Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia. Horikoshi does. Some spoilers will come.
All Might stared at the scene with a furious expression. He'd had a bad feeling when Eraserhead and Thirteen hadn't returned his calls. Nedzu had accepted All Might's feelings on the matter, with a knowing look that suggested this lecture would be paid for later with interest. On his way to the USJ he ran into young Iida, who had explained the situation to him.
"Villains attacking the USJ! The League of Supervillains is fighting the other Villains!"
So of course he shot over to the USJ as quickly as he could. Iida had run back to the main campus to spread the word.
The whole USJ looked like a battleground. Dozens upon dozens of Villains were knocked out or down, or held within what looked like blobs of green rubber and ice. A huge burst of ice from the Landslide Zone was likely young Todoroki's work. Thirteen was in bad condition and Eraserhead had a broken arm.
Most of the League of Supervillains were squaring off against a hulking brute of a Villain with a man made of dark purple mist and another Villain covered in hands. He could also see Melissa and a couple of other students, frozen in fear as the hand covered Villain turned away from them.
All of this within the first second of getting here.
Down below, at the fountain area, the Villain covered in hands laughed. "Oh, this is still salvageable! It isn't GG yet!"
The other Villains looked at him oddly, then squared up. "Y-Yeah! We're here to kill him! Stay alert-"
All Might swept through the Villains in a couple of seconds, making it to Eraserhead. "Are you fit to fight, Eraserhead?"
Eraserhead grunted,Capture Weapon writhing as he started making a sling for his arm. "My arm's broken, but I can still use my Quirk. The League of Supervillains - "
"I know. They aren't a priority target."
Looking at Mastermind, he paused. The Villain was staring at him - which admittedly made sense. From Odd Eye's testimony and the memory of a handkerchief, the VIllain was a fan of his, of all things. Gentle Criminal and La Brava looked like they were about to pass out from sheer terror.
If he hadn't known that they were fighting these other Villains he would have knocked them out with the rest of the scum. Still, there were other problems at hand. He swept in with his full speed, grabbing Melissa and the other students and sweeping them out of range. A stray blast of wind knocked the hand off the skinny Villain's face.
Shinsou and Tsuyu blinked, the tired looking teenager looking around himself. "Wait, how did we-?"
"Get to the entrance with Aizawa, students. I'll handle this."
Melissa looked at him. "Uncle Might - I - that brain Villain took the full force of my punch -" she lowered her voice, "-I think he has multiple Quirks. Probably a Quirk to reduce impacts or similar as well as strength. He needs to be ordered by Shigaraki."
All Might paused. So that confirmed who was behind this attack, at least. Then, he carefully reapplied his smile. "Thank you for that. But never fear!"
If it was truly All for One's work… the bastard would pay.
—
Mastermind stared at his future archnemesis as he flashed that signature smile. Behind him, Gentle Criminal leant on his cane, sweat pouring down his face. "I think I need a lie down," he muttered.
Shigaraki grabbed the hand. "Ah, that's no good, Father…" he leered at All Might. "Throwing punches like that? Now we see the violence inherent in the system! You're still too fast to track, but you've definitely been nerfed."
All Might grinned. "We'll see about that, Villain!" He shot at Shigaraki, arms crossed. Mastermind grinned. "Here it comes…" he murmured.
"CAROLINA…"
Mastermind followed through. "SMASH!"
His heart sank when he saw Noumu suddenly appear to tank the Carolina Smash like nothing happened. The hulking brute went in for a bear hug which All Might ducked under.
Shigaraki laughed at that. "Noumu's got Shock Absorption, All Might! He's specced in countering your Smash attacks! You'd have to tear him apart bit by bit to get him down!"
All Might grunted, never letting up on his smile.
Mastermind shook himself. What the hell was he doing, standing on the sidelines like a useless nobody?
He tapped his left gauntlet, the chamber at the top opening.
Gentle looked at him as he cracked his neck. "Mastermind, what are you-"
As All Might traded another blow with Noumu, Mastermind charged at Shigaraki. "Hey, Shigaraki!"
He was hoping that this would work. Based on what he'd seen with that brainwashing student, Noumu regarded protecting Shigaraki as its highest priority. So…
"EAT THIS!"
Mastermind turned on a relatively recent addition to his armour. Shigaraki got a brief glimpse of light building up in the opening…
—
Gentle Criminal looked at the item with a worried look. "You wanted to add this to your armour… why?"
Izuku cheerfully screwed the last component in place, double checking the circuit boards. "Oh, just in case I need something like this! Plus, it was fun to work on it."
That didn't seem to reassure his friend. "You built a flamethrower."
He hummed, checking it over. "Yup! I felt that as a premier Supervillain, I should mimic some techniques of top ranked Heroes."
He looked up, seeing Gentle's face. Izuku shifted slightly, his manic grin fading. "W-well… it just seemed like a good idea!"
The older Villain sighed."I can't think of many situations that would require a flamethrower to be used. Then again, if it was a do or die situation…"
—
FWOOMPH!
Hitoshi stared as Mastermind's gauntlet spewed out fire at Shigaraki. "When the hell did he have a flamethrower?"
Melissa cracked her knuckles. "Based on the changes to his armour… ever since he did that heist in Mie?"
Hitoshi wanted to learn more, but then Noumu suddenly appeared in the way of the flamethrower. Fire raged around it as it shielded Shigaraki, letting out a pained scream. The air filled with a smell not unlike roast pork.
Mastermind cut the flamethrower quickly. "NOW, ALL MIGHT!"
Noumu emerged from the attack, smoking. Hitoshi retched slightly as he saw it stagger, pants scorched and upper torso covered in brutal looking burns. It lunged at Mastermind-
And then All Might was there. Mighty arms wrapped around the charred Villain, All Might gritting his teeth and piledriving the Villain into the ground.
SLAM!
Hitoshi gasped as he saw the column of smoke that erupted from that simple move nearly hit the roof of the USJ. "Holy shit," he muttered.
Next to them, Eraserhead nodded. "I may not like his style, but there's no denying that he's in a league of his own."
Hitoshi looked over at his teacher. In spite of his confident words, he could see his teacher's face - rather than elated, Eraserhead looked tense. "What's-"
Asui - probably Tsuyu now since they'd survived a Villain attack together - watched the fight with a relatively calm expression. "I guess we were worried for nothing, kero."
Hitoshi didn't feel so sure about that. After all, that thing was described as strong enough to fight All Might. Not just that, it had soaked up a punch from Melissa.
The smoke from the piledriver cleared, revealing All Might held still, a dark cloud of mist under him. Noumu's head and torso poking out of the mist, huge hands gripping the Number One's torso. And there was Shigaraki's mocking laughter. "Trying to immobilise Noumu by driving him into the concrete? Noumu's just as strong as you, so that wouldn't have worked!"
Kurogiri stepped next to All Might, still clutching his head. "Well, All Might. Noumu's job was to pull you through my gate, then I'll have to cut you in half. I suppose I'll have to clean the mess out of myself-"
He was cut off by Mastermind trying to punch him in the throat. Barely rolling out of the way, the misty Villain managed to push himself up. Mastermind seemed to be staring directly at Shigaraki and Noumu. "Get away from All Might."
There wasn't any bombastic flair to his voice, just an ice cold tone. Hitoshi shivered. Seeing Mastermind discard his comedic guise for something closer to an actual Villain was unsettling. Flanking him, Gentle Criminal and La Brava wore similarly serious expressions.
Melissa looked at Aizawa, then back at the scene with an anxious yet determined expression. "Sensei, I'm about to do something incredibly reckless."
Aizawa and Hitoshi glanced over at each other . Aizawa's eyes widened. "Melissa-"
Hitoshi choked on his spit when he saw Melissa charge at the Villains once again. "ALL MIGHT!" She yelled, drawing the attention of Shigaraki and Mastermind.
Aizawa turned to run, Hitoshi hesitating before following. "Shinsou! Stay with the rest of your classmates!"
Hitoshi shook his head, rushing forwards despite the danger. He wasn't going to just stand idly by while one of his friends just charged into danger with no thought for their own wellbeing.
Shigaraki leered as Melissa charged. Kurogiri whipped up in front of her, a gate opening. "Foolishness." Gentle Criminal deftly charged at the Villain, swooping in front of him with an elegant gesture.
"Don't do anything you misty bastard!" Hitoshi yelled, throwing out his Quirk once more. Once more Kurogiri ignored him. He reached a misty hand out-
Several things happened extremely quickly after that. As Kurogiri loomed over Melissa, his arm bounced back. This surprised him enough for a huge explosion to smack him in the side. Bakugo followed his initial attack up by slamming the misty Villain to the ground by his collar, a feral grin on his face.
Gentle looked, then quickly leapt in the air. The reason for this became apparent when the Noumu froze, literally. Ice crept up its side as a familiar voice spoke. The quiet boy with red and white hair walked over with a purposeful stride, keeping an eye on Noumu as he did. "You really think you can kill All Might, don't you? Too bad scum like you could never manage that."
All Might pulled himself free, giving Shouto a thumbs up. "Thank you, my boy!"
Shigaraki dodged out of the way of Mastermind trying to hit him, and then barely avoided Kirishima's sudden karate chop to the head. "Almost had him!" Kirishima yelled. The hand-covered Villain growled and reached for Kirishima, only for Gentle to dart past. The Villain's hand caught on the air, impossibly.
Shaking his head, Shigaraki managed to recover. Calmly, he pushed himself up, staring at the group.
Hitoshi sighed. It looked like everything had turned around. Still, he kept his guard up with Eraserhead - after all, anything could happen at this point. And Shigaraki was still eerily calm.
—
All Might stared down Shigaraki and Noumu. The hand covered VIllain was definitely a lackey of All for One - the question now was how he was going to capture the man. Shigaraki scratched his neck. "Well, you've locked down our escape route… that's a problem. Not only that, but you're all at full health!"
Eraserhead glared at him. "Surrender, Shigaraki. You can't hope to win this."
Rather than respond to that, Shigaraki just sighed, dusting himself off. "Noumu, gank the explosive brat. We need our escape route back."
All Might tensed when he saw Noumu rip itself free from the ice, pieces of its flesh falling off. The League of Supervillains shouted in alarm, Gentle looking queasily at it. From behind him, he saw Melissa's eyes widening when it started growing new limbs, its burnt skin already looking healthier. "Like you thought Melissa, it's got multiple Quirks!"
Eraserhead tried to erase its Quirk, but Shigaraki was on the move, lunging towards young Kirishima. Noumu shot for Bakugo at the same time as Shigaraki was reaching a hand towards the young man.
As if in slow motion, All Might watched as Shigaraki clamped a hand on Kirishima, only to leer when nothing happened. Noumu barrelled towards Bakugo, who barely managed to raise his head-
In that split second, All Might was already in Noumu's way. He quickly moved Bakugo out of the way, then braced for the impact. Noumu's fist swung round-
—
KABAM!
Shigaraki glared at the brat, shoving him away. "Well, well…" he rasped, staring where All Might had been hit. "How noble of you, All Might."
The Number One stood there, slightly worse for wear. "Your friend doesn't know how to pull his punches, does he?"
What a frustrating boss to deal with. "Anything to save a comrade, right? I mean, that girl came at me with everything she had, trying to force a 1v1. But in the end, violence breeds violence."
Shigaraki glared at All Might. "It just pisses me off, you know? In this whole game of life we level up with violence, but we all just get labelled. Good guys, bad guys… in the end, your whole faction is just a tool to keep people down!"
SLAP!
Shigaraki bounced along the ground a couple of times, feeling Father come off his face once more. He touched his cheek gingerly, wincing at the pain, then glared up at his assailant.
Mastermind stood there, panting heavily. His hand was still in a slapping position. The Supervillain loomed over Shigaraki, shaking.
For a brief instant, Shigaraki saw a dark haired man with an angry expression on his face superimposed over Mastermind. The sight filled him with inexplicable rage.
—
Melissa and the rest of the students present stared at this confrontation. Mastermind stood over the fallen Shigaraki, trembling. "You… you can't talk about Heroes, about people like that! All Might's nothing like you - you're just using that as an excuse to hurt people!"
He clenched a fist. "Try that again, Shigaraki, and I will hurt you."
Shigaraki, for his part, sat on the ground glaring at Mastermind, chapped lips twisted into a grimace of rage. "Really? Some pathetic Villain like you?"
While this was happening, All Might held out a hand. "Students, fall back with Aizawa."
For his part, Aizawa quickly gestured for them to come back. "Stay out of his way."
Todoroki was the first to speak. "If it wasn't for me-"
"-I wouldn't be talking, I know," All Might gave him a thumbs up. "You need to see a pair of Pros get serious."
Shigaraki's eyes were filled with an unholy fire. "Noumu, Kurogiri, kill All Might! I'm going to kill this bastard as slowly and painfully as I can!"
Noumu lumbered forwards, blank eyes focusing on him. Kurogiri tried to follow, but Gentle was upon him. A swipe of his hand, and suddenly Kurogiri bounced away with an undignified scream. Gentle grinned. "It seems that your mist counts as one object for the purposes of my Quirk!"
The dapper Warp Villain was unable to meaningfully respond.
All Might glanced over at Eraserhead. The taciturn Hero made no complaints, instead glaring at Noumu. Then All Might met the beast head on.
KABAM!
The wind pressure knocked Shigaraki away, the Villain sighing as All Might's fist met Noumu's yet again. Staring in the background, Mastermind and the other Villains were barely holding in place, the air in front of them stretching as some sort of makeshift barrier. "It's no use, All Might! Did you forget that Noumu's got Shock Absorption?"
All Might grinned at that. "Does he now?"
Before Shigaraki could respond, Noumu met him blow for blow, but All Might pushed harder and harder. "You said he was built to counter what I could do, right?"
Noumu grunted in pain as it was forced back. It fought wildly, without coordination and the compensation of Hyper Regeneration or Shock Absorption.
All Might strode forwards, not letting up the barrage of blows. "I GUESS I'LL HAVE TO GO BEYOND THOSE LIMITATIONS!"
Noumu tried to fight back, but without Shock Absorption to absorb most of the blows, it was futile. More and more punches got through, the hulking Villain unable to meaningfully respond.
"PLUS… ULTRA!"
With one last blow, Noumu stood still for a second. Then it rocketed away, shooting through the dome of the USJ to land somewhere else. All Might stood there, panting. He had maybe thirty seconds left before he would transform back - he'd just managed to avoid pushing himself too far.
He cast a wary eye over to Mastermind, who stared at the scene, frozen. What was going through the Villain's mind right now?
—
Mastermind - Izuku - was taken aback. He'd seen All Might go all out! Nothing could have made him happier!
His radio crackled. "Mastermind? It's Mr. Compress. What just happened?"
"All Might…" he muttered. Thank god the camera in his helmet had recorded everything, otherwise he would have never forgiven himself.
On the other end, Mr. Compress swore. "I've got the escape vehicle ready. Are we ready to go?"
Mastermind watched Shigaraki as he gaped. "Not just yet."
All Might - his amazing archnemesis - gave Shigaraki his signature grin. "Surrender, Villain. Unless you'd like to go another round?"
Shigaraki scratched at his neck furiously. "You… you dirty cheater!"
Kurogiri managed to stumble back. "Sir, we should go," he groaned. His misty eyes crossed, and he held a hand to his mouth. "Thank everything it wore off."
Shigaraki twitched. "Did Sensei lie to me?! Oh, if only we had another Noumu!" He glared at Eraserhead. "That wasn't a fair fight you bastard! Having a Support character like Eraserhead was cheating!"
Mastermind glared at him. "It's as my archnemesis said, Shigaraki. Do you want to continue?"
The inferior Villain's head snapped around to him. "And then there's you!" He twitched.
Kurogiri twitched. "All Might did take some damage, and the kids are holding back…" he managed to get out, sounding marginally better. "Still, we should leave before reinforcements come."
Shigaraki continued glaring at Mastermind, pupils shrunken to hateful pinpricks. "Maybe… but this annoying ass miniboss is still here! I may not be able to kill All Might, but at least he won't get in the way!"
Mastermind tensed as suddenly Kurogiri's mist spilled out. Gentle tried to reach for it, only to pull his hand back quickly as Shigaraki swiped his hand through the Warp gate. His hand brushed on the ground, and they had to leap back when the ground cracked and crumbled to dust. Eraserhead glared at the dark figure, trying to erase the Warp gate but was distracted by the other approach.
Shigaraki approached the Erasure Hero at blinding speed. Mastermind charged, trying to get to Shigaraki. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Melissa charging at Shigaraki, the Villain leering as he reached out to touch her -
A gunshot rang out. Shigaraki howled as a bullet pierced his hand, forcing him to tumble back.
"Sorry, everyone," came a familiar drawl. Mastermind briefly boggled - that was Snipe! When-
"We brought everyone we could!"
Mastermind couldn't believe his eyes when he saw how many Heroes from school had come! Snipe tipped his hat with his gun, staring down at the remains of the League of Villains. Midnight held her whip provocative, flanked by Present Mic and Majima-sensei. Ectoplasm and Cementoss brought up the rear. Vlad King glared down at the assembly, seriousness only slightly diminished by Nedzu sitting on his shoulder cheerfully.
Shigaraki froze, only to get smashed in the gut by Melissa taking her opportunity. Mastermind blinked, then a devious grin crossed his face. Might as well get a good kick in.
—
Eraserhead winced when he saw Shigaraki fold up due to Mastermind's boot connecting with his groin. The hand-covered Villain hobbled, somehow still conscious. Kurogiri, apparently seeing this as the final straw, managed to pull Shigaraki through the mist. Eraserhead whipped around to try and erase the Villain's Warping Quirk, but his goggles had fallen off, and the dust from Shigaraki's Decay Quirk quickly met his abused eyes.
"I'm… going to… murder you!" Shigaraki managed to wheeze as he was pulled back. He pointed a trembling finger at Mastermind. "You're fucking dead!"
Mastermind posed dramatically. "MWAHAHAHA! YOU THINK YOU CAN STOP THE LEAGUE OF SUPERVILLAINS?! BRING IT ON, LOSER!"
Eraserhead sighed, glaring over at All Might. The Number One watched with an unusual expression, having tensed up to try and move only to stop. Mentally Eraserhead groaned. Of course All Might had nothing left. Maybe a bit of movement and an attack, if he was lucky.
Eraserhead was unable to do anything else as the last of the dark purple mist vanished. He spared a glance at the rest of his students as they let out sighs of relief. "It's over…" Shinsou breathed.
No, Eraserhead thought to himself. It's not over yet.
Mastermind stood in the centre of the USJ, dusting his hands off. Gentle Criminal and La Brava stood nearby, watching the Heroes warily. Eraserhead glanced back at his students, then to Melissa. "Get away from Mastermind and fall back with the rest of the students."
Melissa looked over to All Might. "But-"
Eraserhead's eyes flashed red. "Come back now."
Bakugo opened his mouth, then closed it when he saw Eraserhead's expression. At least the explosive blonde boy had some sense in his head. A few teachers dashed off to the other areas in the USJ to aid the students and deal with any remaining Villains. A couple, in particular the Principal, Vlad and Cementoss remained.
Reluctantly, Melissa came back. The three members of the League of Supervillains traded a glance with each other. Mastermind was the one who spoke next. "Well, Heroes! Forgive our intrusion - we truly didn't mean to come here! And now," he turned as if to go, "we will be taking our leave!"
All Might managed to step in Mastermind's way. "Not so fast, Supervillain!" His grin seemed fairly natural despite the absurdity of the situation. "Now, I will admit that you were a major help today! However, you are still a Villain."
He gave an apologetic shrug. "I cannot let you escape justice for your past crimes. While this incident will help reduce your sentence, it will not be enough for you to avoid persecution!"
Mastermind nodded. "I am well aware of that, All Might! However…"
Eraserhead caught a glimpse of something far in the distance, coming from the Ruins zone of the USJ. It zoomed forwards, revealing itself to be Mastermind's personal vehicle. The body was larger, large enough to house the entirety of the League of Supervillains if needed. Coloured teal and black with red hubcaps, the new vehicle screeched to a stop. Golden Grin poked his head out, letting out a small 'eep' when he saw the assembled heroes.
Mastermind posed dramatically. "That is rather contingent on catching us, isn't it?"
—
Internally Mastermind was panicking. The Heroes were focusing closely on them and All Might was right there. His Hero/Archnemesis stared, his grin seeming forced. Steam emanated from his body. "You believe you can escape us in this?"
The other Heroes were on the move. Mastermind saw Snipe aiming his gun carefully at the tires, Midnight readying herself to tear a sleeve to release her signature gas. Behind him, Gentle Criminal and La Brava stared at the coming gathering of Heroes. "Mastermind…" La Brava muttered.
Well, he'd wanted to save this surprise. But if he had to reveal it... "MWA-HAHAHA! FOOLISH HEROES! YOU HAVEN'T EVEN SEEN MY GREATEST CREATION YET!"
He signalled discretely to Golden Grin. The golden-skinned Villain pressed a button on the dashboard, causing a large ray gun to unfold from the roof of the car. Parts of it glowed an ominous red. Immediately the Heroes sprung to action.
Snipe fanned the hammer of his custom revolver, the bullets torpedoing towards the device. Gentle Criminal had already leapt in the way, the air itself stretching then sending the bullets curving off, only to suddenly return to hit the main body of the car, bouncing off like skipping stones. Midnight tore her sleeve off, releasing a pink mist that flowed down to the Villains, narrowly missing All Might. "Oh, no you don't!" she cried, the other Heroes watching carefully.
What an opportunity!
Mastermind's air filters immediately kicked in, Gentle Criminal hastily applying his own gas mask. A collection port on his gauntlet sucked some of the gas in to study its chemical composition as he strode towards the Mastermobile, Mark 2. He saw Present Mic wind up a scream-
"BEHOLD!"
ZWORP!
A red beam of light shot out, bathing the heroes up at the top of the stairs in its warm glare. Present Mic leaned forwards to unleash his Quirk. "YEAH!" he yelled. No deafening burst of sound resulted from his Quirk.
Every Hero stared at him. "Present Mic?" Nedzu questioned.
The Voice Hero looked startled, checking. "My… My Quirk - It's -" his eyes widened.
Mastermind grinned. "YES! HEROES, BEHOLD, THE ERASE-RAY! MWA-HAHAHA!"
—
The rest of the League of Villains stared at the pair of inventors as they went over the various pieces of gear included. Izuku looked over at his clone. "So… you made the Erase-Ray portable? That's great! I mean, I didn't think it would happen so quickly!"
His Double nodded. "Oh, yeah!" He held out an item that looked like a flashlight. "The Erasure effect, now in handy, easily portable size!"
Izuku turned it over. "So, how long can it keep the Erasing effect up?"
Double's happy grin faded slightly. "Oh, about thirty seconds."
Izuku hummed, tossing it in the air. "I suppose thirty seconds before needing to recharge in the same time is okay for a first attempt-"
"Thirty seconds hooked up to a plasma reactor" Double winced. "Then it needs to shut down for about an hour due to the cooling requirements. So don't use it for longer than about ten or so seconds."
The testing for the Erase ray had been… pretty horrible. They'd been fortunate that the light didn't give people cancer, but the power and cooling requirements had proven harder. Izuku had found a solution that increased the length of time it could go by emitting light as waste energy, which had the additional bonus of looking suitably Villainous.
Izuku barely managed to catch it. "With a reactor? We - we aren't made of reactors! Those are really hard to replace! I mean - does this thing have a reactor inside it, at least?"
Double shuffled his feet. "No?"
When Izuku asked why not, Double shrugged. "It'd ruin the look of the thing if it was! I know, I know! I tried everything to make it more efficient! We need to get some better parts to make it small enough to carry one handed!"
Izuku nodded. "Well-"
Inkblot idly crunched a chip. "So why not make it larger? In fact, why make it handheld in the first place?"
Izuku and Double turned to look at her, confused expressions a mirror of the other. "Because I could?" Double offered.
Inkblot pressed a hand to her temple. "Right. Is that always the best option?"
Izuku and Double looked away. "No," they said in a defeated tone.
Mr. Warp looked over the device. "So, are you going to keep the handheld version on you?"
Izuku nodded. "I mean, it'll be a good surprise tool! Plus, well… I still like the idea."
Double nodded. "But on the other hand, a good, old fashioned huge beam weapon is hard to pass up."
Izuku cracked his knuckles. "Given its efficiency problems, maybe we should mount it on the car? While we get better materials for the handheld version, iron out the problems, that kind of thing."
—
All Might wanted to move and deal with this weapon, but it was taking everything he had to stay in his Hero form. He hadn't expected Mastermind would have something like this. The green and red Supervillain laughed maniacally, a pinky finger pressed to where his mouth would be. "Behold the fruits of science! I-"
The School staff glanced at each other, then they charged, Snipe firing a couple more shots to try and pop the tires. Hound Dog led the group, Nedzu on his shoulders. Mastermind hurried into the vehicle, though not before making one last taunt. "Remember this, Heroes! This is the day that you almost caught… MASTERMIND AND THE LEAGUE OF SUPERVILLAINS!"
The vehicle sped off, the ray swivelling to focus on the Heroes chasing the vehicle. The robots piled in after their master, skittering into the vehicle. Nedzu looked at the rest of his teachers, directing them. "Ectoplasm, Kan, Cementoss! Make sure the students are safe!"
The pair of Heroes acknowledged, splitting off. Outside of the swathe of light, Ectoplasm managed to produce more clones, who hurried into the rest of the USJ. All Might winced when he saw Kirishima come closer. "All Might, are you okay? That Noumu guy really did a-"
Cementoss quickly threw up a wall of concrete around All Might. "Kirishima, it would be best if you reported back to the entrance with your teacher. I'll handle All Might."
"Yes," Eraserhead drawled. He glanced at Melissa, who looked down at her shoes. He then sighed. "Melissa, you ran into a hostile situation without thinking."
"I-I know-"
"I will not encourage you to do that again." He sighed. "But I won't deny that it probably saved his life."
His flat stare bored into her eyes. "Don't make a habit of endangering yourself."
Melissa nodded stiffly, then followed Eraserhead back up the stairs.
All Might watched his students go, then sighed. Releasing his hold on his Quirk, he gave Cementoss a thumbs up. "I'm truly grateful," he wheezed.
"Think nothing of it, All Might." The square teacher looked out at the commotion. The vehicle containing the Villains had headed to the mountain zone. "Without a doubt he's the worst Villain we've ever seen."
Toshinori Yagi limped over for a checkup.
—
Inkblot stared down the Hero in front of her - they almost looked like an ordinary guy in business casual, except for the blindfold-like mask and lurid colour scheme. "So…" she drawled, getting ready to fight. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the Mastermobile getting closer. "Do I get time off my sentence for good behaviour?"
The three students behind the teacher watched her warily. Ear-jack girl and Ponytail looked at their teacher. "She did help us fight the Villains here," the Ponytail girl (Yaoyorozu?) said, casting a worried glance.
The Hero nodded, looking around the battlefield. "So I can see."
Various Villains lay about, groaning. The Electrical Villain shifted slightly in her grip, one eye swollen shut. "...I did not get paid enough for this shit."
Inkblot tensed as the Hero presented a pair of handcuffs. "While we are thankful you saved our students…" behind his blindfold his eyes glowed a bright purple, "it doesn't excuse your Villainous activities-"
BEEP-BEEP!
Inkblot grinned when the Mastermobile zoomed over, red light bathing the Hero and students. "Holy shit that was close!" she yelled, leaping into the vehicle. Dropping the electric Villain, she grinned when she saw the Hero try and use his Quirk. She cheerfully waved goodbye to the stunned hero students, before the door slammed shut.
"So Mastermind, what's the plan?"
The Mastermobile sped off, Mastermind now behind the wheel. "Simplicity itself! We added a couple of new functions-"
Inkblot chanced a glance outside and choked when she saw nice, polite Yaoyorozu pull out a goddamn cannon - she'd ran outside of the Erase-Ray's area! "Uh, we should get going-"
The cannon fired, the Mastermobile managing to weather the blow. Inkblot grit her teeth, seeing the girl start to reload. "Now would be good!"
Mastermind grinned, speeding the car up. Tapping another button, Eurobeat started to play, 'The Top' echoing throughout the USJ.
—
On top of Hound Dog, Nedzu cheerfully watched Mastermind drive back from the Landslide area. "Well now, Mastermind. How do you plan to evade me?"
Idly he pressed a button on the remote in his hand. The landslide zone triggered another rockslide, forcing Mastermind to steer away. Another button press and the defence systems activated. Nedzu grinned as various missile launchers and gattling guns activated, training their sights on the intruders.
Normally these would have been on standby with intruders in the building, but the alarms were still down. Having to manually operate them was still an option though. With the students out of the way more dangerous methods could be employed.
Rocket salvos fired at the car, barely missing. The rubble flew up, blocking off the main entrance. Nedzu's grin turned sadistic. "Now, there are a couple of other exits out of here…" Another tap of a button and the nearest emergency exit was blocked off from them.
"Now, what will you do?"
There were a couple of possibilities Nedzu had considered already - the Villains could employ their Warper to get out, or they could deploy additional weapons to try and blast through. They hadn't left with the other Villains, though that would have been quite unlikely. There were a couple of other options but Nedzu had dismissed them as equally unlikely.
Rather than the first couple of options, the Mastermobile sprouted wings. Nedzu's eyebrow raised as the wheels of the vehicle folded outside the main body. The Erase-Ray was still in effect, preventing his teachers from unleashing a long range attack against the vehicle as it lifted off, a rocket booster firing to shoot through the hole in the dome the Noumu had left. "I will admit I was not expecting that. But I was expecting not to expect something so it doesn't count."
—
Inkblot laughed, grinning. "A flying car!"
Izuku nodded. "The wheels double as rotors! Combined with the prototype diamagnetic levitators it should be enough to levitate us out of there at vehicular speeds! I mean, it's not like it's hard to make or anything-"
Gentle Criminal shook his head. "Not difficult for you, maybe, but even seeing it I can't believe it would work!" La Brava nodded, eyes wide. When Mastermind had floated the idea she'd been inclined to laugh about it.
The Double patted the side of the Mastermobile. "That's why we redesigned it a bit - it's sleeker in the air now, closer to a plane."
The rest of the League of Supervillains hummed. "So… why do we need a flying car again?" Mr. Compress asked politely.
In response Izuku and his Double stared at him, confused. "Because." Double then hopped over with an oily thumbs up. "Just in case we need to use the new Mastermobile on the latest job, I'd like you to hold on to it. Wait for the right opportunity to use it!"
Mr. Compress tapped his chin. "I have to admit, flying away would be novel. Nobody would expect it!"
—
Nedzu stared at the car as it left, grinning. Midnight was the first to speak, an amazed look on her face. "They have a flying car."
Present Mic was, for once in his life, speechless. Nedzu grinned heartily. "I'll inform the aerial security team that we have an intruder. Still! I was not expecting a flying car from Mastermind!"
His grin turned feral. "How very exciting." He started to cackle, the teachers around him giving him a wide berth. Oh, yes. Now he knew Mastermind would do something like that… well, time was to update his record.
Today was embarrassing for U.A., that was for sure, He'd grown complacent. He'd have to think of new defences, new traps. And if All for One thought he could mess with his students… then Nedzu was ready for him.
—
Shigaraki roared in a mixture of pain and rage as he flopped out of the portal. "That bastard! I want him dead! Not just that, I want his friends dead! His family dead! Anybody who so much as sold him Takoyaki dead!"
This would have been more intimidating if his voice hadn't been several octaves higher than it normally was.
"Oh dear, Tomura," Sensei purred. "Were you unsuccessful in killing All Might?"
Tomura shook his head. "He stomped Noumu, but that's not the biggest issue! Mastermind interfered! He followed us through and he ruined everything!"
His hands twitched convulsively, wanting nothing more than to wrap around the bastard's neck and throttle him. "Noumu got knocked away by All Might and our cannon fodder got wiped by the kids and the League of Stupid Villains!"
"Well, that is unfortunate, Tomura. But after this, we can rebuild." Sensei sounded like he was grinning. "Learn from this defeat, Tomura. Gain stronger allies, and become a true Symbol of Villainy to thwart All Might!"
Tomura scowled. "All Might? No. I hate that bastard Mastermind more than him."
"And once you kill All Might, then - wait. What?"
—-
AN: This gave me a bit of grief. I knew how they would escape, but getting the pieces in play with Noumu smashing was hard. Still, I am happy with the end result.
So Shigaraki has determined who his target is! That's good!
Honestly I might take a bit of a break from this, get my ideas lined up. I have an outline for what I want. It's just a matter of applying it.
Next time, we'll get in the Jam Cooldown. See you then!
