Meta Liberation Army

The Meta Liberation Army, often acronymized as M.L.A., was a large, powerful villain organization that follows the philosophy that the free usage of Quirks is a basic human right and emphasizes liberation over regulation.

The original Meta Liberation Army was founded and led by the infamous Destro and the current army was founded and led by his descendant, Re-Destro. The newer army later merged with the League of Villains to form the Paranormal Liberation Front.

They are the titular main antagonists of the Meta Liberation Army Arc.

Era of Chaos
In the past, when society was going through a though crisis, when Meta Abilities were feared and their users hated, an unknown woman gave birth to Chikara Yotsubashi, a boy with a meta ability. By having a super power, Chikara from marginalized and despised. His mother spoke out against this discrimination by claiming that his power was simply one of his "Quirks". She pleaded for a world where people with Quirks have the same rights and considerations as everyone else. Unfortunately, no one listened to her and she ended up being murdered by an anti-meta group. Her death and her ideals influenced the mindset of her son Chikara.

With the proliferation of the Quirks, the government began to regulate their use. In order to achieved it, they co-opted the words of the woman when they brought order back to the world, and the Quirks were accepted. Therefore, the woman became known as "The Mother of Quirks".

Original Meta Liberation Army
Chikara was against this control system. He claimed that the government seized and misrepresented his mother's words to restrict the use of Quirks, believing that free use of Quirks is a basic human right. To fight for that ideal, he unified the liberationist to form the Meta Liberation Army and took on the name Destro - the one who would destroy the status quo.

While the government trudged ahead with legislation, Destro and his followers opposed the powers that be and vied for supremacy prompting a struggle for several years until the militia group was ultimately defeated. Following their defeat, the group seemingly disbanded and the Meta Liberation Army's grand commander, Destro, was incarcerated along with several of its members. After an unknown period of time, Destro took his own life during imprisonment.

Legacy
The Meta Liberation Army made its mark on history as one of the most infamous villain groups and their leader is compared to the likes of All For One.

During his incarceration, Destro wrote the Meta Liberation War, an autobiographical book in which he exposes his ideology of Quirks liberation, and resulted in several reprints due to its popularity. There are mixed opinions in regards to the actions of the Meta Liberation Army with some individuals supporting their movement while others dismissing it as acts of terrorism and ridiculed it for getting innocent civilians caught in the crossfire.

The new Meta Liberation Army
Unbeknownst to the world, Chikara actually had a son who would carry on his bloodline. His descendant, Rikiya Yotsubashi, was adopted by the Army's surviving acolytes, who hiding his origins from the rest of the world and has been groomed since childhood to bear the mantle of Destro, restoring the Meta Liberation Army once more.

Rikiya grew up and became the President and CEO of the Detnerat Company. Using his resources and influence, he rebuilt the Meta Liberation Army from the shadows, spreading Destro's ideology and gaining followers while avoiding attracting the attention of the authorities. By remaining in the shadows for decades, the Meta Liberation Army has amassed loyal warriors across many generations. Re-Destro claims their army has over one hundred thousand men waiting to strike at society and liberate Quirks. Members of the army salute by making an L with their hand and placing the thumb on their forehead.

Rikiya adopted the alias of Re-Destro, and became the current Grand Commander of the now secret society. Including him, the heads of the organization are successful entrepreneurs with innumerable resources and wealth. They are Tomoyasu Chikazoku, also known by the code name Skeptic, is a board member at Feel Good, Inc; Koku Hanabata, known as Trumpet, is the leader of the Hearts and Mind Party; and Chitose Kizuki, known as Curious, is the executive director of Shoowaysha Publishing, in charge of reprint the Meta Liberation War.

The Meta Liberation Army worships Destro and his vision. Therefore, only Destro can be credited with the liberation of society. Growing entities like the League of Villains threaten to overtake Destro's name and must be destroyed.

Meta Liberation Army Arc
To achieve the objective of destroying the League of Villains, Re-Destro orders the capture of Giran, the league’s broker, to obtain information about them. However, Giran managed to erase all the information from his computer, and despite the torture he is subjected to, he refuses to reveal anything. Re-Destro has no choice but to use Skeptic's skills to retrieve information from the broker's computer, a process that it takes more than a month to achieve. During that time, Giran continues to be tortured, and the fingers of his right hand are cut off and left with a piece of his clothing in places where the League of Villains had been, such as Shie Hassaikai Compound, Hosu City, the Chuo Expressway, Kamino Ward, and Fukuoka,

Once Skeptic retrieves the information, Re-Destro contacts the League of Villains, informing them of who they are, what their objectives are and the inconveniences they represent for them. Re-Destro ends the message issuing a declaration of war against Tomura Shigaraki and his allies, giving them an ultimatum: come to Deika City and face their elimination at the hands of the Meta Liberation Army, or do nothing and be captured by the heroes when he gives their location.

Without much choice, Tomura accepts the "invitation" to go to Deika City, and they are all warped close to the place. Deika City is the perfect place for the Liberation Army to hide due to its location. Routes entering and exiting the city are easily manipulated. Deika is a liberated district where the majority of residents align themselves with the Liberation Army.

One of the army's agents, the pro hero Slidin' Go, escorts the League of Villains into the city, which is seemingly empty. Then they meet two of the leaders, Trumpet and Curious. Trumpet welcomes the league to Deika and explains that Giran is in the city tower with the Supreme Commander. He also declares that 90% of the city is comprised of liberation warriors, and that the League are the guests of honor for the Meta Liberation Army's Revival Celebration.

Dozens of citizens acting as warriors for liberation ambush the six League of Villains members. Uninterested with the other five villains, Chitose confronts Himiko Toga and demands an interview covering her descent into madness. Chitose goes as far as using her own subordinates as human bombs in order to further corner Himiko and prevent her from transforming by detonating their ingested blood inside her body in order for their "interview" to go unhindered.

However, Himiko uses her Quirk to transform into Ochaco Uraraka, which catches Chitose caught off guard when Himiko activates Zero Gravity to levitate her into the air alongside her soldiers. Bewildered, Chitose assumes that Himiko's fear of death has allowed her Quirk to spontaneously evolve in power. When Himiko replies that she’s wrong and that Himiko only wants to "love" even more, Chitose begins saying that this would be her best headline ever before Himiko deactivates Zero Gravity, sending Chitose and her henchmen plummeting bloodily into the ground.

After her victory, Himiko wanders away from the battlefield and hides in a shed, where she falls unconscious from his injuries. The MLA commanders react differently to Curious's demise. Re-Destro mourns her death while Skeptic simply complain not being able to use the recordings of her fight against Himiko for the benefit of the MLA.

On the other hand, Trumpet moves onto the battlefield and uses his Quirk while while informing his subordinates of Curious's death. Then, he communicates that the Supreme Commander pleas that Curious' sacrifice not be in vain. Inspired into fanatical fervor, a large group of soldiers charges at Tomura Shigaraki, who wipe them all with his Decay.

Wanting revenge on Himiko, Skeptic monitors the battle, waiting for Twice to encounter Himiko, while Geten engages Dabi in battle to keep him occupied. Once they make contact, he sends puppets of Twice to ambush them and has them attempt to murder Himiko and procure Twice for future plans. However, his actions allow Twice to overcome his inner demons and overwhelm the puppets by using Infinite Doubles: Sad Man's Parade.

The streets are soon filled with clones of Twice, as Re-Destro becomes shocked that Twice has overcome his trauma and comments on how Skeptic failed and deems it a rare sight but the latter states he has a plan and leaves while Giran remarks on their loss of numbers because of Twice. Rikiya admits he is correct but reveals he has an ace to help and wishes his comrade Geten luck in his endeavors.

In the city, Dabi and Geten continue their battle while Mr. Compress fights alone against several MLP warriors, requesting help from his comrade. At that moment a large group of Twice's doubles arrives to help his allies and manages to turn the battle in favor of the League. Suddenly, Geten generates shards of ice blast through the crowd taking out a large quantity of Twice clones, not caring that his own allies get injured as well. Geten claims life has no value beyond sheer strength. Dabi laughs off Geten’s proclaimation, and continues on fighting against Geten.

Meanwhile, in another area of the city, several members of the Meta Liberation Army try to prevent Tomura and Spinner from reaching the tower. They launch a massive attack against Tomura and Spinner, but they are saved by another group of Twice's doubles. After recovering from the initial surprise, Tomura asks the Twices for their help to reach the city tower, since he has verified that the closer he gets, the more tenacious the defenders are. The clones accept and confront the MLP soldiers to open a path to Tomura.

Trumpet suddenly appears in a political van, proclaiming to the Army how they must show how to use their Meta Abilities to surpass evil and defeat the League of Villains. The civilians suddenly become more energetic, blasting away the Twice Doubles. Spinner notices that anytime he speaks the civilians get more energetic, so he decides to take care of him with the help of some Twice's clones.

Afterwards, one of the copies of Twice manages to reach the tower's observation deck, where Giran and Re-Destro are. The copy decides to create more doubles of himself as well as several members of the League to fight him and save Giran, but Re-Destro uses his Stress Quirk to overcome them and sweeps them without breaking a sweat.

One of the Twice Doubles manages to quickly duplicate himself before vanishing, who goes to help Giran. Re-Destro says that when an organization has an objective, unnecessary emotions are but shackles. That’s why the League of Villains will be crushed by the Liberation Army. He prepares to defeat the two, only to be attacked by the Tomura Double, who survived the previous attack.

While fighting "Tomura", Re-Destro tells him the story of the Mother of Quirks, mother of Destro. He also reveals the origins and goals of his father's ambitions and how he intends to make it reality. Re-Destro manages to capture the copy, finish the story, and then asksTomura's double if he really thinks that the ambitions of his group, whose only purpose is destruction, can possibly outweigh the Army’s dreams.

Tomura’s clone ignores his opponent's question and tells Twice to protect Giran, as the real one is coming and is about to produce a disaster. The real Tomura is able to reach the tower and destroys it with a single touch. Re-Destro survives the fall and finally comes face to face with Tomura who recognizes from the Detnerat commercial and Re-Destro remarks that he won't get his answer before he readies for a fight.

Activating his Quirk, Re-Destro increases his size while Tomura taunts him on dwindling numbers and asks him where his bravado when he called the league went. In response, Re-Destro voices his anger before he and Tomura start to fight with Re-Destro starting to seize Tomura's hand and snap it for killing many of his subordinates.

While taunting Tomura, Re-Destro unknowingly destroys some of the hands on Tomura's suit. This triggers Tomura's instincts, allowing him to be able to decay part of his hand by using only two fingers. This phenomenon surprises and causes him to throw Tomura away immediately, Re-Destro wonders he received wrong information about Decay, since it is assumed that Tomura needs his five fingers to activate it. However, he realizes that Tomura is in the process of fully awakening his powers, just like his subordinate Geten from a previous event.

When Tomura dashes towards him, he realizes that he is far more nimble and quick then he was back at Kamino, Yokohama and as such far more dangerous. Resolving to end the situation, Re-Destro decides he's done playing around and proceeds to bulk up his body at 80% Liberation, causing his body to contort and bulge until he becomes demonic like in nature. He then releases his Super Move Stress Output Burden that tears through several city blocks in an attempt to kill Tomura.

Re-Destro is soon surprised to see Tomura not only survive but was unaffected from his Stress Output Burden. He is shocked to realize that, before the attack could hit him, Tomura touched and destroyed it. As this happens, several members of the army are attacked by a rampaging Gigantomachia who they assume was hidden by the League. Skeptic attempts to contact Re-Destro who is so caught up in battle with Tomura that he ignores Skeptic's warning.

Re-Destro then attempts to finish off Tomura with 100% of his Stress Meta Ability activated. However, he is surprised when Tomura retaliates and disintegrates Re-Destro's energy tendrils with ease. This nearly destroys all of Deika City, crumbling most of the surrounding buildings entirely. Re-Destro receives mockery from Tomura by telling him that he understands the latter's motive for destroying whatever bugs him for fun. Re-Destro begins to panic as Tomura moves towards him with intention to kill.

Re-Destro rebuffs Tomura's claim and proceeds to summon a suit of armor to amplify his Stress. While doing so, Re-Destro realizes he's feeling fear towards Tomura and briefly recalls his past as a child. Now armored, Re-Destro prepares to use 150% of his power, in which Tomura doesn't seem fazed at all.

Re-Destro struggles to withstand Tomura's sheer power as his Claustro armor begins to break apart with no effort. Re-Destro soon deduces that Tomura must have a limited range for him to counterattack. He then attempts to end the battle by launching missiles at Tomura but fails to notice the effects of Tomura's Quirk has gone beyond its limits. Now forced to evacuate, Re-Destro deactivates his decaying armor and witnesses the total chaos Tomura has inflicted on his beloved city.

A desperate Re-Destro attempts to escape but plummets straight to the ground with nothing supporting him. However, Re-Destro barely survives but is forced to cut his legs off with a piece of his armor to prevent Decay's effect from spreading on his body. Now defeated, he witnesses a wounded Tomura approaching and tauntingly tells Re-Destro that he recalls the reason this battle happened was due to the latter challenging him to a fight. Re-Destro is amused as Trumpet, Spinner, and the remaining MLA soldiers arrive on the scene.

Trumpet commands his soldiers to attack Tomura but they immediately halt as Tomura gives them an icy cold smile. Surprisingly, Re-Destro holds off his subordinates not wanting to bring about more meaningless casualties. Re-Destro admits that his people weren't following his will but rather Destro's command. He then realizes that Tomura's leadership skills are better suited to lead his MLA army. With that being said, Re-Destro surrenders and lends the MLA's strength to the League of Villains. Everyone remaining on the battlefield watches with astonishment. Satisfied with Re-Destro's decision, Tomura asks him if has enough money to get the League some lunch.

Afterwards, the Meta Liberation Army forms an alliance with the League and become the Paranormal Liberation Front.

Strength
The original Meta Liberation Army was large and powerful enough to oppose the governments of multiple countries for several years before their ultimate defeat.

Re-Destro's current army's strength is largely unknown. He boasts to having 116,516 warriors in the Meta Liberation Army. During the Revival Festival, the Meta Liberation Army proves to have a large number of fighters under its regime. Spinner even confirms that each one of them is powerful and fully capable of wielding their "Meta Abilities". Even pro-heroes like Slidin' Go are shown as faithful believers in the army.

The leading members of the new Meta Liberation Army are major figures in the corporate and political fields, giving the Army a great deal of social influence that goes unnoticed by the government. Each of them also possesses powerful Meta Abilities.

Trivia

 * The Meta Liberation Army is based on the real-life Tatenokai group originally led by Yukio Mishima (aka Kimitake Hiraoka). They created the Mishima Incident in 1970 where they tried to take over a military outpost in Japan, but failed with Mishima committing suicide and the rest of the group getting arrested or slinking into the background. There have been rumblings in recent years of the group returning in some capacity but hasn't materialized as the last major person of the failed Incident has retired peacefully to become a person of religion.
 * They are also based on the Marvel comics organization The Brotherhood of Mutants as both organizations want the liberation of super-powered humans and the usage of unregulated superpowers.
 * The Meta Liberation Army uses retro phrases when referring to Quirks, as seen when they refer to their own powers as "Superpower" or "Meta-Ability", the old phrases used in retro comics in the real world when reading comics.
 * The Meta Liberation Army is currently the only villain organization to not have any executives with mutant based Quirks.

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