Chapter Text
Part 3 – Operation Moth: Hero–Villain Alliance
Smoke slowly settled.
The heroes stood on one side.
The League stood on the other.
Normally...
This would have been the beginning of an epic battle.
Instead...
Everyone was staring at the ceiling.
All Might finally broke the silence.
"...Did we interrupt something?"
Dabi answered without missing a beat.
"A mental breakdown."
"..."
"...Whose?"
He slowly pointed behind himself.
Bakugou immediately protested.
"I CAN HEAR YOU!"
"I know."
---
Aizawa narrowed his eyes.
"...Explain."
Shigaraki sighed.
"We were recruiting him."
"So far, that's believable."
"Then..."
He pointed upward.
"...that arrived."
Aizawa looked.
"...A moth."
"...Yes."
"...And?"
"...Everything went downhill."
---
Endeavor folded his arms.
"...You're telling me..."
He gestured around the destroyed warehouse.
"...this happened because of one insect?"
Spinner raised a finger.
"In our defense..."
"There used to be another wall."
"..."
"...Fair."
---
The moth lazily floated across the room again.
Every single head turned with it.
Heroes.
Villains.
Bakugou.
Even All Might.
It flew...
Toward Bakugou.
"IT'S LOCKED ONTO ME!"
Bakugou shoved Dabi so hard the villain stumbled three steps forward.
Dabi looked back.
"..."
"...Am I your bodyguard now?"
"YOU HAVE FIRE!"
"I've noticed that's your solution to everything."
---
Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose.
"...Endeavor."
"What?"
"You're already on fire."
"...Unfortunately."
"Handle the moth."
Endeavor frowned.
"...Seriously?"
"You're the flame hero."
"...Fine."
He slowly released a gentle wave of warm air.
The plan...
Actually wasn't bad.
The warm air pushed the moth toward the open window.
Everyone held their breath.
"..."
"..."
"..."
The moth reached the window...
Made a graceful U-turn...
And flew right back inside.
It landed...
On Endeavor's shoulder.
Silence.
Dabi's lips twitched.
Then...
He started laughing.
Not chuckling.
Not snickering.
Actually laughing.
The kind where you have to lean against a wall because your legs stop working.
"Hahahaha—"
Endeavor glared.
"...Are you done?"
"No."
"Hahahaha—"
"I've waited twenty-four years..."
"..."
"...to watch you lose..."
"..."
"...to a moth."
Spinner was crying.
Toga had fallen onto the floor.
Even Shigaraki had turned around because his shoulders were shaking suspiciously.
---
Endeavor slowly looked at the moth.
"...Leave."
The moth ignored him.
"..."
"...I outrank you."
Nothing.
Dabi wiped away a tear.
"It's not taking orders."
---
Bakugou pointed dramatically.
"SEE?!"
"IT HAS NO RESPECT FOR AUTHORITY!"
Dabi nodded.
"...That's actually the smartest thing you've said today."
---
Aizawa sighed.
"...Temporary ceasefire."
The heroes blinked.
Shigaraki blinked.
"...Excuse me?"
"We catch the moth."
"Then we go back to fighting."
Shigaraki looked around the room.
Looked at the broken furniture.
Looked at Bakugou.
"...Accepted."
All Might blinked.
"...We're making an alliance..."
"...With villains?"
Dabi shrugged.
"For pest control."
---
Within seconds...
Absolute chaos.
Kamui Woods created wooden barriers.
Mt. Lady crouched outside the broken wall trying to block escape routes.
Gran Torino zipped around the ceiling like an angry mosquito.
Spinner was still carrying...
The same tiny cardboard box.
Aizawa stared.
"...Spinner."
"What?"
"...Get a bigger box."
"...Oh."
---
Bakugou remained absolutely useless.
His only contribution was yelling.
"LEFT!"
"ABOVE YOU!"
"IT MOVED!"
"WHY IS IT SO FAST?!"
Dabi looked over.
"...You know..."
"If you shouted less..."
"..."
"...we'd probably hear where it actually is."
Bakugou glared.
"I'M PROVIDING TACTICAL INFORMATION!"
"No."
"You're providing surround sound."
---
Twenty more minutes passed.
Nothing worked.
The heroes looked exhausted.
The villains looked exhausted.
Even the moth looked confused.
Dabi sat on a broken crate.
"...I've fought the Number One Hero."
He looked at Endeavor.
"I preferred that."
Endeavor nodded once.
"...Agreed."
Everyone slowly turned.
"...Did..."
"...Did Endeavor just agree with Dabi?"
Shigaraki looked into the distance.
"I hate today."
---
Just then—
The warehouse doors burst open.
A familiar green-haired boy stumbled inside, breathing heavily.
"S-Sorry!!"
"I got separated from the others!"
"I came as fast as—"
He stopped.
Heroes.
Villains.
Standing together.
No one fighting.
Everyone looking exhausted.
Half the warehouse missing.
"..."
"...Did I miss something?"
Before anyone could answer—
"DEKUUUUUUUUUUUU!!"
Bakugou launched himself across the warehouse like an artillery shell.
THUD!
Deku barely had time to squeak before Bakugou wrapped himself around him in sheer panic.
Arms around Deku's neck.
Legs around his waist.
Face buried in his shoulder.
"GET RID OF IT!!"
The entire warehouse froze.
Deku blinked.
"...K-Kacchan?"
"I DON'T CARE WHAT IT TAKES!"
"JUST MAKE IT GO AWAY!"
Absolute.
Silence.
Dabi slowly stood up.
"..."
"..."
"...I spent..."
He counted on his fingers.
"...Forty-six minutes."
"...Being your emotional support villain."
He pointed accusingly at Deku.
"...He walks in..."
"...for FIVE SECONDS..."
"...and gets promoted?"
Spinner nodded solemnly.
"That's workplace discrimination."
Toga was rolling on the floor laughing.
Shigaraki covered his face.
"I cannot believe I risked my life kidnapping him..."
"...just to lose him..."
"...to Midoriya's bug-catching skills."
Deku, still carrying a clinging Bakugou like an oversized, very angry koala, looked up.
"Oh."
"That's just a moth."
He borrowed Spinner's box.
Spinner gasped.
"My box!"
"It's too small," Deku said kindly.
"Oh..."
He found a larger container lying nearby, waited until the moth settled on a beam, gently covered it, slid a piece of cardboard underneath, walked to the broken window...
...and released it into the evening sky.
Five.
Seconds.
The warehouse was silent enough to hear a pin drop.
Bakugou slowly lifted his head.
"..."
"...Is it gone?"
Deku smiled.
"Yep."
"It's outside."
"You promise?"
"I promise."
Bakugou let out the deepest sigh of relief anyone had ever heard.
Only then did he realize...
He was still clinging to Deku.
He looked around.
Every hero.
Every villain.
Every pair of eyes...
Was staring at him.
Dabi folded his arms.
"...So."
"...We're all just going to pretend..."
"...that didn't happen?"
No one answered.
Then Mineta—who had finally arrived with the students, sporting a mysterious bump on his forehead—looked around and asked,
"...Wait... why does it smell like smoke?"
Everyone turned to him.
No one knew how.
No one saw it happen.
But somehow...
A loose piece of wood fell from the ceiling...
BONK!
...and hit Mineta on the head.
Mineta collapsed dramatically.
"WHY DOES THE UNIVERSE HATE MEEEE?!"
Even Bakugou laughed.
The heroes laughed.
The villains laughed.
Dabi laughed the hardest.
Shigaraki looked at the destroyed hideout, the temporary alliance, Bakugou still half-hugging Deku, and Mineta lying on the floor.
He sighed.
"...Kurogiri."
"Yes?"
"...Next time..."
"...We're kidnapping Todoroki."
Dabi nodded.
"...Less maintenance."