WAIT BEFORE YOU START READING
To anyone that has been following me waiting for an update on "Evolution: Heroes of Tomorrow", I started working on it a few weeks ago and am happy to say I've got like 10 chapters ready to go (I've been reading the manga and know everything up to Yakuza Defeat).
HOWEVER! As I prepared these chapters I took time to reread my story, the first I'd ever written, and like most authors looking back on the work of their early days, I realized how rough some of it was. Mistakes in editing or things that I just am not sure I like now as much as I did then.
So here is my solution, rather than drop chapter 45 on a story that most people have probably forgotten, and make newcomers trudge through some mediocre chapters to get to that good stuff later on, I'm revamping the whole story!
Now before anyone freaks out, no I do not plan rewriting anything major... Yet... I think? Just tweaking things, reworking some dialogue and making sure I don't miss anything in editing. You have no idea how flustered I get when I reread a chapter I posted two months ago and find a typo T-T
So sorry for rebranding some old stuff, but I'll be releasing the new chapters steadily over the next few weeks/months depending on how fast I finish tweaking them. And this also offers a unique opportunity, for those who remember what was already written. If there was something in the original you didn't like, or would rather see changed feel free to PM me or just leave a review putting something you didn't like on blast and hey maybe I'll change it XD
Thank you for your time, I hope you enjoy :D
"Go AWAY!"
"W-Wait! Stay away from that thing!"
"S-Some kind of beast!"
"Leave my friends ALONE! You big ugly MONSTER!"
"Don't go any closer! Get back!"
"It must be a villain!"
"STOP!"
Adachi's eyes snapped open, gasping for breath as he sat up. The young boy took a moment to gather himself, before sighing heavily and looking towards the alarm clock. Which only made him release another grown of discomfort. Though the boy would have liked to get a bit more sleep, he had to get up and get ready. Today was the big day, the day he and his friends find out what they can really do. And find out if they have what it takes, to make it into the Hero Academy.
"Kaiji?" A knock sounded at the door, his Dad's voice ringing through, "You okay? I thought I heard something..."
"I'm up, its fine." The the young boy assured, smiling faintly at his fathers concern. Always happy to be reminded of his care, "I'll be out in a minute."
"Alright!" He answered, leaving the door after a moment and leaving him in silence once more. His smile vanished quickly, and his thoughts returned to that nightmare, "Why now?" He wondered, standing up from his bed, he looked out the window to watch the rising sun, "Why am I remembering that now?" He rubbed his head in annoyance, feeling a throbbing pain starting to form, "And why does it always give me such a damn headache?"
Pushing it aside, Kaiji quickly made his way to the bathroom to get washed up and ready for his big day. The young boy had been training for this, preparing to show the world what he could do and prove how tough he was!
He had plenty of doubts though, Kaiji wasn't exactly a fit young man. Sure he was tall, already six feet at his young age, but he looked like a twig. He was thin, pale with long lanky limbs, with incredibly short black hair on his head, leaving him always looking like he had a buzzcut. You would think he had some kind of ghoulish quirk, if not for his almost glowing blue reptilian eyes, and the long forked tongue.
He finished washing up, and after brushing his teeth he made his way down the hall to the kitchen. As he arrived he noticed his father struggling to pull a teapot from the stove, leaning forward on the edge of his wheelchair. The boy quickly rushed to his aid, grabbing the teapot and moving it within his fathers reach. The man shared many of Kaiji's facial features, though he lacked the reptilian aspects and certainly wasn't as thin.
"I had it." Kento Adachi grumbled a bit defensively.
Kaiji smiled and poured him a cup, "Yeah I know, you gonna be home today?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I might be late," He explained, taking a seat at the table and starting to prod at his breakfast while his father rolled up across from him, "Friends and I are thinking of heading to the arcade to celebrate after the exam."
He frowned slightly, "You know you shouldn't count on passing so early, these exams are tough."
Kaiji rolled his eyes, "Yeah I know Dad... But I mean, if you could handle it..." He trailed off, grinning at him.
"Oi, your old man was quite the hero back in the day." He reminded, poking a finger at Kaiji.
The young boy laughed, "I know I know, I'm just teasing."
His Father sighed lightly, shaking his head, "Just... Be careful, alright? All three of you..
Kaiji nodded his head, "We will Dad, thanks..."
. . .
There was still plenty of time before they needed to head to UA for the test. And so, Kaiji was making his way to the station, to meet up with his friends and get there early. It was a quiet morning, their district was never crazy busy as it had only a few local businesses, no massive commercial buildings that flooded the streets with traffic. Kaiji always liked early morning walks, despite his aversion to the cold.
"Adachi! About time slowpoke!" The abrasive, excited tone of his friend shouted from above, "What took you so long? I almost left without you guys!"
"I'm surprised you could even get up this early Kirishima!" Kaiji shot back with a grin, ascending the steps to join them.
"Oh ha ha," Kirishima rolled his eyes, waving him off, "You ready to go? I wanna get there early, maybe get some practice in and loosen up!"
"Isn't your quirk all about hardening?" The light, friendly voice of their third member sounded as she walked up the stairs behind Adachi.
"You know what I mean Ashido!" Kirishima barked loudly, as both her and Kaiji laughed in response.
"Alright come on," Adachi said with a grin as the train pulled up, "Lets get up there, maybe go over stuff on the way? I mean... We don't actually know what we are up against." He shrugged, waiting for a few people to step off the train before stepping on, Kirishima and Ashido following behind.
"Good idea I guess, it will at least fill some time." The red headed boy nodded, taking a seat beside Adachi while Ashido took the opposite side. The three were all dressed in athletic clothes, or just the kind of loose stuff you'd wear for a workout, all wanting to stay freely mobile during the practical portion of the tests. They weren't so concerned about what they'd look like during the written exam.
"Alright! It's finally happening!" Ashido was practically glowing as she bounced around in her seat, "I'm so excited to show off my stuff!"
"How does she even have any energy this early?" Adachi found himself wondering as he chuckled.
"Yeah, it should be easier for you two," Kirishima replied, rubbing the back of his neck as he stared up at the ceiling, "You're Quirks are both pretty flashy, but depending on how they rank the Practical portion it'll be hard for me to stand out."
"Come on don't sell yourself short," Adachi nudged him with his elbow, "We've all got good quirks, I think we'll do fine... And hey! Even if only one of us make it, we're ALL going out to celebrate afterwards!"
"Yeah!"
. . .
Things from there got a bit dicey.
After arriving at the Academy, they were given a seminar explaining how the Practical Portion of the Exam would work. And it started by dividing the students to minimize the chance of friends working together. It made sense, no favoritism between candidates... This was a contest, after all, and hundreds, maybe thousands were competing. UA was the most prestigious hero school in the country after all, and they only took on a handful of students at a time, so if you weren't at your very best and stood out you had no chance.
"This sucks," Kirishima sighed shaking his head, "So much for standing strong together..."
"Yeah, things might get a bit harder with us alone," Ashido noted, "And some of these other people look pretty tough."
"Hey, come on, I mean..." Adachi started, though his smiled nearly faltered when they both looked at him, "Crap, now they're expecting something inspirational!" He realized in growing anxiety, "W-We... We can do this!" He assured nervously, "You guys are both amazing, not only your quirks but you're great fighters! I know you'll... W-We will all pass this test!" Maybe he wasn't the most confident sounding motivational speaker, but wanted his friends to feel better.
"That speech sucked," Kirishima teased with a smirk, crossing his arms, "But yeah, I am pretty great..." He answered, sarcastically smug, "Look, I'm not giving up any time soon, so why don't we agree that... No matter what, we are all passing this test!"
"Yeah!" Ashido nodded, "Even if we're apart, we've got each other strengths with us... Or something, I don't know I heard something like that in a movie!" She nervously laughed, the other two young boys joining her.
As the laughter started to die down, and they all knew it was only moments before they'd have to split up, the fiery young man stuck out a fist, "Let's make a pact, right now! That we'll find a way to stay together! Through this exam, and beyond!"
Adachi looked at his hand in surprise, the intensity wasn't uncommon from Eijiro but he'd really been ramping it up lately, "Uh... Yeah, Kirishima I... I'm in!" A grin spreading across his unsure lips, as he bumped his fist with his friend.
"I agree, from here on out we are together! We're all gonna become great heroes!" Ashido beamed, sticking in her hand as well, "Lets DO THIS!"
After a few goodbyes and promises to meet up once this was over. The three close friends parted ways, and headed for their testing grounds. Kaiji's smile fading shortly after leaving them, as his own doubts began to sink in.
"With my transformation I should be able to take out these bots but... Will it be enough to compete with others?" He wondered, wincing a bit as he thought of pushing it, maybe going further than- "No, I don't need to be the best, I just need to pass... I can do it! For Kirishima and Ashido, for my friends!" He stopped before his gate, swallowing nervously as it began to slowly open, "And... For you dad."
"Don't waste time Folks! GET IN THERE AND KICK BUTT!"
The voice of that ridiculous DJ hero sounded over the speakers. And instantly the games began, a horde of would be heroes charging into the city. Kaiji nearly tripping as he started running, beginning to pant in just a few moments, cursing himself for not changing early. Whatever, he would just have to deal with it now and use his skills to handle this.
As the crowds charged forward, he slid to a stop. Turning his head he picked up on something, sticking his tongue out he smirked. Tasting the air like a snake, he could smell something nearby and burst down the nearest alleyway getting off the main street. As he reached the end, his foot caught the curb and he tripped. Stumbling forward but also falling right under the swinging arm of a green mech.
"Agh!" He yelped, rolling across the ground to try and get some distance, "I've really gotta work on my coordination... But at least I found a 1 pointer..." He smirked faintly, steadying his nerves, "Alright tough guy! Let's go!" He started forming the light blue scales over his arms, nails growing sharp.
The Bot charged, taking a heavy swing at him as if to brush him aside quickly. Kaiji braced, raising both arms it took the blow sending a shock wave through his body as he winced, "Ngh! Take THIS!" He lunged with his clawed hands, shredding the light metal surrounding the bots body, exposing its sensitive inner workings. Adachi quickly ripped through the wires, and the machine collapsed, "Nice! 1 point already!" He grinned.
"Maybe I can do this without it..."
. . .
Outside of the testing grounds, in the observation room the Teachers were watching. Judging the performances carefully and putting up rescue points when applicable. But as it went on, one of the experienced heroes blinked in surprise.
"Those eyes... Isn't that Colossus' kid?" Midnight asked cocking an eyebrow.
"Kaiji Adachi, that's right..." Cementos responded, "But it doesn't look like he picked up his father's Quirk, mostly his mothers."
"What a shame..."
"Now now lets not judge too quickly," Principal Nezu chimed in, "He is still young, who knows what ways his Quirk could grow as he does."
"Fair point." Midnight shrugged, returning her eyes to the screens.
. . .
Kaiji kept going, shredding the bots he could and racking up a modest amount of points. As the timer started counting down, he was seeing fewer enemies and more wreckage. There was one young boy, he was absolutely decimating the competition. Unleashing furious explosions and demolishing the machines with little effort.
Adachi knew it would be best to steer clear of him, but just as he was about to go chasing another bots scent, a tremor shook the streets. Kaiji's eyes went wide, as an eruption of dust and debris spread through the area, blinding him momentarily. But as it began to clear, he was met with the sight of other candidates running away.
"What is... Where are... Why-" His voice hitched, as his eyes locked onto the the towering, mean green machine rolling up the streets, "Th-That's..." His mind flashed back, to that young man who stood up and pointed out a missing enemy description during the exam briefing, "THAT THING ISN'T WORTH ANY POINTS!?" He exclaimed with a dropped jaw.
"That's right! So RUN!" A young girl with green vine hair shouted as she ran past him, "For your own safety!"
Kaiji blinked, noticing she was carrying a bunch of knocked out candidates in her vines. Maybe they were hurt in the blast when that thing appeared? Either way, she was right. He needed to steer clear of that big bot, or he could get seriously injured! And it wasn't even worth any points so...
"Aaagh!"
Kaiji stopped, looking back towards the sound. He gasped, spotting a young boy, someone his age trapped beneath some fallen rubble from one of the buildings.
"S-Somebody!" He looked very tired, bags under his eyes, with some wild purple hair, "I think my legs broken! I can't get free!"
"They wouldn't let someone die during these exams right?" He reasoned, hesitating for a moment. His eyes darting between the boy, and the machine rolling up the street, "Dammit!" Kaiji cursed, as he raced towards the boy, "Its fine, I've got 28 points... That should be enough to at least get me in... Right?"
"Hnngh!" The boys gasps of pain halted, as he looked up at Kaiji, "H-Help me out of here!"
"Hang on!" He replied, taking his hand and starting to pull, earning a pained cry from the boy, "S-Sorry sorry! Uh..." He looked at the mound of rubble, all that was laying on the boy was a wooden archway, the problem was that one side was completely buried by concrete connecting to the rest of the building! And the robot was only getting-
"LOOKOUT!" Purple hair shouted, yanking on Kaiji's leg to make him fall as a 1P Bot took a swing. Narrowly missing before being blown away by the white haired boy. Kaiji watched, gasping as the explosive propelled boy blasted away Robots left and right, completely ignoring the giant! "H-Hey!" His attention immediately returning to the trapped boy, "You've gotta have a quirk that can get me out of this... Right? Hurry! That thing is almost here!"
"I-I... Right, I can, just hang on!" He stepped back, taking a deep breath and tossing aside his shirt. Kaiji clenched his fists, and his teeth tightly, "Ngh! Grr... Aaagh!" The young boy roared out, growing a few inches taller as well as filling in his thin frame with muscle and nearly tearing apart his loose shorts. The transformation didn't end with muscles however, his bones were shifting and blue scales were forming all over his body. Covering most of his form while his face contorted, growing forward and forming a long muzzle. It was covered in armored plates, preventing him from opening it but it was dotted with air holes along the sides. His neck grew longer, legs bending while his fingers and toes grew sharp claws. A thick, powerful tail slammed the ground behind him as it grew. And his back now lined with rows of sharp scales down his spine all the way up to the top of his head.
"Whoa..." Purple hair muttered as he watched.
"Now then..." Kaiji had wasted time changing, and the bot was almost on them. He quickly grabbed the archway and started to lift it. But as it began to rise, something snapped and more debris fell upon him. He raised both arms, shielding the other candidate until it ended, the stones harmlessly shattering against his tough scales. Kaiji stepped back, surveying the building, "No good... This thing is way too unstable, if I go tearing out the wall to free this guy, he'll be crushed anyways! Dammit if only I had an extra pair of hands to help me!"
"Hey!" Both their heads snapped the other way, that girl with the green vine hair was running back towards them, "Its not safe you have to run!"
Adachi released a sigh of relief "Perfect, with her here..." He couldn't speak in this form, his armored face plates sealed his mouth shut, one downside to this transformation that he never fully understood. But, he knew she would understand, he simply pointed to the purple haired boy, "If I lift the rubble fast enough, she can pull him out before it collapses!"
"Hey!" The boy cried out as the young girl arrived, "What can you do?"
"No time for talking!" She replied quickly, bringing her hands together, "Please get ready to pull him out I am not sure my Quirk is strong enough to hold the building up for long!"
"Wait what?" Adachi blinked, "But that's what I was going t-" His thoughts ceased, watching in awe as her strange vine-like hair stretched and lashed out at the building. Wrapping around several pieces and starting to pull it upward, providing support in areas that were weak and keeping it from collapsing, "Amazing!" He internally smirked, quickly reaching down and grabbing the boy with one arm pulling him out in an instant.
"Hurry! The big guy is almost here!" The boy cried as they were engulfed by the robots shadow.
"Agh! Lookout!" The girl shouted, pulling back her vines and letting the rubble fall as the two boys got clear. Up above, one of the robots massive hands was reaching down for them.
"Oh Crap!" Adachi's eyes widened as he looked back, without thinking he turned halfway, making sure his body was between the robot and the other two. He brought up his free hand, as well as his powerful tail while digging in his claws to the "Grrrr... Hrraaagh!" He snarled out through his muzzle in response to the strain as the machines massive hand pushed down on him from above. His feet starting to slid back across the asphalt, "D-Dammit! I can't hold this thing forever!"
. . .
"Oh my," The diminutive Principal chuckled as he watched for a brief moment, "Seems young Adachi at least retained some of his fathers immense strength..."
"Got that right, his mother was certainly never that strong." Snipe replied with a nod.
. . .
"Come on you big scaly bastard don't let this thing crush us both!" The boy tucked under his arm shouted, trying to spur him on, "Green hair, don't just stand there!"
The girl in question seemed to snap out of her awe at Adachi's strength when the boy they were both trying to save spoke, "R-Right! My apologies!" She responded, "HANG ON!" Her vines lashed out, passing Adachi by and starting to coil around the machines outstretched arm, tightening steadily and beginning to crush the metal joints, "A-Almost got it!"
"LOOKOUT!" The boy cried, noticing the robots other arm swinging around to slam them from the flank!
"OH CRAP!" Adachi could only think, closing his eyes and bracing himself for the impact.
"TIIIIIIMES UP!"
The Robot ceased movement, and Kaiji opened his eyes, blinking as he looked at the other two. The three of them shared of a blank stare, before each of them released a heavy sigh of relief. Adachi carefully put down the boy before slumping to the ground, slowly changing back to normal, "That was too close... I really thought we were gonna die!" He added with a nervous laugh.
"I might have if not for you two." The purple haired boy responded with a faint smirk, "Names Shinso, Hitoshi Shinso."
"Kaiji Adachi." The other boy responded, still catching his breath as he wiped the sweat from his brow, "And really I don't think I did much... If not for you I never would have gotten him out."
"Please, don't sell yourself short, I am Ibara Shiozaki," The green haired girl chimed in with a kind and friendly smile, "It is a pleasure to meet you both! May I ask, how is your leg Shinso?"
"It hurts, might just be a sprain but it could be broken." He answered, wincing a bit as he tried to move it.
"I shall stay here until the officials arrive with a doctor." Shiozaki nodded in response.
Adachi slowly stood up, stretching his arms, "That sounds like a good idea, I don't mind hanging around."
Deciding to save frantically searching for the others for later, he stayed and shared some idle chatter with his two new acquaintances. That lasted until Recovery Girl arrived, and helped out anyone who was injured. As the practical part of the entrance exams came to a close Kaiji released a sigh of relief, knowing he had at least taken the first step. Sure, he didn't score the most Villain points, but he felt like this was the first time he got to really use his powers for something important!