Trump Card (Part 5)

"It's a lot easier to say than you think." Chris sighed, looking at All Might. "...I don't know… I think-" "Chris. Just say it." Chris nodded. Then he smiled and posed. "Villainy beware! For I…" Chris trailed off, slowly losing his smile. All Might crossed his arms. "What?" Chris ran a hand through his hair. "...sorry, All Might… it just doesn't seem right to say it quite yet…" All Might sighed. "Come on. Just do this." All Might buffed up, flexing and grinning. "Villainy beware! For I am here!" All might quickly reverted back to his skinny form, coughing up a little bit of blood. Chris slightly panicked. "All Might! You have to stop pushing yourself!" All Might smiled. "Sorry. But it's just a phrase. You can say it." Chris just stared at the ground. "...it's not just a phrase, All Might…" Chris looked up at him. "Everytime you would say it, villains would cower. Civilians would turn their tears into joy. Them seeing you shout 'I am here' means more to them than anything else." Chris looked down at the ground again. "...I'm not capable of putting that kind of power into those words yet. I need to prove myself more." All Might smiled and wrapped an arm around his successor. "You have already proven yourself more than you could possibly imagine. If you aren't ready, that's fine." The two walked out of the gym, done with their training for the day.

Aizawa sat down in Principal Nezu's office. "You wanted to see me, sir?" Nezu spun in his chair to face Aizawa. He wasn't smiling. "Hello, my friend." "I don't like seeing you frown, sir. What's wrong?" Nezu turned his monitor around so Aizawa could see it. "It's a letter from the director of the Student Hero Committee." Aizawa's eyes narrowed. "The board who decides if schools are qualified to train heroes. What do they want this time?" "As you know, they were very displeased with our performance last year, with the USJ attack and the forest incident. Students were injured both times and one of our students was abducted as a result. Specifically, one of your students." Aizawa took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. He had always considered Shoto's abduction as his greatest failure. Nezu continued. "Now they are very upset with Jason's kidnapping. He may have been returned to us, but they still want an official report from you and an explanation for our collective failures." Aizawa sighed. "...when do we leave?" "You leave as soon as possible. The email was explicitly clear that they wanted you to explain yourself." Aizawa's eyes narrowed. "It seems odd that they don't want the Principal to explain the situation." The teacher smirked. "Maybe they're tired of being outsmarted and outspoken by you." Nezu smiled. "Quite possible. Go ahead and get dressed in your finest suit. I will teach your class today." "Thank you sir. I'll make sure to call Ms. Yaoyorozu and see if she can watch Eri for me." Aizawa stood up. "Tomorrow's a teaching holiday, right? In case I don't return before the work day ends, I will see you on Monday." Nezu raised his hand in a friendly salute. "And in case you fail to return before I leave for the day, I hope you have a wonderful weekend."

Denki was sweating. He didn't mind the difficult training. He didn't mind the intense exercise. He didn't even care about getting yelled at on the rare occasions it occurred. However, he absolutely couldn't stand the actual school work. The quiz was figuratively kicking his ass. He was even more nervous as Momo flipped her paper over, signaling her completion of the quiz. It had only taken her five minutes. Iida was close behind her. Slowly, his classmates finished the quiz. He only had a few minutes left now. Denki got to the final question. "...if x=3, solve… why is math so hard…?" Mina turned her quiz over. For the first time in a while, she felt confident with her answers. Jason and Chris flipped their quizzes over. They had studied well enough. Shoto, having the third highest grade average in the class, didn't have to try too hard either. Kirishima was the last one in their main group to finish. Denki was the last to finish in the entire class.

Pres Mic finished grading the quizzes. He stood up. "Listen up, Class 2A!" The students stopped talking to each other and looked to the front of the class. Pres Mic smiled. "I want to congratulate all of you on passing today's quiz! The lowest score in the class was a 75%!" The class cheered quietly. "Now, as a reward, I have nothing more for you guys. Momo, may I see you after class?" "Yes sir." The rest of the class gathered their belongings and went back to the dorm. Momo remained seated.

The teacher sat at the desk next to Momo's; normally Chris's seat. "So, we have a small problem." "Did I do something wrong, sir?" "No, not at all. Eraserhead has to go do something today, and someone needs to keep an eye on Eri. Could you watch her for the day?" Momo smiled. "Of course, sir. I'm sure Chris would be happy to see her again as well." Pres Mic smiled. "Great! I'll drop her off at the class dorm in a few minutes."

Aizawa, dressed in his nicest suit and with his hair nicely combed, got into his car and drove off campus. Spinner lowered his binoculars. "Aizawa took the bait. Alert the boss." Vortex called Shigaraki. "Boss? Aizawa fell for the trap." "Good. I'll inform the Dabi and Wake clones that they're about to have company." Shigaraki hung up and turned to Void. "Prepare for the assault on UA." Void crossed his arms. "I hope you know that we'll have less than an hour before the heroes and local authorities will be able to bring overwhelming force against us." "Yes, you have told me many times now. Just follow my orders." Void shrugged and called Mr. Compress, telling him to prepare for their arrival.

The clone Dabi hung up the phone. "Eraserhead is on his way." The Wake clone had just finished using his quirk to clean the Director's blood off of the desk. "It was far too easy to break into the committee office and access their computer." Dabi put his hands in his pockets. "Nobody ever thinks they'll be the target of villains. It makes things easier for us. I'm just glad Shigaraki's plan worked." Wake smiled. "Who knew sending an email from the director's computer would have so much influence over our foes?" Dabi smiled. Wake lost his smile. "You've fought Eraserhead before, right? What are we up against?" Dabi lost his smile. "Eraserhead is one of the strongest heroes in the country. The reason we were cloned and sent here is because Eraserhead is very likely going to kill us." Wake took a deep breath. "Alright, let's do this."

Pres Mic knocked on the 2A Dorm and entered. Momo, Chris, Jason, and Shoto were all waiting in the lounge. Momo smiled and stood up. "Hello Eri." "Momo!" The young girl ran up and hugged Momo. Then Eri let go and quickly ran to Chris. Pres Mic nodded to Momo. "Thanks. Aizawa said he would pay you back for dinner tonight." Momo smiled at the teacher. "Oh, this is no big deal. We enjoy Eri's company." Pres Mic nodded to her. "Well, thanks anyways. Aizawa said he would try to be back by-"

Void ran forward. "Vengeful Strike!" With a single punch, Void destroyed the wall protecting UA from the outside world. The nearby dorms shook from the shockwave. Void, Shigaraki, Mr. Compress, Dabi, Toga, and Spinner all walked through the broken wall, ignoring the alarms blaring around campus. The League of Villains had broken into UA once again.