More original chapters! That's right before we get to the meat of this arc I have one more original chapter abound. I had this idea for a while and I bet you guys are gonna love it. Always remember that a lot of this isn't mine and credit goes to the original creators. With that said, enjoy!


Chapter 18:This Develish Game

Izuku could feel his arms become heavy, sweat falling from his body yet still he kept his eyes focused forward, blocking again and again trying to counterattack where he can.

Marlin couldn't believe that this was what he would have to do. Training the boy to fight on his own without his quirk. To that end, it had only been a day and Marlin could see the lingering talent in the intern but none of it had been truly brought out. As such he only used one of his swords to give his trainee an easier challenge.

Gnash was leaning against the wall, watching the two. His eyes were focused on how Izuku defended himself. He had to admit that the bracers were at least an interesting idea, but nothing spectacular.

Next to him stood Angel who watched more curiously than analytically. She looked at the support items attached to him wondering what it was they did.

With one more hit, Izuku fell to the ground for the third time today. He let out heavy breaths trying to recover as quickly as he could.

Marlin sheathed his sword and let out a quick sigh. "This will be all for today. You only have a week and as such, we need to balance your training with proper rest periods."

Izuku then sat up and gave a sigh before looking up at his current teacher. "Right. Thanks."

Gnash and Angel then walked up to the two with Gnash being the first one to speak. "Jeez, Infini-Nose if I didn't know any better I'd say you didn't want to teach the boy."

Marlin responded by glaring. "I take my job more seriously than you Jagged-Teeth."

Gnash then took an aggressive step forward. "You wanna repeat that?"

Marlin then did the same. "Gladly."

Angel came up to Izuku, ignoring the scowling match happening right next to them. "So, King what's with all the support gear?"

Izuku was a little surprised to hear the question. Angel didn't seem the type to ask something like that. So Izuku got up with his own question. "Oh, what made you curious?"

Angel then answered without losing her little smile. "Well besides those two the only other person who uses support gear is Sensus and even then their all pretty basic, so I wanna see if you got something cooler than them."

Izuku could understand that so he started with his face. "Ok, well this is the Digivice, it's meant to store the data of my Knights so I can bring them out whenever I need." He then showed off his bracers. "I don't have a name for these but they're meant to be my main method of defense when using my quirk isn't as worth it." He then gestured to his boots which is what really interested Angel. "I don't have a name for these either but they're meant to help me move around, though I haven't gotten to test them out."

That piqued Angel's interest again. "Ooh, then let's go try it out."

Izuku was a little concerned about the prospect. "I don't think that's a good idea. Besides, there's not enough room in here for a test like that."

Angel then grabbed Izuku's arm and started to walk to the door. "Then let's go outside and test. We're at a beach after all." She then turned to her fellow sidekicks who seemed seconds away from having an actual fight. Her face then became stern and she let her mouth fully open as she spoke, revealing her long sharp teeth. "Put a sock in it before I drag you both across the sand."

Feeling the dark presence of the angered woman the two stopped and followed her, both silently agreeing that they'll finish this later.

The four would then make their way outside to the beach.

Once outside Angel pointed forward. "Look, it's Mackerel."

They could all clearly see that it was in fact Mackerel in the sand. What caused pause was the fact that he seemed to be making an absolutely massive sandcastle. He was moving slowly and delicately as he moved everything in place, making it higher and higher.

Izuku was of course confused by this. "Why is he doing that?"

Marlin answered looking at his fellow sidekick like it still confused him. "Mackerel may look like a brut but he enjoys making things. In this case, the "things" he likes to make are different varieties of towers."

Izuku looked at it still confused. "A sandcastle counts?"

Gnash answered while stepping into the beach. "If he can stack it it counts. Now are we doing this or not? Angel's left me curious too."

Izuku then walked after him with the other two side kicks behind. "R-right." As they prepared Izuku noted that Mackerel was so absorbed into his sandcastle that he hadn't even acknowledged anyone.

The four of them decided to sit a ways away from the sidekick with Marlin, Gnash, and Angel giving Izuku space.

Izuku was starting to get a little nervous but he did request these upgrades. "Gabumon, Guilmon, you guys got everything ready?"

Two portraits appeared in the Digivice's interface with both Knights represented in each.

Guilmon nodded. "We didn't expect things to be this complicated, but everything should be working."

Gabumon then looked like he was ding. "Starting ignition now."

Izuku was confused by that. "Wait, now?!"

The bottom of Izuku's boots and the machine strapped to his back roar to life as holes at the bottom of all of them start to jet out exhaust shooting Izuku straight up and screaming.

The three sidekicks watched Izuku fly around while screaming and clearly out of control.

Angel looked amazed at the sight. "He got a jetpack?! I'm so jealous!"

Gnash was a little more concerned. "Should we do something?"

Marlin didn't seem to worry. "I'm sure the boy will figure things out."

Gnash didn't really agree. "He's losing altitude."

Marlin then softly stomped on the ground. "The sand is soft."

Izuku was screaming all the way through his journey in the sky all the way till he hit a mound of sand that cushioned his fall.

A scream of anguish was then released into the sky, which spoke of great anguish almost agony.

When Izuku finally got his head out of the sand he saw that he had toppled the sand tower.

Mackerel looked down at his ruined piece and the boy who had destroyed it. He then grabbed Izuku by his shoulders, raised him to eye level, and started to shake him around. "You destroyed my tower! Look at what you've done! Have you no shame?!"

Izuku was barely able to get his words out as being vigorously shaken wasn't settling well with his stomach. "I'm sorryyyyyyyy!"

Gnash then placed a hand on Mackerel's back. "Come on, man. Let the kid go. It's not like he did it on purpose."

Mackerel then grumbled as he dropped Izuku and then turned to Gnash. "What were you guys doing out here anyway?"

Angel then excitedly answered. "King was learning how to fly!"

Mackerel was surprised to hear that and proceeded to grab Izuku again and shake him more. "You can fly?!"

Gnash then yelled at his fellow sidekick. "Mackerel, come on!"

Mackerel having realized what his reaction entailed dropped Izuku. "Sorry!"

Marlin then approached the group with a slow clap. "Such amazing control of the situation Gnash, I'm impressed."

Gnash could clearly see through the sarcasm and retorted. "Shove it Sir Lancelot, Prince of the Nose."

Marlin then took an aggressive step toward Gnash. "You little tongue-biter!"

Angel then came up to Izuku again with a bit of deja vu. "You ok?"

Izuku shook his head trying to regain his balance. "Yeah, I'll be ok." He then got up and looked at Mackerel. "I'm really sorry about your tower but I do need to try and figure out how this support gear works."

Mackerel then shook his head. "It's alright, just show me how this flying stuff works." He was clearly excited about that.

Angel supported this move. "Yeah, do it again!"

Izuku sighed. Looks like he was going to be doing this for a while. And doing it for a while he did. It felt like hours as Izuku continually blasted off with almost no control of direction or power. Eventually, he managed to find his balance and was able to hover in place. "Hey, I'm doing it! It's working!"

Sensus then bust open the door and called out to the others. "Hey, fish brains, the Boss wants to talk to the kid!"

Everyone turned to look at him and when Izuku did he lost his balance, flipped midair, and landed face-first into the sand.

Sensus saw that and pointed at him. "Is he ok?"

The others then turned to him and Angel tried to help him up. "Oh, and you had just found your balance too."

Izuku was now willing to acknowledge that Angel helping him up had been turning into a trend. "It's ok. I did come here to learn from him after all."

Sensus then said more. "Oh yeah, Boss also said that Angel, Gnash, and Marlin should stand by."

Mackerel didn't seem sad to be left out as he could already be seen re-piling sand to make his tower.

With that said the floor reentered the building and made their way down to the elevator. While Izuku stepped inside the other three held back. This wasn't so much of a problem until the three of them seemed to wish him good luck sincerely. That managed to scare Izuku a little.

When the elevator stopped Izuku stepped outside and saw the table he had seen yesterday. The difference was the presence of a new chair on the other side of Gang Orca, obscuring him slightly.

Gang Orca then called out to his intern. "Good, you're here. Sit with me, Midoriya."

Izuku made his way to the seat and when he sat down he noted that between the two of them was a fully set up Shogi table, ready to be played.

Gang Orca then grabbed five extra footsoldier pieces. "You do know how to play, yes?"

Izuku nodded and started to take off his arm bracers and then pulled down the Digivice.

Gang Orca noted that he wouldn't need to tell Izuku the obvious. He then rolled the foot soldiers on the table. Four of the five revealed the promoted side while the fifth was normal. Gang Orca then picked up the pieces and looked at Izuku. "The first move is yours. We'll talk while we play."

Izuku nodded again and made his first move.

Gang Orca responded with his own move.

Izuku then made his own move and was now becoming more and more confused as to why they were playing Shogi. "Uhm, excuse me but why are we doing this?"

Gang Orca then made his next move. "Think of this as a test. I'll tell you the results of it once the game is done."

Izuku made his next move, understanding that he just had to be patient.

Gang Orca then made another move having now captured one of Izuku's pieces. "What do you think of my sidekicks, the top five I mean."

Izuku hesitated to make his next move having now lost a piece and managed to even the playing field by stealing one from Gang Orca. "They're very different from one another. I suppose that the individuality they have is what makes them so strong together."

Gango Orca then placed the piece he had captured allowing Izuku to move next. "And what do you think of them individually, not as a group."

Izuku then placed the piece he had captured in response and allowed Gang Orca to make his move. "Well, I think Mackerel is a simple person, he knows what he's good at and knows how to enjoy himself, Angel is nice and friendly and like she can get along with anyone, Sensus is cold but I can understand why, because of his quirk it makes sense that he'd enjoy his own company, Gnash looks confidant and at least a little cocky, and Marlin's probably the same but more reserved and maybe that's why they argue so often."

As Izuku spoke the two continued making their moves and it resulted in what at first seemed to be an unfavorable situation for Gang Orca. Many of his pieces were gone, though many of his were far ahead but also unpromoted. In contrast, Izuku had lost a few pieces but had replaced some with the ones he took, along with that he had more than a few promoted pieces.

Gang Orca then made his next move. "Check."

Izuku looked at the board surprised. He then moved his Jewelled General.

Gang Orca then made another move. "Check."

Izuku analyzed the board and then moved to take the threatening piece.

Gang Orca then placed the bishop onto the board. "Check."

Izuku wasn't expecting that kind of move given Gang Orca's previous moves. He moved his Jewelled General again to avoid the offensive.

Gang Orca then placed a captured Lance. "Checkmate."

Izuku could see it. If he moved to the front or back the lance would get him, if he moved to either side he would be beaten by the bishops, and the Golden general nearby was an inevitable victor with how it could pin him. He had lost and had no choice but to accept defeat. "It was a good game."

Gang Orca nodded. "Yes, it was. It's clear to see just how intelligent you are. Still, I assume you haven't realized the purpose of this test."

It was embarrassing to admit but it was undeniably true. "No, I haven't."

Gang Orca expected that and so explained. "Shogi has the ability to tell a lot of how one's mind operates, more so than other games like it such as let's say Chess. Not to say that it doesn't reveal one's forward-thinking but with Shogi I was able to better understand your mindset as a leader."

It all made sense now. That was the test and as the loser, he proved to be the inferior leader. Izuku was still bothered by something though. "Is that all? You just wanted to see how good of a leader I am?"

Gang Orca then continued, giving his full assessment. "No, I wanted to see your mindset, not ability. I found that your foresight is rather sharp, focused on the strength of your individual "soldiers". Still, that means you have left the ability to better maneuver your pieces in a more effective formation behind. From what I have seen you're foresight and analytical skills aren't the issue rather your view is too narrow and focused. When an enemy overpowers you your solution is to strike back with greater power. Such a move is unsustainable when the path to greater strength is barbed."

Izuku had never even considered this and thinking about it he realized just how true it all was. That was his weakness and it had been deconstructed right in front of him.

Gang Orca could see the surprise on Izuku's face and decided to move things along. "I do not believe that makes you incapable and that is why you will be coming with us."

Before Izuku could express his surprise Gang Orca pulled out a remote and pressed a button a large screen began to move down from the ceiling. The screen then lit up showing a destroyed store and a mugshot of a crazed man. He had purple string-like hair, green eyes with black sclera, long thin eyebrows, a large mouth with a crazed smile that revealed a set of sharp teeth, markings underneath his mouth that looked like a second pair of eyes, and large hands that had similar markings on the back of them.

Gang Orca then explained. "This is a villain who goes by the name "Diablo". He was arrested by us about five months ago and reports that he escaped came out two weeks ago. We've been tracking him down since then as it seems he has remained in the area."

Izuku was confused. "Wait, what? How do you know and why would he stay here when theres a search for him? "

Gang Orca already had his answer ready. "Well, we know he is rather petty given his history but more importantly we've found traces of him using his quirk." Before Izuku could ask the obvious Gang Orca pressed a button on the remote and changed the images to those depicting ATMs and display electronics showing error screens with missing pieces. "Data Consumption. A quirk with the ability to consume digital information and recompile it within the body and project it as a shell."

Izuku was so shocked to hear this that he shut up and stared at the screen with wide eyes. "He what?"

Within The Digivice the Knights were all having their own reactions. The general feeling was surprise, shock, and anger.

Guilmon grit his teeth, aggravated. "So much like us and look at what he does with it."

Dorumon let out a frustrated sigh. "It certainly is infuriating."

Gabumon took a step back, shaken. "His face is so scary."

Agumon took a step forward. "It's the kinda face that screams evil."

Impmon then punched his fist. "And I'm guessing we'll get to take him down."

Back in the physical world, Gang Orca continued. "It's arrogant of you to have thought you were the only one with a data-based quirk."

Izuku sat down in response and placed a hand on his face. It was true, he had a very unique quirk and never even stopped to think for a moment that someone else could have been in the same position as him.

Gang Orca could see Izuku's distress and continued, trying to shift things along. "We believe Diablo has been amassing power and want you to help us track him down. This will serve as your field training. If we do encounter him, you would not be able to use your quirk unless instructed otherwise. What do you think of that?"

Izuku had perked up. This wasn't just his chance to gain some field experience it was his chance to bring help people like he's always wanted. "Ok, we'll do it."

Gang Orca nodded and stood up. "Excellent then let us be off." He pressed a button on the remote and the large screen rose back up into the roof. The two then began walking together towards the elevator rising up and away from the room. When they reached the top the three sidekicks greeted them. Gang Orca came up to Gnash and whispered something to him. Gnash nodded in response and left.

The group followed behind Gang Orca and Angel came up to Izuku. "So, what was your test?"

Izuku was surprised to hear that. "Uh, a game of shogi. Why?"

Angel then looked curious about the nature of the test but decided to answer. "Well mine was a jaw strength test so I wanted to know what yours was."

"Oh. I see." It seemed that Gang Orca was even more thorough with him than Izuku had first imagined.

Once the group began walking outside they made their way to the main street rather than the beach they walked to the main street where a small black limousine was waiting for them.

Izuku was surprised to see the vehicle, not because it would have been strange but because he recognized it.

This was Gang Orca's patrol car. As they all got in questions commonly asked about the vehicle started to rush into his head to the point that he was starting to intensely stare at the floor.

Angel noticed the strange face Izuku was making and snapped him out of it by pushing his shoulder. "Hey, you good there? You look a little out of it"

Izuku then snapped out of his little trance. "Oh, sorry. I've just always wondered why you guys travel together in patrol. Wouldn't it be more efficient to travel separately?"

Marlin was the one who answered. "Not in this case. Knowing what we do it'll be all the more efficient should we arrive to confront the villain together."

Izuku and Angel bother turned to Marlin. Angel didn't look bothered but what Izuku saw made it hard not to ask questions.

Marlin had the window slightly open and was sticking his nose outside. He could feel Izuku's eyes on him and be bothered by the quizzical stare. "I do this because I have to!"

Gnash, who was in the driver's seat, couldn't help but burst into laughter at acknowledgment meant of Marlin's situation. "Hahahahaha! Big though Marlin finds his greatest weakness on four wheels!"

Gang Orca was left in the passenger seat and calmly yet commandingly grabbed Gnash's attention. "Gnash, the road."

Gnash fully refocused himself with sweat now forming on his brow. "Yes sir."

"To answer your question with greater detail, it's because we already see everything." A voice rang out within the vehicle coming from the speakers inside rather than any individual present.

Izuku could recognize the voice though and responded with surprise. "Sensus?"

"That's right Jet Legs. I'm your eyes and ears in this city and if that gluttonous dingus shows up I'll know." Sensus still spoke with his usual tone of professionality but now he seemed to have more energy. Like he was conserving all of it to put greater focus on more energy-draining tasks.

That explained things clearly to him. It was so obvious now that he felt a little silly. Still, he couldn't help but think that having dispersed ranks would allow for a faster response. Still being in a vehicle like this with one of the highest-ranking agencies made.

Marlin then spoke with a small grin. "You know my nose may be long but at least I'm not a dentist's nightmare."

That almost pulled Gnash's focus away from driving. "Watch it. I could close the wind any time I want." He grumbled.

Marlin then countered. "That will only break it and I'm sure you already have enough broken glass to deal with."

Gnash was now really starting to get annoyed, especially since driving still had most of his attention. "My teeth are not that jagged." He said with clear annoyance.

Angel couldn't help but admit the truth. "They are pretty jagged."

Gnash was both surprised and seemingly hurt. "Not you too!"

Gang Orca then spoke. "Gnash." The tone of his voice gave the room pause and made Gnash put his full attention on the road again. "They are pretty jagged."

Gnash was defeated. "Boss..." He then remembered that there was someone else. "Hey, little King what do think of my teeth?"

Izuku sat straight nervous to answer and the voices in his Digivice did not help.

"Does it really matter? It's his health." Dorumon stated not caring much about the subject in question.

"I think it gives his smile personality. "Agumon stated nicely.

"A scary personality." Gabumon said as if correcting.

"I'm glad I'm not his dentist that's for sure." Guilmon agreed with Marlin on that part.

"I don't think it's that bad." Veemon wanted to give the man some slack.

"His teeth do look like broken glass!" Impmon was not as merciful.

Izuku had a lot of answers but was still too nervous to give his own. "I think I would rather not answer."

Marlin then snickered at his victory. "Face it Gnash, you have the teeth of a brit-"

Alarms then sounded in the vehicle which was then followed by Sensus' voice. "We were right, idiot is making a scene. I repeat idiot is making a scene."

Gnash then hit the gas and spun the wheel. "Finally!" He was happy to move away from the original conversation.

After only a small amount of time of extreme driving that made time feel like it was going much faster than it actually was.

When it stopped the hero and his sidekicks then moved to get out and confront the villain. Izuku brought himself out, not used to the sudden tonal shift, and followed behind the group.

They all then stopped at the scene now having the villain in sight.

In the distance, a strange creature was attacking a store causing many people to run in panic. The creature's body was like a white insect with two segments still connected. The front was bigger than the back with one yellow spike at its end, three spikes on its back, and three more on the opposite side. Along the body were six red holes with wires coming out of them linked to spiked pads acting like feet and legs. At the frontmost part was one more hole with the same wires connected to a white mask with a red horn and what looked to be red eyebrows painted over the eye holes. Its actual eyes were green with yellow irises. The creature turned to the group and opened its mouth with a distorted voice speaking out. "Foolish heroes, you've really come. Now, revenge will be mine!" As he spoke his head twitched as if it couldn't remain focused on the same thing at a time.

Izuku was repulsed by the creature he saw. That thing was human? He's seen some wild mutation quirks before but nothing like this.

To his surprise, it seemed this was also Gnash's first time seeing this. "That's Diablo? Is it just me or did he get bigger?"

Angel was clearly grossed out by the spider creature. "He's so gross! Go back to being a cacoon with arms!"

Gang Orca then held up his arms to get the two of them to focus. "Enough! Now is no longer the time for words!" With that, he blasted a hypersonic wave toward Diablo.

The villain then used his strong legs to leap away from the attack. As soon as his feet landed on the ground Marlin and Gnash were already upon him.

Marlin would attack with a thrust of his blades while Gnash planted his foot into the villain with a sidekick.

Diablo would be knocked away but when he quickly got up it was apparent that no real damage had been done.

Marlin took note of this and readied himself. "You felt it didn't you?"

Gnash answered the question, annoyed by the truth. "Yeah. That shell of his is a lot tougher than last time."

Gang Orca then made his assessment and gave his orders. "Marlin, Gnash, Angel, hold the line and keep him from escaping! Midoriya, handle crowd control and try to analyze for weaknesses, if you find anything exploit it!" He then dashed forward toward the enemy himself.

Izuku immediately took to action, looking around to find that now that heroes were present the civilians had taken to staying to watch the action. He then looked back at the villain and within the Digivice six smaller versions of the portraits appeared. "You heard him!"

Within the Digivice the six Knights took to work using the scanners in the Digivice to try and find what kind of vulnerability his shell could have.

As for Angel, she had to get ready her own way. Brown scales began to grow from all parts of her body, claws began to jut out from her fingertips, her jaw bulged and its hinge grew causing it to jut out, her teeth began to grow longer and sharper, and her eyes became glossier. She then let out a yell and ran toward Diablo who had been distracted from avoiding avoid the attacks from the other three assailants. She then tackled him with great force and grabbed him by the leg. Then in a feat of strength, she slung the leg over her shoulder and threw the large villain.

As the villain flew through the air the one to meet it was Gnash with a turning kick knocking him away again like the villain was a pinball.

From above Gang Orca would then jump down toward the villain, releasing a hypersonic blast that shot the villain down into the street. He would then slam down to add greater damage and aid in restraining the menace.

Izuku was in awe. He was basically useless but seeing heroes work like this up close was incredible. He would have thought that the villain had been defeated just like that until he heard Impmon's voice call out. "Izuku, he still hasn't taken any damage." Izuku snapped when he looked at the scans the Knights had collected and it was true. As a shell, not a single part showed signs of external or internal damage. "Gang Orca look out!"

Before the hero could respond Diablo used his flexible neck to look at his enemy. He then opened his mouth revealing a barrel and fired three red orbs that collided with the hero and exploded blasting him away and freeing Diablo. The villain then became frantic, rapidly firing in all directions now wanting to cause as much damage as possible.

As Gnash pulled away he expressed surprise at this newly revealed ability. "He's got a gun in his mouth?! That doesn't make any sense!"

Marlin replied having just barely dodged a blast. "How about you tell him that?!"

The projectiles would then start to explode against surrounding buildings and Izuku was drawn away from focusing on the building. As another explosion rang over a building the debris would start to fall toward a part of the crowd.

Izuku without thinking summoned at random to try and save them all. "Alphamon!"

As the light shined the crowd looked up some escaping the falling debris and others trying to take cover. A mother knowing that she wouldn't have a chance to escape tried to shield her child so that maybe only she would see the end. But the end never came, no pain, no heartbreak. As the crowd looked on Alphamon held up the mass of the destroyed building struggling against its weight.

The Royal Knight then called to the people having already shown himself to be a hero. "Get out of here! This area is not safe, leave, now!"

As the crowd shambled and ran Diablo spotted this new threat and seeing it weakened leaped at it.

Alphamon then allowed the debris to fall off his back after seeing the people free but before he could look at the enemy a sharp pain echoed through his entire body from his right arm. Or more where his right arm was!

Diablo had dashed and now as he passed by in his mouth was the severed forearm of Alphamon!

Alpahamon fell to his knees with wide eyes while placing his remaining hand where half his arm used to be and screamed in pain.

Izuku ran up with extreme fear. Up until now, Alphamon was unbeatable, a Royal Knight, his trump card, and now he wasn't just hurt, he had been damaged utterly. "Alphamon!"

The three side kicks were also shocked. They had seen this guy in the Sports Festival and even though he didn't do much they could gauge how strong he was by comparing him to other Royal Knights.

Alphamon looked at Izuku frantic but still trying to keep himself calm. "Izuku! I'm sorry, things will only get worse." With that warning Alphamon shined, returning to the Digivice to heal.

Izuku was still freaking out. Alphamon may now be healing but the villain hadn't taken any damage and had brought one of his strongest pieces off the board. Worst yet was the sound of crunching.

It caught everyone's attention even the returning Gang Orca. As they all turned to look for the source of the sound, horror was written on their faces.

Diablo was eating Alpahmon's arm. He crunched and crushed it in his mouth, swallowing it down like it was the greatest meal he'd ever have.

Gang Orca, who hadn't gotten a full gauge of the situation was the first to question this. "What in heavens is he doing?"

Izuku only grew more terrified his eyes widening as he realized the answer. "Data Consumption."

As Diablo finished his meal his entire body began to twitch and spasm. His voice glitched and stuttered as the new data was introduced into his body. "D-d-d-data. De-de-de-delicious dataaaaaaaa!" The more his body spasmed the more his shell seemed to fall apart, cracking and falling off.

Gnash smiled at the sight of this, not truly understanding the situation. "Alright! Looks like he's done for."

Marlin however pointed out his ignorance. "I don't think that's true."

Once Diablo's shell had fully collapsed its pieces lay all around his now vulnerable human body. His hands clutched onto the sides of his head he screamed as if in intense pain. Every fiber of his being felt as if it were on fire. His blood flowed through his body with such greater force it felt like his body would explode! Around him, the broken pieces of his shell began to move some being thrown at him and pushing him around.

Gnag Orca refused to watch anymore, moving in front of his team and blasting a hypersonic wave at Diablo.

To the shock and horror of the group, Diablo seemed completely unaffected as the pieces of his shell continued to envelop him haphazardly.

Sensus' voice then sounded in everyone's comms. "What did you all do?! His quirk is going into overdrive!"

Before the group could express their shock Diablo was bathed in extremely bright light. When it faded Diablo now had a new shell revealing the evolution he had undergone. No, that word wasn't accurate anymore. This was his digivolution. His new shell now seemed to be made out of a soft material layer with an exoskeleton. His limbs were long and spindly. His face resembled a Hannya mask with the same eyes as before and behind it now flowed orange-yellow hair. He had long red claws at the ends of his feet and purple hands. He then turned to look at the group, his eyes moving frantically before locking onto Izuku. "D-d-d-d-data. Delicious d-d-dataaa!" He then leaped for the boy, intent on getting his meal.

Gang Orca leaped forward meeting the empowered villain and trying to hold him back. "Gnash! Get Midoriya out of here!"

Gnash acted fast, grabbing Izuku and putting the intern's stomach on his shoulder.

Izuku could barely react. "Wait! Hold on what about-?!"

Gnash then started to sprint at full speed. "Sorry King, no time!"

As the two moved away Izuku was the one forced to watch as Diablo landed a large explosion on the aquatic hero.

Once to two had gotten far away enough Gnash started to slow down both mentally and physically. "Ok, what just happened? He ate your quirks arm and now he's way stronger than before!"

Izuku thought of it still in a bit of panic. "I-I don't know! He ate some of Alphamon's data but that should only be a piece of his code..." The realization hit him like a bag of bricks and the very thought made him sick to his stomach from fear. He couldn't contain his distress, it was too much. "The CoL! He ate a piece of Alphamon's CoL!"

Gnash obviously had no idea what he meant. "You're guy has coal?"

Izuku shook his head gathering his words to explain. "No, CoL. The Code of Life. It's the string of code that gives every Knight their sentience. It's also what recompiles and reconfigures data to create stages of evolution."

Gnash then started to put the pieces together in his mind and started to realize what made Izuku panic so much. "What but that sounds a lot like-!"

Izuku then finished the statement. "His quirk! The piece of the CoL he ate is working together with his quirk and powering up his ability to make his shells!"

Gnash then expressed his building infuriation. "And you couldn't have warned us of something like that?!"

Izuku then responded feeling guilty about what had happened. "I didn't think it could! How are we supposed to beat him now?!"

Gnash didn't have a good answer and that made him all the more stressed. "Last time we managed to beat him by making a hole in a part of his shell and landing a hit on the inside. According to Sensus that terminates the connection between Diablo and the data he's collected."

Izuku then began to think, trying to come up with something. The tragic thing is that Marlin couldn't pierce that shell then what hope did they have? "Omegamon or Gallantmon may be able to pull it off but there's no way he wouldn't just try to eat them." The idea sent a shiver down his spine.

Gnash tsked. Thing's seemed pretty hopeless right now and as time passes it looked like they'd only get worse. They needed cover so Gnash started running into an ally hoping that if Diablo was looking for them then this would make it harder.

Then from within their earpieces Sensus's voice gave them a dreaded piece of news "The boss is down! I repeat the boss is down! That maniac is coming after you guys!"

Almost on queue, Diablo lands on the roofs of the building making the ally. "Data!" His voice had only become more crazed as he focus squared on Izuku.

Izuku freaked out as the villain began his chase and thought of something as fast as he could. He held out his hands and called out. "Impmon!"

In a flash of light, Izuku was holding on to Impmon and Impmon did not react calmly. "What are you doing?! I don't wanna be eaten alive!" His yells were a product of fear and anger trying to keep him alive.

Izuku then shook Impmon to get him to focus. "Impmon, fire! Fire at him!"

Once his orders were given Impmon looked back at the almost salivating terror and screamed in horror as he held his hands out. "Summon!" Two circles then appeared above his hands, one orange and the other blue. From within them emerged similarly colored spirits that lunged at Diablo trying to slow him down.

The small distraction allowed the three to make some more distance but Diablo refused to lose his prey. The green jewel on his chest glowed, then fired a much bigger ball of flame was launched at the group.

As it hit the ground behind Gnash it exploded sending the three careening out of the ally. Izuku and Impmon landed at the side of a building while Gnash was closer to the ally. This scared many of the surrounding civilians in he began running and panicking.

As Diablo made his approach he slammed an open palm on top of Gnash to stop him from moving causing the sidekick to yell in pain. He then looked at his desired prey and made his approach.

Izuku opened his eyes as the pain caused his mind to pause. When he saw what was in front of him all he could do was crawl back in fear. He had no way out. He had no options left.

"Thunder Cloud!"

Diablo was struck by a stream of lightning causing him to reel back and refocus on Wizardmon now standing in front of Izuku.

Wizardmon gripped his staff tightly the fear and panic in his mind caused a pounding sensation blocking out every sound around him. It was like the world had become dark and the only thing that existed was him and that thing. His mind flashed towards the evolution of every single one of the Royal Knights. The power they had gained left him in the dust. But that didn't matter against an enemy like this he had to fight, Royal Knight or not. 'I refuse to stay weak. I'll get stronger even if my body is left torn apart!'

Diablomon was now ready to devour this smaller meal as he lunged face-first at Wizardmon.

Time almost froze in Wizardmons eyes, him included. Just before Diablo could take a bite Wizardmon managed to side-step the advance and slam the side of his staff into Diablo's face. "Thunder Cloud!" He then sent as much electricity as he could and sent the villain reeling back again. The force caused a stinging pain to travel through Wizardmon's arms but he felt strong, stronger than he ever had before. "Wizardmon digivolve too..."

Diablo refocused once more but what he saw gave him pause. Wizardmon was emitting light and a part of him almost knew exactly what that meant. He positioned himself and fired three blasts from his chest toward the Knight. When they collided rather than creating an explosion of fire they created a cloud of smoke instead.

From within the clearing smoke now stood a new figure. A knight clothed in ornate white armor covered in jewels and gold with red clothing underneath. His face was human but the upper part of it was obscured by a pointed hat that covered his eyes. In his hand, he gripped a jewel-encrusted golden sword, and in front of him floated what seemed to be a crystal ball. This was the result of pushing the limits of talent. and he called his name in response. "Mistymon!"

Diablo was ready to attack again but then the crystal ball quickly flew toward him slamming into him with the power he felt he had fired before, sending him back. Still, he was relentless and he soon got back up to confront his battle-ready prey.

A scream then sounded from behind as a visibly damaged Angel tackled Diablo and yelled with a raspy voice. "Get out of here you morons!" Diablo then started to struggle against her.

Mistymon saw this and grabbed Izuku like he was a sack of potatoes and started running.

Izuku was still in shock from everything. "You evolved!"

Mistymon kept running not wanting to stop, afraid of the consequences. "Yeah, I just tried really hard." He tried to joke to ease his fears. "Izuku, you need to think of something. We just got lucky and you're the only one I know who can come up with a plan for something like this."

That panicked Izuku all the more. He had to take into account all the resources he had and began to think of something. "Ok, uh, I could try using my support items to try and escape."

Mistymon agreed. "Ok, let's do that!" And in a flash of light, he vanish and Izuku fell to the ground.

Izuku then immediately panicked. "Wait I didn't mean it like-" He was caught off when he heard an explosion from behind. When he looked he saw a large cloud of smoke and could only assume the worst. His legs acted on their own and he started to run away trying to get off the ground using the jets on him. Still, all he could do was stumble and he could hear the movement of the villain behind him. He had to take off he had to. As his nerves screamed at him yelling that the monster was right behind him Izuku took a leap of fate and as the jets on his feet and back roared he blasted off, burning Diablo's face.

Izuku looked back then forward now processing what had happened and he smiled. "I did it! I'm doing it! It's working!" He yelled with a smile having now one advantage in his favor.

Before the boy could get too far Diablo once more took aim and fired three balls of flames.

Izuku heard the shots and started to panic again. He angled his feet moving to the sides to avoid the flames sloppy. The last one didn't just almost hit him, it almost made him lose all his balance which would have caused him to fall out of the sky. Still, he managed to get away, the sound of his own heart being louder than the thrust behind him.

Then Alphamon's voice sounded in Izuku's earpiece. "Izuku we need a plan. I can barely fight and I doubt we can't run away forever."

Gang Orca's words then echoed in Izuku's mind remembering his weakness. 'maneuver your pieces in a more effective formation'. He had a plan now. He reached for his earpiece now needing more information. "Sensus, I need you to upload a map of the town to the Digivice."

Diablo was on his search. His meal couldn't have gotten far and he refused to leave hungry. With the power, he now possesses the heroes who challenged him were just ants. Imagine if he had more. All he ate was an arm, after all, with the rest he could become the most powerful villain in history. The idea of it almost made him drool. Then a voice snapped him out of his search.

"Hey, big, dumb, and ugly! Over here!" The small orange dinosaur called out from deep inside an alleyway.

Diaboromon turned to it and could feel this sensation come over him. "D-d-d-ata!" He yelled as he chased after Agumon. Unfortunately for him, his prey had a headstart and turned at the exit. As he continued in pursuit a blue flame poured on him.

On the roof of a building, Gabumon jumped in place as Diablo looked up at him. "Hey you meanie, look at me!" He then started running in panic as Diablo began to climb up the building. "I changed my mind, I changed my mind!"

Once Diablo reached the top he could see Gabumon jump off the building. He began to give chase but then he was hit by another ball of fire by Agumon at another ally. He once more gave chase to the one who attacked him, losing his interest in the wolf.

This went on for a while. Diablo would almost catch his prey then the other would attack and draw his attention away. All the while when he thinks he's about to corner one they seemingly vanish. Diablo now stood on the roof of a building, enraged beyond belief ready to leap at anywho even look at him the wrong way.

"Hey, Diablo! Why waste your time on appetizers when you can get to the main course!" Izuku called out to the villain, steeling himself from his fears. Then he smiled and murmured to himself. "Come get the Jewelled Emperor."

Diablo turned to the boy and thought to himself that this was the one responsible. He was keeping the one keeping Diablo from his prize. He would pay, and he will lose everything! He leaped at the "hero" intent on tearing him apart.

Then with thunderous stomps, a figure intercepted Diablo, not tackling him, but grabbing onto his arm and pulling him.

The force caused Diablo to spin in the air and land facing away from Izuku. When the villain looked at his assailant he was met with a hypersonic blast to keep him back.

Gang Orca was burnt and bleeding. His clothes were covered in soot and parts were clearly burnt or shredded. Still, he pushed through the seeing to bite back against the villain with all his might.

Diablo was still being hit with wave after wave of hypersonic blasts but he was still ready to counterattack.

That would have come to fruition if an equally damaged Marlin would not have come from behind Gang Orca, leaping forward and pinning Diablo's other arm by nailing it and himself to the ground.

It had all gone as Izuku had planned now he had to finish the fight. "Checkmate."

As Diablo struggled against the two heroes two other figures came on the roof of the building he was facing.

Agumon and Gabumon had played their parts and now it was time for the finale. The two jumped down and as they fell a bright flash stopped Diablo from seeing.
"Agumon!"
"Gabumon!"
"Warp Jogress digivolve to..."

As the light faded the white Royal Knight started speeding toward Diablo, Grey Sword at the ready. "Omegamon!"

Diablo continued to struggle knowing that if he didn't escape then he would be captured again. "No! No! No-o-o-o-o!" His voice became more and more erratic, as its pitch changed wildly. Then as he felt the holds of the heroes weaken the tip of the sword hovered above his face.

Omegamon thrust, his sword piercing through Diablo's mask and forcing his mouth to stay open. "Transcendent Sword!" The fire that then came from the sword exploded out into the rest of Diablo's body causing some of that fire to even break parts of the shell.

With that Diablo's shell began to fall apart and dissolve and among the dissipating particles was the villain's burnt-unconscious body.

Omegamon stood over him victorious. "That means connection terminated, right?"

Sensus voice then sounded in everyone's earpieces. "Yeah. You did it."

Izuku looked at the unconscious villain he began to breathe heavily for a moment then fell on his knees. The stress and adrenaline had all caught up with him and it left him weak.

Omegamon of course came to him concerned. "Izuku! Are you ok?"

Izuku took a deep breath and looked up at Omegamon with a shaky smile. "Yeah, I'll be fine now. Thanks to you." With a shared nod Omegamon disappeared in a flash of light.

Gang Orca knelt next to Izuku. "Are you good to stand?"

Izuku took one last breath and gave a short nod, getting back up slowly. He saw Marlin starting to pick up Diablo's unconscious body. He then felt Gang Orca's hand placed on his shoulder.

Gang Orca kept his cool gaze yet underneath it he had a powerful feeling. He was proud, not just of their success but because of how much potential he saw in this boy. He was learning and he was doing it fast. "You did well today, King."

Izuku had felt lifted. He hadn't caught up with it but the hero only called him by name. The whirlwind of emotions almost made him cry but he kept his composure as best he could. "Thank you. I couldn't have gotten better without you."

Marlin looked to the two, now carrying Diablo's burnt yet living body. 'He never ceases to amaze me. Boss truly does have an eye for talent. Here I was thinking he just wanted to experience teaching again.'

Still, even though the day was won the consequences wouldn't disappear and in the darkness lived a far more malicious evil. One that hunted with a purpose far more powerful than hunger.


Happy New Year everyone! What? What do you mean it's February?! 669 followers waited for a month?! Hehe, nice. Not the delay part. I promise this chapter wasn't supposed to take so long. I ended up not being able to use my computer for a week and This chapter is really long. I hope the wait was worth it because if it's not then I'm gonna feel really bad. Enough about that though, let's talk about the chapter a little. You got to see the Gang Orca agency in action! It was fun to write the little moments with each. I didn't say last time but I'll bring it up now. Mackerel, Sensus, Angel, Gnash, and Marlin are all original characters so I'd like to hear what you have to say about them. Are they fun or annoying? Would you like to see more of them? Next, let's talk about Diablo or I should say Diaboromon. I did say in the last chapter that if I were to use him that I'd get creative with it. What did you think of what I did with him? From his quirk to the way he acted. Oh, and then there are Izuku's support items. Yeah, he flies now. I did say he'd fight and now we're getting closer to that reality. Also, I taught myself how to play Shogi just for this chapter so I hope that's appreciated. Now onto the few reviews from last time.

First we have MewMaster89 with a familiar question.
"
how are you going to do examon are you making it like omnimon a fuse digimon or are you going to only have dracomon do it alone." - I'm gonna make him a fusion. Would be lame if Omegamon was the only one.

Next a guest has left a nice and interesting review.
"Hello there, this is my first time doing a review here and the first thing I have to say is Happy Anniversary. Regarding your story in general, despite the much criticized nerf to the digimon, I find it very interesting. When reading your AN, you mentioned that you are not going to give Alphamon, Omegamon and Ulforce V-dramon their respective Gain Forces, so it comes to my mind why not give the Gain Forces directly to Izuku (obviously after acquiring the X-antibody). By the way, about this last Royal Knight, his Child form could be an Agumon with another skin color (V-mon's), in order to avoid confusion (also reference to V-Tamer)" - Welcome to the reviews and this AN, and thank you for enjoying. Now, are you insane? I'm not gonna give Izuku the ability to go back in time, see the future, and regenerate faster than a Nomu. Sorry but it's just too much, Izuku will gain more options to fight with just need to be patient. Now regarding UlForceVeedramon, I already have a plan. Don't worry our Azure friend won't be confused for his Gold brother.

Next, we have a follow-up from tusker0.
"it was quite the chapter honestly hehe and its funny to imagine lil zuku in an agency runned by giant fishes XD anyway for the lordknightmon thing i said last time naturaly the mons under he's orders (all the variations of the knight-mon species) would naturaly revolve more in the numbers more than strenght basicly this for the LKM-X's profile to me acceptable with the cap placed in the knights and posibly the X-Knights since naturaly if the knight line along with the royals line would be too op as you yourself stated...tho im worried about examon that boi is literaly a fricking war satelite and even bigger in x form im eager to see how ya do it along with the movies (if your including them naturaly and if you do i quick reminder is that I-island goes before camp)" - Again, I probably won't involve the Knightmon thing with Crusadermon since that'll complicate combat more than necessary. Also, don't worry about Examon, I have plans to keep him strong but not unreasonably so. I am aware of I-island though I have recently been confused about when the second movie takes place. It should be after Todoroki and Bakugo get their provisional license but it also seems to be before My Villain Academia last I remember. I'll have to figure that out.

Finally we have another guest named Jarrad roberts.
"I like the power scaling you got going. It feels more like Pokemon power scaling, with supreme power that is still beatable by the average mon, with skill if not power.
And I know that Izuku refused OFA, but if he got it then the overpowered Digimon stuff, like the gainforce and the reality bending Digimon stuff could be the Knights power up, or a mode change or a new digivolution. Like unlocking Crimson Mode for Gallantmon, or Medieval Mode instead. But I could only see it being accepted by Izuku at Kimino as a last ditch effort to stop AFO, or any overpower minions he may have. If All might still has it. I understand that may not happen, but...
I just thought, what if Izuku gains digital armor and weapons based on Paladin Mode from OFA as well? Royal knight 0? Anyway, its your story to tell, not mine. Don't feel like you have to use anything I say. They are just ideas that may or may not work." - Always good to know that the power scaling isn't universally hated. Now if I did have Izuku take OFA it would be after the Overhaul Arc, and that isn't confirmation of anything. I still don't really plan for him to get it at all. ...You scare me, good sir. Are you living in my walls? That last part genuinely makes me feel like you can read my mind. Seriously though, look at Izuku's current hero outfit and the new support items. He was always meant to gradually become more like Imperialdramon. As you said Royal Knight 0.

And that was the reviews this time around. Now since the next chapter has elements from the source material and isn't purely original it shouldn't take as long as this one. If you guys want more content you can leave ideas for side stories for "The Data Hero: King-External Files". Since those will be shorter I will put more out quicker. Remember to review your thoughts because I take everything in, until next time everyone!