Chapter 30: Weekend Treachery

Awareness slowly returned to Izuku as his alarm blared. Yawning, he tried to rub the sleep from his eyes. His rest had been entirely too short. Reaching over to his phone, he deactivated his alarm before burying his head in his pillows. The sun wasn't up yet, but even the tell-tale rays of light on the clouds were blinding.

What I wouldn't give for just one Saturday off...Aw, who am I kidding. I'd just patrol anyway.

Forcing himself out of bed, he reluctantly went over to his dresser and pulled on some clean clothes. He had a lot of work to do over the weekend if he wanted to have his new costume finished before he was bogged down in his internship. After eating breakfast and grabbing the packed lunch his mother had made for him, he went to the subway station and boarded the train to UA. Taking his usual spot, he pulled out his phone and scowled.

Stupid screen! That's it, as soon as I get to the workshop, I'm replacing this-

He stopped. His spider-sense was tingling. Glancing up, he was taken aback to see that half of the people in the train car were gawking at him.

'Uh...'

Resisting the urge to facepalm, he quickly went for his headphones. Maybe nobody would bother him if they thought he was listening to something. Pushing the earbuds in, he carefully kept his eyes on his cracked phone screen though he knew they were still staring. Even though he wasn't in his uniform they had recognized him right away.

And here I was hoping that Spider-Man's shenanigans would have distracted everyone. Oh well.

A minute later the car filled and the train started moving. Thankfully his earbud strategy seemed to work as nobody approached him, however he couldn't help but overhear the whispered conversations of the other passengers.

'That's him! He really is a little short, isn't he? He's young though, there's still hope!' said one woman to her younger companion causing him to blush.

You can say that again. Izuku thought. Hopefully he inherited his dad's height.

To his dismay, a group of teens also spotted him and they wasted no time in sizing him up.

'I mean…if you think about it, he only had one good fight and he lost. With my quirk advantage I bet if I rushed him, I could take him. He's just sitting there.' whispered a boy Izuku's age to his friends.

'What about the brunette with the stick?' pointed out one of his buddies.

'Oh, whatever. She doesn't count. She had no idea what she was doing. The way she was waving that stick around during her fight with that commercial mascot chick. I mean honestly!'

'He defeated that pink acid girl though.'

'So? Give me some Pepto-Bismol and I could have done the same. Speaking of, did you see the Benny Hill edit of his fight with her! It's hilarious!'

He could do nothing but listen with mounting frustration as the boys went over the events for the rest of the train ride. From the way they were talking, it seemed as though the internet had labelled the hero classes a big joke. He couldn't imagine how Class 1-A and B must be feeling.

Arriving at the station, he quickly left the train and started fast walking to UA. The streets were more crowded now, and as he went he noticed that he was catching quite a few looks. Along the way, he passed by a group of young adults and from over his shoulder he heard one of the men mutter:

'That's him huh? Pfft. Cheater.'

'Yeah. If you have to use weapons then it doesn't count in my book.' his friend said back quietly.

'His victory was all political. What a joke.'

He nearly stopped. Their comments made him madder then they should have, but he knew that if he said or did something about them he would only make things a hundred times worse for himself. So, telling himself they were just jealous, he bit his tongue and increased his pace. If the hero classes were dealing with being mocked, then what right did he have to say anything?

Arriving at UA, Izuku hustled over to the development studio. The commute had set him on edge and he was anxious for a distraction. Entering the workshop, he was pleased to see that besides himself the only other person present was Power Loader.

'Good morning, Midoriya. Do you have all of your schematics for your costume ready?' he asked as Izuku put his things by his station.

'Yes, sir. They're all ready to go.' he replied as he walked over to the fabricator, USB stick in hand.

'Excellent. I must admit I'm curious to see your new costume. This is your third iteration correct?'

He glanced up from the fabricator computer. His spider sense was tingling.

'Yes, sir.' he said carefully.

'Yes, I remember. You had built your first suit, but it was too heavy for you. Didn't you end up having to reprint the whole thing?'

Izuku swallowed and focused back on the computer screen. He hadn't expected this discussion.

'Y-Yeah.'

'Whatever happened to your first suit? As I recall, you only had it for that first lesson with All Might before remaking it that very afternoon.'

'Uh, I-I got rid of it. R-Recycled it I should say.'

'You did? Hm. I don't remember seeing it on my outgoing inventory. Now that I think about it…hmm...'

Power Loader fell silent and Izuku scrambled for something to say. He had to change the subject before Power Loader started to consider all of his loose ends.

'So, uh, Mr. Maijima I was wondering, um, what do you think Endeavour will have me do as an intern?'

Power Loader kept silent and he felt his spider sense twinge again.

'Mr. Maijima?' he repeated nervously.

Power Loader blinked and looked up.

'Oh, yes. Sorry. From what I understand most of the Musutafu Hero Agencies are currently investigating the attack on the Glass Way Tower, including Endeavour's. I don't know to what capacity Endeavour is involved in that case, but I would imagine he has a lot of evidence to sift through. Surveillance footage, damage reports, finger prints, DNA, who knows? Then again it may be that he doesn't want an intern working on something as tedious as reviewing evidence.'

'I see…' Izuku said thoughtfully before grinning, 'Maybe I'll crack the case and apprehend Spider-Man!'

'Maybe you will.' Power Loader replied in a half serious voice, 'These sorts of cases can drag out for years. It could be that you'll do some DNA lab work on some hair or a sample of blood, then five or ten years later an arrest is made when Spider-Man visits the hospital. It's happened before.'

'O-Oh, really? That's interesting.' Izuku said before turning his attention back to the fabricator.

I guess there is no point in worrying about DNA evidence. The government already has it!

'Anyway, I'm sure he'll make good use of you. Endeavour doesn't let things go to waste.'

At that moment Mei strolled into the studio and Izuku perked up. Mei was a walking diversion, he just needed to get her talking.

'Morning.' she said with a yawn, 'How're you both doing?'

'Hi, Mei.' he said quickly, 'What are you building today?'

'I'm not sure.' Mei replied as she crossed the room, 'Something cool I hope.'

Mei dropped her backpack by her chair before skipping over to Power Loader's desk. As she began yammering away in his ear, Izuku carefully backed away to his workbench. To his relief, Mei launched into her usual routine of nonstop questioning. As she and Power Loader talked, Izuku kept a close eye on them. The fabricator was still loudly rattling away, but his spider-sense was calm. Power Loader must have forgotten all about him and his missing costume problem.

Crisis averted. He thought with a sigh of relief.

Opening the drawer on his workbench, he brought out his tools and started work on his new grenades. In order to save himself some time, he decided to make a general-purpose grenade template. This template would have multiple detonation settings (proximity, on contact, timed, remote control, etc.) while also supporting a wide variety of payloads. There would be high explosive of course, but also more exotic effects as well. EMP for electronics, hallucinogenic gas, highly pressurized acid, incendiary clouds, shrapnel airbursts, and more besides. The idea was to be as unpredictable and devastating as possible.

As the hours rolled by, Izuku and Mei chatted. Mei had gotten an internship at a prestigious design studio and appeared to be split between being ecstatic at the possible business connections she could form and being paranoid that they would steal her brand. Izuku tried reasoning with her, but to no avail.

'Mei, I think you're overreacting. I mean what brand do you even have for them to steal? You don't have a company yet.' Izuku said as he configured his proximity sensors.

'What?!' Mei said in shock, 'I have a brand! I'm the spunky girl with pink hair! I have a get in your face attitude and a delightfully flirtatious yet family friendly demeanour!'

'How original.' Izuku muttered to himself before speaking up, 'Mei, listen: If your brand is entirely personality driven, what's there for them to steal? Unless they start dying their hair and wearing tank tops, I wouldn't worry about it.'

'I guess that's true…' Mei said thoughtfully as she chewed her pencil, 'But they could still steal my babies from me!'

He frowned and looked over at the pile of "babies" by Mei's workstation. It seemed as though she never stopped building. From what he could understand, most of her stuff was useless junk, but every so often she would create something that was actually sort of inspired.

'Where do you find the time to make all that stuff, Mei?' he asked, shaking his head, 'Do you spend all your free time in here?'

'Oh, Mr. Maijima lets me come and make babies with him all the time! Isn't that right, Mr. Maijima?' Mei said happily.

Power Loader instantly spat out his coffee and Izuku burst out laughing.

'Wh-Wh-What?!' Power Loader sputtered out between choking gasps.

'Huh? What did I say?' Mei said, frowning as she looked between them.

'N-N-Nothing.' Izuku said, gasping for breath.

Izuku and Mei continued to work throughout the day. Occasionally the fabricator would chime and he would remove the finished piece of his costume before restarting it for his next segment of armour. Because of the complexity of his design, he had to machine the armour in pieces before assembling them together on his bench. Finally, as the day drew to a close, he had printed out his full suit on a mannequin. Standing back, he admired his creation.

Tiny, interlocking emerald scales of light weight, high strength composite materials ran alongside the arms, legs and joints which gracefully connected with larger plated segments protecting his back, chest, thighs and stomach. Each piece had been specifically tailored to his physique and could be easily swapped out and replaced in case of damage. Beneath the environmentally sealed and electrically insulated armour lay a complicated network of micro circuitry and sensors that all fed into the central computer built into his new helmet.

It looked perfect! He was so distracted by how cool it looked that he didn't even realize Mei and Power Loader had went over until they were standing right beside him.

'So? What do you think?' Izuku said turning to them, 'Pretty sweet suit, right?'

Power Loader shook his head in amazement as his fingers traced the intricate, interconnecting pieces.

'This is professional quality work, Midoriya. I must admit, I'm impressed.'

He blushed at the praise.

'Man…Izuku…it's certainly something.' Mei said in a hushed voice and he felt an immense satisfaction at the awe in her voice, 'But, what's with the helmet? Did you have to make it look so…evil?'

'Huh?' he said in surprise. Turning, he looked at his helmet. Beneath the yellow eyes of his sealed mask he had put a delightful smile, its lips turned upward in a subtle hint of mischievousness.

'Are you talking about the smile?' he asked and Mei nodded, 'Oh, that. Well I wanted to reference All Might in my design and he's always smiling, you know? So I thought it would be fun to have the mask be smiling! Like, I'm a helpful rogue or something. It's cute!'

'It's demonic.' Mei murmured, grimacing as she considered it from a new angle.

'Yeah, okay. Whatever you say, Mei. It's nice and friendly. Kids will love it!' Izuku declared crossing his arms.

'Why don't you try it on? Go for a spin.' she suggested as she gave it an experimental poke.

'I can't.' he said with a disappointed sigh, 'I still need to program it. The computer that controls everything is basically a blank slate. If I put it on now, I'd barely be able to move.'

He was lying of course. While it was true that the suit's computer was currently inoperable, he would still be able to just brute force his way through any movements he required thanks to his super strength.

'Shame.' Mei said with a shrug, 'I thought you were building a glider too. When are you going to have that thing ready?'

'Soon I hope. I've never built anything that could fly before.' Izuku said as he threw a white sheet over his armour.

'Oh! Well then! If you need any help, just ask! I've built lots of flying babies!'

'I was hoping you'd say that actually. There are so many variables I barely know where to begin if I'm being honest.'

Packing up his things, he and Mei said goodbye to Power Loader before leaving the development studio together. As they went through the halls, they began discussing the finer points of rocket and jet propulsion. Unsurprisingly, Mei seemed to know quite a bit about making things explode and fly. As they passed by a bank of windows overlooking the grounds, their conversation was interrupted by the sight of several members of class 1-A walking across the yard. From the looks of them, they had just finished exercising at one of the training buildings and were heading back to the school to change. Judging by their rough appearance, they had really been going at it hard.

'I guess class 1-A has been busy too. Have any of them asked you for help improving their costume yet?' Mei asked.

'Nope. What about you?'

'Naw me neither. I can't imagine why. What with the upcoming internships and everything, I thought they'd want to make some last-minute improvements to their gear before meeting the pro's. I mean, come on! I showcased my best babies at the Sports Festival and everything!' Mei paused and rubbed her chin, 'Hmmm.'

'What?'

'I wonder if they're still mad?'

He let out a carefree laugh.

'I doubt it, Mei.' he said confidently, 'It was a competition! I can understand them getting fired up during the festival itself, but that was almost a week ago! If anything, they're probably thankful for the challenge.'

'If you say so.' Mei said skeptically.

Mineta limped behind the pack of his classmates, trying his best to keep pace with everyone. Every step he took fresh pain shot through his body, but he stifled his cries to mere whimpers as best he could. When he had first learned that the girls of his class had all planned-on training together that weekend he had leapt at the chance to exercise, fraternize, and maybe even mesmerize them with his Adonis like physique. Unfortunately, when he had arrived at the training centre ("Oh, what are you all doing here? Me? I'm just training, building my body and mind, you know; being the best I can.") they had immediately seen through his masterful attempts to ogle them in their Not-Really-Skimpy-But-Eh-Close-Enough (NRSBESE) gym uniforms. To his dismay they had decided to use him as target practice for their techniques and had pummelled him mercilessly.

Gritting his teeth, he focused on just making it to the change rooms. If he was lucky, maybe he could sneak a peek into their showers. The thought imbued him with new found strength and he increased his speed. However, his pained smile quickly disappeared when he spotted Izuku and his squeeze Mei strolling past the windows of the main building. He remembered those two jerks from the Sports Festival. Last week during the cavalry battle, it had been Izuku who pushed him off Koda and Mei who mercilessly stepped on his grapes. Now he wasn't picky - physical contact was its own reward after all - but there was a limit.

'Well, well, well.' Mineta muttered loudly enough so the others could hear, 'Look who's up by the window.'

Everyone stopped talking and looked. There were several uneasy murmurs as they saw Mei and Izuku.

'It's Midoriya!' Jiro exclaimed, 'And it looks like he's with that girl you fought Momo. Hatsume I think it was? What are they doing here on a Saturday I wonder?'

'Probably training I would imagine.' Momo said, 'Or maybe they're just doing homework. I heard that the support class curriculum is very strenuous.'

'Hey, I have an idea.' Mineta said, smiling snidely, 'Seeing as how the support class is always snooping on us, what's say we snoop a little on them?'

'Do you mean…eavesdrop?' Toru said in a scandalized tone, 'Why, I would never!'

'Let them have their privacy, Mineta.' Momo said disapprovingly.

'But…but…what are they working on though? What if it's some devious weapon to take us out again?' he whined.

Most of the girls waved him away, but he noticed that Mina and Tsuyu glanced at each other worriedly. They had suffered the most as a result of Izuku's treachery during the Sports Festival and no doubt they didn't want to lose any more points with Aizawa. Mineta sensed an opportunity, and within the dark recesses of his perverse mind, a crude plan began to form.

Momo must have noticed his expression as she quickly stopped and faced him, 'Mineta, whatever you're thinking of doing, you'd better stop it! I order you as class vice-president to obey me!'

To Momo's horror, Mineta shuddered with pleasure at her rebuke. He'd save that sound bite for later.

'Sorry mistress…' he simpered, 'but I can't just stand idle! What if you're in danger? I won't let you- Oh, sorry! - Us be humiliated again.'

Momo turned her head away in disgust and several of the other girls rolled their eyes contemptuously. But not Mina and Tsuyu. Mineta smiled evilly. His argument had struck a chord with them it seemed. All it would take now was some tenuous reasoning and subtle suggestion.

'Well you can all do what you want, but don't blame me when you get taken out by anthrax or something the next time we fight the support class.' Mineta said haughtily as he pulled away from the group and started moving towards the school doors, 'Afterall, Mr. Aizawa said we should be more vigilant, so that's what I'm going to do.'

At that he walked away from them, shoulders squared, heedless of the warnings shouted his way by Momo and the others. Resisting the urge to turn around and see if his gambit had worked, he kept his body rigid and his stride purposeful. He needed to appear resolute and steadfast. Coming up on the main building, he pushed open the doors and went down the hallway towards where he had last seen Izuku and Mei. With a clang the doors shut behind him. He held his breath and waited. After a few seconds he heard the door behind him bang open again.

'Mineta! Wait up.'

A devious little grin formed on Mineta's face for a half second before he swallowed it back. Turning, he feigned surprise to see Mina and Tsuyu behind him.

'Mina! Tsu! Why, what are you two doing?'

'We…want to make sure you don't get in trouble. *ribbit*' said Tsuyu, trying, but not quite succeeding, at sounding casual.

'That's right.' Mina said more sternly, 'So keep your purple head down blob boy and don't be seen!'

Mineta bowed meekly before turning back to the hallway. He was inside their minds now and soon he would reap the benefits of his maleficence.

As Mineta and his two unwitting pawns stalked closer, Mei and Izuku continued on together out the gates of the UA campus and towards the subway. As they walked, Izuku brought up the topic of quirks and Mei enthusiastically started talking about her super vision. Initially he was fascinated, but he quickly became more and more squeamish as the conversation continued.

'…and that's why I don't look too closely at fast food anymore.' Mei said.

He swallowed back some bile and grimaced.

'Please, Mei. Don't tell me any more stories about food. I liked Mob Donald's.' he moaned.

'Having enhanced vision makes you disillusioned with the world around you real quick, Izuku. For example, see that guy over there?' she said, snaking an arm around his shoulder and pointing to a hot dog vendor. The man was busily spreading condiments on a bun for a customer. He looked like a normal guy. Izuku nodded queasily.

'Didn't wash his hands after going to the bathroom.' she said matter of factly and Izuku gagged, 'And you see that guy over there? Headlice. Thousands upon thousands of wriggling, slimy, bloodsuckers that're-'

'Please no more!' Izuku cried, 'I'm going to barf if you keep this up.'

Mei laughed and jostled into him lightly.

'Its not all bad. Most people are clean. Relatively speaking of course. Besides, I'm just grateful that I can control my super vision. Some people with super senses aren't so lucky.'

'I can imagine.' Izuku said. Somewhere on this block he could hear someone noisily using the restroom. He prayed they washed their hands.

It was at that moment that he noticed her arm was still around his shoulder and her body was right next to his. Usually his spider-sense went haywire if anybody tried to touch him, but she was able to get so close? How? He was momentarily at a loss. He'd never been in this situation before. Before he could say or do anything however, he suddenly felt Mei's breath in his ear.

'Speaking of super senses, we're being followed by some girls from class 1-A.' she whispered.

In truth, he'd noticed them back at UA, but he wasn't sure if he should mention it or not. Glancing over, he saw that her face was shockingly close, her keen, yellow, cross-hair like eyes staring into his expectantly. He gulped. Luckily at the moment, he didn't need to pretend to sound nervous.

'R-Really? W-Why're they after us I wonder.'

'You ever think that maybe I was right? Hm? Maybe Class 1-A is still sore and lookin' to take on the second-place champ?' she said softly before giving him a teasing poke.

He didn't know what to say. He'd thought that they were just walking to the subway same as him, but what if she was right? It seemed so uncharacteristic of the hero students to hold a grudge though. If only she wasn't pressing into him then maybe he could think straight! Mercifully, she extracted herself from him and he could breath again.

Netting her hands casually behind her head, she shot him a sly glance.

'Hey, do you want to mess with them a little?' she said, grinning.

Izuku looked at her in surprise before returning with a devious expression of his own.

'What'd you have in mind?'

The two girls following the support class heroes were careful to keep their distance. Thankfully Mineta was no longer with them. After Tsuyu had caught the little creep trying to smell her hair, she and Mina had disposed of him in a garbage can before continuing the pursuit by themselves.

Unfortunately, Mina was forced to trail back much further than Tsuyu was. Even though she had turned pink again, people on the streets had still recognized her and a few of them had even called out to her. To Mina's credit though she took it all in stride and continued the pursuit undeterred. It would take more than a little heckling to keep her down.

As Tsuyu drew near, she saw Mei and Izuku scurry off together into an alleyway. Taking a moment to make sure she was unnoticed by the other people on the sidewalk, she quickly hopped over to the alley entrance and peered inside. The pair were continuing to walk together further away from the street.

Tsuyu watched in wide eyed fascination as they stopped in front of a steel door leading into the back of what looked like a warehouse. Mei knocked on the door three times, before slapping it with her palm. The two were still as they waited before eventually the door opened and a sallow faced young man greeted them.

'Welcome back initiate. Tell me, has your mission of discord and woe been successful? Have the seeds been planted?'

'Aye! A thousand times aye, master-brother.' said Mei bowing slightly. She elbowed Izuku and he too bowed, albeit clumsily.

'Then enter. But tread carefully. For he comes…' the man said dramatically. Stepping aside, they entered the darkened room and the door slammed shut behind them.

The sound shocked Tsuyu free from the wall. She had been gripping it so hard her knuckles had turned white.

'What in the world…?' she said numbly.

Tsuyu mind raced as she looked at the ominous steel door at the end of the alleyway. What could be happening in there? Who was "he" and what were the seeds of discord and woe? What could it mean?

'Hey, Tsu…'

Tsuyu whipped around at the voice, her eyes huge and her hands flying into fists, ready for a fight. But it was just Mina. The pink girl quickly stepped back at her wild expression. Tsuyu took a gulping breath as Mina looked at her with concern. A pale sweat had broken out across her body and she needed a moment to gather her thoughts.

'Something is happening in there…' said Tsuyu fearfully. Mina went slack jawed as Tsuyu explained what she had witnessed. This simple outing had become far more sinister than either of them had imagined.

Once the door had slammed shut behind them, Mei dropped the act and smiled.

'Anyway, Leeroy this is Izuku.' Mei said pointing to Izuku, 'Izuku, Leeroy.' she gestured to the older teen.

'H-Hi.' Izuku said, 'That was quite the wild intro.'

The man looked embarrassed as he turned on the light in the small room.

'Thanks.' he said, his voice cracking slightly, 'I'm still in character.'

'Character?' Izuku asked quizzically.

'Yeah, me and the boys run a little DnD game in the back of the shipping building here after hours. We like the space, you know?' he said, leading them down the hall.

Exiting the cramped hallway, Izuku, Mei, and Leeroy entered an open and drafty warehouse where four teens to young aged men were seated around a large stack of pallets that was covered with a tablecloth. Medieval figurines were positioned in front of the seats amongst a clutter of plastic cups, character sheets, and greasy pizza slices. It was a nerd den, no question about it. Izuku couldn't judge though. He had a shrine to All Might after all. Upon seeing Mei, the geeks all rose and greeted her warmly.

'Hey, Mei. Long time no see.' said a large man who looked like he was in his early twenties.

'Hi, guys.' Mei said, raising her hand in greeting, 'Izuku, I met these guys at the hobby shop when I was a kid. They have some pretty good gadget ideas. Occasionally.'

Izuku greeted them all with a wave and they nodded to him politely.

'So you're Izuku, huh.' said one of them, 'Mei has told us all about you…'

'N-Nothing bad I hope.' Izuku said, laughing. His laughter slowly ebbed away into awkward silence as they all stared at him coolly.

'Anyway, guys. I have a favour to ask you…' Mei said.

The men set their game aside and listened to her with growing interest as she explained the situation with Class 1-A and what she wanted to do. A few times Izuku felt his spider-sense flash warningly as she laid out her convoluted plan, but in the end, he said nothing. While he didn't want to cause any trouble, he couldn't stop himself from getting excited. He had never played a prank on anyone before and Mei's enthusiasm was infectious. Soon he found himself nodding along as roles were assigned and lines were given. If everything went according to plan, he wouldn't have to worry about being followed by class 1-A anytime soon.

The next day Izuku and Mei returned to the development studio and did their work as usual. Izuku was able to make great strides in programming his suit's computer system, but he found that he couldn't focus enough to finish it in time. He was just too excited about his and Mei's secret plot. As the day ended, he and Mei, giddy with excitement, eagerly packed their things and prepared to set out. Power Loader must have sensed something was up because he looked at the two suspiciously.

'You two have been awfully conspiratorial.' he said dryly as they broke out into a fresh bout of giggling, 'Should I be worried?'

'N-No sir.' Izuku said as he tried to put on a straight face, 'We've just got a little plan to mess with class 1-A a little is all.'

'Oh?' Power Loader said, 'Do tell.'

They took turns filling in Power Loader of their plan. He was silent as they explained their scheme before finally chuckling a little himself.

'Well, it all seems a little pointless and stupid to me, but…' he shrugged, 'You're only young once. I just hope that class 1-A doesn't misinterpret the situation and lash out.'

'Yeah!' Izuku said cheerfully, before he suddenly grew quiet, 'Gee, you don't think they will, do you?' he asked Mei fearfully. She scoffed.

'Don't get cold feet, Izuku.' she scolded, 'Besides, if they want to be heroes then they have to learn how to accurately read situations. Isn't that right, Mr. Maijima?'

'I suppose.' Power loader said, scratching his chin thoughtfully.

Mei turned to Izuku and smiled innocently.

'See? I told you. Everything is going to turn out just fine.'

That evening, Izuku and Mei left UA together and casually walked side by side back to the shipping warehouse where Mei's friends were waiting for them. During the trip, Izuku kept his senses alert for any sign of class 1-A, but he detected nothing. It seemed to just be another perfectly normal Sunday evening. Pedestrians came and went, the traffic started getting heavier, and the restaurants began to get crowded. For a moment, he dared hoping that class 1-A hadn't taken the bait, but his hopes were dashed when he and Mei reached the alley leading into the warehouse. Just as they entered the narrow passage between the warehouse and its neighbour, he detected what felt like the entire hero class waiting for them on the rooftop of the other building.

So much for wishful thinking. Izuku thought and he felt his heart rate pick up.

The students of class 1-A sat crouched in tense silence while they waited for Izuku and Mei. When Mina and Tsuyu had told them what they had seen, they had all agreed that something was definitely strange. In answer to their call for reinforcements, nearly the entire class had shown up to help stakeout the mysterious shipping and receiving warehouse. The only one who was absent was Bakugo. They had initially considered asking for his help, but they decided against it given that he and Izuku had a history. Maybe he was even in on it! Whatever it was.

From the streets below, they could hear teens their age laughing and talking, carefree and happy on their Sunday off. Occasionally one of the class 1-A students would glance down enviously from their stakeout, but nobody said anything. Well, except for Mineta anyway.

'Man, this sucks.' grumbled Mineta as he kicked a loose pebble of gravel away from himself. Momo shot him a sharp glance.

'Keep your voice down! And what are you talking about? This was your idea!' she whispered angrily.

Mineta mumbled incoherently in response.

At that moment they heard another bray of laughter from the streets below and several of them sighed. Midterms were coming up and what with their internships starting this week it was unlikely that they would have another free weekend to themselves.

'Heads!' hissed Toru to her fellow class 1-A students, 'They're coming!'

The class 1-A students quickly hunkered down on the gravelled rooftop before carefully crawling over to the edge so they could see.

Mei and Izuku were walking down the alleyway, heading straight for the innocuous steel door. Mei seemed totally at ease, merrily humming a jingle while she jauntily walked along. Izuku on the other hand looked like he had just seen a ghost. His skin was pale and his face was shining with sweat.

'Um, you know Mei, m-maybe we should, uh, do our masterplan some other time?' Izuku said to Mei, rubbing his hands together.

'What?! No!' Mei said, frowning at him, 'It's fine. Just…go with the flow.'

'B-B-But-'

'Ugh!' she grabbed his arm and began hauling him along, 'You need to loosen up, dude. Seriously.'

He looked like he wanted to argue with her, but she had already dragged him to the rear entrance of the warehouse. With baited breath, class 1-A listened as Mei knocked on the door in her peculiar way. Slowly, it opened.

'Come quickly. The time has nigh and the hour is short. We must be away.' said an unknown voice.

Wordlessly the two entered, disappearing into the shadowy corridor beyond.

Mina drew a long breath and turned to her cohorts. 'Okay.' she said grimly, 'What's the play?'

'I say we go in there, guns blazing!' Kirishima said loudly causing all of the other classmates to shush him angrily. Cowing down sheepishly, he lowered his voice before continuing, 'If we all attack together, I bet we can overwhelm whatever resistance they have and stop their scheme!'

'We can't go busting in private property!' Momo said, looking horrified, 'We don't know anything! There may be a perfectly logical explanation for all of this!'

Everyone started to murmur and shift about as they all argued their points until finally Tsuyu spoke up.

'I say that I go in there and do some recon while you all hang back. I can climb up those walls to the windows and get some information. Then we'll decide how to act.'

There were nods of agreement and Momo sighed in resignation.

'Okay, but here. Take this.' Momo's hand flashed pink for a second before she handed Tsuyu a small circular microphone, 'We'll listen in from here. The microphone inside that device should be sensitive enough that you shouldn't have to get too close. Don't do anything too risky!'

Tsuyu nodded before hopping off the roof and landing on the side of the warehouse. Sticking to the brick with her fingers and toes, the class watched as she climbed through an open window and disappeared from view. As soon as she was gone everyone crowded around Momo who held up the microphone receiver. They collectively held their breath as they heard voices begin to speak.

Izuku cleared his throat noisily and everyone quickly assumed their positions.

'Alright.' he started in a stiff voice, 'Let's do this before we're discovered. Are the packages ready?'

'Yeeesssss.' said a pudgy teen in an imposing voice. The authoritative tone was talent that he had honed over a misspent youth of roleplaying as a necromancer.

With a snap of his fingers, one of the unloaders came in pushing a cart laden with seven black boxes, one for each of them.

'Thanks to the diligent work of our acolytes Mei and Ikuzu-

'Izuku.'

'Er, yes Izuku, we have identified seven critical areas across the city. Go my children, deliver our malediction. Once the packages are in place, by the witching hour the self righteous will be humbled, and we will all live forever in infamy!'

'Bitchin'!' said Mei, grinning from ear to ear, 'So, what's the hold up? Give me a box and let's get going already!'

'Well…I mean. I-I had a speech prepared before we set out. Would you like to hear it or-'

The room broke out into groans.

'Timmy always has to make his speeches.' sighed one of the others, 'Can we just get this over with? I'm trying to correct my sleep schedule and just because the packages judgement or whatever will be rendered at midnight doesn't mean we have to be around when it happens, right?'

The others voiced their agreement and Timmy frowned in disappointment, 'Fine, fine. Everyone take your package.' he said despondently.

Izuku joined the others and grabbed his black box. As he handled his delivery, he was careful to keep his back to the person watching them from the rafters above. He couldn't tell if it was Toru or Tsuyu, but there was definitely a girl eavesdropping by the window. Mei had fooled them so far, but would they take the bait? The whole situation was so ridiculous and contrived that he didn't think anybody would be naïve enough to believe a word they were saying.

'All right, does everyone know where they must go?' Timmy asked, eyebrows arched.

'Y-Ye-' Izuku started before Timmy spoke over him.

'Then fly my minions! Bring low those pesky interlopers! Remind them of who they are!'

'Uh, boss. Don't forget your package.' Mei said, pointing to the last box.

'Oh, yeah. My bad.'

At that everyone started shuffling their separate ways to the exits.

'See you, Izuku.' called out Mei as she headed for the other door, 'Good luck!'

'Y-Yeah, fight the power!' Izuku said back as he also exited the room. Walking out through the foyer, he turned out on to the sidewalk and started a brisk pace. As he accelerated to a jog, he heard the delivery mopeds start up and five drivers headed out into five different directions. He and Mei were the only ones who had to make their deliveries on foot.

'I wonder if they'll get anyone?' Izuku muttered to himself as he started to run. If he hurried, he would just make it to the subway in time.

As Izuku and his cadre of conspirators scattered, class 1-A broke out into a panic.

'What do we do!' squealed Mineta, 'Those packages could be bombs or something!'

'We need to split up and chase them!' shouted Todoroki, 'I'm going after Izuku! The rest of you follow who you will.'

At that Todoroki jumped off the roof. Hitting the ground with a roll, he sprinted out the alley and towards the street side entrance of the warehouse. The others wasted no time either. Quickly divvying up into groups, they all took off after the delivery drivers. They didn't have their provincial hero licenses yet so they couldn't freely use their quirks, but they could still chase after them.

Izuku ducked and weaved as nimbly as a dancer as he navigated his way through the crowded train station at speed. Several people shouted after him in astonishment, but he forced himself on.

God damnit, Mei!

Feet pounding, he dodged between a slow walking couple and charged towards the ticket booth. Tossing Mei's package over the ticket barrier, he flipped out his sub pass, scanned it, and leapt across to the other side all in one second. Catching the black box with one hand, he continued on to the train.

Her and her stupid ideas! Why'd I ever agree to this? Is she trying to ruin my reputation? I wouldn't put it past her…

Racing behind him, Todoroki valiantly gave chase as subtly as he could, but he couldn't quite manage to navigate past the steady traffic of the station as fast as Izuku had. Delayed by the crowd at the ticket booth, he hesitated in front of it for a moment. Izuku heard him growl in frustration before he vaulted over the ticket barrier without using his pass, much to the disapproval of those around him.

Sprinting down the platform, Izuku rushed into the subway just as the last people began to board. Glancing back, he was surprised to see that Todoroki had made it on the last car. Izuku shook his head incredulously and smiled.

Not bad considering he's not using his quirk! Looks like he might catch me!

But Izuku had no intention of playing fair. He really didn't want to be confronted on a crowded subway. It would just be embarrassing for everyone.

And so before the doors could shut completely, Izuku contorted himself and slipped back out on to the platform. Crouching low beneath the windows of the train, he ignored the confused looks of the surrounding commuters as it departed the platform. Once the train had moved past, he straightened himself. His spider-sense was calm. Evidently, he had given Todoroki the slip. Grinning, he walked back towards the exit. It had been too easy. The pursuit had only lasted a few minutes.

'I wonder how Mei is doing?' he mumbled as he dumped his black cardboard box into a recycling bin.

Must go faster! Mei thought frantically as she charged down the sidewalk. To her horror, the person chasing her was the what's-her-face she had fought during the Sports Festival. She had initially held out hope that her after school training with Izuku would have given her an edge, but it seemed as though the other girl was an athlete too. A far better one truth be told.

Using her heightened vision, Mei looked into the sideview mirror of a passing car to check behind her. The raven-haired girl was still keeping pace, and quite comfortably too. If she was going to get out of this she would need to resort to desperate measures.

Dodging out of the street and into a small clothing boutique, she sprinted up to the saleswoman's counter and slapped her box on the wooden surface. The saleslady who had been absently cleaning her nails, jumped in alarm at the slamming package. Before the saleswoman could say a single word, Mei started shouting:

'Quick, quick, quick, where's the bathroom!? Where's the bathroom!? Where's-'

'Ah!' the lady cried, throwing up her hands, 'Here, over here! Follow me!'

Mei went after the scurrying saleswoman to the backroom. As soon as she was out of the store proper, she spotted the alleyway access. Slipping away behind the distracted saleswoman's back, she quietly pushed the door open. Running back outside, she immediately fled back up the alleyway to the busy sidewalk. Peering at the glass reflection in a storefront window across the street, she watched as Momo cautiously entered the clothing boutique she had just been in. Once Momo was inside, Mei took a deep breath and casually strolled out into the street back the way she had been chased.

Heart pounding like a jackhammer, Mei crossed in front of the store. In a stroke of luck, Momo had her back to the entrance. She was looking around the store counter, calling for the attendant. A second later and Mei lost line of sight with the girl and she once again took off running.

Brains beat brawn. Again. Mei thought smugly as she disappeared into the crowds.

'Damn…I-I think we lost him.' Kirishima panted as he pounded his fist against the side of the building. There was no sign of the moped or its rider. They had been running after the driver for the better part of twenty minutes but they hadn't seen hide nor hair of the man since. He had escaped. Sero shook his head.

'We should have used our quirks.' he said remorsefully, 'I could've kept up with him.'

'We don't have our provisional licenses yet.' Kirishima said between gulping breaths, 'We can't just act impulsively. Let's hope that one of the others was more successful.'

At that Kirishima and Sero felt their phones buzz. It was a text message from Mina! It read:

"Found one of the black boxes. If you guys are able, meet me at Dimple Street by Salt Elementary school."

The two looked at each other.

'Let's go!' Sero said, taking off at a sprint.

Kirishima fired off a quick reply to Mina before joining him.

Class 1-A sat huddled a fair distance away from the black box while Momo inspected it. All of them had taken cover behind a low brick wall and were watching fearfully as she examined the container.

Mina and Ochaco had discovered the package just as it was being delivered in front of an elementary school of all places. Fearing it might be an explosive of some kind, they had transported it to the neighbouring playground for inspection. The playground was attached to a park and there were no houses nearby. If there was a blast, hopefully it would be small enough to be contained by the park and no civilians would be hurt.

'Please don't be a bomb…please don't be a bomb…' Ochaco muttered as she looked fearfully after Momo.

Momo had bravely volunteered to inspect the package with a multiscanner she created after Kaminari had said he sensed nothing electrical and Jiro said she heard nothing mechanical inside. The box felt empty. But who's to say it wasn't filled with a bioweapon or something?

'I can't believe we lost them all but one.' Iida said scowling, 'If there are six other packages loose in the city…'

Nobody said anything. That same thought was on all of their minds as well. If the package was dangerous, then any damage it caused would be on them.

'Okay. I can't detect anything. I'm opening it…' Momo called over.

Everyone crouched down next to the wall, fingers crossed, and muscles tense.

Momo pulled the lid off the box and they all took a sharp breath. However, nothing happened. Everyone let out a gasp in relief.

'What's inside!' shouted out Ochaco.

Momo was still. Slowly she reached down and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Holding up her phone for light, she inspected the note. The air was still.

'Y-Yeah, we've been had.' Momo shouted out in slightly shrill voice.

'What?' said Iida, incomprehension written across his face, 'What do you mean?'

'I mean it was all a joke. We've been tricked.'

At that everybody scrambled over the wall. Rushing to her side, they tried to see what she was talking about. The box was empty, but in her hand was a small handwritten note.

'Wh-What is this?' Iida asked dumbfounded as he looked between Momo, the empty box, and the note.

'Here read it for yourself.' she said, handing Iida the paper.

Taking it, Iida's eyes rapidly went over the note, his pupils growing wider and wider until they were practically bulging out of his glasses.

'Well?' Ochaco said, 'C'mon! What's it say?'

With a shaking voice he started to read aloud.

"Greetings to class 1-A from 1-H! If you are reading this then you fell for our trick! Maybe don't follow us around next time, ya dick! Support rulz…"

Iida took a deep breath.

"…heroes are fools! Love, Hatsume. P.S: Please don't be sore losers and beat me up."

Everyone was silent for a moment as they tried to understand what had just happened. It was Mineta who spoke first.

'Right, well I'll see you guys next week. I've got an internship to prepare for tomorrow. Mina? Tsu? It's a good thing you're pretty, that's all I'll say.'

Mina picked her jaw up and spun around.

'Wha? Wait, hey! It's not our fault! They-they were doing weird things! Seriously!' Mina cried, vainly searching for some support from her friends, but nobody met her gaze. Instead they all started shuffling off their separate ways.

'Bakugo probably would've known something was up. He knows Izuku better than anyone. Why didn't we talk to Bakugo?' Kirishima said to Sero as the pair trudged away. Mina remained rooted where she was, helplessly looking around, sputtering incoherently as everyone left.

'It was an honest mistake! Right guys? Guys?'

Eventually only her and Tsuyu were left.

'Its okay, Mina. *ribbit* I'm the one who heard them talking. *ribbit* This is on me too.'

Mina slumped her shoulders and started walking with Tsuyu tagging alongside her.

'They really got us good, didn't they?' Mina said half-heartedly.

Tsuyu nodded.

'We'll get 'em back sooner or later. Don't worry about that.' she said, patting her friends back.