-Chapter 21: A New Journey-
Aizawa was now halfway out of his sleeping bag with Midnight making her way out of the class. "OK, Class, before we leave, I need to tell you more about your internships. They'll last for one week. As if it is you will be working for it depends. Those of you who were given offers will be able to choose who from among them. Those of you who didn't, don't worry. Several heroes in the area are always looking for interns. It is important to keep in mind who you intern under."
Aizawa begins to draw on the blackboard, creating four quadrants."Every agency specializes in something different. "The first and most common being Combat Agencies that focus on taking down villains." The tired teacher draws a stylized image of All Might in the first quadrant. "Agencies like All Might's or Endeavor's fall under this category. There are Rescue Agencies that focus on saving people from either natural disasters or villain attacks." Aizawa draws a cartoony spaceman, "Examples beinn Thirteen and the Wild Wild Pussy Cats. There are Underground Agencies, Heroes that handle villains, and missions that the public wouldn't want to know about." The black-haired teacher draws himself in a sleeping bag, "Myself and Edgeshot are such heroes. The last and least talked about agency type is Support Agencies. Heroes like Recovery Girl and Lunch Rush are such heroes." Aizawa draws a large medical cross on the last quadrant. "While every hero is capable of doing all four, you wouldn't want All Might on a stealth mission or want me taking down a building buster. Think carefully about which agency you want to intern for. You have till the end of class to discuss this and the end of the week to decide."
…
The whole class broke into groups like they did when deciding hero names—the students who received requests received their list of agencies.
"Guys!" Ashido was bouncing in her seat, showing everyone her list of agencies. "Ryuku, of all heroes, sent me an offer!"
"That's incredible, Mina!" Ben exclaimed for his pink-haired friend. "Who is Ryuku again? I'm still learning a lot about the local heroes in Japan." The Omnitrix wielder was scratching the back of his head nervously.
A certain walking hero encyclopedia chimed into the conversation. "Ryuku is the ninth-ranked hero, being the Dragoon Hero; her quirk allows her to transform into a draconic-like form. I'm surprised she didn't send you an offer, Ben, considering your own dragon form, Sky Crawler."
Looking at his list, Ben did notice Ryuku close to the top of his list, "I didn't notice her name till now. She is second on my list."
"Two top tens sent you offers!" Midoriya proclaims. All of the offer lists are organized from the highest ranking to the lowest. "Who's first on your list?!"
"Looking down at his sheet of paper, Ben was surprised to see a name in English taking the first slot on his request form. "Taskmaster." The American teen stated, confused.
"Number six!" The hero dumbfounded Midoriya. "Taskmaster's quirk is unknown and is normally unseen, but his combat skill is unmatched. He normally doesn't take in many interns or sidekicks. He normally prefers to do solo missions."
"Man, I bet your awesome quirk piqued his interest." Kirishima wraps his arm around Ben's shoulder, "I'm going to be interning under Fourth Kind. That man is super manly."
"That's really cool, Eijiro," Ben states before turning to the group's girls. "I know you are going with Ryuku Mina, but who are you guys thinking about interning under?"
"I'm going to intern under Selkie, Kero," Tsu states flatly, "He's an aquatic-based hero, so I think he works the best for me."
"I'm interning under Gunhead," Uraraka tells the group cheerily.
"Ochacho, Gunhead is a combat hero," Midoriya was confused about the gravity user's choice. "I thought you wanted to be a rescue hero?"
"Oh, I do want to be a resume hero, but after losing in the first round of the tournament, I realized that there are going to be some threats that I will have to face on my own. I should probably be prepared for when that happens."
"That's smart of you," Iida was chopping toward Uraraka.
"What about you, Tenya? Who are you going to intern under?" asked Ashido.
"I was originally planning on interning under my brother, but…" Iida didn't need to finish his sentence for the rest of the group to know. "I think Manual will be a good choice. He doesn't deal with large threats. The public likes him because he can connect with everyone. He-"
"Works in Hosu." Midoriya cut off his glasses-wearing classmate.
Everyone had the same thought except for one group member when that information was out in the open. "Um, why is Manual working in Hosu important?" Todoroki asked, being left out of the loop of the Iida family trauma.
"Because his brother was attacked in Hosu by the Hero Killer." Ben half-whispered in a more serious tone than the group has seen from him. "Tenya, don't do what I think you are going to do. Taking on the Hero Killer is suicide." The Omnitrix Wielder felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking over, he saw Ashido giving him a comforting smile. "I tried to take down the bastard that killed my family. All it did was make things worse. He was able to escape because of my actions. Don't do what I did."
Iida just nodded his head to his friend's advice. All the while, Todoroki's eyes bugged from his head, breaking the ordinarily cold look on his face.
"The what?" The elemental user looked over to his first friend in a desperate plea to know what happened.
Leaning closer to Todoroki, Midoriya whispers, "I will tell you the short version later." The greenette then sits back up before exaggeratedly asking, "So Shoto, which agency are you going to intern under?"
"I'm going to intern under my father." Todoroki quickly understood that Midoriya was trying to change the topic. "He is the best fire user in the country. If I want to better my left side so it's on par with the right, I should work with the best. What about you?"
"That makes sense, Shoto. I'm not too sure myself; having vast knowledge of almost every hero in Japan has made me a little indecisive." Midoriya nervously laughs.
Before the greenette could continue his thought, the school bell suddenly rang, signaling everyone it was time to go home.
…
Before Ben knew it, most of the class left to go home beside his small group. As they made it to the door, one of their teachers appeared in a strange pose.
"I AM HERE, in an awkward position!" All Might called out while bent at the hip so he was at eye level with his students. "I don't wish to be a bother to you students, but I need to speak to Young Midoriya here for a second." In a blink of an eye, the two disappeared in a burst of wind.
"I guess All Might dragged Izuku away again," Ben commented.
"Again?" Asked Todoroki
"Yeah, that happens from time to time." Kirishima answered, "They have similar quirks, so he is probably giving him pointers."
…
Class 1-A was outside the train station close to the school the following Monday. Everyone was surrounding Aizawa. Some class members like Ashido and Hagakure were bouncing on the balls of their feet in excitement. The teacher gave them some final reminders before they departed onto their trains.
"Remember, while you have given your Hero Suits, you do not have permission to wear them in public unless told to do so by your mentor." The tired man looked ready for a nap before briefly making eye contact with Ben. "Be careful out there. Be responsible and respectful. I know when all of your trains should arrive. Text me within the hour, or I will call the police to report you missing." Aizawa then looks over the class one last time before turning around. "Good luck out there." He calls out, walking away.
…
Luckily enough for Ben, some of his friends were taking the same train as him, at least for part of the way.
"Guys, I'm so excited!" Ashido couldn't stop squirming, bumping into Ben a few times.
"I know the feeling," Ben commented, pulling out his phone to double-check which stop was his. "Apparently, Taskmaster doesn't like to stay in one region for too long, liking to stay moving."
"I remember reading that," Midoriya chimes in, looking up the pattern of sittings of Ben's mentor. "He has been lingering in the Tokyo area longer than he normally does. I'm curious as to what he is working on."
While the three chatted, Iida stared out the window at the passing buildings. His stop was the first of the students, so they thought he wanted to be punctual. In reality, he conflicted with himself.
…
"Damn it, Tenya," the glasses-wearing teen yelled at himself. "Every fiber of your being is screaming at you to hunt down the hero killer." He looked at his smiling friends, saying, "These goofballs are telling me not to. But they don't understand what I'm going through."
"But Ben does." A tortuous part of his mind thought. "He knows better than anyone what it is like to lose a family member. At least you still have Tensei."
…
While lost in conversation, the three students never noticed Iida slink off the train.
…
Before Ben knew it was his turn to get off the train. Midoriya got off several stops ago, but Ashido still had several to go.
Standing up to leave, he briefly hugged the pinkette, "Good luck with Ryuku; I know dragons can be quite stubborn."
"Not as stubborn as you." Ashido returned the hug, holding him tight. "Text me if anything happens. I worry about you." The pink-skinned girl's face turned a light shade of purple for a moment.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Ben said confidently, walking out of the train with his arm spread. "I'm me."
…
Punching in the address he was given to meet Taskmaster, Ben was surprised to see it was to a Mr. Twisters of all places.
"Why would he meet me at a smoothie joint?" The American asked himself, walking up to the building. It was a central building shaped like a giant smoothie surrounded by eight outdoor tables. "Might as well order something while I wait for him."
As the teen was ordering, he couldn't get the feeling that he was being watched out of his head. Back home, he had gotten used to it from all the fans that would mob him and his friends. Ben liked that no one knew who he was until he won the festival. Since then, people now and then will notice him and ask questions, but nothing like back home. The teen shuddered slightly, thinking about the lady who asked if he could adopt her baby.
Ben kept his head on a swivel, not noticing the typical signs of people staring at him. These are quickly looking away at the sky or their phone, just not caring that they were spotted and continue to stare, subtly taking pictures. Maybe because heroes are more common here than back home, people have gotten better at hiding, but it just wouldn't go away.
…
A cloaked figure lurked from a nearby rooftop, spying down on the smoothie stand. It could see a brunette, emerald-eyed American teen texting on his phone. The teen then perked his head up when his order was ready. As the boy went to retrieve his blended beverage, the cloaked figure slinked away.
…
Ben was checking his phone for the time, seeing that ten minutes had passed, and he was starting to get worried. "Did I get stood up by a hero? Just my luck." But as he was to stand up, a quick-moving mass was slammed into him, whisking him away before any bystander could notice, leaving the weird combination of a smoothie behind.
Not knowing what was happening, Ben instinctually reached for the Omnitrix, only for his wrist to be grabbed by a gauntleted hand. Once he made contact with the ground again, the abducted teen could see he was on a rooftop, and whoever snatched him was holding the briefcase with his hero suit.
Standing up, Ben finally got a good look at the man. The man was taller than him, standing at 6'2". He had a white caped hood over more standard military combat gear in blue. He was equipped with an orange energy shield on his back, a sword on his left side, and a plasma pistol on the other side. Both weapons were strapped onto an orange utility belt, most likely filled with anything this man could need; a grappling cable was being reeled into the belt buckle. The strangest thing about him, though, had to be the skull mask he wore to hide his identity.
The stranger was holding the briefcase in front of him. The stranger called out through a voice filter, "You're from the Hero course, right? That would mean this case should have your support items, but you wear yours 24/7."
Reaching for the watch defensively, not activating it quite yet, Ben glares down the skull-faced man. "So what about it?"
"Normally, heroes keep their support items on them for several reasons." The stranger began to circle the teen, almost like a stalking lion, while listing the reasons on his fingers. "They lose things easily; it assists them in daily life; they are never truly off shift, or a close friend made it."
Ben's finger moved ever so closer to the Omnitrix at the last reason while going into a defensive stance.
"Ah, so someone close to you made it then. Going by that stance, I'm guessing you've been in the game longer than you have been in UA."
"So, what if I have? It's not like you can report me to the police about anything I did before moving to Japan, right?"
"Very true, but your showing at the festival tells me that you have been doing this for five, no six years. Going off your documents from UA means you've been doing this since you were ten."
"What does this have to do with anything?"
"Just want to get my facts straight." The stranger tosses the briefcase to the side and charges at Ben from behind, sword drawn. Ben disappears in a flash of green light, replaced by a plantlike creature with a flame pattern to the pedals on his head; his feet look like roots holding stones while his hands glow almost like they are made out of flaming leaves with port holes in the palms. The sword slashes clean through the creature's arm, severing the limb.
"Last year, an American teen moved to Japan after his family tragically died in a villain attack. He moves in with a family friend who happens to be a teacher at the hero school he is enrolling in." The Methanosian sucker punches the stranger in the face before stepping back; his severed limb begins to regrow, vines sprouting out from the shoulder and interweaving to form the new limb.
"This boy has a quirk that is unlike any other and can only be activated with a watch-like device that his close friend made. While academically doing okay, chemistry, history, and Japanese are his worst subjects, he is almost unmatched regarding his combat skills." Reaching into the utility belt, the stranger throws out kunai, lodging them into the teen's plant-like body. The newly transformed Swampfire extends both of his palms out, releasing a torrent of flames across the roof, forcing the stranger to pull out his shield to block the attack.
"His losses are chalked up to his goofing around and not taking the exercises seriously. He wins the Sports Festival by a landslide, actively limiting himself in the final event not to harm his fellow students."
Not knowing the end game of this masked weirdo, Swampfire goes to transform before a knife is thrown into his wrist, pinning his arm to his chest.
"Not yet, Tennyson." The stranger wags his finger in a disapproving manner. He then pulled out his plasma pistol and fired three blasts at the transformed teen.
Swampfire reaches up to his shoulder, grabbing a handful of seeds from it before throwing them to the ground. Once they made contact, a wall of vines sprouted, blocking the plasma from striking him. Finally, having a moment to think, the Methanosian pulled the knife out of him, seeing it was a combat knife with a serrated back to the blade. "What's your game?" He called out in a nasal voice.
The vines suddenly froze over before they shattered like glass. "No game. As I said, I want to get my facts straight." The stranger plunged the sword into Swampfire's abdomen, getting close to the teen. "You are a mystery to me, and I don't like mysteries."
Swampfire went to make the same sucker punch from before, only for his opponent to dodge it. He rolled out of the way, leaving the sword in the plant-like alien. He then extends his hand to the weapon before his glove lights up, causing the blade to fly to him. "What the hell do you want?!"
"Defeat me in combat, and I will answer your questions." The stranger then gives a come at me gesture to Swampfire.
Swampfire charges at the masked stranger, not missing a beat, spinning at the last second to backhand his opponent. As soon as his chest was away from the stranger, Swampfire was engulfed in a flash of light, replaced by a tall crystalline form with large cyan structures from his back. "Diamondhead!" the alien calls out, backhanding his opponent across the roof.
"Strong, durable, ranged capabilities. Smart choice, kid. The only problem is the sonic cannons to your right and left." He then pulls out a trigger mechanism and presses the button.
True to his word, two sonic cannons hidden by trash bombarded the crystalline alien.
"Y-you s-suck!" Diamondhead called out while being rattled. Due to his body's structure, he was starting to crack. It didn't help that more kunai were thrown at him, creating fissures where they landed on his arms.
"I've rattled off almost all your personal information from your school record. You didn't think I would have read what your 'aliens' could do?"
Diamondhead then pointed his arms at both cannons before his hands shifted into jagged spires. Two large crystal chunks were shot out at the sonic devices, destroying them. While healing from the fissures, the transformed teen began panting. "Good-good thing I-I didn't fill out all the files then." Diamondhead then slammed down on the Omnitrix dial on his belt, transforming into an avian-humanoid with three-fingered talons for hands and the same for his feet. He had large black blades protruding from his elbows and a large plumage of feathers forming a mohawk on the top of his head. A green mask framed his face while a harness was worn across his chest, with the Omnitrix acting as the buckle.
"Kickin' Hawk!" the newly transformed Ka-Chicken called out. "Now your goose is cooked." The feathered combatant leaped high into the air to deliver a powerful axe kick to the stranger.
Not having much time to dodge, the stranger brought up his shield to block the strike. "Strong, agile, bladed weapons, prefers to be up close and personal." While recounting Kickin' Hawk's basic abilities, the stranger took a roundhouse kick to the face, forcing him to perform a backflip to lessen the blow.
The stranger then put his sword and shield away before going into a boxing stance close to what Kickin' Hawk was in. The two then started trading blows with one another. The feathered brawler favored kicks, unlike the stranger, who favored punches. The masked stranger blocked fewer kicks as the flight continued, preferring to dodge them now instead. This was followed by him punching less and choosing to kick more often.
Suddenly, the stranger leaped high into the air, identical to how Kickin' Hawk did, before striking with the same axe kick followed by a roundhouse kick, knocking the alien to the ground.
"Hey!" Kickin' Hawk yelled indignantly, rubbing his head. "That's my move!"
"Now you're getting it," The stranger said smugly. "Get up. Let's see if you can beat me while I use your moves."
"I don't have much charge left with all the transformations. I have to be smart about this. That's it, smart!" Kickin' Hawk thought to himself, transforming one more time into a giant orange crustation with an oversized head that replaced the humanoid bird. "Let's see if you can handle Brainstorm!" The Cerebrocrustaion telepathically called out in a British accent. "Now that I no longer have a humanoid form, you should no longer be able to mimic my attacks. Since you haven't shot any fire blasts or crystal shards, I can assume that you cannot mimic my abilities. Am I correct?"
"You would be right." The stranger said before the eye holes of his mask began to glow blue. He could see a large amount of energy produced in what he could only assume was the brain. "Interesting, the file said electrokinesis, but it never said where it came from. You are thinking at such a high volume that your brain's electrical impulses could be shot out."
"You would be right, Neerdowell. Like to see a demonstration of my intellect?" Brainstorm asked before his cranial plates opened on the top of his head, exposing his brain. A bolt of electricity was launched out of it, encasing the masked stranger in an electrical cage. "Care to give up?"
"Not quite because in three, two, one." The stranger then pointed to the Omnitrix dial on Brainstorm's breathing brace as it started to blink red while beeping, indicating Ben was about to be transformed back to human.
"What in the!?" Ben was surprised that he was back to being human. "I guess the fight drained the watch more than I thought."
"Exactly. With your watch timing out, this test is over." The stranger calmly states, going around the rooftop and collecting all his thrown projectiles.
"Test? What test?" The American was confused by the stranger's actions.
"I was testing your skills. I had to make sure your victory in the festival wasn't just a fluke or dumb luck." The stranger answered, tucking his knife into his left gauntlet. "You're good, kid. You should have stayed at a distance, though. I was right about my assumption you have been doing this since you were ten. Even though that Kickin' Hawk form of yours increased your hand-to-hand skills to master class, your reflexes in your other forms are honed from years of experience."
This man's actions threw off Ben. Even though he was always good at reading people from his Anodite side, he was getting next to nothing from the masked individual. "What about it? I've been in the hero business for a while, so what?"
"So what?" the masked man then turns to Ben to stare him down. "It means there is a hidden past about you. As I said earlier, I don't like mysteries. I won't turn you in for being a vigilante or anything. I need to know what I'm working with before accepting you as my intern."
"Your intern?"
"While you are skilled and smart, you are incredibly dense." The stranger points out. "I'm The Number Sixth Hero: Taskmaster."
AN: Taskmaster. I know I'm using a Marvel villain as a hero in this story but don't worry, he is not going to betray Ben. When thinking of someone who would be good at training someone as varied as Ben, the only person I could think of was Tasky due to his Photographic Reflexes.
If you have any comments or critiques, please do so in the reviews.
