Three weeks had passed since that night, nicknamed 'The Surveillance Gone Wrong', but we'd survived. We'd technically even accomplished our mission, abducting Ms. Gaol who I felt even less regret for considering her trigger-happy methods.

Zozo had been missing for several days before she'd returned, now a member of the Quirked elite, and she'd taken to practicing her new power at every opportunity.

Flashback

"So, you got a handle on your new Quirk yet?" I teased, Zozo hadn't stopped using it since I'd seen her again.

"I call it Forge. So far as I've been able to tell it lets me consume various metals and store them inside me. Later, I can express them and form them into whatever shape I want." Zee explained, a glob of shimmering metal slag running down her arm before forming a knife in her hand which she flipped in the air before swallowing like a trained sword swallower.

"Express?" I asked, the sound of the word unsettling me.

"Yeah, I express the metal through lots of different methods, although the most common is through my mouth." She said, demonstrating as the same metallic slag leaked out between her teeth, like glittery drool. "I can also push it out of my tear ducts, and through my pores although they're slower than my mouth. It's probably similar to an outflow pipe on a water tank, the larger the hole, the faster and more I can express. The Doctor said Ms. Gaol even had lifted her fingernails out of the bed, so she could express it straight into her hands." Zozo lectured, the silvery metal forming a fork this time as she rolled it through her fingers before readding it to her store.

"There also the venting, so I need to be careful about that as well." Zozo added, turning to the side as a small gout of flame puffed out.

"Venting?" I inquired, testing the term in my mouth.

"Yeah, apparently a byproduct of Ms., I mean, my Quirk is that melting all the metals down and reshaping them causing a buildup of heat in my body that I have to vent every so often." Zozo said, the silvery metal curling down her arm before turning into a small engraved ring, which she handed to me.

"Here, I want you to have it, as a present for everything you've done for me." She said as I just looked at the ring, considering handing it back before slipping it on to my right index finger, replacing my glove moments later, the weight settling on to my hand.

That was another thing that had changed with my friend, well really two things, both her appearance and personality had shifted. Her hair a sheen to it, as well as a color palette switch. Where it was once a scarlet, crimsonish color, now it was more copper, along with the same sheen giving her a metallic look to her hair. The wild spikes sticking out only added to her forged look. On top of that, she was more effusive, smiling and making jokes on occasion, it reminded me of the young girl she was when I'd met her, and despite my opinions at the time, I hoped she'd stay that way now.

"How often do you need to vent, can you do it on command or is it more like heartburn, slight pun intended?" I asked, chuckling at Zozo's deadpan look before a small pole appeared in her grasp as she brought it down on my head in a scolding tap.

"It depends on what I'm working with really. Metals with higher melting points cause it to buildup quicker, as well as shaping larger amounts. My activity levels probably effect it too, but that's just a theory." She said, shrugging her shoulders.

Flashback End

Rolling my shoulder, I could still feel the twinges of my injuries, but they were manageable for the next step of our plan.

"Okay, our plans got a bit screwed up, but now that we're all set, I think it's time to move to Phase 2. We're on a bit more of a time crunch considering how the police are no doubt already hunting for whoever attacked and killed Ms. Gaol, even though ironically it wasn't us." I said, my mind going to the fourth person that night in the room.

"On that note, have we found out anything about the mystery assailant that night?" I asked aloud as the staticky television in the corner caught my attention.

"Nothing concrete yet young Tomura." Kurogiri answered as I looked at the television; if he had something to add, I wanted to hear it, but he stayed silent, perhaps judging me, maybe he was asleep and just left the line open, either way, he wasn't helping me so I went back to my original point.

"Well then, we'll worry about her another day, tonight we have a target. I'd originally planned for a bank heist, it seemed simpler and rewarded us with paper money straight away, the problem is apparently banks don't have a lot of liquid cash, the normal being around-" I had to pause, still not used to the idea of yen notes and not dollar bills, "well, not a whole lot for what we need. The smarter choice is gold. On average we can have a much faster and larger turnover rate with gold exchange, the problem with stealing gold is that every single gold bar is stamped by the government at the Federal Reserve Bank of Japan, and carrying even 100 bars of gold is back breaking for someone with a strength Quirk but..." I trailed off, eager to get my two cohorts involved in the coming heist.

"But, with my new powers, all I need to do is eat the gold and I can spit it back out, sans seal!" Zozo said happily, I promise I saw her eyes glow yellow for a moment.

"And with my Warpgates, weight is irrelevent, we can transport it to a safe location." Kuro's voice never changed but I could tell by the way he was leaning in, he was excited just as much as me and Zee.

"So, it's decided, let's rob the Bank of Japan!" I said, only for my two co-conspirators to freeze, staring at me in shock.

"What?" I said, not seeing the problem.

"You want to rob the Bank of Japan, located in Nihonbashi, Chuo, downtown Tokyo, not even a mile away from the headquarters of All Might's agency?" Zee asked, rhetorically no doubt.

"We wouldn't make it five feet if All might showed up." Kurogiri said, his tone actually dejected.

"Yeah, the Bank of Japan accounts for over 85 % of all the gold in Japan, going straight for it is like challenging the final boss without finishing the tutorial first!" Zee said, her head in her hands, eyes wide in fear at the seemingly insurmountable challenge before us.

"Then it is a good thing he will be indisposed." I heard the choppy connection say as all three of us turned to look at the screen.

"Sensei, are you saying?" I asked tentatively, already fearing what I'd just unleashed.

"No, he's not." I heard the Doctor interject.

"Hmm, I'm saying I've already taken care of All Might, your path forward is open young Shigaraki." I heard All-for-One say, forcing myself to let the anxiety drain away. Any thought I might have had as to stopping the fight that robbed Sensei of his face and All Might of his stomach were now irrelevent, it had already happened, there was nothing I could do to change that.

"Hmm, I hadn't anticipated this outcome, Sensei." I wondered aloud as a heard a wry chuckle on the other end, and what almost sounded like a wet cough.

"Did you think me so weak as to be incapable of handling that fool?" He said, a tone of curious dissapointment audible.

"Less so that than the fact that from the way you talk about All Might, I assumed only one of you would walk away from such a clash. You don't seem like the type to leave him alive simply to wallow in the knowledge of his defeat, and he would most likely take you in had he defeated you. Given that no news about the sudden death of All Might have reached our end, and how you're speaking to us with the Doctor by your side, I can only guess that you managed to cripple each other, and the Doctor retrieved you." I said, applying what I knew to be truth given my multi-dimensional source.

A silence hung in the air as the three of us stared at the television screen, awaiting an answer.

"You are surprisingly observant and speculative..." All-for-One finally said, and I could feel the weight behind the words.

"I once read that the biggest mistake you can make in a fight is underestimating your opponent. I decided it might be prudent to cultivate such an image that was contrary to myself for such an occasion. Maybe in time I will change and develop one that I find easier to maintain like that a spoiled, petulant child or a strict commander." I replied, hoping the falsified answer would suffice since it was at least partial rooted in truth.

"Is that how you see me, as your enemy?" The tone was even heavier, and I found myself trying to swallow my saliva just to deal with the oppresive tightness on my throat.

"I suppose it could be conceivable in a manner that we are more competitors or rivals in that I wish to leave my own legacy separate from yours, and as such also wish to overshadow your legacy with my own. But realistically, my allies should be aware that I am perfectly capable of backing up such grandiose desires... given time of course, Sensei." I said, finding myself unable to stop speaking once I'd started, fear that they may be my final plea before the executioner taking hold on me.

And on that note, I felt the clenching air dissipate, and rather than draw further ire on myself, I turned back to my partners in crime.

"If All Might is currently hospitalized, then we have a rare opportunity to pull this off, but at the cost that we'll need to act as quickly as possible. If Sensei has already recovered enough to carry on a conversation, then we can assume All Might is similarly recovered. I hate to keep doing this, but we have to move out and plan on the fly." I said firmly, my two fellow villains nodding along.

"I can pull up the exact coordinates online, so Kuro should be able to warp us inside and out, cutting down on our escape time, giving us more time to grab the loot." I started, only for Kuro to shake his head in the negative.

"I'm afraid that will be impossible, young Tomura. While teleportation Quirks such as mine are rare, the government has already learned their lesson on that front." Kuro shot my initial idea down, panic gripping my heart as I scrambled to come up with a new plan quickly, the knowledge that All Might was out of the picture lit a fire under me to get this done today.

"What do you mean?" I asked, my mind still racing as I tried to create a new chance while we talked. I'd been of the opinion that Kuro's Warpgate Quirk was insanely broken, but maybe it had counters all along that the anime hadn't gotten into. I was happy to learn some lore about the world I was occupying.

"Around forty years ago, an assassin with a teleportation Quirk appeared suddenly inside the Taiwanese palace and killed the royal family. He managed to bypass all the security measure with his simple Quirk, and went uncaught for several years, wherein he continued to strike at anyone of import in the country. Technology was focused in a manner unlike we've ever seen since before the Quirked era, all because of one man. Finally, it was discovered that a certain kind of stone was capable of prevent anyone from warping into or out of the area, but it was too late, the assassin had already accomplished his goal or so people believed. The country of Taiwan ceased to exist independently, swallowed up by a growing China." Kurogiri lectured as I listened, questions forming in my head.

"Was he one of yours, Sensei?" I asked, but he didn't answer, apparently done with our conversation.

"And they rebuilt the Bank of Japan out of this 'stone'?" I inquired further.

"Not quite, think on a larger scale. They rebuilt the entire district, preventing anyone from even warping into the area. It will severely hinder any attempts from me aiding in such a manner." Kuro added.

"Right, how far does it extend, could we base-jump in, although it would still be a mess escaping, I noticed that Nihonbashi is a harbor district, so maybe we could escape into the ocean and hope to get out of range as quickly as possible. Am I also safe to assume that they've given the same treatment to any place of import like UA and Tartarus?" I wondered aloud as Zozo watched silently, waiting in case I needed to reference her knowledge base, which was unfortunately smaller than either mine or Kuro's given the fact that she was a genuine homeless kid.

"Not quite. The process is not only expensive given how coveted the stone is, but it's forbidden to use it except by government allowance, so UA is fair game, but Tartarus is similarly guarded." Kuro exclaimed as I ran a gloved hand through my hair, ruffling it, I would have to think of cutting it soon, it was starting to get in my eyes.

"But the area of effect, would base-jumping be accessible? While people are all too willing to build walls and moats and traps covering their floors, rarely do they think to watch for attacks from above!" I said a feeling of determination filling me.

"That should work, but it will have to be fairly high up, at my current skill level it would have to be around a kilometer away from any of the stone." Kuro provided as I thought.

"Okay, and if we don't want to be turned into paste stains on their nice 'stone' floors, we'll either need to find a way to slow ourselves down or aim for the water and hope for the best. Also, I'll have to figure out some coordinates for you Kuro, or this is all a moot point. Think you can build something out of pure metal to helps us out Zee?" I asked the resident copperhead.

"With a little time to think about it, I should be able to come up with something." She answered affirmatively as I clapped my hands together, rubbing them in anticipation.

"This should work, at least for a starting point, I'll try to figure something better out once we have feet on the ground." I said, determination pushing me forwards.

Seven Hours Later

I stumbled out of Kurogiri's Warpgate, only holding my stomach contents back because I'd lost them elsewhere as Zee followed closely behind, her face a disturbing shade of purple whether from the fight or expelling so much metal, I couldn't ask.

"We never speak of this again, agreed?" I mumbled.

"Agreed." My two friends answered as I fell into one of the booths with a groan.

A/N: Thanks for your support guys.

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