Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia, as my name isn't Kouhei Horikoshi. Or is it? Nah, I don't own this. Enjoy.
Bakugo Katsuki felt like he was going to explode. Aldera school was shitty, with assholes who didn't even know him showing up with dumbass questions like, 'how did you find that villain?' 'What was it like to be rescued by that other villain?' And the teachers, fuck the teachers. Always acting like he needed somebody to talk to. 'My door is always open,' 'if you want to talk about it, please keep me in mind.' Fawning over him like that just made him sick.
Bakugo didn't want to talk to any of those fuckers. He really didn't like the feelings that remembering the experience bring up. The choking, the helplessness - he is not, and never has been helpless. He's never needed help from anybody. Needing help makes him - useless. Weak.
If that's what being Deku was like he wants none of it. Doesn't want his greatness to be dismissed and thrown away just because he needed help. Really doesn't want to be treated as lesser and made of glass for some bullshit involving bad circumstances that prevent people from seeing his potential. Bakugo was ever so slightly pissed off that teachers tended to say that Deku was smart 'in spite' of being Quirkless. Bakugo would never admit it but Deku did do consistently better in a wide variety of subjects than him. It kept him on his toes, trying to outsmart the nerd. Not that he cared about Deku or anything.
And the fucking irony of the situation was, Izuku Deku didn't do that stupid fucking thing that he did all those years ago! He's not there treating him like a baby and asking him if he needs help! Oh sure, if there's some discussion he looks sympathetic, the little fucker. But otherwise he hasn't brought it up independently! That -
That hurt for some reason. Bakugo scowled. Well, if the nerd doesn't want to fucking do that dumb thing where he reaches out and gives him a hand that is unnecessary and unwanted, then he'll leave him alone. About time that the nerd realised that Bakugo Katsuki isn't so weak as to need a hand. Even though he will never admit it to anybody but he wouldn't mind one.
Deku just kept tinkering at his desk, the damn nerd. When he looked up as Bakugo slammed down into the seat in front of him Bakugo just knew that the damn nerd was smiling for some fucking reason. But he hasn't mentioned that fucking slime villain so Bakugo guesses it's alright.
Kacchan's my best friend!
No, really, he is. Even if he'll never say it, I know Kacchan. I think that with a great Villain, he's going to be the best. And that Super Villain is going to be me.
I have to admit, Kacchan's, well. Explosive. He's rude and arrogant, and he treats others pretty badly. There's a lot of things that I dislike about him, almost hate. But at the same time...
When I see him in my mind, I can't help but think of victory. Think of those times that he beat up those kids who were a couple of years older than us and then grinned like it was nothing. I see Kacchan pushing himself harder and harder to get those skills that others say are 'natural talent' down to that level. I see him, smiling and confidently leading other kids around like hit's natural. Glaring down teachers and older kids alike with no fear.
...I can see the slight hurt in his eyes whenever the teachers and other kids praise his Quirk, his grades, everything but him. Never noticing the hard work and just saying that he's 'gifted.' I can see him try to express how much he respects somebody else by going 'you're not just a shitty extra,' and not being able to find different words for it.
I want to say that I saw him on that day and that he needed help back then and I gave it, but that would give the game away of my identity. Then Kacchan will kill me and then I'll be arrested.
Man.
Being a Super Villain is almost as tough as being a Super Hero.
Coruscafe was an ideal spot for Midoriya Izuku to get a little bit of extra money from a summer job. It's also, conveniently, near the building that he was scoping out for his next villainous act. It is a high class cafe, with a strict dress policy for its servers.
It's this dress policy that made Mastermind realise something that would give him the necessary look. The source of inspiration was at hand!
This is it. This is what I was looking for without even realising it!
He checked himself in the locker room mirror. Black slacks leading down to a pair of well-shone black loafers. A white shirt with a black tie, with a black sleeveless vest over it, neatly buttoned up. Looking at himself in the mirror, Izuku felt like he did when he built his first piece of support equipment. He checked the pockets, spinning a little.
For some reason this just feels right. Like this was meant to be.
Midoriya Izuku was shaken out of his reverie by the manager coming in. "Alright, kid. Let's go." He looked at Izuku's throat. "How the hell did you do that with your tie?" The tie was short, fat and stubby - which seemed impossible considering that the tie had been a skinny one.
Izuku winced. "S-sorry. It's - it's just how my dad always did up his tie. And he showed me how to do it!"
His manager sighed. "How you can fool around with the coffee machine like you were born to improve it but can't tie your tie properly is beyond me." He gestures. "I'll help you do it this once. I hate to say it, but you might need a clip-on. But only because I can't see how you'd mess a clip-on up."
Izuku nodded, blushing. His tie wasn't that bad... right?
After his tie had been fixed up, Izuku worked hard for the rest of the day. Idly he noticed what looked like a father and daughter pair also checking out the bank. The older man asked for some pretty expensive tea while his daughter asked for a straight black coffee.
"Okay! We'll be right back!"
The father and daughter nodded, the man thanking him and wishing him well. Something about the man seemed familiar, but Izuku couldn't place it. Well, it was sure to come back to him.
It had been a long day after school and his summer job. Deep in the Evil Lair (TM) Izuku Midoriya checked over his latest project. "Yes..." he breathed. It had taken a while to assemble the components, but it was all ready.
The mannequin had given him an idea. Sure, he knew that he'd need other people to pull off bigger jobs, but what if he had some extra help? More specifically, if he had a fake body, rigged to do his evil bidding. Like Doctor Doom, a devilish body double so that he could never be caught! As a last resort, he could destroy it, leaving no trace back to him!
After hours of work, he had completed one of his most demanding projects so far. It stood in front of him, waiting to be powered on. A mannequin's body housing a variety of electronics, outfitted in a copy of his newest Villain look. Underneath the costume, there were powerful industrial strength servos designed to mimic human movement as much as possible. In Izuku's hands was the remote control for the unit along with a microphone for speaking through it.
What? Izuku had to go to school, got most of his components from the beach or his underfunded public school and had a budget that was nano fibre thin even with his stash of looted support gear. Developing an A.I. that not only could pass a Turing test but could Turing test itself was just not feasible. So a remote controlled body would have to do.
"Yes..." he gripped his thunder machine. "YES!" Thunder rolled once more. "It's finally ready! The Diabolical Electronic Kickass Unit is ready! MWA-HAHAHAHA!" He pressed the power button, confidently. The robot in front of him shuddered to life, lights flicking on...
And then the arms shot off, one leg collapsed, dumping the whole body on the ground, and the other leg flailed around in ways no human leg should. Then it caught fire.
Izuku sighed, grabbing the fire extinguisher. "Well, that's Beta 1 of the DEKU. Really wanted it to work, but I've just found how not to build an android replica of myself. Obvious faults in the limbs and power cell as well as general structure." Spraying it down, he turned around. "But my newest outfit and gadgets, on the other hand..."
He pressed the Thunder Machine just for dramatic effect.
"THE HEROES WON'T KNOW WHAT'S COMING! MWA-HAHAHA! MWA-HAHAHA!"
The door above banged, and Izuku's secret security camera picked up his mother at the basement door. "Izuku! It's time for dinner!"
Izuku's head whipped around. "Ok! Thanks mom! What are we having?"
His mother just smiled. "We're having Curry Rice!"
Izuku sniffed. "Smells great mom!" He bounded up the stairs, turning off the lights. As he went up, various shutters and organisational bits and pieces folded up and came down, protecting vulnerable pieces of tech and plans from his mothers' eyes.
Supervillainy would have to wait until tomorrow.
My mom? She's the best as well!
When I didn't have my Quirk, and I asked her that question of if I could be a Hero, she just... she broke down. It wasn't the answer to the question that I wanted then. But after self-reflection and changing my goal, I started on improving my science and technology knowledge. After all, I wanted to be a Super Villain! Or Support Hero as I told my mom - even back then I knew that people didn't just admit that they wanted to be supervillains. That's just silly.
Mom was a bit worried at first, seeing me just go for tech and science like I had. She thought that there was something wrong with me. That I was denying something about myself. Mom wasn't sure what to do with my tech interest - she did some looking up of stuff. She bought me some junior science kits, helped get me involved with some clubs - she got me a little lab coat and watched me do experiments and asked me questions about what I was doing. Some small exasperation and worry soon turned to wonder, and then pride. When I nearly got choked out by one of those Intelligence Quirk kids, she'd taught them and their parents a real lesson. I didn't hear what she said, but apparently the other kid and her parents had to sleep with the lights on after that. Then they moved to a nearby prefecture. I really didn't want to have to deal with them and my mom didn't want me talking about them so we moved on.
Sure, we've had times where we've driven each other mad. But ultimately we love each other. My mom's just so happy that I'm doing what I love. She signed up with Bakugo's mom for this gym place and has a ton of friends there. Sure, she still worries about my dad, and I know that she worries about me and all of the explosions and fire in the basement. But she's so proud of what I've done with myself, and knowing all of this... it's just...
I love my mom so much.
The only person who comes close to how much I love my mom is All Might.
And if anybody did anything to my mom?
I would be forced to kill everybody involved and then myself.
That's just a joke! That's just a joke.
Kinsara bank was fairly reputable. It was a small, local bank that had branches in Musutafu and a couple of other prefectures. The service was decent, and they were fairly generous.
But Gentle Criminal knew better.
He had done his own research into the bank, and he found the bank disgusting. The bank had a rather nasty loanshark business operating. It was almost like a protection racket with how they pressured businesses under them.
How very ungentlemanly.
"Is the camera rolling, La Brava?"
"Yes, Gentle!"
Danjuro smoothed down his hair. This was the moment.
Confidently, Gentle burst into the bank, striding through the crowds of people to the front. Whirling around, he took a bow. "Hello, gentle viewers. I hope this video finds you well." He looked out at the people who were irately glaring at him. "Attention, everyone! Please, stay calm, for I am robbing this bank!"
There was a brief moment of calm, of everybody looking at each other as if they couldn't believe this was happening. While the teller frantically fumbled on the desk, there was a gentle buzz in Danjuro's ear.
"Uh, Gentle? Somebody's-"
The door was thrown open, and Gentle craned to see who it was. "MWA-HAHAHA! KEEP CALM, PEOPLE, FOR I, THE SUPER VILLAIN KNOWN AS MASTERMIND, AM ROBBING THIS BANK!"
The newest villain in Musutafu strode through. Gentle could see that the villain had updated his look. Rather than just a teal green scheme, the villain now had a dark red waistcoat, thrown over a teal shirt, oversized for the obvious body armour. Poking out of the pocket was a black watch-chain, connected to something small nestled in there. A black bow-tie was around his neck. The shirt sleeves were rolled up, exposing more of the armour that the man wore. The belt had been redesigned, more streamlined. Even the visor itself had been upgraded, the red plastic now connected to the dark green mouthpiece and covering the whole face. The Super Villain, as he called himself, looked up at Gentle...
And froze, eyes evidently locked on him.
Gentle.
Gentle Criminal was here.
Gentle Criminal was here and he was already doing a job.
Izuku was seeing Gentle pull a bank robbing job live.
Izuku could get involved with Gentle Criminal pulling a job.
Stay calm, Izuku. Introduce yourself in a cool way.
Izuku opened his mouth, and let out a manly shriek. "Ohmigoshohmigoshohmigoshohmigosh you're Gentle Criminal!"
Now everybody around them was looking at him in a confused and scared way, not sure whether to run or keep watching. He didn't care, continuing to ramble. "Oh, wow. Just... just wow." Izuku went forwards, already pulling out a pad of paper from his Utility Belt. "I'm - I'm your biggest fan. Please, could you - could you sign this? Please?"
Gentle Criminal stood there, blinking, with an expression similar to a stunned fish. At those words, he started, then looked at Izuku with wide eyes. "You're... my biggest fan?"
Izuku nodded, pen in hand. "Yes! I subscribe to your channel every time it gets taken down! I-I-I have a bot that tracks for it and then auto-subscribes me! It's-" Izuku paused, pressing a button on the side of his visor. A small pump sluiced away the tears that were building up, pouring it into the coolant section of his gear. "This is one signature that I've always wanted, ever since I heard of you." He took a deep bow, pad and pen presented with both hands firmly gripping the corners.
Gentle Criminal took the pad. Stared at it. Then, he got back the familiar look in his eyes, the look of a gentleman rogue. With a flourish, Izuku now had Gentle Criminal's signature! And it was made out to Mastermind! it said 'To my biggest fan!' Now all Izuku had to do was get All Might's signature and he would have two great family heirlooms!
Gentle Criminal coughed. "It's always a pleasure to have a dedicated fan. Now... where were we?"
Izuku blinked. "Ah, yes! That's right!" he leaned over the counter. "Could you give both of us a large sum of money please? I need it for my villainous schemes." He placed a large bag with the Yen symbol prominently picked out in green ink.
Gentle Criminal nodded, passing over his own briefcase. "Quickly now, before the heroes get here."
The teller shook. "You're... you're going viral on Herotube... both of you..." His hands shook as he started scooping money in, slowly.
"HALT, VILLAINS!" Some heroes had arrived - three of them. One of them in a more mechanical suit, another in a more traditional yellow and red spandex suit and the last in what looked like a business suit with a fedora and domino mask. The hero in the spandex pointed a finger. "DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND SURRENDER!"
Gentle turned around. "Ah, it's the Heroes." he turned to Mastermind, voice lowered. "Tell me, have you wondered how I get out of these situations, Mastermind?"
Izuku just nodded, eyes sparkling. Gentle Criminal gave him a wink. "It's going to be our secret." He whipped around, stance confident. "Hah! You think a mere three heroes will give me much trouble?"
A few more heroes rounded the corner and readied themselves. Gentle Criminal stared for a bit. "Hm." He tapped the earpiece he had. "La Brava..."
Mastermind's sensors picked up a "You got it, Gentle!" and then something got mumbled, before Gentle seemed to glow with power. Quickly, Mastermind focused on getting the money into his large sack and the briefcase.
Gentle cracked his neck. "I hate to do things in such an ungentlemanly fashion... but it cannot be helped." And then he moved.
The hero in the business suit reached out and threw a pair of handcuffs that stretched and took a life of their own, only for them to get stuck in the air in front of Gentle. "What?" The air then bounced back, sending the handcuffs right into their owner's face! Gentle winced a bit, finishing the attack by firmly jabbing his cane into the hero and knocking the wind out of him. Gentle seemed undaunted and confident in this.
But most importantly he was not alone. Smoke surrounded the pair of them, cutting off the view from the other patrons as Mastermind leapt into the fray. One of the heroes went for Mastermind, hand sparking with electricity. Mastermind ducked his thrust and slammed the briefcase into the man's chin, sending him spiralling down. The next Hero to attack, a woman in a red and black costume, stretched an arm out an impossible distance, trying to punch him in the face. Narrowly dodging, he clamped his left hand on hers. Electricity sparked, causing her to scream before Mastermind closed the distance to sock her again.
The man in red and yellow took in a deep breath. Flickers of flame came around his mouth. Gentle went to gesture, but Mastermind pulled out his small freeze ray. As the Hero breathed fire at the pair of them, Mastermind fired a blue-white beam back. The resultant temperature clash caused a minor explosion, sending the Hero stumbling back and Gentle taking the initiative, springing off the air to deliver a blow to the gut that folded the hero like a piece of paper.
The other heroes glanced between each other. A plan seemed to form for the remaining heroes, and they stood their ground, powers at the ready. Gentle and Mastermind shared their own look, then leapt back into the fray. The civilians watched with bated breath. Sure, these villains were powerful. But the heroes... they would win for sure, wouldn't they? They had to.
GENTLE CRIMINAL AND LOYAL SUBSCRIBER TEAMUP - KINSARA BANK HEIST
The video itself had started with Gentle Criminal explaining his motives for robbing the bank. There had been what looked like security camera footage - "Gathered by loyal fans like you" - showing the owner of the bank, a man with a shark mutation threatening various business owners. One of them had had their head shoved into his mouth as his accountant made points about 'not paying your dues.' Then the video cut to the events of the bank robbery and an unintentional team-up of bank robbers
The villains took a deep breath, composing themselves. "And that's a wrap!"
On the screen, Gentle Criminal and Mastermind took their bow. Behind them, the Kinsara bank had been deformed slightly, wobbling in place as if it was made of rubber. Around them, the groaning bodies of heroes, unconscious and in various positions. One of the heroes had been tied up with what looked like the Heroes' own handcuffs. The civilians in the hall were all unharmed, but were running away from the scene with nervous and terrified expressions on their faces.
Mastermind seemed to grin, holding up both his sack of money and the briefcase. "Here you go, Gentle! Always a pleasure to help out a fellow Super Villain!"
Gentle accepted it with a warm smile on his face. "And thank you, Mastermind, for your help today."
Mastermind nodded, then started. He pulled something out of his pocket. "I think you might find this helpful for your video, if you didn't already know about it." He then turned to the camera.
"Never thought I'd do this... MWA-HAHAHA! BE AFRAID, HEROES, FOR THE BRILLIANT MASTERMIND HAS STRUCK AGAIN! BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME!" And with that last statement, the villain sprung away. Gentle Criminal looked in his direction where he'd left with a fond smile before turning back to the camera.
"If you want to support my villainy, then I want you to click that like button in a gentlemanly or ladylike fashion, subscribe and click the bell for alerts, and don't forget to leave a comment, and I will see you-" With the police sirens coming, Gentle Criminal pulled out a small black device. "-In the next video! Gentle Criminal, away!" And with that, he threw the object on the ground, covering the area in thick purple smoke. When it cleared, he was long gone and the video ended.
A furry hand closed the laptop down, the other hand pouring a cup of tea. A furry snout sniffed the tea, eyes closing in pleasure.
"My, my..." The figure sitting in front of the laptop took a sip of tea. "A brilliant villain like that, taking such centre stage... how very interesting."
Principal Nedzu gave a little grin.
"Technical skill, intelligence, imagination, decisiveness... oh, I can't wait to pull you apart and see what makes you tick." The small grin on his face turned into something more feral, teeth exposed and pupils shrinking. He started to giggle, then chuckle. His grip on his teacup started to get shaky and droplets of tea started to spill everywhere as his laughter intensified.
"IT'S BEEN SO LONG SINCE I'VE HAD A CHALLENGE LIKE YOU! A-HAHAHAHA! A-HAHAHA!"
Author's note:
Whew. Here's Issue 4. I tried to give Bakugo some character development - I think it turned out reasonably well. A bank robbery, an updated look (and I mean it is a good look) and the start of a beautiful friendship.
Comment. That's an order.