ACTIVISM

Momo stood on a wooden box in the middle of the street, flinging fliers out of her chest and shouting into a megaphone. "For too long, the rich have gotten richer, while the poor are stuck with low wages and terrible working conditions! The time has come to seize the means of production!"

"You don't need to tell me twice!" one man in the crowd heckled. "I'd seize those means of production anytime!"

Iida pushed his way through the crowd. "Yaoyorozu! What is the meaning of this civil disturbance? We need to find Inverse!"

"The villains are simply the government's way of pulling the wool over our eyes! Activists and rebels, tarred with the same brush as murderers and rapists! We need to set aside such petty labels and all come together as a community! We need to dismantle the very establishment keeping us in the dirt and build a better system in its place!"

"While I admire your desire to get into politics, it's against the rules to obstruct traffic without a permit!"

"Rules schmules! Those are the shackles that bind the proletariat to their poverty! We're not going to play their game. We're going to break the wheel! Revolution, not re-election!"

"You can't seriously mean to overthrow the government. That's a serious crime! If you want to affect meaningful change upon the world, you need to do so through the system in place, or else it can be overturned just as easily."

"The system's designed to never change. If you want an omelet, you'll have to crack some eggs first."

As Iida mustered forth his next argument, a mirror slammed him from behind. Iida plucked the glasses off his face and crushed them in his fist.

"You know what? That sounds like a fun idea. Fuck the rules, we should let people do whatever they want."

"Hell yeah!"

"And we'll take whatever we want."

"Redistributing it all to the poor and impoverished, right?"

"Don't be silly! You can play Robin Hood if you want, but I'm keeping all the good stuff for myself."

"But then how are we supposed to uplift the community?"

"Why would I care about that? Just let it all burn to the ground." Iida paused. "The orphanage too. I'll bring some marshmallows."

Yaoyorozu drew a hammer and sickle. "I can't let you tear down my impending utopian regime. I will bring equality to everyone!"

"Your equality is for weaklings and parasites too useless to take what they want. True equality happens when it's every man for himself."

"We are stronger together!"

"A bunch of reeds tied together still isn't a tree."

Izuku karate-chopped Iida in the neck. As he approached Momo, she said, "You're powerless against me. I have the common man on my side!"

Izuku held up a PS5. "The first hundred people get their purchase half-off!"

As the common man punched and threw chairs at each other, Izuku karate-chopped Momo and said, "I love democracy."

493

Plot twist: Momo wasn't Inversed. She just drank a bottle of vodka by accident.