Beta'd by kylekatarn77 and Poliamida

48. Jousting Windmills

You won't get undercounted 'cause you're damned and free

You got a new horizon, it's ephemeral style

A melancholy town where we never smile

And all I wanna hear is the message beep

-Gorillaz, Feel Good Inc

Nervously, Izuku glanced at the paper on Burnin's desk, then immediately looked away blushing, and tried to leave before she noticed him. Too late.

"Hey! Izuku! Boss wants to talk to you," Burnin said, glancing up from her paper. She grinned wickedly, pointing to the picture of him. He was panicked, had Mei half behind him, and had raised his arm, palm up, pointing it directly at the camera so that it looked down the emitter of his laser. "Nice."

Izuku tried to smile, and hurried away to Endeavor's large office. He knocked nervously at the large, ornate wooden door.

"Enter!" Endeavor roared, and Izuku quickly opened the door and stepped inside.

Endeavor looked up from his computer, frowning at Izuku. "Sit."

Feeling about three inches tall, Izuku sat down in the chair in front of Endeavor's desk, nervously twiddling his thumbs. It was an odd sensation, as he could only feel one of them, but felt as though both were moving.

"I take it you've seen this," Endeavor stated, turning his monitor around so Izuku could see the browser tab he had open. It was nearly the same picture as the one Burnin had been looking at, though from a slightly different angle.

"Um, yes," Izuku admitted.

"Hmph. Well, I'm not going to yell at you, if that's what you thought," Endeavor said, sighing. He stood, coming around the desk and crouching to put a hand on Izuku's shoulder, causing him to go rigidly still. "Look, you're in a hard situation. Most heroes don't have to deal with the celebrity aspect of the job until much later in their careers, and by then they know how to handle having every aspect of their lives gone over with a fine toothed comb."

"I know I didn't react right," Izuku mumbled. "I just-I was surprised, and scared, and nervous, and...and I don't handle the cameras very well."

"Well, then you've got the right teacher," Endeavor grunted. He reached over and grabbed another chair, pulling it next to Izuku. "I've had to deal with the paparazzi myself, and as you may know, I am not the most...amenable...person."

"You um, you put one in the hospital, right?" Izuku asked, wincing. "On your wedding day."

Endeavor's expression darkened. "Yes. And that son of a bitch deserved it. Of all the nerve...I'm half convinced that's the reason Rei hated me. To see her like that, and then to have me burn the man...I still stand by my reasoning that he was a villain."

Izuku nodded. The images of Rei Todoroki, half naked with her husband in the honeymoon suite, and moments later of an enraged Endeavor's flames rushing towards the peeping tom reporter were well known, though Izuku had personally avoided ever looking at them for the simple fact it felt crude to look at such lewd images. He was grateful for that now that he knew Endeavor and Shoto.

"Anyway. At least you handled it better than I did. But next time, though I know you'll hate to hear it, tell us when you're going on a date. You need an escort. They'll have orders not to interfere with any romantic acts, but to keep the press off your backs."

Izuku flushed. "We um, we're not, we ah, we keep it at first base."

"I don't care," Endeavor informed him. "If you two want to start screwing in the break room, condoms are in the medical station. I've told your classmates the same thing."

"What?" Izuku stammered.

"If you need to blow off a little steam, you can pick much worse ways. Just know, the world is always watching. You will never, ever have another moment of privacy. It hasn't really sunk in yet, because ever since Kamino you've either been at school, here, or on the job. But you'll never again have a truly private moment. Someone is always watching. Everything you do, every word you say, every post you make online, will be analyzed, followed, and misinterpreted. My PR people are playing this off as a result of you being young and caught in an intimate moment. So far, people seem to be siding with you against the reporters, but that can change."

"Um, thanks," Izuku said, looking up. "I... I guess I thought you'd be angry."

"Oh, I am," Endeavor growled, his flames flaring up. "But not at you. Those vultures are a plague upon society. If I had my way, it would be open season on them."

Endeavor's words made Izuku flinch, and he suddenly remembered that this man, who had been so kind to them in the past months, was the same one who had systematically beaten Class 1A into submission. Although he was trying to change, Endeavor was still the ruthless and feared juggernaut of justice.

"I don't like the reporters much either, but I don't want to hurt them," Izuku mumbled.

Endeavor sighed and rested his hand on Izuku's shoulder. "And that's why I have such hope for Shoto and the rest of you. You're far kinder and more understanding than I ever was. More like All Might than me. And that's a good thing. Though, perhaps your trust is slightly misplaced at times. Your arrest yesterday, what do you know about it?"

"Um, we had to fill out a lot of paperwork for it," Izuku answered. "And, you know, I shot that villain in the arm with my laser, but he did recover."

Endeavor nodded. "And what about the witness, Chisaki? What do you know him?"

"He went with that police officer, Wairo. It seemed odd, but his badge checked out. I just figured he was concerned about Chisaki and his daughter, they seemed to know one another," Izuku said.

"They do. But not for a good reason. Wairo wasn't following protocol, you know that. What else do you know?" Endeavor demanded.

Izuku thought back, running through the situation in his mind. "Er, the Sergeant seemed upset about the situation, but I thought it was an internal matter. Should I have tried to hold the suspect?"

"You should have checked in with my support staff or the police dispatch to ensure the situation was above board. It wasn't. Kai Chisaki is Yakuza captain, and that girl isn't his daughter, though he is her guardian," Endeavor told Izuku. "It's probably nothing, but next time, follow protocol. It's there for a reason. I did some digging, and Wairo's got connections to the Shie Hassaikai, the yakuza group that Chisaki's in. He's been investigated by the police's internal affairs division, and the dispatcher would likely have told you to hold Chisaki."

"Oh. I guess...I screwed up, huh?" Izuku asked, looking down.

"You did, but we all do that, especially when we're as green as you are. Next time you encounter an unusual situation like that, call in. That's why my support staff is here. But anyway, are you ready for today?"

Izuku nodded, his expression going grim. "Yes sir. I'll do better this time."

"That's what I needed to hear," Endeavor said, standing. "Go get ready. We're mobilizing in just under three hours."

Hurrying down to the Support Bay, Izuku found Mei putting the finishing touches on the Power Suit. Since the majority of this confrontation would take place indoors, it made more sense to bring the smaller suit, and though it lacked the durability and firepower of the larger model it was far more agile and maneuverable in tight spaces. Mei would be nearby with the Ultra Armor just in case, along with her control center for the drones. She would be reliant predominately on Jiro and Izuku for a real time image of the building, as Feel Good Inc was a communications company and was shielded from outside prying eyes. Presumably that was to prevent corporate espionage, but Izuku had a feeling it was for far more sinister reasons now.

"Hey Izuku!" Mei said, waving eagerly. "Our babies are ready to go! You're going to kick the MLA's butt!"

"I hope so," Izuku said, giving her a quick hug and kiss. "And Mei...I had a good time last night. Even if those reporters sort of ruined things for a little while, it was fun going on an adventure with you."

"Yes, and this time, no one even tried to kill us! And the movie was very bad, ha! The Power Suit is much better than Tony Stark's silly toy."

"That's because you're smarter and prettier than he ever could be," Izuku said with a grin.

"I am definitely smarter, but he is a boy so he cannot be pretty so that is not fair," Mei declared.

"Mon cheri, ai am offended at such a statémont. Do you not think zat ai am prettay?" Aoyama protested. He was in the support bay as well, getting his laser belt checked one last time before the mission.

"Well, you're a girl, so you can be pretty too," Mei told him.

Izuku was momentarily torn between uttery horror and hilarity, but Aoyama's aghast expression tipped him over to the hilarity side of things and he laughed so hard he could barely breathe.

Aoyama puffed himself up, looking more like a frog that even Tsu did most of the time. "Ai assuré you zat ai am most decided-lee maile! Mon dieu, we 'ave known each othair fair zo long, 'ow could you think ai was femaile? If you evair tiyaire of zis chukleng charlatan you call a boyfriend, ai shall show you why we francais are known as la whirld's prémiair lovairs!"

"But then why does everyone call you Princess Sparkles, Yuga?" Mei asked, clearly baffled. "Princesses are girls."

"Eet eez bécausé zey aré jéahlous of 'ow much ai sparklé! Zey mak zeir seeh-lee joks to disguize 'ow dull zéir wits are!" Aoyama huffed, glaring at Izuku who was still clutching his stomach and giggling.

"Oh." Mei considered this. "Well, I am sorry I thought you were a girl. But that does mean you can't be pretty."

"Ai réject yur éntiquated vius," Aoyama said, tilting his chin up to look down his long nose at Mei. "Clairly, you are not ready fair la revelashé-on of la beautay zat eez moi."

"Well I'll just ask Izuku then. Izuku, is Aoyama pretty?" Mei asked.

That only brought on another fit of giggles, and Izuku quickly shook his head.

Giving an exaggerated shrug, Aoyama turned away. "Hmph. Ai am surroundéd by uncultuaird barbarians."

With that, he flounced off, putting a little something extra in his walk that made Izuku snigger even more.

"He is very strange. I do not understand foreigners," Mei said with a shake of her head. "It is because their languages are silly and do not make sense, it makes them think oddly."

"I'll have to remember to discuss that with Yuga the next time I see him," Izuku said, managing to catch his breath. "I'm sure Tsunotori would have something interesting to say about that as well."

"Who, the horse girl from 1B?" Mei asked. "Is she foreign?"

"She's American," Izuku explained.

Mei nodded seriously. "I see. She must be very strange. American's speak English. I hope she has learned a proper language like Japanese, or C++."

"Personally I prefer Python," Izuku said. "Your C++ always confuses me."

"Well, that is why I let you program our babies, even if your code is too complicated sometimes," Mei said. "At least you understand my code, everyone else always thought it shouldn't work."

Izuku forebared to mention that Mei's programming skills often resulted in smoke, flame, and fire, but then again she might just take that as a compliment. She was incredibly gifted as a mechanical engineer and inventor, but the finer points of programming escaped her at times.

They spent the next few hours going over both the Power Suit and their classmates' gear. Everyone had at least some specialized equipment, from Bakugo's sweat storage tanks to Yaoyorozu's snacks and component manual. With that done, Izuku put on the Power Suit and his combat arm with Mei's assistance.

For this mission, they had repainted it with urban warfare camo patterns of steel grey, brown and a charcoal black. The modules they loaded into the suit were the capture foam nozzle, laser, grapple, and TASER. Izuku also had several grenades magnetically attached to his belt, a mixture of flashbangs and capture foam. Izuku also had his advanced radar, communications, and sensor packages, as for this mission he wasn't taking a frontline combat role, but instead focusing on supplying information and assisting in capturing potential high value targets.

An hour before they deployed, the team met in the conference room. With all of Endeavor's sidekicks and the entire class, it was standing room only, and Izuku found himself standing towards the front with Mei. Endeavor stood at the front, his flames roaring brightly as he looked around the room.

"We now stand ready to take out the MLA, once and for all. We'll have to move fast to prevent any of them from destroying evidence or fleeing the scene. Our top priority is to capture Tomoyasu Chikazoku. Hari Hatsume has already verified that he is on the premises, though where exactly we are not certain."

"What about our warrant?" Aizawa demanded. "We're covered?"

"We have permission to search the area and arrest anyone associated with the MLA," Endeavor stated.

"That sounds somewhat vague," Aizawa said, frowning. "Will that hold up against Feel Good's legal team?"

"When we get our definitive proof that Chikazoku is the leader of the MLA, or at least one of its high ranking members, that won't matter," Endeavor replied. "Or are you going to try to back out of this?"

Aizawa was silent for a long moment, and Izuku held his breath. At least, the teacher shook his head. "No. This is too important. But we'd best be careful. I don't want anyone starting any fights. Uraraka, keep a collar on Bakugo."

"Who the hell's gonna keep a collar on her then?" Bakugo grumbled.

"I trust you at least have the good sense not to want her to get into trouble," Aizawa said evenly.

"Um, you got it, Mr. Aizawa!" Uraraka promised, blushing slightly. "I won't punch anybody first."

"Just as long as you punch last," Endeavor stated. "Remember, we need prisoners, and it's best if we handle this with a minimum of violence. But if they start trouble, make damn sure you finish it. Move out."

"Yes sir!" the sidekicks chorused, and Class 1A echoed them.

"Right kiddies, I'm with you again!" Burnin told them as the other sidekicks filed out. "We're going to blaze a trail right in there! The boss wants Shoto and Midoriya with him when he goes in, so stick on him! The rest of the sidekicks will be covering each of the building's various exits and some below ground stuff. We think they've probably got an underground backdoor somewhere. Also gotta watch out for any helicopters and stuff like that! Mei! Your drones have weapons?"

"I have air to air and air to ground capabilities," Mei assured her. "I always make sure my babies are super cute."

"That's the kind of cute I can get behind!" Burnin laughed. "Alright, let's load up! We're not going for the stealth approach on this one, so let's kick down some doors and remind everyone who's the Number One Hero Agency!"

Izuku didn't join the others in the vans, instead getting into the truck with Mei and Hari, along with the Ultra Armor.

"Hope we don't have to use you today," Izuku said, giving the mecha an affectionate pat. "Hopefully your little brother can handle everything this time."

"Wow Izuku, if I didn't know you were a total dork before you even met Mei, I'd say she's rubbing off on you," Hari laughed.

Izuku flushed, realizing he'd left his mic on when he'd spoken. "I just, you know, they really are our babies. We spend a lot of time working on them, and they take care of me."

"I told you Izuku is very smart," Mei said with a happy sigh. "He understands. Our babies are important! And don't laugh Hari, I hear you talking to your car all the time!"

"Never said I wasn't a bit of a dork myself," Hari chuckled. "Alright kiddos, we're nearly there. You ready, Izuku?"

"Yes," Izuku agreed.

"Deploying drones!" Mei declared. "Sensors activated! Hmm, just as expected, their building is shielded against electronic monitoring. I'll need you to get inside to boost our signal. I'll keep the drones watching the outside in case anyone tries to escape."

"Got it!" Izuku jumped from the truck as it pulled up alongside the curb by the Feel Good Inc building, jogging to catch up with Endeavor and Shoto as they climbed up the stairs together. Already, Class 1A and the sidekicks were pouring out of their vehicles, hurrying around the building to cordon it off.

Endeavor strode through the doors, causing several employees to gasp and dodge out of his way, while others looked on with undisguised hatred at the three heroes. Izuku looked around nervously, wondering if everyone was an MLA member, or just certain individuals. Surely a company as large as this one had to have a few innocents mixed amidst the criminals?

Inside, the company had a bright, cheery atmosphere, with large comfortable looking yellow couches, primary colored walls with murals of abstract representations of music and communication, and sky blue floor tiles. Endeavor strode up to the main desk, where a young receptionist with blond hair and a brightly colored sun dress smiled at him.

"Good morning sir, how can we help you feel good today?"

"We're here to serve a warrant for the arrest of Tomoyasu Chikazoku," Endeavor said, flashing a signed and sealed document.

"Oh goodness, on what grounds?" the secretary asked, looking shocked.

"Affiliation with the Meta Liberation Army," Endeavor growled. "Where is he?"

"Just one moment. Mr. Chikazoku? The heroes are here about the Meta Liberation Army," the secretary said.

"Oh, is that what they're here about?" a gravelly voice said over an intercom. "Well then, by all means, let us give them a proper welcome."

Behind Izuku, Burnin and the rest of Class 1A began to enter into the building through various exits, looking around and preventing anyone from leaving.

The secretary nodded and smiled again. "Well sirs, I think we'll just have to give you a warm welcome!" And then her jaw suddenly distended, her teeth growing long and sharp at the same time as her nails elongated into claws, and she leapt at Endeavor, snarling.

Endeavor batted her aside with a ball of flames before she could cause any harm, but as he did so the lights suddenly dimmed, red emergency lights flickering on. Shutters on the doors and windows began to slam shut. A steady, thumping bass beat began to play with the sound of marching feet.

Raise the Flag!

The Ranks tightly close,

The MLA marches with a calm steady step

Take heart in your quirks, brothers and sisters

We are the next step of our evolution

"Dammit!" Shoto growled, raising an ice barrier as another employee launched shards of glass at them. "Why can't anyone ever take the easy way?"

Instead of answering, Izuku called, "Grenade!" and threw one of his flashbangs. The noise and light disoriented several people who'd been running for him, and he sprayed a group down with foam.

"Mei, Mei can you hear me?" he asked over the radio. Nothing. He dashed over to the shutters, activating his laser and cutting a small hole in it. Then he put a communications array into the hole, activating it and turning back to the chaos.

"Signal restored!" Mei said triumphantly. "I don't know what you guys did, but it seems to have made them pretty mad! The sidekicks are fighting against a few dozen people that went crazy as soon as that music came on! They look like normal citizens but when that music started playing they all activated their quirks and attacked!"

"Is this some sort of mind control?" Izuku wondered.

"I don't think so," Shinso answered. "Though it feels quirk enhanced, it's not mind control. Not everyone's attacking us. Some of them are surrendering and look confused, others are just cowering and hiding. I don't think everyone is actually an MLA member, just a good percentage of them."

"Call the police, Mei," Endeavor ordered. "It looks like we have a real battle on our hands. See if you can get in contact with other hero agencies as well."

"Ok, Hari's working on that already," Mei answered. "Kyoka, can you do a sonic scan of the area?"

"Working on it," Jiro grunted. "Give me a second."

Izuku hurried over to help his classmates dispatch the last few resisting MLA members on the ground floor, kicking a man who looked like a large monitor lizard in the gut, then quickly spraying him down with foam.

"I'm going to need reloads on capture foam," Izuku informed Mei. "I'm burning through it quickly."

"Drones will be dispatched with additional supplies," Mei assured him. "One's on its way now."

A moment later, one of the metal shutters exploded inwards, and Izuku hurried over. A quadcopter drone deposited a canister of capture foam and a couple of grenades through the slot, then flew away as Izuku reloaded.

"Mei, I'm scanning now, are you getting this?" Jiro asked, kneeling next to a support beam and sending pulses of sonic waves through the structure.

"Hmm, looks like that stupid music they're playing is interfering a little, but I'm getting at least some information. Izuku, I'm sending the map I'm building to your HUD."

A map icon appeared in the corner of Izuku's visor, and he frowned at it. "Mei, this is nothing like the building blueprints we retrieved from the city archives. Are you sure this is accurate?"

"As positive as I can be with them interfering with my signal," Mei said. "I'm also having to jam their outgoing stuff. They're trying to send out these stupid call to arms things for the MLA to rise up across the world."

"Dammit, I should have known they'd try something like this," Endeavor swore. "Sidekicks, cut all the communications lines and destroy any arrays. They can't be allowed to send those signals!"

"What about those of us inside, should we cut our way out and wait for reinforcements?" Iida asked.

"No, we have to move quickly," Endeavor declared. "Our objective is unchanged. But now, we have a building full of potential hostiles mixed with hostages. This is going to get messy."

"You all knew this wasn't going to be easy," Mr. Aizawa said grimly, looking around the now battle scarred lobby area. "We'll have to split into teams to cover the entire building. Do we know where Chikazoku is?"

"His office is supposed to be located on top floor, but where it actually is we have no idea," Endeavor stated. "We'll have to search room by room. Don't leave anyone unsecured. Use the zip ties, capture foam, and handcuffs to hold them. Don't attack on sight though, everyone could be a hostage."

"Friggin' fantastic," Bakugo growled. "So are they all enemies or friends? I thought I could cut loose here!"

"If you're going to be a liability go out and sit in the van," Endeavor told him. "I'm splitting you into teams of four. Your job is to make your way through the building, searching it for our target. Take down any MLA members on the way. Midoriya, you're with Bakugo, Uraraka, and Shinso. Get moving."