The League of Villains - Unknown location
In response to Machia's proclamation, the other members exchanged glances of some surprise.
Less than a minute later, the League of Villains - that powerful group at the name of which the rest of the world trembled - was being blasted back by the swipes of the hands of the towering behemoth.
"WHY…TELL ME WHY? OH LORD, WHYYY?! WHY IS HE SO WEAK!?
"What's up?" Asked Spinner. "He doesn't make any sense!"
A voice came crackling in over the radio which had hung on the giant's neck, now seated on the ground. A crackling, horrible, smug, old voice.
"You seem to be at a loss, Tomura Shigaraki."
"Doctor…" Shigaraki murmured.
"Did you say 'Doctor?" Asked Spinner. "Could it be the doctor we're looking for?"
"Are all your pals there with you? How've you all been doing?"
"Fine, thanks. But we're about to be mincemeat," said Shigaraki as the creature raised its fists preparing to smash them into the ground. The force of the blow turned the rocks around them to beaten pieces of rubble and sent the League scattering.
"I WANT TO ACCEPT HIM! BUT ALL FOR ONE, I - I JUST CAN'T!"
"Why not?" Asked Shigaraki.
"I take it you've met Gigantomachia?" Came the Doctor's voice. "He's a big supporter of All for One. He even used to be his bodyguard! He is one of the people All for One trusted most. With that extraordinarily durable body of his, he could handle multiple quirks even without getting remodeled first. When All for One was weakened by All Might. He knew his defeat was inevitable, so he hid Gigantomachia away. Such careful planning! And all this happened just a few years after he picked you up. No matter what might happen to him, he made sure his hopes and dreams would live on."
"Call me crazy," snapped Dabi, "but I'm having a hard time seeing this as some generous gift."
"Nice insight, Dabi! I'd say you're right. Gigantomachia is loyal to a fault. So loyal that it hurts him to think that Shigaraki doesn't measure up to his old master!"
Dabi's hands twitched, the words of competition hitting a nerve. From the open hands, a wall of flames blasted him into the sky, high above the others.
"We'd better go all out to show him we're worthy!" And a wall of flames came barreling towards the monster.
"That won't be enough," came the calm, impersonal voice over the radio. "For now…hm, let me see."
And the flames came into Machia's mouth, swallowed and ineffectual.
"Not very effective, Dabi!" Cried out Himiko Toga.
"Machia," came a radio voice - but a different voice this time, not the Doctor's. The familiar voice of the League's old master. All for One.
The creature instantly changed. No longer raging, he was bent on all fours over the radio, clutching it in his large hands, and rubbing his head up against it. Even purring rather like an over-sized cat.
"A recording of All for One's voice is just the thing to calm him down," the Doctor explained.
"We don't want this guy," said Shigaraki.
"Oh, you don't? He could be quite handy to have in the future! Kurogiri has been babying you for too long. Open your eyes, boy."
"That's harsh, Doctor."
"Hpmh. Give me a minute…"
There was silence.
"A minute for what?" Asked Toga, looking nervous.
"I swear, if this old coot doesn't get to the point -urk - burp!" Gasped Twice.
"Really, Jin? Burping? Gross," began Toga, but she was interrupted by the same noise coming from her own mouth.
From her mouth came the black sludge, a familiar one…
"Isn't this the quirk All for One used in Kamino?" Cried Mr. Compress. "How? Why? What's going on1?"
"Let's have a real chat," the voice of the Doctor echoed behind them as they all disappeared in the black sludge.
They were no longer at the hideout, but instead in a large laboratory surrounded by test tubes - test tubes containing what looked like larger, even more powerful Noomu.
Watching them from a chair before a large monitor was an old man. Bald, with a large mustache, shiny goggles and a hooked nose.
"Stinky," coughed Toga.
"This is…" Shigaraki looked around..
"Where're we now?" Asked Dabi, but then something in attack caught his eye.
"NOmu? But unlike any we've seen before…"
"HO HO!" Came the Doctor's voice. "Can you tell the difference? HO HO HO HO! Once again you've got sharp pair of eyes, Dabi! Yep, these little ones are nothing like the mid and low level Nomu. They're High-End! Super Nomu! I could almost call Master-pieces! Impressive, huh? My finest work yet."
The League of Villains stood in between the gigantic test tubes, filled with floating Noomu, peering towards the end of the corridor where the silhouetted doctor sat just peering at them from his chair.
"Doctor," said Shigaraki. "I've been looking for you for a reason. I need you to reproduce some bullets I've got."
The doctor, rather than responding to him, chose to say "You've let your hair grow out, Shigaraki! How're your father and the other doing?"
After a pause in which he looked down at the many severed hands covering his coat, Shigaraki replied, "Fine."
Mr. Compress, peering into the shadows, remarked, "Our doctor, I presume? It's too bright to make anything out -"
"STAY BACK!" The doctor suddenly shouted, his chair zipping along the ground and further out of sight, into an even more shadowy corner. "Ho ho, sorry bout this, but I wouldn't recommend coming any closer. When we need to meet face-to-face, I'll come to you. And if you break this rule, I'll send you right back to that big old meat grinder."
"You're the one who summoned us, you freaky geezer," snapped Twice. Dabi, sighing a little, asked, "Why are we here?"
Once more choosing not to respond to the direct question, the Doctor called, "I'd rather not give out my location, so I transported you all here instead. Besides Shigaraki, you're all fresh faces to me, I guess. We might've met somewhere before, though," he added, and though it was not clear from his silhouette, the 'we' seemed to be addressed more directly to the villain who had asked the question. "Like Gigantomachia, I'm one of All for One's confidants. Daruma Ujiko is the name I'm giving myself for now. Anyhow, Shigaraki, I summoned you here out of respect for the boss. My life, my tech, and my little ones here, I offered them all up to the great All for One. Up to now, you've been getting by with just scraps and leftovers of my work. Now I've got nothing against you. I just need to judge if you're worthy of having all of this." His tone, which had before been light and playful, suddenly became deadly serious. Had the League been able to see his eyes, they would now have seen them narrowing. "Cuz so far, you're NOTHING. Just a 20 year old kid palling around with the dregs of society. So what do you have to show me, Tomura Shigaraki?"
—
UA
It was finally time to do our first Joint training session with those annoying losers from Class 1B.
Turned out this was also the first time we'd all be fighting in our new winter gear, so I'd have a chance to check out any updates the others'd made.
My quirk has a bit of a hard time in winter. See, when your abilities are based around sweating nitroglycerin, and it's hard to work up a sweat, it's a lot harder to use that power. So I'd upgraded my costume to compensate a bit. It covers a hell of a lot more, stores more sweat for use, keeps me heated up. Still not quite enough to keep everything warm, but still better than walking around with everything exposed and freezing my ass off.
Some of the others had changed up their looks for winter too. Not Kirishima, who was still gonna go around in nothing but sleeves. But Raccoon eyes had put on a jacket, and Ponytail had a cape now. I knew Deku wouldn't be changing a thing; not like his costume exposes anything that needs covering. And his quirk works just as well in any weather. So that's a disadvantage. One I'll happily fight past.
And Invisible Chick was still wearing nothing but gloves and boots.
"Aren't you cold, Hagakure?" Asked Ears.
"Totally freezing!"
"Toughing it out, huh?"
"My winter style's cool as heck, don'tcha think?" Chirped Raccoon Eyes.
"All of our costumes have undergone considerable transformations since the school year began," said Glasses.
"It's crazy how you made it through the summer in that getup, Iida," said Sugar Man.
And there he was, and immediately he noticed me and smiled. "You've got a new look too, Kacchan!"
"Huh? Got a problem with it? Then say it - to my face, you stupid nerd!" I snapped defensively.
"Your costume must guard against the cold and generate heat, yeah? Since your sweat glands serve as weapons, it only stands to reason. What great modification!"
"I don't want your praise either!" I snapped, feeling my face in horrible danger of actually going red, like some damn teenage schoolgirl.
"You've got the most drastic upgrades though, Midoriya," said Tail, thankfully distracting him before he could pour on any more. "Those gloves are recent, right?"
"I need to keep up my new abilities, and yeah the gloves are pretty awesome. This is already my second pair, actually. Hatsume modified them to take more of a beating!"
Uraraka was wearing a funny look and suddenly punched herself in the face.
"Oh, are we slacking off?" Came that smarmy, arrogant voice we all knew way too well. "Is that your way of underestimating us?"
"Oh, they're here," said Kirishima. "Nope, we're not underestimating anyone. Just excited!"
"Hey, is that so? Too and for you. The tides are rolling our way now! Hear me Class A! Today is the day we settle this rivalry!" Monoma screamed as Class 1B shot him weird looks. That damn war criminal smarmy ass bastard can't wait to show him.
Smarmy-faced ass-fuck Copycat pulled a sheet of paper dramatically out of his pocket.
"Check out this survey I took at the culture festival! Which did people prefer - Class A's dinky concert or Class B's ultra-high-quality Theatrical production? Well take a look! Yes, our margin of victory was two entire votes!"
Just try and hold me back if I'm fighting him.
Kirishima and Ears both took up the paper.
"For real? Well, can't argue since we didn't see their show."
"You've been hogging the spotlight like pigs in slop ever since school started, but those days are coming to an end! Because today it's A vs. B! Our first joint battle training! And we're gonna - argh!"
Big Fist girl had been heading towards him to karate chop him silent, but Mr. Aizawa got there first.
"Quiet, you."
He and Vlad King Sensei were facing both our classes now.
"We've got a special guest today," said Vlad sensei.
"So try not to make fools of yourselves," said Mr. Aizawa.
"A guest?" Said Ponytail.
"Fresh meat!" I grinned.
"A girl, I hope!?" Said Kaminari.
"We'll show em the ropes!" Said the copycat Kirishima clone from Class 1B.
"He's hoping to transfer to the hero course," said Mr. Aziawa, and Deku and Tail both gasped.
It was that guy Deku fought at the Sports Festival, the one with the brainwashing quirk.
"Hitoshi Shinso, from Class C of General Studies!"
"Shinsou!" Gasped Tail.
"So that explains the look you gave me earlier in the hall!" Said Deku.
What're you talking about?
Everyone had started buzzing about our new guest. He was dressed in regulation gym uniform, but with a neck cloth like Mr. Aizawa's and a strange device around his neck shaped bit like Deku's own metal grille. Dark circles under his eyes. He could've been Sensei's kid. Kinda like IcyHot thought Deku could be All Might's or something.
"Isn't that Aizawa-sensei's binding cloth?"
"The mask looks unique, though."
"Good to have ya, man!"
"He can brainwash those who respond to him, right?" Naval Laser asked Tail.
"I didn't stand a chance."
"Midoriya got whammies too, but broke the spell somehow," Ballhead commented.
"That was just a fluke, really," sweated Deku. He had a really funny look on his face…Something was up with him. I can tell.
"Go on, introduce yourself," Sensei told Brainwash kid.
He looked around at all of his, sporting a serious frown.
"I had encounters with several of you at the Sports Festival, but don't think that we're friends just because we fought. I'm not the type for displays of good sportsmanship like that. I'm already so far behind you all. I'm doing everything I can to catch up. I'll be a great hero some day, and strive to use my quirk to help people. So to me, all of you here are just obstacles to overcome. I'm not here to make friends."
Nice. Good to have someone honest around here.
"Wow, delightful," sighed Uraraka.
"How stiff," said Tokoyami, clapping politely.
"Reminds me of Early-roki," Tape Arms snarked at IcyHot, who glanced at him rather good-naturedly. "Oh yeah?"
"Uh huh."
Both Deku and CopyCat-bastard were grinning like they wanted to eat Brainwash kid with a spoon. "I like this guy," Copycat muttered.
"Let's get right to it, then…" said Sensei.
"Battle training time. It's a series of matches pitting class A against Class b. The Battlefield is one section of Athletic field Gamma. Both classes will split into teams of four and square off against another team!"
"Four person teams!" Said some Class B girl dressed like a lizard. "Should be fun!"
"Yep, fun!" Said a girl next to her, who was dressed like a large mushroom.
"With Shinso added in," said a boy who looked like a beast, "we've got 41 altogether. How do we account for him?"
"Shinso will be participating in two matches, joining Class A for one and Class B for the other. Meaning two of the five matches will be five vs. four."
"That's not fair for the four person teams!" Cried Invisible Girl.
Vlad King sensei shook his head. "The four students who have to incorporate the inexperienced Shinso are actually at a disadvantage. Having five members will give you the edge numbers-wise, but it's also a handicap. The scenario this time around is 'Heroes trying to capture steam of villains." So think of the opposing team as villains! Capture four of your opponents to win."
"Villains do the team-up thing too, huh?" Said the Mushroom girl to Kirishima's copycat. "Nice n simple! Love it!"
Glasses babbled, "So we're heroes, but the opponent views us as villains!? Which role to we play up then!?"
"Let's go with heroes," said Ponytail.
"Each team's home base has a cutesy-cutesy lock-em-up prison. The instant someone's thrown in the cage, they count as captured."
"What high stakes!" Cried Glasses.
"The efficient strategy would be to disable the enemy near our own base," said the beast boy. "Easier said than done, probably."
"Capture four opponents to win? Is that what you meant by handicap?" I asked, thinking about Brainwash kid and what getting stuck with him for a teammate would mean.
"Yes," said Sensei. "Not only is Shinso inexperienced, by the five-person team he's on still loses if four members are caught."
"So that team's gotta fight while carrying deadweight? Crap," I cursed it.
"That's a nasty way to phrase it."
"He's not wrong," said Brainwash.
"This guy's light-years ahead in the maturity department!" Cried Kaminari.
Sensei and Vlad King both held up boxes labeled "Lots A" and "Lots B."
"Now, time to draw lots."
I had the fourth group. I was with Ears, Sugar Man, and Tape Arms, fighting some Class B losers I didn't know, including the lizard-suit girl. Deku was with Uraraka, Raccoon eyes and Ballhead, going last. IcyHot with Glasses, Multi-arms and Tail, 3rd. Ponytail and Tokoyami with Invisible Girl and Naval Laser second, then finally Kirishima with Frog Face, Kaminari and Animal kid would start.
"Now you, Shinso," said Vlad King. "You'll join one team from each class."
He was to be with 1A for the first round, and 1B for the fifth. So on Deku's team.
"I know you said all that stuff," said Kirishima. "But heck, I still wanna be friends! Good to have ya!"
"Tell us how your quirk works," said Frog Face.
"Wit those looks, you must be popular with the ladies. I can tell," said Kaminari.
"Thanks for having me," said Shinsou.
"I like you already! You seem ready to crush that rotten Class A into the dirt!" Yelled CopyCat
"Please ignore everything he says," said one other 1B boys on his team.
"Thanks for having me," said Shinsou.
"You'll be getting a rematch with him Deku," I overheard Uraraka tell him.
"Okay. With Shinsou all powered up, I'm excited to see how he fights," he replied, pulling out one of his damn notebooks.
"Teams start at their home bases. The time limit is 20 minutes per match. If time runes out, the team with more remaining members wins."
We gathered then in the Entertainment Zone, where we could watch the Field on the monitors. Raccoon Eyes had turned around and cried, "All Might and Midnight are here! Together! Is love in the air?"
"Cut that out," Midnight replied. "I don't mess with older men." They joined us and continued speaking in the back.
"Now," said Vlad King Sensei. "Match 1, START!"