I do not own MHA or Ben 10. All rights reserved to their respective owners.
It might come off to some as a major bummer, but this story won't feature Stain and the Hero Killer Arc will be heavily changed. I decided, as in this story Iida is not featured in Izuku's inner circle that it would be pointless to include character development for him, hence why I introduced Eon as a replacement for Stain. This arc will be rather Izuku-centric. I undestand if you are opossed to it and dislike my decision and decide to quit the fic. No hard feelings, tastes are different.
Also, I decided to postpone the picking of hero names untill the arc with the internships is over.
Additionally, I will include two minor hero OC's in certain hero's agency. They will play a minor role for the time being and they may or may not appear again in the future. If you dislike me manipulating the world of MHA more than I already have, let me know and I will try not to interfere as much.
Chapter 13: Trial of the Dragon (Internship Arc Part 1)
954.
Nine hundred and fifty-four.
That's how many internship offers were laying in front of Izuku at his desk.
The boy stared at them with wide eyes.
Yes, he expected to get some purely based off of his second place in the festival. Maybe not as much as the first place, but still some.
But to get a whole 954 of them?
It was more than Todoroki got by around 20.
And surprisignly, it was almost double the amount that Bakugou got.
It's weird for the second place victor to get more recognition that the actuall winner. But Bakugou's quite visible anger issues might have played a big role in that.
Staring at the big pile of offers weirded him out almost as much as when he was recognized by multiple people in his train ride to school and asked to sign autographs. It felt really weird, but at the same time really good to be recognized for something publicly for the first time in his life.
But him being weirded out on that day couldn't possibly compare to how he felt during the night of the festival.
LINE BREAK
Because feeling anxiety of sudden recognition couldn't be compared to randomly floating in a vacuum of space with two green talking heads.
"Look Serena, if it isn't Izuku Midoriya" said one of the heads
"My my Bellicus, I propose that is Izuku Midoriya"
The teen's face was twisted in utter shock. How could he possibly wind up back here? The transformation of Alien X was sealed away! No, this must be some sort of dream and-
"You are correct. The Celestialsapien transofrmation has been sealed away" said Bellicus, breaking Izuku off of his train of thought "But this is not a dream"
Oh right, the heads could read his mind. He forgot. But still, what the hell?
"H-how so? Then if it isn't a dream, and Alien X is sealed away, then how come I can talk to both of you, when you are both inside Alien X?!" rambled Izuku
"Well, the transformation is indeed not in your grasp at the moment, but that doesn't mean we can't force it on you if we want to speak to you" said Serena with a smile
"Huh?" asked Izuku "What do you mean "force it on me"?"
"She means that if we both come to an agreement to talk to you about a certain matter, then we can manipulate the DNA stream in the watch to manually transform you into a Celestialsapien"
"Wait, wait, wait" said Izuku "Then what you're saying is that I am-"
"Currently transformed into "Alien X" and floating over the bed in your room? Yes, yes you are" said the second face, cheerfully
Izuku didn't know what to think. True, the heads forced him into this transformation against his will, but since they have never done it before they must have something important to discuss with him. He decided to question them.
"Ok, so since you wanted to talk to me about something, what is it?" asked Izuku
"First of all, I personally wanted to congratulate you for what you have accomplished so far" said Bellicus, with amusement in his voice "Not only have you finally stood up for yourself, but you managed to break more bones on your way to become who you are now than I would ever anticipate. And how you managed to unlock the Appoplexian in that little tournament? That was delightful! The humiliation that you put that boy through was a pleasure to see"
"Even thought I don't quite share Bellicus's reasoning, I do believe that you deserve congratulations. You managed to use the watch not only for blatant destruction, but also to save lives. If it wasn't for it you probably wouldn't be able to help your classmate see the error of his ways in the second round, pulling him out of the darkness that surrounded him. I am truly proud for you"
"But enough for fueling your ego. We came to warn you"
"Warn?" asked Izuku "Warn about what?"
"There's a great evil from beyond this dimension lurking in the shadows" said Serena "And this evil has set it's eyes on you as it's prey"
"Whoah, what do you mean "beyond this dimension"?" asked Izuku "And what is this whole "set me as it's prey" business?"
"We Celestialsapien are nigh omnipotent, but even we know that sharing any more knowledge with you will cause your future to take a wrong and a gruesome turn"
"What the hell?!" screamed Izuku "First you tell me that there's some evil from far beyond our dimension out for my blood and then you can't tell me what it is? How could I defend myself if I don't know what I should defend myself against?!"
"It breaks my heart to leave you with so little knowledge of a threat that can bring death upon you, it really does. But there is nothing we can do about it"
"Wait, Serena" suddenly spoke up Bellicus "I believe that there is a way to give our guest a hint that could be of use for him"
"My my, and how do you plan on doing this without blessing our guest with too much knowledge of what's to come?"
"It's simple; we give him something enigmatic which will only make sense when met face to face with the danger. I propose a voting to put my plan into motion"
"Can't you just like, say it to me?" asked Izuku "You know that I'm right here and can hear everything?"
"It seems that you forgot how we Celestialsapiens decide our every action. We deliberate, when we want to do something we start a vote for it. If it wasn't for rules such as this your universe would probably not exist at this point"
"My, I believe your idea to be a very good one, Bellicus" said Serena "Seconded!"
Both of the heads turned to Izuku, as if they were expecting something.
"Uhhhh" dragged Izuku, trying to remember what the voices used to say to conclude a voting "Umm... Motion carried?"
"Very well. Since the voting has been concluded with all in favor, I will disclose the information to you"
"Don't trust anyone, especially yourself"
"Huh?" asked Izuku "That's it? I can lose my life, and your adive is to not trust myself?!"
"That's the nature of this advice. It will make sense only in a certain time. And then you will be thankful for it"
"Bellicus, don't you think that we took away too much of our dear guest's sleep time away from him?"
"Yes, I believe that it is time for him to go"
"Wait, I have questions! How do I turn off that randomizer function-"
"Motion carried!" exclaimed Serena, not letting Izuku finish his sentence
He felt himself being pulled out of the vast space he was in just now and quickly fell flat on his face on his bed.
"Hmph, some advice they give" said Izuku, as he laid back to sleep "Nothing like a vision of possible death with a side of self distrust. I'm sometimes glad that they sealed that alien away. Dealing with them is a pain"
LINE BREAK
Ugh, he must have trailed off, thinking about that night. He just kept thinking about that weird advice from Bellicus all over again and the supposed threat looming over him.
But he needed to return to reality, as that threat was not the only thing that was looming over him. He also needed to choose which hero agency he wanted to take up on their internship offer.
He opened the thick folder the offers came in. He sighed in relief, as he saw that they were organized in numerological order so he didn't have to search through random names of heroes and agencies alike.
He looked at the first offer with squinted eyes. It was from All Might's agency.
Huh, to think that the #1 Hero would want him in his agency. But that was probably due to him wanting to make up for his past mistakes or try to convince him to that thing he wanted him to do, and Izuku didn't want to get a spot in an internship out of pity or for the man's personal gains. He set that offer aside.
The next offer was from the #3 Hero, Hawks. Huh, go figure that he wouldn't get an offer from Endeavor. The old bastard probably didn't want someone defiant and knowing of his misdeeds in his keep. He put the offer on top of that of All Might's.
Save for Endeavor not sending an offer, every single hero from the spot from under 3 to 952 did. At least that is what he discovered after leafing through the offers from spot 50 and under. Huh, that's quite a large crowd.
It would be pointless to go over each one of the offers, he would probably fall asleep before he would be halfway through checking each individual hero who sent a request.
He put his head in his palms, thinking.
Hmm.
Hmm..
Hmm...
A thought crossed his mind.
The way how the hero system administered each and every hero a coresponding rank, labeling people automatically reminded him much of how the Pokemon competetive tiers worked.
He picked up the offers from the spot 1 to 12 and spread them over his desk.
Rationally speaking, the Top 10 heroes are a real life representation of the Ubers tier. Wait, not Top 10, heroes from spot 2 to 12.
All Might, with the huge amount of heroic deeds and unmatched power was much out of reach of the Top 10 and therefore Ubers.
In comparison, he was the Mega Rayquaza of the Hero system and he probably belonged in a separate tier with no restrictions and no one to match him.
That left the heroes from spot 3 to 12 as the de facto Top 10 in his case.
He looked through the offers once again.
Hawks, the Wing Hero was the #1 in this hero version of Ubers tier. So popularity speaking, an Aegislash.
And the last but not least was Kamui Woods, at #12. In Pokemon counterpart, a Darkrai.
Huh, how easy was to label the top heroes of this country random as Pokemon of their respective tiers.
The 50 something heroes underneath the Top 10, or Ubers going with his line of thought would be the OverUsed tier, meaning contenders for the Top 10 and other heroes underneath them represented lower tiers.
But Izuku knew that not popularity made a hero or a Pokemon. It's their abilities and what he could benefit from joining with them that mattered. He decided to check the Top 10 with that logic.
Hawks. Popularity speaking he was an Aegislash, but that's where his assets ended. True, some people would blindly join the agency with the highest ranking, but where's the point? You apply to learn something, not to brag about the agencie's scores.
Moving to the next offer, Beast Jenist. Control over fibers was a really versatile Quirk and the hero himself was #4 in the country, but this is probably not what he was looking for, again, he saw no benefits other than agencie's ratings.
This issue repeated multiple times when searching through the Top 10 ranking. Izuku was really worried that there was no one there that he could learn anything from and maybe he should have stopped looking at the rankings and just look at the heroes themselves and not the agencies and-
That's when he was pulled out of his inner rant. He saw an offer that genuinely sparked his interest.
Being in the Top 10 (optional)? Check.
Really high hero statistic as noted in his Hero Journals? Check.
But most importantly: Quirk similiarity? Check.
That's what he was looking for. A person with abilities that on some level were similiar to his own.
Also, the office he would intern in was really close to his home so he could evade all the unwanted attention he would get by taking the train. Splendid.
He pondered a bit, questioning himself if he made a correct choice. He ultimately decided, after scrolling through the next ten following offers. This was the one he was going to take.
He walked up to Aizawa's desk, the selected offer in hand.
"Mr. Aizawa?" he asked, waking the teacher from his sleep "I have selected my internship"
"This quickly?" asked the teacher, rubbing his eyes "Did you just pick the first one from the top or picked randomly?"
"Actually-"
"Actually, I don't care. Just give me the form so I can place it in a binder and go back to sleep" said Aizawa
Aizawa took the form from Izuku's outstretched hand and put in an open binder signed with the boy's name.
He put the offer from "Ryukyu Hero Agency" inside and closed it, putting it back with the other binders.
LINE BREAK
Izuku felt really anxious, standing in front of the skyscrapper-like structure that was Ryukyu's agency. It reminded him of how he felt when he stood in front of U.A's gates for the first time. And since that went well for him, he didn't see why this shouldn't.
But this time he checked for any loose bricks in his way. He had no Uraraka by his side to help him this time.
He opened the double doors leading to the building and marched towards a receptionist stand close to the entrance.
"Umm, execuse me?" he said, attracting attention from the woman sitting at the desk, looking at her computer "I-I am here for an internship"
"Oh, you're that kid from the festival's finals! So nice that you decided to join us" said the receptionist, recognizing him "Take the elevator by the coffee machine and select "40". Ms. Rykyu's office is behind the door facing the elevator"
Izuku bowed his head in gratitude, before walking towards the elevator.
"Wait!" shouted the receptionist, halting him in his tracks.
He turned around, to see her holding a photo of him as Rath, headbutting Bakugou in their finals fight in her hands.
"Can I please have your autograph?" she asked
"S-sure..." said Izuku signing the photo, again being reminded about his loss against Bakugou
"Thank you!" said the woman, visibly happy with the young intern's signature "Oh, I almost forgot!"
She handed him an ID card attached to a string.
"This is your official Internship ID" she explained "This official temporary badge not only will help you if anyone in the office questions why a teenager is running around here, but it also works as a temporary permit, allowing you to use your quirk in public in situations that require it"
Izuku took the card, placing it around his neck and bowed his head, thanking the woman. He then walked to the elevator and selected the 40th floor as the woman told him to.
As he went up, he examined the card he was given, accompanied by elevator music.
Huh, a neat piece of plastic. Not only a free pass in the office, but also a permit allowing him to go alien when the situation called for it. Until now, that was only possible on U.A's grounds. He wondered if going to the office was a "situation that required quirk usage".
He was stopped in his machination of exploiting the temporal benefit by the elevator stopping.
When he got out, he saw a pair of doors in front of him, just as the woman told him. He slowly approached the doors and knocked on them a few times.
He heard no response.
"Huh" thought Izuku "Maybe she's out and didn't tell her staff? Or maybe she didn't hear?"
Contradictionary to what he learned from a young age, he pressed the knob on the door, opening them without hearing a "Come in" before.
Just as he entered the disproportionally large room through the small doors, something crashed on the wall to his right.
He jumped in shock and looked at the object. It looked like some sort of robot, reminding him of those at U.A's training rooms he recently started visitting to hone his skills.
"Oh, sorry about that" said a woman's voice on the opposite side of the room "I didn't think you'll come that early, so I decided to have some fun with the surplus training bots we have left over from a recent shipment. I hope you are not hurt"
The figure to which the voice belonged came closer, revealing it's shape. In front of Izuku stood a big, white, scaly dragon, with wings stretching from it's back and a blonde hair with a green band on it's head.
"Oh, sorry, where are my manners?" it asked, before it started shrinking.
In a matter of seconds, the dragon shrinked considerably and changing forms.
In a place of the creature stood a tall, blonde woman, wearing a red qipao and a long fringe on the right side of her face. She walked towards Izuku and reached out her hand towards him.
"Ryuko Tatsuma, but you can call me Ryukyu" she said, shaking Izuku's arm "It's a pleasure to have you!"
"I-I should be thanking you for sending me an offer" mumbled Izuku, shocked by how friednly the heroine was
"Come, take a seat" she said, pointing towards an empty chair in front of her desk "We have matters to discuss"
They both took their place on the opposite sides of the desk.
"Tell me, Midoriya" she said, suddenly turning serious "Why did you choose my agency?"
"Huh?" asked Izuku "Why do you ask?"
"Did you choose my agency at random, or did you pick it because it was the highest ranking agency that sent you an offer?" she said with venom in her eyes
"None of these!" quickly responded Izuku "I chose this agency because you are one of the only heroes that have a quirk working similiar to mine and I though your agency is the one I would learn the most at!"
The heroine looked at him wtih one eye open, looking as if she expected more.
"Also" added Izuku under his breath "The commute's pretty good too"
Suddenly, Ryukyu exploded in laughter, shocking Izuku with her sudden change of demeanor.
"I was just testing you" she said through the laughter "I just wanted to see if you had the right goals with this internship. And yeah, I must admit that the commute's pretty good as well"
Izuku tried to laugh with her to mask his anxiety.
"Ok, enough, we have actuall matters to discuss" she said "And those matters corespond to the reasons why I sent you an offer"
"I watched your performance in all of the festival's rounds. Out of all of them, you were probably the best. Versitaile, quick on the uptake, planning. Those are good qualities of a hero. But then you advanced to the third round"
A knob formed in the boy's stomach. He guessed what she was pointing towards.
"I must say, I was disappointed" she said "All of these versitaile forms and you just decided to brute force through the third round"
"Now, from what little dialogue I was able to process from "Rath" it is safe to guess that you started to transform randomly, is that right?"
"Y-yes, that's right"
"But still, that doesn't disprove the point that you focus on using only the raw power of the transformation, not relying on your own instincts"
Izuku's face turned sour, as another person pointed out the obvious to him.
"But there is potential inside of you" she continued "You are an unpolished diamond, which I and my subordinates will do our best to polish to it's brightest"
"Your subordinates?" questioned Izuku "I thought this internship will be only with you"
The heroine chuckled.
"You will intern with me personally only if you prove to me through learning from two of my subordinates that you are ready. You will have to learn to rely not only on your raw strength but also your senses. You will also need to get ahold of your temper and learn how to control that little rage of yours that made you flunk the finals if you want to succeed as a pro in the future. Only if the two that you'll learn from announce to me that you are ready, we will proceed with our own internship. But if you fail to pass the required training, I will have to mark your internship as failed"
The knob inside Izuku's stomach turned even tighter. He had a small time frame to prove himself to Ryukyu or he would fail his internship.
"We have only a week, so you better try your best" said the heroine, putting on a smile.
"Day one of your internship starts right now!"