I do not own MHA or Ben 10. All rights reserved to their respective owners.
Sorry for the lack of activity in recent week, but I have been entirely sucked into a certain Minecraft Pixelmon server for quite a while. But now, given that I have a 2 week long break from school, and my Scyther killed a Hidden Ability Female Slowbro with his Night Slash after it's 2 Curses on a server that allows breeding (female pokemon have a 60% chance to pass a Hidden Ability to an egg) I just want to die inside from this fact in this very moment because I should have known that a 130 attack high crit chance move coming off of Scyther could bypass def buffs and I need a break from the server, I will now post more consitently and probably make some surplus chapters for the future if I ever decide that I hate myself and go on another HA Slowpoke/Slowbro hunt because I want that sweet, sweet HA Slowking for my team.
Turned into quite a Pokemon-based rant there, sorry about that. Will keep that out in the future. But if I find that fucking Pokemon, you can be sure as hell I'm gonna boast about it in a future chapter.
Chapter 14: Trust your nose (Internship Arc Part 2)
Izuku wasn't certain about what was about to happen, as he was lead to an empty, spacious room with nothing else that an open window, a few buttons on a wall next to the doors and a couple of big speakers in each corner of it.
The only thing that the Dragoon Hero said to him was that someone would "Bounce by the room and start his training"
Huh, so nothing out of the ordinary. No robot throwing, no giant dragons almost hitting him with one of the aforementioned robots. Cool, he could work with that.
But something irked him about the frasing of that sentence.
"To bounce by" usually ment that someone would arrive in a certain place in a certain time for a short period of time in the close future. But since he was told that this was the room he was supposed to train in, or at least he bellieved it to be, the phrase didn't make much sense.
And of course, in the normal Izuku fashion, he started overthinking the meaning behind the heroine's words.
Is he gonna be given a task by one of Ryukyu's subordinates that he needed to perform on his own in this room? Is he gonna be taken to another room in a second? Was this some elaborate patience training, based on-
He was suddenly pulled out of his train of thought, as he heard something from outside of the window.
It was like a sound of something being ejected high into the air with great force, struggling against the wind. With some weird metalic clinking mixed into it?
Before he had time to go over to the window and examined, he was met face to face with the source of the sound.
Through the window jumped a man with his legs consisting of two long springs, making a pirouette in the air as he landed with a clanking noise. A wide smile adorned his face, as he closed the window and turned to Midoriya after the showcase of his talent. He quickly cut the distance between them on his spring legs.
"So you're Midoriya?" he asked, as he extended his hand "It's great to finally meet you in person!"
"T-thank you" said Izuku, nervously shaking the man's hand "Mister..."
If they were in an anime, the frame would freeze on the man's face and explain who he is and what his abilities are.
It would probably go something like this:
Hero Name: The Extendable Hero "Spring"
Real name: Jun Danryoku
Quirk: "Spring"
Using his quirk he is able to turn any part of his body except for his head into a durable spring that grants him elastic abilities and allows him to reach spaces unavalible to others. He can also use them to deliver strong blows with whatever limb he decides to transform. Depending on his will, he can extend each of his springs up to 5 metres. If any of his limbs are damaged or destroyed, upon changing them back his original limbs will still be intact.
"Name's Jun" said the hero "But you can call me Spring"
Izuku didn't recognize the hero's name. He lustered his costume to check if he has seen him somewhere before.
The man had a pink face mask covering the upper part of his face. His hair, colored to be ligh blue, were styled in a way that made them resemble a spring. He wore a seemingly heavy vest, made of multiple sheets of material. It's upper part was pink, with big "S" in the middle, when the rest of it was white. It didn't cover his arms, for some reason. Similiar to his vest, the grey trousers he had one only covered a tiny sliver of skin above the knee, exposing the rest of his muscular legs, of which the lower parts covered a pair of brightly pink sneakers.
"Oh" said the hero, as he spotted how Izuku was analyzing him with his eyes "Yeah, you probably don't know who I am. Sorry to tell you, but your current teach is far outside of the Top 200 for the time being, so don't feel bad for not recognizing me"
"Huh?" said Izuku, as he was pulled out of searching his mental database of heroes searching for the man in front of him "You are one of those people who were supposed to help me?"
"Sure am, pal!" exclaimed the hero "I'm the first part of your test. I'm here to teach you to work with your instincts other than the one to bluntly smash all that is around you"
"But before we begin" said the hero "Safety"
He pulled a large sports bag from around his back, that Izuku must have missed during the man's priouette. Out of the bag, he pulled a big, sturdy-looking pair of boxing gloves.
"I'm here to help you, not kill you" said the hero "So this is a precaution so I do the first, not the second. I'll need your help putting them on though. Here, hold these for a second"
He passed the gloves to Izuku and as soon as he did, his arms and hands turned into springs, just like his legs a moment ago.
"Whoa" said Izuku, as his hero fanboyism upon seeing a new, never previously seen quirk kicked in "How does your quirk work?"
"It's actually pretty simple, kid" he said, as he lodged the end of each of his springs into a socket on each of the gloves "I basically turn my limbs and parts of my torso into springs. Not some high-tech fancy stuff, just regular springs. And as springs do, they do spring things, like being extendable, jumping high and the list go on. It's pretty simple, compared to some other quirks out there"
Izuku composed a mental equivalent to a chapter in his Hero Analysis notebooks with each sentence said by Spring. He had to gather all possible knowledge if he wanted do pull it off.
"And because the ends of those springs are rather sharp and I much more like knocking villains out rather than killing them, I need these" he said, as he adjusted the gloves "These were made just for me to allow me to utilize my hands without tearing someone a new one. With these I hit hard, but not as bad as without them"
"So" said Izuku, as he saved the mental note onto his hard drive in his brain "What will I need to do to pass your test?"
"Oh, that's simple" said the hero, smiling "You just have to hit me and force me onto the ground"
.
..
…
….
…..
That's it?
This big test, that was a hit or miss on him moving up in his internship was just slamming someone onto the ground?
What was all this worrying about?
"That's it?" asked Izuku "Whew, from what Ryukyu told me, I though it would be harder than that"
"Oh, Ryukyu assumed you would probably say something like that" said the hero with a devious smile "That's why she decided to make it more... interesting"
Izuku felt cold sweat running over his body. He did it again. He just dug his grave deeper than it already was.
Of course Ryukyu wouldn't make such a big claim without her tests living up to them. He, again, got too full of himself for his own good. And this was his consequence.
Spring walked towards the buttons on the wall that Izuku spotted previously.
"Of course, it wouldn't be that hard to just beat me up like this, especially given how unpredictable you can be" said the hero "That's why we'll add something else to the mix"
He turned his legs into springs, on pair with his arms. He flicked the first switch. Once he did, the lights went out.
"Fighting in the darkness is certainly harder" he said, as he moved his legs a bit, making a squeaky sound "But with those making so much noise during each movement, it would still be easy for you to locate me. But luckily for me, and less luckily for you, we have something to do about it"
He flicked a second switch. Once he did, each of the speakers in the room started generating sound.
One of them played music, the second of them replayed some kind of old radio soap opera, the third was static, and the last one was a news report. What connected each of them, was the fact that they were rather loud. Louder than you would want your radio to be. It was rather not pleasing
"Now I think the chances are evened out" screamed Spring, so that Izuku could hear him through the noise "Remember, hit me and pull me to the ground and you pass! And no cheating or destroying your surroundings! Test starts NOW!"
The hero shouted and then fell silent, leaving Izuku figuratively and literally, in the dark. Even the window had it's courtain lowered, so that it would not aid him with a sliver of light.
Izuku stood in place, thinking of a strategy. The man was agile, and probably quite swift, given the rooms rough measurements and how close the walls he could bounce off were.
He needed something that could match him. He had one alien in mind.
"All right!" said Izuku, as he pressed the button on the watch and turned the shield a few times "Come one, Snare-oh"
His hand almost slammed on the display.
Almost, because just a second before it did, something hit him on the back with such force that he fell to the ground. The hero didn't lie, those punched still hurt like a bitch.
But how did he get such a clean shot on him? They were both in the darkness, so their field of vision should be equal-
"Night vision goggles, kid!" shouted the hero throught the darkness, almost as if he was reading his mind "What, you thought I would make myself blind as well? That's a part of the test!"
Great. Not only the hero outranged and outsped him, but he also cheated. Huh. Great.
Izuku stood up from the ground and again pressed te button on the watch. No strike came this time.
He smashed his hand agains the shield when it displayed the mummy-like alien.
And surprisingly enough, he got what he wanted.
"Oh, Snare-oh?" he asked himself in surprise after the transformation "Great!"
Well, he didn't quite see himself, he only "felt" he went Snare-oh. Because even in an alien form, his eyesight was still impacted by the egyptian darkness (pun intended).
He waited, anticipating another attack and trying to hear the hero moving through the darkness. But he didn't succeed in either.
"Focus, focus" Snare-oh thought "The sooner I beat him, the sooner I get to the next stage. Only a matter of time before he slips up and-"
The mummy's inner machinations were cut short, when he heard a sound of a cerain hero's springs on a wall to his right.
"Got you!" said Snare-oh, shooting out his bandage hand in the direction of the sound.
But his fingers grasped nothing but air.
"Who gots who?" asked the hero, as he delivered a punch to the alien's mask from the opposite direction with one of his gloves "Try harder next time!"
The impact of the punch moved Snare-oh a couple of feet back, but luckily he didn't fall over this time.
"Ugh, how does he do that?" thought the mummy "I could hear him over there, but then he was on the opposite end! It doesn't make any sense"
No.
He didn't just fake his own sounds.
It was all this speakers jabber that made him think that. Combined, it must have made a sound similiar to the springs.
He had an idea. He was told he can't destroy the speakers, but he wasn't told he could "mute them".
He extended both of his arms in the approximate direction of the speakers next to him. Each arm shoot out and quickly wrapped themselves around the devices. It muted them, much to his content.
"Didn't know you'd go that route!" screamed the hero "But you still have to try harder!"
Snare-oh suddenly felt that both of his arms have been severed with a quick motion. Since Spring had his gloves on, he had to cut them off with his legs. Crud, that's another plan down the drain.
"Okay" thought the alien "I need a Plan C"
LINE BREAK
Plan C, Plan D, Plan E and so on all amounted to nothing.
Each time the hero had an upper hand over him.
No matter how hard he tried to make out a sound of Spring and no matter how many times he changed aliens, he still didn't manage to even lay a finger on the man.
Over 3 hours down the drain.
"Well, so that's that" said Spring, as he flicked the lights back on and the speakers off "You had a few quite good ideas, kid, but it's enough for today"
"Huh?" asked Izuku "You mean I have to repeat that tomorrow?"
"You sure do pal" answered the hero "You won't pass until you defeat me. Remember, practice makes perfect. You'll do better next time!"
Izuku swallowed hard. He hoped that next time was gonna come soon, or he would have no next time.
LINE BREAK
Living room area? Cleared
Every device that could play sounds he could find in his house? Set up and ready
The model train he got for Christmas when he was 5 that made a lot of noise? Set on a railway around the selected area, imitating his target
Every window and source of light? Covered
His imitation of the exercise was ready.
It may sound and look really disproportioned and even childish compared to the original, but it's the best he could do. He was limited by the technology he could use at the time.
He turned on every sound projecting device he could find and turned off every single light in the room. He powered the model train and set it in motion.
He then sat in middle of the living room, trying to catch out the sound of the train from all of the jabber around him.
Wait.
Wait..
Wait...
There it is!
Izuku jumped in the direction where he though he heard the train's wheel grinding against the rails. But like in the original exercise, he grasped nothing but air.
Listening was really not his best side. He was rather a man of the pen rather than ear. And in an environment such as this, he was basically blind. Well, deaf, to be precise.
He put his face in his hands. How was he going to beat the hero, if he can't even beat a model train.
That's when he smelled it.
A smell, that travelled around the living room.
It smelt like... fire?!
He immediately jumped up and turned the closest light on.
The source of the smell was his old train, slowly making his way around the rails. But this time, smoke rose from the front of the first locomotive.
"Shit!" shouted Izuku, before he rushed to the kitchen and grabbed a bucket he immediately filled with water.
He rushed to the train and ripper out the locomotive in the front, putting it in the water. The smoke sizzled out, as whatever reaction that was going underneath it's masks ceased.
"Whew, good I felt it before it burned the whole place down" said Izuku, placing the bucket on the ground "The batteries must have gotten old and caught fire. I should have known better than to take that old thing out"
This was certainly an experience. Not a golden one, but an experience.
"If I didn't smell the fire I'd be in for a fire hazard" said Izuku as he cracked his wrists.
And then suddenly his eyes went wide.
That was it!
A simple model train malfunction made him realise the mistake of his ways.
Fine, he can't see the man and he sure as hell can't hear him, but nothing stopped him from smelling him.
But then the reality hit him.
Sure, it's easy to say but harder to do. Try as he may, but he can't exactly sniff out a human's scent with his nose.
After all, he's not a dog and doesn't have such a sensitive nose.
Not a dog
Not a dog.
Not a dog..
Not a dog...
Suddenly a wide smile plastered itself around his face. Sure, he wasn't himself a dog, and didn't have a dog as a transformation in the watch. But he believed he had something even better.
LINE BREAK
"You seem weirdly eager, kid!" said Spring, as Izuku walked into the test room from the day prior "Good to see you in such high spirits"
"I had myself a proper rest and I'm ready to take the test, Mr. Spring" said Izuku, trying to sound like he didn't stay up during the night thinking of a game plan "Can we begin?"
"Well, I can't refuse someone as hyped as you. But first I need to-" said Spring, before he was cutt of by Izuku's actions.
The teen quickly jumped to the buttons on the wall and flickered them one by one. The lights went off and the familiar buzzing from the speakers ensued.
"Well, I hope your plan is half as good as is your motivation!" screamed Spring "Test starts NOW!"
This was the signal that Izuku was waiting for.
He quickly pressed the button on the watch and switched in to the second grid. He chose a frame that he never used before and motioned with his hand as if he was going to press it.
That was the moment Spring waited for. He ejected himself towards the boy with his gloves in front of him, trying to repeat the attack from the previous day.
But Izuku this time was prepared. As quickly as he booted up the watch, he fell flat on the ground, making the Extendable Hero bounce off the wall behind him back to his original location.
"Nice one, kid!" screamed Spring "Nice trick there!"
"This is not the only trick I have set up" thought Izuku, as he finally slammed his hand on the displayed hologram.
His hands and body was covered by thick, gray fur. His arms grow bigger and more muscular, his hands ended with four sharp claws. His legs turned longer and lankier and his feet were adorned by three sharp ended toes, two in front and one behind. His chest grew more massive and more muscular and was covered by a green jumpsuit. His skull enlarged, as did his head. It was, like the rest of his body, covered in gray fur, but darker, longer and more fuzzy. His ears piped up and grew in size. His jaw enlarged and grew forward, growing additional sharp teeth as it did.
As the light from the transformation subsided, a new form stood in place of Izuku.
"Blitzwolfer!" it exclaimed.
But a second later, the werewolf pressed his hands over his ears and closed his eyes, visibly in pain.
"Oh crap!" he said to himself "I forgot how sensitive dog ears are!"
The pain pulsed through his head. It was so bad he couldn't even keep his eyes opened, much less do anything with his arms as he needed to cover his ears.
Spring utilized this moment to deliver a strong jumping punch to the werewolf's chest, sending him crashing back into the wall behind him.
He needed to act. He will never complete the test if he just stands there and takes a beating.
He put his theories into motion. He closed his eyes completely and stuck more hind fur into his ears to minimize the noise. He needed to follow the smell.
Still with his back to the wall, he started sniffing.
He smelled the paint that the room was recently painted with.
He smelled the smoke in the air from behind the closed window.
He smelled the metal on the speakers.
But most importantly
He smelled Spring
Many things he smelled, only one was in rapid motion. To his sense of smell, it was like a ball, bouncing from wall to wall.
In certain terms, he could say he saw the man moving. Or his smell, at least.
And he sure as hell saw when the man made a motion to strike him again.
And he let him get close.
Close enough to be in his range.
When Spring was two metres away from him, flying towards him with an extended hand, the werewolf's jaw opened like a flower, splitting it in four equal parts.
Before the hero could react, a powerful soundwave blew from the alien's face, sending him flying backwards.
He could only see Blitzwolfer's movements, as he dashed towards him when he was still lying on the floor, trying to get up.
The alien put his big foot on the hero's chest.
"Okay kid, I gotta admit, that was some Stranger Things level scare you got me there" said the hero, chuckling "I yield"
LINE BREAK
"Sooo" said the Dragoon Hero, as Izuku was sitting in a chair in front of her office's desk "You took Jun out in just two days. I'm impressed"
"T-thank you" said Izuku, embarassed by her conitnuous praise "Truth be told, if I didn't pose a fire threat to my apartament complex a day prior I would still be trying to figure a way out to beat him"
The heroine looked at him with concern in her eyes. "I really don't know if I want to know the backstory here, so I'll just skip on that"
"You may have cleared the first part of the test, but that was the easy one" said the heroine, turning serious yet again "If you had to almost burn a building down to pass the previous one, then I worry what you will need to set ablaze to pass the next one"
"W-well, it can't be that hard" said Izuku, trying to sound confident "And I'm not burning anything down. The first one was an accident!"
He would later find out how big of a misscalculation he made in the first part of that sentence.