The dull lullaby of machinery was all they could hear. Every moment felt beforehand was nothing but data being streamed I ti their heads. Who their betters where? Where they came from? Why they exist?
Who the Master is.
Who their "Father" is.
Soon they shall awaken, ready to march against any who would stand in the Master's way.
Izuku could feel himself sigh for the umpteenth time. Calculations and plans flying across the various screens in front of him. Like clockwork a P.A.M Unit would roll past with with either food or a data slate for him to skim over.
He never thought being a villain would lead to this.
When he started he was a lone teenager who somehow managed to build a small squadron of Mechanized Fighters to rob places, and somehow never got caught. Now here he is, lazing about in a lair that was an amalgamation of his old lair and two of the nearest Pre-Quirk labs around. He honestly missed the feeling of sweat running down his brow, of creating things with his own two hands.
He missed seeing people's face fill with awe and wonder with the aid his machines could bring.
Letting our another sigh Izuku stood up. "I need to clear my head." he said. The data on the screens stopped flashing by, slowing piling up so that he wouldn't miss any of it. The P.A.M. followed after him, the data slate in its grasp left untouched.
His legs had no real destination, even as he wandered the halls with perfect knowledge of where he was. He gave no sideways glances, no form of acknowledge to anything around him. He just kept walking with the P.A.M. Unit following behind him.
"Sir, are you sure this is the place?" one of the lackeys asked eith concern. Dabi just glared at him before looking down at his phone. "According to the maps we got from Giran this is as close as we can dig. Any closer and they'll know we're coming." he explained while shaking his head.
Why did he have to draw the short end of the stick. Magne just had to get lucky, only having to keep her eye on the army of twice clones while he had to take a bunch of lackeys out digging tunnels. One wrong move, or even just the slightest usage of his Quirk and they'd all be dead.
His musing was cut short as his phone started buzzing. "Yes?" he asked in annoyance at the caller. "You at the point of no return?" Shigaraki asked from the other end. "Yep, just touching the border of their scanners, any closer and they'll be on top of us in minutes." Dabi replied. "Good, we'll be using that tunnel to transport our "Negotiation Team" into the heart of the MLA, then comes phase three." Shigaraki instructed. "Fine, you got the coordinates?" Dabi asked. "Affirmative, Kurogiri is already sending a warp gate out to your locations." Shigaraki said.
Just as he said it a deep purple mist edged it's way into the wall of the nearby cave. Magne and several cloned villains stepped forward. "Alright, time to take this off your hands, just step through the gate while he take care of this." Magne said with calm confidence. "Whatever, just don't let the find out about the who cloning thing." Dabi said as he and his lackeys stepped into the portal.
Magne just shook her head before crossing her arms and looking upwards. "Bring us up." She instructed as Kurogiri's Misty form did as he was told. The purplish smoke/mist enveloped them as a secret exit to the surface allowed for easy access.
The sun bearing down on them as they took in the sight of the forest near Deika City. "All Right boys, remember that this mission is all about diplomacy. We can't just go in guns blazing." She instructed to the villains around her. "Yes Ma'am." the villains replied with quick words.
Cautiously they moved forward, leaving the forest and finding themselves in the outskirts of the city itself. People didn't seem to give them any mind, neither did the local heroes.
Alarm bells were going off in Magne's head as they reached a nearby shop and the customers didn't even glance at them. It was rather creepy, being ignored in such a manner. Then a waiter approached us from a restaurant with a paper in his hands. "He's been expecting you." was all the waiter said before leaving the piece of paper at their feet and walking away.
Carefully Magne picked up the peice kid paper and read it over. "Attention League of Villains. I understand that you wish to negotiate for your info broker friend, I hope you are willing to pay the price." was all she read before gritting her teeth in anger. "Meet us at the city's central plaza. You will understand everything." was all the rest of the paper said.
Magne just hissed through her teeth in anger, she had known Giran for almost ten years and he had helped her with many things in her life. Who knows what sort of unspeakable things the MLA might have done to him.
Slowly she looked around, finding a large display of a map of the city. She traces her finger along their current location, then brought it to the location of the City's Central Plaza. "Here goes nothing." She muttered as she and her men followed along the trail left for them.
Stepping into one of the unoccupied Labs Izuku let his hands run through his hair. "Think of something, just think of it." he muttered to himself. All around him were bits and pieces of machinery, some in disrepair, others long since broken.
He had stumbled upon the room, one of the labs now used as storage for their broken and obsolete parts. He had spent the past half hour in the room, doing nothing else but taking things apart and seeing how they could fit together.
Call it nostalgia, maybe a nervous breakdown, or just plain insanity.
He didn't care for what others would call it.
With a delicate hand he screwed a small clockwork piece of tech until it began ticking. The rest of its parts began to rattle, small pieces falling off as it stood up.
It took the form of a small dog, its four legs shaking for but a moment before it stabilized. Izuku smiled down at his new creation as it looked up at him. No true goal in its creation, just, something he made for the sake of it.
There was a strange liberty in the robot's creation, it could serve so many purposes, yet he couldn't think of a single one.
It's just, something he made.
Giran could feel the cold sweat of his neck as he grit his teeth around the gag. Magne and a group of villains stood firm, even as Re-Destro stared them down from the shadows.
"Now, League of Villains, I can see that neither your leader, nor your powerhouse are present." He said, calm as ever. "They would be unnecessary, all we are here for is Giran." Magne said with a clenched fist aimed at Re-Destro. "Yes, the info broker. I find it strange that such a force would only send such a small group." Re-Destro commented. Magne said nothing, to busy glaring at Re-Destro as he hid in the darkness.
"So, what shall you do? I have made no demands for I have no intention of releasing him." Re-Destro stated while slowly standing up. Magne just raised her large magnet while the other villains pulled out weapons. "Do you truly believe such a thing would work?" Re-Destro inquired with a smirk.
An explosion rocked the plaza as various machines crawled out from below the concrete as several armed figures appeared out of thin air, completely invisible a second ago. Re-Destro laughed mockingly as he stepped forward, his appearance covered with an intimidating suit of armor that reminded them of All For One's old armor.
"I would like the League to become familiar with the capabilities of the New Meta Liberation Army, but that would be giving away important secrets." Re-Destro said with smug satisfaction as the villains charged forward.
Giran could only watch helplessly as every member was quickly torn apart. The machines mercilessly subtracting limbs while the invisible operatives rushed Magne, intent on taking her alive.
Yet his fear was quelled rather quickly. Witnessing the defeated villains turn to a strange goo like substance that withered away quickly. He would smile if his gag wasn't stopping him.
Magne just huffed before pulling on something in her side jacket. A small pin was pulled out before another explosion rocked the entire plaza. Giran shut his eyes as the ground shook.
He waited for a second before opening his eyes. That same gooey substance now covered the plaza, as well as several injured MLA grunts. Magne had never been here, she brought a clone made by twice.
Re-Destro just shook his head before turning to look at him. "I know what you're thinking, looks like the League will be back with greater numbers to battle the MLA. Let me be clear Giran, the League has no idea what we can do." Re-Destro said as he snapped his fingers.
Numerous figures appeared, whole streets suddenly becoming clogged with figures in the same armor as the grunts. Machines of various sizes littered throughout the crowds, their red lights and vibrant humming a form of special torment.
Why did Midoriya have to accept that deal from Yotsubashi?
That was the sole question that plagued him now.
Izuku would he lying if he didn't feel giddy right now. All around him sat a menagerie of robots, all in shapes resembling animals. It was a source of pride for him, each and every single one of the machines in front of him even acted like their real life counterparts.
Then he felt his phone vibrate.
And reality came crashing back into him with it.
How long had he been there? That was his first question, a quick glance at his phone revealed that he had been in the room for at least six hours and had even missed lunch. Yet what grabbed his attention was the news on his phone.
While scanning across Japan Soundwave found something strange. Something had been activated, something that gave off similar readings to his own tech.
The readings originated from Deika City.
Deika City. Home of Deneret Corp. The same corporation that his civilian persona had recieve funding from. The same company that he sold machines too. Led by a man who had a chat face to face out of sheer interest.
"Shockwave, tell the others that we need an emergency meeting, now." he instructed while heading of the room. He gave one last look back, a small smile on his face as he gestured for the robotic animals to scamper out. He let them walk freely, his own movements were restrained and quick.