Author's note : thanks for the kind review, guys !

Just to warn, this chapter is a special one themed around the villains and explaining that more is at work than Izuku being happy.

Chapter 17

"So, you're the Hero Killer? Nice to meet you. People call me Boss."

Tomura wore his villain suit, which meant a mask with his father's hand on it and an Armani suit. Either you got style or you didn't.

For example, Tomura's interlocutor wasn't the classy type, but the young villain knew instinctively to not mess with him. Stain, the Hero Killer, with his trademark red scarf and armed with a variety of knives, swords… Seriously, he had weapons for days to hunt and kill his prey with.

"Boss… We'll see if you deserve that title, young one. I came here because Kurogiri promised to erase my tab if I listened to your speech."

Stain loved a good Bloody Mary and Kurogiri made a killer one, especially if you paid a little extra and he used your enemy's blood (you had to supply the blood though).

For the moment, the tone was civil, as he knew about the Boss from his attack on U.A., with his goal of ensuring the students remembered what it meant to be a hero early on.

It was something Stain could agree with, even if it meant Boss had to fight All-Might. However, he had his suspicions and wanted to meet the man himself to learn the truth of the matter.

"To begin with, let's start with an easy one…" Stain said that with his rough voice, as he played with a knife… "What do you want to do?"

"Do you know what it means to be Quirkless?"

A question for a question? An interesting response, especially since it was a rhetorical question.

"Did you know they can't count on heroes to save them because they represent such a small percentage of the population and aren't worth the effort?"

Stain knew that tidbit, because of his old friendship with Atsuhiro. Of course, since Stain killed while the magician had a no-kill rule, they rarely spoke, only when they met at Magne's safe house.

"I know that, yes, and they often resort to vigilantism to defend themselves. Except the whole 'a quirkless person managed to beat a criminal with his wits and intelligence' doesn't happen often: not enough training, not enough equipment, not enough people, and of course not enough experience before being killed."

It was a sad truth, but only in comics could you pull through with just grits and guts. Knuckle Duster was an exception because the man was a goddamn hero before losing his quirk in a mysterious incident. He had the build and the wits to match his foes and he had a team.

"Exactly. Then you can say the same thing about complex mutants not being sexy or manly enough like Miruko or Orca is, or even people with a destructive quirk that they have almost no control over."

To prove his point, Tomura took off his blue, red, and yellow gloves and grabbed a bottle. He grabbed an empty one, of course, otherwise, Kurogiri would have been sad.

He dusted it in an instant in front of Stain who was reevaluating the young man. He had a strong quirk and was reminded of someone else. The Hero Killer knew he had to test the mettle of the man in front of him.

Tomura used his free hand to grab the knife Stain threw at him. The vigilante aimed for his shoulder. Nothing lethal. It was a test.

"Explain, mister Stain. Otherwise, and Kurogiri will agree, we will have words."

"It was a test. I wanted to see if you tried sparing the children during your attack or if it was just a convenient truth that you used to lure me there."

Tomura thought about it a second before returning the knife to Stain. Once again, he had to thank Izuku.

Learning to lose, to accept he didn't always have the upper hand. Sometimes, when an NPC wanted to know more about you and gave you choices, you had to take certain actions before they rewarded you.

"I want to destroy society, Stain. I will do whatever it takes and maybe, just maybe, that means I have to kill a child. However, I know my cause is just, and I will do whatever it takes."

Stain was notoriously an All-Might fanboy and Tomura was deliberately hiding that he would kill him at some point. Maybe he could hide the murder as a part of a controlled war between the new Symbol of Evil and the new Symbol of Peace?

Anyway, Stain smiled like the creep he was as he finished his drink and gave his hand to Tomura.

"It seems like your League might be interesting, especially with the little advantages you provide. I have already paid Kurogiri for the special insurance in case you get caught. I hope you can follow through on your promises, but I can trust another All-Might fan."

Tomura was happy to have his mask on, as it allowed him to hide his disbelief and hate. What did Stain say?

"I mean, those are special 25th-anniversary artist gloves there. They're quite rare, you know? I'd like to know where you'd found them since I know this damn Small Might got two pairs of them."

————

Somewhere, while helping his friends with their training, Izuku sneezed. Someone might be jealous of his All-Might collection!

————

"It is a gift from a friend… He is one of the reasons I thought a lot about how to do what I plan to do. I hope to one day introduce you to him since he is also an All-Might fan and shares his ideas on what it means to be a hero."

Stain nodded before stretching. One of the reasons he also accepted the League's offer was the freedom they gave to their members and the warping provided by Kurogiri.

Now, he had some work to do, and he should get to it!

"I know a hero who should get his sentence. Thanks to the HPSC, he is tightly linked with the police force. I discovered he stopped some investigations that interest me and an old coworker of mine. Maybe the Boss would be interested in a little team up to torture him a bit and do some holy justice?"

Tomura thought about it before accepting, not hiding his enthusiasm for the idea. Even if their ideas diverged, as long as their actions converged, the Hero Killer seemed like an interesting person!

"My pleasure. So, who is this old teammate? I am curious after all…"

"She changes her identity frequently. I don't even know her real name. Our paths separated two years ago after we determined she sucked at combat missions. I mean, defeating a petty thug? Sure, no problem. But nothing more than that, and I don't have time to protect someone else when on a mission."

"Mood. People need to pull their weight in battle."

"… That is a strange way of speaking, but… Anyway. Let's deliver some justice to this corrupted world! If they are heroes, then it is right that we call ourselves… Villains."

"Hence why I called it the League of Villains."

Both men went on their merry way to kill a Hero. Both missed the fact the media never covered the murder because Tomura completely dusted the body after they killed the poor hero.

Stain sighed since he didn't get more information on the HPSC's plans. Two in particular: Mockingbird and Imperial Flame.

He was almost certain that the latter had to do with Endeavor, slowly becoming a puppet for the corrupted leaders of the HPSC while the former… Stain found it extremely strange that some minor villains with rare quirks disappeared, based on the data he retrieved when he infiltrated the police station.

He knew what was happening, but he needed more proof if he wanted to call in reinforcements. Hilariously, he might have not gotten the information, if one member of the HPSC didn't try to buy his freedom.

However, he knew he could count on Sophie to relay his findings to Compress if something happened to him. After all… This crazy bitch survived getting stabbed three times in the heart when they fought against a criminal together.

Even if she sucked at fighting, she was one of the best meat shields he ever had.

Shame it was such a fucking mess to clean after she used her quirk.

————

Meanwhile, during Tomura's fun mission,

A car arrived in front of a dentist's office. Two people stepped out of it. One of them was angry and had the firepower to destroy a building, and the other was Enji Todoroki.

In front of them was the office of the doctor Hano Sugomono. A dentist who operated on heroes and their families, since he offered discretion so the paparazzi could be kept at bay.

However, in this case, the good doctor saw the two people outside of the car and sighed. Had the day finally come?

"Sakura? Send our two visitors directly to my office. Don't make them wait or try to make them go away. Then get out. Take your day off and take Hara to the family park."

It was useless to stop them and Hano wanted to preserve his office as much as possible. However, he would have to report this as soon as possible, if he were still alive after the meeting. Also, that way Sakura could report to her superior. It was time to see if their daughter was more important to her than the HPSC.

As soon as Enji and his wife came through, he greeted them with his biggest smile.

"Ah, sir, I am sorry, I didn't know you had an appointment but…"

"Hano, we need to talk."

Shit. They were as pissed as he thought. However, the dentist survived worse, such as his family dinner and he knew how to lie like… Well, like a dentist when he was told people it wouldn't hurt.

"… Can we sit down and not destroy my office? Then we can talk like adults."

"That depends if you can explain to me why you had a hand in covering up my son's death?"

Rei's voice was as cold as Hano's father's voice when he was angry. Nothing he couldn't fend off, he thought as he closed the curtains on his windows. It was important to give everyone what they wanted.

"… Mister and madam Todoroki, what exactly did you discover about Touya's death?"

"You couldn't know, but Touya lost two teeth the day he died." When Endeavor was the calm one, you knew it was bad.

Fuck. It meant many things, and none of them were good for him. It was going to be hard to escape this situation. A good point, though: he didn't have to pretend to be scared shitless.

"… You… You understand that if I tell you what they forced me to do… I will most likely disappear, right?"

First step, establishing a few things. He knew how the heroes would react, but the real danger was Rei. The woman was breathing ice on his neck, literally.

"Hano… Hano, Hano. You took care of my family for many years, so let me be clear. If you don't speak, you will disappear."

Enji sighed before he breathed some fire to heat the room. Good cop and bad cop, the usual tactic.

"She is not joking. If needed, I will burn every piece of evidence that you ever existed. I would prefer to avoid that, as I hate the smell of burned humans."

Hano swallowed his saliva before he sat in his chair.

"Do… Do any of you remember my quirk?"

One of the reasons the dentist charged so much? He was a doctor for heroes and he had a quirk that allowed him to save someone's teeth. After that, the good doctor could produce the teeth in the same state.

Impossible to distinguish from the original.

It… Explained a lot to Enji about why the HPSC might be interested in the dentist. It was a godsend to make someone disappear.

"So, you helped make some fake teeth to hide what happened to my child."

"… If it helps, I know it was a real body on site. They burned it afterward in front of me after I activated my quirk."

It was technically the truth since that was what happened. He had his own theories, but as his dad said, knowledge was power but also a Sword of Damocles.

"And the body…" Rei put her hand around his neck, snow budding on him.

"Was some blond kid, with roughly the same build as Touya. I always disliked switching teeth for them, but… It's hard to say no when Thunderbolt explains what he can do to you."

Gallow humor. It helps control your bladder. He knew that better than anyone.

Rei took her hand off the dentist's neck, but it didn't calm him. If the temperature was higher, he would be sweating.

Instead, ice was crawling up his back. His explanation was good enough for the mother, but now the problem was…

Enji Todoroki.

A man who had nothing to lose, if Sugomono was correct, and with enough experience to tell if someone was hiding things from him.

A small blade of fire erupted from Endeavor's finger as he joined Rei.

"I… Dislike torture. It makes me want to puke simply thinking about it. However, I was trained by one of the smartest beings alive on earth. I know when someone isn't telling me the full story."

Hano knew that perfectly, as Endeavor was often called in as back-up for investigation. Fire-power and brains. Honestly, it was mainly because the man didn't have the charisma All Might possessed that Endeavor wasn't number 1. That and, of course, because it was helping the HPSC to create an inferiority complex inside of him.

"… Very well. My power can't save dead people's teeth."

While he was saying that, the good doctor created a tooth in front of him, one Endeavor, and Rei never forgot.

The first time they brought Touya to the doctor, to do a small check-up after their kid lost his first teeth, to make sure he didn't need rectification.

"That's all I know. That's a part of my power nobody knows, except my family. Even the HPSC doesn't know about that limitation. But you never heard it from me. And… I hope you can forgive me. Or at least them."

He took one of the two pictures on his desk, one of him, his wife, and their first-born daughter. The couple looked at the picture, and their hands seemed to get close together… Before, Endeavor and Rei pulled them back simultaneously.

One with shame and the other with anger.

"… Thank you, Hano. But you should leave. Also, if we find out that you lied to us…"

The dentist chuckled.

"Don't worry. I am not mad enough to make the most dangerous people on earth my enemies."

The couple returned to their car soon afterward, with the tooth.

They never saw Hano Sugomono again, as his office disappeared in blue flame the same evening.

Apparently, Sakura was very thorough in his report to the HPSC during the meeting.

Everyone missed the picture of Hano and his old mentor, signed by a certain Kyudai Garaki.

————

At the HPSC Headquarter, 13th floor.

Head of the therapist department of the HPSC, Seijin Nomin's office.

The old white-haired therapist had a kind smile, as she was currently talking to her patient. Oh, she sincerely loved them. You couldn't understand them if you didn't love them and care about them. You had to know their limits, what you could do, say to them, and how to push their buttons.

"Now, now. Your name is…"

"Dabi."

The old lady chuckled a bit playfully. The boy was so cute, hiding his name like this. Oh, sure, he wasn't a boy anymore, but it was funny seeing him doing this. She could just pinch his burned cheeks.

"Very well Dabi. Can you tell me about how you feel?"

"You mean aside from the excruciating pain?"

Oh right, she almost forgot this. Seijin gently took Dabi's hand and took his pain away, before bottling it inside a specially made jar.

The boy sighed with delight, as the old woman just took his ability to feel pain for a moment: if the HPSC's favorite cleaner continued to have his sessions, it was because painkillers didn't work with his burned body and only her Quirk allowed him to feel relief.

"Yes, except the pain, my boy. You know you can tell me everything, don't you?"

Dabi closed his eyes, as he knew it was the truth: Seijin was probably the most influential person in the building, as pretty much every underground agent in the building had sessions with her and needed her to various degrees.

Nobody wanted to cross her and everyone in the building knew she had torn a new one to the new president when she tried to reduce Seijin's program.

No one knew exactly what happened that day, but they all heard the president of the commission apologize to the old therapist and promised the Commission would never hurt one of her patients.

"It's just… I feel trapped. I know I do what I do to purify society, by burning its impurities… But I feel like I could do so much more. Like punishing false heroes, or eradicating criminals."

"You mean, like that one time, when we asked you to eliminate all but three people at the QLF hideout we found and you burned everyone?"

"… I TOLD YOU I WAS SORRY. Also, I was right, wasn't I? They all deserved death! This fucking society is corrupted and…"

Seijin grabbed his hand again, pressing it softly.

"Dabi. Calm down. We both know why you feel like that. The real reason."

"Fucking Endeavor."

Seijin smiled sadly at the boy. He had such deeply rooted anger toward everything. All he needed was direction and comprehension. Honestly, if she didn't know about Enji's life and past, she would have been furious.

However, seeing as she was the one who fucked up his mind in the first place, maybe it was also a tad bit hypocritical.

Especially now that she was channeling all of Dabi's repressed hatred toward himself, all his guilt and doubt, changing it into anger toward his father…

Daddy issues.

As her father taught her very early in her life, there was nothing better to manipulate people than using their issues with their parents.

To avoid being manipulated herself, she may have forced her mom to… Retire from life early?

"Exactly. You might not know this, but apparently, your father is working with… unsavory individuals. He even made somebody the HPSC kept locked up free again!"

"… Why don't I have the right to free my family then?!" The boy erupted in flame before the auto-extinguishers activated and did their work.

Seijin laughed again, seeing the poor boy drenched in jello.

"Because making the #2 disappear while All-Might is so close to retiring would disrupt the whole societal order. The necessary evil. But, you know what, Dabi?"

"… Yes Ma'am?"

"I will convince the president to put you on a mission with Foxtail. If you carry out, you will be rewarded, greatly. I can promise you that."

Dabi inhaled before locking his deep blue eyes on her.

"… How?"

"Well, if you succeed in your mission, society will be stable enough for… an incident to happen to Endeavor."

"An incident?"

"Overheating, making his body disappear in blue flames kind of incident."

This brought Dabi a sinister smile on his face.

Now, she couldn't resist it. She pinched his cheek.

"Seijiiiiin! Stop it! I am over 20 now!"

"NEVER! You are one of my kids!"

Then they both laughed, as Dabi didn't notice the warmth he was supposed to feel for his family shifting to another person. Her.

—————

At the Exegol ward, there was a house.

This house was older than most parts of the city, and many thought it was probably dating back to the Dawn of Quirk era.

It was older than that.

A lonely old man who never had visitors occupied the old mansion, except once in a while when his eccentric family had dinners there, such as for Christmas or Halloween. He gave the best treats ever, despite looking positively terrifying with his old geeky disguise. Darth Vader, he once explained, was one of his favorite villains, as he was a complex character and all he wanted was to rule the galaxy with his family.

A crazy old man, but not a dangerous one, they all thought, and a sad one as his family shrank over the years. His sadness, before his accident, was noticeable.

Now, he had to spend his time with a heavy apparatus to breathe properly.

Seikyo Shigaraki, also known as All for One by his enemies and his allies, loved this old neighborhood. It also served him as a reminder that One for All didn't pass on the memories of previous holders, otherwise his brother might have thought of checking their old family's house.

It is a peaceful ward now. Every villain knew it was a heavily patrolled ward and any crime there would bring someone like Crust down on them. If a powerful villain tried to use that as a way to fight a ranked hero…

Well, Seikyo was happy to add a new quirk to his collection.

Currently, though, he was busy setting up the table for his dinner night.

People like All Might seemed to think he didn't have feelings, emotions, or thoughts other than being an evil overlord.

It was untrue. Seikyo was also very much a family man. Today was the anniversary of the disappearance of his favorite son. He spared nothing to learn what happened to Racky Dorobou and his wife.

Well, he found her, but she had chosen to unalive herself, to put it politely. It was this action that made Seikyo make sure that his son, despite whatever happened to him, was dead.

Even today, Giran was still searching for the truth for him. If AfO didn't have a lie-detector quirk, he would have thought Giran was using him.

Still, as tradition dictated, AfO put a set for Racky, as he had been a filial son, unlike his first. Oh well, at the very least, his daughter was coming. Seikyo was ecstatic about that!

Then the door rang. AfO, smiling, went to it.

"Grandpa!"

Seikyo saw his granddaughter, barely 8, who hugged his leg. She was so adorable he could lock her in a vault all for himself!

"Hara! My cutest little one!"

Hara was happy as her grandfather hugged her back. Sure, he was scary and looked like a monster. However, he was still her grandpa!

When everyone said it was weird her quirk didn't come, he grabbed her hand and suddenly she could control enamel! No one dared to laugh at her after that!

"Dad." Hano smiled at his father, as the doting grandfather put his granddaughter back on the ground, before enveloping his last living son in a bear hug.

Unlike his big brothers, he refused to join the criminal empire, but he was happy as he was and he was an excellent dentist.

"Son. I have prepared for…"

"I know. Thank you, dad."

Both smiled at each other.

Hano immediately called after meeting with Endeavor and explained everything to his father. Had it been anyone else, All for One would have erased them from the world, them, and their family.

However, Hano had been honest, loyal, and competent. He was a dutiful son who knew his position. All he had asked was for his family to be taken care of.

Also, if Hano disappeared, it meant never seeing his cute Hara again.

"And how is Sakura?" After all, it was time for his son to do what they needed to do about his wife/secretary and spy for the HPSC.

"She met Shiroi Kiba for a drink." Moonfish was an excellent option and Hano and he was friends since they shared the same passion: teeth.

So, when Hano asked him to take care of a little problem for him, Moonfish happily did it.

All for One laughed, as his son brought Hara inside. They just had to wait… for his daughter.

"DADDY!"

All for One almost fell, as he felt his daughter, despite not being young anymore, throwing herself onto him like Hara.

"Seijin! You shouldn't do that! I keep telling you to let Kyudai at least give you some gene therapy! We even used some of my pawns to perfect the research and the process!"

"… How about you give me that as a Christmas Gift? I have been a very good girl!"

"Finally? Good lord, I want to keep my family, you know?"

"And let me guess, it's therapy or the vault, right?"

It was half a joke. She knew All For One had a vault where he kept the cryogenic bodies of all her siblings from before her generation, the disobedient children, and of course, the wives that became too old.

The smile on her daddy's face told her everything she needed to know, and she had been right to accept this time.

"Now, come in, Kurogiri made a killer dinner! Some french cooking, one of your favorite. And…"

"I know Dad. I miss him too."

Racky, also known as Misery or Luck Stealer. He disappeared 3 years ago, only a few years after Heart Stealer.

He… He was one of the nicest guys around. Sure, he was a killer, an excellent one at that. He had his wife create an illusion so his target would hug him… And he would suck their luck.

Once he had enough, he simply stopped and left. Only a few people knew exactly how his quirk worked, and AfO had been so proud of him.

He never missed a birthday and his favorite gift was giving someone the luck he stole.

"… He wouldn't want us to mope around. Let's go."

"Still no news about his daughter?"

"We are still looking for her, but… nobody knows anything."

"Once you find something…"

"Dad. She is my niece as well. If I find her, I will call everyone."

Both smiled at each other before they began dining.

"Oh, and what about the pawn?"

"Hey, he still thinks he is a bishop."

This made Seijin laugh before they sat down.

"Tonight, we honor our dead, and we say goodbye until the time is right. Hano, I prepared you and Hara for a nice place in a city I loved when I was younger. Dublin."

Hano smiled, and Hara, too young to understand, clapped her hands.

After all, they were family and grandpa loved them, as long as they remained obedient.

Otherwise, they died like wicked uncle Heart Stealer.