Nedzu sat down with his fellow staff members, the crowd taking pictures before they even started. That was the press for you. He gave an idle glance at Vlad, looking determined and stoic, and Aizawa looking … incredibly cleaned up. He couldn't pay the man to comb his hair and shave, believe him, he's actually tried to no avail. That's how serious the situation was.
"We'll now be taking questions." He opened the floodgate, voices came crashing one over another, imperceivable to normal brain speeds. He listened for the question that was the least threatening, someone genuinely asking a question. And there! "You, the man with the bowtie in seat seven?"
"What happened at the attack? Were any villains captured?" The man asked.
"Three were caught and restrained, the villains known as Mustard, Moonfish, and Muscular are now behind bars." That was simple enough to answer, probably the easiest question they would get tonight.
The piranhas apparently learned from this, quieting down and letting the ones in front speak up first. Skilled bastards. "How many losses of life were there?" Another reporter asked.
"None. No one has died." Nedzu stated clearly.
"So the heroes came out unscathed!?" Unfortunately, he knew where this was leading, and they had no choice but to reply as honestly as possible.
"One hero and two students were captured." He stated. "And a few students are in recovery." Cue the anger and shouts of disbelief.
"So UA has failed?" Another reporter was already deciding on a narrative. "This is the second time the League of Villains have attacked."
"I actually viewed us having succeeded." Aizawa countered him. "The worst case scenario would be every hero dead and every student captured." The press stopped for a small second.
"That doesn't excuse your failure."
"It doesn't." The man stood up. "And I'd like to give you all my sincerest apologies for that failure." And bowed.
"Pardon me, but apologizes don't do much when it comes to kidnapping." A man shot up. "The two students captured happen to be the first and third place winners of the Sports Festival, Bakugo Katsuki and Suzuki Iruma respectively, no? These two were specifically targeted by the league, weren't they?" Damn it, who leaked that information out?
"Yes. And you can trust me when I say this. The heroes will put their lives down to get these two students back." He sat down, a sign that he was handing it back over to them.
"And it doesn't worry you why these two were targeted?" The reporters kept coming. "Both are clearly skilled and powerful, but Bakugo has shown immense problems controlling his temper, and Suzuki clearly has no control over his own quirk. Who's to say these villains aren't brainwashing them to their side as we speak?"
"Bakugo and Suzuki are my students." Aizawa apparently took that personally. "I've trained them for half a year now. I know them well enough to tell you one simple thing." He clenched his hand under the desk. "They're the most determined kids I've ever trained. They won't give in that easily."
Marasu came home from work, taking off his shoes and walking into the living room, his wife sitting on the couch and staring at an off television. "Honey, I'm home." He spoke up to her, getting her to snap out of it.
"Yes, right … I'm sorry, I didn't cook dinner."
"It's fine." He wasn't going to let her spiral again. "I brought takeout with me, company got a feast … wasn't in the mood to party myself." Not when it felt like their whole world was falling apart. "There haven't been any updates?"
"No…nothing but the usual 'we'll find them'." His wife blew into a tissue. "Bullshit, everything just has been…everythings just been completely awful! Why does this keep happening to us!? Why!?"
He rushed in and comforted her with a hug. First it was the Midoriya's, then it was Hishashi's testimony according to Katsuki, now their son was taken by a group of villains. What next? Would they be missing each other within a month? He couldn't say any form of bullshit like 'it's going to be okay' or something like that. "Yes, it's fucked up." He stated honestly.
"I…I can't help but wonder if this is happening because of what we let Katsuki get away with.." Mitsuki sniffed. "We enabled his bad attitude, we let him burn every bridge he could've made. Now Inko and Izuku are probably dead and our son was taken from us." Her eyes were bloodshot red. "Is this what we deserve? Are we just…meant to lose everything we care about?"
"No, it's not your fault." He kept his gaze in her eyes. "Maybe we didn't raise him right, maybe we didn't discipline him hard, but Katsuki is a good boy deep down. This isn't. Your. Fault. Understand?" He stared at her. "You are a wonderful person, I've seen you care about others. Don't put this on yourself."
"Y-your right, its-its just so hard to believe anything else…" Mitsuki struggled to look at him without shaking. "I remember how I would joke with Inko all the time about wanting to trade children…she'd always say no…she'd rather keep her little 'bunny' than my 'pomeranian'. Those were simpler times." He simply held her close in the quiet household, with nothing else to do but pray that the world would improve … in any way it could.
"Such a shame." Teian pouted as both she and her husband watched the news. "Iruma could've been rich, all of that hard work training him for nothing." They actually used their savings too! So much for investment in the future.
"We expected this eventually. The fact the boy lived through everything we put him through was a miracle." The man sighed. "Well then, we might need to open 'the safe'." Oh, was he serious?
"I know we saved that for a stormy day, but are you sure we can blackmail the Yakuza of all people?" She asked. That briefcase wasn't stolen for nothing after all. "They have a strong code after all, and that latest guy sounds like such a strickler."
"Hey, don't worry, we're perfect for this sort of stuff." He reassured her. "And we may not have to. The heroes are working on their 'rescue operation', so we have a full week to wait it out before we have to actually go out and do our own work."
That phrase sent a shiver down her spine. She wasn't meant to work! "Alright, I suppose I can hold out for just a little longer, but I wouldn't count on it." If they could get away with everything they did while their son went to a school full of heroes, she wouldn't be confident about them being competent.
"Now then, how about we do something just like old times." Ohh. "A bit of a serenade and massage?"
"You're such a perv." She smirked, leaning in to kiss him on the lips. The good times they had together, just the two of them.
Miriko tapped her foot, an age-old method of expending pent up energy. Except her legs were strong enough to pierce through metal walls, so if she didn't stop soon, she would probably put a whole through the van she and the rest of her 'team' were in.
Normally she wouldn't have agreed to any kind of team up, she rose to the top on her own merits, but this wasn't the time for prideful bullshit. Someone took her Kit, and she was going to use every conceivable method to make sure she got him back.
The group consisted of herself, Best Jeanist, Mt Lady, Gang Orca, and RyukRyuk. Kamui, some geezer named Gran Torino, and the rest of the top ten they could get were inside of a van heading to the bar. This one was heading to the Nomu Factory, where she had an excuse to kick without holding back, like she doubted she could right now.
Her Kit was a determined little guy, but he was naive as hell. She could only imagine what sick, twisted plans this fucker had in mind for him. She wasn't going to rest until this asshole was six feet below the ground after she stomped his head into a mushy red paste.
The police had much less bravery right now. Not that she didn't blame them, but not for the right reasons. They were keeping a distance from her, like she was suddenly going to attack them out of nowhere. She wasn't gonna do that now … unless they got handsy.
"It's going to be okay." She turned, and Ryuk gave her a sympathetic look. "We're going to find him. He's going to be okay."
"Yeah. He will be." Miriko gripped her hands. "Because I don't know what I'm going to do if he isn't."
Tomura lets the news finish before turning to him. "Your teacher apologizing for being a failure … that alone was the main goal." Everything was coming up Tomura. A Game Clear soon in sight.
"Oh really? Because that's not what I saw." Bakugo tried to argue.
"UA was invaded twice, two students and a hero kidnapped." He told the boy. "It may not convince the public yet, but the crack is there. And we'll take that nail and pound it until society realizes the ugliness it shoved under the rug. That Heroes are just people doing jobs, they can fail just like us, and you don't need to be a hero to help someone."
"So your whole thing is about making people feel sorry for you?" The boy laughed. "Wow, you're even bigger losers than I thought."
"Oh no, they shouldn't feel sorry." He stood up. "They should realize that heroes aren't the gods meant to be worshiped, and that their society is a piece of crap."
"There's hundreds, probably thousands of people who want to be a hero, because it's the 'best' thing anyone can be." Dabi continued. "Yet it takes one little flaw for all that potential to be ignored and thrown out."
"That people point out how dark and disturbing quirks can be while praising flashy ones." Toga added on. "So what if you need it to survive, what if you were born like this, you're abnormal trash."
"And that's not even getting on the main subject." Kiriwo chuckled. "The praise of powerful quirks over the subjugation of the quirkless." That really seemed to drive the boy crazy. "You would know all about that, wouldn't you? The mocking, the jeering, the depression they feel to the point they rather wish they were dead. Deku-kun had to literally go to hell for a better life, because staying here caused him so much despair. Watching you, being praised for existing while he was shoved into the darkness, made him despair beyond hope."
"... How's the nose treating you?" The single comment seemed to take the wind right out the boy's sails. "Listen, I get what you're going for now, and you seem to have put a lot of thought into it. However, you made a fatal flaw."
"Oh really, what's that?" He asked.
"I spent my whole life looking up to All Might, taking out anyone who does bad with a single punch. What makes you think I'm going to do what they do? I'm going to be the number one hero, no matter what anyone says about my attitude or my temperament." He growled. "That's my promise."
"That determination…so that's what inspires it." Kiriwo's eyes lit up. "It really does all come back to All Might, just like you said." He laughed maniacally. "So let's do it, let's kill All Might!" Everyone looked at him like he was a moron. "... What?"
"Kinda spent the first attack trying to do that with a monster that had mutated super strength and durability, shock absorption, and super regeneration. And he punched it unconscious." Tomura reiterated. "Not only are you late to the party, but the league moved far beyond taking out heroes 'for the fun' of it."
"I mean if it's Endeavor …" They all turned to Dabi now. "What, the guy's a prick." No argument here.
"Fair enough, I at least know where I need to go from here." The demon snickered. "So what should we do about-"
A knock on the door shut everyone up. The villains eyed each other. "Pizza Delivery." They all readied up, this was obviously a trap.
"Does it have anchovies? I really hate them. They're awesome." New plan when this is over, get Twice help, any help.
"No, but it does have an extra helping of New Hampshire." The fuck was he on about?
"New Hampshire?" Spinner asked the question on everyone's mind.
"SMASH!" The wall next to them exploded with debris as the bastard came rushing in. Damn it all, the pros were here!
"All Might!" Everyone shouted, one in hope, others in surprise, and two … with absolute venom.