Michael's phone was out as soon as his shoes hit the asphalt. Music blasted through his headphones as he typed out the message. "Bring me to the bar in two hours. I need to have a few words with that blue-haired fuck about his taste in allies."
The message was marked as 'read,' and Michael rolled his eyes as he picked up the pace. Plot . Station would close soon, and he needed to get some coffee grounds. He was already pissed at the thought of Shigaraki using rapists and nearly getting him killed. Being indirectly responsible for him not having his one morning comfort wouldn't help his case. Finally, the little corner store and its single gas pump came into view. A few rundown stores and alleys were its only company on the sketchy block. A good halfway point between his house and school. A stray cat hissed at him from an alley. Its golden eyes stared him down as it bared its fangs. "Fucking cats." He muttered as he walked into the dimly lit store.
Pushing the door open, a little bell rang, and he quickly looked through the aisles. After a few seconds of searching, Farron snagged a container of his beloved ground beans. Making his way to the register, he saw nobody behind the counter. Sighing, he smacked the little rusted service bell and waited. A muffled crash was heard, and a few seconds later, an elderly lady walked through a door to the side. She shuffled to the register and seemed to study him before giving him a wide, almost knowing smile.
"Will that be all, dear?" She asked with a bit of red liquid coming from her lip.
"Uh. Yeah, this is it... Ma'am, you've got a little something on your lip." He said as he made a wiping motion over his mouth.
The lady used her sleeve to wipe it off before giving Michael another wide smile, "You're such a sweet boy. Tell you what, how about you just take that, free of charge?"
Michael studied the old woman for a second before taking his coffee grounds and quickly leaving. A hissing sound brought his attention back to the alley. The cat was still there but had something under a clawed paw. Taking a few cautious steps closer revealed a dead snake that the cat had been eating. Feral golden eyes stared at him, daring him to take another step. "Psychotic little shit, aren't we?" Michael said before turning away and heading home.
The entire rest of the trip had Michael on edge. He felt as if something was stalking him, and he was getting agitated. Multiple sweeps with full color and thermal sights revealed nothing to the increasingly paranoid boy as he finally walked inside his house. He dropped his bag on the floor as he quickly went to his room and pulled out a souvenir from his last job in the states. A sawed-off double-barrel shotgun hidden in a secret cubby hole in his bed frame. The gun had intricate designs mirror engraved into both barrels. The wooden pistol grip was custom-fitted to his hand, and both barrels broke over to show two shells at the ready. Flicking the barrels shut again, he walked to the door and locked the deadbolt. Paranoia wasn't what he'd call it, but he swore he could hear faint giggles at the very edge of his hearing range. He silently fished his phone out of his pocket and shot a text to Kurogiri.
Plan has changed. Need a portal, right now.
A few seconds of uncomfortable silence went by before he received a reply. Stand by, we have another member close by, and they will be coming with you. They are headed to your position now.
As soon as he finished reading, a knock was heard from his front door. Hiding the gun again, Michael crept up to the door as quietly as possible and checked through the peephole. The old lady from the gas station was standing there and swaying her arms as she waited. Drawing his combat knife, he flipped it in his grasp, hiding it behind his back as he undid the locks. Flicking the lights on, he took in a deep breath as he swung the door open to see the same wide smile from before. "Can I help you?" He asked, adjusting his grip.
"Oh, look, it's you! Can I come in? Handyman and the Vape Lord sent me here."
"Handyman and the Vape Lord?" He asked, now confused at the names she had given his boss and caretaker.
"Yep!"
Michael stared at the old lady for a moment before shrugging and stepping back to let her in. The old lady walked in and spun around as she studied the house. Michael looked away to shut the door when he heard a much younger-sounding giggle come from behind. Turning around, he saw a dirty blonde-haired girl naked in his living room.
"Holy fuck!" He shouted as he brought the knife out in front of him.
"What's wrong? Never seen a girl naked before?" She asked with a laugh.
"I've seen plenty, but none of them were pushing for retirement two seconds before the clothes dropped."
"I don't think she was that old."
"Not important. What is important is who the fuck you are and what your deal with Shigaraki is."
The girl sat down on the couch and crossed her still bare legs as she arched her back and stretched. She was naked, but also covered in a thin layer of what Michael could only call mud. "You got any clothes I can borrow? It's kinda cold in here." She asked as she looked down and flicked her now stiff nipple.
He eyed her warily, as she made a show of her chest before giggling at his expense. He stepped into his room and found one of his old work shirts from his time helping his dad in the garage. Oil and grease stains that would never truly go away decorated the white cotton, and a few tears lined the hems. Some red basketball shorts came with them, and he made his way back to his living room. She was sprawled out on the couch, leaving nothing to his imagination as he threw her the clothes.
"Who the fuck are you?" He asked, irritation growing at the girl's antics. Though also trying not to stare.
"Aww, most boys would be dying to get a taste of little ol' me after all this." She said with a pout.
"Easy there, girl. Can I at least get a name first?" He said, his eyes wandering back over her.
Her gold eyes shone with delight at his attention, "Hmm… I don't know if I should tell someone that got me naked on their couch."
"You came in here and stripped of your own will, Blondie. Seriously though, can you tell me your name?"
Her round pupils became narrow slits that barely hid a deep-seated madness that Farron only saw in himself at his lowest times. He couldn't deny the girl was cute, but she was also clearly dangerous. She gave a playful smile as she slid into the baggy, oversized clothes, then made a face and took a second to sniff them. "These smell like you. I think I'll keep them."
"Go for it."
"Ooh. My turn for a question, Mikey! Aren't you like a spy or something for Handyman?"
"...You still didn't answer my question, but fine. Think of me like a spy." He wondered when Kurogiri would open his warp, thinking he had a strange idea of what "right now" meant.
"I'm like you, but better." She said with a giggle.
"I'm sure." Michael shot back, unimpressed.
She pouted and stomped her foot before saying, "Fine, I'll just show you, then."
Michael was just barely able to avoid the pounce due to his reflexes kicking in. His large knife swung out as she drew two small knives of her own and blocked it. "Ugh. Mikeyyy, I just need a few sips, I swear!" she cried as she went for his neck.
The pair fell to the ground, and he was pinned underneath her, with a knife driven into his thigh. He could only watch as she bit into his collar and sucked a bit of blood before letting him up. She giggled madly as he put pressure on the wound and looked up at the blonde vampire. A fleshy veil covered her, and soon a perfect copy of himself stared back at him. "Oooh, so this is what it's like to see the tops of refrigerators. Oh my god! Your accent is so weird to use!" She said in his own voice.
"Cut that shit out before I say fuck it and hurt you. I'm sure Shigaraki won't be too mad if I break his new toy." He said as he stood up and cracked his neck.
"Ooh! You want me to be a little toy for you instead? I love dirty talk. Maybe if you hit me just right, I'll stop, and we can have some fun before we go."
"Oh my god, it's so weird hearing my voice say that. Fuck this shit." Michael said as he pulled out his phone and sent Kurogiri another text to pick him up now.
She dropped her disguise and dressed back in Michael's old clothes as a misty portal opened up. "You're actually really fun to be, ya' know? We'll have to do it again sometime. I'll taste you, and you can get a taste of me if you're a good boy...Oh by the way, I'm Himiko Toga!" Her golden cat eyes pierced into his soul. For the first time in years, he felt intimidated.
Michael shivered at the blonde sadist's words as she skipped through the portal. He was stuck in a whirlwind of emotions as he made his way to the warp gate. Anger, fear, excitement, and more than a little lust swirled through his head as he processed the talk he just had. He couldn't quite place his exact feelings on the matter, but he knew one thing at the very least: Himiko Toga was now the most dangerous person he knew.
Stepping through the portal, his foot hit the familiar hardwood of the little bar that housed the leader of the League of Villains. He quickly forgot his mixed feelings about the blonde as he remembered why he was here. Rage quickly resurfaced inside him as he laid his grey eyes on the smoking yellows of Kurogiri, who stood cleaning a glass.
"Kurogiri, where the fuck is that cowardly little shit, Shigaraki?" Michael snapped.
Toga swooned and giggled as she held her smiling face in her hands at his language.
"Farron, I ask that you please calm down before talking to the young master Tomura. I realize he has made some grievous errors, but please know that he is still very new to the leadership concept." Said the deep raspy voice of Kurogiri.
Taking a deep breath with his hands up, Farron said, "Where is the fucker?"
"He's finalizing his recruitment of the latest member in the last room on the left, upstairs." Kurogiri answered with a weary sigh.
Michael turned and stomped up the stairs with Toga following close behind him. The short walk through the hallway ended with a sharp rapping of his knuckles against the door. A groan was heard through the door and soon opened to reveal another tall black-haired man. He was covered in dark burnt skin held together with staples and a nearly shredded dark blue jacket. Turquoise eyes looked into his own as the two sized each other up. "Can I help you?"
"Shigaraki in there?"
"Yeah."'
"I need to speak with him."
"Name?"
"Farron. Yours?"
"Who's the girl?"
"Hi! I'm Toga!"
"I'm not with her."
"We're totally together, he just likes playing the stoic."
The two studied each other for a few more seconds before the burned man shrugged and stepped aside. Michael stepped inside and instantly locked onto Shigaraki with a knife in hand. Shigaraki's eyes widened for a moment before narrowing at him. "You're supposed to be undercover. What are you doing here, Farron?"
"You nearly got me fucking killed and sent fucking rapists after the students! What the fuck is your problem?"
"They were gonna die anyways, so mig-" Shigaraki never finished his sentence as Michael slammed a right cross into his nose.
A crunching sound startled the room as Michael pressed forward and slammed his leg into the side of Shigaraki's knee. It hadn't quite broken, but it would certainly hurt that much more with the bullet wounds still in his leg. Toga squealed in sadistic glee at the violence while the other man looked on in cold indifference. Farron rubbed the spine of the knife with his thumb as he stepped forward, still shaking in rage. Kurogiri calmly walked into the room, the cry of pain drawing his attention.
"Farron, I once again remind you that Shigaraki has more than enough to learn in his future as a leader. I sincerely apologize for his actions, and The Master himself proposes that an arrangement can be made from this."
"Oh really, now? So just what is that?" Michael said as he pressed the blade to the dazed and panicked leader's neck.
"Let him go without further injury, and put this all behind you. Go back to your deep cover position, and we'll coordinate on what intel you feed us. Just do your job, and then, not only will The Old Master ensure quality control for potential recruits, he'll do his best to make sure none of the students are ever actually killed."
Michael nodded at the deal and drew back from Shigaraki before looking to Kurogiri. "Fine. I still want to actually talk to this dumbass first, though. I'd also like to meet any other new faces."
"Well, I'll leave you and the young master to talk out any differences. When the two of you are done, come back downstairs, and I'll introduce you." He said before leaving with Toga and the burned man.
Once their footsteps faded, Michael offered a hand to the still downed Shigaraki. "I should turn you to dust for that." That was all he said, swatting Michael's hand away.
"I could save us some time and put a few more holes in you. Wouldn't be hard."
Shigaraki brought a hand up to scratch his neck and replied, "I could say the same about killing you."
"Okay, well then, let's cut the bullshit and talk about why I'm here. You damn near got me killed by those stupid fucking goons you sent after us. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that you didn't knowingly hire a sick freak like the one I killed there, right?"
"No. I just spread the word and used any who answered the call to put an end to that damn All-Might."
"Fair enough, I guess. Still feel plenty justified bout that, though." Michael said as he gestured to Shigaraki's crooked nose.
"I suppose it makes sense that a few of all those worthless extras would be willing to do that kind of thing. Scraping the bottom of the barrel like that tends to expose the nastiest bits. What I'm curious about is that you killed him, yet your cover hasn't been blown, and you are still free. Explain." Tomura said as he gingerly touched his nose and recoiled at the second jolt of pain.
"I killed two of them. One that nearly killed me first, and the other decided to be a real shitbag. So I took care of that. The first was ruled as killing in self-defense. The second was ruled as killing in the direct defense of others, so the school is willing to vouch for me if legalities come into it."
"Interesting. The heroes will all look the other way when one of them kills, but we do so much as draw blood, and everyone loses their minds!"
" I ain't gonna argue, but I will say that we tend to draw first blood every time."
"Semantics. True heroes shouldn't need to resort to such a thing."
"Riiight. Well then, I'm still having an issue with the fact that you so casually issued the kill order on us. Especially since you damn well knew that I was there."
"I figured you'd find a way out of it. Didn't expect you to kill them to do it."
"Fuckin prick. Fine, how did you get a hold of the teacher's schedule for that whole fiasco? Kurogiri mentioned that your source was wrong, and I know I didn't have any info on that. So who else do you have in that school?" Micheal was starting to relax. Or, at least, calm down.
"Jealous, Farron? Your answer is that blonde psycho downstairs, she's probably annoying someone by now. Regardless, you aren't being replaced, just a secondary option for me. Look, do me a favor and fuck off will you? That damn cowboy shot me damn near to hell and I need to rewrap these bullet wounds thanks to you." Shigaraki spat as he limped out of the room.
The walk downstairs to the bar was short, but Michael could hear plenty of new voices. The insane giggling of Toga stood out the most to him. He passed the door and looked around to see a horde of new faces staring back at him. A lizard-man with red and white rags carried a large sword on his back and sat next to a short person in a gas mask. Himiko was rambling about something to Dabi, who was doing his best to ignore the blonde. A man in a white and black bodysuit sat at the bar with a large woman with a thin double sided mace on her back. In the corner, playing darts, was a giant blonde man with a fake eye. To his right, propped against the wall, was a dapper gentleman donning a trenchcoat with a top hat and white mask. Finally, a man in a black leather straightjacket stood chained to the far wall.
"Well, I see you've been awful busy, haven't you?" Farron asked no one in particular, taking in the sight of them all.
"Excuse me, dear friends. We have someone that we think you should meet and greet." Said Kurogiri before the bar went silent as their attention focused on Farron.
"Here we have Michael Farron. He is our deep-cover agent embedded in the U.A. curriculum. Should you come across him in any operations, then take care to not kill him. Of course, you have full authority to battle with him to maintain his cover, but again, lethal force is not authorized. Now please, take some time to get to know your coworkers." Said Kurogiri before he went back to cleaning glasses.
"Pleasure to meet you. The name is Mr. Compress." Said the man with the top hat as he held out a hand.
"Pleasure's mine, so what do you bring to the table?"
He made a show of moving his hands around before revealing a small marble. He rolled it between his fingers, and three more joined the little sideshow before he dropped them to the floor. A snap and flash of light blinded Michael before revealing four large knives where the marbles were. Compress reached down and picked the four knives up with a flourish of his cape, and the blades once again became the pale blue orbs. "Plenty more where that came from in my bag of tricks." Said the voice behind the mask.
"Mikey! Over here! Talk to me next!" Begged Toga as she bounced in place.
"For fuck's sake, my name is Michael." He said as he casually waved off the snickering of Compress.
She let out a cheer as Michael made his way to her and Dabi, who was gritting his teeth at…well, everyone. "So what do you do here?" He asked the heavily scarred man, Toga pouting as she was ignored.
His question was answered with Dabi holding up a hand wreathed in blue flames that licked up and down his arms. Michael nodded and switched his focus to the blonde devil that looked ready to pounce him again.
"How'd you infiltrate the school?" He asked with a serious face.
"Ugh. All work and no play makes Toga a dull girl." She said with a roll of her feline eyes.
A deadpan stare at the girl eventually got her to react. "Fine. I just found a poor lonely student walking home all by his lonesome, and he was kind enough to fall unconscious for me as I got a little blood from him. No big deal." She said with a shrug.
The girl's crazy eyes locked onto him for a moment before saying, "I bet you'd look a lot cuter if you were bleeding."
"I bet you'd look a lot cuter if you weren't fucking insane." He shot back.
The girl took a moment to digest what she heard before devolving into a mad fit of laughter.
"Who's to say I'm insane? Who's to say that you aren't too?"She said as she stood and sauntered towards him. Looking up into his eyes, she put both her hands on his chest and stood on her tiptoes before whispering to him, "We're all mad here. Some of us just hide it better."
For a brief second, her eyes didn't seem crazed, but extremely focused on him. Michael made a mental note to dig deeper into it later. He couldn't keep denying that she intrigued him. The two stood quietly before Toga leaned in and gave the bite mark she made earlier a quick kiss. Looking back up to him, he could see the chaotic gleam in her eyes had returned. She made a show of licking her sharp canines before making her way back to Dabi, much to his annoyance.
"Hey, buddy! Come over here a second." Said the muffled voice coming from the gas mask.
"What's up?"
"So I couldn't help but notice you sound pretty American. So do you know anything about this?" He said as he placed a revolver on the table.
Michael was once again caught off guard as he looked from the revolver back to the boy. He kept eye contact as he grabbed the pistol and examined it for a moment. "This is a Smith & Wesson .38 Special. I don't know and won't ask how you got it, but I'm willing to bet the Japanese government didn't give you permission."
The sound of muffled laughter came from the mask, and the boy stuck out a hand. "The name is Mustard. I apologize for assuming your nationality, but I'm happy to see another guy that's good with a gun."
Another look at Mustard made Michael pause. "Are you even in high school yet?"
"Kind of hard to get through middle school after running away from home."
Farron nodded at the information and decided to switch back to the subject that the young boy enjoyed. "I favor shotguns myself, but when it comes to pistols, I'm a fan of .44 magnums, Glock 19's, and FN 5.7's. Why do you have such a low-power pistol, by the way? I'm not knocking the .38, but it's less power than even a 9mm." Farron asked as he disassembled the gun.
"Personal preference. That and I didn't exactly choose this, so much as it was what was available at the time." Mustard answered with a shrug.
"Alright then, why the mask?"
"I'm not immune to my own quirk, and it looks badass."
"You make mustard gas?"
"Among others." He said with a dark, muffled laugh.
"Cool beans. I'll keep my eyes out, and if I can, I'll see about getting you something with a bit more bite than this thing. Also, this thing is spotless. Good job on taking care of it." He said as he quickly pieced the weapon back together and set it back down on the table.
"Hell yeah, man. Thanks, I appreciate it." Mustard said, holstering the weapon.
Michael simply nodded and walked towards the muscular blonde and was instantly told, "Fuck off, small fry. I don't care for your bullshit spy games. It's much more fun to just beat someone to death."
Michael rolled his eyes as he made his way to the bar where the lizard man had joined the other two. In the background he could hear Toga's voice squealing over him calling her cute. He took a seat at the end, "Hey Kurogiri, can I get a Crown and Coke?"
The drink was prepared and slid his way as the person to his left, the only other woman in the room, greeted him, "Huh. I thought an American would be more inclined to take his liquor straight."
"Maybe, but I'm no alcoholic. It certainly didn't help dear old dad at least."
"Well, I suppose introductions are in order. My name is Magne, and these two gentlemen are Twice and Spinner." Her voice was deep, but had a high edge to it. She was clearly putting it on, and Michael respected the effort.
"Nice to meet you! Fuck! I hate introducing myself!"
"Sup."
Michael took a moment to get a look at the three of them before asking, "So what do y'all do?"
"Oh, you know. Nothing special compared to everyone else. Just a bit of messing with magnetism." Magne said, sipping her own drink, some fruity cocktail with a pink umbrella. The name seemed obvious, but the others spoke up before he could comment.
"I have the worst quirk. My quirk is dope as fuck!" The man seemed to speak with two voices.
Spinner just looked at Michael before gesturing to his green reptilian body. "Oh, well, alright then. Plenty of variety here." Michael said as he sipped his drink.
The alcohol's burn on the back of his throat was masked by the carbonated mixture as he finished it. The four sat in silence before Magne asked him a question. "So, how'd you get the job of being the inside man, dear?"
"The Old Master personally requested me for it after this stunt I pulled back in the states. Not every day that a state governor goes down for multiple counts of embezzlement and corruption. Especially when it's because the same guy who planted the damning evidence leaked it to authorities. He even, allegedly, killed himself in his jail cell. That's the official story, at least." Michael explained as he sucked his sharp teeth.
"Wait, so how did a guy like you get into that?" Asked Spinner with an incredulous look.
"Met some really nice people who wanted not so nice things."
"Damn, boy! That's pretty heavy for someone your age." Said Magne, she almost seemed concerned.
"So what got you into villainy? I don't wanna hear your sob story!" Twice interjected.
Michael stopped holding back the smile, these people didn't seem so bad. He still didn't regret decking Shigaraki, though. "Parents got screwed over real bad with their benefits and wrote to the governor to help. He declined, seeing as he was pretty anti-military. The dirty fucking communist. Anyway, mom died and dad's problems were getting worse each day, and while they suffered, he just turned a blind eye. Dad taught me what he could and I guess he couldn't take it anymore, because he offed himself when I turned eighteen. So I took action, and now the greedy pig is rotting in hell. That's just a very short version of it, but the kicker is that the big boss took special interest and is paying for me to live here now."
"Well, good for you!" Said Magne with a fist raised. "It's good that you went and did something about it instead of just letting them walk all over you! I'm proud of you."
"Yeah, well. Don't tread on me and all that." He said with a small smile.
A quick look at his watch told him it was getting late and he still needed to work with Shinso tomorrow. That was if he had decided to stop being so high and mighty about the killings in self-defense. If not, then he supposed he could just sleep in or do really anything else. Maybe Mina would be free? Looking to the corner with the straightjacketed man muttering to himself, he decided that he wouldn't visit him and stood up to leave.
"Well, I hate to go like this, but it's late, and I have a schedule to keep. I look forward to working with y'all soon. If we find ourselves fighting each other, remember that it's all just business, nothing personal. Y'all take care and goodnight." He said as Kurogiri opened a portal for him.
Before he could go, he felt a pull on his school uniform. Looking back, he saw Himiko Toga looking at him with a fanged smile and what looked like hunger in her eyes. "We should hang out sometime, okay?"
Michael shuddered at the thought, still not sure of the girl, but managed to nod and say, "Yeah, sure. We'll have to see what we can do without blowing my cover."
The girl smiled much wider than he was comfortable with and cheered at her small victory. All Farron could feel as he stepped through the portal was a mixture of nervous excitement and pure fear. Closing behind him, the portal left him in his living room with a cold cup of coffee on the table and bloodstains on his floor.