"So which is the one I take first?"

"The DDMP mixture. But it's not guaranteed to work, so you have to take the secobarbital next."

"And how long will it take?"

"Depends. What meal will you have?"

"None."

"You should have something. Lobster. Caviar."

"Nothing. I haven't felt that hungry in a few weeks."

"Is there something you want to do before?"

"Maybe take Katsu out. There's a diner he's been wanting to try."

"You know the festival is tomorrow. You can wait an extra day."

"I can't."

"Why?"

A long pause.

"Why not, Shoto?"

"I wouldn't be able to go if I saw him there."

"He can be a great hero. And with your help..."

"He already has who he needs. Now, what are the..."

"What?"

"You know, the things that come from taking these."

"Side effects?"

"Damn it. I'm already forgetting words. You know what I mean."

"All you have to do it you take the mixture and then the other pill. If you don't, you might just sleep a long time, but it might not be enough. Maybe the throat will feel burnt, but if you feel it, it's not super painful."

"I never liked spicy food anyway."

"Never? I heard you had some good Cajun food last month."

"That's...different."

"Well, here you go. Credit or debit?"

"I have to pay?"

"Setobarbital is expensive. Also, you're not a resident, so there is a bit of an extra fee."

"You can't just let it slide?"

"This only happens once."

Another pause.

"Okay, I'll give you whatever you want."

"But, Shoto, if you change your mind, let me kno-."

"Goodbye, Doctor Tsuchida."

The class had never been so exhausting.

It was the day before the sports festival, and all the students had been training like soldiers prepared for war. Behind the school towards the left side of the building sat an oval quarter-mile track. Within that track was a giant astroturf field were most of the students were pouring sweat on.

Abel panted as droplets of sweat dripped off the tips of his lengthy cocoa hair. His headphones blared out music that was supposed to keep him energized enough to pound the rubber underneath his feet.

Abel Chevelle! He is enhancing his quirk by stacking and listening to multiple songs at once and receiving more power from them. He is also expanding the time limit of the power up he can afford!

Abel raced around the corner towards Moxie. The girl jogged slower as he caught up. She grabbed Abel by the shoulders and grimaced at the warmth her hands felt. They vibrates before a light yellow glow emanated from her palms.

Moxie Lee! She is training her quirk to enhance and minimize the energy of things more than she could before! She is also training to change other aspects of the object or person, especially size!

With the sudden boost, Abel chugged faster down the straightaway. Moxie slowed down and approached a wooden bench on the sidelines. She grabbed the silver handle and concentrated hard. After struggling, Moxie opened her eyes and saw that the metal on the handle thinned. She had decreased the size of the handle, but the rest of the bench remained the same.

The girl took a breather right as Lloyd hustled up towards the bench. He touched both his palms on the wooden surface and concentrated hard. His frame quivered for a split second before the wood disappeared into a cloud of black dust. The frame melted away. Lloyd gasped out at the pain that bounced through his brain.

Lloyd Thomas! He is trying to make larger and larger inanimate objects turn to dust while fighting through the nausea over exertion causes.

Shaping the cloud into his hands, he thrusted the dust beam out towards Anton. The boy sliced his wrist and flashed the wound at the dust. A lilac flume flushed out of the wound and raced for the dust.

When the two rays collided, Pathogen withered away the dust cloud before consuming it completely.

Anton Nosoi! He is training his "little buddy" to physically block and attack non-liquid or solid gases. Currently can only effect other gas-like states of matter.

When Pathogen ate up the dust, Anton turned around and shot Pathogen out towards Robyn. The girl opened up her arms as to invite Pathogen inside her.

Pathogen was more than happy to shoot through her ears. The ringing, burning sensation in Robyn made her keel over and clutch her stomach. Then, a small circle of white light flashed underneath her. The light flickered like a strobe effect at a rock concert as she fought back the pain Pathogen inflicted on her. Soon, the pain was reduced to a numb throb like a giant bruise had formed within her.

Robyn Guang! She is enhancing the speed and efficacy of her healing powers to thwart continuous attacks.

As Robyn beamed like an exploding flashlight, Drake sailed past her above and soared upward into the sky. Doing a fast loop, he leveled off and skimmed the fake plastic grass underneath him. He tickled the tips with his fingers and grunted out in pain.

His fingers soon morphed into thick nails that marked the end of claws. Then, the rest of his hands turned into scaly skin of a dragon.

Drake Kaiset! He trains his body to take on multiple parts of a dragon at once. Previous, he could only turn one appendage at a time!

The boy skated over the soft astroturf. Nearing a boy with black hair, he steamed past him. Blake's hair danced in the thrust created by rushing dragon. Flecks of dust and plastic flew past Blake's ear as the boy smirked at the figure who was flying just above the ground.

Drake dug one of his talons into the dirt. With a cheer, Blake focused on the shrinking figure heading for the football goalposts. Grabbing a small pin, Blake stabbed himself in the wrist.

With a roar, Drake's talons melted away from the sudden pain. He twittered off balance in the air and smacked the ground with his back. He slid towards the goalposts with ground crumbling upward from the impact. He slowed once he got to the endzone, but could not stop his head from clunking onto the rubber backstop of the posts.

In front of him fifty yards away, Blake threw his hands up in victory.

Blake Marseilles! He is increasing the speed at which he can move his circle of attack and throwing it farther away. He can now effect other being in a twenty-meter radius circle and track their movements as long as they are on the ground.

Slumped in front of the foundation of the goalpost, Drake shook his head while his wings evaporated into sparkles that shimmered in mid-air. Then, they disappeared into the moist mildew scent of the mid-morning outdoors.

"Drake," Katsu ran in front of the dragon hybrid. He hunched in front of the boy and braced himself. "Flame me up!"

Drake breathed out a flume of fire from his mouth. The fire consumed Katsu. While the heat at first singed at the boy's fair skin, he concentrated on absorbing the energy of the fire. Soon, a golden outline enveloped the boy as if the flames had attached and hugged his body. Feeling the energy bubbling in his chest, he pounded at the ground.

Katsu Muteki! He is maximizing the amount of energy he can take in at one time!

A ribbon of astroturf slammed upward and careened like a tidal wave forward. Blake scampered towards the side as Hunter swung onto the center of the field. Seeing the wave of broken plastic grass sailing towards him, he waved out all six of his arms and shot out webs from his palms. Starting at his feet, he built up a foundation and continued to spray before a wall of titanium webbing stood between him and the wave.

Hunter Payne! He is building up the strength and speed that his webbing can be shot out!

The wave crashed into the webbing. While the foundation bulged out and bits of astroturf snuck through the larger holes, the structure remained like a wobbling brick wall as the turf froze and left a steep hill in the center of the field.

"Megan, go for it!" Hunter shouted.

Behind him, Megan threw up a shotput ball. Balancing herself under the ball, she waited as the thick stone plummeted to the ground. Right at her eye level, she grabbed the ball and catapulted it forward.

The balls cut right through the webbing and the raised earth like lava through mud.

Megan Shaw! She is increasing the speed she can elevate projectiles and the amount she can do at once!

Megan threw up two shotputs and launched both of them at once. They dotted the web wall and disappeared into the phony grass knoll.

Noticing a person behind her, Megan smirked and decided to surprise somebody. She turned backwards and heaved a shotput right at Leo who was jogging around the track.

Leo Agravain! He is increasing the size of objects and speed at which he can make them go back in time! He is also enhancing his endurance to how long he can go back in time.

Leo's eyes exploded wide open at the stone screaming towards him. He raised up his fists and scrunched his eyes shut like a bank vault. An invisible wave radiated from Leo's hands at the bullet of a track item that chugged at him. The speed descended, and the shotput twriled at a slower rate. Just feet from Leo, it levitated to a slight crawl and stopped just a foot from Leo's face.

Then, the ball rolled backwards in the air back to Megan. It accelerated before landing back into Megan's hand.

"Not bad," She said to herself before continuing her target practice on the tower of spider webbing.

Leo continued onward and passed by Synaes who was currently fighting with Austin in the padded section. Austin, his face boiled in an eternal blush, held out his arms and took a stab at Synaes as she stood there as still as a statue with her walking stick.

Austin leapt forward with the spikes on his forearms gleaming with neurotoxin.

Austin Bordette! He is making his spikes more poisonous and releasing more neurotoxin with every slice. He is also trying to hit various parts of people's bodies other than their ankles.

The tall boy dived for Synaes, but the girl stepped back faster than a strike of lightning. Austin got back up from his knees and slashed at the girl. She dodged like she knew he was coming every step of the way. With another heave, Austin shouted out and went right for Synaes' chest. She ducked underneath and jammed the end of her stick into Austin's gut. He keeled over his knees and collapsed. With another strike, Synaes slammed the butt end onto the top of his skull. Austin smacked his head into the ground. He rolled over and went cross-eyed as the blind girl pointed her stick right at his nose.

Synaes Haukersdottir! She uses others DNA to track and predict their movements even faster than before. She is also training harder in hand-to-hand combat!

"You're like a giant koala bear. Strong, but useless," Synaes said.

She lowered her glasses, revealing to Austin the blank oyster sheen of her eyes. "You'll have to do much more to make an impression. Thorn boy."

Then, an inexplicable smirk and a wink before she put her glasses back on.

Before Austin could escape the embarrassment from his flustered face, a scream snapped everybody's eyes towards the light pole right beside them. Austin saw James hug the base of the light pole. Violet streams of energy dripped down the pole into James as he absorbed the power inside. Releasing the pole, he shot a wave of neon into the sky. Ribbons of the power blasted off into the air before disappearing at the top of the bleachers. He shot off wave after wave, each one more pronounced in color and traveling farther.

The boy gasped out for air like he had run a marathon, but the layers of sweat could not cool down the boy with waves of steam emanating from his body.

James Guzman! He is strengthening his endurance to using his neon energy longer and trying to store more energy in his body than he could previously take!

Just as James blew off one more wave into the air, a whistle pierced the field. Austin grunted out and covered his ears. He sat up and spied the source.

"Okay, everybody!" Deku clapped from the top of the bleachers. "Shower up and let's hit the classroom!"

Cling!

Cling! Cling!

Shoto shivered at the sound of the slipping coins disappearing into the payphone. The sound of metal colliding with metal always made him feel weird, but it was especially weird since he had not even seen a payphone that worked properly in his life. However, now was a good time to start to preserve his anonymity. He pushed the final coins into the slot, his destroyed cell phone cracked from a few slams into the pavement resting next to his hand.

The scorching sun battered the top of his head as he pressed the rust-coated numbers on the dial pad. He had to guess where some of the numbers were, the ink worn off from years of usage. He stood like a soldier in the glass phone booth outside of the truck stop. A few semis roared past him with some engines clicking from years of abuse. The ground shook when a few past just feet away from him on the tarmac as they headed towards the freeway. The dilapidated phone book in a slot underneath, Shoto plugged his nose at the smell of diesel fuel.

He held the phone away from his ear when the dial tone exploded over the speaker. He grit his teeth, the entire booth smelling like dried saliva and moldy bologna.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Hello, this is the Todoroki Household! For fan inquiries or autographs, please press one! To leave a message, wait for th-."

Shoto slammed the phone back on the receiver. Of course, he doubted Fuyumi would pick up the phone from an unknown number in the United States. It's not like they had been on the best speaking terms even in the best of times. Also, Natsuo would probably have picked up the phone anyway since he would be so curious. They were just not home at the moment. Maybe, if he came across another phone on his trip, he would try one last time.

He stared at the black phone for a few seconds. The hissing of air from the tire inflator a few feet outside from him popping into the air. The chatter of a few truckers sneaked through the glass as they walked into the entrance of the truck stop building.

Shoto grabbed the phone again. This time, he drew in a hot breath and smacked the next number on his list. This one, he never called. However, he had the number committed to memory just in case.

Beep.

Beep.

Boop.

"Tartarus Special Prison For Villain Criminals!" A chipper voice sang into his ears. "How may I direct your call?"

"Is it visiting hours?" Shoto asked.

"Yes, sir. For the next three hours, you can speak to your heart's content as long as you pay the fee and its within the time limit of five minutes."

Shoto squinted his eyes. "But then how is it to your heart's content."

"Most things to your heart's content can be conveyed in less than five minutes."

Shoto bit the inside of his cheek. "Fine. Can I speak to Toya Todoroki?"

"Who?"

With a quick uptake in his breath, Shoto squeezed his hand around the shaft of the phone. "Toya Todoroki. Dabi. Whatever you call him."

"Oh, right. It's just we haven't gotten a call for him. Do you have your name and passcode."

"Shoto Todoroki. 555-95472."

A few more seconds.

Beep.

"Connecting."

Soft jazz music massaged Shoto's ears. His breathing quickened along with his heart that skipped over his chest like a hyper school boy heading for recess. The violent shaking of the giant semi truck engines rumbled through his shoes and racked his nerves further. He had not spoken to this person ever since he was finally caught and thrown in Tartarus for eternity. In fact, his mind was still blank as to what he would say. There was hardly anything that needed to be said. He still remembered the battle, rubbing his shoulder from the scalding blue flames that licked at the core of his bones. The hot heat that suffocated his lungs. His limbs limp and useless as he tried to muster up that last ounce of strength. The kind of strength that would be gone forever very soon.

"Brother."

"Don't call me that," Shoto snapped without a second thought.

A soft chuckle through the speaker. "Is today my birthday? Or are you on another big case? Believe me, I have no connections to anyone at this point. The top villains are afraid, sadly. They won't touch me with a ten foot pole."

"It must be your personality. You're such a charming person," Shoto slipped like snake venom injected into a hitch hiker.

"They're afraid of you," Toya said. "All of them. If you were on every villains trail, none of them would be in business. I think they fear you more than Deku or Bakugo. Especially with that stupid name he had for a few years. Dynamight? Gimme a break. Glad he decided to change it, at least."

"It was a very stupid name," Shoto leaned back onto the cracked glass of the booth. "Not that Dabi is any better."

"Is this why you called," Toya asked. "Just to throw a few petty insults?"

Shoto scrunched his face and tried to relax his breathing. He squeezed around the phone again and balled up his free hand into a fist. His pointed his eyes upward towards the grey linoleum that had streaks of neon graffiti sprayed over the cracks. His nose grew red with his cheeks becoming puffed.

"This is the last I'll speak to you."

A pause over the line.

Shoto cleared his throat. "I wish you died, you know. I wish you got...run over by a train or thrown off a cliff or I could have taken my hands and just grabbed your neck and snapped it in half. I don't forgive you, and I never would. But I want you to know...Fuyumi and Natsou don't hate you. They speak to you often. I heard about that. I heard they actually have grown on you. And...I don't want to get in a way with that. If you want to have some connection with them, then feel free to."

"I don't really need your permission for that."

"Shut up and let me finish," Shoto shouted.

Without another peep, Shoto blew out another hot breath and rubbed his throat from the sudden outburst. "I still don't think I figured out who I was. And I want you to know that is not your fault. It's not even father's fault. Everything could have been perfect growing up, and I would still feel this way. This lack of self-worth. This loneliness. Those feelings don't go away even if you are number one. Even if you save a million people. Sure, it feels good for a minute, but that fades away into an abyss of solitude. I'm sure you can relate to that right now."

"I...I can."

Shoto nodded. "I don't think it's something I'll ever resolve. But after you were thrown away like the trash you are, I met this boy. Maybe you heard it on the news. That rich Muteki family."

"You adopted that boy. Couldn't stop hearing about it."

Shoto narrowed his eyes and leaned forward onto the receiver. He pursued his lips as if he were whispering into Toya's very ears. "I may not be in this world much longer, but I have many allies that will. If, God forbid, you somehow escape, this is your one warning. You can go after Deku. You can go after Bakugo. Even the rest of the family, although they are very well protected now. I don't care. Go after all my classmates if you want. But you even think about going after Katsu, you even try to plan any scheme involving him. Whether it's killing or kidnapping or even an identity theft scam...you go after him, you won't die, Toya. No, I hired people in some very shady places for what they have planned for you. And they'll be ready. They're capable of capturing you, and when they do...you'll wish you were never even born. They'll keep you alive just to keep you in a pain that would make All Might beg for mercy. You're vocal chords will be screamed raw, and your soul will feel that pain in this eternity and the next. Do you hear me?"

A long silence followed. All Shoto could hear was his own heartbeat in his ears and light suctions of air that he slowed to calm himself. His mission was pretty simple in this call, but he feared he overplayed his hand. He was only meant to threaten him, not tell Toya what awaited him.

"So...these people," Toya croaked. "Did you hire them legitimately?"

"No," Shoto said. "It's all very illegal. Dark web people. Had to cross into many alleyways."

"That's pretty bold of you. You know they can listen to our conversations in here?"

"I don't care," Shoto said. "They can arrest me if they want."

Another long silence.

"You have my w-."

Beep.

"You're time limit is up!"

Shoto hung up the phone. He had said what peace he could to Toya. Yet, he still felt so empty inside. This was supposed to be a triumphant moment. He had faced something he feared and won. But the anger and rage that streamed through his vessels, it only made his vision turn into pigments of red and pink that dotted the hot parking lot outside.

To calm himself, Shoto put in a few more quarters.

Beep. Beep.

"United States Academy o-."

"Yes, I'd like to check out a few students at noon today."

The chalk snapped right in mid-stroke.

Deku threw the broken stick onto the desk behind him and grabbed another one. He continued his drawing and shaded through the white lines on the blackboard with all eyes peering into his back. Deku never considered himself an artist, but he thought his hand was good enough as he filled in the diaphragm that showcased the arena that the students would do battle in the very next day.

A few students murmured to themselves as Deku kept drawing. Some of them excited. A few of them off topic.

"Dude, wasn't it weird how James kept arguing with Lloyd in the locker room," Abel said. "You'd think if they really hated each other, they wouldn't hang around each other so much."

Austin blushed and stared straight ahead. "Especially since they were naked in the showers separated by only a thin wall."

"Well, that's no big deal," Abel shrugged.

"You don't worry about being naked in front of people?" Austin asked.

"I'm from California. You have to be comfortable being naked in public. It's a rule."

Deku turned back around with a genial smile and grabbed his yardstick ruler. He sat down on the desk and crossed his legs. "So, tomorrow is a big day! It's you're first sports festival."

"So what?" Synaes complained.

The teacher took a swig of his water bottle and set it down next to an apple. "Well, this is the first time you can prove to people that you are worthy to get an internship. We have internships all over the country. It's very important to get a good one. These kinds of things follow you, and if you can get the right one, you're set all the way through graduation!"

Deku pointed his yardstick back at a map of the country. "For example, we have an internship at the Marvelous Hero Headquarters in New York City!"

"New York City!" Robyn chanted and immediately perked in her chair like a curious kitten.

"We also have them in most other cities from Las Vegas to Miami and even Alaska."

At this, Drake shrunk in his chair. He was just getting use to not being frozen as a corpse in California. He would hate to go back home right away.

"So, if you do your best tomorrow, you can basically have your pick. If you don't do as well, that's okay. Everyone is guaranteed a spot somewhere. It just might be less...desirable."

"So Detroit," Anton muttered under his breath.

Hearing this, Lloyd stood up and pointed over at the boy. "For the record, it is even more honorable to go to such cities. For they need heroes more than ever. All of the great superheroes swing around New York, but very few go to such cesspools of violence and destitution like Salt Lake City and New Jersey."

"Then you go, you mongoose," James grunted from his side of the room. "Save the failing public schools in Jersey. We'll all be impressed."

"I heard New Jersey is strange," Moxie said. "They don't even pump their own gas up there. And the food is all Italian."

Anton scooted in his seat to face Moxie. "What's wrong with Italian?"

"Are you Italian, Anton," Moxie asked. "Coulda sworn you were Korean."

"What?" Anton stammered. "What makes you think I would be Korean?"

"I knew he was Italian all along," Abel said. "His hair has enough grease to fry a meatball!"

Before Anton could sick Pathogen on Abel, Deku stood up and gestured at the class. "Listen, You all have talent. But teamwork is going to be very important in this next phase. You all have to learn to adapt to those around you. You can get caught in situations with heroes that seem like they have quirks that don't work with yours, but they do. So...why don't I have James and Synaes come here for a second."

At this, James was taken aback and turned back to the stoic Icelandic girl. With a heavy sigh, Synaes marched to the center of the room in front of the class. James rolled his eyes and shoved his hands into his pockets. They both stood with gaunt faces like they were in a beauty pageant against their will.

"Okay, so Synaes has a quirk that can predict what people will do," Deku said. He nudged James closer to the girl and pointed at his chest with the yardstick. "James shoots neon energy from his body. What can be done to get them to work together?"

"Is this a trick question?" Austin asked out loud.

Robyn raised her hand. "Give them a common enemy. What do both of you hate?"

"Attention," Synaes said.

"Morons," James grunted.

"So all we need is an attention-seeking moron," Robyn said. "Guess we should call up the White House," Robyn said as she looked at you, the person reading this.

Suddenly, the intercom blared out.

Warning: This joke may or may not make more sense on January 20 after the next election year. Depends on who you are.

When the intercom shut off, Deku grabbed Synaes and made her face James. The Floridian avoided the girl's blank gaze through her sunglasses.

"You two have powerful quirks," Deku said. "What do you think you could do for each other."

Synaes huffed out and lowered her head. "I don't know. I guess...I can see what people are going to do next. And...if there was a way to direct that at James so he would know..."

James nodded. "Yeah, like some computer or something. It could translate Synaes' quirk into my head so I can see what she sees. Or at least, she coudl communicate to me."

"But you don't have a computer," Deku said as he turned around. He headed for the door. "You only have yourselves on the battlefield. Just seconds to think. Now...think fast!"

Deku yanked the door open. Before he did so, Synaes gasped when she saw, out of the darkness in her eyes, a bright grey dot that blinked just beyond the reach of the door. It was a person she had taken DNA from, but it was a familiar dot.

Synaes grabbed James' shoulder and threw him towards the left. James, quick to realize this was a strategy, went along with it and sailed forward. Synaes ducked and dropped herself to the tile floor in time for the ray of fire that exploded from Bakugo's fist as he appeared in the doorway. The ray erupted and raced over Synaes' head through the open window behind her. The ray disappeared into the sky just as Bakugo turned his head towards James.

James, thrown by Synaes, was already in Bakugo's blind spot since the Pro-Hero rushed into the room and stepped inside. Right behind his ear, James had already developed a ball of neon in his grasp and shot it right at Bakugo. The teacher could hardly spare a glance back at him before a small burst of neon charged at him.

With a flare of his hands, Bakugo leaned back and fell towards the corner of the desk. The ball just flew past his ear and slammed into the wall. It burst into a wide flash of light and evaporated with a laser sound into a battered corner of black soot and torn bits of brick and tile.

Bakugo smacked his back on the desk as James hit the wall and slammed his bottom onto his own desk. He sat on top of the desk as Syneas got up and stared over at Bakugo.

The rest of the class looked at the scene with middle excitement. A few of them had smiles as they saw another of their teacher's bested in combat in some way. Even Anton had to nod at the impressive scene at just how well James and Synaes could improvise in that setting. Austin, seated just next to Anton, as impressed as well. Mostly, he could not believe Synaes was that strong as to hurl James like he was a thin sandbag.

The teacher ticked his tongue. "Not bad for a surprise. I was still fast enough to dodge it."

"Yeah, well, you won't be fast for long," James said.

Bakugo rolled his eyes when he looked at the raven-haired idiot. Yet, he could not help the slightest of grins on his face at the spunk of the boy. Not only that, but this was another instance where Synaes had bested him. Of course, if he was really fighting, it would be over in a heartbeat. This time, in this small classroom, he would let them have their victories.

James and Synaes could not help the small bubble of pride that tickled their stomachs. Sure, they had no interaction with each other, but both had interesting quirks that could be used to help the other. In fact, maybe all of these quirks were useful enough to help them in creative ways. The possibilities were as endless as the people in the classroom.

"Whatever, pipsqueak," Bakugo brushed some dirt off his shoulder.

BRRRRIIINGGG!

The entire class stood up and gathered their books for lunchtime. Deku set down his yardstick and cleared his throat for announcements.

"We're studying more about quirk history after lunch. Abel, that report is due today. Otherwise, I'm not taking it. And don't forget we vote for Class Rep when we get back also. And finally, we need t-."

Beep.

"Excuse me Class 1-A, but there has been a request to check out a few students at this time."

The class stopped and looked up at the intercom. A strange situation for sure. Students had never been checked out yet from school, let alone a number of them.

Deku frowned. He had not planned on that at all. Perhaps a family emergency?

"Okay, let us know and they can go," he said.

I think I got everybody in the montage. If I missed someone, let me know!

So what is going to happen next? What do you want to happen next?

Please, review! It is so great for me, and so great to hear feedback. I want all the reviews I can get, and I promise you we will continue to have a great time!

Thank you. See you soon!