They decided to talk about the League first. Lemillion found that odd, but perhaps understandable. He himself would have preferred to talk about the CRC, because he was still trying to mull over the existential crisis that Izuku gave him with his 'motivation talk'.
Nedzu starts from the ground level and goes up. The allies are still missing some bits of the knowledge that the UA faculty had for a while. Nedzu decides to picture them as a result of recent investigations rather than risk being attacked for withholding the information.
They start from Midoriya Izuku. Nedzu mentions his school, his bullying, and his family's eventual 'death' in the house fire. He describes what they know about pre-Legion Izuku - his fanboyism towards All Might and a handful of other heroes, his interest in quirk analysis, his apparent quirklessness and how he is believed to be a late-bloomer.
This is all met with minimal activity from the gathered allies. This changes when Nedzu moves over to Legion's parents. He starts from his mother, who is with absolute certainty identified as Mischief. This is the smaller of the two revelations. Then the rat informs the gathered heroes and a single vigilante that the UA believes (with 80% certainty) that Midoriya Izuku's father is All for One.
Things, understandably, got heated up after that.
"His father is WHO?" Knuckleduster is livid. He is at this point certain that his career as a pro hero ended because All for One stole his quirk.
"This is still speculation on our side." Nedzu quickly replies. "We lack untainted blood samples to run a DNA comparison on Legion. The one we did manage to obtain was tainted heavily, but we're almost certain that at the very least he doesn't possess the ability to steal and grant quirks."
In-co-rrect. But Lemillion doesn't correct the principal, despite Sir Nighteye staring at him from his seat. Mirio Togata developed a particular dislike towards the idea of attacking someone due to being born with some particular quirk. They are going to arrest Midoriya Izuku, but for what he did. He will have no part in some public lynching because Legion inherited a quirk from a monster.
"So he is trying to rebuild his father's empire." Best Jeanist decides to say. "I'm not exactly comfortable with the fact that we're helping him achieve that."
"Why are we even allowing him to do that?" This time it's Miruko.
"Well, he is yet to destroy a city or commit a mass murder on some random civilians." Lemillion finds himself answering. "I'd have said that it's a point in his favour, all things considered. Especially with the Paranormal Liberation Front going on a rampage."
"I'd like to add…" Detective Tsukauchi decides to risk a sudden death and interrupts whatever reply Miruko is preparing. "... that the police did gain access to what can be considered a standard treaty for a group trying to join the League of Villains. Legion appears to be completely disinterested in what said groups are doing for the living - we have everything from extortion rackets to human trafficking in their dossiers. But he DOES require the groups under League's banner to follow a set of rules. Those include ban on mass murder and generally understood indiscriminate killing of civilians, no attacks on heroes' families OR heroes themselves while off-work, no attacks on heroes schools without his explicit approval, which we suspect depends on whether he sees them as corrupt, and no intentional harming of children. Accidents in work are one thing, taking a bunch of them hostage is another thing altogether, and that's apparently a quote."
Lemillion is slightly distraught by the human trafficking bit. Then again, Legion isn't in a position to turn back potential allies. His dream world would probably only have political villains and virtuous heroes, but he is living in the real world. Becoming a Symbol of Evil means taking over the entire underworld, and most of it is to a various degree ugly. Mirio can't imagine Legion making a lot of effort to defend really nasty groups from heroes, though. He also regains a lot of points with the rest of the report.
"Give him a fucking medal for that." Miruko is just a tiny bit sarcastic. Actually, entirely sarcastic. "What did you try to prove with that, detective?"
"All for One had absolutely no problems with those activities." Detective replies. "Especially the part with killing heroes off-work, using their families to get to them and his servants killing a lot of people at random if they wanted. This, alone, proves that while he is a villain and we all want to arrest him, putting an equal sign between him and his supposed father is a stretch. And don't have me start on the fact that even if this is merely a temporary thing, we still can take advantage of him pulling his punches to get rid of the Paranormal Liberation Front AND find a way to eliminate his organization when Overhaul won't be there to take advantage of that."
Lemillion finds it reasonably admirable that they have to repeat 'yes, he is a villain but we DO need him' so often. Heroes shouldn't be alright with an arrangement like that. He relates (to a point - they are both trying to fill really large boots AND help the society in their own way) to Midoriya Izuku, but he still does his best to fish for useful intel whenever possible. And he WILL be the one to arrest Legion, at some point in the future.
Izuku might be a friendly villain, but he murders a lot of his enemies. He murdered a hero (however bad one Thunderbolt was), and had his underlings kill a lot more. He conspires with people like Stain, the Hero Killer. To NOT arrest him is to support his acts. To support his acts is to give them legitimacy. And to give them legitimacy is to make people think that they are acceptable.
"Fine." Miruko relents. Ms. Joke appears to be somewhat accepting of the deal. Knuckleduster certainly does not, and Miruko is only slightly less angry with it. Best Jeanist and Edgeshot are unreadable. "Who's next?"
"Chronologically speaking, that would be Kurogiri." The hologram of a man partially composed of black mist gets displayed right next to Nedzu." Warp-gate user, with one of the strongest warp quirks known in history. He can alter the shape of his misty body parts greatly, while using them as warp gates. This is easy when he can see the end point of the warp, but he can do that on a distance unknown but presumably measured in hundreds of kilometers provided that he knows the GPS coordinates of the landing location. If what Lemillion and Gran Torino narrated to us after their brief visit to the League's headquarters is to be believed, he is a paternal figure to the majority of the League members. In fact, many of them refer to him as 'Papagiri', Protective, and appears to have a soft place for children. We estimate that no less than twenty UA students survived the Training Camp attack due to Kurogiri evacuating them to the field hospital."
"Sounds like a decent guy." Miruko comments. "What is he doing in the League?" She doesn't add it, but having a hero with a warp quirk that powerful would save hundreds of lives.
"I've believed I discovered the reason for that." Nedzu replies. "He was lightly wounded during the training camp attack by a stray bullet. It appears that while his limbs and head are made of mist, there is still some flesh left around his chest and abdomen areas. Probably the reason why is wearing armor on them. The tests confirm the presence of two quirks in Kurogiri's body, which has to some degree merged into a single one. He also carries certain blood anomalies associated with noumification process." Some gasps in the room. Lemillion is surprised as well. "Kurogiri doesn't appear to have his mental faculties impaired, which we believe happened due to the probably unexpected merger of his original quirk and the one that was granted to him. If our theory about Legion's father is correct, Kurogiri might be some form of a caretaker that Legion received from All for One before his demise, and that continues taking care of him and his friends even today."
"Who did the body originally belong to?" Sir Nighteye asks. Nedzu flinches slightly.
"DNA analysis estimates with 98% probability that Kurogiri's true name is… "Nedzu pauses for a second. He appears to be conflicted about something, which is… Lemillion isn't familiar with that. "... Shirakumo Oboro."
The name is unfamiliar. But not to everyone in the room.
"No." Eraserhead has a face that will probably haunt Lemillion in his dreams.
"I'm afraid that there are almost no doubts about it." Nedzu should probably work on his tact. Not like this could ever happen, but it's nice to have some dreams. Eraserhead looks down on the table in front of him, trying to chew through what he just heard. "For those unaware: Shirakumo Oboro was a second year UA student, and Eraserhead's close friend. He perished in a villain attack that we long suspected to be All for One's work. He was severely wounded by falling debris and transported to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. I re-investigated the event after the DNA comparison. Imagine my surprise when the doctor who pronounced Oboro as dead turned out to be Doctor Garaki." Nedzu sighs. "Oboro's hero name was Loud Cloud, and his quirk allowed him to create and control clouds. His hair was also partially… cloudified, for the lack of a better word. If All for One bestowed a warp gate quirk onto him, there is a possibility that it merged with the cloud-control quirk resulting in Kurogiri's ability to control cloud-like mist with a warp-gate element. It also expanded the 'cloudification' from hair to head and the limbs."
"Do… Do you think that he is still there?" Eraserhead asks. "If it's brainwashing, then maybe…"
"I do not know." Nedzu replies. "But it's possible. If you run into Kurogiri again, you should try to call him by his old name. If we catch him, we'll also attempt to undo the brainwashing. You are free to explain that to Present Mic, he was Oboro's friend too. Perhaps if you try it together…"
Eraserhead nods. Lemillion feels extremely sorry for him and Present Mic. He imagines losing Suneater only to find him years later as some undead, brainwashed… something. How much pain would it give to him and Nejire?
"The next one is Decay." Nedzu decides to move on from the subject. Kurogiri's hologram is replaced by one of a gaunt young man wearing some black suit and several realistic-looking human hands. "Five-finger point disintegration quirk, expert in close-quarters combat. Currently pending reclassification into an S-Rank. His quirk appears capable of spreading to nearby objects of similar nature, which he proved during the League's assault on the CRC. Legion restricted the movement of the clanners with his quirk, allowing this 'infectious decay' attack to turn anywhere between seventy and one hundred fifty clanners into dust within less than five minutes." Understandable murmur around the allies table. "He did this again during the Training Camp battle, this time killing twenty-two villains about to attack Eraserhead's class."
"That certainly sounds like an S-Rank, at least combat-wise." Best Jeanist comments. "Do we have any idea what would be the result of him using this attack on, for example, a concrete building in the middle of Tokyo?"
This is an image that Lemillion didn't want to have inside his mind.
"No quirks are without limits." All Might speaks up, surprisingly enough. "His is probably the range from the initial activation point, so it's not an infinite spread. If it was infinite, the planet would have collapsed after he touched the ground for too long. This doesn't change the fact that Decay can collapse a skyscraper with a single touch, simply by damaging his lower section enough for the rest to come down."
That image is only marginally less bad than what Lemillion had in his mind earlier.
"We don't know much about him." Nedzu adds. "We have his name, Tenko, but no surname. We know that he is an avid gamer, who spends almost his entire life playing video games in League's headquarters. He appears to be a bit of a manchild, who has a tendency to resort to murder against things he doesn't like and 'emotionally shutdowns' into inactivity when he doesn't how to react to some event. Legion is treating him as a sort of an odd older brother, and is Tenko's favoured 'Player Two'. He is also keeping him on a tight leash when it comes to murder, but isn't adverse to using him as a living weapon when the situation calls for it."
Nedzu lied.
Lemillion doesn't have a lie-detection quirk and Nedzu is an expert in pretending to be honest. But Mirio is observant enough to notice a slight flinch at Detective Tsukauchi's face. What is Nedzu hiding? He should investigate. But not now. Now he has to admit to something.
"I'd like to add something." Lemillion stands up from his seat. "For a few weeks now I've been in contact with Legion. Through the internet, and under Sir Nighteye's oversight." Nedzu is startled. Allies are surprised. Eraserhead is pulled back from his state of shock just a bit. Sir Nighteye probably wonders 'why now?'. "He isn't telling me a lot, but he did mention that Decay's father hated the heroes for some unspecified reasons. He also said that Decay accidentally killed his entire family during a traumatic first activation of his quirk. He apparently fled the scene and continued to survive on the streets for weeks. He became a victim of a bystander syndrome - citizens expected the heroes to deal with him, while passing by heroes expected the police and child services to intervene. He was eventually found by an unspecified villain, who ended up handing him to Kurogiri, who has eventually become Decay's de facto adoptive parent. Legion and Decay practically grew up together after that."
Lemillion finishes and sits down.
"Poor kid." Miruko says quietly. Not quietly enough.
"The unspecified villain is probably All for One." Sir Nighteye comments. He is surprised by the revelation (and probably wonders how many things Lemillion hides from him), but doesn't show that. "If Decay was as murderous earlier as he is now, he probably expected his heir to inherit some of said malice. So he had them grow up together."
"It was apparently even worse back then." Lemillion replies. "Legion and Kurogiri managed to get him to therapy. Before it, the hands he was wearing as a part of his villain costume were actual human hands, formerly belonging to his family members." A lot of flinches at the images, at least from those who weren't already aware of it. "He was getting panic attacks when they were taken off, and was often seen talking to them, as if they WERE his family members. He was developing into an extreme nihilist and misanthrope, but after a few years with Legion he became somewhat… functional. Enough to kill only on Legion's orders, and no longer hate everyone murderously." Lemillion sighs. "He still hates heroes for never helping him when he needed it, apparently."
"Another failure of the system that we're now going to have to fight against." Nedzu comments.
"Fucked up story creates a fucked up man." Miruko adds. "All part of the fucked up society. Wonderful."
"Next one is Himiko Toga." Nedzu announces, and the hologram is replaced with a girl with golden hair. "She is…"
"Himiko Midoriya." Lemillion interrupts him. Nedzu stares at him, and he isn't the only person to do so. "She and Legion got married a few days ago. My inquiry for a house address to send a 'wedding gift' in the form of heroes has remained unanswered, unfortunately."
"I see." Nedzu decides to not be startled. "She is an expert fighter when it comes to knives, and possesses a transformative quirk that allows her to transform physically into a person whose blood she drank. She also…" Lemillion raises his hand. "... what is it?"
"She has two quirks." Lemillion replies. "She is a rare case of a complex mutant quirk bearer gaining an additional, theme-aligned quirk. Or at least Legion suspects so. That's all that was said, but we can probably guess from her villain name and her additional quirk being blood transformation requiring her to suck the victim's blood that her complex mutation is based on either some blood-drinking animal or the common cultural image of vampires. This is especially possible due to Legion off-handedly mentioning that not drinking blood gives her anemia."
Everyone in the room is increasingly confused by what's happening.
"For how long did you know all that?" Nedzu decides to ask.
"I learned most of that yesterday. Some a bit earlier than that." Lemillion replies. "I have a deal with Legion that the talks will continue and I'm allowed to try to fish for any useful intel if he slips-up, but I shouldn't announce the presence of said talk to anyone unless he agrees to. I said yes, and upheld my side of the bargain. The situation changed yesterday, when he agreed to me coming forward with our contact, allowing me to openly deliver the intel without having to lie to people about their origin." The hero shrugs. "What I'm saying is in no way confirmed, it's just what Legion said. He appears to be oddly honest with me, and openly admits to not wanting to say something when he doesn't want to, instead of creating a convincing lie. I wish to also state that Sir Nighteye monitors our talks, and that it was through said contact line that we've received the intel about the CRC operations."
Sir Nighteye is probably surprised by hearing about him monitoring the talk. Then again, he trusts Mirio - something that goes both ways. Mirio wouldn't openly lie to him, and he DID promise to share everything he can from the talks.
In Mirio's opinion, Sir considers this a form of graduation exam for Lemillion. Besides, he knows about 26 dead heroes in Mirio's head. All of them former bearers of the same power as All Might. One of them being All Might's mentor. He trusts them. So he nods when people look at him for confirmation.
"I see." Nedzu decides to accept it and continue. "She has disappeared from home after she apparently stabbed her father to death. Which happened when she was ten years old. It's a fact that I find highly suspicious, and…" Lemillion raises his hand. "I'm getting the feeling that you should be standing next to me during this lecture, Mirio. What is it?"
"According to what Legion told me, Himiko's parents considered her quirk to be 'villainous', 'unnatural' and 'evil' due to requiring her to drink human blood regularly." Lemillion adds. He can see at least few angry faces in the crowd, and they certainly aren't angry at him for the constant interruptions. "She accidentally killed her father in self-defense when he attempted to… forcefully tear off her fangs, which she uses to drink blood that she requires to stay healthy if not alive. She escaped home in panic, but later on attempted to turn herself in. Unfortunately, the hero she ran into considered her a freak as well, and found some genuine pleasure in beating her up. Fortunately or not, depending on whom you ask, Kurogiri happened to be buying groceries in the area, and has intervened. He killed the hero and took Himiko in."
"I sincerely regret the fact that he killed that hero." Miruko announces. "If this story is true, then I'd really like to meet them. Before kicking them in the face so many times that it would stop resembling a face."
Hearing that the girl apparently had a complex mutant quirk has only made her case more relatable to Miruko.
Gang Orca nods approvingly. Knuckleduster and Ms. Joke look like they would gladly be there to take pictures or hold the hero in place for the kicks. Eraserhead is unreadable, despite hearing that his old friend killed a hero.
"That would agree with my findings." Nedzu adds with a sorrowful nod. "I'll double-check everything, and perhaps I'll manage to find some evidence to form a child abuse case against her mother. Way too late, but…" He sighs. "Anything else you know about her, Mirio?"
"Only that she practically grew up with Decay and Legion." He replies. "If anything, these three plus Kurogiri can be considered to be the core members of the League. She is an extrovert with a tendency for serious mood-swings, likes 'cute things', and has singlehandedly saved Legion from becoming a shut-in like his adopted brother. He in turn infected her with a respect for heroes worthy of the term, and she is apparently the second member of All Might's unofficial fanclub within the League." The hero in question stares at him with so many questions that Lemillion isn't sure how to start answering them. "Him speaking his mind about villainous quirks only further cemented this state."
"I… see." Nedzu decides to not jump into that rabbit hole. The hologram changes again. "Next one is Mindscrew. Real name is Hitoshi Shinsou. Commander of the Vanguard Action Squad of the League of Villains. We currently believe that his mental quirk allows him to brainwash others into following his orders for as long as he speaks to them and they answer in any way. This isn't a pure mind control, all he can do is issue a single command, which is obeyed in a trance-like state. This ties in nicely with his interest in guns - he is a talented sharpshooter and has often used his quirk to force his enemies to leave their covers or deactivate their defensive quirks. He cannot influence higher brain functions, so he can't use his quirk for an interrogation. We previously believed that he cannot issue self-destructive orders, but during the training camp battle he brainwashed a QLF officer into commiting suicide with his firearm. The wording of the order appears to be the key - he didn't tell him to kill himself, but to 'point his gun towards his head and pull the trigger'. The videorecording of the event seems to suggest that the soldier was capable of partially resisting that order, but not strongly enough to prevent it from being executed, only to delay it. This doesn't seem to be possible against non-suicidal orders."
"Sounds like a pain in the ass to deal with." Knuckleduster replies. "Unless you know how his quirk works. Then all you need is to not react to his taunts."
"Not quite." Nedzu replies. "His mask is a voice-changer that, with some small input from its user, can let him 'borrow' voices of everyone who spoke in his vicinity. If you suspect him to be in the area, limit yourself to hand signs and do not reply, regardless of who is speaking."
"Well, now that's truly a pain in the ass." Miruko replies. "So he just has to be there, and suddenly his enemies' communication is all fucked up."
"And don't have me started on people like me, who require to communicate with others to activate their quirks." Ms. Joke adds. "He is practically my natural enemy. What about his backstory?"
"His parents died early in an accident." Nedzu replies. "He was sent to foster parents. Very good grades at school, but suffered from 'villainous quirk' discrimination over his apparent ability to brainwash people who spoke to him. He became a shut-in and switched to online studies at some point around his 14th birthday. Less than half a year later he murdered his entire family, six people in total, before vanishing. He didn't reappear before joining the League and..."
"They cut off his tongue." Lemillion interrupts him. Everyone stares at him.
"What?" Sir Nighteye is the one to voice the unspoken question.
"They lived in constant fear over Mindscrew controlling them with his quote unquote villainous quirk." Mirio replies. "He apparently snapped at one of his 'parents' during some 'you are a monster' rant and used his quirk to make her shut up. They took that as proof that he is a threat, and… well, cut off a part of his tongue, enough to make his quirk no longer work. They panicked afterwards and switched him into online studying in case someone from school had some conscience left. They thought that nobody would believe him on the internet, but Legion did. So he had Kurogiri warp him out of his room, before Mustard gassed the family into paralysis, and Hitoshi finished the job. He is fanatically loyal to Legion ever since, especially as he found a way to regrow his tongue." Lemillion sighs. "Mindscrew apparently wanted to apply to the UA heroics course to prove everyone wrong before the tongue part happened."
"Few more backstories like that and I'm going to end up applying to the League myself." Miruko announces. "Fucking shit, this is one of the most fucked up thing I ever heard about, and trust me, I heard about a lot of fucked up things."
"I should have said those words ten years ago." All Might adds. "I knew that people were discriminated against for having 'villainous' quirks, but I didn't know that things took a dive to this degree in the past few years."
"I'll just add that this is the second most messed-up backstory from the League members." Lemillion replies. He gets a lot of stares after that. "And I'm not talking about Dabi. Let's continue in order." He sighs. He really needs to take a metaphorical or not shower after this. At least he won't be the only one who knows those things now. Should make asking Sir or All Might for some guidance easier.
"Next one is Mustard, although his presence in Hitoshi Shinsou's house seems to imply that I mixed the chronology." Nedzu replies. "His quirk allows him to generate and control clouds of poison gas, which causes paralysis, unconsciousness or death depending on the density. He is capable of generating a poisonous cyclone several miles in diameter, centered on himself, if given enough time. He proved it by almost single-handedly annihilating the Inhuman Supremacy Party's base in Shizuoka. He is one of the League's members whose actual name Legion has kept hidden from the world. I managed to find out two days ago, and this is going to be another shocking revelation after Kurogiri." He sighs. "Mustard's true name is Amaya Nemuri. He is a nephew and an adopted son of recently deceased pro-hero Midnight."
This is new even to Lemillion. Legion didn't mention Mustard's parent name. Oh so many things suddenly clicked.
"What?!" Eraserhead actually raises his voice at this. "I met with him after her death. He was mourning! You can't be serious."
"I am." Nedzu replies. "I've kept it under wraps for now, in order to not create another PR disaster, but Amaya Nemuri vanished mysteriously three days ago. I assume that he decided to join the League officially, I'm also unsure of his motives, but…" This time he visibly expects Lemillion to pick the subject up. So Mirio does that.
"Legion didn't mention the name and didn't directly refer to Midnight, but what he mentioned about Mustard makes perfect sense in the context." Mirio knows that kicking Eraserhead right now is a low blow, but… what else can he do? "His turn to villainy was a form of revenge against his adopted mother. He saw the adoption as some form of community service she did for fame, and never considered her his actual parent. He saw her as spending her entire life working as a pro-hero, as a teacher at UA and the modelling bits rather than take proper care of the child she supposedly adopted as nothing short of parental abandonment. These feelings probably grew in intensity after he participated in the attack on USJ and used his quirk on Bakugou Katsuki… and she didn't even recognize him on the camera feed."
In all honesty, Lemillion considered that a major mess-up on Midnight's side. She wasn't with them anymore, so we couldn't ask her about it, but… did she suspect that Amaya was Mustard, but decided that it's impossible due to him being such a bright and successful student? Or did she truly fail to recognize her own son? Mirio, at this point, wasn't sure what to think about Midnight.
"So he wasn't mourning for her." Lemillion continues. "He was mourning the fact that he could no longer get unmasked before her and shout at her that he hates her for everything. If not be the one to kill her." Eraserhead stares at him in silent horror. "Legion picked him up because while he considered his villainous motivation as childish, he didn't want a living chemical bomb with an intense hatred for heroes to roam the streets without his oversight. When Midnight died, Mustard's anger and spite died with her. If what Legion said is true, Mustard left the League and the country. Without Midnight out there, he could no longer imagine himself killing people or being a villain. Legion threw in some face-altering quirk session as a goodbyes for his adopted cousin, and says that no one will ever find him again." He sighs. "You are free to try to prove him wrong, Nedzu."
He personally thinks that if Legion went as far as he said he did (with the DNA obfuscation and maybe even quirk exchange), the chances of someone finding Mustard are minimal. But he wishes Nedzu the best of luck.
"I will certainly try." Nedzu replies.
"Regretful." Best Jeanist says. "I believe that her intentions with the adoption were noble, especially as she was his blood relative, but… if this tale is correct, then this is one more proof that you can't be a hero for the world if you can't be a hero for your own family. Endeavor taught us that much."
"Putting them in the same category is hurtful for Midnight." Edgeshot adds. "But Mustard didn't see it like that. Our own wounds always hurt us the most. And are the easiest to exacerbate."
Ms. Joke is watching Eraserhead with a pain in her eyes. Lemillion's heart hurts while seeing this.
"So… the next one should be Gremlin." Nedzu decides to pick the talk and put it back onto the tracks. Lemillion intervenes.
"I believe that it'll be a good idea to put that on hold for a moment." Mirio says. "Let's do her last, please."
Nedzu agrees. So he probably knows the truth too. This is going to be ugly.