SSJ-Jolt - Now I'm going to have nightmares and it's all your fault :o
Guest: xDDDDDDDDDDDD The fun part? This is almost literally the plot of my Fanfic #4 (only 23 chapters thus far). Inko had a romance with All Might (both under false identities), life (or to be exact All for One) separated them, Inko had Izuku (All Might didn't know), Inko later on hooked up with All for One and had two more children, then AlO died in the battle with All Might and a while later All Might found his chosen successor during the Sludge Villain incident and the rest is a history. A very... turbulent history.
[the best part is All Might adapting to his wife's unofficial family, which includes him coming home to see Izuku and Stain watching a document about his life in his living room, while being totally clothed in his merch]
(***)
Izuku was having a reasonable degree of fun describing everything to the gathered heroes. Seeing some of his favourite heroes (and probably his favourite vigilante, because Knuckleduster kicked ass WITHOUT a quirk, c'mon) gathered in front of him was just awesome!
If not for the subject of the talk. He didn't like that at all.
"I admit it's bad." Knuckleduster is the one to speak. "But why are you here? You're a villain."
"You are one too, if you follow the technicalities." Mikumo replies. Knuckleduster flinches. "League is a group of messed-up people that decide to make the world a better place through outright villainy. Changing Japan into a postapocalyptic wasteland inhabited by either forced quirkless or brain-dead mutants is by no means an improvement in our books. There is also the part where Legion absolutely hates Overhaul for what he did to his sister and wants to murder him. Slowly. Oh, and Garaki too, but he is more of an afterthought." He sighs, with just a little bit of acting. "We aren't the only villain group to oppose the PLF. I came here as a representative of not only Legion, but also Sunset and Mr. Compress. League of Villains, Quirkless Equality Movement and the Levellers all want to stop the PLF and are willing to work with the heroes to achieve it."
That surprised them all. He didn't mention how (technically speaking) Mr. Compress was now a League member and had his organization join the growing list of its subsidiary groups.
"He said what he believes to be the truth." Detective Tsukauchi responds to the unspoken query.
Knuckleduster still punches him in the face strong enough for his body to dissolve. Although he does that after four hours of intense discussion and war planning.
(***)
[[SMALLMIGHT send invitation to the chat to Mr. Compress [SS-Rank]]]
[[Mr. Compress [SS-Rank] joins the chat with default nickname of WorldIsAStage]]
WorldIsAStage: OH HELLO
WorldIsAStage: And what might that chat be, I wonder?
SmallMight: You'll see in just a moment. Can you switch to your default villain name?
[[SMALLMIGHT changed their nickname to Legion]]
[[WORLDISASTAGE changed their nickname to Mr. Compress]]
Mr. Compress: So, a business channel? Boring, but I'm game.
Legion: You are always a game.
[[Legion changed the chat name to Shadow Empire™]]
[[Legion send invitation to the chat to Gremlin [S-Rank]]]
[[Legion send invitation to the chat to Kurogiri [A-Rank]]]
[[Legion send invitation to the chat to Vantablack [Unranked]]]
[[Legion send invitation to the chat to Sunset [S-Rank]]]
[[Legion send invitation to the chat to Mindscrew [A-Rank]]]
[[Gremlin [S-Rank] joins the chat with default nickname of MissExplosion]]
[[Vantablack [Unranked] joins the chat with default nickname of Vantablack]]
[[Kurogiri [A-Rank] joins the chat with default nickname of CatProvider]]
[[Mindscrew [A-Rank] joins the chat with default nickname of Insomniac]]
[[Sunset [S-Rank] joins the chat with default nickname of Blueberry]]
Legion: Alright, everyone back to your villain names for this one chatroom. Please.
MissExplosion: Awww
[[INSOMNIAC changed their nickname to Mindscrew]]
[[BLUEBERRY changed their nickname to Sunset]]
[[CATPROVIDER changed their nickname to Kurogiri]]
[[MISSEXPLOSION changed their nickname to Gremlin]]
Legion: Nice. So a quick announcement.
Legion: This is now the official business chatroom of the greater League of Villains. I suspect we'll get another, even more open chatroom for lesser constituent groups (I'm negotiating with like 20 different villain crews to throw their lots with us).
Legion: This one will be a bit more exclusive. At least partially a command center.
Legion: You want to ask for help, make an official query about some things, etc., you do it here.
Mr. Compress: Marvelous. Business.
Mr. Compress: So, perhaps some introductions are in order? Because I must admit, I have no idea why some people are here. Don't take that as an insult, I'm mostly just curious.
Legion: Every person in this chatroom is a head of a constituent group of the League of Villains.
Legion: C'mon, introduce yourself.
Gremlin: Gremlin! CEO of Villain Industries and #1 provider of support items for villains! #1 in quality, not in quantity, at least not yet. We're working on it and I'm looking forward to cooperating with you!
Mindscrew: Vanguard Action Squad of the League of Villains. Legion's personal death squad.
Sunset: Head of the Quirkless Equality Movement.
Kurogiri: Principal of the Villain Academy.
Vantablack: Head of the Exchange (HIMIKO RELENTED, IZUKU), the independent information brokering slash espionage and infiltration organization! Unranked because, well, I'm good at it, and Nedzu is still an angry ass over me wiretapping his office and recording his awkward attempts at singing on tape ]:-
Legion: (FUCK YES)
Mr. Compress: I won't ask. Actually screw that, I'll ask.
Legion: I said that someone can pick the name for that last one (namely, Vampire), but it was atrocious. And she finally agreed to changing it.
Mr. Compress: I see.
Legion: Not telling you the old name, it's too shameful.
Mr. Compress: I'll find out eventually and have a good laugh over it.
Mr. Compress: Well, I'm Mr. Compress. Master of the stage, the best actor and stage magician in Japan, the man to actually defeat Stain in close quarters (Is he still moping? Just a friendly duel it was) and the man who actually understands the value of quality entertainment and style! I'm here at the behest of the Levellers.
Legion: He is moping a bit. But also looking for a rematch. He wasn't back to full strength after the Training Camp battle.
Mr. Compress: Oh fantastic! He has that gritty, scary atmosphere that would make him perfect as an actor in a film about some gritty, grimdark times. Like ours. I really like him. Entertaining that was.
Mr. Compress: So, business?
Legion: Well, unless you have something to ask of us (Gremlin is looking forward to the support items she can create for the Levellers), then I believe that Kurogiri has something to say?
Gremlin: Yes. I'm currently swamped with work outfitting the QEM forces. Mass-production is a nope (assistants already overworked and I have problems finding more), but I'll gladly have a baby with Mr. Compress or other Levellers!
Mr. Compress: I require context.
Legion: She calls her inventions 'babies'.
Mr. Compress: OH WHAT AN ABSOLUTE DEDICATION TO THE JOB, I LOVE IT SO MUCH
Mr. Compress: We just HAVE TO talk about that later. But now, Kurogiri it is!
Kurogiri: It's about a month since the Villain Academy started. We progress much faster than the hero schools thanks to the fact that we do not need to bother ourselves with providing high quality conventional education alongside more practical stuff (although we aren't entirely without it).
Kurogiri: There is also the part where our students all have practical skills, me and the teachers just had to improve on them.
Kurogiri: The first pilot class is making steady progress. As a result I decided that it might be the correct time to start the internships. Most of them will find those among the smaller crews through the Exchange, but I thought a handful were talented enough that we might want to hold on to them.
Mr. Compress: A month? That's fast! Excuse me for asking, but how exactly does your school work?
Mr. Compress: I'm fascinated.
Legion: I'm interested too.
Kurogiri: I've got a building through a certain information broker that has now joined the Exchange. I gathered twenty prospective students (Legion helped me with the vetting process) - they now live in said building, while I'm warping in the teachers for the lessons. And sometimes the students for the open air classes.
Kurogiri: Initially, the active teachers were just me (homeroom teacher of the class) and Vampire (opening locks, disguises, CQC, street smarts, etc.), but I recently got a handful of retired villains to join us. Including Mischief.
Legion: What? She didn't tell me that ._. I'm sad.
Kurogiri: Your mom is more of a guest lecturer. She is quite popular, though. Someone dug out her old villain merch and pictures and, well… teenagers and skin tight bodysuits.
Legion: Ugh.
Mr. Compress: Ugh.
Legion: Am I supposed to believe that you have no poster of her in a skin tight bodysuit, Mr. Compress?
Mr. Compress: Well, at least I'm not a teenager. Just an admirer of fine arts with an extraordinary taste in quality.
Legion: Ugh.
Kurogiri: You are a bit too busy to show up, Legion.
Legion: Well, yes. But I did provide you and graded those assignments on combat quirk analysis.
Legion: I'll find some time for you when you'll start working on their quirk improvements.
Kurogiri: Very good. Back to the subject.
Kurogiri: After a month I've also begun to further specialize certain school plans. Current main specializations are: Combat, Espionage and Command. Before I forget: Mr. Compress, is it possible for the Academy to borrow La Brava for a bit? Espionage and Command courses might benefit from hacking and general computer lessons.
Mr. Compress: Oh she'll be positively delighted by the prospect! Just tell the students to ignore it when she starts talking about how Gentle is the best man ever every fifteen minutes.
Kurogiri: Gentle is free to join too, I know first hand how dangerous (and unpredictable) of a combatant he is. Having the students experience fighting a diverse cast of opponents will be extremely useful to them. Not telling them what his quirk is and having them figure it out on their own sounds like a good idea for an exercise, too.
Legion: Great, so now that we have these done: the candidates?
Kurogiri: Naturally! The first one is Toxicity, of the Combat course. 17 years old, victim of villainous quirk designation and her own quirk side-effects. Her entire body is to a various degree poisonous. Contact with skin causes really nasty hives, bodily fluids cause chemical burns on contact, breath can knock someone unconscious when up close, and her nails and teeth are pretty much lethal when they pierce the skin.
Kurogiri: She was genuinely trying her best in school to make up for it. High grades before she escaped her home due to abuse. No friends (no one wanted to befriend a living chemical weapon), just acquaintances. On the street fell into a bad crowd, joined a small gang, and ended up involved in several assault cases (one victim died of her poison, although this was another gangster and THEY started it).
Mindscrew: I want her. Sounds like a relatable case AND the Vanguard needs some reinforcements after the Training Camp mess.
Kurogiri: Very well. Second one is Non of the Espionage course. 16 years old, victim of his own quirk. Parents died in a hero vs villain battle when he was two years old, foster parents failed to do their job properly. His quirk allows him to temporarily render himself as a non-entity, making him unable to interact with the world (he can move around though), but also making everyone around himself unable to perceive his existence (this includes all known sensors and alarms).
Kurogiri: Lack of control over his quirk while a child (together with lack of action from his foster parents) made him develop mental issues centered around doubting his own existence. He started stealing various things (in order to make people react to the disappearance of things, to prove his own existence), but also seems to have a major issue with heroes (his parents apparently died due to the hero screwing things up). He has been visiting one of those unofficial psychologists available to the villains, but it's just a month, so not much progress yet.
Mr. Compress: Issue with heroes, steals things AND can pop up wherever and whenever he wants with some prep time? I love him already! Gimme.
Legion: Sorry to ask after Mr. Compress asked already, but… Vantablack, any counteroffer?
Vantablack: No. Don't get me wrong, an extremely useful quirk, but Exchange has to deal with a lot of secrets. When you steal cash, you just have to hand it over. When you steal information, you can easily hand it over too much - I'm not risking it with someone with mental issues.
Legion: Fair.
Kurogiri: Very well, I'll talk about the payment for that on a private chat, Mr. Compress.
Kurogiri: The third one is Juggernaut of the Combat course. Twenty-one years old. Born to a family of small-time villains, self-educated himself through the internet apparently. 2,3m tall, looks (tbh) as if Gigantomachia had a child.
Legion: I hate this very idea.
Mr. Compress: Wait, Gigantomachia still exists?
Sunset: ? who that
Legion: You remember me explaining my family situation to you? Well, Gigantomachia is my father's old personal mass destruction weapon. If my intel is correct, he is still hanging around some forest with an antique radio, waiting for All for One to contact him and tell him to destroy a prefecture or two.
Mr. Compress: Oh great. The nightmares begin anew.
Legion: Wait until I tell you that we'll eventually have to pick Machia up because I DON'T want PLF to do that.
Mr. Compress: My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.
Legion: Old memes, of course.
Legion: I should be surprised, but I'm not.
Kurogiri: Juggernaut's quirk makes him partially ignore Newton's Third Law. For those who missed out on physics - when he applies his force to something, he feels no rebound. So he can punch a stone boulder for days, without his fists aching at the slightest. He can also entirely negate any impacts for as long as he moves in their direction when they occur (as his quirk perceives them as 'reactions' to his movement).
Kurogiri: He once had a meeting with a speeding truck. He made a step towards it right before impact, resulting in him being unharmed (clothes were damaged though), while the truck was totaled.
Kurogiri: His police record includes mostly general thuggery. I'd have counted him as a standard thug and not given him lots of thoughts, but as I said, self-educated. Good enough to ace the written portion of the entrance exam. He doesn't speak a lot and seems to embrace the image of the mindless thug, but he is way smarter than people give him credit for.
Mindscrew: Sounds fun. And we might need someone to fight in melee properly. Vanguard Action Squad is interested.
Kurogiri: Wonderful! The fourth one is Awoo of the Combat Course. 18 years old (for a few days now). Not said officially, but bits of her backstory seem to suggest that she was born as a result of ISP organized riot (so, child of rape). Abandoned completely when six years old, and even earlier it had to be rather harsh for her, considering the fact that she has been extensively disfigured with some form of acid. Was scavenging for food for several years, before some small-time villain group picked her up.
Kurogiri: Complex mutant quirk, of wolf-variety. Fast reflexes, excellent tracking skills, incredibly wonderful sense of smell. Rather mean fangs. Can move quietly when needed, and has an excellent sense of direction.
Mindscrew: Can I see a picture of her?
Mindscrew: Ouch.
Kurogiri: Yes. Ouch. Rather extreme issues with her own looks and extremely low self-esteem. Capable of talking, but appears to be selectively mute (if she is even a tiny bit stressed, she stops being able to talk). Loner. She has skills, but getting her to function might be… an achievement. Honestly I'm not sure where to send her for internships, so I'm mentioning her here.
Mindscrew: Relatable backstory AND I want to see Decay's reaction to getting a wolfgirl to the party. Win-win. I'll take her.
Legion: You are really crazy with this recruitment drive.
Mindscrew: Need to bulk up for the PLF war.
Legion: Fair.
Kurogiri: The last one, I believe, will be of interest to Legion. Villain name Rabbit, 16 years old (but looks like 13-14 at best). Command Course. Claims to have an analysis quirk, but at this point I'm about 70% sure that he is actually quirkless (but if so, then he is good at pretending).
Kurogiri: He was bullied in school so he… Well, he destroyed the school.
Legion: he what
Sunset: go get 'em, Rabbit!
Mindscrew: Holy shit I like him already
Kurogiri: Didn't you read his file? Legion
Legion: I think I did, but I was mostly focused on the quirks so I skimmed the rest. What did he do?
Kurogiri: Well, he placed surveillance in a handful of places in the school, caught the teachers enabling his bullying (and of several other people) on the tape plus the director of the school doing some questionable things in his office (she was a minor, dammit). Unleashed all of that on the internet one evening… right after setting the school on fire. Half of it came down as a result, and the faculty was in too much trouble to bother repairing it. He also blew up the house of the main bully with makeshift explosives (wounding the bully in the process, but I'm not sure if that was the plan). Several other bullies (not only his, but also those bullying others that he found out through the surveillance) got either the recordings or some shameful bits of their past published as well.
Kurogiri: Hide his tracks quite well, but not well enough for Sir Nighteye to not track him. He is a bit of an escape artist (bullies useful for once) so he managed to escape the hero that came to arrest him, but he had nowhere to go so he ended up doing some small-time thievery to survive on the streets. Eventually I caught wind of him through Giran.
Kurogiri: Anxiety and very low self-esteem, but he seems to have a knack for information analysis and is highly intelligent. Also, coincidentally, appears to be friends with Toxicity and Juggernaut.
Kurogiri: Though it feels more like they are some sort of Rabbit Protection Squad, to quote a certain someone.
Legion: You know what, I like him already. Having an assistant might be helpful. I'm way too overworked. And separating friends isn't my thing to do.
(***)
After about a month in the Villain Academy, Rabbit (they didn't use their real names in the school) has almost managed to stop hyperventilating on certain occasions. What's more, the number of occasions warranting this has also decreased.
It was… odd.
Rabbit didn't really plan to become a villain. Technically he wasn't one. He didn't use a quirk in his revenge plan, so he was a criminal at best. The law was so unreasonable sometimes. But somehow, he was now officially a D-Rank villain, and he had no idea what to do with that.
He agreed to the whole 'Villain Academy' thing that Giran guy told him about because he heard that it was a guaranteed accommodation and a way of disappearing under the radar. He was way too hungry and sore after sleeping in the alleyways and abandoned buildings to care.
He was ready to come to school again, if it meant food and roof under his head. He didn't expect this school to be so… different.
The homeroom teacher looked scary and was an A-Rank villain (he introduced himself as such). But he also helped Rabbit when he had a panic attack, and got some medications for him that make his anxiety lessen slightly! And not only did he say that he is there for Rabbit if he wants to talk, but he actually WAS there when he asked for it.
It was incredibly confusing. Even his parents didn't treat him like that. Always working, mostly ignoring him after the diagnosis and so on. And that was a VILLAIN. That made absolutely no sense.
Other students were, somehow, way more scary than the teacher. Some even more than his old bullies. They didn't do anything to him, though. Kurogiri-sensei said that he doesn't care what they do to each other after graduation, but if someone does anything to anyone else while in his school without the other side's consent, he is going to get nasty.
He ended up having to prove it. The 'get nasty' meant getting a personal CQC lesson with STAIN. THE HERO KILLER. The student in question returned looking like he just saw God. After visiting Him in person. He was limping for days afterwards.
It was even more confusing.
The weirdest part was the fact that Rabbit wasn't alone anymore. He had two… friends? He wasn't sure himself. One was a loud and way too touchy girl. Toxicity. Black hair with strands of hair in various colours (she had some blue, and some pink ones) and colourful nails. Several small pink stars tattooed under her eyes. Large, wireless headphones (of course, colourful, mostly pink and blue) on either her head or neck.
Clothes varied between the day, but were always in those two colours. Blue and pink. Typically in some strange mixes. The common elements were the surgical mask on her face and really long gloves (which let her touch people without it being… pretty bad).
The other one was Juggernaut. He was large. Massive. Like twice the Rabbit's size. Was wearing a tank top and had really rough facial features. His chin was practically square. His skin was coarse, like it couldn't decide if it was skin or stone.
He didn't talk a lot. But he was hanging out with them.
In all honesty, Toxicity did 90% of talking in the group. Rabbit was responsible for 9%, and Juggernaut for 1%, although also for something like 99% of grunts. He was… well, a bit odd.
(they would still leave him if they new about his quirk, or to be exact, the lack of it)
And the lessons were super interesting! No boring math stuff, or biology and so on. They learned how to break in, how to break out (he was awesome in both things), how to fight (Rabbit really enjoyed it, actually, he chose staff because of the reach thing), how to stay undetected and so on! They learned some physics, but it was mostly practical things (like, 'how to properly block a fire/electricity quirk' by taking advantage of the laws of physics').
It was great!
(he wondered how long it would last, he had his own room now and the food was good, especially when that Mischief lady prepared it for them all, everything was going too great)
Kurogiri entered the classroom. Those that weren't already on their seats (Rabbit was, he felt oddly safe in it), quickly headed towards them. He WAS an A-Rank villain, even if he was nice. No one in the room was ranked higher than a D-Rank. Not the same weight class.
A lot of others were angry at the concept of going to school. Many agreed because their villainous parents told them to. Some because of… well, Rabbit had no idea why some of them agreed to it all. Non, for example, acted like he wasn't sure himself. They didn't talk a lot, he was a bit gloomy and sometimes vanished for an entire class (although apparently he was still there, his quirk was awesome).
It didn't take Kurogiri a long time to persuade them to listen to him and the other teachers. They were all learning super interesting things, and without a notable risk of the heroes catching them up while training. The whole school was in some building in the middle of nowhere. Just trees wherever you looked. Even the food and so on were warped in.
Rabbit really thought that it was a cool idea. School like that.
"Well, today I have a special announcement to you." Kurogiri says when the class goes silent. "You have worked during the past month to improve your foundations. As a result, the Academy decided that it's the time for you to get some practical experience. In other words, from now on, you're going to spend half of every month as interns in various villainous organizations. The other half will have you back here."
Oh no.
Oh no no no no.
Rabbit doesn't want that! He'll probably get to some scary people, and he doesn't want that! Not without Toxicity and Juggernaut! People will probably be mean to him, and they'll find out that he is quirkless, and…
"I must ask you to keep the details of your internships secret from your classmates." Kurogiri continues. "You will all receive a sealed letter with the name of the organization, your handler within it and details of when you are supposed to be ready for the warp. Pack your toothbrushes and everything else you need, just not too much. Not everyone likes that." Kurogiri sighs. "You're free to share whom you intern with with your friends, but that's EVERYTHING that you are allowed to tell them, got it?"
Rabbit is terrified.
"Be aware." Kurogiri continues. "That the villains in question are forbidden to hurt you. Do not consider this an invitation to be disobedient. You are to listen to them. If you screw something up seriously, you'll be returned to the school and punished by me. We've made sure to choose villains that should agree with your personal life histories, so those of you who abhor killing do not have to be afraid of having to kill people. And now…"
He calls them out one by one, handing each of them a letter and letting them return to their seats. Rabbit is almost unconscious from the stress. He barely notices Toxicity giving him a reassuring smile. He does notice when he sits down and his two friends come along (Rabbit was the last one to pick his letter, Kurogiri left the room and students are doing it too). Toxicity grabbed his hand and is giving it a squeeze.
"It will be alright!" She says. He doesn't see half of her face, but he is certain she is smiling. "C'mon, it can't be that bad! Kurogiri surely picked suitable people for the internships, you know him. Big softie. And he really likes you!" Juggernauts grunts approvingly.
"Y… you sure?" Rabbit wants to believe, but doesn't.
(Kurogiri is pretending, they are all pretending like his old 'friends' from school, it's too early for them to announce that to him, they will wait until he trusts them completely and then backstab him, he just knows it)
"Sure. Let's open it one by one, alright?" She asks, and he agrees. He tends to agree to a lot of things. Few days ago Toxicity told him that they would start a gang together, with him as their brains and he agreed to that too. He was… melty when stressed. Then again, it wasn't that bad of a prospect.
She opens her letter first. She gasps audibly.
"Oh my... " She stares at the paper, as if she didn't believe in its existence. "Mindscrew. Vanguard Action Squad of the League of Villains. Warp tomorrow, at noon. Wow! I thought it would be some small-time gangster or something."
Rabbit is happy for her. That's an A-Rank villain! They don't have an internet in the school (only some internal network to chat about things, most likely monitored by someone), but they all know about people like that!
Kurogiri is a part of the League of Villains. She will be with their teacher. Rabbit is torn between being happy and jealous. He wants to be the former, but the latter keeps slipping in. He hates himself for it.
Juggernaut is the next one. He opens his letter, and then shows them the contents.
Mindscrew. Vanguard Action Squad of the League Villains. Warp tomorrow at noon.
His two friends will intern together. He is happy for them, but inside, he is crying. It requires his entire willpower to not start crying on the outside, too.
(they will get even friendlier with each other, they will forget about him, he will be alone again, everyone will hate him and…)
"Can I?" Toxicity asks, and points towards his letter. She can see he isn't the shape to open it up right now. He nods scarcely (the tears do not come out in the process, somehow). She opens the letter and freezes, her eyes wide.
"Holy shit, Rabbit!" She laughs. He is even more confused. Juggernaut stares down at them. Toxicity finally turns the letter towards him, letting him read its contents, and…
Legion. League of Villains. Warp tomorrow at noon.
Rabbit stares. His entire fear and sadness evaporate in the instant, leaving only confusion behind.
Legion? THE Legion? That SSS-Rank? They don't have the internet here, but they do have the television. So he heard of the Training Camp battle and the resulting changes to the rankings. He is like… one of the four most dangerous villains in the country! He's like one of the Top Four Heroes! Why would he want to have anything to do with Rabbit?!
He ends up crying, of course. Juggernauts gives him a very light hug (doing his best to not break him). Toxicity does it right after him, and while she accidentally makes a bit of his skin itch for hours, he barely notices it.
He doesn't notice Kurogiri smiling at him through the minuscule warp gate he left in the school.
(***)
Izuku has gotten over his anxiety and is now reasonably confident and focused. So what do you do? Add new Izuku the Anxious Boi to the story. Truly, I'm brilliant.
And yes. The wolfgirl. Brace yourselves, because it will be hilarious.