"Eh Zoo Koo!", Eri ran into Izuku's arms faster than the villain could have done if he used his Superspeed quirk. The sight was one that even some of the villains could smile at warmly. Bakugo tried hiding a smile by scoffing and rolling his eyes, but Toga noticed. She planned to tease Katsuki about it later if their temporary alliance ever turned into something more permanent.

"I can't believe you have a fu-", Bakugo stifled a curse word when Deku glared at him. The villain gestured to Eri as a reminder for Katsuki not to cuss around the kid. The ex hero huffed and puffed before sighing in defeat, "I can't believe you have a kid..", he grumbled.

After many failed attempts to pry Eri off of himself, Izuku finally responded. "As you can see, we mean a lot to eachother.", he couldn't help letting a lighthearted chuckle escape his mouth. The expression and tone then turned into something more solemn. "Listen Kacchan.. I know you and I don't exactly see eye to eye.. but you have to promise me something. If I ever go down or get sent back to prison, you can't let anything happen to Eri. She means the world.. she means everything to me."

Izuku thought he saw Bakugo about to protest, but the blonde surprised him with an assuring nod. After a sigh of relief, Izuku turned his attention to the people that watched Eri. "So.. you must be the..", Izuku tried not to cringe, "Villain Youtubers.."

"I am THE GENTLE CRIMINAL!", a man sporting a goatee gave himself a grand greeting. Izuku shook the fellow villain's hand with mild hesitation. "And this is La Brava!", the man then introduced what Midoriya assumed was Gentle's wife or girlfriend.

"You're all that Eri ever talked about. It's good to put a face to a name!", Izuku was required to crouch when shaking the short woman's hand.

Izuku rubbed the back of his neck while chuckling nervously, "Thank you both for taking care of her. We'll take her off your hands now.. uh, thanks again."

Bakugo looked more than relieved to leave the rundown house they resided in and Toga usually skipped with a grin, so there was no telling how she felt about it all. Izuku was halfway out the door with Eri shifted to his arms when Gentle quickly blocked the path.

"Wait! Brava and I were thinking of assisting you with your.. 'predicament'.. Please, allow us to help!", the man's smile looked nervous but polite. The strange expression from a stranger made Izuku's eyebrow cock in suspicion.

"Why would you want to be bothered by someone else's problems?", Deku warily asked.

Behind him, Izuku heard a camera whir to life. La Brava started to explain, "You're Deku, right? You're supposed to be the number one villain! Well, Toga told us you were going after the number one hero-"

Bakugo let out an annoyed huff. Himiko giggled.

"If there's anything that'll make our ratings skyrocket, it's this!", The Gentle Criminal finished elaborating.

Izuku couldn't help rolling his eyes. Great.. they want to turn the ultimate battle between good and evil into a youtube video.. Eri shook the villain out of his thoughts and changed his mind, "They can help keep you safe.", her lip quivering was the only persuading Izuku needed.

With an exasperated sigh, Deku agreed. "Fine, you can join us..", he groaned.. but not as loud as Bakugo did.

The gang closed the door and made their arrangements in the living room. After all the customary meetings, greetings, and reunions, Deku got to work on creating a plan. He didn't have much to work with since Gentle and La Brava typed all their documents without a printer. Instead, Izuku was forced to use game boards and pieces to create a makeshift battlefield. It at least helped to keep Toga and Eri interested & entertained.

After the strategy was created and discussed thoroughly, Deku dismissed everybody to get a good night's sleep. Eri and Himiko wanted to sleep with him, to which he agreed with little to no reluctance. However, on his way to the bedroom, Bakugo stopped him in the hall.

"Listen Deku, cause I'm only gonna say this fucking once. We both know I'm not exactly a 'team player', but I'm willing to work with you on this. After we've caught Tomura though.."

Izuku nodded in understanding.

"May the best man win."

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

First thing's first – my apology for taking forever to update and for the short chapter. I promise the finale will be LONG and ACTION PACKED. I want it to be worth all the trouble and all the waiting. You'll get to see what Deku's plan is, along with all sorts of revelations and fated battles! Also.. a somehow GOOD (HAPPY) ENDING like you all wanted! I hope I didn't hype it up too much.. but yeah, I'll try and make the final chapter a good one.

Secondly, if you don't know and haven't already, please go check out my new Villain Deku story that I guarantee will be 100 times better than this one! It's called 'World So Cold' and has 3 chapters to show for itself. I hope to see a lot of you giving that one a chance. I promise, you won't regret it!

And last, but CERTAINLY not least before I get into the reviews.. 400 FOLLOWS! THANK YOU EVERYONE! I'm so happy that so many of you stuck it out with me and I really hope you find the next chapter satisfying.

Now, that being said... ONTO REVIEWS!

Sunshine's Armageddon:

I love how my writing software has your username as the default auto fill suggestion as soon as I put the letter 'S'. Seriously, thank you for providing great feedback on all my stories and chapters!

Anc1enT:

There's no better analogy than that! Naraka High has a good ring to it!

Ekurman:

If you want a face reveal, just look at Shoto Todoroki. I feel like I'm legit torn between writing those upbeat happy moments and dark depressing moments! You'll hopefully be happy to discover this chapter was one of the more lighthearted ones!

As for the youtubers – I hope you read the manga, or that may have been some mild spoilers..

Apollo's Raven 432:

Glad you think so! I've got a Dream Team assembled somehow!

Hardcasekara:

Your desire to see Shigaraki suffer will be satisfied in the next chapter! (Like I didn't try hyping it up enough already!)

Spanish Girl:

But are you ready to read what finally causes that side of him to come out? Ready or not, it happens next chapter!

Plasma Dragon 312:

Getting to read your reactions chapter by chapter was a great trip down memory lane! Thanks for that!

Guest:

Yeah, this is like the My Hero Academia equivalent of the CW Show called Arrow!

Percabeth Brason:

I'm really happy to you're enjoying the story despite the wild rollercoaster ride its been! Judging by your statements, I hope that means you really liked this chapter too and it can only mean you'll love the final one!

Alrighty, that's all the reviews, and boy, they were a lot! Thanks again everyone! I'll save the heart felt ending messages for the final chapter, so.. until then!

~MentalMind