MHA Universe, Earth, Japan, Yokohama.
The evening after the Battle Trial, a slim young man standing at about 5'9" tall sat atop a bar stool in a small, abandoned bar in the Kamino Ward of Yokohama City while playing a video game on a handheld console. This young man had long, uneven, messy greyish-blue hair, pale skin, scars over his right eye and the left side of his mouth, and small red irises. There were also a great number of wrinkles around his eyes while his lips were dry and chapped.
On the other side of the bar, a man whose entire body seemed to be composed of blackish-purple mist wore an elegant dark grey vest, a white dress shirt, a black tie, a pair of black slacks, and a metallic brace that covered everything from his collarbones to just below his glowing yellow eyes stood while cleaning a glass.
As an abandoned bar, the location was nothing to write home about. Yet, no one could say that the space was not kept clean. On top of that, hanging on the wall opposite the bar was a pair of televisions. Though, they were much closer together than you would normally see in a normal bar.
"Damn it!" The young man shouted as he raised his right hand with the console in its grip. "Those bastards have to be hacking. There's no way they could pull off that turn at that speed."
As his words fell, the young man brought his hand down at high speed, about to smash the console into the bar top. Though, it would be unclear to anyone watching whether he was doing it purposefully or due to a moment of rage.
"Please don't, Shigaraki-San." The humanoid cloud of mist said calmly as he looked up from the glass he was cleaning. "Recovering your saved data was a pain the last time you destroyed your game."
Despite the humanoid cloud of mist's warning, the young man, Shigaraki Tomura, had no intention of heeding his warning, making it clear that this outburst was, indeed, caused by rage, rather than a sudden destructive impulse.
Especially since, thanks to his [Quirk], [Decay], destroying the console would be as easy as touching it with all five of his fingers and activating his [Quirk] to decay it into dust.
*Buzz!*
Yet, when the sound of one of the televisions on the wall turning on sounded, Tomura's hand, which was only a few inches away from smashing the console into the bar top, came to a complete stop.
Looking at the television that powered on, on its own, neither Tomura nor the humanoid cloud of mist seemed to be surprised. Nor did the fact that the screen was completely black. Instead, Tomura dropped the game console onto the bar and turned around, giving the television his full attention. Meanwhile, the humanoid cloud of mist bowed his head, his actions both polite and elegant.
"Good evening, Sensei." The humanoid cloud of mist was the first to speak.
"And a good evening to you, as well, Kurogiri." A deep, smooth voice said through the television's speakers.
"Sensei, how much longer do we have to wait?" Tomura asked, sounding much like a petulant child. "Waiting is so boring~~~."
"Be patient, Tomura-Kun." The voice said calmly. "The time is almost upon us. However, we may need to make a slight alteration to our plan."
"Huh? What for?" Tomura asked in a confused tone.
"Because our mole has relayed some rather interesting information." The voice said with a hint of amusement in his tone. "To think, when I had the members of the Soramoto Family killed, I did not deem it necessary to end the life of their child because he only had what I assumed to be a short-distance teleportation [Quirk]. It seems that was quite the oversight."
"I assume that means the boy's [Quirk] had more to it than reported?" The humanoid cloud of mist, Kurogiri, asked politely.
"Indeed." The voice from the television replied. "According to our mole, there is so much more to it than the Soramotos publicized. In fact, he is a warper just like you, Kurogiri. Perhaps even more potent, as well."
"What does that matter?" Tomura asked, sounding as if he was upset that he was being left out of the conversation. "As long as I can get my hands on him, he will die all the same."
"*Sigh* Though I appreciate your enthusiasm, Tomura-Kun, simply jumping into battle is not always the best way." The voice said in a mentoring tone. "Though you may have more power than this boy, if his powers make him impossible for you to catch, you have no way of defeating him."
Tomura's expression turned frustrated upon hearing that. However, the voice was not done quite yet.
"And that's why we will test him." The voice continued. "When the opportunity presents itself, we will be sending two Nomus. Dr. Garaki's masterpiece will be there to kill All Might while the second will test the boy. And if his [Quirk] is as good as the mole seems to think it is, we will use that data to formulate a plan to relieve him of such a burden."
"I understand, Sensei." Tomura replied with his head lowered, looking as though he had just been lectured despite the voice's tone. A moment later, however, he once again raised his head as he spoke to the voice on the other side of the transmission. "Still, when will we move to kill All Might?"
"Soon." The voice replied, still as patient as ever. "For now, you should round up as many villains as you can. It is about time to let the Heroes know who the League of Villains are."
Hearing that, a maniacal smile spread across Tomura's face as he began to laugh gleefully. Though, to anyone else, it would sound like the laughter of someone whose final marble just bounced away.
"I'll be counting on you to assist Tomura-Kun, Kurogiri." The voice added while completely ignoring Tomura's demented laughter.
"Your wish is my command, Sensei." Kurogiri replied with another polite and elegant bow.
With that, the television powered down on its own, leaving Tomura's laughter as the only sound in the bar for the next few minutes.
"Come on, Kurogiri, let's go!" Tomura shouted as he shot to his feet. "We've got a bunch of cannon fodder to recruit."
"Cannon fodder?" Kurogiri asked in a flat tone.
"Ther's no need to get anyone special." Tomura replied while waving dismissively. "Their only use will be to keep those Hero wannabes busy. Hell, they don't even have to kill any of them. As long as they can last until the Nomus are done killing All Might and giving us enough time to collect data on that kid, the Nomus will have plenty of time to finish the job."
"I understand." Kurogiri replied with a nod. "I will begin contacting villains immediately."
"Good." Tomura replied excitedly.
MHA Universe, Earth, Japan, Musutafu.
At the same time, back at the Static Shock Hero Agency building, Tatsuo, despite having fought earlier in the day, was training in the building's gym, performing martial arts katas while thinking about the day.
'*Sigh* I guess I shouldn't expect normal high school kids to have the same level of training as me, Akatsuki, and Sakura.' Tatsuo thought to himself while throwing punches and kicks at the empty air. 'The matches between the other students weren't anything special. But the fact that they can use their [Quirks] so well despite having never had to use them in a real combat situation should be good enough, right?'
As Tatsuo said, the last match of the Battle Trial between Team H, Kaminari Denki and Asui Tsuyu, and Team J, Aoyama Yuga and Sero Hanta, was not much to look at. The winner of the match was Team J. Though, that was not because of Team J. Rather, it was because while Denki and Tsuyu were in the final stretch of the match, Denki overused his [Quirk], short-circuiting his brain at the crucial moment.
Because of that, Yuga and Hanta were able to hold on until time ran out. However, if they had worked together better, they would have been able to subdue Tsuyu, as well. But with Yuga trying to show off, he ended up firing his [Naval Laser] through a lot of Hanta's tape that would have been able to trap Tsuyu eventually.
'I'm expecting too much for them to work together seamlessly, too.' Tatsuo continued thinking. 'Not everyone was trained in tactics like I was. Then there's Sakura who was trained as a Magus. Plus, Akatsuki inherited her skills and muscle memory from her hundreds of hours of gameplay. Yeah, we've got an unfair advantage.'
While Tatsuo was lost in his thoughts, the skylight opened quietly, and Alfonzo descended into the gym with a tired expression on his face. When he did, Tatsuo snapped out of his thoughts and paused his training.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Tatsuo asked curiously. "Were there that many crimes today?"
"Nope." Alfonzo replied. "I spent most of the day running away from Mirko today. Seriously, doesn't she have her own patrols in her own city? Why the fuck does she have so much time to come to Musutafu?"
Tatsuo only shrugged his shoulders as he made his way over to the towel he brought to the gym with him.
"By the way, does she know that I'm your cousin?" Tatsuo asked curiously.
"I don't' know.' Alfonzo replied. A moment later, a mischievous smile appeared on his face. "Well, if she ever finds out, she can be your problem."
"Nope." Tatsuo replied bluntly. "If she ever ambushes me outside of the school or something, I'm bringing her straight here."
"Are you serious?" Alfonzo asked in a horrified tone. "Dude, that's not fucking cool."
"Better you than me." Tatsuo replied with another shrug. He then tossed his towel back on the bench it had been lying on. Then, he made his way over to the heavy bag and took his fighting stance.
"Cold blooded." Alfonzo muttered while shaking his head. "Anyway, today was the Battle Trial, right? How was it?"
"Just another day." Tatsuo replied as his fists, elbows, knees, and feet slammed into the heavy bag rhythmically. "The match between Akatsuki and Sakura was fun to watch, though."
"Oh, those two fought?" Tatsuo asked with a raised eyebrow. "Who were their teammates?"
Tatsuo then went on to introduce Akatsuki's and Sakura's teammates before explaining their match in detail.
"Well, I guess that makes sense." Alfonzo said with a shrug. "Akatsuki is a character from an MMO. So, teamwork is kinda her bread and butter. Meanwhile, Sakura was raised to be a self-centered Magus. So, there was no way she would work together with Momo as well as Akatsuki did with Ida."
"True." Tatsuo replied.
"And what about your match?" Alfonzo asked curiously. "Who was your teammate and who were your opponents?"
"I teamed up with Jiro-San to fight Midoriya and Bakugo." Tatsuo replied casually. "*Sigh* But I didn't get the chance to teach the little bomber boy a proper lesson. Instead, I focused on letting my teammate see what her [Quirk] could do."
"Why would you need to teach Bakugo a lesson?" Alfonzo asked curiously.
"Because he's challenged me twice." Tatsuo said, his eyes narrowing with irritation. "And that will not be permitted."
As Tatsuo spoke, his blows on the heavy bag increased in power while his aura began to leak, his irritation becoming tangible, putting pressure on all the training machines, heavy bags, and speed bags in the gym.
"Whoa! Chill out, Dude." Alfonzo said, his voice breaking through the rising tension. "You sound like a villain right now. Not a very impressive one, either. Seriously, if you keep saying shit like that, I'm gonnna have to put you into third-rate villain territory."
With that, the gym fell silent. The sound of impacts against the heavy bag ceased, the groan of the training machine's stopped, allowing the machines some relief, and Tatsuo's aura, which was leaking like a cracked water pipe froze completely. Then, with a completely offended expression on his face, Tatsuo slowly turned his head in Alfonzo's direction.
"Did you just call me a… third-rate villain?" Tatsuo asked mechanically.
Yet, Alfonzo did not waver under Tatsuo's blank stare. Instead, he only shrugged his shoulders uncaringly.
"No, I didn't call you one." Alfonzo explained. "I said you were on your way there. So, do something about that before I have to change that."
Though Tatsuo was outwardly in shock, internally, a completely different thought was running through his mind.
'Something's wrong with me.' Tatsuo thought to himself. 'I mean, why am I acting like this? Why would someone wanting to be better than me bother me so much? I mean, I was trained to keep my emotions in check while I was in DOATEC's custody…'
Unfortunately, Tatsuo did not know enough about himself to answer that question. Even so, he knew he would have to be careful. He could not let these impulses over take his rationality. Otherwise, things could turn quite bad.
'Whatever, I'll just have to make a mental note to talk to Mom about it when the [Mission] is over.' Tatsuo continued while mentally shaking his head.
*Bang!*
Meanwhile, as Tatsuo thought about his change in attitude, Alfonzo continued to defend himself. Though, the playful undertone to his words made it clear he was just making fun of Tatsuo, who continued to stare at him blankly.
However, before things could continue for too long, the sound of an impact against the skylight pulled both Tatsuo's and Alfonzo's attention away from the silly conversation.
And when the two looked up, what they saw was a white-haired, muscular, yet well-endowed, brown-skinned woman with rabbit ears crouching on the skylight wither face pressed against the glass. On top of that, this woman's mouth was moving, clearly saying something that did not travel through the glass. Though, both Tatsuo and Alfonzo were able to read her lips.
"Found you~!" The woman mouthed, causing a shudder to travel down Alfonzo's spine while Tatsuo's lips curled up in a smile filled with schadenfreude.