Across Japan
News outlets were covering the USJ Incident which saw everyone paying attention.
"Now for an update on yesterday's USJ Incident. Class 1-A of UA were attacked by a gang of Villains calling themselves The League of Villains. Investigators have reportedly discovered this group has been plotting to kill All Might since spring of this year.
Police arrested seventy-four Villains; however, it seems these were not all their members. Just last night, as the Villains were being transported, the convoy was attacked. Three Villains, one of which was the leader, were freed. Their whereabouts are unknown."
UA: Meeting Room, Night…
Naomasa was meeting with members of the faculty as he had a report. "Our investigators are attempting to learn all they can on this so called 'League of Villains'. We've made some progress, but we haven't found any information on Shigaraki.
We've searched our records for men in their twenties or thirties, who are registered with any form of disintegration Quirk, but we've only come up empty. We've ran similar checks on Kurogiri and Nomu. The former is like the leader while the latter has leads.
He was a priority for DNA collection and his Quirk Factor; however, there is a lot to unravel. I'd rather bring him to your attention once all information is accounted for. Unfortunately, we have nothing, save the vines used to suspend the trucks and crimson red portals for their rescuers."
"What you're really saying is we know very little." Vlad summarized.
"We've got to track them down," Snipe declared. "With three of the biggest threats freed, and at minimum two extra allies, they're bound to try something again."
"The remaining seventy-one Villains these allies of the three didn't bother to save are small time thugs who usually lurk in back alleys. We've also taken precautions against the now two warp Quirks at their disposal." Naomasa continued.
"What worried me is that one man got them all to follow him. They viewed him as a real leader. As it stands, the world is brimming with Heroes which puts pressure on criminals. Perhaps that is why they were fine with backing such a plan."
"There are plenty of people out there looking for a cause to get behind." Snipe stated.
"So, what can we do to stop them?" Midnight asked.
"Well, it is thanks to you Heroes that we have the time to devote to this case." Naomasa informed. "We'll expand our investigations and continue searching for the perpetrators."
Midoriya Residence
School had been closed today to give the students a little break, but it was tough for many to relax. One such case was Izuku who had been watching All Might's first appearance on loop while working out. He was currently lifting a dumbbell.
"I'm still so far away from becoming a real Hero." His mind turned to the USJ incident. "During the attack, the only one of us not to slow the Heroes down was Salazar. If it wasn't for him, our teachers, and All Might, we never would have stood a chance.
To truly oppose evil, I must make All Might's power my own. I need to embody One for All and master every aspect of it until it's second nature to me. Hopefully, Salazar will accept becoming my training partner. Given how he's helped me before, I know he can help me now."
His mom knocked. "Izuku?"
"Yeah?" Izuku responded.
"Dinner time." Inko opened the door. "Your food is getting cold."
Salazar Residence
After dinner, where Rex wolfed down food, Caesar brought him to his room. With this day off from school, the elder Salazar had stuck around to work with his brother on the newest build. Now, he was prepared to go over the results.
"I've compiled the scans on this new 'Full Evo' build, as you call it, but I couldn't find a solution to control it." Caesar informed. "Despite being more powerful than any prior build, hence the stamina drain on top of the hunger, it nothing we haven't seen from your prior builds."
"Looks like the only solution will be to work at it." Rex stated. "I got lucky Nomu was persistent; otherwise, my mind could have slipped, and I might have gone rouge. Considering the situation, a rouge build with power comparable to Nomu would have been bad."
"Beyond the issue of control, I did manage to see something the various times I scanned you." Caesar declared. "It seemed as though you were attempting to build your prior builds over top of Full Evo. I theorize this would then up their power given the new base."
"Really?" Rex asked. "Well, why didn't one appear when I used it at the USJ or today…at least, I don't recall that happening."
"You'd be right in that no build appeared over it." Caesar stated. "I think that has to do with the fact you're out of sync. Essentially, builds wanted to be built, but they were all fighting for it. To put it another way, it's like Full Evo was only operating at fifty percent efficiency.
Once your mind and build are in sync, it'll be at one hundred percent capacity. Though, it might be hard then to get builds down over top of it at that point. The reason they wanted to be built now is due to the lack of control you had over your own nanites."
"I'm following, but how should I go about actually controlling Full Evo?" Rex asked.
"Pushing your body to accept more builds might be a step in the right direction." Caesar reasoned. "Up until now, you've only made one build. In essence, there should be nothing preventing you from making two builds at a time.
Though, unlike how Full Evo seems, no other build can be built atop one another. That would mean Smack Hands with Big Fat Sword would be off the table, but Smack Hands with Punk Busters should, in theory, be possible given they appear over different body parts."
"Even if this doesn't get me closer to properly controlling Full Evo, two builds at a time would be big." Rex smiled. "Heck, if I could have done that, I might not have needed Full Evo." He nodded. "Alright, that's my next step."
Outside UA: Morning…
Rex stepped onto the school grounds only for All Might to rush up to him. "I am here to see my heroic student!"
"All Might." Rex smiled.
"I'm glad to see you have been doing well for yourself, young Salazar." All Might declared proudly. "You put up what I'm told was quite the fight against Nomu and managed to contain him long enough for me to arrive. Beyond that, you backed your teacher and saved him too. Take pride in what you did, especially in the face of something many pros would have run from."
"Thank you, sir." Rex smiled. "That means a lot, coming from you."
"You are welcome." All Might replied with an enthusiastic thumbs-up. "I had wished to do this sooner, but things have been busy. Now, I must take my leave."
All Might rushed off in a hurry while Rex smiled and walked up to the entrance.
Class 1-A:
"Hey guys, did you catch the news last night?" Mina asked.
"Yeah, we all got a little screen time." Kirishima responded. "Though, I don't think that compares to how people were talking about our class rep once word got out about him."
"While it is cool to be talked about, almost getting killed to obtain that power isn't exactly the best." Rex thought
"We're totally big deals." Denki declared. "Those news channels love us to the point we're basically celebrities."
"Get over yourselves." Kyoka butted in. "The Hero Course that pumps out pros was attacked, and that's what they care about."
"Yeah, who knows what would have happened to us had the teachers not shown up." Hanta agreed.
"Morning class." Aizawa voiced as he entered the room. "Today, I'm here to tell you that your fight isn't over yet."
"Our fight?" Bakugo repeated.
"Don't tell me." Izuku started.
"More bad guys." Rex got serious.
"The U.A. Sports Festival is one month away." Aizawa declared.
"Should have figured given this isn't the first time he's pulled something like this." Rex thought.
The news exited the class and got rid of whatever tension there was.
"Let's go kick some ass!" Eijiro cheered before getting his face pressed by Denki's hand.
"Wait a second." Kaminari interjected.
"Is it really such a good idea to hold the Sports Festival so soon after the Villains snuck inside?" Jiro asked.
"They could attack once we're all in the same place." Ojiro pointed out.
"Apparently, administration thinks this is a good way to show the threat has been handled and our school is safer than ever." Aizawa informed. "Plus, they're beefing up security, compared to past years. This event is a huge opportunity for all students at UA. It's not something we can cancel because of a few Villains.
Our Sports Festival is one of the most watched events in the world. In the past, everyone was obsessed over the Olympic Games, but then Quirks started appearing. Now, the Olympics have been drastically reduced in terms of scale and viewership. For anyone who cares about competition, there's only one tournament that matters. The UA. Sports Festival."
"That's right." Momo agreed. "Top Heroes everywhere will be watching.
It's also where one gets scouted." Itsuka added. "After graduating, a lot of people join Pro Agencies as a Sidekick."
"Yeah, but that's as far as some people go." Kyoka remarked. "They miss their chance to go indie and stay eternal sidekicks."
"It's true that joining a famous Hero Agency can garner greater experience and popularity." Aizawa confirmed. "That's why the festival matters. If you want to go Pro, this event can open a path for you. One chance a year, three chances in a lifetime, no aspiring Hero can afford to miss this Festival. That means you better not slack off on your training."
"Yes sir." The class declared in unison.
"Class is dismissed." Aizawa informed as the bell sounded. "Salazar, when lunch comes, meet me in the hall. I want to talk with you."
"Sure thing." Rex answered.
Hallway: Lunch…
Rex walked out of the classroom as everyone started talking animatedly about the coming Sports Festival. In truth, he was just as excited about such an opportunity. It was just that much more motivation to work on his Quirk.
As he entered the hall, he spotted his homeroom teacher. "You wanted to see me?"
"Indeed, I did." Aizawa nodded. "I wanted to touch base on what happened at the USJ. Despite it being reckless, I thank you for fighting by my side. Without your help, worse could have befallen me than decay around my elbow."
"It was no problem." Rex smiled.
"Also, what was that build you ended on with Nomu?" Aizawa asked.
"I've come to call it Full Evo." Rex answered. "That Nomu had me dead to rites until my Quirk kicked in. I will admit, I didn't have the control you might have thought. I had to concentrate fully on 'Stop Nomu'; otherwise, I know I'd have slipped."
"I see." Aizawa put a hand on his shoulder. "Then, work hard to control this new build to prevent that potential."
The teacher then dropped his hand and walked off leaving Rex to smile. "Well, looks like leaping in gave our teacher a positive opinion of me." He started to walk away . "Now, time for lunch."
"Wait up, my man!" Denki called out.
Mina added. "Yeah, don't head to lunch without us!"
The pair had wanted to stay and gab with the other students a bit about the Sports Festival before ultimately leaving in hopes of being able to join their friend. Fortunately, it seemed they had left Class 1-A just in time as the group now walked off together.
"So, what are everyone's hopes by competing in the Sports Festival?" Mina asked, curiously and more to make conversation.
"I'll be aiming for number one." Rex smirked. "If my goal is to show I can be the next Symbol of Peace, then taking the gold is the way to go."
"After hanging around you two, as well as seeing how I've done up to now, I'm planning on the Sports Festival being my proving ground." Denki declared. "Just you two wait. This coming month is going to shape a whole new Denki Kaminari."
"Don't go changing too much." Mina winked. "While getting stronger is great, especially since we're training together, I do like the Denki we got now."
She kissed him on the cheek making Kaminari grin.
"For the record, I like who you are well but don't expect a kiss from me." Rex smirked. "Don't exactly like you in that way, my dude."
It was only natural Rex would be the first to find out his friends hooked up, and he wasn't bothered by it. Sure, he had thought of Mina as cute, but that didn't mean he had immediately wanted to date the girl. Besides, he liked having her as a friend.
"Feelings mutual, my man." Denki retorted. "Anyways, you haven't answered your own question, Mina."
"I suppose it'd be some combination of what you two want to achieve." Mina voiced with a smile. "I want to see how far I can go and hopefully attract the eyes of a great agency to help me on the path of being a Hero."
No doubt their classmates each had their own reasons and aspirations for the Sports Festival. Even though some of those would have to be crushed, everyone was aiming to give their best.
Teacher's Lounge
Izuku had left class with Tenya and Ochaco where they talked over the latter's reasons for being a Hero. She wanted to be licensed to help her parent's construction company, but they wanted her to shoot for her own dream.
That essentially solidified her goal of becoming a pro, signing with a good agency, and making plenty of money to help her parents have an easy life. Not long after learning this, All Might arrived inviting Izuku to lunch.
"Only eighty minutes?" Izuku questioned as they sat down to have tea.
"Yeah, that's about how long I can use my power now." Toshinori informed. "I overextended to ensure the USJ was cleared, so my time dipped from the three hours I could have managed. Beyond that, I brought you here to talk about the festival.
More specifically, about One for All. Given how busy everything was, I wasn't able to discuss with you the fact that I was there to see Aizawa's Quirk Apprehension. I observed that after your talk with Salazar, you were using the Quirk at a lower level."
"Yeah, that's right." Midoriya nodded. "Thanks to him, I realized I was attempting to utilize One for All only on the body part I needed. By forcing all that power into one limb, I was unable to effectively regulate it, but his advice led to my body able to handle three percent.
I'm certain I could go percentiles further, but those would start to wear on my body with higher ones breaking me. Over the coming month, I was thinking of seeing if Salazar would be my training partner to help improve on what I can handle."
"Good to know you have a solid plan in mind." Toshinori stood and approached a window. "To be frank, I don't have much time left as the world's Symbol of Peace. Soon, I'll need to put that tittle to bed."
Izuku had grabbed the tea and looked at it sadly. "No way…"
"Some Villains are starting to take notice." Toshinori stated. "Someone will need to step up and keep the people safe." He turned to his successor. "I gave you my power for one reason…" He clenched his fist. "…because you will be the Hero who takes my place. Do you still feel how you did the day we met? Do you still want to be a Hero?"
"Yes." Izuku answered firmly.
"Excellent, then the time has come for you to prove it." Toshinori declared firmly. "This Sports Festival is something the entire country will be watching closely, and I want you to think of it as your debut. You are the fledgling Symbol of Peace. The next All Might."
Class 1-A:After School…
The day was over; however, Class 1-A couldn't quite leave since students from the other classes were crowding around their door.
"Why the heck are you all here?" Ochaco asked.
"They're scouting out the competition." Katsuki informed while walking up to the crowd. "We're the class that survived a real Villain attack, so they want to see us with their own eyes."
"Let's just hope he doesn't scold anybody." Izuku muttered.
"At least now you know what a future pro looks like." As if Izuku had jinxed the situation, Bakugo was scolding them. "Now, move it extras."
Iida did not like that comment. "You can't go around calling people extras just because you don't know who they are!"
Then, a new voice spoke up. "So, this is class 1-A." They slowly moved to the front of the crowd. "I heard you guys were impressive, but you just sound like an ass. Is everyone in the Hero Course delusional or just you?"
Tenya, Ochaco, and Midoriya were all shaking their heads in denial while Bakugo looked down on the boy who just insulted him. "How sad to come here and find a bunch of egomaniacs. I wanted to be in the Hero Course, but like many, I was forced to choose a different track.
Such is life. I didn't cut it the first time around, but I have another chance. If any of us do well in the sports festival, the teachers can decide to transfer us into the Hero Course, and they'll have to transfer people out to make room.
Scouting competition? Maybe some of my peers are, but I'm here to let you know that if you don't bring your very best, I'll steal your spot right from under you. Consider this a declaration of war."
Rex now got up from his seat and began walking towards the crowd.
As he did, another voice spoke up and sounded a bit aggressive. "Hey, I'm from class 1-B next door! We heard you fought some Villains, and I came to see if that was true. In the end, you think you're better than us! Talk all you want! It'll just be more embarrassing when you're beat!"
Katsuki was about to walk away without acknowledging him, but Rex got in front of the guy. He wasn't doing this for Bakugo, but for the sake of the rest of the class.
"Gonna try and defend your friend, you little punk!?" The 1-B student yelled out.
"Nah, I actually wanted to say sorry about him." Rex chuckled. "Our resident Pomeranian gets cranky without his nap."
That comment made Bakugo grit his teeth while most of 1-A, as well as students in the hall, chuckled. The 'Pomeranian' pushed himself past Rex, through the crowd, and out the hall. While some of their classmates acknowledged that, the crowd kept their attention to the class rep.
Rex looked at the crowd. "To those of you who are here, I acknowledge you've worked hard, whether you made it into 1-B or not. I can respect people who work hard to achieve their dreams, and I'll look forward to competing against all of you."
The purple haired guy looked at Rex with confusion. "I declare war on your class, yet you're honored to compete against me?"
"On our first day as Class 1-A, we were tested to keep our place." Rex stated. "Perhaps 1-B even knows about this since students were shuffled." He smiled. "My point is, 1-A already understands that maintaining our place here is a struggle.
With this being another time where we must defend them, I know every one of us are about to train harder than we already intended to. All of this is to say, I welcome every one of you to give it your best because we'll be giving ours right back at ya."
Rex's words made the people look at him in a different light. Unlike Bakugo, he was supporting them giving their best while defending his class in one, fell swoop. This gave the crowd more determination to give their best, but also imbued them with some respect for Class 1-A's rep.
Hallways
The crowd now cleared a path, so Rex waved his class forward. "Let's bounce everyone."
As they walked through the crowd, Denki moved to his friend's right side. "There you go inspiring people once again." He patted his back. "This time, you ended up diffusing the bad blood Bakugo was building to."
"Plus, that speech was mainly." Kirishima complimented.
"Yeah, you were great." Midoriya caught up to him on his left. "Also, I was hoping you could talk with me once we're out of the crowd."
"Sure, we can talk." Rex responded before breaking them off from the rest of the class. "Let's get somewhere less crowded first."
That's exactly what the pair did by finding a nice, quiet corridor away from everyone.
"Salazar, I want to propose we take our current trade of knowledge and extend it into becoming official training partners." Izuku declared. "I know you're far ahead of me, but I promise to give my all in catching up. If we trained in person, I know I could help you more with your Quirk."
"Well, getting in early with you should guarantee a truly tough training partner down the road." Rex grinned before sticking out his hand. "I'll agree, but this means we should drop the formalities, Izuku."
Izuku smiled and shook the offered hand. "Right, Rex."
Training Facility Beta: Two Weeks Later, Day…
The sounds of combat echoed throughout Training Facility Beta as Rex and Izuku exchanged heavy blows with one another. The longer they spared, the more confidence and speed they gained.
"Nice footwork!" Izuku panted as he sidestepped a kick from his friend before grabbing the extended limb and using it to flip Rex. "Though, I'm not worn down enough for that to work!"
Rex managed to get his hands on the ground, salvaging the fall, before springing off them to plant his feet firmly into his friend's stomach. Izuku gasped out air as Rex followed through planting his body on the ground. He then got off.
"Forgot…how…tenacious…you…can…be." Midoriya grunted.
"It's one of my best traits." Rex wiped some sweat off his brow before moving to help the boy up. "Now that we've pretty much been beating the snot out of each other for two weeks, I think it's high time we move onto Quirk training."
"Rally!?" Izuku asked excitedly.
From the day they agreed to be training partners, the pair had come to this building where they trained. All this time, they resolved to stick to physical combat, training, and talking shop on Quirks. Both were and would benefit from this training.
If you were counting before, Rex was crucial in Izuku developing Full Cowling. As for where things stood now, Salazar was strong to the point there was benefit to training with him. Rex wasn't being stiffed. After all, Izuku was the most knowledgeable person he knew on Quirks.
Through this knowledge, Rex was picking up plenty of tips and tricks for his builds. He was also hedging his bets on Izuku one day reaching a level of strength where they could spar their Quirks against one another.
None of this mentioned the fact that both their Quirks benefited, in slightly different ways, from their users being physically stronger. The fact that they were going at it as they had meant there was a net positive for the two of them.
"Sounds like a plan, especially with the Sports Festival two weeks away now." Izuku voiced. "If we don't step it up, both of us might end up regretting it. Though, I don't see you having any problems given you kept pace with Nomu."
"Still don't have the control I'd want from that build." Rex reminded him. "It'd be too much of a risk to bust out against our classmates. Without it, I'd say there's potential for close calls against people like Todoroki, maybe Bakugo, and whoever the strong are in other classes."
"Alright, you've told me your current goal is to have two builds active at the same time, so I guess that's what you should be focusing on at this time." Izuku voiced.
"Yeah, I've been working on it at home, but I still haven't got it down quite yet." Rex smiled. "I'm fairly confident I could have it by the Sports Festival though. As for you, what's your max time in full cowling, and how does it feel after using it?"
"Uhm, I guess it'd be that Basic Hero Training we did after I was left with Bakugo." Izuku stated. "I also feel roughly like I would normally without using it…you know, aside from being a little stronger and faster."
"I think that was at roughly the ten-minute mark, but if it's not straining you, there's nothing to gain." Rex voiced. "If you really want to train it, push the percentile to whatever strains you and adapt to that instead. When it comes to Quirks, they can usually be worked like a muscle."
"That makes sense." Izuku realized.
So, the pair separated to work on their Quirks. At this point, Rex could generate two builds; however, it took immense concentration and effort. The first build obviously came as they usually do, but the second immediately after was proving troublesome.
Between the concentration and effort, it appeared too slow at this stage to be viable. Sure, he could hide somewhere to manage it, but that was a risk he didn't want to take. Especially if someone was relentless like Bakugo could be.
As for Midoriya. "Full Cowling: 5%." He went this far because it had previously been the most straining without the potential for breaking him; however, he realized this felt how 3% had meaning his body must have adjusted better from these last two weeks. "Full Cowling: 8%."
There was the strain he was looking for. This is where Izuku decided to settle for his training. He began working out with pushups, sit ups, and so on. Then he'd transition into running and swinging his fist and legs to get used to it.
UA: Late Evening…
Nightfall was nearing as the two youths left the building and stared down the path off school grounds.
"Thanks for helping me make it this far, Rex." Midoriya smiled. "I promise I'll do what I can to repay your kindness."
"You already have and are doing enough." Rex pulled out some jerky and started munching on it. "Far as I see it, our training is mutually beneficial."
Japan Streets
"Hey guys, wait for us!" Denki called out.
They stopped just outside the school gate and turned to see Ashido, Uraraka, and Kaminari, who looked every bit as tired as the two boys felt, jogging up to them. Ochaco ended up joining the couple in their training. While Denki and Mina were together, their training was strictly that.
As such, Uraraka was a welcome addition. She could give Mina targets for her acid while Denki received evasion training by standing under a myriad of things, she made float and had to avoid them as she stopped her Quirk.
"Hey, how was your training today?" Midoriya asked.
"If I throw any more acid, I think I'm going to melt myself." Ashido groaned as she leaned on Kaminari. "Can you just carry me all the way to the bus station?"
Despite being tired himself, Kaminari gave his girlfriend a smile. "Alright, hop on my back."
"Yes!" Mina exclaimed before doing just that. "Best boyfriend ever!"
"What about you two?" Uraraka asked. "Made any progress?"
This was a rather common affair by this point. Sometimes everyone would answer when asked by the other side about their training, and at other times it'd only be one or two of them.
"Yeah, I realized Full Cowling's limit has increased to a comfortable 5%, so now I'm going to see about pushing that further in time for the Sports Festival." Izuku declared happy he was making tangible progress, no matter how small it might have seemed.
"I think our prior training these past two weeks helped me reach a break through on making two builds at a time." Rex added. "Now that we've added Quirk Training, I'm going to keep pushing it in time to be ready."
"With people like Todoroki around, it makes sense you'd want to get this down." Kaminari smiled. "I mean, one build might be able to beat him, but it's probably best you hedge your bets."
"Despite how any of us view Bakugo as a person, he's still strong himself, and there is the unknown strength within the other courses to prepare for as well." Rex reminded them.
Conversations like this were simply common among the group, and it was a nice way to wind down from their training. Still, the Sports Festival was a good two weeks away, so they wouldn't truly be winding down any time soon.
Rex here hasn't really had a problem controlling any of his builds, so he's essentially taking a 'throw it at the wall and see what sticks' approach with Full Evo. Hence steps he's taken in conversing with Caesar about it and working with arguably the greatest wealth of Quirk information he has access to in Izuku. Given their Quirks do have elements of strength being necessary, they'd naturally fall into two friends who beat the crud out of each other.
Next Chapter: Rescue Training OVA
Maximum Rhapsody: By nature of Van Kleiss, Biowulf, and Breach being around, the league is going to thrive in terms of power here. Before the end of season 2, I'm going to have a rather surprising addition to the league this time around that will only help propel them to new heights. Denki and Mina are going to have their moments. It's still going to take time cultivating the pair of them, but it will come.
Arturwho: I've taken a brief look since your review came in, and it is rather extensive. I'll be sure to keep it in mind.