CHAPTER 8: LEVEL UP! THE POWER OF THREE!
The USJ incident, as it was nicknamed, was a wake-up call of sorts for both hero society and the heroics students of Japan. Although injuries were minor – Aizawa got away with minimal scarring on his face and a few broken ribs, Thirteen had some scars on her back, Nejire-chan had a concussion and a few broken bones, and Lemillion only had a cool scar on his chest – but the trials were only beginning for us…
Cue: My Hero Academia Opening 2 – Peace Sign
Oh wo-oahhhh,
Oh wo-oahhhh,
Oh wo-oahhhh,
Ohhhhhhhhhh~!
Midoriya stands atop a building, watching All Might leap through the city. The title screen flashes, before Ex-Aid pops up, and the scene changes.
Itsuka bokura no ue o suresure ni,
Toorisugite itta ano hikouki o;
Fushigi na kurai ni oboeteru
Imi mo nai noni naze ka.
Fugainakute naita hi no yoru ni,
Tada tsuyoku naritai to negatteta;
Sono tame ni hitsuyou na yuuki o
Sagashi motomete ita.
We see a brief montage of Uraraka, Kirishima, Midoriya, Bakugo, Iida, Todoroki, Hojo, Kujo and Kendo all training, before the scene shifts again.
Zankoku na, unmei ga, sadamatteru; to shite
Sore ga itsu no hi ka boku no mae ni arawareru to shite;
The inside of CR is seen with Director Kagami, Poppy, Taiga/Snipe and Hiiro, with brief cuts to each of the Bugsters, ending with Graphite, Genm and Parado. The Level 3 Gashats fall across the screen as the scene changes.
Tada isshu,n kono isshun, iki ga dekiru nara;
Dou demo ii to omoeta sono kokoro o!
Panning shots show all of 1-A and 1-B, including Parado, whose eyes flash red mimicking Emu's, as the chorus starts.
Mou ichido
Tooku e ike tooku e ike to;
Todoroki creates a glacier as Midoriya crackles with green lightning. Shinso and Gentoku turn around threateningly; Iida and Kujo run alongside each other, and Hojo jumps offscreen.
Boku no naka de dareka ga utau,
Doushiyou mo nai hodo netsuretsu ni!
. Tokage disassembles herself, Hatsume and Sento flash crazy smiles, Banjo erupts in flames, and Kendo swings her giant hands. Bakugo lets off several blasts, Honenuki softens the ground, and Uraraka lunges.
Itsudatte me o harashita kimi ga nido to,
Kanashimanai you ni waraeru;
Sonna hero ni naru tame no uta!
All Might lands in the city, before turning around as the camera passes by some of the students from the different classes, in front of UA.
Saraba kakagero PEACE SIGN,
Korogatte iku story o-!
The cast poses in front of the stadium for the Sports Festival, as the title card flashes again.
Night falls on Musutafu, as a group of UA staff meets with a police official in a secret meeting regarding the League of Villains and the USJ Incident. "Our investigators are trying to learn everything we can about the League…but we're not having any luck finding anything about Kurogiri or Tomura Shigaraki" the police representative, Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi stated to the heroes.
"So…we've got no leads then?" Vlad King said, arms folded. Another hero, Snipe, took his hat and mask off, revealing a man in his late 20s with a shock of white on the left side of his head of dark hair. "We're going to need to track them down, and fast. I shot Shigaraki up pretty good, but when he heals up, he'll probably pull a stunt like this again" the man said. "Agreed, Hanaya" another pro said.
All Might looked troubled, something picked up on by the principal. "Is something wrong, All Might?" the rodent asked. The blonde sighed. "The attack on the USJ was a tactically foolish move no sane adult would attempt. Shigaraki kept monologuing about how his Nomu was a pet of sorts perfect for killing me…and when his pet failed, he all but threw a tantrum. He had the personality of a spoiled brat." Another pro, wearing a white doctor's coat over a black and cyan bodysuit added his two cents. "So… a psychopathic man-child, if we're being frank…but one with incredible power and charisma. No thank you."
Tsukauchi cleared his throat, then continued. "We'll expand our investigation of the League and continue searching for those who planned the attack." Nezu looked to his papers, and chuckled. "A man-child, eh? In some ways, he's like our students with the incredible potential he has…and like them, he too may have someone nurturing his malice and evil." All Might stared in worry. "I don't even want to consider what that might mean…"
On a rooftop overlooking the city of Musutafu, a tall, dark-haired boy – the same one who hid in the rafters of the USJ and watched the carnage unfold – stared out over the city. "Phase 1 is complete. It's time to give the test players the power of Level 3" he said, before laughing. "This should make the game even more interesting, right, Graphite?"
The green dragon-man stood nearby, growling in frustration. "I don't care about that part, Parado…why can't we just infect all the humans and let Bugsters rule already?!" The boy – Parado – stood up to his full height. "Now, now, that wouldn't be as much fun, would it?" he asked, before his face turned serious. "We're doing it my way."
"Suit yourself" Graphite grumbled, before tossing the black-and-purple gauntlet the black Ex-Aid had wielded the previous day to the boy. "Let's have some fun…and see if they can really level up."
The next morning, Midoriya woke up relatively late in the morning, since the students had been given the day off in the wake of the USJ Incident, which had become one of the two big news stories alongside a terrorist attack on the Ministry of Finance. The boy wandered out to his mother's kitchen, scarfed down a bowl of rice pudding and drank his coffee while watching the morning hero news.
Then the young hero's phone rang from an unfamiliar number. "Hello?" he said cautiously, as he picked up. "Yo Mido! We've got a bit of a situation here; it's a Bugster patient" came Kiriya Kujo's voice from the other end. "K-K-Kujo? How did you get this number?" "Does it really matter? Anyway, in five minutes the Director will be opening a portal through your bedroom mirror. Hope you can make it!" the other boy said, before hanging up, leaving the greenette with more questions than before.
As Midoriya stepped through the glass into CR, he looked around, wondering where everyone was, before turning around and looking out the window into the lower floor. "Down here!" Emu said, waving at the greenette. Kujo and Hojo stood with Poppy (in her Asuna disguise) and the Director, while two other individuals – a tall man with a white patch of hair and a shorter man wearing a blue shirt under his doctor's coat – stood in one corner.
And on the bed, clearly in a visible amount of pain, lay one Mezo Shoji, all six arms and six and a half feet of him.
"Shoji!" Midoriya said, dashing down the stairs. "H-Hey. Midoriya, right?" the multi-armed boy asked. "What happened?" asked the green-haired boy. "Well…I was walking to the store to get groceries for my mother today, when I was suddenly overcome by pain and passed out. When I came to, I was here with Hojo and Kujo, who explained the whole 'Bugster' thing to me."
"We had another little hang-up, which is part of why we called you" Kujo said, before stepping forward and showing a video of a sour-looking man wearing a black hoodie running with a small briefcase. "This man stole the Level 3 Gashats – these game cartridges we use – last night from Genm Corp's headquarters" the boy said. We wanted you to help us look after Shoji, since you probably know him better than us. "I don't…" Midoriya muttered. "Well, you can befriend each other then!"
"Anyway" said the tall doctor, looking at Midoriya before continuing. "We're going to be performing the extraction procedure in a few moments. We'll try to prevent it from hurting too much for you, Shoji." Midoriya blinked for a few moments. "Who's he?" "Oh come on, I teach you guys' Quirk Control classes every Wednesday afternoon! Can't you recognize one of your teachers out of costume, hero otaku?" the man asked.
"Wait…Snipe-sensei?" asked Midoriya. "What are you doing here?" The teacher smirked. "That's the thing…I'm a pro hero, but I also have a side job as Taiga Hanaya, CR's senior doctor…so let me demonstrate." And with that, the man produced a belt like Kujo and Hojo's and a navy-blue game cartridge. "GAMER DRIVER!" the belt announced, attaching itself to his waist. "Mission…Start."
Taiga clicked the cartridge, and it lit up, navy blue pixels washing across the area. "BANG BANG SHOOTING!" The cartridge slotted into the Gamer Driver, and Hanaya smirked. "Henshin." "LET'S GAME! MECCHA GAME! MUCCHA GAME! WHAT'CHA NAME? I'M A KAMEN RIDER!" And with that, a white chibi-like armor surrounded the pro hero, as he transformed into Kamen Rider Snipe, Level 1!
"So cool~" both Kujo and Hojo trailed off, fanboying. "Jeez. They never get popping tired of seeing him transform like that…" Asuna said, shaking her head. "Fanboys" the other man rolled his eyes. Shoji lay in the bed, motionless for a few moments, when suddenly he began to twitch and spark with static. Then an orange-grey slime encased him, forming into a giant two-headed…octopus?
"How fitting" Snipe deadpanned. "STAGE…SELECT!" And with that, the Bugster and the Rider both vanished from CR in a burst of pixels. "What…just…happened?" Midoriya asked. "Oh that? That's the digital pocket dimension feature of the Gamer Driver: Stage Select. Genm's tech is really way ahead of its' time" Hojo said casually, as the green-haired boy's eyes glazed over. "We should probably get in there too."
"Huh?" The two boys pulled out their Gamer Drivers and Gashats, clicking the cartridges. "MIGHTY ACTION X!" "BAKUSOU BIKE!" "HENSHIN!" "GASHA-TO! LET'S GAME! MECCHA GAME! MUCCHA GAME! WHAT'CHA NAME? I'M A KAMEN RIDER!" And in a few swift movements and a flash of light, the duo transformed into Kamen Riders Ex-Aid and Lazer, Level 1! "STAGE…SELECT!"
The area pixelated again, as CR disappeared and was replaced by an abandoned quarry. The Level 1 Riders dashed into the fray to join Snipe, and with a quick combo attack, the giant octopus dissolved, releasing Shoji. "It's not over yet" said the other doctor, who Midoriya had barely noticed back in CR. "Wh-what do you mean?" "Level 1 is ideal for separating a Bugster Union from its' host…but the Union will reform as a smaller Bugster within a few moments.
And sure enough, as Midoriya dashed over to Shoji, a bunch of Bugster viruses began to pile onto each other, forming…two figures? Hojo smacked his head. "Ugh, of course! The reason we had trouble identifying what strain he had was because he has two infections from the Collabos strain at the same time!" The two Bugsters that formed looked almost the same – dark grey, with one eye each…and a Level 3 Gashat sticking out of their heads.
The two monsters shuddered before both mutating. One of them, which had a yellow-green Gashat in its' head, mutated to be covered in little yellow speakers, while the other, which had a red cartridge, gained red armor and a large mechanical claw on one arm. The other doctor's eyes widened. "Those are two of the missing Level 3 Gashats!" he said, gesturing to the Bugster's heads.
"SCORE!" Kujo yelled, before dashing at the one covered in speakers, only for it to begin spitting a stream of musical notes at him. "Shit, it's the DoReMiFa Beat one!" he shouted, before stopping to dance to the rhythm in order to avoid taking damage. The Bugster pixelated away just as he finished dancing to the rhythm. "Dammit, it got away!"
Snipe and Ex-Aid both got into fighting stances, facing down the other Collabos Bugster – the one with red armor. "That's the Gekitotsu Robots Gashat…" Hanaya murmured. "2 on 1? I like our odds." Then, a man wearing green and crimson robes stepped out from around a pile of rocks…the same sour-faced man who had stolen the Level 3 Gashats in the first place. "Now, now, I don't think that's a very fair fight" he said. "Let me join in on the fun…Taiga Hanaya." "How do you know my name?!" Snipe asked.
"Oh, we go back a long way, you and I…so let's reconnect, who don't we?" the man said, raising the purple-and-black gauntlet up in front of him. "Replicate" he said, attaching it to his wrist.
"Į̜̜̥̓͗̚͠N͖͝F͚̎E͍͐C͔̥̐̚T̪͕̪̩̯̍́̀̃̚Ȋ̛̪̜͘͟O͓͆N̠͕̋̔! LET̻͛'͇͑͆͢S͇̈́ ̻̑GA̮̝̩̅̄̅M̢̤̌͘E͍̖̊̚!̨͍̽͞ ͇̏B̖̓Ȁ̝̜̜̿̽Ḑ̍ ̙̓̽͜G̜͝AM̠̼̯̿̑͑E͖̯̋͑!̮̈́ D̢̧̻͗́͠E̥̞̐̈́AD̳̥͊̃ ̬̫̊̆G͍̣̎̚A̯͌̊̃͟ͅM̭̯̆̇Ę̛̫͎̈̋!͈̝̳̆̿̽ ̧͒W͉͉̤͐̈̈H̡̭̭͌̀͞Ä̳T̬̘̙̔̉̿'̟̯̒͝C͇̾H̺̥͓̉̈́͐A ̜̥̪͗̓͌N̰͓̮͋́͞A̰̗͉̽̃́M͈͉͍̋̈̋Ę̩̹̉͒́?"
Green and red lightning swirled around the man as his figure shifted from something human into something…decidedly not.
"THE ͓͌ B͚͕̪̓͋̚Ụ͇̱̋̿͌G̝̮̋̋Ś͍T̰̗̐̌É̡R͚͌!̺̍!̪̽!"
To the horror of both the student riders and the pro one, the man transformed into none other than the Graphite Bugster from the USJ Incident. "Graphite…!" Hanaya growled at the sight of the Bugster that ruined his life, before opening his belt up. "Tactics Level 2!" "GACHAN! LEVEL UP! BANG BA-BANG! BANG BA-BANG! YOW! BANG BANG SHOOTING!" his driver announced, as he shed his Level 1 armor and transformed into a sleeker navy-blue form with green highlights and a cape. "I'll end you now!" "GASHACON MAGNUM!"
As Snipe engaged Graphite, jumping over a hill to a lower part of the quarry, the junior rider was left to deal with the Collabos alone. "Dammit Emu, think! What could the other Bugster be trying to do to become complete?" he wondered aloud, before suddenly stopping. "Shoji!" Midoriya looked up from the boy in question. "What about Shoji?" Kujo asked.
"Think about it!" Hojo said. "In order to become complete, it'll try to stress Shoji out!" Midoriya looked down at the multi-armed boy in his hands. "Shoji…is there anything that may have been stressing you out recently?" The tall boy rubbed his eyes. "Well…I've been worried about my mom recently. Ever since dad vanished, she's been working extra-hard to support us…" Midoriya looked up. "His mom!"
"What about his mom?" Kujo said, trying not to laugh despite his frustration. "No, I mean Shoji's mother is his source of stress! He's worried about her!" the greenette said, causing Hojo to pause in his pursuit of the red-armored Bugster. "Of course! The Bugster will probably try to attack her!" The tall boy started to groan in pain hearing that, the stress beginning to weaken his immune system.
"So…we just have to defend his mother, right?" Kujo said. "In that case, why don't you and Hanaya-sensei handle this guy, while I go after the DoReMiFa Collabos!" "Got it!" Hojo flashed a thumbs up, before rushing towards the Gekitotsu Collabos, jumping over a swing by the red-armored Bugster, soaring over its' head…and yanking the red Gashat out of the slot atop its' cranium. "Power up item…GET!" the pink rider said, closing his driver and activating the Gashat.
"GEKITOTSU ROBOTS! GASHA-TO!" the driver and Gashat announced in tandem, as a small red robot with large gauntlets pixelated into existence. "Dai-Dai-Dai…HENSHIN!" Hojo said, spinning his arm and opening the driver back up. "GACHAN! LEVEL UP! MIGHTY JUMP, MIGHTY KICK, MIGHTY MIGHTY ACTION – X!" the belt announced, before the robot seemingly ate Ex-Aid, as it disassembled into a red robotic armor. "A-GACCHA! BUTTOBASE! TOTSUGEKI! GEKITOTSU PUNCH! GEKITOTSU ROBOTS!"
Ex-Aid was now wearing a red armor over his pink suit, complete with a red visor and a large gauntlet over his left arm. "I'll clear this with no continues!" the rider said, swinging at the now unarmored Bugster, before removing the Gashat from his belt, blowing on it and slotting it into the side of his belt. "KIMEWAZA! ROBOTS CRITICAL STRIKE!" the Gashat announced, as Ex-Aid launched the gauntlet into the Bugster, driving it back into a cliff wall. He then raced towards the cliff, and swung his fist back into the gauntlet. A huge explosion emanated from the defeated Bugster, followed by a cheery tune. "GAME CLEAR!"
The pink Rider then turned towards Snipe and Graphite's battle. "You're next…Graphite" Ex-Aid said, stalking towards the dragon Bugster…
Miko Shoji was having a kind of terrible day, honestly. First, she was called in to work an early shift, and then her son Mezo had vanished at some point. Now she was searching a secluded park – her monster-like son's favorite meditation spot – in an attempt to find him. Suddenly, a metallic monster covered in…speakers? Yeah, a monster covered in speakers appeared and started trying to attack her. So far, she had managed to hide well, keeping tabs on her pursuer by duplicating sensory organs on her fingertips.
Suddenly, a…robot of some sort appeared behind her pursuer and punched it, giving her a chance to move to another hiding spot. As she ran, however, a string of musical notes appeared from out of nowhere, grabbed her, and drug her back over towards her would be assailant.
"Dammit, not now! I can't fail here!" the figure said, kicking the Bugster and forcing it to release Shoji's mother. "Who…are you?" the woman asked. "I'm a Kamen Rider. I'm here to help" he responded. Suddenly, a girl appeared seemingly from out of nowhere and helped her to a nearby rock outcropping, while explaining to her that the Kamen Rider was fighting a virus…that had infected her son.
"Hey mom" Shoji said, lying on a nearby rock with a green-haired boy by his side. "M-M-Mezo?! Are you okay?!" Her son smiled with one of the mouths on his tentacles. "Not yet, mom. But soon…they'll cure me" he said, pointing to the Kamen Rider and a figure in a lab coat.
"K-K-Kagami-sensei? I can handle this!" Kujo said, dodging a blast of musical notes. The other doctor shook his head. "No, you can't. You're only able to fight in Level 1, and your stats are too low to do much to this Bugster. I'm stepping in" he said, opening his coat to reveal a Gamer Driver of his own. Midoriya stared in surprise. "Hey…who is that guy?" he asked. "Oh him? He's Hiiro Kagami, senior CR doctor and pro hero" Kujo said, skidding to a stop next to the boys. "Wait…Hiiro Kagami? As in THE Hiiro Kagami; the Medical Hero, Dr. Brave, who has saved thousands of lives over the past five years?" the boy asked in shock.
"That's the one. But he's also the Avenging Knight of CR…." Kujo said, as the senior doctor raised a cyan Gashat. "TADDLE QUEST!" "Proceeding with Level 2. Henshin." "GASHA-TO! GACHAN! LEVEL UP!" The doctor slotted his Gashat into his driver and then opened it, bypassing Level 1 in favor of the increased power of Level 2. "TADORU MEGURU, TADDLE MEGURU, TADDLE QUEST~!" the best announced, as Kagami transformed into a white and cyan knight-themed rider. "Kamen Rider Brave."
"We will now begin the Bugster excision operation" the suited pro said, summoning the blade he had wielded at the USJ Incident. "GASHACON SWORD!" The pro tapped the A button. "KA-CHIN!" the blade sang, as the Rider delivered multiple flaming slashes to the Collabos, dodging a string of musical notes. Brave tapped the A button again. "KO-CHIN!" A chill filled the air as the Rider delivered several slashes that quickly froze the Bugster in place. Brave casually plucked the Level 3 Gashat out of the Bugster's head, causing the virus's armor to dissolve.
"The finisher" Brave announced matter-of-factly, as he pressed the A button again, then tapped the B button several times. He then held the DoReMiFa Beat Gashat up and inserted it into the slot on his blade. "KIMEWAZA! DOREMIFA CRITICAL FINISH!" the Gashat announced, as Brave delivered a flaming slash resembling a G clef note to the Bugster; the virus detonating in a fiery explosion. "KAISHIN NO IPPATSU!"
A little tune filled the air. "GAME CLEAR!" Shoji sat up on the rock and looked at his six arms. "I…I feel perfectly fine now" he said from one of his mouths. Hojo and Hanaya appeared nearby, having forced Graphite into retreat. The younger of the two pulled a vaguely stethoscopic device off his shoulder and scanned Shoji. "You're all clear" the boy smiled at his classmate. He turned to follow his mother home, the Shoji family reunited and in CR's debt.
Lazer and Brave detransformed nearby, with Kujo walking over to Kagami. "Another job well done, eh, Kagami-sensei?" the teen said, clapping the older man on the shoulder. "I suppose so" Kagami responded, a ghost of a smile briefly lighting up his face. "Hiiro…I have bad news" Hanaya said, walking over to his junior. "We ran into Graphite."
"So…that scaly bitch has reared his ugly head again" the younger hero growled. "Wait…who's 'Graphite'?" Midoriya asked. "Oh boy…remember the USJ Incident?" Hojo said, sighing as if this was going to be a long story. "Yeah. It was just yesterday, after all" Midoriya said. "Well…the green dragon-man who fought Aizawa-sensei and Togata-sempai was the Graphite Bugster, born from the data of the Genm Corp co-op game Drago Knight Hunter Z. As far as we're aware, he's the only complete Bugster remaining from Zero Day…and he was born from Saki Momose, Kagami-sensei's girlfriend" Kujo said grimly.
Hanaya growled. "My loss to that bastard is the reason my medical license was revoked, and the reason Kagami went underground for a while after the incident. I still blame myself for being too weak to beat him." Kagami shook his head. "I keep telling you that it isn't all on you. The tech we had wasn't good enough to keep up with a Bugster of his level, and you did your best" the junior doctor said, attempting to console his friend and colleague.
The next day, in school, Class 1-A had reconvened and were talking amongst themselves, mostly about the USJ Incident and the coverage of it. Class started as Aizawa, who looked surprisingly okay with only a couple bandages under his eyes and on one arm, walked in. "Morning class" the pro mumbled, clearly no less tired than usual despite his day of forced rest. "Aizawa-sensei, I'm glad you're okay!" Iida shouted energetically, to the amusement of several of his classmates.
"My wellbeing is irrelevant. What's more important is that your fight is not over yet" the tired man said, looks of shock spreading over the students' faces. "Not over yet?" Bakugo wondered. "What does he mean?" Midoriya mumbled. "More bad guys?!" Mineta started to panic. Aizawa just stared at the class, then let a small smirk cross his face.
"The UA Sports Festival is just two weeks away."
NEXT TIME ON GAME START! HERO ACADEMIA:
The Sports Festival is on the horizon! How will 1-A prepare? What is Uraraka's motivation? And who is the next Bugster victim? Stay tuned for more!
NOTES:
And with that, we've now got all four Riders (five if you count Genm) in the picture, as well as the Level 3 Gashats! Also, don't think Shoji's appearance is a one-time thing – he's one of my favorite Hero Academia characters, and I want him to play a main character role going forward.
Also, new season/story arc means new opening! This fic is picking up steam pretty good – I'm hoping that eventually it'll grow to the point where it makes the Fanfic Recommendations of MHA's TVTropes page…but for now, I'm good with it being what it is.
Thanks for reading!
