7 days until Mask's first class
UA Robotics Facility
Mask was in the center of one of UA's many robotic assembly lines, parts from the disassembled machine carefully placed about the room so they could be put back in their proper places later. He had already been at this task for several hours assisted occasionally by Power Loader who was also overseeing the work so that nothing exploded again. There had already been 3 which was still less the Mei averaged in the same amount of time.
Mask was elbow deep in one of the fabrication devices when one of the doors leading into the room opened right before a fleshy missile impacted with his side and latched onto him. Over where Power Loader and been sitting came the sound of the man groaning loudly. "Dammit Mei!"
Mask found himself looking down at a pink haired young woman wearing a black tank top with workshop coveralls tied around her waist. On the top of her head she had a set of red and gold steampunk goggles, eyes that were yellow-green with a cross in the center of them peered up at him. "Teach me, teach me how to make your babies!"
Off to the side there was the sound of Power Loader facepalming while Mask uttered a very intelligent. "Uhhhh what?" Stomping over power loader lifted Mei by the back of her shirt like one would lift an unruly kitten. "Sorry about that Mask this is Mei one of my more excitable students when she says babies she's talking about inventions. How did you even get here Mei?"
"Oh I just followed the blinking lights."
"The blinking lights?" Power Loader wondered, he was fairly certain that there hadn't been any blinking lights in the area.
"Yeah! You know the tiny ones that are all over the place right now." A blank stare was all that Mei received from Power Loader at that statement even as Mask smacked a fist into the palm of one hand. "She must have followed one of my nanites back here. I've had them keeping an eye on things."
A few minutes earlier
"Biggs, Wedge what are you guys looking at?" A second year hero course student asked as she jogged up to where her two friends were staring down the hall.
"Hey Jessie uh do you see what we're seeing?" Wedge muttered pointing down the hallway. Jessie looking in the direction that her friend was pointing. Down at the end of the hallway was a first year support student with pink hair, Mei if Jessie remembered her name right, who was talking animatedly with what looked like thin air.
"Well that's not something you see everyday. Anyways you guys ready for lunch? We need to meet up with Cloud, Tifa, and Barrett to discuss our plans for the Avalanche hero agency."
"I'm super ready for lunch, I'm starving."
"Your always starving Wedge." Biggs responded as he elbowed his friend in the side.
"My quirk burns a lot of calories saving your butt from your mistakes Biggs." The three friends soon wrapped up in their own conversation as they headed to lunch. Mei following after the tiny blinking nanite towards her destination.
Back in the present Mask was still staring at Mei, who was staring back while rotating ever so slightly in Power Loader's grip. The hero having not released his hold on the back of Mei's shirt.
"Sure I'll teach you, you can help me with getting this machine ready." Cheering Mei somehow wiggled her way out of Power Loader's grasp without losing her shirt and bounced over to Mask. Who once more had his hands inside of the machine. A few seconds and a small explosion later and Power Loader was cradling his head in his hands.
The number of explosions per hour increased by a factor of 10 after Mei had joined Mask but by the end of the day the facility was still intact and the machine ready. Flicking a switch the machine started up with an ominous hum before it began to assemble a new and improved kind of robot.
A bit later found Mask sticking his head into Nezu's office. "So apparently Alana wants to provide therapy to those at UA."
"Oh? Which students does she have in mind? We do have Hound Dog already as a therapist but a second one would be useful." Nezu asked as he peered over a file he was reviewing. Eyes noting the manila folder that was bursting with papers under Mask's arm.
"Oh we do?" Mask seemed to pause for a moment, clearly communicating with Alana. "She says that she'll work with Hound Dog to schedule sessions for all of the students, and most of the teachers to. She has concerns that because the sessions are optional that several major issues are going untreated."
"Hmm well if she's sure I see no reason to argue with her." At those words the entire student and teacher body of UA collectively shuddered and glanced around nervously. Feeling like something had just walked across their graves.
"Also Mask are you planning on going somewhere?" Nezu wondered even as he nodded towards the folder.
"Actually yes, more setup for my class. Probably break a few laws and collapse part of society while I'm at it, the usual." Their was a hint of a teasing tone to Mask's words. Nezu bobbing his head in agreement as Mask slipped out of sight. "Have fun storming the castle!"
"Ha! Told you they had The Princess Bride!" Echoed back to Nezu from down the hall. The principal took a sip from his tea before returning to his own work.
League of Villains hideout (abandoned warehouse)
Ever since the raid on their last hideout the league had been on the run, surviving as best they could without leadership. Shigaraki having grown distant and languid, barely providing any guidance as he waited for any news from his sensei. The only information the media and the police providing was that he hadn't been arrested and a body hadn't been found.
The various villains were sprawled around the warehouse, tired from escaping a group of heroes that had stumbled across them. They were more then ready for a fight however as a bolt of lightning shattered a window and impacted into the center of the building, resolving into the form of Mask. Blue flames flickered around Dabi as he channeled his inner Bakugo and screamed. "Die!" Before engulfing Mask in a torrent of flames. He kept up the flames until his hands started to burn, yanking them back with a hiss of pain. The rest of the villains now on their feet ready for a fight.
"Kurogiri get us out of here!" Shouted Shigaraki showing more energy in that moment then he had in the last few days. "I've been trying Tomura-san but something seems to be preventing my quirk from activating."
As the flames started to die down the league got their first glimpse of Mask, standing unharmed surrounded by a field of crackling energy. "How many goddamn defenses do you even have?!" Magne shouted as she tried to activate her quirk and drag Mask towards her, shocked to discover that he didn't even budge. "An energy shield against energy based attacks, disassembly field for physical, armored structure, regeneration, mind shielding, and universal forces reducer." He counted, ticking off each defense on a finger.
"Okay but how did you find us?" Toga asked as her fingers tightened around the hilt of her knife. "Oh that's an easy one, microscopic tracking devices planted on you all when you captured me." The villains sharing a look of surprise that if he had been tracking them this whole time as to why they hadn't already been caught.
"As to the reason I'm here in the first place its to give you some help and turn you towards a better path." The gathered group standing there in stunned silence just staring at Mask as if he had proved that two plus two equaled fish. Eventually Spinner shook himself out of his stupor. "You said you didn't want to join us."
"More I said I didn't want to be a villain but your idea of changing society is still a good one. You just need to go about it in a different way and have all the facts." Mask tapping a finger against the folder as he spoke. Judging by how thick the folder was it must have been absolutely crammed with files.
"What information?/ I don't wanna know!" Twice chimed in before getting shushed by Toga. She stared at Mask for a long moment before glancing at Shigaraki who had slumped forward, seeming to have given up now that there wasn't an escape route. "Explain."
So Mask did, he started with showing how the system had been set up to make people desperate, to force them to become villains if they wanted to survive. How those who had heteromorphic quirks had been vilified through subtle bits of media manipulation. How the laws against quirk usage had been twisted to unfairly punish people or to make them resentful at not being able to use their quirks.
"Okay okay you've made your point. But why mention this to us instead of bringing it to the attention of heroes and shit? Especially if you've got all this proof." Spinner asked, interrupting Mask before he could finish.
"Because the one behind all of these changes has a personal connection to you through your leader Shigaraki." The gathered villains sans Kurogiri all turned their eyes towards Shigaraki who lifted his head and muttered. "Sensei?"
"Yes Tenko Shimura, your sensei All For One has been working behind the scenes for nearly 200 years shaping society to create villains for him to control and exploit. He was also the man who killed your fathers mother and All Might's teacher, Nana Shimura. Your grandmother."
Shigaraki stared blankly at Mask, one hand moving up to his neck, nails scratching at the skin as he stared at Mask through the fingers of his father's hand. He didn't know what to think, he should shout out that this man before him was lying, that he was wrong, but instead the words sat heavy in his throat. Memories long buried stirring to the surface, memories of his family, of his quirk activating for the first time, of death and rage. Slowly he grabbed his father's hand and removed it from his face, staring down as if truly seeing it for the first time ever.
"So what if his sensei did all that?! He wasn't involved with me or the problems I faced, the things I had to deal with!" Dabi shouted as he took a step forward flames flickering in his hands.
"Your right All for One didn't cause the issues you suffered from Dabi. He has his own crimes to answer for, his own sins. But do you think that your father could have gotten away with everything he has without someone knowing the truth. Someone just waiting until the information will prove useful to him."
"Wait, wait, who is Dabi's father? Who are we talking about?" Spinner interjected looking between Mask and Dabi.
"Which hero has always been in All Might's shadow and has a flame quirk?" Was Mask's quick response. Spinner's head snapping around to stare at Dabi wide-eyed. "Dude your dad is End.."
"Shut up!" Dabi shouted as blue flames shot up around him, the heat in the room reaching uncomfortable levels. "That man doesn't deserve to be called my father not after everything that he has done!"
"I don't disagree but what your doing won't make things better." Dabi flinched at Mask's sudden change in tone. Before it had been pretty much flat and neutral but now there was an edge to it.
Shigaraki who had been standing quietly, fingers still scratching at the skin of his neck suddenly stirred. "I don't care about any of that! I want this society that didn't reach out to help us to change and I don't care how many I need to step over to do it!"
Mask turned towards Shigaraki slowly, his robotic face devoid of any hint as to what he was thinking. The air seemed to grow cold and even Shigaraki found himself rooted to the spot. When Mask spoke there was a bite to his words this time one that seemed to say that you'd better consider your next words carefully.
"You don't care Tenko? You don't care about how many other Tenko's you'll create. About how many others will suffer just as you suffered because someone didn't reach out. That someone will cry out for a hero to save them only for that hero to never come because you killed them.
Because that is what the path you walk on will do! An endless cycle of despair, fear, and violence that will doom thousands to the same fate as the one you suffered from! Your ideals won't fix the world all they can do is make it worse!"
Total silence fell over the villains all of them staring at Mask. They sat frozen no one quite sure they wanted to be the one to speak first, to say that Mask was wrong that their ideals were better then that. Finally Mr Compress stepped forward and broke the silence.
"What do you want from us then? We can't be heroes not after what we've already done and most of us don't want to be."
"Your underestimating yourselves and those that are truly heroes but I understand. I have a different idea in mind, one that will help make the world a better place. In two days time we'll be assaulting the headquarters of the Shie Hassaikai yakuza group and afterwards I think you will all see that you don't need to be a hero to do good."
Six days until Mask's first class
The next day found Mask waiting outside the recently finished UA dorms for a certain student. When Nezu had first informed Mask about the dorms Mask had asked to look over the plans before making some changes. After a bit of back and forth between the two along with several of the teachers they had settled on a workable solution.
There were now four new buildings gracing the UA campus arranged in a cross shape, 3 of the buildings were 4 stories tall while the last that occupied the middle and upper point of the cross was only 2. The bottom center point had a sign that proudly proclaimed it to be 1, the building on the left 2, and the one on the right 3.
These were the combined dorms for the 3 year classes that attended UA, each arranged identically. The main floor had a common area along with a kitchen for food preparation as well as housing the students of the heroics course. Second floor housed the support department, third the business, and finally the fourth was for general studies students.
Each floor opened out onto the open air common area that extended up the middle of the building to the roof. Couches, chairs, bookshelves all set along platforms that were suspended above the common area with poles, ropes, ladders, staircases leading to them. This was at Mask's suggestion turning the common area into not just an area to meet up in but also one that was basically a huge jungle gym that the students would have to move around. Training how to be more aware of their surroundings along with making them more mobile.
The final building was a large common area on the first floor for all of the various years to meet up and mingle together or for big parties whatever the students preferred. The second floor was set up as the games room stocked with arcade machines, video game systems, and tables for various other games. Just another way the students could use to relax when they needed.
There was also a basement level that connected the four buildings together that housed a large hot spring with attached changing rooms for the students. When questioned as to why Mask had included so many different ways for the students to relax he had responded that even a hero could get burnt out and that students were more likely to suffer from that same condition.
Eventually Mask spotted who he had been looking for. A first year student with purple hair and bags under his eyes that would rival Aizawa's. "Hitoshi, Shinso." The kid looked up as Mask spoke his name, eyes wide as Mask casually walked through the crowd. People quickly getting out of his way.
"Y...yes, that's me." Shinso managed to get out as he stared up at the metal man that towered over him. Sure he had heard the rumors of UA's new teacher but he hadn't expected to be singled out by the guy when moving into the new dorms.
"Your hoping to move from general-ed into the heroics course correct?" Shinso nodded slowly a part of his brain that wasn't screaming that he was going to die, noting that the usual feeling of his quirk connecting was absent. Not that he was thinking of using his quirk on a teacher anyways.
"Good, I want you to meet me at Gym Beta in an hour in your gym uniform." The message passed along Mask turns on his heel and departs already focused on his next task. Only once Mask is out of sight does Shinso let out the breath that he hadn't realized he was holding. As he headed into the dorms to get changed Shinso wondered what the new teacher could possibly want from him.
An hour later Shinso was still wondering as he stepped into Gym Beta. He spotted Mask in the center of the gym waiting for him. Walking over Shinso stopped only a couple of feet away from Mask. Shinso forced down a flinch as Mask stepped forward and reached out towards him. Something cold pressed against the back of his neck and when Mask had stepped away again Shinso's hand shot up to feel whatever it was.
It cool and metallic about the size of a quarter and when Shinso pulled at it the device didn't budge. Eventually he turned his attention back to Mask who was watching him. "Sorry about all the mystery and the weirdness but as one of the few students wishing to transfer into the heroic department I wanted to get you ready."
"Ready for what?"
"Ready for the fact that you don't look like you've ever really exercised a day in your life. Your as skinny as a twig with no muscle definition and I've only got until my first class to whip you into shape. We'll start by having you run 5 laps around the interior of the gym."
Shinso looked around, he knew he wasn't in the best of shape but still 5 laps around the gym wouldn't be much of a challenge. At least that's what he thought as soon as Shinso started to run he noticed a major problem. It felt like he was moving through a thick jelly every movement taking far more effort then he was used to.
A task that normally would have only taken him 15 minutes instead took him almost 45. When Shinso finally finished he was drenched in sweat and desperately gasping for breath. He didn't even glance at the water bottle that Mask handed to him. Instead bringing it to his mouth and gulping down the cool water. Shinso noting that the water had a slight mint flavor to it.
Shinso handed the water bottle back to Mask before taking a deep breath. He then realized that he wasn't feeling tired any longer. "Good looks like you've recovered. 5 more laps if you'd please Shinso."
Not one to question his sudden recovery Shinso started to run once more. Instantly the jelly sensation returned and he found himself struggling once again. Still it wasn't all bad he actually completed the 5 laps in only 43 minutes this time. So yay, Shinso thought gulping down the minty water once more even as Mask removed the device from the back of Shinso's neck.
"Good job today, I want you to meet me here at 2 in the evening everyday until my first class."
"Uh, alright. Thank you for helping me, even if I don't understand how." Shinso said, even as he checked himself over. He was tired and a little sore but not anywhere near what he should have been.
"The device I placed on the back of your neck stimulates your muscles by making you work harder then you usually would to accomplish something. It's why you would have felt like you were moving through jelly. Combine with the drink I gave you that forces your body to instantly refresh itself and you should be ready to handle a regular heroics class by the time my first class."
Shinso nodded along to Mask's words even if he didn't fully understand how any of that worked. Well as long as it ended up helping him get into the hero course Shinso would do whatever it took.
5 days until Mask's first class
The league's lair( still an abandoned warehouse)
When Mask returned to the warehouse that the league was currently using as their base he found them league around a crate that they were using as a table. They were still pouring over the information in the folder that Mask had provided at their previous meeting and arguing. Well all except for Shigaraki who was playing a video game on a small TV.
"No no no, I'm sorry but we've seen how Nomu act and I can't believe that Kurogiri is really one of them." Spinner argued slapping his hand down onto a pile of papers.
"Actually it does make a certain amount of sense, I have found that when I don't have a task to do I will frequently just stand around till it's time to do something. Still I don't recall anything about being a hero or being named Shirokumo." Kurogiri mused even as he brought one hand up to where his chin might be.
"That's fascinating and all but can we get back to the fact that my mother is in a mental institution because she poured boiling hot water onto my youngest brothers face when he was a kid!" Dabi shouted slapping one hand down onto his own stack of papers.
"All that in addition to the whole quirk marriage just to produce someone to overcome All Might. Seriously are we sure he isn't a villain? This list of crimes is longer then mine." Mr Compress added as he look at some of the papers.
"Good to see that your all getting along and not killing anyone or each other. Here Himiko, Dabi." As Mask spoke he tossed a pair of canisters to the pair. Both scrambling to catch the sudden flying objects having been unprepared for them.
"What are these?" Himiko asks as she examines the canister. After a moment she finds the lid and twists it off, a bit of mist escaping from inside.
"Blood for you since after my scans I discovered that you need blood to live. Your body doesn't produce blood in the proper amounts unless you've consumed fresh blood. Frankly the fact that no one caught that is just down right criminal."
"That's so cool she's like a vampire!/ Don't let her suck my blood." Twice shouted even as he moved closer to peer into the canister. Meanwhile Dabi had removed the top of his own canister, extracting a dollop of white cream. As he rubbed it between his fingers he let out a small gasp of surprise at the way his fingers were tingling.
"I produced a new type of burn cream for you Dabi that will heal some of the less severe of your burns. I'm hoping that if everything goes well that tonight's mission will let us get those burns dealt with for good."
Dabi looked up at Mask in surprise, a multitude of expressions flashing across his face. "Do you think you could explain what we are actually supposed to be doing in this mission of yours?" Magne asked, out of all of them except Shigaraki she was the least on board with the way things had been going.
"Right, getting down to business then." A projection appeared on the wall of the warehouse showing off the pictures that Mask had gathered of the yakuza base and the various defenses. Moving on from there he described the various low level thugs that they would encounter before starting in on the Eight Bullets who acted as the lieutenants of the organization and their quirks.
Finally Mask moved onto explaining the boss of the group Kai Chisaki, also know as Overhaul. He was describing how useful Overhauls quirk could actually be in improving the lives of those who had suffered from crippling injuries. Something inside of Mask beeped just before a new video started to play this of Overhaul experimenting, more torturing, a very young white haired girl with a single horn growing from her brow.
There was a hissing of breaths being drawn as the gathered villains stared at the screen. Even Shigaraki having stopped his game playing to snap around when the girl's first scream rang out. "New plan." Mask growls out, his voice mixing with Alana's to create a distorted echo. The tone far darker then anything that the villains had previously heard.
4 days until Mask's first class
"Reports are still coming in but at the moment these are the facts that we are aware of. At approximately 4am this morning multiple police and hero teams were dispatched to a building that is now known to be the former headquarters of the Shie Hassaikai yakuza group. When they arrived they discovered that much of the building had been trashed and that many of the yakuza members were unconscious.
A team of heroes lead by Endeavor then proceeded down into a secret passage that was discovered in the building. There the team found the lieutenants of the group also tied up and unconscious along with the remains of the groups leader Kai Chisaki, also known as Overhaul, who appears to have been killed by the leader of the League of Villains Tomura Shigaraki.
Left behind at the scene was a video by the League. In it they say that they've turned over a new leaf and have decided to now be called the Redeemers, vigilantes against villains. Also left behind was the evidence that the group had collected on the Shie Hassaikai of their crimes. Further a second video was left behind at the scene where the villain Dabi proclaimed himself to be Toya Todoroki, believed to have been dead for several years, in the video he not only accused Endeavor of years of abuse to his family but that Endeavor purchased his wife and forced her into a quirk marriage. The goal being to produce a child with the perfect combination of both Endeavor's quirk and his wife's. After the video had ended Endeavor was taken into police custody pending investigation.
When reporters reached out to the Hero Commission to confirm these statements they received no response."
Pushing mute on the remote Nezu turned back to Mask's much more detailed report about the attack on the yakuza group. It was always good to have someone that kept detailed information about what they were up to. Glancing up from the report Nezu fixed his beady black eyes on the young girl Eri who was being checked over by Recovery Girl under Aizawa's watchful eye in case Eri's quirk activated.
The little girl was incredibly scared and had broken down in a panic when they first had tried to get her into Recovery Girl's office. Actually reversing the older woman's age by a few years before Aizawa had erased her quirk. The panic also being why the exam of Eri was taking place in Nezu's office, not that he personally minded as the girl was very sweet. Grabbing his tea Nezu used the cup to hide the ferocious scowl that he briefly gained when thinking about what the girl had gone through.
It was why Nezu had agreed to Mask's sudden change in plans at the last minute. Despite how useful Overhaul's quirk could have been to help people recover that didn't change the fact that the man was a monster. Creating a weapon that could strip the quirks permanently from those that it hit was just the icing on the horror cake that was Overhaul.
Nezu was glad that the prototype had all the notes on the project itself had mysteriously been reduced to nothing but a smear on the floor by an electrical figure that broke out just before the police arrived. Such a shame that.
4 days till Mask's first class
Class 1-A realizing that none of them have seen Mineta for several days now ask Aizawa where their other classmate is. He explains that Mineta is busy with a special treatment and that their classmate will be back by the day of Mask's class. While the class is confused as to what the heck kind of treatment that Mineta could be undergoing they resolve to put it out of their mind. Truthfully the girls feel relieved that they won't have Mineta creeping on them for some time.
Day of Mask's first class.