Mastermind: Strategist For Hire

All for One

"Ok, I hate to be the one to say it, but I'm just gonna come right out and ask," Yamada said, "Is there a possibility Todoroki was taken because the league thought he had One for All?"

Nedzu shook his head, "They shouldn't have. That's why we went on with the sports festival like we did, despite All Might's death. All the students' quirks were on display and none of them were similar to All Might's."

"That being said," Tsukauchi said, "We are fairly confident that All for One is behind the league of villains. The existence of the Nomus confirms that much."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Midnight asked, "We can't just leave him alone, not if he's going to go after our students."

"Do we even have a choice?" Snipe asked, "If All for One is really as strong as All Might was at his prime, then how are we supposed to counter that?"

"If his quirk is what makes him so strong," Aizawa said darkly, "then we'll just have to take it away."

The teachers looked at each other and nodded. They would take down this villain no matter how strong he was.

They owed it to Todoroki.

Shouto sat unbound at the bar, watching with a mixture of amusement and horror as Dabi tried to hit an increasingly enraged Shigaraki with peanuts. Toga was sitting beside him, cheering Dabi on as one of Twice's personalities did the same and the other pleaded for him to stop annoying Shigaraki for all of their sakes. Kurogiri simply shook his head fondly and continued cleaning glasses. Already there was more love and camaraderie in this group than Shouto had ever felt at home and he wasn't quite sure how to deal with that.

"So, Todoroki, I see you made the right decision."

Shouto looked up in shock to see a smiling Midoriya sitting in the window, "Midoriya? What are you doing here?"

Toga almost knocked him over as she ran past him and threw her arms around Midoriya, who hugged her back without hesitation, "Mind-chan! Mind-chan! You're back!"

"Mastermind," Kurogiri said, "It's a pleasure, as always. May I get you a drink?"

Shouto's eyes widened. Midoriya was Mastermind? He looked over to see Midoriya shaking his head, "I'm afraid I'm here on business this time, not pleasure."

"Then get to the point!" Shigaraki grumbled.

Midoriya had finally untangled himself from Togas arms and he sighed, "I just thought you guys might like to know that the heroes and police are gathering outside. It looks like they're planning a raid to come rescue Todoroki." He looked at Shouto and gave him a knowing smile, "Too bad they're a little too late for that, huh?"

Shigaraki scratched his neck, "Annoying heroes! How did they find us? Cheaters!"

"Now Tomura," Shouto flinched as an unfamiliar voice came from the television, "It does not matter how they knew where to find you. All that matters now is that Mastermind was kind enough to tell us of their plans. How long do you think we have before they strike?"

Midoriya shrugged, "An hour at the most. If I were them, I'd likely use the planned press conference as a cover."

"Might I suggest retreating?" Kurogiri said calmly. "We have other properties that the heroes will not have discovered, and Mastermind has given us more than enough time to clear out this location."

Shigaraki stopped scratching, "I guess you're right, Kurogiri. Come on, guys, grab your stuff and let's go."

Kurogiri was already busy warping away his vast stores of alcohol as many of the others left to go pack. Shouto himself didn't have anything to do, seeing as they didn't bother to grab any of his things when they kidnapped him. He turned his attention to Midoriya, who was wearing what he now recognized as Mastermind's villain costume, but with the hood and mask down, "Are you a member of the league?"