Beta'd and edited by kylekatarn77 and Poliamida

71. Best Laid Plans

Men plan, God laughs.

-Yiddish Proverb

"...Kyoto still isn't willing to talk. I've tried every connection the pros we have here gave me, and Tsuragame has tried too. We can't get through," Shinso said, looking up from his phone and grimacing. It had been two week since they'd left UA, and so far they'd only picked up about a dozen pros, most of them fairly minor ones. More police had trickled in, but even so the underground complex had plenty of room.

Izuku groaned and massaged his forehead. "What about international aid? The United States was an old ally of All Might's. Perhaps they can give us some support."

"They're sitting this one out, like the rest of the international community. The UN has made it clear: this is an internal Japanese affair, and they won't do anything until the dust settles," Shinso said with a heavy sigh. "It's the same line everyone took with Chile two years ago when those villains tried to seize power. No one wants to get involved in an international Quirk War after what happened between the EU and Russia."

"So, no one's willing to do anything," Izuku growled. He heard a snap, and looked down to see his hand and crushed another pen. He grimaced and tossed it in the trash can, taking out a cloth to wipe the ink from his metal fist.

"We're on our own. Even the rest of the Japanese heroes that aren't on Honshu are trying to distance themselves. So far, the PLF has mostly limited its activities to Tokyo and its prefectures as it establishes a base of power. But that won't last."

"Thank you, Hitoshi," Izuku sighed. "Well. We'll work with what we have. See if you can dig up any information on the PLF's plans. Do you have any contacts?"

"Working on it. I'll let you know as soon as I get anything concrete," Shinso promised.

Izuku nodded, and Shinso left. He picked up another pen, and set to work on the myriad tasks of trying to run a rebellion, even a small and haphazard one like the one he found himself in charge of. He lost himself in the work for a few hours, until a voice broke his concentration.

"He's awake, and it's definitely him."

Izuku looked up from the paperwork on his desk to see Recovery Girl standing in the entrance.

"I'm sorry, who?" Izuku asked, rubbing at his forehead as he set down the paper, related to the quantities of foodstuffs they had and how long they were projected to last, accounting for Lunch Rush's quirk.

"Power Loader. He's awake. We're sure we got all the tracking devices they put into him, so no need to fret about that," Recovery Girl explained.

"Good," Izuku said, quickly standing and hurrying out. "How is he doing?"

"He should make a full recovery. However," Recovery Girl hesitated, and Izuku slowed his stride to match her own slower pace. She was getting up there in years, and had to totter along with a cane now. "He's like Hatsume, or Shiretoko, that is, Ragdoll. His quirk is gone."

"We can take care of that," Izuku said firmly. Mei was still perfecting her technique, but she had started a special gene therapy on Ragdoll that should restore her own quirk, using DNA found in an old hairbrush at the Training Camp, though it would be months before she had a viable solution, let alone the quirk manifesting. Bakugo showed no signs of his own quirk being restored, though Mei insisted it could take weeks or even months for that to happen.

"Yes, well, I thought you should know. It was hard to tell at first. He's still weak, they really worked him over. But he should be able to answer a few questions. Not too many, mind you, he still needs to rest and heal."

"Of course," Izuku agreed as they entered into the medical wing. They had a few nurses and two doctors with them, plus Recovery Girl. All were family of UA students, or of some of the police that had evacuated with them.

Mr. Majima was lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to an IV and various equipment. Mei was already there, talking softly to their old teacher.

"-make a super cute baby, just for you!" Mei was saying.

"Just as long as Midoriya makes sure it doesn't explode," Majima said, nodding gingerly to Izuku as he entered.

"No, only Katsuki's baby explodes, that's what he's supposed to do," Mei stated. "Izuku! Mr. Majima is OK! He says the other teachers are alive too!"

"Most of them," Maijima agreed, his voice hoarse and raspy. "Kan's dead for sure. A few others are too, probably. But I know Aizawa, Midnight, and Snipe were alive, at least when I last saw them. They were...exsanguinated, with me, but not so much they died. Except for Kan. Him they drained after he was already dead, the bastards."

"But why did they send you, alive, and not the others?" Izuku asked, sitting next to Mei. "I'm sorry, Mr. Maijima, but I have to wonder if they did something to you. Mind control, or something else."

"I'm a trap," Majima sighed. "Almost don't want to tell you what they 'accidentally' let slip. Pretty sure it was on purpose, though. I was nearly unconscious, but they let slip where they're keeping the others."

"Where?" Izuku demanded.

Maijima hesitated, then sighed. "They're in Denkai City, in the Detnerat headquarters. Basement level. That's where I was too, until...until All For One came in."

"You saw him?" Izuku asked.

"Yeah. Right before he ripped my quirk right out of me." Power Loader held up his hand, which no longer had the sharp iron claws, but normal fingernails. "He did the same to the others, too. All their quirks are gone. Listen, Midoriya, it would be suicide to go after the teachers. They're waiting for you."

"But?" Izuku demanded.

Maijima sighed. "But I know you kids will want to rescue them anyway. Hell if I know what to tell you to do about it. Just...look, us teachers? We'd die for you kids. Don't go die for us. I know for a fact Aizawa and the others would rather take a bullet than see one of you kids hurt."

"We're not kids anymore, Mr. Majima," Izuku answered.

"Yeah! Izuku's in charge here now. The adults call him boss and everything," Mei agreed.

Maijima looked to Recovery Girl, who nodded. "It's true. Young Midoriya seems to be the leader of our little resistance movement."

"Then as the leader, don't throw lives away. This is a trap. You know it is," Maijima pleaded. He slammed his fist down on the bed, tears coming into his eyes. "And...and I can't believe they let me out when they kept the others. I should be there, with them. They're my friends. And I can't believe...shit." He started to weep, and Recover Girl picked up a needle, giving him a shot in his IV. A moment later, he fell silent, drifting off to sleep again.

"Midoriya?" Recovery Girl called as Izuku and Mei stood to leave. "He's right. Aizawa wouldn't want you to risk you and your friends lives to save him. None of them would. Especially since they might not even be alive."

"They'd do it for us," Izuku said, resting his hand on the door. "I won't throw lives away. But we do need to bring the battle to the PLF. As long as there's a chance we can save them, we have to try."

It was, Izuku admitted to himself, the most pressing reason in his mind. It was far easier to fight when you had a good reason to do so.

"Gather the others," Izuku told Mei. "I'll get Nezu and the rest of them to meet with us in the main gathering chamber. We need to discuss this."

Half an hour later, Izuku stood atop the stage, looking out at the assembled crowd. The space was filled with stone benches, with lighting overhead that needed replacing. For now, a few floodlights had been strung up to provide illumination. It was set up like an amphitheater in a half-bowl shape, with a raised stage in the center.

"We've just received news from Power Loader that many of the UA teachers are still alive," Izuku informed the crowd. "Apparently, they were incapacitated and captured by the MLA. Some of them are dead, and all of them are seriously wounded. They're being held at the Detnerat building in Denkai."

"Well then what the hell are we doing standing around here?" Bakugo demanded, suddenly sitting up from his slouch. "Let's go get them!"

"Because that's exactly what they want us to do," Izuku replied. "We can't just rush into this blindly. We have to think about it, carefully, before we commit."

"We're still settling in here, and many of us are wounded and recovering still. Plus, we all know how well the last assault on Denkai went," Nezu said with a shake of his head. "This is a trap."

"No shit," Bakugo growled. "But we know it's a trap."

"Yeah, but what if they know that we know that it's a trap?" Burnin asked, frowning.

"It would be different this time," Togata declared. "I wouldn't get...distracted."

"I don't want you beating yourself up over not fighting with the rest of us," Izuku said firmly. "You held the pass open so we could retreat, and you saved lives. You fighting alongside us could have simply resulted in you exhausting yourself early, and all of us being massacred by that ambush party. Besides, I happen to think that going into Deika is suicide. We would need an extraction plan, and we simply don't have one."

"If only we had someone with a warping quirk," Fat Gum sighed. "That'd be real helpful right about now. Shame those are so scarce."

"We do need to think of a way to get them out," Izuku continued. "We might be able to think of something, but if we do, we have to have a way to not just get to them, but to get back out."

"Maybe I could float us out?" Uraraka suggested. "I can float pretty large objects. Maybe if we had a way to propel one?"

"Wouldn't work. They've got All For One there. He could knock whatever you had right out of the sky," Yaoyorozu pointed out. "I suppose it's out of the question to ask if Mei can just make a teleporter?"

"Unless I have a warp quirk to study, yes, that is impossible," Mei answered with a shrug. "No one understands how people with warp quirks work, not even me. I could make jet packs or helicopters, but not a teleporter."

"What if we didn't teleport out? What if we didn't fight at all?" Pixie Bob mused. "What about a tunnel? I could make one easily enough."

"A tunnel, for miles underground, that goes completely undetected?" Rock Lock demanded. "That sounds crazy."

"It has merit," Izuku mused. "The problem is how far away from them we are. Any strike we made would be difficult to pull off. They would see a large force coming."

Just then, a police officer entered, running down to Tsuragamae and whispering in his ears. The chief grimaced, then nodded. "Thank you, woof. It seems the Paranormal Liberation Front is making an announcement. Do we have a communications relay here?"

"Yes, just a moment, our tech set up a projector earlier," Nezu said. He walked over to turn off the lights, then activated a projector screen. He flipped through a few channels, until they came to a news broadcast. It showed the leaders of the PLF; All For One, Curious, and at their front, Tomoera Shiguraki.

"Greetings, citizens of Japan," Shigaraki said through cracked lips. For once, he wasn't wearing those hands of his, and his hair had been combed. He was wearing a strange uniform, styled like that of a military officer, and after a moment Izuku realized it had been modeled on the old Imperial Japanese army uniforms from the Before Times.

"Your heroes have revealed their true colors. They seek to suppress the citizenry, and their use of their own quirks, through violence. Their greed and incompetence has led to their deaths. Their leader, Endeavor, is dead."

The camera cut to footage of Endeavor battling against Re-Destro in his metallic armor. Endeavour's flames seemed to simply be absorbed by the blackness that engulfed Re-Destro.

"I'll burn you to ash!" Endeavor roared, his voice slightly distorted. Izuku wondered if the footage was doctored.

"I THINK NOT, LITTLE FLAME!" Re-Destro laughed. He charged forward, bowling through Endeavor's side kicks, slamming a few into the ground. Izuku saw Burnin launch herself at him, but she was batted away, sailing through the air with a cry of pain. He turned to watch the woman. She was staring transfixed at the screen, tears running down her cheeks, her flames dying down, her hands clenched into fists.

"Father!" Todoroki rasped, his hand stretching towards the screen.

Endeavor seemed to simply laugh. "Kill all of them you wish, they mean nothing to me!"

"He didn't say that!" Burnin shrieked, standing. "He told us to run! He said he could handle it!"

"It's all lies," Nezu said with a sigh. "Propaganda."

"YOU ARE NO HERO!" Re-Destro bellowed. "And now, you pay the price of arrogance!"

Once more Endeavor's flames lashed out, and for a moment they seemed to overcome Re-Destro as he cried out in pain. But then he seemed to get stronger, as if the wounds just fueled his power. He sprang forward, grabbing Endeavor in both hands. Then he ripped Endeavor in half, bellowing in triumph. Endeavor's corpse was flung to the ground.

Izuku turned, his expression pale, to watch Todoroki. The other boy was weeping, but his face showed rage, not despair. "I'll kill them all," Todoroki hissed. "Those liars! Those bastards! My father was a hero! In the end, he fought for justice! I won't let his light be extinguished!"

The video wasn't over though. It cut back to Shigaraki. "So fall all those who oppose us. Sadly, Re-Destro fell in battle, slain by the treacherous students of UA in a cowardly ambush. He fought bravely to save his people, but in the end, he was overcome."

The camera changed again, this time showing piles of dead from the battle, as well as burned out homes and smoldering businesses. "The UA students used military grade weapons, and their quirks, against civilians. They did this for no other reason than because the people of Deika defied them, and would not bow to the banner of UA and their new order."

Once more the camera focused on Shigaraki, drawing close to his face. "This is something we can no longer allow! The Japanese Government is corrupt! For too long it has prevented people from defending themselves, restricting the use of quirks to only their chosen few! They have demanded you worship those so called 'heroes' and used them as thugs and bullies to keep the populace in line! No more! Tonight, we change the world! Bring them in!"

The camera drew back, and frightened looking men and women were led into the room.

"That's the Prime Minister and his cabinet!" Izuku gasped. "What are they going to do!"

"You are found guilty of betraying the people of Japan, and of allowing the slaughter of innocents. How do you plead?"

"Guilty," the Prime Minister said dully.

Izuku frowned, squinting at the picture. "That doesn't seem right. What's happening?"

"Mind control?" Rock Lock guessed. "Or maybe that's just a Toga clone dressed up like him? Who knows."

"Then as commander of the Paranormal Liberation Front, I sentence you all to death!" Shigaraki cried. He reached out, touching the Prime Minister. Immediately, the man dissolved to dust. He did the same for each of the cabinet members. A few wept and pleaded for their lives, but Shigaraki ignored them. When he was done, he turned to face the camera. "So shall fall all traitors! The Paranormal Liberation Front will bring freedom to Japan! All may use their quirks! So called heroes will be tried, and executed. Already, we have captured the most heinous offenders!"

He snapped his fingers, and Izuku felt his stomach lurch as the UA teachers were led in, beaten and bruised.

"Their trial will be held in front of the Ministry of Justice in three days. Our new minister for Justice will preside."

A new face stepped into the view of the camera, smiling and slicking back his hair.

"Hanabata," Todoroki growled. "You shouldn't have been so gentle, Togata."

"Next time, I won't be," Togata swore, his eyes burning with anger. "Izuku, we have to do something!"

"All heroes must surrender immediately to the Paranormal Liberation Front! Those that swear to follow our laws will be allowed to retire, or to serve our new order, but no one shall be prevented from using their quirks," Shiguraki declared. "A new day has dawned for Japan! The time of heroes is over! The time of freedom is at hand!"

The broadcast changed to stunned looking newscasters, and Nezu turned it off. "Well. That puts a bit of a timeline on things I suppose."

"Three days. At least we know where they'll be," Togata said, shaking his head. "Izuku, I have to stop All For One. This time, I have to kill him. He's too dangerous. He has to be put down."

"They just murdered the entire government on television!" Shinso shouted, standing and pointing at the now blank screen. "We have to do something! Get the other heroes to rise up with us!"

"I'm afraid it isn't going to be that easy," Gang Orca said, shaking his massive black head. He took out a bottle of water, pouring it over himself to moisten his skin: the bunker was surprisingly dry and devoid of humidity, which bothered the whale-like hero. "The ones who haven't joined up yet aren't likely to. And, the PLF was already tracking heroes down. I got out of there one step ahead of their assassins. The ones who live...well, they're mostly the ones who were just in it for fame and fortune. They'll fall in line."

"The fact is that the Prime Minister signed his own death warrant," Todoroki stated, his eyes still red and puffy, but his voice now under control as Yaoyorozu rubbed his back.

She nodded, looking pained. "He was the one who tried to arrest us. I think he wanted to hand us over in exchange for his own life. Maybe that's why he was executed: he didn't hold up his end of the bargain."

"All this speculation is pointless," Bakguo declared, slumping down in his seat and glaring around the room. "We aren't letting them just execute teach and the others. So what are we going to do about it?"

Izuku thought for a moment, then looked to Mei. "Mei, that quirk inhibitor you were talking about building for the bunker, do you think you could weaponize it somehow?"

"You mean, make it into something you could mount on your suit? Maybe, but it would be really power intensive, and it only disrupts quirk use," Mei pointed out. "And it would work on everyone, not just the bad guys."

"Wait, what's this?" Fat Gum asked, looking floored. "You mean to tell us you got a way to cancel out quirks?"

"Yes, you see, quirks work in the body through the QR.16 gene, which produces a biological reaction in cells that produces what is known as Quirk Factor. If you can temporarily inhibit the production of quirk factor, you can dampen or eliminate how quirks work. I learned how to do this by stealing some of Mr. Aizawa's hair and analyzing his quirk in my super cute baby, the RICE CRISPR," Mei explained.

"Yeah, um, I'm just gonna go with y'all learned how to make a contraption that replicates Eraser Head's quirk," Fat Gum said, shaking his head slowly. "Well dip me in buttermilk and call me a biscuit. You kids really are somethin' else."

"This changes things," Nezu said, rubbing his chin. "Even a temporary halt to our foes' quirks would allow us to strike them quickly and efficiently. And, being in the city, extraction is far easier."

"I'll make the tunnel still," Pixie Bob offered. "It shouldn't be hard, and it won't need to be nearly as long. A small strike force can get in, get the hostages, and get out. Simple."

"Right," Izuku agreed. "We'll need to move quickly and quietly overland to get there without drawing attention. Do you think we can manage that?"

"Let's use Ochako's suggestion," Todoroki said. "She can make a few vehicles weightless, and we can fly them out quickly and quietly, then use them again for extraction. We'll be gone before the villains even notice."

"I don't know about that, to use the quirk inhibitor I'm going to have to make a pretty big explosion. I promise that it will be super cute," Mei said. "It should work on the same principle as an EMP, so you will all want to be underground when it goes off. Except Izuku, he doesn't have to worry!"

"Who do we know we didn't just see more clones?" Pixie Bob asked, sounding worried. "They could already be dead."

"That's not how All For One operates," Togeta said, shaking his head. "He wants to hang their bodies from the tallest tree he can, to show them off as prizes. Besides, if Power Loader is any indication, they'll all be quirkless now. He won't see them as a threat. Just bait."

"It sounds like we have the basis for a plan then," Izuku said with a nod. "We'll figure out who's coming and who's not. I...I may have to make some hard choices. We can't leave our base undefended. Not everyone can come."

"You're the damn nerd. Figure it out," Bakugo said with a shrug, standing. "Just tell the rest of us what to do."

"Thank you, Katsuki," Izuku said, feeling a sense of relief to have Bakugo so firmly on his side. "I may need your help. Your quirk, is it..?"

Bakugo held up a hand, snapping his fingers. Nothing happened. "Just as quirkless as I've been for months now. Don't worry. I'll help set off your little bomb. Sounds like fun."