Standard Disclaimer: I own nothing in regards to My Hero Academia. All properties therein are those of their creators. I am only a writer working on my skills with worlds and characters that I love.

Chapter Nine - Complications

All For One stared at his monitor with pure delight. Young Moriarty's plan of action was just as perfect as he had come to expect based on the man's prior works. It detailed the location of the training camp, optimal warping points for entry and extraction, and even ideal deployment locations for particular members of the League. He'd need to ask just how the young man had discovered the identities of the newest members the next time they met. Perhaps he would even demonstrate how he was using those new quirks of his. Such an odd combination the green haired man had selected and it was bound to be entertaining.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a call from Kurogiri of all people. Strange, he was only supposed to contact him in the case of emergencies. "Speak."

"Master, I have bad news…" The smoke man trailed off, clearly reluctant to explain. It had to be terrible.

"Do I need to go to your location and make you talk?"

"No, no that is not necessary… Tomura has been… arrested."

If he'd have been able, AFO would have blinked from the shock that statement garnered. "I must have misheard you. It sounded like you said Shigaraki had been arrested."

"You heard correctly, Master. He insisted on going for a walk. I argued that his face was too recognizable but he insisted and ordered me to silence. Considering the fact you ordered me to listen to him, I was unable to contact you about this until now. He was arrested during the course of harassing a group of UA students at the mall. It seems the rock skinned fellow that won the Sports Festival took issue with him threatening the life of the gravity girl and promptly knocked him unconscious. He was apprehended by the police shortly after."

AFO groaned and nearly shattered his phone with irritation. More and more Shigaraki was becoming a liability far removed from his potential use. The boy's entire value was in the trauma he'd no doubt cause All Might when his identity as the man's teacher's grandson was revealed, but he was far too temperamental and short sighted to ever actually carry on the great legacy of All For One should anything happen to him. Yes he had a powerful quirk but the fool had mentally blocked off most of his potential to deal with trauma in his early years. Foolish in the extreme. Really, a far better successor would be Moriarty. The young man was a perfect mixture of both himself and his younger brother.

Oh sure he ran a criminal empire, but AFO could clearly read between the lines and see what was really going on. He was working to aid the world and doing unholy deeds to make it happen. It was… fascinating. The master of villainy was content to leave him be for now. Moriarty was proving quite useful, and it was easier to take over an existing framework by force than building one from scratch. Furthermore, it would be interesting to see if the lad would prove a more worthy choice to take over his mantle than his current heir. Perhaps it was time to set some pieces in motion in that regard in case the worst should happen. As things stood, he couldn't trust Tomura anywhere near AFO. He'd only squander such a mighty gift. Yet if the other boy had it… how ironic would it be for All Might to see his world saved by the power he nearly gave his life time and again to destroy? Thoughts for a later time he supposed.

"Kurogiri, I will make arrangements for Shigaraki's escape. In the meantime I am sending you a set of instructions for our next mission. See to it they are enacted perfectly."

"Will do, Master."

"I mean it. Shigaraki is to have no authority to counteract these orders in regards to the mission going forward."

"Your orders are understood."

"Good."

The line went dead, and the villain took a breath before making his second call. This one was bound to not go anywhere near as well. Especially because his main incentive system had been used up to max capacity.

The line rang twice before a chipper voice answered, "Mr. Moriarty's office, may I ask who is calling?"

"Moran, it's All For One."

"Greetings, sir, how can I help you today?"

"I need to speak to your boss."

"He is currently out of the office and unavailable for meetings. Shall I take a message?"

The villain seethed at the wait, but understood that his conditional ally could not be expected to constantly be at his beck and call. "No, it is too sensitive to leave as a message. When will he return?"

"Within the hour."

"Then have him call me back the moment he walks back through that door. Moriarty will want to hear what I have to say."

"Very good, All For One. I will pass the message along."

Elsewhere

Moriarty sat in a black suit with a red shirt and green tie at a circular table with a saucer of tea sat untouched before him. It was rather difficult to drink when one was wearing a half face mask as he currently was. Across the table was situated a rather tall man dressed in an elegant victorian style three piece suit and possessing an absolutely exquisite mustache. Beside him was a much shorter woman with her hair pulled into two large pony tails.

"Gentle Criminal and La Brava." The criminal overlord greeted each 'criminal' before him. "I am so glad that you agreed to meet me here."

Gentle cleared his throat and took a sip of his own tea. "Yes, well, we couldn't very well refuse an offer from one such as yourself."

Izuku raised a brow at that, "You've heard of me?"

"The name Moriarty has been whispered in certain circles that we have access to."

"Then I'll need to find those whispers and silence them. No one is supposed to know my name outside my organization and very particular clients. Anyway, I wanted to meet you because I think we have a lot in common."

Gentle scoffed at the notion. "I highly doubt that."

"Really now? Then let me elaborate. My information network is very thorough, and the things I've learned about you are staggering. We each were dealt a harsh hand in life. I was born with one of the worst disadvantages in this world of ours, while you were simply never given a chance to shine and help people as you so dearly desired. Hell, the one time you tried it ended with you being lambasted by the hero community. Where is the justice in that?"

La Brava didn't like the look of pained remembrance crossing her Gentle's face so she broke in, "We're past all of that now."

"Indeed, that is plain to see." Moriarty chuckled before sliding over one of the folders from his briefcase. "Take a look."

The gentle criminals did so and found themselves paleing as an itemized list of their crimes was laid before them both. Now, that alone would not have been a problem. They posted videos of themselves breaking and entering all the time, though their like to dislike rates were simply insulting on the web. No, the discomfort came from the written notations by each event detailing what they had really been doing.

"Each of us seek to do good in our own unique ways." The greenette said simply. "You realized that normal hero work was impossible for you, and then you started to see some of the cracks in society that I have formed my own methods around. Only you differed by deciding to go after particular corrupt groups. You staged your break ins and youtube events so that the public, media, and, more importantly, police eyes would be on the buildings you snuck into. How many corrupt corporations and banks have been subject to audits, lawsuits, and arrests for crimes against humanity since your little career started?"

"Forty-seven." Gentle breathed out gently before looking up into the eerily red eyes before him. "You said we are alike? How does this truly make it so for you?"

"And how do your 'methods' affect ours?" La Brava wanted to know.

"I'll explain that shortly. First, let me tell you a story about our society and what's wrong with it. By then you'll know exactly what it is my organization truly stands for. Then I'm gonna convince you to help me with a little prison break."

Intrigued, the mustachioed man asked, "Prison break?"

"Yes, you see, there is a woman confined to Tartarus that doesn't deserve her fate. One that is singularly useful to my plans going forward." Izuku leaned forward and steepled his fingers. "I will provide you with detailed plans of the prison, files relating to all of the guards current rotation schedules and their routes, and I will equip you with a top of the line body recorder that will detail every step of your infiltration and extraction. By the time you are done you will have not only saved an innocent life, but you'll be able to post a video showcasing the first proven infiltration and escape from Tartarus prison. Imagine the acclaim and fame that will come your way as a result."

Gentle took an easy sip from his saucer before setting it back down and steepling his fingers in a parody of his potential employer. "Color me intrigued, my young friend."

A Short Time Later

All For One's personal line began ringing, and when he answered the smooth and pleasant tone of Moran's voice came through. "Hold please for Mr. Moriarty." The line went silent for a while and then he heard, 'You called?'

"I have a need for your services again."

"So soon? I must really be impressing you. Shall I expect the usual payment?"

"Sadly no. The human body cannot tolerate multiple quirks in most cases. You were lucky enough to get two because you were born quirkless to begin with. No, this would be for money."

"I don't come cheap."

"I can afford it. And due to the nature of the work I am willing to offer double your usual rates."

"This has me worried. What could I offer that the vaunted All For One can not achieve on his own?"

"Discretion. Shigaraki has been arrested and I need him returned. Ideally the sooner the better." As expected the line went silent and the villain thought he could hear the other man's teeth grinding through the speakers.

"Let me see if I understand this correctly. You want me to rescue the mongrel? Do you have any idea of the favors I would need to call in for this? The bridges that could potentially be burned? The blackmail I will need to give up?"

"I'll triple your rate."

"Five times the rate."

"Deal."

Elsewhere

"Sir Nighteye, what a delight." Nezu happily said between sips of tea. "What brings you all the way to UA?"

The thin suited man took a seat across from the principle of his alma mater and slid a thick file across his desk. "I've been working on a case for a while now with the help of Detective Tsucauchi. The results have been both troubling and…. Interesting. I wanted to get your opinion on it."

"Whyever for?"

"To make sure I'm not just imagining things or seeing what I expect to. Take a read and let me know what you think. I'll wait."

The principal thought it odd that such an accomplished investigator would come to him for aid in such a manner, but quickly dismissed it. With people like the two of them, who wielded high level intellects, it made a certain amount of sense to make sure they hadn't been blinded by their own ability and perceptions. Twenty minutes later he'd made his way through and found himself very intrigued by all that he'd just learned.

"Your thoughts, Nezu?"

The intelligent animal rubbed its chin with a paw. "You think these crime statistics can verify your and the detective's theory that a single man is controlling the majority of the crime in our country."

"I do. Am I seeing things?"

"Sadly, I think not." Nezu answered simply. "Your statistics speak for themselves. In the last year we've seen a greater marked difference in crime statistics than in the last two decades combined. Far too great a margin to come across any other way, short of maybe three or four new All Mights showing up. A firm hand controlling when and where crime occurs would answer for that. The fact that the latest marked drop in crime came in the week following the election of the new head of the Hero Public Safety Commision is also worrisome." Indeed, the man's main running platform had been on greater accountability for the actions of heroes in their society, and his first day on the job he'd written out and signed an order requiring all active duty heroes in the field to be partnered with a police officer at all times. The drop in crime that followed had most of the public loving the policy's effectiveness. Meanwhile the enforced oversight created as a result had many heroes chafing under the proverbial leash.

"Then there is the name you managed to get from your prisoner interrogation before the man expired. I trust I don't need to explain its significance to you?"

"You don't." The hero agreed. "Moriarty, the name of Sherlock Holmes' greatest and most deadly adversary. A man so intelligent and devious that he turned the criminal underworld of Europe into his own personal empire. It is too iconic a title to have been chosen at random. This man is making a clear statement."

"The question remains as to why you have not taken this further."

Nighteye groaned and fell back into an untidy heap on his chair. A rather unusual position for one that normally put so much effort into his public appearance. "I tried. Since the elections took place last month the new head of the Hero Public Safety Commission has completely overhauled the organizational structure. To chase this investigation further I need access to specific records and instead of appealing to our usual hero association channels for a taskforce to investigate further, we now need to send our appeals through the local police precincts and wait for approval based on the merits of our evidence. Our former autonomy is no more it seems. Anyway, my request was denied almost immediately on the grounds of a lack of actual evidence. The numbers you have just seen were derided as mere hearsay. It seems police aren't too quick to aid in taking down anything that actually helps lower crime rates."

"That was easily predictable." Nezu snorted before standing up. "Come with me."

"Where to?"

"The computer lab, to get you what information I can. Our autonomy may now be gone but I still have a couple of virtual back doors to work with."

13th Tokyo Precinct

Tomura Shigaraki grunted with annoyance as his restless fingers continued scratching at the raw skin of his neck. It was just his luck to end up in a place as boring as this holding cell with no video games to occupy his mind. If only things had gone the way they should have then those pesky runts would be dead and he'd be on his way back to leading the League of Villains. It had been a normal walk through the city that led to the mall where he'd beheld those annoying twerps from the Sports Festival. They were all separated from each other and minding their own business so it seemed the perfect chance to gather some intel. If he could get the location of their training camp before that Moriarty asshole then surely Sensei would drop the guy's services right? Right. He wasn't blind to the favor his master showed the green haired bastard and it was making him sick.

The gravity girl had been the easiest and softest target of course. He planned to grab her, make her talk, and disintegrate her windpipe before she could scream for help. But somehow the rock boy had noticed him before he could close his grip completely and attacked him. The boy had gotten a couple good shots in on him before he could latch onto his arm, but then he had him!... until he didn't. The redheaded asshole had grown his rock skin back faster than he could disintegrate it and then smashed him in the back of the head. He'd woken up here a while later. What was worse, both of his hands were completely encased in a set of steel gauntlet cuffs. Within the cold metal he could feel the barrier indentations that kept his fingers from touching. He couldn't escape now which meant sensei was going to have to spring him. A lecture was sure to accompany such an eventuality and those were always so dull and annoying.

The face of the League of Villains was just formulating what he'd say to his teacher to try and get him off the hook when his door opened and a uniformed officer entered alone. He had a visible sheen of sweat forming on his brow and his left eye was twitching as he yanked the blue haired villain to his feet.

"Come with me."

"Why officer, I believe I've already asked for a lawyer."

"Do you want to get out of here or not?"

That shut Tomura up long enough for the officer, his nametag said Magi, to get him out into the strangely empty and subdued halls and then he was led on a straight path toward the rear exit of the building.

"Where is everyone?" Shigaraki wanted to know.

"Handling a sudden slew of emergency calls." Magi answered grimly as he pushed the prisoner out the final barrier into the alley behind the station. "Moriarty called in a lot of favors to make this happen." A key appeared from within his pocket, and the officer began fiddling with the gauntlets. "I'm supposed to tell you that a car has been left on the corner two blocks north with the keys in the ignition. A cell phone is in the glove box with the number for somebody named Sensei already loaded." The gauntlet flicked open and fell to the floor. "Okay, I gotta get back inside before anybody notices I've left my desk. You tell Moriarty that we're square now, yeah?"

Tomura flexed his fingers for a moment to see if they still worked, all the while a fresh deluge of rage began to take over his mind. Moriarty again. Sensei had not come himself, nor had he sent Kurogiri or any of his other agents. Instead he'd called on that green haired puke and no doubt paid him an exorbitant amount of money. Why did Sensei favor him so? Why!? It was time to sour that relationship. Yes, kill it before it created a wound that would fester and rot.

"I have a better idea." The villain's hand shot out and snapped onto the policeman's forehead. The last thing the man saw before his skin, skull, and brain disintegrated in equal measure, was the sick grin of a villain he'd sacrificed his morals to free. The last thought that crossed his mind was that his family at least would be safe from the crime lord who had sent him.

The Next Day

Izuku stood over his desk, staring down at the open folder before him. His eyes were working overtime, gathering every piece of information he could and using it to his best effect. Already he'd redistributed enough funds to put both of Magi's kids through school and set his widow up with an enviable retirement fund. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

"Izuku?" Momo's voice. He didn't turn around. "Izuku?" This time he felt her hand on his shoulder, and against his will he felt his body turning to face her. Ever since becoming his assistant the girl had begun wearing pristine pantsuits and styling her hair in a fashionable bun. Today's color was pure white and a pair of jade chopsticks was bisecting the rounded mass of her hair. Once she was sure she had his attention she said, "What happened was not your fault."

"Yes it was." He groaned as he leaned back on his desk. He found himself glad that the girl's hand did not fall away at the action. Instead she went to lean on the space beside him. "I chose Magi. He had gambling debts in four of my casino's but he was a relatively straight shooter. I knew if I asked him to do the job he'd get it done, and from my dealings with his fellows he knew that serving me would see him free and clear of his debt. A clear cut transaction like so many before it. Yet Shigaraki is… unstable at the best of times. I should have foreseen how he would react to one of my agents letting him go. I should have arranged for more men and guns at the ready to make sure he left the precinct without causing further harm."

His eyes closed with shame, "I trusted the conditions of the transaction more than the logic of the moment. I was too used to dealings with All For One following the agreed upon terms. I was cocky, and a good man is dead."

"No, you created the circumstances, but Shigaraki is the one who made the decision to kill his rescuer." The girl spoke softly and began to rub circles in the greenette's back. She'd never seen him so morose, but Mei had made it clear more than once in her 'How To Care For Izuku' handbook (something she'd jokingly called required reading for Izuku's girls, whatever that meant) that when he got down in the dumps he needed positive physical contact or he'd start brooding.

"Momo, I've lived with myself and the things I've had to do so far because I've known that I'm merely a bad man. Not an evil one. But do you think Officer Magi's wife and children would see me the same way?"

"That's not-"

"I know it's not the point, it just kind of feels like it matters, you know?"

"I know." The former UA student smiled. It was nice to have these reminders that the great and powerful Moriarty was still human, and still felt like a human. "Why don't you take the rest of the day off and decompress? Go for a walk, work out, have dinner with your mother?" The thought of Inko's cooking brought a fresh blush to her cheeks. She'd joined her employer and his girlfriend for a meal to introduce his new assistant to his mom, and the noise of appreciation she'd made upon eating the older woman's homemade ravioli had been downright erotic after how much she'd liked it.

Finally gaining a grin of his own, Izuku countered, "How about we both take the day and you let me take you out on a date?"

Momo blinked with shock. "A-A date? With me? Really?"

"Why not? Mei has made it clear she doesn't mind sharing me, and she actually really likes you. Not as much as me, but still. How about it?"

Blushing furiously, the girl answered, "I-I hadn't expected this, but I would be delighted."

"Perfect. Tell you what, why don't you head on down to the lobby and call the car up front. I'll be right down after making a quick call."

"A-Alright, Izuku." Feeling suddenly brave, Momo leaned over and kissed the boy on the cheek, then she ran out of the room before he could say anything.

For his part, Izuku rubbed his cheek where the considerably taller girl had laid one on him and chuckled. It seemed there was more fire to his recruit than he'd previously expected. That being said, it wouldn't do to make the call he needed to make in a happy mood. The recipient might get the wrong idea.

So, leveling out his attitude once more he focused his eyes on his virtual contact list and selected All For One as he activated the bluetooth connection in his ear. The moment it went through he said, "All For One, I am not pleased."

"Moriarty, to what do I owe this call?"

"Not today, All For One. I'm not in the mood for pleasantries." the greenette growled. "Where is Shigaraki?"

The line went silent for a moment as All For One seemed to finally realize that something was amiss with the call. None of their usual banter was present. "Why do you want to know that?" He asked uneasily. The master of villainy hated not having all the answers.

"Because I'm making it my mission to see that mongrel buried eight feet deep with no air holes in the coffin."

"Come now, Moriarty, I know that you do not get along, and I'm sure Tomura was not exactly grateful for your assistance-"

"He murdered the agent I sent to free him." Izuku's voice had gone cold as ice. "Do you know why blackmail and enticement work so well for me, AFO? Because everyone I work with knows that my word is trustworthy. When I tell them that doing me favors will earn their freedom, get them paid, and that nothing bad will happen to their lives, families, or careers, they know it is true. So when one of those I have leverage on ends up dead working for me on a task that had practically no inherent risk implied can you guess how troublesome that makes my business model? People are fragile things and they only allow themselves to be bent and molded for so long before they break. Your protege's insult has introduced a whole new strain to the system!"

All For One was silent for a moment before he said, "I was unaware that this had occurred."

"What, did your mutt not inform you of his faux pas? Funny, but not my problem. We had an agreement, you and I. Business stays between us, not the blue haired shit. Against my better judgment I agreed to help him for you, and this is the result. I need to send a message that this kind of response will not be tolerated. I need to present a head to my men!"

"Tomura still has use to me."

"So do I. So choose, give him to me or see all access to my resources, organization, and abilities lost to you."

On his side of the line, All For One was seething. Damn Shigaraki for putting him in this position. The sad truth was that Moriarty was indeed far more useful to him than his 'protege'. It seemed the question of the real option for successor had finally been answered. "He is currently still in transit to a safe house. Once he arrives I will provide you his location and guarantee that he will be unguarded."

"I'll hold you to that." Cementing the tone of the call, Izuku hung up the phone without another word.