A Villain's Rise

Catching Up

When Deku walked out of the portal, he was greeted by a massive underground hall. He took a look around and saw that it was filled with hundreds of people. "So what do you think?" Dabi asked. "I presume that there is more than just this, but it definitely looks promising" Deku replied. "Of course, but before you see the rest, maybe give the others some inspiration. They fought pretty hard for you" Dabi said. "They sure did and they deserve some reward" Deku responded. "Also, there is a girl under Spinner's command, Etsuko Mushou. I want to talk with her afterwards" He added before he began making his way through the crowd.

The crowd moved out of the way as Deku walked towards the raised platform in the end of the hall. While he walked, he could hear people muttering. It was only natural he thought. Most of them hadn't seen him in person before.

After a while, Deku reached the raised platform and stepped on it, giving him a view over everyone else. "This is amazing" Deku said with a smirk. "15 months ago, the heroes thought they could stop us. That they could imprison me and silence us. That they could force us into to the ground until we could no longer breathe" He said, before making a small pause. "But you showed them wrong didn't you? You have done what they thought was impossible! You have showed the heroes and the corrupt government that there is nothing that can stop us!" Deku said loudly, riling up the crowd. "But that is just the beginning. We will show them the true power of our cause, of our revolution! We will burn down everyone in our path so that we may build a new and just society from the ashes. And nothing will ever stop us!" Deku yelled, as the crowd erupted into cheers. He then heard them starting to chant his name.

Deku quickly raised his hand up, silencing the crowd. "Don't praise me, praise is what the heroes want for themselves. I'm no hero, I don't need praise. Because this isn't about me, I'm just the figure head. You're the ones who are the real game changers. And together we can achieve anything. It's not about me. It's about us!" He said, receiving a new round of applause from the crowd. "I would love to spend more time here, but I've been gone for 15 months. Therefore I have a lot to catch up on. But keep on fighting" Deku said before stepping down from the platform and over to a waiting Dabi "Alright, why don't you show me around the place. Then we go to the planning room so that I can get caught up with everything" Deku said. "Of course. I'm sure you would like to start with the lab" Dabi replied and began guiding Deku through the new facility.

As Deku saw more and more of the facility, he got more and more impressed. While the old facility could just house a few people, like him, Dabi, Todoroki, Spinner and Eri, this facility could house hundreds. It had workshops to make support equipment and weapons, a massive lab that made Deku excited for all the experiments he would run. After a long walk through the facility, they ended up in the planning room. Which was noticeably bigger than the old facility.

"Alright, what has happened since I was caught?" Deku asked as he entered the room with Todoroki and Dabi. "Well, there has been a lot that has happened since then" Todoroki replied. "I see. Where is Eri?" Deku asked, getting slightly quieter. "We figured we weren't the best to take care of her. So she has been taken care of by Tinkerer. The same goes for that glass tube, as per protocol" Dabi explained. "Good. She seems like she could handle Eri. I'll take a visit tomorrow. There's already been a lot today" Deku said. "Also, I think it goes without saying, but my former classmates has graduated" Todoroki said.

"Bakugo and Uraraka in particular has risen quickly in rank. Lemillion took the number one spot from Hawks during the last ranking, during which he publicly declared he would not stop until our revolution was stopped. But there has also been heroes who have voiced mild support of our ideals and spoken against the same injustices we fight. Hawks being the most renowned of them. Although, none outright support us" Todoroki explained. "I don't care what some heroes say, I want to know what the public thinks. How many actually supports us? How many are opposed to heroes and want a change of leadership? That is what I want to know" Deku said. "We don't have any reliable sources for that. But we have enough support to safely consolidate power once the current government is toppled. Though, gaining much more is difficult due to the mainstream media and its' negative coverage" Dabi answered.