, but Stain shoved him aside and lifted the manhole cover.

"No worries. I lost my sense of smell when I cut off my nose."

Gentle stood back as Stain made his way forward.

"…Whatever is wrong with that man?"

Back at the Oil Rig

The three teens and little girl had been having a wonderful time; binge watching cartoons and cheesy monster movies. Izuku even went without his masks and genuinely laughed. Twice later brought them some snacks before joining in…only to leave before the climax due to either boredom or remembering something to do.

"Alrighty, that's enough for one night. Time for bed, Eri-chan." Izuku smiled gently as he picked up the unicorn and Toga shut off the TV.

"But I'm not sleepy…" The little girl weakly whined amid a yawn.

"Well, we're hitting the hay soon ourselves, sweetie." Mina cooed. "If you don't sleep, you won't grow big, strong and pretty."

Eri, seemingly buying this, yawned and nuzzled into Izuku's arms as Toga leaned in beside Mina.

"I thought we were sneaking in Alien to scare Izu for kidnapping you…" She whispered.

"We are. just saying that." Mina whispered back.

Suddenly, a portal appeared and a familiar head of blue hair with a hand attached to it stepped out.

"Hey there, Izzy."

"…Tomura." Izuku and Toga said the name with disgust, Eri with fear. Mina wordlessly took the little girl into her arms and stepped into the next room, Toga following them, but never ceasing her glare at the supposed leader of the League, who stood in front of Izuku.

The boy and young man did not have the best relationship even before a few hours ago. There as no way this would end positively…so you can imagine Izuku's surprise when Tomura smiled under the hand on his face, his eyes having caught sight of Mina.

"Nice catch with the cutie, Izzy." He smirked. "Never pegged you as the exotic type. And to get her so comfy in a few hours, you gotta be the patron saint of Stockholm Syndrome or something"

"Its not like that…" Izuku gritted through his teeth, irritated that even TOMURA was coming to that conclusion….even if he wasn't entirely against the idea of such a pretty girl liking him… Never mind, focus on Tomura. "What do you want?"

"To thank you." Tomura beamed. "Thanks to your little rampage and kidnapping, the League's getting noticed and feared. Now your stunt DID cost us Nomu, so….I'mma need you to hand over Knife girl and multipler."

"No deal." Izuku said. "You know what our deal was."

"A deal you blew." Tomura pointed out as he placed a hand on the table the snacks had been placed on. Instantly, it was gone, leaving nothing but blackened ash. "I'm entitled to reparations. And two of yours will do." Tomura then sneered. :Unless of course, you WANT the Yakuza to know what happened to their…jackpot?"

Izuku's brows furrowed and his wrist blades were unsheathed.

"Oh What's this? Thinking your tough shit just cause ya added a babe to your party and made your leader look bad?"

"You're not…"

"I know where mommy dearest lives, ya little shit." Tomura growled, delighting in the shocked look that crossed Izuku's face. "Ya know what that means? Your ass and the ass of everyone in your little clique? It works for me until I say I'm finished"

CLUNK!

Izuku's wrist mounted blade took off the hand on Tomura's face as it landed on his other arm. On instinct, Tomura grabbed it and placed it back on his face, barely hiding his anger but still smiling.

"Ya see? Shit like that, on top of your analysis. I ain't NEVER letting you go….But with that kind of attitude? You need to play a penalty game. So…Knife girl and multiplier…or the brat and the babe. Who is it going to be?"

Izuku sheathed his blade and took a step back. Tomura then saw that his one working eye seemed relaxed…and he was smiling.

SHINK!

Another blade was placed at Tomura's neck; this one a real ass god damn sword.

"So…THIS is the leader of the League? A psychopathic man-child?"

The owner of the voice placed everyone on edge, at least until Gentle appeared beside him.

"Everyone; meet Chiozme Akagami." Gentle announced. "Otherwise known as 'The Hero Killer Stain.'"

All expect Tomura froze in horror and confusion. The blue haired decayer simply smiled.

"You interested in joining?"

"This band of miscreants and misfits? Possibly. The League? No." Stain said simply.

This was not what Tomura wanted to hear.

"And why is that, if I may ask?"

"I'll answer your question with one of my own: What is your end goal…Shigaraki, was it?"

"Kill All Might and whatever pisses me…"

That was as far as he got, as Stain nicked Tomura, kicked him away and licked the blade that had drawn blood, freezing the young man.

"You're no more than a mangy mutt, no actual motivation. These may be no different, but I can at least see comradire between them. Now, get out of my sight and tell your master than after Endeavour? I WILL find and kill him."

"Also, you can add the table to our payment." Gentle said, pointing at the black bits. "That was a pre-first generation, industrial grade, yet still sleek, stainless-steel table which was part of the MLA's first base of operations!"

Gentle, ever the villainous fanboy that he was, would be DAMNED if he didn't replace that table with something of similar quality. He STILL felt bad using this historic place as a base!

Manami cooed in adoration at her beloved Gentle making a demand of the decayer, nary a worry or care for the consequences. Tomura simply groaned as Izuku kicked him back into the portal.

"…Is he gone?" Toga asked, peeking out with Eri and Mina.

"Yes, Himiko." Gentl assured her. "Tomura has left….and we have a potential new…"

Eri screamed and ran back, shouting:

"SCARY!"

"….What did I do?" Stain asked, genuinely confused.

Elsewhere

The Hero Public Safety Commission. The de-facto controllers and appraisers of heroes. It was a necessary organization in the Quirked world, and much like the world itself; a flawed one.

Now, let it be said that not all members were corrupt and many of them genuinely did what was best and needed to be done. Sadly, the ones with the most power were not usually among these, especially with their chairwoman busy handling the PR nightmare of what had transpired that day

"So, we're all in agreement?"

"Lady Nagare has been dispatched, as have a band of cleaners."

"And what of the kidnapped student?"

"Sadly, she was killed by the villains…at least, that is what the reports will say."

"We're running a dangerous game here; people WILL start looking into just how they were found. I doubt anyone will happy to learn all Hero suits, both normal and Pro, have secret trackers only we can access."

"What Nezu doesn't know won't hurt him or UA."

"You mean what 'Nezu doesn't know yet'." Another official added.

Back at the Oil Rig

Later that night

Mina found herself being lifted from her bed and being taken outside

"Izuku?" She asked, half awake

the boy paused for a second then kept walking along, gently placing her in a motor-boat.

"Just go straight." He whispered. "It's all fueled up and Stain fixed it. You'll reach the port in an hour and be a block from UA. Go to them or go home."

Mina realized what was going on

"Y-you're letting me go?"

Izuku nodded, which made Mina smile and then frown when she remembered something.

"I promised Eri-chan I'd teach her to dance tomorrow..."

Now Izuku winced, although his was far more comical and cute, at least in Mina's mind. Yes, even with the burns and blind eye, it was like this boy was bulit to be adorable and awkward.

"And I thought I had to worry about Toga's reaction..." Izuku mumbled to himself, already mentally preparing to be chased by Toga: She had, par none, being the most delighted at Mina's arrival; someone to watch monster and horror movies with while gushing over Eri and whatever male heroes they found cute….The fact Mina hadn't judged her based on her Quirk was a nice addition as well.

Then something happened that shocked Izuku to his core; his kidnappee hugged him.

"Stay safe." The pink skinned girl whispered, her voice revealing she was hiding back an emotion of some kind.

That brought tears to the boy's working eye. He wanted to return the hug, but he pushed her onto the boat and revved up the proppler.

"Become a great hero." Izuku said before turning around. However, he stopped. "And... could you pass along a few messages?"

Mina nodded, her attention rapt.

"To Bakugo; Take your own advice. To All Might; HE is still around and your teacher's legacy has been corrupted. To your classmates, I am sorry. And, if you meet her; to Inko Midoriya; I am so sorry and I love you so much, mom."

He then forced the boat to float away, quickly turning around and forcing himself not to look.

He didn't even notice the others waving goodbye to their prisoner sadly…minus Eri, who was sound asleep.

'Oh great.' Izuku mused internally. 'THAT is not going to be easy to break to her.'

Manami then broke the silence

"We got to pack up and move."

They all did just that. At least, that had been the plan….

"Explanations for a later time, my hopeful friends."

Before anyone could say a word, they were engulfed in a bright light and found themselves floating just as something hit the Oil Tanker, which burst into flames.

TSR

The pink skinned girl had nearly fallen flat on her face when the explosion occurred, the frce of it speeding up the boat ever so slightly. She quickly looked over to see the Oil Rig aflame as worry and dread filled her form.

"Mina?"

The teenage girl was stopped from screaming as she looked over her shoulder and spotted a sight that both relived and horrified her:

Eri, stirring from her sleep and too drowsy to full understand what had just happened.

Next Chapter: Trials

UA and heroes in general find themselves under fire…and our favorite, pink-skinned queen starts asking questions that baffle and or confuse, all while comforting and figuring out just what to do with little Eri. Meanwhile, a mother's wrath will be shown as the Rejects search for a new lair before the heroes close in on them and the Underworld takes an interest in them as well.

Sorry for the long wait for this story to be updated, I was having trouble figuring how to work certain events and doing the entire flashback to how Izuku got to where he is. As you can tell, I still have a few bits to work out, but now you readers have a slight idea as to how this ragtag bunch started coming together.

A major thank you to all who have followed, read and reviewed, in particular my good friends Tim Curry's Toxic Love and Autustic Grizzly; check out their stories and leave likes and reviews, these geniuses deserve it.

If you have any questions/suggestions for the story, feel free to PM me.

As a way of making up for the long wait, here is a deleted Scene before you go.

Other reasons Tomura won't let them go

"Plus, now you got to pay back the loan on groceries that copying guy took out…seriously, I know there's a bunch of ya, but what are you guys eating? That loan was triple my take out budget!"

Izuku made a mental not to berate Jin for this later, unaware Kenji was already wordlessly doing so.

"…What? I'm a growing boy, just like Eri! NONE OF Y'ALL WERE COMPLAINING!"