Best Jeanist blinked at the explanation Hawks gave him. "So let me get this straight. Everyone in the top ten is aware of your League of Villains infiltration."
"Correct."
"And in secret you've also been working with the previously thought defunct Meta Liberation Army."
"Correct."
"Now they have combined forces into an almost unstoppable force with quirk manipulation, super quirks, and numbers."
"Correct."
"And since they suspect you, you promised them to kill me and bring my corpse to them."
"That about sums it up." Hawks spoke, having stared him in the eye this entire time.
"Why me?" Jeanist wanted to know before murdering the man in front of him.
"You're still recovering from All For One, Endeavor is off limits because Dabi wants to kill him, Miruko is off limits because Toga has a crush on her kid, Edgeshot … I'm gonna be honest, he gives me the creeps." The number two hero shrugged. "And you're the only other hero aside from Wash the commission won't give me much flack for offing."
Ah yes, the Wash scandal. Apparently every single bad deed they committed since they were three was scattered, and every piece of nature decided he was a dead man. It would be a miracle if they made it as high as they were next time. "You're talking like I'm just going to go along with it."
"Now now, hear me out." He waved his hands. "I'm not going to kill you, just sleeping beauty." There was a pause. "... Fairy Tale classic?"
"I'm more of an 'in the now' kind of guy." He deadpanned. "Fashion and all that."
"Either way, I'm going to slip you a drug and make it look like you're dead. From there, you'll go off the radar and lay low until I need you again." Well it wasn't the worst idea he's heard, it would allow him to operate with more secrecy at the very least.
"And if Dabi decides to cremate my body to double check?" He asked. There was an awkward silence. "Tell me you have a plan."
"I can say I want to preserve the look of agony on your face and stuff you. The Kirio guy has fetish for despair." That shockingly didn't reassure him.
"I heard rumors that the commission had you do less than savory exploits, so tell me, how far are you willing to go here?"
"..." Hawks was silent for a few minutes, really disturbing compared to his normal attitude. "If you weren't in the top ten, I'd have sliced your neck by now." The fact he didn't so much as blink while saying that said this situation came up far too often.
"You know, people have proclaimed the downfall of All Might would be the downfall of society altogether." Jeanist could only roll his eyes. "I had hoped this would be far from the case."
"I'm doing all that I can to prevent that with everything I got." Hawks looked down. "Because there's something even bigger, even worse than All For One coming, and I hate that we have to involve the next generation into this fucking mess."
Tsunagu rolled his eyes. "No one is involving the next generation in this mess."
"U.A. is already a target, and they outnumber every pro hero by a fucking city." Hawks stated clearly. "We won't have the option … please, I need whatever I can to get us an edge on these bastards …"
"Fine, I'll go along with it for now." Jeanist begrudgingly agreed to this horrid plan. "I remembered a time when being a hero just meant doing something kind."
"That … sounds like a lovely time." The man let out a small and broken smile. "I really hope we can make the world like that one day."
==
Toru sat with Shoto and Bakugo, the latter being banned from phones due to how hostile he was, and the former just came back after making a small mountain of ice pops. "So what do we know about the other quirks he's going to get?" She asked Bakugo.
"He's going to get Float, Smokescreen, and an unknown Quirk." The explosion user rolled his eyes. "Five hundred on it being another emitter."
"I could have sworn we tested Float." Shoto stated. "Just think happy thoughts to lift yourself off the ground."
"Well Dodger hasn't exactly been the picture of happiness lately, hasn't he? At least not since the work study." Again, fuck you Nighteye.
"Well in that case we just need to make him happy." Toru stated. "I'm going to let him play games, have fun, and maybe show him some adult fun." A quick game of seven minutes in heaven ought to do the trick.
"We can't get him booze, it'll damage him in the long run." The both of them stared at Shoto with raised eyebrows. "What?"
"Fair point, but the main issue is that he hates heroes in general. He's just going to keep getting in his own way until he gets over his own shit."
"Well why don't we just talk with them?" She asked, frustrated. "Get a hero to place him on the right track after realizing an epiphany."
"Who the fuck would you even get for that?" Bakugo asked with a stern glare.
"... I'm going to hate myself for this later." Shoto sighed. "What about Endeavor?"
"How the fuck is getting that flaming douche going to make Iruma-kun hate heroes less?" It was times like this that proved her soulmate wasn't the dumbest kid in class.
"He's got experience with changing asshole behavior … and experience in general." The boy sighed. "He's seen it all and has been trying to improve himself at the same time, two birds with one stone. If Miruko, All Might, and Aizawa haven't changed his point of view, this man is likely the only shot we have."
"So next internship, we're heading to Endeavor's agency." Bakugo summed up. "I'm coming with you. He's the only hero that can actually teach me anything I haven't learned by myself yet."
The half and half boy shrugged before turning to her. "I'm sorry Toru, he likely won't accept you. Despite changing he has a thing with strong quirks."
"It's fine … I'm used to not seeing him around other heroes." Sadly enough. "We should focus on training him for possible quirks."
"That's easy, just have Uraraka float train with him." Bakugo waved off in a manner that had her blood boiling. "Zero gravity and float act the same, so when he gets over himself, he'll instinctively know what to do."
"Good point. Might actually help Iruma in the long run to bring her into the fold." Todoroki stated. Why, you were supposed to be on her side!
"Or, and hear me out." She motioned. "We get a wind machine and have him float with that. Eh?" They stared at her. "I think it's a good plan."
"Excusing the fact he's had several bad experiences with giant fans, you can't let whatever rivalry you have with Ochaco get in the way."
"Making sure Dodger doesn't blow himself up takes precedence over you getting laid, Invisalign." Why couldn't she multitask!?
==
Katsuma watched in silence, his feet swinging as he stared quietly at the explosion man. "What are you staring at me for, kid?"
"I dunno, waiting for something heroic?" He responded honestly. "The guys around here never did much and were more like really nice elders, so it's cool to have new heroes around."
"Yeah, well this Island is starting to get on my nerves, so freakin' boring. No villains to fight, not even so much as a purse snatching."
"Can't really say that isn't true. The town is pretty nice in general, so there have never been big fights or disasters." It's why their dad could leave them on their own for so many days at a time.
"Not saying that's a bad thing, but what pisses me off so much is that we're basically just glorified servants for everyone here. I get it, community and trust and all that junk, but my quirk is explosion. It's meant for blowing villains away, not walking old fossils across the street."
"Yeah, you've got a super cool quirk." He muttered. "All I can do is fix up scrapes before I get tired. A bunch of my friends laugh at me and say I can't be a hero with a weak quirk."
For some reason Bakugo flinched, looking out the window. "Do they now …"
"Yeah. I try to train it up but I'd need bigger stuff to heal, like broken arms." Katsuma muttered. "Sis doesn't want me to be a hero cause she says they all just risk their lives."
"Your sister's the one who wasted our time with a fake emergency. I would take her advice with a huge grain of salt." Fair point, that was kind of stupid. "If you're not willing to risk your life, then no, you shouldn't be a hero."
"Risk my life …" He muttered. "I get it!" Katsuma shouted out loudly. "I should put myself in horrible situations and heal myself as training!"
"... This is why Dodger is better with children." The hero in training muttered. "At least wait until you're old enough to handle large amounts of pain. Until then, practice running or something."
"Understood, Senpai!" The boy flinched again.
"I'm not a Senpai." The explosive person growled out. "Just…whatever people say about you, whether it's support or insults, don't pay attention to it. The only one who can make you a hero is you."
"Alright!" He stood up. "I'm gonna go run now!" He was gonna be a hero.
==
"Here's an ice pop Maharo." He handed the little girl a cherry one. "Sorry, I know I promised we'd do something fun but a lot of people have been asking for help. I think the phone line is damaged for some reason." Weird part was even the smart people didn't understand the problem.
"Great, we're stuck with twenty weird heroes and I can't call my dad." Maharo rolled her eyes as she took a bite out of her treat.
"Sorry you can't call him. He seems like a nice guy." Plus at least he didn't make her work like his parents did. "And yeah, we're weird. But we wouldn't have it any other way." He smiled as he bit into his raspberry pop.
"Does being a hero make you crazy?" The girl asked grumpily.
"I think it's more of being around other crazy people, but I'm not sure. Ojiro seems to have stayed the same somehow." There was only so much you could do with a tail.
"I don't get why my brother wants to be one so much. It's all he talks about lately." Maharo fumed. "It's dangerous and everyone gets hurt! It just seems to be a stupid job."
"It is. Most of the pros I've met seem to be okay with making really dumb decisions, which is why I hate heroes."
The girl stared at him. "You hate heroes but you're training to be one?" Right, he forgot a lack of context made that weird.
"It was because someone asked me at first, then it was for money, then it was to help people, now it's too far to turn back." He explained. "A hero should just make people happy and safe. You don't need to be a hero to help people, but that's what they should do. But they don't."
"Finally, someone that actually talks sense around here." Yeah, being a big brother did make him a bit wiser. "If I can get Katsuma to see it like that, maybe I can convince to be a doctor or paramedic like Dad is. They literally have the same healing quirk, it should be a no brainer."
"I mean Recovery-Nurse is a hero." He shrugged. "She kisses people and makes them better." He didn't get why she was a hero and not a doctor, but maybe it was just because she knew about One For All. "How does his power work?"
"He touches people and gets himself tired as they heal." Maharo explained.
"With Recovery-Nurse, it's the patient that gets tired." Oh, hopefully that didn't mean he would die if he got too tired. "I know I'd rather have that quirk than one that breaks my body. Weird that I don't have any scars from it though." Then again he was very careful before he got control, and Recovery-Nurse warned him about not doing what he did to Shoto again. The only other time he fought that hard was against Muscle Man, and All Forty One fixed him after that. He internally shivered at the memory. "Well, as long as he's happy being a good person, then everything should be fine."
"I hope so. Dad's at work all the time and Mom's not around anymore. I'm the only one here that can protect him."
"Well don't worry." Iruma assured her. "If a villain comes around, I'll punch them and make sure your brother doesn't get hurt at all." He smiled.
==
Ten ate vigorously as they traveled. "You know, manners are a thing. You could really learn from them." Mummy deadpanned.
"I'm currently giving five of us an undetectable ride to an island while simultaneously jamming their signals with an electromagnetic pulse. Let me keep my stamina and concentration up as I please." He growled out. "I swear if quirks didn't smell disgusting I'd have eaten you."
"Why the hell did you even go through the process anyway?" Slice asked, keeping her hair on guard. "Nine we get, because he needs to steal a quirk to keep him alive, but that doesn't explain you."
He stayed silent, letting the air blow by them as he ate, taking a large gulp as he collected his thoughts. "I was alone. My quirk made me feel more than normal." He spoke, looking at his hand. "When I was harassed the pain tripled, when I was in the streets the cold felt like frostbite. I looked for anything I could to never be weak, to never be on the bottom. So I took the surgery after hearing about it from … someone." The memory was really muddy for some reason. "I took the opportunity and let them experiment on me. Apparently I was going to be brainwashed like Nine here."
"My mind is as clear as it's always been. They could never hope to break a strong will like mine." More like Ten freed him before they could complete the process.
"Luckily I was in too much agony for it to take place. My weak ass quirk that only caused me suffering saved me, broke me out of every attempt …" He muttered. "So when we were on that transport attacked by heroes, I broke away my binds and broke him out too. He offered me a crew where the strong could do what they want … and here I am." His stomach growled as he returned to eating. "Now I can use multiple Quirks and fucking Magic."
"Okay, multiple quirks is one thing, the whole world knows about All For One, but magic?" Chimera huffed out a puff of smoke. "Don't try to bullshit us now."
"No, he's right." Nine spoke up and took the group's attention. "I took that scanning quirk, remember? He's not entirely human, he has the DNA of Five Quirks and Five … something. It's responsible for the horns, wings, tail, and whatever the hell is wrong with your appetite."
"Occasionally on the street you can see people claiming they're demons, but I always thought they were just high on the same shit." Mummy muttered.
"Probably a good thing All For One was locked up when he was." Slice muttered. "Imagine if he figured out whatever the hell they did to Ten. They already cloned his quirk for Nine."
"An act of god …" Nine messed with the clouds around them, looking at the sparks. "Almost ironic in a way. All of this lining up for us, the ones who will become the strongest of all, and lay claim to the world."
Originally Ten would've just called him an MLA lunatic and strike it on his own, but he was apparently half demon now with nine other powers at his beck and call. If that could happen, who's to say he couldn't rule the world?
"So did you guys hear about Humanrise making a move soon?" Chimera laughed.
"Humawhat?" He and Nine asked, on the same page for a change.
"Oh, a cult in Europe that worships, get this, Quirkless people." A howl of laughter echoed all around. "They claim they're the 'untainted' and have this whole plan to kill every quirk user by exposing them to large amounts of trigger."
"Wouldn't that just make them stronger?" Mummy asked, giggling. "Maybe being around broken retards all the time wiped them off their intelligence."
"Being practically an extinct species would make anyone desperate." Nine said with a slight snort. "Our first act to establish the new world order will be cleansing the world of their weakness."
"... Aren't you going to make a kid quirkless when you steal his Quirk?" Ten asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I won't kill the kids or their father personally as thanks. The new world will kill them off naturally." Eh, fair enough. He'd have to resist his instincts though. Whenever a quirk was removed, they always smelled … delicious.