Chapter 55: Forest Raid Part 2

Kenji Hikiishi and Shuichi Iguchi became good friends during their short time in the League. Both were shunned by society, albeit for different reasons. The two of them were aiming to deconstruct it and then rebuild it according to their views. Since heroes are such an integral part of status quo, hitting them would obviously bring the world one step closer to a collapse. Spinner was silently happy that the mission didn't require killing students, as they were simply victims of indoctrination in his mind. Perhaps Ragdoll and Founder harbored enough resentment towards the world that they could be convinced…

Gecko's train of thought was stopped when he got assaulted by a flaming attack. The fire was the wrong color! It was Burnin, one of Endeavor's sidekicks! What the hell was she doing here?

"We were told that there would only be 6 Pro heroes on this site." He began to unsheathe his blade.

"Information gets outdated really fast these days." She let out a sadistic smile and prepared another ranged attack.

"Crap!" Magne thought. "I can't magnetize people when they are too far away. Idea! I'll give myself and Spinner the same polarity to…" Sharp pain in her chest distracted her from planning.

"It's over for you two." A disembodied voice talked to them. "Right now, I can destroy your vitals with a tiniest motion. Surrender or I will use lethal force."

"Where the hell aAAAAA…" Stain wannabe dropped his sword from the added pain in his stomach.

"Last warning, villains: Surrender!"

Moonfish was hungry. He could barely stop himself from devouring LOV members, but he figured that Dabi and Muscular would too much of a hassle. Students, on the other hand, were practically an all you can eat buffet. He was hoping that Dabi wouldn't burn too many snacks, as he preferred fresh meat over well done. His first victim was small and frustratingly quick and… old looking? Is that his quirk? The villain tried to aim his teeth at the target, but they weren't fast enough. The wrinkled kid's boot landed squarely on the cannibal's head, shattering it in the process.

"I won't feel bad if you die from this, monster!" Even his voice sounded old.

"Does he taste old too?"

Jin Bubaigawara has seen better days. No, these WERE the better days. He was looking for a company that would accept him, so he could kill/play cards alongside them. League of Villains was the answer he was looking for. He didn't even have to put himself at risk, since his friends would keep him safe. They thought he was too weak! No matter, all he had to do was duplicate Nomus. Everyone else was confident in their abilities/too cocky for their own good to stay behind. Only Mustard had common sense to ask for doubles; but even he wanted to be seen a centerpiece, not a backstage actor.

Twice was shocked to see someone with quirk similar to him. The way that man multiplied himself reminded him of the night he almost killed himself.

"No! Stop! I don't care, do whatever you want! We will all die if you don't stop…" The villain fell on his knees from the emotional breakdown, confusing the hell out of his captor.

Atsuhiro Sako was proud of his talents as villain and entertainer. His ability to conceal anything inside tiny marbles combined with his intelligence allowed him to remain on the loose for years. He believed that every person had to follow their convictions, no matter what they were. For this reason, he couldn't hate Moonfish or Muscular, if he didn't find their company pleasant. Shigaraki told him that Izuku Midoriya harbors great evil inside of him, which heroes were trying to suppress against his will. This was a grave injustice! Mr. Compress would do everything in his considerable power to help the boy unleash his true nature.

Unfortunately, his power was not enough. He noticed Miruko walking towards him and hid in a nearby tree. That tree contained extremely thin fibers left by Best Jeanist as a pseudo radar. By the time the villain realized what's going on, it was already too late. Fibers combined themselves into thick ropes to restrain him. They were too fast for him to turn into marbles. The fashionable hero arrived shortly after to bring Compress to the base.

"Well, at least I got caught by someone with a sense of style and not that dumb animal."

"You mean Miruko? Don't let her hear that."

"I fucking heard you!" Rumi screamed.

"Protect me, Jeanist!"

1 day before the Forest Camp.

Big Brain: Young Midoriya, I've been a fool! If only I took your warning more seriously.

Green Devil: Are you okay, sir?

Big Brain: No, I'm not ok! Come to my office ASAP!

Toshinori, Tsukauchi, Nezu and Midoriya were standing in front of tied up Tooru and her parents. The girl was crying rivers and her parents (both fully invisible) weren't far behind.

"Please, calm down." Principal told them. "We don't have much time, so we need you to tell us everything in a concise manner."

"*Sniff* Ok. I'll… I'll tell you everything, but you must promise to keep my wife and child safe." The father spoke up.

"I'll do everything I can, Mr Hagakure."

"Back in the day I ran a successful local newspaper. I got one good scoop after another, and it started to feel like luck was on my side. So, I…" He looked at his family in shame. "I started gambling. At first things were good, but in the end I got greedy and lost everything. I couldn't provide my baby girl with an extra pair of shoes anymore. Then, a solution came from nowhere. A certain sponsor told me that Tooru's evolution of my quirk would make her an excellent hero. In exchange for sending her to UA, he would lend me enough money to jump start my business again. I had to fix things for my family, so I took up the offer. It was the biggest mistake of my life."

"Truth."

"Can you tell us his name?" Yagi wanted to confirm his suspicions.

"Daisaku Kuze. A fake identity, I reckon."

"Also truth."

"Why didn't you contact police?"

"A chief of the local police department has called me and told not to make his friend upset. Kuze has connections, that much is obvious."

"What is his goal?"

"He has some sort of grudge against heroes and UA in particular. He wanted our baby to spy on the inside." The mother continued.

"And this is where Tooru comes in." Green head looked at his friend.

"I'M SORRY, IZUKU!" She cried like nobody's business. "Uncle Kuze said he'd kill Mom and Dad if I didn't do what he wants!"

"Calm down, Miss Hagakure." The rat said. "We want to help you, but first we need you to tell us everything you know."

"He *sniff* He said I have enter UA heroics course and not get expelled."

"Wow, that hobo's ruse traumatized her even more than we thought."

"My goal was to keep track of the strongest students in my class, as well as use my quirk to get confidential information. He said I had to steal All Might's schedule. I guess it was for the USJ attack."

"Go on."

"After… After the Sports Festival he told me to get close to the winner, learn as much about him as possible, get as close to him as possible. I heard about Uraraka's situation and tried my best to get the same, Izuku."

Detective nodded.

"So, your feelings weren't real?"

"NO!" The visible girl almost jumped despite her restraints. "I love you! It's just… I love my parents too!" She began crying again. "I'm sorry! I don't deserve you…"

Midoriya walked forward to hug the girl and kiss her on the forehead.

"It's fine. Everything will be fine for all of us, I promise."

"Do you have any standards, kiddo? She's a traitor!" Diavolo was furious.

"I'm convinced that you are a reincarnation of Jonathan. You are forgiving to an unreasonable degree."

"Please, keep talking."

"I… I sent copies of your notebooks, including the one with your secret friends and All Might's OFA.."

"SHIT!" The internal trio barked in unison.

Yagi coughed out blood.

"I must say, young Midoriya." Nezu turned to his protégé. "Keeping notes on things no one should know wasn't your smartest move."

"I know, sir. I'm sorry."

"Young Hagakure, does this uncle have plans regarding tomorrow's event?"

"Yes! He wants me to smuggle a phone into the camp. It will work as tracker, means of communication and camera for spying on staff. I think he'll send Shigaraki again after confirming everything's in order."

"I see. Any ideas what's his goal this time?" Shrunken All Might asked.

"He didn't say anything, but I think he might try to recruit you, Izuku. May be he thinks your demons can overtake you." Izuku gulped at the thought of becoming evil.

"He clearly didn't read the paper on the fridge."

"Do you know Daisaku's quirk?" Toshinori had suspicions.

"No, he never used it in front us. At least, he didn't do anything obvious."

"All right. I need you three to go home and pretend it's business as usual. If everything goes how I envision it, your uncle won't be a problem."

"Please, keep my family safe! I can endure any punishment but I can't accept their suffering!" The father pleaded.

"Do not fret. I'll send a few heroes to watch over your family. But right now, I need you to play along."

Hagakures were untied and left the office, but not before Tooru hugged Izuku and apologized again for betraying him. He told her that he'll "punish" her once the crisis ends. Detective also left after confirming all the statements.

"Well, this throws a wrench into our plans. If only I investigated her "neglect" earlier."

"It's water under the bridge, sir. We should focus on what to do next."

"Right. We have to use this opportunity to turn the tables and capture the League. They are the key to finding our mysterious enemy. I suppose this Kuze person expects an easy victory against teenagers and half a dozen heroes. I'll show him! I'll send all hero teachers from my school AND several top heroes I can gather on short notice. I'll also make sure to include diverse quirks to account for unknown enemies. Even if Shigaraki comes with Japan's most wanted, he'll lose."

"Sir, shouldn't we get as much muscle as we can?"

"I think if too many heroes abandon their typical posts at once, it will be too suspicious. We'll have to prioritize quality over quantity."

"If I may? I would like to vouch for my m-m-mentor." Yagi was still scared of Gran Torino. "He's fast, experienced and obscure enough that no one would care if he left the city for a week."

"Fine. Civilian teachers will have to work overtime for a bit to cover for their missing colleagues. Now, this will sound awful, but Wild Wild Pussycats and students can't learn about this situation until it's already over."

"What? Why?" Rat's interlocutors were taken aback.

"There is no guarantee that teenagers will agree to this charade, and we need to maintain the illusion of normality for young Hagakure's spying. Worry not; no student will be put in danger. In fact, no student SHOULD put themselves in danger once villains arrive." Nezu looked Izuku in the eyes. "Same goes for WWP. They agreed to be teachers, but they might bail if we introduce them to my plan. I'll handle whatever legal consequences fly our way later. Now, onto the second point."

"That wasn't all?"

"No. Since our enemy has discovered your secrets, he might reveal them to the public out of spite. Inner friends are easy enough to deny. We have a lie detector and a renowned psychologist on our side. All Might's secret can also be played around. Your fetishes aren't that big of an issue, Midoriya. Classified abilities are tricky since you can't just stop using them. They are incredibly helpful, but public may not like you very much if they learn about them. They might even deem you a villain. In case the worst happens, we must be ready to do damage control. Tell the heroes and 1B students I'll send with you about the secret abilities to mentally prepare them. I trust them, so you can too. Their combined influence on public opinion will be of great help if we have to salvage your reputation as a hero."

"Sir, I have a friend who works in Shoowaysha Publishing. She can help on that front." Izuku wrote down Kizuki's number.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Do you think that Daisaku Kuze is All for One? Those monsters in Hosu had multiple quirks." OFA holder was tense.

"Maybe it's him, maybe it's someone with a similar quirk or maybe it's just a very talented and sadistic genetic engineer. I'm not a God, All Might, I'm merely an intelligent being of an unspecified species."

"What an oxymoron."

"I don't magically know the rights answers. I can only surmise from information at hand."

"Understood. What do we do now?"

"For now, you two should pretend that nothing has happened in this room. Go! I have dozens of calls to make."

Present.

Izuku ran towards Tomura and Kurogiri. They noticed him approaching alone and conscious. The two of them entered a portal and graciously left it open for the hero wannabe. Midoriya took a deep breath and entered the wolf's den.

Author's notes: At first I wanted to use Miruko and Tiger against Spinner and Magne, but I figured that brawlers wouldn't do well against Magnetism and swords. Moonfish is a bit saner and more collected than in canon, but he is still a cannibal. Best Jeanist's ultimate move is 20 meter clothing splash. You can assume that every hero who was in the forest but didn't capture a villain was fighting Nomus or doing recon.

I left a few hints to traitor's identity, although I guess I was too obvious. Tooru's parents are permanently invisible, but she can set anything close to herself invisible.

Izuku's notebooks get so much praise in other fics. Why not make them a liability for once?