Chapter 25: Ultimate Moves
Hey howdy hey hello, Enigma's back with another chapter! This time, the class improves their costumes and creates ultimate moves!
No screwing about, let's just get into this.
Enjoy!
Feel free to review, but don't just rip into me. I'm doing this for fun, not excessive criticism.
"As I mentioned yesterday, our first objective will be earning provisional Hero licenses for you all. A Hero license, in essence grants you permission to directly intervene when peoples' lives are at stake. This qualification carries an immense weight." Aizawa explained, "And this goes without saying, but the examination required to earn a license is extremely strict. It is a provisional license, but even having said that, the pass rate of this exam, year to year, is less than five percent."
"Wow, just for a provisional license?" Hiryu mumbled aloud.
"And that is why, from today onwards, we'll be having each of you come up with at least two of…" The door slid open, and Cementoss, Ectoplasm and Midnight entered, "Your very own ultimate moves!"
"Finally, we're leaving the normal school-like stuff behind and moving on to the Hero-like stuff, alright!" The class cheered.
"Ultimate! In other words, the techniques that will assure your victory!" Ectoplasm spoke up.
"These techniques must be deeply ingrained in who you are. Techniques that do not satisfy that requirement will not be allowed." Cementoss explained, "To battle means to leverage one's own unique strengths."
"These techniques become symbols of who you are! Nowadays, professional Heroes without ultimate moves are like an endangered species!" Midnight told them.
"We'll go into the specifics with you all shortly with live exercises. Go change into your costumes." Aizawa instructed, "We'll meet at Gym Gamma."
Gym Gamma
Gym Gamma was a large, empty gym with a floor made of concrete, which Cementoss could easily manipulate.
"Welcome to Gym Gamma, or more commonly, the Training Dining Land. Put short, TDL!" Cementoss spoke to the students, "This facility of my own devising… here I am able to cook up terrains and training objects personalized for each and every one of you students! Hence… dining land."
"If I could ask a question!" Iida's hand shot into the air, "Why are ultimate moves necessary to obtain a provisional license? Please illuminate us with that context!"
"I'll explain it to you step-by-step. Chill out." Aizawa sighed, "Incidents, accidents, disasters, human calamities… it is the job of a Hero to rescue people from all types of trouble. It is the job of a Hero to rescue people from all types of trouble. Naturally, the exam for the license is designed to measure that aptitude."
"Intelligence gathering. Decision making. Mobility. Combat prowess. As well as communication skills. Charisma. Leadership abilities. The test contents vary from year to year, but applicants are always tested on a variety of criteria." Midnight continued, "Among the criteria, you can be sure that combat prowess will be heavily prioritized for potential Heroes. Be prepared, and you've got nothing to fear! These moves could have a big impact on whether or not you pass."
"If you can keep a cool head and act with decisive, stable moves, that means you have a high level of combat prowess." Cementoss told them.
"There's nothing that says your Ultimate Moves must be an attack." Ectoplasm finished, "Iida's Reciproburst is a good example. That sort of extreme speed boost on its own is intimidating enough to be called an Ultimate Move."
"Is it… really suitable to be an Ultimate Move…?!"
"Or Moxie's Ricochet Riot, which is a textbook example." Ectoplasm nodded towards the hooded boy.
"Well, of course! I've been practicing that move since I was ten years old!" Moxie grinned.
"I get it… so we gotta come up with moves that'll give us a big advantage in battle." Sato summarized, "That makes us think 'if I just use this, I can win'!"
"Exactly! Remember how Kamui Woods showed his stuff last week? His Lacquered Chain Prison is a cookie-cutter Ultimate Move. It's simple and easy to understand." Midnight responded.
"Your summer camp was cut short, but the Quirk training we began there… was part of the process of creating Ultimate Moves. In other words, until the second semester starts, you'll be using the ten remaining days of summer vacation to enhance your Quirks and put together your Ultimate Moves through some extra-intense training!" Aizawa told them, "And as your Quirks grow and you start to formulate your Ultimate Moves, think about whether you need to alter your costumes. Use that Plus Ultra mentality to go beyond your limits. Ready?"
"This is gonna be good!" Kaminari declared.
"The move you used against Snipe was good, but too self-destructive." Ectoplasm told Hiryu, "Think about how you can improve it."
"Maybe if I throw something instead of dive-bombing…"
"For now, we'll work on improving your Ricochet Riot. Try jumping off the air." Ectoplasm instructed Moxie.
"Right!"
Development Studio
The Pro Hero Powerloader was the head of the development studio, so the students went to him with ideas on how to improve their costumes.
"So…you want to give your costume a full redesign?" Powerloader asked.
"Yeah… I-I didn't really put a lot of thought into it at first, I just went with something like what most Heroes wear." Hiryu admitted quietly, as Moxie and Hatsume spoke to each other, getting each other exceedingly excited, "B-But I'm not immune to my frost breath, and my current costume just isn't comfortable. I'd like something warmer, but still aerodynamic."
"Of course we can do something like that." Powerloader nodded, "Should be no problem. We'll scrap your old design and make something new, from the ground up. As for you…"
"Hm? Oh, yeah, Aizawa recommended I stop by and see if y'all have any suggestion!" Moxie grinned, giving Powerloader a thumbs up.
"I'd recommend armor, but his costume's already padded!" Hatsume told Powerloader, "You can't tell just by looking, but it is! It's soft and comfortable, like a cushion!"
"Of course I thought about protection, I fractured a rib last time I missed a Bounce during my Ricochet Riot!" Moxie smiled, "I've gotten way better with my Bounce, though! Best I can think of is bracing my legs to reduce the recoil of my Quirk."
"That's simple enough, let me see the instructions for your costume." Powerloader nodded.
Day 2
"So you had braces added to the legs of your costume." Ectoplasm nodded, "Good idea. Now, we need to continue working on your Bounce, show me what you can do."
"Right!" Moxie Bounced towards Ectoplasm and then to the side. Ectoplasm raised his arms to block and Moxie leapt into the air. Gritting his teeth, he managed to fire off his Bounce against the air, slamming his foot into Ectoplasm's head.
Ectoplasm stumbled forwards and held his hand up, stopping Moxie.
"Good, but not good enough." He said, "Not as strong as your grounded attacks."
"I think all the energy's being lost in the air. Without a fully solid surface too much of it is discharging." All Might spoke up, approaching the pair.
"Right…" Moxie shook his head, "I think we're going about this the wrong way."
"Try using your Quirk in an opposite way." All Might told him, "Do the opposite of what you'd normally do and see where it takes you."
"Maybe instead of pushing myself with my Quirk… I can push something else?" Moxie scratched his chin, "Thanks, All Might!"
"No problem." All Might nodded.
Hiryu, meanwhile, was making much more progress than Moxie. Circling around her Ectoplasm clone she inhaled deeply and used her frost breath, though it came out more as just a cold, thick fog, obscuring Ectoplasm's vision.
"Excellent!" Ectoplasm called to her, "But can you see through it?"
"Well, no, but… I had an idea on how to fix it." Hiryu explained, "I-It'll be part of my new costume."
"We'll see that in a day or two, then." Ectoplasm nodded.
Day 3
Moxie placed his foot against the large rock Cementoss had supplied for him, furrowing his brow in concentration. Inverting the flow of energy, he fired off his Quirk, causing himself to stumble back a few steps but sending the rock hurtling towards Ectoplasm, who narrowly dodged, watching the rock smash through the wall of the gym, leaving a large hole.
"Uh… oops." Moxie scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin.
"Well, glad to see you're still improving!" Someone laughed.
"Eh?" Moxie turned just in time to see his mother land on his platform.
She wore a purple t-shirt and black shorts, showing off her muscles. Despite being well built, she wasn't quite as muscular as her son. She had her hair tied back in a bun and a long scar sat on the right side of her chin, travelling from the corner of her mouth to the base of her neck. She was significantly taller than her son, standing at 5'11".
"Mom?! I completely forgot you were visiting! They let you in?!" Moxie asked.
"I'm a former pro! Of course they let me in!" She grinned confidently, "I'm staying at a hotel nearby."
"Ms. Usagi, welcome." Ectoplasm bowed his head politely.
"Thanks for looking after this runt for me!" She nodded, "Please, it's just Tenna!"
"Watch who you're calling a runt!" Moxie shouted.
"It's a pleasure to have you, Tenna." Ectoplasm told her.
"Hey, Moxie! Is that your mom?" Sero asked, swinging over to his platform.
"It's nice to meet you, Ms. Usagi!" Uraraka floated up to the platform, as the rest of the class similarly rushed to introduce themselves, with the exception of Bakugo. Even Todoroki came over to introduce himself, though Moxie suspected it was just to be polite.
"It's great to meet all of you! I'm Ms. Usagi, just call me Tenna if you'd like!" Tenna grinned, giving everyone a thumbs up, "Glad to see this little runt's made some friends, most people can't even keep up with him!"
"Call me runt one more time!" Moxie yelled.
"…runt." Tenna stuck her tongue out at Moxie.
Without warning, Moxie rocketed towards Tenna, swinging his right leg for a kick. Tenna brought her left leg up to block, smiling, before dropping it back down and kicking Moxie in the stomach with her right leg, sending him skidding back.
"Uh… I think we ought to get some distance!" Sero shouted, swinging away quickly as the two clashed, followed by the rest of the class.
"Is this really the time for this?" Ectoplasm asked.
"If he wants me to stop calling him runt, he's gotta make me!" Tenna grinned wildly, clearly possessing a demeanor similar to her son, although much more aggressive, "Show me what you've learned!"
"You won't beat me this time!" Moxie grit his teeth, launching towards her.
The class' training came to a halt as everyone stopped to watch their fight, at least for a short period of time. Bakugo only watched for a minute or so before returning to his own training, sure of who would win.
"Come on, Moxie! You can take her!" Kirishima cheered, "Watch your left! Ooh… too late."
"I see… they have the same Quirk, Moxie's father is probably Quirkless… their power output is the same, but…" Midoriya mumbled to himself, watching as Tenna narrowly dodged or blocked most of Moxie's attacks, "…she's clearly far more proficient with it… Moxie doesn't actually stand a chance."
"You got all that just from watching for a few minutes?" A drop of sweat ran down Kaminari's forehead.
Tenna dodged to the left, completely avoid a poorly telegraphed kick from Moxie, slamming feetfirst into his back and knocking him to the ground. Crouching on his back, pinning him to the ground, she tapped the back of his head.
"Gotcha, runt." She grinned.
Moxie grit his teeth, grinning despite his situation, until she tapped the back of his head again.
"Yeah, you got me again." He sighed, smiling, "I'll get you next time, though!"
"You're even more stacked than when you left… you still spend all your time training, don't you?" Tenna demanded.
"So what if I do?!" Moxie argued.
"Don't take that tone with me, you were meant to find a hobby instead of spending your whole life training!" Tenna smacked the back of his head before letting him up, "At least find someone to train with!"
"I did…" Moxie winced, getting up off the ground and dusting himself off.
"Oh? I'll have to meet them, then, and thank them for making sure you didn't hurt yourself!" Tenna grinned.
"Yeah, yeah." Moxie sighed, "Can I get back to training now? We can catch up afterwards."
"Yeah, sure." Tenna nodded.
Day 4
Hiryu had gotten her new costume in, and was really happy with how it came out. After a bit of excitement with All Might, the class did eventually talk about their costume redesigns, and someone inevitably brought up hers.
"Hiryu's topping us all, though. She gave hers a complete redesign, from the ground up!" Kirishima pointed out, as the silver-haired girl entered the gym.
"Y-Yeah…" Hiryu adjusted her new jacket.
Her new outfit was completely different from before, a pair of grey skinny jeans and a pair of dark grey, steel-toed boots. She had a light grey, long-sleeved shirt and a dark grey B3 bomber jacket. She did still have her goggles, however, and instead of her gauntlets she wore a pair of pale blue gloves.
"I like it!" Kirishima grinned, giving her a thumbs up.
"Yeah, it's even better than before!" Kaminari agreed, "But you know, as far as style changes go, mine really puts the rest to shame! Wanna see it? You ready? I promise you; you'll piss your pants! It's amazing! I'm tellin' ya!"
"That's it for you, Class A" Vlad King interrupted, "We have plans to make use of the TDL from today afternoon on!"
"Awful timing!" Kaminari complained.
"Eraser, you best get out of here." Vlad King warned.
"We've still got about ten minutes left. You've got a little trouble telling time, huh?" Aizawa responded, as Monoma began rambling out the provisional exam.
"Hey, did you guys know?! Half of those who take the provisional license exam fail! All of Class A can fail together!" Monoma laughed wildly.
"Hey, is that supposed to be Monoma's costume?" Kaminari asked.
"Since his Quirk is copying, there's no need for him to go out of the way to make himself stand out, he said." Kendo explained.
"Not stand out, he says…" Kaminari shook his head.
"However, most of all… more than just taking the test together, our fates are forcing us to clash with each other." Tokoyami pointed out.
"That's why… Class A and Class B will be applying at different venues." Aizawa interrupted, causing Monoma to stop laughing entirely.
"The Hero qualification exams are conducted every year in June and September at three different locations across the country." Vlad King explained, "No matter the school, to avoid students from the same school clashing against each other, it is common practice for schools to split up their students by sending them to different testing times and sites."
Monoma sighed in relief before going on another tirade, something that didn't go unnoticed by the other students.
"All over the country, though… I never thought about it, but we'll be facing off against students from all sorts of different schools, won't we?" Moxie realized.
"That's right, we'll be competing with them to pass, and we went through an accelerated course." Kendo nodded.
"It's a small number of students who gain their provisional licenses as first-years." Aizawa told them, "Which means you'll be up against some students who've experienced very advanced training. This test will bring together students with polished Quirks you've never even seen."
"Though the exam contents are unknown… I assure you that this will be an uphill battle for everyone. Don't psyche yourselves out too much, but be aware of what you're facing."
And that's the whole thing, whaddya think?
I've had Hiryu's new design planned for quite a while, her original costume was never designed to be the final design, unlike Moxie's.
Anyways, I'll see you next time, when the Provisional Licensing Exam begins.
Enigma, signing off.