Opening Song:
"The Beginning" by One Ok Rock
Four Years Ago…
Here's the sad truth; All men are not created equal.
That was something Gohan had been forced to learn when he was eleven years old as he laid in a dark alleyway with a broken lip and a bloodied nose.
Warm blood ran down his face, snaking alongside his jawline and pooling down the white collar of his school uniform. His fists trembled against the gritty ground with every trembling breath he heaved. He wiped the blood with his sleeve, supporting himself on his knees and knuckles.
"You're so pathetic, farm boy," the blonde student that towered over him scoffed with a cruel grin. He ran a bloodied hand over his slicked-back, shoulder-length hair. "At least try to put up a fight."
The other two students behind him snickered as Gohan backed away from the bullies, crawling on his hands and feet.
"I… I… I didn't wanna fight you, Sharpner," Gohan stammered, backing up until his back hit the wall of the building behind him. "What did I even do?"
Without warning, Sharpner's leg shot out, stomping Gohan's stomach. Gohan wheezed, collapsing down onto his side, panting for gulps of air. The bitter taste of mud and gravel mixed with blood in his mouth.
Sharpner crouched down over him, crossing his arms over his rolled-up sleeves.
"You forgot your place, you little nothing," Sharpner growled. "Erasa is my girl. If I ever see you tryin' to talk to her again, you'll be getting another ass kickin'!"
"She was the one talking to me," Gohan panted. Sharpner's teeth bared. With a snarl, he picked Gohan up by the collar and shoved him violently against the wall. With a dry thud, Gohan crumpled back down to the filthy ground, groaning. His head was on fire and for a moment, the world became a foggy, echoing blur. Sharpner's face hovered so closely above Gohan's that he could feel his hot breath on his cheek.
"Why would anyone be interested in you? Face it, farm boy. There's nothing special about you. You're nothing but a little Quirkless worm, got it?" Sharpner growled.
Gohan slowly pushed himself up onto his elbows.
"I… got it," he panted. Satisfied, Sharpner smiled and nodded.
"Good boy," he said, patting Gohan on the shoulder and getting up to leave. The other boys continued laughing at Gohan as they followed their leader down the alleyway. Gohan stayed on the ground, head lowered.
Sharpner turned back before leaving.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Here's your stupid hat back."
He held up the bright red hat and dropped it in a puddle of mud.
Gohan struggled to crawl towards it, ignoring the sharp gravel tearing into his arms.
"Oops," Sharpner said, stomping on it.
"You're brutal, Sharp!" one of the other bullies cackled as they left the alleyway.
"You want to be a Hero so bad, but you can't even stand up for yourself. Pathetic. Oh well, see you around, farm boy!"
The bullies rounded the corner and Gohan picked up the crumpled hat and held it in his arms. It had been torn and wrinkled, the bright red fabric was now completely stained by the black mud. Gohan pressed the hat against his chest. Tears sprang to his eyes.
"This was your Grandpa Gohan's hat," his father had said the day he given it to him. "Believe it or not, he saved the world once while he was wearing this very hat. I know how much you want to be a Pro Hero, so I want you to have it, son. One day, I know you're going to save the world, too…"
No, Dad. Sharpner's right. There's nothing special about me. I can't even defend myself. I'm just a poor, stupid Quirkless farm boy. Someone like me could never be a hero…
(…)
Present Time.
Gohan squeezed down on the device in his hand so hard that the veins on the back of his hand began to bulge. Drawing upon his ki reserves, he pressed down even harder, his hand trembling with the force of his grip. Power emanated through him in the form of a pure white aura and his muscles reacted by increasing his strength even more. Sweat poured down his face and an instinctual growl snaked through his bared teeth. The device in his hand gave off a dull, mechanical whine in protest.
This is it. My maximum. I just have to push a little bit further… beyond!
At last, the device lit up with a series of lights and beeps.
BEEP!BEEP! 1,800 kilograms.
Gohan let out a breath, panting. He handed the device to Aizawa and leaned over, supporting himself with his hands on his knees, gulping in some air. He wiped the sweat off his brow with his arm and looked up at his teacher, who was recording the result of the grip test on his tracker.
"How was that, Mister Aizawa?" Gohan asked with a ragged breath.
Aizawa looked up at him from the device's readings with the same uninterested expression on his face, but at least this time, he gave Gohan a thumbs up.
"Good effort, Son," Aizawa said. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Head on down to the Long Jump test with Uraraka, Asui and Iida."
Aizawa turned back to the pool of students.
"Midoriya, Shield, Jiro and Yaoyorozu. You're up next."
"Whoa, 1,800 kilos? Seriously?!" Kaminari yelped, taking a step back as Gohan walked up to the tiny group. "Dude, that's insane! When did you start working out, Gohan? The First Grade?"
"Well… sorta," Gohan laughed nervously.
Son Gohan. Quirk: Dragon Ki
This mysterious power inherited from his father Goku enhances Gohan's physical abilities – mainly his strength, speed, and endurance to help him perform superhuman feats like flying and super strength. He can also increase the power of his attacks by emitting plasma from his body in the form of beams, blades, discs, rings, spheres, or even explosions but relying on his Ki too much completely drains his stamina and makes him totally nauseous and weak!
"I told you, didn't I?" Kirishima replied, crossing his arms over the identical blue and white gym jacket that everyone was wearing. "My man Gohan's a total tank!"
"And a total cutie, too!" Mina added, clasping her pink hands together dreamily.
Kaminari heaved a defeated sigh, leaning on his side with dramatic exasperation.
"He's gonna steal all our girls' hearts, isn't he?"
"What?! That's what you're worried about?" Gohan chortled. "Well, you can relax. I'm not that special."
"Come on," Aizawa prodded, annoyed. "We don't have all day."
"Right! Good luck, everyone," Gohan waved, turning to leave for the next testing area. "Give it your best shot."
"How the heck are we supposed to compete with 1,800 kilos?" Kaminari whined.
"You're not," Gohan called back. "I'm the one that has to compete with 1,800 kilos. You're your own competition. Reach your own limit and then take another step beyond. You've got this!"
As he walked away from the students, Kaminari put his hands on his hips, his spiky golden hair falling over his golden hazel eyes.
"And cue the cool guy exit," he sighed. "'Not that special?' Who's he trying to kid? He's All Might 2.0!"
"I told you, that man is something else, isn't he?" Kirishima's crimson eyes shined proudly as they watched Gohan leave the second test site. "It's not just his strength, either. He's got heart. And that's actin' like a man! I mean, I've only known him for a little while, but something tells me that if any of us is gonna go the distance and become a Pro Hero, it's him."
Chapter Ten – Quirk Assessment Tests PART II : The Night of Day
All men are not created equal.
Izuku Midoriya, too, had learned that lesson at a young age.
Back then, he had still been Quirkless, just like Gohan. And like Gohan, Izuku had also fallen victim to the many taunts and bullying by his classmates, especially his childhood friend, Katsuki Bakugo – Kacchan. Ever since Kacchan developed his Quirk, he had begun to treat Izuku differently – had begun to put him down, make fun of him, bully him. Eventually, the emotional attacks became physical.
Add that to the fact that Midoriya had been officially diagnosed as being Quirkless, and Midoriya had almost given up on his dreams. Back then, nobody seemed to believe that he could ever achieve his dream of becoming a Pro Hero, not without a Quirk.
But it all changed ten months ago, when he finally met face to face with the Hero he admired the most – All Might. All Might believed in him when nobody else would, had convinced him that he, too, could be a Hero. To Izuku's complete surprise, All Might had chosen him to become his successor as the next Symbol of Peace for the world. In order to keep that flame of hope alive, All Might had passed on his own Quirk, the mysterious One for All, onto Midoriya.
With its mighty, cultivated power, it was Midoriya's destiny to become the world's greatest hero someday.
But that day was not today, clearly.
Up until now, Izuku had failed all of the previous Quirk assessment tests that Aizawa had thrown at him. True, he now wielded the mighty power of All Might, but his body still wasn't completely used to regulating such immense power. The only time he had used it in the past had ended with him badly breaking his body.
"That means that if I use One for All now, I'll risk breaking myself and having to forfeit the other tests. That can't happen. I'll end up failing this huge test on the very first day and then… I have to find a way to pass the tests and save One for All until I really need it. Eventually, I'll come around to learning how to regulate this burrowed Quirk, but I'll do whatever I can for now, and hope Mister Aizawa doesn't get annoyed at me for not using my Quirk to its full potential like Gohan did…"
"Hey, Falling Boy! Come here, check this out!" Melissa Shield called out to him. Oh, crap! Izuku gasped, his green eyes widening. He clasped his hands around his mouth. I didn't realize that I had been muttering out loud! I hope nobody heard any of that!
Thankfully, the only person near enough to actually hear him was the pretty blonde girl, and she seemed to be too preoccupied with the grip test device. Wait a minute, Izuku paused. That girl looks so familiar… wait! It is her! That's the nice girl who caught me at the Practical Exams! She looks great with her hair tied back like that….
Izuku shook his head, letting go of his trailing thoughts.
To be honest, he had meant to thank her for helping him on that same day, but as soon as the adrenaline rush had passed, his injuries had left him completely unconscious. By the time he came to, she had been long gone.
And now, here she was, standing next to him.
I should go thank her now, he thought to himself. What did she say her name was? Melanie? Melinda? Melissa?
"Hey, Mel-"
Melissa was looking down intently at the grip test device. As he neared her, she looked up with a joyful expression, her teal-tinted eyes shining brightly in the morning sun behind a pair of oval eyeglasses.
"Take a close look at this, Falling Boy!" Melissa bounced with excitement, pushing her glasses back up the bridge of her pointed nose with her middle finger. Her cascading blonde hair had been tied into a functional, yet elegant ponytail, with two bangs framing her slender face. She stepped over to Midoriya, practically inches away from him.
Yep, definitely close, he gulped.
"Y-yeah what is it?" Izuku said instead, awkwardly.
"The device itself is made of reinforced sterling and galvanized tungsten pneumatic cylinders, held together by an electromagnetic servomotor that acts as a linear actuator which allows for precise control of linear position without compromising measurement accuracy or structural integrity!"
The students waiting for the turn to take the test – Mina, Kirishima, Kaminari, Sato and Hagakure, all gulped in unison.
"It's really durable," Momo Yaoyorozu clarified for the dumbfounded classmates with a smirk, tying her onyx-black hair into a thick, winding pontytail behind her head as she walked up to the platform to join Melissa and Midoriya.
"Oh, sorry about that!" Melissa snapped from her spellbound mechanical enthusiasm. Her hands flailed in embarrassment in front of her. "Mechanical devices are kind of a hobby of mine so I tend to get carried away when I see a cool new toy like this."
Melissa Shield. Quirkless.
What she lacks in the Quirk department, she makes up for with brains.
She loves inventing, creating, dissecting and studying mechanical devices. Knowledge is her power!
Her favorite invention is her trusty Power Pole, which she created when she was only nine years old!
"You know, that actually makes plenty of sense," Midoriya began to mutter excitedly as he took his own grip test device. He began to rub his chin in thought with his free hand.
"1,800 kilograms of force in a relatively small area would certainly create a massive pressure point on 'sundergone,andhowmuchofhisstrengthcanbeattributedtohisquirkasopposedtohisphysicalstrength..."
"Gohan's really strong," Momo clarified again with a quick nod, taking her grip device. "Melissa, if you'd like, I'd be happy to make you the components and we can assemble them together after class to see how they all work together."
"You mean it? That'd be fun, Yaomomo!" Melissa said, excitedly.
"Yeah, should be pretty easy to make these." Momo smiled.
Kyoka Jiro was the last student to take a testing device and stood next to her three peers. Arms crossed, she leaned onto the side of her hip, her eyes narrowed in disbelief.
"You mean you two actually want extra homework, like, for the fun of it? How on earth did I end up getting bunched in with all the nerds?" she said with a blush, jerking her head to the side to clear her dark purple fringe from her face. "No offense, dudes."
"It's okay," Yaoyorozu waved her hand dismissively.
"None taken!" Melissa chirped happily.
"Alright, are you four ready?" Aizawa cut in. "Remember, you can use your Quirks in whatever creative ways you want. Anything goes, just do your best."
The four students nodded. Midoriya gulped.
Oh man! He thought with panic. Ididn't even get a chance to strategize! What do I do? What do I DO?
"Go!" Aizawa barked, interrupting his thoughts.
A bright light shot out from Yaoyorozu's forearm and instantly, her gripping hand was reinforced by some sort of gripping apparatus. The mechanical device snaked around her fingers like a glove and tightened the testing device with a whine.
BEEP!BEEP! 112.2 Kilograms!
"Hmm. As expected," Momo said to herself, satisfied.
Momo Yaoyorozu – Quirk: Creation
She can use the lipids in her body to create anything as long as it's nonliving! But she needs to understand the object's chemical makeup first. Overusing her Quirk will send her into a hypoglycemic state and make her completely lightheaded and shaky.
Jiro's device was the next to finish.
BEEP!BEEP! 57.5 Kilograms!
The side of Jiro's mouth drooped, unimpressed, as she untangled her earphone jacks from the device.
"Ow! Oh well, my Quirk's better at stealth and detection, anyway; not really made for gripping," she said, twirling a finger around the elongated earphone jacks protruding from her ears.
Kyoka Jiro – Quirk: Earphone Jack.
She can use the earphone jacks attached to her earlobes to amplify her own heartbeat to deafeningly explosive levels! She can also detect even the faintest sounds! The downside is that she is vulnerable to extremely loud sounds and vibrations.
BEEP!BEEP! 58.8 Kilograms!
Everyone looked up in shock at Melissa's result.
"Well, what can I say?" She laughed shyly. "You need a nice, firm grip if you're a mechanic!"
Izuku was the last one to finish. He gripped down on the device so hard that his teeth bared.
BEEP!BEEP! 56.0 Kilograms!
Only 56?! Izuku panicked.
"Wow, even Jiro got a better score than him," Kaminari commented.
Aizawa shot Izuku a disapproving look.
"Need I remind you all that whoever scores the worst by the end of the day is going home? Get it together, Midoriya."
Izuku sighed.
Right, he thought, sadly. I've got six more tests. I have to find a way to do better without breaking myself, or I'm definitely going to get last place!
"Midoriya?" Melissa said, weaving her fingers together behind her as she approached him, shyly.
"Yeah?"
"So that's what your name is! Nobody in the Practical Exam could tell me what your name was, so we all just called you the Falling Boy!" she smiled. "It's so nice to see that you actually made it into the course! But how come you're not using your awesome Quirk, though? Don't you think now would be the best time to try testing your limits?"
"Um, hi, yeah," Midoriya said, awkwardly avoiding eye contact with Melissa who was now inches away from his face. "First of all, I wanted to say thank you for saving me back then. That was super nice of you. But how did you catch me? Do you have some sort of flight Quirk or something?"
Melissa stepped back with a shy grin.
"No, no!" she laughed. "Actually, I don't have any powers at all."
"You're… Quirkless?" Midoriya gasped. "For real?"
"You don't have to say it like that! It's not super uncommon," Melissa teased, shaking her finger.
"Oops! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend," Midoriya raised his hands up defensively. "I'm just surprised because I seem to remember you having a staff of some sort – a magic stick, or something."
Melissa slapped Midoriya's arm and fell into a laughing fit. Izuku rubbed the burn on his arm, watching Melissa practically dying of laughter.
"'Magic Stick'? You mean my trusty Power Pole?" She reached into malachite cylinder strapped against her back and pulled out the red cylindrical pole and handed it to Midoriya. To Izuku's surprise, the staff was well balanced and light, but sturdy. Tiny lights flashed throughout, giving off data that only Melissa could understand.
"Wow, you made this when you were only nine?" Midoriya gawked. "That's incredible! Are you sure you don't have a High Intelligence Quirk like the Mechanical Genius Hero: Bulma Briefs?"
"Yeah, sorry, no secret powers here, either." Melissa shook her head. "It was one of my first inventions that I came up with in my Papa's old lab. My Papa's a famous inventor, you see, and my Mama's… well… let's just say she's very much into Mechanics herself. So I grew up around workshops, blueprints and greasy mechanical parts. Anyway, I built this baby to help me reach the cookie jars when Dad wasn't looking. And, well, over the years, I've been adding upgrades to it and now I can use it for many different things. It's become sort of like a multi-tool now. In mechanics, just like in life, it's all about using the right tools for the job. As my Papa always says, you don't need a 15 millimeter socket to tighten a ten millimeter bolt, right?"
She stopped, realizing she had begun to ramble on again.
"Oops, I'm sorry, I forget that my mouth works faster than my brain sometimes."
She said, embarrassed. She returned the power pole back into it's malachite sheath and pushed her glasses back up her nose again.
"Well, shall we move on to the next test, then?"
"Y-yeah, I think that's a good idea," Izuku nodded, but his thoughts returned to what Melissa had said.
It's all about using the right tools for the job.
The right tools for the job…
Izuku looked down at his hand, pensively.
(…)
At the Standing Long Jump test, the students had to use their Quirks and other physical abilities to clear a forty-meter long sandbox. Gohan, Ochaco, Iida and a slouching girl with waist-long dark green hair watched as the last student of the previous group took his test.
Katsuki Bakugo flew through the air with his palms outstretched, setting off explosions that propelled him easily over the sandbox. He landed with an aggressive stance and turned to stare at Gohan.
"I don't care if you're faster than me, pretty boy," he growled at Gohan, his voice dropping to a predatory purr. "My Quirk is a hundred times better than yours! Just try to clear that sandbox the way I did."
Katsuki Bakugo – Quirk: Explosion
His palms secret nitroglycerin-like sweat that can be used to detonate at will. The more he sweats, the stronger his explosions get. It's basically a powerful, flashy Quirk with no big downsides.
Gohan blinked a few times at the unprovoked challenge, but slowly, a determined smile formed on his lips.
"Okay," he simply said. The false gunshot rang out and, Gohan vanished, blasting into the air so fast and so high that he almost disappeared from sight. As his ascent reached its high point, Gohan closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the cool air and warm morning sunlight on his skin as he easily cleared the sandbox. Then, as the earth rushed back up towards him, he activated his Quirk, forming his ki into a blast around his feet. The next instant, he landed next to Bakugo. The force of impact cratered the ground and knocked Bakugo to his feet.
"Whoa, what the hell?!" Bakugo stared up, mouth wide open as Gohan stood over him, fists on his hips. "But you… you were just on the other side of the sandbox… How did you-?"
Gohan laughed, dropping the serious expression.
"Oops, sorry about that man, I didn't mean to knock you down, there. I guess I'm still finding out my own strength." He extended a hand to help Bakugo back to his feet.
"Woo-hoo! Go Gohan!" Ochaco cheered for him. "That was such an awesome Hero landing!"
Bakugo's eyes immediately narrowed from surprise to anger. He rudely slapped Gohan's hand away and picked himself up.
"Shut the hell up!" He yelled. "You think that just because you can jump really high, that makes you better than me?"
"Huh?" Gohan withdrew his hand, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "What do you mean? No! Of course not."
"Good, because you're not! You're nothing! I'll show you and everyone else in this stupid class just how much better my Quirk is than yours! Hey, Teach!" Bakugo barked, turning to Aizawa. "Let me take the jump again. I'll wipe that stupid smirk off his pretty little face!"
"No do-overs," Aizawa said sternly, looking up from the grip test stage. "You're holding your group back, Bakugo. Report to the next test – now!"
"Yeah, hurry it up, Bakudork!" Videl yelled, waiting along with the other students in Bakugo's test group. "You're holding the rest of us back."
"Aw, shut your face, Pigtails, don't think for one second I forgot about you. You've got problems of your own coming," Bakugo yelled back, his pupils nearly disappearing with anger. "And you," he said, turning back to Gohan. "We're not finished here, got it? I'm gonna be number one in this stupid school. So consider this a declaration of war!"
Before Gohan could answer, Bakugo turned and stalked off towards his group and they departed for the Repeated Side Steps Test.
"That Bakugo sure is proud of himself, isn't he?" Gohan said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Ignore him, Gohan" Ochaco said, walking up to his side. Her eyes narrowed as she watched Bakugo stomp away. "He thinks he's so big and tough with that explosion quirk, but he's nothing but a bully. Have you seen the way he treats people, even the girls in our class? Bullies like him are just jealous that other people have something they don't, so they feel the need to put others down to make themselves feel better."
For a brief moment, Gohan's thoughts went back to his own childhood bullies. He had grown up thinking he was Quirkless, and that insecurity made him too scared to even try to defend himself. And that vulnerability had made him a target of many bullies growing up.
His thoughts briefly settled on his little brother. One of the last things Goten had told him about was that he, too, was being bullied at school, but unlike him, Goten had a defender – his little friend, Trunks, who had just begun to develop a strong Quirk. Trunks was not afraid to get into fights, and he had done so a few times in order to protect Goten.
"He stands up to them," Goten had told him that night so many months ago. "He said that's what heroes do; they stand up to bullies and fight back. And that's why Trunks is my hero!"
Oh, my little guy, Gohan thought, sadly. Where in the world could you be right now? Are you still dealing with bullies? Are you developing the same powerful Quirk that I am? Are you reaching out for your dreams, too?
"Gohan?" Ochaco placed a hand on his arm and rubbed it with her thumb. "Are you okay? You look so sad all of a sudden. Is it because of what Bakugo said?"
"Oh, no…." Gohan passed his arm over his eyes, quickly. "It's… something else. I'm okay, really. But if we don't get you started on this test, I'm sure Mister Aizawa will flip out on us."
Ochaco's large, brown eyes blinked with concern for a moment, and then she smiled warmly at him.
"Yeah, you're probably right, but listen, if you ever need to talk, I'm here for you, 'kay?"
Gohan smiled back at her.
"Thanks, Urara-chan. That means a lot to me. Now, let's get this test going."
"Right!"
Ochaco jogged to the other side of the sandbox, where Iida and Asui were waiting.
"Are you two finished?" Iida said, raising a dark blue eyebrow, his tone mildly annoyed. "The next group's already here." he motioned towards Midoriya, Melissa, Jiro and Yaoyorozu who were waiting patiently in line for their turn.
"Yeah, sorry about that, everyone!" Ochaco said, sheepishly. "You go on ahead, I'll stretch first."
Iida looked at Asui and shrugged.
"Very well, then," he said, pushing his glasses back up his nose. He assumed the starting position and when the false gunshot rang, the engines on his legs whined for just a moment and suddenly, Iida shot forward at full speed, kicking up dust.
"Recipro-Leap!" he yelled. The engines in his calves whined and spat out white exhaust smoke, sending Iida flying over the sandbox easily and landing with a spin next to Gohan on the other side of the box.
Iida picked himself up, panting for air.
"Hmm," he said as his engines powered down. "At 40 meters, I can only get up to third speed, just like in the 50 meter yard dash. Oh well, it's a good thing I tuned my engines before classes started."
Tenya Iida – Quirk: Engine
Pretty straight-forward. The Engines in his legs help him run, jump and kick incredibly fast.
"Awesome job, Iida!" Gohan cheered as the blue haired teen knelt down to tighten his shoelaces. "You managed to get up to third speed with ten meters less than the last test. See? You're already improving."
Iida fought hard and failed to suppress a proud smile.
"Yes, well… Thank you, Gohan. Your Quirk is equally impressive!"
"Great job, Iida!" Ochaco called from the other side of the sandbox where she was stretching. "Asui's next, so you boys mind giving her some space?"
"Oh, sure thing," Gohan said. The two boys backed away and the slouching girl with the dark green hair positioned herself in a crouching position.
The false gunshot rang and the crouching girl leaped high in the air.
"Ribbit!" she croaked. With a mighty frog leap, Asui cleared the sandbox and landed on all fours gracefully in front of the boys.
"Ribbit?" Gohan said, intrigued.
"Amazing!" Iida exclaimed, his glasses flashing in the sunlight. "You made that jump effortlessly, Tsuyu!"
"Ribbit, thanks," Asui said, standing to her slouching posture again. "My Quirk is called Frog and… well… let's me do anything a Frog can. And please, call me Tsu."
Tsuyu Asui – Quirk: Frog
Again, pretty self-explanatory. She can basically do anything a Frog can do. She's got a really stretchy tongue and can jump really, really high and far! She can also camouflage herself to her surroundings, store things in her stomach, cling to any wall and emit a toxic mucous, though if she's exposed to extremely cold environments, she becomes irresistibly sleepy and goes into hibernation.
"Well, that's unique," Gohan said. "I bet your Quirk is incredibly flexible, huh?"
"I agree," Iida nodded, crossing his arms. "Asui, we are so fortunate to have you in our test group. I look forward to seeing your powers in action in the remainder of the tests."
"Thanks you guys," she said, shyly. "But again, please just call me Tsu. All my friends call me Tsu."
"And I'm Son Gohan," Gohan said with a courteous bow. "But you can call me just Gohan."
"Nice jump, Tsu!" Ochaco called. "Okay, I'm ready for my jump now."
"Okay, Ochaco," Gohan said. "Show us what you've got!"
Ochaco readied herself for the jump. Tucking her brown bangs over her ears and away from her face, she waited for the false gunshot to ring and then ran to the edge of the sandbox. At the last minute, she leaped into the air, activating her quirk. A pink light flashed instantly around her body and she began floating weightlessly in the air. She tucked her arms and knees into a fetal position, and the momentum of her jump allowed her to float over the sandbox and towards Gohan. Gohan couldn't help but giggle at the comical way that she held her breath in, cheeks puffed up, the bridge of her nose bright red as she floated towards him.
She almost cleared the sandbox, but her momentum slowed to a standstill and she had no choice but to deactivate her Quirk while she was still inside the sandbox. She touched down in front of him.
"And release!" she said breathlessly, bringing her hands together. "Dang it! I was so close!"
"Hmm," Gohan rubbed his chin. "I think you should try it again, Ochaco."
"You think so?"
"Yeah! I noticed that your Quirk acts like an air cushion underneath you when you're floating. So try to activate your Quirk on your entire body again, but this time, try to activate it slowly, so that it pushes all of your weight under you gradually. That way, you always have some force pushing against the "air cushion" continually. Do you think you can do that?"
Ochaco looked down at her fingers.
"Well, it's worth a shot," she said.
Ochaco formed a fist and stared at it thoughtfully.
"Okay," she said. "I'll go for it."
"Hey, Mister Aizawa," Gohan called. Aizawa looked up from Kirishima's grip test.
"Yeah?"
"Do you mind if Ochaco retakes the Standing Long Jump test? I think there's a way for her to improve her score right now."
"Sure, do whatever you want, I don't care, just make it quick," Aizawa said.
"HAH?!" Bakugo yelled in disbelief from the Side Steps Test. "I thought you said there were no do-overs!"
"Alright!" Gohan cheered. "Okay, let's try it, Ochaco. Remember, visualize your Quirk. Try to regulate it as best as you can."
"Okay, I'll try," Ochaco said, determined. "Here goes nothing!" She took her starting position again, eyes furrowed in concentration. When the shot rang out, she ran forward and leaped into the air, closing her eyes and activating her Quirk.
"Improvised special move – The Shooting Star!"
The bright pink light flashed and Ochaco raised a right fist and angled her left leg into a flying stance that Gohan used. This time, rather than floating like a balloon, Ochaco actually began to fly across the sandbox. Her Anti gravity Quirk kicked up dust in a rhythmic pattern, constantly pushing her forward as she ascended into an arch, her body slowly rotated into a prone flying position.
"Wh-whoa! I'm doing it!" she said, excitedly. "Gohan, look at me! I'm flying!"
"Attagirl, Ochaco!" Gohan cheered. "Looking great! Just watch out for the landi-"
"I did it!" she whooped as she closed her hands together.
"Whoa, Ochaco, wait!"
"And release!"
Suddenly Ochaco dropped down in an awkward position and Gohan dove forward, catching her in mid-flight. Slowly, he brought her back down to solid ground.
"Whoa, are you alright there?" Gohan laughed, helping her to her feet.
"Y-yeah," she blushed. "C-clumsy me. How'd I do?"
"You did great! We'll have to work a little on the landing but – Ochaco! You flew! Look, you even cleared the sandbox!"
"Woo-hoo! Go me!" Ochaco cheered.
"That was unblievably impressive, Uraraka," Iida said, smiling proudly at her. "It seems that there's more to your Quirk than meets the eye."
"I agree!" Tsu said, placing a finger under her chin. "You have such an adaptable Quirk, huh, Ochaco?"
Ochaco held her hands behind her back shyly.
"Thanks!" she said. "And what's best is that I don't even feel nauseous right now!"
Ochaco Uraraka – Quirk: Zero Gravity
She can negate the effects of gravity on anything she touches – including herself! The maximum weight she can cause to float is about three tons! The more she uses her Quirk, thought, the more nauseous she gets, and if she exceeds her limits, she will totally hurl!
"Um… Gohan…?" Ochaco said, holding onto the legs of her gym pants tightly.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you so much," she said with a beaming smile. "Do you… Do you think that you and I can get together after school and… you know… work on our Quirks together? I feel like you might be able to help me see more practical ways that I can use my Quirk, other than just making things float… I mean… if you're available that is… but if you're too busy, it's no big deal…"
Ochaco's cheeks had reddened noticeably and Gohan felt his own heat rising up the back of his neck.
"Sure," he said, quickly, brushing a hand up the back of his neck timidly. "I'd be happy to!"
"What a self-sacrificing spirit," Iida commented to Tsu, arms crossed. "I wish more of our classmates were like Gohan, willing to help others study to improve their Quirks together."
"I'm sure hope that's the only thing they'll be studying together," Tsu said, concerned, holding a finger to her chin.
"What do you mean?" Iida asked, scratching the side of his head. "There are lots of other subjects they could study together…"
(…)
The day was almost over and by now, Aizawa was overseeing the last few tests left.
Testing the upper limits of their powers helps me assess their room for growth. It becomes clear what they can and can't do – their true potential. He thought to himself. Sometimes, Pros have to be creative in order to succeed.
At the beginning of the day, he had thought that the student who would perform the least of all would be the one girl without any powers, but to his surprise, Melissa was actually doing alright for herself.
Because she was Quirkless, he had made an exception for her and allowed her to bring one support item, and she opted to bring the power pole – a simple, yet effective mechanical tool that extended upon command. Melissa used it to catapult herself over the sandbox in the Standing Long Jump test and again in the Soft Ball throw test, where she batted the ball to a respectable 350 meters.
Despite her handicap, the girl was fighting to keep her spot in the hero course.
Midoriya, on the other hand, couldn't seem to get it together. Even though he was running out of tests to show the potential of his Quirk, he still refused to use it.
Of course, Aizawa knew that the moment that Izuku used his power, it would break his body, which is why he still hadn't used it. But if his Quirk was such a liability, would it even be practical for him to use it at all? Gohan, on the other hand, was making ample use of his Quirk, but it was apparent to Aizawa when Gohan would stop using his Quirk and relied on his own physical strength, like in the Repeated Side Steps Test, the Seated Toe Touch test and the Sit ups Test. But whenever Gohan stopped using his Quirk, he was still strong enough to compensate for it.
Midoriya was strong, in his own right, but not enough to carry him without using a Quirk at all.
Aizawa watched as Midoriya finished his 50 meter dash at 7.02 seconds – the very worst score of the entire class. Even the clearly unathletic Ochaco Uraraka had finished the dash half a second faster than him. Midoriya doubled over, out of breath as Bakugo glared at him from the finish line.
Midoriya had one more test – the ball throw. At this point, whether he used his Quirk or not, Aizawa had pretty much made up his mind. Despite the high praise from All Might, Izuku just wasn't ready for the Hero Course.
What a waste of a Quirk…
And then there was Bakugo. The explosive young man was doing well on the tests. With each trial, he always found a creative way to use his Explosion Quirk to give himself an edge, but clearly, the sandy blonde teen had anger issues, and throughout the day, that red hot temper had been clashing with another fiery personality…
"Die!" Bakugo yelled at the top of his lungs as he threw the ball into the air. Mid swing, Bakugo activated his Quirk, causing a massive explosion that sent the ball flying 705.2 meters into the air.
"My Quirk has more uses than anybody else's," he said, with a confident smile snaking over his lips.
"Ha! Is that the best you've got, Bakudork? I dunno, what do you call it when even tiny Ochaco Uraraka and her little pretty boyfriend get a higher score than you. Ohh yes, that's right. I believe that's called 'Third Place.'"
Bakugo's teeth grinded audibly.
"Daaaammittttt," he growled.
"So tell us, Bakubarf. How does it feel to keep coming in at third place. Or are you just a big fan of bronze?"
Bakugo turned with a raging growl at the girl who had been taunting him all day, his pupils disappearing into a blind rage.
"Grrrah! Shut your damn mouth, Pigtails. I'll blow your score straight to hell!"
"Oooh, you're so big and scary, Bomb Boy," Videl quipped, taking her test ball and shoving past Bakugo with her shoulder. Even though she had a tiny frame, her body actually made Bakugo step back. "Get outta my way and let me show you what a real Quirk looks like."
Videl planted her lime-green boots firmly apart, holding the ball in her black fingerless gloves.
The wind around her began swirl around her feet, picking up dust and snaking up her legs, lifting up the back of the blue gym jacket that she had untucked and unbuttoned. Videl closed her eyes, activating her Quirk. The symbol of an orange star formed on the sand underneath her feet. When she opened her eyes, they were glowing light blue. Videl visualized her Star Power reserve and figured she still had quite a bit left over, even after all the tests she had taken throughout the day.
Eh, what the hell, she thought to herself. It's the last of the tests. Might as well finish with a bang. Besides, I can always pick up more star power from those drooling idiots over there later.
"Holy crap, dudes, I think she's checking us out!" Kaminari whispered to Kirishima and Shoto excitedly.
"Be cool, man," Kirishima scolded him without taking his eyes off Videl. "She'll think we're just a bunch of dorks if you don't stop geeking out."
"You are a bunch of dorks," Jiro rolled her eyes with a blush next to them, arms crossed.
"How can she be checking us out? We aren't library books," Shoto said, eliciting tired glares from the spiky haired boys.
"Star Power, activate. Full Spectrum!" Videl yelled. The star underneath her feet began to rotate faster and faster, traveling up her legs and gathering around the hand that held the ball. She wound her hand back as the star power engulfed the ball entirely.
"Koufax Strike Out!" She yelled, swinging her arm down with a mighty throw. The ball shot off from her hand, leaving behind a trail of stars that lingered like a neon rainbow. The ball kept climbing and climbing into the heavens.
"Going… going… ooh, and gone!" She whooped. "Yo, Teach. What's my score?"
Aizawa looked at the scorecard recorded on his phone. The slightest lift of an eyebrow is all Videl got from him. He turned the phone to share the result with the class.
"Infinity, again?!" Everyone in the class who had witnessed the throw began to cheer and clap for Videl. Videl held up a fist, soaking up their adoration and Bakugo's rage with her Quirk, refilling her Star Power reserves.
"Well, I guess that makes me the new Infinity Queen, doesn't it, Bakugo? What was that you said a second ago, that you were gonna blast my score to hell? I guess this means you're in fourth place now, huh?"
Videl Satan – Quirk: Star Power
This intriguing ability allows Videl to gather the emotions of those around her and turn them into raw power for energy attacks. There are five different emotions, known as "the Five Points" that make up the Star Power Spectrum. Each emotion delivers a different kind of fuel for a total of five unique types of attacks. – Passion (Pink) for Healing, Anger(Red) for Offensive attacks, Sadness(Blue) for Defensive Moves, Happiness(Gold) for ability augmentation, and Admiration(Green) for Super human feats like Super Strength. She can use each power individually, or combine the different Points to come up with unique and incredibly powerful attacks!
In order to use each attack, she has to stock up its respective emotion. But she can only use the power of emotions that are directed specifically to her, and not her own emotions. With her Star Sight, she can detect those five emotions, as well as who they are emanating from up to ten minutes after they last felt said emotion.
But if she overuses Star Power, the intense emotions leak into her own personality and send her on a wild, emotional roller-coaster!
Bakugo's mouth widened so much that the veins in his eyes bulged.
"No way!" He said. "You must've cheated somehow!"
"Oh, get over yourself, you whining little loser. As if I'd ever let a skinny punk like you steal my thunder! The only reason you scored higher than me in the Practical is because you hogged all the bots. But understand this – people like Gohan and I are from an entirely different world from you, and you're not even close to our level. You don't stand a chance, got it? So stop wasting your energy on trying to be intimidating, because all you're doing is making me stronger."
"That's a nice little speech," Bakugo stomped over to Videl, his hands opening and closing, causing miniature explosions in his palms. "But throwin' balls is one thing. Throwin' hands is another. You wanna settle who's the best of the best right here, right now you stupid Pigtailed loser?"
Videl's confident smile faded as Bakugo stepped up to her, towering over her. But even though she was one of the shortest girls in the class, she did not back down.
With a single move, Videl shoved the blue jacket off her shoulders and stepped up to Bakugo, glaring up at him in the eyes. The jacket landed on the ground with a thud.
Videl took one step back, but only to crouch into a fighting stance, fists up, glowing with power. Once again, her eyes began to glow blue and the Orange Star reappeared beneath her feet.
"Bring it on, Bakudork," she purred. "I've been waiting for a chance to put you in your place all day! Star Power, activate! Tyson-Ali Iron Fists!" The star spun, running up her body and gathering around both of her fists.
A demented smile creeped across Bakugo's face, who raised his hands up, explosions bursting out of the palms of his hands… and suddenly, their powers disappeared.
"What the hell did you do to me?" Bakugo shouted.
"Me? What did you do? This some kind of trick for getting out of a fight, Bakugo?" Videl growled. "That's alright. I don't need a Quirk to kick your ass!"
"I was hoping you'd say that. Come at me!"
They jumped at each other but their punches never landed. Instead, several tough scarves wrapped around both of the teens.
"What the-!" they cried in unison, not realizing that Aizawa had canceled their Quirks and wrapped them up in the sheets of durable scarves that hung from his neck. His hair began to float, his eyes glowing red as he stared at them unblinkingly.
"Whoa," Gohan said, arms crossed as he watched along the sidelines with the rest of the class. "What did Aizawa just do to them?"
"I… I don't know," Ochaco said, worriedly. "But I'm so glad he stopped them from fighting."
Beside them, Izuku looked like he had seen a ghost.
"Izuku?" Gohan tapped him on the shoulder. "Do you know something we don't?"
"Yeah, it's the goggles that Mister Aizawa is wearing. I recognize them – he's the erasure Hero: Eraserhead."
"Eraserhead…?" Gohan repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Hmm, can't say I've heard about him."
"My brother talked to me about him," Iida commented, rubbing his chin. "He said he has the power to negate Quirks."
"Wow, does he have to look so evil, though?" Mina said, rubbing her arms. "Gives me the creeps!"
Aizawa pulled the scarves and the two teens caught within them were sent flying towards him, landing just in front of him.
"Why is your scarf so damn tough, old man?" Bakugo managed to say.
"I can't even activate my Quirk!" Videl kicked around in futility.
"You're too loud," Aizawa said. "And it's starting to irritate me. Being competitive is one thing, but showing off and getting into petty fights about which one of you is the best is not only a waste of time, but it's also one of the quickest ways of getting expelled, understand?"
He turned to Bakugo.
"Understand?"
Bakugo glared up at him defiantly, but Aizawa's burning red gaze forced him to submit.
"Yeah, I got it," he muttered.
Aizawa turned to Videl.
"Understood, Infinity Queen?"
"Yes, sir," Videl said with an embarrassed blush on her cheeks, staring angrily at the ground.
"Good," Aizawa said, his hair dropping and the same bored, uninterested expression dropping. "So if you two are done here, we'll wrap this up with our last student test. Midoriya, it's time to take your throw."
"Um… yes, sir," Midoriya said, breaking the awkward, silent tension. As he made his way to the testing spot, he saw Videl glare up at Bakugo.
"You," she said, capturing Bakugo's attention again for a moment. "You got lucky, but I'm not done with you yet."
With that, she turned and marched away to join the rest of the class.
"Tch! Whatever," Bakugo growled, tucking his hands in the pockets of his pants. He walked over to the opposite side of the class. As he passed him, his dark red eyes crossed with Midoriya's bright green eyes.
"What the hell are you staring at, Deku?" He said, a rolling rumble emanating from his stomach.
"Ah, n-nothing," Midoriya said, waving his hands in front of him. "Just… getting ready for my throw."
"You need to be getting ready to get sent home," Bakugo commented, walking off. "Quirkless loser."
Gohan heard that and his eyes narrowed.
"Quirkless? What are you talking about, he has a Quirk; an extremely powerful one!"
"Can it, pretty boy," Bakugo barked, walking over to stand next to him. "I've known Deku since we were kids. There's nothing special about him. He's always been a Quirkless little thorn on my side. A helpless weakling. A LITTLE BUG I COULD SQUASH IF I WANTED TO!"
"Well, you weren't there," Gohan said, peeling his gaze back from Bakugo and focusing on the green haired boy in the middle of the field. "Midoriya definitely has an amazing Quirk. There's gotta be a reason why he hasn't used it, yet."
"Gohan's right," Iida chimed in. "Back at the Practical Exams, we all witnessed it, although to Bakugo's point, why hasn't Midoriya used his quirk yet?"
"It's because it breaks him," Melissa said, joining the conversation. She grabbed her wrist with her opposite hand, looking worriedly at Midoriya. "Badly."
"What do you mean?" Gohan said.
"Remember, back at the Practical? He rescued me and knocked out that huge Zero Pointer. But then he couldn't stop himself from falling. When I caught him, I saw what his Quirk did to him. It broke all of his limbs. It's like this power is new to him – his body can't handle the massive amount of energy it puts out, not without breaking."
"So that's it, huh?" Gohan said to himself. Midoriya stood all alone out there in the middle of the field, looking like a lost child, holding the bright red ball to his chest. And in that moment, Gohan saw a reflection of the boy he used to be all of those years ago – lying alone in a filthy alleyway with a broken dream.
Helpless, scared, weak and alone.
"Izuku!" Gohan yelled, cupping his hands over his mouth. Midoriya's head lifted up and turned to Gohan. "You don't have to fire on all cylinders! Try to regulate your power. Even if it's not 100 percent, just do what you can for now, without hurting yourself."
"Gohan," Midoriya whispered. He looked back down at his hands. "Regulate One for All? But how?"
"Remember, Midoriya," Melissa shouted. "You don't need a 15mm socket to tighten a 10mm bolt! Use the right tool for the job!"
The right tool… that's it! Midoriya gasped. They're right. I don't have to use One for All throughout my entire body. I just need enough to send the ball flying.
Midoriya planted his feet firmly, wound his arm and swung.
If I can just concentrate the power in the last area of contact, right at my finger tip…
His index finger glowed with power, shimmering in green and orange colors.
"SMAAAAAASH!" Midoriya yelled at the top of his lungs.
The ball was sent hurling through the sky, piercing through the clouds.
"That's it!" Gohan cheered. "You did it!"
"Way to go, Midoriya!" Melissa joined in.
"Yay! He's showing us his true power!" Ochaco said, jumping with joy.
"Whoa," Videl gasped. "Who knew that such a tiny guy had this much power?"
Bakugo himself was left completely stunned, mouth wide open.
Midoriya cupped his wrist with his other hand. This time, only his index finger was broken, covered by a nasty purple bruise.
"Mister Aizawa, look," Izuku said with tears in his eyes. "I'm still standing."
A smile creeped up on Aizawa's face.
"That's more like it, Midoriya."
From across the field, peaking around the corner, All Might sniffed, on the verge of tears.
All this time I had been worried over nothing. Gohan, Melissa and Izuku are in good hands here and will be watching over one another.
How did my kids go and get so cool?
Ending Song
"1,000,000 Times," by My First Story
Greetings! I'm Dende, CEO of the NNHP and Future Guardian of Earth.
It's time for the Preview!
After their first huge test on Day One, the class finally gets the results. Who came in last place?
It's been a long day, but Gohan can't come home just yet. I've asked him to pick up some parts we need for a special project back in Namek.
Where are the parts, you ask? In a special place known as Capsule Corp in West City.
What exciting encounters will Gohan have there?
Next Time – Chapter Eleven: Fated Encounters in the City of Tomorrow.
Don't miss it!