"Now that everyone is here, we can finally begin in earnest." Said Nezu standing on the table. "The new self-appointed crime lord Zeus has decided to make this fair city of ours his home base for the time being."

Ochako paled at the name, Bakugo swore under his breath, Todoroki clenched his hand on the table and a thin wisp of smoke started trailing upwards, while Momo had adopted a determined if shaky confidence.

Ochako recalled both the scene of his debut and other areas where she had seen his handiwork.

Ochako and her class had been there when the slaughter had occurred.

Several of the class had vomited at the sight, been temporarily blinded, while others could only watch as a white-haired man floated above the scene, lighting arcing from his body and holding him aloft. He had looked at them, smiled, laughed, and just flew away. No one among them tried to stop him, not Bakugo, not Aizawa, not Ochako. They had just watched as a monster equal to that of Shigaraki had appeared and left.

When the area was under control and the survivors had been transported, it became clear that the figure had left a message. Burned into the concrete was a single word.

ZEUS.

After the massacre, Zeus became a top fighter for the League and they never had managed to bring him in. He was brutally efficient and devilishly smart; he had managed to avoid capture and even after the League had been dismantled, he had managed to stick around and become his own boss. The first crime lord after the dismantling of the League had been born.

"His presence is indeed very worrisome, but we have an advantage this time. He has come to us and has grown confident enough to set-up shop in our home field. We intend to show him why this city has never fallen and why it never will." Declared Nezu forcefully.

This worked to relax the four friends and helped focus their thoughts on capturing Zeus.

"What we know so far, is that Zeus is located somewhere either in the ruined sector or in a hidden base outside the city. The League had an expert team that specialized in creating underground bases and we can't say for certain that we found them all." Said Aizawa.

"The current plan is too first to learn more about his plans, we need to be able to react to any actions he takes. Secondly, we will locate his base and scout the surrounding area. Finally, we formulate a plan of attack and bring down Zeus in one swift stroke. Easy and simple." Said Hawks brightly.

"To make it simple, yes that is the rough plan," replied Aizawa.

At that moment Tsukauchi went around and passed out dossiers to everyone concerning everything they knew about Zeus and his lieutenants. Ochako opened it up and skimmed through the first few pages too dense to read in detail, mostly concerning his past activities.

Name: Zeus

Quirk: Kirin.
Electrical generation and manipulation of the highest level. He is considered to be one of the most dangerous villains alive today due to the strength and mastery over his quirk.

Age: 39

Origins: Originally a mercenary from the middle-east, he has a wealth of experience in the art of war, terrorism, and other criminal acts. His mercenary group named The Dogs of Zeus has been connected to multiple terrorist attacks around the world. Information on his younger years is not available as he has never been identified. It is believed he had undergone severe appearance modification through the use of a quirk. DNA would be required to perform an accurate ID check.

A ruthless and cunning mercenary hired by both the Liberation Army and League of Villains for their operations, he would later elude capture and become a reigning crime lord in the wake of the conflicts between the heroes and villains. He made his first major appearance in the siege of Musutafu when he single-handily killed an entire platoon of Quirk Suppression Unit soldiers, several heroes, and nearly every last civilian in the bunker they were guarding.

12/250 civilians survived

2/16 QSU members survived

0/2 heroes caught within the blast survived.

The blast of lighting is believed to have been charging for multiple hours high in the clouds before the battle began. The blast arced from person to person until it had electrocuted or burned every one to or near death. The surprise attack was brutal and without mercy.

A team consisting of heroes hand-picked to fight him is recommended when facing him. Single combat should never be attempted unless circumstances demand it or unless prior permission from the H.A. has been given.

"feel free to read through those at length later, the more you know the more we can prepare and plan," said Nezu. "For now, though, you all will proceed as normal. Attend to your patrols, do missions, etc. We will have people suited to espionage working on information gathering. When we have sufficient information, we will re-convene to discuss matters more in-depth."

"While you all are doing your due diligence and routine activities, you will also have a specific task to take care of. When the time comes to take down Zeus, we want to spend as little time as possible preparing. The faster we act, the greater our advantage. So, while we work on our end, we want you all to work on assembling personal squads you can have ready to go on short notice." Said Hawks. "We may do some changes when the time comes, but we trust you are smart enough to ensure we won't have to do that."

Ochako was both happy and annoyed at the fact that she was included in this at all. She had just been given leave to return to work and already a crisis had formed, and now she had to assemble her own squad as prep work. She didn't know anybody to form a squad with; well not anymore anyway. The others were in much better situations to form teams, Bakugo would probably get the Baku-squad together and convince them all to help out. Momo and Todoroki would likely team up and form one squad together. They knew plenty of other heroes, so they wouldn't have any problems. As for herself, Ochako really only knew some of the staff of the H.A. the senior heroes, and her classmates anymore. Forming a squad would be near impossible unless she managed to convince some of her classmates to help out. She was sure they would, but there were only so many of her class combat-ready anymore. She would have to look farther afield to find people she could team up with.

"So, some big baddie has shown up and we just got to sit around on our asses, until you lot can actually get enough information to do something about it. Sound about right? Cause if we are done, I'm gonna go do some real work." Said Bakugo annoyed.

She had to give Bakugo credit, he had managed to last a while but she had been expecting an outburst like this from the start.

Leave it to Bakugo to say it how it is though. Ochako thought.

As Bakugo got up to leave, Aizawa's hair suddenly started to rise, and staring at Bakugo he said, "Sit down Bakugo, we aren't done yet. Tsukauchi hasn't said his piece yet."

Bakugo, mid getting up from his seat, sat back down and looked about as chastised as Bakugo ever got. Ochako had to hand it to Aizawa, out of all the villains and heroes she had known, Aizawa had a special talent for intimidating everyone and everything when he wanted to.

Aizawa's hair returned to normal, and he turned and gestured to Tsukauchi to take the lead.

"I'm afraid there is another problem." Said, Tsukauchi.

"This wasn't a problem we police originally intended to involve heroes in, but recently things have gotten far more complicated." Said Tsukauchi with a very serious expression. "We have recently gotten word that Stain has reappeared."

Bakugo who had gone back to reading the file suddenly stopped reading and put the file down, and gave Tsukauchi his full attention, albeit with a murderous gleam in his eyes. Momo's eyes widened and gripped the arm of her chair so hard her knuckles went white. Todoroki's face twisted into a mask of fear and hate (mostly hate), and Ochako could feel the ambient temperature in the room start to increase.

Ochako though, felt a vice grip her heart and she could feel the pain and anger resurface. Her anger kept building as she remembered that horrible day. She could vividly recall the day that everything changed. She had been so carefree and bubbly, she never doubted that they would come out on top in the end, but then the Hosu incident occurred. They had learned then what the hero world was truly like. People died, and that day they had lost Iida. None of them were the same after that, most of all Ochako. They weren't children anymore, and Ochako had smiled a lot less after that.

"Where... is he..."

The others in the room could feel their hair stand on end, even Bakugo felt goosebumps go down his spine and they all looked to Ochako. The room shook slightly, and the table and chairs started to float just slightly and they could hear the faint noise of the screws rattling in their sockets around the room. Even the windows seemed to be shaking slightly.

"Ochako, it's okay. Just take a deep breath and relax." Said Momo calmly but forcefully, putting a hand on hers and squeezing lightly.

As Ochako started to calm down and breathe, the shaking stopped and the floating objects resettled themselves. Aizawa sighed, sat down, and ran a hand through his hair.

"He won't get away; we aren't the children we once were. We can fight now and we are well trained, we can bring him in once and for all." Said Todoroki, a dark expression on his face as he put an encouraging hand on Ochako's shoulder.

"He won't live another day, there won't be a spec of him remaining after I'm through with him," growled Bakugo, small pops emanating from his hands at the thought of the Hero Killer.

Ochako took a deep breath, then turned to Tsukauchi. "I apologize, please continue."

"I understand that Stain is someone none of you want to remember, but his presence is concerning especially when paired with information we received at the same time we discovered he had resurfaced." Said Tsukauchi, passing out new dossiers to everybody.

When he had passed them out to everybody, he picked up the remote for the projector and pressed a button, a photo of Stain appeared on the wall.

"This photo was taken about three days ago when Stain has first entered the city. Despite our best efforts, he has gone to ground and we can't seem to locate him. His exact reasons for returning are unknown but we do have a theory." Said Tsukauchi, hitting another button.

The image changed and displayed an image of a figure all in black, outfitted with a cadre of throwing knife sheaths, a katana strapped to the back, and a wakizashi in a hip sheath. The figure had enough blades on him to outfit a small platoon. In addition to the armaments, he also sported a set of interlocking armor plates that allowed for both high flexibility and mobility but also provide good protection from incoming attacks. All in all, the figure was outfitted as well Stain was, if not more so. Ochako also had no doubt that the figure likely had hidden sheaths for even more knives and weapons. Finally, to top it all off, he had medium length jet black hair that flowed backward and glowing red eyes. He had at least nailed the intimidating look down pat.

"This image is of a local Vigilante known as The Hunter. The police didn't want to involve heroes more than needed, as his actions have been centered around aiding police forces and avoiding heroes at all costs. We estimate him to be at least on par with Stain when it comes to utilizing his cadre of weapons. He is also known to carry a variety of crowd control weapons and technology. Likely stolen from support tech development centers, or purchased on the black market. He has also given information to the police on multiple criminal activities and has even brought a few corruption scandals to light. It would be a lie if I were to say he wasn't well-liked among the majority of the police force and even some of the populace. He has been observed aiding civilians and even putting himself in harm's way to safeguard them." Said Tsukauchi.

"Which is why no real measures have been taken to reign him in. The long and short of it is that this city is understaffed. The Police are overworked and we don't have enough heroes to control all the criminal elements. Especially since the destroyed sector has become a massive haven for said elements." Said Nezu, speaking up.

Ochako knew this all too well, it was a topic often brought up by the regular meetings she attended. Hero numbers had taken tolls over the years, and the number of people looking to become heroes had also dropped. This wasn't surprising of course, the economic state of Japan was poor, to say the least. Most families likely didn't have the money to spare for Hero training or couldn't spare the manpower. Many of the jobs now were involved in construction and debris clearing. The benefits the country had also allowed members of the said workforce, was a strong incentive as well.

"The problem lies in the fact, that we recently found out that there is a connection between Stain and The Hunter. Specifically, it would seem that during Stain's travel period, The Hunter had always been in the same city at the same time. In different places and never together but always in the same cities. We believe that the two either had a mutual agreement of assistance or even more worrisome, a master and apprentice relationship. In any case, we believe that Stain has returned to solicit The Hunters aid, potentially in a new round of purges." Said Tsukauchi.

Nezu suddenly picked up where Tsukauchi left off. "However, there is another possibility of how this situation may play out. The Hunter has yet to commit murder, and while brutal in his actions against villains he has not harmed police forces or heroes. We believe that it may be feasible to assume that rather than join Stain, The Hunter will instead fight Stain."

Nezu took a sip of tea and then continued. "The H.A. however, has decided that both of their times have come. We have been tasked with the apprehension of both Stain and The Hunter, using whatever means necessary. We hope to capture both in the event that the two fight each other. In the worst-case scenario, where they unite, we will have to mobilize quickly to bring them in before they can cause too much damage. It would not be an exaggeration to say that both of them together would result in a threat equal to that of Zeus himself. The
H.A. has also labeled The Hunter as an S-Class threat. None of you are to try and take him or Stain in by yourselves. Instead, you are to notify other nearby heroes and buy time until reinforcement can arrive." Said Nezu, sitting back down on his chair and taking a long sip of his tea.

"This is going to be your primary task while we wait for more information regarding Zeus," remarked Tsukauchi. "Any questions?"

"Out of curiosity, what are your three's opinions on The Hunter? It is clear that while what he does is illegal, his presence and actions have caused a divide among the police." Said Todoroki, interestedly.

"He's a strong vigilante, but a vigilante none the less. He has to be reigned in." Said Aizawa matter of factly.

"Personally, I find it disappointing that he never aimed to be a Hero. He likely has a physical enhancement quirk of some kind and it's strong, and he has a great passion for his work. Such commitment and drive are rare even among heroes." Said Nezu, continuing to drink his tea.

"To be honest, I would prefer to maintain the current situation, but Stain's presence has changed things and it is for the best that The Hunter be taken in." Said Tsukauchi.

Todoroki nodded as if expecting the answer and leaned back in his chair, opening the dossier and beginning to skim through it.

"What else do we know about The Hunter?" Said Momo, looking up from the dossier, a frown on her face. "The dossier on him has scant few details beyond what you've already said."

"That is another problem." Said Tsukauchi. "Despite numerous investigations and research, we have discovered practically nothing about him. His description matches no known records, and he has been incredibly careful in leaving behind information that could be used to backtrack him. Not so much as a spec of blood or wisp of hair has been found having come from him. All we know is that he is connected to Stain, appeared around three and a half years ago, has exhibited martial arts stemming from multiple schools, and is a prodigious wielder of the blade and throwing knives. We can also say for certain that he, at one point, received formal training from a swordmaster." Said Tsukauchi.

Frowning even more deeply, she went back to looking over the dossier. Bakugo meanwhile, got up and started to walk towards the door. "I assume we're done here, and if we aren't, I'm leaving anyway. I'm going to go out on a patrol for a few hours." Said Bakugo leaving the conference room.

Aizawa merely sighed and said "Well unless you all have more questions, then we are done here. I'm also going to be going out on a patrol, the city is going to need as much help as it can get, so I've decided to go back out on patrols for a time." With that, Aizawa left the room as well.

Nezu, showed no signs of leaving, just sitting on his miniature folding chair and continued to drink his tea while looking over some documents. Tsukauchi meanwhile, started to shut down the projector and get his papers together while Hawks assisted him.

Ochako stood up and stretched, she debated leaving as well and preparing to go out on a short patrol as well. After a few seconds, she sat back down and pulled her seat up closer to Momo and Todoroki. She hadn't had much time to chat with them, and she really did miss seeing her friends. They didn't come to the H.A. headquarters in the city often (if they were in the city, to begin with), usually receiving assignments at the agencies they were at. Even if they were in the city, their schedules were too demanding usually to allow for leisure time. The last time she had seen them all together, was at Kirishima's and Ashido's wedding.

"So, what do you two plan on doing?" asked Ochako after she had sat down.

"It looks like we will be stationed here in the city until this assignment is taken care of. The ambiguity surrounding everything also gives this assignment an indeterminate duration. We'll have to ask the H.A.'s resource division to allow for accommodations first of all." said Todoroki.

Ochako smiled at that "Well, as it turns out I can arrange that for you." she said brightly.

Momo looked up, surprised. "I didn't think you had the authority to do such things."

"Technically I don't, but no one here would question any decision I made anyways, so for all intents and purposes I do. Apart from knowing about basically everything that's going on at any given time, the "unofficial" authority I possess is significant." said Ochako, a sly smile on her face.

Momo looked a tad disapproving, but a small laugh and smile from Todoroki as he got up, seemed to make up her mind for her. "We appreciate your help, the faster this problem is resolved, the faster we can get to work on tackling this assignment."

Todoroki held out his hand to Momo, and after she had taken it and gotten up from her seat, they followed Ochako out of the room.