Izuku had been thinking about surprising the others at the cat café when he realized his roaming this afternoon had brought him near the building it was housed it. He had just rounded the corner when he walked straight into the chest of a man rounding it from the other direction. "Sorry!"
"Yes you will一" The man cut himself off, half way through the process of tugging off his glove as he seemed to register who was in front of him at the same time Izuku realized who this must be.
Izuku jumped back with a small curse as Overhaul lunged forward with his still gloved hand. As he turned and booked it from the man, he felt his pocket buzz with an incoming message. Trusting his instincts he ducked down a side alley and quickly scrambled up the fire escape before pressing himself flat on the roof out of sight. Not a moment later, he heard the man run into the alley only to stop and curse before walking a few steps and stopping again. There was a rustle of fabric, a pause and then Overhaul spoke. "I just missed grabbing Midoriya himself just a few blocks southwest of Soumei. I think he was heading to meet up with his cousin in the cat café I followed him to. I was just going to call for you to send someone over to take over watching the cousin when he rounded a corner into me…Yes, I'm fine Chrono. He is Quirkless, remember? He's clean…I lost him after he ducked down an alley. He is fast on his feet and easily outpaced me. I suspect that the only way we will grab him is by catching him off guard on his own. If I had just realized it was him faster, we would have had him…Yes, see about sending a guy to keep an eye on the other kid." He hung up and a few moments later he had left the alley.
Izuku quickly hopped up to his feet and began to follow him from the rooftop, fishing out his phone to send a few messages. Oh right, Kacchan texted him. He sent Tomura a quick message first to deal with that before opening a text conversation with his father.
So how mad with me would you be if I told you I was currently staking Overhaul from the rooftops?
Dad:
Depends. Are you planning on fighting him by yourself or just gathering information?
Just info for now
I think his Quirk might be touched based btw
Dad:
Izuku…
I rounded the corner into him
He looked like he was planning on killing me for a second before he recognized me
He was about to tug off his glove before then
He also mentioned that the plan was still to just grab me over the phone
He referenced my Quirklessness as meaning I was clean, whatever that means
Dad:
Oh lovely.
I thought I got rid of all the Humarise cult idiots in the country.
Humarise?
Dad:
Don't worry about it.
This Overhaul is clearly a rogue sect leader or someone who fell for the propaganda but not what they were selling.
It explains the Quirk erasing bullets partially at least.
Can you track my phone and have Kurogiri Warp me one of Compress's marbles?
I have a plan so we can track him back home without risking me getting grabbed
Dad:
Can do.
Come home when you're done.
Izuku pocketed his phone and continued to stalk Overhaul. Just as he landed on a new roof, a small puff of dark mist appeared in front of him dropping a small bright blue marble. Snatching it from the air before it could hit the ground, Izuku pulled out one of the elastic hair ties that he had started to keep on himself for some of his other family members (mostly his Uncle Shouta) and allowed his Quirk to guide his hands. Peaking over the edge of the roof, he lined up a shot with his makeshift slingshot and released.
Overhaul flinched as Izuku beamed him in the back of the head with the marble but failed to notice it fall into the gap between his fluffy coat collar and his shirt underneath. Izuku ducked down flat on the roof before the man, now breaking out in hives and spinning on the spot, could see him.
Goal now achieved, he slowly army crawled to the opposite end of the roof before standing up quickly and making his escape.
---MiM-MiM-MiM---
Overhaul was starting to get really mad. First the kid he had been following had gone into a building he couldn't bring himself to enter. Then the kid he actually wanted to grab literally ran into him and he still failed to grab him. And now, someone had just hit him in the back of the head with a rock or something.
He was going back home to take a long hot shower to scrub away not only the filth now coating his skin but his frustration as well.
---MiM-MiM-MiM---
Izuku received a questioning look from both Kurogiri and Compress when he returned from the bar. "Is the marble still on the move?"
"Yes? Can I ask what you did with it?"
Izuku grinned. "I might have just slingshotted it into the back of Overhaul's head so that it ended up lost in his coat."
Kurogiri flickered in alarm. "You did what? Izuku, I know you are a vigilante and you have your Quirk to help keep you safe but you really shouldn't be trying to provoke a dangerous criminal like that."
Mr. Compress at the other end of the spectrum was starting to giggle to himself helplessly. "I'm sorry but that plan was a genius one provided he doesn't dislodge my marble before he removes his coat at presumably his home location."
Kurogiri turned a questioning look on Compress. "How was that a good idea?"
Izuku grinned. "It was a good idea because he knows the precise location of every one of his marbles. If the marble was to make it all the way inside…"
Kurogiri flickered in surprise. "Oh."
A chuckle came from the now active TV at the end of the bar. "So that was your plan. I had wondered."
Izuku flashed one of the cameras a grin. "Now we can get back at him for Himiko and Dabi being shot."
Kurogiri narrowed his eyes at Izuku. "We? You are not going to get involved in this unless you want your identity as Loki being tied to the League."
His father chuckled over the line again. "Oh, he can help if he wants. We won't be able to move on them right away if Dabi intends on coming along himself. That will give us time to leak the location to the hero side of things if need be in a way that can't be traced back to us. As tempting as it would be to run in guns blazing, we really should do a bit of research into the group first so we don't get caught off guard again."
Compress tilted his head slightly. "And why would we offer up the information to the heroes?"
"If this Overhaul has a large enough group working for him, they would be an excellent distraction for the majority of the group. Besides, I suspect Mirai might have a bone to pick with the group as well given his recent encounter with the one member."
---MiM-MiM-MiM---
Eri looked at the small blue ball of glass that had just fallen from Mr.Overhaul's coat as he briefly poked his head into her room to check on her on his way to his own rooms. Picking it up, light seemed to dance as it shone through it. It was the prettiest thing she had seen since her Curse had appeared.
She quickly moved to hide it under her bed with her small handful of other treasures she had found in her many attempts to get away from the pain Mr.Overhaul had been making her feel. She didn't deserve such a pretty thing but it reminded her of the sky she hadn't seen in forever.
Eri quietly decided that blue was her new favorite color. It was the one color she couldn't connect with Mr.Overhaul after all. Not only did he not wear it himself but none of the other scary men in masks wore it either.
As she fell back onto her bed to stare up at her ceiling, she found herself wondering why Mr.Overhaul had dropped something so pretty. She hoped he would not miss it.
---MiM-MiM-MiM---
"The marble is here. Given that it has been completely motionless for a few hours now, that is likely where it fell out of his coat."
Tomura studied the location that Compress pointed at on the map. On it he had charted the territories of the various Villain groups to see if this Overhaul guy was a member of any of them. "That is Yakuza territory. Don't tell me that asshole is the new Boss."
There was a hum from his Father on the other side of his camera. "That is unfortunate. Yakuza are always such a pain to get rid of. It seems we will have to bring the Heroes in after all. We don't have the numbers of combatants needed to handle a whole compound by ourselves without risking some escaping."
Tomura leaned back and considered the problem like the dungeon raid it was. "We are going to need a Hero that is good at crowd control unless we keep Dabi up top to lock everything down."
Dabi snorted. "Fuck no, I am going in with you guys to watch your back. These guys have guns so they have range on you with your style of fighting."
Tomura nodded. "Makes sense. Father, who are you planning on slipping the location of Overhaul's operation to?"
"Given that Mirai is already known to be on the case, I was just thinking that Izuku could blatantly offer the information under the pretense of having gotten it from one of the Villains he uses as an informant given that is actually true."
Compress lit up at that. "Ah! Does this mean I fall under the protection of the Informant Act now? That will make things even easier for me when pulling other jobs."
Izuku snickered from his place on the other side of the bar where he had been standing to get a better look at the map. "That is not how that works. The Informant Act only would protect you from getting arrested for association with the League."
The man snapped his fingers with an amused smile still on his face. "Damn, there goes that I suppose."
Himiko giggled. "Don't ruin the fun Izu!"
Izuku rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry that I don't want any of you getting arrested."
Tomura swatted lightly at his little brother. "Focus. Do you have any idea when Uncle Mirai can get his raid party together?"
Izuku shrugged. "Soonish? I will have to talk to him first to get you a better estimate. It will probably take a day or two since they would have to coordinate to clear the surrounding area of civilians without attracting attention."
"You don't need me to write down the coordinates of the compound for you to give to him right?"
Izuku shook his head. "No, I've got it. Did Giran ever come through with the information on Overhaul's group? I could give that to the Heroes as well so they know what they are getting into."
Father spoke up again. "I'll email the information to Mirai directly. You can look it over later yourself if you are tagging along with the Hero group."
---MiM-MiM-MiM---
Izuku was not quite sure how this happened but here he now was seated at a meeting table with the top three Pro Heroes in full costume sans his normal mask given everyone in the room knew about his secret identity one way or another. He was currently seated between his uncles as a few of the other Heroes shot him with odd looks.
On Mirai's other side was Lemillion who was chatting casually with a nervous Suneater who looked about as anxious as ever even sat between his best friend and the Hero that he was doing his own Work Studies under, Fat Gum. On Shouta's other side however was his fellow Underground Hero Rock Lock who was sending the dozing man between them questioning looks.
Mirai cleared his throat. "Why don't we get started."
Endeavor glared at the man with his arms crossed. "Please do. I want to know what is so damn important that the Commission is forcing me to put searching for my own missing son on hold."
Hawks made a nervous twitter nose at the back of his throat. "Yeah, all three of the top three seems a bit excessive."
Mirai shook his head. "I find myself having to agree. Just one of you would have been more than sufficient but the Commission disagreed due to the danger this group potentially could present." He gestured to Centipeder to begin the sideshow. The first image appeared that Izuku recognized instantly as the bullet that had hit his older brother. "This is the reason they are concerned. Quirk erasing bullets."
Now he had everyone's full attention. All Might seemed to be locked on the image with a hint of fear. "How is that possible?"
"That is not currently fully known. As you can see from the image, the one sample we have obtained was damaged so we have been working with limited data. It seems that the bullets are designed to act as darts and inject the serum inside them that causes the effect. Thankfully, they seem to be only temporary but who knows if that is as far as they plan on taking things or if they are looking to make it more permanent. Unfortunately, the fact that they can currently erase a Quirk for close to 10 minutes is not the most alarming thing about them. An analysis was run on the bullet and a second set of DNA was found. One belonging to a young unknown girl. My current theory is that the group behind these bullets has been using her for her Quirk to manufacture these. You can read through the full analysis later yourselves."
Fat Gum looked between the picture and Mirai. "So who got shot for you to find out about this?"
"One of my informants with the League of Villains." All eyes were on Izuku now.
Rock Lock relaxed slightly. "Is that why you're here? I was worried for a second that Eraserhead offered for you to tag along on the raid."
Shouta opened one eye. "Unfortunately he probably is going to. If I bring him along with me, I can keep a better eye on him since I wouldn't be surprised if he crashed the raid anyways. Plus, unlike most everyone here, if he was to get shot with one of those things, his fighting ability would be largely unaffected."
Endeavor was looking at Izuku curiously now. "You have an in with the League of Villains?"
Izuku shrugged. "I'm on friendly terms with a few of them from hanging out at my brother's bar. One of my informants works there so sometimes other members of the League turn up to hang out with him while he is working. He was the one shot."
Mirai gestured to go onto the next slide. "Another reason he is here is because he was just handed a bunch of new information on the group behind it. Pictured here is the apparent leader of a group calling themselves the Shie Hassaikai, Chisaki Kai. Apparently he has recently taken to referring to himself by his Quirk name, Overhaul. What that Quirk does is still a mystery but what we do know is it is both a five-point activation and highly dangerous. There are apparently rumors floating around of him using it to destroy people so thoroughly that all that is left is a smear of blood."
Several people around the table paled at the thought.
He clicked to the next slide to reveal another low quality picture of a man in a plague mask with a sniper rifle slung over his shoulder. "The man pictured here is evidently Chisaki's right hand, Chronostasis. Unlike Chisaki, we lack a name or Quirk. We do however know that he is a skilled marksman given that he is the one who shot the bullet that we have."
He clicked onward to reveal a slide with two images on it. One of a man and another a puppet looking thing. "From this point forward the other members of the group we have better records of. This is Irinaka Joi or Mimic. He has been in the eye of the police and heroes for a while as a member of the Yakuza. According to Izuku's sources he is now acting as a sort of general manager for the remaining eight of their core group. Because of this and one other factor that I will get to shortly, we suspect that the Shie Hassaikai are likely a rogue faction of Yakuza. His Quirk Mimicry allows himself to transfer his body and mind into solid objects and manipulate them like they are his own body. Thankfully the maximum size is no larger than a refrigerator."
He clicked to the next slide. "The first of what they refer to as the Eight Bullets is Rappa Kendo, a former Underground fighter. His Quirk, Strongarm, allows him to rotate his shoulders with extreme speed and power." Click. "Setsuno Toya is evidently a recent addition to the group that recently tried to infiltrate the League of Villains under the guise of wanting to join them. His Quirk, Larceny, allows him to steal anything that is in his target's possession and bring it instantly to his own hands. He was recently injured in retaliation by the League so might favor his right shoulder provided the group lacks access to someone with a Quirk to heal the damage." Click. "Hojo Yu. a former petty criminal. His Quirk Crystallize allows him to grow large numbers of crystals from his body that are extremely durable. He likely would be a close range fighter as a result." Click. "Tabe Soramitsu, Quirk Food. He can bite and consume anything he comes in contact with, including Quirks. As such he is one of the more dangerous if he is allowed to get in range for his Quirk." Click. "Another recent addition is Tangai Hekiji, a former Buddhist monk. His Quirk is Barrier which is a purely defensive Quirk. I would not be surprised to discover he plays support for another member of the group by throwing up his barrier between them and anyone they fought." Click. "Katsukame Rikiya is another close range threat. His Quirk Vitality Stealing requires physical contact to work but when he uses it he not only gains the stamina lost of the opponent but increases in size and strength." Click. "Next is Nemoto Shin. His Quirk, while not physically dangerous, could still be considered a danger to anyone trying to keep anything remotely secret. His Quirk Confession is not only well documented but one that I briefly got to experience first hand. He seems to lack much in the way of hand to hand combat skills but I wouldn't be surprised to discover he knew how to fight if armed." Click. "Finally Sakaki Deidoro and his Quirk Sloshed. His Quirk allows him to subject people nearby to severe dizziness and affect their sense of balance to leave them in a state like that if they had become drunk."
He clicked onto the last slide, an image of a map with a bright blue pin in it. "As for why we think they are Yakuza, one of the members was traced back to this compound here by another member of the League of Villains. Since then, I have been conducting a low profile surveillance of the compound and have seen a few of the members of the Shie Hassaikai coming and going from there."
Hawks whistled as he flipped through the more detailed printouts. "Damn this is good. Whoever your informant is, they are thorough."
Izuku shrugged. "He isn't the one who wrote all that up, the League's information broker did. It was a job he did to make up for the mistake of letting Chisaki and Setsuno get close to the League in the first place."
Rock Lock huffed as he scanned his own copy. "Damn. The guy is loyal to the League then? Shame, I would have loved to possibly broker a deal with him for information for cases."
Izuku snorted. "I would less say he is loyal to the group and more say he is too scared of the group to intentionally screw with them."
That got a lot of attention. "I thought the League was just a group of vandals and pranksters?" Togata had leaned forward to look past his mentor at Izuku directly.
Izuku nodded. "That's true but there is a rumor floating around that the leader of the group Shigaraki is the heir to the Boogieman of the Underworld himself."
Yagi paled in his seat across the table from him. "Do you know how he might have earned that reputation?"
Izuku shrugged. "I mean if the rumors about All for One are true then the guy would have to be a few centuries old at this point. Maybe he is just getting on in years and wants to retire so is just letting the rumor mill pick his successor for him. Shigaraki is a lot of things but I don't see him ruling the Underworld with an iron fist. My informant isn't sure how the rumor started outside of possible wishful thinking on the part of supporters of the League in the Underworld that caught on due to the group's popularity."
All Might while still tense, nodded. "Out of curiosity, would you happen to know why the League has such a bone to pick with myself and Endeavor here? I can't say I had ever been called a fake hero before they turned up at the convention myself."
Now there wasn't a person at the table not paying attention outside of Mirai and Shouta who already knew. Izuku himself frowned. "Yeah I do. Shigaraki blames you for everything he went through after he ended up living on the streets after an accident killed his birth family. He was on his own for weeks and no matter who he asked for help, he was ignored since according to him, they all thought a hero would fix the problem so they didn't have to. He thinks everyone's over reliance on you as the Symbol of Peace has created a society of inaction on the whole due to an over reliance on Heroes. The group's issues with Endeavor are less symbolic. They just think he is too violent to be so high ranking. To put it bluntly, they would have less issue with him if he was more considerate of collateral damage in his fights. One of the members is badly scarred because of you."
Endeavor didn't even flinch. "I would like someone to try and do better. Fire Quirks are hard things to properly use if you are constantly worrying about collateral damage. Did the scarred member file with my agency for medical reparations?"
Izuku internally bristled at the casual dismissal as he was instantly reminded of the stories Dabi had told him. Especially those of his brief stint as a vigilante himself. "For future reference my father has a fire breathing Quirk so no I am not completely ignorant of how hard to control they can be at full power however that doesn't change the fact that you use excessive force constantly. I am going to be honest, I originally planned my vigilante work around your schedule so I wouldn't risk ever running into you in costume. There is a reason that I am the only vigilante in the city, you barbecued the last one!"
"Just because you aren't breaking the law doesn't change the fact that Vigilantism is still highly illegal. Besides, I didn't barbecue him, he has a fire Quirk."
"Blueflame's Quirk didn't shield him from your flames! His Quirk doesn't work like that! It is amazing he even survived that. Plus he was younger than me at the time!"
Endeavor leaned forward, staring at him with suspicion. "You seem awfully invested in this other vigilante."
"Of course I fucking am, he is my informant!"
Izuku registered the feeling of his Quirk being erased. "Language. We are here to plan a fight with Villains, not one with each other."
Izuku slumped back in his chair with a huff.
"So the one shot was another vigilante?"
Izuku sighed and shook his head at Togata's question. "Former vigilante. Blueflame hasn't been acting as one since he joined up with the League. Honestly from what I can tell he wasn't really much of one by that point. He was just helping out people he ran into on the streets from time to time. The League gave him an actual place to stay so he hasn't been wandering the streets as much."
Rock Lock gave him a puzzled look. "He is not worried that by acting as your informant on the League that they might kick him back out onto the streets?"
Izuku shook his head. "Like I said before, he works at my brother's bar currently. If they kick him out he can actually pay for a place to stay now. Besides, I am pretty sure most of the League likes me so I doubt they would have any issues with him talking to me."
Suddenly a thought seemed to hit All Might. "Wait, do they know you as Loki or Midoriya?"
"Yes."
Mirai snorted. "What Izuku means is that he is not really bothering with a secret identity for the long term just holding out on it publicly for now. His civilian identity is already compromised because of the stupid Secret Love Child thing so there is not much of a point in hiding the connection. The only reason I believe he did it in the first place was because he wanted to earn a reputation as a vigilante first since generally people likely would have discounted his ability to be one if his Quirk status was known from the start."
Izuku pointed to his older uncle. "What he said."
Shouta shook his head. "We are getting off track. We are here to plan a raid so can we actually do that?"
Mirai shook his head. "Right, we should probably get started with that…"