InfinityMask - In all honesty, it's hard for me to figure out a system that would be less... smart than what Japan has in canon.
Guest - You'd be surprised about wholesome the reception of it was both here an AO3.
Detrametal - Yeah, it's the type of jokes that you aren't sure if they are so good because they are so good or if they are so good because they are so bad. Also villains getting shot in US are unfortunate until you realize that some people like Muscular could singlehandedly annihilate entire town, and we all know that some towns in the US are pretty separate from each other. Sometimes, I'm afraid, bad guys getting shot is a good thing.
SmokyGhould - Doing my best ;)
Raw666 - The reception of them is kinda wholesome, but I get that it's not for everyone :P
RenegadePizza - I'm a terminal worldbuilder writing fanfics for a universe that basically doesn't have worldbuilding. Naturally, sometimes I just need to write something like that :P Also, cool nickname.
Darkpaladin89 - It does, doesn't it? Villains having a point or two makes most stories much more interesting.
DonPelayo - That was explicitly written as a teaser of another story I'm considering writing :P That meeting in Nedzu's office, I mean.
(***)
1-A Chatroom
ZapZap: Okay, so
ZapZap: A quick question
ZapZap: what
SugarRush: this
Riot: this
AcidParty: this
Tentacle: ^
OmletteDuFromage: ceci
ChibiZawa: What are you talking about?
ChibiZawa: wait
Mindhack: HIMIKO STOP STEALING MY PHONE AND CHANGING MY NICKNAMES
Vampire: *leans in*
Vampire: *whispers into ear*
Vampire: no
Froppy: *frog emoji*
CreativeSpirit: I have one counterquestion
CreativeSpirit: Did Midoriya Izuku just overthrow the government?
CreativeSpirit: Because if the answer is yes, then I wish to communicate that I'm extremely angry.
GravityGirl: Yaomomo are you angry because he did that or because he didn't tell you that he's planning to do that
CreativeSpirit: yes
CreativeSpirit: and also because I'm seriously worried that Neito will try to overthrow a government as well to not get outmatched by us, '1-A plebeians'.
GravityGirl: …
GravityGirl: I wanted to say something like 'Nedzu won't let him do that' but then I realized that it's Nedzu.
GravityGirl: Now I'm worried as well.
GravityGirl: Wait, are there any more major branches of government that the Principal has a death grudge against?
ZapZap: Principal has a what?
CreativeSpirit: Principal Nedzu had a personal grudge against the HPSC president.
CreativeSpirit: I believe that's an understatement, but I find it hard to describe the true depth of their mutual malice without swearing.
GravityGirl: I think that 'murderboner' is a better way of describing that if what I heard from Izuku is any indication.
GravityGirl: They apparently insulted each other with literally every sentence when they for some reason met or phoned each other over something.
GravityGirl: Principal Nedzu once started a meeting with her with 'Hello there, you abominable witch that has somehow missed an appointment with a stake' and ended with 'Please don't forget to criminally prosecute your parents for repeatedly tossing you in the air and then consistently forgetting to catch you before you hit the ground with your big, ugly head".
CreativeSpirit: …
Tentacle: well, that escalated quickly
LeadSinger: woah
ZapZap: PFFFFT
ZapZap: WE NEED THE RECORDINGS OF THEIR MEETINGS PUBLISHED
ZapZap: FOR THE GREATER GOOD OF THE ART OF INSULTING PEOPLE IN OUR BEAUTIFUL LANGUAGE
ZapZap: wait do you think that if we ask him he'll give us tips about provoking villains with words
ZapZap: sounds like an useful way of making them not stick to their combat plans and instead attacking you directly like dumbasses
LeadSinger: why
LeadSinger: why do I think that this is a good idea
LeadSinger: you aren't supposed to have good ideas
ZapZap: oof
ZapZap: What about my conspiracy theory channel?
LeadSinger: oh god the list is growing
LeadSinger: stop challenging my established worldview
ZapZap: no
GaleForce: So, I have one question. Are the two people mentioned as victims of Thunderbolt Toga and Shinsou?
GravityGirl: wait he can write capital letters?
Froppy: He DMed me the message without capital letters and I sent it back so that he could copy it here.
GravityGirl: … why
Froppy: Do not question it.
Froppy: Embrace the chaos.
Froppy: Ribbit.
GravityGirl: right
CreativeSpirit: I think that the evidence is pointing that way but unless they decide to come forward and admit, it's really insensitive to dig.
Vampire: It's alright!
Vampire: Also, yeah.
Vampire: It's us.
Vampire: And honestly seeing ClassPresident make an intimidating monologue in front of three heroes, including the Number Three Hero, about ruining their careers for what they were doing to us was one of the most beautiful sights in my life.
Vampire: And probably one of the sexiest ngl
Froppy: …
GravityGirl: …
CreativeSpirit: I think that I can imagine that
GravityGirl: uhm
CrustyfacetheHandyman: Could you please stop constantly thirsting over my sort-of-cousin sort-of-brother, even I'm growing tired of that at this point
CrustyfacetheHandyman: …
Decay: Toga you're so goddamn dead
Vampire: errr
Vampire: mistakes were made
Vampire: Hitoshi save me
Mindhack: *leans in*
Mindhack: *whispers into an ear*
Mindhack: no
Vampire: I WAS BETRAYED
Vampire: NOOOOO
Vampire: also Decay stop being a pain in the ass you don't even have a girlfriend or a boyfriend nor any interest in any of that
Decay: I have a girlfriend.
Vampire: what
Decay: she is beautiful, she is kind, she has a fluffy wolf tail and fluffy wolf ears and is objectively the most wonderful woman in the world
Decay: I just need to save her from whatever dungeon or a tower she is currently imprisoned in and probably defeat her father in a bossfight to obtain the right to marry her (unless I'll pick right dialogue choices to get someone else to do it for me)
Vampire: weeb, she isn't real
Vampire: 2D doesn't count
Decay: I'm going to screenshot that convo to laugh in your face in the future.
Vampire: ?
GravityGirl: I'm so confused
AcidParty: … same
AcidParty: I mean jokes aside I'm kind of super pissed right now?
AcidParty: I didn't expect so many HEROES to be goddamn bullies in hiding
AcidParty: what the excuse me *censored*
Riot: Same
Riot: Extremely unmanly
Riot: Okay except for the whole Hawks whistleblowing things because doing that tbh required balls
Riot: except for, you know the other things he has done
Riot: wait how is Tokoyami taking it, he was interning with Hawks a while ago
ZooCapitalist: bad
Riot: in more words?
ZooCapitalist: very bad
Riot: oh
Vampire: okay guess I'm gonna go try to cheer him up a little
ZooCapitalist: the Dreadful One and the Smiling One are in his room rn
Vampire: Praise Aiko \ (o_o) /
Froppy: Praise Eri \ (O_O) /
Mindhack: ah yes new god for our class
Vampire: still going there tho
Decay: now I know where to find you
Vampire: uhm
Decay: I'll commit murder once you'll be going back from his room I guess
BoomBoom: *censored* me
BoomBoom: Crunchyface learned empathy
Decay: you're the last *censored* person to call me out on that
CreativeSpirit: I think that we're all going to need a moment or two to… you know… emotionally process it.
CreativeSpirit: Hearing about past cases of corruption in the business is one thing, seeing a scandal of this scale blowing up in OUR country…
CreativeSpirit: I myself am very unsure of what to think about this.
CreativeSpirit: I mean, I know that a lot of heroes were there to stop them, including most of the Top Heroes, but…
CreativeSpirit: It still left a bad taste in my mouth.
AcidParty: Not just yours.
GravityGirl: Guess that we just have to be better than that!
GravityGirl: Be the change you want to see and all of that!
Froppy: *ribbit of approval*
GaleForce: hotblooded af
GaleForce: yes
Riot: MANLY
GravityGirl: uhm
GravityGirl: I mean
GravityGirl: *blushes*
GravityGirl: I think that it might be a good thing that it happened tbh
CreativeSpirit: Hmm?
GravityGirl: Imagine that you graduated without knowing all of that
GravityGirl: Someone might have approached you telling you that hero X is doing something bad and you wouldn't believe them because no way heroes are doing that
GravityGirl: But with all of that behind you, you'll at least check and that might save lives
GravityGirl: I think that it's kind of what the Hero Killer Stain was trying to do, actually? Show the people that heroes are just normal humans and can be meanies in disguise?
CreativeSpirit: I guess
CreativeSpirit: I didn't think about it earlier, but now that you put it that way, it sounds about right
CreativeSpirit: We were idolizing heroes a bit too much, didn't we? I mean, a lot of them are great people.
CreativeSpirit: but
CreativeSpirit: still people, right?
LeadSinger: yeah
LeadSinger: I think that we all just need a while to process it tbh, which is probably why so many people are either offline or online but aren't writing anything
LeadSinger: also wait
LeadSinger: Why is ClassPresident not writing anything
LeadSinger: Did Himiko's 'sexiest ngl' knock him out or what
Quickie: This is unlikely.
Quickie: …
TurboMan: When did you even do that?
Vampire: uhm
Vampire: surprise?
TurboMan: Anyways
TurboMan: I have a theory.
TurboMan: It has a lot to do with him and Uraraka disappearing together that evening when the HPSC was destroyed.
Froppy: …
GravityGirl: uhm
TurboMan: When I said 'hello' to him the next morning he replied 'so soft', being clearly dazed and unaware of where he was.
TurboMan: I saw him this morning and I think that he relapsed into that state. Again.
TurboMan: And now that I said something that will potentially cause an explosion in this chatroom, I'll quickly vanish without elaborating on the theory in question, in order to avoid getting thrown into the sun by Uraraka.
TurboMan: Have fun.
Froppy: …
CreativeSpirit: …
Vampire: …
GravityGirl: I plead the Fifth!
CreativeSpirit: This isn't America.
GravityGirl: Only until I ask Izuku to ask Star and Stripe to change that.
(***)
"D-do you think that the new teacher will be as scary as the last one?" One of her classmates asks.
Mawata Fuwa smiles back. Deep inside, there is nothing but relief.
"I don't think that they can find anyone scarier." She replies. The person that asked was a complex mutant of the beetle kind - he looked quite scary, but deep inside was a large softie. Reassuring him was the heroic thing to do.
"There is a reason why he was supposedly told to leave less than a few weeks after joining the faculty." Momoko replies, the class second complex mutant, this type one of the dog brand. "He was… a bit too much."
"Y-yeah." One of their classmates mumbles in the background. "I-I'll never see metal cups the same way ever again."
Everyone in the vicinity shivers in unison. They're all waiting in their class for their new quirkless combat teacher to arrive. The traumatic flashbacks to the teachings' of Norio-sensei are a legion.
"H-he had a point though." Daichi (the beetle-boy) says. When the eyes converge on him, he quickly throws out more words. "I-I mean it w-was a b-bit too much, but he had a p-point with… you know what."
"Hate to admit it, but he ain't wrong." Momoko comments.
(***)
Few weeks ago
"Not 'heroic'?" Norio-sensei looks down on the student in front of him. "You say that the fighting style that I'm teaching you isn't 'heroic'?"
Most of the students in the class are agreeing with the student in question. All of said students are clearly happy to not be the ones to call their new teacher on that. What he was teaching them… it was dirty.
Not even martial arts. Or, at least, not just martial arts. A solid chunk of his teachings included using pretty much everything as a weapon. From a combat knife to a broken glass bottle. With your own teeth and nails somewhere in the middle.
It was less 'how to incapacitate your enemy' and more like 'how to beat the enemy to the verge of death without getting past it'.
The student clearly calculates his survival chances. Then decided that he had already gone too far. And can only double down on that and hope for the best. So he nods.
"You're right." The teacher then announces. What he gets in answer is a lot of shocked stares.
He then sighs. He doesn't even look shocked or irritated by the 'attack'. That's, honestly, a new one.
"Look, kids." Their teacher says. "Using your quirks for everything is all nice, cool, flashy and so on. Heroic, even. And if you'll manage to get through your entire career doing just that, it'll probably be the best. Some heroes that I know of manage to do that."
For as much as they are scared of him (especially after their 'combat introduction', how the hell was he so strong if he wasn't even a hero?!), there is something in him that makes you sit still and listen to him when he talks like that.
"But you can't be sure of that." Norio continues. "One day, something might go wrong. Something probably will go wrong. You might end up separated from the other heroes during a raid. You might be the first responder to a villain attack, with only you between them and a bunch of scared people. You might be forced to fight a villain whose quirk just happens to be a perfect counter to yours. What are you going to do then?"
Silence. Some of the students look at each other questioningly, but no one voices a reply.
"Then you're either going to use whatever trick you have in your book to keep yourself and civilians alive or someone's going to die." The teacher continues, clearly not expecting any answer from them. "When you're in a pinch in a dark alleyway and the nearest hero is several minutes away, there is no such thing as a 'heroic' or 'villainous' method of fighting. The fact that using a broken bottle or a broken street post to keep someone with a death-touch quirk at a distance isn't 'heroic' enough will be the last thing for you to worry about."
Some of them that had an occasion to see darker parts of the society during their internships appear to have been arriving at the destination. At least, that's what Stain is clearly reading off their faces.
"Feel free to completely disregard my teachings until you end up in a situation like that." He decides to finish the short lecture. "In fact, I'd advise you to do that. But if I hear that you were cornered and tried to fight 'heroically' and someone died because of that, you better flee the country because otherwise I'm going to find you and put a fear of God in you."
(***)
Now
"Especially with what happened… with what almost happened to Yukiko yesterday." Momoko says, suddenly looking like she bit a sour lemon.
"Wait, what happened to her?" Fuwa suddenly springs back to life. "She got a few days leave after something happened during her internship, but no one is telling us any details." Momoko was her best friend, so it made sense that she knew.
They tried asking around, but all that they heard back was that she was given a few days to recuperate and that she was going to return after that. Yukiko was always a bit of a loner (except for Momoko), and she was clearly taking a leave from the class social media, so the rest of the class was woefully underinformed.
"Ugh." Momoko clearly doesn't like that. "One of Norio-sensei's 'situations' happened. Her agency was raiding some drug den and encountered heavier resistance than expected. She was apparently separated from her team and two druggies jumped at her. One of them had some strengthening quirk and pinned her to the ground, hard to say what they were planning to do but probably nothing good. If not, you know what."
Now Fuwa is staring at her in horror, and she isn't the only person around them to do that.
"But Norio's training kicked in." Momoko continues. "She bit off two fingers of that guy, grabbed an empty bottle lying on the floor while he was distracted and then slammed it into the side of his head. The other guy fled after that, the one she hit still didn't wake up but the doctors say that he should. Her agency and UA gave her a few days to recover from the whole thing."
"Holy shit." One of the other students that was listening to the talk pipes in. "Guess we owe an apology to Mr. Scarecrow, huh?"
"Yeah, no shit." Fuwa admits. "That plus some proper welcome back party for when she comes back. Something to cheer her up. Any ideas on how to do it so that it works?"
"I think that I might have a few ide…" Momoka tries to reply, but that's when Nedzu walks into the class.
"Hello there, my dear students!" The Principal announces after climbing on the desk. "Am I a mouse? Am I a bear? Well, I'm certainly your Principal!"
If he expected someone to smile or laugh after that introduction, he was probably disappointed. But he didn't show any of it. It's not the first time they all heard it, and honestly, it's pretty boring.
"I came to announce that due to … reasons, Norio Takaki is no longer your teacher." Nedzu speaks officially. "I'm sure that you all deeply regret that fact, as I'm sure that you've learned a lot from him during the past few weeks."
A lot of students shiver. A lot look slightly horrified by the suggestion that they somehow enjoyed that 'torture'. But quite a lot look actually rather emotionally confused at the moment, especially those that just heard what happened to Yukiko.
"However, I have already managed to find a suitable replacement for you!" Nedzu announces, with a bright smile on his face. "I'm sure that you all heard about all the… unfortunate things that happened to the Hero Commission recently."
The 'unfortunate' is spoken with a tone that makes it rather clear that Nedzu doesn't consider them to be unfortunate at all. The grudge between their principal and the HPSC president wasn't something public, but at this point they all heard the gossip.
Why the hell were UA' first years so well informed?! And why did all attempts to ask led to various variations on 'the Dreaded Aiko/the Great Young One has graced us with her transcendental/divine knowledge'?! Do they even want to know?
"The government has already agreed upon the amnesty for many members of the Vigilante Alliance involved in said event." Nedzu continues. "They are far from earning their hero licenses, of course, as not enough time passed for the government to organize the separate hero license exams for them to earn those. However due to the nature of their organization they tend to possess intimate knowledge of hand-to-hand combat. Especially the… meanier forms of it. Which, I believe, will greatly complement Mr. Norio's teachings."
Oh, great. They'll have more of that. Well, it makes sense. And, as stated, they just started to reevaluate said teachings. They don't want to have to employ them, of course, but… as Aizawa liked to say, no good hero is a one-trick pony. And said teachings sounded like a whole bag of tricks.
"However!" Nedzu says, with a worryingly delighted smile on his face. "No 'simple' vigilante would befit a school such as the UA! Thus, I have decided to obtain someone truly special. And, I believe, I have succeeded in that. Let me introduce to you, the new instructor of quirkless combat: Akaguro Chizome. Known previously as the Hero Killer Stain!"
They don't have the time necessary to process their shock fully before it gets multiplied. Because the person that enters the class is no one else than Norio Takaki. Except, uglier. Because he lacks a nose (was that a very convincing prosthetic the whole time?!).
"Sup, kiddos." Stain smiles widely. "If someone asks, I'm Norio's uglier cousin. So, where exactly did he leave the whole training at? I have so many ideas to implement."
This time everyone in the room shivers. Even the students surrounding Momoka. Except for Nedzu, of course. Because Mr. Principal looks like he is busy enjoying the look of horror on the two-legs in front of him.
Then again, he probably does.
(***)
"It occurs to me…" Sir Nighteye announces, while raising his head from the stack of documents that he was busy looking through a moment ago. "... that I might have located Overhaul's hideout."
Midoriya almost drops the cup of tea.
"A-Are you sure?" He isn't one to doubt his newest mentor/uncle, but… Overhaul was extremely sneaky thus far, and for as much as he wasn't playing in the same league as Sir Nighteye, he was very close to it. "I mean, I don't doubt you or anything, but…"
Sir Nighteye sighs. Yes. Trying to fix his newest student's anxiety is… probably best left to Hound Dog. And Uraraka Ochaco. After some conversations with Inko Midoriya, Mirai Sasaki realized that the situation was MUCH worse not long ago.
He is doing his best to support that process, but… it's a struggle.
"I've been tracking some 'disappearing' medical equipment." Sir Nighteye replies. "Quite a lot of it, entirely illegal, going into one place. A complex of buildings deep in Nabu Mountains, that no one seems to own. It's either Overhaul or Doctor Garaki."
The fact that they only know that Doctor Garaki exists thanks to the Midoriya's and Tenko Shimura's statement post-Kamino is actually rather sad. So many years of fighting All for One, and yet, they didn't even learn of his favorite mad scientist.
All for One was extremely good in that game, unfortunately.
"Why do you think that it's Overhaul then?" Midoriya asks back. Yeah, a good question.
"Because a significant part of what's disappearing appears to be… let's say… 'bloody' in theme." Sir Nighteye replies. "And the rest seems to be something that could be used to produce a gas weapon."
"Overhaul." Midoriya agrees. Yeah, that clearly sounds like it. "What now?"
"Considering the fact that the Paranormal Liberation Front has been designated a triple S-Ranked villainous organization…" Sir Nighteye says. "... we're free to requisition pretty much every hero and police force asset in the country, at our own leisure. Or even call the GSDF in. We know where they are, now it's time to prepare the hammer that we're going to drop on them. Plus, of course…" He adds. "...try to figure out what exactly we are dealing with."
(***)
"No one is saying anything openly…" Skeptic says. "... not on their private phones. But what we've picked up suggests a sudden spike in activity surrounding Sir Nighteye's agency."
"So, it looks like he has found the clues we left for him." Re-Destro leans back on his seat. They'll know for sure if Sir Nighteye reaches out to one of his… former acquaintances. "Continue monitoring their comms. Contact our friends among the heroes that they might be asked to participate in a secret operation by Sir Nighteye, and that if it happens, they are supposed to say yes. We need boots on the ground for this."
"What about Slidin'Go?" Skeptic asks back.
"If they don't ask for him, we'll be in a bit of trouble." Re-Destro admits. "But I suspect that they will do that. He is dangerous in close quarters, and once they realize how deeply Overhaul dug in, they'll know that they need him. For now, as stated, continue to monitor them"
Then he sighs painfully.
"I'll call Garaki first thing in the morning." He doesn't exactly enjoy those calls, but… "This time this won't end like Kamino."
(***)
Well, if that ain't ominous.
Also, there is something in the Nedzu & Stain Student Torture Duo that puts a smile on my face. I mean, it's for their own good, right? Right?
On the other hand, you'd be surprised how serious Stain is going to be about teaching his students. Then again, he's the sort of guy who takes everything Up to Eleven. So, whew, we're all super happy that Midoriya set him on a slightly straighter path (also if someone asks, Stendhal is long dead, nothing to see here guys).
This chapter is also a bit... meaningful when you compare him to Exiting the Stage's backstory. When students started having similar doubts as Mina and Yaoyorozu seem to have in this chapter, Uraraka was no longer there. Very few people liked the end result of that, tbh.