Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia. At least not in this timeline.
One month ago...
"Self defence classes?" Inko asked, chopsticks hovering over her bowl of rice. "Izuku, are you... are you being bullied at school?"
Izuku shook his head frantically. "No, no, nothing like that! I just, ah... thought I should do something else! Since I'm going into UA's Support course, I thought that maybe I should learn how to handle myself in a fight, then I'll know what the heroes are looking for-"
"Izuku." Inko laid her chopsticks aside and patted him on the back of the hand. "You know you can talk to me. What happened?"
Izuku stopped talking. "Well, mom, I am the supervillain Mastermind. I've been going out after school in a suit of armour with gadgets that I made myself. I've fought Pro Heroes and am working with other villains, and recently I got beaten up by the underground Hero Eraserhead and realised that I need to learn better fighting techniques," was not what he said.
Instead, he said, "Well, I've been doing all of those part-time jobs, right? And I started a new one just a few days ago?"
Inko nodded. "And I'm so proud of you for finding work like that, even if it's only for a short time." She shot him a warm smile. "You've got your studies to keep up, after all."
Izuku nodded. "Right, yes. So, earlier today I, ah... got into a fight? Some jerk chased me down and-"
"Oh, Izuku! You should have told me! Are you alright? You're not hurt or anything?" Inko frantically looked over her son.
Izuku waved her off. "I'm alright, mom! I ran away. But..." he looked down. "I'd... I'd like to be able to stand up by myself. So I talked with my co-workers about it... and the place I'm working offers a self-defence course for employees. It's just part of the job!"
Inko checked him over once again. "Oh, honey, that's great! Just... just don't worry your poor mother with a story like that again, okay?" She patted him on the arm, tears building in her eyes. "I'm being serious, are you sure you're alright?"
Izuku nodded. "I'm... I'm fine, mom. I've got some really good friends out of it, even though I haven't known them for very long. We had cake!"
Inko nodded. "That's so nice! You'll have to introduce me to these friends of yours some time. I'll have to thank them for being so kind to you."
Izuku nodded, spearing a piece of fish with his chopsticks. "Well, it'll probably be a while before that happens. People are busy with work and all that."
So they finished their meal, chattering about their day, about the work they had done and what other people had done with their day. When all as done, Izuku helped Inko wash the dishes, trying to get his mother to use the newer inventions for speeding up the dishwasher and being gently rebuked. Once that was done, Izuku went to do his schoolwork, and then to the lab.
Looking over his gear, he sighed. "Well, I've got some basic ideas for support gear for myself and my partners in crime... guess I'll have to hit the beach again."
There were plenty of spare parts, and he'd managed to get the forge in. Izuku checked over his blueprints, checking for his pen. A few preliminary sketches were going to be needed. Ah, but he'd need more specific information on their Quirks and their preferences! But what about his own gear? Oh, he had a couple of upgrades to do, a new cloak to make, and maybe something seriously flashy!
Midoriya scoured through his old research materials. It had to be something major. Something impressive. Something that he could use in the future afterwards.
His eyes passed over something in an old comic. They widened. "Yes..." he breathed. "Yes... yes!"
He hurried back over to his desk, pen in hand. Some furious sketches later, and then he returned to the scrap and forge he had managed to hide in the basement. He picked up a couple of tools and turned on the sound dampeners.
"Time to get to work."
Now...
"Okay! Let's suit up!"
Mastermind stood in front of his new workbench in Gentle Criminal's lair, covered with a dust sheet. The rest of the villains looked on with bated breath. Getting improved Support equipment from an up and coming maker? Too good to be true.
"Ladies and gentlemen, BEHOLD!"
With a flourish, Mastermind pulled off the dust sheet, showing off his gear to the rest of the villains.
"YOUR NEW SUPPORT GEAR!"
Each villain blinked. "Wow," Golden Grin spoke first. "My shit looks awesome!"
Mastermind grinned. "As for my own gear, I've been upgrading it as well!" It seemed that he grinned, showing off his massive cloak, now with a dark red trim on the edges.
"The heroes won't be able to stop us with this gear now!" Thunder roared in the room, each other villain grabbing their personalised gear. "MWA-HAHAHA!"
The Kiyashi Mall was a bustling place, filled with families and people going to buy clothes, food, or just use the bathroom. There was a general sense of cheer as people just went about their weekend business. A large jewellery store was doing a reasonable trade, people coming back and forth...Until suddenly, the music playing over the speakers cut out, glitching and screeching. Then...
"MWA-HAHAHA!"
A large puff of smoke originated from just in front of the jewellery store, blinding passers-by. When it cleared, there stood a trio of villains. One was the somewhat well-known Gentle Criminal, his gentlemanly suit now flapping in a non-existent wind and a monocle in his right eye. He even had a new cane made, with a purple head. The other one, they didn't know - a tall man in a yellow overcoat and a blank white smiling mask and top-hat, gesturing good naturally with his cane.
But the third was more well known, even if he had only been around for a month or so. His gauntlets and boots now painted a deep red, a new cloak that seemed to ripple and fold around him and a large 'M' emblazoned on his belt buckle, the shorter villain strode confidently towards the doors of the jewellery store with his compatriots.
"Everybody run! It's a villain attack!"
"Call the heroes!"
Mastermind raised a fist in the air, and the villains pushed through the door into the jewellery store. The attendant trembled. The taller man tipped his top hat. "Good day, madam."
"We are terribly sorry about this," Gentle Criminal continued, looking to Mastermind.
"Please stay calm, for the brilliant MASTERMIND-" thunder roared, causing the cashier to jump, "- and his partners in crime are robbing this jewellery store! MWA-HAHAHA!" Mastermind finished, holding out a couple of large briefcases. "Sorry for the inconvenience, but we have to get something for our mother's birthdays! You don't mind, do you?" That said, he handed a briefcase to each villain and they went to work.
The store attendant looked at them somewhat calmly as they proceeded to open storefront boxes, quickly and methodically emptying the storefront. Her hand went down to discreetly press the panic button and silent alarm. "Y-you won't get a-away with this," she stammered, trying to back further away.
The tall man in the top hat shrugged as he shoved another armload of jewellery into the sack he carried. "I'm afraid that we already are, my dear. I must ask that you stay out of our way for the time being."
The store attendant trembled, but stayed resolute. The silent alarm had been pressed, so the heroes would be here any minute..!
"Alright, so we are aiming to hit the Ami-Diamond jewellery store," Mastermind paced with the others. "My investigations, along with Gentle Criminal's have confirmed that they have been stealing most of their jewellery using a nearby funeral parlour, replacing the gems and making newer designs with these stones." He pointed to a small camera. "The video footage is right there."
He then turned around. "We absolutely want to avoid having too much Hero presence before we're ready." He turned to the shortest member of the crew. "La Brava. If the police get called too early, then there's a much higher chance we'll have to fight All Might or a really dedicated Pro Hero. So, to delay things as long as possible, I'm going to need you to hack their security systems."
La Brava nodded. "You can count on me , Mastermind!"
Mastermind nodded. "I've added some tech, particularly with your gloves and a mask to make the fullest use of the new computer I built."
Outside in an alleyway, La Brava nodded as she looked over her laptop. Her villain gear had been seriously upgraded, the gloves now sporting glowing pink lines leading to the fingers. The mask she wore was heart-shaped and made of clear purple plastic, displays in the corner showing a minimap of the mall. The biggest piece of support equipment she had was a large metallic backpack, painted to similarly match the theme.
"Systems are down!"
Mastermind muttered a quiet thanks to La Brava before striding forwards, Gentle Criminal turning to the store attendant. "Ah, terribly sorry, but we're going to need to head into the back," Gentle Criminal took a deep bow. "If you'll excuse us-"
Panicking, the store attendant slammed the button to get the shutters to drop. The metallic shutters for the front of the store failed to close and trap the villain inside. She stared at the button with an expression of horror.
Mastermind bellowed out laughter. "MWA-HAHAHA! Your security systems have already fallen to my partners and I!" He strode through, shoving the door open with Mr. Compress in tow. The sales assistant tried to stop them, but was stopped by Mr. Compress' cane gently holding her back.
The top-hat wearing villain shook his head. "I wouldn't advise it, young lady." The poor lady could only sink to the ground, trembling.
In the next room, the villains took in the safe. "Complicated looking lock," Mastermind murmured.
Mr. Compress shrugged. "We'll have all the time in the world to crack it back at the hideout if I just shrink it."
Mastermind nodded slowly. "True." He pulled out his pocket watch and clicked the top button three times. "This way just looks cooler though."
Mr. Compress looked directly at his partner in crime before slowly pulling out his custom-made pocket watch. "It certainly will make a more impressive spectacle, won't it?"
"Gentle-San, Mr. Compress. I've got some specific support gear you may like."
Gentle and Mr. Compress both craned to look at the items on the table. One silver for Gentle and the other golden for Mr. Compress, they looked like ordinary pocket watches, a fact that Mr. Compress relayed to Mastermind.
Mastermind simply nodded. "Certainly, they look like ordinary pocket watches. But," here he tapped the top of the watch three times quickly, causing the middle to open into a red light, "this is where the similarities end. They have a variety of useful functions, but the first one is that I built in a powerful laser cutter into them."
Mr Compress and Mastermind pointed the red lights and then pressed the button again. Thin beams of red light shot out, cutting through the safe's hinges. Carefully, methodically, they cut a near perfect circle in the safe, causing the door to fall to the ground with a thud.
Mr. Compress closed the watch up, replacing it in his pocket. "Ingenious," he muttered, looking in the safe. Various uncut jewels and pieces of jewellery gazed up at them. Mastermind and Mr. Compress shared a look, before Mr. Compress used his Quirk on the larger items, the small marbles falling into his palms and down his sleeves with a nearly inaudible click.
Mastermind placed a small USB in the stricken safe, along with a small calling card. Standing up, Mr. Compress and Gentle Criminal carefully replaced the door. Nodding, Mastermind tapped his earpiece. "And we are leaving. Any hero chatter yet?"
"Seems somebody's finally reported it!" La Brava replied. "Heroes incoming!"
Gentle and Mr. Compress nodded. "We'd better make our exit then," Gentle Criminal muttered.
Mastermind nodded, quickly leaving the store with Gentle Criminal. Mr. Compress left as well, though not before dropping a bouquet of flowers that seemed to come out of nowhere.
"Even if we shut off the security systems, people are going to have seen us. They'll make manual calls to the various agencies. We'll have to leave as quickly as possible to avoid any fights."
Golden Grin groaned. "Aw, man! I mean, sure, I know we don't want to get into fights but I like a good scrap!"
Gentle Criminal and Mr. Compress shook their heads. "Not really our style, getting into fights," Gentle Criminal said.
Inkblot just grinned. "Sure it isn't. That's why we're here! We're the muscle!" To demonstrate, she flexed her arm. Briefly her arm didn't resemble a noodle anymore, looking like a regular if extremely fit woman's arm flexing. Then she flexed slightly harder, returning it to its noodle consistency with a bicep bulge the size of a small watermelon.
Mastermind nodded. "True, true. But hopefully, we won't have to fight at all..."
The three of them raced down to the main foyer, only to hear a crash and the sound of sirens. Mastermind bit off a curse as they saw a couple of Pro Heroes gearing up to come in. "Sounds pretty bad," Mr. Compress remarked.
Mastermind nodded. "Seems that way." The first couple of heroes were already on the scene, civilians running out of the way
He jerked his head at Mr. Compress."Now."
Mr. Compress nodded, raising his cane. A press of the head, and the Heroes swung to the side, concerned shouts as a marble-sized projectile shot at them! It then burst apart in a puff of smoke, revealing...
Inkblot grinned from where she was next to the lead Pro, a large man in a green spandex bodysuit. "Heya." Before the Pro could react, she spun around, swinging her giant mallet into his midsection. Her momentum continued into the wall of the store, smashing the hero so hard a small crater formed where he had hit.
The Cartoon Villain turned back around, hammer resting on her shoulders. Her villain support gear had seen some changes, but the most obvious change was the plain white mask with black, bead eyes. On her head, a pair of large rabbit ears waved, seeming to pick up sound. Resting on her hip were several closed cylinders with different coloured caps.
"If things should come to it, then I need Inkblot to be ready for action as a projectile."
Inkblot nodded. "I can do that - wait, what?"
She crossed her arms, a confused expression on her face. "Why am I not out there with you guys? You know, being the muscle?"
Mastermind shook his head. "I don't want to give away too much if I don't have to. The less that people can guess about how we've done it, the better." He turned back to the rest of the gang. "if we want to take on a target like this then we need to move in quick and get out as soon as possible."
He then went over to the rest of the bench. "So, these cylinders have various colours of ink. They're pretty tough. I've also made this mask with similar features to my own, such as an early warning system linked up to the ears of the costume. The mask itself also has an emergency supply of ink that can be accessed by biting into this bit, here."
Mastermind pointed out a small tube on the inside of the mask near the mouth. Inkblot just nodded. "Okay, all good. One question though." She picked up the mask, which curved around the head and had a pair of large ears sticking out. "Why does my costume have bunny ears?"
Mastermind tapped the ears. "Well, first of all they're designed to amplify far-away sounds and quieten loud ones. Secondly, they're part of your disguise."
Inkblot blinked. "Disguise? In case you have't seen me, I'm pretty distinctive." She waved a hand over her body to emphasise.
Mastermind nodded. "I know that. Which is why we're using this mask." He picked up the white circle. "Using the American design known as the 'Spiderman Mask,' we can map your expressions with this mask! Since it'll look really convincing, it'll tell people that you're just a cartoon bunny rather than a cat!"
Inkblot raised an eyebrow. "That can't possibly work."
Inkblot's rabbit ear twitched, and she swiftly blocked a punch from a rather bulky looking Hero. "At least the early warning system works..." she grumbled before ducking under the Hero's attack. Her mallet came swinging overhead, sending him into the ground. He lay there groaning, tweeting birds spinning around his head.
Mr. Compress was looking at a couple of other heroes coming in from a different direction. "HALT, VILLAIN!"
Mr. Compress shrugged. "That is something we simply cannot do!"
As the heroes approached, the villain suddenly whipped his other arm up, pointing at them. Smoke billowed out from his sleeves, shooting towards the heroes. The heroes tried to stop their advance, but it was a bit too late. In the smoke, something shot forward, catching the Heroes and binding their arms to their sides.
Mr. Compress checked over the support gear he'd been handed. It was a pair of long sleeves connected to a pair of gloves, the area above the knuckles slightly raised. It led to a small storage unit that strapped to the side of a belt. "And this is?"
Mastermind grinned. "This is support gear designed to work with your Quirk." He indicated the gloves, turning over the palm to reveal a compartment on each. "Slot your compressed objects into here and then they'll lead to the main chambers." He opened up the small square container to show that it had been split into different compartments. "I'll get more space for it later, but I have several support devices that should work well with your Quirk."
He pointed each item out. Nets and bolases made up the majority of said items, along with devices labelled 'OIL SLICK' and 'SUPERGLUE.'
"Basically, load them up and fire them when appropriate. Make sure that each individual chamber is loaded. The firing mechanisms are on each fingertip. Tap the finger for what you want to come out."
Mr. Compress whistled. "This is some seriously impressive stuff, Mastermind."
Mastermind rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, it's nothing, really!"
Mr. Compress looked at the pair of Pro Heroes who had been tied up with the nets that had just been released by his Quirk. "Nothing indeed," he muttered, before returning to the escape plan. The rest of the crew were making their way downstairs to the main entrance, where a few Heroes were gathering to try and intercept.
Mastermind glanced at a Hero who was coming at him with an apologetic stare. "Sorry about this," he muttered, before he caught the Pro with a full kick to the torso. Normally such a manoeuvre would wind somebody. It wouldn't send them flying backwards with a mighty TOING into a wall. Mastermind seemed to visibly wince. "They'll-they'll be okay," he muttered, seeming to give the Hero a quick check-over before going for an escape.
Inkblot stared at it a bit, before shrugging. "Pretty nasty to build a capacity like that into your armour..." she muttered, running ahead to try and block some of the heroes.
Gentle Criminal bounced ahead with her, tapping the head of his cane. The end of it sparked with electricity, and he took a swing at a Hero that was leaping in. The hero, naturally, dodged. "You'll have to try harder than that, villain!"
Gentle Criminal's eyes narrowed. "I do so abhor violence." He took his cane up again. "But it is sometimes regrettably necessary!" He swung his cane again, the Hero dodging such a straightforward attack.
"Hah! As I said-" The Hero was cut off when the swung cane suddenly wobbled to the side, striking the Hero in the side and causing electricity to spark through him. The Hero screamed in pain for a short while before collapsing. Gentle Criminal looked over at the other Heroes, cane wobbling in his hand.
"Ah, Gentle Criminal. I have for you, a new cane!"
Gentle Criminal looked over it. The new cane now had a metal tip to the end and was slightly longer than what he had used before, as well as a different top. Mastermind picked up the cane. "Carbon core with some electronics built in. By pressing this-" he pushed in a tip at the head, causing the cane to light up with electricity, "-you have a powerful stun baton. It'll put most Heroes out of commission somewhat painlessly."
Gentle Criminal nodded, picking it up. "It's... really well done," he murmured.
Mastermind nodded. "I've also made you a monocle! It's linked up with La Brava's computer, allowing her to identify heroes and keep you up to date with them! As for the cane, I thought that you should use it with your Quirk!"
Gentle Criminal blinked. "My Quirk...?"
Mastermind nodded. "I mean, it's only the gentlemanly , you know, you could make it really bendy, or stretch it to whip out! I-I dug up some old works! On a gentleman's martial art known as Bartitsu! I also got some pointers from the French Canne de Combat and more modern cane styles! I think it would help you and Mr. Compress as well! Give you more options to defend yourselves without necessarily using your Quirks!"
Gentle Criminal blinked, looking over the cane and the small list of manuals that Mastermind had added. "This is... incredible, Mastermind. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart." He bowed, causing the shorter villain to start waving his hands around and trying to get him to stand up.
Gentle Criminal readied his cane again. "Gentle... Curve!" he thrust his cane forwards, the solid body wobbling backwards and forwards in an unpredictable fashion, causing the Heroes to back up.
The four other Heroes watched warily as the villains continued to come to the doors, ready to do what they could to buy time. The rest of the civilians in the shopping mall watched with bated breath as the villains seemed to regroup. Mastermind seemed to clear his throat. "Well, Heroes, here we are! Unfortunately... you will be unable to stop the devilish machinations of Mastermind-" KRAKATHOOM, "-and..."
The four villains suddenly struck a pose. Gentle Criminal and Mr. Compress pulled out roses and smelled them dramatically, Inkblot swung her hammer down with a massive grin on her face, and Mastermind simply clutched a fist dramatically and laughed.
"THE LEAGUE OF SUPERVILLAINS!"
Another crack of thunder followed by explosion of multicoloured smoke emitted from behind the four villains to punctuate their statement.
The Heroes stared at the villains for a moment. Then, one of the heroes, a skinny man in a black leotard with a bandaged right arm, stepped forwards with a grin on his face.
"A League of Supervillains? Hah! I'll have to use my Quirk to its fullest potential! Behold! The Sealed Right Hand of the Forbidden One!" Laughing, he started to unravel his bandages as the other heroes stared at him with odd looks on their face.
Gentle Criminal's gentlemanly smile twitched. "Is that really what's on your Quirk registry?"
The Hero leaped into the air, bandages trailing and starting to loosen. "BEHOLD! ITS AWESOME POWER!" The bandages unravelled, revealing a monstrous shadowy limb. He then swung it down. "ULTIMATE TECHNIQUE: UNSEALED ARM CRUSHER!"
Inkblot went to defend, but Mastermind held out a hand. As the Hero came down, Mastermind watched with both arms outstretched to block. The arm came down, intent on dealing a powerful finishing blow-!
"So, what kind of modifications have you made to your gear, Mastermind?"
Mastermind blinked. "Oh, I made some modifications to my gear! Mostly to my gauntlets." He showed off the newly painted red gauntlets, now thicker and with a circle design in the palm.
Inkblot looked over it. "Looks neat! So what do they do now"
Mastermind smiled. "They work on a similar principle to my Spring Boots. It's basically a pair of really powerful springs with a one way gear to hold it until I release it." He held out a palm. "Punch it."
Inkblot raised an eyebrow. "Okay..." She took a swing at Mastermind's palm, not even shifting him. She raised an eyebrow.
"And now I'll demonstrate it." he placed his palm on her, then shoved forwards. Inkblot staggered back a bit, a slight TOING sound being released.
"Wow. That's pretty neat."
Mastermind nodded. "Yeah! I got the idea from looking at the Black Panther's vibranium suit! And also the Impact Dial from One Piece. I mean, obviously that's more manga than anything, but the idea was sound!" He turned the gauntlets over. "It's both a shield and a spear. It'll take a while before I could make something that can absorb kinetic energy, and it's really going to hurt with big impacts, but it works!"
The arm came down, causing a massive cloud of dust as it hit the villain! The hero grinned from above. "SUBMIT VILLAIN, BEFORE THE MIGHT OF MY UNSEALED ARM! A-HAHAHA- eh?"
The dust had cleared, revealing that Mastermind was standing proud, feet pushed back slightly but unharmed. "Not bad, Hero! Now..."
Mastermind suddenly swung to the side, under the massive arm. As the Hero dropped, he leapt up to match him with a palm to his chest. "HAVE IT BACK!"
The Pro Hero tried to block the attack, but it was too late. The villain pressed his flat palms on his chest, and with a TOING of force the hero was sent cannonballing backwards, smashing through the door and colliding with a car outside. The villain himself as blown back slightly, arms shaking from the impact.
Mastermind immediately started running over. "Oh my god, I am so sorry! I-" he was pulled backwards by Mr. Compress as another hero came forwards, swinging their staff to try and sweep his legs.
The senior Villain fired off a net at the Hero, forcing them to get out of the way. "He had a super strength Quirk, he'll be fine!"
Mastermind stared, then shakily nodded. "Yeah... I checked his data on my visor. He'll be fine. I-I just didn't expect it to be that extreme..." he glanced at his gauntlets, which had visibly dented. "And it went over the limit. The rest of my gear's fine, but I'll need to replace the shock absorbers in my arms." The Villain winced. "I-I can barely feel my arms..."
Gentle Criminal swiped through the air, causing the female Hero with what must have been a speed Quirk to suddenly pinball into an invisible barrier. "La Brava says that they're calling in more Heroes. We need to leave as quickly and as gentlepersonly possible! Gently... REBOUND!" The Hero was sent flying backwards, causing the other Hero to break away from his charge to save her.
Mastermind nodded, pressing a button on his gauntlet.
Golden Grin raised his hand. "Okay, but how are we going to get away? That little car of yours won't seat us all."
Mastermind turned to him. "Golden Grin, you can drive, yes?"
Golden Grin shrugged. "I mean, I can? I mean, I'm on my L's."
Mastermind nodded. "The car doesn't have to seat all of us. Mr. Compress could shrink us down. Would it be comfortable in those little balls?"
Mr. Compress shrugged. "Never been inside them, but they're not too uncomfortable if Inkblot is accurate." Inkblot nodded, a slightly uneasy look on her face.
"Yeah, it's not the most comfortable experience, but at least it isn't too claustrophobic."
Mastermind shrugged. "Well, it'll have to do. So I just thought... what if we made it look like Mr. Compress didn't have Compression as a Quirk?" The other villains looked at him as he continued. "What if... we made it look like he had a warping Quirk?"
Stitch looked at him. "That's be pretty difficult. It's going to be obvious that they're coming from tiny marbles."
Mastermind just nodded. "But if we use some pyrotechnics and smoke machines-"
"-Then we can cover up the marbles and the compression," La Brava finished. "Meaning that most people will assume that it's a warping quirk that manifests in a burst of smoke."
Mr. Compress pulled on a smiling mask. "Well! That level of prestidigitation, to fool heroes and onlookers alike..." He laughed. "I haven't heard of anything that would be more amusing!"
"Perfect!" Mastermind nodded. "So, I'll equip your gear with some smoke machines, that'll only take a day. Going back to the plan, we'll have Golden Grin as our backup driver in the Mastermobile!"
"Uh..." Gentle Criminal looked at the younger supervillain. "Are you sure that's wise?"
Mastermind waved him off. "Driving's easy! And besides, it's an automatic!"
Golden Grin sighed. "That's a weight off my mind..."
The heroes heard the revving of an engine. Before they could properly react, the dark green Mastermobile came tearing out of a side alley, a villain in a black and yellow mask driving it. The bottom half of his mask, a transparent golden bubble, had been painted with sharp teeth. "YEAH! GRAND THEFT AUTO!" The villain yelled, spinning the vehicle near to the other villains.
Mr. Compress nodded. "Now then! Inkblot, Gentle, let's return to base!" He spun around, a massive burst of smoke suddenly bursting around them. When the smoke cleared, only Mr. Compress remained. He turned to Mastermind. "Let us away!"
The heroes charged at the car, but the villain there seemed to narrow his eyes. "Oh no you don't!"
As they came in, a glow of light suddenly came from his mouthpiece. The Heroes tried to back up, but it was too late. A searing beam of golden light shot from his mouth, hitting the ground under their feet and sending them flying through the air.
"Gotcha!" he crowed. Then he checked the area behind the flying heroes and he froze, hand flying to his mouth.
"Uh oh..."
Golden Grin looked over the black and yellow helmet. "Nice one, Mastermind! And you even kept my trademark smile!"
Mastermind nodded. "I made this piece of gear pretty efficient. The mouthpiece is designed to help focus your blasts, as well as prevent excess energy from coming out."
Golden Grin turned it over in his hands as Mastermind continued. "The main helmet, here, is designed to prevent light exposure from affecting you too much. It automatically darkens so that you aren't blinded. If you put it on-" he pulled the helmet over Golden Grin's head to demonstrate, "You'll see that I added a target sight so that you can line up your targets. I'd add more features, but that would require longer practice. The helmet's also got a built-in radio so you can keep in tabs with us and La Brava. Oh! And the bottom half works as a gas mask as well!"
"Dude." Golden Grin pulled the helmet off so that he could make direct eye contact. "If you were a girl I'd kiss you."
Eraserhead had just ran onto the scene when the explosion happened.
He'd been patrolling in the Ward when he'd gotten word that Mastermind was robbing a jewellery store in the mall. He'd been slightly tied up with a villain attack and had had to resolve it quickly. Running over, he'd been keeping up to date on the information that the Pros on the scene had relayed.
Apparently Mastermind was working with Gentle Criminal (no surprises there), a cartoon bunny woman (more surprising) and a villain with some kind of Warping Quirk (a real surprise, those Quirks were worth a huge amount.) And then they'd declared that they were likely to continue to team up in the future, declaring themselves a 'League of Supervillains.'
So he'd just arrived, and then there'd been a fourth member with a laser breath Quirk or something that had sent the Pro Heroes flying. The only problem was that there were still civilians crowding around outside, police and other Heroes trying to keep them back. As they went through the air, they were going to crash down on other people!
One of them, sent flying further back, was on a collision course with a teenager who stood there, frozen in shock, purple eyes wide. Eraserhead's capture tape lashed out, to try and pull away the teenager or get the other Hero to safety. The other heroes on the scene were trying to keep order.
But then something surprising happened.
Eraserhead had to blink at it.
Never, in his career as a Hero, had he seen a villain stop their escape and run back. Ignoring his comrades' protests, he'd leapt over to the teenager, catching him in a tackle and knocking him backwards, away from the falling Pro. Now with his options changed, Eraserhead's capture weapon snaked out to latch onto the Pro and pull him back to safety.
His eyes narrowed. What the hell was the villain thinking?
Mastermind didn't know what he'd been thinking. He'd been running to the Mastermobile, then Golden Grin had fired his beam (and he'd be a bit grumpy later, since he knew that there weren't many options available to them at that point.) He'd seen, as if the crowd had parted, somebody his own age about to be crushed beneath a hero and...
He'd just moved like that again.
Mastermind looked at the guy beneath him, picking himself up and hauling him to his feet. "Are you okay? Not injured?"
The teenager stared at him, purple hair starting to droop in front of his face. "I-I'm fine." he stated, looking at Mastermind with a confused expression on his face.
Mastermind nodded. "Well now Mastermind-" KRAKATHOOM -"Must take his leave! Sorry for the inconvenience!"
"Wait!"
Mastermind didn't look over his shoulder as he ran. The other teen (who as taller than he was, that was unfair) grit his teeth, expression seeming conflicted but ultimately deciding to call out as Mastermind had managed to make his way about halfway to his comrades.
"Why the hell did a villain go and save me? Huh?"
Mastermind rolled his eyes. Did he have to explain this to everybody? "SUPER villain-"
I am going to get into so much trouble.
The purple haired teenager felt his thrown line connect, the villain suddenly stopping in place, rocking slightly. A grin spread across his face.
Mom alone is going to kill me, let alone the Pros. But...
Shinsou Hitoshi couldn't help grinning.
Catching a villain with my villainous Quirk? That's too rich to pass up.
AN: Whoo this took a while.
So now we have some of the crew's support gear! But what's this? Shinsou Hitoshi has shown up! How will our protagonists get out of this one? Find out in the next instalment! I'll starve to death if you don't comment though. Please, comment so that I can make a more entertaining experience and so that I don't die from inattention.
