Chapter 3! I dunno how people are feeling about the 'filler' but I find them to be great ways to establish characters, the universe and character arcs for the future. I also have a TV Tropes page now! So, that's cool.
Anyways, here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5
Ochako tapped her pen against her desk a few dozen times. More nights had been spent on the street than at her desk, working on homework or studying. She'd completely forgotten about today's mathematics exam...and she was woefully unprepared.
Calculate the following integral ∫x2 sinx3dx...
That was the first question, and Ochako was struggling HARD with it. She felt like Kaminari after he fried his brain. The girl took another deep breath, and closed her eyes.
Bite the bullet, Ochako. She told herself. It's one bad test. It won't cost you much.
Ochako wistfully began to fill out the exam, answering to the best of her abilities. At the end of class, Ochako hesitantly handed it back to Ectoplasm, and groaned.
"Hard test, am I right?" Mina asked her as they walked out.
"Yeah, a bit harder than usual." Ochako pouted.
"Not usually that bad for you. I'm sure you did fine," Mina reassured. While she appreciated the thought, Ochako knew that this was going to plummet when compared to her usual grades. And when that big of a difference shows up, it's a bit curious. She couldn't explain why either, at least not to her friends, not yet.
"Maybe you're right. Maybe I did better than I expected on the test-" Ochako said.
Aizawa slid the paper before Ochako. "Care to explain this grade?"
Ochako had been pulled aside by Mr. Aizawa sometime during her free period. Ochako looked down at the paper- it was from Ectoplasm. 22%.
"Uh, it was just a bad test." Ochako said, scratching the back of her neck. "That's all."
"One bad test...next to many." Aizawa pulled out some more papers. 30%. 58%. 41%. "Uraraka, I know you can do better than this- if you can't pull yourself together before exams, there's a chance you might not make it to see Semester 2."
"Okay, a few tests. Things have just piled up, that's all," Ochako lied, hoping that her teacher bought it. Given how his expression never really seemed to change, it was next to impossible to tell if he bought it. Honestly, that worked in his favor in a lot of situations, especially getting the truth out of people.
"And until you sort this out," Aizawa said. "I'm going to have to restrict some of your classes in the field. Until your grades see improvement, you'll need to work through this. I can recommend some tutors, or set aside time to work through some of the problems if you're having trouble."
"Oh! Thank you, Mr. Aizawa," Ochako said, still unsure if her lie worked. He didn't actually acknowledge the reasoning itself, just a solution.
"Who did you have in mind?" the Class 1-A student asked.
"Iida, Momo or Midoryia. They're some of the best students across all courses." Aizawa said. "I'd recommend Bakugou, who's also in that category, but..."
"He's intense?"
"That's putting it lightly." Aizawa said. "Either way. You need to step up your grades."
"Right. Could probably ask them right after this, honestly."
"Good. Now the-" Aizawa was about to leave, but his cell went off, forcing him to answer, "Eraserhead. What's goi-...what do you mean?"
Ochako perked up. The phone call sounded enticing. "That doesn't…" He made a face, and rubbed his chin. "I'll be right over. I'm handling this myself." He hung up and quickly left his office, grabbing his goggles on the way.
"You're dismissed. I've got something to deal with..." the 1-A professor said, before making for the principal's office. After all, he was going to be cutting his teaching hours short today.
Ochako watched him leave. That was weird. Ochako thought, as she looked back at her papers. But, Aizawa did have a point. Her grades were seriously slipping. With finals barely a month away, she needed to step up her game. She'd ask the three later, maybe after class.
Ochako had studying to do.
Aizawa opened the door to Principal Nedzu's office and, as usual, the small principal was enjoying a cup of tea.
"Ah, Eraser. Something on you-" Nedzu began.
"Did you hear?" Aizawa said, cutting the principal off, something that never happened.
"No, I did not. Though, given your tone, I expect I'm about to get a call..."
"No. But I'm afraid I'll need to leave campus for the day. I just got a call from the police. Edgeshot's been taken into custody."
Nedzu nearly dropped his tea at that, just processing the words.
"I got the details. Edgeshot's been accused of robbery, getting away with over $10,000. What's worse, it was a bank that he consulted for."
"How do they know for sure it was him?" Nedzu asked, calmly putting his teacup down.
"Security footage. Haven't seen it yet, but there is footage with Edgeshot involved."
"I take it they haven't dismissed the possibility of Quirk influence?"
"Nope. They're keeping an open mind, but I wanna be there before they start asking him questions."
"Oh, dear." Nedzu sighed, and shook his head. "I'll take over teaching your classes for the day. You should look into this...I can't imagine how the public would react to this news."
"The officers are keeping this need-to-know for now. That's why they only called me." Aizawa said, lowering the goggles over his eyes. "Oh, and...while you're teaching...keep on Uraraka. Her grades have been slipping lately."
And with that, Eraserhead left, making his way down to the police station where Edgeshot was detained.
Nedzu looked out his window for a few moments, lost in thought.
Mythology, science fiction, and comic books are rife with stories about heroes and their fights against society's ills—the constant conflict between good and evil. We are supposed to see these two primary characters—the Hero and the Villain—as polar opposites in terms of ethics and morals. But, when it comes to their particular characteristics and habits, are they really that dissimilar?
Nedzu shook his head. "Oh, enough pondering for now. I suppose it's time I make my way to Aizawa's hero studies class."
It didn't take long for Aizawa to arrive at the police station. The officers didn't get in his way when he showed up, one of them even taking him to the room where Edgeshot was waiting. It was an interrogation room, but there was at least another officer in there with him, one whose Quirk gave him cat-like characteristics. And by "characteristics," that meant a full fledged cat head.
"Eraserhead," Edgeshot said, taking immediate notice of the Erasure Hero when he entered.
"Edge," Aizawa nodded, taking a seat next to the officer.
"I can tell you right now. The robbery was not my doing. I was elsewhere at the time." Edgeshot didn't seem too worried about the accusations. Eraserhead had to give him credit for that.
"Police say they got footage of you. It might have been you, but on someone else's orders. Mind Control Quirks can have all kinds of limitations and different triggers. None of your own old enemies have something like that, do they?"
"No, no. I would recall an enemy having such a quirk. I'd ask that they be locked up and watched over a bit more than usual." Edgeshot said. "I would like to see the footage, though."
"Do you have it?" Aizawa asked the officer. The officer handed him a tablet. Aizawa pressed play.
It was sped up to around midnight. At first, everything seemed quiet, but, since Aizawa knew what he was looking for, it was easy to spot something forming by the door. Using his Quirk, Edgeshot managed to slip in through the front door of the bank. While he did try and avoid the major cameras, and did well in doing so, this camera, sufficiently hidden in case of a villain incursion, managed to pick him up.
"Edge, how long can you hold Foldabody's threads?" Aizawa asked, not even looking up from the screen.
"I have trained it to hold my body for as long as 10 minutes." Edgeshot said. "Longer if I push myself."
"Ten minutes. The footage here has 'you' using it for no more than three at a time."
"Then that person is an imposter." Edgeshot said. "How fast is he?"
"He's fast. But cameras are able to pick him up."
"He's a rookie as well." Edgeshot said. "I can thin myself out to the point that I don't even register on cameras. It's a handy stealth tool."
"The only thing of note is that this Edgeshot looks identical to you. Not some cheap disguise or homemade costume. It's a one-to-one copy. Outfit, height, everything..."
"His quirk could allow him to copy one's powers and appearance." Edgeshot suggested. "It's not beyond the realms of belief that a person can copy a quirk- one of the students from the sports festival comes to mind. But to copy both..."
Aizawa frowned. "That's a dangerous quirk, if your theory is right."
"If I may add something," the cat officer suddenly chimed in, "Do either of you find it...odd that it was specifically Edgeshot that was copied? The number five hero, robbing a bank he knew inside and out? He could've chosen a lot of different Quirks to copy."
"You're right. Humiliating a Pro like this." Edgeshot began, "It could be someone emboldened by Stain's philosophies."
"Those have been picking up as of late. There was an attempted bank robbery a few weeks back, with someone calling himself 'The Challenger', aka Nakamura Hatsuharu." Aizawa said. "Ben Tennyson happened to be in the area, and took care of him with ease."
"Tennyson? Little surprised there, but you're right. Stain's words have essentially formed a new generation of villains almost overnight. It's frightening."
"Agreed...all the more reason to figure out who's impersonating you, hopefully before they decide to impersonate someone else."
"One has to wonder about the extent of their powers. If they're able to replicate a man like All Might…" Edgeshot stopped himself. "No. Such a thought is impossible."
"I'm not sure that word has a meaning in our current society." Aizawa said, before he got a call. "Excuse me."
Aizawa stepped out of the office and answered his phone. "Eraserhead speaking."
"Eraser- we need your help. Mt. Lady, she's-" A very panicked police officer said on the other line. Then, what sounded like a car being thrown suddenly cut the line off, as Aizawa was left in confusion.
"Looks like our impersonator is back at it again." He thought aloud, before running off.
Given the form the impostor had chosen, it wasn't hard to miss the crime scene. "Mt. Lady" was currently in a standoff with some of the police. A hole had punched into the roof of another bank, right into its main vault. The vault itself had been cleared out in seconds. The officers on the scene were trying to subdue the, to them anyway, unknown impostor, but nothing was working.
A few more officers arrived for backup, along with Edgeshot and Aizawa.
"If this is an impostor, would your Quirk undo the transformation entirely?" Edge asked.
"Possibly. But it's just as possible that I'd only shrink them. Quirks layered like this...hard to predict how they'd be affected."
Aizawa looked at the building. "That building is about 7.8 meters high. Mt. Lady is usually around 20 meters tall. Plus, she has a terrible reputation for wrecking buildings." Aizawa said. "This building should've been destroyed by her sudden increase in height...but, given how the bank is still standing."
"It's possible that the imposter is now impersonating Mt. Lady." Edgeshot said.
"More than just 'possible.' Distract them. Once I'm in position, I'll try Erasure. If they lose just Gigantification, be ready to catch them," Aizawa said, adjusting his goggles and scarf.
"Of course." Edgeshot said, as he zipped off. Aizawa maneuvered himself around the city, unaware that he was being watched.
"Woah, Mt. Lady went rogue?" Ochako said, peering out of a nearby alley. "Time for Tennyson to do their part, then."
Ochako paused. "As soon as I change into my costume. Don't want Aizawa finding out I'm doing this." Ochako quickly shifted into XLR8, and rushed off to her apartment.
Another car was thrown at the officers, fortunately missing them and instead just slamming into a nearby building. The fake Mt. Lady was about to throw another but her wrist was suddenly bound by Edgeshot. She released the car in her hand, forcing Edgeshot to catch it as well, which is just what the impostor wanted. She stomped down, causing the ground to shake and Edge to lose his focus. With that, the Pro-Hero impostor simply pulled on Edge's strings and flung him over to another building.
"Great- the real deal is here." The fake Mt. Lady huffed. "There goes my getaway plan. And if he's here...there's gotta be backup."
The imposter looked around, before she slammed on the ground with her foot. The ground shook, causing debris to fall. The dust quickly obscured Aizawa's vision of her, giving her time to make a good getaway.
She made her break for it, only to be tripped up by a quick green blur. The speed trail slammed into her ankles a few times, hoping to trip her up. Ochako came to a halt, and began to pick up pieces of debris to toss at the imposter's body. Chunks of concrete pelted her body.
"H-hey! Watch the body!" The imposter yelled, trying to swat Ochako away.
Edgeshot got back to his feet, recovering from being flung into the building. If that was the real Mt. Lady, Edgeshot would be out of commission for a lot longer. When he saw the alien figure stopping the impostor from escaping, he was certainly surprised.
"Tennyson?" the Ninja Hero muttered. The surprise was quickly replaced with relief at the extra help. Maybe he could use that one form of his to match this impostor's size. What did he call it again?
"F-forget the money! If Tennyson's here, I need to get out of here. I can check out this body later!"
Ochako winced. Gross.
The fake Mt. Lady shrunk down, and threw something at XLR8. Ochako was struck by two bags of money, which hit a lot harder than she was expecting. The Mt. Lady expy quickly took off her face...and put another one on.
"TATA FOR NOW~!" Ochako knew that arrogant voice- it was that Playboy Hero: Captain Celebrity. Ochako watched the imposter fly away, but he wasn't that fast.
Edgeshot quickly raced over and saw the impostor fly off. He tried to hook the Captain Celebrity doppelganger with his strings. The fake Pro dodged out of the way and tried to fly as fast as he could, putting the most distance between him and Edge's strings as he could.
"Damn it. Not a total loss though. Learned they could swap personas in a matter of seconds. He's like me." Ochako muttered to herself. "But he can turn into...anyone!"
Ochako slapped down the Omnitrix again, and quickly shifted forms- this time into Big Chill. She flapped her wings and took to the skies. "It's like Monoma- can copy quirks and their appearances but he lacks their skill. Mt. Lady probably had that size when she was a student, and the way his Captain Celebrity moves is like a novice at best."
"Aizawa, where are you?" Edge asked into an earpiece.
"Dealing with some of the wounded, why?" Aizawa asked back.
"Whoever they are, the impostor changed again. From Mt. Lady to Captain Celebrity in seconds."
"Seconds? Missing something then. He has to be a drawback to that kind of ability. Where are they now?"
"Fleeing, but I'm going to try and follow Tennyson and catch them."
"Alright, I'll be on my-" Aizawa said, but stopped when he heard that name. Tennyson? He was here?
Ochako flew forward, hovering above Skyline. She unleashed a powerful exhale of frost, expecting to turn that superphony into a popsicle- instead, the ice hit a weird barrier around his body. The imposter smiled.
"This form is GREAT to make a getaway- especially given his quirk." He grinned.
"Quirk?! I thought he could just fly!" Ochako said.
"Aerodynamic barrier- doesn't take much practice to use." The imposter said.
While he was distracted, several items were thrown at him from the ground level. He managed to catch a few of them, the rest being deflected by the barrier. Edgeshot caught the reflected debris and threw it aside to where no one would get hurt. The Ninja Hero was jumping from roof to roof, trying to keep up with the two fliers.
"Oh, and Edge is still with us! Wonderful!" the fake Captain Celebrity complained with a roll of his eyes.
"You're not gonna get away with this easily, faker!" Ochako said, flying down closer to the faker. Ochako's hand turned intangible, as she tried to phase her way through the barrier...and it worked. Ochako jabbed her hand into his back, freezing it.
"G-GAH! COLD COLD COLD!" The faker said, starting to fly erratically.
"Perfect! Force him lower if you can!" Edgeshot shouted, strings at the ready to bind this impostor once they were in range.
"F-FINE! I didn't want to play my trump card so soon, but-!" The man flew to a nearby building, and removed his face once more. Ochako caught a glimpse of his true form- it looked like a man with pitch black skin and no other discernible features- no eyes or ears or anything. The man reached into his jacket and pulled out another face.
The man slapped on the face...and Ochako watched in shock as his body morphed into the number 2 hero.
Endeavor.
Ochako's first instinct wasn't even to fight back. The man started charging up a powerful burst of flames in his hands, and he chucked it at Edgeshot-
Ochako thankful snagged Edgeshot out of the way before he was incinerated to kingdom come.
"Myself, Mt. Lady, even Endeavor? How the hell is he doing this? What's the trigger?" Edgeshot asked, almost in disbelief.
"I think it's masks," Ochako said. "Before, when he changed from Mt. Lady to Captain Celebrity...it looked like he removed the face of the disguise. Put on another and swapped forms. Same thing happened here before he turned to Endeavor."
"Good eye, Tennyson." Edgeshot looked over, to see that the Endeavor imposter was gone. "Unfortunately, your act of kindness has created an opening for him." Ochako set down Edgeshot, and huffed.
"Connect back with Aizawa. I'm gonna search for him, and send one of my sidekicks to connect with you." Ochako said.
"Right. Look forward to working with you, Tennyson," Edgeshot nodded, before making his way back to Aizawa.
"R-right." Ochako said, as she flew off. She felt bad for lying, but...it was nice to be on level with a pro.
If it was Deku in this situation, he'd be freaking out.
Edgeshot quickly returned to the scene of the crime, the officers were still recovering from the fight, but none of them were too badly injured. Aizawa was inspecting the bank, just to make sure no one else was hurt from "Mt. Lady" punching the roof in. Just in case the hole weakened other parts of the building. Fortunately, everything and everyone seemed to be in one piece.
When he was told about Tennyson offering up some help, Aizawa agreed...despite him knowing something was up. Tennyson was supposed to be working on another case, not doing patrols. Sure, sending a sidekick would make sense, but to show himself? Something was off. When he could, he'd try to contact Ben about it.
Ochako was nervous about approaching the Pros in her 'vigilante' costume. What were the chances that Aizawa would recognize her, even with the helmet and voice filter?
Ochako flew down from a nearby building and approached the two heroes. Maybe if she put some 'twang' on her voice, it would make her harder to recognize with the voice filter. "Eraserhead, Edgeshot." She said- her voice filter made her sound a bit older. "I work with Ben 10,000. My name is..."
Crap. Ochako never thought of a name for herself. "Spanner."
The name just sort of popped into her head. She went with it.
Aizawa paused. "Spanner. Right." Aizawa said. "Ben still tracking the villain?"
"From what he said, yes. Though he didn't really leave much of a trail. There one minute, gone the next. After he used a burst of fire."
"And considering what he told me, they could be anyone now as long as he has a mask," Edgeshot explained.
"A mask? So that's the trigger." Aizawa hummed in thought.
Ochako paused to think for a few moments. "...are there any costume shops within the area?"
"Of course," Aizawa said. "He could be using the shops to restock and provide himself with whatever powers he can get his hands on. Heroes have some of the most popular costumes, after all."
"Should be easy enough to track. Ask the officers for some help on that front, we'd have the details in a few hours," Edgeshot agreed.
"Right, right. I'll contact Ben right away." Ochako said, turning to walk away. "Again, my apologies that Ben could not attend the meeting-"
"It's fine. Give him my regards." Aizawa said.
"Oh...uh, of course!" Spanner said, stepping aside to make a call to Ben. Ochako flew off with her rocket propelling boots, as Ben answered.
"Hey, what's going on?" Ben asked. "You okay? I saw something about Mt. Lady going crazy around your area."
"Yeah. Shapeshifter villain. Uses costume parts to become the real deal. Edgeshot and Eraserhead are on the case. And so are you. If anyone asks, I'm your sidekick named 'Spanner.'" Ochako summarized.
"That's a lame name." Ben snickered.
"It was in the heat of the moment, I got scared. Would he buy that you're extending my internship? My grades haven't exactly been doing well," Ochako admitted nervously, hoping that would alleviate any of Mr. Aizawa's suspicions.
"Oh, no. I'm just gonna straight-up lie." Ben said. "UA would honestly have my ass if they figured out you were my successor. Almost happened with Toshi-"
"Huh?" Ochako said.
"Ah, forget I said anything." Ben said. "Just track down the guy, and I'll be there soon."
"Great. Hopefully the police station's a good meet-up place. Gonna try and track the guy through what he's bought. His Quirk has made him rely on a large supply of masks, so we're hoping to get his real name that way."
"Good idea. I'll see you there soon, then."
Ochako landed on a building and sighed loudly. As if she wasn't already under duress, Aizawa could figure out who she was. Ben was concerned about how her identity would be discovered as well.
All she could do now was wait for the next signal.
Aizawa had taken it upon himself to investigate the site where the impostor had disappeared. While the plan was all set, he wanted to try and save them some time. He looked around the area, just keeping an eye out for anything that Tennyson or Edgeshot might've missed in the chaos. When he got to the building the identity thief was cornered at, it took him about an hour or two until he found a lead.
The Captain Celebrity mask. He must've dropped it when he escaped. He looked the mask over, hoping to find a tag or something to show where it was bought from.
Where have I seen this mask before? Aizawa asked, as he thought back to a few months prior.
"Awwwwwww, come on, Eraser!" The costumed Present Mic said, dressed in a poor muscle suit of All Might, with a really poor mask of his face covering his own. "Show some Halloween spirit! I AM HERE!"
Aizawa looked up at his friend, a tired look in his eyes. "I'd rather not. Where did you even get that?"
"Oh, some costume shop in downtown Musutafu," Present Mic grinned, pulling up his mask. "It was closing down, so I got this for cheap! Not too late to run down and get something- you and me could go as a rad All Might and Captain Celeb-"
"In your dreams, Hizashi." Aizawa huffed, as he returned to his paperwork.
"I'm thankful for that man and his shenanigans." Aizawa said, shaking his head.
Mask in hand, Aizawa made his way back to the police station. He threw the mask to Edgeshot when he got there, who was deep in conversation with the police commissioner about their next move.
"Think I know where we can find him," Eraser said.
"You work faster than I do." Edgeshot bemused. "Well done."
"My associate Present Mic tried to rope me into wearing a costume for Halloween a while back. He mentioned something about a costume shop that wasn't too far from here." Aizawa said. "And I bet that's this criminal's base of operations."
"Best we get over and see if we can catch him in the act," Edgeshot said. "Who knows what devious acts he's planning."
The faux Mt. Lady sat on a couch, eating some ice cream. The imposter sighed. "Stupid Ben 10k, showing up and ruining my fun. Wish I could copy that guy's powers, I'd be unstoppable." The imposter shook their head. "Shame these clothes don't come off either...would love to take a peek under here."
The imposter wiped some drool from her 'borrowed' lips. "Come on, Obake. Don't be desperate."
Obake the Imposter! Quirk: Dress Up. He can turn into ANYBODY as long as he wears something that belongs to someone or resembles someone else, he can easily turn into them. Of course, he lacks the training and finesse of the pros, and if the clothing gets torn or damaged, he'll easily revert back to normal.
Even though 10K had ruined this heist, Obake already had a few ideas of who's identity to steal next. Kamui Woods was a good option, the wood control letting him subdue multiple guards at once. Ectoplasm, too. That Quirk would make him a one-man heist crew. Or he could keep going with the "giant" theme and use Ryukyu. Dragons were always a good option.
"Hm...do I wanna bring out the big guns?" Obake looked over at a certain mask. "Nah. I'll save her for later. But, I'll carry her around just in case."
Obake stood up and snagged the mask. "Now, hopefully they're out looking for the Endeavor faker." The imposter pulled off their face, and sighed.
Obake's form shifted back to his usual self, a pitch black skinned humanoid figure that just looked entirely alien. It was almost like a motion-capture suit brought to life, just without all the beads at the joints.
"Now. Aside from the faces I can wear...where to hit next..." the identity theft mused.
The identity thief walked down a large collection of masks- Aizawa was right, heroes had the most popular costumes. He could become anyone, at any time. Even a random civilian. He stole clothes from a clothing drive. "Shame Aizawa isn't a popular costume. Could use his own quirk against those pesky heroes."
"Speaking of popularity...maybe we take advantage of the 'heroes who look like villains' ranking." Obake said, stopping in front of a particular mask, "Almost too good a fit, honestly."
"Of course, I don't want to wreck my place. Oh, decisions, decisions..." Obake huffed, before he heard a door open upstairs.
"...it appears I have company."
The identity thief grabbed the black and white mask and put it on. His form began to shift, gaining muscle mass and an outfit resembling a high-colored white business suit with a pink tie.
"Let's see 'em deal with this," Obake smirked, his voice getting deeper and more like a growl.
Aizawa, Edgeshot and 'Spanner' all stood outside of the costume shop, with a dozen or so cops as backup for...just about anything. Ochako took note of a few of the cars- heavy armored cars, tactical weapons, even some other random Pros were behind them.
Oh. This is a raid. Ochako realized. Looks pretty hamfisted, if you ask me.
"Where's Tennyson?" Aizawa asked.
"On his way- he, uh, had to stop another crime." Ochako lied.
"Another? Bad timing." Edgeshot muttered.
"Doesn't matter. We keep waiting, more time he's got to either make a getaway or hide," Aizawa said, nodding to the police and other Pros.
Aizawa walked over to the door. He slowly twisted the knob-
And the wall next to him exploded as the group of cops were blown away by a hypersonic blast of noise. Ochako covered her ears behind her helmet- oh, God. It felt like a cluster headache was exploding inside her brain!
From the dust and rubble scattering away from the wall, the massive figure of Gang Orca raced out of the hole. He grabbed one one of the other officers by the head and threw them into another. One of the other pros, Gunhead, took aim at the Gang Orca doppelganger and fired claw-like projectiles at them. With the hide he was sporting, Obake wasn't gonna be hurt by the barrage, but it was enough to distract him. Threads wrapped around the identity thief's wrists, courtesy of Edgeshot. He tried to bind the copy, but Gang Orca's strength was too great, letting him easily fling the Pro into one of the armored cars.
"Damn it," Aizawa muttered, "Can't erase his Quirk. It's a mutant type."
Ochako frowned, as she tried to get in the back of the chaos. She could transform in the back, just to stall. She sent a message to the real Ben, before activating the Omnitrix. "Let's just gauge how strong Gang Orca really is." Ochako said, smacking down the Omnitrix.
After a brief flash of pink light, Ochako had gained a substantial height and strength boost. Her skin had changed to a deep crimson hue and she had even gained a second set of arms. Slamming her four fists together, Ochako as Four Arms leapt to the front towards the fake Gang Orca, two fists reared back. As she descended, the two punches landed, one in the gut and one in the face. Gang Orca was tough, but two hits from a Tetramand was enough to stagger most people.
"10K! Just had to show up and ruin another thing for me, huh?" Obake growled.
"That's my job." Ochako grinned, as she punched Obake in the chest with her lower arms. Obake gagged, as Ochako began to pulverize him. Uppercuts with her upper and lower arms, double spinning backhands and nasty jabs- Ochako was being brutal with Obake.
The identity thief growled and, through the barrage of punches, slammed his head into Ochako. Before Ochako could even recover from staggering, the copy of Gang Orca followed up by blasting "10K" with one of his sonic waves. Obake may not have known the most about Ben's aliens, but he figured that, as long as they didn't have the same sound power, sonics would still mess them up.
Ochako screamed but pushed through the attack and headbutted Gang Orca back. The blubber cushioned the attack, but it still caused considerable harm. Aizawa made a painful-looking face, something a Pro would probably not do. Especially if you are in danger of a concussion.
Ochako shook her head as the Gang Orca clone approached her. "Ow." The imposter grumbled.
The copy then struck out, using the opening to try and land a few hits on Ochako as well. She reacted just as quickly, matching blows with the fake Pro. Hit after hit struck against each other and from there it looked like things would be a stalemate. Of course, that is if Aizawa didn't interfere. While he couldn't get rid of mutant Quirks, he still had his Capturing Weapon. The scarf wrapped around Obake's eyes and even bound his arm, leaving him open.
Ochako leaped at this opportunity. "Enjoyed that sonic wave attack you did earlier- wanna see MY version?!" She jumped back and clapped all of her hands together. A powerful shockwave sent the Gang Orca imposter flying through the building.
Ochako grinned. "I'm glad that worked."
"You thought it wouldn't?" Aizawa asked, having heard that little comment.
"Gang Orca's been known to take some heavy hits. Wouldn't shock me if he can take some attacks like that-" Ochako said, before she was spear kicked in the face by something fast.
Aizawa tried to bind Obake again with his scarf, only for the identity thief to leap out of the way and land a spin-kick to Eraserheads gut. He doubled over, but quickly recovered...only to see another Pro-Hero's form had replaced Gang Orca's. Now, the impostor had morphed into Mirko.
"Can't keep up, can you?" The faux Mirko laughed. "Knew this form was good for something beyond ogling."
"Ew." Ochako frowned, as she slapped down the Omnitrix and morphed into another form. XLR8 took her place, as her helmet went over her face. "Let's see how fast you REALLY are."
"Really lucky the real one isn't here. We'd have to hold her back after we throw cuffs on you," Aizawa said, readying his scarf. True, none of his strikes may not connect unless she was distracted, but doing so let Tennyson have more of an opening himself.
Ochako launched a forceful slash attack at the Mirko impostor, followed by a short attack in which she spear kicked the imposter in the chest with both legs (balancing temporarily on her tail) and then continued to kick fast at Mirko's chest, high into the sky. The Mirko imposter responded to the attacks by brute-forcing her way through the blows and hitting Ochako's neck with an equally powerful roundhouse kick and followed up by a rapid-fire flurry of kicks aimed straight forward.
During the barrage, Edgeshot recovered and realized Tennyson had all the impostor's attention. He sent several of his strings forward, wrapping around the impostor's waist and pulling them away from XLR8. He slammed them into the ground a few times before throwing the fake Mirko into a wall. He launched himself into the air and folded his body into a single pointed string that lunged at the incapacitated villain.
"Thousand Sheet Pierce!" Edgeshot yelled as he raced towards the identity thief.
The imposter Mirko felt Edgeshot tear through their body, and this faint, shaky feeling overtaking their body. Edgeshot's face appeared before them, as the Mirko began to breathe heavily.
"Let me remove your mask for you." Edgeshot said, grabbing their face.
Which is EXACTLY what the Imposter wanted. Fun fact: Obake could wear a mask on top of another mask.
When the ninja pulled back the mask, Obake's form changed again, making the Ninja Hero's Super Move in vain. Obake skyrocketed in height, easily reaching around 13 feet. Dark gray scales covered his body, before they, too, were covered by a high collared and ripped white coat, a pair of baggy white pants with red flame patterns around the collar and most of the lower portion of his pants, all lined with yellow. A tail sprouted from behind him and slammed into the ground, cracking the pavement beneath it.
"Oh, that's just cheating," Gunhead muttered upon seeing Obake turn into Godzillo.
Ochako grimaced. Godzillo...he's an incredible disaster response hero. He's gone toe to toe with threats like the Growrilla and Thunder Dragon. Taking him down isn't gonna be easy.
Ochako spun around to Eraserhead. "How much weight can that thing handle?" She yelled.
"Quite a bit...but not enough to deal with that." Eraser said. Obake smirked and let out a roar that sounded scarily familiar to a classic monster movie icon. He struck out with his newly acquired tail, forcing the Pros to scatter. The impact shook the earth and crushed the pavement beneath it again. Edgeshot had pulled himself out of the way, along with a few other officers and Pros. Same with Ochako.
"Alright, time to buff up my weight class." Ochako said. "STAND BACK!"
Ochako slapped down the Omnitrix and transformed- her body became bulkier, with rocks surrounding her entire body and molding it into a hulking form. A red core appeared on her abdomen...
The resulting form, rocky and bulky, was odd in the fact that it didn't exactly have a head. Instead, the alien's upper torso is where the face was located. This wasn't an alien Ochako had used before, so the powers weren't entirely familiar to her yet. She needed to cover that up somehow.
"The hell?" Obake growled, seeing the new alien.
"Hit the dirt!" Ochako yelled. She remembered this alien from Izuku's notebook- its name was Gravattack. It could manipulate most aspects of gravity...something she was familiar with. Ochako activated her gravity field around her hands and directed them at the Godzillo clone.
While the other Pros and officers got out of the way, Obake wasn't so lucky. The gravity around him increased to a tremendous level, pressing down on him hard. He was locked in place as the increased pressure was essentially embedding him into the ground.
The ground cracked and crumbled under the weight Obake was exerting- Ochako slammed her hands down on the ground, and Obake suddenly crumpled to the floor like glass smashing against the floor.
Obake was panicking now. How the hell could he have even predicted something like this?! He might have to bring out the big guns sooner than he liked. If he could just reach the mask.
Ochako had to release the gravity pushing down on Obake. That attack looked severe enough, and she at least wanted to make sure the guy wasn't hurt. "Eraser- you're with me," Ochako said, motioning for him to follow. "Gonna remove the mask. Let's make sure this guy doesn't pull anything on us."
"Right." Aizawa said, following behind her.
The two approached Obake, who honestly gave off the impression that he was defeated. But he did that before when Edgeshot subdued his Mirko form. For all they knew, he had another mask already on his face or on his person that he could swap to.
And he did.
"Screw it!" Obake yelled, tearing off the Godzillo mask and scrambling to pull out his last mask. Aizawa and Ochako raced to stop him, the latter swapping back to XLR8 to race over and try and snatch the mask away from him.
It was too late; the mask had already been put on.
"I will be shielded by an air barrier!" The shout could be heard across the entire field. Ochako slammed against a solid air barrier.
Ochako shook her head, as she gasped. Not only had Obake managed to evade capture, but it looks like his trump card was in action right now. Ochako knew all about this form- she was All Might's 'disciple' and the Number One Pro Hero...
Obake's final form was Stars and Stripes...and her very, very powerful quirk, "New Order."
"Aizawa's eyes will clamp shut." She spoke.
Losing control of his body thanks to New Order, Aizawa shut his eyes, rendering his Quirk absolutely worthless. Unless the Quirk's hold was broken or Obake gave the word, he wasn't going to open them; he couldn't.
The cops all aimed their guns at Stars and Stripes and began to fire at her. "The air will be my shield once more." The bullets collided against the invisible shields, as she smiled. "The air will blow back my enemies."
She snapped her fingers, as the shields suddenly burst, unleashing a powerful blast of air.
Most of the people who were caught in the blast were blown back, either off their feet entirely or forced to stagger. Among the latter was Ochako. Stars and Stripes, despite such a powerful Quirk, was one of the most physically strong Pros out there. It was fortunate that this guy could only imitate the Pro in a weakened state. With that, she shifted into Four Arms and began to rush the identity thief.
"Thought you were smarter, 10K. Ben 10K will not be able to hit me," Obake said, confidently.
So, imagine the look on Obake's face when Ochako was still able to rush over to her, and smash her in the face.
Because Obake was caught off guard, the punch landed square in the middle of his face. The faker didn't have time to deflect or even move his head slightly to soften the blow. He was sent flying backwards into a wall, as Ochako approached him again.
"W-what...what just..." Obake stuttered in fear, "U-uh, ok. Lucky fluke! Ben 10K can't hit me!"
Ochako simply walked right up to the impostor and decked him again. Obake was in complete shock. How the hell was this happening?! This was New Order! Sure, it wasn't as strong as the real deal but, the effects held strong enough!
Ochako threw a few more punches, before pulling the mask off. Ochako ripped it in half, and dropped it to the ground. Obake watched in horror, as Ochako huffed.
"You shoulda been more specific," Ochako said.
"T-the hell does that me-" Obake began, before Ochako landed one more blow to knock him out.
Ochako dragged his unconscious body to the police. Aizawa's eyes fluttered open, just as Ochako placed him on the hood of a police car.
"How come her quirk didn't work on you?" Aizawa asked. Ochako already had a lie ready.
"Because I'm not Ben 10k." Ochako admitted. "I'm Four Arms."
"A bit of a stretch, isn't it?" Edgeshot asked.
"Well, I think that's one of the limits of an earlier version of New Order," Ochako bluffed.
"Good point." Aizawa agreed. "Thank you for your help, Ben 10k. But...where's your sidekick?"
"Spanner? They...went to secure the perimeter, make sure the public was safe." Ochako said, shifting into XLR8. "I'll check in with them, and come back."
"...hm." Aizawa muttered. Once again, Ochako had no idea if Eraserhead bought it.
Ochako rushed away, and called up Ben 10k again.
"H-"
"TAG IN! TAG IN! ERASERHEAD IS GETTING SUSPICIOUS!"
"Shit! Almost there!" Ben squawked, flying as fast as he could. Astrodactyl was leaving a green streak of energy across the sky as he raced towards Ochako's position.
"Don't figure it out, don't figure it out, don't figure it out, don't figure it out," Ben muttered to himself.
"Don't figure it out, don't figure it out, don't figure it out, don't figure it out!" Ochako panicked as she found a secluded place to transform back.
Ben and Ochako met back up in the alley, as Ben transformed into XLR8.
"Okay! Took out the bad guy! YOU took him out with a loophole in Stars and Stripes Quirk by using Four Arms!" Ochako explained.
XLR8 quickly raced back to the others, "Spanner" tailing just behind him. There was a delay of about a few minutes between each of them grouping back up with the heroes.
"Sorry for vanishing like that," Ochako said, "Some civilians got too close to the area, and had to evacuate them."
Aizawa hummed in thought, but that was all. Ochako was a bit nervous, now. Why did Aizawa have to be so hard to get a read on?!
"Knew you were reckless, 10K," Eraserhead said, "Never thought you'd go that far."
"Hey, reckless pays off sometimes," Ben smirked.
"That fits with you, honestly."
"I'm just lucky that the loophole with Stars and Stripes' quirk worked," Ben admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "And that was just a guess!"
"Hmmm." Aizawa said.
"If it's all right," Ochako chimed in, "I'm gonna go help Gunhead and some of the others clear out his hideout. Just in case there's anything we missed." In truth, she wanted to get away from Eraser's suspicious gaze. It felt like he could see right through most of the cover-stories she thought up.
"Check for anything talking about Stain. We're thinking this guy's another follower of his," Aizawa added.
"We'll look for his diary," Ben said, giving a thumbs up. "Just leave it to us!"
When Ben and Ochako entered the store, the first thing Ochako saw was the abundance of masks. He seemed to have chosen the best 'closed costume store' in town. The faces of the Pro Heroes appeared to have been stolen in some of the masks. Ben shuddered a little.
"If I see Ruby's face in here, I am gonna freak out." Ben admitted, as he and Ochako made their way to the back.
"Mt. Lady, Kamui Woods, Endeavor, Edgeshot..." Ochako muttered to herself, looking at all the different masks this guy had. Somehow, All Might wasn't in this guy's collection. Small miracles.
Ben walked over to a phone- there were still a dozen unanswered messages on it. Ben pressed play.
"YOU HAVE 20 NEW MESSAGES." The phone said. One of the many messages started playing.
"Hey, man- where the hell WERE you?" The message played. "My son was left in tears that Edgeshot didn't show up to his birthday- all his friends looked pretty upset too, and all the parents are thinking I'm sort of an asshole for lying to him. Where the hell-"
"Birthday?" Ochako asked.
"Probably someone using their quirk for their own monetary gain." Ben said. "This was a message from a few weeks back. The day after Stain was captured, actually..."
"Could just be coincidence." Ochako said. She kept moving through the villain's hideout, looking for any other evidence. In short order, she managed to find the identity thief's laptop. He'd forgotten to log out of it so everything was still good. She avoided looking at his search history for too long, given how he talked about Mirko, but sure enough, there were a few search results that tied back to the Hero Killer. He may not have been a devotee like Challenger, but he was inspired by the villain.
"Another fanboy...great." Ben huffed. "Stain's ideologies are slowly becoming more and more widespread and that scares me."
"Because in this age of technology, people are more exposed to widespread media?" Ochako asked.
"Yeah...and it's because of the impact he could have on kids."
"Huh? The kids?"
"Early exposure to violence puts both male and female kids at risk for aggressive and violent conduct later in life. Happened with a bunch of villains, too." Ben went on. "Stain could have become the face of a new movement, like Destro..."
"Destro...he's that liberation guy. I remember reading about him in our Heroes Study course," Ochako said. "Released a book that spread across the nation for a bit."
"Because it was published after he killed himself in prison, he was seen as a martyr. And, like it or not, there's truth in both his and Stain's words." Ben said. "His worldview may seem appealing, but it is neither realistic nor practical."
"But people don't care about the practicality of it when it appeals to them." Ochako said.
"Yeah...people sometimes want immediate results, damn the consequences."
Ochako shivered. "Stain really did a number."
"More than that. Buckle up, kiddo. I'm having a feeling the villains you'll face in the future are gonna be more than just followers of Stain...they might BE the next Stain." Ben said.
"The...next...?" Ochako stuttered. Well, if that wasn't a terrifying thought.
"Not saying they'll all be Stain. Anyways...don't you have homework to do or something?" Ben joked. "I can handle it from here. Just get home safely."
"Right," Ochako said. "...it was nice to see you again, Mr. Tennyson."
"Same to you, Spanner." Ben gave Ochako a thumbs up. "Keep up the good work."
A few days had passed since the Impostor incident and another test had quickly crept up on Uraraka. It wasn't a pop-quiz or anything like that, so at least she had time to study. Part of her thought she shouldn't impose, but at the same time, a group study seemed like a good idea. Iida, Momo, Midoryia and Uraraka ended up forming a group study session to get ready for it. They met on each of the four days before the test to get ready and each of those four days was well spent.
The test itself came and went, but Uraraka couldn't help but have a lingering sense of dread after she turned in her copy.
"I'm sure you did fine," Iida reassured her after class.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," the gravity student sighed, "I just wish I gave myself one."
"Trust me. You did fine."
Three days later, they would know. Aizawa was passing out the results to a mix of reactions. Iida and Momo, of course, got the best grades out of the class, with everyone else reacting with everything from despair and disappointment to relief to even unexpected surprise.
Uraraka was in the second camp. This test was actually a marked improvement over the ones that Aizawa had previously brought up. A 76% was far better than a 22%. The gravity student couldn't tell if Aizawa was pleased with the improvement or not, but being able to read the face of their teacher was a skill none of the students in 1-A had truly mastered yet.
Just to clarify though, he was pleased. He was just hoping this was the start of an upward climb for Uraraka instead of an exception.
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