"Hold…hold…HOLD!"

"I am holding, Izuku! I literally could not be holding any more than I already am!"

"Not with that attitude, Denki!"

"How about next time, I use you instead of this car!" Denki grits his teeth, holding onto his right arm with his left hand.

It's early in the morning on the day everyone is set to go back to classes, and even though they should probably be sleeping, Izuku and Denki decided for some reason, to get up early and head over to Dagobah Beach for some training beforehand. Demigod powers aren't gonna master themselves.

The only light they had was from the sun barely peeking over the horizon, and Denki's lightning. They had decided to focus on the things they needed the most help with, and for his cousin, it was using his powers without Thunderstrike.

Currently, Denki is trembling as he shoots lighting from his hand at an old rusted car, trying to keep it going as long as he can. "C'mon, Denki! Just a little more to beat your record! You're so close!" Izuku encourages, looking at the stopwatch on his phone.

Denki drops to his knees and yells in frustration, shutting his eyes, his hand shaking more violently than ever.

"And…there it is! You got it!" Izuku shouts in triumph. Denki exhales, letting the lightning die away before falling face forward, dead to the world. "Oh, stop being a baby," Izuku jokes, giving the blond a light tap with his foot.

"When I can move, I'm shooting you with lightning next," Denki retorts through a muffled voice in the sand.

"You already have," Izuku grumbles, plopping next to Denki.

"And you've stabbed me." Denki smirks, sitting up. Izuku helps him back to a sitting position. "I think we're even."

"In my defense, the joke you told was horrendous," Izuku snickers along with Denki.

"Wait, wait, I got another one," Denki groans out, before coughing. Izuku conjures a water bottle and lets the other boy get his fill before continuing. "Why did Loki turn into a train?"

"He can't turn into a train, though?"

"Just say 'why' and stop trying to ruin my joke," Denki laughs, and it quickly turns into another coughing fit.

Izuku allows him to drink more water before, against his better judgment, he asks, "why?…"

"Not sure," Denki shrugs, doing everything he can to contain his smile. "I don't understand his…Loki-motives."

Izuku blinks.

Denki blinks.

Inhaling to control himself, Izuku stands up. "You deserve it, but I won't stab you." He spins around to walk toward the ocean and in the process, 'accidentally' bumps Denki, knocking him back over. "I should really be getting back to my own training."

"Hey!" Denki calls from the ground while Izuku walks to the water. "I can't get up, you dick!"

"You can't?" Izuku fakes sympathy. "I'd help you, but I'm so far away now…"

"It's only a few meters!"

"And growing by the second!" Izuku puts his arm on his forehead, picking up the pace. "I'll let Aizawa-sensei know where you are later!"

"I don't deserve this!"

"I think you'll find you do!"

"Izuku!! This means war!!" Shaking his head at their antics, Izuku reaches where the sand meets the ocean. Taking a deep breath, he stretches, feeling the exercise shorts and shirt that says 'Jet-Ski' under a sweater loosen a little.

'Okay. One more try.'

He takes a few steps back, before sprinting full speed toward the ocean and jumping. Before Izuku can make contact, however, he freezes the water under his foot, just wide and sturdy enough for him to step on it as if it was ground.

With a balance that was learned through many failed attempts, Izuku keeps himself from falling and takes another step forward, freezing the water again under his other foot.

And repeat. Over and over Izuku runs across the water, freezing the spots under his feet just long enough to use his little ice pads as platforms before they melt away.

He's doing it! He's running across the water! This was so cool and freeing! He's never felt so-

His foot slips.

Darn it.

That's the last thing Izuku thinks before his face is met by chilly water. He resurfaces a few seconds later, spitting up water and gasping for air. Well, it ended like all the others, but that was his longest run by far so mission success in his book.

He swims back to shore, laughing a little in his head about how appropriate it was for a 'god' to be able to walk on water. It's when he's walking back on shore, clothes soaked and clinging to him, that he catches Denki's laughter.

"I'll never get tired of seeing you fall face first into the ocean," Denki giggles. Izuku notices he had gotten himself back into a sitting position.

"Laugh all you want." Izuku pulls him onto his feet. "It's good practice if I'm fighting someone by water."

Denki runs a little electricity up his hand. "You could always just throw me into the ocean and I'll take care of the rest."

"We're supposed to capture villains, not fry them like fish sticks." They chortle together for a minute. "How are you feeling?"

"Uh…" Denki rotates his shoulder. "I think I'm…yeah. I think I'm good. Regen is going full force." He notices Izuku's nervous nature starting to creep back in. "You wanna have a go one more time before school?"

Izuku dips his head for yes. Denki gives him a reassuring smile. "Alright, buddy. But let me know if it becomes too much and we'll stop immediately, okay?" Izuku smiles back, thankful for how accommodating Denki has been while helping him. And always willing to go at his pace.

The two demigods take a few steps back from each other, with the sun shining on Izuku's back as it rises behind him. Denki summons Thunderstrike to his hand from where it lay on the ground, spinning it a few times to get ready.

Jumping up and down a few times to psych himself up, Izuku shakes his hands, already starting to feel his palms getting sweaty. He shakes his legs next to help the feeling of his knees getting weak. Oh, good. Now his arms are heavy.

Izuku swallows back the bile in his throat. Calm down, idiot. He didn't want to get vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti was good going down but probably wouldn't be the best coming back up.

There's a green light in his palm as Izuku conjures his weapon and-

He has to place his free hand on his knee to keep from falling as raw power starts to flow through him as smoothly as his own blood.

"You good?!"

Izuku waves him off, giving Denki a thumbs up. He tightens his grip on the scepter. 'I am your master. Not the other way around!' The red light the scepter emits almost seems to glow brighter, as if angry at Izuku's defiance.

Wait, why was he fighting against it? This was a power to use, not to fear. Besides, with it, what would he have to be afraid of? There'd be no force that could stand against him. Nothing that could endanger his friends again if he-

The greenette shakes his head, clearing his mind of the weird thoughts that always fill him when he uses the scepter. Izuku will use it to protect those he cares about. But he'll do it his way.

After inhaling and exhaling slowly, Izuku looks up, readying the scepter to indicate to Denki he's ready. The blond nods, getting into his own fighting stance. Without warning, Izuku charges.

The son of Thor steps to the side and swings Thunderstrike at Izuku's chest, but he falls to his knees, sliding under the attack.

Izuku stands back up and stabs at Denki, but his opponent is quick to smack his scepter away with Thunderstrike. Trading smirks, both boys re-engage. Izuku swipes and stabs at Denki, but his cousin dodges and blocks with his own weapon.

Denki hits Izuku's scepter out of the way, before kicking him in the gut. "Oof!" The verdant takes a few steps back but Denki is on him, using his lightning to enhance his speed. Crap, he can't block in time.

The scepter vibrates in his hand, and Izuku doesn't have to think. Like it's an extension of his hand, he fires a red energy blast, sending Denki sprawling to the ground.

He grins. The scepter is so light now, he can barely feel it. By now, he can feel its power down to his toes, filling out every part of him. Is he stupid? He should be using the scepter more!

It's no different than Denki using Thunderstrike. The other boy can't control the weather on his own, he uses his weapon to do it. Izuku can't fire energy blasts on his own, so why shouldn't he use his scepter? Gods using weapons to help them is nothing new, and he's a god so what's the problem?!

Denki lunges at him, but Izuku intercepts him, moving faster than ever. Fueled by the scepter's power, he attacks repeatedly. Denki has to use his lightning constantly just to keep up with Izuku at this point.

He can feel it. With his new speed and natural agility, he's starting to slowly overtake Denki's moves. Just a little more! In a desperate move, his cousin tries to ram him in the gut, so to dodge, Izuku spins and at the same time, twirls his scepter behind his back. Denki is so caught off-guard, Izuku is able to smack Thunderstrike out of the way.

Yelling in pain after getting cut in the leg, Denki drops to one knee, and Izuku puts the scepter to his head. Something about seeing someone so powerful kneeling in front of him made Izuku's grin widen.

"I win. Maybe we should start including our other powers?" Izuku salivates at the thought, his Sports Festival loss is still fresh, and he'd love nothing more than to make up for it. The scepter pulses a wave of power through him, encouraging his thoughts. He wants, no, needs to prove he can beat Denki.

"Answer me this first." The blue-eyed boy looks up. "Who's in control right now? You? Or…" his eyes trail to the scepter by his head, and it starts to hum in anger.

"What do you mean? Of course it's me! How could-" Izuku's words die. That's right. These thoughts might sound like him, but they're not.

'Calm down!' The scepter glows brighter. 'This power is to help! To save! To help make people laugh! Not for selfish reasons! That's not me!'

"Why couldn't it be?" A hand touches his shoulder, and Izuku turns to see one of his clones grabbing him. "You can save people, while making yourself more powerful than anyone could ever dream to be. What's wrong with that?"

"Izuku…" Denki warns, getting up. "Which clone is that?" It wasn't the first time he had seen one of Izuku's clones touch him while they practiced with the scepter.

"Six," Izuku gulps. "He's, uh, he's hunger."

Denki looks between them. "Yeah, I remember that one. But I just thought he was hungry for food all the time?" He slowly makes his way over to try to put himself between Izuku and the clone.

"That's just the obvious one," Six's laugh is hollow. "There are plenty of things a person can hunger for." His eyes gleam in delight. "Like power."

"That's not me!" Izuku denies.

"Awww." Six runs a thumb across his cheek. "If it wasn't a part of you, Izuku." He leans forward, speaking in a whisper. "Then I wouldn't exist."

Six gasps, letting go of Izuku. They all look down to see a dagger in the clone's gut, put there by a glaring Two. "Shut the fuck up."

Three grabs Six's head from behind and slices his throat, dropping the decoy to the ground, bleeding and spasming. "You should've gone for the throat to start," he lectures Two. "It's a much harder area to recover from. But…" he sighs. "I suppose me going for it after 'your line' was cool too."

"Is…is that normal?" Denki swallows, gesturing to what just happened with the clones.

"Them killing each other? Yes. What Six did? It's rare but…" Izuku trails off.

"Maybe we should stop," Denki suggests.

"No." Izuku immediately shakes his head. "I can go again. Just a little more."

"You sure?"

Izuku hums the affirmative, getting ready. Everything that had just happened had been a good distraction, and he feels like he has control over all of his thoughts again. He can do this!

Denki hesitates, but attacks and Izuku parries. The two go back and forth for a bit, neither landing a hit before Denki, in Izuku's opinion, cheats!

He kicks sand up into Izuku's face, blinding him briefly. Loki's son raises the scepter on reflex and opens his eyes but it's too late. Denki has Thunderstrike raised and is aiming a lighting strike right at him.

Usually, Izuki can dodge Denki's lightning because he can see the boy raising his arms to strike. He uses that time to get out of the way. But with the sand having impaired his vision briefly, Izuku didn't see him preparing the attack.

Even with the speed boost he's getting from his scepter, there is no way he can dodge lightning! So, Izuku does the only thing he can. He braces. The scepter glows in disagreement to his action, and it's like everything is in slow motion.

The lightning erupts from Thunderstrike, intending to strike him, but Izuku can hardly pay it any attention. It's like his scepter is screaming at him to do something. But what can he do?!

'Use it.'

That was…weird. There is a voice inside his head. Now, admittedly, that on its own isn't strange. Izuku has a ton of voices in his head. But what made this one different, is that it's female.

It's a woman, older than him obviously. He feels like he should be freaking out about this but he's oddly calm. When she spoke to him, she wasn't mean. Her voice was soft, with a slight accent to it. It felt like she was trying to guide him more than order him. Kind of like when his own mother is trying to teach him.

He knows she's talking about the scepter. But how-

'Stop trying to fight against the current of power. Let it flow.'

He can't do that! When he does…his thoughts…

"Redirect the power to where you want it to go.'

So instead of constantly pushing back against the scepter's power, he should direct it to what he wants? But what does he want?

The lightning nears.

Izuku lets go. He lets all resistance against the scepter drop, instead choosing to concentrate on what he wants. The glorious purpose that has burdened him his entire life.

To be a hero!

He can still feel the scepter trying to move in its own direction, but for a quick moment, just the smallest amount of time, Izuku's will overcomes the scepter. For the first time, they work as one.

The world comes back into focus. Glowing green lines of magic that flash across his body turn scarlet and before it can hit him, the lightning disappears, turning into a harmless stream of water that splashes Izuku in the face.

Denki's eyes are as wide as dinner plates as he stands frozen in the same position. "How-" he can't finish before all the magic vanishes from Izuku's body and he falls to his side, throwing up onto the sand. "Shit!"

Letting go of Thunderstrike, he races over to Izuku, dropping down and rolling him over completely so the green-haired boy can finish emptying his stomach in a more comfortable position.

After a couple of minutes, Izuku sits up with Denki's help, the boys now in a reverse position from where they were earlier. "You gonna be alright, man? Or should we get you to Recovery Girl?" Denki asks worriedly.

Izuku starts to shake his head, but stops when he feels a stabbing pain. "N…no. I'm fine. I just need a second."

"Okay…" Denki concedes. "But we're done with the scepter for today, got it?" There's no room for argument in his tone.

Stubbornly, that makes Izuku want to argue more, but he just feels drained in every possible way. That doesn't mean he still can't get some cheekiness in there though. "Fine…I'll see you at midnight."

Denki shakes his head fondly. "How did you do that, anyway? You turned my lightning into water, dude! How?!" Izuku peaks down at the scepter still in his hand.

"I'm not sure…"

"Oh." Denki looks around, looking like he's debating something with himself, before shrugging. "We should be heading back to get showered up for class anyway. We can figure out that magic stuff later. You wanna put that thing away?"

"Wait!" Before Izuku can vanish the scepter back to his pocket dimension, he's tackled from behind, being kept upright only by Denki. "Before you do, we never get to do this! Join in guys!" Two yells happily from where he hugs Izuku's back.

"You're on your own with this one." Denki is quick to back away, and with Izuku still recovering, there's no escape for him.

"Dogpile!" Four wraps his arm around Izuku's head and brings him to the ground. Before long, several more clones are joining in, jumping on top of Izuku and laughing.

"Denki! Help!"

"Payback never tasted better."

"Do I have to?" Denki whines. Izuku gives him a pointed look from where he is, while making sure his uniform is straight. He used magic to put it on so of course it is. They stand by Izuku's door, having gone back to his place to shower for the day.

Sighing at the look he's given, his cousin inhales, before a bolt of lightning strikes him from nowhere, and in a flash, he's also wearing his UA uniform. Magic, go figure.

"You did it!" Izuku congratulates him, looking Denki over to make sure everything was right. "You changed clothes with your powers!"

Denki crosses his arms. "I still don't think it was as important to learn that as you said it was."

"You have so much to learn, young Pikachu," Izuku says in an old man's voice, opening the door for them.

"If you turn me into a Pokémon again, I'm gonna send you blasting off," Denki threatens.

"So, you're saying you'd be open to being turned into a monster from Yugioh?" Izuku wonders as they walk out together.

"I didn't say to just switch the card game!"

"You know if we dueled, I could bring the cards to life," Izuku entices, locking the door behind him.

Denki looks ready to say something back, but Izuku's words finally register, "…tell me more."

The two boys talked all the way to the train station, where Denki said, after checking his phone, Uraraka and Tokage would be waiting for them when they got off. Great, hopefully they could all get to school before this rain started.

Unfortunately, after getting on the train, he realizes it's not the rain he should've been worried about.

"It's Denki Kaminari from the Sports Festival! It's him! He won the whole thing!"

"Can I get a picture?!"

"How'd it feel to win?!"

"Wait, who's that next to him?"

"It's the runner-up, Izuku Midoriya!"

"Oh my god, I love your quirk! Turn into me!"

"Could you turn into Midnight?…"

Izuku and Denki are squished together as the train's occupants begin to crowd them, relentlessly asking questions and requesting…well Izuku doesn't want to know why that guy wanted him to turn into Midnight.

They're hounded for autographs and pictures the whole train ride, with every alarm bell Izuku has going off because he is not a fan of this much direct attention. Denki took everything more in stride, but Izuku can see how strained his smile is.

As the train hit more stops and the people started to exit, Izuku thought they'd actually get a break. But as they neared their stop, he found that quickly to not be true.

"Midoriya!" An older girl from another high school rushes him, grabbing onto his arm. It's probably because that's the way she is, but Izuku can't help but think it's so he can't get away. "You were like, totes awesome at the festival!" The blonde girl tells him.

It was then he notices her hat. "You go to Shiketsu?"

She giggles. "I totally do! Name's Camie Utsushimi and illusions are my game!" Camie presses herself closer to him. "You gotta tell me how you pulled off some of those tricks, fam!"

"Uh…" Izuku wants to answer because it'd be rude not to, but she happens to be very close to him and he still wasn't exactly at his best when that happened. He glances over to see if Denki can help him, but it looks like another girl from Shiketsu is trying to get a picture with him.

"That ice stuff you did was kinda lame, t-b-h," Camie rambles while the train reaches their stop and opens its doors. "Your illusions are based! We should get together! I bet we could show each other some slayin' moves, then get back and flex on our classes, what do ya say?"

…what?

A startled yell from Denki interrupts Izuku's very confused thought, but before he can figure out what it was, he feels himself being pulled harshly by his backpack out of the train.

"So sorry to interrupt, but these boys got places to be." Tokage glares at the Shiketsu girls, positioning Denki behind her.

"Maybe you should learn to keep your hands to yourself." Uraraka shares Tokage's glare as their classmates stare down the other girls until the doors close.

"What's going on?" Izuku whispers.

"I'll tell you when you're older," Denki whispers back.

After whatever that was, the four of them walked, well more like ran, to UA to get there before the impending storm started its downpour. Izuku had something he wanted to do before class, so they had made sure to get there with plenty of time before the first bell.

Izuku and Uraraka separated from Denki and Tokage when they got to school, with the latter heading to the classrooms and Izuku leading Uraraka to one of the gyms.

"Are you sure you don't mind helping me with a prank after class?" Izuku asks, rubbing the back of his head.

"Of course not, Deku!" Uraraka beams. "Truth be told, I'm feeling a little tired, so that'll be just the thing to wake me up!"

"Okay, if you're sure." Izuku laughs before looking at the storm outside the window. He and Uraraka hadn't talked much since…were they?…

She seemed to be in a good mood, so maybe he'll just ask? Worse comes to worst, he can just ask his dad to get him off-planet. With his foolproof plan in place, Izuku turns back to Uraraka.

"Are we-"

They realize at the same time they had both spoken.

"Sorry-" they start again.

"You go-"

The two teens stare at each other before breaking into small laughter over not being able to get a sentence out. "Sorry," Izuku is finally able to get out. Pink dusts his cheeks. "About the other night…"

Uraraka looks away from him, her face going red too. "Yeah…"

"Areweokay?" Izuku says way too quickly, but he had no choice! If he didn't get it out then, he might've lost the nerve to ask.

"What?" She seems shocked at his question. "That's what I was going to ask you!"

"Really?!"

"Yes!"

"I…" Wait, where were they? "So, we were both going to ask?"

"I think so?" Uraraka scratches the side of her head.

"Is that a good thing?" He scrunches up his face in confusion.

"I don't know? I guess it means we're both on the same page?" Uraraka tries to reason.

"This book is so confusing!" Izuku cries. "So since we're both wondering if we're okay, that means we are?"

Uraraka makes a face like she's solving a very complicated math problems before shaking her head and nodding. "You know what? I'm not gonna overthink it and just say yes, we're okay. Oh! And here!" She reaches into her jacket pocket and pulls out the gloves he had given her that night.

Izuku sighs in relief. "That's great! I'm happy we're ok. And thanks, but you can keep them if you want?" Izuku offers.

"I couldn't-"

"I have plenty of spares," Izuku reassures her with a smile, which seems to calm her.

"Alright. Thanks, Deku," she says genuinely, causing his heart to beat a little faster.

Feeling better about the situation with his best friend, Izuku and her enter the gym they were headed to- and he has to immediately brace before something very big collides with him.

"Ah! Hey! Yes, yes, it's great to see you too!" Izuku giggles while Nomu laid on its back next to him and nuzzled its face into his jacket. "Have you been good for Eri?" Nomu chirps, roughly pushing itself against him. "Haha, I missed you too!"

"Mido!" Izuku was able to much better prepare for Eri's incoming hug. She gives him a big squeeze before letting go and looking him over. "You're not still hurt, are you? Because I'll put you in timeout for so long if you hurt yourself again!"

"Don't worry, sweety." Uraraka soothes the little girl, putting her arm on Izuku's shoulder. "I've been keeping an eye on him. If he even thinks about being a dummy, I'll drag him back here by his ear so we can yell at him together."

"Yay!" Eri claps before hugging Uraraka. "I knew I could count on you!" On the one hand, Izuku couldn't be happier they've been getting along so well. On the other hand, he can't help but pout that it's at his expense.

Nomu makes a tiny whine and Izuku obliges it, scratching it under the beak.

"Mido! Look at what I've been practicing," Eri tells him excitedly, before running up to Nomu. "Nomy! Throw me, please!"

The bio-engineered weapon stands up and picks up Eri carefully. With gracefulness it should not have, Nomu turns around…and tosses Eri high up in the air toward the wall.

"Weeeee!!" Eri laughs while she soars through the air. Just before she hits the wall, she extends one of her wrist blades and stabs it into the cement, keeping her in place.

Extending her second blade, she stabs it into the wall, higher than her other hand, and with this technique, she begins to climb even higher. "Do you see me, Mido? Do you see what I'm doing?!"

"I do!" Izuku waves at her from the ground. "Is that Eri up there or Spider-Man?"

"I'm Spider-Eri!" She yells back.

"My mistake!" Izuku apologizes. "And you're doing such a good job! But…how do you get down?"

"That's easy! Nomy! Trust fall!" Eri kicks off the wall, retracting her blades and letting gravity take her. Uraraka reacts on instinct, using her quirk on herself and getting ready to intercept, but Nomu is faster.

In a blink of an eye, Nomu is in the air, cradling a laughing Eri, before landing safely and depositing the unicorn onto the ground.

"Ta-da!" Eri poses.

"That was so cool!" Izuku hugs her. "I mean, you gave me a dozen heart attacks, but great job!"

"Only a dozen?" Eri asks sadly. "I'll have to try harder next time…" Izuku gives Uraraka a look when she chuckles.

Arriving at the classroom, it seems, like he and Denki, most of them had been recognized on their way to school because of the festival. Some, like Toru, reveled in the attention. While others, like Tenko, look like they wanted to die from it. Izuku knows which side he's on.

With less than five minutes until the bell, Iida walked into the classroom. The fact he wasn't there at least thirty minutes earlier was a red flag in itself. Izuku pretends to listen to Mina but keeps an eye on his friend as he makes his way to his desk. He looks rigid, which isn't saying much, but it's more rigid than usual.

Is it possible for someone to look naturally rigid? Casually rigid? Izuku isn't sure but whatever it is, that's what Iida is. Or was. Because now, he looks as if he's trying to be stiff and it's not working.

Izuku walks carefully over. How does he start this? Hey Iida, how was your weekend? No, no, that's bad. It's obvious how it was. Does he ask him how his brother is or is that too much? But if he doesn't ask, will that make it seem like he doesn't care? Why does social interaction have so many rules?!

Far too quickly, he's at Iida's desk. "Uh. Hey, Iida. About-"

"If it's about my brother, there's nothing to worry about, Midoriya," Iida replies shortly, but with a small smile. "He is doing well, and I'm fine. There's nothing to worry about."

It seems like Iida is telling the truth…at least mostly. If Izuku had to guess, the part that's making the back of his head itch is the "I'm fine" part. But his brother was just attacked and is most likely not gonna walk again, who would be fine after something like that? Especially after only a couple of days.

To be honest, Izuku admires him for just being able to come into class. He's pretty sure no one would've blamed him if he decided not to. Izuku certainly wouldn't have. "Okay, Iida. But I'm always available if you need to talk. As class President, or as a friend."

"I appreciate that very much Midoriya and will keep that in mind. Thank you."

Izuku returns to his seat just in time for Aizawa to settle the class with his presence alone. It looked like they were going to talk about the festival. And their internships! Aizawa pushes a button, and the order of those who got the most invitations are displayed.

He won't lie, seeing his name toward the bottom of the top five is a bit disappointing, but Izuku guesses he shouldn't be surprised. People have always gravitated toward flashy, offensive quirks. Denki, Todoroki, and Kacchan being the top three attest to that.

Still, it seems like most of them got offers. Izuku snickers at Tenko's face of pure shock at the amount of heroes who want to work with him. Sure, he's in the bottom half of the class, which is stupid because he finished top four, but he still received a decent amount of attention. The blue-haired boy looks down at his hands and up to the board constantly.

Aizawa tells them they have one last thing to do before they could look at the offers, however. And that's when chaos broke out as Midnight walked in, announcing it is time to pick out their hero names. But she wasn't alone.

"Hello!" A man Izuku had met once or twice greets them happily while bowing. "I am Piotr Rasputin, member of the American hero team, the X-Men. I am a new TA here at UA and will be assisting Midnight with the picking of your hero names. You may call me by my own codename, Colossus, if you wish."

"We look forward to the insight you'll provide!"

"That's definitely the right name!"

"Oh, no. He's hot…"

Izuku loves Piotr! The man is the definition of a teddy bear. Sweet, caring, and always willing to help with a smile. Until he fought. Then that Teddy became a grizzly and your only hope was to hide. Not even Izuku's daggers made from Uru metal could pierce the hero's metal skin. Suffice it to say, he had never fared well in their spars.

But when had he gotten hired? Did Uncle Logan get hired as well? It didn't look like the hero had noticed him yet. Either that, or he was adhering to what Izuku had asked Logan to do while in Japan and pretend not to know him.

And what about their sensei? Is he a really just gonna let- oh. Aizawa is already in his sleeping bag. It's honestly impressive how fast he can slip into that thing.

"Enough gossip!" Midnight scolds them. "It's time to get down and dirty!" She passes out white boards to each of them, and it's not until Izuku is holding his own does he realize the problem.

He hadn't thought of a hero name.

Sure, there were names he had thought of when he was younger like Mighty Boy, The Trickster, and All Prank. But those wouldn't work anymore. C'mon…think!

While he does, others start to present. "I cannot stop twinkling!" Aoyama announces proudly.

"It's certainly unique," Midnight giggles.

"It is," Piotr agrees. "What is your goal as a hero, young man?"

"For people to be dazzled by my sparkles and for villains to be blinded by it!" Aoyama answers flamboyantly.

"I see." Piotr puts a hand to his chin. "Have you considered a shorter name that expresses this same desire to not stop twinkling? Such as glimmer, shimmer, radiant?"

Aoyama gasps. "That is magnifique! Radiant is perfect! I shall be, the hero who cannot stop twinkling: Radiant!"

"It's so cute, I love it!" Midnight hugs herself and Piotr smiles, agreeing as well.

And so they went, with the class giving off their names one by one. Cellophane, Earphone Jack, Tentacole, Sugarman, Anima, and Tailman were all approved with no problems. Kirishima received a lot of encouragement for his name, Red Riot.

"King Explosion Murder!"

"Denied," both Piotr and Midnight say at the same time.

Froppy is so well received that the class starts chanting the name. Tsukuyomi is cool. And Izuku is a big fan of Uravity. But he may be a little biased.

"Hmm…" Midnight hums. "I'm unsure if I can approve of Alien Queen…"

Mina looks distraught, but it's Piotr to the rescue. "If I may Ms. Midnight. There is a rich history of those with what the public would consider less than heroic names doing well. Ghost Rider, Blade, Punisher, and the Moon Knight were all able to prove those people wrong. Why, even your own current hero, Gang Orca, is a good example of this, no?"

Midnight thinks it over a little more, with Mina giving her the biggest puppy dog eyes she can manage. "You're lucky you're cute." She smirks at Piotr. "Alien Queen is approved!"

"Yes!!" Mina pumps her fist into the air before running over to her new TA. "Thank you, thank you! And for the record, I think you and Midnight would be great together!"

"It is no problem," Piotr laughs nervously. "But I am already in a happy relationship."

"Momma loves a challenge." Midnight licks her lips.

"You are in a classroom full of children," a yellow caterpillar mumbles from the ground.

"Better they hear these things from me, Shota, and not some sexual deviant."

Aizawa chooses not to comment.

Yaomomo places her board shyly in front of her. "I had something else in mind when we started this exercise, but I've decided to be a little more creative, so I've chosen, The Creation Hero: Genesis."

"Love it!"

Izuku is a little sad to see how unsure Tenko looks when he walks up, ultimately choosing to use his name, Tenko, as his codename for now. Todoroki ends up doing the same. He'll have to help them.

The next board is slammed triumphantly down. "Lord Explosion Murder!"

"No!"

"Invisible Girl?" Piotr questions Toru's name when she presents. "That almost sounds like-"

"I know!" She says quickly. "When I was younger, I was looking up heroes who could turn invisible and I fell in love with the Invisible Woman from that old American hero team! I know I can't turn it off like she can…but I still looked up to her and want to be the best hero I can be!"

That actually gives Izuku an idea, but he'll have to ask Toru about it later.

"How can we say no after such a passionate speech?!" Midnight hugs Piotr, shaking the blushing man. "Approved!"

Denki takes a deep breath as he steps in front of the class, before flipping his board.

"Raikou?" Midnight squints at the board. "That's another name for the Japanese God of Thunder, isn't it?"

"That's right!" Denki gives her a thumbs up. "I know with a name like this I have…" He looks at Izuku. "I have big shoes to fill… but I'm up to the challenge!"

"The Thunder Hero: Raikou, it is! I love your teen spirit!"

With Iida choosing to use his name as his codename as well, just another person to add to Izuku's list, it's with horror that Izuku realizes it's down to him and Kacchan for hero names.

"Darth Explosion Murder!"

"That's a bad guy name, why would we say yes?!"

What should he choose?! His first instinct is to go with 'Deku.' With the way Uraraka changed the meaning of the name for him, it'd make sense. But at the same time, it's not completely him.

There was a whole other side to Izuku, his demigod half, that the name just didn't cover. No, he needed a name that he felt could describe him, all of him, to others when he arrived on a scene. A hero who wanted to make people laugh.

Izuku stands on shaky legs and walks up to the front without anything on his board. What describes him?! And why was this so hard?! Why couldn't he just use-

It clicks so fast, Izuku wants to slap himself in the face. It's so obvious, he's embarrassed it took him this long to think of it. His dad can never know.

He's quick to write his choice down on the board and flip it around for the class to see. Denki immediately bursts out laughing. "Yeah, that fits! You guys have no idea!"

Even Piotr has to cough to cover up his laugh. Okay, he remembers him after all. Izuku even hears him mumble, "of course."

"It's not bad, but it is a little silly." Midnight mulls it over.

"It's perfect for Midori!" Mina chimes in. "Remember the Quirk tests on the first day?" There's a groan from the caterpillar.

"Yeah!" Toru agrees. "And what he did at the battle trials! There's no better way to describe it!"

Others share their approval around the room with Tsu nodding in agreement, Tenko giving him a thumbs up, and Uraraka's smile letting him know how she felt about it.

Midnight gives in. "It appears the decision has been made for me. Approved!"

Izuku smiles, holding the board proudly. This is it. His biggest step to being a hero. And he couldn't be more excited to be…

The Prankster Hero: Mischief