Izuku had always believed that there were two people in the world; namely those that made plans and those that didn't. If he were to be pressed to refine his definition a little more he would state that when choosing to undertake an operation half of the people would plan out every little step that would hopefully culminate in their complete victory whereas the other half would waltz into it blind, relying on their quick wits, skills and a bit of luck to see them through. Izuku was overwhelmingly in the former category due to the nature of his Quirk. Since he could do a wide variety of things for a few minutes he had learnt to make those minutes count and select the optimum arrangement of Quirks to fulfil his goal.
The downside of this was that he had to have multiple backup plans or he could end up in the bad situation of bringing the wrong tool for the job. At that point he would have to rely on Tindalos to get him out as fast as possible or the rest of his crew to complete the job. Thus the first few seconds of a confrontation were entirely indicative of how the rest of the fight would go down and Izuku would already whether to skedaddle or not based on that.
"So what's got you in such a state, Boss," Sudor said from her spot next to him as the pair of them were driven to the location of the meeting. Ears was driving them to the location as none of them were old enough to legally drive. Sometimes being a criminal was about knowing when and when not to break the law. "I haven't seen you look this anxious since your preparations just before your battle with All Might. Actually now that I think about it this has been quite a busy month for you hasn't it."
"This is almost as big as my debut," Izuku exclaimed. "Well actually not really," he amended after a moment's thought. "Nevertheless I think my meeting with this Shiragaki has the potential to be very, very interesting."
"I still think it is a bit of a longshot Boss," Ears said from the driver's seat as he met Izuku's eyes in the rear-view mirror briefly. "The connections in my mind are far too tenuous."
"You're reading my mind again Ears," Izuku said more than asked. "Besides Brain agrees with me and you and I both know that she is the most qualified to make these judgments."
"Brain's quirk is not omnipotent Boss," Ears replied. "And even if she was I think that's even more reason not to chance it."
"Can you guys please stop talking over me," Sudor stated with no heat behind her tone. "Just who are we meeting with?"
"We are meeting with an unknown named Shiragaki," Izuku said only for Ears to cough.
"Shigaraki Boss," he said politely but with a hint of a smile that could be seen in the rear view mirror.
"Shigaraki," Izuku said mentally changing the name. "Tomura Shigaraki is his name and as I've stated we have nothing. No prior crimes, no background history, no known associates. Normally, I would have simply made a note at this point and ignored a request of a meeting if it was not for one thing; namely the person delivering it. Tell me Sudor; who do you think is the most powerful villain in Japan?"
"My father," Sudor replied instantly giving the wrong answer.
"And for those of us not blinded by filial piety," Izuku teased her. He was one of the very few who could do this with Sudor and not end up with a fist in his face; or at least if she did it was without any intent to harm him. Instead the white haired girl simply huffed and crossed her arms.
"I'm not going to take this for you," she said. "If your father was a villain we would never hear the end of it. Instead he spends his days in some boring cubicle."
"Hey, he has an office," Izuku half-heartedly replied. "But you're right I suppose. Dad's cool but your dad's career was just a bit cooler," he said before smiling. "Literally and metaphorically."
"If you could stop making bad jokes and start explaining why we are here," Sudor said with a hint of annoyance only for the car to stop at that moment just outside an inconspicuous building.
"Why my dear Sudor," Izuku said smiling deeply. "You and I might just be meeting with a cryptid, an urban legend, a mythical figure among the underworld. Let's hope he shows up."
"Shouldn't we avoid him for now then?" Sudor asked. "If this guy is really as much of a bigshot as you think wouldn't we be serving ourselves up on a platter?"
"As opposed to showing fear and hiding in base," Izuku responded. "Sudor please, f I wanted to take the path of least resistance I would have been a hero. We can't show weakness at this point, and especially not to the supposedly legendary existence hidden beneath Japan's underworld."
"I suppose we can't back off at this point then," Sudor said as she caught Tindalos who chose that moment to pop into existence in the air. I really don't want to do this," she said as she handed off the dog to Izuku. "And your stupid villain worship isn't helping."
"I don't worship villains," Izuku half-lied as he stepped out of the car and breathing in the dirty Kamino air before adjusting his full facial mask and drawing up his hood. "I merely admire and wish to learn from all of my predecessors. Realistically among the larger villain groups conflict between villains proves to be an even greater threat than attacks from most heroes and even more lethal. Knowing that you remember what to do?"
"Be polite and respectful but don't back down and show weakness," Sudor started to recite with an expression that said that she had done this far too many time before. "If conflict looks imminent I will resolve it quickly and with the minimum of damage. Pay attention to the Quirks of the villains and try and see if there are any faces we recognize which will help us judge the standard of the villain group. If things go south then we try to politely leave without escalating. If they escalate we wipe them out then." Those last words were spoken as she finished getting out of the car. She had chosen to go dressed in a black fully armoured bodysuit that had been purchased on the black market for an absurd amount and was customised to take advantage of her Quirk.
"That's pretty much all of them," Izuku said as he stood beside his subordinate dressed in a black tuxedo, a hooded overcoat hanging loosely from his shoulders and obscuring his very unique hair colour. He had planned to dye it multiple times to be more inconspicuous but each time he had pulled back and let it remain as its viridian colour.
With a reassuring smile to his subordinate that she couldn't see due to his full face mask, he walked to the unobtrusive address that constituted his contacts meeting place. Stepping into the room the first thing he noticed was the ambiance. The rather plain but homely atmosphere that was reminiscent of bars rom the eighties and he had always enjoyed watching movies from about that time. Unfortunately he also immediately noticed that the bar was deserted. That was not to say that there were no people but the few persons that were a part of the meeting were villains which set a whole other tone for the meeting.
If the meeting was to take place in an ordinary restaurant with civilian patrons then it signalled that there would be absolutely no fighting and that the tone of the meeting would be civil if not friendly. If the meeting took place in a deserted place then it meant that a more aggressive stance could be taken and a fight might even break out. Even worse was when the building was when the meeting spot was on the turf of one of the villain groups as that often increased the chance that an ultimatum might be issued which was a situation Izuku would like to avoid if possible.
The second thing that he noticed was the quantity and quality villainous occupants of the bar. There were thirteen in total which was by no means a deficient showing of numbers but from what he could see their standards were lacking. He easily recognized a few D-rank villains that committed their own petty crimes like loose sand without the structure of a villain gang. He had encountered them a few times and felt that their abilities were lacking each time.
Izuku placed his steel bat inside the umbrella rack at the side of the door and strode confidently into the room with Sudor a few steps behind her and Tindalos in her hands. Just the three of them constituted the core offensive of the Living Tree and the six or so known criminals would be instantly defeated by them. The unknown persons were a bit of a concern but he honestly did not know every villain that operated in this area so it was not unexpected.
"I have a meeting with Shigaraki," he said politely if coolly showing no sign of eagerness or fear. It was at this point that inevitable eyeing up would start and the introduction that would serve as the basis for this conversation. No immediate hands were raised and Izuku watched as a few of the heads subtly turned towards the doorway into another room of the bar.
"If it isn't the person who landed one on the Symbol of Peace," the voice that came out of the newest occupant was harsh and slightly grating giving him a mildly sinister aura. But the voice was the least interesting about the new person ranking far below his current wardrobe and Izuku found himself wondering if the hands that were clasped around his body were real and if so how he put them on each morning. Were they preserved in some form of mummification, but that would normally that would stiffen the joints up causing… "I would like to enlist your help in our common interests."
"And what are these common interests we have," Izuku said as he gestured to sit down at a table in the middle of the room, Sudor by his side. "I don't even know what your goal is and I don't believe I've submitted a manifesto for the Living Tree." Mist suddenly appeared in front of him and that moment and he tensed minutely before he saw that it was merely a plate of food in front of him. A steak with some assorted greenery and Izuku stuck a knife through it only to imperceptibly grimace at the sight before him. The meat was cooked perfectly well done; ruined beyond any chance of redemption. Next to him he watched Sudor eagerly look at him and he reluctantly activated his poison-detecting quirk detecting that the meat would only disappoint him but not kill him. "Go for it," he said to his companion who dug into the meat, the barbarian apparently finding it rather tasty.
The fact that the food was teleported directly in front of him spoke of a warping Quirk and Izuku took a brief glance throughout the room before spotting a man behind the bar whose head appeared to be composed of the same gaseous substance. Warping quirks were rare and were highly prized by almost everyone. They were not the province of small-time gangs.
"Don't you want to kill All Might," Shigaraki said looking somewhat confused before he composed himself. "You basically waited around to PK him. Then you launched an ambush at him and realised you couldn't beat him so you retreated to power level up your party. Still you did a great job making him look foolish when a bunch of Tree villains left on his watch."
"He showed up and I ran, is the way that the majority of the news stations have spun it," Izuku rebutted. "Most of them have the opinion that it is only a matter of time before All Might takes us down and while I will not let that happen I will also not go looking for trouble before I need to."
"Then why would you go out of your way to attack him in the first place if you didn't want to kill him?" Shiragaki asked in a baffled tone.
"Advertising," Izuku said as he lifted up a fork and dug into some of the greenery on his plate, lifting up the bottom half of his mask to take a bite of the vegetables. It was very rude not to eat what you are given after all. "By showing myself as a formidable threat I establish my credentials giving me more business opportunities as well as meetings; such as this one. We certainly wouldn't be talking if I hadn't put on such a show Tomura Shigaraki. Now then can you tell me why you want to eliminate the Symbol of Peace?"
"Do I need a reason to hate All Might," Shigaraki said as scratched at his neck. "Everything about him is trash. I hate how this shitty society worships him. Why do you care? Wouldn't All Might disappearing make the job safer for you?"
"That's lunacy," Izuku said almost instinctively. "There are plenty of reasons to want to kill All Might and you come up with that flimsy thing." He calmed down and was about to soften his stance when one of the gang members a guy with the head of an alligator stomped forward.
"Why are you even bothering with this guy boss," the reptilian rapscallion said reaching his arm towards Izuku. "He's already admitted he isn't hot shit. Why don't we just get rid of him now?"
"Sudor deal with Killer Croc over here," Izuku said and in the next moment he saw his subordinate salute before she vaulted over the table and landed a kick on the neck of the 'opponent'. A mighty crunch signalled the end of his participation in the nightly discussion and he hit the ground limply. He would live; in fact he would likely be recovered in about a week. Sudor was well aware that blood wasn't to be spilled in these meetings and she was trained enough to know how to disable without killing.
Looks of alarm flashed through the room and the atmosphere became a whole lot more menacing as the collective villains pulled out weapons, activated quirks and got ready to undertake a course of action that would leave them unconscious on the floor. Even then the only action that Izuku took was to allow Tindalos to jump into his lap and fed him a bit of his steak.
The room was tense for a moment and it looked like Shigaraki was going to command the rest of the villains to attack him when he angrily held up a hand to forestall an attack. He glared at Izuku and the young villain leader noticed an expression of hatred on his face before he picked up his fork and knife and furiously started cutting into his burnt piece of beef.
"So then what shitty objective marker would get you to kill All Might," the villain said as he took a piece of the ruined steak.
"If he killed one of my crew or if I thought he was a genuine threat to the Living Tree I would kill All Might," Izuku said noting that his conversant conspicuously kept some of his fingers off his cutlery as he ate. "However, doing this would bring down the wrath of every other hero upon my head. Naturally any one of those situations would mean that I have already failed to an extent. But then again you and I are different in this case Shigaraki." He reached down to the glass next to his plate before realising it was alcohol and retracting his hand. "I wish to create a criminal enterprise so I did. I wish for my gang to grow so I put effort into making sure that it does so. I did not start a gang with the intention of killing All Might; that's a lot closer to the manifesto of a political party or a cult in my opinion."
"And so you refuse to join us," Shigaraki said his manner of speech indicating that he would really like to attack Izuku but he held himself back.
"There is no reason why we cannot collaborate," Izuku said. "Even if I have no particular desire to kill All Might doesn't mean that I cannot help you in your endeavours or you help me in mine. Information, contacts, weapons, backup, all of these things can be shared when necessary. Putting two groups of people together with incompatible ideas will lead to both groups being less effective than if they were alone."
"Will you provide back up against All Might though," Shigaraki said his voice cruel and measured. "From what I've seen you would rather End Battle as soon as he arrives."
"There is nothing wrong with making a measured retreat," Izuku said slightly condescendingly. "I've seen people with convictions and no strength and people with no conviction and strength but this is the first time I'm ever dealing with somebody with no convictions and no strength. I'm trying to keep this amicable kid but you're really trying my efforts."
"Kid," Shigaraki said and Izuku placed down his cutlery tensing for a momentary attack. From what he guessed based on his movements his ability had something to do with fingers. "I'm older than you, bastard." His preparations were not a moment too quick as Shigaraki got out of the chair at this moment and lunged at him with hands outstretched. He was quick, insanely quick and touched based Quirks were almost always lethal at close range so Izuku chose not to hold himself back and restrain his Quirk usage. He raised his hand and a repulsing burst of air shot from his fingertips catching Shigaraki on his chest and flinging him backwards through the bar wall.
He was up in moments and Izuku saw black fog coalesce around him before it was cut off as a massive Tindalos crashed into the bar shattering wood and glass as he chased around the black mist; the pair of them hopping into and out of existence in a manner that would make the casual observer's head spin. To his left Sudor had leapt towards the remaining few and half of the room became a refrigerator as explosions of ice erupted everywhere.
Izuku could devote no time to that as the man with the hands Shigaraki was up again looking no worse for wear despite the fact that Izuku barely pulled that punch. There seemed to be no grogginess as he promptly dodged the plate of food that Izuku threw at him and swept low with his hands outstretched towards Izuku in retaliation. His retaliation didn't connect as Izuku jumped onto the table using it as a springboard to vault over the enemy and then launched another yet of wind from his palms driving him into the ground and using the force to flip himself over and land on another table.
Once again Shigaraki was quick to spring to his feet and Izuku started to revaluate the young man's ability. While he lacked anything of worth strategically and his choice of associates was terrible he was at least physically well off which was at least one major positive amongst his shortcomings. Izuku leapt backwards off the table before he kicked it on its side and sent another jet of air at the furniture forcing it to fly towards the hand-covered villain. It landed square on the villain forcing him backwards but he didn't collapse and Izuku watched in morbid interest as the table started to crumble into dust that fell gently across the ground.
"That's quite the Quirk," Izuku mused. "If it had hit me then I would likely be in serious trouble." In reality Shiragaki had lost when he had inadvertently revealed that it was activated by touch. With that sort of information there was no way he was going to go into melee with him. Furthermore while he could probably take down Shigaraki with time there was frankly no need to. It had already been fifteen seconds since the start of fight.
"Need some help boss," Sudor said wiping away some blood from the side of her mouth. Apparently she had taken a blow in the fight; a dangerous situation in a society with hundreds of potential touch-based weapons; probably caused by her being lazy. "I've taken out like ten guys when you and Tiny haven't even finished one. I think I deserve a raise for that, or better yet a Sudor Point. What do you think Boss?"
"Ten multiplied by zero is still zero," Izuku responded harshly. "Do you want me to give you a raise for remembering to wear pants to work also? Do you want to still continue this," he asked Shiragaki gesturing to all of the thugs on the floor and the monstrous Tindalos who was morphing larger and smaller as he disappeared and reappeared time after time after time in an attempt to maul that illusive fog creature.
"If you think…" the man started only for the world to suddenly darken and the air to grow colder.
"I think that has been quite enough for today," the coldly amused voice sounded throughout the room and Izuku backpedalled to keep both Shigaraki and the newcomer in sight. The man who entered the room did so casually but his presence still dominated the space causing Izuku to feel as if his heart was dunked in cold water. He was tall, at least six foot and clad in an imposing business suit and a full-headed mask just like Izuku only quite a lot more sinister in appearance. His voice might have sounded slightly familiar but then again he might be altering it, just like Izuku did whenever he wore his own mask. He cut his analysis short as logic and instinct told him that there was only one man that this could be.
"All for One, I presume," he said putting on a brave front. "So I was correct in thinking that you were the backer of Shigaraki." By doing that he was attempting to make himself seem better informed and subsequently a less easy target. "So why did you call me here today?" Framing it that way puts both of them on equal standing and while Izuku didn't believe that he could beat him he would refuse to work with a person who wouldn't observe this courtesy.
"It was not I who called you here but my protégé Tomura who wished to recruit you," All for One said as he stepped towards the now stationary Tindalos who was bearing his hackles at the villain. "How rare it is to see an animal with a Quirk," he said with barely concealed interest in his voice. "Can you tell me his name?" he said politely and Izuku raised his opinion of the person who could likely kill the both of them a notch. It was considered provokingly rude to inquire about Quirks and despite the fear that Izuku felt for him All for One had been nothing but polite.
"His name is Tindalos," Izuku said politely.
"As in the 'Hounds of Tindalos' by Frank Long," All for One said immediately and Izuku found himself smile as somebody finally got the reference instead of just lazily calling him Tiny.
"Yeah I was going to originally name him Lockjaw but…" Izuku's voice trailed off.
"He doesn't resemble a Lockjaw," All for One said. "Even if he was originally a pug he would likely not resemble a Lockjaw with that Quirk." He approached looking at Tindalos but not touching him. "I presume you don't want to work for Tomura at this point?"
"Do you even think he wants to hire us still," Izuku said glancing at the inexperienced villain.
"I don't want to," Shigaraki confirmed Izuku's thoughts in a second. "I don't want to deal with allies that join the party with negative relationship values."
"You don't even have a party," Izuku said harshly before he quieted down.
"No, no please speak," All for One said before Shigaraki could. "I've had my eye on the Living Tree for a while and you have been doing quite well. Please can you give my protégé some advice?"
"Alright," Izuku said after a few moments of hesitation. It was a harmless enough request and he had enough genuine respect for the ruler of the Japanese underworld to voice his opinion. There was nothing that Izuku could teach him after all. "First thing you need is loyal competent subordinates. You need people who you are confident in sending on a job and knowing how to get it done or if they can get it done. In other words you need to properly invest in some manpower rather than… that," he said quietly as he looked at the down or unconscious criminals who found themselves on the wrong end of Sudor.
"Second you need to know what your goal is. Knowing what your goal is you need to learn your bottom line, in other words what won't you do; this is something that virtually everybody has and is something that you need to work around. For instance my second-in-command absolutely loathes drugs and I quite dislike them also and so despite the lucratively of the market we refuse to dip our toes into it."
"Thirdly you need to work on your image," Izuku said after a moment. "You can cultivate your image in any direction you want but you need to act somewhat consistently. You can even act in different ways towards different factions. You can be the cold calculating mastermind to the heroes and the supportive leader to your subordinates. Cultivating the appropriate image will increase recruitment, morale, opportunities and builds respect over time if you make your name something worth respecting." Izuku paused for a moment before he decided to just throw it in. "And for the cow's sake at least will you stop ruining the steak. Eating it well done is admitting you wouldn't know good food if it punched you in the nose."
"I can eat it however I like it," Shigaraki said gritting his teeth in irritation. "And what sort of psycho actually enjoys drinking blood."
"It's actually myoglobin," All for One said with some amusement. "I prefer to eat steak blue myself. No," he said shaking his head. "While young Tomura doesn't want to hire you I would like to enlist your services for a job."
"Depending on what the job is the Living Tree will take it," Izuku replied only to see All for One slowly shake his head.
"I'm afraid this job I want you to take is not for the Living Tree but for you," he clarified. "I have some respect for what you have done with your group and thus I would like to hire you to mentor Tomura."