Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia/Boku No Hero Academia, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Vlad King's Green Bean
Chapter seven: Power continues to grow
A week had passed since the students of UA High School began training to impress pro heroes directly in the hopes they'll scout them as potential interns, given that the Sports Festival had to be canceled that year due to safety reasons. It was a school day, and Izuku Midoriya was walking through the halls after eating lunch to head off to class. There was a lot on the green haired boy's mind, especially given that he recently had made a breakthrough in using One For All.
Under the tutelage of All Might's old teacher Gran Torino, Izuku was able to figure out a way to use One For All safely, at least only a small percentage of it, by taking that small percentage and letting it spread all throughout his body. Izuku had dubbed this technique 'Full Cowling', and with it Izuku can use up to five percent of One For All safely. According to Gran Torino, by the time that he estimates the actual internships should have started had it not been for the Sports Festival needing to be cancelled for safety reasons, Izuku's percentage with Full Cowling ought to be seven percent.
As Izuku walked, he turned a corner, only to see his childhood friend turned bully Katsuki Bakugo, along with some of Bakugo's classmates in 1-A who Izuku has since learned are called Kirishima, Sero, and Kaminari, being harassed by some students Izuku could tell were from different classes at UA. It was clear to Izuku that Bakugo and his ilk were being grilled over how the Sports Festival had to be canceled this year because their class ran into some trouble at the USJ.
That... didn't seem fair to Izuku. How was it the fault of Class 1-A that the Sports Festival had to be canceled due to safety reasons? They weren't the ones who made the decision, it was Principal Nezu and the rest of the UA staff. All that Class 1-A had to do with it was how they were attacked by villains who were aiming to kill, and in fact killed five students in 1-A. They were at no fault here, and yet more or less the rest of the student body have been taking to treating 1-A like pariahs.
When Izuku first noticed signs like this two school days after the memorial assembly, he had immediately brought it up to Kan-sensei. The pro hero Vlad King looked like he felt something like this was possible, and thanked Izuku for bringing it to his attention. Shortly after that, UA teachers have been taking to keeping an eye out for other students harassing 1-A, and a few students from older years have already been punished with detention for what was essentially bullying 1-A.
When Izuku saw one of the older students raise a fist towards Kaminari, he rushed over to the scene, making the older student take pause. Izuku actually used a bit of Full Cowling to rush over, showing rudimentary mastery of what he's been able to get down about his quirk thus far. "Hey!" the green haired boy snapped at the older students, "What did these guys do to warrant any violence?"
"Back off, Deku!" Bakugo snarled, annoyed that Izuku decided to 'come to his rescue' from the looks of it, "We can handle our own business!" The explosive teen was especially pissed because he was now seeing that the useless nerd in front of him very clearly had a quirk. Bakugo was going to be demanding answers out of Deku for this later, but for now the extras from an older year class had to be dealt with as quickly as possible.
Speaking of the older students, the one who was about to punch Kaminari looked questioningly at Izuku. "...Hey, you don't look like any of the wimps in 1-A who got the Sports Festival cancelled. Who are you and what class are you from?"
"Izuku Midoriya," the green haired boy replied in a firm tone, "Class 1-B."
"Then why aren't you joining us?" a second male student asked, "Those weak crybabies in 1-A ruined everything for the rest of us here at UA!"
"How exactly did 1-A 'ruin everything for the rest of us', as you've so colorfully put it?" Izuku asked, "By being attacked by villains in a location that they were told was supposed to be safe for them? By seeing five of their own getting killed that day?"
The first older student scoffed. "If it was our class, we'd of whumped those villains in next to flat, and with no casualties!"
"Given that you guys are clearly from an older class, maybe," Izuku remarked dryly, "But 1-A is a class of first year students. First year students who had only one week of education under their belts at the time that they were attacked at the USJ. How can anyone fairly expect them to come out of something like the villain attack on the USJ without a scratch to show for it?"
The second older student was about to speak up, but Sekijiro's familiar voice called out, "Oi! Are you boys harassing the first years?!" The students all turned to see the Blood Hero himself come walking over to where they were gathered. Following along behind Sekijiro was Hizashi and Ryo. To Bakugo and the other boys from 1-A, Sekijiro said, "You four, go on along now to whatever your next class is. Hizashi, Ryo, and I will take over here."
"Sure thing, sir," Sero said, glad that the heat was taken off of him and his friends. The four boys from 1-A left, although Bakugo scoffed in annoyance a little as he left. Seeing the teachers handle the older students made Izuku feel relieved, although Sekijiro did say he needed a word from Izuku about why he was involved.
...
"So you merely rushed over when you saw some of Aizawa's boys being harassed by the older students," Sekijiro summed up when Izuku told him everything in private, "And was only trying to tell the older students off over how they were acting."
Izuku nodded once in the affirmative. "Yes."
Sekijiro let out a breath through his nose. "Even when you aren't in the field, you try to be a hero. No wonder All Might took a shine to you." Sekijiro arched a wry eyebrow, cracked a small smile. "So, how are things going with that Gran Torino fellow that All Might had recommended you to?"
The green haired boy smiled a bit. "Oh, he helped me figure out a way to use my quirk safely, although I can only use a tiny percentage of it right now. Five percent, really."
"Well a little progress is still progress," Sekijiro replied, glad to see that Izuku has made a notable bit of progress in wrangling his quirk to be under control. Knowing Aizawa, he'd scoff in annoyance over how Izuku 'is progressing so slowly', but the Blood Hero knew each student grew and became better than they started off as at their own rates. Sekijiro did not expect any of his students to be instant experts with their respective quirks, especially given certain quirk control laws that had been in place since before even most members of the UA staff were born.
Patting Izuku on the shoulder, Sekijiro said, "Well do me a favor during your training under Gran Torino, and try to get that percentage up a bit more, ehh? At least have it up to seven percent by the time the internships normally would start."
Izuku smiled, appreciative of the support from his teacher. "I'll do my best, Kan-sensei!" Izuku replied, right before Sekijiro sent him off to class. After Izuku was gone, Sekijiro stretched a bit. He needed to go see how Hizashi and Ryo were dealing with the older students who they caught trying to harass some of Aizawa's boys, and by extension Izuku who came to the rescue of the boys by telling off the older students.
Also, Sekijiro wanted to rub it in Aizawa's face that Izuku has made some progress in getting a handle on his quirk. Any student can be great if their teacher is willing to go the distance for them, and Izuku in that regard is no different.
The next day that Izuku was training under him, Gran Torino was watching the local news as he and Izuku were taking a break. "In local news," the news anchor said, "Tartarus inmate and former pro hero Lady Nagant has been transferred out of Tartarus and to another villain prison."
"That crazy girl's been transferred out of Tartarus?!" Gran Torino said, turning to look at the TV and even turning the volume up.
"No word yet on which prison Lady Nagant has been transferred to," the news anchor went on, "Although there is speculation that it's Helheim, a villain prison comparable to Tartarus. Helheim is located in Michigan in the United States, and is run by an American pro hero known as the Viking Hero Asgardian. We'll bring more on this story as it develops."
Since the news switched to talking about the weather forecast, Gran Torino turned the volume down low enough to talk comfortably over it to Izuku. "I actually heard a bit about Lady Nagant," Izuku said to Gran Torino, catching his attention. "She was one of Japan's greatest heroes," Izuku went on, "And a sharpshooter who even Snipe-sensei over at UA couldn't beat in a contest of skill. Then one day she had snapped and killed a high ranking member of the Hero Public Safety Commission."
"Chances are that there's more to the case than what meets the eye, my boy," Gran Torino remarked, "Given that a big wig in the HPSC was Nagant's victim. Those guys who run the pro hero business here in Japan... I bet you that everyone who works in the HPSC who has a truly clean nose can be counted with just the digits on one hand. You might even have a spare digit or two after that."
Izuku looked mildly concerned at what the older pro hero was saying. "...The HPSC can't be that bad, Gran Torino. ...Can they?"
...
"...Oh," Nagant said as she was talking to the League of Villains in their bar hideout, after their successful scheme not only liberated her from Tartarus, but did so right under the noses of the high and mighty Tartarus prison guards. "...Oh, the HPSC really is that bad, Toga," Nagant said as she spoke to the blonde girl and a shorter girl with red hair in very long twin pigtails, although Nagant was focusing on the blonde girl mainly.
The blonde girl, now identified as Toga, pouted in mild annoyance. "Wow, and here I was thinking that they would be the big chief good guys, given that they are basically the bosses of all of the pro heroes in Japan."
"Makes groups composed entirely of straight up actual villains look more or less saint-like by comparison," a dapperly dressed gentleman with a high collared cape remarked from where he sat at a bar with a cup of tea. Turning his attention to Nagant, the man said, "Our own group included."
Nagant let out a huff of wry amusement at her situation. "They claim that those like us are villains, and yet all you need to do to prove how damn hypocritical they are is to do a little digging."
"I myself can see that," Dabi remarked, "I got a beef with a particularly bad seed that was allowed to grow by the HPSC. A seed who bloomed into a steaming pile of cowpie." Dabi glanced in the direction of the laptop that the boss of the League of Villains speaks from. "...Although I did hear that said bad seed had been pruned recently. Pretty amusing stuff."
"And you'll be able to pull the rest of the weed that had been allowed by the HPSC to bloom in due time, my dear Dabi," the voice from the laptop replied, "But that must wait. In addition to the puzzle I am working on for you having ten out of twelve pieces now, you still need more members here in the League to back you up."
Dabi began counting off of his fingers. "Well counting me and Kurogiri, I also got Spinner, Toga, Rappa, Gentle, La Brava, and now Nagant. That's eight, and we're pretty solid now."
"But there is always safety in numbers," Spinner spoke up, "A few more members wouldn't hurt."
"Too true, my dear Spinner," the voice from the laptop remarked, "But recruiting the greater numbers might take time. You'll have to be very opportunistic."
"If I may," spoke up the short girl with long red pigtails.
Dabi turned to regard the girl. "Go on, La Brava."
Nodding in thanks, the now identified La Brava went on, "Why not try to use the reputation of the Hero Killer to bring more to our cause?"
Spinner looked like he immediately latched onto the idea. "Oh! His actions have helped inspire others fighting against the rampant gross actions of the pro hero saturated society, myself included in those numbers. Imagine if we're able to even swing him to join us!"
"Tracking down the Hero Killer may be a tall order," replied Kurogiri, "The last I heard, he was looking like he was taking his crusade to Hosu."
"Once we learn of where to find him," the voice from the laptop began, "We'll invite him to talk about joining us. A man of his skill and experience would be an invaluable asset to the League."
Dabi hummed in amusement. "I fail to see how things can go wrong for us at this point."
The following morning at an undisclosed airport, All Might and a few officers were standing by as an airplane from the United States landed down. Less an actual airplane and more a private plane, the officers and the Symbol of Peace waited for the plane to come to a stop. A wheeled staircase was rolled up to the door before it opened, and walking out of the plane was a fair skinned woman roughly as tall and muscular as All Might himself.
This woman also had her long blonde hair styled into multiple lengths resembling the two tufts that shot up from All Might's hair. Finally, the woman wore a pro hero costume that simply screamed United States of America, given how much it resembles the American flag what with all of the red, white, and blue. The woman, upon spotting All Might, gave off a huge grin as she more or less ran right over to him, throwing her comparatively strong arms around his shoulders to drag him straight into a mighty bear hug.
"It's been ages, All Might!" the woman said, "You should have called me over to help out with what problems you had sooner!"
"I'm glad to see that you're doing well, Cathleen," All Might replied, "Sorry again that I ended up calling you over on your vacation."
The powerful looking woman, identified as Cathleen, merely gave the front of All Might's right shoulder a light, playful smack. "No need to sweat it, All Might," Cathleen replied, "Given how much I owe to you, it's the least I can do. Also, it helps that I was planning to vacation in Japan anyway. A good thing I'm fluent in Japanese, huh?"
Gesturing towards the police cruisers parked in the landing area of the airport, Naomasa said, "If you'll follow us to the station where we can discuss the plan of action regarding the villain that All Might called you about." Cathleen nodded in agreement before following All Might, Naomasa, and the others to the police escort.
...
Once at the police station, Naomasa and All Might were able to begin talking to Cathleen. Given that it was private and both Naomasa and Cathleen were in on and kept the secret, All Might turned off his quirk and deflated to his true form of Toshinori Yagi, so as to conserve One For All for later use. "Here's is a picture of the villain who got away from the USJ attack," Toshinori said as he slid a photo over to Cathleen, "Neither I nor the police have his name, so we've taken to identifying him as 'the mist villain'."
Cathleen scowled a bit. "I wish that you guys had a proper name for him. I would be able to use my quirk on him in that case and bring him down in next to flat."
"If the other pro heroes and the HPSC were willing to talk with the police," Naomasa began, "Then we'd be better prepped for dealing with tracking down and capturing the mist villain. The HPSC is, as per usual, being rather tight-lipped about things. For instance, there's still no word yet on the conditions of three well known pro heroes here in Japan who were recently admitted to a hospital, aside from how said heroes are confirmed to be alive."
Toshinori nodded in agreement. "I also get the feeling that some of my co-workers over at UA also have some valuable information that they're withholding from me as well as from the police."
"UA!" Cathleen remarked, "That's Japan's top hero academy! I didn't know you taught there now!"
Toshinori nodded in confirmation. "I only started this year. Also, to be kind of honest, I'm teaching there mainly because my successor was admitted as a student this year."
"You've chosen a successor, ehh?" Cathleen asked, "Well I would like to meet the boy or girl at some point, after I beat the mist villain into prison for you of course."
The Symbol of Peace nodded in thanks. "It's a boy. Izuku Midoriya. And I have no doubt it'd do him a world of good to meet with you, Cathleen." Truly, there is untold potential for good for Izuku if he got to meet with Cathleen here.
As Toshinori and Naomasa continued to discuss things with Cathleen, an there was a knock at the door leading into the room they were in. Toshinori instantly puffed up into his buff All Might form before the door was opened by Naomasa, revealing a chubby but cute secretary woman who worked at the Police Station. "Detective Naomasa," the secretary said, "I was sent to inform you that the mist villain who was seen fleeing the USJ attack a little over a week ago was spotted in the area of the downtown shopping district."
"Where exactly?" Naomasa asked as All Might and especially Cathleen came to attention.
"In some alleyways behind shops and restaurants," the secretary replied, "That's all that I was given, and no further details were provided to he-"
The secretary was cut off when Cathleen rushed out, saying, "I'll take it from here!" Before Naomasa or All Might could stop her, Cathleen had already rushed off.
Naomasa looked a bit worried as he saw what many he heard in the station call 'a lady All Might' rush off. "...Will she be okay?"
"Naomasa, I'm just as worried as you are that she ran off without much planning," All Might replied, "But keep in mind that this IS Cathleen. She's the number one hero over in the United States of America, like how I'm the number one hero here in Japan. She's more than powerful enough to give that terrible mist villain a good smashing, even though she's going in without a real plan." The Symbol of Peace looked on in the direction that Cathleen rushed off in. "...I say that we put our faith in Cathleen's might."
Later that late afternoon to early evening, Cathleen was soaring above the rooftops in the downtown shopping district, hopping from rooftop to rooftop as she kept an eye out for any sort of unsavory activity in the alleyways below. She scanned everything like a hawk, discerning whether or not the mist villain from the USJ was anywhere nearby or not. Given what little she got on the mist villain, she knew that he had to be captured and brought in.
His actions led to five hero course first years (plus the pro hero Thirteen, but Cathleen was honestly more upset about the students) from UA getting killed. That's all the excuse Cathleen felt she needed to smash the mist villain into oblivion, the fact he needed to be brought in and questioned on what all he knew being the only reason that she isn't planning to actually smash him that hard.
As she leapt and soared from rooftop to rooftop, she eventually spotted a tendril of black, wispy smoke in one of the alleyways. The number one hero in the USA smirked to herself in amusement as she zeroed in on that wisp. "...Got you, you child murderer."
...
Kurogiri was fleeing for dear life as a large muscular woman he didn't recognize was now rushing after him through the alleyways of the downtown shopping district while he was looking for new potential members to help bolster the numbers of the League of Villains. They weren't yet quite ready to try to approach the Hero Killer to offer him a spot, but the master told him that they would soon be ready for that.
The misty man wished that the Hero Killer was here, because he could if anything distract this lady All Might wannabe from chasing after him. Given he had enough distance, Kurogiri proceeded to use an ear communication device to contact his master. "Sir, bad news," Kurogiri said, "I'm being chased by a large and muscular woman who looks like an All Might wannabe. She-"
"-Has an American flag themed costume and her long blonde hair is in eight tufts similar to the two that All Might himself has?" the voice of Kurogiri's master, the same voice that usually comes from the laptop in the bar, replied.
Kurogiri looked surprised. "...How did you-"
"Lure her to where Dabi and his group are located," the master replied, "Warn all of them to under no circumstances use their real names when confronting that woman. She's Star and Stripe, the USA's number one pro hero. This is incredibly risky, especially since I'm still in the process of trying to get our power back up in the wake of losing my dear Tomura and seeing all of his minions from the USJ attack getting arrested."
The mist villain, even though the master didn't see him, nodded in understanding. "...But if this risk ends up paying off for us," the master's voice went on, "Then defeating even All Might will be but child's play for us." Kurogiri's eyes widened a bit out of surprise, given that his master was saying that All Might, a person that even the master normally showed at least some caution for, would be easy for them to take down. Could this Star and Stripe woman really be that valuable?
He didn't have time to think about what his master was potentially planning as he barely avoided a smashing punch from Star and Stripe who was close behind him. All Kurogiri had to do was rush to an open area in the alleyways where Dabi and some of the others were waiting for him to show up with any potential new recruits into the League of Villains.
Kurogiri hoped that their numbers, plus the warning that the master told him to give them, would be enough to let them at least deal some damage to the lady All Might wannabe behind him.
...
Dabi was waiting around with Spinner, Rappa, and Gentle as they waited for Kurogiri to show up with potential new recruits for the League of Villains. They weren't too worried about it if a recruit ended up being feisty, given that Kurogiri said that he'd bring potential recruits in one at a time, meaning they can simply overwhelm a lone recruit in a four versus one fight. Also, they had Nagant waiting hidden somewhere around them, her already being poised to snipe said recruits if they try to pull off anything funny.
Dabi cracked his neck a bit. "Hey boys, when do you think Kurogiri will get here with the first recruit?" asked Dabi.
"I don't know," Spinner said, "But I'm hoping that we'll get someone with a healing quirk of some kind. It'd suck if one of us was forced to sit out of action for a bit due to needing time to heal after a mission or fight gone wrong."
Gentle nodded in agreement. "Indeed. At best, only a few of us total have any first aid skills. Those won't mean too much if we're forced to fight a powerful enemy-"
"Try to capture her alive!" Kurogiri's voice shouted, clearly in at least something of a panic, as he unknowingly cut Gentle off in what he was saying when the misty villain rushed into the area that all of the guys were waiting in. "Avoid using your real names as much as possible!" Kurogiri added as he rushed past Dabi, giving him some cover as Dabi and the others saw Star and Stripe enter where they were hiding.
The American number one hero arched a wry eyebrow. "...I heard the mist man shout at you guys to avoid using your real names. So he's got some idea of how my quirk works. And I'd certainly like to see all of you try to capture me!"
The reactions of Dabi and the others were all varied; Dabi arched a wry eyebrow out of piqued curiosity, Rappa seemed excited to face a clearly powerful foe, Gentle looked mildly alarmed, and Spinner looked VERY alarmed. "Who the hell is this big buff blonde lady who looks like she tried and failed to cosplay as All Might?!" Spinner exclaimed, "I'm getting vibes from her that she might be as tough of a challenge as the real deal!"
"Real deal or not, I don't care!" Rappa declared, "She looks like she'll put up one hell of an awesome fight, so I want first dibs at fighting her!"
Dabi was quickly assessing the situation, keeping in mind Kurogiri's warning. "...Think you can grapple her from the front?" Dabi asked, "I want her back exposed for a clear shot." Speaking loudly, Dabi added, "And remember! I want to capture her alive!"
"Like hell you villains will be able to capture the likes of me!" Cathleen declared as she proceeded to rush at Dabi, given that he seemed like the leader here. But Rappa rushed in to intercept her, which told the American number one hero that this fight was going to be trickier than she would like.
END, CHAPTER SEVEN
Author's notes;
This chapter sees things continuing for the UA students, particularly Izuku who more or less started his internship already. But a lot of other things are going on, stemming mainly from a lack of communication between parties. UA is withholding what they know about the League of Villains, the HPSC is withholding more details on the current states of the still-hospitalized Endeavor, Ryukyu, and Mt. Lady, and All Might and his buds in the Police are withholding the fact they had invited America's number one hero to help track down the mist villain.
All of this withholding of information from each other was done intentionally by the respective parties; they chose to keep what they know to themselves. This will end up backfiring horrifically on all of them, although how that will happen will become more apparent as the story progresses.