Society's Ghosts

by secretagentman1

In a hero-saturated society...why are there those that are left behind? The ones that cannot be saved, and are thus forgotten by the world and the so-called heroes sworn to protect. And what happens when those of us that have lived...decide to fight back, and show how dirty your heroes, your world, your society really is.

6. Chapter 6

Society's Ghosts

AN: Gotta apologize here. I said I'd work on Silvers, but the writing juices weren't flowing right, so I came back to this and it came out much smoother. Plus, I had a lot of real-world stuff happen in rapid succession so that definitely didn't help. But I think this came out good, so to all who read it, I like it and I hope you do too.

Chapter 6: Shock to the System

Dakota City, a bustling urban city that held a more homely feel to it than even Jump did. This gave the small metropolis a certain grungy air to it as everything about it was small-scale, even the smallest buildings in Jump City would tower over the tallest here in Dakota. This small-scale gave everything that tinge of familiarity to cul-de-sacs and small neighborhoods that would have people see the same sights without needing to venture too far from their homes.

Unfortunately, this also made Dakota a gang-ridden city as well. While no truly organized crime such as a mafia existed within it, there were more than enough troubles coming from youths with poor circumstances that saw no other way to provide for themselves. Some went out of their way to cause trouble from a chip on their shoulders, planning to work their way up the food chain either as a member of a known gang, forming their own, or, as had become commonplace as of late, becoming a supervillain.

Yes, while these small hoods would go about being public nuisances before, they never lasted long with the Dakota City Police Force capturing them within days.

That is until the Big Bang took place at the docks.

A small-scale gang war had turned ground zero for a wave of meta-humans, or Bang Babies as the city had taken to calling them. Within days of the hazardous material explosion, all people in its vicinity whether taking part in the gang war, being just outside of the blast zone, young, old, or unlucky enough to have been out that night had started to manifest peculiar abilities.

Some were luckier than others, keeping their human looks and only gaining the abilities, but others would transform into animal-human hybrids or gain extra features that would make a normal life all but impossible.

This addition to the normal lives of the people caused a great upheaval rather quickly. Teens ousted from their families because of their 'deformities', power-hungry nobodies that had been out on the streets taking their 'revenge', and the usual troublemakers that could easily be caught could now keep the police at bay single-handedly.

An adjustment to be sure, but one that was lessened by the arrival of Dakota's resident superhero.

Static.

A young, dreadlocked, African American Bang Baby showed that not all of the unfortunate youths that had been exposed to the mutagenic gas were self-centered. Using his electromagnetic powers, Static had taken it upon himself to protect Dakota City from the threat of Bang Babies, the odd robber, and even once in a while assisting the Justice League themselves.

Hopefully, it would lead to a full membership down the line.

The teen sparkplug took it upon himself to stop the villainous meta-humans all while asking for nothing in return…though that hadn't stopped him from getting jealous occasionally. He normally patrolled the city atop his saucer, taking care of any trouble that the errant Bang Baby would stir up. Cleaning up the likes of Hotstreak, Shiv, Kangor, Talon…and worst of all Ebon.

Sure, the kid would stumble along the way, sometimes his foes would push him against a wall, but he'd always find a way to best them in the end through clever use of his powers or talking some down when they had no true evil intent in their actions. All in all, he was a perfect hero for the small city able to be a friend to the civilians and an enemy to villains alike.

With that presence, the rising hero made a bit of a name for himself in Dakota and it got to the point that a few of those criminals would think twice about causing trouble…that is without help anyway. What with Bang Babies starting to form little groups, like Ebon's Meta-Breed, Static had his work cut out for him for a while.

Until Static got his help in the form of his partner, the hero Gear.

The two of them together had become the heroes of Dakota, taking on whatever the Bang Babies had in store for the two of them. With Gear's tech and smarts and Static's raw power and skill the duo essentially had stamped out crime to the single-digit percentile…the remaining percentage was of course villains like the Meta-Breed that refused to cut their losses and continue to cause trouble no matter how many times they were knocked down.

Too bad that Static and Gear would be right there to stop them time and again.

It would be great if the two of them could have been in a…different city around now since a certain group of superhero teens were going to be dealing with a crisis of their own soon. But they were much too far to be of any help to that team and would hear the news after said trouble had already passed.

Not to mention…the two Bang Baby heroes would be dealing with their own explosive problems relatively soon as well.

On the streets of Dakota within the swarm of pedestrians, there was a standout sandy-blond among them with his brows knit together and his teeth grinding against each other as he stalked forward with his hands in his pockets. Clad in a simple black shirt that had the word 'BOMB' on the front written in cartoonish comic font and an explosion graphic behind it and sagging army green pants, the former underground fighter, now League of Villain hopeful, Katsuki Bakugo had arrived in Dakota about a day ago and had been dutifully searching for his target since.

His mind went back to right before he departed from The League's hideout and the conversation he'd had with the group.

"So, what the hell is in Dakota!?" Bakugo stood in place since asking the question the first time, awaiting his answer from Peridot who had turned back to her laptop.

"This is what is in Dakota," she leaned back to show footage of Static and Gear in action.

"Who the hell are they!?" Bakugo asked immediately, yelling in the green-skinned alien's ear in the process.

"Static and Gear…the heroes of Dakota City."

"Static and Gear?" Dabi had his hands in his pockets, thinking and ultimately drawing a blank on just who they were. "Never heard of them…and that's saying something if I've heard of the Teen Titans…and they're worthless…" Dabi rolled his eyes.

"Hmm…I think Master's mentioned them before…" Tomura chimed in with a thoughtful tone.

"The Boss? Really?" Enid was surprised that the man would take an interest in the young heroes given what he wanted.

"To be fair, he wasn't interested in them specifically," Tomura answered.

"It makes sense, they haven't been active for very long. Just over 2 and a half years…" Peridot rubbed her chin as she read.

"Yes…Master mentioned that he was interested in the incident that created them and all the other meta-humans in the area…he thought that the gas used might have been an offshoot of whatever was used to give him his abilities. He guessed that they'd lose their abilities before long if it was a knockoff."

"You have me chasing down nobodies!?" Bakugo growled, explosions popping in his hands.

"Technically, yes. Specifically, you're hunting him," Peridot pointed to Gear.

"The nerd?!"

"…What is a 'nerd?'"

"Don't worry about it…" Enid waved her off.

"What makes him so important!?"

"Are you blind?! He isn't important!" Peridot looked appalled that the blond believed she wanted a…human of all things. "What's on his back is what I want!"

"Eh!?"

"This technology is just what I need! Remote controlled, built sturdy to withstand heavy damage, and best of all the ability to access systems without risking myself!" Peridot practically salivated.

"You have me going all the way there to pick up some sidekick's backpack!? I'd rather fight the Teen Extras with the Ragdoll!"

"You already said you'd take the errand, don't back out," Dabi scoffed.

"Yeah~ Bakugo! Don't be a quitter~!" Mahito teased him, pointing in his direction.

"Who's a quitter, Scarface!?"

"They don't look like much…" Gaz piped up, taking interest when she saw Static use his abilities. "He's a lot like Livewire is. He's discharging electricity that he has stored up within himself…and it looks like he has a lower capacity than that sparking radio host does. He can't even convert his physical form into electricity…must be a pain recharging so often," Gaz observed while playing her Game Slave.

"So, I'm picking up this kid's backpack for you just so you can have a new toy," Bakugo's scowl stretched his face and his eye twitched.

"Precisely!" Peridot nodded to herself, glad that the clod was able to understand this simplest of tasks she'd assigned.

Her social skills would need to be improved.

"Thing doesn't seem like much…you're making him go out of the way for a hunk of junk that some kid made?" Dabi turned to Peridot.

"Frankly speaking, all Earth technology is obsolete when compared to Gem designs. Just look at it," she pointed to the backpack, "The design isn't streamlined, overly bulky, only capable of traversing terrain from the ground, and, worst of all, no screens," Peridot listed all that was wrong with the device…that she wanted.

"And you still want it…" Dabi sighed.

"It's the best I can work with in our current situation. After proper modifications are made, this should become a nice Drone Robonoid replacement."

"You couldn't just build something?" Mahito chimed in with the simple solution.

"Not without money…and building something that would meet my specifications would use up all the funds we're about to gain. It's much simpler to take a solid base and use whatever I can salvage to upgrade it."

"Oh~" Mahito nodded with childish wonder as he learned from the much older being.

"Doubt the kid's gonna be happy to let it go," Bakugo looked at the screen again with his arms crossed and actually managing to have a calm, calculating look on his face, "Seems attached."

"Well, I need it. If he cares so much, he can build another…hopefully one that is better…he should consider it a blessing and an honor that I decided to take his device out of all the choices I could have on this planet," Peridot was logical and cold.

"Didn't say I wasn't willing to fight…just said it wasn't gonna be as simple to get it…and you know I won't hold back, right?" Bakugo looked at the alien.

"You forget? No one is going to be there to stop you…plus in this group, it's all about freedom, hothead. Go nuts!" Enid grinned.

"Just remember that I need the device intact," Peridot raised her hand disarmingly when she saw the two most battle-hungry of the League share the same look.

"I'm no idiot! I'll get your stupid robot from that nerd easy!"

"Could've fooled me," Dabi whispered under his breath and got Gaz to snicker.

"Got something to say?!" Bakugo growled.

"I didn't say anything…"

"Now that the details have been hashed out. It's time for you all to move forward…" Tomura said before Bakugo could get into Dabi's face.

"Oh, I have an idea!" Mahito jumped from behind Tomura and hooked his arm around his leader's shoulder. "We should make this a race! Whoever makes it back first wins!"

"I'm not doing that," Dabi turned away.

"That's because you're a wet blanket! How about you Gaz?"

"No."

"Aw, but you like games!" Mahito pouted.

Tomura simply kept his gaze flat, awaiting the moment the overly childish being would release him.

"Not if it doesn't have a screen," Gaz answered.

"You'll change your tune once I get us some board games to play!"

"I'm passing too," Bakugo rolled his eyes.

"Now that's a surprise!" Mahito turned quickly toward the blond.

"I'm just not gonna waste my time. We already know who's gonna win!" Bakugo laughed evilly with a toothy grin. "That's why those two are backing down!"

"Right…" Dabi humored him, and Gaz just kept herself away from the conversation.

"You should try then…or else you're just afraid of losing!" Mahito's retort while not completely wrong…didn't have much of a leg to stand on when he was pouting and waving his arms around like a kid.

"I never lose!"

And the explosive blond responded equally as childishly.

"If I could interject…" Peridot spoke up with a finger, "It would be impossiblefor you to complete your mission before Dabi and his group. Your destination is much too far…it would take you days to reach Dakota while the others will arrive in Jump within one," the ever-intelligent, logical Peridot was there…

…to be a wet blanket.

"You shouldn't waste your energy challenging each other. Just focus on completing the mission," she waved dismissively.

"You saying I can't beat them, rock-head!?" Bakugo spun her chair around to look her in the eyes.

"Yes…?" she said unsurely, extending the word.

"I can beat anyone…just watch!" he turned to and pointed at Mahito who blinked owlishly at the gesture.

"I'll take on your challenge, Patchface! And I'm gonna win…I'll get that stupid backpack and make it back here so fast your head will spin! The first to end all firsts!" Bakugo had a mad fire in his eyes with his competitive spirit called into question.

"Really? Then we have a game!" Mahito clapped excitedly.

"It's not a game! It's going to be a one-sided massacre!" Bakugo cracked his knuckles and started to stretch his legs. "The first one to finish their mission and make it back-"

*BOOM*

Before finishing his sentence, the overcompetitive blond took off with his hands thrust behind him and explosions coming from his palms to propel him forward for a headstart.

"-wins!" Bakugo called over his explosions with a wild grin directed at the wide-eyed Mahito and his other unamused companions as they batted at the smoke filling the hideout.

"Hey, that's no fair, Bakugo-kun. You didn't even give a countdown!" Mahito yelled, cupping his hands to his mouth, and stomping his feet with a huff.

"Countdowns?! You think heroes are gonna give us a countdown?! You wanna win, you have to be the one to start!" Bakugo cackled.

"Oooo~! Dabi, Gaz, come on! We have to get going if we wanna win!" Mahito ran in place, trying to get his teammates motivated as well.

"Pretty sure I said I wanted nothing to do with this," Dabi started walking out.

"But don't you want to win!?"

"I couldn't care less. Do what you want, but I'm not wasting my energy on your games. We get there when we get there…long as the mission's finished and we get what we're owed…I don't care if it takes us a week," Dabi was blunt as he shut Mahito down.

"Technically, I could get there faster than all of you," Gaz jabbed, following them out.

"Nice job, Peri," Enid clapped the diminutive gem on her back with a smirk though the alien looked confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"Getting the hothead motivated. If there's one surefire way to get him to shut up and put his all into something…" she hopped onto a couch and kicked her feet up on one of its arms as she laid down, "…it's making a contest. Especially when you told him that there was no way for him to beat Dabi's group."

"That's because there isn't," Peridot rose her eyebrow, missing what she'd done to 'motivate' Bakugo. "It's practically impossible for him to compete with them without exhausting himself. Creating a contest would only slow his mission, he needs to be at 100% efficiency and focus on completing his task."

"Oh boy," Enid rubbed her forehead…the gem's innocent blinking made her look adorable…but the teenage villainess couldn't believe how clueless the poor thing was.

She must've been sheltered…wherever she came from.

"You know, while everyone's gone, maybe I should teach you about the subtleties of human interaction," Enid scratched the side of her head with an awkward chuckle.

"Have fun with that…" Tomura immediately removed himself not wanting to be a part of that conversation.

"You're just going to leave this to me!?" Enid shouted at him.

"You offered."

"Tch, I wish I was on a mission now…" Enid groaned.

With the challenge started, Bakugo pushed himself to the limit to arrive in Dakota City in two days. He'd traveled nonstop after leaving the hideout and stopping only when it was absolutely necessary, not wanting to lose ground to Dabi's group since they had the advantage. It was a blessing for him that after the first day during his travel he'd been contacted through his cell phone by Peridot that his competition would be forced to wait two days before they could start their job.

Knowing that, Bakugo kept his fervor until he'd arrived in the city. Unfortunately, he was forced to take a day of rest to recuperate from his nonstop use of his abilities and get a proper meal in his system. From there, he'd been searching for Gear for a better part of the day, but it seemed he wouldn't be catching them.

'Tch, dammit…haven't heard anything about those heroes other than generic praise…' Bakugo narrowed his eyes and looked to his cell, scrolling through some pics of the duo that had been posted. 'How the hell am I supposed to find them!? The more time I waste looking for them…the farther ahead those idiots get!"

His thoughts turned to his fellow League members…imagining their smug faces if he actually managed to…lose to them. A vein pulsed on Bakugo's forehead when the image sprung to his mind.

'Look who's the loser, Ba~ku~go! What was that about…"the first to end all firsts?"' Mahito stuck his tongue out with that annoying grin on his stitched face.

'All that boasting, and you still lost? Gotta say, that's pretty disappointing,' Dabi drawled out, appearing uninterested but the smirk on his face showed that he was enjoying the taunt.

'I've done PvP against five-year-olds that tried harder to win than you did,' Gaz didn't even look up as she mocked him.

"LIKE HELL I'M LETTING THEM BEAT ME!" Bakugo shouted, his imagination incensing him into a vocal outburst that drew attention from the bystanders.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING AT!?"

The civilians all went back to their business, ignoring the angered blond teen as he went back to stomping his way down the sidewalk. The scene made all the nobodies give him a wide berth as he passed, and he wasn't complaining about it given how busy he was with coming up with a plan of action.

'After everything I said, I can't let them get the better of me!' he thought with a sneer on his face that bared his teeth. 'Given their two extra days until they can start the mission…that means the latest I have for a chance to beat them back to the hideout, is finding these bastards today or early tomorrow and ditching this city so I can speed back.'

Bakugo reasoned in his mind, exercising his superior intellect that most wouldn't attribute to him based on his attitude. One doesn't become an underground fighting champion without gaining a tactical mind geared toward battle sense.

'I wanted to at least enjoy taking those two down, but if it means risking a loss…I'd rather focus on getting to the nerd.'

Turning his gaze to the sky, Bakugo saw that the sun was beginning to set, and slowly the darkness of night took it over. His clock was ticking down more and more every second the day drew to a close, and he still hadn't so much as found a trace of his target.

"Dammit," he clicked his teeth, rubbing his chin, his course of action becoming clearer in his mind, "Day's ending, and I still haven't found them…I'm beginning to think it would be easier to just cause trouble myself and get my hands on the nerd's backpack that way. It'd be faster…but I'd probably get a few nicks…Hey!"

Bakugo's musings were cut off when he was bumped into by a panicked civilian who continued to run away, disregarding their rudeness. The nudge made the blond notice that everyone on the sidewalk had started to flee in the same direction opposite to where he was heading. The pattering of hundreds of feet running through the streets did little to drown out the booms that had started to sound ahead of him.

Raising an eyebrow in the danger's direction, Bakugo decided to get to the bottom of this. He reached his hand out and grabbed one of the useless extras by their collar and kept the man in place with his superior strength.

"Hey," his harsh voice froze the panicked man in place, sweat pouring from the poor bystander's head with eyes that were pleading to be released so he could continue running with the rest of the crowd. "What the hell is going on? What's with all the noise?"

The man looked incredulous at the sandy-blond-haired teen, finding it surprising that anyone in the city wouldn't know just what could happen regularly thanks to the Big Bang, and who the usual suspects behind it were.

"It's the Meta-Breed, they're shaking down a shop just ahead of here," the man answered hurriedly, fidgeting in Bakugo's grip.

"Meta-Breed?" Bakugo narrowed his eyes.

"What?! Are you a tourist or something?! You've never heard of them!?"

"You could say that. I got business here and only just showed up,"

"Then you picked a terrible time! The Meta-Breed is a group of the worst Bang Babies Dakota has to offer! By themselves they were trouble, but when their leader, Ebon, gathered them up they've been taking over different streets and slowly expanding!" the man's eyes were wide, recalling the terror the metahuman group wrought on the city. "If you know what's good for you, then you'll get out of here before they come this way! Static and Gear will take care of them!"

With the question answered, Bakugo released the extra and let him continue to flee. The blond villain stood amongst all the panic with his hair over his eyes, but a wide grin stretched across his face and his hands in his pocket. Bakugo ignored the commotion, staring straight ahead where a plume of smoke was rising into the sky and his goal getting closer.

"Well, isn't that nice? Seems the locals had the urge to cause some trouble just as much as me. Lucky that they decided to start right when I was about to raise some hell on my own," Bakugo strode forward, rolling his shoulder.

"I'll take advantage of this and check out these two…maybe even see if our competition is worth anything. They could end up coming in handy," Bakugo swiftly made his way to the ensuing battle the only one moving toward danger and going against the sea of scared civilians, wanting to find a good spot to watch it unfold and study his target before he'd pounce on the poor nerd.

(A few minutes ahead)

Inside a small jewelry store, glass littered the floor and different items joined the shards that the crooks didn't think were worth stealing. Within the wrecked shop were five peculiar-looking individuals that would easily stick out in a crowd or a more apt term would be in a prison lineup.

The criminals took a sick delight in destroying the humble jewelry store, tossing the homely wooden furniture made for customers to relax as they awaited service and watching it break as it impacted a floor or wall. They smashed in all the display cases and examined all the merchandise, keeping anything that caught their eyes and outright destroying the rest without care.

The poor owner was on his knees, bawling his eyes out as he could only watch the shop he'd built from nothing be torn down without being able to do a thing about it thanks to the abilities of the Meta-Breed. He was terrified, keeping his head down and watching the tears drop to the floor, scared to move as his pupils looked to the shoes of the mastermind behind this attack. Ahead of the owner and the criminal leader who leaned against the wall spectating with the poor man, were four Bang Babies of varying appearances.

One of the more prominent criminals was a teenager that had red hair with yellow streaks. He wore a simple, red short-sleeved shirt and a pair of tan pants that sagged slightly to show the boxers underneath.

The teen's body was smoking and his eyes glowed yellow as he suddenly tossed a fireball from his hand, hitting one of the display cases, igniting everything within it without checking for anything to steal.

This Bang Baby was known as Hotstreak, he was known even before gaining his meta-abilities as Francis Stone a young gang leader that was part of the gang war that had essentially caused the Big Bang. Francis was a troublemaker before but after the incident, it went up a whole level as he gained pyrokinetic powers and became one of the first criminal Bang Babies Dakota had and a prevalent enemy of Static.

Even with his issues with authority, Hotstreak had lost to Static one too many times, and now with Gear, joining the Meta-Breed was a smart move. While he didn't much care for the money-making schemes, Francis focused on his own pleasure, setting fire to anything he wanted whenever he wanted…Ebon just helped direct that destructive energy a little better.

Beside the hotheaded pyrokinetic, was a purple-haired teen with a matching goatee that had one of his hands transformed into a glowing purple sword. He's wearing an open red jacket with black bands on the sleeve's cuff and its bottom edge with a white undershirt and red pants.

He giggled crazily, rearing his sword-arm back before slicing into a display case and taking a handful of the jewelry. A jingling came from his arms due to the amount of merchandise he'd hung from them, not being particularly discerning.

His name is Shiv, and he was one of the original members of the Meta-Breed. His power allowed him to make weapons from light energy making him a kind of swiss army knife given its versatility. Like Hotstreak, he enjoyed throwing his weight around but in a more sadistic way as he would often threaten civilians that got swept up in any of the Meta-Breed's attacks though it was more posturing than anything as he often didn't follow through with his threats, letting the idea that he would harm them make people squirm.

"Hey, guys," a nasal voice said from the center of the room, "What do ya think?" the creature asked, holding an earring up to his ear.

This creature had the appearance of an anthropomorphic armadillo wearing purple shorts with vertical black stripes on the sides. Other than that, he had a single gold earring on his left ear as an accessory that he was looking to replace.

Carmen-Dillo was his name, and he was an on-again-off-again member of the group given his…useless abilities but found use as extra muscle or fodder depending on the situation. On his own Carmen wasn't much of a threat, only partaking in petty mischief like spooking people with his appearance, but he was looking to move up and the Meta-Breed was an express ticket.

Landing next to the oversized mammal was another human-animal hybrid though her transformation was of the avian persuasion. She wore a sleeveless purple tank top and dark purple jeans. Her distinguishing features were the feathers littering her body, with a good number extending from the back of her arms allowing her to fly, and all of her orange hair was pulled back for a ponytail. Befitting her appearance, her name became Talon once she'd become a Bang Baby.

"You still look like a giant armadillo to me," the bird-woman jabbed, getting an unamused look from the armadillo-man.

"Everyone's a critic," he threw the earring away only for Talon to catch it from the air.

"Me on the other hand," she smiled.

"Brutal honesty and I lose out on earrings..." Carmen threw his arms up in surrender going back to wrecking the store with his teammates.

"Please! Stop this!" the owner cried in anguish at all his hard work being destroyed before his eyes.

"Stop?" the boss of the Meta-Breed, Ebon, stood up from the wall he was leaning on and regarded the poor man. Ebon had the appearance of a silhouette with completely white eyes, cornrows were able to be seen atop his head, and he wore a gray vest.

"I warned you, 'ol man," Ebon looked back at his crew, "Accidents like this'll happen if you don't got protection. And here I was, nice enough to offer it..." Ebon then crouched next to the man, "...but you didn't pony up the dough."

"B-but if I paid you...I couldn't stay open...I'd lose everything!" the man bawled, trying to appeal to any humanity that the villain had.

Ebon responded by gripping the top of the man's head, "You should have thought about that...what's worse? Payin' to keep your place standing and eventually losin' it? Or crossing me and losin' everything right now?" Ebon growled.

"Hey, Ebon, I'm getting bored of this place!" Hotstreak passed a fireball between his hands, allowing the flame to grow with each pass, "I'm gonna finish it off now!"

"No, don't! I'll pay, I'll pay!"

"Go ahead, gotta make an example outta this chump 'fore someone else tries to skimp," Ebon said and watched the pyro cackle.

"Please!"

"It ain't up to me anymore, talk to my man Hotstreak, but he ain't the type to listen."

"Hahahaha!" the flame wielder was ready to annihilate the remaining merchandise and furniture to finish off the small store once and for all, but a certain someone to umbrage with that.

"Trust me, I know!" a cocky voice responded to Ebon and blasted Hotstreak in the back, knocking forward and into one of the empty displays.

Arriving atop a saucer was Static decked out in his hero attire, a black shirt with a golden lightning bolt with a circle going through it beneath an open black jacket with purple accents, and shades holding his dreadlocks back from his eyes.

"Static!" Ebon narrowed his eyes and stretched his form to grab the hero, but a small gray orb bounced into the room toward him, releasing tendrils that wrapped around the living shadow to hold him in place.

"Come on, Ebon! Don't you know that Friday is supposed to be a rest day for the weekend? Couldn't you have held off on this heist 'til Monday?" Gear skated in after his partner complete with his face mask and green bodysuit with white accents.

"And his little sidekick!" Shiv scowled, readying for a fight.

"That's Gear. And I'm not a sidekick!" Gear corrected.

"You're gonna pay for mucking up my business, hero!" Ebon slimmed his body to slip out of Gear's trap.

"Sorry, don't have any cash on me, you take I. ?" Static supercharged the overhead lights in the shop, brightening the room.

While a minor annoyance to most of the Meta-Breed, who had to cover their eyes, for Ebon it was painful as it burned his shadow form and weakened him. Shrinking back from the flash, Ebon fell to his knees.

"Get them!" he commanded from the floor and the crew sprang into action.

Carmen started off by curling up and bounding up toward Static, but the airborne hero easily avoided the armadillo. With his target out of the way, Carmen bounced out of the shop and smashed into the building across the street, making him uncurl and rub his head.

"Come on, Carmen, you're chilling out with these guys again?"

"What can I say, they pay the bills!"

*Screech*

Static covered his ears from the loud noise that shattered the surrounding glass from its force. The attack came from Talon flying up behind Static and unleashing her sonic screech to disorient him. That momentary pause gave her the chance to kick him off his saucer and onto some of the debris of the furniture.

"Let's see how funny you are when I bust your eardrums, Bujía cabrón!" she took a deep breath to release another scream.

"Ah, ah, ah, Songbird, why don't you give those pipes a rest!" Gear, dodging Shiv's haphazard slashes with his rocket skates, saw his buddy in trouble and tossed a Zap Cap to Talon that turned into a band that sealed her mouth shut.

"Mmm!" she tried in vain to pull the device from her face.

"Thanks for the save!" Static, shouted to his partner and zapped Talon, guided her out of the shop, and pushed her into a newly charging Carmen-dillo. This made the two Meta-Breed bash into each other and slump back against the opposite building.

"Why don't you two take a load off?" Static chuckled and charged their feet to keep them in place.

"Whoa!" Gear exclaimed still dodging Shiv's dual sword-hands, watching his chop clean through a lot of the furniture. The tech-themed hero devised a plan as he watched the thug.

"Hold still, techie, and I'll give you the last haircut you'll ever need!" Shiv giggled crazily, giving nonstop swings.

"No thanks, I actually got my hair the way I want it!" Gear's back hit one of the still-standing displays. He went to move but his arms had been forced to his sides by a rope that Shiv had made from his powers, forcibly keeping Gear in place.

"How would you know unless you try!" he raised his sword hand in preparation to chop Gear in two. "Don't squirm, I'm just taking a little off the top!"

"I don't think so!" Gear let himself fall to the floor, causing Shiv's blade to get lodged into the display. "Backpack, a little help?" Gear turned over onto his stomach and let his trusty drone, Backpack, off his back and let the small robot shoot a Zap Cap into Shiv's face.

"Yo, Static!"

Hearing Gear's call, the black hero turned to see the Zap Cap in Shiv's face. Immediately understanding what his partner had in mind, Static fired a bolt at the small object with precision, overcharging it and giving the Zap Cap enough energy to knock Shiv out of the fight. Static and Gear then deposited the unconscious Shiv with the rest of the incapacitated members of the Meta-Breed, a Mark 2 Zap Cap being used to tie them up.

"Let's see here, Carmen, Talon, and Shiv... we forgettin' anyone?" Gear asked.

"Yeah! Me!" Hotstreak had gotten back up and threw a large fireball at the heroes' backs.

"Right! Hotstreak," Static snapped his fingers as if remembering the hothead existed. The hero hopped onto his saucer and dodged all of the fireballs that were tossed at him while throwing his lightning bolts.

"I'm taking you down, Sparky!" Hotstreak growled and brought his hands together for a stream of flame directed at Static.

In return, the hero made an orb of electricity around him as protection, having the fire flow around him and having the added benefit of obscuring Static form view. Within the flames, Static brought his hand to his ear, "Gear, you tee'd up?"

"All set, Static! Looking at the city pipes right now," Gear sorted through the information that his HUD scrolled through quickly, "It's gonna be on your right!" he said.

"What are you yelling about?" Hotstreak attacked Gear.

"You shouldn't be worried about me, Hotstreak," Gear gave the villain a salute.

Static fell to the road and placed his hands onto it, using his powers to reach below the asphalt and magnetizing what lay beneath. Grunting in exertion, Static lifted his hands, and with them came a large pipe that emerged from beneath the road.

"Sorry, Hotstreak, but it's time to put you out!"

"No, not again!" the villain backed up when he heard the rush of liquid as it spilled from the broken pipe, dousing him and relieving him of his powers. By the end of his shower, Hotstreak was on the ground.

"Nice job, dude...hey...this was a water main this time, right?" Static asked after a sniff of the air but had a good feeling how Gear would answer.

"Nah, we'd have to go a street over...only thing here was another sewage main...but he smells better!" Gear joked.

Of course, the levity was short-lived when the two her pushed by the enlarged, shadowy hands of Ebon before holding them in place.

"You two messed with my business! Now I'm about to send you on a one-way trip into a trash compactor!" Ebon opened a shadow portal to make good on his threat, planning to push the two through it and his grip keeping them from attacking.

"Backpack!" Gear called and his robot delivered.

The small drone opened its legs, pried Ebon's hand off its master, and let Gear fall to the ground. Keeping hold of Static since he'd be the more troublesome if freed, Ebon stretched his body to recapture the teen genius.

"What are you planning to do on your own, sidekick!" Ebon taunted.

"What else, Ebon?" Gear tossed a Zap Cap at the villain and had it burst in his face, but it did little to the crime boss.

"That ain't enough to bring me down!"

"True, but that will," Gear pointed to a second Zap Cap that he'd tossed to Static who carefully aimed with a free index finger and had the flashbang Zap Cap shine brightly across the street.

"Ahhh!" Ebon screamed, losing his grip on Static, shrinking back to his original size, and joined his crew on the ground.

"You lose again, Ebon," Static smirked in front of the silhouette-man.

"I'm thinking you should find a different job," Gear pretended to think with a hand to his chin.

The villain was unamused but could tell he was beaten, so there was only one thing left to do. The defeated Meta-Breed leader decided to cut his losses and create a portal for him and his crew to flee through back to their hideout. He let his teammates sink into the portal, his narrow, white eyes glaring down the heroes as he slunk away with the Meta-Breed.

"Go ahead and keep laughin', hero," Ebon's annoyance and anger came through in his voice. "You'll be gettin' yours soon enough...I'll make sure of it!"

With that, the Meta-Breed fled.

"Think he even remembers that I was the one that set him up to get caught?" Gear shrugged at being ignored.

"Be happy he forgot. You think I wanna be the one he's gunning for all the time?" Static let his shoulders slump.

"Aw, chin up, V. With the Meta-Breed taken care of, I think we just bought ourselves a quiet weekend for once!" Gear looked on the bright side.

"Yeah, maybe, but we'll still go on patrol...just in case. You never know what Ebon has up his sleeve." Static stepped back onto his saucer.

"Makes sense...but after..." Gear looked expectantly at his best friend.

"There was a new movie playin' at the theater..." Static smirked.

"Ha, ha, now you're speaking my language!"

It was then that the hero duo took their leave and let the police come to clean up the mess left behind by the battle. The owner gave them a shout of thanks before he was questioned by the police so they would have the full scope of the situation. Unknown to all those involved, the entire bout had been witnessed by a certain explosive-loving villain that was crouching on the ledge with a brow arched up and a frown on his face.

"Tch, that was it?" Bakugo scowled, his hair shadowing his red eyes, regarding where the Meta-Breed once stood with a disappointed gaze. "Those are the guys that had all those idiots running?" Bakugo stood up on the ledge and shoved his hands in his pockets, sneering at the idea of being thought as the same as the Meta-Breed.

"They remind me of newbies that got thrown into a cage match for the first time. No clue how to use their powers...heh, guess for those extras, anyone throwing their powers around in their direction is terrifying menace," his annoyance gave way to a smile though as he thought of the information he gained thanks to this coincidental encounter.

"Least I got to see what I'm about to go up against. The two of them together would be a bit of a nuisance...that walking battery has a good mastery over his powers, so he'd be a problem, and the nerd is good at support...best thing to do is separate 'em," Bakugo reasoned, taking the route that would have him finish his mission the quickest.

"And I got just the tools in mind to do it..." Bakugo grinned widely, looking off in the distance. He had a long night ahead of him, but if his plan went well, then he'd be out of Dakota by noon.

(Elsewhere)

Within a rundown former Juvenile Detention Center, a familiar shadowy vortex emerged from the wall, depositing the now conscious Meta-Breed members onto the floor. Ebon stepped from the portal easily, clenching his hands in barely contained anger at being foiled again by Static and Gear.

"Damn that hero, why's he always gotta be there to mess with me?!" Ebon smashed his fist into a wall before sitting on a chair in the center of the room.

"Uh...I dunno about you guys, but I'm sick 'a bein' tossed around like garbage by those two," Carmen spoke up with a meek hand raise. "What say we cut our losses 'an head to a different city...anywhere'd be better than here." the armadillo offered with a shrug of his shoulders, glancing around the room to the others.

Shiv was busy assisting Talon with removing her gag, but from the looks on their faces they were equally fed up with being on the losing side, not that they were ever going to outwardly voice that complaint.

Ebon was the boss and they were loyal to him.

"Shut your mouth, rodent!" Hotstreak grabbed Carmen and got into his face, "I'm not going anywhere 'till I fry those two for messing with me!"

"Ok, first, armadillos aren't rodents...we're mammals, and second, all we've done is get our asses handed to us over and over. Ain't ya tired of it?" Carmen found himself on his back right after that, Ebon in his face, and a portal beneath him causing the poor man to start sinking into it.

"You better watch your mouth!" Ebon stuck his finger into the schmuck's face, his eyes knit together. "This is my city; I'm not going anywhere! We take out those heroes, and it's over...you got me? No one is leaving!"

"Eh...you got it, boss...I don't even know what I was sayin'" Carmen backtracked, fearing for his life.

"I'm better off without you clowns!" Hotstreak stood up to Ebon, butting heads like always.

"You got something to say to me?!"

"I should be in charge! We haven't gotten anything done with you around!"

"And you were doing so much better by yourself, flamer? I broke you out..." he prodded the pyrokinetic in the chest, "...you owe me."

"Back off before we find out if you can burn shadows!"

"Knock it off, you two. Chill out," Talon intervened with a hand on their chests.

"Fighting won't solve our problems. We'll relax for the weekend...and go from there."

"That's not how this is going down," an unrecognized voice sounded from the dark hallway that led into the room they were all in.

"Man, and I thought that our place was a dump. Guess there are some outfits that are worse off than us."

Hands in his pockets, and all eyes on him, Bakugo came from the dark corridor, striding confidently as if he wasn't in the lair of the Meta-Breed. Scanning over the five young villains, he had to say that he was even less impressed with them now that he was down on their level.

What he had in mind would be a snap.

"Who are you, chump?" Ebon questioned the mysterious blond that had the balls to step into his hideout.

Bakugo didn't so much as flinch but rather swung his left arm across his chest, brought his right from below to hook his left, and started to stretch all while keeping a toothy grin.

"Frankly, it doesn't matter who I am..." Bakugo then proceeded to stretch his right arm, "...what matters is, I've got a job to do."

His grin grew wider and more sinister with a shadow coming across his face.

"And I've found myself a few little helpers!"

Those words made the Meta-Breed pause for a second, incredulous that this nobody came in here and said something like that, before smirking and chuckling. It was utterly ridiculous...but if this guy came here thinking he'd be telling them what to do they'd just have to show him why they were feared in the city.

"I say something funny?" Bakugo frowned.

"Yeah, kid, a real riot!" Shiv fell over overdramatically and kicked his feet in the air as he laughed.

"You a Bang Baby, blondie? Just get your powers?" Carmen snarkily chuckled.

"That'd make sense. You novatos love to get too big for your britches when your powers manifest," Talon smirked.

"Until we put 'em in their place and show why we're the top dogs!" Hotstreak tossed a fireball up and down in his hand.

Bakugo continued to stretch out, now intertwining his fingers and bringing his outstretched arms behind himself, and leaned forward, unperturbed with the mocking and a straight look on his face.

"The same 'top dogs' I saw running with their tails between their legs?"

That got them all to shut their mouths in an instant.

"You better realize who you're messin' with!" Ebon grew slightly with his anger.

"The guys with the most to prove are the easiest to rile up with words," Bakugo smirked and stood on the tips of his toes and crouched, bending with his knees splaying out on either side of him.

"You lookin' to make a name for yourself then you gotta prove yourself...We ain't working for anyone, but after we thrash you, you can work for us," Ebon offered threateningly.

"Yeah, right," Bakugo didn't hesitate to rebuff the offer, "I'm not following a moron like you." Bakugo stood back up from his stretched and rubbed the back of his neck nonchalantly.

"And... you act like I'm giving you a choice."

His words made the Meta-Breed tense up, ready to take him down.

"The way I see it, you want something, you have to fight for it...but I'm no monster, so I'll give you guys a sporting chance," Bakugo removed his shirt to reveal his sleeveless, black, a-shirt underneath along with his muscled arms and chest thanks to it being tight on him. This showed that among the Meta-Breed he was most likely the strongest physically, but with powers, they'd have the advantage.

"Come at me all at once," he goaded, placing his hands on his knees and stretching for the last time, "I win, and you go through with my plan. You win, and I'll help out with one of your stupid heists or whatever idiotic plan you extras can come up with."

Bakugo then raised his extended his arms slightly in front of him, keeping his elbows slightly bent with his right hand in front, and both hands open with fingers curled.

"I'll warn you though...when I fight, I don't lose, I never lose!" his grin was feral, his eyes were shining, and a shadow was cast on his face.

"I fight to win!"

Ebon let his eye twitch just once in nervousness but composed himself...he was the boss of this city. No no-name chump from who-knows-where was going to roll up in his hood and tell him what's what.

He did the telling now!

"Psh, y'all waste this chump and get him outta here," Ebon turned away with a wave of his hand, dismissing Bakugo.

"You got it, boss," Carmen stepped up, wanting to get back in Ebon's good graces after his little outburst. "Sorry, kid, but I'm gonna hafta steamroll ya!"

Carmen-dill rolled up, skidded on the ground for intimidation and speed, before rolling forward to plow over the stationary Bakugo.

The blond stood his ground, his eyes not even registering the danger barreling toward him. Instead, he had his eyes on Ebon, or rather Ebon's back, frowning at being looked down on by the lesser villain.

"Seems like you guys...are UNDERESTIMATING ME!"

Shouting out, Bakugo brought his right hand back, stomping his right foot to plant himself, and swiftly thrust his hand forward.

A resounding thud was heard as a devastating right hook rooted itself into Carmen's gut, busting through his shell defense and making him uncurl from the pain. Air escaped Carmen's lungs from the blow and left him coughing, a hand grasping the back of his head broke him from his coughing fit though.

Mercilessly, Bakugo slammed the oversized armadillo's face into the unforgiving floor and rested his palm there, not giving Carmen the chance to get up. Bakugo leveled his gaze at the surprised Meta-Breed, crouched on the ground next to Carmen, and without changing the blank expression on his face created an explosion from his palm.

Lifting the armadillo's head from the ground, the blond showed the unconscious visage of their teammate to them without remorse before releasing his hold, letting Carmen-dillo fall back onto the floor. Standing back up, Bakugo clapped his hands to remove the dust on them, his right hand still smoking from his explosion.

"Maybe now you'll take this seriously," Bakugo grinned at their apprehensive faces, "I said, come at me all at once."

"Waste him!" Ebon shouted, watching the three other members start to charge.

'I just showed I'm good at close quarters, and these idiots are still blindly charging,' Bakugo put his mind to work, thinking of a plan quickly.

'These idiots may not stand a chance against me, but their numbers are the real problem. The bird has the advantage from the air, and the pyro has the distance, letting the maniac have a greater chance to get in close, so a great start would be...' Bakugo cupped his hands together and released another explosion to make a smokescreen that covered him and his three opponents.

'...take away their visibility!'

"Ha, ya scared? Tryin' to hide, you wuss!" Hotstreak jeered from within the smoke.

'Idiot,' Bakugo smirked, clearly seeing the pyro from within the smoke thanks to the fireballs he had in his hands along with seeing Shiv due to his light-energy swords, 'If the two of you had brain cells, you'd realize that your powers give away your positions in this smoke, mine included in this case, so you've got to be strategic when using 'em.'

Taking his mind off the two male Meta-Breed members, and noting their positions Bakugo turned his gaze skyward and saw the shadow of Talon emerge from the smoke. The blond grinned as his plan started to work.

'The first thing that'd happen is the bird getting a better vantage point to find me through the smoke, covering these two!' the explosive villain was immediately upon the female, meeting her in the air after dual explosions from his palms which had the added effect of drawing Hotstreak and Shiv's attention to his previous position.

"Wha-!" Talon shrank back when she saw the blond meet her in midair, shocked that he made it up here where she thought she'd be untouchable. And that surprise cost her when her enemy brought his hands close to her face and flashbanged her.

"Zero Kyori Sutan Gurenēdo (Point-Blank Stun Grenade)!"

With the girl stunned, Bakugo grabbed her by the arm and with a swing around landed on top of her as she hit the ground. Without care for her gender, the blond made sure to have his full weight crash into Talon once they'd hit the ground and didn't so much as give the now unconscious girl a final look before he'd set his eyes on his next target.

Slamming into the ground had given him away, and he could see the glow of Shiv's blades approaching him. Deftly, Bakugo weaved his way around Shiv soundlessly and got within Hotstreak's guard, aiming to remove the long-range support from the equation.

Scrunching his face, the taller teen stood his ground against Bakugo by bringing a fireball to his hand. The red-haired pyro intended to blast the explosive blond away from him while burning his opponent at the same time.

"You want a piece of me, shorty!" Hotstreak taunted, confident that he'd be able to take care of the problem in no time.

"A piece of you? No!" Bakugo intercepted the offending limb of the pyrokinetic with his forearm. "What I want is for you idiots to at least put up a decent fight!"

Bakugo had the palm of the hand he was using to block Hotstreak open next to the teen villain's head, letting loose a small explosion to knock him off balance and make him take a step back in pain. Immediately, Bakugo brought his fist into Hotstreak's face, holding nothing back.

The fire-wielder clutched his nose after the punch, feeling blood leak through his fingers, "You little!"

Again, Bakugo anticipated the fireball that would be lobbed at him and twisted his body to the opposite side to avoid it. He used the momentum from his dodge to bring his fist into Hotstreak's ribs, doubling the teen over as he clutched his side.

"Y'know the problem with you long-range types!" Bakugo spoked as he continued to combo Hotstreak, leaving no chance for the defenseless former bully to counter or gain distance to use his flames. "You're over-reliant on your powers! So all it takes is someone getting in close to mix it up for you to wind up on your knees!" Bakugo.

"I'll show you!" Hotstreak brought a flaming hand forward only for it to be caught by Bakugo.

"This is just sad," Bakugo clenched his hand, unconcerned with the flame around his hand, and brought the pyro to his knees as he'd said he would.

"This is as good as you are? I know a guy like you, and he knows the limits of his powers. Can even push himself...what about you?" Bakugo waited for an answer, watching the struggling face of Hotstreak attempting to pry his hand from Bakugo's grip.

"Didn't think so!"

A fist slammed into Hotstreak's face and brought him into the realm of unconsciousness with Carmen and Talon which left...

Bakugo ducked beneath Shiv's blade, turning to face the last member before the boss. His brows set in their semi-permanent scowl; Bakugo continued to avoid the wild slashes of Shiv with ease.

"I'm beginning to understand you guys...you're all just punks," Bakugo said simply with a sigh.

"You think punks can rule a city!?" Shiv panted, continuing to try and cleave Bakugo.

"When there's enough of them and they're loud enough," Bakugo leaned back, "I'm a different breed than you. You got these powers, and just decided to make trouble!" Bakugo roared and blasted Shiv back with a palm explosion.

"That's all you wanted from all this...and when you got it, you gave up."

Shiv made one of his arms a flail and swung it at the blond, hoping the size would get him or he'd avoid it and get sliced by his other sword-arm. Luckily for the purple-haired Meat-Breed member, his opponent did as he thought he would, leaving an opening that Shiv took advantage of.

"You don't even know how to use these weapons!" heedless of the blade, Bakugo propelled himself forward with an explosion after he thrust his palm behind his body. The speed boost managed to make him avoid a worse injury only gaining a cut on the cheek but he didn't flinch from it. "You didn't improve since gaining these powers, if anything...all of you stayed the same pieces of shit you always were!"

His palm glowed brightly, preparing to release a large explosion. Shiv shuddered, seeing the intense look in Bakugo's eyes, and created a large shield with his arms to defend himself from the attack.

"SHINE (DIE)!" With that shout, Bakugo blasted right through the lame defense of Shiv and watched the defeated villain skid across the floor until slamming against a wall. Raising his hand next to his face and placing the other into his pocket, Bakugo gave a side glance to the boss of the Meta-Breed and smiled maliciously.

"Now all that's left is you, shadow puppet," Bakugo said confidently not even winded from the battle he took part in.

"You don't know who you're messing with!" Ebon grew to envelop the room they were in, planning to surround the blond and move him to the deadliest place he could think of and watch Bakugo beg to be freed.

Though the calm look on Bakugo's face put him off a bit.

"Heh, I'm dealing with the easiest to beat out of you morons," he laughed derisively.

"I run this city!"

"And I can't believe that you do!" Bakugo met Ebon in the air and created another flash with his explosions, weakening the Bang Baby boss and causing his shadows to recede. "With such a glaring weakness, I don't get why the cops can't handle you!"

"Ahh!"

"You think you'd come up with a counter!"

Bakugo pressed on with more explosions, forcing Ebon back and having him scream in pain the more his body slowly faded from the light emitted.

"Having powers doesn't make you powerful!" Bakugo grabbed Ebon by his face while continuing to release explosions from his other hand to keep the shadow-man weakened.

"Like I said, I'm a different breed than you. I've trained with my powers since I found out about them...they're an extension of myself...not just a tool to get what I want."

With a sinister smile, the blond took a glance around the room as a formality, watching the Meta-Breed groan in pain as they started to wake back up to the sight of their leader defeated.

"Well, look at that, seems like I'm the winner of our little bet," he looked back to the panting shadow. "Guess that means you'll be helping me out after all, huh?"

Ebon's eyes twitched in anger, his pride not allowing him to submit even in this situation, "I'm not helping you!"

A brow raised from the blond, "Trying to back out? I don't think you understand the situation you're in..." Bakugo's hand tightened on Ebon's face and started to light up, "I went easy on you guys cuz I need you...but I don't need all of you for my plan."

The threat was very real.

The savage beating he'd given the Meta-Breed was proof that he could have done a lot worse than he had. What they'd experienced was the blond's restraint for if he had gone all out there was a good chance that they wouldn't be alive.

"Wait...we'll do it..." Ebon closed his eyes in resignation, wanting to keep his life...and later he'd get this bastard back for this humiliation.

"That's better, and don't worry you small, little heads. After this job, I'll be out of your hair, and you can go right back to your petty crime. I've got bigger things on the horizon, and I'll have no reason to come back to this shithole," Bakugo lifted Ebon by his collar to look him in the eyes.

"But for the time being, you all should consider yourselves lucky to be helping the League of Villains!"

With Bakugo's affiliation revealed, the pieces fell into place for the Meta-Breed.

Why the blond was so powerful.

Why he was so destructive.

And why he was ready and willing to kill to achieve his goals.

The small-time criminal outfit of hooligans looking to make trouble and a quick buck found themselves drawn into something much bigger.

"Your job is simple, even you idiots should be able to handle it."

"Wh-what is it?" Carmen asked meekly, dreading whatever it was.

"Buying time," was the simple answer.

(The following morning)

Pedestrians were fleeing off the street as the criminal band of Bang Babies was wreaking havoc again only a day after narrowly escaping from the resident heroes. If the panicking people took a second to observe the Meta-Breed however, they would notice that there didn't seem to be any real goal behind their rampage. Ebon was known for taking control of streets, stealing from shops, extorting the owners, and collecting wayward Bang Babies for the Meta-Breed, yet here they were simply causing destruction for destruction's sake.

It was more akin to something Hotstreak would do.

"I don't like this, boss," Carmen rubbed the back of his neck nervously after trashing a car. He looked to the side and saw his teammates causing as much trouble as they could to draw in their targets. "Those League guys are nuts...we really wanna be lumping in with them?" he shuddered thinking of the crazy amounts of destruction that had happened under League of Villains' devices and they only had a handful of incidents to their names.

"You think I like this?" Ebon growled, casting his eyes subtly to where he knew Bakugo was lying in wait. "I want my city back! Soon as we do this, that goon skips town, then I'm back in charge!" Ebon punched through a shop's window.

"Then I'm gettin' back at that walkin' firework!"

"Get back to work, you two!" Hotstreak turned to them after tossing a fireball into a building, a bandage on his nose. "I don't want to give that guy a reason to come back down here and kick our asses again!"

"Scared, Francis?" Ebon walked up to the pyro but was surprised the antagonistic red-head backed down.

"Of that guy? After what he did...I am. I wanna get back too, don't get me wrong...but there's no way we could stop him right now," he clenched his fists at the admission.

The conversation had to end though as Talon announced that their guests of honor had arrived.

"You know, Ebon, I was looking forward to a weekend off, but I guess you guys can't get enough of me!" Static taunted as he flew in with Gear next to him.

"What's the deal, Ebon? Even you'd at least take a day," Gear pressed.

"Trust me, hero, I wouldn't be dealing with you unless I had to and unfortunately it ain't up to me this time!" Ebon attacked Static with an oversized fist that the hero dodged.

"Ain't up to you? What's that supposed to mean?" Static then used his saucer to block light-shuriken that Shiv sent his way.

"I got 'im!" Gear veered from Static's side to go after Shiv, but that's what they were planning on.

"Gotcha!" Bakugo shouted with a resounding boom coming from his palms.

"What-!" Gear didn't have a chance to react.

Maneuvering his body above the intelligent hero, Bakugo gripped Gear's clothing with one of his hands and used his other to increase his momentum with another explosion. Using this, Bakugo whirled Gear around and launched him away from the ensuing fight to an arena of their own. All he did to regard Static was give a small toothy smirk down to the hero before he blasted off to Gear.

"Gear!" Static made to give chase only to be halted by a fireball hitting his back and knocking him to the ground.

"Nuh-unh, Sparky, it's our job to keep you here!" Hotstreak told the hero, surrounding him with the rest of the Breed.

"Your job?" Static got up and had electricity envelop his fists, "And you said it wasn't up to you...You're working for someone, Ebon?" Static questioned.

"Who is he...and what does he want with Gear?"

The entire Meta-Breed tensed at the question, but went through with their job, though Ebon did answer.

"Someone you don't wanna mess with, hero. I feel bad for your sidekick."

With that the fight was on, the Meta-Breed holding Static here while Bakugo finished his business with Gear, and Static trying to finish up as quick as he could to save his best friend.

(With Gear and Bakugo)

Gear ended his flight through the air by landing harshly onto the ground, groaning from the impact. Looking at his surroundings, he was that he was in a rectangular space between four buildings, most likely used by kids and teens to play in during leisure time. Gear got up from the ground and saw the one that had tossed him hear land in front of him.

"Finally, I have you all to myself."

"Oh boy, a new member, huh? The Meta-Breed must be scraping the bottom of the Bang Baby barrel though, you don't look all that dangerous," Gear taunted, thinking of a plan.

"Don't lump me in with those guys. They're just helping me out is all...all they have to do is keep your pal busy while I finish up my business with you," Bakugo set his legs shoulder-width apart and bent them slightly to get ready, palms open and fingers flexing.

"Business with me? Well, I'm flattered, but I think I can aim a little higher than you for my first grudge match. I've never heard of you before, so you must be new to the game," Gear got himself ready as well. "I'll give you some advice, quit while you're ahead and find a new profession...you don't wanna mess with a hero."

"Heh, hero? You? Aren't you the sidekick?"

"I'm his partner!" Gear shot back.

"No, you're the sidekick all right!" Bakugo shot forward, crazed grin on his face.

Gear smirked and threw a Zap Cap Mk 2 at the villain; the tendrils opening to ensnare the villain and end the fight immediately. Unfortunately, Bakugo's reaction time was unreal and he easily brushed the trap aside with an explosion before it could begin to tighten. Gear was dumbfounded to the point that he was unable to react when Bakugo's fist smashed into his faceshield, and while it didn't break it, it rattled Gear's head around within its confines.

"I saw the whole thing last night!" Bakugo turned around, seeing Gear's body still in the air from his punch seeing as it made the hero flip. "You didn't catch any of those idiots yourself, you just set 'em up for Static!" it was then that Gear screamed in pain as a fist dug itself into his side and sent him sprawling across the ground painfully.

"What kind of hero can't take care of themselves?!"

"If you're gonna take up the mantle, you have to be willing to work for it!" Bakugo was upon Gear in a second, kicking him off the ground and into the side of one of the buildings. The blond dynamite thrust his palm forward going for a full-body explosion on the sidekick.

Gear managed to clear his head of cobwebs enough to duck out of the way and saw a divot be left in the brick wall from the attack. Gear took a glance behind Bakugo and saw that Backpack had silently made its way up the wall. The tech-themed hero thought up a sneaky plan to capture the blond once he'd let his guard down...

...all he had to do was last long enough to see it through.

"You and those Meta-Breed assholes are the same!" Bakugo pressed on with his attack, never knowing what was running through Gear's head.

"I'm nothing like them!" Gear tossed small marbles that bounced off the ground toward the rampaging Bakugo.

"All of you get powers and just decide to use them!" Bakugo shot back, covering his eyes anticipating the flash they inevitably let off. "Now that I have powers, I can rule the city! Now that I have powers, I can be a hero! That's all it took!"

Gear tried to block the punch that was coming towards his face again but Bakugo shot an explosion that propelled him over the hero and blasted him from behind. Gear fell over from the impact, turning around as quickly as he could, and skittered backward to gain distance.

"Just look at you, though," Bakugo scowled, "You can't even fight back. None of you idiots train, you think just having the powers is enough to get what you want," he chided the sidekick, watching him back away.

"I'm...helping...people..." Gear panted.

"You can't help anyone without your boss. Just look at you, you can't handle one guy on your own. And you go around calling yourself a hero?" Bakugo had his hands in his pockets at this point. "Your power's super-smarts, right? And all you've done with it is build a bunch of toys that anyone with a brain can get around."

"Brain beats brawn...haven't you heard that, musclehead?" Gear tried to keep the blond talking while Backpack positioned itself.

"You could do a lot more with that. Make something to augment your strength, hell, you could watch, understand, and break down fighting styles faster than most masters and make something new from all of them! But you just wanted the title of hero without any of the responsibility, you just leave that to Static."

That struck a chord with Gear as he always felt like he was in his friend's shadow, but the electric-themed hero always treated him with respect and never referred to him as the sidekick. He wanted to be respected by Dakota too but he was often overlooked, so he often thought about going solo occasionally.

But then he'd think of all the trouble he'd get into on his own and that stayed him.

"I wanted to fight him. He's an outlier for you guys, he actually seems to know what he's doing with his powers. Using them creatively seems like he's taking this seriously."

"And you are? You're just hurting people with them," Gear threw the words back into Bakugo's face.

"You seen me attack anyone? Don't talk like you know me, I couldn't care less about people that can't defend themselves. They wanna stay safe, they get out of the way or I can't be held responsible," Bakugo lifted his hand and popped a few small explosions in his palm. "If you're gonna do something, you should give it your all! And I wanted to fight! I put my all into developing my powers so I could do that and no one gets to tell me what to do with them! I don't fault people for how they use their powers, I fault them on how well they use 'em to accomplish what they want!"

Bakugo closed the distance with Gear and shoved a knee into his stomach.

"You wanna be a hero, you need to win. You're on the ground after facing one man, you aren't a hero. You're just a nerd!" Bakugo kicked Gear over and approached the coughing sidekick.

"But you do have something I want..." he turned Gear onto his stomach to retrieve his goal only to find the drone missing. "Eh?"

The clanking of metal behind him alerted the explosion-loving blond to the drone's presence too late. Backpack's four legs locked around Bakugo's arms, restraining him and giving him no way to use his powers without being caught within the ensuing blast.

"Gotcha..." Gear let himself smile at the successful execution of his plan. Sure, he got the snot kicked out of him for a bit, but it was worth it to see this haughty villain get his comeuppance. "I guess brains are better than brawn after all, huh?" he allowed himself to get a tad cocky for outsmarting Bakugo, and that made him slip up and say something he shouldn't have.

"The nerd wins and you lose"

An intense look appeared on Bakugo's face at that word, his pupil shaking in anger and his palms glowed powerfully.

"Lose!?" as if reacting to his shout the explosions came from his hands, their force pushing Gear back and freeing the blond. To the sidekick's horror, through the smoke came the grinning face of Bakugo, singed and holding Backpack down with the droid's legs scraping against the floor trying to get up.

"I don't lose! Especially to some nerd that banked his win on a single half-baked plan!" in his kneeling position Bakugo looked to the struggling drone. "But you did make it easier to get what I wanted."

With no emotion, Bakugo blew up Backpack beneath his hand to cease its movements. The broken droid's legs fell limp and its eye dims as it deactivated from the damage. Gear looked heartbroken as his mechanical companion was destroyed before his eyes, his first invention as Gear and what felt like so much more, was gone.

That's what he thought until he watched Bakugo pick the poor thing up by one of its legs and sling it over his shoulder.

"Damn, hope she's gonna be able to salvage this hunk of junk," Bakugo scratched his cheek, imagining the tiny alien yelling at him for wrecking the bot. His mission done, he turned to leave but it seemed his defeated enemy had more to say.

"What...what are you doing...with Backpack?"

"Huh?!" Bakugo made a face, walking to stand over Gear. "Oh, this? We got someone a lot like you on our side. She's smart, and frankly, we have so many heavy hitters on our team, she probably wouldn't have to lift a finger to help us," Bakugo thought of the League members.

They got on his nerves, but they were all good at what they do.

He was still gonna beat them though!

"But that's where your similarities end...she could easily sit on her ass and stay safe but she's trying to get ahold of tech that can have her help us out in the field. She's improving, and she isn't going to stop there...not where we're heading."

His hair shadowing his red eyes Bakugo dug the knife in deeper.

"And what have you done?"

The silence was his answer.

"I thought so...you told me I should find something else to do. Maybe when you wake up, you'll take your own advice!" he ended the conversation with a kick to the side of Gear's head to knock him out.

(Back with Static-a few minutes earlier)

It was a hard fight, but the hero managed to beat the Meta-Breed. He used a nearby chain-link fence to wrap the villainous Bang Babies up. Clapping his hands together, the African-American superhero was ready to get answers on what this plan was and who was pulling the strings.

"Now that we're all having this little powwow. Why don't you tell me just who the mastermind behind all this is?" he waited for any of them to speak but they were tight-lipped.

"Come on, show of hands."

"Trust me, Static...you don't wanna mess with that guy...none of us did," Shiv spoke up, the fear being heard in his trembling voice.

"Whoa, this guy's enough to give a manic like you a cold sweat? What's the deal?"

"He's like nothing Dakota's ever seen...that monstruo fought all of us...and made us help after he won," Talon's haunted look and phantom pains said it all.

"He beat the entire Meta-Breed?!" Static was shocked. Sure, he did it regularly, but only after fighting them for so long and so many times.

"You dodged a bullet, hero," Ebon finally spoke up and his voice was vitriol-free for once, in fact, he was calm despite being foiled. "That cat rolls with guys beyond your paygrade. Lucky he wasn't after you, hero, cuz I don't think you'd be walking around after he got through with you."

"I'll take my chances...now what does he want with Gear?"

"No idea," Hotstreak answered this time, "Just told us to keep you away while he... 'talked' with the gearhead."

"That guy is gonna get steamrolled, Static," Carmen shook his head, "Doesn't stand a chance."

"Gear's smart he can..."

An explosion came from the direction he knew that the two had flown off in and the sound alone made Static clam up.

"I hope you're right, hero, cuz it sounds like your homie just got bodied," Ebon looked in the direction and saw the smoke rising.

"Gear!" Static took off in a panic, the police sirens arriving let him know that the Meta-Breed would be taken care of and his focus could go to helping his friend.

(Present)

Static arrived on the scene to see Bakugo lowering his leg from the kick to Gear's head and Backpack's limp form of the villain's shoulder. The real attention-getter for the hero was the unconscious Gear laying on the ground in front of the blond.

"Gear!"

The shout gained the attention of the only other conscious person in the space, making Bakugo raise his head to the sky with his smile now that he got to meet the hero.

"Static! Nice to see you made it here. That mean you took care of my helper-extras? Took you just about as long as it did for me to finish up here. Coulda been faster, but not bad!" Bakugo shouted at the hero.

"What'd you do to Gear!?" Static's eyes sparked with power.

"Just roughed him up a bit. Had to grab this thing..." he gestured to the drone, "I wanted to get a piece of you, but I'm on a tight schedule, so I'll do you a solid and get out of your hair!"

A bolt of lightning stopped Bakugo from continuing to walk away, the ground in front of him where it had hit was burnt from its power. The villain just looked up at the electric-themed teen.

"You want me, you got me!"

"Nah, I got what I came for already. If you showed up sooner then I might have taken you up on that...but I think you should be more worried about your sidekick here."

"He's my partner."

"Geez, you too? Look, whatever you want to call the nerd, he needs medical attention...I didn't go easy on him; he'll be out for a while. So, you can either chase after me or take care of your pal here," Bakugo cleaned his ear uncaringly as he laid it out for Static.

"Trust me, as long as you stay a hero, there's always a chance we'll run into each other again. I don't plan on coming back here, but if I see you making improvements, I might be tempted just to settle this. The League of Villains is going to be busy in the future after all," Bakugo revealed to the hero.

'That's why the Meta-Breed were so scared of this guy!' Static shivered at the name.

"See you 'round!" Bakugo let loose a flashbang explosion from his hand and took his leave.

Static wanted to search for Bakugo, but he couldn't argue that getting Gear looked at took priority. Landing next to his friend, Static's mind raced a mile a minute as he weighed his options...he couldn't take Gear to a regular hospital since they'd need to remove his helmet and his identity would be shot, and he would need to find an excuse for where his alter ego, Richie Foley, would disappear to while he got cared for.

There was only one person that he could think of to help in this situation, and Static remembered that the man had told him to use this line only in emergencies.

This definitely qualified.

"Batman!" Static talked through the communicator that the Dark Knight had given him after assisting with the Joker, hoping the man would pick up.

"I thought I told you this was for emergencies."

"I know, but this is one! Gear got beat, Batman...real bad. He's unconscious...and we've never had injuries this serious before, and I don't know what to do!"

"Calm down, panicking won't help...what happened?"

"The Meta-Breed...they attacked the city and distracted me...Gear got taken and by the time I came back, he was like this! The guy that did it...he said he was part of the League of Villains!"

"..."

"Batman!"

"I'm sending someone over now," Batman's voice became even colder when he'd heard that, taking the call even more seriously.

"You aren't coming?"

"I can't...I'm dealing with something else right now."

(Jump City)

"Stay calm, and wait where you are until they arrive," Batman hung up once he'd gotten the affirmative from Static. He then brought his attention back to where he'd just arrived after getting a call from his old pupil.

He'd wanted to go independent and Batman let him but always let him know that his mentor would be ready to drop whatever was doing if he called. Dick, of course, didn't want to or else it would've felt like he still had training wheels from 'Daddy Bat', but when Batman received that call from the first Robin...that his team had been defeated and by a group of three that said they were affiliated with the League of Villains...

Batman couldn't have arrived any quicker.

The mall was a mess. Fire damage on the ground floor and some lingering embers in the air; Fried electronics above, knocked over shelves, wet floor, and a literal pile of dead bodies; And even worse than that, on a floor where children are meant to play and have fun, there was a picture painted with the blood of those same children and their parents included...with bodies that couldn't even be shown to the deceased's families lest they be horrified at the grotesque corpses.

All in all, an incident that these Teen Titans weren't in any way ready for.

Cyborg was being looked after; his power source was damaged but Wayne Industries had suitable replacements that the teen could modify at his leisure. Beast Boy would recover according to the EMTs. The real damage would be coming from the three conscious members of the Titans and the effect this ordeal would have.

Upon arriving, only his former pupil and Raven had been able to look him in the eye. Starfire had a haunted look on her face, staring at the mall while gripping her shoulders, reliving the horrors she experienced within and the smiling face of the culprit.

"Is she alright?" Batman asked Raven who stayed by her side since they'd left the mall and waited for the Dark Knight.

"All of those people...I...didn't..." Starfire never took her eyes off the mall.

"She's not used to this...none of us really are but Robin. Right?" Raven's voice was still level.

"Friend Raven...helped me...I froze, I couldn't fight them...I couldn't k-"

"It's alright Starfire..." Raven comforted her.

"You didn't have a choice?" Batman asked the sorceress.

"No...I know I broke the rules...but there was nothing I could have done."

"I'm no magic-user...it's outside of my realm, so I'll take you for your word. Robin trusts you, don't misplace it."

Raven nodded.

"Man of Bats..." Starfire turned to him; his back turned at the time. "Does it...get easier?"

"No. It never does, you just have to go on, and promise yourself it won't happen again."

"I will...and I will avenge those lost today...I want that creature to pay!" Starfire resolved to herself, drawing her knees to her chest and nuzzling her face to them. She needed to toughen up as a Tamaranean warrior princess and carry her pain with her into future battles.

"Batman...the one Starfire and I met with...he can't be jailed," Raven floated next to the Justice League member once she was assured that her friend was ok. "Whatever he is...it's unnatural, nonliving. And he's relatively new, ending him as soon as possible should become a priority...or I truly believe he can be a danger...to everyone."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Batman walked over to Robin and stood next to him; Robin was sitting on a gurney with bandages over his burns. The two stayed silent for a bit staring at the mall before Batman broke the silence.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine...just angry."

"It happens, Robin, you know it. Our job is to be ready when it does happen and put them away before they do more damage."

"But it shouldn't have happened at all...nothing like this has happened!"

"You didn't know who they were or what they'd do...that element of surprise is what they used to draw you all in. They continue to show that they aren't your average anarchists..."

"I still should have done better."

Knowing that his pupil would be able to deal with this on his own, Batman chose to end the talk of the incident and ask about the League members specifically, "What can you tell me about them?"

"There were three...Cyborg and I fought a pyrokinetic, a powerful one, his flames were blue upon release and he isn't immune to them. Long fights would be bad, but he knows how to hold back so he can last longer. Raven told me a little about their opponent...he uses forbidden magic to...mutate people...you'll have to talk to her about it. And Beast Boy's opponent, the most I got from what she said was that she has power over electricity, she said something about shooting volts through his brain." Robin explained, falling back into his old role for a second.

Batman simply nodded at the information, already getting ready to convene the Justice League to discuss this new, terrifying development. Turning from his pupil, Batman approached the Batwing and had the computer begin downloading the security footage from the mall.

"You all stay here and recover. This is Justice League business now," he spoke to the Titans resolutely. "They aren't after you, so you need to keep your heads down,"

"No...if you find out where they are, we want in. Promise me," Robin got up.

"I couldn't call myself a sorceress if I let that abomination run rampant," Raven's even voice held an edge.

"I won't rest until this League of the Villains is brought to justice," Starfire's small eyebrows knit in determination.

The older hero stared at the next generation and could tell that they'd only go behind his back to hunt down the villains. Closing his eyes, the Dark Knight decided on a compromise.

"I can't promise that we'll call you in...but I'll keep you in mind to help. Don't go after them yourself, just keep yourselves prepared for anything and focus on protecting Jump. After this, your enemies will try to capitalize on this to make their moves, you can't be lax," Batman nodded to them and got into the Batwing's cockpit.

While flying to the Watchtower, Batman received a transmission.

"Batman," he answered.

"Hey, Bats," Flash's voice came from the Batwing's comms.

"Flash, what's the situation in Dakota?"

"It's just like Static said. A new member of the League of Villains came to town...and his target was apparently Gear's Backpack drone. The kid was roughed up pretty bad," Flash looked to the bed the unconscious teen hero was in. Flash had arrived on the scene and taken Gear to a trusted doctor to heroes.

"He won't be waking up for a while, but everything else has been patched up." Flash put his hand on Static's shoulder.

"Good, I'll come up with a believable excuse for his parents. What information do you have on the unknown League of Villains member?"

"According to those Meta-Breed kids, he just showed up to their hideout and took them all on. The guy beat them all and forced them to help with his plan," Flash revealed to the Bat, "Said he had the power to make explosions from his hands, scary stuff."

"I'm coming to pick you up. We need to brief the others."

"Don't keep me waiting," Batman hung up before Flash could finish, "Huh, rude."

"Gear's gonna be fine, right?" Static looked to the veteran.

"Don't worry, kid, he's in good hands. Just make sure you come visit him and bring some decent food when he wakes up."

"Yeah..."

"Seriously, he's gonna be fine. You did the right thing calling us in, you couldn't have known who was targeting Gear," Flash said seriously for once.

"But I should have helped him...but I stayed to fight the Breed instead."

"And you protected civilians, which is your job. I'm sure Gear would say the same thing," he gestured to the unconscious teen. "He wouldn't want you beating yourself up. You're both still learning this stuff, and lucky for you, us oldies are here to catch you when you fall. When you take our place, you'll be saying the same things to kid heroes."

The sound of the Batwing reached his ears.

"Gotta run, Static! Keep your chin up and keep doing what you're doing," the Scarlet Speedster sped off with that.

"Don't worry, Rich...when you wake up, we'll go after that guy..."

(The Watchtower)

The Justice League were all assembled at their meeting table, grim looks on their faces. If Batman was the one to make the call, then it more than likely had to do with the League of Villains, his recent obsession outside of the Joker. All their arms were crossed, looking on as Batman stepped up to take the floor.

"The worst has come to pass. Just as I'd predicted after the Metropolis incident, the League of Villains has expanded faster and with more members than I expected. Enough to stage two separate operations in distinct locations at close to the same time," Batman activated a holographic display on the table.

"Hera, more like-minded, wayward youths that sympathize with All for One's cause," Wonder Woman frowned.

"A dangerous occurrence indeed. This group has proven themselves both unpredictable and powerful," J'onn steepled his hands in thought.

"We just need to get ahold of them before they get the chance to cause any more trouble," Green Lantern spoke up, now ready to take the growing group more seriously after seeing what their boss was capable of.

"Then, I'm guessing Batman called us here to let us know about the new members. Am I right?" Hawkgirl questioned the Dark Knight.

Superman kept silent through the team exchange, focused on whatever information his teammate had to offer.

"Precisely, the Teen Titans and Static and Gear have come across these new members. Through those encounters, it shows that they are all formidable adversaries," pressing another button the image of Dabi appeared in the hologram with his calm face and his hands in his pockets, slowly rotating so all the heroes could get a look at him.

"Starting, we have the apparent leader of the group of three that had attacked the Titans, named Dabi, the Japanese word for cremation. His name isn't without meaning as he is a powerful pyrokinetic," Batman showed footage of Dabi in action, the large swaths of flames he launched throughout the battle, and his dominating presence against both Robin and Cyborg.

"No doubt, you can see that he is one of the most powerful we've seen in comparison with the likes of Volcana and even fellow League of Villains member Enid Mettle, and within that strength lies his weakness."

"You're talking about the burns," Wonder Woman deduced.

"Yes, his intense flames don't preclude him from being harmed by them. Drawn out fights will be the way to defeat him, last long enough and he'll burn out. He isn't oblivious to this though and uses mind games and stalling to buy himself time to continue."

The hologram then switched to Gaz.

"The true extent of this one's abilities are unknown thanks to her incapacitating Beast Boy in their battle. Robin was able to tell me that they might lie in the electrical realm but how much power she wields is yet to be seen as she dominated the fight," the footage showed Gaz easily handling Beast Boy. "It appears her body is entirely made up of electrical energy."

"That's not possible...if she were pure energy, then she wouldn't be alive," Green Lantern pointed out.

"Lantern has a bit of a point. Livewire is a good example, she's probably the closest we can equate to pure energy but she still depends on human functions," Hawkgirl pointed out.

"Yes, but through the footage, we've seen that physical attacks cannot harm her, something that Livewire still has to contend with. And even water, a known weakness of Livewire, simply scattered this one's electrical current. It may have weakened her slightly, but she was still able to shock Beast Boy...then there's her identity to contend with."

"What does her identity have to do with her status as a being of pure energy?" J'onn asked.

"She calls herself Gaz...Gazlene Membrane if my research into her appearance is to be believed...and if it is, then you'd know why who we're seeing on this footage cannot be her."

"And why's that, Bats?"

"I need more information before answering definitively, I don't want misinformation spread among us, and the only way I see getting a straight answer is straight from her mouth."

Batman moved onto the next hologram, showing the sadistically grinning Mahito. When the footage of just what he'd done started playing, all the Justice League were horrified. Watching someone gleefully murder children like it was a game...even the most hardened person would recoil.

"Moving on, this is perhaps the most dangerous of the new members, Mahito, continuing the trend of Japanese names it means true human, and it's ironic. Raven was the one to tell me of this one and expressed that despite his appearance he is not human or alive. She called him a being of coalesced evil."

"What is he doing?" Superman finally spoke, his hands bending the metal of the table as he gripped it.

"Magic, forbidden according to Raven. She says he uses his abilities to distort the souls of those he touches. The thing about him that seemed to terrify Raven the most, was his capacity for growth," the footage of Mahito transfiguring his own body played. "Him coming into being or his discovery of his powers has only recently happened, so he doesn't know the true depths that he can reach with them. If we aren't careful, he could become far more dangerous than he is now. Raven says we need to eliminate him, and I'm inclined to agree."

"You want to kill someone?"

"He isn't technically alive, but personally, I don't want to. I doubt that any of us have the ability to do it, either way, we'll most likely have to ask for help from a magic-user, and Raven assures me that most, even villainous ones would want to do the same if they had the chance."

The crazed smile on Mahito's face as he inflicted pain made the decision hard for the heroes to disagree with. They'd seen many things over their careers, but even their worst enemies didn't outright target children when the act didn't benefit them in any way.

"And the final member is the one that went after Gear," Bakugo appeared in the middle of the table.

"No footage of him exists other than what was captured when he'd taken Gear. Our only information comes from the Meta-Breed, and from their accounts he can generate explosions from his body and demonstrated that out of that he may be the most capable of when it comes to hand-to-hand combat. He was able to easily defeat them all at once."

"What did he want with Gear?" Green Lantern leaned forward. He liked the rookie heroes, even if they were a bit annoying when they geeked out.

"That's the interesting thing. Static saw him making off with Backpack."

"Yep, reminds me of when Brainiac hitched a ride on it. Gear's a smart kid, his tech would have anyone drooling."

"But a hand-to-hand combatant? What would he want with it?" Wonder Woman.

"That's an unknown...for now, this is what we're dealing with."

The hologram changed to display all the members of the League of Villains, excluding All for One himself.

"In addition to those we've discussed, we have the oldest members of the League of Villains at the fore," the hologram showed the half-lidded eyes of Enid with a slight frown on her face and her hands in her pockets, "Enid Mettle, and Tomura Shigaraki," next to Enid stood Tomura with his hand-mask blocking his face and a calm single eye showing between the fingers.

"Then we have the new members, Dabi," the burned pyrokinetic stood with a flame coming from his hand and a smile that showed the top row of his teeth, "'Gazlene Membrane'" Gaz was nose deep in her Game Slave as always, "Mahito," the inhuman villain was licking his lips in his hologram with one of his arms as a blade, "And the explosive blond," Bakugo was in a crouch with a menacing grin and hands ready to fight.

"And there's a possibility of at least one that we don't know about," the detective said.

"What makes you say that?" Hawkgirl, as a former detective on her planet, wondered.

"Stealing Gear's equipment. Like Diana pointed out, the blond has no need for it, so someone in their group does. And if they're taking the risk of stealing it, then they have the necessary knowledge to repurpose it for their own ends."

"Do you have any leads, Batman?" Superman stood up, wanting to hunt them down and end this once and for all.

"Unfortunately, not. The Titans couldn't give chase given their injuries and it was a similar situation with Gear. This debriefing was only to serve as a warning...they aren't going to go away and they're growing in strength faster than even I anticipated," Batman let the footage linger on the destruction at the mall and the hospitalized Gear.

"We need to keep our ears to the ground after these attacks, they're planning something, or else they wouldn't take such a risk."

"And what are they planning?" Green Lantern asked.

"With them...it could be any number of things," Batman shut off the hologram.

(With the League of Villains)

"You lost~," a sing-songy voice said mockingly.

"I didn't lose, Patchface!" another shouted angrily.

"Didn't you come in after we did?" an uninterested voice spoke up.

"Only by a hair, Plum-head!"

"That's losing~" the sing-song voice chuckled.

"SHINE (DIE)!" an explosion came from the angry voice but the taunting one continued to run about and avoid the angry one.

"I told you he'd be louder if he lost," a dry voice sighed.

"*sigh* The least you could do is hand over the bot before you go on a rampage," Enid spoke with an eyeroll.

"You did get it, right?" she asked.

Bakugo stopped chasing Mahito for a second, "Of course, I did! What do you think I am!?" Bakugo dropped the broken Backpack onto the table and went back to trying to kill Mahito.

"We told you to bring it back in one piece! This thing is falling apart," Enid gestured to the shoddy work.

"Oh, this is perfect!" Peridot didn't seem concerned with the state of the robot as her fingers slid across the sleek surface, "Excellent work, I don't even have to work hard to crack this open. I'll need to reinforce the chassis and add a few attachments, but this should suit my needs just fine for the time being," Peridot's eyes shone at the prospect of working, even if it was obsolete human technology.

"It's a hunk of junk," Dabi chimed in.

"Only for now. With my expertise, I think I can make this piece of human 'technology' worthy of a gem technician," Peridot again missing what Dabi meant.

"Dabi, the money was sent through," Tomura let the burned villain know that their funds had finally been added to their secret account.

"Good. Means that mess was worthwhile," Dabi laid on the couch.

"So now what are we going to do?" Mahito mumbled out from beneath Bakugo's palm in his face. "I want to use my new abilities!" a Mahito head popped from one of the stitched nonhuman's fingers to speak for the main body.

"What the hell is that!?"

"Peridot can explain," Tomura gave the floor to the small alien.

"Yes, firstly, I have to commend you all for accomplishing your given tasks. Humans, as I've seen, can be highly unreliable, so color me impressed that you were able to complete your missions."

"Thanks!" Mahito said obliviously while all the new members looked deadpan at the lack of tact the green-skinned alien showed.

"Now, thanks to your efforts, I can start constructing items that will increase battle prowess. The heroes have us outgunned in terms of power and numbers, so the best thing we can do is prepare ourselves properly for any confrontations we'll have with them."

"For busting into the prison and rescuing All for One?" Bakugo asked.

"No, not yet, we need us all in top form to pull that off properly, and as you can see, I can't help...yet."

"And just how are you planning on fixing that one?" Dabi asked.

"In a few weeks, a certain something will be transported that will be invaluable. That's why it was imperative to accumulate funds for the equipment, and my new robonoid for my assistance in the field. I plan to finish work on everything and the perfect test run will be retrieving this item from its transport. From there, we can start moving forward with our rescue mission," Peridot explained.

"A step-by-step plan of action to give us the highest chance of succeeding when we move to get Master," Shigaraki broke the plan down to its base elements.

"No doubt we'll run into the heroes along the way," Enid smirked.

"I get to fight some real heroes, then I'm all for it!" Bakugo grinned, holding onto Mahito's face still.

"Keep your head on...the important thing is getting what we want. Fighting them is a bonus to achieving the goal," Dabi shut the blond down.

"You think I don't know that!?"

"Clearly I don't."

"I just want to get a hold of a hero...and transfigure them," Mahito's finger-head spoke with a lick of its lips.

"Stop being weird!" Bakugo shouted.

"You're missing the important questions, you dolts," Gaz looked up from the Game Slave. "Just what is it being transported, and where and when is it being transported?"

"A great question," Peridot opened her laptop and pulled up information, "Let me show you."

AN: The end and next chapter will be a full League of Villains heist with a fun backdrop if I do say so myself. Now I just have to pull it off.

We'll see what I update next, don't want to get anyone's hopes up like I did last time.

Stay healthy and Safe.