[A/N: Look, I'm not satisfied with this chapter but I also know it's not going to get better so please have some understanding when I say read with patience. I know how icky it sounds okay. I know. Just - bear with me. 
Also, if you're having trouble imagining the formatting - think of the scene cuts like when people are switching between interviews in documentaries. One person talks, then it switches to the next as the story continues. Just like a documentary, that's all I have to say. (a really poorly done documentary). ]

"Welcome to channel seven, this is Ozaki Masahiro. It appears there is urgent news in the country right now as the internet blows up with the newest post from Revite. It appears the vigilante has made his next move after his three weeks of silence since the Endeavor Article. It has been said that the article contributing to the imprisonment of Endeavor was Revite's biggest play yet, but it seems he has taken it a step further and not only challenged the number two hero, but the entire heroics system itself. 

Revite presents his case with anew angle now, taking to footage rather than an article. Ren, the video, please?"

The screen shifts to a blank room. There's a flicker and suddenly there's a figure sitting on a chair in the center of the room. His black hair hangs in his eyes, only the lower, scarred half of his face visible. He lifts his head, blue eyes crinkling at the corners as he sarcastically smiles and waves. 

"Hey," he says. "If you don't recognize me, you haven't been watching the news."

The screen flashes with and clip from Endeavors trial. One of the lawyers in the room stands forward, asking, "And what can you say about your son, Touya?"  Then a new scene jumps forth with a reporter chasing after a girl with white hair and red highlights, mic thrust forward as they demand, "Did you know Dabi was Touya Todoroki?" 

The man in the room leans back as it cuts back to him, crossing his arms as a cat like grin stretched across his face. "Let's talk about how fucked the commission is." 

The screen turned black, green text with the words '#1: Rankings' written across it. 

A second later, it brightened and a  woman with long red hair and mismatched eyes sat where the man had been. "My names Sutorimu Ogawa. I worked for Endeavor as an analyst." 

"My name is Sana Akito. I'm one of Japan's leading support technicians and work for many heroes, primarily Endeavor and Best Jansenist," said a new person who replaced the other woman in her spot. 

A boy appeared in her place as the screen flickered."I'm Shoya Kaseki. I'm a general studies student at Yuuei." 

The first woman reappears on the screen. She sits in silence for a moment, her back ram-rod straight, before she finally speaks. Her voice is level, like she'd rehearsed her words a thousand times. "The Hero Public Safety Commission has set up the hero system in a way they claim to be flawless. In truth, there are a lot of things wrong with it. For starters, the ranking system."

"The ranking system is super finicky," Kaseki says as his image layers over Sutorimu's. "It has a ton of different rules and calculations that are supposed to mesh together. When the rankings come out, all theses computers decide who goes where based off of three main things: Rescues, arrests, and popularity. Guess which one counts the most?" 

"I remember being in school and my teacher telling me how the rankings work, and my jaw just dropping, like 'what do you mean popularity counts for forty-five percent of your rank?'" Akito says, their hands waving around wildly. "There I was, training to be a support technician and my teachers were basically telling me it was more important that what I built looked cool than that it was safe." 

Sutorimu showed up on the screen again, calmly sitting with her hands folded in her lap as she spoke. "Working with Endeavor was always about how we could make him look better. Most of the time that just meant changing the plan to make him use a flashier move that the cameras would love, or going to an interview instead of a charity event because PR said it was important. 

"Some days though, that meant sending him to this fight instead of that fight. It meant knocking over that building to show strength instead of trying to avoid it completely. He'd save one life instead of another. And of course, arrests count for more than rescues so sometimes that meant he'd go for the villains instead of the civillain." 

Sutorimu stared blankly into the screen. Her purple eyes shone slightly before she shook her head and sighed. "Ask anyone who works for popular heroes and they'll tell you sometimes it's hard to try and stick with your morals while working for those kinds of people. You just have to tell yourself every morning that at least you're saving more lives than you are doing nothing." 

"I don't want to say this," Akito says as the footage cuts out and switches. "I feel bad because Best Jeanist really is a good hero. But, working under his agency was the first time it truly sank in how much popularity mattered, and how much it screwed with the lives of heroes and civilians alike." 

They bite their lip, eyes cast toward the ground. 

"Jeanist said that if you wanted to save people, you had to have the opportunity to save them and the resources. The best way to do that was to have good rankings, and that meant having popularity." 

The screen displays in rapid succession several images of Best Jeanist on a dozen different magazine covers; his hand posed perfectly by his face in every photo. 

"With him my gear had to be subtle. It was always, how can we make him look good while doing this? Is his hair out of place as he takes down this villain? Has he done enough interviews this week? What are the online forums saying? What's the ranking statistics look like today? It was dreadful to keep up with. Heavens forbid he or any other hero was caught doing a grocery run in the morning with their PJ's on. That was always a disaster to deal with. 

"But, he was right. It paid out to be popular because people were quicker to help him when he needed team ups. Villains were more likely to surrender. And, most importantly, the commission was less likely to cut us off from our jobs." 

"And the commission loved Endeavor," Sutorimu said as the scene cut. "They were willing to cover up any of his mistakes because he was popular, just as they were willing to ignore other heroes if they weren't. They had this thing were they'd take away heroes resources if they didn't have enough publicity. When I interned with Mr. Brave, there was a week were they blocked our communication devices from receiving help messages from other heroes and they limited our patrol routes to the agencies neighborhood. All because Mr. Brave said one thing about the idealization of All Might being dangerous, too dependent."

The young boy was suddenly at the forefront of the video. Kaseki shifts in his seat, offering an awkward smile. 

"I originally applied for Shiketsu," he admitted, hesitating as he says the schools name. He tilted his head. "Luckily, U.A. was willing to take me into their general studies program for aspiring heroes when I was rejected. I wasn't accepted because of my quirk." 

With a flash, Kaseki is standing in the middle of a living room rather then surrounded by white walls, five round, pale objects resting in his hands. His brow furrows and the objects float in the air, swirling in circles.  

"I can control bones," he says bluntly, now back in the white room. "I got a letter in the mail from Shiketsu - I think Revite has it somewhere around here? Did he put it away in the evidence bin already?" he seems to ask someone beyond the camera. There's a pause, then, "Oh. Okay. Well, this letter it said roughly that I wasn't allowed to go to Shiketsu because they believed my quirk was too creepy for anyone to like and due to that I won't be able to be a good hero. Y'know, even though I had one of the best scores of all the people there. I came in fifth during the obstacle course." 

Sutorimu replaces Kaseki as she sits calmly. A voice from outside the cameras vision asks, "Why are the rankings designed like this?" 

She shrugs. "The commission needs the world to love them, and therefore they need people to love their heroes. They'll do anything to keep it that way." 

Dabi comes into view again, his hands splayed open in a showing gesture. He says simply, "The commission's hero ranking's are corrupted. They force heroes to focus on popularity and arrests rather than saving people. They pit heroes against each other and make it a competition - the sort of competition that drives heroes to break laws." 

The screen flashes. 

Endeavor is arrested today for the abuse of his children, participating in an illeagal quirk marriage, and breaking the restraints of his hero license contract by--

Now with a ten year prison sentence, Shudder is being held accountable for his crimes. 

Harmony today is exposed for running an illegal drug ring in which she sold drugs in exchange for people positioning villains where she would best make arrests. Her actions have killed an estimated tw--

--and that is a wrap on Conium's trial. She is found guilty for deforestation, arson, intrusion of private property and breaking the contracts of her hero license. 

The same voice from beyond the camera speaks as the footage returns to Sutorimu. "What do we do about the rankings?" 

"Abolish them," she answered.

"Scrap 'em," Akito said. 

Kaseki leaned forward in his seat and said, "Get rid of them." 

Everything goes black again, this time the words '#2: Quirk Regulations' appears. 

A girl sits on the chair now. She looks young, no older than fifteen. In her lap is a set of ear muffs that her fingers twist around, knuckles white as she looks to the side, seeming to wait for a cue. She must get it for a few seconds later, she's introducing herself.  

"My names Usagi Komori. I'm a U.A. analyst student. My quirk is bat hearing." 

A new kid sat in the room. Around his neck, a leathery contraption lay with bits the bits of metal attached to it glinting in the light. He didn't smile like Komori when he said his name. 

"Hitoshi Shinsou. U.A. general studies student. Quirk: Brainwash." 

"I'm Charlie Harling. I don't have a job or title. Quirk: not applicable," the next person says. 

"I'm Izuku Midoriya, a U.A. analyst student and former analyst intern for Endeavor. I'm quirkless," said a boy decked out in a U.A. uniform. He did smile, like Komori, but it faltered on his last word. 

Then, a man sat slumped in the chair. His head hung so that his dirty blonde hair cascaded down into his eyes, covering most of the twisted expression he wore. His hands clasped each other, tugging at gloves and squeezing in a way that looked incredibly painful. He was entirely unrecognizable besides the massive bright red wings attached to his backside, gleaming in the light and twitching every few moments. 

Hawks didn't look up as he said, "My name's Keigo Takami. I was a pro hero. My quirk is fierce wings."  He paused and sighed. His gold eyes snapped up, peering through the messy strands of his hair. "I've suffered from quirk regulations." 

"I've suffered from quirk regulations." Midoriya.

"I've suffered from quirk regulations."  Charlie. 

"I've suffered from quirk regulations."  Shinsou.

"I've suffered from quirk regulations," Komori finished. She scoffs. "I never said that before, not in that way. Huh. I, uh. . . I always used to just say my quirk made me weird, not that other people were weird about it." 

She laughs though there is no humor behind it, shaking her head. She mumbles, "Guess that's the biggest trick about it all. They tell us it's our fault for who we are and we believe them. Legit, people used to say to my face that my quirk was weird. They'd call me gross for the veins you could see on the inner parts of my ears. Kids would ask why I was ugly. My friends would tell me it was weird that I could hear them talking through walls if I wanted." 

Shinsou's face was now at the forefront of the screen, his eyes narrowed. 

"People called me a villain. My quirk works by allowing me to control people in a way that involves my voice. My classmates didn't want anything to do with me when they found that out. Foster families didn't want a kid like me either. I moved from home to home for the longest time because of my quirk. There were a couple families -"

The screen split into two, displaying both Komori and Shinsou beside each other. Komori said, "There were these boys that would pin me -" 

"- that would grab me -" Shinsou continued, 

"- and take out out headphones - " 

"- and bring out a muzzle." 

"- and put it on my ears then wrap duct tape around my head so I couldn't take them off."

"They'd put it on my face and tighten it so it'd leave red lines over my mouth." 

Komori's eyes watered and her hands trembled where they held black headphones in her lap, too small for someone her age. Shinsou stared blankly into the camera, his own hands coming to brush against the muzzle resting around the base of his neck. 

There was silence. 

Shinsou pulled the muzzle off his neck carefully. He whispered, "'Try and and talk like that,' they used to tell me. And they'd walk away. Every time." 

"At first, I though that was just society," Komori explained. "I mean, it is. A huge part of it is how society views quirks like mine. Those boys didn't want me listening in on them in the bathrooms or when they were talking privately and they assumed I would because society makes the worst of peoples quirks. I thought, what can I do if it's society? There's nothing I can do. 

"Turns out, the commission encourages that sort of behavior. It's because of their quirk regulations that people are allowed to manufacture quirk specific restraints without permits or valid reasons. It's because of their regulations that what those boys did to me, what others do to thousands of kids with 'odd' quirks, is legal. It's why dislike of quirk is an okay reason for a parent to give up their kid, why foster families can toss a kid around the system. It's because of their shitty quirk regulations."

The camera cuts to the man with square framed glasses and a low ponytail. He said, "Quirk regulations are why I'm unemployed." He shrugged. "Everyone's read Revite's quirkless article. Quirkless people are discriminated against, and this is one of the things that affects. No one wants to hire someone without a quirk, and they can choose not to because quirk regulations specifically state that employers can reject applicants solely on if they fear for how their quirk or lack thereof will impact their work. No subtext, no specifications. Just freedom to reject and accept anyone.

"I could walk into an interview, tell them I'm quirkless and if I challenge them rejecting me for that they legally can say, 'he had no quirk and because of this degenerative state, I worry for how he'd work properly.' Why? Why would an organization meant to help people allow that?" 

Shinsou appeared suddenly where Charlie had been. 

"There's this whole thing with quirks and jobs that is impossible to navigate. There's the issue of quirkless people getting jobs. There's the problem with 'villainous quirks' and struggling to find work. There's having a quirk people welcome in work spaces but it taxes the person or restrains them from doing the job normally without small supports that are totally reasonable to ask for but aren't ever given - because for some reason the commission has control over quirk laws? Even though they're supposed to be just about hero work, not everyone's job. 

"And looking at quirks with heroes, there's so many flaws. Heroes are discriminated against for their quirks. There's that ridiculous quirkless law Revite has pointed out, and then their entrance exams which are catered to fail those with quirks, like mine, that only work on people. 

"And say you get past all those barriers, if your quirk has certain requirements like not letting people know what it is, the commission won't allow you to change your working conditions to fit that. With this example, you'd be forced to go underground and work horrid hours for less pay. In some cases, the pay is so bad that people need to pick up another job despite already being forced to work full night shifts.

"It's bullshit." 

Shinsou's image was replaced with Midoriya's then. The student tilted his head, green curls following the movement. 

"What's wrong with the quirk regulations? There's a lot wrong there," he said with a frown. "Mostly stuff to do with quirk discrimination but that's all everyone talks about since Revite's article on Feline. People forget about the laws regarding quirk use."

He picks at the threads of his pants absently, eyes not meeting the camera but instead looking just past it. His face skews. 

"Quirks are apart of ourselves and yet we're not allowed to use them. Ever. Like, I'm quirkless and everyone acts like that's the biggest disadvantage in the world but hardly anyone is able to use their quirk anyways because there's so many rules and restrictions. You could have a healing quirk and legally you would not be allowed to save someone dying on the street. 

"Sure, there's exceptions like with medical workers and such but even then, you need a license. That license is hero issued, through the commission, and you have to fall under a strict set of requirements. Even then, you can only use your quirk for limited hours a week and only at your work place. Really, heroes are the only ones who can use their quirks freely. That's why so many people do hero license exams even if they're not heroes - just so they can use their quirks or even just get support gear to help their quirks when they're harming them.

"Even worse, with these laws there's still so many people that get away with using their quirks. Mostly that's good - like this man I saw pull a cat from a tree the other day using his quirk - but there are bad cases. Growing up, no one so much as blinked at my bullies using their quirks to hurt me but they'd flip if the girl who could change petal colours dared to touch the roses behind the school. 

"Quirks are wonderful and should be free to use. There should be harsh punishments for those who use them with malicious intent like my bullies, but there should be opportunities for those whose quirks aid them and others. Encourage people to visit quirk counselors. Quirks should be taught how to be controlled from a young age, teaching kids when its okay to use their quirks - all the risks and rewards - not banned from the public completely." 

The screen switches. 

"I have always been nothing more than my quirk." 

Hawks sits in the same slumped position from before. His eyes, golden in colour, look haunting as they bore directly through the screen. He looked hollow. 

"You see it all the time with mutation heroes. Look at Miruko. People hyper-fixate on her ears - sexualize them, touch them, make jokes about them. It happens with every hero like us. My name is Hawks, because that's most like my quirk. All my modeling focuses on my wings. Fans are always reaching out to pet them, or keep my feathers. If I go on social media, I see jokes about being a bird. My quirk is my entire hero persona." 

He sighs, running a gloved hand through his hair. 

"It's not just that though. I was picked for my quirk. Plucked off the streets because I had the 'perfect' one for hero work. I was taken in and molded into what others wanted of me. Literally. For every good quality of my quirk, there was a bad one people wanted to hide. So they got rid of those parts." 

Hawks doesn't look at the camera as he slowly pries off his gloves. There's a flash of skin but it quickly disappears out of the cameras view as his hand reach down for his boots. When he's finished, he finally displays his fingers for the world to see. His hands look fine; calloused but perfectly healthy. It's his nails that are strange. They're black and out of place. They're the shape of a normal nail if only thicker. Still, for some reason they don't look right. 

"I used to have talons," Hawks says, flexing his fingers. "There were two or three inches long, I think. But, my handlers didn't like that and they trimmed them down. They shaped them to look more like human nails. They told me no one would like me with beastly features. I was only ten years old. I think the only reason I made it till ten with them was because at first they thought I could at least use them for hero work." 

He slides the gloves back on. 

"The marks under my eyes - I used to be forced to put make up on them because I was told they made me look untamed. Then one day someone complimented them and my handlers decided it was best if I wore them proudly as a way to appeal to fans physically. I even started using eyeliner to make them pop.

"Everything about my quirk was to be used and perfected so I could be marketed. And all of these  adjustments were entirely legal because in the quirk regulation rules, section 2b Mutations, paragraph 4, there's a footnote so small you can barely see it that says its okay to make alterations to a persons physical quirk attributes if their guardian or superior wishes. 

"Are these the cruel and discriminatory laws we want running our world?" 

The screen black out for the third time. This time, the green text says '#3 Licensed Villains'.

Dabi grinned as the black transitioned to footage of him in the rooms center. Sometime between then and his last recording, he'd changed out of his signature black coat into just a plain white tee and black cargo pants that barely came down to his mid-shin. 

"I hate to allow the asshole another second of glory, but does anyone remember Alloy?" Dabi said, crossing his arms. The scars across them stood out in the stark white of the scene. "Turns out, he wasn't the only one profiting from his scheme. If anyone remembers that shit stain and what he did - " 

Dabi's voice cut out for two seconds as the screen presents an image of Alloy standing beside a newly built facility with a construct helmet resting lopsided in his wire hair, a fake smile stretched across his lips. Then, a newspaper headline from three months later of the same building having toppled. Again. 

"- then you'll remember that Revite said Endeavor was involved in Alloy's plans but took no pay for it. What Revite didn't share was that there was someone more powerful than Endeavor that was gaining money from his work: the commission.

"10% of Alloy's profits go straight into the commission's funds. Alloy thought he was paying them to keep quiet about his operation but they never planned on spilling anyways. His actions benefited them by improving public ratings. With less people complaining about damages, the commission could sleep easy.

"The HPSC does this this a lot. They pay heroes to do what they want or let heroes pay them under the guise they're keeping a secret. The commission is one of the biggest supporters for licensed villains. Who better to secretly break the law for them than those already doing it?" 

A young man with white hair flickered into place where Dabi had been. He was looking to the side, bouncing his leg and rolling his ankles. 

"I'm Natsuo Todoroki,"  he said. "My father is a licensed villain and the commission supported it. Representatives from there like President Dumb-ass-so used to come to our house and talk with Enji about stuff like Touya and Shouto's futures or makes threats like, 'go to this event and we won't tell the public about your quirk marriage.' I think a lot of heroes had to do stuff like that. 

"I was once heard one of the representatives threaten Enji with what happened to Outlet. I remember looking up Outlet after that and finding out she was a hero in the top hundred who had her licensed revoked after the commission released a statement saying she sold drugs as teenager. I think she was threatened to do something and when she refused, they trashed her." 

There's a pause as the screen freezes. When it resumes, Natsuo's face is pale. 

"Um, so Revite just did some digging," he said slowly, "and, uh, she apparently couldn't get a job for a few years after that and her family had to live off her husbands wages until he got sick two years ago. I - Did the commission know that? Did they - I can't believe they'd let her family suffer like that? She made a mistake as a teenager, so?"

There was another freeze. Then - 

"Okay so the fucking bullshit here that we just found out is she's a hero again," Natsuo exclaimed, "because she threatened the commission with revealing what they asked her to do if they didn't give her back her license. So they only help her when it benefits them? Are you kidding?" 

"That's the commission for you," an unrecognizable voice said from off camera. "They try to make licensed villains, get mad when it doesn't work and fuck with peoples lives until they get some sort of reward." 

Natsuo hung his head, cradling it in his hands. 

"Fuck." 

His image was replaced with the black screen again. '#4: The Young Heroes Program,' is written over it. 

In the center, a new woman sits. She's young but it's hard to tell with how her eyes are weighed down by dark bags and her shoulders slump forward as if carrying the world upon them. There's a fading yellow bruise just beside her eye, nearly disappearing under her thick curls of hair. She stares at the camera for several seconds, then sighs. 

"My name is Yuriko Ayumu. My hero name was Visionary." 

She chews her lip, her silence louder than anything. Finally, she says, "I don't know how I'm supposed to talk about this. If someone told me a year ago that I would be openly talking about this, I would have punched them in the face and then probably done whatever I could to make sure they never said another word to anyone about it. That's probably the best place to start; with the fact that this was all a secret I desperately wanted to keep. 

"No matter how manipulated we were, they always made sure we knew that. Don't tell anyone about the program. When we're all grown up and are heroes, never mention it. Don't tell your friends, your lovers, your colleagues, your families. Don't even write it in your diary. 

"I have been quiet for fifteen years. There is so much the commission doesn't want the world to know. Like how they took me and forty other seven year old children into their Young Heroes Program. How they trained us to be weapons and perfect heroes. They don't want us to tell everybody that they killed half of us. 

"Everyday for thirteen years, I woke up and trained for them until I couldn't move. I listened to every single one of their evaluations that told me I wasn't good enough and worked until I proved I was worth keeping - that they shouldn't throw me away like they did with my friends. I watched them destroy my one and only true friend only to keep obeying them the next day. They showed me how to kill, how to fight, how to lie, to spy, to ruin and break the world around me. 

"We were their secret because if the world knew what they did to us, they wouldn't have survived."

Hawks was suddenly facing the camera. 

"The first thing the commission asked me when I entered the Young Heroes Program was what I wanted my hero name to be," he said, voice monotone. "I, thinking I was the smartest seven year old ever, said 'Hawks'. They praised the name and told me that was to be the only thing I ever go by. They said that if I said the name Keigo Takami ever again, they'd kill my mother.

"I didn't have a good home before the commission. My mother hated me and gave me up for nothing more than a wad of cash and my father was the Great Takami Thief. No wonder the commission wanted me to keep my name a secret. When my father was arrested by Endeavor, they used my adoration for heroes to shape me into their prized toy.

"They trained me to the point where I would spend weeks recovering and they conditioned me out of all my 'nasty' habits like stress gripping and landing using my talons which they'd torn off. They isolated me from the other kids in the program so I wouldn't get attached. When I got my agency at eighteen, I thought I would be free. But turns out they just controlled me from afar. 

"I did every gig they asked of me - modeling, commercials, rescues in this area instead of that one, team ups, no days off, wearing this costume design, having this flirty persona. All of it. They wanted a perfect hero and I was desperate to please. I didn't even realize it was bad until I was assigned to spy on Revite. 

"Revite showed me what the system was doing to me and how wrong it was. I was a child and they took advantage of me. Then, a few months later they asked me to kill Revite - actually kill someone. When I said no, they took my license and barred me from the one good thing I was doing for the world. 

"The commission kills people like me. It takes us and tells us everything they do is for the greater good then crushes our bones and throws us off the sides of buildings. If we don't fly, we fall."

Switching back to Ayumu, the same off-camera voice asked, "You said you have to prove you shouldn't be thrown away. What happened to the people who couldn't do that?"

Ayumu stared at the camera unblinking. At her sides, her hands curled into fists. 

'#5: Nomus.' appeared on a black screen. 

"They were recycled," she said as the screen returned to her. "They were sent to a laboratory where they were taken apart so their quirks could me molded together into something stronger. They became Nomus." 

"My wife was turned into a Nomu," Charlie says, replacing Ayumu. "Together we figured out what the commission was doing and they didn't like that. They took her and made her into the same monsters we were trying to stop. 

"The commission controls heroics public image and they thought if they boosted that image by turning out villains for heroes to take down then their approval ratings would go up. Beyond that, they also now had a weapon to use to eliminate heroes that were getting out of line or where in their way - like what they tried with sending a Nomu after All Might during the USJ Incident.

"And, they use quirkless hosts to do it. There goes another one of their problems. It also gives them great ties to villainous communities for a variety of reasons. Really, it's a win win win situation for the commission and a loss for everyone else." 

"I can't talk about it," Hawks says when he shows up on the screen. He shook his head. "I can't. I'm sorry. I could have maybe helped but I - . . .  It doesn't matter anymore. I just can't talk about it. What happened to those people wasn't fair. They shouldn't be Nomus." 

Dabi stepped into the camera view, body shielding Hawks as he seemed to cave in on himself. The scarred man snarled. 

"None of it was fucking fair," he snapped. "The commission deserves to burn." 

For the final time, everything went black. There was no text, only the sound of fabric rustling against a mic. A thud sounding in the mic and the screen brightened to reveal an entirely new person sitting in the rooms center. They were fidgeting with the little black mic clipped to their collar, shifting in their seat as if they just sat down. 

Their clothes were simple; a black hoodie with green stitching along the arms and zipper to pair with the dark green hood that covered most of their face, hanging down into their eyes. The lower half of their face was hidden behind a blocky grey mask. 

They looked up at the camera, hands hovering in the air. "Is this working? It's on, right?" 

Their voice was deep and crackly, like it'd been ran through a filter several times over. It was recognizable as the one that had been asking questions in all the other recordings. 

"It's on, Revite," Sutorimu's voice said from the other side of the camera. 

"Oh. Okay, good." The man straightened in his seat. He waved awkwardly with one of his gloved hands. "Uh, hi? I'm Revite. Most of you will know me as that anyways. Um, but. . . some of you know me as the kid who used to adore heroes."

He laughed quickly. "Y'know it's funny to say that because I've heard so many people say Revite must hate heroes yet here I am, the biggest hero nerd around. That's how all this started - because I was obsessed and that lead me to spot what was wrong." 

He quieted. Hands fidgeting in his lap, he said, "When I was younger all I wanted was to be a hero. That was it. Just that one thing. Everyone told me I couldn't. I was bullied and kicked around and rejected by pretty much everyone. So, instead of becoming a hero, I watched them. They were magnificent. They took down villains so fast with quirks of all kinds. They were strong and not once was I ever afraid any harm would come to me while they were their to protect people. They gave me hope, and truthfully are one of the only reasons I'm still around. 

"The kind of love I had for heroes couldn't be forced. But it was blind. I couldn't see what the system was doing until I faced it head on. I started finding all these rules protecting the bad guys and hurting the good ones. I saw heroes use their quirks on civilians. I saw companies benefiting from villains. I saw even heroes being hurt by the system. That's when I decided to tell the world."

He leaned forward, interlacing his fingers. "I think there's something important about what I saw before all that though. There was something there, something so beautiful it kept a kid like me alive. The way the system is right now is wrong and unjust, but I don't think heroes need to go away. We just need to change, and we can start by getting rid of the commission - the ones who have fabricated it all. 

"We need to do better for ourselves and for our heroes. Implement a new system not run by one sole group. Have something that will work toward protecting people instead of using them. It will be inclusive of civilians and provide support for their struggles. Not just their struggles, but those of heroes and even ex-villains looking for rehabilitation. Rules and regulations followed up by public reports and check ups that ensure a disaster like this never happens again. 

"Heroes are good and should have the opportunity to be so. We need them, just not as they are right now. I believe we can change." 

Revite gestured to the room. "My friends and I are fighting for a better world. One without the commission, or Nomus, or quirk discrimination. We are ready to change. Are you?" 

He stood up and stepped toward the camera. He placed his hand atop it and said, "I want to start this change with a nice little message for the commission." 

He pulled down his mask just enough so it showed off his wide grin, teeth glinting and lips curled up smugly. A grin of victory.

"Game. Over." 

-:- 

Damaso starred at the screen. Her hand on the mouse for her computer squeezed so tightly she was surprised it didn't break. Outside her office, she could hear the sound of people running up and down the halls shouting commands and scrambling to gather up all they could. Her phone wouldn't stop ringing from where it sat on her desk. She paid it no mind. When your king is knocked over, you do not comfort your pawns. 

She seethed through her teeth, unable to look away from the video that just finished. The world may as well be on fire for all the chaos she could envision barreling towards her. Every perfectly placed string in her web snapped all at once. 

Her ears still rung from the call she'd gotten moments before, the man who'd told her they were done then cut all ties. All the heroes waiting outside the building, chanting in the streets without rest. 

Just past her walls was a tidal wave ready to crash forth. It took down her empire, her masterpiece, all she'd done. It came for her then too. 

She shut her computer. 

Well played, Revite, she thought as the wave crashed over and consumed her. Well played.