Sitting alone on a cliffside over a cave, the young boy Kota Izumi started thinking of the words from his aunt Mandalay.
"Trust me Kota, it will happen. You'll meet someone and finally understand why we do what we do. Someone who will risk their life, put others first."
Kota wiped his eyes, angrily eyeing the forest. "As if anyone like that really exists." That's when he noticed the fire in the distance, but unbeknownst to him, a villain was not too far away.
Also earlier, Aizawa is seen bringing his students to the remedial room where they would be taking extra lessons, not without the drama though, as he had his students wrapped up in his scarf.
"I wanted to face off against the other students," Mina whined.
"I wanted to team with a pretty girl in the forest," Mineta said.
"Some reward Pixie Bob promised, no fair," Kaminari said. "I wish Applejack were in charge."
"This close to tightening your binding," Aizawa warned as he led them into a building. "Tonight is about responding to emergencies, if you don't become more aware of your lack of progress, then you'll just get worse over time. So this chance to catch up is your reward."
"What a lame thing to say," Kaminari whined.
They opened the door to a room where Monama was waiting, "Oh my!? Who do we have here? Five of Class A's failures!? Meanwhile only one person from Class B failed!"
"Yeah! You! Freaking moron!" Kaminari shouted.
"What a pain," Mina whined. "Though he is a bit crazy, I'm starting to worry."
"At least he's not as dangerous as Howlett," Sato said. "Really don't want a part of that family for as long as I live."
"Vlad, I was thinking of practice manuvers," Aizawa suggested.
"Good idea, we should pair them up," Vlad King suggested.
Suddenly they all heard Mandalay's voice, "Everyone!"
"Mandalay's telepath?" Sero asked.
"Kind of weird that she could talk to us like this," Mina said.
"Well the guy who founded the X-Men can do this too, seems like a handy quirk," Sero said.
"Too bad it only works in one direction," Kaminari said.
"Be quiet a moment," Aizawa ordered as he listened to the cat hero.
"Two villains just attacked, more are probably coming," Mandalay said. "Everyone return to camp immediately, we're regrouping. Do not engage at all."
"I'll look after the other students," Aizawa said to Vlad King as he ran off. "Protect them!" He ran outside, seeing all the fire. "If it's a full scaled attack, we might be in a quandary."
"You're distracted," Dabi said, placing his hand near Aizawa and blasting him. "You pros need to lay off."
Back at the start of the path, two villains stood triumphantly over Pixie Bob. One villain, a lizard man dressed like Stain introduced the group. "How are you UA Students? We are of the Vanguard Action Squad of the League of Villains!"
"League of Villains? Again?" Oujiro asked.
"I might just crush this kitty's head," the other villain said. "Should I?"
"You get away from her!" Tiger warned.
"Hold on now Big Sis Mag, you too Tiger," The Lizard said.
"Wait is that a woman?" Remy wondered as he stared toward Magne.
"Remember we're abiding by Stain's principles if whether or not someone should live or die," the lizard man said.
"Wait Stain!?" Flurry asked. "That explains the outfit."
"So you're the creeps he ended up inspiring," Tenya said.
"At your service," the lizard man said. "Actually four eyes, I believe you're one of the brats who attacked Stain in Hosu. So let me introduce myself." He brought out a massive sword that looked compiled of various sharp objects. "Call me Spinner, I am going to make Stain's dream a reality!"
"Stain's that guy who attacked heroes right?" Remy asked. "Including you Flurry?"
"Yeah, he's a real monster, hides behind his villainous act with talks of justice," Flurry said.
"One of those philosophical types, like Magneto and Apocalypse huh?" Remy said, having his staff ready. "Just say the word Mandalay, I'll deal this poser a hand he can't come back from."
"I don't care who you are you criminals," Tiger said. "The woman lying there is called Pixie Bob, a pro who's saved many lives. She's doing her best to help these young heroes to be the best possible! She's looking for a mate but otherwise she's content!" Tiger unleashed his claws. "You have to right to cut a hero's happy life short!"
"It's not a hero's job to be happy!" Spinner sadistically insisted.
"Tiger, I relayed the message, let's trust the safety of the students to Ragdoll, the rest of us will stay here," Mandalay said, then turned to Tenya. "I'm putting you in charge Class Rep, don't engage with the villains."
"I'm on it," Tenya said then gestured to his class. "This way!"
"Wait! Go on without me!" Izuku said.
"Huh? What are you saying Midoriya?" Tenya asked.
"Mandalay!" Izuku called to the Cat Hero leader. "I know where Kota is!"
"Kota?" Remy remembered the boy, he knows he's somewhere out there. "Oh no..."
"I'll go save him!" Izuku activated his full cowling and ran off despite the protests.
"Dammit! Hold up Izuku!" Remy ran to pursue him. "Kid's fast!"
Suddenly a scream caught everyone's attention, right nearby Flurry was lifted off the ground by a villain with metallic wings.
"Flurry!" Applejack shouted in worry.
"Wait who's that!?" Oujiro asked.
Remy squinted his eyes, "Is that...Vulture!?"
Indeed the villain Adrian Toomes, better known as The Vulture had swooped in and grabbed Flurry. "I remember you, you're Spider-Man's niece. I was hoping to find his daughter but you'll make a nice ransom yourself!"
"You varmint! Give her back!" Applejack rushed in, ready to use her lasso but Spinner got in her way, slamming his sword down that she quickly dodged. This gave Vulture enough time to fly off. "NO!"
"I'll go save her!" Remy shouted, pursuing The Vulture. "Izuku will be fine! I hope. I just gotta save Flurry!"
"He's gonna need my help," Shoto said, readying his fire as he ran off. "Hold on!"
"Hey Mandalay just said not to engage the villains!" Applejack shouted. "Shoto!"
"Applejack, what should we do?" Tenya asked.
"You listen to Mandalay and get to camp!" Applejack ordered. "Remy, better act fast. Still if Vulture is here then who else is?"
"Let's go everyone," Tenya said, looking around. "Wait, where's Rina Howlett?"
Back in the forest, Kendo is still running through the mist, using her quirk to keep her two classmates safe from the mist. As she ran she heard her name called. "Kendo!"
"Tetsutetsu?" She turned to see the steel powered boy holding an unconscious Ibara Shoizaki. "And you have Ibara! But where'd you get those masks?"
"Yaoyorozu from Class A," Tetsutetsu explained. "Awase is taking her to the rest of her class so she can help them too, but I got a couple for you to use."
"Thanks," Kendo said, grabbing a mask for herself and her classmates. "We gotta get back to camp fast and get away from the villains."
"You do that if you want, I'm going to fight," Tetsutetsu said.
"Wait, you can't do that, we were given an order to retreat!" Kendo reminded.
"Look, you know how Monama annoys you because of how he rants on Class A?" Tetsutetsu asked. "Annoying as it might be, you know deep down he has a point. We all got into UA through the same exam, and we have the same curriculum, yet they're better for one reason. They've had their share of battles against real villains, so many chances to prove themselves."
"Where is this coming from?" Kendo asked. "Was it the Sports Festival?"
"It's beyond that, Class A is so much more gifted they got a bunch of well known pros to personally test their abilities," Tetsutetsu said. "Me and Kirishima both trained at Capsule Corp, we both went through hellish training with Vegeta, yet he was the one who got to test his power against Wolverine, something I can't say I nor anyone in our class can say we did, not even close. Besides, can we really call ourselves heroes if we ran from a fight against villains?"
"I understand but now isn't the time!" Kendo said.
"Then when is the time? Kendo we need to make the time right now!" Tetsutetsu said, activating his steel. "We're hero course students, this is our duty! And right now, I'm going to show those villains what we're made of!"
Elsewhere, Mandalay is again trying to reach out, this time to her nephew, "Kota! If you can hear my voice, please come back to camp! I can't get you right now. I don't know where you are, please forgive me! Just get back home!"
Meanwhile Kota is seen backing away from a hooded villain, "I came here for a good vantage point, and here I find someone not on the list. You got a nice hat though kid, wanna trade for this lame mask of mine? I had to wear it because I'm new, no shipment of the good ones." Kota just ran off crying in fear, the man jumping in front as his arm got covered in a type of muscle tissue, "Let's have a little fun here kid!"
Kota's eyes widened in fear once the villain's mask came off, recognizing him from a report he saw as a kid about the deaths of his parents. "No...it's you!" The villain indeed resembled the one he saw back when the reports revealed his face and explained a battle damage he received. This was indeed the villain that had killed his parents, the villain known as Muscular.
Just as the villain attacked, a green flash passed by and grabbed Kota out of the way, taking the hit for him. The flash being Izuku had fell hard, dropping his phone and tried to catch his breath.
"What are you doing here?" Kota asked.
The villain in question recognized Izuku, "Huh, I recognize you, yeah you're actually on the list."
"I didn't think there'd be a villain here, I just came to get Kota to safety," Izuku noticed his damaged phone. "Looks like I can't call for help. No one else knows where I went, except Gambit, he knows where Kota goes too. But I can't wait for him to come, I have to hold this villain off by myself for now." Izuku looked to Kota, the boy crying in fear. "It might be hard trying to stop this guy and protect Kota...no, I can't think that way! I gotta do this!" Izuku turned to Kota. "I promise I'll keep you safe. I will save you Kota!"
Meanwhile Mayday and Bakugo are walking through the gas filled forest, Mayday was carrying a 1-B student as she searched around. "Where could all this smoke have come from? I hope everyone's alright. We gotta trust that crazy Ragdoll girl."
"Why do I have to be stuck with you during...what the?" Bakugo looked ahead to see another villain standing nearby. "Hey, which group was in front of us again?"
"Fumikage and Mezo were in front..." Mayday said, looking a bit freaked out.
The villain was seen standing over an arm, "So tempting...no, I can't...I have work to do..." He turned around to face the two. "Must complete work..."
"...No fighting huh? Is that the rule?" A freaked out Bakugo asked.
"...Not a rule I want to follow right now..." Mayday admitted, looking very freaked out.
Back with Applejack, the Pussycats, Spinner and Magne, the groups looked ready to square off. Applejack seemed pretty confident though, "Three on two advantage, ah say we got this."
"Better learn to count," came a voice. Coming in from the shadows was another Spider-Man villain, Mac Gargan, better known as Scorpion.
"First Vulture now you?" Applejack asked. "Y'all really came all the way from New York just to find Spider-Man?"
"We were told his daughter was here, while the locals have their own goals, we just want a way to grab Spider-Man's attention," Scorpion said.
"Applejack, anything you can tell us about him," Mandalay asked.
"Watch out fer his tail, he has real poison that can kill us real quickly," Applejack warned.
Spinner rushed to attack again, this time going for Mandalay. "Fake heroes like you only care for your own glory! We'll extinguish you and restore order!"
Mandalay jumped aside, using her quirk to communicate with the villain before her, "Wow Spinner, you're cool for a villain, I'd totally date you!" Spinner stopped a moment, feeling a bit flustered by what he had heard. "Wow, you're actually blushing!?" She went for a strike but he had quickly attempted a counter, which she evaded.
"You dirty harlet, don't pull tricks like that!" Spinner shouted.
Mandalay was about to attack again but she was pulled over by Magne, who was ready to crush her, "Got you kitty!"
"You won't use the same trick twice!" Tiger shouted, punching Magne. "Kenji Hikashe, villain name Magne!" Tiger attempted a few more strikes. "Wanted for nine robberies, three deaths, and twenty nine other attempts at innocent lives!"
"Oh, am I famous!?" Magne asked, blocking a punch.
"Ah got you Tiger!" Applejack ran to help her ally but Scorpion rushed over, trying to sting her with his tail. "Did you already forget me?"
"Not that hard, you ain't the most memorable of Spidey's villains!" Applejack taunted. "Even Shocker's more interesting than you!"
"You've got quite the mouth you country hick!" Scorpion attempted another sting which Applejack cartwheeled away from.
"Tiger, Applejack, something's wrong!" Mandalay warned. "Ragdoll still hasn't replied! She's not one to ignore a report!"
"Oh my...wonder what happened to her?" Magne taunted, knowing full well the fate of the cat hero.
Back with Izuku, he was still facing off against villain he encountered, who had begun to power up.
"Don't tell me you believe you can save this little brat," Muscular had powered up more, his tissue getting more exposed. "I suppose that's something a wannabe hero would say, sprouting off about justice!"
"Say what you want, you won't intimidate me!" Izuku warned.
"Heh, good..." Muscular covered his other arm. "Your name's Midoriya rigt? We were told we could kill you. Right after some torment!" He rushed in to punch Izuku. "Let's see some blood!"
Izuku quickly bloked the punch, but got knocked back against the crater, causing him a deal of pain.
"No!" Kota shouted in worry.
"Aw, you hurt already?" Muscular taunted. "By the way, maybe you can help me out with something. Do you know where I can find a kid named Bakugo?"
"Kacchan?" Izuku wondered.
"I still have a job to do!" Muscular rushed in for a punch that Izuku dodged.
"What do they want with Kacchan?" Izuku wondered.
"From your silence, I take it you don't know," Muscular said, then rushed in to kick Izuku hard. "Time to play then!" Izuku hit the cliffside hard, falling to the ground as he began to bleed from his head. "Good, I was hoping for some blood! Hahaha! And you told that boy you would protect him! You stupid kid! Get your ass up, I'm not done with you!"
"His quirk is too strong, I gotta focus on the fight and not Kacchan," Izuku said, struggling to stand and rushed in to attack. "SMASH!"
He delivered his punch but Muscular blocked with little effort, "You're fast kid, but you're not strong enough to do damage."
"Try this then!" came a voice. From the shadows, Rina rushed in with her claws, about to strike. "Take this!"
Before she could get in close, Muscular had kicked Izuku aside and met Rina with a strong punch to her stomach, causing her to stumble back in pain, "Nice try kid, looks like I have yet another ametuer wannabe hero."
"Screw you!" Rina went for another swipe but Muscular kneed her in the stomach and knocked her toward Izuku, both kids falling over.
"That girl's here too now?" Kota grew even more concerned, seeing another student in danger.
"Looks like you got yourself a friend kid, not that it matters, neither one of you are that strong against me," Muscular taunted. "My quirk increases my power and speed exponentially, so my fibers can't even be contained in my skin!"
"So you're a grosser version of heroes like The Hulk then?" Rina asked.
"How cute, call it gross all you want, in the end neither one of you are in my league!" Muscular rushed in for a punch but Izuku pulled Rina away, dodging the blow. Unfortunately, a rock had hit Izuku in the face, knocking him off balance.
"You alright bud!?" Rina asked, before getting punched to the ground by Muscular.
"Ha! You're both helpless against me!" Muscular ran over to knee Izuku in the stomach as he fell to the ground. "That's for making promises you can't keep! If you're gonna give someone your word at least have the strength to back it up!" Muscular punctuated that statement with another punch
"I got you bud!" Rina rushed to help but Muscular punched her across the face, knocking her next to Izuku.
"You're both frauds, and you're gonna die that way!" Muscular said, then felt a pebble thrown at his head, courtesy of Kota.
"Remember Waterhose!?" Kota asked, the boy still in tears. "My mom and dad? Did you torment them like you're doing right now!?
"Wait, those losers were your parents?" Muscular asked. "This must be fate, since those Waterhose heroes are the reason I have an artificial eye in my left socket."
"This is all your fault! Because of people like you nothing is right in this stupid world!" Kota shouted in anger and sadness.
"Amazing how quick kids are to point out other people's faults," Muscular said. "Hey I didn't take them out because of the eye thing, I just wanted to wreak havoc on the world and those two wouldn't let me."
"Because that's against the law!" Rina shouted.
"Pfft, laws, you and your pitiful illusions of justice," Muscular taunted. "What happened between me and Waterhose was just a result of us doing our best. The only travesty is promising to do something you can't do, which is why your mommy and daddy died kid!"
Rina rushed in to attack but Muscular had grabbed her by her neck. Izuku used this as his chance to leap off a wall and punch Muscular in the jaw, knocking him back a little, "Get back!"
Muscular shook it off, barely feeling much, "Is that all you had kid? I told you your punches are weak! You really think you can win!?"
"I doesn't matter what I think! A hero's job is to do his best to turn his promises into a reality!" Izuku shouted. "That's why I made that promise, because I am going to FIGHT to keep it!"
"The hell are you babblng about!?" Muscular asked, genuinely confused.
"I got your back Izuku Midoriya," Rina said, getting into a stance. "Let's take this guy down!"
"If you don't mind, I need you to keep an eye on Kota!" Izuku said, powering up his arm, a ton of energy surrounding his body. "I'll end this now!"
"What's happening now!?" Muscular wondered as Izuku rushed in with a punch.
"One for All...ONE HUNDRED PERCENT!" Izuku hit Muscular with a powerful attack, creating a wind that nearly blew Kota away.
"I got you kid!" Rina said, pulling Kota in as she used her claws to keep herself attached to the ground.
Kota held onto the girl for dear life, despite not even knowing who she was. Well he saw her around camp but she never interacted with him. Once the wind died down he peeked to see if Izuku was around. "Is he..."
"Hey bud! You there?" Rina asked, before seeing Izuku step out of the smoke. "Oh good you're alright."
"No he's not..." Kota said, gesturing to Izuku's arm. "Look."
Rina turned to see that Izuku had destroyed his arm in that punch, worrying the girl a bit. "Reminds me of how badly he messed himself up after fighting Shoto Todoroki, guess he still doesn't have full control over his powers."
"Sorry for worrying you Kota," Izuku said, then turned to Rina. "I appreciate you coming too, but why did you come? And how did you find me?"
"Well you are my partner, even if we didn't do that walk through the woods I felt some obligation to check on you," Rina said. "So I followed your tracks while everyone else stayed behind to fight those villains. Plus knowing Mayday, she would want someone to make sure you're safe."
"Thanks for coming, but for now let's get Kota back to camp," Izuku said.
"Not so fast kid!" Came Muscular, the villain emerging from the rubble, much to Izuku's surprise.
"Impossible! I used 100 percent of my power! Like All Might would!" Izuku stood before Kota. "Stay back!"
"Gotta say, you're one impressive kid Midoriya, didn't know you had it in you," Muscular said, getting closer.
"He said back off bub!" Rina shouted, getting into a stance. "I swear I will tear apart your muscles one by one!"
"Wow that's violent for a hero to say, but I guess I shouldn't expect anything less from the daughter of Wolverine," Muscular said. "That's right, I know who you are, I was warned by The Brotherhood that you were among these UA students, some of them even offered a bounty on you. Me I'd do it for free, mostly to piss off your old man who tracked me down and attacked me a few years ago. Not gonna lie, thought he was gonna kill me, but fate was on my side that day."
"Your luck's run out, I'll finish what my old man started," Rina warned.
"Gotta do something quick! I don't think Rina Howlett can last long against him, neither can I with my arm like this." Izuku quickly thought of a way to stall. "What does the League of Villains want with us!?"
"I don't freaking know kid, I just wanted to raise some hell!" Muscular said. "I just want to use my quirk to my heart's content! Remember what I said earlier, we've just been playing around and having fun!" Muscular pulled something out his pocket. "But now the kiddie gloves are off, honestly you're pretty strong." He placed something in his eye. "I see that now."
"Midoriya! Get that boy out of here!" Rina said. "I'll hold this brute off!" She rushed in to attack just as Muscular wrapped the extra tissue around his arms. Izuku leapt off with Kota on his back as Rina rushed in to attack, Muscular throwing a punch that she desperately tried to block but it just knocked her off the cliff side.
"How did he get so strong!?" Izuku wondered. "It's like he received a power boost!"
Muscular quickly jumped at Izuku, throwing a punch that the boy was able to escape from, leaving his fist stuck on the cliffside. "Damn, got too excited!"
Izuku fell to the ground, trying to think of his next step, "I gotta get him back to camp, Mr. Aizawa could be there, then he can erase this guy's quirk." He tried to stand but he felt a bit exhausted. "Not good, I'm too tired from the training today. Plus if I run I'll be leaving Rina Howlett by herself, I can't risk that. I gotta fight him, just remember where I started and how far I've come!"
"Midoriya?" Kota said, getting the hero's attention.
"Don't worry about me, just run for it, I'll keep him busy!" Izuku reassured.
"Come on, it's useless!" Kota insisted. "Let's just run! It's not worth fighting that guy! Besides you're already hurt!"
"Don't worry, just run!" Izuku charged up his broken arm as Muscular went for another attack. "One for All...100 Percent! DETROIT SMASH!" Izuku landed his attack on Muscular, the villain using his exceeding fiber tissue to block the strike.
"Come on kid! That was even weaker than before!" Muscular shouted.
Izuku, in an immense amount of pain, refused to let up and let this villain continue his evil, "Kota! Run! QUICK!"
"Even now you're still looking after him, oh what a hero huh!?" Muscular taunted as he powered up some more.
"SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH!" Izuku shouted, trying harder to fend Muscular off, despite the surging and horrific pain coursing through his body.
Nearby Rina was climbing back up the cliff, seeing Muscular's assault on Izuku, the boy desperately fighting back. "Midoriya!"
Kota couldn't understand any of this, wonering why Izuku is going through great lengths to protect him. "Why is this happening!? Why is he killing himself to save me!?"
"Show me your blood!" Muscular shouted.
Izuku tried to fight back but his arm was getting weak, he was running out of power, "I'm sorry mom, I'm sorry All Might, I'm sorry to everyone who supported me..." He was close to being crushed. "I tried..."
"No! Izuku!" Rina called, rushing back onto the cliff. "I won't let you kill him! You big, dumb asshole!"
"Don't worry!" Muscular shouted at Rina "After him! You're next!" Suddenly he got splashed by water. "Where the hell did that come from?"
"Let him go!" Kota shouted, water stained on his hands. "NOW!"
"Kota...?" Izuku asked.
"Hey kid, you gotta be patient," Muscular said. "After I'm done with these brats, then I'll-"
"Bastard!" Rina rushed in and started clawing at Muscular's tissues. "Don't take your eyes off me!"
"That's it!" Muscular turned away to face Rina. "I was gonna wait but maybe I'll crush you-" Rina then sliced her claw against his face, damaging his other eye, the villain screaming in pain. "You little bitch! I'm gonna make your suffering last!"
"Just try!" Rina clawed him more, trying to knock him away from Izuku while tearing off all his muscle fiber bit by bit. "You think you can take me down!? I'm the daughter of Wolverine! The best in the damn world!" Rina jabbed both her claws into his abs. "Right now I'm in third place, I still have to surpass Big-Sis Laura before I can surpass my pops, but I'll get there, crushing you will be my next step toward that goal!"
"If you think you'll live long enough!" Muscular raised his arm up. "Then you're just a fool like these other wannabe heroes!"
"That so!? Take this then!" Rina jumped into the air as she powered up her psionic blades. "FATAL CLAW!" The force of the attack knocked away a bunch of the muscle fiber, but it still wasn't enough to bring Muscular down yet, though it did slightly stun him.
"HOW ARE YOU KIDS SO DAMN STRONG!?" Muscular shouted in disbelief.
"I'll handle this from here!" Izuku said, standing up and facing off against muscular as he powered up "ONE MILLION PERCENT!" He rushed in with a massive punch. "DELAWARE DETROIT SMASH!"
With his punch, Izuku knocked Muscular right into the side of the cliff, finally knocking the villain out and defeating him in battle. The boy fell back a bit, his arm still in pain.
"Izuku!" Rina rushed on to check on him. "Hey, you alright bud?"
"I'm fine, don't worry," Izuku said, trying to play it tough.
"Christ Almighty, that was one powerful attack, reminds me of All Might," Rina said. "Mayday said you were a fan but, wow, you're a bigger fan than I thought."
"You did great too, thanks Howlett..." Izuku said.
"Just call me Rina, uh can I call you Izuku?" Rina asked.
"If you want, or you can call me Deku..." Izuku said. "That is going to be my hero name."
"Deku huh? Don't know what it means, but I like the sound of that," Rina said.
Kota still couldn't believe what he had seen, these two kids risked their lives to save him, one of them he was mean to and the other he barely even knew. It was then he remembered the words of his aunt.
"Kota, your parents, The Waterhose Heroes. It's true they left you behind, but they saved so many lives in their sacrifice. You'll understand that someday. You'll understand someday why we do this."
"Why?" Kota asked. "Why did you risk your lives?" The boy wiped his tears. "You don't even know me, why did you try to save me?"
"Because kid..." Rina said, helping Izuku to his feet. "That's what heroes do. We save people, it's what we do best. It's what your friend Deku here does best."
Kota was still teary, the boy wiping his eyes. Rina's explanation was so simple, yet it spoke volumes. "A hero...My hero."