Last time we saw our brave foolish hero was when he was about to receive the tongue lashing of a lifetime from his worried girlfriends...Can you blame me for fearing this? But in all seriousness, I was very busy these past few weeks but with any luck, I'll have a normal schedule again sometime soon. Let's get into it.
"Let's go through your thought process first Deku-kun. Why did you think going after a serial killer with a confirmed body count of over a dozen heroes by yourself was a good idea?" Momo started off the interrogation with the most obvious question.
"Well, I guessed that Iida-kun would go out looking for revenge after what happened to his brother and I deduced that Hosu would be Stain's next city. Iida-kun's internship was in Hosu. I put two and two together and planned to keep him out of trouble...Also, I was pretty sure I could take him." And in my defense, I probably could have if I didn't have to defend two additional people. And if Stain didn't have a magical weapon, that was a big one.
The girls took a collective sigh before Pony picked up where Momo left off. "If you were anyone else I'd think you were being arrogant. The fact may be that you were stronger than Stain, but you should know that in a battle anything can happen, please don't go in alone like that unless you have no other choice." I quickly agreed, they already accepted that as the situation stood I had to go in alone or risk Iida and Native's deaths.
"Why didn't you tell us though? Or at least All Might-sens- He knew didn't he? I'm sending that lying mountain of muscle into orbit the next time I see him!" ...Anger deflected! Sorry All Might, thanks for taking one for the team.
"I for one think you did the right thing and am merely here to make sure that the other girls don't let their emotions rule over them." Ibara reiterated. She was worried too but was far calmer about everything that happened. Her faith was still strong, especially after recent events.
"Aww. Does this mean no whip?" Momo sounded far too disappointed with that. Did her internship with Midnight awaken something that I should be worried about? Then again… Images of Momo in full leather ala Midnight's original costume flashed through my mind.
'With motivation like that maybe I should be leaning into this whole S&M thing instead of denying it at every turn. In private of course, my public life is already screwed as it is, I'd rather not let that get even worse.' Wait, why were they looking at me like that?
"...I was mumbling again wasn't I?" They nod in unison. Ochako grinning from ear to ear. Curse my old habits!
"Don't worry Deku-kun, there's no kink-shaming here. Plus we already have everything we need for bondage play!" Ochako exclaimed while suggestively playing with Ibara's hair. She was smacked over the head with said hair moments later as the intensely blushing religious girl squeaked.
"Down girl, we'll have time for exploration after Izuku-kun explains how he let himself lose an arm against someone weaker than him." That was still a weird one. For all their worry it came from a genuine sense of fear and confusion.
I had created this image of myself ever since I joined U.A. I was basically a juggernaut, someone who could be injured but never put down for good. Yet there I was, down and arm and near-dead in cold hard numerical data in front of all the girls. It must have been terrifying for them.
"Ah, right. So basically someone other than myself knows how to create mystic codes. Fair warning the knowledge of this alone can be very dangerous so I'd rather not get too into it until I've developed my anti-mind reading precautions." You know, its a little sad that me saying a sentence that ridiculous was actually taken seriously by the girls. Though only Pony knew the true significance of what I said, which was for the best due to the aforementioned mind reading.
"Mind reading villains and an arm's race. Got it, not gonna go into that for obvious reasons." Momo voiced the girl's general acceptance. "And I don't think I need to say that you have my support with any materials you may need." Oh, thank god! I didn't exactly want to drop several million yen on large amounts of gold, silver, or mercury if I didn't have to.
"If it's mental protection that you need have you thought of seeking a higher power? Or does your patron bar you from seeking help from other gods?" Ibara offered. That was a good question actually.
Took you long enough to ask me that. I don't mind at all and some of the gods are more than happy enough to lend a hand if you're willing to pay them their due. These payments vary for each god so be wary. I suggest that you catch up on your mythology before you unintentionally make any enemies. That's all I'm authorized to say.
...We were all silent at the go-ahead from my patron for accepting help from actual deities. Ibara was understandably nervous about the idea and not without good reason. Ancient gods were notorious for their selfishness and carelessness when it came to mortals. Though there were exceptions.
"I suggest caution. Benevolent or not you're still making a trade with beings far beyond our power. You shouldn't rush into any deals, whether with the devil or otherwise." That was also fair. What exactly did I have to offer the gods anyway? Other than the usual worship and basic offerings that used to be common.
"I'll think about it but Ibara-chan is right. Let's not experiment with powers beyond our comprehension just yet. Hell, I'm just lucky that the one in control of my power is just a troll instead of being actively malevolent."
Damn straight kid, and I'm not in control, I just provide guidance when needed. Don't expect me to bail you out if you do something stupid.
'Noted.'
"I think that settles pretty much everything that we can talk about for now so...Cuddle the pain away?" Pony offered, defusing the tension in an instant. Now that was an idea I could get behind.
The next day, U.A. 3rd person POV
'I wonder what Vlad-sensei wants me to do after the whole Hosu fiasco.' I thought to myself as I walked to my sister class' homeroom after being summoned over the intercom. I imagined that I'd just continue my internships with Midnight-sensei, and All Might but apparently they were extremely busy too, dealing with the fallout of the incident both as teachers of U.A and heroes. Even Recovery Girl was busier than usual helping out at the hospitals in Hosu.
'Yare yare, what a mess that Stain created. The nomu were annoying and caused quite a bit of property damage sure but it was that maniac's fear tactics that really spooked the general populace, even after he was captured.' As distracted with my own thoughts as I was, Gamer's Mind still shone through and helped me notice the subtle shift in air pressure that indicated an incoming explosion. Too bad that he didn't react fast enough to give anything but a token resistance.
BOOM! -200
"I got the bastard! Glue giant, do your thing. Skull face, give him that liquid cement to work with. Damage extras focus fire on Deku, defensive extras prepare for a counterattack! Buggy wannabe, keep your eyes on him from above! Copycat, don't you dare think that me giving you my quirk means jack, we just need all the firepower we can get right now!" Kacchan's voice loudly rang through the hallway as I quickly reoriented myself, mind churning for a solution.
'I need time. Seeing that Kacchan just blew down a wall just to land a surprise attack I can assume that property damage is acceptable.' And with the ground turning into a liquid... Obvious solution is obvious.
"Detroit Smash!" A 100% smash onto the ground sent the liquid stone all over the place, blocking everyone's line of sight and knocking down those who didn't prepare for the high-density liquid hitting them at high speeds.
'Go for the brain and the body shall fall.' Kacchan was directing everyone, even if they had back up plans set up taking out their leader was essential. The fact that their leader was also one of their best combatants was just a bonus.
"Colt Delaware Smash!" Left arm, right leg, right arm, right leg, head, torso. Each shot shook him off balance, impaired his quirk use, pushed him back, or straight up knocked him out, whether from the shock, the whiplash, or the lack of oxygen from the air pressure differences.
'Did I go too far?' I thought to myself as Kacchan's now limp body broke through two walls and landed under a bit of debrees...Then I remembered that he was pretty tough and that he was a total dick in junior high and the guilt withered away and died.
"He's not the only one with explosive powers you overpowered harem pro-grk!" Monoma started to say before I grabbed his face, slammed him into the ground and gave him a quick jab to the stomach. Only minorly surprised to find a thin slab of steel in the way before shrugging and giving him another punch, this time empowered with 25% of OFA. Needless to say he didn't get back up.
"Having a lot of quirks is all well and good Monoma-san, but if you're a novice at using every one of them then you won't make it very far." I lectured the lightly moaning body beneath me before turning back my attention to the other 18 students who were coming out of their shock induced paralysis.
"You know, surprise attacks only work if you take down your target in one move. What are you going to do now that your leaders hav-" *Tink tink. I felt a light poke at my back, my shirt tore open but my skin remained unharmed. "You've gotten better at stealth Hagakure-san, but again it doesn't really matter if you can't hurt me. Sorry about this but I don't like drawn out fights." I have a feeling about what this is all about and I suppose I should play my part.
Crossing my arms I give the invisible hero in training ample time to get some distance before taking a page from my quirk's namesake. "Double Lariat Smash!" A certain Russian wrestler's special move on steroids was preformed, immediatelty scattering the remaining students with the hurricane force winds that it created in such a confined space. Half of them were knocked out on impact while the sturdier students were simply blown back an even further distance, taking them out of the fight all the same.
"You can come out now, Vlad-sensei, Aizawa-sensei." I call out, a hidden compartment in the ceiling opening up to reveal my homeroom teacher, followed by Vlad walking out of a nearby room using the door like a normal person.
"Damn, I thought they'd at least get in a few good hits. But I guess that's asking too much from class 1-A's golden boy now is it?" ...I guess the blood hero's infamous favoritism with his own class was still going strong.
"I expected as much. I told you what happened with Stain was a fluke Vlad-san, though I suppose this exercise served as a good lesson for everyone involved, regardless of the outcome." Aizawa shook his head, the result was predictable but still disappointing to him.
"You were trying to test me to see if I had a weakness to surprise attacks and on-the-spot thinking." The Stain incident wasn't my best moment but this was just short sighted, none of my schoolmates had the capability of taking me down quickly enough for a surprise attack to matter...Except for Momo-chan I guess, but she counters everyone with enough preptime.
"Correct, though it seems that those reports we were given were highly exaggerated. The police were being oddly hush-hush about the incident and didn't mention how exactly you lost that arm so we just assumed…" At least I know the police are keeping quite. Though you don't have to sound so disappointed Vlad-sensei.
"This was such an illogical way to go about it. I'm going to ask you directly Midoriya, do you know what caused you to nearly lose that fight with Stain, and are you preparing countermeasures? If not then so help me I'll find someone who can beat some caution into you." Aizawa was being...Oddly wholesome about all this. In his own sort of weird way, I should at least try to ease his worries.
"I can safely say that what happened with Stain was a one off, I got complacent and never thought that anyone could...Ok listen, this is heavily classified for a good reason so I can't say much but…" I tried to parse through my thoughts, finding the best way to explain without divulging too much.
"Stain had a special weapon that caused my injury, before he used that he couldn't even cut me. Now I know such weapons exist and I even know how to replicate them myself, the only remaining issue is finding the bastard who created it and let Stain get his hands on it." I was still pretty sore about getting bamboozled by rune magic. Call it professional pride...Wait I don't get paid!
"Would such a weapon be particularly easy to replicate? I'd at least like to know a time frame for when this could become a problem." Aizawa took the new information in stride and went straight into intelligence gathering.
"It shouldn't, if I were to attempt to make something on that level then it would take me days, maybe weeks to construct it myself, even if I had all of the resources available to me. For someone without super speed, unlimited resources, or advanced knowledge…" I crunched the numbers in my head, not everyone has a Momo at their disposal.
"Maybe a couple months? Though it can be lower if there was more than one person working on it. In addition some of the materials used are extremely rare and can't simply be bought." Aizawa nodded and filed that bit of information for later.
"*Sigh, it's better than nothing I suppose. Don't slack off problem child, I hate to admit it but we'll be relying on you in this case. Don't make me regret it. Ah, and don't forget that finals are next month we have something special planned for the practical exam so you should prepare." Vlad apparently said a bit to much as Aizawa reprimanded him for speaking too much before rushing him out of the hallway, leaving me to deal with the ten odd unconscious students with only another ten injured students to assist.
"Uh...No hard feelings?" A bunch of cold glares were all I received, maybe I should had held back a bit.
Rumble, crash! A nearby ceiling finally gave out and crumbled into an already existing pile of rubble… Wait wasn't that the rubble where Kacchan buried? "Whoops."
It's been so long! I've been pretty busy, both with IRL stuff and with all the new stories so this one has been neglected for quite a bit. My apologies, hopefully I'll be able to get back into the rythm of writing this alongside my other stories. Well, hope you all enjoyed it, have a great day!