We were facing off with Class 1B, to see which of our two groups would win.
Shinsou had begun explaining his quirk to the other members of Class A while we watched on the monitors.
"First I have to focus my attention on the target and think, 'This is who I'm going to brainwash. Once they respond, the brainwashing takes effect and they automatically follow my commands. A strong physical blow will break my hold, but even that depends on how I initially take control. Brainwashing multiple targets at once is probably impossible, though I haven't tried it. It'd split my focus too much."
"Still," said Tsu, putting her finger to her lips while Kaminari clapped his hands to his mouth, "that's a powerful skill to use when they don't know it's coming."
"But I can't command the target to speak," Shinsou continued, "or use their own brain in any way. For example, if I held up a sign with 'Tsuyu Asui' and said 'write this', the order would work. But I couldn't make them draw on their own knowledge to produce the name."
"It's too bad that most heroes' gimmicks become common knowledge," said Kaminari. "Basically, you want people ignoring you."
"I also have this," said Shinsou, pointing to the metal grille on his face. "Kinda like an extra set of vocal cords. My personal cords mask acts like a modulator. Since my quirk's fact doesn't work if I speak into a mic or megaphone - it distorts my voice too much - all these little plates shift around and resonate to modify how my actual voice sounds when it projects."
"Meaning?"
"It's a voice modifier, right?"
"Wow! That makes you super strong, man!"
"But this equipment is only as strong as -"
But he was interrupted by the START buzzer.
"Oh! It's starting!"
"We didn't come up with a plan so we just gotta wing it!"
They began making their way out through the battlefield. Tsu was using her camouflage technique to stick to the walls and look around while Koda did some scouting.
"Each team basically knows what the other's capable of," said Tsu. "So let's stick together and overwhelm them with our numbers."
"Shouldn't I put some distance between us so I can do my thing?" Asked Kaminari.
"Not too far, though," said Kirishima. "You don't wanna end up alone."
"True enough! Kinda scared of Shiozaki, given her range and track record with me," Kaminari sighed.
"We'll want to start by taking down whoever's got the nastiest quirk," said Shinsou, who seemed a bit irritated by poor Kaminari.
Kaminari, however, seemed oblivious to this. "You're getting the hang of this, Shinsou!"
"That much would be obvious to anyone," Shinsou grumped back.
"Which means," Tsu interrupted, "we ought to eliminate Ibara, while our foes are likely to go after Kaminari first. Or possibly Shinso, with his powerful brainwashing and relative lack of experience."
"Thanks for having my back, guys!" Kaminari cried.
"Wanna set this up so you two can go all out!" Kirishima assured him.
As he spoke, several pigeons came flying down from the sky and landed on Koda's arm; he conversed with them briefly, then said "Thank you."
"Found her already?" Asked Kirishima.
"Shiozaki is advancing on the left!" Said Koda. "She's alone. Coming toward us while using her vines to search."
"I'm not all that thrilled about going after a girl," said Kirishima."But -"
Bad idea, Kirishima. You don't wanna go underestimating an opponent for some dumb reason like that! He stopped at the sound of something falling over.
From seemingly nowhere, the beast boy from Class 1B came flying around the corner; he was in full beast mode now, and had seized Tsu in one hand and Kirishima in the other!"
"Huh? Kirishima!" Cried Kaminari. "Tsuyu!"
Tsu had been thrown into construction equipment. Tsu! Please be ok!
"We took Koda's search method into account!" Cried the beast boy, Jurota Shishida. "And we knew you'd be most wary of Shiozaki! She was the bait while I snuck up on you all! Giving you time to prepare would've allowed Kaminari to do what he's best at. So a brutal head-on attack was our best option! I've got a nose for these things!"
The boy with the hard air quirk popped up from Shishida's back.
"Training my quirk gave me a new move!" He cried. "It's soundproof solitary confinement!"
His breath and formed an air prison around Koda, like a glass cube.
"Now wreck them, Shishida!" He cried, though he had not - moved his lips?
"You got it!" Cried Shishida.
"And we're done here!" Panicked Kaminari. But Shishida had stopped moving.
Of course! Shinsou!
"How're you talking with my voice?" Asked Tsuburaba, the air breath boy.
"That mask!" Deku cried.
"Persona chords," replied Shinsou. He made a move to use his neck scarf - perhaps as a capture device, like Sensei's?
But -
"Too slow!" Cried Tsuburaba, catching Shinsou in an air prison.
"Wake up!" Cried Tsuburaba, slapping Shishida. "They didn't mention a voice modified though…Now, wreck em for real!"
Kaminari was gearing up for an attack, but Shishida was already preparing to hit him.
"Gah, can't have that!" Cried Tsuburaba, jumping off his back.
If he hits Kaminari he'll be electrocuted. But despite this, he hit him anyway, throwing him into construction equipment.
A tongue shot out and wrapped around Tsuburaba in midair while Shishida was shaking from Kaminari's electricity.
"Got you!" Cried Tsu.
"Toss him in the slammer, Tsuyu!" Cried Kaminari.
Shishida was chasing after Tsu; he was so much bigger than her it was kinda scary!
"Wha? But I shocked him!" Cried Kaminari.
Koda and Kirishima were preparing their attacks, Koda having broken out of his glass prison and Kirishima in unbreakable mode.
"Come, little ones, lend me your strength!" Koda called, summoning insects to his side.
"RED GAUNTLET!" Kirishima yelled.
Shishida, running at them, transformed back into human mode and flew between the two.
"And once more, beast mode!" He cried, and turned back, seizing them both. "You're the only one who can match my strength, Kirishima! How do you like this!?" He cried, and tossed Kirishima into the air. Towards Shiozaki. She looked up at him.
"A bereft little lamb from the heavens," she murmured, as her vine hair flew towards Kirishima, dragging him down. And shishida's hand had clamped around Koda's mouth, preventing him from speaking.
"Koda!" Cried Kaminari, tossing his electrocution disks towards Shishida, who dodged them - but turned around smelling Tsu, leaping from behind.
"I know you're there!" He cried, jumping back towards the building as Koda continued to struggle. "That's two of yours for only one of ours!" He shouted, running away through the construction equipment.
Vlad King Sensei was smiling quite smugly as he seized the commentator's microphone. "WE'VE GOT PRISONERS ALREADY! SHISHIDA AND TSUBURABA'S WILD PLOY PAID OFF QUICK!"
"My bad, Koda," Kirishima was murmuring to him.
"She got me good," Tsuburaba was looking like he was about to throw up in prison after being wrapped up in tongue.
"BOTH TEAMS HAVE THREE MEMBERS LEFT, BUT CLASS B HAS THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ADVANTAGE!" Vlad King gloated.
"During the sports festival, Bakugou cracked these things like it was nothing! That guy must've made em tougher!" Said Kaminari as Tsu broke Shinsou out of the glass prison with a pipe.
"Class B is strong," she murmured.
"WILL THESE FEARSOME MOVES FROM MY PRECIOUS STUDENTS FINALLY BE THE THING TO PUT CLASS A IN ITS PLACE?" Gloated Sensei, cheered on by Monoma.
"C"mon, you're totally biased!" Cried Mina, as she, Jirou and Aoyama held up protest signs.
"Shishida's strength is wild," said Sero.
"His sniffer's no joke, either," said Sato.
"What now, Tsu?" Asked Kaminari. "Feels like we're losing!"
"Learning the ins and outs of Shinso's quirk took a lot of time. We just weren't prepared for them."
"I should've been quicker with my binding attack," said Shinso, fiddling with his voice changer and looking repentant. "Sorry."
"No, I should apologize," said Tsu. "For putting you on the front line. My poor strategizing was to blame."
"We can seriously get hurt during full blown battle training," said Kaminari. "But those were some slick moves you made. You even managed to save me! Guess I'm trying to say good job. You said you're not here to make friends, but I'm a fan already. You're cut out to be a hero for sure."
Shinsou scratched the back of his head, looking a little embarrassed. "Whatever…so what's our plan now?"
"I have an idea," said Tsu. She pulled down her sleeve to reveal some kind of slime. "Kaminari, locate your target."
Meanwhile, Class B had reconvened on their side. Shiozaki looked quite upset.
"Me? The decoy for a sneak attack!? Ah, such a sinful deed deserves a good lashing."
"A lashing?" Cried Shishida. "But it worked out perfectly! Only three of em left, and if we capture two it's our win!"
"But losing Tsuburaba hurts us," said Ron, their remaining member.
"The secret's out about Shinso's voice modifier, so we just gotta snag him, and then we can totally ignore the real pain in the butt - Kaminari -" He stopped and sniffed the air.
"Hm? What's this?"
"How'd you even notice that, Tsu!? Amazing!" Kaminari was crying as their trio moved through the construction site.
"It's more amazing that you didn't notice it stick to him, Kaminari," said Asui.
What're they talking about? Oh, right. Kaminari's targets.
"We've got three Asuis heading for us!" Cried Shishida.
"I shall have to teach them that such schemes are steeped in sin," said Shiozaki, her hair starting to come to life.
"Is he losing it?" Asked Tokage. "The girl's not ectoplasm sensei. There's only one Asui!"
"Midoriya," Mineta whispered to him. "Do you think it's that?"
"Yup! That's it! She must've coated the other two with it, making their scents!"
"If even we almost forgot about it, there's no way Class B would expect it!"
Oh, a quirk of Asui's we are unfamiliar with? What a surprise!
"Given Shishida's heightened senses," said Asui. "We should assume that he's always got a lock on our positions."
"Now we exploit that!" Said Shinso.
"He'll be smelling three Tsuyus! AS long as we're out of sight, he won't know who's who!"
"Seems like he hasn't noticed my target yet either. Not seeing any weird moves!"
"The real issue is where the other two are," said Shinsou.
"Let's take Shishida first and worry about them later," said Kaminari. "HIs nose and strength are bad news for us. By the way, you doing okay Tsu? He walloped you good."
"I managed to take that hit. But I can't go toe-to-toe with him."
"I swear on the name of vine that the schemers will be judged!" Shiozaki was crying. "Their positions now, O Apocalypse beast!"
"At ten, twelve and two o'clock, fanning out. They're on the ground closing in on us fast! And could you not call me that? It's Gevaudan!"
"Closing in?" Said Rin. "They must have our locations. None of them have a quirk that can search, right? He, Apocabeast - Hey, something's stuck to you! Isn't that one of Kaminari's -"
"Captured one," said Shiozaki.
"We don't know exactly who's gonna show up!" Cried Rin. "Get back, Shishida! Just in case it's Kaminari -"
And indeed it was.
"Ding ding ding! Lemme tell you what you've won!" Cried Kaminari. "Since you're all together, you get a three-way zapping!"
Shiozaki threw out her hair to create a shield to deflect Kaminari's quirk.
"You sure about that?" Kaminari grinned. He was pointed now for the device on Shishida's leg. But Rin had shot out dragon scales to rip the device off of Shishida just in time.
"Huh?" Cried Kaminari.
"Close one!" Said Rin.
"More coming. Get those vines back up!"
"Very well. Their positions please, Shishi-"
She stopped.
"Hey!?" Cried Rin. "That wasn't me talking just now!"
Shisnou was actually hiding close by.
A few minutes before, we had seen them making this new plan.
"Yikes,e look! All the vines coming from Shishida's location! They must be together! "
"If we get caught, it's over. Do we retreat?" Asked Shinsou.
"Wait! I've got a nasty plan. How about I get myself caught on purpose!? They're wary of me, and I'm the last one they want, right? Plus during the Sports Festival she had to use a whole tone of vines to block my shocks. If I charge in their as a mark, she'll have fewer vines to search for you guys with. That's when you two sneak up from behind!"
"Shishida, you got a lock on them?" Cried Rin.
Shishida did not respond, simply pointing.
"Pointing!? Just tell me, man! You're getting too paranoid. IS one of them over there or what!? Hey, talk to me? Ayah! I know it's safer when we can see each other's lips, but -"
He threw scales towards Shiozaki, but Asui had gotten their first and swept Shiozaki off the ground with her tongue.
"There we go," she murmured. "She can't be hit my your scale bullets over there."
Rin was aiming his attacks at Asui now. "Shishida, Asui's hiding! Forget Shinso, give me Asui's position!"
He refused to speak -
And Tsu came in with a powerful kick from above, taking out Rin.
Shishida was now tearing up the construction site, headed towards Shinsou's hiding place. He had him cornered - but Shinsou at last threw out his capture scarf to pull down construction equipment on Shishida's head. Just like Sensei would.
But Shishida was still headed towards him. Rin was flying through the air towards him. "Down, Apocabeast!" He cried. But Shishida did not turn - at least, not in time. HE must have assumed once again that this was Shinsou. And Rin flew into his head, knocking him out.
"Pardon me," said Tsu.
"Man, Shinso's one tough customer. HE's definitely no handicap," said Mineta.
"Asui and Kaminari thought on their feet and made good use of Shinso's abilities!" Cried Midoriya. "Wow!"
"Lagging behind us?" She was saying to Shinso. "Not at all. You're quite powerful, Shinsou."
"No. I have a ways to go. Relying on others isn't good enough. I need to go pro on my strengths alone."
All of Class 1B was in prison. And so,
"GRR, MATCH 1 GOES TO CLASS A AND SHINSO," grumbled Vlad King.
"YAY!" we all cried, relieved that our side had totally won!
League of Villains Hideout
Tomura tipped up the severed hand that covered his face and smiled. "Is this the power you alluded to, Kurogiri?"
"Soooo, who's this?" Dabi asked. That's what we all wanted to know!
"You mean to say Kurogiri set out in search of this fellow?" Asked Compress.
"He must be the secret weapon Master left behind for me," Tomura explained.
As he spoke, the giant weirdo took off the radio which had hung from his neck. "I…DEVOTE MYSELF TO ALL FOR ONE. NOW, SUCCESSOR. PROVE THAT YOU ARE WORTHY."
We all looked at each other. Wah?
And suddenly the big old goon was tossing us around like helpless dolls!
"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 was now on the ground. Old geezer voice.
"You seem to be at a loss, Tomura Shigaraki."
"Doctor…" Tomura 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 Tomura as the big guy raised his 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 us tumbling again.
"I WANT TO ACCEPT HIM! BUT ALL FOR ONE, I - I JUST CAN'T!"
"Why not?" Asked Tomura.
"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 looked annoyed and blasted himself up super high into the air.
"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 doc's 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!" I cried. C'mon, man!
"Machia," came a radio voice - but this time it was old All for One's.
The big guy 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 like an over-sized cat. CREEPY!
"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 Tomura.
"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?" I asked. Not liking this doctor guy so far.
"I swear, if this old coot doesn't get to the point -urk - burp!" Gasped Jin.
"Really, Jin? Burping? Gross," I began, but I was interrupted by me burping too - wha?
From my 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 us as we all disappeared in the black sludge.
And deposited us at a large laboratory surrounded by test tubes - test tubes containing what looked like larger, even more powerful Noomu.
There was an old geezer in a chair with glasses shining in the light watching us, but we couldn't make out is face.
"Stinky," I coughed up the black sludge.
"This is…" Tomura looked around..
"Where're we now?" Asked Dabi, but then something in a nearby tube 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."
"Doctor," said Tomura. "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 on his coat, Tomura 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 Jin. 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. 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?"
"I don't remember much about my life before meeting my master and you," Tomura replied.
"Yeah, I'm aware," said the Doctor, his glasses lighting up. Tomura took one of the severed hands out of his pocket.
"And yet when I equip everyone all over me, my rage boils over. I can't help it. Ever since THAT day, I've done a lot of thinking. All I can really remember is my master holding me. Before then I'd been an empty shell - completely hollow."
Spinner's expression changed. Right, like he was saying before.
"It all came rushing back to me in fragments like movie snippets. An inexplicable frustration so intense it made me feel nauseous. So when I have the whole family on me I feel so sick that I want to vomit, but I also kinda feel at peace. It's weird! All I've got are these fragmented images, yet it's like there's a lump of lead deep down in my heart. Providing endless source of that rage that bursts out. It's like I'll never feel good again. Even if hero society comes crashing down, even if I rise to rule the underworld, that weight in my heart is never gonna go away. It's why I hate everything. Every living, breathing thing just rubs me the wrong way. So why not destroy it all? Why not destroy everything? I know you see it too. The beautiful horizon, just waiting for us. So lend me a hand, won't you doctor? Heaven and hell.- I'll show you! "
Huh. Well thats a little...weird?
"What a childish daydream! Saying all that with such a straight face was quite impressive! Very well, Tomura Shigaraki! I'll help you out, so show me you mean it! Prove to me that you can make your pipe dreams a reality!"
"So easygoing," said Compress.
"Tomura seems kind of disturbed," I said. Then a thought came. "Wait. You want to destroy even the things I love?" Like Izuku Chan and Ochako chan? No way!
"My allies are exceptions. You guys should get what you want in life."
"Ooh hoo!" I cried and pumped my fists in the air and jumped for joy! Yay for Tomura!
"Ha ha ha. You've passed with flying colors, Shigaraki!"
"You were testing me?"
"Sure. I wanted to see how much you've grown. But the plan was always to help you out, and these little ones are the first thing that'll do just that. AS well as some research I've put together, all to give you power. But I can't give you that second thing yet, because without a doubt you're all weak. You'll need to prove yourselves first. The big guy, simple as he is, is a different story. Unlike me he hasn't accepted you yet. That's right. Make Gigantomachia submit to you and everything Have will be yours to use as you see fit."
"Right. This sure has been one long tutorial," said Tomura.
Dabi, shrugging his shoulders, turned away. "Do what you want, Mr. Leader, but I ain't helping," said Dabi.
"You're just pouting cuz your fire didn't work," I pointed out, grinning.
"Shut up, you lunatic. I've found a good potential ally, so I'm putting my time toward that. I'm not about to go out in a blaze of glory beside our leader here. I'm looking out for myself, okay?"
"Bring this ally, then," said Tomura. "I'll be waiting."
"Perfect, Dabi! You can help me test out a high end Nomu!" Said the Doctor. "I know just the one! The perfect match for your…let's say aesthetics! You two will get along great!"
"Did you even pay attention?"
"Well?" Said Tomura. "GO on. Send us back. I'm feeling like I could take on the world now."
"Use these to keep in touch with me," said the Doctor,and an arm shot out from his chair while a tiny Nomu with like, child's legs hopped into his laugh. The arm handed us Communicators.
"Here we go, Johnny. Back to Gigantomachia they go!"
The black sludge sent us back to confront the big dude.
"Hey, it's the return of the future king!" Cried Tomura.
"A KING MUST INSPIRE DREAD. MUST BE ADMIRED. MUST BE STRONG."