46 Dominos and Butterflies: Ch 5

I was gonna do a whole April Fools chapter with the MHA president of the United States making a trip to Japan, with Senator Armstrong tagging along just because he could, but then I didn't because I started it last second, and there was no way I was gonna make a fully fleshed out, quality joke chapter in like four hours.

Once again I remind everyone: This is not a ship fic. Bakugo and Momo are not marked as a pairing, and Romance is not a tag on the story. I suck at writing good romantic relationships, and don't want to make shipping wars a major plot point, let me stick with my plot dominoes please.

Just because two people are friends, doesn't mean they have to fuck each other.

-Rain of Sins-

-Dominos and Butterflies: Ch 5-

Kuin hesitantly made her way into Izuku's office.

She had woken up a few hours ago, but she was still disoriented from the procedure she'd undergone in one of the tanks.

There were small changes, like how her eyelid had been repaired so she could use it again, closing it to help shield her true form, and opening it whenever she wanted to let out her bees.

Then there had been very large changes, like how her legs sprung her forward with twice the force and only half the effort, messing up her muscle memory for walking. And how she had accidentally shattered a bottle she'd picked up without thinking.

And then there were changes that changed her whole outlook- literally.

Repairing her left eye was impossible, most of her true self was in the way. But Izuku had reasoned that if she could feel pain from her bees, then she already had some of her senses synced to them, and that syncing her vision as well should be possible.

Three bees perched neatly on top of her hair looked around the new room in interest, and Kuin felt dizzy from all the new and desynced visual inputs. It would be incredibly helpful once she got used to it, she hadn't realized just how restricted her field of view was with a missing eye, but she was going to wind up getting motion sick and vomiting mid-fight at this rate.

Lightly slapping her cheeks to try to pull herself together, she turned her attention to an odd sight.

Floating in one of the largest growth vats she'd seen in the entire facility, was a giant squid. Not a squid-shaped nomu, or some sort of flesh abomination, but just a giant, normal looking squid. It had some wires poking into its head, but that was about it.

"That's Adam."

A voice said from behind her, causing Kuin to jump and whirl around to find Izuku standing right behind her.

'How the Hell did he sneak up on me!? I even have my bees now!'

"Adam is a genetically engineered squid, one that I have given an amalgam quirk to. An amalgam warp quirk, something I made out of two separate teleportation quirks, and a quirk I found that acted almost as a GPS. It has an incredible range, and should theoretically even be capable of sending me out of the country. I use my technology interface quirk to send a message to the computer, stating the coordinates of where I am and where I want to go, the computer feeds that information to Adam, and then he warps me there."

"How did you get around before?"

"Adam had a predecessor, one I never got around to naming. Much smaller with a shorter range that I got around by carrying it in a tank on my back. Unfortunately it was killed, along with everything else, under the festival coliseum."

"Ah." Kuin nodded and tried to look like she had a single clue how the crap she was supposed to respond to that. "Gotcha boss."

"Please, there's no need to call me 'boss'." He chuckled. "Just call me Izuku."

"Whatever you say boss." Freely getting on a first name basis was a one way ticket to opening a can of worms, containing all the weird feelings from yesterday, which she really didn't feel like dealing with. So no thanks.

Izuku rolled his eyes at her stubbornness, and motioned for her to follow as he began walking off.

"My goals are simple- you are already aware of the main one."

"Yeah, you want to 'cure society of quirks', a real simple goal there."

"In layman's terms, yes, that is a sufficient, if crude, way of putting it. But I also want to destroy Endeavor."

"Why? Is he gunning for us? Or did he not give you an autograph as a kid." Kuin snarked.

"He burned my mother alive." Izuku said, causing Kuin to snap her mouth shut and suddenly want to tear her hair out.

"Oh…" She trailed off awkwardly, because how the fuck do you respond to that!?

"He is the physical embodiment of everything wrong with the current system. Corrupt, willing to abuse his power, and immune from consequences because his quirk is strong enough to put him in the top ten of heroes. From both a personal and grand strategy point of view, he needs to be discredited, disenfranchised, humiliated, isolated, and eradicated. Projects Entropy and Kronos are my surgeon tools, to carefully cut out and replace the corruption underlining society with a better vision. But while they, in my right hand, are to be my fine knife, I need a hammer in my left- something capable of kicking out the resistance that props up the current narrative. Resistance like Endeavor."

Izuku led her over to another bio-vat, this one containing something very different from the squid.

"And to that end, Project Rapture is… well, I guess you could call it my backup, for when things don't go well."

A lanky creature floated in the tube, it was easily over six feet tall, and humanoid shaped. It had long arms, and uncanny fingers with an extra joint that ended in claws. But what really grabbed her attention was the metallic bones. Its arms, its chest, its legs, all covered in a pseudo-exoskeleton of grayish white bone that glinted in the light like steel. Its head had no hair, nor an exposed brain like the nomu, instead it was a dull metallic skull, with vacant black eyes, and its jaw fused together, lacking a mouth at all.

"It took quite some effort to finagle DNA to grow metal coated bones, but I think it turned out rather well."

At the sound of Izuku's voice, the creature sirred, jet black wings unfolding behind it and pushing through the viscous liquid of the tank, its taloned feet kicking out, scratching at the glass.

Kuin, in a moment of common sense, took a large step back.

"No offense boss, but uh- I mean it's scary looking, but It doesn't look much like an 'I win' button."

"This is just the first step." Izuku chuckled as he placed his hand against the glass, wiping away a window in the layer of thin frost covering the surface. "The purpose of this is to be a baseline. Something sturdy and adaptable enough to not just survive extensive procedures, but also to accept any additions on a fundamental level."

"Also, take a moment to think about all the nomu you've seen Ujiko use. Every last one of them is built with a different base, with different abilities. All different sizes, with different quirks, and requiring a lengthy, expensive, and exhaustive multi-week procedure, requiring an entire team of scientists to create. Now compare that with what's in front of us." He gestured back to the tube. "This is something I've engendered from the ground up to be as efficient as possible. It requires no quirks, requires no host, and can be grown in a growth pod in half a week with minimal oversight. It is nothing but a DNA sequence that I can send to any pod, and have it immediately start growing one."

"Ujiko treats his creations as art, and takes his time with them. Even with his entire network of labs, he still doesn't have a truly overwhelming number of nomu." Izuku glanced at her from over his shoulder. "Meanwhile, if I concentrated the entire Origins Lab on solely these, I could have an entire army's worth in a couple months."

One of the creature's hands crashed into the glass with enough force to shake the entire machine, just Izuku didn't so much as flinch.

"And when I perfect the code, finally crack open the building blocks of life itself, to create true perfection- a creature without weakness, without fear, immune to disease, immune to harm, immune to death itself…" Izuku trailed off, a moment of conflict flashing in his reflection's eyes.

"...Then what?" Kuin asked softly.

Izuku looked back at her, over his shoulder.

"Then no one will be able to stop me, and I won't let anyone suffer the way I once did."

His eyes flashed green, and Kuin nearly screamed as her phone went off (a lab built device that she'd been given not half an hour prior).

She quickly fished it out, and found the map app was ot only open, but that a marker and several comments had been put on it.

"Head to the room I marked on your map- it's yours now."

"Mine?" She parroted dumbly as she looked at the dot on the phone, and a picture of the room marked. It was an actual room. A nice room. With a full sized bed, a private bathroom, and a walk in closet. It was worlds above the concrete cell Ujiko had given her before, with nothing but a cheap mattress on a metal slab that stuck out of the wall, and a plastic bucket for her to store her clothes.

"There are some nice civilian clothes in the closet for you to change into. Feel free to take a real shower and freshen up, I know the chemicals we use in the vats don't smell all that great, and can linger after a brief spray off. I need to unplug my tail from my spine, which will take awhile, but in an hour we're heading out."

"Where are we going?"

"We're going on a recruitment drive."

…

Kuin blinked and looked back up at him.

"What?"

-Rain of Sins-

Ujiko had brought up a strangely good point during his makeshift training session. Ujiko was a biologist. Ujiko trained Izuku to be a geneticist. And every single Lab Head, such as Yuyara, were also specialized in similar "organic" sciences.

They weren't engineers. Sure there was technological knowhow, and enough brainpower to whip up some advanced machinery, like the nomu vats.

But not a single one of them were actually proper Engineers.

It was honestly somewhat embarrassing, now that he thought about it.

How fortunate that he'd stumbled upon a perfect candidate to fill such a role, one with an unbound mind determined to push the limits of science, and that there was a completely legal front company to hire and sponsor her.

…

Mei sighed as she turned over the broken form of one of her most promising babies, before letting it slip from her fingers and tumble down the pile of scrap she was sitting atop of.

Dagoba beach was usually where she came to cheer up. There was always something to salvage, parts she could repurpose, or even just metal that she could melt down and recast. Her momma always told her that one man's junk was another man's treasure, and Dagoba beach had nothing but junk.

…But no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't see it as treasure today.

It was a junkyard full of trash, and that's all that her babies were anymore. Her beautiful, capable, brilliant, broken babies. Trash.

No one wanted them! Not after her abysmal performance during the tournament! Her spider legs for the race had done fine, but far from first place. Her jet boots during the second round had let her pass, but she'd paired up with the first and second place students from the race- they stole the show during that round, not her.

Then the tournament. Ha! That bond guy, the one who used explosives, he'd been ruthless. He hadn't fallen for her bait before the round, to use her creations, and had systematically blown her beloved babies apart piece by piece.

A grand total of 0 support companies had reached out to her after the festival- less even than Oshu! Who had made sturdier cameras for use in the coliseum, so they would be less vulnerable to being torn apart during intense matches. And what hurt more, many of the Hero students who she'd been doing work for, had started using her classmates for their gear instead!

But you know what? That was fine! Fine! She could deal with that! The damage to her brand wasn't great, but she still had three more years! She could climb her way back up and prove to everyone she was Power Loader's biggest headache for a reason!

At least, she could, if her tenure at UA itself wasn't in question.

40%

A 40 on her midterm, the second largest grade in her entire year. Support class students had all semester to make something for the midterm, and pick one of UA's various events to show it off during.

One of her classmates was making a combat robot for the school to use against the Hero students during their own midterm test. Another was working on a dynamic camera system using a hive mind of drones that UA could use to record the _ festival. And another one was working on super compressing Osmium and Tungsten to such an incredible level that they could create a version of the "handicap bands" Hero teachers use, that are absurdly heavy enough for All Might to be able to participate in the Hero student exams.

And Mei, brilliant, genius Mei, had steaked her midterm assignment on gear she used during the festival.

She'd wanted to win an easy first match, and then forfeit, so she could show it all off in a lower-level fight, and then leave before she had to risk it against the tougher students in the final round. But of course, then she'd gotten paired with the first place winner, in the first round, and lost horribly.

Mei let out a deep sigh and dropped her face into her gloved hands, not even caring about the oil and grime smearing across her face

"I'm such an idiot." She muttered into her leather gloves.

The weather seemed to agree with her, gray clouds gathering overhead, and a distant echo of thunder from far away.

"I wouldn't say that!"

Her head snapped up, half in surprise and half in annoyance at a new voice.

"Actually, I happen to think the exact opposite."

Down on the ground, to her left, approaching the base of the scrap metal pile were two people dressed in oil free clothes. The first was a man with deep green hair, emerald eyes, and a black lab coat. Behind him was a woman that must have been either his secretary, assistant, or accountant. She wore a relatively nice business suit, with a pencil skirt that showed off her legs.

"Who're you supposed to be?" Mei asked. "If you're with that eco group, then bug off. I've told them a hundred times, I'm here to take scrap off the beach, not to litter more. They're the ones wasting good parts!"

"My name is Izuku Midoriya, and I'm the number two in charge of Jaku General Hospital. I was working as a volunteer for the medical staff during the festival, and was quite impressed with your performance."

Mei stared at him, her eyes twisting like a camera lense as she zoomed in on his face.

"Alright I'll bite. What's a fancy pants like you doing out in a garbage patch, and what does a hospital of all things want with me?"

"I'm glad you asked." Izuku pulled a folded up newspaper from his coat pocket and held it up for Mei. The title read [Another Breakthrough from Jaku! Another Win for Medicine!]

"Jaku Hospital might be a far cry from the largest in Japan, but there is a reason for our prestige. My teacher, _, has pioneered many breakthroughs in the medical field, all in Jaku's name, and I wish to follow in his footsteps."

"Oookay?" Mei scratched her tangled hair in confusion. "You know I'm a support student, an engineer, not a doctor, right?"

"Which is exactly why I wish to hire you." Izuku stuffed the paper away. "We work with the curing edge of technology, and yet we lack someone truly specialized in the mechanical, rather than the biological, field."

"So you want me to work for a hospital?"

"I want to make you a deal."

Mei raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical.

"If you're willing to be hired on in a full time position, with your own well paying salary, and help us build advanced machinery for research purposes, I would be willing to sponsor your more eccentric endeavors."

"Wait." She blinked, her eyes spinning. "Sponsor? You mean-"

"Exactly what it sounds like, and more. You'd get your own lab, your own assistants, your own budget, the ability to have us buy you whatever materials you need, and the total freedom to pursue whatever wild technological breakthrough, or outlandish invention, that you want. With the only string attached, being that you treat this as a serious and full time position, requiring you to resign from UA."

Mei stared at him wide eyed.

"Y-You have to be joking, right?"

"Not at all." Izuku chuckled. "I am a scientist who wants the advancement of science, and I see you as a fellow mind that seeks the same thing- be it for different reasons, and by a different path."

"But UA…"

"UA is holding you back." Izuku scoffed. "The vast majority of the school's budget goes to the Hero program, with what's left being split between the support, general ed, and business courses. Then again, split between the four years, and then split again for the support course for the supplies for each student. And that's not even including the projects they deem 'too dangerous', or the materials and machines that they withhold from you until the upper years." He held out his hand. "I offer all that and more."

"I- I don't…" The support student shook her head. "How do you know all that?"

"I once applied for UA, but was rejected despite outperforming many others. I didn't even get the pity of rescue points, even though I saved a girl, and stopped the Zero pointer's rampage- something that endangered everyone. I can only assume it was for being quirkless."

Mei gawked at him, and Izuku shrugged.

"Ask your teacher for the tapes of the entrance exam, if you want. Regardless, it was a good thing they didn't want me, I found my own calling in life. Free of strings, free of influence- my own dream, no one else's. But since I thought I was going to be a student, I read a bunch into UA. And remember, I volunteered as medical staff, so I got to see some of the behind the scenes."

Izuku leveled his gaze at her.

"This is an opportunity unlike any other, and I give it only because of the genius and potential I see in you."

Mei opened and closed her mouth several times, words failing to form.

"Well?" Kuin crossed her arms in impatience, and cocked her hips to the side. "C'mon, we don't got all day. What's your answer?"

Mei stood up from her spot on the scrap pile, she jumped and slid down the hill towards them where she grabbed Izuku's outstretched arm with two dirty gloves and shook it like she was worried he might try to pull it away at any second.

"Deal!" She shouted, a wide grin on her face, and her normal energy back.

"Glad you have you on board." Izuku smiled.

Having someone make the cloning vats more efficient would be a huge help. Also, having a back door built into her computer to freely steal all the blueprints for every invention she made would be very useful, especially if he could get things he could use in combat.

Mei was incredibly intelligent, so she would no doubt figure out they were on the wrong side of the law eventually, but, well… Just ask Yuyara. It was a slow and deathly slippery slope in Ujiko's organization, by the time you realized where you really were, you're so deep in that running to the cops would cause them to put you away for life.

If anything, realizing the truth is just an excuse for your boss to drop the facade, and promote you to being directly a part of turning humans into nomu.

"I just know you'll be a great part of the team!"

-Rain of Sins-

A cold and damp air filled the halls of UA.

Statues of historic Heroes, great oil paintings of triumphant victories that covered entire walls, and even the great golden gates, all felt… muted. Somber.

A chilled breeze blew through the great open doors, and wafted through the school, causing the students to shiver, and the already dreary mood to hang all the heavier. It felt almost as if someone had accidentally only set the heater to half power.

But what stung the most, were the numerous empty classrooms. With the illusion of safety shattered, students from the business course and general studies, had been leaving in droves, forcing UA to cobble together the broken husks of remaining home rooms together. Putting two, three, sometimes even four groups together to reach the needed number for a full class, and leaving behind the empty corpses of classrooms.

Abandoned. Untouched. Ghosts of the past, shades of what once was, and a reminder of what used to be.

Outside, thick gray clouds muted the sunlight, and acted as physical manifestations of the mood, as a every so light drizzle of water fell to the earth. It wasn't truly raining, not yet, but everyone knew a storm was coming.

A colorful poster of All Might's iconic grin hung near the entrance of the school. Damp from the rain, its colors running and beginning to fade, a soft gust of wind caused it to slowly peel from the wall, and drift into a shallow puddle of water.

Its proud message 'Even YOU can be a Hero!', echoing hollow in the rain.

Momo watched the tiny droplets accumulate on the window of class 1A, a large enough group eventually clumping together to break friction's hold and flow downwards, acting as a tear from her reflection's eye.

"This sucks." Bakugo grumbled from the desk next to her

"Yeah…" Momo sighed, marveling at how much grammatical simplicity could convey the complex bundle of feelings in her gut far more eloquently than anything her years of language classes had taught her. "Yeah, it really does." She watched one of the teachers hurry outside and close the main door to the building, before the storm could pick up

They had arrived early, before class had started, both eager to get back into the swing of things after having recovered enough to attend class again. But instead of early training, all they had found was a crying Ochako, and front row seats to a gut wrenching scene.

Aizawa stared at the paper on his desk with a mixture of sympathy, disappointment, and heavy guilt.

"Are you sure?" He asked softly. "I can't assure you re admittance into the course if you change your mind."

"Yes sir." Tsu whispered, unable to meet his eyes.

The poor girl was in a sorry state. She sat in a wheelchair, and even bundled up in a fluffy green blanket, you could still see how only one foot poked out the bottom, and how one arm was more metal than flesh. Her hair, usually so well taken care of, was frazzled, with strands sticking into the air, and a patch on the left side completely shaved off when the doctors stitched her up. Stale white bandages covered her neck, and her eyes had deep circles under them.

…She looked like she hadn't managed to sleep so much as a wink since the attack.

"...I'm sorry."

"No, don't apologize." Aizawa sighed and signed the paper. "I'm the one who should be apologizing. Your safety was my responsibility."

Tsu hung her head lower in shame, but didn't say anything. He was right, after all.

Instead she clumsily turned her chair towards the door, and slowly began wheeling herself away.

She looked out to her classmates, her eyes locking onto a curled up Ochako, and looked like she desperately wanted to say something. But the words failed to form, instead she forced herself to look away, shame pooling in her gut, as she leaned forward to open the door.

"Hey Tsu."

The frog girl paused, and glanced back over her shoulder, towards the one who had called her by her name for the first time.

Bakugo locked eyes with her and gave her a small nod. "You did good. Take care."

Tsu smiled sadly at him, water pricking at her eyes as her mask began to crack.

"Thanks Bakugo. I'll miss you guys too."

And then… she was gone.

Ochako sniffed, pulling her legs tighter to her chest. "Useless." She whispered under her breath. "I'm fucking useless."

Momo felt her heart go out to the girl.

"Don't blame yourself Uru, it wasn't your fault."

"It was though!" Ochako hissed. "I was right there, and couldn't do anything!"

"Calm down, all of you." Aizawa's 'teacher voice' called them all back to attention. "I'm canceling class for today, so take some time and collect yourselves."

"Useless." Ochako laughed softly in a way that almost broke into a sob, as she pulled herself to her feet. "Can't even hold myself together enough to attend class!"

"That's not what I said, and you know it." Aizawa said, but Ochako didn't hear him, she was already out the door. He sent a pitying look after her, but turned his attention to the other two students in the room.

"Class 1B had a large portion of its students drop out or transfer to other schools, and with ours losing what we have…" Aizawa momentarily trailed off, his eyes sliding to the desks of Aoyama and Mineta, who had been missing since the attack.

"We're going to have to merge them together into a single Hero class." He said with a remarkably neutral voice, but one that still held a tone of defeat under it. "Nezu will handle all the specifics and paperwork, but you don't need to worry about that. Let the adults worry about putting everything back together. You just focus on improving yourself, and get back into training since Recovery Girl okayed it."

"Yes Sensei." Momo nodded, doing a remarkably good job of not showing how the news had hit her. "I want to resume training now that I'm mostly recovered."

"You got it, Teach." Bakugo did a two finger salute as he stood up. "We never even stopped." He said, which prompted a squawk and a slap on the shoulder from Momo, for outing the secret.

"Why am I not surprised?" Aizawa pinched his nose to hide the small smile on his face. "On another note, I was supposed to send you two to the support department when class ended, but since it's canceled, you should just go now."

"Oh! Are Bakugo's new gauntlets done?" Moo beamed.

"Yes, both your outfits are finished."

Momo's smile dimmed in confusion, and she blinked at him dumbly.

"What do you mean both?"

"Exactly what he said, Ponytail." Bakugo playfully knocked shoulders with her as he passed, a smug smirk on his face. "Now come on, we don't want to leave the techies waiting."

"Wait, no, we were supposed to be redesigning your gauntlets!" Momo rushed after him. "Why do they want me?"

-Rain of Sins-

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE QUITTING!?"

Mei hummed a happy tune as she skipped around the Support department classroom, collecting all the parts, machinery, tools, and babies that she had in the building, and tossing them onto a precariously leaning pile in a wheelbarrow she had pulled out from God knows where.

"Mei, seriously! Listen to me!" Power Loader waved the crumpled up paper she had thrown at him as soon as she entered the room. "You've invested so much into this course, why would you drop it now?!"

"Because I got a job!" She chirped.

"A job!?"

"Yup!" She frowned at the leaning pile, and wrapped a grappling hook line around it, attaching it to the other side of the wagon before it could fall. "And without you hovering over my shoulder I'll be able to work with all the materials I want! Like Uranium~ Or Azidoazide~ Or Botulinum~"

"Mei, let's at least talk about this!"

"Nope!" She grinned as she pried off the metal nameplate from her work station with a crowbar. "I already signed a contract!"

Power Loader tried to say something to bring Mei to her senses, but the metal door of the room swung open and Mei squealed like a kid on Christmas.

The people at the door, Momo and Bakugo, flinch back, startled by the shill noise.

"You're here!" Mei leapt forward, grabbing the two Hero students by the arm and dragging them inside. "You're both early, but that's fine! I finished these a while ago!"

Mei pulled them to the middle of the room and let them go, then skipped off to a metal shelf and pulled off two steel cases, identical to the ones the Hero students had received their costumes in.

"First is the lame one that I didn't get to design." She pouted as she handed the case to Bakugo.

"And you made it exactly to my specifications?" Momo asked with a raised eyebrow. " I remember you complaining about wanting to put rockets on them."

"Yeah, yeah." Mei waved her off. "It was no fun, but I made it the way you wanted."

Bakugo cast Momo a sly smirk. "I think rockets sound cool."

"Do not!" Momo punched him in the arm. "I had to spend an hour talking her out of it! Don't get her started again."

Bokugo made a point of exaggeratedly rolling his eyes and popped the case open.

The gauntlets inside were very different to the giant grenades he used to wear. Each one was composed of six metal storage tanks that were fused together, painted black, and wrapped with a thin layer of titanium, which also allowed them to double as makeshift shields, without fear of exploding.

He raised an eyebrow and lifted one out of the case, turning it over in the light to get a better look.

"I took the mechanism behind your original gauntlet, and made it smaller." Momo struck a teaching pose, one arm under her breasts, the other holding a finger in the air. "This way you can stockpile large explosions that you can fire off without hurting your hands, but it makes them a more manageable size and more adaptable to any situation. The design also allows you to fire off multiple at once, so you can scale up to the exact force you need."

"Wait… Wouldn't that mean I could fire all of them at once, and get the same result as my original gauntlet?" He gave her a perplexed look. "Wasn't the whole point of the redesign so that I couldn't do that?"

"Yes, well…" Momo bit her lip and looked away. "After the festival, I realized that having such a thing as a last resort might be a good idea, besides…" She looked back to him. "I-I want to trust you to only use this when you don't have any other choice."

"Momo…"

"Bah!" Mei interjected. "None of that! Admire my cool babies now, do touchy-feely stuff later." She shoved the second case into Momo's arms and roughly began pushing her towards a "changing room" in the corner, that was just a wooden box with a curtain in front, specifically for Hero costumes.

"Wait! But I didn't order a new costume!" Momo shouted in panic, overwhelmed by Mei's Mei-ness.

"You didn't, blondie did. And I was given a ton of freedom!" Mei roughly shoved Momo into the changing booth. "Now get changed so I can brag!"

"I-Its so cramped in here, I can barely move my arms!"

"Yeah, well, our last three changing booths all got blown up, so we had to improvise."

The next few minutes passed with Mei going on about random things, and Momo trying to cope with it.

Mei squealed as Momo hesitantly stepped out of the changing room.

She had her hair back in her customary ponytail, but everything from her lower neck to her ankles was covered in a thick dark red cape, clasped together on her neck with a golden buckle engraved with the alchemical symbol for the mythical philosopher's stone.

Her feet, the only thing visible other than her head, wore mechanical boots, similar in design to the jet boots Mei had demonstrated in the second round of the festival, but sleeker, with black coloring and gold lining.

"Go on! Go on! Open'er up!" Mei cheered. "Show us the goods!"

Momo gave her a flat look, but did as she requested, grabbing the cloak from the inside, and spreading it open for a view.

Under the cloak she wore… Well, okay, there wasn't any sugar coating it. It was basically just a red and black swimsuit top with matching short shorts. Ironically though, it actually preserved more of her modesty than her old suit. Sure her belly and legs were completely exposed, but her boobs weren't hanging out of a built-in window, and then the cloak went over it! So, in Momo's very relieved opinion, it was a major upgrade in that department!

On her hips, and over her shorts, was a very large black belt, with numerous straps and pouches. And the least eye-catching, but most important, part of the outfit, was the large watch-like contraption on her wrist.

"Well! What do you think!" Mei practically vibrated in place.

"I quite like it, however, um." Momo held out her arm, and the admittedly quite heavy flat device that covered a good portion of her forearm. "What is this for? And why does it weigh several pounds?"

"That is my info-baby!" Mei grabbed hold of Momo's arm and pulled her closer. "It's an entire digital database of chemical compounds, metal alloy ratios, atomic makeup maps, and every blueprint you could ever need!" She leaned in and whispered. "Including a bunch that I ripped from the support department systems, but shhh, don't tell anyone! I'm leaving soon, so it's not like they can expel me anyway."

Mei hopped back and giggled at the shocked expression on Momo's face, and handed her a blue visor.

"This is a screen projector on a glass visor, and links to the wrist device, and displays whatever you need! Much quicker than lugging that dictionary around! But if it breaks, you can always use the wrist device as a touch screen! The watch also has maps, GPS software, radio, can make phone calls, has a built in metal detector, an SOS beacon a USB port, blood pressure monitor, can log an estimate of how many lipids you've expended, aaaaand-" She reached over and poked the screen, causing Momo to cringe and lean away as loud death metal music started playing.

"It plays music! I like it loud, because constant explosions over my life have severely damaged my hearing!" Mei cheered with a grin.

"Okay… wow." Momo looked at the watch-shaped gadget in wonder, too caught up in the moment to catch the last part of Mei's sentence. "I really should have come to you guys instead of designing my own equipment. Um, is there anything it can't do?"

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot to tell you. It can't tell the time!"

…

Everyone in the room paused, and gave Mei a weird look.

"What? There just wasn't any room left." She shrugged like she wasn't the only person in the world who would make a watch that could do everything but tell the time. ""Moving on, we have this!"

She grabbed the cloak and pulled it tight, causing it to make a "twang" sound.

"The cloak is made of a dense weave of Graphene, with a Titanium mesh as a base, and rubber lining so you don't get electrocuted. It's light but strong, good physical defense, and pretty handy against other things like fire. Other than the design, there's nothing too fancy, no special tech built in, but that's mainly because I thought you'd want something you could repair in the field, or even just replace with your quirk if it got too damaged."

"The belt has pockets, magnetic locks, hooks, and as many ways to strap things you make to it as possible! And the cloak has a bunch of pockets all along the inside! That way you can stock up and prepare before going into a fight! And if you do most of it in advance, it'll give you more lipids to burn in case of an emergency! Oh! You could even bring a bunch of protein bars with you everywhere you go!"

Mei slipped a black stick out of her pocket and handed it to Momo. "And here is a USB with the designs, so you can recreate them with your quirk if they get destroyed."

"Thank you Mei." Momo smiled wearily at her. "This is all, well it's a lot."

"Do you like it?" Bakugo asked from the side, piping in for the first time after having been abnormally quiet the entire time.

The creation Hero looked at him strangely. "Mei said you ordered this for me? Why?"

"Well, you were doing something nice for me, so I figured, I dunno…" Bakugo scoffed and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Whatever, if you don't like it, you don't have to wear it. I don't know what I was thinking."

"I didn't say I wasn't going to use it." Momo grabbed his sleeve before he could storm off and smiled at him. "I like it a lot. Thank you Bakugo."

"Don't thank me, she did most of the work." He nodded over towards Mei. "I spent more time reining in some of her more… uh, exotic ideas, than actually working on the design myself."

"Exotic?" Momo tilted her head. "What do you mean? Did she want to strap rockets to the cloak?"

Mei lit up like a lightbulb, and Bakugo, seeing the danger, lunged for her, trying to clamp a hand over her mouth, but Mei slipped away from him easily.

"Well, your quirk needs as much skin to be exposed as possible, so that's what I did. I used the cloak to hide everything, and meet the HPSC's 'maximum exposed skin' limit, and was able to slip a much more useful outfit underneath! The chest piece can be unzipped in the back, for larger creations. Originally I wanted to spare you the hassle, and just go with some red stickers on the important bits. Maybe with some clamps so they really wouldn't fall off."

"WHAT!?" Momo shrieked, her face as red as her cloak.

"Yeah, and I still think it's a good idea, but blondie said I couldn't do it."

"BECAUSE IT'S A FUCKING STUPID IDEA!" Bakugo barked. "And I would have smacked you upside the head, if I thought you had even the slightest fucking clue what you were saying!"

"It's efficient." Mei quipped.

"It's indecent." Momo countered.

"Everyone's a critic." The inventor rolled her eyes with a smile, before walking off and her wheel barrel of equipment, and heading for the door.

"Bye Sensei! Sorry for all the things I broke while I was here, and all the explosions, and for being a headache!" Mei waved at Power Loader, as she exited the room, and gave a thumbs up at Momo and Bakugo. "I hope you guys enjoy the equipment! Make sure to be on the lookout for the support gear with my name on it, that'll be hitting the market soon! Mei Hatsume is on her way to the big leagues!"

She struck a pose, finger pointed into the air. "And the whole world's gonna know my name as the best inventor of all time!"

The door slammed shut, and suddenly the room was quiet.

"…Eccentric, isn't she?"

Momo turned to Power Loader, who was sitting slumped over at his desk, a sad expression on his face.

"Mei is a lot of things. Overconfident, loud, wasteful with her use of materials, a general environmental hazard… but she was here for a reason. They all were." He gestured to the work tables around the room, several of which were missing a nameplate, matching Mei's. "And she was the best. Better than me even, in some ways- tenacious, stubborn, unwilling to quit… I wouldn't have failed her this year, even if her final project burnt down the building. I worry for the future of UA if we're losing people like her."

The teacher sighed, and Momo suddenly realized just how much older the man was than her.

"Get out of here, go back to the Hero course. Get to training. I saw you two during the festival… the parts of it that weren't a shit show, at least. UA needs students like you now more than ever."

Momo opened her mouth to respond, but cut herself off as Bakugo placed a hand on her shoulder, and softly shook his head. Instead they silently collected their gear and made their way towards the door, leaving the man to mull in his thoughts alone.

The door shut behind the two Hero students, and for the first time in a long time… the support room was silent.

-Rain of Sins-

"HIYAAA!" Mirio screamed from his gut as he rocketed out of the ground, his body bruised and battered, his muscles straining as he threw everything he had behind this one last punch.

All Might easily sidestepped it in the blink of an eye, lightly batting away the fist. The student pivoted mid air, dodging the flick strong enough to create air blasts, and swung his leg up at All Might's head.

All Might caught the kick without missing a beat, and used it to throw Mirio across the gym.

Mirio, the top student of UA, landed flat on his back, gasping for air, sweat streaming from his face, just like the last twenty times.

"HAHA! IMPRESSIVE YOUNG TOGATA!" All Might boomed. "YOU ADAPT QUICKLY, YOU'RE QUICK TO LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES, AND YOU GET BETTER BY THE DAY! YOU'LL MAKE A FINE HERO!"

"Thank you sir!" Despite his bruises and exhaustion, Miro grinned ear to ear at the praise.

All Might suddenly appeared next to him with a gust of wind, as if he'd just teleported, and held out a hand to pull Mirio to his feet.

"NOW I HATE TO CUT A TRAINING SESSION SHORT, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE'RE MAKING REAL PROGRESS, BUT I'M AFRAID I HAVE TO GO. APOLOGIES FOR BAILING ON YOU."

"Don't worry about it, All Might! Just you taking half an hour out of your time limit to spar with me, is incredible." Mirio gave him a thumbs up. "It means the world!"

All Might's smile dimmed slightly, into something softer.

"Nighteye was right about you." He said, without the usual boom in his voice. "You're a good kid, Mirio. You'll do great things."

Then he disappeared, forcing Mirio to shield his face from the gale force winds that suddenly flooded the room as All Might sped away.

But when Mirio lowered his arms, his usual smile was gone, replaced with a tense frown as a heavy weight settled in his stomach.

His mind flashed back to his mentor, Sir Nighteye, coughing up blood into an oxygen mask as he layed in a hospital bed, and all the secrets he had been told. Breathtaking, terrifying secrets about ancient powers, and the most terrifying villain of all time.

"Promise me Mirio." Nighteye wheezed. "Promise me you'll do this. What's at stake is too great for your morals to get in the way! Do whatever you must! Lie to him, manipulate him, no cost is too great!" Nighteye grasped his hand and looked up at him with glowing purple eyes. "You MUST become his successor! Everything depends on it!"

Mirio slumped down onto the floor, and let out a heavy sigh.

His dream of saving a million people seemed a billion miles away.

-Rain of Sins-

"Early this morning, large groups of Villain launched coordinated assaults on five different HPSC offices around Tokyo, resulting in numerous casualties on both sides. Law enforcement was thankfully able to push back these assaults with the help of local Heroes, as well as top heroes such as All Might and Hawks, but not before extensive damage had been inflicted- with two buildings even burnt down.

The League of Villains claimed responsibility for these attacks, and promise more to come. Experts believe this was provoked by the HPSC's aggressive raids yesterday, and warn that by crushing the structure of so many criminal organizations at once, they may have created a power vacuum that League might be able to fill, absorbing the remnants of all these gangs and cartels, to become even more dangerous.

The Safety Commission has vowed to work with police to step up national security, as well as to use the increased budget granted to them by the government, to increase the number of boots and vehicles they have on the ground.

Opinions are torn, and experts argue if this is a deterrent to scare the League back into their hole, or if the Safety Commission knows something we don't, and is gearing up for war.

Either way, the sun seems to be shining just that much less bright since the festival. Up next: how to protect yourself and your loved ones from increased muggings. All this and more, after the break."

Aoyama stared into the glass cup in front of him, the chatter of the radio in the background seemingly turning into static the moment it reached his ears.

The last few days had been… interesting to say the least. And he'd constantly been a spring of nerves, glancing at windows, and waiting for the moment UA would figure out he was a traitor, and send a team to track him down and drag him to justice.

If he'd been on his own, he would have almost assuredly had a heart attack and died. Thankfully he had his brother with him, even now Mineta sat next to him, trying to hold a professional face as he choked down the single most bitter tea on the menu. (Something neither of them had realized when they ordered, they just thought the name sounded funny)

As for the rest of the company, well… Surprisingly, it wasn't all that bad.

"Ah, Earl Grey." An older, mustached man sighed in bliss from across the table, as he savored his drink. "One of the more popular teas, perhaps, but it's always good to ground yourself every now and again, from the exotic. There's a reason why the most popular flavors are the most popular, after all."

"I don't get it!" The cherry red haired short stack next to him pulled at her pigtails in frustration. "We went viral! We were on the news! We had tens of millions of views! Why has every video we've posted since been bleeding viewers so rapidly! The gas station heist from today only got ten thousand views before it was banned!"

"That was a good heist, one fit for the history books." Gentle nodded sagely. "We made out like kings and will never run out of snickers bars again.."

La Brava slumped, her head falling into her hands. "What are we doing wrong?"

"Well…" Aoyama slowly pushed away the awful tea he had been pretending to drink. "Maybe it has something to do with the escalation level?"

"You weren't even at the gas station, Sparkles." The girl glared at him. "You don't have any room to say anything."

"Now La Brava, let's be nice. There's no use fighting while good tea is on the table." Gentle chuckled. "If you have any ideas, any at all… Please voice them."

"Well, think about it from your audience's perspective. They looked you up because they all saw you at the festival, disarming bombs, saving people, going toe to toe with Stain, all while avoiding capture from the best Heroes in Japan. Then they find your news video where you're… stealing candy bars from a gas station. That's kind of a big difference, isn't it?"

The mastermind criminal stared at him with a similar expression to when you've been looking for your glasses for the better part of an hour only for someone to say they're on your head.

"That… would make sense, wouldn't it." Gentle leaned back in his chair, stroking his mustache.

"And I'd say it's even more than that." Mineta chimed into the conversation, pushing away the cup of tea in a mirror move to Aoyama. "Like, people wanted to see you succeed when you were running from Stain, they were all cheering for you, but if you're robbing people just for attention, you come off as a jerk."

"What do you mean?"

Mineta glanced at Aoyama and nodded. Aoyama took a breath to prepare himself.

He'd been mulling over this idea for the last several days, trying to think of a good way to pitch it. There had been a reason why he had joined the Hero course, why he'd taken All for One's bargain for a quirk- He wanted to be a Hero! Sure part of it was the appeal of fame, but he also wanted to help people who'd been hopeless- like he had been! And this, this might just be his only shot left of doing that.

"You two want to go down in history as legends, right? Well people don't like watching Villains win. People cheer when they get locked up, and then try to forget they ever existed. You want to be known by everyone, and you want them to tell stories about you- they have to love you guys to do that."

"So what? You want us to go vigilante?" La brava scoffed. "That's not exactly the way we swing. And they all get overshadowed by real Heroes, anyway."

"I wasn't going to suggest that at all. There are plenty of ways to come off as the 'good guys' without becoming Hero knockoffs. There are even things you could do that would get you cheered by the public, which Heroes would never be able to, since you don't care about laws."

Aoyama leaned closer so that no one else could hear them, a moot point considering all the other tables were empty.

"Have you ever heard the old story of robin hood?"

-Rain of Sins-

Uraraka fell to the cold metal floor, coughing dark sludge out of her lungs and throat, while the rest evaporated from her skin. Her phone clattered to the ground. On its screen was a simple message she'd just finished typing out before she was whisked away.

[We need to talk.]

"It's good to finally meet you in person, Ms Ochako Uraraka."

Ochako froze, hair standing up on her neck at the voice, as she forced herself to look up at the voice.

In the center of the dark room was a giant metal throne, made all the more eye-catching by the numerous metal tubes and technological devices that were embedded into it.

And then, of course, there was the man sitting on it.

He was tall, like, All Might tall, easily hitting a high 6 or low 7 feet. But whereas All Might avoided looking awkward by being so overly muscled, his body mass actually matching his height, this man was toned, defined. And he held himself with such purpose, that instead of looking gangly, he came off as sharp, almost predatory.

"Y-You!' She stuttered, a cough breaking her words. "You're the one from the emails."

"Straight to the point I see." The man said with a curious humm, his face hidden in the shadows. "Yes, I am. You said you wished to speak with me." He waved a hand at himself. "So here I am."

"Where am I? How did I get here!?"

"Classified." He said with a smirk audible in his voice. "And I used my quirk."

"Classified?" Ochako blinked and pulled herself to her feet. "Do you work in the government?"

"I work with people in the government, yes. And I do have some sort of say in a couple things, through some friends of mine… so I guess you could say that." From his tone, it was almost like he was saying an inside joke she wasn't in on. Whatever, that wasn't why she was here!

"MY TICKET!" She shouted, pointing a finger at him. "I sold it to YOU! What did you do with it!?" Because somehow high ranking villains got into the festival! And a student VIP ticket would do the tick!"

Then she did something that both impressed All for One and genuinely amused him.

She pulled a knife on him.

"Where did you get that?" All for One tilted his head, 'watching' the blade with his various quirks.

How interesting.

"You're a Hero student, you wouldn't use that on someone, would you?"

"I WILL ON YOU IF YOU DON'T TELL ME!"

How very interesting.

"If you don't tell me if I- if I'm- If Tsu getting hurt… if all those deaths…" Ochako seemed to falter for a moment, her eyes unfocusing, and her mind going to a different place. Then she snapped back to the present, gripping her knife so hard her knuckles went white, and pointing it at All for One.

"Tell. Me."

All for One drummed his fingers on his arm rest as he thought about how he could use this situation.

"I gave it to my protege, of course. I practically raised the boy, and felt it was a good gift. I've watched the boy all his life, and he's never expressed any interest in joining any Villain Organization, or becoming a member of one."

Join? No, Tomura was far too ambitious for that. He would make his own, and he would be no "member", he would be the leader.

"So you weren't responsible for the festival?"

"I'm not the one behind all the pieces that made it go to Hell, no. I did not order the League of Villains to launch a full on attack, I have never interacted with Stain, and what was found under the coliseum, well… It's as interesting to me, as it is to everyone else."

"Not 'All the pieces' that made it go to shit!?" She grit her teeth. "So you did have something to do with it! I… I had something to d-do with it."

"...Not in the way you're thinking. Why do you even ask?" He rested his chin on his fist, and gave her a moment to think. "If you hope for blackmail, I can assure you that's a bad idea. You are, after all, the one who sold me the ticket."

She winced, biting her lip so hard it bled. He was right, she couldn't report this, if she got dragged down, there would be no one to help her parents, an- oh God, her parents! They had received money from this guy too! Th-they would be prosecuted as criminals, and it'd be HER fault!

All her fault! Again! Why? WHY!? Why was she so useless!

All for One watched the range of emotions go through her eyes, but when it became clear she wasn't going to respond, he tried a different question.

"Why a knife? Why not your quirk?"

"M-My quirk?" Ochako laughed bitterly, her arms slumping, the knife dropping to the floor. "When has my quirk ever been reliable? I couldn't help anyone with it, couldn't save anyone with it. Not in the entrance exam, not at the USJ, not at the festival. Because my quirk is just l-like me…" She choked out. "Useless."

In that moment it seemed like her whole world had finally caught up with her. Become a Hero for money? What kind of sick, twisted, goal was that? Of course she had been destined to fail, she'd been a fraud even before she'd sold out to a Villain, she's been one since the moment she stepped foot on UA soil.

If she hadn't applied, and that heroic green haired boy from the exam had gotten in instead- someone who was there to help people, instead of take their money, would Tsu have lost her limbs? Would Mineta have that scar on his face? Would Aoyama and Mineta not have gone missing? Would the attack on the festival have even happened if she hadn't been there to sell her ticket?

Would all those people… would they still be alive?

…

And all because she'd wanted money.

Ochako dropped to her knees, tears falling from her face and splashing against the cold metal floor.

How pathetic.

She truly was… Useless.

"...I don't think you or your quirk are useless."

Ochako looked back up at All for One with wide, teary eyes.

"I have been around for a long time my dear, and have developed the eyes of a collector." He smiled softly at her. "Others might write you off as just a stone on a beach of rocks, but what I see in front of me, is an unpolished gemstone."

"Wh-what?"

"You are not useless, all you need is guidance and proper attention. With that, you will shine like the brightest diamond."

"How?" Ochako said without thinking. "How could you possibly fix me?"

"Fixing broken people, my dear, is what I do best."

All for One stood from his chair, tubes and life support systems falling away from him as he descended the steps of his throne like a messenger from heaven. And as he came into the light, she saw him for what he truly was, a scarred, wounded old man, clinging to life through sheer willpower.

"I can fix you. If you accept this, you will go from being in my sphere of influence to being my protectorate. Exchanging limited autonomy for guaranteed safety, and great privileges that come from being under my wing."

"Wealth… Power… I can remove the side effects of your quirk, strengthen your muscles, and boost your potential a hundredfold. I can make you useful. I can make all your troubles go away. Your parents will never want for anything ever again." He came to a stop in front of her. "But it will cost you."

Ochako stared up at him, this larger than life figure who seemed to have the world at his fingers, that even death was scared to claim, and in that moment… She truly believed him.

"...I don't care. Please." She whispered. "Fix me."

All for One didn't even try to hide his grin.

"Excellent." He reached out his hand. "Allow me to demonstrate my power, and why you should never doubt my ability to uphold my end of bargains. I bestow upon you several quirks that will unlock your true potential."

"Is that even possible?" Ochako gasped.

"My dear." All for One chuckled, his voice deep and rich. "To me, anything is possible."

He placed his hand atop her head, and Ochako gasped as power flooded her veins.

"[Numb], to make you immune to nausea and pain. To allow you to bypass your quirk's limits and fight for as long as you have the willpower to."

"[Feather Walk] to make you light as a feather, and fast as the wind."

"[Acrobatics] to allow your body to bend in impossible ways. To let you spin, twist, and move better, faster, and more precise, than anyone else ever could."

"Combined they will allow you to use your quirk on yourself without limitations, and become as elusive and swift as the breeze. With training, you will be untouchable, a whirlwind of blows that strikes but is never struck."

And a fourth… [Echo] to be able to know where she is, and what she hears, whenever he wants.

'That's check, Nezu.' His grin twisted into a sharp version of itself. 'I wonder how much damage I can cause before you even realize something is wrong?'

-Chapter End-

Hmmm… I'm not entirely sure what to put here, so I guess I'll just ramble.

The best Villains in a story are the ones with an intrinsic link or parallel to the Hero.

This can be done either by mirroring some part of the character- the Joker believes no one deserves to be saved because deep down everyone is just like him, meanwhile Batman believes  everyone  should be saved, no matter what.

Or it can be done more physically, by having the character be directly linked to one another- Part of the reason Darth Vader is such a good villain is because not only does he parallel Luke's beliefs, he's also his dad. The OG Star Wars would have been much less climatic, if the big bad was just some random dude.

(I know this sounds basic, but you'd genuinely be surprised)

Obviously this is a generalization, and a short summary, but the point still stands.

If you look at the characters in 1A that I have been mainly focusing on in this fic, you'll see they all slot neatly into this narrative relationship with Izuku.

Aoyama is a former quirkless who accepted a quirk to get into UA, much like cannon Izuku did.

Ibara is heavily religious, and the Religion vs Science trope has existed since literally forever.

Shoto is the son of Endeavor, who killed Izuku's mom.

Bakugo is Izuku's former childhood friend, and former bully.

Then you get to Momo.

Momo does  not  intrinsically have a clear mirror to Izuku, which is why I went out of my way to link her to Bakugo- not because I'm shipping them (their character tags aren't in brackets guys) but for the dual purpose of character development, and to give Momo a narrative parallel to Izuku through Bakugo's own link.

Now she's not just "random Hero student 36" to Izuku, she's the person who replaced him as Bakugo's best-friend/rival.

*Sips Hot Chocolate*

There's also Ochako, obviously, but her subplot has a very important narrative purpose that will come around later, and I can't say too much or else it'll spoil it.

Next Chapter: Apr 14-16 (ish)