Author's Note: Welcome back again! Here we have another chapter and the definitive end of Arc 2! Tomorrow will be the posting of SR Lost Tales 2: In Our Own Time! There's some really heavy information at the very end of the chapter, and I hope that you enjoy the foreshadowing that's been done. Love each and every one of you! I'll see you tomorrow for the next Lost Tales, and aside from that, I hope you have a great week!
Also, if you want to get into a place with other lovers of MHA, and specifically IzuJirou stuff, come on and join this Discord server that I'm on: /eFtmT8cTbY We're only kind of crazy, and not at all a cult... except, we also kind of are. Anyway, yeah, join that! I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's cross-posted on Ao3 as well. Leave a review if you want to. I welcome the feedback! See you next week.
"Thank you for your hard work today, Todoroki." Kyouka said as she put the guitars up.
"Thank you for your instruction." Todoroki said, bowing. "I will see you next Sunday."
"Yes you will! Have a great rest of your day!" Kyouka said. After he left, Kyouka took out her phone and sent a text to Izuku.
Kyouka: He's left the store. If you want to give him an opportunity to talk to him, now's your chance.
Izu 3: I'm already ahead of you. I'm on a rooftop a few buildings away. I'm gonna talk to him, ask if he wants to talk to all of us, and if he does, I'm gonna put a bag on his head and take him to our base. I have Hitoshi with me, so that should make it easier.
Kyouka: Sounds like a plan. I'll be at the base soon.
Kyouka put her phone away. "Hey Inato, I have to go now."
"Okay, enjoy the rest of your day!" Inato said, waving the girl away. She broke away from the store and took a route back to the warehouse that wouldn't put her within the sightlines of Todoroki. She got back relatively quickly, and as soon as she did, she changed into her costume. She, along with the other four members that were there, waited patiently for Izuku and Hitoshi to do their job and bring Todoroki there.
When Shouto came to Tokyo today for his second electric guitar lesson, he did not think that he would end up face to face with two members of the group that he was looking for. And yet, here he was. About a block away from the music store, Shouto heard two people fall onto the street behind him. When he turned around, he saw two people in costumes, one that he vaguely recognized, and one that he very much recognized.
"Snake Eyes and Mastermind?" Shouto asked, unamused.
"We heard that you wanted to talk to us." Snake Eyes said. "So we're here to talk."
"Although, there's gotta be a better place to talk, don't you think? Why don't we go to a more secure location." Mastermind spoke next.
The last thing that Shouto really remembered for a while was beginning to respond to that question.
The next thing he knew, he was feeling his mind come to, but it was dark. There was something around his face. It was… rough… A burlap sack? "That's old school," he thought to himself. A few seconds later, the sack was ripped off of his head, and light entered his eyes once again.
Standing in front of him were five people, all in dark clothing with masks. "Societas Requiem." From what he could see, there was Overwatch, Heartquake, NightHawk, Mastermind, and the new member that Aizawa-sensei had told the class about.
A voice came from behind him. As he spoke, the figure came into Shouto's field of view and was revealed to be Snake Eyes. "That's who we are, yes. Now, Shouto Todoroki, what has brought you here to speak with us? Aside from us, that is." Snake Eyes stepped into the line that his other members were in.
Declining to answer just yet, Shouto looked around him. He was seated in a chair at a table in the middle of a room. To his left, there was a TV and a couch off to the side. To his right, there was a very basic kitchen. Behind the people standing opposite him, there were lots of different machines and a large bay door.
"I want to help you." Shouto said simply.
Out of everything that the members of the group were expecting to hear, that was apparently not it.
"You… You what?" Mastermind asked.
"I want to help you." Shouto repeated.
"And why would you want to do that?" Snake Eyes asked.
"You made a fool out of my father. After your video was put out, he was furious. My father is a cruel man. Having me join you would make him even angrier. I will not be like him. I will be strong without him." Shouto explained.
Snake Eyes pulled up a chair and sat down across the table from Shouto. "And why should we trust you? You're a hero student after all. Why should we let you join us?"
"Well, you let them join, didn't you?" Shouto pointed to the unnamed member that he hadn't seen in the video.
"They're not a hero student at UA. You are. Why should we accept your help?" Snake Eyes repeated once again.
"I can give you information if you want?" He asked.
"What makes you different from other information channels that we have?" Snake Eyes asked.
"I can give information quickly for all of UA's activities to keep you from getting too involved. I can also give you information about Endeavor that can help your reputation if that information was to get out." Shouto said. His face displayed no emotion as he spoke.
"We already have access to UA information. But the Endeavor information could prove useful." Overwatch spoke.
"I don't know what kind of UA information you have, but I can be fast about it. If it's some kind of database, there's always time that it takes to put the information in the database. I can tell you immediately. I can give information on the students in my class too. I'm sure there's some kind of information that I can give you." Shouto said. For the first time during this entire ordeal, Shouto's voice showed emotion: desperation. There was the slightest hint of desperation that surprised everyone in the room, even Shouto himself.
Snake Eyes stood up from the chair he was sitting at and walked back to his group. After a few seconds of standing next to them, Snake Eyes turned around and spoke.
"Well, Shouto Todoroki. I think we can come to some kind of agreement. As it stands right now, we cannot trust you. Due to your position as the son of the number two hero as well as a student of UA's hero course, we have no reason to trust you." He paused. Shouto felt his eyes fall as a reaction. He didn't realize he would be so dejected after hearing that. "But." Snake Eyes continued. "We will allow you to work with us to get to the point that we can trust you while still being distant enough that you can't screw us over."
"Really?" Shouto asked. "What will I be doing?"
"You'll be an informant. You'll provide the information you promised us and any information you deem worthy to tell us. If your information is substantial and accurate over the course of some time, we can let you become a recruit of ours."
"That seems… reasonable enough…" Shouto said. Truth be told, he had no idea how this was going to go at all, so the fact that they had considered him even briefly was surprising enough for him.
"Do you agree to these conditions?" Snake Eyes stepped forward and extended his hand to shake. Shouto tentatively shook the hand in front of him. Snake Eyes' grip was firm, and the handshake actually felt like there was weight to it. It seemed to really cement the deal. Something about it seemed strangely official to Shouto. "Good." Snake Eyes said. "Overwatch." He gestured to his teammate.
"Yes sir." Overwatch replied.
"Set up a communication channel with our dear Shouto Todoroki here and inform Prometheus." Snake Eyes turned to face Shouto once again. "May I have your phone?" He asked, and Shouto complied, handing the device over. Snake Eyes then continued. "This is going to be how you communicate with us. All of us are going to be in this chat. Your information for us will be sent through here."
"And don't even try to do any hacks or anything. The message server is encrypted. It's really locked in." Overwatch said, looking up from Shouto's phone.
"Alright." Shouto replied.
"That being said, other people should not be able to bust into our server, so any information that you supply us with will be kept safe. You will not be linked to us unless we decide that you should be." Snake Eyes explained.
"Thank you." Shouto said.
"That last statement is either a benevolent gift or a horrifying promise depending on how you act with us. So stay on our good side, and we'll all be happy, right?" Snake Eyes asked. Somewhere in his threat, he had managed to roll his mask dice, and the glaring yellow had turned to a piercing red.
"R-Right…" Shout agreed hesitantly.
"Good!" Snake Eyes clapped his hands together. "Glad we have this understanding. Overwatch, got an ETA on his phone?"
"Finished it while you were threatening him!" Overwatch said while holding the phone above her head.
"Excellent. And I'm sure that Prometheus already knows." Snake Eyes continued. A soft ding sounded off from the computer, and Snake Eyes nodded. "Great. Now, Shouto Todoroki. This meeting is over. Mastermind, if you will." Snake Eyes turned to walk away as Mastermind approached.
"Now, if you'd be so kind." Mastermind said, holding the bag from before.
"I don't wan-" Shouto said, and just like that, his mind went black again.
The next thing he knew, the bag was off of his head, and his mind cleared. He was back where he was taken, but alone. This left quite a few questions in the mind of the young Todoroki child. Namely, "what the hell just happened?"
"Alright, boss. I'm back." Hitoshi said, closing the door behind him.
"And he was safe when you left him?" Izuku asked.
"Yes."
"And nobody followed you?"
"I took three detours."
"Good work, Hitoshi." Izuku took his mask off and set it on the table.
"Thanks, boss. You handled that well." Hitoshi said as he did the same.
"You were scary!" Himiko said. Tokoyami nodded.
"I think he knows what'll happen if he makes the wrong move now." Kyouka said with a smile.
"Yeah, good job everyone." Izuku said.
"Don't get too comfortable just yet! Put those masks back on! We have another meeting!" Mei shouted.
"Another meeting?" Izuku asked, shocked. He hadn't heard anything about this.
"Yeah, it was set up pretty last minute. Someone I know that works in black market support gear wanted us to come meet someone." She explained.
"So he knows who you are and that you're a member of this group?" Kyouka asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh god no, I started getting into lots of online forums and shady websites when we started, and he and I have started talking a little bit about some of the work. Once he realized that I'm the person that makes all of the babies that we use, he was really intrigued. He goes by Giran I think." Mei explained. At the mention of his name, Himiko's face dropped slightly.
"Oh, well when and where are we meeting him?" Kyouka asked, this time a bit more accepting.
"In about three hours, and all I got for where is a set of coordinates." Mei said.
"You know that coordinates can be placed in any map software, and you can find out where it is, right?" Hitoshi asked.
"You know… that's a good point. Whoopsie! Guess I got distracted and scatterbrained with everything happening today." Mei shrugged and turned to her computer. "Let's find out where these coordinates are, like Toshi said."
Izuku raised an eyebrow and looked at Kyouka who had a small grin on her face. Izuku mouthed the word "Toshi?" to his girlfriend, and she responded by shrugging her shoulders while smiling.
"Well, it looks like the coordinates are showing it's about two and a half hours away. Some old warehouse outside of some city limits." Mei said.
"Then let's get going. It's three hours from now. That'll give us time to get there and scout things out if we need to. This is still a shady guy from the underworld." Izuku said as he grabbed his mask once more. "We're still not done for the day. Be on guard."
"Yes sir!" Everyone said as they gathered what pieces of their suits they had discarded after their meeting with the hero student prior.
Over the next two and a half hours, the group had managed to get into the van quickly and found their way to the abandoned warehouse that sat in front of them. Himiko had gotten visibly uncomfortable
"What do you see?" Izuku asked Mei who was currently staring into the building through the window.
"I see quite a few people. At least ten. I'm not sure what this is. Stay cautious." Mei answered. About two minutes after they had parked, a man stepped out of the building. At the sight of him, Himiko shrank back even more than her already defensive body posture had been before.
"Are you okay?" Fumikage asked.
"That man tried recruiting me for a small group of villains a few days after you guys took down Mr. Stain. I imagine that if I hadn't known about you guys, I would have joined them." Himiko explained.
"Do you think that he might be trying to do the same for us?" Hitoshi asked.
"We're about to see. Get ready to get out, everyone. Make sure masks are on and voice changers are active." Izuku said. The members did as they were told, and as they stepped out, the man that approached them finally neared their van.
This grizzled, older looking gentleman stepped forward. His gray hair was somewhat visible in the darker night sky, and the slight moonlight reflected off of his glasses. He took out a cigar from his pocket. Shortly after, he pulled a pistol out, and at that moment, every member of the Societas Requiem group took up defensive positions around the van. The man laughed slightly, and the gap in his teeth became visible. He took the pistol and pulled the trigger. A small flame ignited at the end of the gun barrel, and he lit the cigar.
"Well, Societas Requiem, here in the flesh. Overwatch, nice to meet you face to face… er, well, mask." The man said. "I am Giran, and I have an offer for you all today. Follow me." He turned around and began walking towards the building. "This could be a major boon for the both of you."
Izuku began to follow the man, and the others followed him soon after. "What is this offer?"
"You'll see. I was reached out to by this organization a few weeks ago. My goal was to find suitable members to join them. I've found some good ones, but there are still ways this group can grow." Giran explained. "I'm sure they can explain it better." Giran opened the door to reveal the people they were meeting with.
Inside of this warehouse, there were ten people all sitting around in various ways, be it on crates or standing by the walls. The two in the center were the most interesting to Izuku. One of them was essentially a purple mist cloud in a butler's suit. The other interesting one was a kid with light blue hair and a bunch of hands pressed to his body in various different locations. Behind those two was a small TV screen.
"So I guess you wanted to meet with us?" Izuku asked.
"Yes. I have gathered some party members, but the coming boss raid would be a lot easier if we had more guild members in our ranks. Would you join us?" The hand guy asked.
"I mean, we don't even know who you are." Izuku said.
"We are the League of Villains." He replied.
"The group that failed to kill All Might?" Kyouka asked. The hand guy became visibly irritated at that question.
"I thought that we would have moved past that by now…" The kid said. He began to scratch his neck with one of his hands. "Sensei…" He turned to look at the screen behind him.
"It is okay, Tomura. You have not yet heard their decision. You may still have the chance to gain more allies." A voice sounded from the TV. There was something odd about the voice that Izuku couldn't tell what it was. Something… familiar…? He pushed it aside and got back to the conversation at hand.
"Okay, okay, okay…" Tomura took a deep breath and turned back to face his next potential members. "We are the League of Villains. You share some of the same goals as us. You seek to destroy the current meta that heroes are thriving in. We seek the same thing. If you work with us, both of our brands will grow. You will get the benefit of the League of Villains backing you, and we in turn will get name recognition from you. And together, we will force a change in the meta of society!" Tomura said, his voice becoming more and more convicted the longer he spoke.
"And how will you accomplish this goal?" Hitoshi asked.
"We will destroy the hope that heroes like All Might give the public by removing them from our path."
"Removing? Like, killing?" Mei asked.
"Killing All Might is the ultimate goal. Once he falls, things will begin to change for society. We can bring fear to the people that doubt us!" Tomura continued.
Izuku's eyes widened, although nobody could see it from behind the mask. "So they're still focused on killing All Might…" He thought to himself.
"Revelry in the dark…" Fumikage said.
"If that's your only goal, count us out." Izuku said.
"Wh-What?" Both of Tomura's hands raised to his neck and began to scratch.
"We want to change society through showing them the right way, not by killing senselessly. That's narrow-minded, short-sighted, and against what society should be." Izuku continued. "We will do what you seek to do, but better. We are not villains."
"You…" Tomura said underneath his breath. "You think you're better than us? You think you have the guild resources that we do?"
"Tomura Shigaraki, please calm down." The purple mist man said.
"We will show you that we're better right now!" Tomura said as he lunged at Izuku with his hand forward.
Izuku jumped back instinctively. The haste of the leap caused the cowl on his costume to drop off his head. Immediately, there was the sound of a few gunshots coming from behind Izuku. Tomura's feet were adhered to the floor with Mei's adhesive rounds. Another glob of adhesive was around the boy's hand that had been poised to grab Izuku. He would have to compliment her on her quick actions later. After a few seconds, the glue surrounding Tomura's hand began to turn gray, crack, and then crumble to dust. As soon as the shots were fired, several of the other people in the building got up and took fighting stances.
"Don't let him touch you, it seems." Hitoshi said. He raised his hands. "Look, we only acted in self defense. Your leader there is the one who attacked first."
"You're too underleveled to go against us. I'm starting to hate you… And I destroy things that I hate." Tomura said as he touched the adhesives on his feet that had stuck him to the ground, turning those to dust as well. Once more, he stepped forward, hand at the ready.
After two more steps, he was stopped by a voice coming from the TV. "Tomura. That's no way to treat your guests. They had no obligation to accept your offer."
"I'm sorry, sensei. You're right." Tomura stopped his advance and turned to the TV. "So we let them go?"
"Letting them go would be best, yes." The voice said.
"Very well, sensei." Tomura turned back to Societas Requiem. "You're free to go, but if you don't leave and continue being annoying pests, I will destroy you."
"Don't have to tell me twice!" Himiko stated as she turned to leave.
"That's me!" One of the miscellaneous people in the room that were sided with Tomura said. "No it's not!" He said almost immediately afterwards.
"We're grateful for the offer, but as stated earlier, we must decline." Izuku said. He bowed somewhat dramatically and walked out of the warehouse, his other group members in tow. Kyouka was the only one who stayed behind just a little bit longer, as she dropped a small object at the door frame as she left. She was as discreet about it as she could be, so she hoped that they wouldn't find it. As she left, she plugged her jack into one of the ever increasing number of ports on her jacket. As she did, she began to hear the inside of the warehouse.
"You should have let me punch them to death!" One voice sounded out.
"They could still come around, you never know! They'll never join us!" Another person said.
"They would have been good party members… I will listen to sensei. The next raid is going to be consisting of the Vanguard Action Squad. You should have a few weeks to prepare according to sensei's source." Tomura said.
"I can't wait to kill people!" The first voice said.
At that point, Kyouka had heard enough, and disconnected her jack from her port. She relayed the information to the other members of her group as they got in the van.
Shortly after, Giran came out of the warehouse and approached the van. "I'm sorry that the meeting almost came to blows. I haven't seen him that upset since the last little girlie said no. He still has a lot to learn about leadership. I do trust that you'll keep this offer in mind for the future." He stated with his broken grin.
"We'll think about it. If we change our minds, Overwatch knows how to contact you." Izuku said before waving goodbye to the man. Mei turned the van around and drove out of the area shortly after that.
"That was certainly something." Kyouka said after a few minutes into the drive, cutting the palpable silence like a knife.
"I never would have thought that we'd be approached by a ratag group of villains to have us join them." Mei said from the front seat.
"I am glad you didn't join them, Himiko." Fumikage said as he sat next to the girl.
"Me too. I think I would be crazier than I already am if I joined forces with them!"
"Regardless, we just made an enemy. We have to be careful in regard to them moving forward. Understood?" Izuku asked.
"Yes sir!" A chorus of voices rang out.
Kyouka looked at her boyfriend – her boyfriend that was now much more confident in both himself and his leadership skill than he used to be – and smiled. He returned the smile, and for that brief moment, that was all that mattered.
"Sir, what do you think of what you just saw?" A doctor next to the chair-bound man asked.
"I think this other party just became much more interesting." The man responded.
"The leader of that group. He is familiar to you?" The doctor asked.
"Yes, the last time that I had hair, it looked very much like his. I'm sure you know what that means about the boy."
"I saw that. Who knew the side effect of that quirk was to turn your hair green like that?" The doctor nodded. "And I do believe that I am aware of what it means."
"Isn't that such an interesting development? I never would have guessed it would come to this."
"What are your plans for the boy?"
"For now, just observe. I will think of more things to do the next time he makes his presence known to me. I think it would be a great time for the two of us to catch up again. It's been so long since I've seen him, after all."
"Very well, sir. Is there anything that you need from me now?" The doctor asked.
"A status report on the Nomu that I plan on letting Tomura use in the coming conflict would be most excellent."
"Yes sir, right away." The doctor replied, dashing off into the building to find the lab reports that he had been working on.
The man in the chair smiled to himself. "It's nice to see you again, Izuku."
