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Chapter 18: The League’s Offer
🕑 Added 2024-03-13 18:50:12 +0000 UTCBefore anything else, I want to state my respects for one of the GOATS of manga and anime, Akira Toriyama, as it was announced last week, Friday/Saturday, that he sadly passed away. Love or hate Dragon Ball, it was a trailblazer for anime, both in Japan and the rest of the world. For me, it was the first anime I ever watched as a kid in South Africa and my first taste of a 'not safe' anime; before then, my very Christian parents forbade anything they disapproved of, only for one day after school, Dragon ball was on, and my journey into weebdom and anime started. So many artists were inspired by him, including all 3 mangakas behind the Big Three, One Piece, Bleach and Naruto. The man even influenced things like Steven Universe and The Bad Guys.
So, I want to say, from the bottom of my heart, thank you, Toriyama, for being such a big part of my childhood. You were gone too soon, but we know you're in a better place. I hope we continue to keep your spirit alive through your works and by taking inspiration from them to create new memories.
Line Break
Well, the water is now gone, and it sucks ass. Still, I'm one of those who prepare like my parents taught me, so I have stored water. I cooked a crap ton of food yesterday, plus my laundry is done, so it's just bathing and cleaning that I need to worry about. Also, have you ever argued with a lecturer about something, only to realise you're both idiots? Because that happened to me over a Zoom call, and I swear, we laughed for a solid minute before we ended it.
And remember, a fan of my works has gone and created a TV Troupes page for this, which you can find at: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/EmeraldFurnacePathOfStorms
Chapter 18: The League’s Offer
In the minds of the public, villains were vile, cruel, cowardly, and constantly scheming, always plotting their next big attack or otherwise engaging in some terrible and illegal activity. Kids' shows would dress it up in a more parent-association-approved light. Still, the message was started young to help dissuade people from turning to villainy or crime. Perhaps there was some truth, but Midoriya knew it wasn't to be found with his friend group.
They still didn't have a name for one, unlike so many other gangs or groups, big and small, but that wasn't for lack of trying as it was more that they couldn't decide on a name as it was either taken, too close to another, boring, too long or just flat out embarrassing. But they knew that they'd need to figure out one quirk as one name in the media that had been catching on was the 5 Thunders, which they all hated, especially Nine despite the homage to his quirk, or maybe it was because of it.
The group had been relaxing most of the day in a more secure and permanent hide-out. Once he finished his lessons, he and Hasaki packed their stuff away and went to the living room, where they plumped themselves on the couch, but rather than watch TV, Hasaki was handling Midoriya’s hair, which had grown quite a bit in the time since their debut 2 months back. Makihara watched TV as he sharpened his new knife, though Izuku would sooner call it a short sword. Nine sat in the corner with a desk lamp reading a book, one of many he had got. Lastly, Kon was in the Kitchen getting himself something to eat, Koharu resting on his much larger shoulders as she waited for the heteromorph to get her a snack.
It was a weird sight, to be sure, far from what everyone had told him, all he had seen and heard, but painted a group of villains to be, and he loved it as he felt safe and wanted. Case in point, having someone around to help him style his unruly hair.
"What the hell is up with this hair? I've tried 5 different relaxers, and none seem to work." Hasaki weaved her hand through the mess of hair atop Midoriya’s head, though she was as careful and soft as any barber.
"I probably get it from my dad since my mom's always had straight hair," Midoriya replied, though he couldn't tell her what his father looked like. The man had always been busy with work, even before his quirk came in. That prompted him to wonder if his father had been home more often now to check in on MomMom.
Hasaki could pick up on his concern, even if not the cause. “Your father, whoever he is, is a bane of all barbers.” She joked, since for as terrible a parent her father had been to her, it hated the customers who didn't have the hair that could easily be worked with. But he had also found many ways to handle them.
“Maybe we can do up my hair like I normally do?” Midoriya asked. He had come to wear his hair in a bun whenever he was out, so much so that, along with his choice in fashion, people wondered if he really was a boy, which didn't bother him as much as it used to.
"But it seems like that's the only thing you ever do. How about we try some braids with a bun combo?" Hasaki suggested that they were the only ones who put time into cleaning and tending to her hair. It was…nice to have someone to bond with over her skills as a hairdresser, even if Izuku's stubborn hair led to them working more on her hair than his.
“Wouldn’t that need my hair to be relaxed first to style it?” Midoriya asked as that seemed to be the crux of the issue. Hasaki hummed in response.
"Sure, but I have one more idea for that, though it's going to take a couple of days to find a store that sells it." She replied, having to figure out a way to get it without alerting the pros and cops. This wasn't a store you could just rob, and she would rather keep a low profile when not actively committing crimes.
“Any news on our next job?” Kon asked Makihara, letting their two youngest members continue to talk about hair as he sat, a plate of food in hand.
"Nothing that I know of, but it's not like we're hurting for cash," Makihara replied, as they had been busy since the double heist and, at present, had over 150 million in 18 different accounts across Japan, with only billion in offshore accounts, all set up by Giran who was proving why he was the best middle man in the underworld, and one of the most wanted people as thanks to him and people like them, not even All Might could completely crush the criminal element if he and the authorities even knew where and who to target, to begin with.
“True, and we’re going a pretty good job at spreading our name, punks are learning that we’re nothing like them and treating us with some respect.” Kon enjoyed that part, as people at times still gave annoyingly familiar looks, but no one had dared to cross him. After all, when you were known as one of those villains that could take on pros and win, only the brave or idiotic would give you a reason to fight them.
“So long as they don’t start anything with us, I could care less what they do.” Makihara didn't care much about that part, as he cared that it made things easier for them in the underworld.
“We’re making steps towards our goal, but we're still new to the game and only recognised players to keep note of, not much else," Hasaki noted that, for all their success, they weren't the type of group that people would stop and listen to, never mind fear enough to follow their lead on things.
"We need to do something big, real big, like storm the office of a pro in the 200s. Imagine how fun that’ll be." Midoriya giggled as they swayed side to side at the thought of how that could do. The fighting, the passion, the flames. It was as beautiful as it was enjoyable.
"Despite the brats' desire for arson," Kon started, ignoring Midoriya's indigent huff. We do need something bigger than our normal requests.” With that said, they turned to their silent lover of literature.
"Wouldn't you happen to have heard something from Giran, Nine? Last we spoke, he seemed confident that we were getting offers for work all the time," Makihara asked.
"There was the one, but I have my reservations about it," Nine replied, placing a bookmark in his book before closing it and gently setting it down. First of all, they're not being cheap with the payment, as they'll offer 7 million." It was perhaps a testament to the fact that none of them were motivated by money, and they didn't immediately jump on board or grow excited at the prospect of a payday of 1.4 million between them.
“Which could only mean it’s something unpleasant. I hope Giran knows we don’t take assassinations.” Hasaki replied as they had made it clear to the broker that if someone wanted someone else dead, they weren't going to be their hitmen.
"He does, and this one can reframe from killing the targets." Nine replied.
“Plural.” Kon picked up on that, perhaps explaining the high cost in addition to the difficulty level or unpleasantness.
"It's not just a robbery, sabotage or hunting someone down. It's an invasion.” Nine started. “They want us to assist in their plans to assault U.A.” At that, their eyes widened, and that wasn't just bold; it was unprecedented. Hero schools were just never considered targets. They were never seen as worth it for the expected backlash any group involved would take.
Midoriya was especially shocked by this, partly because he knew that a certain dirty blond was a student there now, which could mean this would be the first time in months they had seen each other.
As the shock subsided, disbelief settled in. “Is this client an idiot? U.A. might just have mainly brats, but they’re the teachers to worry about as well. Not to mention they just signed on All Might.” Makihara pointed out that in a group, they were formidable, perhaps capable of taking on pros in the top 50s, but All Might? He was not just on another level. He was playing another game. You'll have better luck making a mountain move than defeating the symbol of peace.
“They could offer 5 times what they're giving, and I would still refuse." Kon agreed with Makihara
“I would have done the same, but there was more to this than just the offer. Giran didn't give up the client's name, but it was clear he's scared of them." Nine replied, his brow creasing as he had known Giran for years, and he didn't scare easy. He would argue one could put a gun to his head and intend to shoot him, and all he'd do is just continue to smoke those cheap cigarettes of his.
"Giran? Scared? That's hard to believe that hard-ass would let you beat the crap out of him before he gave up client info; what could scare him?" Hasaki stated that Giran wasn't the strongest, perhaps the smartest info broker/middleman in the underworld, but he was one of the most observant, business savvy and cautious. He was also a man of integrity. Even if death could be on the table, he wouldn't dare reveal private information on clients, but on the other hand…
“Less than a handful of names come to mind, all unlikely.” Nine replied as he thought of the former ruler of the underworld, but that didn’t fit his M.O, namely being that he sent his people to find and ‘persuade’ you if you were lucky.
"Either way, I think we can at least hear them out. If we don't like it, we can refuse and look for something else," he finished.
“I gotta ask if this is really worth it. And why you, of all people, would even entertain this?" Makihara asked as Nine was also cautious.
The man looked pensive for a moment, a rare sight for him as he was always so calm and sure of himself and the situation. "Partly, it's because of curiosity, but it's also caution," he replied.
“Really?” Midoriya asked.
"There are only 2 types of people that would even consider an assault on the U.A. The first and most common would be foolish, and the second is the powerful. I would normally cut this to be the first, but there have been rumours in the underworld for the last couple of months. Nothing concrete, and no one story is the same, but it would appear that the old king might not be as dead as we all thought." Nine's statement drained the colour from Makihara's face, while Kon's fist tightened so fast that he shattered the plate he held.
“But, you said he's not been seen or heard from in years." Makihara stuttered out, leaving Midoriya and Hasaki in the dark about the situation.
“I’m sorry, but who is this 'Old King'? An old crime boss?” Hasaki asked as she had never seen the 3 of them look so terrified about a person that wasn't even here.
Kon took the chance to explain things and calm his nerves as his animalistic instincts were more than a little weary about that…that thing they called a person. "He was the boss of bosses. He ruled the criminal underworld with an iron fist for over 70 years. At his peak, not even pros could stand up to him; whatever he wished for happened, whoever he wanted gone, vanished, and if they turned up at all, it was as a corpse." He explained.
"I heard the older folks talk about him. They always whispered like he was some ghost that responded to his name. But didn't All Might put a stop to him like he did organised crime?" Kon added the old kind, whose real name was never known even to the most connected within the underworld, as the boogeyman of Japan. With the rise of All Might, there was a concentrated and long-lasting effort by the authorities and civilians to forget he existed. He was the Voldemort of Japanese hero society, a blight that no one who knew would ever speak about in polite company.
"Rumour had it that they battled 5 years ago and that he was killed in the fight." Nine informed them, which got Midoriya to realise something. 5 years, that was when All Might said he fought that villain, didn't he? The one so powerful that he could nearly kill him? All Might must have been in terrible shape after that battle, so much so that perhaps they never secured the body of this defeated villain, and if All Might managed to live despite what should have been lethal injuries, who's to say the other guy didn't as well.
Nine continued, not noticing Midoriya's mind moving a mile a minute thanks to a piece of information he never shared with them. "That rumour was given credence since, after a while, he vanished and, if not dead, either was unable to or allowed his empire to crumble and be carved up by competitors who kept their heads down or ambitious underlings that wanted their slice of the pie."
Listening in, Midoriya started putting the clues together, as All Might's hero time had been reduced to what was only 3 hours last year. It could easily be lower now. So, if a similar thing happened to this villain, and he was nearly killed, he wouldn't have been in the position to continue to rule, which would explain why people thought he was dead, as if he's not seen. What else could he be?
"Okay then, let's say he's still alive. Why now, of all times, when All Might, who might have been the one that injured him so badly he couldn't show his face for years, is now a teacher at U.A.?" Makihara asked the obvious question.
“Does he want a rematch or something?” Hasaki followed up with one, and Nine shook his head as he didn't have these answers.
"I would say whoever this figure is might want to rebuild first and foremost, as I can't imagine his empire survived this long without him at the helm." He stated that even if they refused this, it wasn't something they could ignore, not if they wished to reach their goals
“What are some of these rumours about?” Midoriya asked, their attention shifting to him. “Like, how do people think he’s made a come-back? He could just be dead.”
“You recall the Sky Egg Incident?” Nine asked him, and the group was able to put the pieces together from there.
“He was involved in that?” Hasaki asked as that was one of the biggest news stories in the last couple of years. After all, it wasn't every day that monsters assaulted what was known as a Tokyo landmark.
"That's what the rumours claim, as people think that only he and his resources could create those…things that blew the tower up." Nine's frown said enough of his opinions of those creatures, as they had seen the footage or the pictures. It was clear that whatever those things were couldn't be natural. Still, no information on their origins was ever made public. "There is even talk that those disappearances in those underground fighting rings were linked to him, the king gaining new recruits after so many were arrested, died or defected, but there's no proof of any of this."
“So, people are making assumptions. Is that what you're telling us?" Kon crossed his arms; Koharu, still riding his shoulders, also looked over to Nine.
“Correct.” Nine didn’t bother lying, as he was just in the dark as them. With all that said, the group sat on it for a few minutes, thinking about their best move, as it seemed like a high risk with little reward. Still, perhaps it wasn't a thing that had short-term rewards but long-term benefits, as Midoriya didn't want the guy that could nearly kill All Might around, nor did he want him to act in ways they couldn't predict.
Because of that, he raised his hand. "If this king is truly returned, we can't just sit by and do nothing. He sounds like the type that would either force her under him or just kill us. I think it would be best to try and gather information.”
As Kon cleaned up the mess he had made with his plate and now ruined food, he agreed with him. "He's not wrong, and I'm not in the business of being someone else's attack dog. Besides, if we could get our hands on some of that stuff he must have, it'll only help our cause."
"We're not making whatever the fuck those things were," Makihara stated, getting a glare from the heteromorph.
“And when did I say I wanted to?” This led to an argument between the two as Hasaki rolled their eyes. They might have been on the same team, but those two had strong opinions and were as stubborn as mules.
Regardless, she was on the side to try it. “It'll serve our purposes on 2 fronts. Depending on what we learn, we gain insight into a threat, and if the plan isn’t terrible, increase our notoriety by attacking the top hero school and getting away with that.”
"Then it's settled, I'll contact Giran later and get the details of where we'll meet them." Giran nodded, getting up to go make the call.
Line Break
A couple days later, the group arrived at a weird sight. They hadn't expected a seedy bar or an old warehouse, but they weren't expecting to see an old hotel. The property was surrounded by a chain link fence and yellow construction tape. The sign outside listed it as the Zeltros hotel; underneath, it was written in large, bold front that it was scheduled to be demolished. A good place as any to host a secret meeting as the construction equipment round implied this place would be gone in a few days, taking whatever evidence they could possibly leave behind with it.
Stepping to the front door, they were let inside by a doorman of all things and directed to the ballroom; as they walked through the abandoned building, they picked signs of more than just a few people. First Kon tracked their scents, same as Koharu before Kon heard voices up ahead, soon enough they heard it as well as they entered the ballroom and found that they weren’t the only ones called for this meeting, as the room at least 100 other villains here.
A cursory glance didn't yield much skill as most seemed like low-level villains and back-alley thugs, the type that acted as fodder for All Might to punch in his favourite cartoons growing up. Some of whom Midoriya recognised, in turn, recognised him or their group and immediately turned away. Others stared in awe at their presence as it became apparent that they were the only people of note present, which Midoriya wasn't sure he should take as a compliment or a red flag.
Considering this was meant to be a plan to take on U.A. and its students, which could include Kacchan and All Might, he would take it as a red flag.
Koharu seemed to share his sentiment. The snake had grown quite a bit, reaching over 2.3m long and weighing over 1.5kg. For her species, she was quite large and quite noticeable in his person, which only made him stick out all the more, even when put up against the rest of his friends.
Back to her feelings about the situation, she thought it was encouraging that they were the uncontested top dogs in the room. Nor did she like how they all acted like scared or awed children, which Midoriya explained as merely acting as any human would when they felt threatened in the presence of a stronger being.
"If they want a demonstration, we'll give them one, but we won't pick fights." He stated. But that chance presented itself moments later as one of the villains' present, one that either didn't recognise them or was a fool that did, got sick of how the room quieted when Midoriya and co had walked in. Stomping over, her approach too loud to ignore, they turned to face this woman. She wasn't the largest present but well-built for a woman. She had pale skin and dressed plainly, a thug in all but name but one with an ego.
Reaching them, she looked down on both him and Hasaki, being taller than both yet still feeling the need to tilt her head to increase this divide, as if she could only accept speaking to them when they appeared so small that she looked down her nose at them. "I don't know what makes you brunch such a big deal. You barely look like you can throw a punch." Before they could tell her to leave, in less polite terms, her gaze went to Izuku, from mocking to disgust.
“And you, the hell you think this is? A cosplay event?” She seemed offended by his presence, and Koharu was the same; she wanted to bite the woman to get her shut up.
"I would assume it's not," Midoriya replied, keeping civil as Nine turned his attention away, like Kon, as neither saw this as worth their time and trusted Izuku to handle it.
“And yet you still dress like that,” She sneered at him, showing no respect for him as a villain or person, which got on his nerves as she placed a hand on his shoulder, a faux gesture of goodwill. “So, here's some advice: Get out of here before you get hurt." Oh, that was what this was. She wanted to try and intimidate him, maybe show that they weren't so strong as a group, if he could falter.
Time to demonstrate that he was no weak link.
He grabbed her wrist as fast as a viper strike and held it tight. Keeping his eyes on her, without so much as a twitch on his face, he started squeezing with far more force than she could have expected, as his clothes hid the fact that he was as in great a shape as she was, mountain-living and then villain work didn't leave much in the way for weakness. In the privacy of his thoughts, he was amazed that he was so strong that he only needed to call upon half as much power from his quirk as he would have done a year ago.
Trapped, the woman felt her wrist start to hurt from the force and heat that Midoriya was putting off as a mere side effect. But his eyes got to her as they weren't cruel; they wouldn't be vile. They held an innocence to them, entrenched compassion and kindness. Still, they also had an intense inferno that always burned and always sought release. She saw how he didn't hold it back because it was wrong, but rather, it seemed to be as a part of him as his compassion.
Because to him, to burn was to be kind, which scared her more than anything else.
Keeping his grip on her just a little longer, he stated with as much calm as one would when ordering a coffee. “Same to you. But this is an important meeting. If you still want to fight after, I’ll fight you.” Without warning, he spat out a massive cloud of steam right in her face, sending her to the floor.
"Dammit, my eyes, my fucking eyes!" Midoriya ignored her yelling and pain; it wasn't like that was enough to cause damage; she'd have irritable eyes for the next couple of hours. Looking around, his gaze challenged others to step up, to test him, or make light of how he chose to dress.
No one did. Instead, someone clapped.
Looking at the source, they saw a skinny, pale guy at the top of the stairs. His raggy light blue hair didn't look like he cared all that much for it. But what was eye-catching about this person was the hands—the 14 hands that grasped different parts of his body, including one that acted as a mask of all things. Midoriya didn't know if they were real but wasn't eager to confirm or deny that either.
Nine made a surprised sound, quiet enough that only his group heard it. He had been keeping an eye on the room even as Midoriya had his little altercation, and he hadn't even noticed that hand-covered person. In fact, he didn't know how he could have gotten to where he was without being seen.
Ceasing his applause to Midoriya's show of power, the villain spoke. "That's the kind of spirit I'm looking for, but save the energy for the job, I wouldn't want to exhaust your stamina points early."
Speaking again, they captured their attention and seemed to stare at all of them despite the hand covering his face. "As for the rest of you, I'll keep this short. You're here because we want to raid the dungeon known as U.A. More accurately, we're planning to hit one of their first-year classes scheduled to be away from the main campus, away from most of the heroes." Okay, that sounded a little more feasible than a full-on attack.
"And then what? You just want to break in and rough up some brats?" Someone asked, sounding too eager to fight the students now that they knew they wouldn't be facing off against teachers. Koharu called such a mindset the mind of a coward and scavenger, and Izuku agreed.
Their client didn't share those concerns as he waved off the question. "I don't care for the students; do what you want with them. What I want is to kill All Might." That second part sparked fierce opposition and disbelief, as villains and thugs alike called such a thing impossible, a pipe dream and accused their client of being an idiot, on trigger or both. To his credit, Izuku couldn't see if the pushback was getting to the man, whom he'd call hand-guy, till he learned what his villain's name was.
If anything, he acted like he expected it, which wasn't much. Still, it at least meant that we were hopelessly delusional. Also, Nine tapped his shoulder, all their shoulders and shook his head. Nine hadn't known what the old king of the underworld looked like, but he didn't think whoever this character was was the real deal. They didn't have that same presence or the air of authority, and they certainly didn't respect them through fear, all things that someone would expect from such a prominent figure in the underworld. If anything, he seemed a little green.
“Yeah, it would be moronic to square up against the game’s final boss with a bunch of low-level mobs like you. But I have 2 aces up my sleeve. The first being out way in and out,” At his side, a man seemingly made from dark mist appeared, their features imperceivable thanks to what could easily be a lack of a face, all that they could out was their glowing yellow eyes and the fact that contrary to the first guy, they were well dressed.
Nodding towards the new arrival, hand-guy continued to speak. "This is Kurogiri, our resident teleporter, and with him, as our bioengineered weapon: Nomu." With that introduction, the teleporter wordlessly opened a portal as dark as their body. From it, a monster stepped through, and Izuku meant that in the literal sense.
Standing a little under 2m taller and looking like it was over 250kg of raw muscle, muscles that looked so dense that Izuku wouldn't be surprised if the creature could bend steel like twigs. Besides the raw power the thing must have had, its entire body was covered with tar black skin, far too dark to be natural, which was only made all the more evident by the fact there were spots on its arms and upper torso where its flesh seemed to have torn and healed over like its skin couldn't keep up with muscle growth.
Its eyes held no life, no intelligence or emotion. But when its brain was exposed like that, it was too easy to conclude that whatever the hell this thing was, it wasn't natural; as the man said, it was bioengineered, and it showed. While some were shocked, scared or disgusted by this creature's existence, their host seemed pleased by it, tapping its side like it was a car he was selling. "This creature was designed to counter All Might's OP powers and moves and let us do what we all thought impossible: Kill All Might."
"What the hell is that thing? It barely looks like it knows where it is. How the hell is that going to fight All Might?" Someone asked, their knees looking weak, not that Izuku blamed them as that…thing gave off such a bad vibe it was near sickening.
In response to this question, the hand-guy pointed at the person who asked, making them sweat all the more. “Nomu, fetch.” He gave a simple command. They didn't know what they had expected. Perhaps it would come alive with intelligence or slowly make its way over, bashing aside anyone or anything in its way. Maybe it would use some kind of quirk.
Nomu did none of them. Before Izuku or anyone else could even notice, the creature vanished from its spot and reappeared in a gust of wind behind its target. They didn't even have time to react to this immense showing of speed as the man was grabbed by the back of his head. The two vanished yet again, returning to their spot at the top of the stairs, its screaming, terrified target in hand.
Izuku felt himself start to sweat, which was shared by most people in the room, including Nine. Izuku knew he wasn't the best or the fastest, as he was still a rookie, but he thought he could keep up with the big dogs. But he hadn't even seen Nomu move. Koharu was much the same as she was now, keeping her gaze locked on this threat.
Hand-guy seemed pleased with this showing of power and raw speed, all products of the Nomu’s physique, not some quirk. "Nomu is far stronger than anything you've ever been, and as party leader, I want to clarify this. If you take this job, you'll do what I said when I saw it. If not, I'll make you regret it like this guy."
Hand-guy proved his point when he reached for the still-captured villain's neck. Once his hand grasped around the struggling man's neck, to their horror, they watched the poor man's neck not snap or crushed but start to decay, with blood vessels bursting both due to that. How the man continued to scream and struggle, but only for a few seconds before they went limp; a couple seconds after that, their neck decayed all the way through, letting their now headless corpse fall to the floor in a bloody splat.
With its target now dead, Nomu just dropped the severed head, which bounced and rolled down the stairs to their collective feet, something looking away or throwing up at the grisly sight as they could see in the man's death expression how terrified and in pain he was before his soul departed.
Safe to say that no one backed out after that and remained for Hand-guy, named Shigaraki Tomura, explained the plan to them and how it was set to start in just 2 days. But where the rest of the villains left, Izuku and company remained because it was made clear by now that everyone else was recruited either through fear or the promise of creating a slash by attacking such a high-value target and maybe getting away. Nothing was said about payment like it was for them, and they wanted answers.
Line Break
Stepping through a portal, Izuku found that they had been taken to, of all places, a bar. There wasn't anyone present, but the TV in the corner was on, if not showing anything other than the message 'audio only'. Followed by Shigaraki, then came Kon, Nine, Hasaki and Makihara. Kurogiri, the teleporter, was last as he closed the portal behind them and walked behind the bar, managing the place in a way that only a bar-tender could, which explained why he was dressed so formally when compared to Shigaraki who looked like anything but the colour red would offend him.
They noticed that the Nomu wasn't present, but it had been sent through another portal to heavens knew where. "So, you heard what I had to say, so are you in or not?"
Nine was about to speak, but Midoriya beat him to the punch. “How sure are you that All Might will be there?” He asked, Nine raising an eyebrow at how proactive Izuku was, as he usually left negotiations to him. They all did.
"Don't worry about that; we have our sources," Shigaraki replied, keeping whatever secrets he had for himself.
"We can assure you that it's a solid plan of action, and we have taken the appropriate measures as we've already enlisted the aid of a villain whose quirk will be most useful in keeping our targets contained and isolated," Kurogiri added that as he made Shigaraki a drink, he passed it to him. Izuku noted the weird way Shigaraki held the glass, always with his pinkie out.
Nine kept his eyes peeled, noting the TV in the corner, and suspected that while Shigaraki might be the face for this so-called 'League of Villains', he wasn't the one pulling the strings fully. That, and the fact that the Nomu wasn't something one could just make without serious backing made his suspicions all the stronger.
After making his choice, he stated his demands: "It'll be the 7 million, but only 2 of us will be joining you."
“Done. Just one of you is easily worth 30 of those morons.” Nine didn’t reply, though he found it weird that Shigaraki would so casually agree, as he was expecting a fight. Such lax behaviour and attitude towards cash either meant he had so much of it that it wasn't a concern, or more likely, it wasn't his money being used, so he didn't value it nearly as much as he should.
“So, which of you am I getting? The Big guy and you?” Shigaraki asked, his eye going towards the two most physically intimidating of the group.
“We’ll do it.” Hasaki stepped up, followed by Midoriya. If someone was to face off against U.A. students, possibly Kacchan, then he had to be part of that.
Shigaraki didn't seem pleased with them or how their friends didn't voice any opposition to this. “You expect me to pay that much for a brat and some chick?”
“This chick can slice your throat from here before you can blink." Hasaki narrowed her eyes as she found this man as pleasant as a bad head cold. She wasn't going to let him demean her or her skills. Midoriya agreed that he might be the youngest one here, but he had earned his place.
Shigaraki still looked against the idea, but Kurogiri leaned over. "Master Shigaraki, perhaps it would be best to take their offer. After all, they've all proven themselves against other gangs and law enforcement. These are, in particular, the ones that escaped Hawks."
“They bested someone with a speed build?” Shigaraki asked, his eye looking them over. While he didn't put much stock into it, Hawks was a speed runner who had made a name for himself. To escape him wasn't an easy feat. “Fine, but they better be worth it.”
"We shall wire the first half of the payment through Giran. It should show up sometime tomorrow." Kurogiri bowed to them before they were ported back to the hotel, and he offered to take them straight home. They didn't trust them enough to know its location.
Comments
Yvetal247
Never seen someone implement events from vigilantes before. Nice!
