Welcome my readers, we are back with another chapter of My Villain Academia, as you must know this chapter will not be about the past but will continue on in the present of the story, which is around the time of the sports festival. Now, as Izuku and his team aren't as involved in the event as he is in cannon, I will gleam over most of it, only really mentioning things that are different to canon as when I thought about it, even if Izuku wasn't there, the festival would still move like cannon with some exceptions. Now, I did say that Bakugo will get his redemption and we'll see that just not in this chapter as it's more focused around the story's main cast, we'll see Bakugo's point of view next time as it would be odd for it to be in this one.
Chapter 5: Meeting your clients
"And that was it, I pulled the master through the portal before they could zero in on us." Kurogiri finished the story of what had gone down at the USJ. It had taken some time but the two villains had finished explaining everything they knew to their new members. After he finished speaking, none of them spoke as the HIVE students took in what they had been told, and well….they were far from impressed.
"That's all you two know about the USJ?" Night Owl asked the two of them, getting a nob from Kurogiri since Tomura was being extra annoying. "Hmm, I can already see that you had major issues with that entire plan."
"And what were those?" Kurogiri asked, keeping himself calm as these people were here to help them, even if three of them appeared shorter than he would have expected from professionals.
"First of all, you knew absolutely nothing about the students' personalities or their quirks. You essentially tried to attack a place where they would be 20 unknowns in play. Granted that some of them were of no issue but the majority were, you didn't bother to find out if these brats could fight or if they'll have the stones to fight at all." Night-Owl started as he listed off some of the many flaws that Kurogiri already knew about, but that Tomura had refused to even entertain during the so-called, planning process.
"From what I'm hearing, you sent a girl with a frog quirk…to a boat in the middle of a small lake, she literally must have taken to it like a fish to water." He said and from what little they had seen, they had managed to get out of there pretty quick with no discernible injuries. "If you knew what her quirk was, you could have sent her to another zone, hell there was a zone full of fire, that would have kept her in check for one."
"You also didn't have any scouts outside the building that could have alerted you to the heroes' approach or even slow them down to buy you more time." White Fang told them as it would have been really easy to stick a couple grunts outside the USJ to keep an eye out.
"You didn't anything to try and distract or spread out the staff because you didn't try and keep them busy with other stuff, once they realized there was something off, they were able to bring their full might to bear while you at that point, had lost pretty much all your grunts." Gingerbread chuckled as she said her part.
"If this Nomu was a bioengineered weapon, why didn't you place some sort of tracker into it? People do that all the time with high-value equipment and gear. If you had such a device, Kurogiri here could have located the damn thing and brought it back with you or brought it back to attack All Might, you said he was weakened by it, if it had appeared from behind or something, you could have taken him." Scarlett asked of them and even Tomura could only think about how stupid it was that they didn't do that as their Nomu was surely been captured by the pros and out of their reach.
"Your plan was too rigid, unable to be adapted in combat. To make that worse, you didn't have a backup plan for if the first one failed. Anybody who has ever made a plan for anything involving people as factors can tell you that your first plan, no matter how detailed and forward-looking, is full proof. Your failure to scout your enemy just made that problem worse." Taskmaster told them, not pulling any punches and telling them the straight truth, no matter how bad that truth was.
"Lastly, you should have been pickier with the grunts you took. Just taking some thug from an alleyway never cuts it. You could have easily brought a larger group to a secluded location and made them fight each and take the best out of that lot. It wouldn't have been perfect but it would have at least ensured some competence and skill from your foot soldiers." Panda-fist told them as it wouldn't be the first-time criminals did something like that. More often than not, when recruiting, you wanted the best you could get over numbers.
"That's a lotta hot air but you weren't there, so tell me if you're so smart," Tomura asked them, showing them all that he was very pissed off right now, even if all their points were valid. "What do you think we should do now, hmmm?" He asked them, trying to throw them off their game and prove to sensei that they weren't his money or worthy to be in his league.
"First things first, we need to find out more about our enemy cause if you really intend to kill All Might, you're going to attack UA again, right?" Taskmaster, not to be caught off guard, responded nearly immediately, as if he knew the question was coming. When Tomura nodded his head, Taskmaster went on. "Then I suggest we watch the sports festival coming up make sure to take notes on as many of the students as possible."
"You also gonna need a way of making some serious cash. Money makes the world go round and we're gonna need it for equipment, supplies, and better grunts as alley thugs, that's bottom of the barrel BS." White Fang told them straight up as she hated working with small-time groups that could barely afford to pay them as is.
"Speaking of recruits, you need to find some new, competent members and fast. Keep an eye out for any talent that may be interested in joining your fight. One of which is this Stain guy. He's a capable fighter and has already taken down a few pros, we could use someone like that." Night owl said as he gestured to the newspaper on the bar top, with front-page news of the hero killer's last victim.
"Interesting, and how would you suggest we acquire such funds?" Kurogiri asked, rather liking that these people had a plan. Don't get him wrong, he was loyal to AFO and Tomura but when he was placed with his charge, he could admit to himself that he was not impressed by him and his childish tendencies, despite the fact he was in his 20s.
"The good old-fashioned way, by robbing a bank. To be more specific, we rob a regional headquarters or storage vault for a bank." Taskmaster told them as it was a tried-and-true method. Sure, most banks had much better security nowadays but it wasn't impossible. You just need to plan things out carefully and not be incompetent and petty.
"That's the most cliché thing I've ever heard," Tomura told him with a blank stare, or as blank a look, someone can give with a hand on their face.
"Say what you want but it works. We just need to pick our target and time of day very carefully. Sure, we can expect more cash in Tokyo but that also means more pros and cops to deal with in the area. We need a site that will have enough for us to have use for but not too much law enforcement." Gingerbread didn't seem to care about his opinion as she joined in the conversation.
"After that, we'll need a way to scrub the money to make sure that the police can't track it back or any of our would-be partners. You two know someone that can help with that?" Scarlett asked them as that needed to be done before they used any of the funds stolen.
"We know of a broker, he could perhaps get us into contact with people that can do this for us, for a fee," Kurogiri replied as he had a feeling that Giran could be of help with that, the man had always been reliable to them and other villains. The best part was that he never snitched.
"Well, I didn't expect they'll do it for free," Panda-fist responded as only an idiot would believe in such things.
"Nonetheless, none of this will mean anything if we can't fix one single thing here." Night owl started as he looked straight at the pale-haired man seated at the bar.
"And what's that?" Tomura asked him as though he hated it, they had given some good points so he couldn't see why none of that would matter.
"What are your goals? Why do you need to kill All Might? You need a message, a philosophy. An endgame. All Might got as big as he is as his goals and opinions are well known throughout the world. People know what he stands for, what he fights for but most importantly, they've never seen him give up and run." Night Owl told him as image and message were everything. It was how leaders stayed in power, how companies made billions, it was how pros could stay in the good graces of the masses.
"As far as the people, which included potential allies are concerned, you're are just some thugs that lucked out and somehow got past UA security only to be repelled when the pros showed up." He told the guy bluntly as they had done their own research about the league using sources open to the general public and their image….it was shit. Most didn't even care that they had the balls to assault UA since they were repelled so easily.
"So how would you go about this, this PR mission of yours?" Tomura asked them, displaying a rarely seen calm as he may have hated them right now but they could be of some use. So, he sucked it up and asked for their opinion.
"Alright, let's get down to business, shall we?" And with that, the two groups discussed future plans and their goals. They are able to get Tomura's wishes out of him and they told him that destruction for destruction's sake was meaningless. He needed to find the reason behind his anger, why he wanted to destroy things. If he could find that, then he could use it as his drive, and most of all, it will give him purpose. As with purpose, one can survive and fight even when the odds are against one.
Sensei also joined the conversation every now and then like when he informed them that he could help out with setting up front companies and ways to make money that the heroes wouldn't suspect or be able to trace back to them. Taskmaster made the suggestion that they build or acquire a sight where they can hold captured heroes or students. Saying that by holding them hostage and ensuring that UA and All Might can't find them, never mind rescue them will go a long way in messing with their public image and achieving their goals of besting them.
Tomura wanted them to be tortured and he said that students wouldn't know anything and doing something like that would only alienate support for their cause. It took some convincing on their part but once he told them they could call in some favors and have inhibitor collars be delivered to them so they won't have to worry about prisoners giving them too much trouble. Tomura was quite surprised that such collars existed but Night Owl pointed out that the Americans had been using them for some time now in villain prisons and transports. The only downside was that each one had to be pre-programmed to block a specific quirk, hence why cops didn't just carry them or some variant of them around in the states.
It was amusing then when Tomura learned from Gingerbread that Taskmaster was an explosive ordnance expert, skilled in both disarming and constructing IEDs for a multitude of uses. He looked like he wanted the guy to build some and send them to UA or something before he calmed himself down and asked what he would need to build these IEDs. Taskmaster in return explained that IEDs were best used for clearing obstacles, blocking paths and routes, and most importantly, distractions as a sudden and violent explosion can throw just about anybody off their game, giving you a chance to pounce or escape.
(Later – Their Apartment)
"Well, that idiot doesn't know what he's doing," Emily said as she sat down on their couch. The six had been back in their apartment for some time, having used Kurogiri's portal to leave the bar and exit on the outskirts of town where they were able to make their way to where they had stashed their civilian clothing. After changing and securing their gear, they boarded a train home. Meaning that they all arrived 'home' long after dark.
"No wonder…sensei hired us, it's a miracle he wasn't captured during that shit show of an attack on UA." Julius agreed with her. Normally he would be more courteous of their clients but he couldn't really find that many redeeming qualities in Tomura Shigaraki. Sure, he could tell that the man could grow, the fact that he was willing to listen was proof of that but in this business, without training and supervision, one didn't get that much time and would sooner be caught or killed.
"I don't know about that, he seemed willing to listen….at times," Abraham said as he poured himself some orange juice before he saw the pout on Beatrice's face and with an eye roll, he poured her a glass as well.
"How the hell can a guy our senior act like a spoiled brat?" Sienna asked as Beatrice thanked their team leader for the juice as he handed her the glass. At present, she was seated on the couch next to Emily while Izuku stood near the window overlooking the city with all its lights.
"Still, he is our client and we will treat him with all the respect that entails. I doubt the headmaster would have allowed us to take this job if she didn't have some belief that we'll be successful." Izuku stated, adding his opinion to the pile as they had been taught that respecting your clients was a given, granted you didn't have to like the client but they acted as representatives of their school whenever on missions.
"Speaking of success, why a bank or money storage site?" Beatrice asked her boyfriend as they had never actually robbed a bank before. They had heard about other students who had done it and had done some simulations and training exercises about such activity but had never done one for real. It seemed kinda odd for him to suggest something like that.
"Because I have a feeling that our new boss, isn't the one who has the cash. We need to ensure that he can afford us after all." Izuku told them as he could see it from the way Shigaraki carried himself. He was given access to whatever he wanted but he didn't have actual money. He was like a spoiled brat that had all the toys they could want but not a penny to their name. They were also only under contract for less than 30 days. He didn't like leaving a job unfinished but they didn't work for free. Hell, he had heard that one of their instructors had stopped mid-shot because the pro he was fighting managed to freeze the client's bank accounts. He wasn't captured but he spared the target's life because he wouldn't have gained anything from it.
It was that same man that helped to teach Izuku how to use specialty weapons, he may not carry gun gauntlets but he knew enough to make use of them.
"Sly bastard. I like the way you think, how much are we aiming for?" Julius chuckled to himself as he turned on the TV and set it to the news. Even if you had informants in the underground, it never hurt to watch the same sources as the general public.
"121,440,400¥ would be the lowest amount. Not only will we need to secure our paychecks but also, we need funds to pay for the whole 'League of Villains' thing." Izuku told them, getting a whistle of approval from Beatrice as she liked how he could be this bold and decisive figure when it mattered.
"We're gonna keep some of that money, right?" Emily asked with a certain shine to her eyes.
"Emily, we have enough money, we don't need anymore." Abraham shot her down before she could really get into it. The girl was an oddball by nature and full of so much energy that it worried them at times. More than once they had joked that she was on something but according to the school doctor, she was clean.
"Oh, come on! I saw this wicked surround sound system at the mall that we need to get." Emily complained to which Izuku cut in.
"Then get it, I know how much you make, you can afford it," Izuku told the girl.
"Yeah, but then I won't have enough for something else I might want." Emily countered with that patented child-like view on things that only made the rest of them laugh as Izuku and Abraham just sighed in defeat.
"You're unbelievable, you know that?" Izuku asked her as a small smile broke out across his face.
"Of course, I do, but you guys love me nonetheless," Emily said with her hands on her hips in victory.
"Unfortunately," Abraham muttered as the group laughed once more, now at Emily who only pouted at the guy as he placed his headphones over his ears.
"Oh, that was savage, Abraham. When'd you grow some fangs?" Sienna asked the guy who only gulped slightly at the look in Sienna's eyes. She was more cat-like than most and he didn't feel like becoming a scratching post.
"I just added to the conversation." Abraham tried to dum down his response.
"Don't worry about him, he's just messing with you. I'll buy you some ice cream later." Julius teased him as sat down in the seat next to the couch.
"I'm only younger than you guys by a couple months." Abraham reminded them as they liked to tease the fact he was on the younger side in the group, even if he knew it was all fun and games and they didn't mean anything by it, was annoying at times.
"Don't be bad about it, you're older than Izuku and me," Beatrice said to cheer him up as she took a sip of her drink, enjoying the taste of freshly squeezed orange juice.
What? There was a farmer's market nearby.
"You two skipped a grade." Abraham reminded them as they were supposed to be in a lower class but were so good that they were bumped up a level. Heck, if the six were actual full-time students of Shiketsu, the older four would be 2nd years and Izuku and Beatrice would be 1st years.
"Alright, alright. If we have time, we plan our very own bank heist, happy?" Julius said to break things up and add some humor to things as Emily looked like a kid on Christmas morning at that news.
"Very." The redhead responded as she started to rock in her seat from the excitement before Beatrice calmed her down.
"What are our plans for the festival? It's coming up in like two days." Izuku asked the group as they hadn't talked about that yet. They only discussed the fact they had scored VIP tickets to the event.
"Since we gonna see a lot of UA during this little operation, we need to observe what their hero course is capable of," Sienna stated the obvious. Say what you want about them but they did feel uneasy entering a hero school where they'll be dozens of pros all around you. Even if they attended Shiketsu as a cover and were trained to act naturally and not panic in such situations, it wasn't something they enjoyed.
"But don't all the years perform on the same day, at the same time?" Julius asked as he recalled seeing that the schedule had all three years going at it at the same time.
"Yeah, I never understood that. You would think that with the kind of money they have, they could afford to make the festival a three-day event, what if there is a family who has people in different grades, do parents have to choose who they watch or do they have to split up?" Izuku stated having always found that system to be…wanting.
"The school is run by a rat; I don't think that's important to them." Sienna pointed out as that was rather surprising to them, besides Izuku, they had only learned that the principal was a rodent/bear/dog thing when they researched All Might and UA. She couldn't even begin to understand why he was put in charge at all.
"Fair point, anyway. We're gonna have to split up to have eyes and ears on each stage, we'll set the TV to record the entire thing before we leave." Izuku told them as they figured he would want to study any footage he could of the events to help Julius and Shigaraki with strategy later.
"Beatrice and I can handle the first years." At that little announcement, Beatrice turned her gaze to him as she figured that he wouldn't want to watch the first years because of a certain person among them.
"You sure about that?" She asked him with a hint of concern. The others didn't know the story but they figured he must have some beef with a student or something and didn't push. Hearing his girlfriend concerned for him got him to sigh as he gave her a small, thankful smile.
"In another life, I would have tried to join them, you know. I might as well see what we're up against, and what might have been my classmates." He told her as though he could have gone his whole life without seeing Katsuki again, they didn't have a choice in the matter. They needed to observe him and plan accordingly to his skills.
"If you say so, Sienna and Abraham, you guys can handle the 3rd years, can't you?" Julius asked the other two since he saw that little mess was sorted out.
"No problem, chief." Sienna waved back.
"So that means you and me are watching the 2nd years then," Emily asked the Italian who only nodded his head at her. It wouldn't lie, they had heard some interesting things about the 3rd years and a certain trio among them, he wanted to see what they were really made of.
"Yes, but try not to make a scene." Julius reminded as they all knew how excited she could get.
"When have I ever caused a scene?" Emily asked him with a frown.
"I distinctly remember a certain redhead trying to charge the field because her favorite soccer player was given a red card for 'playing the game'." Sienna said with a chuckle as they had all attended the game that day. it was so funny watching the girl get so passionate about a sport like that.
"Come on, that was a long time ago." Emily tried to downplay it as she blushed a bit at the reminder of that day.
"It was three months ago." They all said as one, getting her to blush even harder as she could admit it wasn't her finest hour. Or was the aftermath when she was called to the headmistress's office to explain herself.
"The school soccer team sure seemed to appreciate it," Beatrice smiled
"I think it was more because your shirt ripped when you got into a fight with one of the away team's player's sisters. At least you were wearing a bra." Abraham reminded them as her shirt tore mid-fight and from the catcalls and whistles, the crowd of teens appreciated the sight a lot.
"Still blew up online. The headmistress was not happy about that one." Izuku said as they recalled how…displeased the headmaster was with them. It was not a fun experience. "Alright, I'm going to start getting dinner ready," Izuku said as he pushed off the bar and started to head to the kitchen to start dinner. It was late and he wanted to sleep early.
"I think I'll join you. Any requests?" Abraham said as he got up to join him.
"Nothing sour," Julius stated.
"Make it spicy," Emily asked of them.
"No red meat," Sienna said to the two of them as they only nodded their heads and walked off.
"Got it," Izuku told them as he and Abraham got to work making some spicy chicken and rice for dinner.
(Later – The day of UA sports festival)
"Quite the crowd turn out, isn't it?" Emily pointed out as the group navigated the crowds outside the stadium where the first years were set to perform.
"This is the biggest sporting event in all of Japan, so yeah. They'll be quite the turn-out." Izuku said as he held Beatrice's hand as the panda-quirked girl wore a black and white summer dress with heels. She had covered her eyes with a pair of designer shades yet he found that he enjoyed seeing her eyes more than not.
"Don't worry about it, Izuku. We all know that you can outperform just about everyone here." Beatrice told him with a smile as she gave him a peck on the cheek.
"Benefits of having unusually dense bones and abnormally strong muscle fibers," Izuku replied without much thought as his two years of training and missions had pushed his body to adapt to it. Torn muscles and broken bones healed not just faster than normal but always healed a little stronger than before. Making him better than before his injury.
"Well, either way, we need to find our seats and soon. The show's about to start." Sienna said as she looked around and saw that they had quite the distance to travel if they wanted to reach their destination on time.
"And I'm here to help you with that!"
"Who said that?!" She asked as she looked around at the crowd, the rest of them doing the same but not seeing anybody looking their way or approaching.
"Down here." Hearing the voice again, the group looked down….only to see the principal of UA himself.
"Aren't you…the principal?" Abraham asked just to be sure they weren't seeing things. In response, the animal just laughed lightly while opening his arms wide.
"Correct. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Principal Nezu of UA." Nezu introduced himself to them as Julius took charge of the…odd situation and stepped forward and gave the animal a handshake.
"Charmed. Julius Matterella. Do what do we owe this little visit?" Julius asked as he wondered why the principal himself would greet them when they must be bigger names in attendance. Did he have an interior motive?
"Oh, your new principal called to let me know you were coming. He didn't want any trouble between our two schools." Nezu replied, lowering their suspicion of him.
"But we're transfer students, not real Shiketsu." Julius pointed out as he didn't see any reason for a UA student to give them any trouble. They weren't even in uniform so how would they even know that?
"Even so, some of the more….enthusiastic students might not see it like that. Besides, it's been years since Shiketsu staff or students attended our festival, even as spectators." Nezu explained his reasoning to the group and though it held some water, they weren't going to lower their guards just yet.
"Good call." But for now, they'll play ball. They hadn't said anything out of line and didn't need to throw suspicion on themselves by starting now. "You said that you are here to show us to our seats?" Julius asked him.
"Oh yes! You are being seated in the VIP section, yes? I must say, I didn't expect students to have the funds to afford such." Nezu replied as he turned around and started to lead them off. It was rather amusing watching him navigate the crowds like a child of practice would, dodging around the taller and larger people's legs with ease.
"We didn't. We called our school and requested they cover the fees. We're all students at Honey Lakes International." Julius told him, acting in a manner that wouldn't seem snobby but smart enough to know that the name he just said carried weight. It would also place the thought in Nezu's mind that they were even less of a threat and more of a potential ally.
"Is that so? My, I had no idea that we had students from one of the best schools in the United States here." Nezu responded to them, appearing to be quite excited by the fact students from such a school were present.
"Well, it's a lot like UA from what I've been told. Work you to the bone." Julius told him as one major difference between their two schools was the fact Honey lakes didn't offer a hero program, only a law program for future lawyers and judges.
"Only through rigorous training and challenging mental exercise can we teachers nurture the next generation," Nezu told them as he didn't become the principal for nothing. He brought ideas and reforms to the table that hadn't been present before. One of which was the fact he finally got rid of that quirkless ban on the entry exam a couple years prior. Honestly, he never understood how humans could justify such by saying you need a power of some kind to fight but then allow students with pretty useless or situation-specific quirks to take the exam designed with just physical quirks in mind.
"Our headmistress agrees with that thought and is quite keen for all her students to excel," Julius answered as they continued to make small talk as they moved through the stadium's halls, having entered not too long ago.
"Oh, I would love to meet her someday, to meet all the fine principals of the world really but that's just a fancy of mine," Nezu chuckled as he knew that such a thing was impossible but a rat/dog/bear could dream, couldn't he? "I believe this one is your booth." He said as they approached the booths for VIPS, most of them taken by representatives from support companies or their investors.
'So, he knows? Makes sense seeing how much he already does know.' Julius thought to himself as he didn't let his surprise show on his face at the fact that he knew which booth they are seated in when they hadn't told him. "Yes, these two will be watching the first years perform. They're the same age as the students about to compete and wanted a chance to see their peers in action." Julius said as he gestured to the two youngest members of the group who both smiled when they were brought up. For his part, Nezu watched the two of them like he was searching for something before he cleared that look away and spoke up with his usual cheer.
"Hmm, well then, I hope you both enjoy the show. Those students may not have much in the way of schooling here at UA but I'm sure they'll put on quite the show." Nezu said as he started to walk off, leaving the others to their other stadiums where the 2nd and 3rd years were competing.
"Alright you two, see you later," Sienna called out to them as the four of them walked off, following the lead of the principal.
"We should get seated," Beatrice said as she gestured towards the door leading into the booth, Izuku nodded in agreement and the two of them entered their seating area before closing the door behind them. they didn't lock it as it appear like they had nothing to hide and instead chose to take their very luxurious seats and wait for the games to start. They didn't have to wait long though.
"Hey!" Present Mic said as every jumbo screen in the arena went active and every station started airing across the board. "What's up party people?" He asked as the crowd roared in excitement. "Pay attention, audience!" He said as he waved his arms around in anticipation of what was to come. "Swarm Mass Media!" He said as every media person in the stadium started their own cameras for pictures and etc.
"He really is getting into this," Beatrice spoke up as they listened to the voice hero hyping up the crowd who was eating it up.
"He has a radio show every Friday from what I know, so he must enjoy talking." Izuku on the other hand, was very amused as he used to listen to the man's broadcast every Friday night with his mom, it was their way of relaxing after a stress-filled week. He could admit that he missed that if only a little.
"This year's high school rodeo of adolescence that you all love, The UA sports festival, is about to begin!" Present Mic said as he stood up from his chair in the announcer seat and grabbed the microphone. "Are you ready?!" His answer was the roaring cheers from the crowd getting louder somehow. But that's to be expected when your stadium could seat more than 70,000 people
"It's time for our first-year students to take to the stage and strut their stuff!" He called out as he gestured to the many paths into the stadium that the different classes would be walking out of any moment now.
"Are you ready for this, Tomura did describe someone matching his appearance and quirk from the attack," Beatrice asked as they already knew that Bakugo was present, that he was in the hero course.
"If that's true, then that is more reason to watch this, to see how he has improved over the last two years," Izuku replied to her as he tried to keep his emotions to himself and focused on the mission.
"But-"
"Believe me, I know, but chances are we'll have to face him in combat. I can't run from my past, Beatrice. And I refuse to do so." Izuku told her as he gripped her hand. He didn't want to have to see him, he could have gone his whole life without making eye contact with him again but this wasn't something he could avoid.
"Would it make you feel better if I crushed his skull in my paws?" Beatrice asked him with a wonderful, bloodthirsty smile. Of how he loved this girl.
"As entertaining as it would be watching that, no dear. When the time is right, I'll take him on." Izuku chuckled as he had seen her rip apart wooden logs with her bare hands.
"The UA Sports festival, an epic and huge battle where fledging heroes sharpen their blades and hone their skills once a year!" Present Mic hyped up the crowd. "Anyway, these are the guys, right?"
"The students with miraculous hearts of steel who overcame enemy attack!" The pro said as the first couple of students walked into the light of day for all to see. "From the Hero course, class 1-A!" Present Mic introduced as the entire class walked out of the hallway onto the field.
"They haven't gotten as much airtime but this class is bursting with talent nonetheless!" Present Mic continued on as another class made their way onto the field from another entry point. "Hero course, class 1-B!"
"Next up, the Jacks of all Trades, the general studies classes of C, D, and E!" The next few classes didn't look as hyped up as one would expect but that was expected of the general studies group.
"Then we have our neighborhood gear and motorheads, the support classes of F, G, and H!" The next group made their way onto the field.
"I like that pink-haired girl. She reminds me of Gizmo." Beatrice said as she gestured towards the support student wearing all kinds of gear along with some steam-punk-looking goggles.
"I hope not, he can be so annoying at times," Izuku replied as their senior was a real annoying asshole on the best of days. Granted they couldn't deny his intellect and all the ingenious support items he had cooked up over his time at HIVE but would it kill him to be more pleasant? How his team could stand him was up for debate.
"And finally, last but not least, the masters of the pen and the presentation! Business course classes I, J and K!" The last group of students walked with confidence in their every step.
"And with that, all of UA's first-year students have been assembled!" Present Mick said as all 220 students made it onto the pitch.
"Time for the athlete's prayer." Midnight announced from her position on the small stage in front of the students.
"I can't believe that this year's empire is the R-rated Hero, Midnight!"
"This is gonna be good!"
"They certainly seem to be enjoying this," Izuku noted as he looked around at all the cat-calling guys and some women in the crowd.
"When you are ruled by your base desires, you become lesser than even a dog," Beatrice stated as she watched this with an air of disgust.
"Ohh, that's harsh," Izuku said to her as he eyes her out of the corner of his vision. He may have known that her quirk did things to her on a mental level but for the most part, she was rather strict with how people should act.
"What? It's true, isn't it? Even a dog when trained knows to follow orders and behave." Beatrice asked as at least his dog, Captain didn't go around trying to get laid when the mating season come about, the animal had been trained to resist such urges. Though they were thinking of getting him a lady friend so that he can give them a cute little litter of puppies.
"Quiet everyone!" Midnight commanded with a flick of her whip. "Representing the students is Katsuki Bakugo of class 1-A!" She called out as she pointed said whip at the boy in question who just started making his way to the stage.
"Him?" Beatrice asked. From what she heard from her boyfriend. Bakugo was as pleasant as a wolverine on a good day. Why would they give him this chance when they must know about it?
"That seems kinda off, did he score the highest in the hero entrance exam?" Izuku asked as they had found out the speech done every year by the first years was always given by whoever scored the highest in the hero entrance exam. They found it unfair that those from other courses weren't given that spotlight but the entire festival was structured for the benefit of the hero course, none of the other courses ever made it to the quarter-finals of the final round and it was rare when they did.
"That's the only way. There's no way that guy would be picked for his charming personality." Beatrice mocked as she watched as the boy walked up onto the small stage. She oh so wanted to jump down there and smash his guts in for what he had done but she couldn't. It'll blow their cover.
"I wonder…what will he do?" Izuku asked as he leaned forward in his seat, trying to predict what arrogant BS he'll say on national television.
"Nezu doesn't seem dumb enough to let the prideful prick give a speech on a stage like this. What's really going on here?" Beatrice said as she didn't pick up anything of the sort from the UA faculty member. However, before she could say anything else, Bakugo spoke up.
"I…I fucked up." With that one line, the dirty blonde didn't just surprise the audience but he also grabbed their undivided attention as this was a never-before thing. What was it referring to? For many who knew, this made even less sense.
"For the longest time, I let my ego, my anger….and pride get the better of me, time and time again and because of that, I have done things that I'll never be proud of," Bakugo said over the mic to all those watching as he appeared remorseful, ashamed of himself really. Hearing this, Izuku felt his eyes narrow as he watched, not knowing that the hand that was holding Beatrice's was slowly tightening.
"There was an incident a long time ago, where I saw the results of that ego, and I hated it. I want to be a hero now more than ever, but I want to become one that protects people, I want to atone for my past the only way I know how by honoring the wishes of someone I wronged." Bakugo told them as he looked up to face both the students and the crowd, allowing them to see that he appeared to be serious about his goal.
"So came at me with everything you got, because I will be fighting with everything I have to reach that goal." He finished as the audience was silent for a while. It didn't stay that way since applause started to sound and pretty soon, everyone was cheering for him, well….almost everyone.
"Oh my, wasn't that just sweet?" Beatrice asked, not bothered that her boyfriend's grip on her would be crashing to most, she could take it and knew he wasn't trying to hurt her. Hearing her voice proved to be enough to knock him out of the simmering rage at the audacity, the arrogance of Bakugo.
"Certainly, wasn't what I had come to expect from him. It was nice that he mentioned me." Izuku replied as he calmed himself down and brought up Beatrice's hand to kiss it, a form of apology for his earlier actions.
"What makes you say that?" Beatrice, accepting his apology, asked.
"Because for the longest time, the reason that I wanted to be a hero was to protect people. I didn't care for the money or glamour." Izuku responded as he felt….cheated that after everything he put him through, how he smashed his dream into the ground, Bakugo had the balls to try and make that dream his own. He didn't think his old friend could go any lower but this takes the cake.
"How noble of you," Beatrice responded as she found him to be one of the most unique people out there. He was a villain in training, a boy with a body count and the skill to kill without remorse or much effort, but never without purpose and he had his limits. The most prominent being that he never hurt children, if you were younger than 10, he wouldn't lay a hand on you.
"It was a past life, I am a different person now." Izuku felt like he needed to assure her that he had no plans of leaving HIVE or betraying the connections he had made along the way. As far as he was concerned, that dream was dead and buried, and he refused to try and dig it up.
"I wouldn't say so, you still have a code of honor you live by. You still have that moral code." She responded as that was rare in their line of work. Most mercenaries didn't care what they had to do, who they had to kill, so long as they were paid. But many of HIVE's students didn't operate like that. They had moral codes, lines they would not cross, and things they won't do.
"Don't we all? None of us are cliché villains you know." Izuku joked as he could recall all those All Might cartoons he would watch growing up, thinking back on them, not once did the villains have reasonable goals or morals, they were just made bad guys for bad guys sake. Hell, in one show he watched, the protagonists screwed up most of the time but because they were the good guys, they were never punished. When the bad guy who's trying to redeem himself made one mistake, he was suddenly cast out.
(Later – After the Obstacle Race)
"Clever set up there. Real exciting." Beatrice clapped as she actually enjoyed watching the students race to the finish. The obstacles reminded her of training.
"They could have formed up into teams, it would certainly have made things easier but those students were too focused on themselves to realize that." Izuku pointed out as he was greatly disappointed in the hero students. Some of them had clear disadvantages that could have been solved if they worked with others and yet, none of them even tried.
"Still, after that speech, at least he lived up to it. First place over the son of Endeavour." Beatrice stated as she pointed to the main screen which still had the position on it as many other students started to five. First place was Bakugo, second place was Todoroki, third place was Shiozaki and fourth place belonged to Honenuki and fifth was Kendo. They didn't know three of them very well, mostly because the cameras focused mainly on the first and second place runners for most of the match but they saw enough to have an idea of their quirks and skills.
"Oh yes, Shoto. I do find it odd that he seemingly is only using ice, he is the son of a flame-based hero. Could it be from his mother's side of the family?" Izuku observed that was odd as not once did, they see even a hint of fire from the boy. He was interested in the whole scare thing.
"We'll look into it later. I want to see how he survives this next bit." Beatrice said as they waited for the rest of the students to arrive before they announced the next game. However, as they did that and before the second game would even begin, Beatrice felt her phone ring in her pocket. With practiced ease, she reached for it and saw that it was Julius calling her. Not knowing why he would, she nonetheless answered the call. "What is it?"
"You guys saw the news yet?" Julius asked her, sounding as calm as normal though there was a hint of anticipation in his voice, they didn't know why.
"No, what happened?" Beatrice asked as she put her phone on speaker so that Izuku could hear as well.
"Stain's on the move in Hosu, rumour has it that he took down Ingenium," Julius said over the phone.
Stain has made his move. Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter, it was fun to write their interactions with Kurogiri and Shigaraki. As the title stated, they are giving him handy tips and advice on how to run a villain organization, which you can guess means that the league will behave differently to cannon as Tomura will grow and mature, if not show a willingness to listen to them. As the festival isn't that important, we'll see more of it from Bakugo's POV when we cut back to it.
