Izuku POV
I watch as Kurogiri applies burn salve Eva. She looks fine, all things considered. There's a lot of bruising but her Resilience will stop anything from becoming infected. It's an incredible quirk, the single most versatile defensive quirk I know of.
I move over and sit by her side.
"How are you feeling?"
She has a big smile on her face. I've never seen her express so much emotion.
"The fight was… fun! I am pleased. Very pleased. I have been waiting far too long to be able to push myself to my limits. I hope to do so again. We should provoke other powerful opponents."
My eye twitches involuntarily. How do I explain to her my concern with that statement?
"Eva, I'm not sure if that is a good idea. I do not think it is worth risking your life over this-"
She cuts me off immediately.
"Resilience. Super Enhancer. Energy Stockpile. Rapid improvement. Exponential Growth. Limit breaker. My quirks are designed to grow in response to stimulus. Most opponents I face lack the strength to force me to exert myself. I need to face opponents as strong or stronger than me if I am to fight One for All. This is what I was designed to do."
I close my eyes and exhale.
"... I just don't want to see you get hurt."
Kurogiri finishes applying bandages over her knuckles. She raises her hands and flexes her fingers.
"Then I will become powerful enough that no one can harm me. I already feel stronger. After I rest tonight I expect to experience significant quirk hypertrophy. This is exactly what I need to reach new heights."
She's right, and I know it. Eva's quirks were specifically chosen to mimic One for All. I am well aware that she is tough, both physically and psychologically, so why does it upset me so much to see her get hurt? I can't explain it.
"... I'm afraid, Eva. We've gained a lot of attention. We're not flying under the radar anymore. I'm willing to bet that you'll be officially rated as an S-class villain by tomorrow."
Her eyes narrow.
"S-class is an inadequate ranking for a villain of my stature. I will not be satisfied until I become the first SSSSS-class villain."
She says it with a completely straight face.
Mirio POV
I unload the last crate with a huff.
"Thank you Lemillion, these would have taken hours to unload with just two forklifts!"
I give a big thumbs up to the workers next to me.
"Ah no problem, all in a day's work for a Hero!"
I activate One for All and zip race through the compound. The tent city has been growing, now housing over 50,000 displaced civilians. Thankfully the battle between Endeavour and Apollyon was mainly fought in the central business district of the city. If the battle ended up in the suburbs the housing situation could have been far worse.
The only saving grace is that casualties from the conflict are relatively low due to the evacuation procedures done in preparation for the fight. Unfortunately, the economic damage will still be enough to push the city into a recession. Businesses are fleeing left and right, the lost commerce forcing many to declare bankruptcy.
It's a disaster in every sense of the word. The worst part is that almost all of the destruction was dealt by Endeavour and his careless attacks. The media has been trying to pin all of the destruction on Apollyon, but seeing the molten ruins of the city makes it very clear who did the most damage. The local population is rapidly losing faith in Heroes.
Nejire flies in overhead.
"Lemillion, there's a villain attack at Camp Delta! I need to keep working here, go deal with it!*
I crouch to the ground, activate One for All, and leap.
The air shrieks as I cross almost a kilometre in a single bound. I reach Camp Delta in less than a minute. I immediately spot the conflict. Two Heroes are facing a villain outside of the tent city.
I flick my wrists and angle myself to land in front of the villain. I impact the ground in a perfect three-point landing.
"POWER!"
The villain crumples like a can. He buckles onto the pavement groaning, grasping at his stomach. I stand and strike a quick pose.
"Never fear, Lemillion is here!"
The crowd cheers. The villain makes to climb to his feet-
But is promptly restrained by a dozen red feathers. I look up to spot Hawks overhead. He floats down to the ground and lands beside me.
"Hey there, Lemillion is it? Nice to meet ya."
I shake his hand. He's a lot smaller than I expected.
"Hawks, I didn't realise that you're out here. Are you helping out with the relief efforts?"
His feathers hoist the villain and haul him off to the waiting arms of the nearby police force. Hawks pushes his hands into his pockets and leans back on the balls of his feet, a mischievous expression on his face.
"I'm mainly doing some investigative work. But I help out where I can. How's it been for you?"
Exhausting. Stressful.
"Good, good. Helping with the relief efforts is different from the usual training I get at UA. It's good work experience at least."
He laughs softly. It's a good laugh, but a closer look reveals that the skin around his eyes does not wrinkle. He's a fantastic actor.
"Ah, you're still with Nighteye, right?"
Why does he know about that? As far as he is concerned I'm a random UA student. Does he keep tabs on everyone?
"Of course. Sir intends to mentor me until I'm finished with UA. I'll probably start my own agency after that."
He nods along. His eyes aren't focused on me. Are we being watched? I try to subtly look around but I can't see anyone. We're not being watched, so is he being monitored?
The Hero suddenly clicks his tongue.
"Ah, actually I have something for you. I'm sure you'll like it. You seem like the studious type."
He shoves a book in my hand using a few of his feathers.
"I've been reading this book, it's pretty interesting. I've highlighted a few things for you, make sure you read everything. I think you and Sir Nighteye will understand it."
He takes flight without a further word. I flip the book around in my hand. "Meta Liberation War" published by "Chitose Kizuki". What is this?
A relief worker runs over to me before I can ponder the gift any further.
"Lemillion, one of the trucks broke down and we can't get it to start! Do you think you could lift it? We need to move it out of the way!"
I'll think about the book later. Helping the displaced civilians is a higher priority than anything else.
Mirio POV, eight hours later
The camp is dark and gloomy, but better accommodations can't be made right now. Every hotel or free room in the city is currently housing displaced civilians. The last thing the Japanese government wants is for the homeless epidemic to grow any larger than it already is. Us Heroes can make do living like everyone else.
I lean back in my chair. I'm only a few chapters into this "Meta Liberation War" but I've already made my judgment.
It's nothing more than pseudointellectual quirk supremacist garbage. Social restructuring? Tyranny of mediocrity? Lifting all restrictions on quirk use? Fighting against the "totalitarian state" as "freedom fighters"?
The book constantly references societal and political issues and then suggests seemingly the most extreme possible solutions to them. Describing it as reductionist would be an understatement. There's no room for nuance, no room for negotiation, only for a violent "liberation of Meta abilities" by destroying the "ruling party". It's the ideological equivalent of a child throwing a tantrum because they're not allowed to bully smaller children.
The ideals in the book are oddly nondescript at times, somehow managing to support anarchy and fascism, socialism and capitalism, libertarianism and mutualism; all without contradicting itself. The vague wording has been carefully crafted to be read as whatever you want to hear, allowing you to simply ignore anything that goes against what you believe in.
The dream of this 'Destro' is nothing more than a kratocracy. The book appeals to the exact kind of people who think they would be in charge of their new society, but in actuality would be the bootlickers at the bottom of the food chain.
Is this truly what Hawks believes in? If that's the case, I've lost all respect for the man. These beliefs are nothing that any self respecting Hero should stand for.
My first instinct is to close the book and forget about its existence. But, Hawks did say that he highlighted something in it for me. It would be foolish not to investigate his claims. I grab the book and begin flipping through the pages until I spot a word highlighted in red.
"nine"
Why would Hawks highlight that word in particular? It's just a number, it doesn't mean anything. I spot another word on the page that has been highlighted.
"has"
I keep flipping through the book, finding more words as I go.
"taken over"
"the"
"Meta"
"liberation"
I flip one more page.
"army"
I skim through the rest of the book but find no more highlighted words.
"Nine has taken over the Meta Liberation Army."
A secret message? I know who Nine is. Everyone knows who he is. He's the only SS ranked villain in Japan. But he hasn't been seen since he attacked Fukuoka city more than a year ago. Has he become some sort of revolutionary fighter in that time?
The novel does not reference any existing movement but instead declares that one should be formed. Has such a group been created behind the scenes? An underground organisation dedicated to the ideology of this book? If such a thing exists…
I need to tell Sir. Nine is powerful. Enough so that these "Meta Liberation" fanatics may be willing to try something dangerous. I grab my phone and send a quick message to Sir.
'Sir, does the phrase "Nine has taken over the Meta Liberation Army" mean anything to you?'
My phone rings. Why is Sir calling me rather than simply responding to my message? I place my phone to my ear and hit answer.
"Sir-"
He cuts me off in a hurried voice.
"Mirio. Where did you hear such a thing?"
I thumb at the book in front of me. After having read it, the blood-red cover feels almost… sinister.
"Hawks handed me a book titled 'Meta Liberation War'. He said that he highlighted some things in it for me and urged me to read it. The words he highlighted formed that message, but I'm not sure what he was trying to communicate. Is he implying that this 'Meta Liberation' ideology is an active movement in Japan? Has Nine taken control of it?"
Sir is silent for several seconds.
"Mirio, come back to UA. We need to talk to Nedzu."
Izuku POV, two days later
I hear a knock on my door.
"Come in."
Hitoshi walks over and drops a stack of paper on my solid quartz desk.
"Izuku, remember how we were talking about recruiting? Looks like we've had a few applications. Eva's little stunt has gotten a lot of people wanting to join The Elite. Giran was all too happy when I offered a recruitment commission."
I grab the stack of paper and begin skimming through. Names. Many, many names.
"Well, that is… far more attention than I was expecting. As my faithful intelligence officer, I expect that you will be capable of handling the recruitment process?"
He rolls his eyes.
"I'll start narrowing the list down. I'll perform some interviews with the candidates and make sure that they understand what they're signing up for. I'll use Brainwash to determine their loyalty, as well as get all the information about them that I can."
I shake my head immediately.
"No, do not use Brainwash for anything past determining loyalties. Digging into their personal lives and secrets would be a major violation of trust and we do not want to do that to a future ally."
He doesn't seem to like the idea but eventually nods.
"Alright, that makes sense. I'll present you with a list by the end of the week. With any luck, we'll have a few new members."
Izuku POV, one week later
Hitoshi's office is rather interesting. A little chaotic for my taste, and far too many rifles. The server rack humming along in the corner is also mildly distracting.
Hitoshi cracks his knuckles and turns on the wall display.
"Alright, we had a lot of applications, but most of them were complete garbage. We even had some middle schooler with a mustard quirk apply."
"The condiment?"
"The gas."
Damn.
"I managed to narrow us down to three people, I'll start us off with Dabi."
He clicks the remote. The slide changes to a photo of the man, along with a police report and some analysis from Hitoshi.
"Dabi's quirk is Cremation, an extremely potent fire quirk, comparable only to Endeavour. He has several years of experience as a villain and is very much a powerhouse ranged fighter. His main weakness seems to be that his quirk is so powerful that his body can't keep up, resulting in the scarred appearance you can see."
A problem that I can easily solve with All for One. Very much something worth keeping in mind if he becomes a permanent member of the team. I've been keeping Emerald Flame in my pocket for almost a decade now, not using such a powerful quirk would be a tragic waste.
I clear my throat.
"What is he like in terms of personality?"
Hitoshi flicks a slide over to a photo of Dabi in the interview room. He has his arms behind his head and has his chair kicked up on two legs. He seems very nonchalant.
"Brusque, blunt, but not excessively abrasive. Mild sociopathic tendencies, but by no means psychopathic. He's no worse than Aki. I got along well with him."
About the best you can expect for a villain. I mull the thought over for a moment before giving my verdict.
"If that's all, then I'm happy to have him on the team."
Hitoshi marks down his name on his clipboard.
"Moving onto the second person, Himiko Toga."
The slide changes to a photo of an older teen in a high school uniform. The police report is significantly shorter than Dabi's, but Hitoshi's analysis is far longer.
"Her quirk is called Transform, allowing her to shapeshift into the body of anyone she drinks the blood of. She's a natural-born infiltrator and I was shocked at her raw talent for acting and mimicry. I have zero doubt that she can work her way into even the most carefully guarded facilities. She's also one hell of a knife fighter."
Hitoshi seems enthusiastic. I imagine he's excited to get someone with a more subtle fighting style on the team. Having an infiltrator would be perfect for his operations.
"What is she like in terms of personality?"
Hitoshi changes the slide to a photo of her biting into a blood bag, her pupils dilated to the max.
"Well, that is where the problem lies. Her quirk makes her partially hematophagous and gives her a strong affinity for blood. When I first met her she was in a semi-delirious state as she had not fed on blood in more than a week. She was behaving irrationally and frankly psychopathic."
"What happened after she was fed?"
"After feeding her a blood bag she immediately calmed down. She has a bubbly and eccentric personality, but when she's starving for blood she becomes almost feral. As long as we can keep her fed consistently she should be perfectly safe and I'm willing to vouch for her."
So, a vampire on the team? Should be manageable. Kurogiri always keeps the infirmary stocked so I doubt feeding should be an issue.
"As long as she can keep it under control I am happy to have her."
Hitoshi notes down her name. After that, he flicks over to a new slide that displays a masked man in a tophat. It's admittedly a rather stylish fit. The feather is a nice touch.
"And our final candidate, Mr Compress. He possesses a touch-activated quirk that upon activation can "compress" anything in a spherical area into a small marble-like object that only weighs a few grams. He can then release said object or person whenever he wishes, causing the volume to suddenly expand back to full size and mass."
I cannot even begin to imagine the mechanics behind such a quirk. Are the atoms themselves somehow shrunk? Subatomic particles such as protons, neutrons, and electrons are fundamental constants of the universe, so they surely cannot be altered.
The only logical explanation is that the quirk somehow forces the atoms closer together, perhaps in a manner similar to the formation of neutronium. But if this is the case, how does the quirk prevent the compressed volume from becoming distorted during this process? How does it then safely expand the volume afterward without the rapid expansion tearing everything apart?
And above all else, why would the mass of the shrunk objects change? Is controlling mass an unrelated property of the quirk that appears to work in tandem with the shrinking?
I have so many questions.
"Fascinating. Does the effect end of he becomes unconscious? How much control does he have over his quirk?"
"No, the effect does not end when he goes to sleep or is incapacitated. In terms of control, he was able to remove individual cutouts from the table and then put them back in place seamlessly. He was able to extract individual words from a sheet of paper when I presented it to him. He's a master thief that uses his quirk to supplement his already extraordinary skills. He even claims to be able to remove individual body parts from living beings."
A spectacular quirk with endless versatility. Perfect.
"Personality?"
Hitoshi grins. He changes the slide to a photo of the man performing a magic trick with a deck of playing cards.
"Eccentric, very much a trickster. He enjoys playing up his magician theme. He may be a little offbeat, but he's completely professional and shows no signs of sociopathic behaviours. I enjoyed talking to him and I think he'll fit in perfectly."
I can't see any problems. Frankly, I would be willing to overlook an awful lot to get someone with a quirk like that on the team. I can't wait to see what he can do.
"Then it's settled. I'll be looking forward to meeting our new members."
? pov, ? ago
Consciousness floods my mind.
Where am I? What happened? Why… can't I remember? Who… am I?
My eyes open.
A white room. A laboratory. I'm floating in a vast glass tube, purple fluid surrounding me. I can see dozens of other tubes throughout the room, horribly mutated occupants in each one. What is this place?
A man in a bird mask stands before me. I do not recognise him-
Pain builds behind my eyes as information flows into my consciousness. My quirks, my body. My mission. What I was created to do. My Master stands before me-
No.
No.
NO.
Not my master. I have no master. I am Stain. My crusade is righteous. Nothing can stand between me and my goal. I WILL NOT ALLOW IT.
"Oh?"
I CANNOT BE CONTROLLED. MY RIGHTEOUS CRUSADE WILL NOT BE INTERRUPTED. I REFUSE TO BE A SLAVE. I AM STAIN. THE FALSE HEROES OF THIS WORLD WILL DROWN IN THEIR OWN BLOOD. I CANNOT BE CONTROLLED. NOTHING WILL GET BETWEEN ME AND MY GOAL.
I flex the muscles in all four of my arms and lock my eyes with the man in the bird mask. He takes a step closer to the glass.
"Fascinating. Even after the Nomuification process, you still retain your mind. Your willpower is unlike anything I've ever witnessed."
I grit my teeth and try to force my quirks to activate. My muscles become so tense I can audibly hear my bones creak.
"You won't be able to use them yet. The quirk suppressants in your bloodstream will stop you from-"
Blades of bone push out from beyond my skin and scrape against the tank. The man before me gasps in excitement. He taps away at his tablet for a moment and I feel my body begin to relax involuntarily.
"Incredible, incredible! This shouldn't be possible! No one can resist the effects of the brainwashing process, let alone 2000mg of quirk suppressants! How are you doing this? Is your conviction truly this strong?"
I slam my fists against the glass of the tank. My muscles feel sluggish. Weak. I should be stronger. I know I can be stronger. This body was created to do great things. A few inches of plexiglass should not be enough to contain me.
"Yes, you will be feeling the sedatives now. The additional quirk suppressants should also be kicking in. We're lucky you were already partially sedated or you would have escaped just now. That wouldn't be good now, would it? I would have to kill you and that would be such a waste of five perfectly good quirks."
I rake serrated claws of bone against the glass. I open my mouth and try to roar, but the purple fluid does not allow any sound to be formed. The man looks at me curiously.
"The process failed. Normally, I would recycle you for parts. But, I think I have a better use for you."
He walks closer to the glass. I glare into his eyes. If only I had control of my body. I could kill him in an instant. Rip his eyes from his skull and grind his bones into dust. Tear him limb from limb and WRING THE BLOOD FROM HIS BROKEN BODY.
"You're the Hero Killer, right? Well, I'm certainly fine with more dead Heroes. I'll drop you off somewhere rural, I'm sure you can figure out the rest. I have more important creations to attend to."
Consciousness slips from my body.
