BEN 10 DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. MY HERO ACADEMIA DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. MY JETPACK, HOWEVER, DOES BELONG TO ME, THOUGH IT HAS IRONICALLY PUT ME ON A NO-FLY LIST. IN FIFTEEN COUNTRIES.

Hey, look, an update, right when Season 5 of the anime comes out! Coincidence? Probably.

My Alien Academia

Chapter 34

Regaining Rhythm

The first morning Midoriya woke up in the dorms, he couldn't help but jump at the noise of nineteen other teenagers getting ready for the day at about the same time. As someone used to a much quieter home life, it was jarring, to say the least; he wondered if everyone else was as disoriented, until he remembered that they had had a few days to get used to it.

"Good morning," he said cautiously when he came downstairs after cleaning up.

Most of his class was already there, either eating breakfast, or making their own. Uraraka smiled widely as she walked alongside him, her right arm gently nudging his left.

"Hey, Midori, Ochako!" Ashido grinned and waved from her seat at a table. "You're just in time! Sato's making pancakes, and they're awesome!"

Sato, wearing a chef's apron over his school uniform, shrugged. "They're not hard to make, Ashido. All you have to do is follow the directions on the bag."

Ashido made a face. "First of all, you're amazing at baking—"

"I don't think pancakes count as baking," Todoroki cut in from next to her.

"Shush, you." Ashido covered his mouth with one hand. "Second of all, I have burned salads. I'm not kidding."

Midoriya and Uraraka were both in the process of sitting down when she said that, and froze halfway; more than one student who heard Ashido was now giving her worried looks. "How did you—"

"I was five, and I thought all food had to be cooked, unless it was ice cream." Ashido giggled. "After that, my parents never let me in the kitchen unless it was to cut up vegetables or something."

Sato stared blankly at her, then very deliberately placed himself between her and the kitchen he'd already claimed as his domain. "You are never coming in here unsupervised."

Todoroki pulled Ashido's hand off his mouth. "Can I use my Quirk to bake cookies?"

"And you're banned forever!" He glanced suspiciously at Midoriya. "Don't tell me you're gonna try and cook with Heatblast or something."

"Er, no?" Midoriya tried not to look intimidated when being stared down by someone much larger and stronger than he was, and failed. His confidence was not helped by Uraraka laughing hysterically. "Actually, I'm not bad at cooking, if you want any help."

Sato's expression softened. "Yeah, sure. I'd appreciate it."

Ashido hummed thoughtfully. "Ah, so my twin got all the cooking skills."

Midoriya started. "T-twin?"

Ashido got up and walked over to him, and pointed at his hair. "We have the exact same kind of messy hair." Her finger dropped to point at his eyes. "And our eyes." She put her hands on her hips and nodded decisively. "We are twins. You're the responsible one, I'm the fun one."

Todoroki nodded at her. "You're also the cute one."

"I, uh…" No one missed how Ashido's sputter and blush were also identical to Midoriya's, thus unintentionally supporting her 'twin' theory.

Sitting at another table, Sero shook his head. "How does Shoto flirt like that and never break a sweat?"

Kaminari paused, seemed to struggle with himself, then sighed in resignation. "It's probably because he's so cool."

Jiro groaned and slapped him upside the head. "You are an idiot."

"I can't help myself, it's too obvious not to use!"

Asui, who looked much better after getting a full night's sleep without guilt-fueled nightmares, ignored the bickering. "Hanta, ribbit, where's your tie?"

"Technically, the dress code only says that we have to have it with us." Sero pulled his tie out of his pocket. "It only specifies wearing it when we're representing the school off-campus."

"Huh." Asui glanced over her shoulder at Bakugo, who was trying to ignore Kirishima's attempts to get him to talk. "That explains why none of the teachers ever told him to wear his, ribbit."

"Wait, seriously?" Kaminari immediately pulled off his tie. "I can breathe again!"

Jiro rolled her eyes, even as she removed her own tie. "That explains why you're an idiot; your tie was too tight, it was killing your brain cells."

News of the dress code loophole quickly spread throughout the class, and by the time they sat down in homeroom, only Yaoyorozu and Iida had elected to wear their ties.

"Welcome back to class," Aizawa said; if he noticed the lack of ties, he didn't care. "Since none of you have homework to turn in, we're doing something different today. It has to do with the dorms."

There was a slight shift of Hagakure's uniform; everyone assumed she had tilted her head. "Um, did we do something wrong?"

Aizawa sighed. "No, this one is on us, actually. We were so focused on getting the dorms built and you all situated that something slipped by us." He took out a remote and pressed a few buttons; the lights dimmed, and a screen slid down from the ceiling. "Now, you're all teenagers, and if you're not sixteen yet, you will be before the school year is out. We're obliged to show you this video if you're going to be living together."

The video began to play; at first, everyone was bemused, until the title was shown. It included the words 'Sex Ed'.

When it ended almost an hour later, Midoriya and Uraraka were staring dead-eyed at the screen, their spines practically locked in place to avoid looking at each other. Ashido had a smattering of purple on her face, but she seemed relatively composed; her boyfriend, on the other hand, had grown so pale that his burn practically glowed. Sero made the mistake of looking at Asui; she had a slight blush, but otherwise looked unfazed as she waggled her eyebrows at him. He immediately began slamming his head against his desk. Yaoyorozu had tried to watch the video objectively, but gave up halfway through; she had spent the rest of the time with her hands over her crimson face. Iida looked like he had died sitting up, and someone poked him later to make sure he was still breathing.

Most of the rest of the class hardly fared better. No one looked at each other, though Bakugo just huffed and looked like he didn't care, and Shoji was impossible to read through his mask. Near the end, Dark Shadow had emerged from Tokoyami, looked around at the class, and simply said "You're all sick."

The only one to remain completely at ease was Mineta; in fact, he'd started taking notes after only a few minutes into the video.

"Anyway," Aizawa said as the lights came back on, "we needed to show you this. I'll be rational and say that sex is probably going to happen at some point. The fact that many of you seem to be ignorant of this stuff makes me want to yell at your previous schools. You all need to know about it so that you can make smart decisions. Remember, your actions have consequences, both as Heroes, and in your personal lives.

"Now, go get ready for your next class."

It took until the end of the day before things started to get back to normal with the students. They were at least able to hold a conversation on their way to the lockers to get changed into their costumes, but the awkwardness returned when they were faced with classmates that, for most, wore outfits that were skintight, revealing, or both.

Midoriya tried to focus on one aspect of Uraraka's costume, instead of how good she looked in it. She had removed the sleeve on her right arm from the bicep down, exposing the prosthetic, though she kept the vambrace.

Uraraka caught him staring; she blushed, but then raised her arm to show it off. "I mean, why hide it, right?"

"R-right." Midoriya didn't know what else to say, but he hoped his wobbly smile conveyed how he felt.

"All right, students!" Cementoss was taking the lead for Heroics today, and gestured to the inside of the gym he'd taken them too. It was completely empty, with only a concrete floor. "This is Gym Gamma," he continued proudly. "It only reaches its full potential when I'm here; my Quirk lets me turn the concrete into basically whatever might be needed for your training. If there's something else you need, Power Loader has a depot's worth of supplies to add as well."

"And if that's not enough, I'm sure Yaomomo can make something," Ashido commented, to general laughter.

Cementoss chuckled. "Anyway, I'm sure you're wondering just why you've been brought here today. You see, today you'll be working on what are known as Ultimate Moves."

That had the class' attention. Ultimate Moves were a Hero's signature, usually a super-powerful application of their Quirk, or a martial-arts move that was assisted by said Quirk. It was often loud, flashy, and usually what got them noticed. In short, it was exactly what a bunch of teenagers expected to do as Heroes.

Some of them already had what could be considered Ultimate Moves, such as Bakugo's Howitzer Impact, or Iida's Recipro techniques. Other moves, like Ashido's Acid X, had been created in the heat of the moment; if they wanted to use them again, they would need serious refinement.

"Now, there's also a major exam coming up," Aizawa cut in. "This will be for your Provisional Licenses; normally, we wouldn't have you take this test until at least your second year, but the government wants all Hero classes to at least try. The exam will be in a few weeks, so you'll have enough time to perfect at least one move, polish any techniques that might be lacking, and make modifications to your costumes, if you want."

Again, the class was more than a little interested. If they could get Provisional Licenses, they were only a few steps away from being full Heroes. It would allow them to use their Quirks to fight Villains or help civilians in a disaster, though they would be under heavy scrutiny the entire time.

Cementoss placed his hand on the floor, and twenty platforms rose up. "Each of you will work on your Ultimate Moves over there. For today, just give it some thought, and share any ideas with us; we'll provide feedback and tell you if your plan is viable or not. If you need a living punching bag, Ectoplasm will be present to provide a clone."

Ectoplasm, who had been silent until now, glared at his fellow teacher. "I prefer 'sparring partner'."

"I'm sure you do." No one could tell if Cementoss' jolly tone was teasing or not.

It wasn't until the students spread out that they noticed that one of their number was unusually calm. If anything, Midoriya seemed more certain of himself than ever before.

"Do you already have a move in mind, Midoriya-san?" an Ectoplasm clone asked. "With your variety, I would have thought that you would have some difficulty."

Midoriya smiled. "Actually, I don't just have an Ultimate Move—I've got Ultimate forms."

More than one student noticed that Midoriya didn't reach for his watch before transforming into Eatle. While his classmates didn't see the significance, his teachers did; all of them had known that that was a major weakness of his, and it had been pointed out when they read the police report about his fight with Muscular and Chimera. It seemed that that was no longer an issue.

"All right," Eatle said. "Time to go Plus Ultimate!"

There was another flash of green light, and when it faded, a few jaws dropped. Ultimate Eatle wasn't much taller than before, but his shell was more pronounced, giving him a hunched look. His frontal carapace almost looked like pectoral muscles, with glowing red light around the hinges. He had two more arms growing from his sides, and though they were the same length, his previous set of arms was now markedly longer and thicker, almost reaching the ground. His eyes were now gone, and he had four mandibles. His horn now ended in a set of eight sharp prongs that almost looked like a comb. The Omnitrix dial, now sporting its four spikes, had traveled upwards, and sat just below where a human's throat would be.

What stood out the most, however, was his new coloring; his exoskeleton was now a gleaming gold, while the softer parts of his body were a bright crimson.

"Impressive," Ectoplasm commented. "I assume that this is your form pushed to its maximum?"

"Yeah," Ultimate Eatle said, his voice coming out as a raspy hiss. "I can stay like this for about ten minutes, and it takes about another twenty minutes of charge to use."

For Midoriya's own safety, his teachers had been informed about his time limit, but Nezu had withheld knowledge about the Ultimates. He had wanted to surprise the teachers, and it had worked.

"So, using the full ten minutes of this form cuts your hour in half," Ectoplasm noted. "I hope that its power makes up for such a large energy drain."

So do I, Ultimate Eatle thought. I picked Eatle for one of the Ultimate slots, but I'm not sure what he actually does now. Well, Ben said that I would have an instinctive idea of how to use these powers…

With a grunt, he brought one of his oversized fists down on his platform, breaking off several large chunks of concrete. He tossed them further away, and then took a step back; his smaller arms reached up and grabbed his pectoral plates, and with a slight heave, he pulled them open. Instead of red flesh underneath the carapace, there was an empty void; there was a howling noise as the hole in his chest acted like a giant vacuum, sucking up the chunks of cement. Once the debris was gone, the carapace sealed back up, and Ultimate Eatle tilted his head towards a stunned Ectoplasm clone.

"It won't hurt the real you if I destroy the clone, right?"

"More like a memory of pain," said clone corrected. "The real me trained to not be distracted by pain a long time ago."

"Okay." Ultimate Eatle didn't even bother to fully turn; the prongs on his horn glowed, and fired red beams of energy straight up. After a moment, all eight beams made sharp turns in different directions, then kept angling until they reached the clone, which exploded upon impact.

"Impressive," another clone said as he climbed up the platform. "Most impressive. Do you need to see your target to lock on, and can you hit multiple targets at once?"

"Not directly, and yes," Ultimate Eatle replied. "I'm emitting an electromagnetic coating that I can feel to everything around me, so it's more like I'm guiding the shots through touch."

"Any weaknesses?" Ectoplasm asked. "If you know them, it will be easier to cover them."

"I'm a lot slower," Ultimate Eatle admitted. "But my armor is pretty durable, and I don't need to eat things to fire my beams; eating just makes it stronger."

Midoriya was honestly a little unnerved that he knew these things, but he wasn't aware of specific numbers, or his maximum range. Those things would have to be learned through practice, and he had nine more to go through.

"So, you're like a walking fortress." Ectoplasm nodded to himself. "All right, use up the rest of your ten minutes, and then take a break to recharge. Use today to get used to this one, and then practice with any others until the exam; if you have any problems with that black hole ability, speak to Thirteen. She has more experience with that sort of thing."

Ultimate Eatle cracked his knuckles. "Yes, sir!"

After getting over how impressed they were with Midoriya's new trick—they might have known about the Ultimates, but it was another thing entirely to see them in action—the other Rising Stars threw themselves into their own training.

Sero had already come up with a move, but his Quirk had only now become strong enough for him to put it into practice. Instead of one thick strand of tape, he could now fire three smaller strands from each elbow; they weren't that much weaker than the single strands, and could cover a wide area if he used both elbows. The only downside was that it dehydrated him almost twice as fast, but the benefits far outweighed the costs.

Iida was attempting to use his boosters in one-second bursts, allowing him to make impossibly-sharp turns to outmaneuver his enemies. He already had his Recipro Burst, so he had to come up with a new name; eventually, he settled on Recipro Pulse.

Ashido had two moves in mind. The first was a concentrated stream of acid, which she managed by forming a funnel with her hands and using the pressure to extend her range and accuracy. The second was a defensive option; she wanted to coat her entire body in acid, almost like armor, but it was hard to maintain with her current level of control. Instead, she created a stopgap technique by making a thin veil of acid all around her. It only lasted for a moment, but if she could time it right, she could block almost anything that wasn't too big, or moving too fast.

Yaoyorozu didn't have an Ultimate Move in mind. Instead, she worked on creating items of her own invention, rather than copying existing things. Her current project was a shaped mine that could drill several inches underground. The explosives weren't made to be especially strong, but they could send someone staggering, and stepping directly on one could easily result in a broken ankle. Her goal was to build up her lipid efficiency so that she could create a small minefield without exhausting herself. At the moment, she could manage twenty before going for one of the high-calorie snacks in her belt.

Todoroki didn't have a name for his move, but it was brutal in its simplicity. He would trap a target in an open-ended cone of ice, and then fill it with the hottest fire he could manage. The sudden change in temperature would cause an explosion; after seeing the Nomu from the USJ attack, and knowing about Villains like All For One and Nine, he decided that a move that could deal as much damage as possible in an instant was in order. It wasn't ready for use, but Ectoplasm assured him that a small-scale experiment would be viable soon.

Asui had apparently already been working on two techniques. Neither relied so much on hard work as it did study; after all, her Quirk allowed her to do anything a frog could do, so as long as she understood how that particular frog did it, so could she. Her first move revolved around changing the pigment of her body to blend in with her surroundings, while the second involved secreting poison through her sweat glands. The latter's problem was that she couldn't quite get the poison to a level that wasn't lethal, and the former's was that she could only make her body camouflaged, not her costume.

Like Yaoyorozu, Uraraka wasn't creating any new moves; instead, she was improving her aerial mobility by using her Quirk on herself. Without the nausea slowing her down, she could easily perform flips and spins through the air, though directed travel was a problem. However, with her control now so much better, she was confident that she could use the Support Item she'd requested from Power Loader and Hatsume.

Some students were more introspective during the first day of training, while others attacked the work. By the end of the day, everyone felt that they had made progress, or at least knew what they wanted to do.

"That's enough of that," Aizawa said, several hours later. "Get cleaned up and turn your costumes in—speaking of which, you have until the end of the week to submit any changes you want to the Support Department, but wait until after tomorrow's practice, in case you have any last-minute ideas."

As Midoriya used the locker room showers, he wondered if he should make any changes to his costume. There wasn't much, if anything, a change would do for him in the field. Still, as he thought about his current look, he realized that it was a little childish. Maybe he could go for something a little sleeker, and not something that he could have made from things in his closet.

"Hey, Izuku," Todoroki said as they put their school uniforms back on. "Can I ask a question?"

Midoriya nodded. "Sure! Is it about our Ultimate Moves?"

"No, it's not school-related." Todoroki hesitated for a moment. "I wanted to see if Mina wanted to go on a date. Then I realized that I don't actually know how to go on a date."

Mineta, who was nearby and had overheard, scowled. "You're gonna ask the most nervous guy on the planet about romance? Hello, ladies-expert's right here!"

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response," Todoroki said, and Mineta stormed off in a huff. "Anyway, Izuku?"

"Uh, r-right." Midoriya shrugged helplessly. "Well, Ochako and I wanted to start with something simple—dinner and a walk on the beach."

"We can't really do those things," Todoroki pointed out.

"Y-yeah, but Sato and I could cook something special for you?" Midoriya shrugged again. "And I think we could trust our class to give you two some space."

Todoroki thought about it. "That could work. Thanks."

"No problem." Midoriya paused. "How come you're asking me about this?"

"You're the only person I know who's been on a date." Todoroki's smirk was so small that Midoriya barely caught it. "Also, since you two are twins now, I thought this could be a way of asking for your blessing."

"Hey!"

In the girls' locker room, Uraraka's thoughts were elsewhere as she showered. She had done exceptionally well with her Quirk today, and if the equipment Hatsume was working on performed as intended… well, everyone would be in for quite the surprise.

"Ochako?" Uraraka was pulled to the here and now by Asui's voice. "Are you okay, ribbit?"

"Um, yes?" Now clean, she turned off the water and wrapped a towel around herself. "Why?"

"Sorry, I was just wondering about your arm." Now that she had been forgiven—even if Uraraka thought she didn't need forgiveness—Asui was back to being her blunt self. "Do you have any problems cleaning it?"

After ensuring the towel was secure, Uraraka pulled open the shower curtain; the other girls were in the process of getting dressed, or at least were already out of the shower. She had been too distracted to hurry up.

"Actually, no." She held her arm out and marveled at the water droplets that slid from the metal. "It's totally waterproof, and has something that cleans the inside. I just have to be a little extra-thorough where it attaches to my body."

"Ribbit." Asui tilted her head, and then poked the prosthetic. "Did you feel that?"

"Kind of; I can feel pressure and temperature, but it's not the same as when you touch skin." She held her right hand up and slowly curled her fingers; there was a series of clicks as her fingertips connected with her palm. "The fingers are a lot more sensitive, though; I can feel all kinds of textures."

"I imagine it would have to be," Yaoyorozu commented as she dried her hair. "It would be much harder to do anything if you couldn't really feel what you were touching."

"Plus, I'm right-handed, so that's kind of important." Uraraka paused. "You know, I was expecting Mina to make some comment about touching by now."

"What?" Ashido was frozen by her locker, half-dressed and staring at her phone. "Sorry, I heard my name."

Hagakure, the only one who could shower and walk around without a towel, gave a low whistle as she stood naked behind Ashido to look at her phone. "Todoroki just asked her out!"

Jiro scoffed. "Over a text? Not cool."

"He, uh, asked if I was okay with dinner tonight," Ashido said. "Should I say yes?"

"Why are you even asking?" Uraraka rolled her eyes as she put on her clothes. "You're the one who's always flirting with him, and he flirts back!"

"Yeah, but most of the time I'm just messing around!" Ashido shuffled in place. "I know we're official, but this is kinda sudden; I was gonna make a move at the summer camp…"

Uraraka noticed how the other girls were very pointedly not looking at her, and she sighed; if they were going to move on from that, it looked like she was going to have to take the first step.

"Now we know those Villains are unforgivably evil," she joked. "They ruined the moment."

The laughter that followed was weak, but it was genuine.

"Deku." Midoriya tried not to jump when Bakugo approached him. After everything with the League of Villains, though, it was easier than before.

"Yes?" Midoriya mentally patted himself on the back for not stuttering.

Bakugo sat down across from him, ignoring the glares from Ashido and Sero, who were also at the table. "Two things, and then I'm outta here. First, when the fuck could your transformations go fuckin' Plus Ultra like that?"

"I call it Plus Ultimate," Midoriya said mildly, and then shrugged. "And, uh, I did it first at I-Island. Why?"

Bakugo's eyes narrowed in thought. "How the fuck did you get so strong?"

"Is that your second question?" Ashido teased, though there was a slight edge to her tone.

Bakugo ignored her. "Answer the goddamn question, nerd."

Midoriya shrugged. "Karma? After everything you and the rest of the world put me through…"

"Fine, whatever." Bakugo scowled and got up. "If you won't tell me how you got so damn strong, I'll figure it out myself, and then I'll show this entire fuckin' school who the next top Hero is gonna be."

Sero waited until Bakugo had stormed off before speaking. "What's his problem?"

"He hates losing," Midoriya explained. "Even if it's only in his head."

"Well, he is losing to you," Ashido pointed out. "You beat him in the Battle Trial and the Sports Festival, and you've taken down stronger Villains than he has."

"At least he's better than he was," Midoriya said. "He only insulted me once, and didn't shout 'die'."

"So, on a scale of one to ten, he went from a negative four to, what, a zero?" Ashido rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Can we finish this homework now? I want to be done before my date with Shoto."

"Speaking of dates…" Sero eyed Midoriya speculatively. "You and Ochako should go out again. At least do what Mina and Shoto are doing; the rest of us could watch Eri for you."

Midoriya blushed, then glanced back to where Uraraka was sitting on a couch; she was working on another assignment with Yaoyorozu, while also keeping an eye on Eri, who was enjoying filling in a coloring book. Uraraka noticed him staring and smiled; his blush grew as he waved.

"M-maybe that's a good idea," he admitted.

Ashido grinned. "Hey, Midori, all we have to do is get Hanta and Tsu together, and then we'll only have Momo and Tenya to go!"

Midoriya frowned at that. "Hey, where is Tenya? I haven't seen him since we got back from class."

"Probably memorizing all the rules for the dorms," Ashido said dismissively. "Now come on, I have homework to get through!"

Contrary to his friend's belief, Iida was not memorizing every rule he could find. He had finished his homework, and was now in one of the gyms, sparring with Kirishima.

"Remind me again—oof!" Kirishima staggered from a powerful kick, but remained on his feet. "Remind me again why you wanted to do this now, dude?"

Iida slipped under a—to him—slow counter and delivered a one-two blow to Kirishima's stomach. "You saw what happened to Yaomomo during the Villains' attack, yes?"

Kirishima grimaced. "Yeah, that… that's gonna stick with me for a while."

"That happened because I wasn't fast enough." Iida grunted when Kirishima clipped his shoulder.

"Dude, you can't blame—"

"I am aware that it wasn't my fault," Iida interrupted. "I do not feel guilty because of a perceived failing. I am upset that it happened at all, and I am angry at the Villains who hurt my friends. I want to be better, so that I might prevent it from happening again, if I can."

"Yeah, I get it." Kirishima saw the heavy blow coming, and had to Harden his torso to keep from getting a cracked rib. "I'm supposed to be the one who takes the hits, and all I could do was stand there, useless. Just like last time."

Iida was curious about what he meant by that, but Kirishima's expression suggested that he didn't want to talk about it.

"Then perhaps we can both work to make sure that we do better next time."

Kirishima's sharp-toothed grin was in full force. "Yeah! Come on, hit me with your best shot!"

The next day, Midoriya was using Heroics to practice with Ultimate Water Hazard; he had initially been hesitant to keep that one, since it reminded him of losing Holo-Ben. However, he eventually came to the conclusion that using Ultimate Water Hazard was a good tribute to the last time Holo-Ben helped him in a battle.

"Heads up!" he shouted as he flew over Jiro, who ducked. "Sorry!"

"Watch it!" Jiro shook water out of her hair and glared up at him. "Can you practice somewhere else?"

Ultimate Water Hazard cut his water pressure and landed on a nearby platform. "Like where? It's hard to practice flying when everyone is going to get soaked no matter where I go."

Jiro rolled her eyes. "How about over Kaminari? At least watching him short out will be funny."

"Hey!" Kaminari shook his fist at her. "Why do you enjoy my pain so much?"

"I'm easily amused by stupid people," Jiro shot back.

Midoriya turned back to normal and tried to tune out the bickering. Instead, he noticed something that, because he'd been so focused on his training, he'd missed before. Rather than ask Jiro or Kaminari and get in the middle of their squabbling, he walked over to Yaoyorozu, who was taking a break.

"Hey, Momo, where did Ochako go?"

"Hmm?" Yaoyorozu frowned and looked around. "That's strange. She left only a few minutes after training started; she should have been back by now."

"Why did she leave?"

"The Support Course had something for her." Yaoyorozu brought up her arm-mounted tablet and started scrolling through various items she had highlighted. "I'm sure she'll be back before class is over."

"I am!" Sure enough, Uraraka jogged into Gym Gamma with a new addition to her costume. It looked like a pink diamond-shaped backpack on her back, connected to her shoulders and her belt. "What do you think?"

Midoriya scratched his head. "Um… does it do anything?"

"Just watch." Uraraka tapped the side of her helmet, and the faceplate was tinted black. What they couldn't see was that she was focusing on several icons that appeared on the inside of her helmet. A moment later, two slots opened up on her 'backpack', and a pair of segmented wings unfolded. Each 'feather' was painted pink, save for the lower few inches, which were black.

Midoriya's jaw dropped. "Whoa! You can fly now?"

Uraraka pretended to examine her nails nonchalantly. "Well, I could always float, but now I can really steer. Check this out!" She placed one hand on her shoulder, applying her Quirk; a moment after lifting off the ground, slim thrusters on the ends of each feather activated, and she started to truly fly.

It was obvious that she wasn't quite used to it yet; more than once, she wobbled uncertainly, but there were a few moments where she flew gracefully. Maybe Midoriya was being biased, but in those moments, he thought she looked like an angel.

When Uraraka landed, her wings folded back inside the backpack, her visor became transparent once again, and they could see her smile. "So, what did you think?"

Midoriya couldn't keep the grin off his face. "That… was so cool!"

Uraraka blushed and rubbed the back of her helmet. "Th-thanks, Deku-kun."

Yaoyorozu circled her, one finger tapping her chin in thought. "So, the wings are propelling you so easily because you became weightless, yes?"

"Uh-huh." Uraraka deployed her wings again and slowly turned around, though Midoriya and Yaoyorozu had to step back to avoid getting hit. "It's really just about steering and adjusting my speed, but since I'm not fighting gravity, I can go really fast. I think my training is going to focus on mastering my flight for a while."

"Indeed it is." Aizawa's voice made them jump. "If you have time to show off, you have time to train. Get to it, all three of you."

"Yes, Aizawa-sensei!" all three snapped and darted off.

"Quite impressive, huh?" Aizawa glanced over his shoulder at All Might; now that his secret was out, he was in his skinny form, and looked a great deal more relaxed. "Some of these kids have such advanced Support Items."

"Some of their Quirks require it," Aizawa said. "They can't maximize their abilities without outside help, though they shouldn't rely on it."

"Unless it's young Midoriya," All Might half-joked. "Those Ultimate forms of his are quite formidable."

Aizawa grunted. "Are you three still spying on him when he trains on Saturdays?" He frowned. "Does he even know you're there?"

All Might's guilty shuffling was all the confirmation Aizawa needed. "I was mostly there to see if young Togata needed anything."

"Yes, with that mysterious increase in power he had at the beginning of the year." Aizawa couldn't lie to himself and say that he didn't enjoy watching All Might squirm a little. The man was notoriously bad at keeping secrets if you knew what to look for.

"Hey, uh, I'm still not allowed to do anything strenuous, but I think I can give some of the students some advice, bye!" All Might walked off before Aizawa could do more than scowl. "Hey, Kirishima-san! Let this old man give you some pointers, eh?"

Aizawa let the older man get on with his antics, but something still bothered him. All Might had never denied spying on Midoriya, and he'd gleaned that All Might had some connection to All For One. He wondered if the cause of the spying came from a connection between Midoriya and All For One, perceived or otherwise.

Just remember that he's my student before he's yours, Aizawa thought. If you delude yourself into thinking he's a threat, I know where I'll stand.

The days passed, and Class 1-A began to get used to their new lifestyles. However, living together meant that even the less-observant among the students started to learn things about each other.

For instance, Tokoyami had to sleep with a nightlight; that little bit of light prevented Dark Shadow, who didn't need sleep, from going berserk. The idea that their classmate's other half might actually do that made a few of them nervous, until they remembered that a good number of them could generate light in one way or another.

Jiro and Shoji were the best at observing others, so they were the first to really grasp just how close some of their classmates were. Specifically, the bond between Midoriya's group of friends—a group that many in the class had unofficially dubbed 'the Dekusquad'.

It wasn't like they excluded contact with everyone else, save for Bakugo. Midoriya, for instance, might have been shy and unlikely to start a conversation, but he could get quite animated about almost anything, especially if he got going about Quirks and Heroes. He also didn't judge people by their appearances; if anything, he seemed to gravitate towards those whose Quirks made them different, like Tokoyami and Shoji.

Aside from Bakugo, the only person in the class the girls of the Dekusquad actively avoided was Mineta. Yaoyorozu enjoyed spending time with Jiro, Uraraka and Ashido got along with just about everyone, and Asui was often seen hanging out with Kaminari and Koda.

For all his quiet loner attitude, Todoroki found that he could get along with Tokoyami and Shoji, and often joined them in a group meditation. Iida had formed a rapport with Kirishima, and the former often helped the latter with homework, if Bakugo wasn't involved. Sero enjoyed spending time with Kaminari and, surprisingly, Mineta, though he wasn't above taping his mouth shut if he started drooling over girls.

But, as the rest of Class 1-A soon realized, there was something special when those eight were together. They had all seen glimpses of it before, but now it was obvious; their eyes lit up just a little more, and their smiles were just a little wider.

The biggest clue, one that woke up even the oblivious Kirishima, was when the eight of them piled into Yaoyorozu's room to watch movies. Apparently, they had started the tradition at Yaoyorozu's home shortly after school had started, but since that location was no longer viable, she had created a screen to project movies onto. They didn't necessarily bar anyone from joining them—not that there was much room left—but everyone else got the feeling that they would have been intruding on something.

Movies weren't the only thing they did together; when Aizawa showed up at the dorms one evening and noticed their absence, he found them in a rough circle in Yaoyorozu's room, doing homework. The girls were on the massive and ornate bed, and the boys were on the floor, but they were so relaxed that Aizawa—who had gone unnoticed—didn't see young adults still recovering from a traumatic event, but happy teenagers spending time together.

After a week of living together, they were less careful about only being so relaxed in private. One evening, the whole class was watching an old documentary in the living room; technically, it was part of the history section of Heroics, but they had only watched part of it in class. Midoriya, who had seen it already, had insisted that they watch the whole thing, because it focused on lesser-known Heroes who would eventually form the first registered Hero Team.

During the film, no one missed how close the Dekusquad was as they sat on or around one of the sofas. All of them were physically touching at least two others. Uraraka sat next to Midoriya on a blanket on the floor, her head on his shoulder, while her right hand held his left. On Midoriya's other side, Asui's knee bumped his, while she leaned against Sero. Behind him, Ashido rested one elbow on his shoulder, while she lay sprawled out on the couch; she sat on Todoroki's lap, while her legs rested over Yaoyorozu's and Iida's. The latter two gently leaned against each other, while Iida and Todoroki occasionally tapped their legs against Midoriya and Uraraka, respectively, as if to make sure they were still there.

Everyone else made sure not to comment; even looking at them felt like they were intruding on a family matter. Later, they all realized that that's what it was—those eight were close because, somehow or another, they had started seeing each other as family.

It wasn't until two weeks after moving into the dorms that Midoriya was able to check in with the extended part of his 'family'. The Big Three were waiting for him at their usual training spot, along with Melissa. Sero and Yaoyorozu had come with him, since Togata had specifically asked for their presence; even if everyone else had been invited, they were either working on homework or, in the case of Uraraka and Asui, spending time with Eri.

"Hey, guys!" Togata was even more energetic than usual; he was practically jumping in place. "Glad you could join us!"

"Sorry I couldn't talk to you sooner." Midoriya held up the note he'd been given. "You made it seem like it wasn't urgent."

"I don't think it is." Togata shrugged. "It's just… weird."

"Considering everything we know regarding the truth about Quirks, I think the word 'weird' has new meaning," Yaoyorozu commented.

There was a brief pause when she glanced at Melissa; the other girl had become so close with the Big Three, and the Rising Stars, that they had let her in on the secret. Since Melissa was Quirkless, she hadn't felt the brief feeling of violation the others had, but she felt so honored by their trust that she'd broken down in tears. Regardless, having her in the circle of trust was still new.

"So, what's weird?" Midoriya asked.

"This." Togata took a few steps back, and the golden glow they were all familiar with surrounded him. After a few seconds, black tendrils burst from his arm and writhed around; when they touched the ground, they latched on and stuck fast. A few moments later, Togata cut his Quirk, and the tendrils dissolved; the only sign that they'd been there were a few cracks in the floor, and fading red marks on his arm.

Amajiki, who had seen this several times already, shrugged. "This first happened when we tried to rescue you, Izuku."

"It's so weird, right?" Hado floated over to Togata and poked his arm. "It's like those tentacle things have a mind of their own. It's kinda creepy."

Amajiki drooped. "I have tentacles…"

"Yeah, but…" Hado floated back to him and kissed his cheek. "You're cute."

While Amajiki devolved into a sputtering mess, Midoriya took out his notebook and began jotting things down. "How do you trigger it? Do you have any control at all? How strong are those things?"

Togata shook his head, his grin never leaving his face. "Should have known you'd be excited about this. It seems to happen whenever I really want to catch something, but if there's nothing there, they just sort of flail around. And I can't break them free from something until I completely turn off my Quirk."

"While that is interesting," Yaoyorozu cut in, "how did this happen? You've explained how you developed your strength and speed, but this… this doesn't make any sense."

"Yeah." Togata scratched the back of his head, expression completely serious. "I promise to tell everyone else later, but… I've been keeping a secret." He held up one fist. "Not all of my Quirk is mine; the rest was given to me."

As soon as those words left his mouth, Midoriya went pale. Memories of what All For One said to him nearly overwhelmed him.

"One For All…" he whispered.

Togata started. "How did you know—"

"All For One talked about it." Midoriya stared at him. "And it makes sense that you would know about him; All Might told you, didn't he? He gave you his Quirk!"

The weight of that revelation had Sero and Yaoyorozu sitting down to process it. They weren't necessarily overwhelmed by the idea of a Quirk being given to someone else; after all, finding out the truth about Quirks had affected them far worse. Instead, it was the idea that All Might, the greatest Hero on their Earth, had given his power to Togata.

"Wait a second." Yaoyorozu's eyes flitted back and forth, as if she was reading something; it was so similar to how Midoriya would sometimes act that it was almost funny. "That's the real reason why All Might retired! If he literally gave away his Quirk, then it stands to reason that his own power would diminish."

"Whoa." Sero glanced up at Midoriya. "And I thought you were the only one with world-shattering secrets."

Togata then gave them an abbreviated history of One For All—how it had started with the younger brother of All For One, and had been passed down through the generations, growing stronger with each new bearer, until it was given to All Might. Finally, the Quirk had become strong enough to defeat All For One, or at least stop him from becoming even more powerful. However, All Might had been so grievously injured during that battle that he couldn't maintain his power, and had sought out a successor—Togata.

"I already knew part of this," Midoriya admitted suddenly. "When I first met All Might, he accidentally transformed in front of me, and he showed me his injury. I had no idea about his Quirk until All For One talked about it."

"Wait, you met All Might before coming to UA?" Sero asked.

"Yeah, almost a year before." Midoriya held up the wrist that bore the Omnitrix. "Only a couple hours before finding the Ultimatrix."

Hado reached over and patted his head. "I guess you had quite the day, huh?"

The sheer innocence with which she said that cut the tension, and everyone laughed.

"Hey, maybe we should get back on topic?" Melissa suggested. "Mirio, you wanted them to be here to help you, remember?"

"Right, thanks." Togata's beaming smile made Melissa blush, and she looked away. "Anyway, I talked to All Might about this new Quirk; it's called Blackwhip, and it belonged to one of the previous holders of One For All. None of the previous users' Quirks have manifested in a successor, so we're kinda in uncharted territory here."

"Does that mean you'll have all the previous users' Quirks?" Midoriya asked.

"No clue," Togata admitted. "I mean, the first user's Quirk is One For All, and All Might was Quirkless, so I might get as many as four more. The reason I wanted you three specifically is because Momo knows all about generating stuff, Izuku's Quirk know-how is gonna be really helpful, and I think Hanta could really help me figure out Blackwhip."

Midoriya had stopped listening before then; his mind had come to a screeching halt when he heard that All Might was Quirkless.

He told me I couldn't become a Hero because I didn't have a Quirk. He said it was impossible, but he didn't have a Quirk. It was given to him, which meant that he wanted to be Hero before then.

The hypocrisy of someone he idolized was almost overwhelming, and he was so lost in his own thoughts that he jumped when Yaoyorozu touched his shoulder.

"Izuku? Are you all right?"

"Huh? Y-yeah, I'm okay, Momo." He most certainly was not, but he wanted some time to really think about this before confiding in anyone. "Um, sorry, what did Mirio need?"

"He wants our help to figure out how to use multiple Quirks." She smiled at him. "I think you have a unique insight on that."

"I g-guess so." Midoriya tried to force a smile; it was clearly fake, but Yaoyorozu was kind enough not to press the issue. "So, where does he want to start?"

Later that night, Midoriya was in his room, still trying to wrap his head around everything. Thinking about All Might's secret got him focusing on All For One, which led to him dwelling on everything he'd suffered during his stay with the League of Villains. He wanted to talk to someone, but everyone else was asleep, and curfew was in effect.

"Hang on," he said to himself, "maybe there is someone I can talk to."

He grabbed his phone and scrolled down his list of contacts. He hesitated for a moment, and then called the number; the phone rang only twice before it was picked up.

"Hey, kid," Ben said cheerfully. "What's up? You're not in trouble again, are you?"

"N-no, I was just thinking about some things, and I needed to talk. Is that okay?" Midoriya frowned when he heard something in the background. "Is someone… singing?"

Ben sighed. "Yeah, we had a run-in with a guy called the Music Meister. His powers are wacky; we got him, but Ken got whammied. He can't stop singing until the effect wears off." He sighed again. "I just wish he'd stop singing the opening to Ducktales."

"Um…"

"It's fine, he'll be back to normal in a day or two. Anyway, what's on your mind?"

"W-well… I'm just wondering if I'm doing enough to be a Hero."

Midoriya could almost see Ben's expression morph into something more serious. "Where's this coming from?"

"Ben—I mean, the other Ben—told me about some of the things you did at my age. All I've done is fight a few bad guys, and the last time I did that, I got kidnapped." Midoriya had wanted to talk about his sudden disillusionment with All Might, but now that he started talking about the insecurities he'd thought were buried, he couldn't stop. "You saved an entire universe when you were just a kid! I just… I feel like I'm not living up to your legacy."

Ben was quiet for a long moment. "Izuku, I don't care if you haven't done what I've done. If I ever made you think you had to live up to me, I'm sorry. All I wanted was for someone to use the watch to save the day. Just remember that you saved lives; saving one person is just as important as saving the entire universe, because there's every chance that that person you save is someone else's entire universe."

"B-but—"

"Kid, you just need to be the hero you want to be. If you do that, I'll be proud."

Midoriya nodded, even though Ben couldn't see him. "Okay. I'll try."

"As a certain green alien once said, 'do or do not, there is no try'." Ben chuckled for a moment. "Are you okay now? Do you need anything else?"

"I think I'm all right. Thanks for that." Midoriya paused when the singing in the background changed. "Ken is going to be okay, right?"

"Yeah, Music Meister is annoying, but not super dangerous. Ken! If you're going to sing, could you at least sing something that isn't from the Disney Afternoon?"

"Oh, is that what that new song is from?" Midoriya asked. "Who are Chip and Dale?"

"God, I feel old." Ben sighed. "All right, I gotta go, kid; I need to smother my son with a pillow."

Considering that that wouldn't actually cause Ken harm, Midoriya didn't comment. "By, Ben; and thanks for the talk."

"Anytime, kid."

Midoriya hung up and lay down in his bed. He stared up at the ceiling for what felt like an eternity, and then held up his left arm to look at the Omnitrix.

"Be the Hero I want to be…" He sat up and went to his desk and fished out a fresh notebook.

He had work to do.

"First it was Ochako, now it's Midori!" Ashido sighed. "It's not like him to be late for Heroics!"

Iida merely shrugged. "Perhaps he's getting a new costume; he isn't that late yet."

"Has he been late for anything, like, ever?" Ashido glanced at the clock and saw that, yes, class had only started five minutes ago. She was about to call out to Uraraka to see if she knew where Midoriya was, but was distracted by an explosion, followed by mad laughter. "Oh, great."

Up on his platform—which was the tallest, something he had insisted upon so annoyingly that Cementoss had caved in—Bakugo held up one fist triumphantly. "Ha! I did it!"

He had been working nonstop to perfect several Ultimate Moves. There was his AP Shot, which concentrated his blast into more of a beam that could punch clean through a solid foot of concrete, and his Autocannon, which fired dozens of small explosions in seconds. However, his best move so far was his AP Autocannon, the combination of both moves; it was impossible to use without building up a lot of sweat first, but if a fight lasted that long, then his opponent probably needed to be put down with that kind of force.

His first test of the move had annihilated the Ectoplasm clone, along with a good chunk of his platform. He was so distracted by his success that he didn't notice the fist-sized chunks of cement start to fall towards the platform under his—and Asui, who had gotten used to ignoring Bakugo's explosions, didn't see them heading right for her.

A few of her classmates saw the tragedy about to unfold, but they had barely started to shout a warning when a blur tore through the gym's entrance to interpose itself between Asui and the debris. Jetray turned into Eye Guy, vaporized most of the concrete, then turned into Water Hazard to blast back the rest. All of those transformations occurred before the green light had faded from the alien before.

"Thanks, Izuku," Asui croaked.

Water Hazard, who had been fifteen feet in the air, turned into Ghostfreak and gently glided back down to Asui's platform. "No problem."

Asui closed her eyes to block out the green light as Midoriya turned back to normal. When she opened them again, she got a good look at his new costume. His pants remained the same, but his boots now had red armor plates that went to his shins, and his hoodie had thick black stripes going up the sleeves, and one up the middle. The 'ears' on his hood were gone, though a black outline of them remained stitched onto the hood. He also had white fingerless gloves, with the Omnitrix dial decorating the back of each. His visor from Hawks was the same, though it gave his eyes a more eerie appearance.

He might have kept the same basic style as before, but he looked sleeker and more professional.

"Are you okay, Tsu?" he asked.

"I'm fine, ribbit." Asui tilted her head. "I like the new look."

"So do I."

"Maybe I should add some black to my costume." She put one finger to her chin. "It seems like almost everyone else has some in their look."

Midoriya raised an eyebrow. "Maybe some lines on your arms and legs, or some spots on your back?"

Asui smiled. "The spots are more frog-like. I'll go with that one."

"If you two are done talking fashion," Aizawa called out, "maybe you should get back to work. The exam is in one week."

"Sorry, Aizawa-sensei!" Midoriya turned to Asui. "Good luck with your training, Tsu."

"Same to you, Izuku, ribbit." Asui appeared unconcerned, but Midoriya knew her well enough to tell that she was nervous. "If this test is half as hard as I've heard, we're gonna need it."

Hooray, another chapter done! Sorry it took so long, but like I said, updates will happen less often. And it might be even longer in the future, because not only do I need to focus on my book, I now have two part-time jobs that make me hate life. Also, I now only have 2 days to write every week. The rest of the time is spent working or sleeping.

So, yeah, this chapter was mostly all about Midoriya and company getting used to their new norm, and starting to improve their techniques. Highlights include Uraraka getting wings like Falcon from the MCU, and Midoriya getting new Ultimates. I do plan on keeping a few originals that I liked, but I'm working on some of my own as well. As for that handicap he has… remember, without the Omnitrix working full-time, he will die.

Now, even though I just said that I have two jobs, they do not pay enough for me to live on my own. Just having the jobs is enough for my parents to not throw me out on the street (which they were threatening to do), but it's also not enough for me to afford a place of my own (California rent prices suck). Please consider buying my book, Alpha Sanction, by Josh Gottlieb, either on my website (link in my profile), or on Amazon as an eBook or physical copy. And keep an eye out for Delta Sanction, coming soon!

If you don't want more books to read (why though?), please consider supporting me on P-atreon (link in my profile). If I make enough to live off that, chapters will probably come out every week, not every month.

Thank you to the following patrons who go beyond:

Serious Muffins: Nimrod009, Anders Lyngbye, Matthias Matanovic, ChaosSpartan575, John Collins, Red Bard, Aaron Meek, Shaolin Khalil, killroy225, Zann Nightroad

Incredible Muffins: RaptorusMaximus, michaelb958, Crazyman844

Ultra Muffins: RangersRoll

Next Chapter: No pencils for this test! Midoriya and his friends have to show everyone just how far their training has taken them!

Plus Muffin!