Kurogiri was meant to perform certain secret tasks for the League of Villains from time to time. Usually, those included teleporting villains from one point to another, or bringing messages to All-For-One directly (since only he would be able to reach him). Now that All For One was in Tartarus, Kurogiri's only task was to serve as a middleman between Shigaraki and The Doctor, his most trustworthy ally.
He was scheduled to meet Shigaraki that night, after the other members of the League finished cleaning up and setting up on the abandoned Warehouse, so he was surprised to see Shigaraki right outside the warehouse. "Tomura Shigaraki, what's the meaning of this, is something wrong?" He asked. There was something wrong with the League's de-facto leader, as he seemed disturbed and distracted.
"Kurogiri…" He said with some restraint. He was not the kind of person to hug someone, or to express excitement, but the tone of his voice reflected some degree of relief. "Keep quiet, something happened…"
"What are you talking about? Where is the rest of the League? Why are you on guard?" Kurogiri inquired, not taking Shigaraki's signal warning to lower down in voice. But it was already too late, as two Shadowkhan ninjas appeared outside the Warehouse. "The master wants to see you inside." Shigaraki exclaimed in defeat.
"What are you…" Kurogiri started to say, but the ninjas were already pushing him inside the building. What he saw inside was not what he expected: a throne made out of stone, with various decorations and arcane symbols, some sort of altar holding a big book, and a dozen ninjas similar to the ones that escorted him inside. Toga and some Twice clones were working in a corner with waxed paper and scissors, while Dabi was chained to one of the walls, and Mr. Compress was busy carrying several pans and sugar bags.
Sitting on the throne was none other than Spinner, or at least someone that vaguely resembled him. His scales were now red instead of green, His body was now tall and muscular, and his face now resembled that of a demon, with sharp teeth, yellow eyes and thick white eyebrows, mustache and goatee he didn't have before. "Ah, Kurogiri. Just the man I was waiting for." 'Spinner' greeted him, with a demonic voice unlike his own.
"Spinner, what's the meaning of this?" Asked a confused Kurogiri.
The red scaled ninja stood up and walked towards him. "Right, you didn't get the memo… Now you should call me Tarakudo, and this is the League of Shadows." He explained. "There has been a change of plans, and you are just the right man to set up a couple artifacts that we…" He was interrupted mid sentence.
"This is just nonsense… Who died and made you leader? Shigaraki, can you explain to me what's..." Kurogiri said, but as he turned towards Shigaraki, he realized that he was terrified of the lizard man in the center of the room, as he gestured slightly to go along with it.
"And how can I be of service, Mr. Spinner?" he said, with a gentlemanly posture.
"That's Lord Tarakudo to you, and this will be your final warning." Tarakudo said, as he walked towards the book in the altar, opening it in a bookmarked page which showed a map, comparing it to a map in Toga's tablet. "As far as I know, your warp abilities allow you to open a portal anywhere in the world, as long as you know where to open the exit portal, is that correct?"
"Yes, that is correct," Kurogiri admitted.
"Well, what I need you to do is to go to UA High School, and leave a small present for class 1-A." Tarakudo said. "It should be something so simple and innocuous, that they won't even suspect a thing."
Kurogiri stood there, silent, "Are you planning on sneaking poison or explosives? Because if that's the case, let me warn you that Hound Dog can smell poison and volatile compounds very well..."
"I'm not that stupid, Kurogiri." Tarakudo replied. "Let's just say that I'm going to hand them an artifact and see what they do with it…"
"This is stupid!" Dabi yelled, trying to yank his chains once more. As much as he tried to melt them with his fire, the metal was made from a weird alloy that withstood the high temperatures. "Why wouldn't you give it to one of us, instead?"
"Because, A) You still need to earn my trust before I bestow such a privilege upon you. And B) because I have something special planned for Izuku Midoriya and his classmates." Tarakudo chuckled, as he grabbed an object wrapped in newspaper. "I'm sure you wouldn't understand it just yet. And the next time you try to blast me with your blue flames, I'll banish you to the shadow realm".
One of Twice's clones walking by just perked his ears. "Wait, isn't that something invented by Yu-Gi-Oh's american dub?" He asked. As a response, two Shadowkhan ninjas just attacked him from behind and smashed him against the wall, disintegrating him.
"Now, if there's no further objections, I need you all to hurry up, we need to have everything ready before dawn." Ordered Tarakudo to everyone inside.
Toga, exhausted, raised his hand. "Err… Lord Tarakudo, I know that you want us to finish this A.S.A.P, but… could we have a break? We've been working for hours non-stop…" she complained.
Any other villainous leader would have shut her up and commanded her to continue working and stop complaining… but to everyone's surprise, Tarakudo replied to her in a gentle voice. "You're right… I don't want my cronies to be famished, after all, do I?" He turned to one of his Shadowkhan ninjas, and handed him a note. The ninja nodded, and then disappeared in the shadows… reappearing a few minutes later with a big platter of assorted sushi.
Having eaten nothing but bread and instant noodles, all the villains in the warehouse started to salivate as they admired all that delicious food. "Wow, that's impressive! Don't mind if I take my break right now" Toga said, followed by Mr. Compress and Twice. "Sure, I might be a ruthless Oni warrior, but even I know to take care of my own…" Tarakudo replied, quickly glancing towards Shigaraki, as if trying to make a point.
The only ones who didn't go for the sushi buffet right away were Kurogiri and Shigaraki, who looked at each other in complicity. Whatever was happening, it was unlike anything they have seen before. And Shigaraki, who had played videogames with Spinner and had interacted with him the most, just knew that the red-scaled lizard in front of them was NOT the same villain.
They'll have to wait and see what would happen next.
Ever since the incident at Kamino Ward, the students of class 1-A started living at the UA dorms for security reasons. At first it was weird to adjust to the boarding school lifestyle, especially with boys and girls living in the same building, but at this point they all have gotten used to it. One of the concessions they had to make was to restrain themselves from visiting their families and relatives, so it wasn't uncommon for the students to receive various care packages and letters from them.
With the increase of incoming e-mail, security had to be increased, too, so all the packages had to be validated thoroughly. Despite that, a certain gift box wrapped in colorful paper passed all the filters and arrived to the 1-A dorms common room, where Mina Aishido opened it to reveal...
"Wagashi sweets!" She exclaimed, garnering everyone's attention. The Wagashi were delicious traditional Japanese candy, so all the students walked towards the gift box.
"Yummy!" said Ochako Uraraka, picking one of the candy while handing another to Tsuyu Asui.
"Ooh, I want one, too!" Ojiro said
"Wow, these are not store bought!" noticed Yaoyorozu. "And quite tasty, too!"
"If you don't leave me one I'LL MURDER YOU!" Bakugo threatened everyone, as he always did.
The only ones who were absent were Denki Kaminari and Minoru Mineta, who were busy elsewhere and arrived sometime later, when there were no candies left in the box.
"Hey guys! What did we miss?" Mineta asked
"Oh, there you are, guys!" Mina said, having grabbed the last piece of candy. "We got a box of Wagashi sweets in the mail and guess we ate them all…"
"OOh, really? But I love those!" Kaminari said, scratching his hair in frustration. "Damn, should have arrived earlier". He grabbed the box, but then noticed that the box was false-bottomed, as if there was something else hidden. "Wait… there's something else inside!"
"I doubt it…" Midoriya said to them, having finished his own candy. "Usually those boxes have a hidden compartment in the bottom that includes some desiccant, and is isolated from the rest of the candy in order not to alter their flavor, also they might include some weight in order for the box to be more sturdy…"
"Izuku, you're creeping everyone around…" Tokoyami said, as Dark Shadow was holding yet another piece of candy the bird-headed boy was keeping for later.
"Don't think so… Mineta, hand me a pair of scissors, will ya?" he asked. Everyone went on their separate ways to get ready for classes, while Kaminari struggled with the false bottom. All of a sudden, he managed to open it… but what he found inside was anything but candy.
"Wow, look at this!" Kaminari said, grabbing an object wrapped in newspaper and carefully unwrapping it. It was a dark lilac mask with red eyes, a scary grin with sharp teeth, a pair of horns and a green wig.
"Ooh, scary… It's one of those Oni masks they wear at theater plays, right? Why was it hidden inside a candy box?" Mineta said, checking the mask.
"I dunno, but it could be a surprise prize or something." Kaminari said, taking the mask back to inspect it. There was something about the mask that sent a chilling sensation down his spine. But then, Kaminari had an idea: "What if we scare the guys with this?"
"Even better… What if we scare the girls with it?" Mineta suggested. They both had similar ideas, so they both chuckled devilishly, imagining the girls screaming loudly because of the scare.
"Alright! Okay, I'll go hide behind that corner, you go and convince them to head to their bedrooms." Kaminari said, heading down the corridor with the mask in hand, while keeping the same mischievous grin. "Sure! Now… How can I make the girls leave the living room at the same time? Hmmm…" Mineta wondered briefly, before finding a solution.
Uraraka, Aishido, Yaoyorozu, Asui and Jiro were talking to each other, when suddenly Mineta approached them from behind. "Hey girls, would you be interested in watching the new bikini catalog that just arrived in the mail? There are some discounts you might be interested in…"
The girls, used to the lustful comments from Mineta, immediately beat him to a pulp without skipping a beat. "Ugh, disgusting as always. Girls, do you mind if we continue this talk in my room?" Yaoyorozu asked the others, who immediately nodded. "It seems he'll never learn, ribbit!" Asui commented, as the five girls headed towards the stairs corridor. Mineta coughed loudly twice, in order to signal Kaminari that the girls were on their way.
Kaminari, with his back on the wall and his heart pumping fast, grabbed the mask, counting the steps the group of girls would have to take before they'd reach the corner. He took one last look at the mask, hoping it would be scary enough for the girls. "Okay, here goes nothing!" he said, as he grabbed the green haired wig and placed the mask on his face. Without him noticing, however, the mask started to spread and fuse with his head…
"Can you imagine the kind of girl that would end up marrying someone like Mineta?" asked Uraraka. "I mean, if he's like that with us…"
But she never managed to finish the sentence, as a burly person jumped from the corner. "ROOOAAAAAR", he growled at them at the top of his lungs, as loud and fierce as he could. However, the face of the guy was so horrific, and his voice so deep and guttural, that the five girls jumped back at the same time and got ready to attack him, as if they had been surprised by a villain.
"AHAHAHAHAHA! You should have looked at your faces! HAHAHAHAHA!" The masked young man laughed loudly, "I got you! I got you reaaaal good!" He taunted them, laughing so hard he started rolling on the floor as he did.
Mineta, in order to share the laughter with his friend, walked towards the group -which didn't seem to recognize that the scary man was, in fact, one of their classmates. "Wow, Kaminari, how did you do that?" He exclaimed, as the girls finally realized who the prankster was.
"Wait… Kaminari, is that you?" They asked, with a mix of surprise and anger.
Kaminari was catching his breath, having laughed so hard that a tear was running down his now inhuman cheek. "Yes, it's me… man, I never thought doing a prank would be so much fun!" he said, unaware of how deep his voice was now.
Mina Aishido headed towards him, weakly punching him in the arm while whining "You bastard, you really scared me! You douche!" She complained.
"Yeah, that was pretty rude… We live here, remember?" Ochako said, trying to appear tough despite having been deadly scared, too.
"Well, that should teach you to leave us some candy next time!" Kaminari replied while crossing his arms, not a single hint of regret in his voice.
Now that he looked at him up close, Mineta noticed that the mask looked scarier now that Kaminari was wearing it. Not only that, but the horns seemed longer, the red eyes of the mask appeared more realistic, and the green wig of the mask was shaggier and longer, even sporting the black streak in Kaminari's blonde hair. He could even swear that Kaminari looked more brawny and intimidating than before.
"Anyways, girls, sorry for scaring you to death. I should go and get ready for the first term. See ya in class!" Kaminari waved at them, flashing a smile with those long, sharp teeth, as he walked upstairs towards his bedroom.
"Hey, girls… Did you notice something weird going on with Kaminari?" Asked Mineta, making sure he wasn't seeing things.
"You know what else is weird?" Mina Aishido said threateningly, her eyes glowing with murderous intent. "That we haven't kicked your ass again for helping pulling out that prank!" The five girls cracked their fingers as they approached Mineta.
"No no no, wait, it was just a harmless jumpscare!..." Mineta tried to excuse himself, knowing beforehand that it would be futile.
Meanwhile, Kaminari was ecstatic and energetic, probably because of the success of the prank. Watching the girls shrinking in terror? Priceless! Now he kinda regretted not having a recording, or having scared the guys instead (even if they wouldn't be as forgiving as the girls).
Going into his room, he picked his clean uniform and changed as fast as he could, surprised at how tight fitting his uniform was now. As he headed towards the mirror to comb his hair, wondering why he couldn't button his shirt all the way up, he finally realized that he was still wearing the Oni mask. "Wait, I still have this thing on? Well, at least I noticed before going out."
His hands reached towards where the edges of the mask should be, but he stopped in mid track as his mind suddenly shifted, scolding him for wasting time on menial things. After all, he had always looked like this wasn't it? He clearly could remember the horns always been there, and he had to admit it was a very good look by itself...
"What am I doing? I'm gonna be late for class!" Kaminari exclaimed, grabbing his backpack and leaving the dorms at full speed, not even noticing he was running faster than usual.
Few minutes later, everyone was wearing their uniforms and taking their seats in the 1-A classroom, waiting until Mr. Aizawa arrived, Mineta was now completely wrapped up in bandages after the massive beat down he received from the girls… but nobody was batting an eye towards him. Instead, everyone in the classroom was looking towards Kaminari, who arrived into the classroom sporting his new look, and went straight to sit in his chair like nothing was different..
"Alright, class, take your seats" Aizawa arrived at the classroom, initially not noticing anything different. "I've been reviewing your essays on Japan history, and some of you will need to write it all over again. Sero and Mina, you'll have to rewrite the section on the Heisei era, Aoyama, your section about feudalism in Japan is completely wrong, and Kaminari…" In that moment, he raised his sight towards the class, finally noticing the masked student sitting in front of Kirishima and behind Ojiro. "Kaminari?" He asked.
"Right here, sir!" The masked young man replied, raising his hand in a juvenile manner.
"Do you mind explaining what's on your head?" Aizawa asked.
"Ah, don't worry Mr. Aizawa, it's just a mask." Kirishima replied. Everyone turned towards him, since they believed that he was wearing expensive makeup to achieve that result.
"Can you take it off, please? we're in class right now." Aizawa asked with an annoying face.
"Why would I? After all it suits me really well…" Kaminari replied defying the teacher. "In any case I promise it's not going to be a distraction"
"Are you sure?" Aizawa asked, impatiently.
"Don't worry, teach…" Kaminari replied, trying to sound cool, but coming up as sinister instead. "You can definitely trust me on that."
Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, Tarakudo was sitting on his throne, while the rest cleaned up all the materials they used the night before to create the sweets, when he suddenly noticed the resurgence of Oni chi in the middle of the city. "Just as always, I was right. It didn't take long for one of the students from 1-A to take the bait." He said, sporting a winning grin in his face. "Ah, General Rairakku, you'll soon be back among us…"
"But I still don't understand, Lord Tarakudo…" Shigaraki asked. "Why was it so important to send the Oni mask to those brats in UA High, while one of us could have worn it instead? You'd have your new Oni General right here, instead of those meddlesome kids that now have access to its power.
"Be patient, Shigaraki." Tarakudo replied to him. "Now that we have a man inside… or rather, now that we have an Oni inside, it will be easier for us to track the heroes' movements and predict their actions. It's just a matter of time before they also start looking for the other Oni masks. And that's where the real fun will begin!".
"And how are you so sure… won't they just betray us?" Dabi asked, tired of being chained to a wall.
The reptilian ninja grinned at the question."You surely haven't dealt with Oni before, have you? Just wait and see what happens. The more that young man uses the power of the mask, the closer he will be to reclaim his place as an Oni general!" Tarakudo claimed triumphantly.
Thanks a lot for reading and faving this story, comments and suggestions are always welcome!
Wow, now that Kaminari is the wearer of Rairakku's mask, things will really get more interesting for everyone involved. Which mask do you think will be the next one, and who will be the wearer? How is 1-A going to react to this new and improved Denki Kaminari?
Find out in the next chapter. Until then!