Chapter 4: To Make Friends (and Enemies)
"You're saying an assassin was paid to attack your school?"
After their chaotic day of dodging media attacks and killer assassins, Karasuma and Irina went to the apartment of the two U.A. students to get the full story. They sat in the kitchen area, nursing the coffee Shinsou provided them.
"That's what Grip said," the brainwasher replied, shrugging. "I thought it was weird myself. I mean, why pay an assassin to do such a showy crime? It's typically a villain's job, not a professional killer."
"Takaoka hired Grip on the island to basically do the same thing," Midoriya noted. "We credited that to Takaoka not paying attention to who he was paying to do his dirty work. Think it could be the same thing?"
Irina scowled. "Doubt it. Takaoka hired Grip as a bodyguard instead of an assassin. Whoever is behind this hired Grip as an assassin to act as a showboat."
The pause that followed was interrupted by a cell phone going off, making everyone in the room tense. Karasuma scowled, pulled out his phone, and sighed when he saw who was calling. He passed it over to Irina. "Could you handle this?"
"Your cousin? Again?" the blonde agent commented wryly, but took the phone and walked to another room for privacy. The two students cocked their heads, intrigued — Nakamura mentioned Karasuma was having family issues with a nephew and a cousin — but their attention was redirected by Karasuma clearing his throat.
"You think he was hired to make a statement," Shinsou said. It wasn't a question.
Karasuma pursed his lips. "I think that we're living in a very tense time right now. People are more afraid of assassins than ever before. Whoever hired Grip knew that; knew that he would be unnaturally feared and could easily make opponents submit without effort. What really concerns me is that he targeted U.A. of all places. It makes me wonder: was he trying to make a statement about heroes? Or was he trying to send a message to END?"
The room froze. "What...What kind of message?" Midoriya asked.
"Who knows," Karasuma shrugged. "That they know you're there, that they're watching you. Maybe they were trying to test your strength, see if you're really everything the world makes you out to be. See if you're really a threat."
The guess only made the atmosphere that much more uncomfortable. Shinsou chugged his coffee like it was an alcohol shot. "And why," he wondered. "Do they need to know if we're a threat?"
-.-.-.-
"C'mon, Amanai, you walked right into that."
The long-necked girl, currently sprawled on the floor, groaned deeply after getting thrown by Nakamura. They were three days into the fight club training, and Hitoshi was genuinely surprised by how well they were all progressing. Granted, everyone still got their asses handed to them without any END agent breaking a sweat, but it was clear they were improving slowly. Just yesterday, Sakurai was able to hit the target all on his own, no brainwashing needed. It was a very proud moment for everyone.
The linguist leaned down to help Amanai off the floor. "This is so embarrassing," she muttered. "I didn't know it was possible to eat this much mat."
Mimura laughed. "Hey, it happens to the best of us. But if you want to become really good, even when you get knocked to the floor, you can still attack from down there. Maybe even better than you could while standing up."
"What do you mean?" quizzed Yamaguchi.
"Well, from the position she landed in, she could've easily swept Nak — I mean, Agent English's feet out from under her," explained Kimura. "From there, it's just a matter of getting up first and pinning your opponent down for good."
"Ohhh," the students working on hand-to-hand breathed, soaking the instruction up like sponges.
"Don't forget you can also use your quirk," Karma said, appearing out of nowhere. All of the 1-C students visibly flinched at his presence. While they were slowly getting used to the rest of E-class, the END commander still justifiably freaked them out. "There's no sense in hiding your best blade in a fight like the Sports Festival."
Hitoshi rolled his eyes. "That's very hypocritical coming from you."
The red-haired boy smirked arrogantly, not even bothered by the jab. "Whoever said my quirk was my best blade?"
"Alright, you two, stop interrupting my lesson," Nakamura snapped, and the two boys held their hands up in surrender and returned to observing the other's training.
Chiba, Hayami, and Sugino were teaching sharpshooting lessons with items other than guns, given they wouldn't be able to carry their weapons into the arena. Terasaka kidnapped anyone with a mutation or physical quirk and was in the process of inducting them in his gang or something. Nagisa and Midoriya (who he begrudgingly let help after hours of begging) were teaching surprise attacks and secret moves. Meanwhile, Yada recruited as many girls as she could and was teaching them the art of manipulation when fighting.
"Now, this usually only works when you're fighting an overly manly guy," she explained. "But if he has any sense of chivalry, he won't want to fight you if you come off as scared or meek. Take advantage of that and you can take him down without him bothering to fight back!"
"How do we do that?" Michimiya asked, her pink eyes wide.
"It's easy! Here, Agent Sunshine will show you. Hey, Agent Roar, we need you to spar someone!"
Terasaka obliviously approached, brandishing his claws, and Kurahashi stepped forward. She batted her wide eyes and cowered behind her hands.
"Please go easy…" she whimpered, and Terasaka instantly backed down, retracting his claws.
"What the fuck this? You can't expect me to beat up Kur—"
The ginger-haired girl quickly kicked Terasaka in the nose, sending him tumbling back and cursing. Her and Yada spun back to the students pridefully.
"See, just like that!"
Hitoshi rolled his eyes, smirking. At least Bitch-sensei wasn't here trying to teach her Honeypot skills; that's the last thing 1-C needed. It was already bad enough with —
"Oh, everything is coming along so nicely! Isn't this exciting, Shinsou?!" Midnight exclaimed, trying to shove the brainwasher into her chest, but he skillfully dodged. The teacher, while she couldn't be around often, liked to pop in unannounced when she could.
"Yeah, it's great. Don't you have patrol or papers to grade or something?" he muttered, and his teacher pouted.
"You're so serious, Shinsou. I just wanna check up on my super-secret fight club. I am the sponsor, remember? Gotta make sure everything is safe, sane and consensual."
His face twisted at her wording. "What are you thinking we're doing here? We're literally just learning material arts."
"Yes, but it does get quite physical, you know…"
"Oh my Korosensei, get out of my building."
-.-.-.-
Breaking News! U.A. Attacked by Pro-Assassin, Assailant Apprehended by END Agents
U.A. High School was attacked by a Pro-Assassin, who was reportedly successful in critically injuring five students before END agent students stepped in to stop him. U.A. claims staff was unaware of the attack until it was too late due to the media swarm that broke in after the assassin tore down the gate.
Click to read more
-.-.-.-
Perhaps the weirdest thing that's come out of starting the 1-C fight club is how friendly his new classmates have become. Within days they were all chatting with him amicably during class, including him in group discussions, asking him for help on assignments. Everyone seemed to get a kick out of keeping their training a secret, talking in code whenever other students and teachers were around. It was adorable. Hitoshi wondered if this is how Korosensei felt watching them start out.
On the fourth day, he was shocked to his core when Sakurai stopped him after the lunch bell rang and asked, "Do y-you want to guh-go eat lunch with the r-r-rest of us?"
Hitoshi couldn't help it. He just blinked. No one outside of E-class ever wanted to eat lunch with him. Ever.
Sakurai, probably thinking he had said something wrong, quickly backpedaled. "I-I-I mean, yuh-you don't have t-to. We just th-thought…"
Fortunately, he was saved by Shimizu. "We're planning on strategizing, going over past Sports Festival competitions, the works. Agent President recommended it. We figured you'd want to help out, since you are the mastermind of this plan."
The group of classmates that had gathered smiled widely, and Hitoshi still wasn't convinced this wasn't a dream. Oohira's hair turned a neon orange, likely picking up on his panic.
"Agent Quirk can come too! I guess you two always eat together. He may be our competition, but he's also helped us a lot, and I bet he could come up with a wicked strategy."
That finally snapped Hitoshi out of his trance. "You guys can call him Midoriya, you go to school with him," he muttered. "And I don't think that's a good idea. Not that he couldn't come up with a wicked strategy — he totally could — but I think it'll be best if we do it by working together. It'll be a good way to start on teamwork. I'll just ask if I can eat on my own; he'll understand."
His classmates frowned. "Are you sure?" Shimizu checked, and the brainwasher nodded.
"It'll be fine," he reassured, sending Midoriya a quick text. The green-haired boy replied with an assuring smiley face emoji and a thumbs up. "Now, where do you sit in the cafeteria? I can't say I've spent much time there outside of beating up assassins."
-.-.-.-
1-C claimed a mass of tables on the edge of the cafeteria, trying to remain out of the hearing range and sight of others. Shimizu pulled out a stack of papers from her bag and passed them out to everyone.
"Agents Detective and Connect and I put together a list of round one and two tasks from every first-year Sports Festival in the last fifteen years," she explained. "While it's extremely rare for them to repeat in back-to-back years, and they're constantly creating new tasks, we figured it's best to have an idea of what we could be up against."
"This is great, Shimizu," Hitoshi said, scanning the list. He shuddered when he saw that they did pole-toppling for the second round three years ago.
"It looks like they usually do really big, individual-based tasks for the first round, like various races and free-for-all battle royales," noted Kunimi. "It's probably because of how many students are competing; it's easier to keep track of everyone and narrow it down the Top-40 or so."
Shimizu nodded. "Agent Number's Statistic quirk calculated that there's an 85% likelihood they'll do a team event for the second round too."
Hitoshi hummed. "Just because the task is set up to be for the individual doesn't mean you have to play it that way. Making an alliance amongst ourselves and combining our strengths is the only way we're going to get through this."
Amanai, using her abnormally long neck, peered over Sakurai's head to look at him. "Be honest, Shinsou. What chance do you actually think we have to get us all through to the second round?"
Every head turned to him, and Hitoshi anxiously took a sip of his water, considering it. "Honestly?" he repeated. "There's no way we're all getting through. U.A. typically advances just a few more students than 40, meaning they're setting it up for every hero student from 1-A and 1-B to advance with a handful of surprises; not enough to give the other courses power, but enough to keep it interesting."
His classmate's faces were quickly falling, and Hitoshi plowed on. "That doesn't mean, however, that we can't replace a few hero students at the top. We don't all need to move on to round two to make a name for ourselves; knock even one hero student out of the running, and we've already done that. If we all work together and make the necessary sacrifices as a team to ensure a decent number of us get through, then we can accomplish our goal. We want to break records, right? Well, right now the record is sitting at three Gen Ed kids in round two. Let's set our goal at four, and if we get more than that through, then all the more to celebrate."
"What d-d-do you mean by sa-sacrifices?" Sakurai echoed.
"Well, as I said, we are going to need to operate as a combined strength — a singular unit working together for one goal. In E-class, we knew we could never beat out Korosensei on our own because he was too powerful, had too many quirks. But together, using all of quirks, we eventually reached our goal. We had to make sacrifices along the way, some people choosing to be left behind for the greater good, but we did it. That's what I mean."
"So what you're saying," one of the Miya twins said. "Is that we might have to give up our chance of advancing to round two if it means we can get someone else there?"
"Exactly," Hitoshi said, hoping that didn't sound too daunting, that his classmates wouldn't be selfish. They already put so much into this; they couldn't give up now. "We don't need to pick the four we try to get to round two ahead of time or anything, but we need to be aware of it once we get to the festival—"
"Well, it's obvious we've got to get you through, right?" Michimiya interrupted. The pink-eyed girl flushed at the sudden attention. "I mean, you've already sacrificed so much for us. You said earlier that you have a deal to get you into the hero course if you do well at the Sports Festival. With your training, you could totally leave us in the dust, and not even bother — we're your competition too. It's only right that we focus our efforts on making sure you do well."
Hitoshi blinked, blushing. "Well, I mean—"
"Good point, Michi," the other Miya twin echoed. "This may be a mission to break Sports Festival history, but it wouldn't be possible without Shinsou. We owe you, dude."
"Yeah!" Oohira cheered, his hair Korosensei-yellow, and Hitoshi's heart ached. "Besides, it's best to focus on our goal, right? We know that we need to get four people through, and we know one of those people needs to be Shinsou."
Hitoshi ducked his head to hide how embarrassed he felt. Those stupid emotions he felt in E-class after they accepted his quirk were creeping back, and he was not okay with it.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," he deflected, trying to focus. "I figured I might as well bring this up now since I know Agent Devil—" everyone flinched at Karma's name, and Hitoshi smirked, understanding the fear, "—is planning on having END bring it up during our next training. What is everyone's quirk? If we want to start strategizing, then we're going to need to start incorporating them into our strategy."
His classmates glanced around anxiously, and Hitoshi prayed he wasn't about to deal with E-class 2.0. He didn't have the time to make deals and pressure them into revealing their quirks as Korosensei did. They needed to get this over with now.
Oohira, bless him, spoke up first. "Well, mine is pretty obvious. My hair changes colors according to my mood. I, um, have a color chart if anyone wants to know what each one means, but that's about all I can do."
The boy looked down awkwardly, his hair turning a sad gray, and Hitoshi smirked. "Agent Periodic's quirk lets her see things on an elemental level; it's just as far from being combat-suited as you, but she gets by because of her training. Just like you guys will."
The dark-skinned boy perked up, hair going back to yellow. "Thanks, man!"
He turned to the rest of his class expectantly. The Miya twins raised their hands at the same time.
"If we touch our palms together, we can merge into one person that's the sum of all of us put together — the size of our heights put together, our strength added up, our stamina combined. The only thing that doesn't combine is our mind, so it's like one massive superperson with two brains. The doctors never knew what to call our quirk, but we call it the Super Miya."
Hitoshi jolted alongside the rest of 1-C. "How- How are you two in General Education?!" screeched Yamaguchi.
The twins shrugged. "They made us test apart, so we couldn't use our quirk at all during the exam. We were basically quirkless."
Of course. What a perfect system it was, that entrance exam.
One of the Miya twins patted Michimiya on the shoulder, making her jolt. "C'mon, Michi, our fellow Miya. What's your quirk?"
The pink-eyeball girl blinked. "Um, well, uh…" she sighed. "I'll just show you."
She stood up and reached into her bag and pulled out...a pack of bubble gum? She popped a few pieces in her mouth, chewed vigorously, and then started blowing a bubble. A bubble that kept growing and growing and growing until the girl was completely encased in it, save for her feet.
Kunimi, startled by the development, jerked back and accidentally popped the bubble with his beak. The pink sphere deflated and Michimiya sucked it back in her mouth without even making a mess.
"So...it's like a bubble gum force field?" Amanai asked. Michimiya nodded, sitting back down.
"Yeah. It's pretty easy to pop though…"
They continued to explain their quirks. Sakurai's quirk, called No-Weight, allowed him to make any item he touched feel like 1/4th its original weight, but he had to be physically touching it for it to work.
"M-My family owns a mov-moving business, s-s-so…" the boy shrugged.
Amanai, as he assumed with her strangely long neck, had an elastic-limbs type quirk called Rubber Band. Basically, she could be stretched to any length without pain, but she couldn't physically do it herself. If someone were to take her arm and walk it to the door on the other side of the room, she could open it, but she couldn't will her limb to extend that far herself.
They continued on. Kunimi had birds-eye vision alongside his beak and bird-like feet, but no wings, which he was very bitter about. Yamaguchi could grow small branches out of his skin, depending on how much sunlight he got. Shimizu could create a psychic link with anyone she touched, called Psychic Circuit.
"Wait...so you can read the mind of anyone you touch?" Yamaguchi asked anxiously. Hitoshi could help but shift uncomfortably, getting flashes of Asano.
"Kind of. While I can't go digging in their mind, if I'm touching them and they're projecting their thoughts — basically thinking really hard — then I can know what they're thinking. I can also send mental messages to them too. It's basically like having a psychic phone call, except I have to be touching you."
It's not the most flashy quirk, it's still useful. The Asanos prove that much. She'd be great for figuring out the opponent's strategies if she could get close enough...
The rest of the class went; save for the Miya twins, everyone else's quirks were unsurprisingly not very offensive or useful quirks, and even the Miya twins were virtually quirkless if they ever got separated. Hitoshi sighed. They had a lot of work to do. But if E-class could do it when they were at their lowest, then he had to have faith 1-C could do the same.
-.-.-.-
Top Ten Scariest Things About END
Published by HeroFeed
Since their reveal, the Emergency National Defense (END) has been the talk of the online world. While some admire their skill and prowess, and others debate the horrific treatment these young agents must endure by the government and the public, the main reason their name thrives in controversy is because of how truly terrifying these young assassins are. And here is a list as to why:
1. They killed the unkillable villain, the Tentacle
This one is a given. The Tentacle was the Number One Villain who blew up the moon and could defeat any hero, from All-Might to Endeavor. He was the ultimate Symbol of Terror, yet somehow he is brought down by a junior high class? You don't want to be on their bad side, that's for sure.
2. Despite killing him, they act as if they loved the Tentacle
Stockholm Syndrome, anyone? The E-class students are often reported telling media outlets and bystanders just how 'amazing' their 'Korosensei' (what a freaky name for a teacher!) was, and how they loved him, and owe everything to him. What kind of killer speaks that way about their victim? And now only that, who speaks that way about the Number One Villain?
3. They're strong enough to take down almost all of Japan's heroes
An event dubbed the Mountain Raid, the night the Tentacle was killed, the END agents (who had been ordered to not interfere) chose to devise a plan, sneak onto the mountain, and take out any Pro-Hero who tried to stop them just so they would be the ones to kill the villain. Bloodlust, anyone?
4. Their Commander
They call him Agent Devil. He looks like the devil. Enough said.
5. This guy is Scary too
The first time the media ever captured footage of END, this guy (agent name unknown, yet to be seen acting in official missions) brainwashed all of the reporters and made them go away. Rumor has it that he's currently attending U.A. and that he's the one that stopped the Pro-Assassin attack last week. Scary!
6. No one knows their names
While their faces are well-published, and their agent names are occasionally disclosed when the government gives mission reports, their actual names are a mystery to the online world. Whenever someone tries to post their actual identities, it's immediately wiped off the web. The only way to know is to meet them in person. No thanks!
7. They have licenses that let them use their quirks in public
Yup, just like the Pro-Heroes, only they're 15 years old and CARRY GUNS.
8. Speaking of guns, they carry on campus
Reportedly they are always on-off duty, which means they need to be ready for a mission at any time. Which means they are armed at any time. Even during school. Isn't this supposed to be illegal? C'mon Japan, we're not America!
9. They rarely use their quirks
As this blog pointed out, in the government's official mission reports, the agents rarely are reported using their quirks. Which means they can complete high-profile missions without them.
10. The U.A. Hero Course agent
Not only is there an agent in the top hero course in Japan, but there's a lot of rumors flying around this kid. He's placed low on this list since there's no way to confirm them as being anything more than rumors, but apparently this kid can move as fast as the Tentacle, someone who was unmatched for speed in every way. Tentacle Jr. in the making, maybe?
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Izuku wasn't too bothered when Shinsou texted him, letting him know he'd be eating lunch with his 1-C classmates; in all honesty, he was happy for his best friend. He was worried going into the year that Shinsou would struggle with his placement in General Education, but seeing him take it and thrive in a way Korosensei would be so proud of — Izuku was beyond proud of his friend too.
Personally, he quite enjoyed 1-C. After following Shinsou around and forcing him to let him help out with the 'Fight Club,' he found that he really enjoyed the class. They were nervous but determined, and it was incredibly nostalgic. He'd be lying to say he wasn't even more excited for the Sports Festival knowing he would get to compete against them.
So while he was happy Shinsou was connecting with his classmates, it did leave Izuku in a bit of a pickle. Because, despite all the work he's done in training and class, he can't exactly say the same for him and 1-A. It was leaps and bounds better than how it was the first day of class, sure, but the distance was still there. While the outright terror was gone, he couldn't help like it was just being channeled another way; they respected him now, as Aizawa intended, but it still felt like they respected him because they feared him.
The best way to describe it was that he almost preferred being around Bakugou out of all of his classmates, because at least Bakugou still treated him the same — with anger and hatred.
It was a sad reality for Midoriya Izuku, to say the least.
I've got them to stop seeing me as a killer, but I still need to get them to not see me as an assassin, he noted to himself as he glanced around the cafeteria, looking for a place to sit. The only question is, how? Aizawa's tactics just emphasize my training even more, but if I go back to acting weak, I'll probably get expelled. Oh, what to do…
He was so lost in thought, he didn't realize he was about to run into someone until seconds before it happened. His training kicked in, and he jerked to the side, admittedly using a hint of his speed. He swallowed down the small dollop of blood.
"Oh, Shouji, I'm so sorry…" he apologized to the tall boy. Shouji looked down at him with scrutinizing eyes before forming a mouth in one of his dupli-arms.
"It's alright, Midoriya."
Izuku tried not to squirm. Out of all of his classmates, Shouji's quirk was by far the most...unsettling. He couldn't help but look at the arms and think of tentacles. To make things worse, he knows he's not the only one.
During the quirk assessment test, the only one to stir up nearly as much gossip and whispers as Izuku was Shouji. Since the rise and fall of Korosensei, anything remotely mimicking a tentacle or an octopus was treated with extreme caution. As much as he could empathize with Shouji's treatment, he still couldn't help but feel bad.
"You're staring."
Izuku jolted, his cheeks burning under Shouji's unamused stare. "I-I'm so sorry, Shouji. It's just…" Wow, he felt so terrible.
Shouji's face was impossible to read. "Do they...do they remind you of him? Of the Tentacle?"
Izuku, not expecting the blunt question, awkwardly glanced around. He wasn't sure if he should look at the mouth speaking to him or Shouji's face. "Well, not that much, to be honest. His tentacles looked really different and couldn't do what yours can, but I guess it's just the thought of it that brings back memories. I mean, seeing Aizawa in a yellow sleeping bag reminds me of him, so…"
Shouji blinked, and Izuku thought he looked surprised. "Everyone else always said they looked like his. I want to show them they're wrong."
He walked off, leaving Izuku to panic inwardly about what just happened. Feeling like he was in a trance, he opted for sitting at an abandoned table and spent the whole lunch writing in his journal for Yagi, thinking about tentacles.
-.-.-.-
The next day, they were informed that they would be leaving school for Hero Basic Training to work on rescue missions with Aizawa, All-Might and one other mystery hero in an off-campus facility. Izuku couldn't help but feel dread buildup inside him.
Because this meant they were going on a school trip. Nothing ever good happened on school trips.
He fiddled anxiously with his gloves as they waited for the bus to arrive. They were instructed to change into their hero costumes, but since Izuku's was still being repaired by Itona, he had to go with the simple blue school P.E. uniform paired with all of his support items, like his belt and glasses. He contemplated wearing his END uniform instead since it'd provide more padding, but then reminded himself he was trying to make friends.
"Dude, why are you acting all antsy?" Kirishima quizzed, and Izuku jolted, trying to act nonchalant.
"O-Oh, it's nothing really, I just haven't had very good experiences with school trips in the past, I guess? They normally go horribly wrong…"
Kaminari laughed. "It's a school trip. The worst that could happen is that you get stuck with someone like Bakugou as a seat buddy."
The explosive blonde bared his teeth, but the electric boy either didn't notice or didn't care. Izuku wasn't sure which was worse and feared for Kaminari's life.
"Um. What's happened in the past that makes you hate school trips so much?" Uraraka anxiously asked.
"Yeah, I bet they're not all terrible," Kirishima added. Oh boy, if you only knew.
Izuku bit his lip, not knowing where to start.
"I mean, there was that one trip to Musutafu when my friends and I got attacked by a villain, that was pretty bad. And then we went to an island as a class, which seemed really nice at first, but it turned out we were being targeted by our old P.E. teacher who hired assassins to poison and kill us, and then he tried to kill us himself and even shot Hitoshi in the shoulder..."
He trailed off as he noticed the frightened stares he was getting from everyone in the class, and quickly backpedaled. "But, you're right, they're not all bad! One time we infiltrated the Japanese Space Center and Hitoshi and I got to go to outer space and raid the International Space Station!"
The class blanched. It seemed that did not make the situation any better.
"I'm- I'm sorry, but outer space, as in—" Kaminari gaped, frantically gesturing at the sky. "How do you even — you know what, I don't even wanna know."
Fortunately, the buses arrived before it could get any worse. Iida and Yaoyorozu, who were elected as class representatives, loaded everyone on the bus. Izuku was surprised to find Asui sitting next to him, the girl's large frog eyes staring into his soul practically the entire ride. Izuku tried not to show his panic and fiddled anxiously with his Ritsu-watch.
"I've been told I'm quite blunt," the girl suddenly stated. Well, that was one way to start a conversation.
Izuku blinked. "Huh, what do you mean, Asui…?"
"Call me Tsu," the girl demanded, and Izuku felt oddly felt like he was being interrogated. "Your quirk is like the Tentacle's. Is Bakugou right about you?"
Izuku almost jolted out of his seat. "W-What are you talking about, Asui?!"
"I told you to call me Tsu—"
"C'mon, there's no way he has the Tentacle's quirk. Sure, he's fast, but they said the Tentacle could move at Mach-50 or something, and also had like a hundred other quirks," Ashido inserted.
"Um, actually, it was Mach-20…" Izuku mumbled, but it fell on deaf ears.
"There's no way he had a hundred quirks, that's just insane!" Kirishima laughed. "Besides, how can you have someone else's quirk? It just doesn't make any sense!"
The class bickered back and forth and Izuku sunk very, very low in his seat and wished he could disappear.
-.-.-.-
They arrived at the USJ, aka the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, and everything was already going wrong. Pro-Hero Thirteen, who designed the USJ, was there acting as their surprise teacher, but All-Might was nowhere in sight, apparently no longer able to attend. Izuku, being the only student who knew of the Symbol of Peace's illness, tried not to let his worrying shine through.
It got even worse as Thirteen went on a long explanation about how easy it was to kill someone with your power and how heroes should put their quirks toward saving people (that felt like a major sucker-punch to the gut). Izuku couldn't shake off the growing sense of unease like something bad was about to happen. Every bone in his body was screaming at him to run away.
He should have trusted his instincts.
Seconds later, a zap of electricity ran through the building, and a swirling portal appeared in the middle of the USJ, and an army came pouring out.
-.-.-.-
Izuku was far from ignorant. He was taught by the Number One Villain, trained by a top government agent, mentored by a legendary assassin. He faced enough bad guys in his life to instantly recognize that the people walking out of the portal were villains.
"Don't move!" Aizawa ordered the panicking students, slipping on his yellow goggles.
At the back of the hoard of villains stood three figures: a purple-black mist figure who likely formed the portal, a giant muscled monster with an exposed brain, and a gray-haired man covered in hands.
"Thirteen and Eraserhead...the intel we received a few days ago said that All-Might would be here too," the purple-black figure said. Izuku felt his stomach drop.
A few days ago? Does that mean…?
"You're the ones that hired the assassin and orchestrated the media trespassing," Aizawa concluded.
"What tedious work it was, especially with those damn END brats interfering," the hand-villain said. "All this effort for All-Might to not even be here? No mind. I'm sure he'll show up if we kill a few kids."
Training kicking in, Izuku snapped into action. He pulled out a nerve-gun and tried to contact Ritsu through his watch, only to despairingly find the watch wouldn't even turn on. He tried his glasses next, but they weren't responding either. Something was blocking it…
"One of them must have a radio-transmission quirk that's blocking outside interference," he realized, making his classmates tense. "It's why the trespasser sensors didn't work. They've isolated us in a building far from the main campus with no way to contact help."
"Wait! So we can't contact the school or — or even END?" Kirishima yelped. Izuku pursed his lips and double-checked just in case. His fears were only confirmed.
"Not as long as we're in here," he said, his brain trying to formulate a battle plan. The villains were approaching fast, and Aizawa was preparing to fight them. Izuku could probably run and get help as he did with the Grip situation, but that was just one assassin. He knew Shinsou could handle it. Aizawa and Thirteen against all these villains while also trying to protect the students…?
It was like asking for a death sentence.
"Thirteen, evacuate the students. I'll hold them off," Aizawa ordered, his capture scarf flaring to life. Izuku jolted.
"Sir, you can't fight them all on your own! Let me help!" he cried.
"No, you're not trained enough for this kind of situation."
Izuku reared back like he'd been slapped and forcibly grabbed onto the Pro-Hero's arm. "Yes, I am."
The bite in his voice made the Aizawa turn and look at him as if he'd forgotten which student he was talking to. As if Izuku hadn't dedicated a year of his life stopping the greatest villain of them all.
"No matter who you are, it's always smart to have someone cover your back," he continued. "I'm not just your student, Aizawa-sensei. This is what I've been trained to do."
The Pro-Hero gritted his teeth and pushed Izuku's hand away. "Put your training towards getting to safety. I'm not risking the life of my student for pointless reasons." He shoved Izuku towards Thirteen. "Get them out of here."
Aizawa turned and leapt the staircase in a single bound, meeting the villains at the bottom and taking a large group of them out with a single swipe of his capture scarf. Even if his quirk wasn't offensive and couldn't erase mutation quirks, this man was Pro-Hero for a reason. He easily held his own against the mass of villains. But that wasn't the issue here. The issue was that everyone had a limit. And if Aizawa was so determined to ignore his own, it could be his doom.
Izuku tried to rip his arm away from Thirteen's hold, determined to help his teacher whether he liked it or not, but he stopped when the purple-black figure appeared in front of the retreating class. The green-haired boy loaded his gun and pointed.
"Allow me to introduce ourselves," the figure said. "We are the League of Villains. Our mission is to be the new Symbol of Terror and do what the pathetic predecessor never bothered to try — kill All-Might."
Karasuma's words the day END was announced — the day Korosensei died, echoed in Izuku's head.
"With Korosensei gone, the Number One Villain spot is up for grabs, and who knows what kind of monsters will come up trying to snatch it."
These — These were the monsters trying to claim the title. Villains like these were the result of Korosensei's death.
He fiddled with his broken Ritsu-watch. He needed to contact END right now.
-.-.-.-
He was so lost in his panic, he didn't even realize Kirishima and Bakugou tried attacking the warped figure until the entire area was covered in smoke, soon followed by a purple-black cloud. Izuku jerked, about to run away using his Mach-2 speed, but stopped himself. If he used his quirk now, he risked tiring out early. He learned that the hard way through intensive training. It was best to save it for emergencies—
And then suddenly he was falling from the sky, about to plummet into the water, and he realized that this was an emergency!
He crashed into the water berating himself (Stupid, stupid! Obviously that villain has a teleportation quirk, I should have run away! Hitoshi is going to kill me!) and finally used his quirk to rocket to the top, coughing up blood as he reached the surface. His honed senses told him to duck, and he jerked back just in time before a shark-like villain hit him.
"Ha, looks like this one's already bleeding!" the villain mocked. Izuku gritted his teeth and reached to grab a nerve-knife—
And then suddenly he was being pulled through the air by something that reminded him way too much of a tentacle, and the next thing he knew, he was being dropped on a ship, Mineta and Asui in front of him.
"Th-Thanks," he breathed as Asui retracted her tongue. He glanced over the edge of the boat and saw that a ring of villains was formed around them. "It would seem they separated us and sent us to their traps. They did say they planned on killing children, so it looks like they're being serious."
Asui nodded. "I got lucky that they dropped me here. I'm strongest working in water."
Izuku eyed the frog girl, realizing she was right. They gave them a huge advantage sending Asui here, so it seemed odd that they'd drop her here instead of the landslide or fire zone, where she'd struggle more...
Then it hit him.
"This whole plot was methodical — cutting off our ability to get help, coordinating villains where their quirks would be the strongest. They want to kill All-Might, and they're taking every measure they can to ensure they do," he muttered. "There's no way they would overlook sending us where our quirks would be weakest if they had the choice. They must not know what our quirks are."
Asui croaked. "If what you're saying is correct, does that mean they have a weapon they believe could kill All-Might?"
Izuku gritted his teeth. She was right; he knew she was. And it just made him think of everything All-Might meant to him. All-Might was his inspiration. Korosensei may have been the one who pushed him and helped him achieve his dream, but All-Might was the reason the dream existed. He thought of the shrunken man, fighting a damning injury while trying to remain a Symbol of Peace. Yagi still hasn't found a successor and Izuku had promised he would help find the next Symbol of Peace.
And he wasn't going to let a couple of villains change that.
"How are you remaining so calm about this?!" Mineta cried, flailing uselessly. "Do you hear yourselves?! These people who can kill All-Might are trying to kill us! We don't stand a chance against them!"
"We don't have a choice," Izuku insisted. "We have to stop them before they kill All-Might."
"Are you crazy?!" the purple boy screeched. It grated Izuku's ears to no end. "We can't stop them. We were just in middle school a month ago, we can't fight villains this strong! You're just going to get us all killed, and I can't die this young—"
Izuku snapped, slamming Mineta against the boat wall and pinning him with a nerve-knife to the throat. "A month ago, my classmates and I assassinated the Number One Villain," he hissed. "Age or training doesn't matter right now; what matters is that we have a duty to fulfill. Aren't you trying to become a hero?"
The purple boy whimpered, and Izuku released him with a huff. He took deep breaths, trying to rein in his emotions. This kid got into the hero course and not Shinsou?
Asui eyed them apprehensively. "Midoriya-chan," she said. "I also don't think they know you're the END agent. They mentioned 'those damned END agents' yet they didn't try to single you out in any way."
Izuku pursed his lips. "I think you're right. At least for now, they haven't recognized me, which might work out in our favor…"
Suddenly, a giant hand-shaped wave crashed into the boat, slicing it in half. The three barely stayed upright as their vessel slowly began to sink. It would seem the villains were done waiting for them.
"Asui — I mean, Tsu," Izuku said. "We need to stop these villains, quick. Since they don't know what we're capable of, they don't know what to expect."
"What are you thinking?" the frog girl asked. Izuku eyed his two teammates.
"If you hold on to me with your tongue, I can jump at the water surface and use my quirk to create a whirlpool. While the villains are being sucked in, you can jump us to safety and Mineta can throw his sticky balls at the center of the whirlpool to capture them," he declared.
Mineta sputtered. "How do you know so much about our quirks already?!"
Izuku really didn't feel like explaining his quirk journals right now, so he ignored the purple boy. Asui glanced between her classmates and the villains, concerned. "Midoriya-chan, won't you hurt yourself? You said you can't use your quirk without coughing up blood…"
Izuku pressed a button on his glasses, making them shaded on the outside. The screens still wouldn't work, but it still helped protect his identity. "If I just use my arm and not my whole body, I can usually get away with it. It's our only chance."
"I still think this is a really bad idea guys—" Mineta tried, but Izuku didn't bother listening to him. He stood on the edge of the boat just as Asui's tongue wrapped around his torso, and jumped.
The villains mocked and taunted him as he flew towards them, but he didn't pay them any mind. Asui's tongue held him just above the water surface so only a hand was submerged, and he spun his hand at Mach-2. The water whirled with him, unable to defy the sound barrier-breaking speed, and the villains were instantly swept away.
"Tsu, let's go!" he said, and the frog girl leaped off the boat, taking the boys with her. Surprisingly, Mineta actually listened and started throwing sticky balls at alarming speeds. The villains and balls alike were pulled to the center of the whirlpool and stuck together as a giant blob. The students landed at the edge of the Shipwreck Zone, safe from their villains. Mineta was still sniffling and sobbing, but Izuku didn't have time for that. He needed to figure out a way to contact someone. Hopefully, Ritsu losing connection with him would at least raise some alarms, but there's no telling if anyone would know to act on it or what to prepare for.
He gripped his watch, eyes darting around. From their hiding spot, they had a clear view of the central plaza where Aizawa was still fighting the vast group of villains. He was holding up surprisingly well, but Izuku wasn't stupid. He could tell his teacher was weakening; the amount of time he could spend using his quirk was lessening. He needed help.
Izuku pulled out a grappling-gun, making sure it was correctly loaded. Mineta screeched when he saw it. "Why do you have that out? Are you stupid?"
"If you guys go along the edge of the building, you should be able to get back to the entrance unharmed," he said, ignoring the purple boy. "Just keep your heads down. We got lucky with the first group of villains, but I doubt it'll happen again."
"What about you, Midoriya-chan? You can't seriously think…" The frog girl trailed off, eyeing their teacher's fight.
"Aizawa-sensei needs my help. If he doesn't get backup soon, he's going to overexert himself. I didn't train as much as I have to let him get hurt," Izuku said.
As if he spoke it into existence, the hand-villain launched forward to attack. Aizawa held him back, but his hair fell as he was forced to release his quirk. Instantly, his elbow began to disintegrate under the villain's hold.
Izuku leaped into action, shooting the grappling-gun. Similar to Shinsou's capture rings, it lassoed around the hand-villain's wrist, ripping it away from Aizawa. As his freed teacher jumped away, Izuku set the gun so it pulled him towards the hand-villain, pulling a nerve-knife from his belt. He released the grappling-gun last second and sliced downwards at the villain, but only succeeded at cutting the man's clothes when he dodged.
Cursing, Izuku flipped away so he was at Aizawa's side. The Pro-Hero whirled on him. "Midoriya, you fool, I told you to stay out of this!"
The man wrapped another thug in his capture weapon and used her as a shield while Izuku sliced at the attacking thug, knocking him unconscious with the tranquilizer-laced knife.
"I know, sir, but I couldn't just stand and watch!" Izuku insisted, firing a tranquilizer dart at another thug's forehead. A meatloaf-looking villain tried to come up from behind, but Izuku flipped him over his head and knocked him out.
The hand-villain, recovered from Izuku's interference, sighed heavily. "You must be the END agent. I was wondering when you were going to show up; the plan was to get you out of the way early on, but our sources were being annoyingly pesky in giving us the necessary information. It was quite…frustrating."
Izuku blinked, honestly surprised. He could deduce that Grip was their source, but why wouldn't the assassin give up the information? Had the deal gone bad? Had the villains assumed Grip would comply like the other brainless lackeys they hire?
Izuku ducked to avoid another attack and punched a thug in the stomach with a spinning kick before flipping out of the way and tranquilizing another mid-air. The hand-villain hummed.
"Wow, you're quite the fighter, aren't you? Such is to be expected, I suppose, by such a talented assassin. Rumor has it that most END agents don't even use a quirk to fight; looks like you're one of those agents, huh? It's too bad, really — I guess you really won't stand a chance against the final boss."
A year of training against Korosensei and dealing with monsters like Shiro left him more than paranoid, meaning he was already rolling out of the way before an attack could come. Aizawa, injured and exhausted, wasn't so lucky, and barely turned around in time to see the giant, brain-exposed creature coming down on him. Like many times before, Izuku didn't think, just moved, his feet running without being told to. Zipping at full Mach-2, he tackled his teacher to the floor right before the creature crushed him. They rolled as they landed, and while he probably hurt Aizawa's elbow even more, it's no doubt better than the alternative.
The hand-villain jerked back. "That speed!" he hissed. "How — The only creature capable of moving at those speeds was the Tentacle!"
"You're wrong," Izuku gasped, spitting out a glob of blood. "I'm nowhere near as fast as Korosensei."
Growling, the hand-villain gestured to the monster again. "Well, that works out just fine. After all, it means you really are no match for my beast."
The creature attacked again, this time targeting Izuku. He ducked and dodged, evading the attacks completely. This beast wasn't slow by any means, but it was clear its quirk was based around strength. So long as Izuku was faster, he was safe. However, he forgot to take into account how injured Eraserhead was, as well as stubborn. He grabbed Izuku and threw him away from the beast protectively, but not even the Pro had the speed to also dodge the creature's attack. It grabbed him by the head, slamming Aizawa into the ground, and Izuku could hear the sickening crack of bones.
"No!" he screamed, running at Mach-2 and slicing at the beast with his nerve-knife. It cut through the creature's skin, and Izuku watched as the wound...closed back up?
So shocked, he couldn't even defend himself from the retaliation. The creature smacked him out of the way, sending him flying, and wow, he was strong, maybe even as strong as All-Might —
Izuku hit the ground hard, coughing up blood, and he's pretty sure it's not all from using his quirk. The hand-villain laughed, raspily.
"Your little weapons won't work on him. You see, END agent, you should be very well-acquainted with a powerful bioengineered beast like this. Designed to be the perfected Anti-Symbol of Peace, this is the creature that will kill All-Might. We call him Nomu."
Izuku held back bile, memories of the night Shiro attacked and Korosensei died came rushing back to him. The Reaper — Shiro said when he created the Reaper —
"Replace that irritating super intelligence your teacher so proudly flaunts with immeasurable power, and you have the perfect soldier. I call it: Nomu."
Nomu. Shiro's last creation, last monster. The beast he attempted to make Korosensei into, the beast he succeeded with the Reaper. How were there more? How many were there? And how did these villains get their hands on one? Shiro was dead, right? He vaguely recalled Shiro repeatedly mentioning a contractor; were these villains the ones who hired him?
But most of all, if this was one of Shiro's Nomu...where was its tentacles?
His thought process was cut short as a swirling-portal appeared, and the warp villain from earlier manifested at the hand-villain's side.
"Shigaraki," the purple-black figure said. "I've put Thirteen out of commission, but I'm afraid a student succeeded in getting past me and escaping the facility."
Izuku blearily sat up. Did someone get outside? That means they could finally get help. Knowing Ritsu, the AI girl was likely trying to get contact with anyone associated with Izuku; hopefully, she'd locate whoever escaped and deduce what was happening.
The hand-villain, Shigaraki, growled, scratching violently at his neck in a way that reminded Izuku of Takaoka. "Kurogiri...you fool! There's no way we can win if dozens of Pros show up...we must leave now."
If he were anyone else, he'd probably be celebrating right now. The villains were retreating. They were safe.
But Midoriya Izuku was no idiot. He's seen this trick before when Takaoka tricked Nagisa into thinking he accepted his apology. There was no way the villains would just retreat, not now. Not when this was the best chance they had at killing All-Might; when they still had the element of surprise, the upper hand.
Sure enough, Shigaraki spun around, headed straight for Asui and Mineta — why haven't they escaped yet?! — and Izuku recalled watching Aizawa's elbow disintegrate under Shiagaraki's touch. This villain could probably turn one of them to dust without trying. Izuku jumped up and sprinted at Shigaraki at full-speed, his blade brandished and ready. He slammed into the hand-villain, vaulting him away while simultaneously swiping with a nerve-knife. This time he was successful, making a shallow cut into Shigaraki's left arm. The villain landed far away and looked at the small wound.
"That's all?" he mocked. "And here I thought you were an assassin. You could have killed me, but instead, you barely nick my skin? Are you a fool—" Shigaraki paused, looking down at his wound again. "My arm. I can't move my arm."
Izuku wiped the blood dribbling out of his mouth — that was the fifth time he used his quirk in such a short timespan, and it was already getting harder to breathe; his scar burned — and pointed his nerve-knife at the villain. "You're right; I could have killed you. But just because I can, doesn't mean I will. In END, we focus on immobilization and capture, which is why all of our weapons are non-lethal. The line of morality for an assassin is blurred, even more than a vigilante's, but in honor of Korosensei, we choose not to kill anyone else if we can help it."
Shigaraki scoffed, cradling his immobilized arm. "Such morals disgust me; makes me want to smash each and everyone one of you END brats to pieces, starting with you!"
The hand-villain waved his palm, and suddenly the Nomu was looming over him again. It grabbed his arm, and Izuku braced himself for the worst—
But then suddenly, everyone froze at the odd, screeching sound filling the USJ. It seemed to come from every direction, students and villains alike looking around to pinpoint its source. Izuku's instincts tingled, and he looked up just in time to watch multiple glass ceiling pans fall to the ground and shatter. And rising from the carnage were dozens of figures in familiar blue uniforms.
"You're going to smash us?" Karma mocked, unhooking the rappelling wire from his belt harness. Behind him stood the entirety of END, all having come in from the ceiling on rappelling wires as well. "That's funny. I was planning on doing the same to you."