Chapter 21
Turning Point
While Tomura Shigaraki was absent, Elemagus took the recruits; Himiko Toga, Dabi, and Cecilia Jones, to a new location. Thanks to Kurogiri's Quirk, they were teleported to what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse.
As they walked out of the portal, the portal closed as Kurogiri formed back into his standard body form.
Dabi looked around the place as he looked a bit disappointed. "This looks like a dump. Is there seriously we're taking our entrance exam?"
"So, what are we going to do here? Are we going to fight? Do we get to kill someone?" Toga asked excitedly.
"You are nut," Dabi commented.
"Yo, what's up," said a voice from the shadows.
The recruits and Kurogiri looked over as three people came out of the shadows. The first person was a man in a black and gray bodysuit that covered his entire body, along with gray boots and a gray mask with white eye sockets. The bottom half of the mask, where his mouth is, was black.
The second person was another man. This man wore a much flashier costume. He wore a dark orange shirt, the collar left upturned, a green striped bolo necktie with an oval-shaped azure brooch hanging around his neck, a black waistcoat, and black dress pants. He also wore knee-high white boots with wedged heels and black toecaps, plain dark red gloves, and a tall brown top hat, a red ribbon tied around it, and a pale feather sticking out on the left side.
The third and last person was a woman due to her obvious physic. Her height was somewhere around 5 feet and 11 inches. She had two extraordinary tech gauntlets in yellow color with six spheres on the knuckles, while the sixth one was a large sphere in the center: three spheres on each gauntlet. Her costume was a silver and yellow battle suit, a silver helmet covering her face with only some of her purple hair exposed over the back of her neck, and a pair of silver high-heel shoes.
"Who are you, people?" The man in black and gray suit asked in a rude, angry tone. "It's a pleasure to meet you." His voice suddenly changed to a much kinder tone.
Dabi, Toga, and Cecilia looked confused with the sudden change of mood from the guy.
"OK, is it just me, or did I join a crazy club or something?" Dabi said.
The man just laughed. "Ha, ha, ha! You are funny! I hate the funny man! But I like you!"
Compress stepped forward and said, "Sorry about him. He's a little bit of, um, special."
Cecilia smirked as she rolled her eyes. "No kidding."
"Dabi, Himiko, and Cecilia, please meet Twice, Compress, and Siphon," Elemagus introduced the three to the other three people. "They are also recruits, and they will be tested."
"Hello," Toga waved to the new people.
"OK, now that we are introduced, what are we here for?" Cecilia asked, sounding a bit impatient. "If we are going to do something, then just lets us do it. It shouldn't be too hard for us or me to complete, especially me."
"Ah, I see the young lady is very eager to do the job," Compress noted. "Though, I am curious as to her. What is the 'test' or 'exam' you mentioned to us before about?"
"Yeah! I am curious, too!" Twice asked in a lively tone.
"Well, I expect you, Twice, to explain to everyone," Elemagus said as everyone turned to their eyes on Twice.
"What? Me?" He pointed to himself. "I don't know anything about it!"
"OK, seriously, can someone explain to me what the hell is going on?" Dabi said as he was getting impatient.
Elemagus fixed her throat. "Ah-hem, alright, let me correct myself. Twice, I need your other self to explain the job."
"Oh, then why didn't you say so?" Twice said. "I will be happy to explain it!"
"Uh, finally, we get to hear it!" Toga jumped excitedly. "So, what is it?"
"Well, the job we're doing is something I heard from my good, old friend, Luis. He's Hispanic who lives in Tokyo, by the way. He told me this story he heard from his cousin named Ernesto, who has this sexy Japanese girlfriend, with big boots and big!"
"Ah-hem!" Elemagus fixed her throat loudly, preventing Twice from saying anything further. "Please leave out the unnecessary detail, Twice, and keep it simple."
"Right, right," Twice nodded as he corrected himself. "Anyway, so his cousin, Ernesto, has this girlfriend, a Japanese woman, who works at a food company. She explains how stressful it can be, but the pay isn't so bad from what she said, and she also said something interesting. The company she works also delivers the food to the prison, Tartarus for the arrested people and security guards there."
The part about the prison piqued everyone's interest.
"So, she works at a food company, and they deliver food to the prisoners at Tartarus?" Toga asked.
"Yeah, that's right," Twice nodded. "So, the food company sends these six large trucks to the prison every month to refill their food supply there. It happens like on a Tuesday night, from what the girlfriend said. So, the girlfriend told Luis' cousin, Ernesto, told Luis, and then told me about this all."
They all looked at Twice, feeling a deadpanned, and stayed quiet for like a minute or two.
"And what is exactly our job?" Cecilia said, looking a bit annoyed. "If anything, it sounds like a runaway story!"
"Hey, hold on, I haven't even told you the ending yet!" Twice argued.
"What happened at the end?" Toga asked.
"Oh, well, I shot Luis afterward. The End!" Twice concluded, making everyone feel more deadpanned.
"Thank you, Twice," Elemagus said.
"So, wait? Just like the octo girl said," Dabi said.
"Octo Lady," Cecilia corrected him.
"Whatever," Dabi replied. "So, just like what she said, what is our job then?"
Compress thought to himself, then realized it. "Ah! Wait, are you suggesting it?"
"Suggesting what?" Toga asked.
"At least someone understands," Elemagus noted. "Very well. I will reveal it now. Your job is to infiltrate the prison, Tartarus, and free specific prisoners."
Dabi, Toga, Cecilia, and Compress looked shocked to hear, but the one who looked the most surprised was Twice.
"No way! I've never heard of this! What a shocker!" Twice gasped.
"You are the one who said it!" The other villains yelled at him.
"So, the plan is to infiltrate the prison and free prisoners?" Dabi asked. "Just exactly who are we freeing?"
"Yeah, who?" Toga asked curiously.
"Our targets are these two people," Elemagus said as she took out a small device and then turned it on.
It projected a hologram screen, which showed two mugshots of two people. One was Zap, and the other was Lock-Up.
"Their names are Zap and Lock-Up. A little history lesson: Zap was a member of the League before you all join in. He was an early member of the League when it was formed and hired by our founder of the League. His Quirk is Super Charge, which allows him to absorb electrical energy to make him move fast, giving him a super speed ability. This Quirk allows him to absorb electricity from devices, machines, or anything, including batteries, as long as it runs on electricity. Zap is a veteran villain who's been around longer than you three youngsters."
The youngsters she was referring to were Dabi, Toga, and Cecilia.
"The second target is a villain named Lock-Up. He is a fairly new villain. He was just a petty thief until he took on Hero Killer Stain's ideology. He made his first attempt to kill on the famous rescue hero team, Wild, Wild Pussycats, but he was stopped by some intern when he attacked the heroes. His Quirk is called Lock Sphere, which allows him to create a sphere that traps people inside it by calling out the word, 'Lock' and then shoot electrical energy at his targets, like using a pistol to shoot someone."
"Intriguing," Compress said, rubbing his chin. "Though, if I may ask, what is the reason for freeing these two villains from a maximum-security prison? Nobody in history has ever attempted to break out or even break in the prison."
"Yeah! Why are we freeing these old geezers? If they are cute guys, then I would gladly do it, but they look plain and boring to me," Toga commented.
"Besides Toga's commentary, I agree with her. Why would we go out of our way to free these two men?" Cecilia questioned.
"I agree with Octo Girl," Dabi said, calling her name incorrectly again and making her angry at him as she just stuck her tongue out at him.
"Simple," Siphon spoke up, catching the others' attention. "Both of them have quite strong Quirks. If they are with us, then the League will be stronger. Is that why?"
"Correct," Elemagus said. "That's the reason why we must free them. Freeing Zap and Lock-Up can benefit the League greatly. If you all do this job well, all of you will be an official member of the League of Villains. If you fail, then you will get arrested or possibly die."
Everyone looked at each other and didn't say a word.
Then, one of them spoke up. "If this will lead me to get my revenge," Cecilia said, speaking out. "Then, I will accept the job!"
"If Cecilia-chan is doing it, then I will do it, too!" Toga joined.
Dabi sighed. "Ew, whatever. Let's just get it over with. Plus, breaking into maximum-security prison does sound interesting. If this works, then I can show off to that Tomura guy that I can do something flashy, if needed."
"I am in, so I can get learn more about you guys and become friends," Twice declared.
"We are not friends," Dabi answered, making Twice looked sad comedically.
"I accept this job as a way to test myself and also to keep an eye on these lots. I still don't trust all of you, and I am curious of how you all will do," Compress stated.
"I accept," Siphon said calmly.
"Good," Elemagus said. "Your job will begin tonight, and I already have formulated the plan on how to get into the prison. The food delivery company that was said in Twice's story will be delivering the food tonight. Here is something some of you will need."
- My Hero Academia –
Later that day, the time was afternoon. Somewhere in the city, there was a place that was still working overnight. This building belonged to the food company called "Oishi-Oishi Corp," a pretty popular food company in Japan that also serves in other countries.
Their night workers were putting in the food in the delivery trucks. Once all the food was placed in the trucks, the truck drivers got into their assigned trucks and began the engine. However, little did they know what will happen tonight as two of their members were replaced by intruders.
"Alright, everyone. That's all the food put into the trucks. Let's get them going," the foreman said with his board.
"Yes, sir!" The workers responded as they went on the truck.
"Hold it there, you two!" Two workers stopped by the foreman.
They turned around to face him. It was Dabi and Compress, without his mask.
"I haven't seen you two before. What are your names?" He asked.
"Ah, our apologies, sir. We are new, and it is a pleasure to meet you," Compress said. "Here are our IDs."
They gave the foreman their fake ID cards. The foreman checked the names on the ID cards, which said "Yuta Dorabo" and "Kenji Depressi."
The foreman grinned. "I see. Well, it's nice to meet you two. I've never seen both of your faces before, so I had to check. Good luck and safe driving."
"Thank you, sir," Compress said politely with a smile. Dabi looked indifferent as they got on the truck and started the engine. They followed after the other trucks and exited out to the road.
"You know. We need to think of a better name," Dabi said as Compress chuckled to that.
"They are just fine," Compress said as he was the one driving and following the other trucks. They were the last truck in the line.
The drive lasted several hours, but they arrived at their destination. It was very late in the night now, but they knew they were at the right place due to the lights shining from the prison near the distance.
Tartarus, a particular prison specifically built for incarcerating dangerous criminals and villains. It was built away from any cities, offshore and the only way to enter and exit the prison was the bridge that connected it and the mainland. It was surrounded by giant walls and heavily guarded by guards, both outside and inside the prison.
The trucks waited in line as the guards checked each truck. After like almost 10 minutes for each check, it was the last truck's turn.
"Move forward," the truck moved and then stopped for the guards to check the drivers.
"Please show me your IDs," the guard asked. Compress showed and gave the guards their IDs.
The guards squinted at the ID cards and then looked at their faces.
"Hmmm… You don't look like the usual drivers. Are you two new?" The guard asked while the second guard checked the inside of the food truck.
"Yes, we are. My friend here and I were hired about a month ago," Compress said.
"I see," the guard said, looking a bit friendlier.
"Everything inside is clear," the second guard stated.
"Alright," the first guard responded as he returned the IDs to them. "Well, carry on."
Compress drove forward, entering the opened gate as they got inside the prison safely. He whispered himself.
"Stage 1 of the plan is completed," Compress said as Dabi looked to the window to see the interior of the prison.
Due to how heavily guarded the place is, he admitted that it was pretty impressive.
"Not bad of a place," Dabi said before he showed a slight smirk. "Too bad they won't know what will hit them."
"Indeed," Mr. Compress said as he parked. "Now, let's get working, shall we?"
They got out of the truck and acted normal as they opened the back of the truck and got out of the cargo. They unloaded an enormous load of food on a portable cart and moved it to the kitchen area. More guards were looking at them and the actual workers as they moved the food carts to the kitchen area.
Once there was no one looking at them, they quickly turned to the other hallway. They put the cargo of food somewhere else.
"Hey, over here," Mr. Compress stated as he found a changing room.
The guys entered the room and began the next stage of the operation. They quickly changed to a different look.
"Time to get out of the rest of the gang!" Mr. Compress took out four marble balls.
He put them on the floor and touched the marble balls. "Uncompressed!" Suddenly, the four marble balls turned into four people.
"Woah, that felt strange," Twice said as he cracked his necks.
"I think it was kind of fun while being a marble," Toga said, smiling as she stretched her arms.
"Well, I think it was horrible," Cecilia looked distraught as he stretched her legs.
Siphon didn't say anything. All of them were wearing the correctional officers' uniform, and Dabi and Mr. Compress quickly changed to their uniform, which they were wearing under the food truck driver's uniform.
They put the uniform away as they began discussing the next stage of the plan.
"Alright, now that we are in, we just have to find our targets," Mr. Compress said.
"Right!" Twice nodded. "So, does anyone know where they are?"
"Didn't you listen to Elemagus? They are on the different levels here," Cecilia said strictly.
"My memory is not that great," Twice excused.
"To go over it, we will need to split up into two groups," Siphon spoke up, catching their attention as they listened to her. "One group will find Lock-Up, who is somewhere on level B1, which is this floor. The second group will go to where Zap is imprisoned, which is located on the bottom level. There is a total of ten levels, and B10 is the lowest for the most dangerous villains, and Zap is most likely there."
"Uuuh, that sounds like fun. I would like to go to B10!" Toga demanded.
"Toga, Cecilia, and Twice will deal with Lock-Up. Dabi and Mr. Compress will go to B10 for Zap," Siphon declared, making Toga pout in disappointment.
"Why can they go to B10?" Toga complained.
"It's because you are crazy, you brat," Dabi stated.
"Do you want to get cut?" Toga threatened with her knife out.
"Hey, hey, hey now," Mr. Compress stopped them. "No fighting within us. We can't be here too long. Let's just find them and get out here as soon as possible."
"Good idea!" Twice agreed. "Oh, this is going to be very bad."
"Fine," Toga growled. "Let's go, Cecilia-chan and Twice-chan."
"And what about you?" Dabi asked Siphon. "What will do you?"
"I will go to the security monitor room," she answered back as she walked away.
Cecilia rolled her eyes, wondering if this group was OK and feeling less confident in them. Anyhow, Mr. Compress made a good point. She wanted to get this job over with so that she could get out of this place. This was after Tartarus, a place where villains are arrested and go to. Once they go in, they never come out.
- My Hero Academia –
At Tartarus, there are ten levels. Each level is divided up into six cell blocks. Depending on how dangerous their Quirks presents and the severity of their cases, hence the reason for why they were arrested, the deeper they're kept within the prison. Level B1 is for the lowest tier criminal, usually for someone who committed robbery and attempted murder but ultimately failed to succeed in the murder. Level B10, on the other hand, is for the most dangerous criminals. People like terrorists, serial killers, and generally people with very powerful and very dangerous Quirks are all kept at this level in prison.
Toga, Cecilia, and Twice were walking through Level B1. There were security cameras everywhere, watching everything and their movements as well.
"Where could this Lock-Up guy be?" Toga asked. "I'm getting bored and just have the itch to cause a bit of chaos here."
"Are you crazy?" Cecilia whispered to Toga. "We're here to find our targets and quietly leave this prison. Meaning no chaos!"
"That sounds boring, but you are right. If we do cause a stir, we will most likely get caught and get punished! Just thinking about it makes me tingle!" Toga commented as she shivered excitedly.
"Maybe we can ask someone where Lock-Up is?" Twice asked just as he said that, Toga left the group and stood with another guard.
"Hey, do you know where a villain named Lock-Up is?" Toga asked.
Twice and Cecilia gasped to see Toga just literally talked with the prison and asked the question.
The guard didn't look strangely at her and said, "Oh, you mean, Prisoner 6235? His cell is that way. Go straight, and then it will be the next right."
"Thank you," Toga said as she joined her group.
"What the hell are you doing?" Cecilia cursed. "Do you want to make us be found?!"
"Hey, I got the information we need. Now, come on!" Toga stated, leading them to Lock-Up's cell.
They reached Lock-Up's cell. "This is it!" Toga exclaimed.
"But we can't just open it now. Look," Cecilia said, glancing her eyes at the security camera looking at the door.
"Once that light on the camera turns off, it means that it is off, and we can open this door," Cecilia said.
"Hope Siphon will turn it off soon, or not," Twice said.
"Why are you talking like you are contradicting yourself?" Cecilia questioned.
Meanwhile, in the security monitor room, Siphon had already taken out the three guards in the room as they were collapsed on the floor.
She began typing things on the vast computer monitor and began turning off the security cameras.
"And there. That should do it," she said as she turned off the security cameras and the sensors.
Back in the hallway, Twice saw the camera light turned off. "That's our cue!"
Toga used the keycard to open the cell. When they entered the room, they noticed how cleanliness and comfortable the room was. They found it to be surprising. It had a bookshelf, a lamp, a comfortable bed, a toilet, and a bed.
Lock-Up read a book on the bed when he saw it, and his eyes widened at the three guards entering the room. He wishes he could say something, but his mouth was covered with a metal restraining device that prevented him from speaking.
"Mmm?" He looked curiously at the three guards.
Toga took off her hat and smiled at Lock-Up.
"Hello, Lock-Up. My name is Himiko Toga. This is Twice and my friend, Cecilia Jones. We are from the League of Villians," Toga stated.
"Mmm!?" Lock-Up widened his eyes.
"That's right!" Twice announced. "We are here to set you free!"
"Once we get out of here first, that is," Cecilia interrupted. "Come on. Let's go already."
"Mmm, mmmff, mmffff!" Lock-Up was trying to say something as he pointed to his mouth.
"I think he wants to say something," Toga pointed out.
"No kidding," Cecilia said, rolling her eyes.
- My Hero Academia –
Meanwhile, Dabi and Mr. Compress took the elevator to Level B10. That was where Zap was kept.
B10 was the most bottom level of the prison, located 500 meters below sea level.
The elevator's door opened, arriving at the level. All the prisoners here wore a full-body straitjacket, preventing them from moving, sitting down restrained on an oversized, high-tech chair, and just heavily straitened. They were also put in a white room, with everything white from the floor to the ceiling.
"Here we are," Mr. Compress said, looking around as Dabi stepped out. Just as they did, another elevator door opened as someone came out.
"Hey, you," Dabi greeted Siphon. "What happened to the security monitor room? Shouldn't you be here?"
"Do not worry about that," Siphon stated. "It is heavily guarded, so we don't have to worry."
Dabi wondered what she meant by it but ignored it for now and focused on the mission.
"He is this way," Siphon said, leading them to a specific direction. They walked down the hallway.
As they walked to the supposed Zap's cell, Dabi began talking.
"You said that the security monitor room is heavily guarded. What do you mean by that?" Dabi asked.
"This way here," she pointed, ignoring his question.
They arrived at the cell door that has the plate that says "7785".
"This is Zap's room," she said as she opened it with the key card.
When they entered the room, it was a completely white room, but in the middle, there was Zap, sitting on a high-tech chair with machine guns attached to the ceiling and higher part of the walls. He was restrained to the chair and wore a full-body straitjacket.
They went around to face him, eye to eye with him. Zap opened his eyes and looked up to the three visitors.
"Are you Zap?" Siphon asked.
Zap couldn't speak due to the restraint mask he had, but he nodded vertically, indicating that the answer is "Yes."
Siphon removed the restraining mask over his face, allowing him to speak out. He breathed in and out profoundly before he gave a wide smile.
"What took you guys so look?" He asked.
"You were expecting us?" Mr. Compress asked.
"No fools would dare to come here unless someone like from the League would," Zap said. "Let me guess, Elemagus?"
They nodded as Siphon helped Zap with removing the straitjacket.
"That makes sense. So, the boss wants me back," Zap stated. "Let's get out of here, and I need some food."
- My Hero Academia
Somewhere else in prison, the warden was peacefully reading some documents and working at his desk when he got a call.
He picked up his phone, then answered it. "Hello. What is it?"
"… Say what? Is that true?" He asked, looking solemn as he stood up from his chair suddenly. "Then, set the alarm!"
In a matter of seconds, the alarm went off, sounding throughout the entire prison. Some of the guards checked all the areas. One group discovered that the security monitor room was left unguarded, with three guards fainted on the floor. Another group found the abandoned food trucks. They even noticed that all cameras on B1 and B10 were turned off, including the sensors and the machine guns. Most importantly, prisoners #6235 and #7785 were gone.
The prison declared a full investigation and let the authority know about the two escapees: one low-class villain and a very high-rank villain with higher priority for re-arrest.
The villains arrived back at the secret warehouse, where Elemagus and Kurogiri were waiting. The stolen food truck was abandoned on their way here and burned, thanks to Dabi's power.
"Welcome back. It seems that all of you have passed," Elemagus said, praising the recruits.
"Yeah! We are now part of the League!" Toga cheered.
"Hooray for us!" Twice exclaimed.
"With this, my goal of vengeance is coming to fruition…." Cecilia mumbled to herself.
Dabi showed a slight smirk as he looked a bit proud of himself.
"Well, well, Elemagus, you look pretty and well as usual," Zap greeted flirtishly.
"Don't get too settle down, Zap," Elemagus said, then turned to Kurogiri. "Kurogiri, open the warp to the bar for the recruits. Then, warp me and Zap to the boss."
"Yes, maim," he obeyed.
"OK, I am still catching up with everything that happens so far, but would someone please explain to me what's going on here?" Lock-up asked.
Elemagus grinned. "You are now part of the League of Villains, Lock-Up."
Lock-Up's eyes widened. He expected these people to be the League. For them to go out of their way to free him from Tartarus meant that he is needed. He heard about this organization, and he was planning on joining them by bringing the heads of the Wild, Wild Pussycats, but that plan failed due to one meddling intern he had not expected to have trouble with. This was an excellent opportunity for him to follow in Stain's footsteps and a chance to get revenge on that said intern. He couldn't feel any happier than this.
"Tomura Shigaraki has just returned. He would like to meet you all to tell you all something," Kurogiri announced.
- My Hero Academia –
Within a day, the police authority was notified from Tartarus about the escaped prisoners. Since one of the escaped prisoners was a member of the League of Villains, Detective Tsukauchi, the lead investigator for the organization, notified UA High's faculty.
UA Faculty declared an emergency meeting.
"This is horrible!" Honzo shouted as he slammed on the table. "How could this have happened?!"
"Now, now, Honzo-Kun. Please calm down," Principal Nezu stated, causing the said man to sit back down.
"Though, Honzo is right," Snipe said. "How could this have happened? The prisoners escaping out of Tartarus is unspoken of."
"It is horrible news. Especially at this time right now," Aizawa said.
All the teachers agreed, and Speed Girl didn't like it as much as everyone else. Her hands gripped tightly together with her ankles on the table.
"Zap…!" She mumbled.
"Well, it can't be helped. As much as I am surprised that someone even had the gut to break into the prison, what's been done is done," Principal Nezu stated. "Detective Tsukauchi will investigate and take care of this, and he will let us know any further updates if they have any."
"Tsukaichi-Kun…" All Might thought.
"Now, on the matter of the present, I have something important to announce." Everyone turned their attention to Principal Nezu. "We've been invited again… to J-HOL."
And here is the last chapter for the three-day weekend.
And I can officially announce the new original story arc for Season 2, "J-HOL" arc. What is this original arc about? Well, as much as I want to say it, it will be explain in the next chapter, which will come out later this week. For now, I can say it is another major stage for some members of Class 1-L, and there will also be some developments for members from Class 1-A and even Class 1-B. There will also be a bunch of new OCs to be introduced in this original arc, so please look forward to it.
With that said, I hope you all enjoy the rest of the holiday and stay safe at the same time. As always, go beyond. Plus Ultra!