Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia. I am planning a heist to steal the rights though.

Tensei stared at Mastermind blankly. "...I'm sorry, what?"

Mastermind dramatically flourished. "Join with me, and together we can take over the entire Musutafu area! It'll be great!"

Thunder boomed again, shaking Tensei. "I have no intention of working with a Villain like you!"

The Villain leaned forwards. "First of all, I'm a Super Villain, thank you. Second… Well, why not?"

He got up and paced. "We aren't so different, you and I. We could work well together! Having a speedster and a Warper in the League would be huge!"

"We are nothing alike, Mastermind! What possible connection is there?!" Tensei cried.

Mastermind paused. "Well, we both wear body armour. We also use a lot of Support items to aid in our goals! That's two things!"

Tensei stared at him flatly. "...Those are pretty flimsy reasons, Super Villain." He might as well play along. "As I said, we're nothing alike."

Mastermind held up a finger. 'There is one more reason, and that is simple. We both know the value of teamwork and friendship."

He cackled, Tensei looking at him with an odd look. "Plenty of Heroes know that-"

"Team Idaten's focus is on making sure the right Hero for the job is there! High mobility combined with strong heavy hitters and information specialists means that your agency can fill any role in a crisis!" Mastermind pointed dramatically. "You trust your team to do their jobs, just like me!"

Tensei paused, weighing his options. "That's the only thing you're right about, Mastermind. But you forgot something important!"

"Oh?"

Tensei jutted his jaw forwards, meeting Mastermind's eyes - or at least where he thought his eyes were. "You think that I'd just defect to you and leave my friends? Think again."

Mastermind made a grasping motion to the ceiling. "Curses!" He stomped off. "Maybe if you enjoy some more of our hospitality, you'll think otherwise!"

Cape fluttering, he left. Stitch shook his head, looking over Tensei as he stared after the Villain. "Well, that's enough excitement. You need to lie back and rest."

Tensei shook his head. "Mastermind's insane, isn't he?"

Stitch paused. "Oh yes, definitely." He gave him a look. "By the way, I wouldn't try getting out of bed. You're in no condition to move, and our on-site security's top notch."

Tensei frowned. Much as he wanted to get out of here, the Villain was right - even sitting up had his body ache with pain. He lay back, and the Villain gave him a short nod.

"Good. I'll give you some painkillers now."

With not much else to do, he stared at the ceiling as he got injected. Tensei had never been in a situation like this one before. At least his team and little brother were alright.

—

Outside, Mastermind squealed with glee. "That was incredible! My first 'you and I are similar speech!' Oh, I think I nailed it!"

La Brava looked up. "So… Do you expect to recruit him?"

Izuku shook his head. "It would be nice but I think he's too much of a Hero to go for it. It's just part of being a Super Villain - the drama of it all is just… too exciting."

She hummed. "Well, the Heroes will have a hard time tracking him down - I had to turn off his communicator to stop them tracking that." La Brava held up a couple of other pieces. "And there's more trackers in the armour itself."

Gentle Criminal looked over. "So, we have a Hero in our base. This is going to be more intense than the last time we tried to hold a hostage."

"I am aware!" Mastermind strode over to the table. "Which is why I'm taking more precautions! We have about a week to plan this, and the Heroes won't be able to track us until it's too late."

"So we're doing this while you're on your Internship?" Inkblot asked. "Cause that's gonna be tough if we don't have a Mastermind."

Twice looked up. "Yeah, Shinji would have been perfect for this! Shut up, idiot."

Izuku winced. "Y-yeah…"

An awkward silence fell over the room, before Izuku clapped his hands together. "W-well, we can't be held up on pointless details! I have been working on something that could substitute for me! Worst case scenario, then Twice has permission to make a Double of me."

La Brava's eyes widened. "You mean…"

"Oh, I mean." He gestured over to the stand, where a metal figure stood. "I finally got around to repairing it. And I made some… improvements."

Thunder boomed.

"MWA-HAHAHA! THE HEROES WON'T KNOW WHAT'S COMING!"

—

Later…

Izuku was practically vibrating in his seat as the bus pulled into the airport terminal. "Oh wow!"

Next to him, Mei cackled. Izuku could barely stop himself from joining in. "I-Island awaits, Izuku! And with it, our glorious future Support companies!"

He grinned widely. He couldn't wait to get in the air and fly to I-Island, and Mei wasn't much better. The entire time they were going through U.A's private line to the I-Island plane, Izuku and Mei felt the excitement mounting.

Mei's eyes sparkled as they got on the plane, barely strapping herself in before bouncing in excitement. "This is going to be amazing!"

Izuku could only nod, lips clamped to keep his fanboy shrieks down. He was about to meet David Shield! The genius behind All Might's costume and Izuku's favourite Quirk analyst to boot! Quirk science was fascinating, and he had a lot of questions for the man who wrote the book in breaking down Quirks.

He could only hope that every other Hero student was as happy with their choice of internship as he was!

—

Majestic gave Momo what she assumed was a careful look, since she couldn't see what was under his blindfold. "I have to say, your performances at the Sports Festival were quite a show! Conjuring whatever item you needed from moment to moment… I am a conjuror as a part time job, yet that was beyond my abilities!"

"Thank you," Momo politely bowed. Internally she was squealing with excitement. Majestic had styled his agency's building like a wizard's tower, all old stonework and arcane sigils. It reminded her of when she had gone to Germany on holiday, touring painstakingly restored castles and seeing the heights of the Pre-Quirk world.

Majestic nodded approvingly. "Now, as I'm sure you know, my focus as a Hero is on evacuation and rescue. My Quirk, Magic makes it easier for me to get onto the scene and get my team where they need to be. We collaborate with a lot of other agencies, such as-"

Momo drank in every word as he went over his agency's function. Majestic stood, sweeping her into his wake. "Now then, to patrol! A wizard is never early or late, but a Hero must always arrive as quickly as they can."

Her excitement peaked as they swooped through the sky, suspended in the glowing rings of force his Magic Quirk had produced. This is everything I thought of when I became a Hero!

—

"HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Eijirou shouted, pointing at Tetsutetsu. For his part, Tetsutetsu was doing the same. It was a bit weird that Tetsutetsu basically had the same costume as him, but that just meant that they had the same great taste!

"Now, now. I said that I could take two students, so I took the pair of you," Fourth Kind explained. "I chose this opportunity to help teach you about what it means to be a Hero and what the job entails. Are you up to it?"

As they both nodded and shouted their assent, Eijirou gave Tetsutetsu a grin. "Wow, crazy that we're both working together, huh?"

"Not that weird - must be the power of friendship!"

Eijirou pounded Tetsutetsu's fist with his own. "Hell yeah, friendship!"

Both of them missed the somewhat calculating look Fourth Kind gave them, before the Hero coughed. "We have a lot of ground to cover today, boys. Now that you're both suited up, we'll go on patrol."

"YES SIR!" They chorused, before trying to leave the office at the same time, getting stuck in the doorway.

—

Mount Lady grinned as she heard the knock. "The new interns are here!" She grinned, heading for the door.

Kamui Woods shook his head. "While it will be an informative experience for him… Why did you send an internship offer to the Iida boy?"

Mount Lady shrugged. "He looks pretty competent. Plus he'd be a good fit for my agency already!"

And he can probably help me with my paperwork, she privately added. Probably enjoy doing it.

Death Arms shook his head. "We're currently trying to track down his brother, and you accepted that offer before we could even try and stop it!"

Mount Lady waved a hand. "The kid's responsible, he'll be fine. Plus, I didn't think he'd actually accept my little offer. And hey, it's Ingenium's little brother, why wouldn't we want him?"

Kamui Woods sighed. "I don't think that's the -"

She opened the door, grinning. "Hey there, interns!"

Iida bowed politely. "Thank you for the opportunity to learn from great Heroes like yourselves!"

Next to him, Mineta fidgeted slightly. The much shorter boy had chosen a costume of dark purple spandex paired with yellow gloves, boots and a short cape. A yellow utility belt was strapped around a pair of what looked like white exercise shorts. "Thank you for having us," he managed.

Mount Lady had sent him an offer partially because the kid had an impressive amount of guts, pushing forwards to second place in the Sports Festival. But also because the prospect of a really small Hero with a really tall one was good marketing as well.

"Welcome to our headquarters," Death Arms managed, shooting her a look which she ignored. "Before we start, I just want to say that as interns here, you are not going to be involved with any ongoing investigations. That can wait for when you have your Provisional Licences next year."

Iida's face barely flickered as he went for a nearly ninety degree bow. "Of course, sir!"

Mount Lady sighed, but she had to agree. She wanted to help Ingenium's brother, not get him involved in an investigation. "Alright, kids! You're going to be on patrol with me for my agency. There's a lot to do."

Iida ripped off a salute that would have had the harshest drill sergeant wipe away a tear of joy. "Of course, Mount Lady! It is our duty as Hero students to learn everything about our prestigious industry!"

The shorter boy grinned. "Yeah! I'm here to learn how to be a cool Hero!"

Mount Lady grimaced slightly. Given who we're investigating, we are probably the furthest thing from 'cool' you'll ever see.

—

Mayumi couldn't help but fret as she walked into the main foyer of Detnerat. Mei was leaving relatively unattended and was going to Mad Scientist heaven, so naturally she was worried. But she had to push that aside and focus on her own Internship. "Um… I'm here for the internship?"

"Ah, Sayuu Mayumi! Just the person I wanted to see!"

She couldn't help but gasp when she saw a familiar figure with a high forehead and long nose walk towards her. "M-Mr. Yotsubashi? The-the CEO?"

He smiled warmly. "Of course! I'm delighted to have a U.A Support student intern at my company! Come, come! I'll take you to the labs and we can get you started!"

Flustered, she let herself be led into the elevator. He smiled genially at her. "When I saw your work, I have to admit I was inspired. That mech suit of yours is a work of pure genius!"

Mayumi's eyes widened. "T-thank you!" She stammered. "It's-It's my long term project!"

Yotsubashi beamed. "Yes, U.A has you do that for the school year, don't they?" The elevator dinged, and Mayumi let out a gasp when she saw the lab space. "Detnerat is interested in a wide variety of products and potential industries, including robotics. Your internship with us would be a bit different from a typical Support Agency - focusing on lifestyle improvement with some robotics as well."

Mayumi looked over the space in wonder. "This is… really impressive," she muttered. "I knew your company is associated with a lot of different fields." She paused. "What are you aiming to achieve with robotics research?"

"Oh, construction robots, some other gizmos - maybe even a mech suit of our own!" Yotsubashi waved his hand, a smile on his face.

Mayumi smiled happily. She had received a couple of offers from various Support companies, but Detnerat had intrigued her. Their commitment to helping everybody with their Quirks was truly admirable! Not to mention their business partnership with Feel Good Inc., one of the best computer companies in Japan, offered some interesting contacts she could use down the line.

The CEO paused. "Speaking of mech suits… We are currently working on making one right now. Would you like to see our efforts?"

Mayumi's face lit up with unholy glee. "Yes, please!"

This was going to be a really informative internship!

—

Melissa looked up at Sir Nighteye's agency slightly apprehensively. She had been warned by Mirio that to get Sir Nighteye's approval she would have to make him laugh. The whole ride over she had been trying to come up with a joke that would work, but nothing had sprung to mind.

Bubble Girl pointed her upstairs with a cheerful smile. "Sir's office is right this way! And… if you can, see where Centipeder has gone."

"...Does he still have the tickle machine? Oh, god."

"I liked the tickle machine, Nana. Heroes do have to inspire laughter."

"I'm sure you liked it when Eight tried it out."

"It did help bring the mood up."

Melissa opened the office door, and stared. Centipeder, a Hero she had seen as a composed and restrained individual, was strapped into some sort of vertical table, being tickled. "A-HAAHA! PLEASE! GET ME OUT OF THIS!" He shrilly squeaked.

"S-sorry! I didn't know you were into that kind of thing Sir Nighteye! Even if it seems a bit obvious in hindsight-"

She then gasped, clapping her hands to her mouth. Sir Nighteye turned around, and his lips quirked upwards into a smile. "Funny."

"He still has it," an unheard chorus sounded in her head. Sir Nighteye gestured for her to sit, idly tapping a button to let Centipeder out. As the gasping sidekick staggered out, Sir Nighteye gave her an appraising look.

"Congratulations, you made me laugh. Welcome to the Nighteye agency."

Mirio popped his top half through the wall, giving her a thumbs up. 'Congrats, Melissa!"

Melissa hesitantly gave him a grin and thumbs up. "Um… okay?"

She had to wonder if anybody else had to deal with an eccentric mentor and workspace like this.

—

Katsuki's eye twitched as Best Jeanist fussed around his hair. "My, your hair is as ferocious as you are," he tutted. After being lectured on 'presentability' and 'needing a project to straighten out' Katsuki was wondering if he had possibly made a mistake.

He should have known better. Hell, the hag had said that Best Jeanist was 'an insufferable egomaniac,' and she worked with some real egotistical bitches. Not like him and the hag, who were humble and well adjusted people with no anger issues whatsoever.

Hopefully the bastard was going to actually teach him something worth a damn or he would not be held responsible for his actions.

Best Jeanist held up a pair of jeans. "Now, put these on so that you match the theme of my agency. Dress for success, young man!"

Katsuki's entire face twitched as he robotically took the jeans. Interning here seemed more and more like a mistake.

—

Izuku sat back. Yeah, they'd be fine.

As they started descending, Mei gasped in delight. "Izuku, look! The biggest and best Baby in the world!"

Izuku grinned as they came in. I-Island floated in the middle of the ocean, its steel walls glinting in the sunlight. The dream of everybody who was interested in the development of science in all fields, I-Island shone like a jewel. Powered by a variety of sustainable energy sources as well as a massive plasma reactor, I-Island had three cities surrounding the main one, with lakes and forests housed within.

No Villain had ever gained access to its secrets. Until now.

Izuku couldn't help smiling wider. Soon, Mei and he would be walking the grounds of I-Island! There was so much he had yet to learn and discover!

Not to mention his plan was going ahead smoothly. Izuku was a bit worried, but he had faith in his League of Supervillains. They would be able to respond to whatever happened.

—

Stain looked at the kid on his doorstep. The lizard man standing there looked at him with wide eyes. "Oh, my god."

His eyes narrowed, Stain reached for a knife-

"I'm a huge fan!" The heteromorphic man grinned. Now that Stain could see him closer, he saw that the man was wearing a bandanna and black jumpsuit, similar to his own look. A red scarf dangled limply on his shoulders. "I-I mean, your message about corrupt Heroes is just - it's just, wow. If you read between the lines of everything you do-"

Stain blinked suspiciously, not letting go of the knife. He had released his manifesto on the Internet a couple of times, though always from a secure address. "Why are you here? How did you find me?"

Lizard Kid looked at him with wide eyes. "Oh, I checked this part of Hosu since it's a place where the Heroes don't go - it makes sense for you to hide here."

That wasn't too bad a deduction for an amateur. Stain focused his glare, letting some killing intent leak out. "And my first question?"

He gulped. "I-I was thinking… I could be your apprentice or something?"

"An apprentice?"

"Or a sidekick!" A bit of bravado crept back into his tone. "I-I've been learning how to fight by watching movies and playing video games then practising the really cool moves so I know what works! And I learned how to drive in Grand Theft Auto 10!"

Stain glared at him. "This isn't a path that the weak-willed can walk. I work alone."

"Please!" The man gave Stain a pleading stare. "I-I found your manifesto online! When I heard your words, a fire was lit in me! I-I don't have anything else in my life!"

…Well, that was interesting.

Stain looked at this young man and made a vague decision. "What's your name?"

"Uh, Iguchi Shuichi-"

Stain shook his head. "Not what this society calls you. Your real name."

"Um… Spinner? Not very original, I know, but this is like the first thing I've found that made me want to leave the house-"

Stain gave Spinner an appraising look. "And what is your Quirk?"

Spinner shrank in on himself. "...Gecko. I can cling to walls, and… that's it."

Stain remembered a time before he had voluntarily stained himself with the worst of Hero society. A time when he had been Stendhal, and met a man with a weak Quirk and a strong Heroic spirit. Their views had differed regarding the culling of vermin but ultimately Stain was grateful for the encounter since he had met Kncukleduster and gained his resolve.

The Crawler was almost a true Hero.

At that moment, Stain made a decision. "...I can work with that."

Spinner stared up at him with wide eyes. "Y-you can?"

"Yes."

"T-then I'm all for it, Sensei!"

"You may regret that decision." Stain gestured for him to come in.

The person who owned the apartment he rented while he cleaned the filth and scum had asked no questions, which was fine by him. Spinner took it in with wide eyes. "Whoa…" he breathed.

Blades were everywhere. Swords, shuriken, knives, spiked clothing… it felt like the room could cut you just by looking at it. Stain pulled out some of the weights he had used when he started training and tossed them over to Spinner. The younger man caught them only to practically bend double under their weight. "Put those on. We're going for a run."

Spinner strained under the weight. "Y-yes, Sensei!"

"Any backchat or whining and I will throw you out."

"G-got it, Stain!"

As Spinner pulled the weights on, Stain limbered up. An apprentice would definitely help him spread the message. He could function like a Robin to his Batman (Stain privately thought that Batman should have killed the criminals but the writers were soft.)

Yet Mastermind's words rang in his head.

When was the last time you saved anybody?!

Stain wasn't given to introspection. However, the earnest, angry tone that Mastermind had used stuck with him. Reminding him of when he had lacked the resolve to do what was right.

—

Tomura steepled his fingers. "So, Sensei, I've got my game plan all set up. What do you think of it?"

Sensei hummed, mulling over the steps. "It is certainly impressive. You will cause considerable destruction with it while making the Heroes look like fools."

Tomura's grin widened. "That's what this is all about. I'm gonna use this to draw that griefing motherfucker Mastermind out, then I'm gonna get his friends. I'll kill them in front of him while he can't do anything about it, then I'll disintegrate him as slowly and painfully as I can."

"And then All Might, right?"

Tomura waved a hand irritably. "Yeah, yeah, I hate him as well, but Mastermind's the real problem. I mean, look at him! He's a hacking bastard! He acts like a goddamn Comic Book Villain!"

"That is… accurate," Sensei said with a weird tone. Like he was being forced to bite a lemon.

"I know, right? And he monologues all the time! And people act like he's a bigger threat than we are!"

Mon barked. Tomura stroked him behind the ears in the spot he liked. "An armoured freak, terrorising Japan… Wait till they get a load of us. I'll make sure that our name is legend."

Sensei paused. "Very well, Tomura. I will trust in your judgement. And good luck in your recruitment attempt."

Tomura shrugged. "I don't need luck. I've been getting guys to join my party for ages! I just gotta max his relationship values with the right dialogue options."

Sensei turned off, and Tomura looked over to Kurogiri. "So, where can we find the Hero Killer?"

"I believe I have found several dramatic brooding spots in Hosu, sir." Kurogiri finished polishing a glass.

"Good, good." Tomura leered. "Let's get the Hero Killer."

He would make Sensei so proud.

—

For the first time in a long while All for One was disgruntled. "This is not going how I predicted it would, Doctor."

Garaki looked up. "It isn't a bad thing for him to learn independence."

"He can be perfectly independent, just so long as he does what he's told." All for One sighed. "I mean, he's becoming too egotistical because he just happened to find a plan that worked."

"Oh, yes. He's certainly proud of himself."

"How could an immaculate and perfect being such as myself produce such an annoying heir?" All for One rubbed his temple. "All he had to do was hate All Might and society. Then I would take his hatred filled body and become even more perfect. Then take One for All, then New Order, and then take over the world as its new Demon Lord. And he just had to screw it up by hating the wrong person."

He slumped slightly. "Just like my brother. I mean, I kill our horrible parents, getting a hefty life insurance policy and committing patricide and matricide at the same time, and how does he react? 'Big brother, don't kill people,' 'Even if our parents were horrible, killing people is wrong.'"

All for One shuddered. "I give him a Quirk out of the goodness of my heart, and he doesn't give it back to me when I see he can't be trusted! Then, to make things worse a spiky haired gigolo steals my most prized possession and gets my foolish little brother involved with some shady characters. And of course my brother gives his layabout boyfriend my Quirk, because he was just childish like that."

What had been worse was that the thief had refused to return All for One's rightful property, then had the gall to pass his brother's Quirk to some other hooligan. He had been within his rights as an older brother to reduce him to a grease smear across the city they had fought in.

Garaki sighed. "Relatives, right? They never understand the sacrifices necessary to push our understanding of the world."

All for One paused. "They are too frustrating, sometimes. I need to de-stress. Get that Noumu with the pensieve Quirk." Garaki left, returning with a squat Noumu whose brain was twisted into a bowl shape with projectors for eyes.

He had commissioned this Noumu specifically for light entertainment. All for One had a lot of happy memories and liked to rewatch his happier ones in surround sound. "Put on Shimura's death for me, that's always good for a laugh."

As the memory replayed, All for One sighed. Mastermind was proving to be a nuisance. He had been amusing when he hadn't directly done anything to him but now that he had interfered he would have to go.

—

In the lobby of I-Island's lone airport, Izuku sneezed. Somebody must have been talking about him.

AN: It's here!

I'm building up to some interesting events! I can only hope you like them.

Tomura has a game plan, for once. All for One is pissed off and a colossal dick. Stain has an apprentice! And almost everybody is in a cool internship opportunity!

Why is Iida with Mount Lady? Why, for that matter, is Mineta? How will the Mastermind Taskforce proceed? And what is Mastermind's grand plan? That will be continued in the next chapter.

If people are wondering 'why is Iida going on this and nobody stopped him,' I should remind you that Aizawa let him go to Hosu when there was a goddamn serial killer there.

Next time… Shigaraki has an Announcement!