CHAPTER 17: LET THE GAMES BEGIN

My POV

Yesterday was an eventful day, but today? Today is where things truly begin to change. Even as I sat in class, I couldn't keep the smile off my face.

Deku had grown so much since we were kids, but Full Cowling was a huge step forward. I couldn't be more proud of the boy who was practically my brother. I dunno when I stopped seeing this as a story, but it was around that time that I began to look at Deku, Kirishima, Toga, and the rest as real definable people instead of just plot devices.

"Hey, did you watch the news? The whole class was onscreen for a second!" Hagakure said to Ojiro, seemingly stoked about being on TV. I rolled my eyes and sighed. I personally don't like receiving publicity as a victim, and this was no exception.

Kirishima was standing near my desk, his arms comfortably folded as he watched the conversation. "I'm surprised that the news channels made a big deal out of this. Villain attacks happen all the time."

Yaoyorozu stood nearby, and glanced at me before responding to him. "Can you blame them? This time it was a class that was attacked on school grounds. Not to mention what they did to Bakugo. If the teachers hadn't shown up, who knows how it could have ended up. Likely not well..."

She glanced at me with a worried look. I felt myself simmering a little at Grump as he grumbled in my head. "I don't want your pity, Spawner. You wanna go, bitch?"

Externally however, I just sighed.

"Holding off Villains like that is no small feat, Kacchan. Even if you did lose, to stand up to a giant like that was super cool." I turned back to see Deku's smiling face. Something about it felt forced, but I don't know what it was. Eh, I'm probably imagining it.

"It's not a big deal. I just did what needed to be done."

"Dismember the guy and get your arm crumpled like a paper straw?" *BAP!* Kaminari raised a brow before Jiro swatted him in the head with her jacks. I felt Deku's eyes on the back of my head as I clenched my fist.

"Come at me, dunce face." I could hear crackling accompanying the weirdly calm voice in my head, which I thankfully was able to mask my reaction to by pinching the bridge of my nose and letting out a frustrated sigh.

"Watch it, Sparky. Regardless, I'm not happy about what I did, and I'm sorry if I scared you guys, but I did what I did to protect everyone, as a class rep and as a hero in training." I rested my head on my fist before I felt my best buddy pat my back. I know he was trying to comfort me, but in the moment, it felt patronizing.

No time to dwell on that though, because homeroom was about to begin. I stood and raised my voice a bit.

"Alright, class is about to start everyone! Get to your seats!" Kirishima gave one last nod before taking his seat over by Sero. As everyone moved back to their seats, I had a moment to think.

My interference with the timeline ultimately hadn't changed much. Sure, Deku knew Full Cowling early now, but given how the USJ incident turned out, it's safe to say that I'm not going to change the future on my own. I'll recruit allies when the opportunity arises, so for now, that job will fall to Gentle and La Brava

"Good morning, class." I turned to face Aizawa, who was looking like a mummy with how much he had been wrapped up.

Ashido turned around and looked at Asui. "He looks pretty banged up."

Iida, ever the teacher's pet, raised his hand sharply. "Sir! I'm glad you're okay! Are you sure you should be teaching us in your current condition?"

"My wellbeing is irrelevant. What matters is, your fight isn't over yet." The rest of the class tensed up. I grinned.

"The UA Sports Festival is coming up." As everyone relaxed, I smiled even wider. This was going to be awesome!

As Mr. Aizawa explained the history behind the festival, I began to formulate a plan. The outcome might be different now that Deku has Full Cowling. Sure, it's only 5%, but if he could take down Stain with it, I'd say he can come to grips with it fast enough.

The only issue would be Todoroki. Based on the burn scar, I would say that his backstory was mostly unchanged. But what might be troublesome is, he hasn't seen Deku show off quite as much this time. Was there enough to work with in that first Hero class? There must have been a detail I was forgetting about.

Things are going to be very different from here on out, I can sense it.

Deku POV (A couple hours later…)

I stretched and began to walk towards the cafeteria. Iida, Uraraka, Kacchan, and Kirishima all followed, and we all began our idle chitchat. It helped us to momentarily forget, I guess.

Me, I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened to Kacchan. Since the little talk we had in the infirmary, I had had time to think. I kept up that smile earlier, but he wasn't exactly as chipper as he normally was. It was honestly worrying, and it was probably traumatizing for Kacchan to have to seriously injure that guy over and over. Not to mention, he only did that because no one else there could stand up to him. I needed to get full control over my power, but even then, Kacchan helped me to work on it. He's already done so much for me, helping me train, defending me from bullies… in many ways, he's shown me what it's like to have a brother.

I need to master this power quickly, not just for my sake, but so Kacchan doesn't break himself trying to be a hero before he's ready. That, and I need to repay him somehow for all that he's done.

"Midoriya?" I snapped out of my mind as I noticed Iida chopping his hand in front of my eyes. I smiled and waved like it was nothing.

"Oh, sorry Iida, what was that?"

"We were discussing our motivations for becoming a Hero. Kirishima and Bakugo have idols, I want to follow the family tradition, Uraraka wants to support her family, why do you want to become a Hero?"

I thought for a moment. "I want to be a hero and save everyone. I also want to fight Villains so no one else has to."

Kacchan glanced over and raised a slight brow. I knew what he was thinking, and I nodded. I didn't want anyone else to deal with what he-

"YOUNG MIDORIYA IS HERE!"

I jumped a mile, pivoting to see All Might. The giant fellow peered out from behind a corner. The others turned and raised a brow at the sudden appearance. "All Might?! Uh, what's up?"

He held up a bento bundle, the small package comical when held in his giant hand. "IT'S LUNCH TIME. WANT TO EAT WITH ME?"

I nodded. Kacchan grinned at the interaction. "Have fun, you two"

My POV (A few minutes later…)

"So, what do you think All Might wanted with Midoriya?" Kirishima had a thoughtful look on his face, the question aimed at no one in particular. The other two nodded as well, equally curious until Iida raised his finger as if making a point.

"Their Quirks are very similar. Perhaps All Might wanted to give him a few pointers."

I nodded before considering what I knew. "Well, we don't know much about All Might's backstory. Maybe his Quirk used to break him too, hence the reason he gained so much muscle. For all we know, All Might might know what Deku's going through with his lack of control."

"Good point Bakugo. Maybe Asui's earlier idea wasn't so far off the mark." Uraraka smiled, seemingly back to her cheery self. I heard from Deku that she was stressed over what I had done, so it was good to see her back to normal."

A glance over my shoulder revealed that Todooki was eavesdropping, and his gears were turning. Perfect.

After we cycled through the lunch line, we made our way over to our usual spot. After a bit, the conversation turned to the upcoming Festival.

"I'll admit, I'm kinda feeling nervous about this." Kirishima never lost his grin, but his bravado was slipping a little as he ate.

I shrugged and dug into my tray. "Yeah, me too, but hey, you can't turn away from this, you have to face it head on."

The artificial redhead nodded. "I guess I am pretty good at that. Our team attack proves that much."

Iida chopped the air, chopsticks in his other hand. "Incredible! You've developed a team attack with someone who isn't as familiar to you as Midoriya or Kendo so fast?"

I nodded. "What can I say? I'm a quick study."

"Speaking of quick studies, maybe we should try something. Your explosions propel you a lot further when you're under the influence of my Quirk." Uraraka chimed in. I thought for a moment. She was right. As it stood now, she was a solid counter if she could touch me. I would need to get used to her gravity manipulation.

"You got it. I want to see if I can control my flight when all drag force is null and void."

"Weeeell, we kinda do." Kirishima cocked his head and scrunched up his face. I shot him a look, at which he snickered. I may have smashed into a wall twice, but that just meant I needed more practice.

Speaking of needing practice, I wonder how Deku and All Might are doing...

Deku POV

"What?! Only an hour?" My teacher sighed, reaching over to the kettle. His time limit had been shortened again. This was going to be more difficult for him to keep up the illusion, but he seemed weirdly okay with it.

I looked down at my hand. "I'm sorry. If I had more control over my power-"

A laugh erupted from him, catching me off guard. The man patted his head, trying to clear it. "There's nothing to apologize about, my boy. Man, we're alike."

He offered me some tea and I accepted it, blowing on it to cool the hot beverage however little. Then he took on a more serious tone. "I brought you here to talk about a couple things too. How are you progressing with One For All?"

I smiled at that. Well, time for some good news. I stood and let the energy surge through my body at 5%, emerald electricity arcing across my skin. All Might gazed at me in awe for a brief moment before it was replaced with pride.

"One For All: Full Cowling. Kacchan helped me figure this out. After I explained how I used it previously to him, focusing it all into one point, he pointed out how silly you would look if you went around with one muscled up arm. He's been helping me practice with it."

All Might's smile dropped a little before he spoke again. "Well done, Young Midoriya. Young Bakugo is certainly clever to figure out how to help you improve like this."

I dropped the energy, sitting back down. He sounded like he was split on what exactly to think about Kacchan. To be fair, his lucky thought was pretty on the nose for it to be a guess, but maybe he was just thinking of a different tactic already. "Yeah, he is. But I can develop this further on my own. I don't want to rely on him too much, but he's still eager to lend a hand."

All Might frowned a little. "Always eager to lend a hand, huh?"

He finished the last of his tea before he began pacing the room. He looked out the window as I waited for him to continue. "Young Midoriya, there's something you should know about the Sports Festival."

He turned back to face me. "As you know, I'm not going to last for much longer. This is an opportunity for you to show what you're made of. To rise and declare to the world 'I am here'!"

My eyes widened. So soon? Well, I guess from a logical perspective, it makes sense to set me up as a successor to All Might. A second symbol to take his place once he falls. But at the same time, too strong of a connection will cause theories to emerge. "Well, I don't know how this is going to go, but I'll do my best!"

All Might nodded, a small smile on his face. "To that end, perhaps we can call Young Bakugo to the beach later today. As your rival, he'll push you to improve, and I want to see what he's made of outside of school."

Right, and since Kacchan was already familiar with 'Mr. Yagi', he wouldn't question it. "Okay. Yeah, that's a great idea! In a more isolated setting, you'll be able to analyze us closer and give more informative feedback."

My mentor nodded. "That's the gist of it, yeah."

What was that tone in his voice? Did he have an ulterior motive for inviting Kacchan? Well, even if he did, I'm sure it's a good one. "I'll let him know.

I glanced at my watch and did a double take. "Oop, lunch is nearly over, I'd better get going. See you later All Might!"

He nodded as I left the room. This was going to be fun!

All Might POV

As Young Midoriya left the room, I placed my fingers on my chin in thought. What I said was partially true. It would also make Bakugo a little looser of tongue if he was by someone he could trust.

Detective Tsukauchi's words gnawed at me. Young Bakugo was hiding something about the Villains, so it was my job as a Hero to find out what. At the same time, it is my duty as a teacher to protect my student.

Not to mention, if the students of 1A found out that their class rep was withholding information about Villains, there would be a lot of mistrust going around.

Not to mention, Oracle brought him up and mentioned that he had secrets of his own. Just what did the man see?

Oracle… he has yet to resurface. He pops up, tells us that he knows of One For All as well as the future, and then disappears? That just doesn't sit right with me.

I sighed and looked down the hall where the Young Midoriya disappeared. For now, the best I could do was get to know his friend as well as I train the pair of them.

All For One is alive and plotting, so Young Midoriya needs to stand up and declare to the world…

I AM HERE!

Deku POV (A few hours later…)

I wasn't there.

"Tachyon Breathing: Second Form. Sundown Saw!"

*WHAM* "Uuugghh…" I lay on my back in the sand as Kacchan sheathed the fake Wilt. It was clear that I wasn't going to beat Kacchan if I kept letting my mind wander.

My POV

As Deku picked himself up from the sand, 'Mr. Yagi' applauded both of us. "Well done, boys. For how quickly that ended, I don't have much to say. Young Midoriya, your control over your power is remarkable. And Young Bakugo, the use of your sword is incredible, despite seeming unsteady with it."

The arena was drawn out in a literal line in the sand, footprints scuffing it in places. The weather kept me regulated, but it wasn't good since my Quirks both depended on my body temperature to a degree. All in all, it was an unsteady battlefield. I sighed and looked at Wilt and Blush. "I've pretty much just started with it. It's going to take time to get used to Iaido when I've been using Juyo and Jar' Kai all my life."

The deflated symbol stared blankly, not fully processing what I meant. Deku chipped in. "He means all out single sword and dual wielding styles as opposed to quick draw strikes."

All Might nodded, understanding in his gaze. "I see. Adding new skills to your arsenal is always a good thing for a Hero to do. That being said, I doubt that the school will allow you a sword in the festival proper."

I nodded. I had thought as much. Only items necessary to use your Quirk are allowed, like Aoyama's belt. "I figured. So, I'll need to rely on my hands alone for Sword Skill, which I'm nowhere near as good at."

Deku thought for a moment. "That's right, your Quirk can only operate at about half strength without a sword in your graspwhichmakesitalltheharderforyoutouseiteffectivelybutyoucanalsomixitwithyourexplosionsformoredestructiveblastsbutgiventhatit'spossiblethatyoucanshapeyourenergywithenoughpractice-"

"Quit nerding out!" Deku snapped out of it at All Might's exclamation. I myself was a bit curious. I hadn't considered shaping my energy, but since it was composed of tachyonic particles vibrating at high speed, it didn't seem like I could shape it easily.

But then, Wally West can create a lotus flower out of Speed Force lightning, so what do I know?

"Sorry, I need to learn to control that habit. Either way, you might be able to mix your energy with your explosions for more power, but that doesn't last beyond five seconds and is more of a reflex than anything. You need to get used to using Sword Skill without items."

Dang, he had a point. Sure, I created the Gates as levels for my power early on, but not only have I barely perfected the Fourth, but I could only manage a second-gate level if I pushed myself swordless. Sighing, I tossed the sword to the side and moved to the far side of our little arena area.

"Alright boys, one more round. No weapons, close range attacks only. Ready?" All Might stood between us on the sidelines as we squared up. We both nodded, eyes narrowing.

"Begin!" We darted at each other nearly at the same time. Deku activated Full Cowling and I held my energy back while trying to keep it steady. At my absolute lowest, Sword Skill felt like touching a hot stove. Our fists collided, and mine was blown back. Deku backed away, shaking his red hand. He outclassed me in raw power, so that was a dumb move. It looked cool though.

I launched into a roundhouse kick as my friend blocked. He grabbed me and swung me a few feet away, but I used my explosions to correct my flight and skid on my feet. Deku had charged after me and was already airborne. He tried to throw a straight kick to my solar plexus, but I managed to block it. His hits were amped up with Full Cowling, so I couldn't rely on blocking his attacks quite as easily.

With a flourish, I began my counterattack. I threw a few punches before firing an explosion at Deku's feet. He dodged each of the punches, tracking them with his eyes, but the explosion tripped him up. It left him wide open for a kick to the ribs.

While he was staggering backward, I pulled three depressurized Ember Vindicta shells from my pocket. I had a belt on my desk at home to experiment. I had achieved some limited success with my idea, so time to see how practical it was in combat.

I cracked open the shells and dumped the sweat into my mouth. My sweat tasted terrible, but the explosive power would be just what I needed. Deku gave me a weird look as I charged, but his gaze turned to apprehension as I ignited my hand and held two fingers before my mouth.

"Fire Demon's Rage!" I blew the sweat out of my mouth like a sprayer, the energy catching it and setting it off just before it disappeared again. The short burst of bright explosions caught the green-haired brawler off guard, raising his hands in front of his face and receiving light burns. That primed him perfectly for my barrage.

"MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA… MUDA!" I fired off explosions rapidly before unleashing a larger one to push him back. But there was one thing I didn't account for.

I was holding back, but I didn't anticipate the durability boost that came with One For All. Even at 5%, it allowed Deku to stand strong and catch me off guard with a punch to the gut.

Backing up, I bobbed and weaved as best as I could to avoid the punches that the green-haired boy threw my way, nursing my sore stomach with one hand and blasting weaker explosions with the other. He definitely hit harder and moved faster, making it a little harder to keep up with his moves.

I threw another kick as he went for a punch. They made contact again and cancelled each other out, though it stung.

"Come on, go all out and kick his ass!" Grumpy muttered from within my head. I shook my head and let Sword Skill spark to life in my hands. Growling, I tensed my hands, maintaining the flow and amping it up.

"Second Gate: Gate of Respite. Open."

My hands clenched into fists as I tried to maintain the output without an item. It crackled unevenly, the output not as consistent as a blade. It was a strain, not to mention the tiredness that came with it. Deku sidestepped and lashed back, going as hard on me as I did when he unlocked Full Cowling. Come on… come on!

There!

I threw a heated punch and caught my best friend off guard, hitting him in the chest. It didn't do much, but there was some slightly melted fabric as he backed away.

"Nice one, Kacchan. You're doing pretty well."

I gawked. "I'M doing well? You're the one who's come leaps and bounds from the stiff movements of yesterday. You're improving faster than me, and you only awakened your Quirk a month ago."

Deku scratched his head awkwardly, a nervous expression forming on his face. "Well, I mean, that's true, but, um, if I had awakened it earlier, it could have been catastrophic. Besides, you learned pretty quickly when you were just starting out."

"Well done, you two. Keep this up, hone your instincts, and you'll do well in the Sports Festival. I noticed a few things with both of you." All Might clapped and strolled over to us, pointing at Deku first.

"Young Midoriya, you're wavering on a choice in fighting style. You're trying really hard to copy both Young Bakugo and my- All Might."

Smooth, Toshi.

"Try to craft your own style from what you've learned. Aside from that, your reaction time has improved, which can mean a world of difference. You seem to be progressing very well with Full Cowling, so keep it up."

Deku beamed with happiness. I was proud of him, popping a smile as well. Of course, it diminished when All Might pointed to me next.

"Young Bakugo, you tend to rely on your explosions much more than Sword Skill instead of an equal mix. If I were to guess, I would say your body isn't entirely built for it."

Was it? I mean, it is possible. Touya and Aoyama ended up with Quirks unfitting for their bodies, so Sword Skill might be a case like that too, albeit to a lesser degree. I thought it was a side effect of my soul entering Bakugo's body, I never considered the ramifications. "Well, it did awaken later in life compared to Explosion. Perhaps it simply hasn't had the same amount of time to take root? The doctor saw signs of it early on, so I was meant to have two… hmmm..."

All Might appeared to think for a moment before nodding. "I suppose it is possible. That just means you need an object to act as a focus, otherwise it becomes difficult to maintain for longer periods. Hence the sword."

I nodded, following what he was saying. "I get it. So what you're saying is I need more training with it."

All Might nodded. "Correct."

Deku clapped me on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it Kacchan. I'm sure you'll master it."

I smiled and nodded. It was nice to have friends. Especially in this world, where a bond can sometimes make the difference between life and death, strength and weakness. Not to mention, I had friends in low places.

Gentle POV (Naruhata) (Later that night…)

Last night wasn't much of a success, I'll grant that. But one can hardly expect to be good at something on the first go. Besides, we do have a narrowed field to search for our target in.

La Brava held a map as she and I traversed the rooftops of the quiet streets. "I've marked a couple of areas where he last acted, but I've got nothing that can be too helpful."

I nodded. This man wasn't making himself easy to find, even though he was still active. Oh well, in for a penny…

Wait, what's that?

A scuffle was taking place in the alleyway below. A figure in a trenchcoat was duking it out with a small group of street thugs. They seemed disorganized as they tried to land a hit while their target was picking them apart.

One of them stood at the edge of the small crowd, about a meter away. He was withdrawing a gun!

Acting quickly, I created a membrane and sent it in front of the pistol wielder. As the man took down the last of his 'friends', the thug fired, only for a curious thing to happen. I watched as the air itself seemed to distort around the bullet, as if catching it, before it rebounded and hit the lad's shoulder. With a drop and a well placed kick, I knocked the ne'er-do-well unconscious.

The man in the trenchcoat turned to face me. He wore a skintight black shirt, light cargo pants, and black fingerless gloves. He also wore spurs over those gloves and carried a utility belt on his waist. His masked eyes stared at us, carrying a gruffness in his voice as he spoke.

"If it isn't the showboat vigilante. Hunted me down, did ya? Whaddaya want?"

I bowed theatrically to the man. "You are the vigilante known as Knuckleduster, correct? A pleasure to meet a skilled individual such as yourself. I am Gentle Vigilante, and this is my assistant, La Brava. We have a proposition for you, if you are indeed interested."

The masked man scoffed. "A proposition, huh? Well, your intentions so far have been villainous, so to go from villain to vigilante out of the blue rubs me the wrong way."

Well, I cannot say this was unexpected. I'll give him a piece of the truth to draw his interest. "Believe what you wish. I'm collaborating with another to form our own organization, and he has entrusted recruitment to me. I sought you out because we need such people."

Knuckleduster cocked his head, squinting at me as if trying to determine my motives. "I knew there was a reason. Who's your boss?"

'Boss' is rather overstating it. Nevertheless, I can still work with it. "Come with me and you shall find out, my good man."

Mistrust appeared on Knuckleduster's face. He didn't like not knowing, it seemed. The man was deep in thought for a moment before his gaze grew hard. "Fight me. If you win, I'll come with you to meet your boss. If I win, you'll leave me alone to do what I do best."

I nodded and assumed a stance. "La Brava, stay out of this fight. He likely has a strength enhancement Quirk given what we saw from him."

La Brava glanced between Knuckleduster and myself before nodding, taking a few steps away, and hiding behind a dumpster, peering out at us.

My new opponent assumed a stance as well. This was certainly going to be an interesting match.

Cut! That was a fun chapter to work on. A slower one, yes, but that's a necessity after a big arc before jumping into another. Everything up to this point hasn't affected the main timeline too much, but here at the Sports Festival, things are going to kick into high gear. On a different note, I did look up Knuckleduster for this story, and read a few chapters of Vigilantes to get a rough idea of his personality. I have no idea how well I've written him, so if anyone has any pointers, please let me know.

Please review or PM, I always enjoy hearing from you. See you next time!