You could say it had become part of the monthly discussion for not just the UA staff, but the pro heroes in general who had to deal with the aftermath. Some mystery villain had been going around causing all sorts of problems (the biggest to date was the massive power outage they had caused for almost a full week straight) and giving the heroes the run around. The biggest issue was that they had no idea what the villain's quirk was or what they were after, and thus no idea where they would strike next.
"The villain struck again," complained Tsukauchi.
"What did they do this time?" asked All Might.
"Stole some prototype components from a high security support company," he replied, tiredly.
They had managed to arrest two people, but they were hired thugs and didn't know who their employer was and didn't really care beyond the sizable sum they had been paid to help out.
All Might could understand his frustration...there was no rhyme or reason to the thefts, beyond the fact that the majority of them were tech related in some way.
Whoever this person was, had a lot of money and far too much time on their hands. All Might wished his friend luck tying something...anything...down to a specific person.
With said "villain"...
If the heroes knew what the 'villain' they were after looked like, they would be in disbelief.
Said 'villain' was a somewhat pale skinned teenager who was barely thirteen if that hunched over a surprisingly complex piece of machinery with a screwdriver and several unidentifiable tools.
One of the thieves being talked about on the news playing to the side walked up to the kid...and placed the stolen item on the desk.
"Got the item you were interested in," he said calmly.
"Thanks. The security give you any trouble?" he asked cheerfully, not really paying attention.
"Only about the usual," he replied.
Dabi didn't know how the kid was able to create gear so advanced that any support company would salivate over it, and he didn't really care. All he cared about was that the kid paid well (likely with money stolen from banks electronically) and didn't ask questions about how said items were acquired.
He found the first clean chair and plopped down, and watched the kid work. He found it oddly relaxing to watch the kid work, as the kid barely paid any attention to anyone watching him.
"So what are you working on now?" he asked.
"I'm trying to see if the stabilizer you stole will let me complete the suit. It's been an absolutely nightmare having to invent most of this from scratch because people are more interested in fancy tricks than things like space travel..."
It was a rant he had heard before and one Midori would happily bitch about if given half the chance... there were a few subjects Dabi enjoyed poking the kid about, the corrupt and ineffective nature of the hero commission, how ridiculously stupid and pathetic the local heroes were, how much he hated the fact everyone treated flashy quirks like it was the next big thing and put an absurd pressure on the kids to go the pro hero track as if that was their only option.
Dabi didn't know who this...Bakugo...was, nor did he particularly care. All he knew was that Midori apparently had to shut the kid down repeatedly and would utterly wreck the other boy's ego whenever he got too full of himself because of his quirk. From what little he did get out of the younger boy, the kid was a fledgling version of Endeavor and he wholeheartedly agreed that sort of behavior needed to be shut down as quickly as possible.
Midori made a noise of frustration.
"Dammit...it's incredibly close but it's going to take a lot of tweaking to make it work..."
"What are you even trying to make anyway?"
Midori pulled his computer over to show him.
"Is that a suit of armor?" said Dabi incredulous.
"It's a battle suit. If I can get it to work, I can even use it without having to be inside it," said Midori absently.
And that had been a bitch and a half, recreating an AI using the rather pitiful components he had around. Miku was such a useful one though, even if she wasn't at the same level as his previous ones. Considering what he had to work with, he wouldn't complain.
Dabi was fascinated.
"Wait...is this the reason you knocked out the power grid for almost a solid week?" he asked.
Midori twitched.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said immediately and without hesitation.
Dabi grinned at him.
"Come on Midori, we both know you're the only person who's tech savvy enough and has loose enough morals to knock out two power grids at the same time for that long without actually trying to destroy it."
Midori twitched, just a bit. That had been an accident and he had miscalculated the amount the power grids could channel before blowing. In his defense, he was still adjusting to the level of tech in this world, as he was far used to it being more advanced.
He had already confirmed the existence of Asgard, but trying to reach it was a trial...and the less said about the lack of development towards space travel, the better. Hell, that was the primary reason he was having such trouble recreating his suit!
Dabi dodged the spanner thrown at him by Midori...he was used to it and the kid paid him ridiculously well, so acting as a target to throw things at was acceptable.
Besides, being around the kid was more entertaining than half the crap the 'villains' could come up with. Midori would occasionally talk about going to other worlds, rather than staying on just one and actually having an adventure. He could care less about heroes, villains or that rot.
In his opinion, the heroes were weak and more concerned with fame and glory than they were about protecting the citizens beyond how it would affect their image. And the villains were all obsessed with All Might and causing chaos in general, or making a name for themselves.
So yeah, Dabi preferred hanging around Midori and seeing how far he could go...especially since Midori had zero issue making gear to inconvenience or hassle Endeavor. Or in one notable instance, hacking the man's office and screwing up his files so bad it had taken two months before it could be remotely straightened out.
That had been a good day, because Endeavor was too busy trying to clean that up to do any hero work and his rankings dropped by three before he had to work double and triple shifts to bring it back up. And his short temper had gotten him sued twice.
(In short, Dabi adored the kid to bits because he would make Endeavor's life hell without a trace and Dabi got to enjoy watching him fall apart.)
Midori...or rather Izuku Midoriya...still couldn't understand how he had gotten reborn in another world. Especially one that was so different from his own. Perhaps it was a side effect of using the Infinity Stones to save the universe from that bastard Thanos. Not that he regretted it one bit...he had made the universe a hell of a lot safer for his daughter and Pepper.
He had died as Tony Stark with no regrets whatsoever.
Sure, it was weird having a mother who gave a damn, being in a world where mutant powers (quirks...he had to keep reminding himself they were called quirks) were the norm and he was the weirdo for not having one, and the technology feeling like the early 2000's, except the space race apparently never happened.
Still, after thirteen years he felt he had mostly gotten the hang of things, even if he tripped up occasionally.
It was still sad that the closest thing he had to an actual friend was a pyromaniac who had an even stronger reason to hate his father than Tony had, all because of how this world was set up.
At least Dabi had zero issues letting him crash at his pad when he didn't feel like going home. Inko suspected something, but she let him do his own thing, mostly out of some weird guilt she had over him not having some fancy ability.
Plus side, no one really questioned his odd 'pendant' which had a rather odd glow. If any of the heroes knew this was the reason for the massive blackout...well...Izuku didn't want to even contemplate that headache.
"Back again Deku? I thought you finally realized how worthless those stupid toys of yours are!" said Bakugo with a sneer.
Izuku's expression of pity and exasperation never failed to piss Bakugo off.
"Really? You honestly think your quirk is that special? I could make a bomb that does more damage than nitroglycerin with only a few items and some gum," said Izuku with a drawl.
Seriously, he had made weapons that would make Bakugo's quirk look like a water gun in comparison. The idea of being impressed with what Bakugo could do with having nitroglycerin sweat was utterly laughable to someone was known literally as the Merchant of Death in another life.
Bakugo's ire rose at the tone Izuku used. He never liked the other boy, regardless of the fact their mothers were friends. Izuku always talked down to him like he was an errant child with a 'cute trick', and never once treated him like an equal.
If it wasn't for their parents, Bakugo would never associate with the green-haired boy...ever.
Bakugo couldn't stand Izuku, simply because the boy had no quirk yet the teachers adored him anyway because of how smart he was. They would spoke excitedly about him becoming a big name in hero tech, which was almost as impressive as going to UA. The fact Izuku had zero interest in becoming a hero played a part in it as well.
Unknown to Bakugo, Izuku had pretty much robbed every halfway decent tech company he might have considered working for later and deemed them insufficient for his needs. The ones that might be acceptable had contracts that made his skin crawl and it was blatantly obvious they would steal all his work and sell it for obscene prices.
Not on his watch...he could make better money selling it himself, if he were so inclined.
Bakugo seethed, as once again Izuku upstaged him in math, without a second thought.
Dabi noticed how tired Midori was, and just threw a blanket on him. Whenever he got into one of his inventing moods he usually didn't stop until he finished or he crashed...hard. Depending on how intently he was working though.
Considering what the kid paid for the jobs he asked for, Dabi didn't mind playing minder for the insane genius.
Again, the pay was ridiculously good and the kid was entirely too amusing to be around. He was a walking disaster, socially speaking. Midori was an utter genius when it came to technology and breaking down quirks, when it came to being around people it was another story. It didn't help that he had a twisted sense of humor that Dabi found entirely too entertaining.
The sort of insults Midori could throw at him when half-asleep and hungry would often leave Dabi in stitches other than the ones he had for medical reasons.
Dabi heard the kid mumbling, but said nothing.
"Master, one of your required components came up in a recent search!" chirped Miku.
"The runt crashed, so tell him later. What component?" said Dabi.
Miku told him, and while he didn't understand what it was for or why Midori needed it, Dabi still took a vague enough interest to ask questions. If Izuku couldn't buy it outright he generally hired a team (lead by Dabi) to steal it for him for a cheaper price.
As Miku detailed the facility and general security, Dabi grew a little suspicious. They had been robbing places for a while now and while no one had been able to pin it on Midori, it was clear someone had picked up something.
Either that or they would need to switch up tactics.
Midori, when he woke up, listened to what Miku had to say. Before Dabi could mention it, he immediately said "That's a set-up."
"You picked up on it too, huh?" said Dabi.
"It's not obvious at a glance, but if you look at the security team and the way it's set up, it becomes suspicious."
"What's the plan?" asked Dabi.
Midori pulled up the schematics and the team roster. While he had originally been loath to resort to theft, after a while he became numb to the entire idea. Besides, most of the things stolen were later turned into scrapped ideas or their potential utterly wasted on people who didn't know half of what they could do.
At least he had been able to upgrade the cheap communication equipment available to something he considered tolerable standards. Miku moderated the frequency so if someone did manage to pick up on it she could send them false information.
Dabi had to admit, when Midori lead the team (albeit from a safe location nowhere near the site), they were terrifyingly efficient as he predicted their patterns with scary accuracy.
When he saw the component, Midori made a scoffing sound and within fifteen minutes made a credible copy that was far more efficient.
Clearly the heroes (and the support companies) needed to up their game.