Morning, Principal Nezu's Office
"So we're going to be housing that Gomess creature for a while, huh?" All Might said, as the two drank some tea in his office. "Even with everything that's been happening, I didn't expect UA to become a temporary giant monster sanctuary."
"As I have," Principal Nezu replied. "Though I doubt that even with UA's resources and the support of only the Japanese, that we'll be able to keep up with this for long."
"I know," All Might muttered. "It's fantastic that we don't need to kill all of them, but I highly doubt that we'll be able to keep up with feeding Gomess for too long..."
"Which is why I think it's time we use some old contacts of ours, don't you think?" Principal Nezu asked. "I bet some of the scientists on I-Island would be very appreciative of the chance to research and observe the lives of giant monsters such as Gomess, don't you think, All Might?"
"That's right! Dave and his coworkers must be thrilled at the idea that aliens exist to begin with!" All Might said, slapping his forehead. "I should've called him for some help on this a long time ago!"
"You should make that call as soon as possible, All Might. After all, I-Expo is coming within a few weeks, and I bet that Mr. Shields is going to be quite busy preparing for it."
"You're right... I'll go ahead and make the call now!" All Might said, taking his smartphone out.
I-Island, David Shields's Lab
David sat in the dark, deep in thought. He still couldn't believe it. His project to help All Might. All of his funding, cut. His project, confiscated. All of his notes and research, confiscated. He had spent so much time on this, he had no other idea what to do. He couldn't tell Melissa this about, not after how excited she's been to hear how much progress he's been making.
Though even while he was working on his project, that was coming into question when the world found out that aliens exist. The fact that All Might, in their last call weeks in April, admitted that even he might've had a difficult time fighting something like Tyrannion on his own, scared him. That was one of the motivators for him to keep working on the project, so that they could fight against aliens on their own. They can't just rely on a kid to do it, even if that kid had an alien within him. But his sponsors failed to even consider that.
His assistant Samuel Abraham suggested that they hire actors to pretend to be villains so that they steal everything back, and in his rashness, he agreed to it, letting Samuel handle contacting them. But could he really go through with something like that? Even if they were fake villains, it would still be considered a crime.
And All Might... All Might might hate him for doing something like this. But Japan, no, the entire world needs the Symbol of Peace. They can't rely on children.
He needed to-
David was snapped out of his thoughts when his smartphone started to ring. He pulled it out, and recognized All Might's number.
"All Might, it's been a while!" David said, answering the call.
"Hahaha! It has, hasn't it? Sorry I haven't had the time to call, Dave! Been busy teaching the next generation of heroes!" All Might said.
"It's alright... And besides, you don't need to use your hero form to talk to me. I already know about you weakening, remember?" David said, hating the words coming out of his mouth.
"Right, right..." All Might said, his voice losing its bombastic edge. "Anyways, how've you been? I hope that you've been looking after yourself and Melissa!"
"More like it's Melissa who looks after me," David joked. "If she wasn't around, I'm sure I'd forget to eat for a whole week."
"Sounds like Melissa's becoming a fine young lady!" All Might said, cheerfully, though he quickly become a little more serious. "Anyways, I was thinking. Are the I-Island scientists thinking of doing any sort of research with aliens or giant monsters?"
Now that's been a familiar topic with him and his fellow scientists. A lot of their sponsors (especially their governmental ones) have been proposing ideas about making one of the moving islands under construction into a 'giant alien and monster' sanctuary where they could study and take care of ones that were subdued peacefully. That was one of the motivating factors for them to cutting funding to his project, as they thought that he would make an excellent addition to this sanctuary team. While he was interested in studying them, he was still bitter over the fact that this had to come at the cost of his project.
"Yea, they're actually talking about potentially making another I-Island solely dedicated to that while serving as a sanctuary for them," David replied. "The second I-Island that's been under construction is actually having proposals about being turned into that instead of its intended purpose. Why?"
"Well, I guess news hasn't travelled out yet, but Ultraman Hero and his host have recently captured a giant monster!"
"What!? Really!?" David said, shooting up from his chair and forgetting all about what's been happening. "They've caught a giant alien!?"
"Technically giant monster, really. It came from an alternate Earth, so it's not really an alien."
"Still! That's a major thing! Where is it now!?"
"Currently we're keeping it in Ground Omega on UA's property, but we'll be needing a more permanent home for him, since even with UA's money and governmental support, it'll be expensive to keep him here."
"My coworkers are going to love that," David said, sighing with a smile. "... So how is that Ultraman Hero kid?"
"You mean Young Mr. Furinji?" All Might asked. "He's certainly something, that's for sure. I'll tell you, this next generation of heroes will be great. Even greater than me, I'd say!"
"Right..." David said, as his past thoughts caught up with him. "... Listen, I have some free time before I-Expo preparations and all. Maybe I could come and meet him, and see that giant monster for myself. Not to mention trying to catch up with you in person. Emails and calls are nice, but the real deal's always better."
"Of course! You should bring Melissa with you as well! I'm sure she and my students would get along very well!" All Might replied. "But not too soon! UA's final exams are coming up very soon!"
"I see... Well then, see you soon, Toshi!"
"See you soon, Dave!"
David hung up, and slumped back down onto his chair. The next generation of heroes, huh... He wanted to see them for himself. He needed to see them for himself. Maybe then, he'll find the answer that he's been looking for.
Day of the Practical Exams
"Ugh, my brain... it's super fried now," Denki said, rubbing the temples of his head. They all had finished their written exams earlier that week and were still feeling the effects of the cramming, and were waiting at the buses. Rigel and Ardiana had stayed in the dorms since they didn't need to take the final exams.
"I hope all the time we spent cramming for it wasn't for nothing," Mina said, but she regained confidence. "But on the plus side, now we can ace this practical with flying colors!"
"Yea, let's do this!" Tetsutetsu roared, slamming his fists together.
"That's the spirit!" Hiroshi said, grinning, when they saw the teachers coming.
"Wow, that's a lot of teachers," Kyoka said, counting them off. "Why would we need them all here?"
"So knowing you all, I take it that you've asked your upperclassmen about the practical and have a vague idea of what it's like," Aizawa said. Some of the students raised an eyebrow at the choice of words he used.
"Yea, all we're gonna do is bust some robot heads, right!?" Denki said, leaning back to look at the sky in confidence.
"There's no summer school hell for us here!" Mina added, throwing a fist into the air.
"Not exactly! There's been a change in plans thanks to many circumstances!" Principal Nezu said. The class murmured about the change, while Denki and Mina were frozen in their positions. "You see, thanks to all the alien and villain attacks that you've all been involved with, we realized that fighting against robots wouldn't truly prepare you all as heroes! Therefore, we realized that we needed to challenge you all ourselves!"
"You don't mean-!?" Itsuka said, her eyes widening at the implications.
"Indeed, Miss Kendo! Your practical exams are against us teachers!"
Many of the students paled at the thought, though Hiroshi and Katsuki kept their composure, knowing that they were right in a way.
"We'll be splitting you into seven groups of six, three 1A and three 1B students each," Aizawa stated. "Each group and the teacher they're facing against has been predetermined based on your moves, grades, and relationships with one another. Your opposing teacher will explain more about the conditions and terms needed to pass the practical. Recovery Girl will be here to help out with any injuries, as well as announce who passes or who fails."
"So wait, what if more than group fails their practical!?" Kinoko worriedly asked. "That'd make like, more than a quarter of the class fail!"
"We took that into account, and decided that with the failing groups, to rank each one depending on how much they've contributed and how close they were to their goals!" Principal Nezu stated.
"Uraraka, Aoyama, Ojiro, Tokage, Kodai, and Tsunotori are with me!" Thirteen said, pointing to herself.
"Mineta, Sero, Sato, Fuka, Monoma, and Tsuburaba are mine," Midnight said, much to the delight and fright of Minoru, Hanta, and Kosei.
"Ashido, Kaminari, Kirishima, Tetsutetsu, Kaibara, and Yanagi are up against me!" Principal Nezu said, laughing.
"Yaoyoruzu, Todoroki, Iida, Honenuki, Fukidashi, and Bondo, you're with me," Aizawa said. "The next group is Bakugo, Midoriya, Hiroshi, Kendo, Kamakiri, and Komori against-" Aizawa began to say, when All Might landed behind him from the sky.
"- is me! Hahaha!" he said.
Everyone stared at the teachers before staring at the six facing off against All Might.
"Oh boy," Hiroshi muttered to himself, his eyes shut.
Team Bakugo
The bus ride to the testing ground they were assigned to was a tensely silent one. Hiroshi and Katsuki had opted to sit at completely opposite ends of the bus, with the rest sitting awkwardly between them. At the very least they all agreed to let Katsuki name their team, since it'd be too confusing to have two Team Furinjis. All Might had changed into his skinny form so he could spend most of their practical in his muscle form.
"So... want to play a word game or-?" All Might said, as he tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. No one responded. "I... I see."
"... All Might," Itsuka finally whispered, looking at the Number One Hero-turned-bus driver. "Is there a reason why they thought putting Furinji and Bakugo was a good idea? Because I don't know if you've noticed, but they're still not getting along very well."
"That's not something I'm allowed to talk about," All Might replied, his eyes on the road. "Trust me, a lot of us are still thinking the same thing..."
"So it's settled. Because of the increase in alien and villain activity, we'll be changing from robotic opponents to human opponents instead," Principal Nezu said.
"As much as I hate to admit it, it is the only thing we can really do," Snipe said, adjusting his hat. "After all, the robots were only used to avoid being accused of people getting horribly harmed in the practical exams."
"It was irrational to begin with," Aizawa muttered.
"With that out of the way, we should decide on the groups and teachers. Since there are 42 students taking the exam, we'll have seven groups of six. Three 1A, 3 1B,," Principal Nezu said. "I think-"
"- Bakugo and Hiroshi should be on the same team," Aizawa said. All of the teachers present excluding Principal Nezu stared at him as if he had grown a second head.
"Eraserhead, out of everyone in the First Years Hero Course, those two hate each other the most," Present Mic said, his eyes bulging out so much that they threatened to knock his shades off his face. "And you want to put them in the same group!?"
"It's not too farfetched, honestly," Midnight said thoughtfully. "He was one of the ones who volunteered to be in the special exercise determining whether or not to end Bakugo's punishment early, so they could work-"
"That's precisely the point," Aizawa pointed out. "That exercise had no stakes involved for Hiroshi. The two were in the same exercise, but they didn't actually work together. Here, they'll be forced to actually cooperate with one another instead of going off in different directions. Midoriya is also going to be on the same team, on the same idea, since he and Bakugo also do not get along."
"All Might-" Aizawa turned towards the Number One Hero, "- you'll be the one facing off against them. Only you'd be a match for Hiroshi and Hero, even with them using their Tector Hand limiter. I expect that the two will utilize their Muscle Hercules to match your strength, so make sure you focus on the other students. And Midoriya's whole idolization of you will be put to the test, to see if he can overcome it."
"R-Right," All Might replied.
"So what about the 3 1B students?" Snipe pointed out.
"I'll leave that to Vlad. They're his students," Aizawa said dryly.
"Thanks," Vlad King replied. "Well, I suppose Kendo, Kamakiri, and Komori should be the ones who're in the same group as them. Kamakiri has the tendency to try and work on his own, Kendo's mediation skills will be put to the test, and Komori will need to learn how to be bold when facing off against the odds."
"Alright, that's one group down," Principal Nezu said, unflappably. "Now, as for the rest-"
"I get Aizawa's reasonings and all, but still, this seems like it's going to be stacked against them emotionally," All Might thought to himself, sighing as the bus came to a stop in front of the training grounds. Everyone stepped off, and Hiroshi and Katsuki stood the furthest apart from each other.
"Alright, time for the rundown!" All Might said, as he changed into his muscle form. "Your practical has a time limit of 30 minutes! And the objective is to either capture me with these handcuffs-" All Might pulled some handcuffs out from the back of his pants, "- or escape the training grounds at the other side! Only one of you will need to escape, but trust me when I saw we won't make this easy for you!"
"So it's win by fighting or win by running..." Izuku noted. He quaked at the thought of fighting All Might, his idol. There was no way he was going to beat him.
"A-are you really going to come at us with your full power!?" Kinoko said, trembling. "I'm gonna be turned into mush by your punches!"
"Do not worry, Young Komori. We won't be using our full powers on you," All Might said, as he pulled out strange bands. "The Support Course were given the task of designing and creating these special weighted bands to force us to hold back our power for a contest! I believe that it was Young Hatsume who came up with the winning design! Oof, these are heavier than I thought... And remember, Young Hiroshi, that you need to do the same! Remember, the idea is that you're facing off against a human villain, not an alien one! That means you need to use your Human Scale!"
"Of course..." Hiroshi said, nodding.
"So you're bringing yourselves down to our level?" Katsuki grumbled. "How insulting..."
"We'll see about that!" All Might said, looking at the six of them. "Now go ahead into the center of the testing ground! Once you're all there, the timer will start!"
Later, inside the testing ground, minutes before the start of the practical...
"So we're all going to have to make a break for it, right?" Itsuka said, looking at her teammates.
"Speak for yourself! The only way out of this is through a fight!" Katsuki stated, grinding his teeth. "I don't care what the rest of you extras do, the only way to win is to fight!"
"N-No, Kendo's right!" Izuku said, looking from side to side, as if All Might would appear at any second. "There's no way we'd be able to beat All Might, even if he's using those special weights!"
"I want to see how strong All Might is against my blades!" Togaru said, grinning at the thought. "So for once, I'm agreeing with my rival!"
"Who the hell's your rival!?" Katsuki shouted.
"L-Let's put it to a vote!" Kinoko cried, still scared of the fact that she of all students had to go against All Might. Meanwhile she began spraying her teammates with antifungal spray, in case she was forced to use her Quirk while on the run. "Everyone who wants to run to the exit, raise your hands!"
Itsuka, Izuku, and Kinoko both raised their hands, and looked at Hiroshi, waiting for him to raise his hand.
"... Both sides are right," Hiroshi simply said, sighing, to everyone's surprise. "Think about it. We can all make a break for it, but All Might's going to make sure that's not going to happen. We can all fight him, but the fact of the matter is that he's still stronger than all of us combined, even if he's wearing those weights and doesn't technically have One for All anymore. We're going to have to do both. Some of us can run, while the others will hold All Might back."
"... Finally, you're making some sort of sense," Katsuki muttered, crossing his arms. "You losers can decide which of you is going to run, but I'm staying behind to fight, like a real hero!"
"Same here!" Togaru stated.
"Us as well," Hiroshi said, pointing to himself. "Hero and I are probably one of the ones who'll be able to occupy All Might the best in a fight."
"... You guys... You guys are right," Izuku said, nodding. "I'll help distract him before trying to escape! Just be sure to join us when you can!"
"We'll make a break for it while you hold him off," Itsuka said, her hands on her hips. "But are you sure you're fine if-"
"I think I get why they put us on the same team," Hiroshi said. "They're trying to get us to get over our issues by putting major stakes into it unlike last time. And, well, we don't exactly need to work together. We just... need to predict how the other moves so we can beat him."
"But what if All Might gets away from you guys!?" Kinoko said, her knees shaking.
"I actually think I have a good idea for you, Komori," Hiroshi said, as he tapped the side of his helmet with his index finger. "Can your mushrooms grow anywhere?"
"They can as long as there's enough moisture. Why?" Kinoko replied.
"Have you ever tried growing them inside someone?" Hiroshi asked.
"No, I haven't... Wait, are you-"
"Yes, I am," Hiroshi said, with a grin. "I think they made a big mistake with putting you on our team."
"Attention everyone! The Practical is about to begin in 3!" the PA system shouted.
"Hold your hand and call out-!"
"HEROOOOO!"
Light covered Hiroshi and Hero in his Muscle Hercules form stood in his place. "Let's get ready, everyone!"
"2!"
"You better keep up with me, because I'm going to blow everything away!" Bakugo cried out.
"1!"
"Let's do this!" Hero said.
"Yea!" the others (excluding Katsuki and Togaru) said, throwing their fists into the air, invigorated.
Several blocks away...
All Might reared his fist back, and threw a punch, damaging several buildings in front of him as it travelled towards the students.
"Come on out, little heroes!" All Might said, getting into character. "Otherwise I'm going to tear this city down, and you'll all have a bad time-"
Out from the dust and smoke, Hero came towards him, fist flying. All Might matched his punch, a shockwave blowing away the clouds of dust and smoke around them. "So it seems like one of you has a backbone!"
"Think nothing of it, you villain!" Hero said, as the two began to trade blows. "We won't let you go unpunished!"
"That's cute! Do you really think that you can really beat me on your own!?"
"Nope!"
All Might raised an eyebrow at that, when he turned around and saw Katsuki coming in from behind. He threw a right hook at All Might, who managed to block it and punched him in the stomach, sending him flying away backwards. "Nice try, but it'll take more than just-"
Hero's fist collided with All Might's cheek, having taken the opportunity to catch the veteran hero off guard. "It's more than just him!"
Suddenly, Togaru came from above, blades coming out of his wrists and legs, as he spun around in the air, becoming a whirlwind of blades. All Might clapped his hands together, sending a blast of wind towards the mantis-headed teen, knocking him off balance as he fell to the side.
"Impressive!" All Might said, as he and Hero resumed trading punches. Fist to cheek, knuckle to gut. "To think that you're working together like this!"
"Not quite!" Hero replied, as he ducked. To All Might's surprise, Izuku had charged at him with a One for All powered kick. He raised his arm to block it, only for Katsuki to come back and hit him in the back with an Explosion. Hero jumped up and landed an uppercut against All Might's jaw, knocking him into the air for a bit. "We're just making sure we don't hit each other!"
"That may be what you're doing, but that won't be enough!" he shouted, as he reared his right fist back before throwing it downwards. "Texas SMAAAASH!"
The wind pressure created from the punch sent Izuku, Katsuki, and Togaru flying backwards, while Hero dug his fingers into the ground to withstand it.
"Damn, to think that this is him using only some of his remaining power!" Hiroshi said in Hero's head. "He hasn't broken a sweat at all!"
"I know," Hero said. His fingers dug into the ground some more, and he lifted a huge chunk of land out. He began to spin around, and threw it as hard as he could at All Might. "But that only means we need to try harder!"
All Might punched the improvised boulder, breaking it into pieces, when Hero took this opportunity to fly up and slug him in the gut. All Might coughed a bit from getting the wind knocked out of him, but he grabbed Hero's arm, and held it tight.
"Bad move, Hero!" All Might said, as he began spinning around rapidly. "Oklahoma SMAAAASH!"
He threw the Ultra onto the ground as hard as he could, creating a small crater as a result. Before Hero could recover, All Might landed a kick onto his gut, returning the favor. "Now then, where are the rest of your-"
Katsuki came flying in from above, landing an Explosion against All Might's face. Before he could declare anything, All Might's hand came out of the smoke, grabbing the explosive teen by the face.
"Guht you!" Katsuki said, as he began to release a salvo of Explosions from his hands.
"Ow ow ow ow!" All Might said, feeling the heat from all of the Explosions. "Usually people would try to tear away from getting their faces grabbed! Goes to show that he's determined, huh?"
All Might threw Katsuki hard onto the ground, before Hero grabbed his foot and swung him off of him and away from them. Katsuki wiped his cheek, before resuming the offensive. "Out of my waaaaaaaaay!"
He flew towards All Might, prepared to land a kick against him, when All Might grabbed his leg and spun him around, hitting him against a light post. Before Katsuki could recover, All Might bent the light post, pinning Katsuki with it.
"And that's one student down!" All Might said. He looked around, and saw that the others besides Hero were gone. "Hm... time for me to find your missing teammates-"
"Take this-!" Togaru shouted, when All Might backhanded the teen, sending him flying through the storefront's window behind him, knocking him out.
"Make that two."
"You're not going to beat us all that easily-" Hero said, readying himself.
"I'll deal with you later. Right now, I've got to find some escapees!" All Might said, leaping into the air. Hero took flight, but he was too slow, as All Might disappeared from his sight.
"Damn, he got away!" Hero said, looking around. "I hope you guys will be alright, Miss Komori, Miss Kendo..."
"The explosions stopped," Kinoko said, her eyes looking around as she spritzed the air with her spray bottles. She and Itsuka were just a few meters away from the exit. Hero and the others had been doing a great job of distracting All Might so far, but the sudden quiet was concerning.
"I really hope that doesn't mean-" Itsuka began to say, when Izuku was thrown past them. He skidded across the pavement, and Itsuka and Kinoko froze, turning around and seeing All Might approaching them.
"A valiant attempt, using your strongest members to keep me occupied while you escaped!" All Might said, his wide smile looking much more sinister now that they were the ones facing off against him. "But the game's over for you all, I-"
A mushroom grew on All Might's nose. He sneezed, and pulled it off. "It'll take more than just one mushroom to- ACK!"
All Might began to cough, feeling his throat clog up for some reason. "M-My throat-!"
"I mush tell you something!" Kinoko said, as All Might struggled to breath. "My mushrooms can grow anywhere with moisture!"
While he was distracted, Izuku tackled the Number One Hero, and Itsuka followed him, slapping the handcuffs onto his wrists.
"Y-You-!" All Might said, his eyes widened at what they did.
"W-We might not have been able to beat you head on, even with our strongest members!" Izuku said, getting up. "But we can beat you using tricks!"
"The first group to pass is Team Bakugo! 20 minutes remain!" Recovery Girl announced. As she finished, Hero had flown towards them and landed, changing back into Hiroshi.
"Oh thank god we did it," he said, breathing heavily and sweating. "It was a good idea leaving the handcuffs with you two."
"W-Well done, you sprouts!" All Might coughed out, turning back into his skinny form and robots came to get the potentially injured. "Y-You done w-well, my- ACH! Oh boy, I need a lozenge."
"Here you go," one of the robots said, dispensing a lozenge from its claw before leaving.
"T-Thank you," All Might said, popping the lozenge into his mouth. "I-I guess I'll go see Recovery Girl to get some medicine to get rid of these mushrooms."
"I'm so sorry!" Kinoko said, clapping her hands together. "Hiroshi just suggested it to me, and well, it seemed like a good-"
"It is a good idea," All Might assured her. "It's a very strategic move, incapacitating a stronger opponent by messing up their ability to breathe. J-Just keep some lozenges or some medicine so that they can get immediate treatment after you do it."
"O-Of course!" Kinoko said, giving All Might a bow.
"G-Good, now let's get Young Bakugo and Young Kamakiri, I'm sure they're going to need some healing from Recovery Girl..."
Team Furinji
"Dammit, those guys already passed!?" Minoru said, as he clung onto Fuka's back with his balls as they flew above the cloud of pink gas, Hanta's tape around his waist. He looked down onto the ground at an unconscious Hanta, Rikido, Neito, and Kosei. Midnight had ambushed the six of them, and Hanta had managed to swing Minoru back towards Fuka while he and the other boys got the blunt of the gas. "Wake up you four! You can't do this to us!"
"Calm down!" Fuka said, dodging Midnight's whip as she swung at her feet. "I'm struggling enough to keep us both out of her reach!"
"Come on down, you two~" Midnight said, as she kept the two of them away from the exit gate. "Why don't you come down and take a nap with your friends~"
"This is such a bad matchup!" Fuka thought to herself, as she breathed in and out into her mask to refill her air compressor backpack. "I constantly have to keep myself afloat to avoid breathing in her Quirk's gas! I know it works better on guys than it does with girls, but with my more sensitive respiratory system, it'll probably work faster on me!"
"We need to get her far away from the gate!" Minoru said.
"Don't remind me!" Fuka said, as she flew away from Midnight. "I'll need some breathing space away from all of this gas!"
"Hm? That's the wrong way from the gate, you silly heroes," Midnight said. She kneeled onto the ground, and pulled Hanta's and Kosei's heads onto her lap. "Oh well."
"Those BASTARDS!" Minoru said, furious and jealous tears streaming down his face as he stared at the sight.
"Really? That's what you're concerned with? OUR GRADES ARE ON THE LINE!"
"I can care about BOTH!"
Team Tokage
"And we were so clooooose!" Ochako cried, as she, Yuga, Setsuna, Pony, Yui, and Mashirao held onto the guardrail next to the exit gate for dear life as Thirteen used her Black Hole Quirk to pull them towards her.
"This suuuuuucks!" Setsuna yelled. "There's no way my Lizard Tail Splitter would work against that!"
"Mmmmmmm!" Yui said, when her hat flew off and got disintegrated by Thirteen's Black Hole. "My hat!"
"And I'm only good at hand to hand combat!" Mashirao grunted, holding onto the guardrail with his tail.
"Come on, horns! You can do it!" Pony shouted, as she fired horn after horn at Thirteen, only for them to be disintegrated into dust.
"That was close! Fighting isn't my specialty, but I still have a few tricks up my sleeve to keep my prey from escaping!" Thirteen said, huffing as she had spent a few minutes running after them.
"Never fear, for I can save us!" Yuga said, confidently as the others turned their heads towards him. His kneepads began to glow. "For my twinkling costume can transmit my Navel Laser to any spot!"
He fired his lasers from his knees, which only went into Thirteen's finger. "Black holes absorb light!"
Yuga turned his head to face Thirteen, sweat dripping from his head, when his winged shades flew off and into Thirteen's finger. "Whoops! Annihilated at the atomic level!"
"Hmmmmm!" Yuga moaned, saddened by the loss of his fabulous shades.
"Come on guys, think! Think!" Ochako said, feeling her grip on the guardrail slipping. "W-What can we do!? What would Deku or Hiroshi do in a situation like this!?"
Ochako looked to her left and right, and saw that Yuga was staring at her funnily. "What's with that look!?"
"... You like Izuku Midoriya, don't you?" Yuga asked. Ochako blushed furiously at the words.
"Is this really the time to ask about crushes!?" Setsuna cried out. Yuga turned his gaze onto her and Yui.
"And you two... you two have feelings for Hiroshi Furinji as well, right?"
Setsuna and Yui blushed as furiously as Ochako did at the statement. The three girls clapped their hands to their cheeks to hide their blushes, accidentally releasing their grips on the guardrails.
"Tokage! Uraraka! Kodai!" Pony shouted, as the three flew towards Thirteen.
"Huh!?" Thirteen exclaimed, her suit closing her glove's fingertips so that she doesn't accidentally suck the three into her Black Hole. Setsuna used this opportunity to separate her feet and kick Thirteen on her legs, while Ochako instinctively used her Gunhead Martial Arts lessons and pinned Thirteen to the ground. Yui took this opportunity and slapped the handcuffs onto the teacher's wrists so that Thirteen couldn't escape.
"Team Tokage passes! 16 minutes remain!" Recovery Girl announced. Pony, Yuga, and Mashirao cheered at the victory, with Ochako joining them after snapping out of her zen state. Setsuna and Yui, on the other hand, stood in silence. Setsuna rubbed the back of her head, while Yui's gaze fell to the side.
"So... do you want to talk about this sometime?" Setsuna finally asked.
"... not yet," Yui replied, her hands clutching her skirt tightly. "I... Let's talk about this later..."
Silence overcame the two of them once more.
"If it makes you feel any better, I think Hiroshi would take both of your feelings very seriously and try his best to not hurt either of you," Thirteen said, looking up at them.
"... Thanks Thirteen," Setsuna said, chuckling at their teacher's comment when Pony and Ochako pulled the two in so that they could cheer with them.
Team Yaoyoruzu
"Team Yaoyoruzu passes! 15 minutes remain, everyone!" Recovery Girl announced.
"That... that was exhausting," Momo said, as they snapped the handcuffs onto Aizawa's wrists. It was tricky to capture him; the teacher was constantly on the move, and they had to constantly make sure that he wouldn't get the drop on them by continuously using their Quirks in small amounts. They eventually managed to corner him by laying their own traps everywhere, with Juzo's Softened walls, rooftops, and streets, Shoto's ice and fire walls, Kojiro's glue on the places that Juzo didn't Soften, Manga's well-placed onomatopoeias, and Momo using Creation to make all sorts of traps, including flashbangs to blind Aizawa, all while using Tenya as bait.
"Agreed," Juzo said, taking his helmet off to wipe the sweat off his brow.
"I'm thankful that I managed to avoid all the caltrops!" Tenya said, wincing at the fact that Aizawa would even have those.
"You all could've been faster," Aizawa stated, as they helped him up from the ground. "Taking too long can give the villain ample time to escape or do more damage. You'll need to work on that during our special training. Keep that in mind."
"Yes sir!" the students said, nodding.
Team Ashido
"Run! Everyone run!" Eijiro shouted, as pipes and walls fell around them. "Oh crap! We're trapped!"
"Kaminari do something!" Mina said, covering her head.
"What do you want me to do!? We don't know where he is! And do you want a brain-fried lump to carry around!?" Denki said.
"Gaaaaah! We're going to fail at this rate!" Tetsutetsu said, clutching his head in frustration.
"Calm you idiots!" Sen said, smacking the four of them in the back of the head. "We still have 15 minutes left! We can figure out something!"
"May I make a suggestion as to how we can discover our most intelligent of opponents?" Reiko said, everyone turning towards her. "I can lift someone high enough so we can possibly discover his location. However, I will not be able to move them in the direction if I cannot see where they are. We will need to figure out a way to get around these barricades of pipes and debris so we can reach him."
"Leave that to me!" Sen said, as his body parts began to spin.
"Let me help!" Mina replied, as she coated her hands with acid. She touched the debris, weakening it.
"Move out of the way!" Eijiro and Tetsutetsu said. Sen and Mina obliged, and the two began tackling the same spot with their Quirks activated, while the other two began to do it again in different spots.
"Oh-ho, I do love a good chain reaction!" Principal Nezu said, as he laughed with insane glee while drinking his tea. "I wonder if those six have realized that I've blocked all possible pathways to the exit!"
All of a sudden, Principal Nezu noticed someone floating in the distance, and their eyes locked with each other. "Oh my, is that-"
"I found him!" Denki shouted down while pointing to the right, as they finally broke through the debris. "He's in one of the giant cranes with wrecking balls several kilometers that way!"
"How will we catch him if he's in one of those!?" Mina bemoaned.
"We just have to try and escape!" Sen replied.
"Uh, he's blocking all the paths!" Denki pointed out, seeing Principal Nezu knocking down more buildings and pipes. "And the exit's like, in the same direction as he is!"
"We'll just have to keep busting down all of this junk then!" Tetsutetsu said, as he charged towards the hole. "LET'S GO EVERYONE!"
Team Hagakure
"Team Hagakure passes! 9 minutes left!"
"Whew, you guys sure got me," Snipe said, as a handcuff hung off his hand, but it was attached to Toru's invisible wrist. Mezo, Jurota, and Shihai all took breaths of relief, while Dark Shadow rubbed Fumikage's shoulders and Hiryu laid on the ground, slightly bruised by taking Snipe's rubber bullets while having a shootout with him. They had lured him into a boiler room where Mezo and Jurota had smashed some steam pipes to obscure Snipe's vision, while Fumikage and Shihai worked together to distract Snipe even more while Toru snuck up behind him and slapped the handcuffs onto him.
"I'm going to need a long nap after this," Hiryu sighed, rubbing his sore arms.
"Go see Recovery Girl, she'll fix you right up," Snipe said, as he escorted the teens out of the boiler room.
Team Jiro
"Damn, that's what, 4 teams that passed now!?" Kyoka said, as she and her teammates held their ears. "We gotta pick up the pace!"
Suddenly, a loud shout filled the air, distracting them all. "HEY LISTENERS YOU STILL HERE!?"
"What did you say!?" Yosetsu shouted, looking at Kyoka. "My ears are ringing!"
"Koda!" Kyoka said, turning towards her fellow 1A teammate. "Your Quirk works on all animals, right!?"
Koji nodded, wondering where she was going with this. Kyoka shot her earlobes out, breaking apart some rocks to reveal a variety of bugs. He screeched in fear.
"Let's use these bugs to stop Present Mic! All his yelling's scared off the other animals!" she said. Koji only screamed more.
"Are you afraid of bugs!?" Nirengeki asked over the yells of Present Mic. Koji nodded, and cowered.
"I'm sorry, Koda! But this is the only thing I can think of with all of this yelling!" Kyoka said. "But we gotta do what we need to! We're heroes in training after all, right!? All we do is move forward!"
"She's right," Tsuyu said, rubbing her ears. "There's no need to be scared. We're all here with you."
"You can do this, Koda!" Yosetsu said.
"Indeed, you're the best one suited for this!" Ibara followed.
Koji took a look at them all, and noticed that out of all of them, Kyoka's ears were bleeding. Her hearing was the most sensitive of them all after all. He stopped trembling, and lowered himself to the ground.
"Oh creatures of the earth heed my call," Koji muttered, as everyone watched him. "We must work together to beat the source of all the loud noises, for he is the enemy that disturbs the peace here-"
"Wow he talks up a storm when he can!" Yosetsu said.
Elsewhere...
Gomess grumbled as it kept hearing the loud noises coming from the opposite end of the grounds its temporary home was located in. It was far away enough that it didn't hurt his ears, but it was still annoying. Gomess decided the best course of action was to just walk to the other end of its temporary home, so that the noise was even further away. It did hear a different voice a while ago, however, and it wanted to go and see the owner of it, but the louder sounds drowned it out so he couldn't tell where it was. Whoever owned that voice sounded very friendly, if a bit timid.
At the exit gate
"COME ON, YOU COOL CATS, WHERE YOU AT!? I'M GETTING BORED HERE!" Present Mic shouted, his voice reverbing throughout the woods. "TIME'S ALMOST UP, SO YOU BETTER HUSTLE-"
Present Mic felt things creeping up on his leg, making his shiver. He looked down, and saw a swarm of various insects and bugs crawling out of the ground and onto him.
"Bugs!?" Present Mic thought, frozen in fear. "My Quirk doesn't travel as well through the ground! And bugs are super gross! I HATE THE WOODS!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
"I... I think he passed out," Kyoka said, using her earlobes to listen for Present Mic. "Let's- Whoa, Koda, what!?"
Koji swept Kyoka up with his arms, and began to carry her bridal style towards the exit gate, with the others following.
"... What a hero," Kyoka smirked, smiling as they ran past the unconscious Present Mic.
"Yea Koda!" Yosetsu said, giving the quiet boy a thumbs up.
"You really came through in the end," Nirengeki complimented,
Team Furinji
"Team Jiro passes! 4 minutes left!"
"GAAAAAAH! That's 5 teams now!" Minoru cried. "We're doomed!"
"Not yet, Mineta! Come on, let's think!" Fuka said, having gotten quite the distance between them and Midnight. But in the process, they had gotten further away from the exit gate. "The best way to beat her is if can hold our breaths and trap her... that will be easy for me if I just use my air compressor backpack's air instead of using my own breath... but for you..."
"... I don't get it," Minoru said, looking at the ground. "Why is this always so hard for me!?"
"Maybe it's your reason to becoming a hero?" Fuka said. "... It's related to wanting the attention of girls, isn't it?"
"Yea!? So!?" Minoru said, crossing his arms, though he looked to the side. "Is... is it really wrong to want something like that!?"
"No," Fuka replied. "Wanting attention is good and all, but that can't always be the only reason why you want to be a hero. There's a lot more to it than just fame and fortune, after all."
Minoru stood there in silent, as he thought back to the times where Hiroshi and Izuku would spring into action against all odds, simply because it was the right thing to do. He thought about how Hiroshi had told him, Mt. Lady, and the others that it was alright to just want to become a hero simply for the fame and fortune, and that not everyone needs a deep reason to become a hero. But yet, in his heart, he knew that being a hero meant more than that...
"Find you~"
Fuka and Minoru turned around, both getting hit by Midnight's whip as she approached them. "I was getting soooo bored waiting at the gate... Just sitting there wasn't enough for me to satisfy my needs to hear you scream."
Fuka took a deep breath before Midnight released her Somnambulist gas, and used her air compressor backpack's air to blow as much of it away.
"Good effort, but sooner or later you're going to need to breathe again to fill that up," Midnight said, as she kept expelling her gas. She kept cracking her whip at them, hitting them both as Minoru and Fuka kept moving away from her. The short teen had covered his mouth with his hands, just in case the gas does reach him. They moved behind a rock to avoid the rest of her whip cracks. "And your little teammate can't hold his breath forever, either~"
"She's right..." Minoru said, as Fuka kept blasting Midnight with air, though she was nimble enough to dodge them. "I can't keep holding my breath like this-"
He looked down at his waist, and spotted the tape still stuck to him. Ingenuity struck him, and he ripped it off to cover his nose and mouth.
"Uka! Letsh go! I haf an iea!" Minoru said, his voice muffled. Fuka looked down, and saw what he was doing. She nodded, and the two leaped from the back of the rock, charging towards Midnight.
"Oh? Charging in just like that?" Midnight said, rearing her hand back and swinging her whip forward. "You think that would work!?"
The two dodged the whip, and when Midnight tried to pull it back, she saw that one of Minoru's balls was stuck to the tip of her whip. Before she knew it, he began to throw a barrage of his sticky balls, which flew towards her faster than she expected thanks to Fuka's air blasts accelerating their speed. They landed all over her, on her feet, on her hands, everywhere. She tried to release more gas, but Fuka turned around, and blew it all away in the opposite direction, letting them charge towards their other teammates. Fuka grabbed the unconscious Rikido and Neito, while Minoru grabbed Hanta and Kosei, and they dragged them towards the exit gate.
"Team Furinji passes! 2 minutes remain!" Recovery Girl announced.
Team Ashido
"Two minutes!?" Denki shouted. "Let's hustle, everyone!"
"We know we know!" Sen shouted back, as he drilled through the debris after Mina would weaken it with acid and Tetsutetsu and Eijiro tackled through it. "This shit takes time!"
"We must not let ourselves be distracted!" Reiko said, as they moved forward.
"LOOK OUT!" Denki screamed. The group of students came to a stop, just in the nick of time to avoid the biggest pile of debris they've ever seen during this exercise.
"Oh no!" Mina shouted.
"Dammit, we're-" Sen began to say.
"30 minutes have passed! The practical exam is over!" Recovery Girl announced. Team Ashido moaned as they tasted defeat. Reiko absentmindedly released her grip on Denki, who fell hard onto the ground.
"OW!" he cried, as he got up slowly, rubbing his back. "Great, now I'm defeated, mentally AND physically..."
"This is going to suck..." Sen said, pinching his forehead.
Later, back at the big classroom...
Everyone had changed out of their hero costumes, and stared at Team Ashido, the only team to not pass their practical. All of them were reacting in their own way. Mina was tearing up, Denki was staring into space, Sen was brooding at a desk, Tetsutetsu and Eijiro were staring at the ceiling, fighting back manly tears, and even Reiko looked noticeably downcast. Rigel and Ardiana had come to congratulate all of them, only to find out about what happened.
"H-Hey, don't feel too bad! W-We'll still be spending our training camp together-" Izuku said, trying to cheer them up.
"Don't say anything, Mr. 5th Place! We flunked our practical!" Denki said, pointing at Izuku and poking him in the eye. "We're going to be in summer school hell!"
"OW!"
"How dare you 1A students bring down three of our students with you!" Neito said, pointing at Mina, Eijiro, and Denki accusingly before getting a combined neck chop from Fuka and Itsuka.
"Please don't say anything, Monoma," Sen mumbled. "We were a team and we all failed together, as painful as that is..."
"I-I-It isn't manly to avoid accountability!" Tetsutetsu said, wiping tears from his face.
"Truly fate has conspired against us this day," Reiko said, her gaze shifting away from everyone else.
"Honestly you really don't have much room to say that, Monoma!" Fuka said, crossing her arms. "You, Sato, Tsuburaba, and Sero were all out cold for the majority of our practical! Mineta and I had to drag your unconscious asses out of there!"
"Yea, it's probably not a good look for us..." Hanta said, tapping his foot.
"I really hope that's not the case..." Rikido said, pursing his lips in fear.
The door slid open, and Aizawa and Vlad King walked in, both handing big stacks of paper. "Alright, everyone take a seat," Vlad King said, as everyone obeyed.
"Your results are in," Aizawa said.
"Oh no..." Denki said, dreading the announcement.
"Here it comes..." Mina said, bracing herself.
"You've all passed the written exams," Aizawa stated.
"YES!" the combined class cried out.
"But the ones who barely just passed it and failed their practical exam will be taking that special summer school hell. Sato, Sero, you're among those that'll need to take them," Aizawa said, dryly.
"Aw nuts," Hanta bemoaned.
"We should've know that was the case..." Rikido said, grimacing. "We did practically nothing after all..."
"Same goes for you, Monoma, Tetsutetsu. You both barely passed your written exam, and failed your practical," Vlad King said, looking at the two of them. The aforementioned teens stared at each other in shock. "Kaibara, Yanagi, Tsuburaba, while you three failed your practical, you did pass the written exam with flying colors, so we won't be as hard on you, but you still shouldn't expect a cakewalk."
"Right sir," Sen said, relieved that it wasn't all bad news.
"Of course," Kosei said, holding back tears of relief.
"I understand the complexities of the circumstances behind my failures and successes," Reiko said, nodding.
"You have tomorrow off from class. Everyone, take a manual for the special training site and double check that you have everything," Aizawa said, as he and Vlad King began to pass them out. Everyone flipped through the manuals to see what they need.
"... I'm going to need to shop for more Earth items," Rigel said.
"And I need night vision goggles-" Minoru said, before Hiroshi kicked him on his butt.
"I'll have to get a new swimsuit, I only have that school issued one..." Denki mumbled.
"Sounds like everyone's gonna need to get some new stuff," Hiroshi said, looking up from the manual.
"If that's the case, why don't we go on a big shopping trip together tomorrow!?" Toru suggested.
"That sounds like fun!" Setsuna said. "Would be nice to check out some stores! And some cute boys," she added, wiggling an eyebrow.
"Alright, if you say so, just don't let them catch you peeping," Hiroshi said, chuckling, not seeing the blush on her face.
"Count me out, I'll just do my own shopping," Katsuki said, grabbing his bag and heading out.
"I... visit someone on my days off," Shoto said, following Katsuki out.
"I think I'll just stay here and take a break," Yosetsu said, as Sen and a few others shook their heads in agreement.
Hiroshi stared at the departing explosive teen for a while before looking at the side and sighing.
"... So you think you're getting over the whole thing?" Fuka asked, looking at her brother.
"... Maybe? Truth be told, I doubt that anything has really changed between us," Hiroshi replied. "But at the very least, we're not going to have a big fight any time soon."
"Let's think about that type of stuff some other time!" Setsuna said, swinging her arm around Hiroshi's neck and shoulder. "Let's think about the stuff we'll need to get for the special training site!"
The Next Day, Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall
In the end, the only people that ended up going to the Hero Course shopping trip were the SiDE Team, Mezo, Mina, Eijiro, Fumikage, Shihai, Yui and her team of cheerleaders, Denki, Minoru, Kosei, Tsuyu, Rigel, and Ardiana. They had gotten the attention of several patrons (especially Hiroshi, Rigel, and Ardiana), but were thankfully left alone so that they could do their shopping.
"Are you guys ready to shop!?" Mina asked, looking at her classmates.
"Yea, gonna get some new shoes and swimming trunks," Denki said, walking off.
"I think those are the things that I need to get myself. I'm not familiar with what swimming trunks are," Rigel said, following him, with Ardiana's projector orb close by.
"I think it'd be more convenient if I use a big duffle bag instead of a suitcase..." Kyoka said.
"I'll join you!" Momo said, the two walking off.
"Sounds like we all need to split up! Let's meet back here when we're all done!" Eijiro said, as everyone eventually split away.
"Hey Uraraka, what do you need to get?" Izuku asked, looking at brown-haired girl.
"Bug spray-" she started to say, when all of a sudden a different sort of bug came into her mind. One that put into question her feelings for Izuku. "JUST BUG SPRAY!" she shouted, running off.
"A-Am I the bug!?" Izuku said, pointing to himself in shock.
"Huh, what's up with her?" Hiroshi said, turning to look at Setsuna. "You know anything, Setsuna?"
"P-Probably nothing!" Setsuna stuttered, also remembering that certain bug. "I-I need bug spray too! Let's go Fuka!"
"Alright," Fuka said, following Setsuna.
"We need to get some sleeping bags! See you later!" Itsuka said, as she and Yui's cheerleaders pulled Yui away from them.
"Wonder what's up with them... Well, guess it's just us hanging out for now," Hiroshi said, shrugging.
"I need to get some new weight bands," Izuku said.
"And I want to get some new compression clothes," Hiroshi said, tapping his foot as he recalled his list. Unbeknownst to them, when the two headed towards the gym equipment and athleticwear store, they were being followed by a grayish blue haired man in a black hoodie from a distance.
Earlier that day, at the seedy bar in a suspicious alleyway
"Thank god that they've petered out," Tomura grumbled, looking at the three teens, who were now propped in chair instead of thrashing around on the ground. They had stopped screaming and writhing, though now it was replaced with a low moan, and their flesh had become purple, while the formerly purple cracks and veins were now glowing pink. Their eyes meanwhile became purely reddish orange, with no sign of their original eye colors. Their hair had turned into inky black messes, especially Kin'Ichi's, whose Golden Hair was no longer golden. Their Despair Cores were now glowing even brighter than before. "I was getting tired of their screaming."
"If it weren't for the fact that the bar's soundproof, I'm sure that they would've given us away a long, long time ago," Kurogiri said, shaking his head.
"True, but I'm going to miss that fun background noise while I read," Virus said, as he started reading the Villainy book again. "What a fascinating read this has been. A world full of people who think that they can make a difference with the Quirks they were given, only to be slapped with the title of villain simply because they went against the grain. How amusing."
"Amusing? How so?" the Teacher asked through the monitor.
"That people would justify what they do, even if they never think about the consequences," Virus laughed. "For Destro, I'm sure he would have approved of a person using their own powers to oppress and discriminate against others if it meant proving his idea of absolute freedom right. Including himself if that person was stronger than him. For Oji Harima, I'm sure that the poor people he gave that stolen money and property to from those robbed heroes appreciate being arrested for being an accomplice to his crimes."
"What are you talking about?" Mr. Compress said, somewhat frostily. "Oji Harima-"
"- Never considered the fact that receiving stolen goods knowing that they were stolen is a crime according to some laws, as written in this book. And being a well-known thief, I highly doubt they ever thought that it came out of his own pocket," Virus pointed out. "And if I'm not mistaken, that 'Peerless Thief' didn't do much to break them out."
"Don't you talk about him like-"
"Tch, what garbage..." Tomura growled. "Convictions this, convictions that... this is that Hero Killer bullshit again. W hy are they so important to people if they're so useless?"
"It's not the conviction itself that's important, truthfully," Virus said, glancing over to him. "It's the single-minded drive to attain a goal that is. Conviction? Just window dressing to make it more palatable, to give justifications for their actions, even if it comes at the expense of someone else! Your simple conviction is one of the more honest ones I've ever seen, but it can be refined at least. Gain a love for the spectacular! A love for misery! All you have to do is find your answer!"
"... I 'm going to get some fresh air. It smells like crap with how much those guys spat out and sweated while screaming."
"Have fun!" Virus said, waving him off. "Remember to not wear that hand! People might get suspicious!"
"Of course you fucking alien..."
It had to be some shit luck that Tomura came across that All Might fanboy and that Ultraman Hero bastard. As much as he wanted to force them to talk to him to get answers, he knew for a fact that with his missing fingers, they wouldn't have anything to fear and just kick his ass. Especially since that Ultraman Hero bastard could justify taking him down because he was involved with aliens. So this was the best he could do; just tailing them, hoping that they'd say some sort of shit that would interest him.
"Ugh, really?" Hiroshi said, as he glanced over to a store that had Stain masks, and to his frustrations, replicas of Virus's helmet. Tomura muttered in agreement as younger teens went to the store and pretended to wear both of them. "I can't believe that they'd make merchandise for villains sometimes. Especially how we found out that the reason he killed heroes was precisely because they profited off their images."
"I know... It's a really weird turn," Izuku sighed, looking off to the side. Hiroshi's eyes had narrowed at the store, and the younger teens noticed the alien host and his Hero Hand looking in their direction. They hastily put the merchandise down, and sped off. "I mean, it doesn't help that they released as much information as they could about Stain's background, including his old social media posts."
"As much as Stain has a point about there needing to be some sort of reform, the fact of the matter is that being a hero in our society is just fancier law enforcement and rescue work. Wanting compensation isn't wrong," Hiroshi replied, as they walked away from the store to get to the gym equipment and athleticwear store. "And really, any good point he made was ruined the second he chose to use violence to make it. Not to mention how when you read what he wrote, it's pretty clear that it didn't matter if someone was a hero if they saw it as a way to support their family to make them comfortable, or follow in their family's footsteps. He wouldn't settle for anything less what he considered 'perfect'."
"It's people like Stain that ruin whatever argument they could have. It's so easy to justify hurting people when you delude yourself into thinking that you have some sort of right to for your goals. And what's worse is that he tried to use All Might as an example of what he thinks a hero should be."
"All Might is someone you should aspire to. I mean, that how I started, but Stain-"
"- put him up on a way higher pedestal than he needed to, and he looked at him at a surface level. Like did he not remember that All Might's got whole lines of merchandises and Might Tower, easily one of the biggest Hero Agencies out there? Yea, All Might's also a big philanthropist, but we saw how Stain viewed people who wanted to be a hero for any monetary reason. His admiration blinded him to the fact that other heroes can still do good."
Eventually, the two had made it to the store that they were looking for. Tomura didn't follow them in, having decided that what he heard was enough.
Everything tied back to All Might, didn't it? The Hero Killer's standards, his Teacher's grudge, that Midoriya kid's admiration, these fool's smiles... all of it connected to All Might, didn't it? Even that Virus bastard seemed interested in All Might.
That damn fake grin of his that comforted the fools of this world that they're safe, that as long as he's around, that there's nothing to worry about. As if he'll always be there to save them. Conviction? Maybe they're pointless like what Virus said, that they're just an excuse to do what he wants, but who cares what that alien thinks? That asshole just wants to be entertained by a 'show'. And what better show would it be to create a world without All Might, a world full of destruction that'll show these fools just how fragile their 'peace' and 'justice' really are. He'll give them a show... after he figures out how to get some new fingers... or if Virus finally decides to be helpful and give him some alien tech, and not those stupid Despair Cores.
ORIGINAL AO3 NOTES:
- I don't think it's too much of a stretch to think that there was a second I-Island of sorts that was already under construction, since I feel like technology like that would be utilized a bit more in a world where they exist. What would they have used it for? Personally, I think it would've been a special island for the UN or something where delegates, government officials, and their families live. Either way, I kinda wanted to make it not take too long for them to start working on it 'cuz I don't want Gomess and other future giant monsters and aliens to just hang around on UA for long.
- I really hope the fight with All Might was good. I'm really nervous about how it comes off, especially since Izuku doesn't get much focus here. That's one of the things I've been concerned with again. I keep feeling like I drift away a bit too much when it comes to writing Izuku in UHA. I'll try and have some more chapters from his perspective soon to rectify that. Again, this is why it feels like this and the previous chapter are some of my weakest.
- As for why Hero was having a hard time beating All Might when he beat Nomu? Well, Hero was using Muscle Hercules at Human Scale here, which makes him roughly as strong as All Might, but his speed is pretty low in comparison. He was only faster at All Might Scale to beat up Nomu 'cuz his speed is higher due to the nature of the limit scaling. And while All Might was weakened by the weights, I think he might be much more skilled in comparison to Hero when it comes to fighting through strength, since it's not his main form of fighting.
- I'm also a little nervous about whether or not it seems believable that Hiroshi and Katsuki would work together in this sort of manner.
- Another thing I'm sure will be sort of divisive is that All Might was beaten and distracted by Kinoko's mushrooms blocking his airway. I think it's justified in that this IS a final exam for the students, and he is holding back a lot, even while being weakened and all.
- I figured that Momo's practical would've gone smoother than it did in canon, since in UHA she never really went through the same sort of doubt. That, and there are more people around, one of the things that Aizawa isn't the best at handling.
- So yea, in UHA canon there are more people in 1B who're getting the special summer school hell, but that's mainly because the groups were bigger. Why were the groups bigger? To make writing the team scenes easier on me like usual. And the way this work made it so I could omit 3 teachers and have it be 7 instead of 10.
- Since Tomura lost a finger on both hands in UHA, I thought that instead of him just going up to Izuku and threatening him to talk, he'd just follow and listen to his conversation with Hiroshi. It might be a bit of a stretch to get the same sort of result that happened in canon, but I think it works for what it is. Honestly this was one of the harder parts to figure out writing.
- I have a hard time believing that the people who get money or goods from Robin Hood-esque characters never get in trouble for receiving stolen goods. Like I'm pretty sure that's a crime, knowingly taking property/money that was stolen. And like, if someone has the reputation of being a thief, you're probably not thinking "boy what a nice guy giving me things out of his own pocket". And it'd be at LEAST suspicious when a poor person suddenly gets a lot of money.
- Something I realized that I never thought about are how vocal-based Quirks (like Koji's or Hitoshi's) would affect aliens. I think in the case of Koji's, since his allows him to communicate and understand animals, it wouldn't affect an alien that's sapient like an Ultra, much like how it doesn't work on humans, but that it can work with alien animals (to a degree, since they probably get slight headaches in comparison). With Hitoshi's, since his can brainwash people, it'd probably just give an alien a throbbing headache like with vision-based Quirks. Mostly started thinking about this 'cuz of Gomess reacting to Koji's voice, but then again, Gomess IS actually a native Earth monster... Will this possibly come into play later on? Maybe, I DID just come up with it as I was typing this. I did write myself into a corner by making Toko not suffer any sort of effects from Koji using his Quirk and not thinking about the effects of a vocal-based Quirk on aliens.