Chapter Text
Most people, when faced with a mysterious, unmarked black box arriving unexpectedly at their front door, especially the front door of their super-secret bunker, especially when it's addressed to them, would most likely... not pick it up. Maybe run away screaming.
Shigaraki Tomura was not most people.
Tomura turned the sleek, light box over in his hands, pinkies stretched out as he did so. He quirked an eyebrow, shrugged, and turned to go back inside.
On his way into the dingy, abandoned underground air-raid shelter's main room, he chucked the box haphazardly onto the rundown block of wood they'd been calling a 'table' for the past few weeks. Collapsing into a nearby suspiciously stained beanbag, Tomura sighed dramatically, dragging his long fingers over his face as he did so.
"Jesus Christ, would you stop with that shit? It's actually getting on my nerves," drawled a voice from the 'countertop' behind Tomura.
Without turning around to look at the newcomer, Tomura scoffed. "Maybe you should stop chain smoking in the living room and giving me probable carbon monoxide poisoning, bitch." Dabi's low growl answered him, and before anything could escalate further, another voice interrupted them.
"Shigaraki-sama, Dabi-san, what is the origin of this box on the table? I don't believe I have seen it here before," Kurogiri said reproachfully.
"Yeah, I found it outside. Has my name on it, so I brought it in."
There's a beat of silence.
A sudden splutter cut through the air, and Dabi sat up hurriedly, waving his scarred hand in front of his face to properly see through the clouds of cigarette smoke obscuring his view while still coughing dryly. He stared at Tomura, blue eyes wide and incredulous, and wheezed out a "What the fuck, man?"
"Yeah, Tomura-kun, it might be a bomb or something!" Toga's voice chimed in from around the corner, before walking over to join them.
"Oh my God, I dropped outta high school, I don't know what to do if there's a bomb! Wait, I wanna get blown up!!"
While Dabi and Shigaraki continued bickering, an exasperated Kurogiri attempted to calm the two of them down, and Twice sat down to enjoy the show, Toga Himiko took the opportunity to test what was truly inside the box. After all, if it really was a bomb, Kurogiri could just... portal it away, right?
Sticking her tongue out between her sharp teeth, Himiko pulled out her favourite pen knife, the one with just a little blood staining the tip and a pretty demon pattern on the golden hilt. She tossed it from hand to hand, then stabbed it into the black tape smoothed over the corner of the strange little box, and neatly sliced through the packaging, flipping open the box as she did so.
"Oh! It's just a buncha old-timey VHS tape thingies! I wonder who sent them to you, Tomu-kun..." She rifled through the tapes in the box just as everyone else stopped to look at her, mouths gaping.
It was at that moment that the rest of the League of Villains decided to show themselves, slinging their newly filled backpacks off their shoulders and onto the cold, wet floor, Mr. Compress shutting and locking the heavy door behind xim.
Spinner was the first to speak up. "Uh, guys? We noticed that whoever came in last didn't lock the door, and I just wanted to make sure that everyone knows--" he cut himself off at the jolt of Magne's hand clapping down on his shoulder, stopping himself short.
Ignoring Kurogiri's pointed look at Shigaraki following Spinner's statement, Magne spoke up. "What's going on here? You're all looking at Shigaraki and Toga-chan as if they just stuck their hands in the cookie jar," her eyes darted between the two, the former looking like a grumpy deer in headlights and the latter with a pleased grin on her face.
Toga responded cheerfully, "Tomura-kun found loads of weird creepy VHS tapes in this little box addressed to us and brought them inside!"
Compress, Spinner and Kurogiri gave a deep, despondent sigh in unison, while Magne simply quirked her eyebrow and remarked, "...Right. Of course he did."
Toga giggled and ran to show Magne and Twice her discovery. Shigaraki made to leave as Spinner took the chance to keel over snout-first into the abandoned beanbag. Dabi called out mockingly, "Hey, boss, where ya going?" After Shigaraki's retreating back. He stopped to turn and level a (tired) death stare at Dabi, and narrowed his eyes grouchily at him.
Their staring contest was muscled in on by Twice's rather loud declaration of, "Hey, don't we have a VHS player here somewhere? I swear I saw one the other day. No, we shouldn't use it, what if it's cursed!"
This caused squabbling to break out amongst the Villains once more, which was only stopped by Kurogiri noisily slamming down the VHS player they had collected via their Quirk.
Toga ducked under Compress's arm to skip over to the machine, tapes in hand, and examined the dusty old player meticulously, her teeth almost chewing through her lip in her concentration.
"Guys! There's little numbers on 'em! This one's number one, and it's got a little note, too..." she fiddled with a small, folded up piece of paper before dramatically clearing her throat once everyone's attention was on her.
"Dear League,
Do not try to find me, or even think of me.
I wish to remain anonymous.
This is my gift to you, to the Heroes, and to Japan. You see, I believe in humanity, even after all that I've seen, and while some may call me naïve for that, I have learnt to see it as an invaluable skill of mine. Not many people possess this skill these days, but I like to think that if they did, people like you would no longer exist.
This gift of mine will show you such a person of which I speak. This person exists, as do these events, and they have some sort of connection with at least one of you. I hope, for your sakes and for the rest of us, that you listen well, and heed the message thus gifted to you. If you do, great knowledge will be imparted onto you.
You have nothing to fear from these tapes. Nothing physical, at least. I know change scares a lot of people.
- Neutral."
"Uhh... what the fuck?" Twice giggled nervously, for once his mind not being divided on opinions.
"Yes, I'm not quite sure those are safe for us to be watching. The parts mentioning the Heroes and 'change' concern me greatly," added Kurogiri rather stiffly, unused to expressing their own experiences in front of others.
"I don't know, perhaps we should give it a go? The whole 'knowledge' bit sounded kinda promising," pondered Magne.
"Woah, woah, woah, slow down! We should definitely think this through some more first," defended Spinner.
For once, Dabi decided to speak his mind to the room. He stood up, leaning on the countertop heavily, head tilted back to glare at the ceiling, and sighed. "I hate to say this, but maybe Twice is right. There's literally no way these things were sent here, with Shig's name on, by accident. And it's not a coincidence that they're these old-fashioned tapes that we just so happen to have the player for, either. Remember the so-called 'pizza' at Kamino, anyone?"
Everyone fell silent after that. After a minute or so, the youngest of them tentatively raised a hand.
"Shouldn't this be the boss's decision? It's addressed to him, and he's supposed to be the one telling us what to do, right?"
At Toga's words, the League's heads collectively swivel to stare at Tomura, who had been once again turning to leave them for the privacy of his dingy, dark 'bedroom'. His footsteps faltered, and gradually petered out. His head fell low, gradually whitening hair spilling out around his face. He sighed; deeply, heavily, and all at once his team had the realisation of just how exhausted and depressed their leader had become.
He lethargically turned to look at them, and they saw that the formerly ruby red of his eyes had faded into a dull, unpolished rust. "Do what you want. I don't care." He ground out, before continuing his walk down the damp hallway to the 'bedrooms'.
Something seemed to almost collectively snap in the minds of the League, and they all stood up or opened their mouth in protest, but hesitated before following through.
One person beat them to it. In contrast to Shigaraki, Dabi's usually apathetic eyes were glowing a bright, cerulean blue, and seemed to dance and flicker like a roaring flame.
"Oh, so you're going to give up on us? For what? What have you got better to do, boss? Brood? Cry to the daddy all locked up in Tartarus? I thought you were supposed to be the leader. We chose you, bastard, so lead."
Everyone's breath caught in their throat at the blatant challenge, Kurogiri twitching out a wispy arm as if to pull Dabi back, before apparently thinking better of it.
Shigaraki stood for a second. Then ten, then twenty. Nobody moved a muscle.
Then, as if a switch had been flipped, Shigaraki's head slowly turned to meet their gaze. Everybody watched, transfixed, as a spark of opposing red fire came to life in his eyes, and a hand came up to scratch slightly at his already ragged neck.
"Oh, so you've changed your mind, huh? You all want to watch these stupid tapes now? Fine. We'll watch them. Fuck the Heroes. Fuck Japan. These shitty little things will help us, and us alone, just how things should be."
____________________________
It took a while to get everything set up, as more than a few of the party were dead set on being actually comfortable, and weren't exactly impressed with the probably decades old beanbags, but they got there eventually. Twice and Compress apparently had a knack for figuring out ancient technology, and were in charge of the VHS player, whereas Tomura had insisted on holding the remote, "in case anything got weird".
When the old monitor finally flickered to life, accompanied by a slight whirring noise and a bright, greenish glow. A play button appeared on screen, and the League leaned back slightly, still internally debating on whether or not they should go through with this.
"I do wonder... who this is going to be centred on? Perhaps one of us, or someone we know? I couldn't quite tell if our mysterious benefactor meant it would be someone like us, or someone who can see the good in others." Compress said, curiosity bleeding out from xeir voice.
"I think I'd be the best main character ever!" Cheered Toga, before Dabi elbowed her roughly in the ribs.
"Shut up, dumbasses. You're never gonna find out if you don't let us press play," he remarked, and Shigaraki took the ensuing silence as a cue to start the first tape.
{It opens on a beautiful scene of a normal suburban park, with sunlight peering through the viridian dappled leaves, and a soft summer breeze wafting through the air. The unmistakable sound of a child's tears filters through the unused speakers.}
"Uh oh, tragic backstory alert! Ooh I hope it's me!" Twice cawed from his seat on the floor in between the two women of the group.
"Pfft, that's me already out. I never cried as a kid, just threw screaming fits."
No one mentioned the hidden relief in Dabi's voice.
"That's because you were the one whose face made other kids cry," jeered Shigaraki under his breath, and Dabi stuck out a foot to catch him in the leg. Kurogiri used their Quirk to divert the attack, staring icily at the two men.
Shigaraki scowled, but relented and went to press resume once more, momentarily confused as to how the recording had stopped. Did it do that by itself?
{The camera pans down to reveal a young boy, about four or five years old, green eyes wide and tearful, standing on the ground of a play park.
"That's mean, Kacchan! Can't you see he's crying?" The boy chokes out, even through the fearful trembling of his mouth and limbs. "If you keep going, I'll never forgive you!" The other boy curled behind him sobs, and the green-haired one holds up his shaking fists proactively in front of his chest.}
"Wait a second, isn't that...?" Toga gasped out.
"I remember him from the summer camp--" Compress was cut off by Shigaraki's surprising growl reverberating through the living area.
"Midoriya. That stupid little brat--" He stopped himself short, fingernails digging into his neck in renewed frustration.
"Oh, so that's his name? Wasn't he the one you were obsessed with, boss? You carried around a photo of him and everything," Dabi smirked, lighting up yet another cigarette as he raised a mocking eyebrow in Tomura's direction. Uncharacteristically, Shigaraki didn't even acknowledge the jab, merely fumbling with the remote hastily in order to see what came next.
{The viewpoint changes, showing a group of three more boys, glaring at the younger version of Midoriya. The boy in front scoffs derisively, as the two behind him unfurl their Quirks -- dragon wings and stretching fingers respectively.
"Even though you're Quirkless..." the leading boy starts, before slamming his small hands together to create a sudden, jarring explosion. "...you're still pretending to be a Hero, Deku?" The insult is spat out like venom, and the boy grins smugly at his own words.}
"Oh-kay... that is a lot to unpack..." Started a stunned Magne.
"Wasn't that the explosion kid you had us kidnap?" Asked Spinner, to which Shigaraki merely nodded, confused.
"Why are we not focusing on the Quirkless part? Isn't this the same kid that supposedly beat Muscular to shit?" Came the incredulous voice of their resident fire-wielder.
"They seem to be very young... and with the sort of power young Midoriya-san seems to possess, I would not be surprised if his body manifested it slightly later than would be considered usual," Answered a slightly perturbed Kurogiri. Tomura wordlessly picked up the remote, leaning forward almost imperceptibly to better watch the unfolding events being shown to them. The others in the room take notice of his sudden interest before turning their gazes towards the screen.
{"Deku" whimpers in fear before the three bullies descend on him gleefully, their Quirks and fists at the ready. A shot of the still shining sun slides across to one of the young boy's foot, clad in a familiar looking red trainer, and one heavily bruised leg lying still on the floor.}
"Whelp, it's been fun, guess the kid's dead now--" Dabi said faux-cheerfully, starting to stand up before being pushed back down to his seat by Magne.
{A memorable, older but still young voice makes itself known over the flashback sequence. "All men are not created equal. This was the reality I learned about society at the young age of four..." an upbeat rhythm starts playing, and the same red shoe can be seen splashing over a puddle in a city centre, this time attached to an older boy, maybe a young teenager. "...And that was my first and last setback."}
"Oof, what an attitude to have! Wish that could be me," sighed Spinner, rubbing his scales balefully.
"To have realised such a thing at such a young age..." Magne mourns.
Shigaraki scoffed scornfully. "What a naïve little idiot. I bet actually oppressed people wouldn't agree."
Twice leant over him and pressed the play button on the remote, earning himself a four-fingered smack on the wrist in return.
{The young boy rushes towards his destination, the bright colours and lights surrounding him glaring into the camera. He jumps up and down energetically when met with a red light, before continuing on his way, an awe-filled beam stretching across his face as he sees a giant man roaring furiously in front of a crowd. The text "Midoriya Izuku" appears on screen next to him, as he exclaims to himself: "That's a huge Villain!!"}
As the intro credits start to roll, the watching Villains furrowed their eyebrows, deep in thought.
_________________________
Meanwhile, far away, in a deep, deep cell in the depths of Tartarus, a masked man sat, unmoving, with his ventilator tubes attached to the arms of the slab of metal he'd been confined to. He looked almost dead at first glance, and even more so at the second. It was only up close, under the black, ugly mask, that one would take notice of the sadistic, interested gleam in his otherwise blank expression, and the small twitches of his fingers as he was seemingly lost in thought, as if watching his own private film reel in his mind.
The man grinned slowly, his cracked lips stretching wide in a charade of pleasantry, a mockery of nature. He whispered under his breath, "Shigaraki Tomura... meet Midoriya Izuku."
And if every human being in a 5 mile radius suddenly felt a sharp, cold dread, and a chill run up their spine, then I'm sure nobody would think to blame it on this particular man. After all, humanity always ignores what it believes to no longer be a threat, whether a credible belief or not.
And oftentimes, they're very, very wrong.