05/08/2023
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The Emperor's Dragon
Dragon 2 - Establishment
Izuku looked around the bar Kurogiri had found for them to move into. He gave the misty man a rather ironic smile. It seemed familiar. "You like bars," he commented.
"They are useful spaces," the warp gate defended.
Izuku laughed. "It's fine," he dismissed the need to be defensive. "Is there enough space here?"
"It used to be a hostel, so there is room upstairs," Kurogiri told him, pointing to a very narrow set of stairs coming off from a corner. They disappeared into darkness.
"Then let's set up here," he decided.
They'd been living in a warehouse for the last few weeks. It was one where Yakuni appeared to be copying quirks. Warehouses had some advantages when you were hiding from the authorities. There were lots of them being one of the key advantages, but they had some really big disadvantages when people couldn't go anywhere. There was no privacy. Facilities were rudimentary and being large, open spaces, they were freezing in winter, and stiflingly hot in summer. The cold could be dealt with by extra blankets but they were not comfortable. This would be much better. Each of his companions, the villains who had been gathered to aid Tomura, could have their own space, but they would still be living together and hopefully learning to work together.
He was going to have to make sure that was something they practised.
But that was an issue for tomorrow.
First, they had to move in and then plan.
"I will need stock," Kurogiri announced, walking to the bar. There were a few, very dusty glasses, on the wall behind it but no alcohol.
"Hm?" Izuku asked.
Yellow eyes turned to him. "The main risk with the warehouse is people coming and going when people are not meant to be there. It is the same here. We will need customers to ensure that we blend," he explained.
Izuku nodded. That made sense. He'd never thought about it growing up but it made a lot of sense. "Will there be enough passing traffic?" he asked.
The misty man nodded. "This is not the best neighbourhood," he observed.
At that, Izuku snorted lightly. There were so many conclusions that could be drawn from that statement but the one that was important to him was firmly rooted in the socio-economic class of the neighbourhood. Upmarket neighbourhoods tended to get more hero activity. The central business district and shopping areas were awash with heroes, especially during times when the public was present. They had a reasonable amount of hero presence in the down times too. But neighbourhoods like this one didn't see as much activity. They might see new heroes or underground heroes. That could be their biggest threat actually. Underground heroes tended to actually want to be heroes and… It had been a threat all his life, Izuku realised. He'd have to deal with it when something materialised.
He looked around. "Would it damage anything if I blow the dust out?" he asked.
Kurogiri gave him an odd look before he understood what he was asking. He then moved behind the bar, took the non-broken glasses down, and secured them, before moving to a side door. From the angle, Izuku knew it went into an alleyway. It was probably the emergency fire exit. Then Kurogiri moved to stand next to him.
"It should be okay now," he indicated unnecessarily.
Izuku grinned and focused. Caeli Imperium wasn't actually a wind quirk but he could give that impression. It allowed him to manipulate nitrogen. He couldn't change the chemical composition, so he couldn't change the nitrogen in the air into ammonia or something like that. But he could make the nitrogen in the air act as a physical barrier. That was often good enough for his purposes. So now, he concentrated on brushing the nitrogen in the air over the bar surfaces, picking up the dust, and throwing it out the door. It took a few minutes but already the place looked cleaner, even if it now smelt extra musty.
"What's upstairs like?" Izuku asked.
"It's not too bad," Kurogiri replied. "It hasn't been abandoned long."
That was good. They could clear up the beds and use the rooms. He'd get in furniture if he needed but the budget was better without that need. It was a good thing he'd had a bit of experience living by himself to get used to budgeting.
"We should probably get some food before moving everyone over," Izuku mused.
Kurogiri nodded.
"I'll get it," Izuku said, "if you can move them over?" he added.
The misty man nodded again and closed the outside door. "There's a shop down the road," he said and there was something in his tone that took Izuku by surprise. He gave the warp gate a sharp look.
"Just make sure you don't offend them," Kurogiri advised.
For a moment Izuku didn't understand but then he nodded. The store was probably one of the hubs of the local community. For them to pass unnoticed they had to fit in with them. He reached up and roughed up his hair a little as he changed it to a black colour. It would be nice if the colour change quirk also included length and style but it was just colour. He let his eyes turn brown. "I'll be nice," he reassured the warp gate as he went to the front door and slipped out. They needed this base, so he wasn't going to make mistakes, and if they did it right…
Izuku let a small smile play around his features. If they did this right, they could come to be seen as the neighbourhood protectors. And that would be a great advantage. It wouldn't guarantee people didn't sell them out but it would help. He'd be nice now… he'd be really nice now.
-ted-
It was hard to be casual when one of the check-out ladies was staring at him. Izuku had gotten to the store, picked out a trolley, and then started getting the stuff they'd need when he noticed her staring. She was doing her job but she was staring at him intensely every time he came down to that end of the small shop. It was disconcerting. He didn't sense any hostility from her, just intense curiosity.
He shook his head and kept shopping. It was kind of relaxing. This was a problem that was easily solved. He went for cheaper things that he could get in bulk and was thankful that he had a strength quirk that would help him carry everything. Eventually though, it came time to check out and Izuku deliberately went to the cashier-lady who was staring at him.
Thankfully she didn't let the fact that she was staring impact her job but halfway through putting the groceries through, she smiled at him. "It is you!" she said softly.
Izuku braced. He wasn't used to being wanted but he knew when she said that she could be referring to anything. His picture had been well-circulated thanks to the Yaoyorozu's. He gave her a quizzical look.
She seemed to understand what it meant because she chuckled, and reached towards the fruit he'd put at the back of the conveyor belt. "I don't care about UA," she told him conversationally. "I just want to thank you," she said, holding up the bag of mandarins.
That jolted his memory and Izuku felt his eyes go wide. "You're okay!" He said with a smile as he remembered her. She was the lady he'd helped in the alley, though he'd done practically nothing. He'd simply directed her to a shelter and given her some mandarins.
She smiled back, looking far more peaceful than the last time he'd seen her. "I am," she confirmed.
"You remembered me from that?" Izuku asked. All he'd done was give her some fruit and the location of the shelter. That was hardly anything! He looked at her name tag. It said Kamoni.
Izuku got the impression she was biting her lip as she looked at him. Her eyes went watery. "It might have been nothing to you," she told him in a voice that trembled. "It was everything to me."
He wasn't sure what to say to that. Eventually he settled on something neutral. "So it worked out?"
Kamoni nodded, as she kept putting his groceries through. "Yes! Now I have this job and-" she smiled. It seemed satisfied. "Things are looking up."
"I'm glad to hear it," he replied.
"And for you?" Kamoni asked, giving him a look that said she wasn't asking about his legitimate interests. She was aware he was wanted and… He only hoped she didn't plan to sell him out. He should run. He should do something but Izuku realised he'd just have to wait to find out what happened.
Right now he had no idea who he could trust. He shook his head in a way that indicated his uncertainty.
Kamoni chuckled as she packed the last of the groceries into a bag. "Could go either way?" she interpreted his gesture.
"Could go either way," Izuku confirmed, tapping his phone to the pay point.
"Well, if you ever need something," she told him. "I may not be able to do much, but I owe you, Izuku, so if you need something, I will try."
He just stared at her for a few moments, trying to work out what she was saying before he nodded. He had no idea what he could possibly need from her but… it was better to have allies than enemies.
"I'll-" he started and then huffed. "I'll-" again Izuku stopped, trying to collect his thoughts. "I'm not sure what," he said finally, with a friendly nod. "But I will keep it in mind."
Kamoni grinned at him and nodded before she turned to the next customer. Izuku took that as his cue to leave, wheeling the trolley out and picking up all the bags before he shoved the trolley into the rack and headed back to the bar.
It had been an interesting encounter and while Kamoni said she'd help him because he'd helped her… If her view was even half-way indicative of the public's then-
He had more support than he thought, and that was useful.
-ted-
"Got food," Izuku announced as he came through the door and noticed the group was gathered in the bar. He held up the bags that without his strength quirks, even with all his training he'd have been struggling to carry.
"Izu!" Himiko cried happily and skipped over to him.
"You paid for it?" Whisper asked, almost too softly to be heard.
"I paid for it," he confirmed for her. "I don't want to antagonise our neighbours," he explained.
He was pleased to see nods from the others, and Whisper gave him a smile that indicated she'd been fishing for the answer. "Let me put this away and then I think it's time for a proper chat," he announced.
There was some curiosity about that but Izuku held firm as he moved to the kitchen. It wasn't a domestic kitchen but one attached to the bar, that would have served snacks and serviced the hostel rooms. The fridge was built in and was still in reasonable condition. Kurogiri had turned it on. He quickly unpacked the food and, after picking out some snacks, went back to the bar. Given that they'd just opened, there was no one there but his crew.
"You want to talk. You don't want to talk," Twice said.
"I want to talk," Izuku said seriously.
"What do you want to talk about?" Dabi asked.
"What we are going to do."
That got their attention. Izuku tossed the snacks onto the table as he took a seat.
"What are we going to do, Izu?" Himiko asked. She grabbed a packet of chips and sat down too.
The food gathered the others, and they picked out something to eat. Izuku sighed. "It's easy to say I want to change the world, or I want to get rid of heroes," Izuku began. "The question is where do you start?"
He let that hover in the air for a bit. Izuku looked around. They were watching him with varying degrees of interest. "Tomura was never meant to be alone," Izuku told them. "Or rather his part in the plan was to agitate society, while others took advantage of the discontent to change things."
"What do you mean, change things?" Mr Compress asked. He sounded intrigued.
"What's the easiest way of getting rid of heroes?" Izuku challenged.
"Killing them!" Himiko answered.
"That's one way, but it's kind of slow," Izuku answered, giving her a nod. "Any other ways?"
"It has always been one of the fundamental flaws of villainy," Mr Compress mused. "We tend to focus on one particular passion at a time."
"Hey!" Himiko objected. "I just want the blood."
"There does tend to be a few types of what society calls Villain," Izuku agreed. "There always has been, even when the word was simply Criminal." He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. It was just a ceiling with a fan to move the air. "There are those who steal because they have to steal to eat and there are those who steal because they find it fun, or profitable. There are those who are called villains because they have had no choice, those who live in their passions, and those who want to achieve something. The first aren't really villains. It is simply due to circumstance, but society doesn't care about that. The second-" he half shook his head, indicating that it was a complex situation. "They could probably live in a more accepting society and the third… Those are the rare type," Izuku concluded.
"You want to be that, you don't want to be that," Twice observed.
"I want to be that," Izuku confirmed. "Which means I need to be honest with you and realistic about my chances. And then, when realistic, work out ways of being better."
They thought about that for a while before Twice gave him a sharp look and pulled off his mask. "So what exactly do you want?" He asked pointedly.
Izuku nodded to acknowledge the question. "I want society to realise that heroes are not a benefit. That they are a self-perpetuating system that creates inequality, false prejudice, and class division."
"So write some papers, letters to the editor," Twice advised. Izuku grinned at the suggestion.
"I would if it changed anything. All that would do is gauge public opinion, which will be necessary," he allowed.
"Go into politics," Dabi suggested.
"I'm a little too young," Izuku countered. "Though I had thought of that," he told the group. "The Hero Public Safety Commission is, as the name suggests, a Commission. It was set up by an act of Parliament and is governed by that same act," he explained. "If you want to change what they are doing, you just have to get Parliament to agree to an amendment."
While the looks he got for that information weren't blank, they weren't entirely believing either.
"I never said that would be easy!" Izuku defended.
At that, Dabi snorted, as if he'd made a joke.
"I don't think any of us have the temperament required to go into politics," Izuku told them with a wry grin. "But it's something to consider. We haven't seen many retired heroes go into politics, but it used to be popular for retired sports stars," he explained.
"So you want a contact in parliament?" Mr Compress asked.
"I wouldn't say no," Izuku replied. "There are other ways of making society change," he continued. "Changing the Act is the legal way, and there are two more ways I can think of."
"What are they?" Whisper prompted when he fell silent.
"If you don't have someone in Parliament, you have to make society want the change so that Parliament does it anyway," Izuku said. "That's what Tomura had been doing. Showing that heroes were ineffectual, and once people start thinking that, they start looking for their own protection. That's good in one way, but bad in others. If the government is decent, before it gets too far, they will address the citizen's concerns."
"No government is that good," Twice told him.
"Some have been," Izuku replied, giving him an ironic smile and shrugging. "But I'm not sure ours is, which leaves us with the third way of making a change." Izuku looked around. Atsuhiro gave him a mocking smile and Himiko giggled. He thought they knew what he was talking about. Dabi frowned and Twice looked intrigued while Whisper was thinking.
"Hostile take over," Izuku announced, ignoring the drama inherent in the words.
"A coup?"
"A coup," Izuku agreed. "There's a couple of ways of doing them too. If Parliament won't change, and society supports you, then it should be pretty easy. It's what comes after that is difficult. And if parliament and society are against you then you just need more force. They've all been done in the past."
"Which way do you want, Izu?" Himiko asked.
"I'd prefer with the support of society," Izuku told them. "It's easier, and you have more tolerance when you make changes afterwards."
"But you'll use force if you have to?" Dabi suggested.
"I will," Izuku agreed. "But that could be akin to a civil war." Japan had fought several civil wars over its history and no one really wanted to repeat them. "Though maybe there will be opportunities to be more creative."
Twice frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I don't really want to instigate or fight a civil war," Izuku said. "It would leave Japan weakened, and there are those who'd take advantage of that. But maybe we could create a separate society?" He suggested with a shrug but even as he said it he realised something.
"What is it?" Himiko asked, seeing his change in expression.
"I might be thinking about this in the wrong way," Izuku said slowly. "While society has some issues, they are perpetuated by heroes."
"Yes, we know that. Heroes are the problem!" Himiko told him.
"Yes, they are a problem but if we try to attack all of society, then all of society will be against us," Izuku said. "We don't want that," he said with a self-deprecating chuckle. "The fastest way to get the public offside is to look like you are going to take away their comfortable life. If that was the threat, then everyone would be against us. I don't want that. What I want, what I think we all really want is heroes gone, and with them, the support structure."
"You want to kill the support industry?" Mr Compress asked.
"No. I want the Commission," Izuku corrected. "I don't have a problem with Social Services, the Tax Commission, Finance, Foreign Affairs, and all those," he explained, listing off parts of the government. "It's really only the Hero Public Safety Commission which is the issue, and Heroes."
"So?"
"That means we must ensure we are targeted in what we do. We have to make sure the public knows we aren't against them, we are against those who claim to have their best interests at heart, those who claim to be for their safety, but who really don't care, so long as they get their action shot or their good propaganda. We have to show that Heroes and the Commission aren't needed, are corrupt, obsolete… whatever works!" He finished with a grin.
The group was silent again, understanding what he was saying.
Finally, Dabi sighed heavily. "Well, that's going to be the trick then, right? Making sure we pick our targets," he elaborated.
"Yeah," Izuku agreed with a huff. "So, anyone know how to do that?"
He looked around. There was silence once again.
This was going to be hard.
ted-
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-ted-
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