Rewind:
- Yuga Aoyama is All For One's spy in Class 1-A
- Meta Puppets is the one where Luke first used advanced mutated animals to create chaos during Momo's birthday
***************
Luke stood at the top of a tower, his white greatcoat flapping like a banner around him.
He eyed the chaos taking over the burning city and silently nodded to himself, Nyx resting on his shoulder.
Mirko had told him that they had called several Pro Heroes to Hosu City, who would be waiting at key locations if things went south.
Dr. Blessed's presence also meant that Nomus could appear in the city as well.
Ever since the Jaku Incident, and then later the USJ incident, All Might, Police, and the Hero Public Safety Commission had been relating Dr. Blessed's existence to the Villains behind Nomus and the Meta Puppets.
So, without compromising with the future event (-Dr. Blessed and Stain's meeting-), the Heroes were diligently waiting for the night to be over, readying themselves to handle the worst.
And, in all this, Luke found a chance to do many things, taking advantage of the chaos.
First, he needed to make sure that no one would relate Meta Puppets to Luke.
So, he took several photos of the mutated Hare, whom he had carefully mutated to look like a Nomu, as it fought Shigaraki and Kurogiri.
With this, he could pin the Meta Puppets incident on them as well.
Of course, this hadn't been his goal in the beginning. However, after his talk with Miss Justice, and then later the lesson that he learned from Stain, Luke had come to terms with himself.
There was no point in killing Shigaraki, or anyone, right now.
He would let the future him handle all such nuisances.
That's where the second point came in.
Luke needed to digest his potion.
A Trickmaster's essence didn't just lie in using tricks daily, as he had found out.
But, in a grander sense, it involved tricking people, misdirecting them, manipulating them, and getting them to applaud for him.
The simpler the trick, the easier for people to realize that they were tricked, and the better the feedback.
Luke had already confirmed this after tricking Kurogiri and Shigaraki, digesting his potion to a great extent.
But he wasn't satisfied with just that.
Not when he could go above and beyond to digest the Potion as soon as he could.
…
[
Your world is very much unlike Mr. Fool's original world, Luke.
You were right. In this world, people are used to extraordinary phenomena, seeing them daily.
Generally, this should have made digesting the Trickmaster potion a difficult task.
However, as you said, this also gives you a grander stage to perform tricks on.
]
…
Luke nodded as he heard Miss Justice's reasoning.
That's why, after learning that there would be Heroes who would step up in case something went wrong, he had let Yuga know where he was, knowing that Shigaraki would come after him.
"Hosu City will be my stage tonight," Luke said, smiling. "We have lots of people to trick… It will be so much fun… Haha!"
Hearing his laugh, Nyx woke up. "… It's time already?" she asked lazily.
"Rest," Luke said, patting her head. "I will take someone else with me this time."
From below, a small chimpanzee climbed up the tower, making excited noises.
With a pat from Luke, it hung itself from his shoulder, touching Nyx's feathers curiously.
Using both Body Manipulation and Descorrer put enormous strain on Nyx's body.
So, Luke had created a solid mask for himself and bestowed Descorrer on the chimpanzee with a Simple Intelligence Quirk.
Of course, Nyx hated the idea. "I WILL…"
Luke shared a glance with the chimpanzee.
It grinned and waved its hand, splitting the space. Then, grabbing the exhausted Nyx, it threw her into the darkness.
Smiling wryly, Luke put on the black mask.
"Let's…" he mumbled, grinning and jumping off the tower. "… give them a grand performance."
…
BOOM!
Gran Torino used his Quirk — Jet — to blast a Nomu into the ground, Pro Hero Endeavor watching him from the side.
"That wasn't bad at all, old man," Endeavor praised. "When I met you three days ago, I thought you were someone from a bygone era…"
"We should hurry," Gran Torino said, taking deep breaths. "There are more…"
Suddenly, a mist covered both of them, a chill dancing in the air.
"Oh… you already took care of one…"
Endeavor and Gran Torino's heads snapped in one direction, the same chill running down their spines now.
Dr. Blessed was standing there, surrounded by fog, holding his chin thoughtfully. On his shoulder, there was a chimpanzee, mimicking the same gesture.
"Todoroki!" Gran Torino shouted.
Endeavor didn't even do that. Lifting his hand, he burned everything in that direction, his eyes gaining a grave look.
All Might had briefly said a few words about Dr. Blessed.
"DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE HIM…"
Endeavor hadn't taken All Might seriously.
But to say that he wouldn't go all out believing those words would be a lie as well.
"Ata-ta-ta…"
"Ku-kaka-kaakaa…"
Endeavor and Gran Torino looked in a different direction, finding Dr. Blessed stumbling out of the fog.
"So…" the black-masked man said, resuming his earlier posture. "… can you tell who made what noise between me and my friend here?"
With a bang, Gran Torino shot through the air, firing himself toward the Villain.
Dr. Blessed lifted his right hand, facing his palm toward the incoming old man.
Gran Torino instantly hit the brakes, changing direction and landing far, putting Dr. Blessed between him and Endeavor.
Mirko had told them that she had been tricked into a teleportation portal like this.
Suddenly, the fire coming off Endeavor's body intensified, raising the temperature in his surroundings by far.
"You will not get away from me…"
To Endeavor and Gran Torino's surprise, Dr. Blessed raised his hands. "I surrender."
"…?"
"…?"
"Sorry," Dr. Blessed apologized, chuckling, putting his hands down. "Always had an issue with lying… Haha!"
Endeavor let out a shout, putting his palms together, and firing a massive pillar of fire toward Dr. Blessed. From the other side, Gran Torino flew up, guessing the direction where the Villain would dodge.
To their utter surprise, a black curtain wrapped itself around Dr. Blessed, concealing him from their vision.
When the pillar of fire burned through the curtain and pillar, nothing was left where Dr. Blessed had been standing. Not even ashes.
"Todoroki!" Gran Torino suddenly screamed, his eyes landing on the crater next to Endeavor. "Nomu!"
Endeavor's furious gaze landed on the crater.
In place of a beaten Nomu, there were dozens of photos scattered around a card standing upright.
Shaking in anger, grinding his teeth, Endeavor walked to the crater and picked the card up, realizing they had been utterly tricked.
It was a Tarot Card — Number 0 — The Fool!
*********************
AN: Original Image of Luke, with the monkey on his shoulder, as he appears before Endeavor and Gran Torino, is available
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