The Midoriya Twins and Katsuki were now 12 years old. During that time, Nedzu had given them plenty of private tutoring lessons that helped improve their strengths while also acknowledging their weaknesses and how to make up for them.
Izuku had spent many sleepless nights going over videos Nezu sent him, listing the mistakes the Heroes made and suggesting how they could have better utilized their Quirks or countered the villains'.
Izumi had taken similar analysis lessons but also worked on harnessing her Quirk and tapping into the limitless potential it held. As for Katsuki, he had been practicing restraint in his fighting techniques since with a Quirk and attitude like his, he was best suited for combat situations.
Overall, life went by relatively smoothly. However, a situation at school was arising for the three youths that would require not just their attention but the adults as well.
VINDICATED
"Hey, Bakugou! How do you think you did on that math quiz? I bet you and the Midoriyas got that bonus question, huh?"
"Of course they did! Man, I wish I was half as smart as you guys!"
"It's only natural for the three students with the strongest Quirks to be at the top of the class! My dad says-"
"Move it, you extras!" Katsuki yelled. "We gotta get to class!"
While Izuku and Izumi kept silent and didn't give the other students much thought, Katsuki was annoyed beyond belief. While he'd been working hard over the years to get a handle on his temper, these extras always brought out the worst in him. Over the years he'd learned the difference between real friends and extras only interested in him for his powers.
"I wish you wouldn't be so aggressive, Kaachan." Izuku sighed.
"You know as well as I do that these extras are just a bunch of suckups who want to ride our coattails, Deku." The explosive blonde scoffed.
As her brother and best friend talked, Izumi frowned, having heard what one of the students said. Why would having a strong Quirk naturally mean they'd be smarter?
It wasn't just that either. Ever since the three started their junior high school years at Aldera, they had been noticing quite a few things about the curriculum that were... 'off' to say the least.
They finally had a chance to discuss things during lunch period and Katsuki was beyond pissed having to deal with all the sycophants attempting to boost his ego.
"I swear, Deku One and Deku Two, this place is an absolute shithole!" The blonde complained.
"Come on, Kaachan. It can't be worse than most other public schools, right?" Izumi asked, trying to be the optimist.
Izuku shook his head. "Sis, normal public schools shouldn't let kids get away with half the stuff I've seen. It hasn't even been a full week, and I've already observed enough to know this isn't just a case of simple gross teacher negligence."
"Yeah, first there was Fingers using his Quirk to poke and annoy the girl next to him and she gets in trouble for disturbing class when she grabs his finger and he freaks out like she broke it." Katsuki pointed out.
Izuku nodded. "And remember yesterday at lunch? That kid with the fish mutation was clearly pushed by the guy with a metal jaw laughing at him, but the victim was reprimanded for dropping his lunch and warned about being clumsy."
"The asshole who can yank out his eyeballs and his long-nosed buddy have been harassing a girl who can turn her hands into tentacles all week but when she tried to report them, she was told it was just 'boys being boys.' What kind of shit is that?!" Katsuki continued.
"Then, there's what the kid with the Granite Manipulation Quirk said near the end of class today, about his dad believing the Quirkless have no place in today's society. Sensei just smiled and nodded to himself as he read his book like he was satisfied to hear his student spouting blatantly Quirkist bullshit." Izuku then gave a tired sigh and shook his head. "And I'm not even going to attempt to list all the examples of blatant illegal Quirk use the teachers let us get away with. I'm telling you, something's up with Aldera."
Izumi took in what her brother and best friend were saying before sighing sadly.
"You have a point, Izu-Nii...the other day, I was fighting off some bullies who were harassing a poor girl with a Telekinesis Quirk. I went a little too far because I had gotten pretty mad but the teachers didn't even reprimand me for it."
"So what are we gonna do?" Katsuki asked. "Should we tell Hobo-Sensei and the Rat?"
Izuku shook his head. "Not yet. I wanna get some evidence first."
"Ooooh! I love detective stuff!" Izumi beamed excitedly. "Let's do it!"
VINDICATED
Rikiya Yotsubashi was a respectable man. CEO of the Detnaret Corporation, he oversaw the development of countless Support Items that helped civilians with troublesome Quirks better live their lives without worry of their powers going wrong for them.
However, known only to a small handful of people he trusted was that this was only part of who he was. The rest of him was the Grand Commander of the Meta Liberation Army, an organization that existed since the Dawn of Quirks.
The army's goals were simple; to allow Quirks to be a basic human right, unrestricted by government regulations. In Rikiya's eyes, Quirks were the next phase in human evolution and they should be welcomed as a simple part of a human's body, like using their senses or their limbs to move around in the world. But the government apparently didn't see that, choosing to restrict the use of Quirks to the public unjustly.
His grandfather, Chikara Yotsubashi AKA Destro, the founder of the Meta Liberation Army, had been persecuted for having a Quirk by the hateful masses back when those with Quirks were shunned due to the unnaturalness of their gifts. His mother pleaded in his defense...and was savagely raped and lynched for her troubles. Eventually, the government managed to put restrictions on Quirks but Destro saw that as an insult to his mother's message and chose to rise against the system...only to fall short and be arrested, leading to his suicide after he had written his manifesto.
Rikiya, who had been found by his grandfather's assoicates and trained to be everything he was and more, had vowed he would not fall like his grandfather had. But apparently, despite his best efforts, it seemed that there were still plenty of hateful masses in society...unfortunately, it seemed that the shoe was now on the other foot.
It had come to his attention that one of the MLA's many recuirtment branches, designed to find and approach those with potential, Aldera Middle School, had forgotten what their goals: The MLA wanted Quirks to be freely used, like any other sense of the body.
The school was instead raising the students that attended its hallowed halls to become Quirk Supermasicts.
That was NOT what Destro had wanted. Despite all he had suffered, his grandfather had nothing against the Quirkless. He not once advocated for their elimination or subjugation. Hell, he had found love with a Quirkless woman, who'd birthed Rikkiya's mother!
And while Rikkiya had made a fortune helping those with powerful or difficult Quirks, he was also aware of singularity and wanted to avoid an influx of such Quirks at that level. No amount of profit was worth living a world where everyone was a living, breathing weapon of mass destruction.
"…How to go about this?" He inwardly mused, pouring himself a glass of chianti. "Can't just show up and get rid of the teachers, and the kids could still be salvaged if their eyes were opened up soon enough…."
A ring from his desk got his attention. With a raised eyebrow, Rikkiya reached under his desk and opulled out a special black phone.
"Yes?"
"Sorry to bother you, supreme commander. But one of our recuirtment branches is under investigation. How should we proceed?"
"Depends on which one it is." Rikkiya groaned. As if this wasn't enough….
"Aldera Junior High."
…Oh this was a good day after all.
"…Leave them to fend for themselves." He ordered. "We want to invoke liberation; they've been promoting and encouraging bigotry and supremacy. Besides, I could use a morale boost, and nothing like seeing hot-headed, arrogant fools fall flat on their faces."
"Understood."
The call ended and his mood lifted, Rikkiya's mood increased when he saw he had a free evening. Maybe he could catch a movie!
VINDICATED
The following day, Izuku, Izumi, and Katsuki put their plan against Aldera into motion.
It all began with Katsuki storming past all the extras, shoving them aside, and knocking the punk with the stretchy eyeball Quirk to the ground. While he did this, Izuku made sure his phone was hidden as he recorded the teachers turning a blind eye to his friend's antics. They were gonna see how bad Katsuki would have to get to get sent to the Principal's Office.
While in class, he slammed his hands on Fingers' desk while using his Quirk to get him to stop bugging that girl. This resulted in Fingers finally being told off by the teacher, but Katsuki remained untouched.
Next, he used his Quirk to launch Metal Mouth's tray into his face when he tried picking on the Fish Mutation kid again. Again, no consequences despite the teachers seeing it.
Finally, he went on a rant in class about how the strong should rule over the weak. While this was going on, the camera was focused on their teacher, who was nodding along and even complimenting Katsuki before saying they needed to get back to the math lesson...only for Katsuki to tell him to go fuck himself and eat shit. THEN he was finally sent to the Principal's Office.
"Mr. Bakugou, please, have a seat," The principal said in an oily voice.
Katsuki stomped over with a scowl on his face. He honestly thought he'd never make it here with how every teacher acted like he was a model student. He slouched down into the seat opposite the balding man, who had on a fake smile.
"Hey, don't see what I did wrong. I was just doing as Sensei told me to do."
The Principal's fake smile twitched for a second and bead of sweat greased his crown. Still, he otherwise kept his cool.
"And…what was that?"
Katsuki scoffed. "Only the strongest get to be the best. After all, I'm gonna be the next #1 Hero after All-Might."
The principal nodded in understanding, his smile becoming genuine and his sweat being drapped away.
"Ah, yes; I understand your confusion. You see, Bakugou, we here at Aldera believe you students should learn the importance of strength amongst yourselves. After all, the strength of one's Quirk defines their place in modern society. While it's alright to remind your peers of their place every now and again, we educators already know our place, serving the strong! We all know you and the Midoriyas are destined for greatness and we want to do our best to help you get there. Do you understand me, son?"
"CRYSTAL." Katsuki said through a fake smile.
VINDICATED
After school had ended, the Midoriyas and Katsuki reported everything they had gotten to their parents. At that point, a livid Hisashi made his way to UA to speak with Nedzu about something that needed their utmost attention.
"Ah, Hisashi, to what do we owe the pleasure today?"
"The school my kids are going to is drowning in corruption," Hisashi said. "The staff are letting the students get away with blatant illegal Quirk use and even encouraging toxic Quirk Supremacy ideals."
Nedzu frowned as he heard this, especially when Hisashi presented him with the evidence the kids had recorded, ending with Katsuki's conversation with the principal of Aldera. After taking a sip of tea, he gave a calm yet menacing grin that sent a shiver down Hisashi's spine.
"Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I shall have the school board look into this further" The Principal of UA said. "But please, do tell your children to come to us next time instead of conducting their own illegal investigation."
"Trust me, Inko and I already told them that." Hisashi nodded as he stood up. "Don't worry, I've got Naomasa working a case already. We'll have all the evidence and warrants to burn that hellhole to the ground."
Nedzu couldn't help but cackle in delight. Oh, how he loved it when Hisashi showed his sadistic side. He had taught him well...
VINDICATED
The next day, the students of Aldera were taking pictures and squealing as the head of Deternat made a rare public appearance. Rikkiya smiled and happily gave autographs as he made his way to the principal's office. When asked why he was there, he simply stated:
"I understand that there are some promsing students who need a hand, which I'd like to give."
He then entered the room, already seeing this arrogant sycophant trying to cozy up to him and take in a perceived gift. And it disgusted the businessman.
"Grand Commander, it is an honor to have you here. How can I aid…?"
"You can clean your desk get ready for a trail and then prison life." Rikkiya cut him off in a cold tone. "You are, for lack of a less vulgar term…being 'let go.' Permantly. In all senses of the word."
"B-But Grand Commander...W-Why?! This is-"
Rikiya suddenly grabbed the principal forcefully by the neck and slammed him hard against the wall. The Grand Commander's arm had enlarged to giant size and he was holding the principal tightly to the wall, applying enough force to keep him pinned as black marks formed over his face, contorting with his rageful expression.
"EVERYTHING. You have allowed to happen. At this school. Has poisioned the generation it housed. Not only that, you have perverted Destro's legacy and are too ignorant to realize or even care until this moment."
He then relaxed and dusted off the prinicpal's jacket.
"But don't worry. As much as it is my right as your commander, I'm not going to kill you. Heck, aside from that? I will never touch your again. My role at Deternat is too vlaueable to lose; both for the MLA and my own image. So, I'm leaving this in the hands of the police."
Oustide, there were screams as windows were shattered and the blaring of alarms as officers made their way inside.
"This is farewell." Rikiya calmly said as he turned to leave. "I'll have you know that I will actually be testifying against you in the inevitable trial. You and every single one of your pathetic members of this repulsive disgrace to our cause."
"Sir! GRAND COMMANDER! PLEASE!"
In disgust, Rikiya kicked the principal in the face, breaking his nose and sending him sprawling as he fixed his suit and turned to leave, making sure that Skeptic had hacked the cameras so that nobody would know he was there. Besides, they could simply say that an angry student shunted by this disgraceful curriculum had barged in to assault the principal and everyone would buy it...
VINDICATED
It didn't take long for the Aldera investigation to bare fruit. The multiple examples of blatant illegal Quirk use and bullying caught on security footage were just the tip of the iceberg as the deeper they searched, the more examples of academic sabotage they found. While comparing students' test scores, Nedzu noticed the odd pattern of points being docked from those with "weak" Quirks despite getting the same number of answers right as, if not more than, those with "strong" Quirks.
While they had gathered more than enough evidence to get the district shut down it was soon discovered that several members of staff had connections to the Meta Liberation Army.
However, Nedzu realized that this didn't make sense, as the MLA was always on about the 'Liberation' of Quirks, not 'Supremacy'. It seemed that from the looks of things, this was a rogue branch that the rest of the army wanted nothing to do with.
As Aldera's Principal was being led out of the school in handcuffs, a green glow appeared inside his mouth and he suddenly cried out in pain as it felt like all of his teeth were being forcibly yanked. The man had to later have all of his teeth removed due to the damage resulting in several infections.
Later, during the trial, Inko, who had been accused of said attack, had claimed plausible deniability over the fact and the court just let it slide without issue. She was simply at the scene comforting her children, and she was far from the only telepath/telekinetic linked to Aldera.
There was indeed a big surprise at the trial when Rikiya Yotsubashi, the esteemed CEO of Detnaret, came in as a key witness. He presented the book written by Destro, 'Meta Liberation War', as evidence for the trial.
"This is a highly misunderstood book." He explained. "So many think it on par with 'Mein Kampf' by Adolf Hitler. Its more of a dairy of a remorseful well intended extremist who realized too late the ways he had taken were not the right ones to take and taking responsibility for his actions. It is an introspective of riots, battles and debates, all with the simple theme of being yourself in a changing world. See, the author saw Quirks as akin to the five senses, or keeping fit and healthy. And he argued for the free use of them, trusting most to have the common sense to know where and when to reel them in."
He then downed his glass of water and took a breath.
"….Quite a tragic yet inspiring all the same."
He glared at the former Principal.
"In recent years, it seems that halfwits like you have skim-read or just accepted Wikipedia analysises of it. By doing so you've missed the point of it all. You say Quirks should be free…but only the ones who you feel can be useful."
"I WAS FOLLWING DESTRO'S WILL!" The man on trial screamed. "HELL! I WAS DOING BETTER! I WAS KEEPING THE USELESS DOWN! IF HE HAD DONE THAT HE'D HAVE WON AND WE ALL…!"
"If Destro had done as you claim to having been doing, he'd have been no better than those fools who killed and defiled his mother." Rikkiya cut off. "That was the last thing, he or any decent and intelligent person would want. But then again…you are neither of those."
The principal cowed at that, although he wasn't sure if it was because he still feared his former commander or because it finally dawned on him he had truly failed.
"…If Destro was here?" Rikkiya said as he readied to leave the stand. "…He'd be disgusted and ashamed of this whole affair."
With that, he excused himself.
VINIDCATED
After the trial, the entire staff of Aldera was sentenced to various sentences, all of them sobbing and pleading that they were only following Destro's will. The Principal of Aldera looked particularly broken as if everything he believed in was revealed to be a lie.
Not long after their sentencing, every single one of the staff committed a mass suicide while in holding. The principal was the last one left and he proceeded to carve out his throat with a broken shard of glass before the guards could stop him, dying a slow and agonizing death in the process.
As Nedzu and Hisashi looked over the trial footage, the smartest mammal couldn't help but feel a sinking suspicion about Rikiya himself and his involvement with the trial. Nedzu had a gut feeling and he had the sense to believe Hisashi did too. However, the Detnaret CEO had aided them that day, so they would have to let it slide for right now...
Knightmare Lord A/N:
This is me and Mrotrax's 'Take That' to how most BNHA stories portray the Meta Liberation Army as Quirk Supremacists who hate the Quirkless.
In the next, the Midoriya Twins and Katsuki move to their new school and make some new friends!
Mrotax A/N:
10/10, buddy! Excellent work!
I am personally a fan of the MLA so I'm happy to see them get a bigger role in this story.,
Stay safe and see ya soon!