Chapter 3...IS HERE! I've been spending time writing the new start for Quirk-Less, sorry. This chapter, we get introduced to the rest of the Avengers!
Disclaimer: I do not own Avengers Academy, or My Hero Academia.
With our heroes passing the Entrance Exams, They now will attend the greatest school for Pro Heroes, U.A! There, they will begin the adventure to become Pro Heroes themselves.
But will any of them make it to see the second day of attendance, with an eccentric teacher like Eraserhead?
Chapter 3: Beginner's Luck
T'Challa made sure to hide his anxiety. This was the first time he ever attended a public Japanese school, or any school for that matter. But he was here; The very first day of the Hero Course in U.A!
T'Challa never really went to any schools in Wakanda either, due to his status as prince. It was upsetting and obnoxious that he wasn't allowed to act his age at all.
The prince made his way, reaching his new classroom, Class 1-A. T'Challa wanted to arrive early to avoid drawing unwanted attention, but unfortunately, it appeared that another student had beat him to the punch.
"Greetings, good morning classmates," the student declared, "I am Tenya Iida, from the Somei Private Academy."
"I wonder...what this Iida behaves like." Thought T'Challa. The prince introduced himself, "I am T'Challa, Prince of Wakanda. I was home-schooled along with my younger sister until now." He said formally. Iida appeared to be unshaken by the statement, "I see, if you need any help, feel fre..." He trailed off as he realized, "Wait! T'Challa, as in the next Black Panther!?"
"Indeed, I am to take my father's place as king and Black Panther."
Iida regained his composure, "I hope we both excel at this astonishing institution of learning."
"That went...strangely well, I believe. I believe he is also of nobility in some way." T'Challa thought to himself.
Later...
Students began to enter the classroom as time progressed. One student, with messy blonde hair, had almost instantly became identified to T'Challa as the asshole of the group. The blonde kid almost instantly got into a fight with Iida about etiquette when he entered the room. A girl with short, dark hair and two audio plugs hanging from her ears entered. T'Challa was intrigued and almost asked her how she kept them from getting tangled, but quickly suppressed the thought due to his etiquette. Tony and his companion, Rhodey, both entered the classroom. Several people recognized them as they went to their seats, mobbing Tony by showering him with admiration.
Soon, Steve entered alongside Sam, Sam hadn't removed his flight goggles, and Steve wore a gear belt which had a pouch hanging on his right thigh. They new-coming duo noticed Tony and Rhodey, "Hey everyone!" Greeted Steve. Introductions were cut short as a pale-skinned boy who wore his blazer, but not his shirt loudly declared, "HI GUYS!" throughout the room.
Iida quickly shifted his attention from the delinquent boy to the newcomer, "Where is your shirt!?" He demanded. The boy looked down, realizing his was shirtless, "Oh man!" He shouted. his face flushed bright red as he tried to button up and cover his exposed torso. Tony chuckled at the comedic exploit. A caucasian boy wearing glasses, and really red shoes outlined with white jogged into the room, "Am I late!? Am I on time!?" He panicked. Some students laughed, while Iida tried to reprimand them for laughing at the two newcomers' exploits.
T'Challa greeted the classroom, "Hello. I am T'Challa, Prince of Wakanda, pleased to make your acquaintance." He said with a bow. Some students "oohed" and "aahed" at the sight of the prince.
Several last arrivals were made, the very last being Izuku Midoriya. The boy was last place on the leader-board, but had one of the highest scores of Rescue Points. People were almost in full swing of chatter about how the boy somehow managed to bring down the 0-point Arena Trap in a single punch. Tony's interested was peaked at the mention of such a story.
But the attention given to Izuku by the class was interrupted when a strange, messy, homeless person sipping a packet of applesauce and enveloped in a sleeping bag had entered the room. Tony was very intrigued on how that man managed to stand up straight in a sleeping bag. The homeless man-apparently named Mr. Aizawa-introduced himself as a teacher, despite the obvious skepticism filling the room.
The teacher held up gym uniforms as he ordered in a bored, monotone voice, "I know this is sudden..but put these on and go outside."
Tony quickly changed out of his school uniform, but kept wearing his gloves and boots. The locker room held strange people. The panicky-glasses kid (as Tony nick-named him for now) was currently climbing on the walls and ceiling while he changed. The shirtless kid put on his pants, but somehow forgot to put on his shirt, again. Steve's uniform barely fit him, due to his unnaturally incredible physique. T'Challa's uniform somehow seemed...much more refined that everyone else's clothes.
"A Quirk assessment test," Said Aizawa, "You've never been allowed to use your Quirks in physical exams before." It didn't even take a second for Tony to work out where the teacher was going with this.
"The country's still using averages from test results not using Quirks. They're not allowing those with power to excel, being completely irrational about equality. Bakugo, your results were...eye-opening. In junior high, what was your best on the softball throw?"
Bakugo answered with no hesitation, "67 meters."
"Then try it using your Quirk."
Bakugo stepped up to the baseball base, ball in hand. "You can do whatever you want, as long as you stay in the circle." Aizawa instructed, "Hurry up, show us what you got."
Bakugo rolled his arm back for the pitch. His face turned scary as he hurled the ball, "DIE!" He roared. A massive, fireball explosion propelled the ball, sending it flying. Aizawa spoke, "Know your own maximum first. That's the most rational way to form the foundation of a hero." He raised a device up for the class to see. The device showed the ball's distance, being 705 meters.
This took everyone aback.
Then, everyone got anxious, being allowed to use their Quirks in a practical test for the first time. "It looks fun, huh?" Aizawa said mockingly. "You have three years to become a hero. Will you be able to keep that attitude the whole time? All right then, Whoever comes in last place in all eight tests will be judged as hopeless, and sent home."
Everyone's demeanor of excitement turned to fear.
"We're free to do what we want with the circumstances of out students. Welcome to U.A's Hero Course!" Said Aizawa as he made a scary smiling face.
"Last place gets expelled?"
"But it's only the first day of school!"
"Even if it wasn't the first day, this is too unfair!"
Tony broke through the illusion Aizawa set, "Don't listen to him, he'd be more serious if he wanted to expel someone." Aizawa smile dropped as Tony began to explain what he was trying to do. "If I could, I'd expel you right now." He said to Tony. Rhodey whispered to the class what was going on, "Stark Industries helps fund U.A, it'd be unwise to expel Tony. If he does, Stark Industries could pull the plug on U.A." The class understood.
T'Challa finally figured Stark out. Since Tony's company helped fund the school, he believed that U.A was his playground. Tony was very ignorant, taking risky gambits like now would only cause more and more problems later on. Or was the heir putting on some sort of facade? No time to think about that.
"Natural disasters, big accidents, and selfish villains. Calamities whose time or place can't be placed or predicted. Japan is covered in unfairness. Heroes are the ones who reverse those situations. If you thought you could go talk with your friends at Mickey D's after school, too bad for you. Because for the next 3 years, U.A. will do all it can to give you one hardship after another. You gotta overcome those hardships with all you got."
Test #1: The 50-meter dash
Aizawa wasn't about to let Tony have his way completely. And so, forbade the heir from using his propulsion systems.
Everyone else already used their Quirks to their advantage. The shirtless kid simply jumped across the lane. Heck, even Rhodey got a decent 6 seconds. Midoriya came close behind at 7 seconds. Sam, too, had made it in 7 seconds.
Tony was paired with T'Challa, which easily made for a humiliating match-up. T'Challa had gotten 5 seconds, just behind Steve's record of 4. Tony, who really wasn't athletic at all, was dead last, out of breath, and with a time of 12 seconds. He hoped no one noticed.
Test #2: Grip Strength
Tony had built his gloves to lift several tons with general ease. Although that would help, it certainly wouldn't keep him out of last place. He really had to find a way to even his odds. The armors both he and Rhodey had could magnify the user's strength. But Tony wasn't as strong as Rhodey, in fact, he was definitely weaker. And his pride wouldn't let him go down like this.
Tony began to fiddle with his grip, quickly pulling out a custom multi-tool. He made a grin and giggled as he looked around to make sure no one was watching...
"Aizawa, I'm done." Tony said casually as he handed his grip to the teacher. "About time, Stark-!" Aizawa gasped as he saw the measurement, which was 9999.99 kilograms, although he knew what really happened, he was in shock at how no one saw him mess with the grip.
"Cut the crap, kid." Aizawa said angrily, "I know for a fact that you tampered with this!"
Tony said with a mocking innocence, "But you said we 'could use any asset at our disposal to enhance our overall performances', besides, you never set any sort of limits to what I was able to do this time."
Aizawa's anger at Tony dissolved to heartfelt concern. "I know you want to be a hero, but I've read your file. You don't belong here, even with your friend," He said as he gestured to Rhodey, "I'll pass you this once, since you put in the effort to try and surpass everyone else. But remember, you're Quirk-less, you're at a much bigger risk than anyone else, even if you've got some fancy gear."
Tony retorted, "Just 'cause I'm Quirk-less doesn't mean I'm some helpless kid! And don't you dare try to think otherwise, and I'll prove it!"
"Then it looks like I'll have to find something more challenging...that is, if you can handle it."
Test #3: Standing Long Jump
Tony was finally allowed to use his jet boots for once. He bent forward, his boots audibly charged up as he leaned forward. He jumped, firing off only quick bursts from his boots.
It was really his unlucky day.
He angled his feet the wrong way, and wound up performing a front flip, landing on his back.
Some kids laughed, other kids, including Rhodey, offered to help Tony get up. He refused, getting up on his own. It was obvious his pride was taking a beating, taking one fail after another.
He had to do something, and quick. The only time he passed was because Aizawa pitied him. At this rate, he was going to be last.
Test #4: Repeated Side-steps
Complete, absolute, utter fail. Tony tried to fire his glove repulsors to compensate. This, unfortunately, left his shoulders in a sorry state. He fired them off without any sort of shock absorption. And almost pushed his arms into the sides of his torso.
Test #5: Softball Toss
This was one of Tony's few remaining chances to not get last. The shirtless kid, whom he'd only found out now was Amadeus Cho, was currently holding the ball toss record. Glasses kid, who was really named Peter Parker, held 5th place. Parker was behind T'Challa, Steve, and Bakugo.
Well, that was a lie, Amadeus didn't exactly hold the record, he and a girl somehow got infinity. Fortunately for Amadeus, he got so angry that he hurled the ball into space, making him tied with the girl.
"So I can do anything I want as long I stay in this circle?"
"Just don't push it." Said Aizawa.
"Awright then!" Declared Stark, "Watch closely kids! This is how you play ball back in the good ol' U.S of A!" Tony raised his arm in the air, and leaned back, preparing to take his biggest gambit yet.
Unlike before, he currently had his helmet on. If he wanted to make this one count for something, he couldn't risk eyeballing it.
He chucked the baseball as hard as he possibly could, firing off a repulsor burst to help launch the ball. He quickly looked up, setting his HUD to target the ball. Then the ball finally began to descend.
"Well, here goes everything!"
He raised his armored arm, aiming right for the ball. He fired a continuous, concussive beam to help gain distance. The ball jolted, changing course at a 90 degree angle. The ball began to go farther than anyone, even Tony, would've thought.
Aizawa looked down at his phone, "Well now...704.9 meters, I admit it, good job."
Tony took a long breath in, he'd actually managed to not come in last place. Or did he?
He realized he was still in the hot seat as he heard, "Midoriya, you're up!" Called Aizawa, handing the boy a ball.
"Oh fuuu...If he makes this, I'll be last! Best case scenario; he flops. But that's the kid who got in on Rescue Points alone!" Panic raced through Tony's mind, this last kid still had a shot of one-upping Tony if he could get past Tony's score.
Tony noticed Midoriya had a look of terror on his face; the kid was definitely trying to hide something.
Midoriya prepared to pitch, his arm pulled back, extended as far as possible. He then pushed forward, his throwing arm aglow with strange lines. Everyone felt the immense suspense and tension. Midoriya threw the ball as hard as he could muster. Tony knew it was over for him; Midoriya would get a higher score, and Tony would be dead last. And so, the heir shut his eyes in shame, knowing his dream would be short-lived.
"46 meters."
Tony opened his eyes in confusion. Midoriya looked down at the palm of his hand, it was obvious he was expecting more than that dismal display.
Aizawa cleared the confusion amongst the class, "I erased your Quirk," his hair began to float, his eyes turned red, and his scarf began to unravel from his neck, "That Entrance Exam definitely wasn't rational enough. They even accepted a kid like you."
It hit Tony at that moment who Aizawa really was.
"A person like you shouldn't even be allowed to enroll at schools like this." Tony knew that Aizawa wasn't just talking about Midoriya. Even if he was being called "the next Iron Man" he knew that he'd have to earn it.
"Shoulda said something earlier, Eraserhead," Tony muttered to himself, "I almost didn't figure it out."
Aizawa continued, "From What I can tell, you can't control your Quirk, can you? You want to break your body again? Thinking that someone's gonna save your useless body or something?"
"Th-that's not what I was trying to-!" Midoriya was cut short as Aizawa's scarf snatched him, and pulled him closer.
"Even if you weren't trying to, that's what everyone around you will be forced to do. There was a very passionate hero in the past. He saved millions of lives all by himself, and then became a legend. Even if you have the same reckless valor, you're useless if all you can do is throw one punch!"
The next choice of words shot Midoriya through the heart one way or another, "Izuku Midoriya, with your power, you can't become a hero."
Aizawa's scarf retracted and returned to rest on his shoulders, his hair dropped, signifying something. Tony presumed that's when Eraserhead's Quirk stopped. "I've returned your Quirk. I'm giving you a second chance at the ball toss. So hurry up and get it over with."
Tony knew there was something he can do. "Wait, I got an idea!" He declared as he raced past Aizawa, and stopped right next to Midoriya. The heir then began to whisper into Midoriya's ear.
Everyone, including Rhodey, was confused at what the boy genius was trying to pull. "If I read correctly," Stated Eraserhead, "Stark's what they call a 'Super Genius'. Whatever he's got in mind, he definitely knows what he's doing."
Tony finished whispering to Midoriya, "Remember, it's basic physics! Energy's gotta go somewhere!" He said as he jogged back to the class. The infinity girl went up to him and asked, "Um, what'd you say to him?"
"Oh, you're about to find out what...in practice."
Izuku's face looked determined once more as he extended his arm out. Without any warning, he hurled the ball with all his might. The ball took off at near impossible speeds. Everyone dropped their jaws as they watched the ball disappear into the sky.
Tony's helmet began to process the calculations of the speed. The ball broke the sound barrier!
Tony opened the faceplate, "Okay...I knew something would happen, I didn't know he had that much power!"
The ball finally hit the ground. "705.3 meters."
Everyone looked at Midoriya, he was definitely in pain. He clenched his fist, revealing that one of his fingers were quite injured. "Mr. Aizawa," Midoriya challenged, "I can still move!"
Aizawa himself had a grin on his face, albeit was very terrifying to look at.
Tony was currently calculating the distance if Midoriya used more than one finger. Blissful to the fact that Midoriya pretty much threw him under the bus. The other students began to voice their reactions and opinions on the incident.
Trophy asshole, as Tony nicknamed him, broke from the line of students. "TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON, DEKU, YOU BASTARD!" He roared with a frightening look on his face. Aizawa's scarf snapped, snatching Bakugo by the head, and under his arm. "What the-? These cloths are hard..!" Bakugo slowly twisted his body to turn and face Aizawa.
Tony's eyes narrowed at the scarf, trying to remember where he saw the mysterious item before. He blinked as the memory hit him, "Waitaminute. I remember that gizmo! The scarf was built as a capture weapon from carbon fiber woven together with-what was it again?" He digressed as he tried to remember, "Anyway, the scarf's built-to-last, I remember developing the targeting system for that old thing."
Everyone stopped, a child built a capture weapon that was practically inescapable? Aizawa tried steering the conversation back, "Quit using your Quirk already, you're giving me dry-eye."
Since tension were relatively calm, Tony decided to explain what happened, "Well. It's basic physics; energy has to go somewhere. Since Midoriya's Quirk looks like it uses energy, all he had to do was...well...that."
All eyes were on Tony as he explained Deku's throw. How did this kid know so much?! Some would assume he passed the exam on science alone. They still hadn't seen his Quirk yet, unless of course those laser beams were? maybe not.
"Whatever," Said Eraserhead, "Whoever's up next, go."
Midoriya tiptoed away from Bakugo in fear. Infinity girl had walked up to "Deku" to ensure his well-being.
Test #6: Sit-ups
Tony was absolutely pathetic compared to everyone else. Even a small kid with purple balls for hair somehow managed to do more sit-ups than him. Rhodey got 38, T'Challa got 44, Amadeus got 45, Steve got 80, Sam got 33. Tony fought hard, but dropped out at 27. Tony hated being the weakest, everyone was always looking down on him.
It made Tony feel helpless.
Sure, he had the greatest, most powerful tool of them all; a brain, a smart one at that. But this was physical, not mental exercise. And unless he had any, at least one Quirk, he just couldn't keep up.
He did not want to be pitied, it was the worst feeling in the world. Everyone would think that he'd be at risk, telling him he couldn't be a hero, or telling him he was putting himself at risk. It got him riled up every time someone pitied him that he was weak.
Test #7: Seated toe-touch
The worst fail.
Test #8: Long-distance run
Tony was in the back of the pack, far behind it, to be exact. He was tired out from the other tests, but he wasn't going to give out now. He was wheezing, sweating, and panting heavily. Rhodey turned his head to see Tony in such a sorry state, as did Steve. "He's not gonna get far enough! But he's not quitting, keep it rolling!" Thought Steve. Rhodey called to Tony, "C'mon Tony! PUSH!"
Tony was starting to slow down, he felt like he couldn't go on anymore.
Rhodey was beginning to worry, at this rate, Tony would be screwed. He had to go back and help his best friend.
But before Rhodey could turn around, Tony started to run at level-best speed. He was screaming, sweating, wheezing, and breaking down all at once. But showed no signs of stopping. In fact, Tony was speeding up! His struggling body was pushing beyond its limits to catch-up to the rest of the group.
Tony suddenly began to pass almost the entire group. His eyes closed, he was squeamish to be sure.
Everyone jogged and watched in awe as Tony clumsily and desparatly sped past them. In fact, he almost caught up with the with the lead! Steve noticed this and began to cheer, "Come on! Hustle, hustle!" Tony began to move faster and faster.
For a moment, it seemed like Tony was going to pass everyone. But only for a moment.
Tony just couldn't keep up anymore, he hadn't done this sort of thing as a kid, and now it came back to haunt him. Tony stumbled, and fell to the ground. He wound up in a tumble as he rolled to a stop, completely exhausted. He left himself a sweating, panting, weak mess on the ground.
But Rhodey, nor Steve would let this continue.
Rhodey broke from his path, running to help Tony get up. Steve, too, had veered off to assist. The two quickly placed Tony's arms on their shoulders, and jogged back to the group. "No man left behind!" Declared Steve. Tony would've retorted, but was too tired to do so.
Aizawa looked from a distance, smiling. Tony had given it all he could, definitely putting more effort than most. It was obvious everyone else outclassed him easily. Aizawa knew he shouldn't go easy on Tony, but all the effort was worth merit. And so, decided to let Tony getting assistance slide, after all, he was the weakest link of the chain.
When Tony recovered, he tried to convince everyone the help wasn't necessary, despite the fact that everyone saw him collapse. And so, Class 1-A all grouped up before Aizawa, ready to see the results.
"Okay," Said the teacher, "I'll quickly tell you the results. The total is simply the marks you got from each test. It'd be a waste of time to tell each of you your scores, so I'll show you all at once. And, the person with the lowest score unfortunately, won't be expelled." Everyone knew why he changed his mind, as Tony had already shattered Aizawa's illusion.
Aizawa made a mental note and vowed to find a way to troll Tony back.
In 1st, was Amadeus Cho, 2nd went to Steve, 3rd went to Peter, 4th went to T'Challa, Rhodey came in 19th, Sam was in 23th. Many more names Tony hadn't even the faintest clue on how to pronounce. After a long list, everyone finally saw who was in last place.
Midoriya got 26th, Tony got 27th.
"By the way," Aizawa piped up, "I do have the power to expel you on the first day. But I wasn't going to, even though I can." Everyone looked at him in confusion, "It was a rational deception to help you draw out the upper-limits on your Quirks. But if someone would've kept their mouth shut, it would've been more effective." Glaring at Tony with pent-up rage.
Everyone began to voice their reactions, relaxed and happy that Tony shot through Aizawa's grip of fear. Aizawa concluded, "With that, we're done here. There're handouts with the curriculum and such in the classroom, so when you get back, look over them."
Aizawa then proceeded to walk off, stopping next to Midoriya to hand him a note, "Have the old lady fix you in the nurse's office. Tomorrow will be packed with more rigorous tests, prepare yourself." And exited the field.
Aizawa walked, and stopped when he heard someone whisper, "Aizawa, you big liar!" The teacher turned to his left, only to find All Might, wearing a formal set of clothes, yellow with vertical stripes. "All Might, so you were watching. Too much time on your hands?"
All Might dodged the question, "'A rational deception,' you said? April fools was last week! I've read your file, you punished a whole class of last year's first-years with expulsion. You cut those you judge to be without potential without hesitation. For a man like that to take back his words-That must be because you also felt the potential of that kid, right?"
"Also?" Challenged Aizawa, "You seem to be supporting him quite a bit. Is that how a teacher should be acting?" Aizawa then turned and began to walk off, "His potential was not 0, that's all it was. I will always cut those without potential."
All Might struck Aizawa's nerve with his next question, "Even Anthony Stark?"
Aizawa snapped around at the question, "The only reason he's still here is because his company funds helps fund this place, if he didn't, I'd have expelled him after the first test!" Before stomping off to continue his routine.
All Might was simply stunned. Sure, that was something Aizawa would say, but it was unsettling to hear.
Although Tony had finished the Mark III, he was already developing Mark IV. He had to get better, he had to be ready. He felt it was necessary to ready for anything. If he wasn't ready, he would most certainly not be able to get back on his feet.
T'Challa, whom always pondered what such an activity like school would be like, realized he had a long, long way to go if he was to be ready for the throne. His father had been a part of the Avengers, and did well working with others. If he was to be the next Black Panther, he had to have knowledge of accepting help when it is presented.
Rhodey, who always believed Tony could solve any problem, found that he was wrong. Tony wouldn't always have his armor to protect him. So, Rhodey vowed that he'd always be there to help his best friend, just like Tony did for him once.
Steve, whom had a heritage of a great hero, felt that he could've done better. He took up his great-granddad's shield, and knew that for a fact, he had to go a lot farther to be worthy of earning it.
Sam, who always wanted to fly like the birds, quickly began to work on improving his jetpack. He wanted to be a hero to people, just like the brave Sgt. Fury. But most of all, he wanted to fly. And had flap his wings harder to get off the ground.
Each of them all had some flaw to work on. But it would be long before any of them fix it.
Tony would fall.
Rhodey would fail.
Sam would crash.
Steve would fall short.
And T'Challa would be left alone.
A/N: Wow! The ending's a little nerve-wracking. I should fix that some day.
But first, some news!
Ratchet's journey chapter 2 is underway, and a story taking place in the same universe as that will be drafted soon. But one story I can tell you for sure is coming soon is The Traveler. The Traveler is a Doctor Who and Ancient Magus' Bride crossover.
I'm thinking of doing a prequel crossover to this story with MHA: Vigilantes. Who knows? Maybe I will!
Either way, I'm doing the best I can, leave a review, they're appreciated and show you care.
With that, I'm off, have a good time!