Chapter 1: The Meeting of the Apes
The rat/mole/bear hybrid creature known as Principal Nezu sighed as he sat at the furthest ends of the table, waiting for the other heroes to file in for the emergency meeting he had called. Rather than maintain his normally upbeat attitude however, Nezu could only look on with both disappointment and shame as the bulky forms of each hero coming in struggled to adjust to their increased mass, constantly spouting apologies to one another as they kept bumping into the other.
What made it worse was the fact that even though he'd gone out of his way to replace the office chairs with something that could accommodate their current states, the ominous creaking they made as each hero sat down told him that they were barely supporting each of them. Nezu wondered whether the chairs would hold out during the course of their meeting.
"Hello fellow heroes. I'm sure you all know the reasons I have called you here." he announced, and he heard a couple of annoyed grunts and huffs due to how obvious it was. Trying to clear away the awkwardness, the Principal took a drink from a glass of water he'd brought for himself and downed it in a few gulps.
"I might as well say that all of you are very well aware of the actions of a certain being we came across a few weeks ago." he said, turning around in his chair and activating a slide projector. Upon the white canvas hanging from the wall, a photo of their subject came up, and Nezu didn't have to look at all the heroes in the room to know that most of them were glaring angrily at it.
"Grodd." Nezu stated simply. "A Quirked animal like myself that some of you met out near the outskirts of Musutafu."
"I should've strangled that bastard ape the minute I had the chance." growled the voice of Yu Takeyama, AKA Mt. Lady.
"Get in line." Nemuri piped in, her arms folded across her ample bosom as she glared so hard at the sight of their target that Nezu thought she was trying to make it burst into flames. However, everyone in the room was completely taken off guard when a fist slammed down on the table, and all eyes fell upon the skinny blonde form of the hero known as All Might, who bared his fangs angrily and ignored the small bit of blood leaking from the side of his mouth.
"Easy All Might. We were all fooled by him." Nezu said calmly, hoping to ease tensions.
"I should've done something sooner." the hero growled out, his sunken features conveying both regret and disappointment at himself. "I knew something was up when I first met him. I thought he was like you Nezu, an animal that had been given special talents against his will."
All Might leaned back in his chair, running a hand through his long blonde hair in frustration. "Grodd seemed so convincing when he fed me that sob story, but there was something about him that always rubbed me the wrong way."
"All Might, he fooled all of us. None of this is your fault." Hero Thirteen said from within the much bulkier helmet he was wearing. Out of all the heroes in the room, he was the one taking up the most space due to his costume having already been big in his previous form. But now, having to accommodate his much bulkier frame, he had chosen to remain standing since he was too wide to fit in the chair.
"That doesn't excuse the fact that we all fell for it, and now not only are we paying the price for it, but so are our fellow students." Eraserhead grumbled, also standing as well to spare himself the humiliation of sitting on a seat that couldn't properly support himself. "Some of them don't even want to go home to their families out of fear of being ostracized for how they look."
The cement hero Cementoss leaned forward in his chair, producing an audible creak that echoed throughout the room. His current form was the same as his fellow teachers although the only thing that remained mostly the same was his square-shaped head. "I fear that Grodd's actions have impacted everyone who was at or near UA."
"This sucks!" Mt. Lady yelled, bringing a fist down onto the table, which shuddered from the force of the enhanced strength her current form possessed. "Isn't there some way for us to reverse this?! I can't go out in society looking like this for the rest of my life!"
"Calm yourself, Miss Takeyama." Nezu ordered calmly. "We currently have the hero organizations top scientists working on a way to reverse what Grodd has done."
"That's easy for you to say. You weren't affected at all by that ape bastard's machine." she said bitterly, leaning back in her chair and folding her arms. Just then, a loud crack was heard and the hero yelped as her body collapsed atop the pile of a ruined chair. There was a sudden bout of silence as everyone looked in surprise at the unexpected action, while Mt. Lady herself simply laid on the floor.
"Uuuuuh… Miss Takeyama, are you alri-?" Nezu began to ask.
"NO I'M NOT ALRIGHT!" Mt. Lady practically roared, sitting up and giving a death glare to everyone in the room. Her bright purple eyes blazed with an almost feral fury even as she bared her fangs. "You might all be fine with what that...that ANIMAL did to us! But I've got a reputation to uphold in the hero community, and now look at me!"
Standing up from her fallen position, the hero gestured to her form, which was covered by her usual tight skinned costume, although with how tall and thick her current form was, it was just barely holding onto her frame.
"How the hell am I supposed to use my sex appeal for my career now?! No one in their right mind if going to want to look at me that way, not while I'm some stupid fat APE!"
Every hero in the room stared at her in silence, the truth of their situation finally settling in on them despite all attempts at avoiding the elephant in the room.
Midnight sighed and ran a hand down her face, walking towards her fellow heroine to help her up. "Calm down Yu, I know how you feel-"
With a growl of anger, Mt. Lady threw herself up off the floor and grabbed Midnight by her shoulders, much to everyone's shock. Before they could even react, the enraged heroine threw Midnight back onto the table, all while baring her teeth and growling in an almost feral manner.
"I'm gonna find that fucker and kill him! He's gonna pay for what he did to me!" she yelled, clenching her fists and then standing up to her full height, her eyes wild and her hair now messy and covering her expression. Every hero looked utterly shocked by her behavior, and some were looking at each other uneasily, knowing that something was clearly wrong.
"Miss Takeyama…" said Nezu in a tone that was clearly trying to remain calm. "I'm going to have to put you under house arrest here at UA."
There was a moment of silence, the tension so thick that no one knew what to say. And then, with a growl that was beginning to increase in volume, everyone's attention was brought back to Mt. Lady, whose whole body was beginning to visibly shake.
"What...did you just say?" she uttered, her wild eyes remaining on the Principal on the other end of the table.
"You are clearly not in your right mind Miss Takeyama. I am placing you under temporary house arrest here until you-"
"LIKE HELL YOU ARE YOU MISERABLE RAT!" Mt. Lady suddenly shouted, leaping on top of the table with a single jump and making everyone lean back in shock as it creaked under her weight. And then, to every single hero's disturbed horror, the enraged ape woman began to make animal-like grunts and hoots as she broughts her fists down on the table several times and then stood back up to pound her fists on her chest.
"She's gone wild! Someone stop her!" Eraserhead yelled, running forward in an attempt to stop the feral-acting heroine.
All Might grunted as he jumped onto the table, before accessing the power of One For All and his skinny body bulked up to match. Before Mt. Lady could properly react to this, the hero used his increased speed to run up behind her and put her in a Full Nelson, lifting her up off the table with his superior strength.
The female ape in All Might's arms started grunting and hooting incessantly, clearly trying to break free but angry at being unable to do so. Meanwhile, Eraserhead was focusing his glowing red eyes on her to prevent her from losing control of her Quirk.
And then a gunshot rang out.
Everyone, including Mt. Lady, froze in utter shock at the sound, and slowly turned their heads in the direction of its source. Principal Nezu was brandishing a rifle in his arms, aimed squarely at All Might and Mt. Lady as the end smoked a bit. Looking in the direction of the target, everyone saw that there was a large dart hanging out from her chest.
"What...what happened? Why am I-?" said Mt. Lady in utter confusion, before suddenly going limp in All Might's arms. The Number One hero lessened his grip and brought her into a bridal carry, holding her body while looking down in disappointment.
"All Might and I suspected something like this might happen, so we were prepared for if this outcome occurred." Nezu explained, placing the rifle down at his side.
"Wait, you mean you knew something like this would happen?" Nemuri growled, before a hand was placed on her shoulder by Eraserhead, who shook his head at her.
"Like I said, I had my suspicions." Nezu continued. Clasping his paws together, the principal leaned forward on them in thought. "Grodd's machine was unknown to us, and while its effects seemed to be only physical, I had a hunch that there may be some psychological effects as well. Unfortunately, I was correct in that regard."
"Great, so any one of us could be walking time bombs reduced to beating our chests." Nemuri said, walking over to the unconscious form of Yu and placing a hand on her head in concern.
"As long as we and others affected by Grodd's machine are here, it would be prudent to keep our emotions in check from now on until this is resolved." Nezu stated. "All Might, would you please take Miss Takeyama down to the nurse's office? I'm sure Recovery Girl will take care of her and explain things once she wakes up. I will inform you of our meetings topic once we finish."
All Might nodded, turning and carrying the unconscious hero out of the door.
"I assume we will be informing all of our students about this?" Cementoss piped up.
"We will inform them of the consequences of losing control of their emotions, but nothing of Miss Takeyama's actions here today. I would like to avoid further humiliation for her." Nezu said.
"I would like to address something before we forget." Eraserhead said, as he leaned his head back and raised an eye dropper medication over his face. However, as he lightly squeezed it, he ended up applying too much force with his ape-sized hands and squeezed the entire bottle onto his face.
Everyone stared, and Nemuri barely managed to stifle a chuckle as the underground hero turned to glare at her, as if daring her to laugh. With a sigh, the now wet gorilla wiped a hand across his face to get the fluids off.
"We are currently missing three students from Class 1A, in particular, Momo Yaoyorozu, Minoru Mineta, and Koji Koda." he explained, pressing a button on the projector to reveal photos of each student.
"Grodd only requested both Miss Yaoyorozo and Koji Koda when he was here." Nezu chimed in, bringing a paw up to his chin. "I assume Mr. Mineta was unplanned, but Grodd must've found some use for him."
"Regardless of his plans for them, the point is that he currently has three of my students under his control." Eraserhead grumbled, "Which by the way, is made even worse that one of them has the ability to control animals with his voice alone. That means we not only have to contend with an intelligent gorilla that has some sort of mind control ability, but also a student that could be used to affect anyone that is no longer human."
"That could prove detrimental to our efforts to find him. I've already sent a request to our government aid requesting specialized gear that will block out those with telepathy Quirks. However, if mister Koda's abilities aren't telepathy based, we should ensure that if he is used against us, that we exercise extreme caution." Nezu explained, bringing a paw up to the side of his head and scratching his ear.
"I think I should be the one to confront Grodd." Eraserhead said, a determined look on his face. "Those students were my responsibility, and my Quirk can disable their power long enough for us to restrain them."
"I'm already way ahead of you Aizawa. I've put in a request for Endeavor to come help us in this regard. His willpower is strong like All Might's, and his human nature will prevent his being controlled by mister Koda's abilities." Nezu replied.
"Hey wait hold up." Nemuri said, leaning forward. "Why can't we have All Might work with Aizawa? Wouldn't he be our best bet against him? I mean, he has gone up against telepathy-based criminals before and won out." she explained. "Plus, not to be rude, but Endeavor is notoriously difficult to work with, even with other heroes."
Nezu sighed. "I'm afraid there are reasons for this. First off, All Might's health has severely declined due to his past injuries, and with his current form, I'm afraid they have been made even worse by the fact that they have been transmitted to his current physical state. I say his time as a hero has been cut down even further because of this."
The heroes in the room all bowed their heads solemnly at this news, and Nezu let them take their moment of silence before speaking once more.
"Also, I should have mentioned that Endeavor has demanded to take care of Grodd personally. He did not take well to the news of his son, Shoto Todoroki's transformation." Nezu said, shivering a little from the phone call he'd had with the Number Two hero. Being on the receiving end of an enraged Endeavor was not something that anyone, nor a Quirked animal like himself should experience.
Eraserhead rolled his eyes. "Let him work out his personal issues by himself. The point is, we need to work together to bring down Grodd before he decides to do something even worse."
Nezu sighed, running a paw down the side of his face. "I was foolish to allow him supply to our school's funding to build his machine. I have my suspicions that the device was only a prototype, and that Grodd may be working on creating a new one that could engulf even more than our school."
"And with his powers and that of Koji Koda's, he could turn anyone into his loyal subjects." Midnight brought up worriedly, bringing a hand up to her mouth and biting her finger in thought, before instantly regretting her action and spitting out the hair she'd ended up getting.
"Correct Midnight." Nezu said, nodding in acknowledgment. "While Eraserhead focuses on finding him, I believe the rest of us will have to deliver news of our plans and findings to our students. Cementoss, please put together an assembly for all of our classes to be done tomorrow. We need to assuage their worries and provide some comfort for them."
Cementoss nodded, getting up and leaving the room to do just that.
"In the meantime, I will personally see to providing our students with clothes they can wear in the meantime, hopefully for a temporary period. Our budget will take a hit, but I feel it will be necessary." Nezu explained. "If there are no more questions, I hereby declare this meeting dismissed."
All the heroes nodded and said their usual 'Plus Ultra' motto before heading out. The principal watched as all of them left...all except for one.
"I had to ask something Principal Nezu." said the hero Thirteen, who had remained surprisingly silent throughout the meeting until now. "We've brought up the fact that this Grodd character has possible mind control powers, but my question is how do we know that those of us that have been in contact with him haven't fallen under his control already?"
Nezu hummed. "I've been reviewing security footage that I had set up in the lab, and while most of it was unfortunately hacked by him, I noticed that a few of his initial encounters with our students seemed to suggest that this particular aspect of his abilities requires his victim to let their guard down around him." he explained. "And I assume the reason he didn't try to do this with us is because we are all fully aware of the risks with telepathic criminals, so he couldn't afford to take the risk."
Thirteen crossed her arms, looking thoughtful at the principals words. "I just hope he doesn't come across the League of Villains before we can find him."
"Do not worry Thirteen, I doubt he will be able to find them considering how secretive they are with their activities."
Nodding and looking satisfied, Thirteen turned and left the room, leaving Nezu as the only occupant. The principal gathered up his papers and the tranquilizer gun he'd brought, and then looked side to side before bringing a paw up to the side of his ear. Pressing down on the small device hidden inside it, he took one last glance to make sure he was alone before speaking.
"Were you able to hear of all that Master?" he said into the transceiver.
"Yes. Well done Nezu." came a deep, rumbling voice on the other end. "Your acting skills are impeccable."
"I live to serve Master." replied Nezu, smiling to himself at being praised.
"However, I don't recall ordering you to receive those specialized helmets that block my abilities." the voice said, and Nezu felt himself shiver a bit at the deep undertone of disappointment that was present.
"I-I felt that it would look more convincing if I looked like I was doing something to counter you in front of them." he said nervously. "But don't worry Master! I am technically proficient and will sabotage those helmets at the first opportunity once they come in. The heroes will be none the wiser."
There was a moment of silence, before a baritone chuckle came through the transceiver. "I am glad you thought ahead of it, little rat. Otherwise, I would have had to punish you the next time we meet."
Nezu breathed a sigh of relief, although he felt the front of his pants bulge just a bit at the thought of being punished by his Master.
"However, there is one more thing I need you to do for me." the voice said. "I will need your files on every single one of the heroes that are at your school, more specifically on the hero known as Endeavor. Furthermore, I require the files and possible locations on this League of Villains. They may prove to be an asset to my plans."
"Of course sir! I will send them to you at the first opportunity." Nezu confirmed. "They will definitely be invaluable to your conquest of this world."
"Glad you think so." drawled the voice. "Thank you for your services Nezu. When I have become the ruler of this planet, I will be sure to reward you greatly for all your efforts." it said, before with a crackle of static indicated the other end had cut off.
Nezu smiled, happy that he had proved so useful to his master.
"All hail King Grodd."