"And that's how we killed the Destroyer," Lilith finished.
"He exploded into ity bity pieces that flew into Mordys mouth," Tina laughed.
"God, and I had almost drank that memory away," Mordecai groaned as he took a swig from a green bottle.
After a beat of silence, Angel spoke up, "I truly am sorry I tricked you into opening that vault."
"Things are different now. We know Jack was forcing you to do that. We don't blame you anymore," Roland said.
Suddenly an alarm went off, yelling 'perimeter alert' at them as the screens above them flickered to life, showing Nezu standing at the foot of the shield.
"We should probably let him in. If he's here then it's important," Izuku told them.
Roland allowed the hodgepodge of creatures past the shield and a minute later he was at their doorstep.
"Crimson Raiders, a pleasure to see you again," Nezu greeted, "I simply came back to tell you that entrance exams are in a week, and since you are going to be teacher's there, you will need to be there as moderators."
"About that. With Jack on the loose we can't afford to waste any time teaching some kids how to play hero," Roland said.
"Hmm. Tell me, exactly how dangerous is this 'Jack?'" Nezu asked.
"Handsome Jack is a maniacal mass murdering tyrant."
"With an army of killer robots behind him."
"Trillions upon trillions of dollars in funding."
"A big ass space station that we can't find."
"And a Vault key."
Nezu looked at them skeptically, "What is a Vault?"
"Alien treasure. Often guarded by some crazy ass creature," Lilith explained.
"This does sound concerning. Fine, I shall give you access to all of our resources to find Jack, anything you need I can most likely supply. All I ask in return is that you help us teach the next generation of heroes, and tell me when you find him. If he's as dangerous as you say then we will need to step in as well," Nezu offered.
Roland stared at him for a while, before crossing his arms and nodding, "You've got yourself a deal."
"Wonderful!" Nezu grinned, "I feel this will be the start of something truly exciting!" He exclaimed before exiting.
"Well it's nice that he's offering to help us I guess, but we still have no clue where Helios even is," Maya said.
"We can narrow this down. It can't be anywhere on land, it would've been reported," Izuku chimed in.
"Which means it must be underwater somewhere," Salvador surmised.
"And since most of this planets ocean is unexplored, it's very likely he would go unnoticed, if he's deep enough," Mordecai realized.
"Then we know where to start the search," Izuku grinned.
"That could take months, years even," Roland said.
"It's our best bet. We just have to hope that he doesn't make any drastic moves until then," Izuku sighed.
Izuku sighed as he sat down on a crate that laid about in his exam area. In front of him was a large gate, at least fifty feet high.
It was intimidating to say the least.
Izuku fiddled with his daggers as he anxiously waited for the exam to start, all he had to do was destroy a few robots, that shouldn't be too hard.
"Hey bro." a boy with spiky red hair, red eyes, and sharp teeth plopped down on the crate next to Izuku.
"Hi," Izuku greeted.
"Eijirou Kirishima," he greeted, sticking out his hand.
"Izuku Midoriya."
"I don't mean to bother you by the way, just trying to make a friend. If you want me to leave I will," Eijirou offered.
"No, you're good," Izuku told him.
"I like your tattoos, real manly."
"Thanks, they're a part of my quirk. It's called Enhance, it enhances every aspect of myself; strength, speed, even the acidity of my bile. Which is gross but helpful I've discovered," Izuku lied. Telling someone you just met that you're actually an alien was probably a bad idea.
"Cool. Mine's called Harden; it lets me harden my skin cells," Eijirou explained as he demonstrated, hardening his right forearm, making it seem like it was made of flesh colored rock.
"So are you sure you're allowed to bring those in?" Eijirou asked, pointing at his knives.
"I filled out some paperwork that allows me to use them. They've got some sentimental value and I want them here with me," Izuku explained.
The two continued to chat for a while, before Izuku suddenly stood back up, "I have a feeling the exams are gonna start soon. It was nice talking to you Kirishima."
"You too, Midoriya!" Eijirou stood up as well before walking off and waving goodbye.
Izuku let out a heavy sigh, "You've been dreaming of this day ever since you knew what heroes were. You've got this. You're gonna ace this exam."
A flash of neon green ran down his tattoos as a siren went off to start off the exam, "Here we go!"
Izuku activated his powers and ran forward, getting a good distance ahead to avoid fighting over points.
Unfortunately, this also meant he was swarmed with robots the second he stopped moving.
Izuku took his daggers into his hands and brandished them threateningly at them, 'Just remember what Zer0 taught you'
"Zer0, I don't mean to offend you, but don't you think this spot is a bit cliché?" Izuku asked.
They were currently in a small pond, kneeling on rocks, a waterfall crashed down down behind Zer0.
"The art of the sword requires a calm mind, but yes, this is cliché," Zer0 answered.
"Not that I don't appreciate, but I think I know how to use these things," Izuku said, gesturing to his daggers.
"Be honest with yourself, you are just swinging them around wildly," Zer0 deadpanned.
The Siren sighed, "Alright, teach me then."
Even though he couldn't see his face, Izuku knew that Zer0 was grinning. The assassin bolted up and drew his sword before attacking Izuku, he managed to just barely block the strike in time but Zer0 refused to back off.
They hopped from rock to rock, Zer0 giving advice after every strike and Izuku getting more and more overwhelmed.
"Your hips must be squared."
Strike.
"Don't lunge at your targets unless you're sure you can hit your opponent."
Strike.
"Never leave yourself open, even for a second."
Strike.
"And most importantly, watch your opponents body, not their blade." Zer0 swept his legs out from under him, causing him to fall into the water. Over and over, Izuku would get back up only to be bested by Zer0 and end up on his back.
"This is not the first time I have clashed with those blades," Zer0 suddenly said.
"What— What do you mean?" Izuku panted out.
"Years ago I was sent to murder a high ranking Dahl general. He was protected by your mother. She's the only person I've ever left a battle in a stalemate with," Zer0 explained.
Izuku stood back up and stared at Zer0 confused by the revelation.
"If you truly are her son, then I believe that you can hit me." Zer0 cloaked himself.
Izuku took a deep breath and shut his eyes, he blocked out all other sound and just focused on the ones from the pond. The waterfall rushing down. The wind sending ripples down the water. The sound of a foot pushing off of a rock behind him.
His eye lids snapped open and he whirled around to block Zer0's katana, before kicking him in the chest to get him to back up. The assassin immediately went into a hand spring and landed on the rock he jumped from.
"Impressive." Zer0 clocked himself again, "Now let's see how you fair when I am actually trying."
'This is gonna be a long day,' Izuku said to himself.
Izuku thrusted his dagger upwards and impaled one through the head, before doing the same to the one directly across from it. He removed the knives and kept stabbing at three of the four remaining robots.
He spun on his heel and rapidly slashed at the final one, leaving shallow but wide cuts into it. Out of the corner of his eye he caught two robots trying to sneak up on a blonde boy.
Izuku quickly loaded two explosive charges and tossed his daggers, embedding them into the backs of the robots and promptly reducing them to flaming scrap. The explosion caused the blades to be sent flying back at him but he managed to catch both of them.
'Eleven points now.'
"Merci, mon ami. That could've ended badly," the blonde boy flamboyantly said before running off.
Izuku nodded as he ran off in the opposite direction. Coming into a big open road of robotic carnage.
A gorilla robot with a three painted on its side slammed down on the pavement in front of him, banging its chest with its large metal fists.
'Those fighting lessons are gonna come in handy now.'
"Alright Slab, it's time for you to learn how to punch!" Brick yelled. Marcus had lent them his shooting range for a little while so Brick could teach Izuku the basics of fighting.
"Brick, I know how to punch," Izuku said.
"No, you know how to throw your fists. Punching is a fine art that takes discipline, balance, and control." Brick cracked his knuckles.
"I don't mean to be rude but you just described the exact opposite of yourself," Izuku deadpanned.
"That's what makes me so badass," Brick retorted, "Alright, put up your fists Slab!"
Izuku sighed but got into a fighting stance.
"Now hit me!"
Although hesitant, Izuku complied and punched Brick in the chest.
"Good, but you're not doing it right, when you punch, you don't have to just punch with your arms, you gotta punch with your body, especially your hips. Like this!" Brick reeled back his fist and punched Izuku in the chest, causing him to lose his wind.
"Ok, I get it," Izuku groaned.
"Good, now do it again!" Brick ordered.
Izuku swiftly hit Brick in the chest again, actually making him slightly stumble as a grin spread on his face.
"Now you're getting it. But we're gonna keep working on it," Brick said.
Izuku started off their fight with a left hook, then a quick jab to its 'stomach'. The robot brought it's fists up and slammed them down on Izuku, but he managed to block it, and with his powers enhancing his durability, its large and bulky hands broke of and fell to the ground.
With a triumphant grin, Izuku spun kick the robot's head clean off, leaving its body to fall to the ground.
'And that's fourteen.'
"Feels weird being able to talk in Japanese without actually having learned it," Axton said as he rubbed his throat.
"Yeah. But I'll take any opportunity to not learn," Salvador stated.
"I'm bored here. I miss being able to punch anything I want into red mist," Brick whined.
"Don't worry Brick, we won't stay here long, once we kill Jack. We can work on finding a way back to Pandora," Roland told him.
"And Izuku?" Lilith asked.
"We take him with us. This may be his home, but he's a Crimson Raider now, and we don't leave anybody behind unless they're dead," Roland answered.
"He's a good kid Roland. Good kids don't survive on Pandora," Mordecai said.
"Mordecai's right Roland, but I'll admit I've grown attached to that Slab!"
"We can worry about all this later. Right now let's just focus on this." Roland turned back to face the screens, and all the other Raiders simply shrugged and did the same.
"I'd suggest looking closely, this is where the fun begins," Nezu cackled as he slammed his tiny paw onto a big red button
The ground rumbled below Izuku, all the other examinees stopped moving, and the ground split open with a mechanical hiss. Everyone was silent and still, the air was tense as everyone waited for what was to come next.
A large dark green arm jutted out of the hole and latched onto a building, another arm did the same and they began to pull the rest of its body up.
Standing at seventy six feet tall and thirty two feet wide, the Zero pointer was a hulking mass of pure destructive power.
Izuku was about to turn tail and run like everyone else when he saw rubble fall from a building and crash onto the leg of a girl with brown hair. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a familiar head of red hair.
"Kirishima!" He called, getting the boy's attention, "We need to get her free!"
"How!?" Eijirou shouted back, they were barely able to hear each other over the rumbling of the Zero pointers treads.
"Break the rubble with your quirk, I'll hold it back!"
"I don't care how strong you think you are bro, there's no way you can stop that thing!"
Izuku chuckled, "Watch me!"
Eijirou watched Izuku's tattoos glow and hesitantly nodded, running forward to help the trapped girl.
Izuku took a deep breath as his wings sprouted from his back. If you blinked you would've missed it, but Izuku was now on the other side of the Zero pointer, and there was a small hole in its chest.
Eijirou slammed his hardened fist into the last bit of rubble a few times, cracking it and making it easier for him to move. He gently picked up the girl and wrapped her arm around his shoulder so she could keep off her damaged foot.
Once they were a good distance away, Eijirou craned his head back to see a neon green blur dashing in and out of the Zero pointers body, leaving hundreds of holes in it.
The blur crashed through the front of the Zero pointers head and landed next to them, skidding a few feet as the glow surrounding him died down. Izuku was heavily panting, a few scratches were on his cheek but other than that he was fine.
A buzzer echoed through the mock-city, signifying the end of the exam and allowing them all to let out a sigh of relief.
"Dude," Eijirou panted out, "You're so fuckin' op!"
Here's a link to the main two discord servers I kick around in if you want to talk to me directly:
Epsi's Hoard: https/discord.gg/fxcYHwKq
LoM: https/discord.gg/R9BU25t
That's it for now, peace.