"It was. If it had been the 2050's, maybe it would have worked. But it wasn't. It was 2110, and the empire had LONG since formed an overarching cultural identity. Oh, there were lots of people who wanted more freedom in the empire, most people wanted a republic. But ripping the whole thing apart? There weren't many left by that point who wanted that."
...
Izuku imagined Japan being ripped to pieces by districts. He could fully understand why they wouldn't like the idea in any way.
"In any case… What followed was a very, very bad period for everyone involved. Americans or Caribbeans. The thing was… The Caribbean imperial army hadn't managed to defeat the might of the resurgent USA in the field, or on the sea. But what It had done was survive. And it would make life absolute hell for the occupying American troops, as well as Kill any attempt for them to establish new, smaller republics."
"So… That's the origin of the Caribbean league? But… They succeeded, didn't they? Like… The Caribbean is a united country today. Even I know that much."
"Yes and no. That was indeed the start of the Caribbean League. In those days though, they called themselves the Caribbean Independence League, and their beef was with the United States, not anyone else."
"In any case, what followed was decades, and decades of a massive, brutal, and destructive guerrilla war, as the C.I.L made full use of their quirk users to combat the occupiers. Imagine trying to kill an organization that has hundreds of teleporters. To corner a group that can retreat their entire operation the literal moment you manage to make contact with their base."
"The reality of the matter is that it's pretty much impossible, short of just dropping nukes. The C.I.L lost thousands and thousands of its members over the years, but because they weren't really bound by logistics the way the Americans were, they could lose base, after base, after base, and just make and set up shop somewhere else. They didn't have to worry about food, about ammo, about shelter, about transportation, as quirks provided all of that for them and then some."
"America killed tens of thousands of Caribbeans during the invasion, and they would kill many, many more during the occupation. And when all was said and done, when they finally retreated from the islands 34 years ago, they had lost a grand total of 673 000 men."
"But I'm getting ahead of myself. The war between the C.I.L and the Americans lasted for decades, upon decades, and during the fighting, the infrastructure of the islands was destroyed by both sides. It was a very bad time to be a common Caribbean. Caught between the occupying American Army, and the C.I.L, it was a very hard period and place to live."
"The war just raged on and on, to such a degree that back when I was a kid, pretty much everyone had given up hope for real peace between the two. The Americans could not accept anything short of a full embrace of a hero system on the part of the Caribbeans, and the C.I.L refused to compromise on the vision of Empress Maria. It was a war that would last forever… Until, suddenly, it ended."
Her look turned hard, and venomous.
"38 years ago, the command of the C.I.L fell to one Lincoln Thompson. He had many names. In America, we just called him Tombstone. Young, charismatic, and with a massively powerful quirk, he quickly established himself as one of the most feared men of the Caribbeans."
"And that's him? The big man?"
"Yes… the great "Hero" of the Caribbean. He was one of the many descendants of Maria, but he was also the one who betrayed her vision of a Quirk-fueled empire. In the end, he was the one who finally did bring peace to the region, and to achieve that, he agreed to implement the pro hero system in the nation, as he took his place as the first recognized emperor of the Caribbean in over half a century."
Black Cat just let the words hang in the air for a moment, before she continued bitterly.
"So, that was that right? Happy ending for all. The C.I.L disband, and is integrated as pro heroes, the Americans FINALLY gets to pull out after half a century of fighting, and the Caribbean is finally reunited under one, independent banner once more!"
"Oh, except for the fact the nation is bankrupt, they need to rebuild everything, and as per the treaty they signed with the Americans, they aren't allowed to use quirks to build an economy directly. So… What to do?"
Izuku tilted his head.
"So… The big man… Lincoln Thompson… Is the emperor of the Caribbean? Why… Why is he involved with a league of supervillains?"
"Well Izuku, here's the gist. There are two versions of what the Caribbean League actually is. One that is the official stance of the Empire, and the other than is the reality of the matter."
"The official stance is that the Caribbean League is composed of former C.I.L soldiers, who weren't interested in the peace that tombstone built, and are currently officially wanted in the Caribbean."
She snorted.
"The reality of THAT is that Lincoln killed every single cell that wasn't on board with his peace deal."
-Sounds like quite the charming fellow, this Tombstone. A real politician.-
"As for the reality of what the Caribbean League actually is… They are Mercenaries. They are a mixture of the WORST of the old C.I.L forces, and some new criminal muscle from the rest of the Americas. All the guys that Tombstone couldn't just easily transfer to becoming Heroes, went straight to this group. The racists, the mass murderers, anyone who couldn't easily be transformed into an upstanding protector of law and order, either due to personality or reputation."
"The Caribbean League is a group that he hires out on the Black Market. If you have the cash, whether you're a criminal, a head of state, or just someone very, very rich in need of… Unsavory muscle, you could, in theory, go to the Caribbean, and if you know where to ask, hire them for a ludicrous fee."
Izuku went cold.
For several reasons.
"And… the U.S.A just… Let's that happen?"
Izuku… Had always had a rather positive image of the land that was the origin of heroism. That opinion had been somewhat dampened as he heard about the conflict between them and the Caribbean.
But this… This was… Something else.
Black looked at Izuku with a look of surprising sympathy. Like she understood exactly how he felt.
"Yeah… They do."
She sighed.
"The unfortunate fact of the matter is that the USA really doesn't care much about the world outside it's shores anymore, except a few specific allies. What they care far, far more about, is to avoid another conflict with the Caribbean. Since the Caribbean became free, there hasn't been any more mass bombings of American soil, no more assassinations of American presidents, no more massive deflation with mass conjured gold. And the White House very much wants to keep it that way."
"And then of course there is the fact that they benefit from the Caribbean League. Because once a criminal jumps across the pond from America to the Caribbean? He either comes home in a body bag or not at all. The Caribbean league doesn't operate in the USA. EVER."
"Just to take one example, remember the Rhino? The guy you kiddos fought back during the invasion? Well, back in America, he made a rather terrifying name for himself through his rather nasty tendency to topple skyscrapers and flattening the heroes that challenged him. Then, he and his buddy Shocker skipped across the pond and joined the league, and suddenly Rhino is never gonna be a problem for the USA ever again."
"But…"
It just… Just, LETTING killers like the Rhino run loose so long as he wasn't a problem for YOU was… It was WRONG.
"It's just so, SO WRONG…"
"I completely agree." Black Cat said. "Unfortunately, state-sponsored terrorism isn't anything new. You should read up on the cold war sometime. And unless Tombstone is dumb enough to start sending the League to countries with Nukes, I doubt it will change much in the near future."
"So… It really all was just about money after all… That's… Kinda disappointing."
Venom really did sound disappointing. Black Cat, however, snorted.
"What, their role in the invasion? Yeah… No. I don't know what they wanted there, maybe they were just doing All For One a favor, or maybe they had some larger plan. But the Caribbean League doesn't work for the kinda cash that they supposedly took for the job. When I say they're criminals for hire, they take jobs that pay in the hundreds of millions, not the kind of cash I could shell out if I had to."
Izuku still felt numb. But… There was one question more to ask.
"So… They ARE connected to All For One then?"
"What, the Lincoln Family? Yeah, they go WAY back, all the way to Maria. Though regarding that, we don't really know the League of Villains plans either."
...
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