Legion of Doom [My Hero Academia 240]

“Paranormal Liberation Front” Yeah, I’m not liking that name. Should’ve gone with something cooler like Liberation Squad or The Walt Libsney Company or Red Hot Libby Peppers.

♫It’s been one week since Deika got destroyed.♫

I predicted the events at Deika would set fear of the League of Villains at an all-time high. Nope. Skeptic spun the events calling it an independent act of terrorism where, conveniently, all the terrorists died. He even added some pro-liberation propaganda boosting how Deika citizens defeated the terrorists after the heroes were lured away. Smooth, Skeptic. Real smooth.

Well, the League got their sushi. Dabi hates fish, Y’all! That’s important, I guess. What’s actually important is Toga survived thanks to the now-dead Clone Toga blood transfusion. Such a nice scene watching Twice pay respects to the clone. He understands they’re as real as they are even if created by his power.

We see the official union between the Meta Liberation Army and League of Villians with Tomura Shigaraki as the Grand Commander. Re-Destro knows how to work an audience. Oh! Is that Gigantamachia and Giran in the audience I see? Nice. I wonder what Giran’s gonna do now? Will he work exclusively with the Paranormal Liberation Front or merely give them 5% discounts on every order? I don’t think he’s excited being there given Re-Destro kidnapped and tortured him. But, I guess he can think of it as a keep your friends close and your enemies closer type of situation.

Shigaraki, keeping the only surviving hand on his face, announces the merged organization’s name and that his League comrades, Re-Destro, Trumpet, Skeptic, and Geten are all his lieutenants. Makes sense. Of course, the old MLA’s inner circle is in there and he has to put his allies in key positions to watch his back. A good start, Shiggy. Makes me wonder is Giran’s gonna be working under Twice and Hawks under Dabi. Gigantomachia will probably become Shigaraki’s bodyguard like he was with All For One.

Let’s talk about Re-Destro. Or, more specific, this panel:

Hm. Is there something there? I think so. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure Re-Destro still believes Shigaraki is a truly liberated person and is indeed the strongest one there and their best bet at achieving their goals, but… could some of it be an act? I’d say after Re-Destro gets what he wants he may decide to end his partnership with Shiggy. Hey, Shiggy’s got the strength and is perfect in their war against quirk restriction but after that war’s won will he still be needed? Re-Destro’s a fanatic but he’s no dummy. There’s a power play coming. Maybe not anytime soon, but it’s definitely coming.

Hawks. Yep, he was there too. Looks like he did indeed kill Best Jeanist, right? I don’t think so! We didn’t see Best Jeanist getting killed. Plus there’s a huge time gap between us seeing Hawks pull out his sword and him wondering about on rooftops with that bodybag. Something happened in-between. I’m sticking to my past theory Hawks couldn’t go through with killing Best Jeanist and told him about his mission. Being the resourceful guy that he is, Best Jeanist figured out a way for Hawks to get a literal body double and went into hiding. Look, My Hero Academia isn’t afraid to get dark but Horikoshi saves that for the villains. Hawks’s only pretending to be one. He didn’t kill anyone.

Well, Dabi doesn’t seem to care either way. The villains are so powerful Hawks can’t do crap even if he tried. And trying he is. But, there’s still one more piece of the puzzle to solve: Whose’s backing the League behind the scenes? Oh dear. Is that Hawk’s feather following Shigaraki? Oh dear, oh dear. Hawks is already in over his head, but trying to discover intel on Doctor Ujiko will be the final nail in his coffin. We know how paranoid Ujiko is about keeping his identity secret. If he gets even the slightest whiff Hawks in trying to find him he’s dead. Like very dead. High-Ends turning him into red goo dead. Yeah, Hawks, things aren’t looking too good for you, buddy.

Great chapter! Despite the awful name, I’m loving this new, more powerful version of the League of Villains. And, since Ujiko is all in with giving Shiggy his full support, things have gotten infinitely worse for the heroes. Oh, and Ujiko wants Shigaraki to bring him something. Hm. What could it be? Or, is it a who? Black Mist? Or, maybe some new blood samples. Shigaraki’s got access to thousands of quirk users. I’m sure Ujiko would love adding the strongest quirks to his High Ends and general nomus. That’s the power of networking, Y’All.

Man, Villain D&D night will be more exciting than ever from now on.