Trump Card (Part 1)

Jason was absolutely livid. "You guys went and fought me without me?! Are you fucking suicidal?!" Fatgum, who was speaking to the group through his phone, agreed. "Yes. Although, I am angry that you guys went at all. You could've been killed. Not to mention that Tamaki is now under review for sanctioning an unofficial investigation, meaning he could lose his hero license." Momo looked at the laptop, where they could see Fatgum recovering at home. "Why was Tamaki brought into this? This was our investigation, so we should be the ones to be punished." Fatgum sighed. "If you guys had official hero licenses, yes. However, you all have Probationary Hero Licenses. On paper, it means I am responsible for all of your actions. Or in this case, Tamaki was." The group hung their heads in shame. They knew what kind of risks they were facing, but they had never intended on bringing Tamaki into their mess.

Chris sighed. "Well, if we hadn't done this, then we would've never known that the other Jason had joined the League of Villains." This was news to both Jason and Fatgum. Jason's jaw dropped. "...I'm sorry… I did what…?" Chris sighed. "Before leaving, the other you said 'the enemy of my enemy is an acquaintance'." Jason sat down. Aizawa, who had been standing in a corner of the room, looked at him. "Jason, nobody knows yourself better than you. Why would you join the League of Villains?" "...I don't know…" Mina stood up. "Come on, Jason. You have to know something." Jason thought for a very long time. "...you guys are my family. He believes that you've turned on him." Chris swore. "Which means he turned to the first group that accepted him." Jason scoffed. "The League of Villains are pieces of shit and no amount of trauma will ever make me forget."

Momo tilted her head. "Well, if you hate the League of Villains so much, why would you consider joining them?" Jason looked at the ground. "...honestly…? I would say the one thing that could push me that far would be… revenge…" Chris stood up from his seat. "Would you seriously join the League of Villains just to get back at us?" Jason's eyes narrowed. "I don't want to think about the things I would do once pushed too far." The room was silent after that.

The following day, Jason looked at his phone. Kirishima had texted him to meet at the gym. Jason groaned and got out of bed, pulling on the UA gym uniform. He walked to the gym. Upon entering, he saw Kirishima, Chris, and Shoto all dressed in their gym uniforms. They smiled and waved him over. Jason walked over. "Hey guys. What's this about?" Shoto pointed at Kirishima. "Kirishima came up with a pretty good idea." The redhead spoke up. "Well, if we have to fight the other Jason, I figured we could practice by fighting you." Chris smirked. "You kicked our asses at the beach, so this will be a great way to practice for the next time we need to fight." Jason crossed his arms. "This won't work." His three friends lost their smiles. Chris stood up straight. "Why not?" "Because we would just be sparring. If you guys were completely accurate with your description of your fight against the other me, he wasn't holding back in the slightest; he was actively trying to kill you." Shoto shrugged. "Then try to kill us. I know that you know when to stop, so let's train for the real thing." Jason glared at his girlfriend. "First of all, a fight between me and Chris would destroy the entire gym. Secondly, no. I don't want to hurt you guys." Shoto and Chris both locked eyes with him and spoke in unison. "Sports Festival." Jason inhaled through his nose out of frustration. "...that… is… different…" Shoto crossed her arms. "How is that different?" "Because in the Sports Festival, there are rules and a referee keeping us from going too far. We're only fighting to win. A total deathmatch is completely different."

Chris took a few steps forward. Now standing in front of Jason. He looked down at his best friend. "We need to be ready to fight the other version of you. You have been kicking our asses for these last two years. Now that there's a version of you who wants to kill us, there is a strong likelihood that we will die next time around. The only way we can improve our survivability is if you help us. Unless you don't care what happens to us." Jason glared up at him, not saying a word. Kirishima took a step back. He absolutely hated it when these two were at odds with each other. The first time they were like this was when Chris was trying to stop Jason from saving Shoto alone, and he had actually thought they were going to fight in the hospital. Jason was thinking, trying to figure out a response. He ended up just giving up. "...way to pull on my heart strings, dude. Fine. You win." Jason walked to the center of the room. The other three got up and walked over as well.

Jason began stretching. "I absolutely hate being surrounded, since I find it difficult to keep track of all of my opponents." The group split up and surrounded Jason. They all prepared their quirks. Jason looked around. "Wait. Where are Momo and Mina? Are they not participating?" Chris relaxed slightly. "They were called to the Ryukyu Agency today. Work related stuff." Jason nodded. He sighed and got into a combat stance. "Alright. Hit me with your best shot."