Shizuoka Shimbum
28 August 2018
"Police Apprehend Member of the Born-to-Be Villains Alliance"
by Kobayashi Naoto
MUSUTAFU. On Saturday night, August 26th, the Musutafu police finally apprehended a member of the Born-to-Be Villains Alliance. Mimura Tetsuya, whose alias is "Controller," is a thirty-two year old man originally from Fukuoka. He was involved in petty crime in his early twenties and served two years in prison. After his release, he went into hiding and joined the BtB. His quirk allows him to manipulate the minds of anyone he touches. He is currently in police custody and is undergoing interrogation. He hasn't given over any information yet.
The Born-to-Be Villains Alliance is a villain organization believed to have been created in the 1980's. They were responsible for the string of kidnappings in the late 80's and early 90's though none of the members involved were caught. The organization has remained hidden ever since and their whereabouts and actions are unknown. The arrest of Controller is the first breakthrough the police and heroes have had with this organization in over twenty years.
More updates to follow.
###
Izuku normally has no trouble giving his full attention to his teachers' lectures, but today he finds his mind preoccupied. Ever since his run that morning, he had not been able to get the image of Shouto Todoroki out of his head.
While Present Mic explains the use of auxiliary verbs in English, Izuku contemplates the pros and cons of revisiting the conversation he had with Todoroki at the Sports Festival. Before telling an adult, Izuku knows it would be best to first confront Todoroki about it. He might give him more information or he might even be willing to accept Izuku's help.
Izuku copies down the formula Ectoplasm is writing on the board, but he doesn't focus on the numbers he's scribbling in his notebook. Instead, he's wondering whether Todoroki will be mad and insist for Izuku not to spill his secret. Will he have the guts to go against his friend's wishes? He understands where Todoroki is coming from, or at least he thinks he does. His home life has never been anywhere near abusive though, so there's a good chance Izuku has no idea the reasons for why Todoroki would refuse help. Is it just embarrassment? He has no reason to be ashamed. It's not like it's his fault. If Todoroki's home life is really as bad as he had made it sound, why wouldn't he want a chance to get away from it?
The decision is made by the time Aizawa's class rolls around. Izuku will bring up the subject with Todoroki later and attempt to put an end to whatever messed up things Endeavor is doing to his child.
He has an obligation to do something, Izuku tells himself. He can't just be a bystander and allow Todoroki to get hurt.
"Alright, class." Aizawa begins. Izuku is able to give him his full attention now that he's made a decision. "Earlier in the year, we talked about Pro Heroes who specialize in search and rescue. For example, heroes like Selkie who does sea rescue operations and the Wild, Wild Pussycats who do mountain rescues.
"The purpose of that was to show you that there are other needs for heroes aside from fighting villains. Not all of your quirks are suited for combat and some of you have quirks that are more beneficial for other aspects of hero work, say for example, search and rescue. Today, we'll be continuing that discussion with Pro Heroes who specialize in infiltration and undercover operations."
Izuku grins as he scribbles down some notes. He loves learning about other areas of the hero industry even though he knows that, as All Might's successor, he'll be specializing in combat and fighting villains.
"These heroes often work closely with the police and many skilled and experienced heroes can work with even higher government agencies like the Ministry of Defense and the Public Security Intelligence Agency. These heroes aren't very well-known to the general public and most of them never even make the Hero Billboard Charts.
"However, this type of hero work is essential to national security and these heroes are responsible for investigating cases related to both domestic and foreign threats. They are credited with intercepting thousands of villainous organizations and other security threats, most of which we never even hear about."
Aizawa hasn't given any specific examples yet, but Izuku's mind is quick to come up with some quirks that could fit the criteria for this type of hero work. His first thought goes to Hagakure and her invisibility quirk- she has already proven in class that her quirk is well suited for sleuthing and snooping around. Infiltrating criminal and villain organizations would be easy with her invisibility. Izuku thinks it could be the perfect use of her quirk.
That is, if she doesn't care about rankings and popularity.
"One of the Pro Heroes I'm going to use as an example is someone who probably none of you have heard of." Aizawa continues. "He was only active for about a year after he graduated from UA's Heroics Department. He was known as "The Possession Hero: Body Snatcher."
Izuku writes down the unfamiliar name, this is the first time he doesn't recognize a Pro Hero brought up in class. He's usually humble about his advanced knowledge of the hero industry but deep down, it does give him a sense of pride whenever his teachers mention something he already knows. This is a slight blow to that.
He'll have to do more research on Body Snatcher later.
"Body Snatcher's quirk allowed him to possess the body of anyone as long as he consumed some of their DNA. He used his quirk to possess villains and criminals in order to infiltrate their organizations and gain intel for the government. He was highly skilled and at the age of nineteen, he had already worked dozens of successful covert operations with both the Ministry of Defense and the Public Security Intelligence Agency."
Uraraka's hand shoots up. "Why isn't he active anymore?"
"He disappeared one night while out on patrol." Aizawa answers with no emotion in his voice. "No one has seen him since and the police have no idea what happened to him. Some suspect he was kidnapped, others say he ran off. It's been a cold case for over twenty-five years now."
His quirk is possession... "Aizawa-sensei?"
"Yes, Midoriya?"
"Is it possible he could have used his quirk to possess someone?"
Aizawa shakes his head. "The police looked into that but they couldn't find his body. When he uses his quirk, his own body goes into a comatose state and if it's neglected for too long then he'll die. Alright, moving on to the next example..."
As Aizawa continues with the lecture, Izuku's thoughts linger on Body Snatcher. It's a tragic incident and Izuku wonders if it's possible that Body Snatcher faked his own disappearance and walked out on society. Or perhaps he did possess someone and couldn't return to his body in time. Maybe his body is just missing.
He really needs to do more research on him later.
###
Up until now, Dabi had never entertained the idea of watching video footage of Endeavor or reading up on his achievements. He had never seen the videos of his father competing in the Sports Festival back when he was in UA and he had never watched any of his interviews or television appearances from before he married his mother.
Nevertheless, they aren't hard to find.
Todoroki Enji vs Matsuura Hiroto | 1988 UA Sports Festival
12,468,096 views
Commentator: "Next up, it's Todoroki Enji of Class 1-A versus his classmate, Matsuura Hiroto!"
"Matsuura is forced onto the defensive as his teleportation quirk only allows him to dodge Todoroki's attacks. It's a game of cat and mouse as Todoroki tries to hit Matsuura with one of his blasts!"
"How long will Matsuura hold out? Will Todoroki land a hit?!
"Todoroki has switched tactics! He's letting his flames spread across the whole battlefield. Matsuura is running out of room to teleport!
"And Matsuura is out! Todoroki advances to the second round!"
Todoroki Enji vs Ikeda Miyuki | 1990 UA Sports Festival
14,560,307 views
Commentator: "It's the final battle between Class 3-A's Todoroki Enji fighting against Class 3-B's Ikeda Miyuki! One emits fire, the other emits water. Who will come out on top?!"
"Todoroki makes the first move with a strong blast of fire! Ikeda counterattacks with her water and extinguishes Todoroki's flames!
"Todoroki tries again, this time raising the temperature! Ikeda just increases the water flow!
"They've been at it now for ten minutes, each one slowly increasing the use of their quirks! Todoroki is near overheating though Ikeda is faring worse. Because her quirk feeds off the water in her body, the more she uses without drinking, the more vulnerable she is to dehydration. It's a battle of endurance now!
"Ikeda has passed out from dehydration! Todoroki wins this year's Sports Festival!"
Dabi has to rewatch the videos almost a dozen times. In each battle, his father could have easily taken out each of his opponents in one single attack. It's obvious that his power and his control over his quirk were not as strong as they are now. With the level he had been at back then, even in his third year, it would have been nearly impossible for him to rise to the number two position at the mere age of twenty.
It had to have been Body Snatcher's doing. After he had possessed Enji's body, he must have overworked himself and his quirk in order to reach that level of power that would allow him to obtain the rank right below All Might. Dabi wonders if Enji can feel what his body is doing. If he can, then he would've felt everything Body Snatcher did do strengthen his quirk. The physical training could have compared to that of Shouto's, maybe even more strenuous.
There's something else though about his father's earlier days that catches Dabi's attention- his eyes. They lack the intimidation, the ambition, the fiery drive that really put meaning to his chosen name of "Endeavor." It's easy to see the difference in demeanor between the younger Endeavor and the Endeavor of today. Dabi can't just be seeing it because he knows. Everyone else should be able to see it too, shouldn't they? Does anyone else notice the change?
The next video Dabi had watched, an interview with Enji after he had won his third year Sports Festival, really raised his curiosity about how his parents had met and what their relationship had been like before Body Snatcher had crashed the party.
Interview with UA 3rd Year Todoroki Enji, winner of UA Sports Festival
7,490,115 views
Reporter: "Todoroki, congratulations on your win! This is the second time you've gotten first place, isn't it?"
Enji: "Yes. I won first place as a first year. Last year, I came in second."
Dabi watches his father closely. He's smiling at the reporter, a rare sight but Dabi thinks that maybe it hadn't been so rare back then.
Reporter: "That's incredible! You're going to make a wonderful hero some day."
Enji: "Thank you."
Reporter: "Now, I know this might be a bit of a personal question, but there's been rumors going around that you have a girlfriend. Care to confirm for your fans?"
Dabi frowns as his father's smile grows. It's a genuine smile, a loving smile.
It's what could've been.
Enji: "I do. Her name's Rei and she's the most amazing girl I've ever met."
Reporter: "Is she training to be a hero too?"
Enji: "Oh, no. We met elsewhere about a year ago."
Reporter: "Could you tell us how you two met? Some people suspect that you saved her from villains. Is this true?"
Enji: "It's confidential. I can't talk about it here."
Reporter: "Oh, of course. I wouldn't want for you to get in trouble. Could you at least tell us whether you saved her or not?"
Dabi knows what the reporter is trying to do, but his father doesn't fall for it. He tries to take a step back as the smiling reporter pushes the microphone closer.
Enji: "Like I said, it's confidential. Do you have any other questions, aside from my love life?"
After deciding he'd seen enough to prove that the real Enji Todoroki had been drastically different from the possessed Enji Todoroki, Dabi switches gears and starts to look into Body Snatcher, the villain behind his family's suffering.
Yamazaki Ryuunosuke vs Arioka Hideki | 1988 UA Sports Festival
3,479,266 views
Commentator: "To kick off the first battle this year, we have Class 1-A's Yamazaki Ryuunosuke up against Class 1-B's Arioka Hideki!
"The only way Yamazaki can make a move is if he gets close enough to Arioka. Arioka's making that quite difficult though with his laser beam attacks!
"Yamazaki manages to dodge the lasers and land a hit on Arioka! He's bleeding, Yamazaki takes advantage of that!
"Arioka attempts to shoot another laser but Yamazaki just possessed his body. Yamazaki only got a little bit of blood, so he doesn't have long until he'll be forced out of Arioka!
"Yamazaki is running across the arena, probably planning on moving Arioka's body out of bounds as his own body lies unconscious in the middle of the ring. Will he make it before his time runs out?!
"Yamazaki is almost there, but he's too late! Arioka takes back control and Yamazaki returns to his body. Arioka shoots another round of lasers but Yamazaki is still disoriented from his sudden return. He can't dodge Arioka's attack!
"Yamazaki is down! Arioka advances to the second round!"
The following two years, Body Snatcher had failed to make it passed the preliminary elimination rounds. His quirk is powerful, but it's a very difficult quirk to work with in battle. The next video Dabi sees gives him some more insight into why Body Snatcher may have gone off the deep end.
Controversy Over UA Student's "Villainous" Quirk | Japan News Network
8,416,300 views
Reporter: "This year's UA Sports Festival caused some outcry when a first year hero student used his 'villainous' quirk against his opponent. The student, Yamazaki Ryuunosuke, has a possession quirk which allows him to possess the body of someone as long as he consumes some of his DNA. The amount he consumes determines how long he can inhabit the body.
"Yamazaki used his quirk to possess his opponent, Arioka Hideki, and attempted to move him out of bounds. Unfortunately, he didn't consume enough DNA to give him enough time and he was forced out of Arioka's body before he could get him out of bounds.
"A number of critics and protesters have come out saying that his quirk infringes on people's rights and privacy and that 'villainous quirks like his' should be illegal to use, even for law enforcement purposes. Neither UA or the Hero Public Safety Commission have made any statements or comments on the matter."
Now Dabi knows why Body Snatcher had joined the Born-to-Be Villains Association. It doesn't justify his actions in Dabi's eyes, which he thinks is ironic because others would say similar things about him. When it comes to your own family, almost any harmful action is unjustified.
Dabi can't find much else about Body Snatcher. He had fallen off the radar about a year after his graduation from UA but while the tabloids and police have no clue as to what had happened, Dabi does. He reads the news report describing Body Snatcher's disappearance. It had happened about a month before his parents' supposed wedding date. The fact that he had been on patrol with Endeavor that night only acts as more proof for the BtB's claims.
He needs to do some research on the other members of the BtB- their numbers, their quirks, their locations. He needs to know everything he can before he can start formulating a rescue mission.
Dabi stands up from his chair, walks over to his tiny kitchen and turns on the coffee machine. It's going to be a long night.
###
'Her name's Rei and she's the most amazing girl I've ever met.'
Rei smirks as she watches Enji's interview on the television. She turns to look at Enji whose sitting beside her on the couch. "Most amazing girl, huh?"
Enji blushes and avoids her gaze. "It's not like it's a lie."
"No, but you know what is a lie?"
"I know, I know." Enji says, finally turning to look at her. "What happened isn't confidential but I didn't think you'd want everyone to know what happened that night."
Rei smiles at him and kisses his cheek. "I don't. Thank you."
Rei sighs as she rests her hand on her chin, staring out the window of her hospital room.
What happened to you, Enji?
Oh my gosh! 131 followers! Thank you all so much!
I spent like half an hour experimenting with how to format youtube videos in writing lol! Hopefully it's not too confusing.
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It was actually pretty fun writing out all those videos.
Have a great weekend! Leave a review if you can!
-britishsconesahoy
