Chapter 28: When Meme Lords Save the Day

Principal Nedzu enjoyed peace and quiet.

Now, don't get him wrong, he enjoyed chaos, too. But when it came to that, he enjoyed it from either a distance, or when he or an associate of his was the one causing it. He not only found it amusing, but sometimes it was helpful, or just a plain good workout for his brain.

What he didn't enjoy was when he was being kept in the dark regarding chaos, especially when it came from sinister forces. Sure, some of it could qualify as some fun exercise to satiate his boredom, like your everyday gangs and smugglers, but when the big fish were doing such a thing, such as All For One, then it was quite concerning. Another thing he didn't enjoy were the times when he knew what was going on, and he was helpless to do anything about it.

The best way for him to describe it, completely hypothetically, was if three All For Ones were all fighting each other to take over the country, by using shadow tactics, political influence, and sending out their goons to do any jobs that required them to be anywhere near the public. And all of that was happening under both the noses of himself and the HSPC.

A very specific example, but it works in three ways: One, it's All For One times three; one of them was bad enough, but three of them would most certainly spell doom for all of Japan. Two, they were fighting each other, despite all of them essentially being the same person, but that was just the nature of humans; chaotic. And three, while the whole game of shadows would be interesting for Nedzu to play, he wasn't the one in control, which was super concerning. Additionally, that meant that any move he attempted to make could potentially be monitored by any of the three Quirk Thieves, allowing them to retaliate with their own bullshit.

The point Nedzu was trying to make was that chaos, in small doses and in a controlled environment, was something that he enjoyed immensely. It was when it was not in his hands and threatening to destroy everything that made Nedzu grab his laptop, work his brain into overtime, and hopefully squeeze out a victory for Hero Society to make it through another day.

And unfortunately, the League of Villains fell into the latter category.

He had no idea what to make of them. On the surface, they seemed like a ragtag group of nobodies, battle junkies, and juvenile delinquents with only a couple of them actually posing any serious threat. He would have assumed they were some sacrificial pawn All For One was using to test the waters for a comeback, but there were two major problems with that idea.

The first problem was that All For One himself showed up at the USJ, and didn't even kill All Might. There were two (maybe three) separate issues with that: One, the man who loved working in the shadows just showed up in broad daylight and announced the fact he survived his battle with the Symbol of Peace to the entire world. And two, instead of destabilizing all of Japan by then offing the No. 1 Hero, he instead exposed his weakness to a group of twenty teenagers, and then warned the next wielder of One For All to not overdo it.

He didn't kill any students to devastate All Might, he didn't kill All Might, the one man who actually posed a challenge to any plan he might have, and he didn't steal One For All from Uraraka. Now, while Nedzu was incredibly grateful that none of that happened, that either meant that All For One was either mocking UA, stating that he could have killed anyone at any time, or that his plans didn't involve destroying anything One For All-related absolutely whatsoever.

Now that Nedzu thought about it, all of All For One's latest schemes seemed out of character: The destruction of the HPSC may have indeed disrupted the bureaucracy and order needed to maintain thousands of Heroes across the country, but they also exposed the massive corruption within the agency, an overall net positive. Killing Stain on live TV (and possibly healing Tensei Iida) showed that he didn't like how the Hero Killer was going about "changing" society, along with wanting to let the entire public know that he existed, and that he was the top dog.

But why? Why do all of this? That was the part Nedzu didn't get.

The old All For One from six years ago would have let all of this keep happening. The HPSC was a tumor upon the good name of Heroics, so to him, it would have been an asset. And the Hero Killer was eliminating several Heroes, so he would have kept the man around to act as pest control. His current behavior made absolutely no sense, it was… chaotic.

Taking another sip of tea, Nedzu calmed himself. There hadn't been another sighting of anyone from the League of Villains since the Kiyashi Ward Mall, which most likely meant that they were laying low. Nedzu would use this peace and quiet to take a bit of a breather, and then come back to this with a fresh pair of eyes. He really did enjoy his peace and quiet –

"PRINCIPAL NEDZU!"

…aaaaand it's gone. Looking up from his teacup, the white-furred mammal saw that Midnight had slammed open his door, carrying a laptop, her face quite close to pale. "What is it?"

"You're gonna want to see this, it's live on YouTube…"

Midnight set the laptop down on his desk, as she quickly pressed play.

"Welcome, dear viewers! I bid you good day! Can you guess what I'm up to? Worry not, friends, I'll show you! For money is not the goal, rather, to write my name in the annals of history! Yes! For 'tis I, Gentle Criminal, at your service! And today, as a special treat…"

Nedzu looked up at the R-Rated Heroine. "Midnight, is this a joke?"

"Shh! Keep watching!"

"...a live collaboration! That's right! In collaboration with the League of Villains and the Volcano Thieves, we present… GENTLE CRIMINAL SAVES I-ISLAND: THE LIVESTREAM!"

"No fucking way…" Shinso swore under his breath.

Ochako could completely understand him. The League of Villains, the same people responsible for attacking her classmates, beating the crap out of All Might, executing Stain on live TV, and being led by the literal Symbol of Evil, showed up to… save the day? What?

"Okay, what do you mean by that, Mr…?"

"Gentle Criminal! Or "Gentle," if you wish to keep it short!" the gray-haired man said. "And I meant what I said. Myself and my associates are here to help save I-Island! All while filming it live for everyone across the world to watch! See? You're all on camera!"

Ochako turned to look around, and saw that… there were multiple Nomus in the room with them. What?! How the hell did they not notice them earlier?! Hold up, wait a second…

Why the fuck are they all carrying camera equipment?!

Now that she took a closer look, Ochako saw that the Nomus were actually hiding at the far corners of the room and behind the servers. And judging by the quality of the filming equipment they were carrying, whatever cameras and mics they had on them were probably able to pick up both top-notch image and audio from a safe distance. So… non-combatant Nomu?

It sounded like a bad joke: A bunch of Nomus dressed up like a camera crew, ready to film the next hottest reality show, and yet, here they were: Some of them were holding the filming equipment, while one of them had a laptop, and a third was waving its hands around.

That one was probably the director.

"If one of them tries to do my makeup, I'm setting them on fire," Jiro hissed.

"Not to worry!" Gentle exclaimed. "Our trusted film crew are strictly ordered to observe and do their jobs from a distance, along with making sure the livestream keeps going smoothly for the remainder of the event! They are not allowed to interfere or help us in any way!"

"Oh, yeah? And what about the League members right behind you?" Kendo asked.

"They are being rented out for this job, and will follow my orders for as long as they're on the island!" Gentle said, as, surprisingly, both Megethos and Waverider nodded along to that. "The same goes to the Volcano Thieves; on this island, I'm the main star of the show!"

"The Volcano Thieves, huh?" Monoma asked. "I don't see them."

"At the moment, they would be several floors down from us, assisting those classmates of yours in disposing of Wolfram's dastardly minions!" the purple-wearing Villain said. "Not to worry, though! I'm sure as soon as they're done, they'll all head to the top floor to meet with us!"

"Wolfram?" Yaomomo repeated. "I'm assuming that's the main Villain?"

"Hmm, red hair, metallic mask over his face, and a loathsome personality? Yes, I'm quite sure that is him," Gentle said in a comedic manner. "Shall we work together to stop him and save everyone here? I can assure you, you will be properly credited for your do-gooder deeds."

"Uhh… give us a minute to discuss this."

Everyone quickly huddled up, with Shinso starting with, "I'm not helping the crazy bitch that whooped my ass at the USJ, nor her blue friend. Hell, we shouldn't help any of them!"

"I agree," Iida said. "They're all Villains, we should stop them, as well!"

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Kendo interjected. "If we fought them, there's a good chance we'd be exhausted afterwards, and we'd be at a big disadvantage against Wolfram."

"She's right," Melissa spoke up. "At the moment, these newcomers just want to save the island, yeah? Even if their motives are completely different, their goal is the same as ours, for the time being. And to be honest, I would love all the help we can get to save my Papa."

Ochako sighed, as she turned towards the three Villains and their Nomus. "Okay, we'll work together to take on Wolfram and his crew. But once this is over, or the second we sense you trying to double-cross us, we'll go back to us Heroes taking down you Villains."

"Understood! Now then, let us be off!"

David smiled, as he heard the ring of an unlocked storage unit.

Notifying Sam, his assistant immediately went to the specified block, opening the unit, revealing a silver briefcase. Sam seemed to be overjoyed, saying, "You did it, Professor."

Yeah, he did it. This entire plan worked.

"Everything is here, it's perfect!" Sam smiled, revealing the open case inside. David nodded in agreement; his invention was still there. He had finally gotten all of his work back.

He remembered how he lost it in the first place, David clenching his fists in frustration. "All my research… and they just took my device from me. But now it's mine."

Sam nodded along. "Just like we planned."

"Thank you. I couldn't have done any of this without your help, Sam," David said.

Their device was capable of amplifying someone's Quirk, magnifying someone's power without damaging their body or brain like Trigger did. And yet, despite that, both the prototype and research data was confiscated, with the project demanded to be abandoned. Fearing what it could do to their society, governments from different nations put pressure on David to end it.

And then Sam came to him with the plan: Hire someone to steal it back. It sounded ridiculous at first, but Sam told him they wouldn't be using actual criminals, just hire people to masquerade as Villains and "force" them to break into this room and take it, without harming anyone. It was crazy, but they both wanted to get that device, that data, all of it. They wanted it back.

So, the plan went into motion. They planned to carry out the heist during the eve of the I-Expo, when the tower would be closed, and no one to stop them. The reception would be the start of the plan, making sure all of the Heroes stayed put, and while the actors made it seemed like I-Island was taken over by Villains, while he and Sam pulled the strings behind the scenes.

David felt horrible for doing this, he truly did. All Might's power was disappearing, but with this device… he'd be like his old self again. No, even better. The Symbol of Peace would be able to get his strength and light back! To be able to keep saving people, just like he always has!

All they needed to do now was go and give the device to Toshi, to have him save the day. He didn't care what punishment would come afterwards, as long as the No. 1 Hero could –

"Sam, hand it over."

"Right! Here you go!"

David snapped out of his thoughts to see that his assistant was quickly rushing towards… Wolfram? And he was handing him the briefcase?! "Sam, what –?!"

BLAM!

Before David could even figure out what the fuck was going on, he watched as his life-long assistant was just gunned down in front of him. "Here's the payment I promised you."

"No… why…?" Sam gasped out, bleeding on the floor. "This wasn't part of the plan…"

"It wasn't?" Wolfram asked. "That's strange… because it was always a part of mine."

BLAM!

David didn't know why he moved. It was cleared to him now that he was manipulated, double-crossed by Sam. So… why? Why did he run in just now? Why did he take the second bullet that was meant to kill Sam? Because it was the right thing to do? Because…

Because it was the sort of thing Toshi would do?

Even Sam seemed confused. "Professor… why…?"

"Get… out of here…" David grunted, through the pain. "Hrrk!"

He could feel Wolfram stepping on his bullet wound, the man's boot rubbing into his hurt shoulder just to inflame the pain. "Trying to play the Hero after all this? Too late for that. No matter what your reasons were, you've dirtied your hands now. Whether we're real Villains or actors is irrelevant; you planned and committed an actual crime here. You're exactly the same as we are. You can no longer remain a respected scientist, or continue your research without shame. Your life is forever tainted by the darkness of Villainy. Hehehehe…"

"And if you want a future at all, you'll be a good scientist and mass-produce this device so I can sell it." David felt his collar tighten, as Wolfram pulled him up from his tie, to look straight into the madman's eyes, before getting smacked in the head with a handgun. "Take him to the roof."

Before blacking out, all David Shield could think of was, I'm sorry, Toshi…

Learning to trust the Volcano Thieves was easier said than done.

Kirishima, Todoroki and Bakugou, naturally, had their reservations. Not only were these Villains working alongside the League and another third party for this… "collab" thing… but they also managed to sneak Nomus into I-Island. Yes, they were technically a film crew, but come on!

If it was as ugly as a Nomu, and screamed in pain like a Nomu, it was a fucking Nomu.

The only reason the three UA students didn't immediately go into murder mode was because the Volcano Thieves helped them out against Wolfram's goons, which meant that, for the time being, their goals aligned, even if it was for completely different reasons.

So, they ventured on forward to the top of the tower, all while the Nomus filmed them for the livestream. Eventually, they managed to reach some outdoor place with lots of giant fans.

"The hell is this place?" Bakugou asked.

"From what our intel told us, the wind power generator," Volcano answered.

"And what are we doing here, exactly?" Todoroki asked.

"Aside from Wolfram's goons, there's an army of robots in the tower, probably just waiting for a chance to ambush us," Dusty Ash explained. "If we climb to the top from here, we'll avoid them. La Brava told us there was an emergency exit we could enter from here."

"All the way up there?" Kirishima asked.

"Your red-and-white buddy can make us an ice pillar, yeah?" Gust Boy asked.

Todoroki nodded. "Leave it to me."

The son of Endeavor quickly began to form another ice elevator, when the doors behind them opened up, and several of the I-Island robot sentries showed up. Kirishima and Bakugou prepared themselves for a fight, as the machines closed in on the team, when –

"SMAAAAASHHH!"

BOOOOOM!

…several of them were blown away by a certain One For All wielder.

"URARAKA!" Kirishima shouted, glad to see her.

"And she is not alone! GENTLY TRAMPOLINE!"

Bakugou looked around the area to see all of the robots begin to bounce around, like the floor was made of gelatin. A quick glance showed him that, alongside his classmates and the Shield girl, two members of the League were also there, but they weren't the ones responsible for this. Which meant the only other person was the old dude in the purple outfit.

"Oh, good, looks like Gentle Criminal made it, after all," Dusty Ash said.

"Indeed I have, my comrades!" the gray-haired man said. "Now, everyone who can't fly, please follow me! There are enough Gently Trampolines in the air to make it all the way to the top!"

"I think I'm gonna be sick…" Monoma groaned, as he began to bounce.

Now that Ochako thought about it, the stairs were probably as huge as they were because the people at I-Island knew there would be a lot of foot traffic going through them.

But she was pretty sure that they never expected ten Hero Course students, six Villains, the daughter of David Shield, and a few Nomus to be sharing the stairs at the same time.

Just went to show how confusing these current times were.

"RAAGH!" One of the bad guys working for Wolfram suddenly leaped out from the corner of the room, his arm a sword, as Kirishima blocked it. "You shouldn't have come here!"

SWISH! KLANG!

The two of them kept going with their impromptu sword fight, as Monoma of all people suddenly joined in, using Kendo's powers to embiggen his fists, knocking the guy off-balance.

WHAM!

"Oh, look who decided to pitch in, for once," Jiro snarked.

"Okay, one, screw you. Two, all of you have been going ham on every bad guy we've encountered, so there wasn't much for me to do. And three, my Quirk requires me to have recently touched someone, so I can't exactly shoot first and ask questions later," Monoma sneered. "And four, I didn't see anyone else step in to help out Kirishima."

The redhead's eyebrows lifted at that. "Wait, you actually know my name?"

"Yes, I know your name. I might not like you Class A clowns, but you're still my classmates, and I wouldn't just stand there and let you die to some Villain. Hence, the Kendo-based punch."

"You know, I could have tossed him out the window, right?" Waverider asked.

"Uhh… that's called murder," Yaomomo said.

Ochako decided to ignore the banter between her classmates and the Villains, despite the fact that for some reason, Waverider's voice was familiar. Like, really familiar –

"THEY'RE HERE!"

Everyone ducked behind the doorway in an instant, as two more of Wolfram's goons began raining fire. "Okay, so, is anybody here fast enough to dodge bullets?"

"I believe I might have an alternative. Ahem… GENTLY REBOUND!"

BRAKA-BRAKA-BRAKA-BRAKA!

"AAAIIIEEE!"

Sure enough, the space where Gentle Criminal landed became elastic, with the bullets themselves getting sent flying back through the air, hitting the masked criminals.

"Are they dead?" Gust Boy asked.

Megethos quickly looked over the two downed bad guys, and shook her head. The bullets landed, but nowhere vital. She quickly rummaged around her pocket, pulling out a knife…

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Shinso shouted. "We take them down! Not out! Got it?"

The masked Villain slowly nodded, putting the knife away.

"Melissa, where's the control room located?" Ochako asked.

"In front of the central elevator," the blonde replied.

The party marched forward, as they reached the main room. It was massive, spanning multiple gray cabinets all over, all of them linked to the main command center. "Is this it?"

Melissa shook her head. "No. This is the storage room, where I-Island keeps some of their experimental technology. The command center is just down the hall, on the left."

The others fanned out, looking around the room, when they heard a voice over a communicator. "Gentle, the QAD is out of containment! Wolfram got Dr. Shield to open it!"

"Understood, La Brava. Meet us up here as soon as you can."

"Will do!"

"Hey. What was that?" Bakugou asked.

"That would happen to be one of my associates," Gentle Criminal answered. "It appears that our foe has successfully liberated the cargo they were seeking, with Dr. Shield's help, no less."

"Help? More like under threat," Jiro said. "Look at the floor. There's blood."

"Those bastards must have tortured him!" Kirishima growled.

"I'm assuming they took the big-ticket item?" Volcano asked.

"Indeed," the gray-haired Villain said. "They took the QAD."

"Uhh… What the heck is the QAD?" Kendo asked.

"Quirk Amplification Device," Melissa said, getting everyone's attention. "It was an invention, a prototype, that my father created. It can, as its name suggests, amplify a person's Quirk. It was confiscated by his sponsors, stating that something like this could drastically affect superhuman society. Entire governments put pressure on Papa to end the project. But…"

"But word about this thing got out," Dusty Ash said. "And now people want it."

"So that's why they held I-Island hostage. Whoever gets their hands on this thing will essentially become unstoppable," Todoroki said, as he turned the corner and saw… "Huh? Who's this?"

"Oh my goodness, Sam!" Melissa yelped, as she approached the injured man. Even from where she was standing in the room, Ochako could tell that he was shot. The scientist must have crawled to where they were now, since no one saw them in the storage room coming in.

"Miss… Shield…?"

"Hang on, we'll get you help in no time! Where's Papa?!"

"Wolfram… I'm… sorry…"

"Dr. Shield must be with the boss Villain, further up. On the helicopter pad, perhaps?" Yaomomo theorized. "But why take him? To create more of the Quirk Amplification Devices?"

"Doesn't matter," Ochako said. "We're going to save him!"

"Right you are!" Gentle nodded. "And we shall assist you!"

The brown-haired girl gave the bearded Villain a thumbs-up. Sure, they were on different sides of the law, but at the moment, they still needed to work together. "Let's do this!"

Melissa, meanwhile, got up from the floor, and wore a serious look on her face. "Waverider, make sure Sam stays fine without us. Megethos, you're with me."

"Hold up, where are you going?!" Monoma asked.

"We're going to reset the island's security," the blonde girl said. "The rest of you, get ready to head to the roof as soon as we're done. We'll meet you there as soon as possible."

Melissa sighed, as she plopped herself down into the terminal seat. Getting the security system back to normal was child's play, but this entire day itself was exhausting, regardless.

"I can't believe Papa actually went and did it."

"Mm. Guess the VillainNET wasn't wrong," Megethos said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Melissa said, as she typed away. "Glad Izuku came prepared. Speaking of which, you know that it's past midnight now, right? Almost morning."

"Indeed," Megethos said, removing her mask, smiling softly. "It's now July 15th."

"Yeah, it is. The four of us can get a room as soon as this is over," Melissa said, as she pressed one final button. "There. I-Island's Security System is ours, once more. Let's go."

BWOOO…

"Mm. Though, you should probably let the big guy know what's going on."

"Good call," Melissa said, as she pulled out her cell phone.

"I-Island's Security System is now operating in normal mode."

Those words were music to Toshinori's ears, as he saw all the Heroes at the party suddenly get released from their restraints, and begin the beat-down on the Villains.

You pulled it off, young Heroes!

As the other party guests cheered, the blond quickly got up and ran. Even if time wasn't up, there was still a good chance that there were still more Villains around. And besides…

Dave still needs my help!

Feeling a sudden vibration in his right pocket, the No. 1 Hero took the phone out of his costume, and recognizing the caller ID, pressed the call button. "Melissa! What's happening?!"

"Papa has been taken by the Villains, Uncle Might! We're after them!"

"WAIT FOR ME! I'LL HELP YOU STOP THEM!"

"Boss! What about everyone else?"

"We're going before the security system goes back online."

"Uh, yes, sir!"

David could barely make out what Wolfram was saying to his goons. He wasn't sure if it was because of the bleeding, or the way he was being carried, but his head wasn't in the right place right now. Or maybe it was due to the fact that he had been played like a cheap kazoo.

"Kill me," he said, his voice hoarse. "Just do it."

"I'll add a few more sins to your heart, first. But then I'll make your wish come true," Wolfram said, as he roughly dropped David into the main passenger area of the helicopter.

"Uhh, boss? The chopper ain't starting?"

"What?!" Wolfram barked. "What the hell do you mean?!"

"Well, in the most common of terms, your chopper's missing a few key components from the engine needed to get it to fly," a newcomer's voice said. "I have to admit, this was quite harder than, say, hacking into your VillainNET account, but it was still quite enjoyable."

"Huh? What the –?!"

David could hear multiple voices shouting, and then a gentle thumb, as if someone just jumped from the top of the chopper down to the floor, like a graceful acrobat. Turning his head around, he could see… a child in red pigtails was the one who had just jumped in.

Oh, great, I'm seeing things.

"Who the hell are you?!" Wolfram barked, grabbing his gun.

"My name is La Brava!" the tiny girl said. "And I am sorry for what I did to your vehicle! I would have very much preferred to rendezvous with my Gentle at an earlier time, but I figured that making sure you vagabonds couldn't take off with the QAD was a bit more important!"

"You little shit…"

"BOSS! LOOK! SHE'S GOT FUCKING MONSTERS WITH HER!"

Both David and Wolfram were confused at what the man was shouting about, when David saw that there were several figures approaching from the staircase behind La Brava. Pale skin, exposed brains, and weirdly enough, carrying a bunch of filming equipment? What?

"AHAHAHA! HOPE WE'RE NOT LATE TO THE PARTY!"

Before David could figure out what was up with the… creatures… several newcomers, including literal teenagers, came up the stairs, being led by some… bearded guy in a purple outfit?

"What? Who are all of you?!" Wolfram shouted.

"THE ONES WHO WILL DEFEAT YOU!"

David's eyes widened, as he heard who called out towards Wolfram. Among the crowd of newcomers, he saw a familiar set of brown hair. The same one Toshi was with…

Uraraka?

"...and that is pretty much the basic essentials. Now, I reiterate once more, while your mother and I may know more than the average citizen, we're not complete experts in the biological or legal facets of human reproduction, and any further questions should most likely be reserved for Auntie Nemuri when we get back," Shota said, finishing up this agonizing conversation.

While he would have preferred not to answer Eri's question, the unfortunate matter is that Shouta's daughter was pretty much nigh-unstoppable when it came to achieving her desired objective, and in this case, asking her parents where babies came from.

Eri's pouting, while cute, was also a weapon that chipped away at a person until they relented. And while he and Emi may have been trained Heroes, they couldn't resist their daughter's stare for however long they were gonna be locked in their room. Plus, the logical side of Shouta reminded him that she was eventually gonna learn about this, so it might as well be now.

"Now, do you have any other questions?" Emi asked their daughter.

"Hmmm… What happens when you die?"

Goddammit.

Author's Note: For those wondering, I had actually written this initial chapter back during late May and early June, just to show everyone how early I have to write these things in order to have enough of a backlog to post them consistently and on time.

Moving on, we have about one more solid chapter of the I-Island arc, and then another chapter on the aftermath (spoilers for the next chapter) which will segway us into the Summer Training Camp. But that's for later. Now, we have the comments!

Knightmare Lord: Oh, yeah, no. Wolfram is a dead man walking.

VinHD15: Yeah, I'm pretty happy to have been able to post this consistently for a year now. I may have no idea what those other phrases mean, but given the context, I think it's safe to assume that it's related to this arc, especially the previous chapter.

Anyways, back to the regular old shilling…

I'm pretty sure as you all know now, I have also made a Twitter account to post my art, so if anyone is interested in checking it out, /ErnaloreProf is the link.

If you want more content, visit my Discord, the link is /3PFYSt8Dqz. You can chat with others, post memes, fanfic recommendations and prompts, role play, fan art, and we even have a writer's corner now! I'll also drop by with announcements and chat with you all every now and then! Also, if you want to add me as a friend, my username is Ernalore#8663! Just please make sure to follow the rules.

Thanks for reading, and once again, see you next time!

- Ernalore