Burglary wasn’t the most fashionable crime, nor was barging into a group of bigots and murdering them all. Still, they wouldn’t have to resort to such lowly behaviour if they weren’t so strapped for cash.

Felix sat against some abandoned crates with his arms folded while his fellow League Of Villains tried to salvage their measly spoils. Ever since falling out with the Shie Hassaikai, they had been reduced to paupers, scraping by as much as possible just to find their next meal.

Even All For One had announced his departure from Japan after the loss of Izuku, apparently intent on finding a different source of power. Their morale was at an all time low, and there was no one to help them this time.

“My prosthetic arm is creaky,” Compress said, moving the metal arm pathetically. “Can we ask Giran for a replacement?”

“Great idea!” Jin spouted sarcastically “Too bad we have no money to pay him with.”

“Boss, this is no way to live.” Spinner flicked his head at Shigaraki. “How long can we keep this up?

“As long as it takes. Until we’re finished.”

“If we’d teamed up with the Hassaikai, we’d probably be eating the finest sushi right now.” Even Compress’ usual cheery voice had long faded away. “Why’d you have to kill him, Pagonis?”

“Don’t be an idiot.” Shigaraki shook his head. “They tried to kill us.”

The magician laughed dryly. “What a world. We spread fear across the country, and now we’re reduced to a band of paupers. I feel sorry for every lunatic who looked up to us.”

More shuffling punctuated the stuffy silence as Jin and Toga continued sifting through the fake jewellery.

“Nothing here of any interest,” Jin muttered to himself. “Oh, that’s lovely!”

He inspected the ring for a moment, before chucking it into a cardboard box. “For an old lady, perhaps. Toss it. Bah!”

“The whole gang’s just sitting around,” Dabi said. “Am I the only one who’s actually working to find us some more members?”

“You’re just going around burning people to death!” Jin whipped his head at the man. “Have you ever brought back a single person?”

“It’s not my fault that nobody’s worthy. The streets are full of walking trash with no ambition.”

“Or maybe you’re just a bad judge of character.”

“Please. Like you’re one to talk. Remind me again who brought back Overhaul.”

“So what exactly is our top priority these days? I joined the League because I was inspired by Stain.”

Shigaraki looked up. “What?”

Spinner stood up and walked towards his boss.

“I’m from a backwater town in the countryside,” he said. “Everyone there believed in old-fashioned ideas and shunned me because of how I look. I can’t even begin to describe how hollow I felt.”

He clenched his fists tightly.

“Then, while watching the news one night, I witnessed Stain’s final moments. He was trying to change our antiquated society by himself.” The man’s voice was rising at a dangerously fast rate. “That was the first time I realised how suffocating the culture around me was. I couldn’t sit back and do nothing. That’s why I’m here now.”

“Wow, so cool.” Shigaraki gave him a slow, sarcastic clap. “So you’re basically an empty cosplayer.”

“That’s right! I’m still completely empty. Which is why I don’t understand why we’re wasting time idling around!”

The gang stared at them as the lizard man stormed up to Shigaraki, shaking him by his collar roughly.

“I thought we were supposed to break the world here!” Spinner yelled. “Answer me, Shigaraki! What the hell is our goal? What are we even doing?”

Shigaraki pushed his hand away.

“We need more power…” he mumbled to himself. “Kurogiri often mentioned that Master has left me a certain ‘power’. Perhaps it is time we took it to advance the league…”

“Power? We already have Felix here! What more power do you need?” Jin shouted at him. “Just admit it, you’re a terrible leader. Having more power isn’t going to help with our situation. We need money!”

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“Don’t you get it, Twice? Your friend here will leave us one day. He’s just a temporary crutch,” Shigaraki retorted. “We need something more substantial, more permanent. Master must have had something else planned for me.”

Felix unfolded his arms. “So how do you intend to find this power? Do you intend to begin some kind of pointless treasure hunt? Or are you going to lead us on a wild goose chase?”

The villain leader stood up abruptly.

“I’m going to find Doctor Ujiko,” he said. “He created the nomus, and Kurogiri said that only he knows where to find this power.”

“I’m not following you.” Dabi turned away. “I have better things to do with my time.”

“Neither am I,” Felix said. “My powers may have recovered fully, but I’m not risking anything else.”

“You serious?” Shigaraki’s eyes narrowed in anger. “Fine, I didn’t need all of you anyway. Try not to die when I’m gone-”

An enormous hand burst from the ground as rubble rained around the League Of Villains.

~ ~ ~

By the gods…

Felix looked up at the hulking monster towering at least three stories over his comrades sprawled on the ground. It resembled a man, except for the fact that jagged skin poked out from almost every part of its muscle bound body. A portable radio also hung on its neck for some reason.

It roared once more as tears welled up in its eyes, looking almost as though it was bawling.

“What the hell is that thing?” Toga screamed as the monster raised a hand to slam onto them.

Pink flared in the psychic’s eyes as he raised a force field.

“Piss off, you big baby.” Felix swiped his hand, pushing it away easily. Wind whipped through his hair as he reached the monster’s height in an instant and swung a psionic fist at its face. Thunder cracked as the clouds turned dark for a brief moment.

The monster growled in pain, crushing the nearby trees as it stumbled backwards.

“Fascinating, this must have been the power Kurogiri was talking about.” Shigaraki walked up beside Felix, staring at the giant man in awe. “Looks like he came to us instead.”

“You… leader?” The monster pointed at Shigaraki. Felix widened his eyes in surprise; he had not expected this being to be capable of human speech.

“Yes.”

Giant monster clutched his head in response, screaming in agony as though he had just witnessed his entire life’s work burn down in an instant.

“Too weak…. Why, master… Why?!” He roared again, charging towards the villain leader with full intent to kill.

Felix raised a hand, freezing the monster in its tracks before lifting it up. A huge tremor tore through the earth as the psychic swung his hand downwards, slamming it roughly back to the ground. The radio broke off from the impact and landed in front of the villains’ feet.

“You seem to have run into some trouble, Shigaraki.” A familiar voice was suddenly speaking through the radio.

“Doctor Ujiko?”

“I trust that you’ve been well?”

“Ask me again in a minute.” Shigaraki tensed his body, staring at the monster shaking its head groggily. “If it isn’t game over for us yet.”

“I take it you’ve met Gigantomachia. He’s All For One’s biggest fan,” Doctor Ujiko continued, sounding strangely apathetic to the situation the villains were in. “This giant even used to work as his bodyguard. He’s got incredible stamina and resilience, and can even handle multiple Quirks without having to undergo any modification.”

“Good for him, then.” Felix rolled his eyes. “Giving us some tips to avoid dying would be good right about now.”

“A few years after the Master took you in and after All Might weakened him, All For One understood that defeat was a possibility,” Ujiko continued his exposition, as though he simply enjoyed the sound of his own voice. “So, he hid Gigantomachia from view. No matter what might become of him, he made sure that his hopes and dreams would live on. As his successor, he has gifted you this inheritance.”

“Call me crazy, but this doesn’t seem like a very nice gift.” Dabi lit up his forearms with fire.

“Gigantomachia is loyal; that’s why he’s in despair now. It pains him that Shigaraki doesn’t quite measure up to All For One.”

“So all we have to do is make this huge toddler like us by beating him, huh?” Dabi’s expression hardened, releasing a torrent of blue flames at the monster.

Gigantomachia shielded his face with his arms, before putting them down and charging towards him.

“That didn’t work, Dabi!” Toga yelled.

Felix stepped forward and threw a fully powered psychic punch at its torso. It sent the monster flying a few dozen metres back. The psychic growled aggressively, intent on taking the offence this time.

He hissed, releasing the psionic energy pooled in his palms. Gigantomachia thrashed and flailed his arms as the enormous pink beam of light collided with his face directly. The crater in the ground got larger and larger as Felix increased his power output-

Black goo burst from his mouth without warning. Space warped around him as he coughed uncontrollably. His eyes squeezed themselves shut in agony; it felt as though he had suddenly developed some form of severe tonsillitis.

The world warped into darkness before his eyes.

Cool air conditioning soothed his skin as he found himself standing beside his allies in some sort of laboratory. Ujiko’s voice rang out again, but it sounded a lot closer this time.

“Now, now. Before you accidentally kill Gigantomachia, let’s have a little chat first.”