Be The Hero, Like A Wizard!

by MaskedEngineer

Having a Quirk that allows complete control over a mundane, ordinary object is hardly an ideal power. To one Yosuke Nendo however, it is all he needs to achieve his childhood dream. With video game expertise, unchecked delusions and unwilling friends, nothing shall stop Nendo on his quest to become the greatest wizard of all time! Rated M for future events.

6. But Not Without A Staff!

Chapter 6: But Not Without A Staff!

"A SPARRING MATCH?!" The students of 1-B exclaimed in perfect unison, with those who had made it to the top ten in the results doing so far louder than the rest, clearly not expecting themselves to be involved firsthand in a physical scuffle so early on into their studying days at U.A.

"That's right!" Sekijiro enthusiastically nods at his class, giving the gobsmacked teenagers a firm thumbs up as he circled them while still looking down at his tablet with a stiff finger pointed at the sky. "Since you will all be doing quite a lot of combat as proper heroes, learning how to adapt and overcome an opponent's Quirk is nothing short of crucial! Not only that, you will also learn more about your potential friends and teammates' Quirks as well, allowing you all to work better amongst yourselves!"

More than a few in the top ten, with the most vocal being the pacifistic Ibari, wanted to shoot a retort about how it's far too demanding of an exercise to be done on their first day, before their words stop just short of exiting the cavities of their mouth as they thought over the words of their teacher. Deciding that his point is not an inherently bad one and that having a spar does have its benefits in retrospect, the voices collectively quiet down. On the other hand, those who didn't make it to the top ten breathed sighs of relief.

This whole test has left them gassed out already, and they very much appreciate a period to rest and recover their strength.

"A spar… Nendo, against those guys?" Kinoko rubbed her arm as she cast glances at the other top-scoring classmates other than the distinguishable Nendo, eyes full of unease. While she had no doubts that Nendo would put up a fight no matter who his opponent is, she had seen firsthand the feats demonstrated by the likes of Shishida and Kendo…

And she would be lying right now if she were to say that she didn't feel the slightest bit worried for her friend. Sure, his Quirk is nothing to sneeze at, but how will it fare against people who are big and strong enough to just simply power through his attacks? And as far as she is concerned, the ability to control bricks and parade them around certainly did not provide any direct advantage when it comes to a physical scuffle, bare fists and all the nasties that come with it. "Nendo-san…" She moved next to him, lightly tugging at his sleeve with two dainty fingers.

The self-proclaimed wizard, whose mind was still preoccupied with the laborious task of coming up with a special move of his own, snapped out of his reverie and turned towards Kinoko with a big grin spreading from ear to ear. "Yeah, Komori-chan?"

She could feel blood rushing to her cheeks once more upon hearing Nendo so casually refer to her with such an intimate honorific, but ultimately settle her embarrassment aside for a more pressing matter. "You're about to fight against really strong people… a-are you going to be okay?"

Normally, Nendo would have replied with something along the lines of 'don't worry', accompanied with a confident grin and a thumbs up…but not when Kinoko is making that face. The kind of face that is only achievable through prodigious use of puppy eyes, slight curving of lips that can barely be called a frown, along with a dose of genuine concern for his well-being. As such, he believed it would be a bit less insensitive to give her a pat on the shoulder and a more gentle smile instead.

That, and a small tap to the nose that is so quick and leaves so little window for retaliation that all Kinoko could really do was to let off a tiny gasp, followed by the color of her face mimicking that of ripe tomatoes. "W-What?!"

"Hey, dummy. When have I ever been considered 'not fine'? Haven't you witnessed the sheer power, the overwhelming magic quaking at my fingertips?" Nendo brings up his hands as he speaks with (according to himself) awe-inspiring reverence, letting shrouds of red particles circle each individual finger and shaking them as if about to cast an ancient spell upon some hapless fool. "But still, thanks for the concern! Feels great to have someone who cares about me like that! I'm truly blessed to be friends with someone as kind and caring as you!"

Pivoting on one foot, he turns a full circle before stopping to give Kinoko a very, very enthusiastic thumbs-up that seem to be fueled by every bit of kinetic energy he could muster, causing the slightest of breezes to flutter over the fungi-caster's nose. Filled with bliss and equal parts embarrassment from his words, Kinoko could do naught but shyly cover her cheeks with both hands. "Nendo-san…"

Nendo, on the other hand, smiles even harder than before, which should be impossible considering that his previous grin puts even the Cheshire Cat to shame. "Tee hee! What a lucky guy I am, having such an adorable friend!" Several dissenting voices in his head complain about how ridiculously cheesy that line was, but he simply couldn't afford to care. A psychiatrist specializing in schizophrenia would, but not him.

"But really, I'll be fine. So turn that frown upside down and cheer for me, eh? If you were in my shoes, I'd do the same too!" Placing a hand on the smaller girl's shoulder, Nendo again quells his friend's worries with an ever-cheerful tone and a toothy grin plastered on his face.

Even though doubt still roams around the soils of her mind, Kinoko is, for the most part, calmed by Nendo's unwavering confidence. As such, she nods at him with a timid, yet assured, smile. "W-Well, I'm not sure if I'm as good as you but… yeah, go win Nendo!" Said Kinoko, mustering as much strength in her voice as she could. She is under no illusion of how inferior her Quirk is in a straight fight compared to Nendo's, but she isn't so horrible a friend to damper his mood right before battle.

Nendo's response comes in the form of another energetic nod combined with a million-watt smile, before turning back to face his homeroom teacher, who has just taken what looks like a featureless white box from one of the robots that refereed the apprehension test. The Blood Hero peered down the box with one eye then gave it a good shake, with the box moving up and down in a blur from how fast and hard it was being shaken.

Once done, he places it down and slides it forward with a light kick all while crossing his arms. "Alright, listen up! The way we'll decide who's with who is a time-favored method I'm sure you all know: a draw! Five of the top ten, get up here and take your pick!"

Filled with trepidation yet balanced out with hot-blooded excitement at the prospect of being able to put their Quirks into practical use, the Heroes-in-training almost trampled atop one another as they line up in a haphazard row to fish out their opponent, with those not quick enough on their feet getting swiftly pushed out of the line. The only two that deliberately chose not to take a pick are Nendo and Ibara, the former because he wishes to surprise himself, and the latter because she disagreed with this whole idea to begin with. "Now, read out the name on the paper!"

Even as their faces remain firm, one could tell from the throat-bobbing, the sweaty palms and the short sighs that the students who hold a piece of paper in their hands are nothing if not anxious. However, anxiety soon gave way to curiosity and an instinctive urge to prove oneself, and the papers soon found themselves peeled open with sheer rapidity.

"Ibara Shiozaki! Get up here!" Setsuna is the first to speak, prompting a soft sigh from her saintly opponent as she stood up from a sitting position, her movements languid and graceful.

"Very well." Said Ibara, her voice rising just above a whisper.

"Neito Monoma!" Kendo follows up. Her opponent lets off a haughty harrumph before standing up with both hands on his hips, lips curling into an arrogant smirk. He said nothing, only smugly gauging Kendo with an unblinking look.

"Jurota… Shishida?" Comes the voice of Shoda, looking at his piece as he makes an audible gulp. The rest of the class could only offer sympathetic looks to the poor boy, fully knowing that facing a literal monster like Shishida could only end in utter tragedy.

"I will try my best to avoid any unnecessary damage, sir Shoda." Even with Shishida's overly formal reassurance, the shorter boy couldn't help but open the floodgates of his sweat glands.

"Togaru Kamakiri!" Fukidashi declares loudly and clearly despite his blatant lack of a mouth or any other orifice that can be used to speak, the speech bubble he has for a head temporarily bristling into a spikier shape. The student in question merely huffs as he shoves his hands into his pocket and walks up to the teen, black eyes narrowing in scrutiny.

"So… you're the guy with the sound effects, huh? Anyone else like you?" Asked Kamakiri, running a hand over his mop of green hair.

Manga, despite being understandably confused by such a question, decides to answer truthfully nonetheless. "Of course not! Even my parents are confused as to how I ended up like this, so… you could even say I'm one of the kind! Made me kinda 'BOING BOING!' all over the place, you know?"

"Good." The contours of his insectoid mouth morphing into an aggressive smile, Kamakiri sprouts a blade from his elbow and runs a finger along the edges, eyes still focused on the now-surprised Manga. "Then cutting you down is gonna be something special."

"Oh..." Dark lines of depression ran down one side of Manga's head as he turned to the audience. As dramatic lightning strikes in the background, his thoughts manifests in a cloud next to his head. "I'm #! *$&, aren't I?"

At last, it is Tetsutetsu's turn to read out his paper. In spite of being the most eager to deck somebody's face in, nervousness actually got to him the worst. Who will he fight? Can he handle them, or is he getting a little too big for his britches? Those are the questions that plagued his mind… but unlike most, he did not let them linger. Steeling his resolve, Tetsutetsu peels open the folds of his paper-

"SHIT!" Only to do so a little too forcefully and ended up ripping it in two. Grumbling a few more curses under his breath as to avoid the glance Vlad King just shot him, the metal-skinned teen, as delicately as his big hands could allow, pieces the bisected paper together. "GOT IT! YOSUKE NENDO, HELL YEAH!"

His enthusiastic reaction, of course, gets a similarly hyped response from Nendo who practically leaped from his spot. "Hell yeah! Woo! Let's go!" Ever since their first impromptu meeting at the entrance exam, Nendo has had a tiny feeling that, maybe, their fates are intertwined just like his with Komori.

The fact that the RNG of the universe has paired them together only further confirms his theory.

As the aspiring wizard bounces next to his steely opponent, Sekijiro jotted the pairs down on his tablet, before putting the device behind his back. "I can see that you're all very eager, and I like that! But let's get down to business!" Stomping his foot down, the haemokinetic Pro Hero, for the first time since this morning, loses his perpetual frown in exchange for a smirk. "So, who's going first?"

Before anyone else could claim the right to prove their mettle in front of class, Nendo and Tetsutetsu immediately raise their hands at the same time as each other. However, with both of them currently operating towards the same goal of finding out about one another's abilities and strengths, perhaps this sudden synchronization is not entirely without reason.

The other pairs seem quite happy to let the duo duke it out first while they take the time to mentally prepare themselves, save for Kamakiri who simply grumbled, making his displeasement at having to wait clear to all. Fukidashi, on the other hand, looks positively relieved.

For a second, Sekijiro was forced to pull out his tablet again to make sure that the two didn't have an unregistered speed Quirk, what with how inhumanly fast their hands moved, before acquiescing. "So, brick versus steel, eh? Weird matchup, but knock yourselves out!" Chuckling at his own pun, the teacher then sidled behind them and gave both an encouraging pat on the back. "And remember, I want a good, clean spar! No hits below the belt and no touching the eyes! The first to conk out or go out of bounds loses!"

Nendo and Tetsutetsu exchange a knowing look, then nod at their teacher with an assured grin on their faces. Walking towards the center stage, their footsteps firm and confident, Tetsutetsu turns to Nendo and places a hand on his shoulder. "Just so you know, I've been waitin' forever' to get a bite outta you! I know you're pretty strong, so I ain't holding back!"

Nendo's eyes lit up with glee, their gray color shining with excitement as he, in conjunction, placed a hand on Tetsutetsu's arm. "I wouldn't want it any other way. I figured pulling my punches with you would be one hell of an insult!"

"Damn right it is! So you better not-" Before Tetsutetsu could hop on the stage however, he was swiftly halted by half a dozen bricks spawning out of thin air and clamping around his chest and lifting him towards Nendo. "Oi! What's that for?" Asked Tetsutetsu, indignant from getting so easily manhandled by someone who, by all means, should be physically weaker than he is. After all, aren't wizards supposed to be squishy when going up close and personal?

"We're about to have a story mode battle, man!"

"...So?"

"So? Everybody knows story mode battles need a dynamic intro to go with them!"

"The hell's a dynamic intro?"

"What?! How do you not know-" Nendo sputters, flabbergasted at Tetsutetsu's blasphemous lack of knowledge towards such fundamentals, before facepalming and groaning in annoyance though without any actual malice. "Alright, alright, you uncultured heathen. A dynamic intro is all about making yourself look as cool in front of your opponent as possible. Like… this!"

Jabbing a finger at the stage's direction, Nendo then points upwards, causing a succession of bricks to manifest and form into a set of steps leading to one side of the arena. Creating a platform next, Nendo daintily steps on it with his hands behind his back, letting off an aura akin to that of a fancy noble dressed in coattails and a top hat. As the platform carries him through the air, Nendo raises his arms, stopping it just in front of a step. With his arms still held up, he makes his descent into the arena, with each step he takes dissolving the previous step into red dust. When his foot finally touches the cold concrete, Nendo bows.

"This - is a dynamic intro." Said the Hero- ahem, Wizard-in-training, opening one palm to manifest a floating brick as a smug grin creeps onto his face, satisfied with his introduction. "Now, your turn!" And just like that, his grin morphs into the usual happy-go-lucky one.

An impressed Tetsutetsu ponders, rubbing his chin, before snapping his fingers as an idea comes to his head. Breaking into a sprint and using the edge of the stage as a ramp, Tetsutetsu leaps into the air with one fist raised above his head…

And lands with one knee, driving his now-metallic fist into the arena floor and kicking up a small screen of dust. "How's that?" Said Tetsutetsu with a razor-toothed smirk, standing back up as he removes his fist, leaving behind an imprint surrounded by cracks and fractures.

"Superhero landing, I called it! The first time I've seen one in real life!" Nendo's internal child was bouncing all over the place, even more so than usual, before he forced himself to settle down with a literal slap to the face. "That is so damn cool, Tetsutetsu-san! Now that the introductions are over, let's-"

"A-hem." From off-stage, Sekijiro theatrically clears his throat to get the two's attention, his gaze trained on Nendo. "If you're quite finished… I would like to start this off."

Muttering under his breath about 'property damage', the Blood Hero's eyes suddenly go bloodshot as he barks at the top of his lungs. "FIGHT!"

(BGM: K.O.G - LOST JUDGEMENT OST)

"What the- a battle theme song?!" Nendo barely has any time to register what his teacher just said as he was expecting a 'Round One' before the 'FIGHT!' part, or at least let him and Tetsutetsu trade some more pre-fight banter, but his confusion was ruthlessly displaced with genuine terror the moment Tetsutetsu charged at him like a bat out of hell.

Rearing up his leg, Tetsutetsu delivers a front kick which Nendo dodges by the skin of his teeth as he loses his footing and rolls backwards on his butt. Utterly relentless in his assault as promised by not holding back, Tetsutetsu quickly throws two more punches, all aimed towards his face which Nendo again rolls out of the way, if only barely. "Tetsutetsu is a lot faster than what I expect from a tank!"

As Nendo scrambles to stand up, Tetsutetsu forgoes any semblance of tactics and instead lunges at Nendo like a pouncing tiger, grasping him by the shoulders and causing them both to tumble to the ground. They twisted, turned and wrestled, but the silver-haired teen quickly proves to be Nendo's superior in physical strength as he effortlessly pins him down with one hand on his neck and the other balling into a fist, ready to smash Nendo's face in. Thinking with a brain set alight by adrenaline, Nendo manifests a large mass of bricks clumped together and smashes the pile into Tetsutetsu, knocking him off and away.

With breathing room comes presence of mind, and all Nendo wants right now is retaliation… and delivering a declaration of how great he is. "You have genuinely angered me, the great and powerful wizard, Yosuke Nendo, who reigns over all bricks! Now, suffer the full force of my wrath!" Cupping his hands together and charging up what appears to be a swirling mass of brick dust, Nendo thrusts them forward, sending a trio of bricks towards Tetsutetsu at high speed.

Tetsutetsu, instead of getting out of the way, merely bares his teeth at Nendo as he puffs out his chest, opening himself wide for any attack. Two bricks aim straight for his chest while one goes for the head…

…And they all shatter to pieces upon impact as a metallic luster overtakes Tetsutetsu's skin color, turning his entire body into the strongest of steel. He stands firm, completely unharmed by the bricks. "BRING IT ON!"

STUDENT OF CLASS 1-B

TETSUTETSU TETSUTETSU

Nendo's confident grin visibly falters as he takes a step back, his stance now more cautious. "H-He takes my bricks head-on… and doesn't even flinch?!"

Remembering Tetsutetsu's impressive track record during the apprehension test, his worries only grow like wildfire by the second. Looking down at the rest of class 1-B, his eyes immediately spot Kinoko, who looks as if she's about to witness an execution of a loved one; with great despair and pained helplessness. Giving his friend the quickest of glances, Nendo cracks a rueful smile. "Heh… I think I bit off a little more than I could chew here."

Then, he shakes his head in lamentation. "And I haven't even come up with anything for my Limit Break yet…"

THE BATTLE STARTS!

Once again, beacons of white light engulf both Nendo and Tetsutetsu as both parties enter their battle states with each taking their signature stances. Nendo performs his usual flair of jazz hands and other intimidating hand signals, while Tetsutetsu settles for a simple crack of his neck and bumping his fists together. Above the metal-skinned teen's head shines a tag that reads LV.11, only one level higher than him. A relieved breath escapes Nendo, secured in the knowledge that he has at least a sliver of a fighting chance.

Though, with that Quirk of his, Nendo could already tell that his bricks are all but useless against solid steel. Not as much as when he fought that sludge guy, but unless denting also does chip damage to Tetsutetsu, then no bueno.

Sure, he could just telekinetically chuck one at near-relativistic velocity to perforate steel… but he would never wish for Tetsutetsu to be seriously hurt or, heavens forbid, killed because of his actions. And besides, what guarantees the brick won't just shatter? Make bricks in ridiculous quantities he could, improve their quality he could not.

As things stand, his best bet right now is to force an out-of-bounds. Knowing that he will be spamming nothing but walls, Nendo relaxes and lets his mind be filled with images of triangles and squares.

WALL LAUNCHER

Nendo Offensively Uses a Wall!

Clenching his fist and spinning his arm, Nendo surprises everyone (with the exception of Komori and Tetsutetsu) with sheer ridiculousness by sending a literal brick wall towards his opponent. The wall slides across the arena like a speeding truck, ready and willing to flatten anything standing in its way.

But alas, it has met its match in Tetsutetsu. With both arms outstretched and his muscles tautened, Tetsutetsu tackles the speeding wall with all of his might as he is sent skidding back by a couple of meters, the friction causing his shoes to start smoking. Just as he is a hair's breadth away from teetering over the edge of the arena however, the wall stops moving.

He stopped the Wall Launcher. Not 'dodged', no. Not 'slip past', no. Stopped it, with his bare hands.

This being a first for Nendo, the wild-haired teen could not stop his jaws slackening from the shock of it all, but recovers quickly enough to thrust out his hand in hopes that an additional push will finally send Tetsutetsu out.

What happens next, he could never have foreseen in a million years.

Before he could be forced out by an inch more, Tetsutetsu tightly grips onto the wall as he again transforms into a being of organic steel, his fingers digging into the many bricks that constitute it. Then, resting his weight on one leg, Tetsutetsu falls on his back and suplexing the wall, throwing the entire structure over his back and out of the arena. Due to the push Nendo gave it, the wall ends up flying a lot further out, forcing him to dissolve it mid-flight after what Sekijiro said about avoiding damaging school property coming to his mind at the most inopportune of times.

Still reeling from the shock of someone stopping one of his iconic attacks, Nendo doesn't even notice that his turn has been used up.

"That's your best shot? Pretty good… but not good enough to stop me!"

STEELY SMASH

Tetsutetsu Charges Forward With Unstoppable Force!

As his flesh and blood transmute into dense layers of steel, Tetsutetsu gets down on one knee with both hands on the floor, mimicking the posture of a sprinter doing a running start.

And run, he did. Moving like a gray blur and making a beeline towards Nendo, Tetsutetsu edges his shoulder out with the intention of turning himself into a battering ram and punt Nendo out of the ring. Letting out a roar, he speeds up even more once he is within punching distance.

In sharp contrast, Nendo could only let out a girlish yelp as he put up a half-formed wall. As expected, Tetsutetsu busts through the wall as if it was wet toilet paper and hits Nendo square in the chest with a shoulder ram.

CRITICAL HIT!

"GAH!" A mouthful of spit is expelled from Nendo's gaping mouth, along with all the air in his lungs, as he is sent careening through the air like his body weighs nothing…

And out of the arena! "Oh no!" Braving through the agony in his chest, Nendo twists himself mid-air and sticks his feet out just far enough to catch a pair of levitating bricks, followed by a dozen more which then support the rest of his falling body before any of it could touch the ground.

So glad that he had successfully prevented a loss on his end, neither the lung-collapsing pain of getting rammed by Tetsutetsu nor the discomfort of getting handled by his bricks were registered by his nervous system.

His opponent, though, was less than pleased about this outcome. "Hey! Kan-sensei, that's cheating! I knocked 'im out, fair and square!"

The man in question, who was watching the fight with rapt attention, squints his eyes in thought. After a few agonizingly slow seconds of deliberation, he raises an approving hand. "It's allowed! Now keep going!" Tetsutetsu still doesn't look all that happy, but nevertheless nods and focuses back on the spar.

Meanwhile, Nendo was doubling over and clutching his chest with both arms, the pain having caught up to him as soon as his feet touched the arena again. "Yeah, paying a visit to Recovery Girl after this…" Letting out a hissing breath, Nendo clenches his fists, trying his best to ignore the persistent ache in his chest as he browses through his list of skills.

Looking back up at Tetsutetsu, Nendo sees that his Quirk is still active as proven by the gray metallic sheen on his skin reflecting the sunlight. What really makes Nendo doubt his chances of victory however, is that there's a shield icon floating above Tetsutetsu's head along with his body being coated in a shiny golden aura. "Crap! He has damage resistance AND unflinching at the same time? Talk about unfortunate RNG!"

With his opponent fidgeting with impatience, Nendo racks through the rusty cogs of his brain to try to come up with a solution, before deciding that for once, he will retract his pride as a wizard and go on the defensive for now with the newest addition to his repertoire that he just came up with.

HEART OF THE BRICKS

Nendo Calls Upon The Primordial Spirits of Bricks To Protect Him!

Clapping his hands together and performing some incomprehensibly fast hand signs, Nendo touches the floor, creating four walls that circle around him in a clockwise motion, ready to defend their master against any threats from all sides.

Unfortunately for them, that threat is the human juggernaut made of adamantine steel named Tetsutetsu, with the aggressiveness to match his default facial expression. As soon as Nendo's turn is over and the turn arrow points to the metal-skinned teen, Tetsutetsu winds up his right arm with an exhilarated smile. "I can smash up your bricks all day, Nendo! So gimme all you got, and I'll keep comin'! Even if I gotta bust down more of those walls!"

METAL MASHER

Tetsutetsu Channels His Strength Into Both Arms!

Running towards Nendo, Tetsutetsu raises one foot and swings it down with tremendous force, propelling him into the air. As he flies in a downward trajectory, Tetsutetsu balls up his fists, cupping them together and reels back.

Nendo, seeing that he best does something lest he wants to get hammered into the ground like a bent nail, raises one hand to command the walls to stack atop each other to form an especially thick barrier… just in time for Tetsutetsu to slam both fists on it, resulting in a loud clang as steel hits bricks. Unlike before, the walls hold their ground allowing Nendo to throw Tetsutetsu off with a wave of his hand.

As the walls return to their original position, Nendo's eyes widen to the size of dinner plates once he see the damage done to the wall receiving the brunt of Tetsutetsu's attack: two gigantic fist-shaped cracks that threatened to punch right through had he lost concentration for even a second in maintaining their coherence. Gulping, he casts a gaze at Tetsutetsu, matching the latter's eyes.

"Wall Launcher obviously doesn't work all that well against him, and using regular attacks is pointless. Though, I do have four walls at my disposal…" Rubbing his chin and narrowing his eyes in deep thought, Nendo looks at the walls, then back at Tetsutetsu. "That's right! I can combo my skills!"

Laughing in glee at his genius scheme, Nendo makes the walls rotate around him faster.

WALL LAUNCHER + HEART OF THE BRICKS

Nendo Git Gud and Dishes Out An Enhanced Skill!

As brick-red dust swarms around him, Nendo closes his eyes as slow as he could for added dramatic effect… before opening them and thrusting out both hands, sending all four walls rushing at Tetsutetsu leaving behind thick trails of dust as a testament to how fast they are moving.

As the murderous flat structures of burnt clay close in, Tetsutetsu's sole response is to yell and charge at them with reckless abandon. He runs past the first wall, chipping away a corner as it caught his arm, then sidesteps the second and the third one. The fourth one, though, catches him head on with very little distance between them. Gritting his teeth in preparation for inevitable impact, Tetsutetsu brings up his arms to form a cross and plants one foot on the ground.

Smashing against the steel-clad teen at full force, the fourth wall succeeds in knocking Tetsutetsu off his feet and doing some damage (if his pained face is of any indication), at the cost of itself being reduced to unrecognizable rubble. Tumbling backwards and skidding towards the edge of the stage, it was only thanks to some last-minute muscle memory that prompted Tetsutetsu to dig his fingers into the floor, leaving long, jagged marks on the concrete as he slowed to a halt.

Just as he was mere inches away from falling out. "You… gotta try harder than that… to put me down! That's the Tetsutetsu testament!" Getting up with his arms shaking, Tetsutetsu again makes a bold claim, a dare to Nendo to do his worst.

On the other side of the ring, Nendo stands still with uncharacteristic silence as the wind rustles the wild strands of his pseudo-afro. A realization that is long overdue runs its course through his mind.

Tetsutetsu is tough.

He is stupidly tough, so much so that it borders on being OP. His teacher was right - fighting against people with proper, trained Quirks is a massive difficulty spike compared to robots and juvenile delinquents.

Not since the Sludge Villain has he had a fight this hard. If his respect for Tetsutetsu hasn't already been solidified, surviving the assault of a quadruple Wall Launcher and still coming back for more certainly take that respect and dip it in liquid gold, forever stainless and shiny.

And it simply gives Nendo a thrill! So much so, that he forgets that now he is without walls to protect him.

Tetsutetsu likewise shares the sentiment, given how never before has he pushed his Quirk to this level with someone before. In spite of his solid stance, Tetsutetsu in fact finds it a struggle to keep his eyes open; prolonged use of his Quirk always comes with the cost of using up his body's iron reserves, and it costs even more to repair any part of him that was dented or damaged. First comes weakness, then comes a dizzy spell, then finally unconsciousness. As he didn't have time to grab himself any iron-rich food beforehand, Tetsutetsu is basically running on fumes at this point.

But he can't give up now! Not after making it this far against what he now sees as a formidable opponent. Nendo's weird looks and whimsical personality may have caused others to look down on him, but their spar up until this point has taught Tetsutetsu better. His Quirk, at first glance, seems harmless and docile, but can be incredibly powerful and deadly if he wants it to be.

After all, it's not about the size of the gun, it's how you use it. And Yosuke Nendo certainly makes use of his in ways that a lesser person could never possibly think of.

And that, simply excites Tetsutetsu to no end!

Now that he has recognized Nendo as strong, the fire in Tetsutetsu's iron heart blazes into an inferno as he is now determined to defeat the brick-mancer more than ever before. With his Quirk running on a tight clock, Tetsutetsu makes sure that his next strike will be the one to end their spar.

A DESPERATE DENT

Tetsutetsu Puts Everything On The Line!

Breaking into a wild sprint and charging at Nendo like there's no tomorrow, Tetsutetsu ignores the burning sensation in his muscles to speed up even further the closer he is to Nendo.

Unsure if his opponent is about to ram him again or throws a punch, Nendo chooses to guard and summons a sturdy wall in front of him. Whatever move Tetsutetsu is about to pull, Nendo, his brain now adapted to the flow of battle, is more than ready for it. "Come metal, come steel…"

And yet, he never sees it coming that Tetsutetsu's battle plan was to throw himself at the wall with the momentum built up from all the running and smashes clean through using his head.

While the wall may have absorbed most of the attack, being on the receiving end of the mother of all headbutts when you are just flesh and bones proves to be more than enough to send Nendo sliding back after Tetsutetsu's forehead crashes against his gut.

Feeling as if all the organs around his stomach has been rearranged in the least consensual manner, it takes every fiber of Nendo's being to not cough up his breakfast right here and there as he keels over and lays on the floor of the arena, clutching his stomach with his face twisting in agony.

This is it. It's over for him. With how utterly defenseless and exposed he is, all Tetsutetsu has to do is to either go up and hit him with an Opportunistic Attack that will take off the last quarter of his health bar, or just kick him off the stage and win via the rules.

Either way, Nendo is well and truly screwed. His mana's done, his health is in the red, he has no resurrections and nothing in his arsenal seems to work.

Yet, even in the most hopeless of situations, his spirit cries out for him to stand up and keep fighting. But how? The writing is there on the walls: Tetsutetsu has proved to be an insurmountable enemy for his current level, and that he must grind more if he wishes to best him alone.

Alone…

"Wait…" The revelation coming to him like a sack of bricks, Nendo perked up. "Maybe… that's what I've been missing. I was trying to fight Tetsutetsu all by myself!"

Making a dry cough and ignoring Sekijiro's questions about whether or not he needed medical attention, Nendo takes a few short breaths as he looks at the blue sky, wiping away the sweat on his forehead with his sleeve. "I'm not alone. Komori-san is cheering me on, and bricks, here and all over the world… are with me!"

Special Skill Discovered!

Limit Break Ready!

Stretching out his arms and bringing his hands to the air, Nendo's eyes remain skyward as his mind calls out for any brick whose metaphorical pulse he could feel and reach out to, to do only one thing for him. "Please, the spirits of bricks everywhere… lend me your strength in this time of need! I cannot overcome my opponent's might alone… but bricks together are strong, so please!"

"Answer me!"

-Elsewhere, at the same time…

Itachi Tokugawa is a man with thirty years of construction work under his belt, and an ego to match such vast experience.

No more than an hour ago, he and his men were tasked with the job of repairing one of the buildings that was damaged from a recent villain attack. Deeming this to be another mission requiring experience of his caliber, Itachi readily accepts and quickly informs everybody on his team.

Arriving at the scene, he could already spot his men scattered around the ruined building doing various inspections, from foundation damage to estimating the cost of the materials needed. Walking through the wreckage, his men greets him along the way with all of them ending in either 'sir' or 'boss'.

"So, Takeshi. Damage assessment?" He asked one of his coworkers, a burly-looking man with two extra arms sprouting from his back.

"Infrastructure is mostly intact, though we'll have to build the walls and the upper floors from scratch."

"Alright… let's get on with it then! Let's start with the walls of the first floor." Itachi gives his order with a commanding tone, pulling out a packet of cigarettes and putting a lit one in his mouth. His men nodded in unison, before grabbing their respective tools and went to work. As foreman, his main job is to supervise others and step in to fix any mistakes a greener worker could make. Though, knowing his team as if they're family, Itachi is confident that he won't ever have to step in with a job as simple as this.

Thus, it comes as a huge surprise for him to see that despite it being quite a couple of minutes since they started, hardly any progress has been made. With questions in his mind, he went to confront the workers responsible.

Marching to one side, he could see his men… standing there like a bunch of statues, with terror etched on their faces? "Hey, guys! What's the big idea? We don't get paid to stand here doing nothing! What are you all looking at?"

A few seconds of complete stillness goes by, before another coworker, a lanky man whose helmet covers his eyes entirely, raises a shaky finger. "B-Boss, look!"

Following his finger, Itachi's eyes turned to his left…

And the cigarette fell from his mouth, still burning as it touched the sand and dirt.

Right before his very eyes is the sight that strikes fear into the hearts of construction workers: the stack of bricks, crucial materials provided to them, floating off into the air piece by piece to some unknown location. Shocked, but not willing to just let the materials that cost actual money to just take off like that, Itachi leaps forwards, grabbing a nearby tarpaulin sitting in a wheelbarrow, and wraps it over the bricks that are still grounded in an effort to save as much as he could.

Only to find himself floating with the bricks too as they carry his entire weight with no effort. "Aieeee!" He screams in fright, letting go of the tarpaulin. Landing on his back with a loud thud, Itachi scampers to his feet, watching in silent horror as the rest of the bricks fly off into the distance.

Once the bricks have disappeared amongst the clouds, Itachi continues to stare. It wasn't until Takeshi tapped him on the back that he finally did so much as blink. "Uh… boss?"

"Takeshi?" He whispers, his voice quiet and afraid.

"Yes, boss?"

"Get on the line with the closest Hero agency, will you? Tell them that…" He gulps audibly. "Some mighty powerful forces out of this world are at work…"

-Back to U.A…

"The hell is he doing?" Tetsutetsu tilts his head to one side, puzzled. It has been an entire minute, and yet all Nendo did was standing there with his hands in the air, not saying a word while maintaining an intense stare.

Nendo, in contrast to his serious expression, was running circles in his mind like a chicken. "Crap crap crap crap shit shit shit! I forgot some Special Skills take several turns to charge up! Gotta buy myself some time!"

"Hey! Are you surrendering or something?" Tetsutetsu calls out, crossing his arms with the creases that are supposed to be his eyebrows raised in confusion.

"Oh! Erm, well…" Nendo looks around, trying to find an excuse, anything at all, to make Tetsutetsu wait for him. "O-Oh yeah, you said you wanted me to throw everything I have at you, right?"

"Yeah? And?" Asked Tetsutetsu, not really getting what Nendo is implying.

"Well, that's what I'm doing right now! I'm preparing a super, ultra-mega-powerful spell that will rock your world! Thunder will come crashing down! The earth will shake beneath my feet! The universe shall tremble! My ten years of magical training… all culminates in this one spell!" Nendo makes sure to exaggerate as much as his wordsmithing skills will allow, even dancing around and generally acting like a huge idiot just to get Tetsutetsu to buy the act. "The question is, are YOU ready for an attack of such biblical scale?"

And that proves to be the sufficiently pointy stick that wakes up the bear in Tetsutetsu's heart. "Are you doubting me?! Hell yeah I am! I'm ready to stand against anythin'! So charge up that special attack of yours or whatever, cause I'm gonna smash right through it and punch you in the face!"

That reply is a little bit more aggressive than what Nendo intended, but it doesn't matter since the most important goal has been achieved: Tetsutetsu has agreed to wait for him. Allowing himself a sigh of relief, Nendo refocuses on calling upon all bricks to lend him their strength for his Limit Break.

Another minute passes. "Are you done?!"

And another minute passes. "Are you bluffing me? Cause I'm startin' to think you are!"

And yet another minute passes. "THAT'S IT! Ready or not, I'm comin'!"

"Wait wait! C'mon man, it's almost done! Just… one more minute, okay?" Nendo pleaded, all while enduring a worsening headache from having to exercise his Quirk to its fullest. "If I'm still standing here after a minute, you have my full permission to kick my face in. Deal?"

Putting his fist down, a grumbling Tetsutetsu returns to his side of the stage.

Off-stage, Sekijiro pointedly watches the timer on his tablet tick by. At this point, he is sure that Nendo is just dragging out the fight. Raising a hand, he intends to call off the spar…

Only to notice a shadow casting down on Nendo. "What the hell is that?!" From behind him, comes a shrill exclamation by Tsububara as he points at something in the sky.

Almost instantly, everybody's eyes went up where they saw the source of the shadow casting over Nendo: a rotating sphere of bricks of immense size, easily matching a wrecking ball in width and length, which continues to grow larger as more and more bricks coming from all directions add to its mass floating above Nendo. Its creation promotes a calm breeze away from the sphere, fluttering the hairs of class 1-B.

Now, it is Tetsutetsu's turn to become slack-jawed. Nendo, knowing that the jig is up, bursts into a fit of hysterical laughter. "I can tell that you're shocked and awed! You ask for me to throw everything I have at you, and here it is! This… is the Brick Essence Bomb!"

SPECIAL SKILL: BRICK ESSENCE BOMB

"By harmonizing my spirit with brick-kind everywhere, I can borrow their essence from all over the world, concentrate that essence into one big mass… then release them! Just so you know, a Brick Essence Bomb this size is made from only the bricks around U.A! Imagine what I can do… with the entirety of Earth!" Nendo gives his speech with the appropriate amount of gravitas, conveying the sheer power of his next move.

"But this shall be my very last move! So if you're still standing after this, Tetsutetsu… then you win!" Nendo wasn't kidding; his health is still in a critical state, and his headache is getting worse by the second. If anybody else were to take hold of his Quirk, he's sure their brains would blow up from the sheer pressure of hundreds upon hundreds of bricks connecting with it.

In an oddly pragmatic manner, Tetsutetsu rushes at Nendo, but his efforts ultimately prove futile since the time he has so graciously given Nendo has allowed the bomb to be fully formed. "It's ready!" Watching Tetsutetsu running in slow-motion, Nendo flashes him a smirk…

And throws his hands down! "Brick Essence Bomb, GO!"

Following the motions of its master, the giant, spinning sphere of bricks (hallowed be its name) descends upon Tetsutetsu with the weight of a thousand suns, blotting out the sun as it crashes down on him. With no other option but to accept his own mortality, Tetsutetsu lets out a defiant roar as he extends his arms to try and push back the bomb.

Even in the face of certain defeat, Tetsutetsu remains brave… but bravery alone cannot save him, as the bomb finishes its descent and slams into the young man, effortlessly steamrolling him off the arena and whisking him into the air, flying higher and higher in a chaotic fashion while grinding into him like a buzzsaw as it spins at high speed. In spite of the bomb deforming, denting and tearing into his metal skin, Tetsutetsu struggles on, clawing and punching the Brick Essence Bomb without pause even as it carries him through the sky.

Once high enough, the bomb shudders before bursting into a cloud of red, sending intact and broken pieces of brick everywhere as well as launching Tetsutetsu away with the blast. Then, gravity kicks in, and he begins to make a rapid fall alongside a veritable hailstorm of bricks.

"Take cover!" Kan yells out at his class, who immediately scatter. Those who remains use their respective Quirks to deflect the oncoming rain of bricks: Itsuka and Ibara swats them away with enlarged hands and thorny brambles, Tsububara breathes out solid barriers of air to act as cover for his classmates, and Yui produces a pencil case and increases its size to that of a large tent, before hopping in and encouraging others to do the same with a wave.

Once the heavenly assault of bricks is over, all that is left to worry about is the steel-coated boy about to make a violent reunion with solid ground. Before Sekijiro could ask for volunteers, a freshly-manifested mass of bricks crudely forming into the shape of a hand catches Tetsutetsu mid-air. Looking back at the arena, it is revealed that it was Nendo's doing.

Following the gesture of the wizard-to-be, the brick hand brings the dazed Tetsutetsu back into the ring before gently placing him down. Thanks to his body still covered in solid steel, there was no lasting damage from being caught by a solid object falling from such a height.

Tetsutetsu remains flat on his back for a few seconds more, before his eyes shoot open and he gets up. "What?! What happened?!" Bewildered that he is still in the ring and not having a limb or two bent out of shape, Tetsutetsu turns to Nendo. "Did ya save me?"

With the brick hand dissolving, Nendo gets down on his knees. Then, he looks up and gives Tetsutetsu a small smile as a single stream of blood runs from his nose. "Now… we're even."

"Even?" Tetsutetsu asks again between ragged breaths, unable to fathom as to why Nendo not only saved him from the fall, but also brought him back into the ring, preventing his loss. All Nendo has to do is drop him off outside the ring and he would win… but for some reason, his opponent doesn't take that opportunity.

"Well, I figured that since I saved myself from being out-of-bounds when you pushed me out earlier, it must have been unfair for you. So I'm just making things fair. Now…" Wiping off the blood with his sleeve, Nendo beckons a hand at Tetsutetsu. "If you knock me out, I won't use my Quirk. Let's go all out, with nothing held back. This is a cutscene fight now!"

"I haven't a clue what that last part's supposed to mean," Tetsutetsu huffs, before returning Nendo's smile with a grin that threatens to split his cheeks. "But don't think even for a second that just 'cause you saved me… meant I'm gonna give up this second chance!"

Nendo, deeming any more words to be unnecessary, gives him a bigger smile. They are both tired and battered, but they have never felt more determined to beat each other.

As the battle music (in Nendo's head) reaches its climax, both rushes at each other. Nendo summons and throws multiple walls at Tetsutetsu, who bursts through all of them with sheer force of will and an inhumanly tough skull, even with steel coating it. Lunging forward, he tries to take Nendo out with a well-placed punch to the face, only to miss when a brick smashes into the back of his head, followed by another to the chin, knocking him away.

As Tetsutetsu staggers back, Nendo points a pair of finger guns at him. A fraction of a second worth of a tense standoff goes by before Nendo loudly enunciates the 'RATATATATA' of a machine gun as bricks shoot out from his fingertips at the same rate as one. The barrage of bricks is so intense that all Tetsutetsu could do is to raise his arms to block as he gets pushed back.

As the sheer volume of bricks being funneled his way pushes Tetsutetsu further and further back, the metal-skinned teen feels his Quirk getting weaker as the pain in his arms that are being used to protect him against Nendo's assault escalates with every passing second. But just as it becomes unbearable, the volley stops.

Putting his arms down, Tetsutetsu doesn't take another step when he is suddenly overcome by a spell of weakness, a tell-tale sign of anemia as the consequence of overworking his Quirk catches up to him at last. As his Quirk deactivates, the metallic luster gradually fades away from his skin, revealing its normal color once more.

Nendo was just as fatigued, both mentally and physically. The rapid-fire brick barrage was his absolute last-gasp attempt at defeating Tetsutetsu, and now he is totally out of mana. But Tetsutetsu is literally right there, stunned and standing at the edge of the ring! Unlike before, this is an opportunity he must take, lest the stronger teen outlasts him by the virtue that Nendo is about to drop dead from this killer headache.

His brain veering away from turn-based territory into beat 'em up territory, Nendo decides to do something unprecedented. Utilizing the leg muscles he gained from years of chasing kids stealing things from his shop, Nendo charges headlong at Tetsutetsu, yelling a high-pitched battle cry before jumping mid-run…

And lands a perfectly-executed dropkick right into his unprotected chin, sending him clean off the stage and landing on his back outside of the ring.

"The match is over! The winner is Yosuke Nendo!" Sekijiro announces with the bombastic loudness of a sports commentator, before rushing over to help the downed Tetsutetsu stand up.

Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu Was Defeated!

Laying on the arena with a tired smile, Nendo manages, with great effort, to raise a thumbs-up before fatigue finally overtakes him. "Nailed… that dropkick! Thank you, Supreme Muscle Wrestle Puncher, for teaching me how to... do it!"

CONGRATULATIONS!

RESULTS:

Generic XP Earned!

Nendo's Level Increased From LV.10 to LV.12!
"I feel the stats going up!"

Job XP Earned!

Nendo's Magician Increased From LV.8 to LV.10!

UNLOCKED SKILL: HEART OF THE BRICKS

UNLOCKED SPECIAL SKILL: BRICK ESSENCE BOMB

After a few soft smacks to the face from Sekijiro, Nendo returns to the world of the living and crawls off-stage, his muscles having yet to recover their strength. As soon as he walks back to join the rest of class 1-B, Setsuna appears from behind and gives him a firm smack on the back. "Hey, good fight you put up there! And nice dropkick!"

Usually, Nendo would have jumped like a scared cat before going off on a tangent about how he dislikes sneak attacks without a proper warning sign, but he is so tired now that the best reaction he could muster is a grin with half-lidded eyes. "All thanks to Arcane Quest, Tokage-san. The best RPG in the world, bar none. Also, best of luck to you against Shiozaki-san. From what I've seen, those vines have pretty high evasion stats. I suggest focusing on her instead of them."

"Yeah, that makes sense. You know, I didn't think you could do much against Tetsutetsu with that Quirk, but color me wrong! Guess you're not the top of our class for nothing!" Setsuna gives him a friendly smile, before walking off with a wave. "Oh, what was that game again?"

"Arcane Quest?"

"Yeah, I'll try it out when I have the chance. Sounds like fun!" Nendo watches as the green-haired rogue flashes him a cunning smile, before turning away to prepare for her match with the religious druid. Slowly, but surely, a smile graces his lips again as a warm feeling in his heart swells. Even though he doesn't exactly seek it, getting the approval of others still feels nice.

And as an added bonus, he introduced another non-believer to the religion of Arcane Quest. "The cult of Arcane Quest grows!"

Sitting back down on his spot, Kinoko almost tackles him, which he only manages to stop by grabbing her shoulders. "Woah, Komori-san! Easy, easy… what's wrong?" He asked, noting her quivering mouth and wide eyes.

"A-Are you okay?! Did you b-break anything?! I saw Tetsutetsu toss you all over the place, I couldn't help but get worried when you were laying on the floor! W-What if you have internal bleeding and you have to go to the hospital and-" Kinoko couldn't stop herself from assuming the worst had happened to her only friend. Steel crashing against flesh definitely has to hurt, and she has been watching Nendo getting headbutted, rammed and generally manhandled by someone who is made of said material.

"Hey, dummy." Once again, Nendo taps her on the nose, prompting a little 'eep' from the mushroom enthusiast. "I may be a wizard, but I'm not as fragile as you think. I mean, just look at these muscles!" He said, flexing his arms to show that there is nothing worthy of attention. Seeing that Kinoko still looks scared out of her mind for his sake, Nendo softens and gives her a pat on the shoulder.

"Komori?" Looking up, the shorter girl came face-to-face with his gentle smile. "I'm fine, really. Okay, maybe I'm bruising a little bit, but nothing can't be fixed with a little kiss from Recovery Girl! Bottom line is, I'm good. A little rest, some food, and I'll be good to go! Like Mario when he gets a 1-UP!"

Then, leaning in while tapping his cheek, he delivers the knockout blow to the little nagging voice in her head that tells him that he's not fine. "Though if you ask me, I think a little kiss from you will heal me up just as fine."

"W-WHAT?!" Kinoko cries out of sheer astonishment, before slapping her mouth shut right after she notices everybody's eyes drawing to her. A great big blush appeared on her face as blood rushes to her head, she couldn't even come up with a coherent response for Nendo. "I- you- what do you- huh?!"

Is her friend… hitting on her? She already feels blessed as it is, being friends with someone as nice and cheerful as he is, but now he wants to be more?! Either she is on a lucky streak never to be replicated, or the universe is planning something horrible to her. She's completely fine with being ignored romantically, so why is all of this happening to her?

Not that she finds it unpleasant by any means. If she gets a kiss from a boy, especially Nendo, her mind would just melt into mushroom soup. "And then what comes after a kiss…?" A deeper one, of course, with tongues clashing and lips smashing.

And what comes after that? His hands, on her, removing her clothes and roaming all over her virgin body-

"No, really! I mean, with how much you worry for me, I think if you kiss me, all that worry is gonna transform into pure, unfiltered healing power thanks to the sheer force of you wanting me to get better. Get it? Sorta like an alt version of Recovery Girl." With not even a semblance of irony or a hint of want, he declares his reasons for wanting a kiss, snapping Kinoko out of her spiraling thoughts.

Paradoxically enough, she was both relieved and disappointed. Relieved because he isn't actually serious about hitting on her lest she suffers a heart attack from it, and disappointed because… well, because he, someone who Kinoko very much perceives as handsome, cool and funny isn't serious about hitting on her.

But still, being handsome and funny is going to stop her from socking him in the arm for messing with her. "Nendo, you rascal! Meanie! Don't mess with me like that!" She pouts, looking away from him with crossed arms. Nendo chuckles lightheartedly at her reaction.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry."

"Apology not accepted."

"What? C'mon! It's a joke!"

"I don't think it's funny."

"Well, I do!"

"That's just you."

Thinking of other ways to earn Kinoko's forgiveness, Nendo comes up with a genius one: play the wounded gazelle. Clutching his stomach and grimacing in fake pain, Nendo rolls on the ground all while groaning. "Ouch, my bones, they're smashed! My organs, they're squished! I need your help, Komori! Urgently so! My life is bleeding away before my eyes!"

And he keeps up this charade for a couple more seconds, the weirded-out looks he gets from his classmates be damned, until Kinoko finally caves in and bursts into a giggling fit. "You're such a goof, Nendo…" Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Kinoko looks at him again. "Fine, I'll help."

"Give me a kiss?"

"Wha- No!" Denied Kinoko with haste, shaking her head to stop the blood from turning her cheeks redder than cranberry sauce. "I can offer you something else though… would you like to eat something? I got… something, but I'm not sure if you'll like it-"

"Komori-san." All of the sudden, Nendo's tone takes a complete turn into the realm of seriousness, all while audaciously poking her in the cheek earning another short squeak from the fungi lover. "If there is one thing, one thing at all, that life has taught me, that is 'food is food'. If I can chew it, it's edible. So come on, hand me the consumable. I need to bring my health back up to the green."

Kinoko wonders exactly what Nendo has been through in life to develop a belief as barebones and extreme as that, but she wasn't about to ask him such a personal question. Not at this level of relationship, at least. Without further ado, she opens her palms and extends them towards him.

In the matter of seconds, a pair of brown, stumpy mushrooms grow from her palms. "Agaricus bisporus, though everyone just calls them portabella mushrooms. People usually cook them-"

Before she could finish, Nendo had already snatched one from her hands and taken a bite out of the cap, chewing ravenously as if he hadn't eaten anything for days.

"...But they can also be eaten raw."

"Sorry, I'm just really hungry right now." He said between mouthfuls of mushroom, before swallowing with a satisfied expression. "Man, these are good! A little chewy, but that's fine! I bet they go well with a salad!"

A few more munches went by, and in little time Nendo had demolished the pair. He would licked Komori's hands clean too, but something tells him that doing so would get him slapped. "Do you have any more?"

Seeing the stone-faced expression on her half-hidden face, complete with her thin lips pressed together, the oft-confident Nendo immediately backsteps on his words, stammering. "I-I mean, if you don't have any more or don't want to, that's fine! I don't wanna be too demanding-"

"Nendo-kun." She gives him a warm smile as she calls him by that affectionate honorific for the first time since the entrance exam, before growing more from her palms and presenting them to her friend. "You can never be demanding. And yeah, I have more."

"Well then…" Rubbing his hands in greed and glee, Nendo then claps them together and bows appreciatively before Kinoko. "Itadakimasu!"

And just like that, the sounds of battle and combat on the stage are interspersed with the sounds of Nendo chomping happily on raw mushrooms as Kinoko looks on fondly.

-0-

Compared to Nendo and Tetsutetsu' protracted battle full of drama and action, the rest of the matchups went by like a breeze, with victory depending on whose Quirk can counteract whose better.

Ibara manages to get the upper hand at first by trapping Setsuna's body pieces with her brambles, but was eventually overwhelmed when the cunning body-splitter starts splitting herself into two dozen parts that made it impossible for the religious student to keep up, and was swiftly incapacitated as her hands and feet are restrained by Setsuna's disembodied hands.

Monoma was quite smug to reveal the ace in the hole that is his Quirk: the ability to copy others' Quirks. However, what he couldn't copy is experience, and his unease at throwing around hands bigger than his own body quickly proves to be his downfall as Kendo effortlessly dodges his clumsy attacks before finishing the fight with two punches: a regular one to the gut, and an enlarged one to the face that launches him off the stage, all done in a single languid motion.

Shoda actually holds his own quite well against Shishida, running circles around his furry opponent and peppering him with remote detonations via his Quirk. Well, that is, until Shishida morphs into his beast form, gains a huge boost in speed, grabs Shoda and fastballs him out of the ring and into the rows of seats surrounding them.

The fight between Kamakiri and Fukidashi should have been a foregone conclusion, what with the latter's deadly blades and superior speed… but he practically spelled his own defeat when he rushed at Manga with blades drawn, giving the boy a fright so bad that he screamed, creating an onomatopoeia that blasted Kamakiri out of bounds from sheer force of sound alone. Naturally, Togaru was pretty sore about his loss.

Afterwards, Sekijiro makes it his mission to take everybody to Recovery Girl, even the non-combatants, in case they 'suffer from any injuries during the apprehension test's arduous challenges'. Whilst considered a bit unnecessary by half the class, most appreciate it since it was awfully nice and caring of their teacher.

The same cannot be said for Recovery Girl herself however, who complains that the time it takes to check all 21 students will eat into her tea time.

After getting kissed and collectively chewed out by their elderly nurse for sustaining injuries, the time has come for class 1-B to head home. Changing out of his gym uniform and back into his regular one, Nendo packs up what little he has for school and heads outside where he spots Izuku walking by his lonesome, looking tired and dejected as usual. Determined to brighten up his best friend's day, Nendo puts on his best smile, his most cheerful pose, and hops over-

Only to summon a wall to crash himself into once he saw two more figures following his green-haired friend: Ochako, and a tall student whom he recognizes as 'examinee 7111' back at the entrance exam. Unlike before however, his and Izuku's interactions seem a lot friendlier. The interaction between Ochako and Izuku is pretty much self-explanatory; he could see the smitten look his friend is giving her as clear as day.

All in all, the sight makes his heart swell with pride and satisfaction. At long last, his Izu-chan has finally emerged from his shell of meekness, a product of ceaseless bullying from Katsuki, and become a real man by already making friends on his first day. Hell, he even managed to convert a former antagonist! "Oh, I am so proud of you, Izu-chan! You go, hero!" He thought to himself, blinking away tears of joy.

With the widest smile he has made all day, Nendo walks in the opposite direction, deciding to let his friend enjoy his new companions. He and Izuku could always catch up on things back home. "And besides…" At the corner of his eye, he catches a familiar figure with a voluminous mushroom-like bob cut.

Creating a platform and hopping on it, Nendo waves as he zips over to Kinoko. "Komori-san~!" Uttering her name in a sing-song voice, he raises his hand for a hearty pat on her back.

Kinoko could never quite stop herself from jumping whenever Nendo announces his presence, even if it was from a mile away. Though as an improvement, she didn't swing her bag into his face this time. "O-Oh, hi Nendo. How are your bruises?"

"Much better!" Nendo gives his chest a few hard thumps, showing that he doesn't grimace in pain once touched there anymore. "So, are you doing anything?"

"Huh? Oh, um, not much… I usually just went home right after." Said Kinoko in a quiet voice, shyly clutching the hems of her sleeves. While he's not forcing her to do it as per se, just talking, or even giving hints about how much of a social recluse she is more than enough to make her shrink with embarrassment.

"Then let's go home together!" Out of the blue, without warning, Nendo grabs her hand. "Your place's pretty close to mine, so two birds with one stone!" And so, he marches onwards hand-in-hand with Kinoko, her steaming red face proven not nearly enough to dissuade him.

"Oi! Wait up!" Unexpectedly, Kinoko's savior comes in the form of Tetsutetsu, running at them while holding a plastic packet of some sort. His booming voice got Nendo to turn around and, in that brief moment of distraction, allowed Kinoko to retract her hand with lightning speed and thus saving her from awkward-induced cardiac arrest.

"Ah, Tetsutetsu-san! To what do I owe the pleasure?" Despite not wearing a skirt to complete the gesture, Nendo pinches the hems of his blazer and curtsies in front of Tetsutetsu who, while not understanding the gesture, takes it positively. "Oh, and how are you? I imagine getting hit with the Brick Essence Bomb isn't very fun."

"Nah, Recovery Girl made sure I got a clean bill of health! Besides, I wanna talk to you about something!" Walking to Nendo's left as Kinoko was to his right, Tetsutetsu takes a deep breath. "I just wanna say that the stuff you did during our spar is just… I don't even have the words for it! Ya saved me so we can have a fair battle at the end, and that's just the manliest shit ever! Then ya pull out all sorts of crazy attacks and keep me on my toes! I had a lotta fun fighting you, honest!"

Nendo doesn't usually get compliments regarding how good an opponent he is, so naturally, he takes this odd compliment with a grin. "Why, thank you! I say you're not bad yourself either. Hell, I feel my bones cracking every time you hit me!"

"Yeah, sorry about that. Whenever my blood gets hot during battle I just kinda stop thinkin', you know? But nevermind that! I've done a lot of thinking later, and I've come to a conclusion!" Tetsutetsu points at Nendo, before leaning closer and wrapping an arm around his shoulder. Being only slightly shorter than Nendo, his 174 centimeters compared to wild-haired teen's 175, the two of them are practically on seeing eye-to-eye. "You're a good bro and a real man! Wanna be friends?"

Most people would have reacted to Tetsutetsu's forwardness with some degree of apprehension, thinking that this level of friendliness from a total stranger has to come with an ulterior motive of some kind.

Nendo, however, has no space in his heart to doubt anybody and thus wholeheartedly accepts Tetsutetsu's offer. "I don't see why not! You seem like a dependable guy yourself; with you in my party, we will be unstoppable!" Then, the metal-skinned brawler and the brick wizard seals the deal with the universal gesture of bro-ship: a fist bump.

"Um… I'm still here, you know?" A sheepish Kinoko raises her hand. While she's not one to seek attention, shrinking violet extraordinaire that she is, something about Nendo devoting his attention to Tetsutetsu just makes her feel left out.

"And this, my metallic friend, is another close compatriot of mine, Kinoko Komori! The mage of mushrooms!" Seamlessly transitioning to Kinoko, Nendo introduces her to Tetsutetsu. "She's a little shy, but when push comes to shove, she'll bloom like the brightest of molds! Like the ones on my old mattress!"

"Is that a compliment or an insult, Nendo?" She asked, genuinely puzzled as to whether or not he's inflating her image or putting it down. Though, knowing Nendo, he's probably just exaggerating.

"Nice to meetcha too, Komori! Any friend of Nendo is a friend of mine!" Tetsutetsu declares with a toothy grin, extending his fist towards Kinoko for a fist bump. It takes the diminutive girl a couple of seconds to muster up the courage, but she returns the gesture nonetheless.

"N-Nice to meet you too, Tetsutetsu-san." On the outside, Kinoko looks like her regular self, with half her face hidden in her bangs and her thin lips pressed together into a flat line. On the inside, though?

"Did I just make another friend?! And he doesn't want to ask me for anything?! Oh, and it's a big strong guy with arms that I can do swings on?! Just what is this world coming to?!"

As Kinoko marinates in her thoughts, not all of them safe for public spaces, Tetsutetsu opens up the packet he carries with a single rip. Reaching in, he pulls out what looks like a yellowish piece of fruit and tosses it into his mouth. "So, what're you two up to?" He asks, chewing noisily all the while.

"We're just going home, though not without some friend-to-friend bonding along the way! Also, what's that?" Nendo inquires with an audible sniff of his nose. "Love the smell!"

"Dried apricots! They got lots of iron in 'em, so it helps me keep my Quirk going strong." Tetsutetsu then pulls out two pieces. "You two want some?"

"Denying free food is a sin, so they say! Hey Komori, you want some?" Nendo asks, nudging Kinoko who was talking to herself in the elbow.

"H-Huh?" Having shut out their conversation to process the thoughts of her rebellious brain, Kinoko comes off as confused as a newborn fawn.

"You want some dried apricots? I bet they'll raise up some stats, being high in iron and all!"

"Oh, uh, sure!" Deciding to keep her thoughts to herself until the day she enters the grave, Kinoko (as graciously as she could with a reddened face) accepts the piece of dried fruit from Nendo's hand.

And so, the freshly-minted trio of friends went on their way, snacking on dried apricots which Tetsutetsu never seems to run out no matter how much their combined mouths take.

As Nendo swallows his tenth piece of apricot, the sweet, tangy flavor which now permeates his tongue suddenly awakens a memory. "Hey, I recognize this taste! The brand, it's Ichiban Dry Goods, right?"

"That's-" Tetsutetsu stops eating for a moment to take a look at the packet in detail. "That's right! How in the hell did you know that?!"

"I used to sell them, of course!" Nendo declares as if doing such a thing was a badge of honor.

"You… sell dried apricots on the side, Nendo-san?" Kinoko asks in a confused manner, which causes all the color to suddenly drain from Nendo's face.

It was an unambiguously innocent question that holds no negative feelings, and he's sure that Kinoko meant nothing by it. But it's not the nature of the question itself that concerns, no.

The fact that she had to ask that question at all makes him realize that he had come dangerously close to revealing his past to his friends. With the exception of Izuku and his mom, Nendo has yet to tell anyone of Penny-Filter District, his previous identity as a shopkeeper, his uncles, the whole beat-someone-into-a-coma affair, and of course his time in juvenile hall.

Izuku's words to him the night before the entrance exam returns to him. 'Are you afraid that people are going to hate you for being in juvenile detention?'

Thinking back to it, Nendo figured that he may have not been entirely truthful. He doesn't care what the teachers, public officials and other naysayers think…

But Kinoko and Tetsutetsu are his friends, and he very much cares about what his friends think. And the thought of them abandoning him due to his sordid past is something he's not sure his heart could take.

But then again, they're his friends for crying out loud! He shouldn't have to hide anything from them. So why is he so afraid that they'll find out? Will they accept him for who he is, or will they cut all ties with him, not wanting to be associated with an ex-juvie who has a violent criminal record?

"I'll tell them in my own time." is the conclusion Nendo reached. Their bonds as of now are too fragile to handle a bombshell such as this. With time, and perhaps some developments, he will tell them.

Just not now.

"Yo, Nendo! You with us?" Tetsutetsu's loud voice snaps Nendo out of his trance. Raising his head, he sees that both of his friends are looking at him with varying levels of worry. "You look like you just saw a ghost."

"Uh… just thinking of something. Nothing important, it's fine." That was a flimsy excuse and he knew it, but it seems enough to make Tetsutetsu and Kinoko stop from making any further questions. Though, Kinoko gave him a ghost of a glance.

For the next couple of minutes, their trip was spent in silence. Even the hot-blooded Tetsutetsu didn't have anything to break the ice. Though, just when the lack of banter was on its way to being uncomfortable…

"You know what, guys? I think something's missing." Nendo pipes up, his voice returning to its usual liveliness. It appears that the past few minutes were the time needed for Nendo to get his mind out of its funk.

"Can you… elaborate on that, Nendo-san?" Kinoko tilts her head, question marks practically radiating off of her. She was confused about his supposed past business concerning dried apricots, and now she is just as confused about this something that he finds missing.

All of this only serves to make her come to a realization: the way Nendo's brain works is something that would trouble even the greatest of Greek philosophers.

"You know, I got my magic here and my robe at home already, but there's still something else that I need in order to become a fully-fledged wizard." Nendo replies as he looks into the distance, hands raising up to form a pair of floating bricks. "One crucial thing that any wizard worth his salt should have…"

"A what and a what now?" Now, it's Tetsutetsu who is utterly perplexed by Nendo's stream of thoughts.

Nendo looks at him as if Tetsutetsu had grown a second head, before remembering that he has yet to share his lifelong goal to his new friends. How could he call himself a friend if he hadn't even done that? "Oh, right, I haven't told you guys yet. Allow me!"

Clapping his hands together, Nendo raises them as brick-red dust flowing around his arms. "You see, ever since I was but a little child, I have always held onto one dream, and one dream only. And that iiiiiiiiiis-!"

He then casts out his hands, forming the word 'wizard' spelled out by floating bricks arranged next to each other. "To become a wizard!"

Both Kinoko and Tetsutetsu are rendered speechless. Then, after a pregnant silence, the former coughs into her fist. "Kinda figured that one out, to be honest…"

"So…" Tetsutetsu still looks rather unsure as to whether Nendo is just pulling his leg or he actually meant all the stuff he just said. "You wanna be a wizard?"

"That's right! And I've been on a quest to become one ever since I was a kid." Replies a proud Nendo, placing a hand on his chest while doing a dramatic flair with the other.

"I mean, with all the stuff I've seen you done?" Tetsutetsu said to Nendo, scratching the back of his messy hair. "You sure as hell could pull off a convincing act like a real one."

"What?! No, no no, no! I don't wanna 'pull off' a wizard! I don't wanna be 'like' a wizard! I want to become one! To master my own craft! To teach everyone the way of the brick! To make a sensation in the wizarding world!" Nendo rants with passionate fervor, waving his hands around and pacing back and forth in front of his friends. "And to be one step closer to my dream, I need a tool! A conduit to properly channel and control my unparalleled magical might!"

With a snap of his finger, he drops the metaphorical mic. "A staff! Don't you agree?"

Once again, radio silence as Kinoko and Tetsutetsu stare at him with unblinking eyes.

"Uh…" Kinoko starts.

"Huh." And Tetsutetsu finishes.

"What's with that reaction?! Come on, you guys should know that every wizard of legend has a trusty staff they carry with them! Merlin, Gandalf, Glinda the Good Witch… and so on!" He delivered his speech with such passion that the fact Kinoko and Tetsutetsu aren't saluting his spirit and crying in respect comes as a huge surprise. Did he not level up his charisma at all from practicing All Might's manner of speech in front of the mirror?

"Why don't ya just make one? Just take a broom or whatever, slap a brick on it and boom, wizard staff." Tetsutetsu, in his straightforward ways, offers a quick and easy solution.

Alas, his ingenious answer only earns him a tap to the forehead. "Hey, what the hell was that for?!"

"Silly Tetsutetsu, wizards don't make their own staves! It is something they gained, either bequeathed to them by an important NPC, or as the ultimate reward for braving a dangerous dungeon full of ancient artifacts!" Nendo playfully chastises him, before lowering his head with one hand on his chin, thinking. "But that begs the question: where can I find me a staff?"

Before he could hear the responses of either Kinoko or Tetsutetsu, immense dread and abject fear pervaded Nendo's being. A chill ran up his spine like creeping frostbite, and an impending sense that something unnatural, something utterly aberrant is afoot spreads throughout his mind like a plague. "W-What is this creepy feeling?! Who's casting the 'Fear' debuff?!" He sees nothing in front of him, nor behind his friends, so that means-

The way Kinoko and Tetsutetsu are widening their eyes is all the answer he will ever need.

Palms sweaty, knees weak and arms heavy, Nendo draws in a shuddering breath and turns his head to the back as slowly as humanly possible. He would have made it all the way to face this mysterious entity with some notion of bravery in his heart, but said notion was all but annihilated when a pale hand grabs his shoulder. A pale face and even paler hair follows, resting on his other shoulder.

"Perhaps I can be of some assistance…"

"AAAAAAH!" A scream worthy of being in a slasher flick comes from Nendo's shrieking mouth as he leaps into the arms of the person nearest to him, who just so happens to be Tetsutetsu. "AAAAAAH- Oh. It's, uh…"

"Y-Yanagi-san, is it?" Kinoko finishes what Nendo was about to say, nervously fidgeting her fingers about.

"It appears that you remember my name. This means I no longer have any need to present an introduction for myself." Reiko replies in her signature overly-verbose manner, looking at the trio with one eye as her other was covered by a bang of snowy hair.

Despite being scared out of his wits just a second ago, Nendo calms down soon enough… until he looks at Reiko's feet, which were floating off the ground along with the rest of her body. "Wow! You can fly?! You're an actual ghost?! That is so cool!"

Her eyes looking as dead as ever, the ghostly girl gives him a smile. Actually, it's too eerie and unnatural to be called a smile. It is more as if she just pulled her lips apart to show her teeth and call it a smile.

An un-smile if you will.

"As much as I would like that to be true, the truth is often disappointing. To be precise, I am only creating the illusion of flight by telekinetically suspending my clothes." Then, as ephemeral as spirits, her smile diminishes.

"Aww. Oh well, telekinesis is still pretty cool!" Not appearing to mind her frightening smile, he returns it with a much more cheerful one as he breaks away from Tetsutetsu's bridal carry. "So, Yanagi-san, what are you following us for?"

"The reasons for my supposed stalking of you are very simple and easy to comprehend." Floating down until her feet touch the asphalt, Reiko steps closer to Nendo and shoots him an inscrutable look. "The first of which is that I merely find you to be of great intrigue, Yosuke Nendo."

Tetsutetsu leans down Kinoko. "Yo, what is she talking about?"

"In her language, I think she meant to say that Nendo is interesting." Kinoko replies with a hushed tone. Tetsutetsu scrunches whatever he has for eyebrows together, before mouthing a small 'Oh'.

"How so? I mean, I know I am the great and powerful wizard and all, but how exactly do you find me 'intriguing'?" Never missing a chance to stroke his own ego, Nendo asks her to which Reiko simply shrugs her shoulders.

"It cannot be put down into words alone. The nature of your ability. The texture and shape of your hair. The composition of your personality. The way you act around others. The way you see the world. Of all our fellow schoolmates, you are unlike anything I have seen before." Then, she places a hand on his chest almost as if they were intimate. "You arouse my-"

Before Reiko could finish, Nendo was hauled away by his friends, Tetsutetsu dragging his right arm and Kinoko his left. "Woah woah, guys! What's the big idea?"

"Dude, she's a verified creep! Who the hell finds other people's hair interesting?" Said Tetsutetsu, still dragging Nendo away with one hand wrapped around his wrist. "You know the old saying: don't stick with, and in crazies!"

"I don't want you to get m-murdered in your sleep, Nendo…" Comes Kinoko's fearful voice, sounding honestly afraid for his life.

"Oh, you guys are just biased!" With a wag of a finger on both hands, large masses of bricks shaping into a hand pulled them both away from Nendo. "Yeah, she's a little wordy and cryptic, but that's no excuse to call her a psycho! Now if you excuse me."

Fixing his collar, Nendo lets his friends' incessant warnings go into one ear and out the other and goes back to Reiko who remains where she is, her face as impassive as always. "Sorry about that, Yanagi-san. Uh, you were saying?"

"You arouse my interest. However, that is not the only reason for me to follow you and your companions. Humorously enough, this second reason is also connected to the first." After saying 'ha-ha-ha' in an extremely emphatic attempt at laughing, Reiko continues. "I wish to assist you in your current quest."

Nendo's eyes went wide as his breathing halts. "You mean…"

"Yes. If a staff is what you currently desire, I shall provide it."

Dropping to his knees with his hands raised in reverence, Nendo bows before her. "Oh Yanagi-san, wise sage of the spirit realm, what is your guidance?" He asks in a worshipful tone, the sheer happiness he felt at somebody who finally understands his worldview granting him the ability to match Reiko in verbosity.

"During my travels across lands uncharted, I came across an artifact of great power, bound in overgrown vines and invasive arbor. I tried my hand, but could not remove it for it is not mine to take. That is why I have drawn a path to it, in hopes that the coming of a worthy possessor will accomplish what I could not." Reaching into her backpack, she pulls out a rolled-up scroll of paper that suspiciously looks like a page ripped out of a notebook.

"Yosuke Nendo, let this be your guide to a treasure I cannot have." The scroll glows purple, then levitates off her hands and into Nendo's shaking ones. "It is my sincere belief that you will find a better use for it than I. Will your heart and soul accept it?"

STORY QUEST: THE WIZARD'S STAFF

For any aspiring wizard wishing to forge his own legend, he must own what will be synonymous to his magic.

REWARDS: Lots of Generic XP!

Lots of Job XP!

Your Very Own Staff! (Duh)

ACCEPT?

Y/N

"Of course it's a yes!" Clutching the scroll with his heart full of emotions, the biggest of which being gratitude, Nendo again bows before Reiko.

Then, breathing in as deeply as his lungs will allow, he looks up to her. "This is something I shall never forget for as long as I live, Reiko Yanagi if I get your name correctly! Thank you for paving the path to my true destiny! Even when I have become a great and powerful wizard for real, your aid will never fade from my mind! I am in your debt!"

"I am merely guiding others to what they best deserve. While I would doubtless enjoy further banter with you, I must depart now. Until we meet again… Yosuke Nendo." With a dramatic pause, Reiko's slender form is outlined with a dim violet glow. She ascends into the air with her arms outstretched and her hair floating…

Before anticlimactically landing several meters away from the trio and walking away with a brisk pace.

"What the hell did I just see?" Tetsutetsu finally said something after the longest time he has ever spent without talking, which is five minutes.

"An average happening in the life of Nendo, and someone who actually plays along with him." Kinoko reaches her hands underneath her fringe to rub her eyes, more tired than actually confused. "You'll get used to it."

"Guys!" Nendo rushes back to the two, clearly elated as he holds up the scroll. "We got our very first quest!"

"Hold on, 'we'? You're the one doing all the talking with that weird chick." Tetsutetsu's words bounce off of Nendo's skull as the frizzy-haired young man huddles between his friends and opens the scroll to reveal a poorly-drawn map of the streets around them, with a comically large 'X' to mark the spot of the supposed artifact. Several lines of instructions are jotted around each part of the road leading to the big red cross.

"There it is, you guys! The location of my destiny!" An excited Nendo points at the 'X' mark, ignoring the skeptical looks from Kinoko and Tetsutetsu.

"Uh… how do we make sure she's not pulling some kinda prank on us? This thing doesn't look legit at all." Tetsutetsu considers himself a simple man with simple needs, so to make him think that something is shabbily done is a feat unto itself.

"A prank? Nah, I don't think Yanagi-san's the type to do that." Nendo takes another good look at the map, before rolling it back up. "Anyway, enough messing around! We're off!"

Marching away, Nendo then stops and turns back to his friends. "You guys coming with me?"

Even though he is the one most confused about this insane ordeal Nendo just landed themselves into, Tetsutetsu doesn't hesitate for a second to give his answer. "Eh, sure. Got nothing better to do anyway."

Kinoko looks at Tetsutetsu, then at Nendo, then goes through a brief mental crisis wondering just what she has gotten herself into, being friends with them, before sighing softly. "If you insist, Nendo-san…"

Nendo has nothing to say other than a touched smile.

Kinoko Komori Joined The Party!

Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu Joined The Party!

"Let's go!" Posing majestically with one finger pointing at the horizon, Nendo, Kinoko and Tetsutetsu set off. Following the directions of the map, the trio of brave adventurers endured various trials and tribulations along the way:

Hopping over fences and into people's houses…

"Dude, it's like we're burglars!"

"Why? It's not like we're stealing anything!"

"I don't think trespassing is any better, Nendo-san."

Crawling on all fours through a bus station, underneath the watchful eyes of pedestrians…

"This has gotta be a prank. Like, what does this have to do with getting a stupid staff?!"

"You don't question the person giving the quest, Tetsutetsu! You just do it! Think of the XP we're gonna get!"

"Ew! I just touched somebody's chewing gum!"

And get chased by a dog, when one of the many private properties they intrude happens to have a big, mean Rottweiler on standby.

"TETSUTETSU-SAN, DO SOMETHING!"

"WHADDAYA WANT ME TO DO?! I CAN'T HIT A DOG! WHAT KIND OF MAN HITS A DOG?!"

Kinoko didn't have much of an input in their frantic conversation as she was too busy screaming like a banshee, frantically releasing spores at the dog in hopes that it would stop from either an itchy nose or a lung infection.

Eventually, they manage to shake off the dog when Tetsutetsu reminds Nendo that putting up walls is something the self-proclaimed wizard could very easily do, and on a whim too.

After letting the dog run itself into a solid brick wall, the adrenaline coursing through the trio forces them to continue running some more before fatigue finally gets them to stop. As they catch their breaths, Tetsutetsu recovers first and looks around.

"Hey… this park looks kinda familiar!" His black eyes squinting into a thin line, Tetsutetsu looks into the distance. Slowly, but surely, his mouth opens into a gaping hole. "WHAAAAAT?!"

"Tetsutetsu-san, what's… wrong?" Nendo asks between gasps for air.

"MY PLACE IS RIGHT OVER THERE!" An enraged Tetsutetsu points a finger that is shaking with wrath at a gray apartment building. "YOU'RE TELLING ME WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH ALL THAT WHEN WE CAN JUST WALK HERE ANYWAY?! BULLSHIT! I TOLD YOU SHE'S PRANKING US!"

As Tetsutetsu is left fuming (and foaming at the mouth) by himself, Nendo's only concern is where they are on the map. "Good news, you guys! We've arrived at the marked spot, right… here!"

Following his finger on the map, Kinoko could see that the X spot is right in the middle of the park whose gate they are standing in front of. "According to the map, I should run into the park as fast as I can!"

Several lines of words were written right next to the marked spot, simply reading: 'Bolt like a hare, take off like a hawk.'

"You go and do it! I ain't following that stupid thing anymore." After making his statement, a still-sulking Tetsutetsu leans against a nearby electric pole.

"I'll just… sit here for a bit, Nendo." Still utterly gassed out due to her subpar cardio, Kinoko plops herself right on the road.

"Suit yourselves! I'm off to my destiny!" Hopping up and down, Nendo takes several short breaths before taking off, eyes still attached to the map.

And so Nendo runs, runs and runs…

Until he runs face-first into a tree. "ACK!" He remains planted into the tree for a moment before falling off in a fashion that is best described as gravity peeling him off the tree.

"Nendo-san!" Kinoko rushes to his side, gently holding up his right arm while Tetsutetsu does the same on his left. "Are you okay?"

"Why'd you do that, ya idiot? I told you, it ain't worth following all this! That creepy chick's just pulling your leg!" Tetsutetsu, in his rare moments of being the voice of reason, admonishes Nendo. "There ain't no staff here!"

"To complete a quest, you gotta follow every step of the way…" Mutter a stunned Nendo, blinking wildly to stop his eyeballs from spinning all over the place. Once they do stop, they become the size of dinner plates. "T-There it is!"

Sticking out from a hollowed-out hole in the tree that Nendo crashed into, is a staff. Its design is, to say the least, quite peculiar: the body appears to be a length of bamboo whose green has turned into a faded yellow with age, with the 'crown' being made of four trowels bound together with metal wires wrapped around their handles. Overall, while odd-looking, the staff by itself is remarkably plain compared to what Nendo expected of an 'artifact of great power'. Vines that grow from the roots of the tree also surround it.

"What is that… thing?" Kinoko asks, unable to find the right words to describe the curious item that is sticking out from the tree.

"It's literally a stick with trowels tied to one end." Tetsutetsu makes his astute observation, shaking his head. "Yep, definitely a lame prank."

"But why would it be stuck to a tree, of all things?"

"Hell if I know."

"I'll admit…" Nendo speaks up, watching the 'staff' with a thoughtful look in his eyes. "It doesn't look as cool as I imagined. But hey, we all gotta start small right? Besides, it's better than having nothing for our troubles."

"Nendo-san's right. We went all this way after all. Would be a shame if…" Kinoko trails off as she walks up to the staff and, wrapping her small hands around the body, trying to pull it out with a grunt. "We just leave it here-!"

For the next thirty seconds, Kinoko exerts every bit of strength her thin build will allow, but it was all in vain as the staff would not budge even a fraction of an inch. After a few more laborious groans, she lets go. "I can't! It's really stuck." Kinoko claims, blowing air on her reddened palms.

"Hmm… hey, Tetsutetsu-san. You're pretty strong, so why don't you give it a shot?" Nendo nudges Tetsutetsu with an elbow, who gives him a confident grin.

"Sure, lemme at it! Always ready to give my boys some action." The gray-haired teen said as he pats his biceps with affection. Like Kinoko, he also wraps his hands around the staff and begins pulling, albeit with a foot placed on the tree to give himself some extra leverage. "HNNGH! HRRRRNGH! C'mon, you stubborn sonuvabitch-!"

Even after transforming into solid steel, the most Tetsutetsu managed with his enhanced strength was to make the staff slightly shift upwards, but otherwise no dice. Tetsutetsu refuses to give up however and keeps on pulling with all his might, though he has to stop once the staff starts creaking in the middle.

"Damn it! Must've been wedged in there if even my boys can't handle it." Tetsutetsu complains, kicking a pebble away in frustration.

Nendo remains unusually quiet as he watches his friends struggle to pull this supposed staff out. Even when subjected to Tetsutetsu's great strength, the staff refuses to be removed. Almost as if it has a mind of its own and doesn't want to…

Unless by a worthy possessor…

The light bulb above Nendo's unruly hair flickers to life. "Guys, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

In unison, Kinoko and Tetsutetsu shoot him a look that very concisely conveys the purest essence of the word 'No'.

"We've been doing it wrong. It was never about who's strong enough to pull it out." With his eyes open, Nendo walks towards the staff that has been refusing its removal at the hands of everybody…

Until he comes along. "It's about who this staff deems worthy."

When his hands touch the staff, a brief, yet almost electric sensation runs through his arms. Taking a deep breath to calm his rapidly-beating heart, Nendo fully wraps his palms around the body, causing wild arcs of red lightning to emerge from it. Cracks around the hole begin to form as the vines that surround the staff dissolve into blue wisps of light that ascends into the air in droves.

With titanic effort, Nendo begins to pull.

The impossible happened: the staff started to move. With every bit of its length that is removed from the tree, the staff's red glow becomes brighter and brighter.

Then, with one last jerk, Nendo pulls the staff out entirely. Gazing at its glowing form with admiration and wonder, he takes a few experimental swings with it, to feel and adapt to its weight and length before jabbing it into the ground, creating giant cracks of light around him.

Holding it closer to his chest and chanting spells in an unknown language, Nendo's expression turns deadly serious as he unleashes a skyward roar and points the staff at heavens. Its glow becoming brighter than the sun itself, the staff vibrates then shoots out a beam of red light that splits the clouds and dye the sky a brick red color, signifying the coming of a true wizard!

Nendo's Job Changed From Magician To Wizard!

…Or at least, that's what Nendo imagined.

In actuality, Kinoko and Tetsutetsu were treated to the sight of him pulling the staff out, performing a few clumsy swings with it before pointing it at the sky, all while grunting and yelling like a moron. If this was any other person, the two would have had no trouble pretending that they are complete strangers. But since this is Nendo that they are talking about…

They simply accept things like this happening as naturally as drinking water.

"WOOHOO! Oooooh yeah, I'm the chosen one!" Nendo cheers as he waves his brand new staff around, happiness basically radiating from him like the brightest of stars.

While not impressed by Nendo's grandiose delusions, Tetsutetsu is impressed by his apparent display of strength. "Holy shit, credit where it's due! But what'd you do that's any different from what I did?"

"As I have said before, Tetsutetsu-san, it is not a matter of physical strength! It's a matter of DESTINY!" Shouting the word 'destiny', Nendo raises his staff again. "And clearly, the universe has deemed me as a worthy possessor of this staff! That's why you can't pull it out; only a true wizard can!"

"So it's like those old-school RPGs? Each class has some kind of unique weapon that only they can get and no one else." Kinoko chimes in.

"Exactly! I'm like King Arthur, you know. And this!" Nendo lovingly cradles his new staff. "Is my Excalibur."

"Isn't Excalibur a sword?" Tetsutetsu states the obvious, before chuckling. "I mean, that dingy old stick ain't exactly up to par with Excalibur. It's definitely unique, but not really… eh, legendary."

Nendo gives him an annoyed glare as he puffs out his cheeks. "Geez, leave it to you to crush my fantasies. But whatever! To me, it's still the legendary staff of a wizard."

"Though, it seems incomplete…" Nendo muses as he inspects the crown, peering into the space formed by the blades of the trowels pointing inwards like four prongs. "Usually, a wizard's staff should have some sort of gem here."

"Yeah. But where are we going to find one?" Kinoko asks, before immediately shrinking in fear. "Please don't tell me we're going on another quest!"

"Oh, nah! We don't need a gem. Since I'm the wizard here, I got just the thing." Opening his left hand as his right is holding the staff, a swirling mass of red particles converge at the center of his palm before a brick pops into existence. Holding the brick, Nendo then shoves it into the crown of the staff, the makeshift prongs scraping against the coarse texture of the brick.

With a final tap from the heel of his palm, Nendo lodges the brick in place. Holding the freshly 'bejeweled' staff with a look of utter glee, he presents it to his friends. "And done. Now, I'm one step closer to becoming the greatest wizard the world has ever seen!"

"Hee hee! That's the spirit, Nendo." Kinoko giggles at Nendo's over-the-top antics, though in an encouraging way. "You actually look the part!"

Tetsutetsu finds himself laughing as well, before giving Nendo a pat on the back. "If you're done roleplaying, how 'bout we get outta this place?"

Nendo glances at the sun, which has lowered considerably since he last saw it. "Oh crap, I better get home quick! Izu and Inko-san must be worried sick by now!" Turning around, Nendo tries to run…

Only to run face-first into something again. This time, though, it doesn't feel like a tree. "Oof! Sorry-"

"Well well, what have we here? Y'all having a good time?"

Stepping back, Nendo sees just who it is that he has bumped into: a fat, thuggish-looking guy with a shaved head, clad in overalls and a sweaty wife beater. He stands taller than Nendo and looks about his age. Standing by his side are a shorter guy with blonde hair wearing a tracksuit and a well-built brunette wearing jeans and a leather jacket respectively.

Their gut feelings telling them that these three are up to no good, Tetsutetsu and Kinoko tense up. Only Nendo remains somewhat relaxed, and even then, his grip on the staff subconsciously grows tighter.

"A couple of rich kids from that fancy hero academy, huh?" The fat one starts, his lips curling into a cruel sneer. "I know you rich kids love to talk, so I'm gonna make it short and sweet: fork over all your cash and we'll let you go."

Tetsutetsu looks at him in disbelief, before righteous anger fills up his mind. "Who does this punk think he is, shaking down students from U.A? I'm gonna kick his ass!"

Kinoko, in sharp contrast, is one bad wind away from passing out from fear alone, her entire body shaking like a leaf. "I'm getting extorted? I'm getting extorted! Oh god oh god oh god why is this happening to me?!"

Nendo, weirdly enough, looks more bemused than anything. "Actually, I'm kinda flat broke right now so-"

"Yeah right! You're telling me you got into U.A and don't have a single penny? You'll need to lie better than that!" The obese thug, who Nendo now presumes to be the leader since the other two hardly said anything, laughs mockingly as he punches his fist into his palm. "Now, are you gonna hand over money or do we have to beat it out of you?"

Nendo was perfectly willing to reason with them. Even with the threat of violence, he will still try to smooth things out to the best of his ability.

But the second they endanger his friends and those he cares about? Peace is no longer, and will never again be an option for whichever poor bastard who threatens those Yosuke Nendo considers dear to him.

"I wouldn't say that if I were you." Nendo replies to the fat one's threats with a calm, yet ominous tone. "In case you haven't noticed, one: we belong to U.A, a training ground which has birthed hundreds of this generation's greatest heroes. Compared to the stuff we face, you guys are just mooks."

"And two, of all the people at U.A, you had the misfortune of facing me, the one who is on a path to becoming the greatest wizard! With my total control over the existence of each and every brick and my stalwart companions at my side, you three don't stand even a hair of a chance!" Having given his creed, Nendo raises his staff and points it at the thugs, his face completely, utterly, 110% serious…

And they all collectively cackle like a bunch of hyenas at him. "You call yourself an actual wizard? In this time and age, with that shitty-looking stick? What a joke!"

Clutching his heart with a grimace, Nendo leans onto Kinoko for support, both physically and emotionally. "Damn, the truth really hurts when these kinds of guys call you out." He whispers.

The thugs' threat, however, did not further rouse Tetsutetsu's anger. If anything, it seems to do the opposite as a savage grin slowly appears on his face. After all, one part of being a hero is cleaning up the streets. "Good! I thought my afternoon was gonna be boring!" Then, he shoots Nendo a glance as he cracks his knuckles. "Hey, wizard! Wanna give that fancy staff of yours a test run?"

It takes Nendo's brain a second to get on the same wavelength as Tetsutetsu, and when it does… "Is that even a question? I feel the flow of my magic getting more concentrated as I hold onto this staff… and I'm just itching to release it to smite some monsters!"

Noticing Kinoko who still looks rather disturbed, Nendo bends down to her height and places a supportive hand on her shoulder, a gentle smile on his lips. "Hey, Komori-san. If you don't want to fight, it's cool. Sit back and let us handle these guys, yeah?"

Kinoko parted her fringe to look at him, her cross-sliced pupils matching his gray ones. She had considered sitting this one out… but then she remembers just what she is: A Pro Heroine-in-training. She made it into U.A, with Nendo's help. What kind of hero would she be if she can't even stand up and fight alongside Nendo and Tetsutetsu?

A determined glint flashing across her eyes, Kinoko rests her own hand on top of Nendo's. "I don't like fighting… b-but if it means helping you and Tetsutetsu-san, then I'll do all I can! I won't let you down!"

Nodding in approval and respect, Nendo stands back up to his full height and turns around to face the three hoodlums. Resting his staff on his shoulder with a smirk, Nendo raises a taunting hand. "Usually, I handle unscrupulous folks like you by myself just fine… but now I got friends with me, so consider yourself SCREWED!"

RANDOM ENCOUNTER!

STREET PUNKS

THE BATTLE STARTS!

The combatants are all engulfed in bright beacons of light, thus entering their battle states. Nendo's party each take their own stances: Kinoko spreads out her arms as brightly colored mushrooms grow on where she stands, Tetsutetsu cracks his neck and grinds his fists together and Nendo performs several swings with his staff before pointing the crown at the enemy.

As for the extorting troublemakers, they look… different once the light fades.

The guy in the tracksuit has jagged claws the size of chopsticks growing out of his fingers and a mouth full of sharp teeth. The one with the jacket now has multiple spikes jutting out from the leather, as well as two great devil horns on his head. As for their corpulent leader, he has somehow become a three-meter-tall giant complete with flaming red eyes. Their levels are LV.8, LV.9 and LV.11 respectively.

"Did you guys see that?! What just happened?" Said Nendo in a more hyperactive voice than usual, pointing at the hoodlums with a gaping mouth. "They just freakin' transformed!"

"Uh… what?" Said a baffled Tetsutetsu, not having the slightest clue as to what Nendo is saying. To him, the three thugs look just the same. "What're you raving on about?"

"That guy just grows claws and the fat guy just becomes the size of an orc! Honestly, nobody else sees this?"

"I think your imagination is going a bit wild, Nendo-san." Kinoko meekly said to his left.

"You DO know this ain't a video game, right? Come back to Earth, we're about to beat these punks up!"

"Am I the only one?" For a moment, Nendo looks contemplative about an undiagnosed mental disorder affecting his mind… before laughing it off. "Eh, whatever! At least it's more fun for me this way."

Changing his job to a more fitting title has expanded Nendo's list of skills. All of his moves from Magician are retained, in addition to a couple of new ones. "Ho-ho, I have more options to attack multiple enemies at once now! Let's see some of them…"

Brick Shot Breaker (Target: Three Enemies. Power: Light)

Creates An Enhanced Version of Brick Shot That Ricochets Between Three Enemies Closest To Each Other. Damage Increases With Each Bounce.

Brick Wave Attack (Target: All Enemies. Power: Light)

Summons A Wave of Projectiles That Damages All Enemies In Front of Nendo.

Brick Shot Breaker sounded more enticing, but since it costs more mana, Nendo settles for the other one for now. "Here goes!"

BRICK WAVE ATTACK

Nendo Focuses The Power of Bricks Into His Hand!

Planting his staff on the ground, Nendo raises his left hand and clenches his fist, summoning a vast array of bricks floating in the air, ready to break some heads and induce grievous blunt force trauma. Nendo then throws his hand out, sending the two dozen bricks flying at the thugs at once!

"GAH!" The tracksuited thug was floored as his upper half got thoroughly mashed with bricks, with a single one to his crotch as a finishing blow. He goes limp, letting out a pathetic whimper in the process.

The jacketed punk and the fat one were also knocked to the ground by the relentless wave of bricks, though they took less damage due to the former raising up his arms to block some of them and the latter simply soaking them up with his bulk.

Tracksuit Hands Thrower Was Defeated!

"Nice!" Nendo exclaims, in awe of the power he now wields thanks to the staff. With his turn over, he glances at Kinoko. "Komori, it's your turn!"

Kinoko lets out a brief yelp of panic. For all the brave talk she gives just moments ago about how she won't let Nendo down, actually putting it in practice is a wholly different can of worms. She seldom, if ever, uses her Quirk on living, breathing beings knowing full well how horrifying the results can potentially be.

But since it's either her or them, Kinoko has no problem holding her wits together once more and gives Nendo a resolute nod.

AGGRAVATING SPORES

Komori Casts A Noxious Cloud of Spores Upon An Enemy!

"Apioperdon pyriforme, grow and explode with shroomtastic force!" Raising a hand filled with hundreds of millions of imperceptibly tiny spores, Kinoko targets who she assumes to be the most dangerous combatant, the fat hooligan, before blowing the spores in his direction.

As the spores make contact with the young thug's skin, an unbearable itch follows as he starts scratching to no avail. As the itching worsens and his skin reddens, numerous bulbous puffballs begin to grow and cover him from head to toe, practically turning him into a walking pile of fungi. As if this horrific sight isn't enough, the puffballs continue to enlarge until they all violently explode, dealing a chain of damage in rapid succession.

"Augh! This shit stinks!" Screams the delinquent as he breathes in the spores released from the explosions, coughing with tears in his eyes. After a particularly hacking cough, he takes additional damage as his health bar turns into a darker color and his body is surrounded by a sickly-green miasma.

Thick-Necked Slugger Is Now Poisoned!

"Whoa! I knew Komori-san's Quirk is strong, but not this scary!" Nendo physically cringes as he watches the thug suffer from what should be a regular fungal infection, made infinitely worse. Thankfully, it is fast-acting. "Komori-san is definitely useful for bosses with that poison status!"

"Damn, nature! You scary! And you too, Komori!" Tetsutetsu almost gags upon seeing the thug's body get overrun, even if for only a brief moment, with fungi. Though, his unease quickly goes away once he realizes that it is now his turn. "Alright! Time to kick some punk asses!"

And kick ass, he did.

DOUBLE WHAMMY

Tetsutetsu Hits The Enemy With A Vicious Two-Hit Combo!

Switching to his metallic form, Tetsutetsu runs up to the jacketed thug and grabs him by the scruff, before delivering a powerful punch to the gut. As the hoodlum pitches forward and doubles over in agony, Tetsutetsu walks behind him and follows up with a front kick to his conveniently-raised ass, taking out what's left of his health.

The sheer force behind Tetsutetsu's kick punted the thug airborne, where he spins for a few rounds before finally landing with a scream that paints an image of a shattered pelvis. He clutches his backside and continues screaming until the pain finally makes him pass out.

Jacketed Menace Was Defeated!

The obese thug, still coughing and wheezing from breathing in Kinoko's spores, unleashes a cry of rage as his friends lay unconscious on the ground, beaten and bruised. This was supposed to be just another mug! None of his victims has ever given him this much trouble before, so his frustrated anger, while childish, is understandable. "You're in for it now!"

Thick-Necked Slugger Attacks!

The giant delinquent charges at Nendo, reeling his dominant arm back before hitting the aspiring wizard square in the chin with a running uppercut. Nendo literally spins like a pinwheel as he makes his impromptu ascent into the air, before falling back down and landing on his back.

"Nendo-san! Are you alright?!"

"Can't… feel… my brain-!" Comes Nendo's concussed reply as bricks fly in a circle above his head.

"OH, YOU'RE SO DEAD!" Roars a furious Tetsutetsu, positively incandescent with rage that this good-for-nothing punk has grown the balls to hurt a friend of his.

Tetsutetsu Attacks!

Fueled by a terrible wrath born of protectiveness, Tetsutetsu lands three steel-coated fists into the overweight lout's protruding stomach, feeling his knuckles sinking into the flesh, before grabbing his shoulders to pull himself up for a devastating headbutt against the thug's bald head. The shock causes the fat thug to stumble backwards, stunned but still standing up.

Thick-Necked Slugger Is Now Stunned For One Turn!

While Tetsutetsu was busy delivering retribution, Nendo stood up and clutched his aching chin. Kinoko, not wishing for Nendo to suffer like that, decides to help him with a time-favored method of healing for video game protagonists: eating.

NUTRITIOUS SHROOMS

Komori Grows Some Tasty Mushrooms For An Ally!

"Flammulina filiformis, grow tall and juicy as can be!" Spawning a cluster of thin, pale-yellow mushrooms out of her palm, she bunches them together before throwing the bundle at Nendo. "Nendo, catch!"

Hearing her voice, he turns to her only to get smacked in the face by mushrooms. After grabbing them from his face, he looks at the fungoid growths in wariness as he brings them up for a sniff. "Oh hey, this smells nice! Thanks a bunch, Komori-san!" His suspicion now turned into appreciation, he takes a big bite from the entire bundle. "Mmm, just the right amount of moisture!"

Nendo Recovered HP and MP!

Feeling a little bit of vitality and energy returning to him, Nendo devours the rest of the mushrooms before returning to his combat stance. As he prepares a spell however, Tetsutetsu comes rushing back panting like a dog. "Tetsutetsu-san? What's wrong?"

"I don't wanna admit it, but that guy's tough! I gave him a head full of steel and he's still standing!" He said, pointing at the giant who is still dazed, standing in one spot with his head swirling around. "What do we do? He's gonna go for Komori-san next!"

"W-Why me?!"

"Cause he already got some licks in with Nendo, and you make all those mushrooms grow on him. Pretty sure he's pissed about that."

Realizing the logic to Tetsutetsu's statement, Kinoko couldn't help but shake in fear. If an uppercut from him sent Nendo, who is both taller and heavier than her, flying… she can't even begin to imagine what would happen to her.

"Well, that means we just gotta take him out in my turn." Nendo replies calmly, not appearing worried for Kinoko's wellbeing at all.

"And how're ya gonna do that? If I can't, you sure as hell can't either."

"Easy! We use the most ancient way of taking out somebody stronger than all of us in one go." His face darkening, Nendo wraps his arms around both Kinoko and Tetsutetsu and pulls them closer. Then, after much trepidation and nothing but the sounds of their beating hearts, he whispers. "We gang up on him. A tag-team move!"

Tetsutetsu blinks dumbly at Nendo's proposed solution, before squinting his eyes, mulling over it. "You know, that actually kinda makes sense. There's three of us, and only one of 'im left."

"But… isn't that not allowed? It's turn-based combat, so we shouldn't be able to do anything while somebody's taking their turn. Unless you have a 'Counter' status effect or something." Kinoko reasons, her voice and expression making it impossible to tell if she's just playing along or is actually seeing things like Nendo.

"Yeah, but since it's a tag-team move, it technically counts as one action during a turn. And since it's mine, as far as the game's concerned, you guys joining in is part of a single-turn move." Nendo explains with clarity.

"Again, you guys do know this ain't a video game, right?" Once again, the hot-headed Tetsutetsu acts as the voice of reason. Sane reason.

"I know! That's why we can do a tag-team move. It's my imagination, so nothing's stopping me from bending the rules a bit."

Tetsutetsu opens his mouth as if to retort, before deciding against it and nods as a nonverbal way of saying that Nendo has a point.

"But enough talk!" Nendo finally lets his friends go as he faces the giant thug again. "Are you guys ready for this?"

Without reply, Tetsutetsu and Kinoko move behind the thug. With the mushroom mage to his left, the man of steel to his right and the brick-mancer facing him dead-on, the rotund ruffian is all but cornered in a triangle.

TAG TEAM: TOTAL CHAOS, ALL ON ONE!

"Let's go!" Holding his staff, he draws a rectangle as tall and wide as him in the air with it before thrusting his palm out, summoning a wall and sending it skidding towards the obese extortionist at high speed.

The wall smashes against the ruffian's entire front, face included. He stumbles back with a groan of pain, holding his crushed nose as blood flows freely from his nostrils and down his bruised lips.

Just as he recovers from the agony of a broken nose, somebody taps him on the shoulder. Turning to his left, he sees Kinoko with an innocent smile on her lips…

And a palm full of spores that will put any itching powder to shame, which she blows at him without remorse. Tears welling up in his irritated eyes and ring-shaped rashes indicative of a fungal infection appearing on his skin, the delinquent again falls back in uneven steps, clawing at his face like it was on fire.

Since he was too occupied with getting rid of the infernal itching, the thug didn't notice at all that he had bumped into Tetsutetsu, who was waiting with his arms crossed.

His small smile rapidly morphing into an aggressive smirk that puts his sharp teeth on full display, Tetsutetsu jabs a steel-coated elbow into the hoodlum's side, forcing him to bend over at an odd angle. Grabbing him by the straps of his overalls before the thug could fully fall to his knees, Tetsutetsu reels back his steely head and smashes it right into his opponent's unprotected mouth, sending him tumbling to his ass and leaving behind a trail of broken teeth.

His nose broken and stuffy, his eyes and skin itchy as all hell and all of his front teeth smashed out with a vengeance, the thug could do naught but stand up on shaky legs and regret the choices he has taken in life that lead him to this situation as Nendo comes flying at him, standing on a brick platform. "And here comes the finisher!"

Jumping up and commanding the platform to fly low, tripping up the rotund delinquent as it hits him in the feet, time seems to slow down as Nendo twists his legs and waits for him to fall into the right position…

Before landing another masterfully-executed dropkick into the thug's face, the soles of Nendo's shoes pushing his already-broken nose even further into his skull. "HEE-YA!"

Receiving the full force of the trio of friends' combined attacks, the giant hoodlum falls flat on his back. And unlike so many times before, he did not get up for another go.

Thick-Necked Slugger Was Defeated!

"Victory is ours, friends! The enemies have been vanquished!" Arcane Quest's chiptune-inspired victory music plays as Nendo and friends enter their celebratory animations: Kinoko excitedly hops up and down while clapping her hands, Tetsutetsu lowers his stance and puffs out his chest with both fists raised, and Nendo simply laughs triumphantly with one hand on his hip and the other holding up his staff.

CONGRATULATIONS!

RESULTS:

Generic XP Earned!

Nendo's Level Increased From LV.12 to LV.13!
"I feel the stats going up!"

Komori's Level Increased From LV.10 to LV.11!
"Getting stronger feels nice!"

Tetsutetsu's Level Increased From LV.11 to LV.12!
"HELL YEAH!"

Job XP Earned!

Nendo's Wizard Increased From LV.1 to LV.5!

Kinoko's Mushroom Mage Increased From LV.11 to LV.12!

Tetsutetsu's Man of Steel Increased From LV.10 to LV.11!

ITEMS FOUND: The Wizard's Staff

"And let this be a lesson to you: never shake down innocent people ever again! Especially the great and powerful wizard, Yosuke Nendo and his companions!" Nendo boasts, poking his staff at the unmoving, though still-breathing bodies of the street punks, who all now look normal once again.

"Alright alright, mister great-and-powerful Wizard. We beat 'em up already, so let's leave them alone." Tetsutetsu jokingly said as he massages Nendo's shoulders before pulling him away.

"But for real though, neither of you saw these guys transform? Not even a little bit?" Asks Nendo, pointing at the very much untransformed delinquents lying on the ground as if it is the most obvious thing in the world.

"This again?" Tetsutetsu almost rolls his eyes as his teeth gnash against each other. "I already told ya, we see nothing of the sort."

"I'm really trying to see things your way, Nendo-san, but… I don't see anything either." Kinoko said with an apologetic tone. "Maybe your brain is just making them up in the heat of battle?"

"I swear on my save files in Arcane Quest, I saw them transform before my very eyes! One guy grows these huge claws, the other has big horns, and the fat one just turns into a freakin' giant!" In spite of overwhelming evidence, Nendo still vehemently claims that his visions are true.

"Your imagination is officially off the rails, Nendo." Kinoko said to him, joining Tetsutetsu in the task of acting as Nendo's often-ignored voice of reason. "I mean, if you need help, you can c-call me. My mom's a psychiatrist, so maybe you can went over my house and-"

Thankfully, Kinoko shuts herself up before the perverted side that she has kept closeted for so many years could show up in full form. Hiding her face with her bangs and fringe, she again goes to battle with her dark side.

"But it all seems so real! How could it just be my imagination?" Nendo looks like he will break down into an existential crisis any time soon, so Tetsutetsu swoops in.

"Well, if you ask me… as long as we win, I don't care how delusional you are. Must have been all that wizard talk of yours." Dr. Tetsutetsu, PhD in asskicking and adolescent psychology, gives his diagnosis. "Makes you see goblins and dragons everywhere."

For the first time, Nendo actually looks somewhat ashamed of his behavior. "You probably think I'm crazy, huh?"

"I don't like lying to my friends, so I'm gonna be straight with ya. Yeah, you are crazy." Comes Tetsutetsu's brutally honest answer. "But hey, you need to be a special kind of crazy to be a wizard anyway. Hell, if you feel like wearing a long robe and a pointy hat is gonna help you fight better, then go for it!"

Nendo looks at him surprised, clearly not expecting the hot-blooded teen to give such encouraging words about his odd behavior. His frown disappearing as if it was never there to begin with, he nods at Tetsutetsu with a peppy smile. "Heh… maybe I will. No, I'll definitely wear something like that! They're gonna give us our hero costumes eventually, right?"

Kinoko, having recovered from her latest quelling of undesirable mind states, looks up from Nendo's feet, before giggling impishly. "Do you think yours will come in star patterns?"

As Nendo very intensely explains his unending hate for the stereotype of wizard robes with star patterns on them to his friends, the tall-but-not-to-the-size-as-presented-by-Nendo's imagination leader of the street punks slowly gets up. Injured and dazed, he looks around before his piggish eyes land on Nendo's animated figure.

After getting his face kicked in and brain rattled against his skull by a headbutt with a head covered in solid steel and a dropkick, the fat thug's memory seems to click when he looks at Nendo. Something about the teen looks awfully similar to him: not the weird hair, but he has certainly seen his face before. Gray eyes, sharp chin…

And beating up anyone who talks smack about his dad…

"Hey look, that one's awake." Tetsutetsu taps Nendo on the shoulder, who turns around with a sigh.

"So, you have recovered. Did the lesson we taught you stick? Or do you want our money so bad that you're gonna pick another fight?" Nendo said quite cockily as he points his staff at the downed delinquent, though it is justified given that he and his friends are the victors. Tetsutetsu and Kinoko remain close behind him, ready to act in case the obese bully decides to try anything.

"I-I know you." The overweight delinquent's earlier sneering tone is gone, replaced with one that shakes and shudders with fear and dread.

"What? I literally never saw you a day in my life."

"I saw y-you at juvie. You're the kid that went in for b-beating somebody into a coma."

Nendo's blood went cold.

"And those guys, you b-beat t-them up so bad they gotta go to t-the infirmary! O-Oh jeez, why did it have to be you?! P-Please don't kill me, I just want some money-"

Before he could say anything else, Nendo swiftly silences him with a brick shoving itself into his mouth. As his fearful pleas become unintelligible, Nendo turns back to his friends.

Taking one look at their shared expressions, Nendo could only look at them with sad eyes. "I guess I have some explaining to do."

For its 'chosen one', the universe really seems to have it out for him.

-0-

And that concludes Chapter 6. First off, I wish to extend my utmost apologies towards my loyal readers who have stuck with this story for nearly an entire year without updates, and I am dreadfully sorry for leaving you guys hanging. This chapter has been sitting in my files for some time, but a combination of family issues and schoolwork just saps the motivation out of me.

So one day, I decided to strap my bollocks back on and put this out before the year ends. And here it is. Local schizophrenic gets a cool staff, and some new party members.

Anyway, that's all I have to say. I will try my best to update more frequently after this one, so rest assured. Like always, make sure to leave a review so that I can improve upon my writing. More chapters to come, so stay tuned, and merry Christmas.