Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia. Horikoshi has ignored my phone calls.


Mr. Compress and Golden Grin checked behind them again. They couldn't hear any sirens, or see any other heroes. They'd had to take several extreme manoeuvres, and even used some of the car's other features like the smoke screen and deployable tacks. It seemed that they were alone.

"Did we lose them?" Golden Grin asked.

Mr. Compress nodded, "It seems that way." From his pocket, he pulled out four marbles. With a dramatic flourish, they returned to their default state. Inkblot was leaning on her hammer, while Gentle Criminal and La Brava shared a hug. Mastermind himself looked out of sorts, obviously wincing a bit.

Golden Grin turned to Mastermind. "Okay, now that we're out of danger, I have to ask: what the hell was that?"

Mastermind stuttered. "I-uh-well-"

Golden Grin stepped closer. "I mean, seriously! I know that I messed up knocking the Heroes at the crowd, but why'd you go and save that kid? Not that that wasn't the moral thing to do, but Eraserhead or whatever was there, so why-"

"Because if I was the kind of person who'd stand by and let people get hurt because of us, then I wouldn't be the villain you all agreed to work with!" Mastermind retorted, voice losing most of its affected tone.

He continued talking. "I'm a Supervillain, like I said! And, well, I-I saw that he was in danger! I wasn't thinking, I just... moved."

Golden Grin and Mr. Compress shared a look. "It's not a bad thing to want to help people," Mr. Compress began.

"But we were in the middle of escaping from the Heroes. As a result of trying to save that teenager-"

Mastermind nodded. "I-I know. I-I got us all into trouble, and I nearly got La Brava captured-"

Mr. Compress made a 'zip-it' motion across the flat mouth of his mask. "That was an unfortunate turn of events. And we're going to need a serious discussion about everything that happened then, but not now. At least we were able to make it out in one piece."

Mastermind glumly nodded, then started. "Ah, La Brava-san-"

"Mastermind, it's okay."

Mastermind looked over at La Brava. "Are-are you sure?"

La Brava nodded. "Well, I don't know if you heard, but..." she swallowed. "...but you're... you guys..." she sniffed, eyes down to the ground.

Then she wiped her eyes clear of tears. "Mastermind, you're honestly the second person who I can say was my friend." She looked up, meeting Mastermind's eye. "So thank you for that. But I... I kind of have to agree with not endangering us like this again."

Mastermind nodded. "I'll do my best. And besides!" His cape started to flutter dramatically in the wind as he clenched a fist. "Next time, the Heroes will have to try harder to catch THE LEAGUE OF SUPERVILLAINS!"

KRAKATHOOM!

Stitch poked his head out of the front door. "Ah, god! Stop doing that! I've got a terrible hangover!"

"Oh, Stitch!" Mastermind ran over to the back alley doctor. The rest of the gang came in, making sure that the front door was closed. He seemed to be vibrating with nervous energy. "Did the, ah, contingency-?"

Stitch held out a large envelope for answer. Mastermind opened it, taking a peek at the contents. Quickly sealing it up, he clapped Stitch on the shoulder. "Thank you for your hard work."

Stitch just shook his head. "Not a problem."

The rest of the crew just sat down in various places - on the couch, at the table. Mr. Compress held his hands out, then with a dramatic flourish, revealed several marbles. Popping open, the marbles deposited their spoils for the villains to look over.

Gentle Criminal looked over the villain. "Well, we shall all have to work on making sure that nobody gets hurt during one of our jobs. La Brava and I shall have to get started on editing the video," the shorter villain nodded, camera in hand, "and tomorrow we'll have to meet with Giran to get our plunder laundered. But for now... what say we have a nice cup of tea?"

He held out the pot of tea, already starting to steam and its subtle fragrances floating out through the room. Mastermind nodded. "I'd love to!" He then checked his watch, wincing. "Ah! I-I have to go! Sorry Gentle! My mom's expecting me back for dinner!"

Inkblot blinked. "You're still living with your mom?"

Mastermind froze, then nodded. "Yes. I... I still live at home with my mom."

Inkblot blinked, then gave a small grin. "Huh. Real momma's boy huh?" She leaned in slightly, eyes lidded. "You know, I could be your mommy~".

Mastermind's visor started to glow cherry red. "I-uh-wha-I-I've gotta go!" Mastermind yelped, taking off. "Catching a train!"

Inkblot watched him leave, his hand rapidly waving as he went. "For a twenty-something guy, he's surprisingly jittery about these things..." she mused.

Mr. Compress and Gentle nodded. Well, it made sense to all of them that somebody like Mastermind would be so awkward. Excepting Golden Grin, the rest of them were fully grown adults who had achieved no small degree of infamy. They'd each looked at Mastermind, checked over his invitation, and formed the opinion that he was a serious Manchild in his early to mid twenties. The kind of grown man whose idea of villainy was dressing up in a costume and delivering speeches out of a comic book was in all likelihood a serious villain otaku. Not to mention all of the time needed to make that tech by himself!

Gentle Criminal shrugged, pouring himself and the others a cup of tea to celebrate, the brown liquid flying through the air, "Well, I suppose I'll have to teach him about keeping his composure. Imagine him dealing with somebody like Midnight..."

Inkblot shuddered. "Yeah, she'd eat him alive."

Something like that happening to Mastermind? Not happening before she'd gotten to him. Inkblot hadn't met many people who were nice to her without being freaking weirdos. After a few dates with people like that she'd given up on meeting anybody who'd be decent. Somebody like Mastermind? Who was so nice that it was illegal?

Yeah, she was going to get through to him.

Mr. Compress looked over at Stitch, cup of victory tea in hand. "Okay, what was that about with the envelope?"

Stitch simply seemed to smile. "Mastermind gave me something to guarantee that I managed to deal with that objective."

Gentle Criminal nearly spat out his tea. "Y-you mean-?"

Stitch nodded. "Yeah. I actually delayed All Might. Believe me, you wouldn't believe how I did it."

The other villains nodded, slightly shakily. While there was no way to know for sure whether he could have come in, nobody in the room wanted to risk it. After a few seconds, Mr. Compress clapped him on the back. "Well, you've certainly earned your share of the loot!"

Stitch nodded. "I know." He accepted the cup of tea. A hand reached into his pocket and pulled out a small flask, pouring the contents in. When he saw the other villains looking at him askance, he shrugged. "What?


Later we did, in fact, talk about everything that had gone right and wrong with the heist, mostly on my end. We'd kept our copies of the videos we'd taken, and we edited it together for the new League of Supervillains ViewTube channel. Then we made our plans to get rid of the evidence.

After we'd hit the jewellery store, most of what we planned over the next few days was, essentially, to resell the jewels. If you have the right contacts, then you can find fences who will take the jewels and return money. That, and unscrupulous jewellers who took the gems, no questions asked. I didn't exactly like working with jewellers like that, but we would make a huge amount of money, even when it was split seven ways.

I kept a few diamonds, as necessary in case I needed to rebuild the Freeze Ray.

That had been a nightmare to build the first time around - a whole bunch of work theorising and analysing ice Quirks that various Heroes possessed. Frozen and Cooldown in particular, since their Quirks manifested in a similar freezing cold light - I had to check their energy signatures to make sure they were replicable. Then, I had to figure out how to incorporate that kind of freezing energy. I'd done it, but mostly because of a lucky find on the beach in the form of some lost diamond rings. It had taken me about three years before I'd been able to take my idea for a freeze ray from merely a dream to reality.

Initially, the freeze ray had been massive - it had been basically a fridge-sized beam gun. But after nearly a hundred prototypes, a lot of explosions and near frostbite, I had finally managed to shrink it down to a small pistol. Sure, it took a lot of power, and I'd had to modify my armour substantially to provide the power source. But it was all worth it! I had a freeze ray!

But most importantly, it had convinced me that the miracles of Quirks could, on some level, be replicated. The energy-imaging tech that I had had to develop for this project, based off of my own investigations into the I-Island Quirk diagnostic technology had paid off. I had to admit, the possibilities of reproducing other Quirks had stoked the fires of my imagination.

Quirks may bend the laws of physics, but they have never broken them!


The apartment of All Might is a spacious affair, a massive penthouse in his headquarters at Might Tower. Yagi Toshinori's apartment was a small yet pleasant place in the Musutafu area. He had moved there, mostly so that he could be closer to his old school so that there was the minimum time spent getting there when he would teach. Partially because staying in his penthouse had gotten more and more oppressive.

But here he was, checking over old documents and furiously trying to work out what to do with the information. Yagi winced, checking over the various pieces of paper he had found. He had wanted to deny what was contained on these pages, but... there was no denying the plain truth of the autopsy report.

The fourth bearer of One for All, Shinomori Hikage. He'd done the research, had actually talked with his old teacher about who had met with Nana Shimura. Then tracked down a long list of the bearers, retracing the steps of history. It had been... illuminating. But everything had led him to this point.

Toshinori couldn't help but laugh, blood coming from between his lips. All this time Sir Nighteye had spent worrying about making a proper successor, and his choice wouldn't have lived past forty. Heck, considering that it was four generations later, then young Mirio may have had even less time! He didn't have conclusive proof, just a massive hunch about what may have done his predecessor in. Something that they had had that he didn't.

Toshinori frowned, a sigh passing through his lips.

Sometimes, he just felt so... tired. He sat back in his chair, face cradled in his hands. So many villains had slipped through his fingers. And there was so much still to do. Being the Symbol of Peace was a heavy burden, one that he would shoulder time and again for the good of all.

Toshinori stood back up. Well, he was going to have to change his plans for the future. All for One was dead, so there wasn't any real need for One for All to stick around. It had served its purpose. Later, he would have to call Sir Nighteye and Mirio...

And now that he thought about it, a couple of old friends as well.

His hand brushed against a framed photograph of a much younger All Might and a man with wavy brown hair in glasses. A smile quirked his skull-like face.

David Shield... he hadn't seen his friend in so long. Yagi knew that whatever David would develop would end up being better than anything Mastermind could create. He doubted that the Villain had even thought of dealing with All Might given the handkerchief he'd handed Yagi.


Earlier...

Mastermind looked over the gear. "Here you go, Stitch-san!" On the table holding the rest of the support gear was a long white lab coat, as well as a pale blue plastic facemask and a T-shirt.

Stitch picked each piece up as Mastermind continued. "The lab-coat has been reinforced with an underlay of metallic wires designed to harden the garment with the press of a switch. Underneath, the shirt has been made of a kevlar weave with armour plating over vital areas." He picked up the facemark. "This serves as an air filter as well as voice changer."

Stitch looked over the gear. "And why are you giving me all of this? Because if you think I'm going to get involved with a heist-"

Mastermind cut him off. "Oh, I'm not planning to have you on the heist itself. Rather, you're a last-ditch contingency in case of the big problem."

La Brava raised a hand. "And what, exactly, is the big problem?"

Mastermind simply pulled out a small hologram projector. "Him."

The holo-emitter flashed, showing the imposing figure of All Might. Everybody own the room swallowed. "D-do you think he'll... that he'll show up?" Gentle Criminal asked.

Mastermind nodded. "It's always a possibility." He tapped the hologram, showing a small graph. "I'm hoping that if we time this right, then he won't show up. All Might's appearances nearing the end of the day, going off of social media, taper off. Why, I don't know - maybe he's figured out that he doesn't have to kill himself to be the Symbol of Peace."


All Might stared at his phone. There were a few numbers in there, mostly colleagues, some friends. He flicked through them, eventually finding the number he wanted. He looked out over the balcony, phone dialling.

It only rang for a few seconds before the other end connected. "All Might?"

Toshinori smiled. "Hello, David. I am here!"

There was a chuckle on the other side of the line. "You certainly are. Do you want to do this over video, or-"

Toshinori shook his head, "No, David. I..." he swallowed. Even now... "How is Melissa progressing with her studies?"

A shameless change of subject, but Yagi would have rather talked about his goddaughter than anything else. If David had picked up on the deflection, then he didn't show it in his voice. "She's doing an amazing job! Near perfect scores across the board!"

"That is excellent, David-san! I'll have to remember to get her something! Maybe arrange a call."

For a short while Yagi just enjoyed talking to his old friend, catching up with him and sharing a few incidents of his own, villains he'd captured, people he'd saved. He even talked briefly about Mastermind, the inexperienced Villain's panic and mistakes still on his mind. But he knew that he would have to cut to the actual purpose of his call.

"David... there's something that I'm planning in the future." He paused, mustering up the will to continue. "Something big. And I also have to talk with you about some old baggage. I've known you for so long, and I didn't want you to get involved. But it's long overdue."

David seemed to pause. "Should I get Melissa on the phone now? You know that she'll want to talk to her godfather. And the line is definitely secure."

Yagi shook his head. "No... this is something I should have told you a long time ago in person. Both of you." He swallowed. "So please, come over to Japan. I'll talk to you then, probably with a stiff drink."

"Toshinori, you know that personnel on I-Island can't leave-"

"You and Melissa are practically family, and I'm on the board. I'll deal with it." All Might cut him off. While true in the sense that there was no easy way for a scientist or their family to leave, it was not impossible. Just very, very difficult. But All Might had sunk a lot of money into I-island, enough for a controlling share. He had never really abused his technical position of power on I-Island's board.

Well, it was time to pull some strings even if they broke.

There was a pause on the other end. "This... what are you planning to do? Because I-I'm working on something that should help-"

All Might sighed, "Nothing drastic. Just something that I've probably been putting off for too long. I'll see you soon."

He clicked his phone closed, sitting down at the table. There was a lot to do. Maybe if he'd had a bit more time, he could have helped out that fan with the cat up in a tree and helped deal with Mastermind's latest antic. But he had just spent a second or two too long, and had to gauge that he would have to push his Quirk to stay and help.

But he hadn't regretted helping that fan. If there was something in front of him, he couldn't not help.

Toshinori sighed, pulling his phone back. One call to the board of Directors at I-Island, one that he knew would be long, boring and fraught with bureaucracy. Then... he'd have to call Sir Nighteye.


Before the Heist...

The planning room had gone quiet, the other villains looking at Mastermind. Stitch stared at Mastermind with wide eyes. "You're clearly nuts," he said, glaring at the armoured villain.

Mastermind made an 'eh' gesture with one hand. "Probably. But this plan could work! All you have to do is get your cat-"

Stitch's scalpel manifested on his finger as he loomed over Mastermind. "Lose my cat?"

Mastermind furiously shook his head. "No! I was saying that you should get your cat to climb a tree and hope that All Might or some other Hero helps get it down! And if he doesn't show, then you could get your cat down yourself!"

Stitch relaxed slightly as Mastermind continued. "Listen! If All Might hears somebody in trouble, then he'll take the time to help them first! I'm basing this off of the Sky Egg incident!"

Stitch's eyes widened. That whole situation had been a pretty bad one - it had been all over the news. "You mean the time where other incidents delayed him from immediately coming into the situation?"

Mastermind nodded. "I mean, I love All Might as much as anybody, but if there's a problem in front of him he will jump in, 100 percent!"

Stitch crossed his arms. "That sounds extremely unlikely. What, All Might's just going to show up to help me with a lost cat?"

Mastermind stood there for a moment, then nodded. "I completely agree. All Might's just one man, even if he is the Symbol of Peace. Him coming across you is so unlikely I'm not going to bother thinking about the odds."

He looked at each of them in turn. "And no plan is ever going to be a hundred percent reliable. Truly, when thinking about All Might... he's amazing. A true Super Hero."

He chuckled, short and slightly bitter. "I'm nowhere near his level. This plan that I have, it's really a beta of a plan. It's not the best, but it has the least risk to you or to us."

He looked at Stitch, the other villains watching, Stitch himself just leaning back in his chair. "So I have to ask for a leap of faith with this. If it doesn't work? Nothing happens! You get your cat down. But if All Might shows up, then you could delay him for a second. Maybe two. And that might be all the time we need. And the next plan shall be better."

He extended a hand. Stitch looked the shorter villain in the eye for a second or two.

Slowly, Stitch reached out to shake Mastermind's hand.


All Might had thought that dealing with I-Island's security would be the hardest thing he would do. But a few mentions of potentially taking away his name or visitations caused the other directors to fall over themselves to get him to stay. David and Melissa Shield would be travelling from I-Island to Musutafu in only two weeks.

Then he'd called Sir Nighteye. He'd tried to explain as much as he felt he had the strength to, but then the man had blown up at him.

Taking the receiver away from his ear, Yagi winced. "It's-It's not anybody's fault-"

"Not anybody's fault?" Sir Nighteye's voice lashed out like a whip. "Of course it's nobody's fault that the protege that I chose for you is suddenly not good enough."

Yagi winced. "It's not like that-"

"Not like what? You suddenly call me, tell me that you can't give Mirio One for All and that you can't explain it? How exactly is it not like how it is?"

All Might tightened his grip on the phone. "This is not something that I can just talk about over the phone. It's... it's complicated. It's not that I think Mirio has no potential."

He frowned. "He would be incredible with it. But... I simply cannot hand it to him." The thought of Young Mirio, lowered into a grave at the young age of forty (or even lower, One for All could have taken him earlier at its current power) was too horrible to bear.

So he steeled himself. "In a few weeks, I'll be meeting with my old friend from America to talk about why I'm doing this. I wanted you to come there so that I can explain it all in person."

There was a pause. "David Shield? He's coming here?"

Toshinori smiled. "Yes. He is one of my oldest and dearest friends. I pulled some strings for him." He looked out over the skyline, memories passing through his eyes. "Why, I'd say that he was my first sidekick! We certainly got into a lot of trouble together."

"I thought I was your first sidekick."

Toshinori laughed. "Ah, you were my first Hero sidekick in Japan, that's certain. David and I were roommates at college together. Why, we practically did everything together!"

"I see." Sir Nighteye seemed to pause. "That would certainly explain why you're so close to him. He's... lucky. To have met you during your time in the states."

Toshinori just nodded. "And I was lucky to meet him. He took me all over the place! Even made me the godfather to his daughter!" An idea hit him. "Young Mirio and her would get along well! It's also important for Young Mirio to get to know her was well! She is a nice young lady."

"Godfather?"

Toshinori paused. "Is something the matter?"

"No, no. It's... nothing. I'll be there with Mirio." There was a distinct pause. "And this is not over, Toshinori. We will be discussing One for All and its next bearer."

Toshinori frowned. "We certainly will."

He hung up, plans in the back of his mind.


After the long discussion that they'd had over the video call about the Heist, Izuku had at first felt drained. Then he'd remembered his personal package, his additional objective. Slowly, reverently, he'd crept over, slapping on his blast shield. The raw power of the item had nearly blinded him the first time he'd taken it out. Carefully, he got its display case ready, plastic gloves on to prevent damage.

He eased the envelope open, slowly moving the item out. It seemed to shine with its own light, and he could swear that a choir of angels was singing. Midoriya Izuku was over the moon with his planned distraction. He checked over it again, chuckling. "Good, good..." he breathed.

He had never thought that he would have the chance to get this, even by proxy!

Earlier...

As the plans had been finalised, Stitch had been about to leave when Mastermind pulled him to a side room with 'come here' gestures on top. Stitch cocked his head at Mastermind, the shorter villain seeming a bit nervous. "Stitch! I, uh, wanted to talk with you a little!" Mastermind whisper-shouted.

Stitch looked down at the shorter villain. "About what, exactly?"

"The plan to distract All Might."

Stitch nodded. "So what did you have in mind? Taser gloves for me? Personal forcefield? I don't think it'll do much."

Mastermind shook his head. "I mean, I have an idea from the Incredibles movie but I don't have zero-point technology yet - but that'd not important!" He pulled out from behind his back a large envelope, passing it over to Stitch with both hands. "I-I have a distraction that is sure to keep him occupied!"

Stitch accepted it. "Well, if you say so-" He opened it. Looked closely at the item inside. Then he looked at Mastermind with tired, dead eyes. "What the hell is this."

Mastermind tapped his fingers together. "It's-it's a limited edition All Might 21XX poster."

Stitch stared at Mastermind. "It's-It's a limited edition! They only released it in the states! I-I, uh, had to steal it from... from an orphanage! That's pretty villainous, right?!"

Stitch stared some more. "So-so he'll notice that it's rare! if you ask him to sign it! It's a classic!"

Stitch sighed. "If you're sure..."

He started to talk away only for Mastermind to stop him. "Wait!"

Stitch stopped. Mastermind stared at the taller supervillain, fingers tapping together. "Well, this is, uh, it's important..."

"So spill it."

"Uh, well... I have a request! For how it's signed!"

Stitch looked at the poster. "I can't just say that it's-"

Mastermind shook his head rapidly. "No! It's... it's for a friend!" He nodded, hands on his hips. "Yes, for a friend! It has to be made out, ' to my biggest fan!' It's important!"

Stitch stared at Mastermind. Mastermind stared back. This continued for a short time. Then, Stitch sighed. "Fine. If All Might comes by to save my cat in a tree, then I'll ask him to do that. I'll say it's for, I don't know, a nephew or something."

Mastermind nodded. "Thanks!" Then he froze. "Ah, wait, nephew?"

Stitch just smiled. "For a supergenius, you do act a bit like a teenager sometimes. So it's accurate."

Mastermind laughed, back ramrod straight. "Haha, yeah! You guys sure wouldn't want to be working under the diabolical leadership of a teenager, would you?"


Izuku ran his hands over the poster lovingly. The only way that this poster could have been improved was if he'd been able to ask All Might to make it a personal dedication! As it was, the poster was going back in its vacuum sealed glass case, so that future Midoriyas could look at it and be overwhelmed by its amazing power.

There was still so much to do. he had his own gear to upgrade, his friends' gear to find improvements in-!

Midoriya Izuku stopped.

He had friends. Friends with gear. Gear that he had designed, gear that was currently only in the beta stage.

He had willing test subjects/friends who needed his help to make them better! And enough of a budget to make what he really wanted for them!

In their apartments, the other villains suddenly shivered. Inkblot's fur stood on end. La Brava and Gentle Criminal felt the urge to hide, clutching each other closely. Golden Grin grabbed his old teddy bear. Mr. Compress' hands twitched, spilling his deck of cards all on the ground. Stitch shuddered, pouring himself a double that went down like a glass of water.

The feeling that something was wrong was near impossible to avoid. That they were mice in a maze with a scientist waiting to hook them up to electrodes.

Izuku started to giggle, then chuckle. Then he let out a full laugh, smile stretching nearly ear to ear. "MWA-HAHAHA! SO MUCH POTENTIAL! SO MANY IDEAS AND SO LITTLE TIME! PROPER FUNDING!"

Ideas sizzled in his brain like a delectable pork cutlet in oil. He threw himself on his blueprints, pen furiously scribbling. He didn't want to hurt any of them or allow them to come to harm. They were his friends, after all. But thinking of how he could help them become the greatest they could ever be...

Oh, he'd have to do so much testing!

"MWA-HAHAHA! MWA-HAHAHA!"

"Izuku! It's a school night! You have to go to bed now!"

Izuku blinked, then shook himself. "Sorry mom! I'm going now! Goodnight!"


AN: This chapter was surprisingly hard. I got rid of some bits to use later for better flow. I hope this makes sense with what I have planned later. And Midoriya's Mad Scientist is showing. Hopefully they will be okay.

So we learned what Stitch was doing. As Izuku said, this wasn't the best plan he's ever come up with, but they can't all be bangers. It's definitely a bit bullshit, but it was a chance gamble. I will try and avoid something like this happening in the future.

Please comment for my ego is fragile like a soap bubble.

Next time... Shinsou starting his training, and Mastermind starts some Technology Development! No experiments whatsoever!