Justice Across Space and Time

Chapter 42

Now its time for Itsuka to show what she can do. And she doesn't need a quirk to do it. It'll be a bit shorter compared to what we see with the class 1-A set. Given… well you'll all see soon. So on with the show.

(No POV)

As the applicants for the Provisional License Exam were being briefed on what they would be doing for the first portion, Itsuka was noting how each of the other schools were eyeing them up. 'It's not just because of the Sports Festival. But I'd be willing to bet that it has a role in….. they'll try to take us out first!' Itsuka thought as she was receiving the targets for the exam. Right as she is thinking this though, she feels a strange vibe.

She looks around and can see a girl giving her a strange look. Like she is trying to figure out who or what she knows Itsuka from. This is a telepathic girl named Setsuzoku Sen (her name using the kanji for thousand) from Seiai Academy. She is roughly the same height as Itsuka and has her purple hair in twintails while wearing a slightly modified Seiai uniform. As she is looking at Itsuka she gets an idea on what it was that intrigued her about girl. A smile grows on her face as she gets ready for the exam.

The other comes from the head proctor as he is looking over the students. Especially when his eyes linger on Itsuka for a moment. And she can see and feel the look of disproval coming from the man. Giving her a suspicion about what other obstacles could stand in her way to prove she deserves to be a hero.

She was not the only one who pieced this together. Setsuna and Juzo had been suspicious of the way some of the other applicants were looking their way. Some of whom were from different schools. "You feel that too?"

"Yeah… Itsuka was right. We'll still probably get split up, but we can link up with a few others to take out who we need to pass." With their ideas set, they put together a few ideas to counter their opponents.

The doors open, and the students see the massive battleground the commission built to test the potential for the next generation of heroes (its basically the same as the one we know). With an announcement from the head proctor, all of the students ran out into the stadium. The 1-B students group up and head towards the center.

"We need to be ready guys! They're most likely ready for most of us who made a showing during the Sports Festival!" Juzo calls out to the rest as they are running. Just as he finishes saying this, a large group of applicants jump up and start throwing the elimination balls at the 1-B students. But Itsuka has something to stop a few of them.

She pulls out the collapsible nets Melissa gave her and throws two out toward the crowd. The nets expand and trap about ten balls each. Meanwhile, Pony and Setsuna use their increased mobility due to their quirks to aid some of the others who lack reliable dodging skills. Including saving a thickheaded hard head. "HEY! Why are pulling me out!? They can't hurt my iron!"

"Yeah, but they can hit your targets Tetsu! Think this through!" Pony scolds while holding the back of his costume. And giving the guy a wedgie in the process. Others though use their quirks to try and counter the attacks from the other schools. Rin fires off a few of his scales, while many of the others set up barriers and defenses. Like Ibarra making a wall of vines, Manga making a barricade by saying "KA-BOOM!" and the like, while Yui works with Reiko to move her shrunken objects, and Kosei covers them with his air walls.

But a few had a different plan to deal with their opponents. Juzo and Itsuka come up with an idea to turn the situation around. "Bondo! Follow Juzo's lead!" Itsuka tells the Cemedine user they had dragged along. The gentle giant looks over and sees that Juzo is making a mud pit to catch some of their opponents as they are coming close to the ground.

"Got it!" Bondo shouts as he waits for a few to get closer to the ground. When most are about 10 feet off, he lets out a blast of glue over a large area. Most of the students can't counter in time and get trapped. One person though is less surprised.

"Not gonna be that easy!" a Ketsubutsu student shouts. This is Hakushu Ookina, and he uses his quick Shockwave to blast himself out of the initial trap zone (he can unleash impacts by clapping his hands or snapping his fingers. The size and strength varies depending on the sound). A few others follow his lead and manage similar feats.

But even with this, a few end up also trapped in Juzo's mud pit. "What the!? Where did this come from?! Can't move!" A few applicants shout as they are caught by the mud. Juzo just smirks under his helmet and starts to move in on a few of the ones trapped. A couple others from 1-B follow his lead and eliminate who they can.

The ones who were caught by the glue though had a mix of escapes. Some found they could break free once the glue had hardened, thanks to their quirks. Others were able to displace or dilute some of the glue with their own emitted substances. But there were enough of the students caught to allow for a few others to pass. By the time the initial attacks and captures were done, 8 out of the 20 from class 1-B had passed. And the total for the examination site was about 40 people.

Before Itsuka can reorganize with the rest of her classmates, Hakushu decides to break up the battleground more. He uses a few strong claps directed at some points one of his classmates had opened with their minor earth manipulation quirk (weaker than Pixie-Bob's, but he doesn't have to touch the ground). The resulting shockwaves cause the ground to break apart and scatter most everyone in their group.

Uses some parkour and fall training she and the rest had learned during their classes with Vlad King to avoid taking a nasty fall. "It's a good idea to be ready for a fall at any time. No telling what some quirks could do to you out on the job. They could send you up into the air or empty out the ground beneath you. So, you should know how to take a fall." Itsuka snorts thinking back on Vlad teaching them that. 'Guess he was right. That could have been a lot worse. But I can't worry about that right now. I have to link up with the others.'

'Isn't that because you can't do anything by yourself anymore?' Itsuka hears in her head as she feels the presence behind her. She rolls out of the way as Setsuzoku ambushes her, but the telepath manages to catch one of the targets on her back. "What do you mean?" Itsuka says defensively, while taking up a stance to counter what her enemy could do.

Setsuzoku just gives Itsuka a sneering smile before saying, "oh I think you know. The fact that you don't have a quirk anymore!" Itsuka freezes up at Setsuzoku saying that. Especially since she can feel the girl poking into her head. She starts to see some visions of everyone looking down on her, pitying her, even Jotaro treating her like she was fragile. All because she lost her quirk. The thing they all felt defined themselves.

'Look at you. You're standing here amongst those who are aiming to be the next generation of heroes. Heroes expected to use their quirks to save lives. And you don't have a quirk at all. You don't even have a true meta ability like…. Oh! It's like that with you two. But still, do you think you can stand with all of us with our powers? When you are nothing but a powerless empty person?' Itsuka hears Setsuzoka saying all of this in her mind. Her eyes are shadowed as she faces opposite the telepath.

Setsuzoka snorts while walking towards Itsuka. "Why don't I just knock you out and you can just be useless. Maybe if you do end up with that big guy, you could have a kid that is stronger tha-GACK!" Right as the telepath was getting close to hit the targets on what she assumed was the frozen while racked with doubt Itsuka, the martial artist pounced.

Itsuka struck the girl hard in the stomach, before following up with crippling strikes to the knees, groin, and a strong throw over her shoulder. And to make sure her opponent wasn't going anywhere; he gave her another strong strike to Setsuzoka's stomach. And while the girl was writhing in pain, Itsuka used her balls to impact all of the telepath's targets.

"I figured that might work. I bet that if you did know I didn't have my quirk anymore, you'd try to play off of my doubts and fears about being quirkless. But I'm a student from UA. Quirk or no, our motto is to go beyond. And I'll go beyond what everyone thinks is possible. To be the hero, that we all should be respecting." Itsuka says as she walks off from the defeated student.

Setsuzoka just chuckles at her failure before saying, "well I didn't see that coming. Let's just watch and see what could happen next." Once Itsuka is a fair enough distance away, she stops to catch her breath and wipe her eyes.

'I played it off, but I know these doubts will always be with me. Izuku and Melissa both said they feel it all the time. With Izuku wondering if he really deserves his power, and Melissa worried about if her technology will work.' As Itsuka gathers herself, she resolves to do just as she said to Setsuzoka. To go beyond what everyone believes is possible.

While this has been happening, Hakushu has been keeping a position atop a high point on the battlefield. And this has kept most of the attempts of the few others from class 1-B from taking him out. And leaving them open to attacks from his allies. Currently, Tetsutetsu, Kinoko, Shoda, and Kosei have two of their targets hit. Tetsutetsu having taken a strong hit from the Shockwave user that cracked his iron. But they had been able to eliminate at least one opponent. While Setsuna, Kamakiri, Sen and Manga, had only one of their targets hit and also had eliminated an opponent each.

"Damnit! With that guy raining down attacks we can't get close to do any good! And most of our better ranged attackers have already passed!" Tetsutetsu and Shoda comment while trying to organize with the rest. Hakushu has to rest his fingers and hands for a moment due to all the friction and clapping he has done while on his point.

'Just a bit longer and we'll eliminate those guys from UA.' Hakushu thinks while putting some cooling lotion on his hands. Suddenly though, a cloud of smoke burst over the area. Disorienting most of the UA crushers. It doesn't obscure Hakushu's view, but it does concern him. Right as he is thinking something should be coming to hit him, he spots a strange net flying towards him. He uses a clap shockwave to knock it away, and then he sees Itsuka running towards him. "KENDO! Get clear! His quirk packs a big punch! You can't take it!"

"The Hell I can't take him!" Itsuka shouts running up towards Hakushu. The young man grits his teeth before firing off some snap shockwaves to knock Itsuka around. But she barely flinches as they fly towards and around her. "Crap! Did she figure it out?" Hakushu thinks aloud.

While his shockwaves are strong and easy to use or fire, they are not the most accurate. Especially the snap shockwaves. And while his clap ones are powerful, they take a lot of energy to control and direct accurately. He thinks that his moment will come when Itsuka gets even closer, but she keeps throwing him off with the nets and a flash grenade she throws out as she is almost on Hakushu.

The Shockwave user decides to go for broke and use the strongest clap he can to knock Itsuka away. He is slightly disoriented by the flash grenade, but he is certain he knocked her out or away with his last attack. Until he feels the pain. Right as Hakushu was clapping, Itsuka hit the ground behind some rocks to avoid any dust obscuring her vision.

She then gave the young man the strongest palm strike she could to his stomach, before kneeing him in the side of the head. While Hakushu was reeling from that, he wasn't out cold due to his slight resistance from his shockwaves. But he is less ready for the next hit Itsuka gives him. She pulls out a grapple gun Melissa had given her and uses it to pull her opponent to her quickly. And then follow it up with a double hammer fist to his face. Knocking him out completely and giving Itsuka her second tag.

While this had been happening, Setsuna had taken her eyes to the sky and was relaying points for her remaining classmates to ambush their opponents and get their last targets to pass to the next stage. And they finish with Yui being number 89 to pass the first stage.

"Man! I thought you were nuts when you ran up to that guy Kendo. But you took him down so HARD! So manly!" Tetsutetsu says when they all meet up to relax before the final part. A few others congratulate Itsuka on handling herself despite her circumstances. "Just because I don't have a quirk anymore doesn't mean I can't take out an enemy that is so dependent on his quirk that he leaves himself wide open." Itsuka says after drinking some water.

Setsuzoka meanwhile nods at hearing that out loud and Itsuka's internal declaration about how she'll keep showing how to be a hero without a quirk. And so, she quietly leaves the exam site.

When the time comes for the next stage of the exam, the first years each lose a few points due to not reacting as a hero should in a disaster situation. "You didn't check if I was injured or anything like that! Minus points!" one young girl evaluator from the HUC shouts as Pony and Kinoko note that it was sad how she lost her parents.

Setsuna, Monoma, Juzo, and Itsuka take the leads for their group and direct each on where to go and what to do to rescue people in the buildings or in other situations. Itsuka even reigns in the belligerent boy of 1-B, Kamakiri, when he was about to snap at some minorly injured people. "Climb down with your blades and help them up here. And don't make me tell you twice!" Itsuka says while holding up her chopping hand and glaring at Kamakiri.

The mantis headed boy grumbles but goes along to aid the refugees on getting out of a ravine. Things have been going smoothly for the rescue operations, with each school's remaining applicants working to rescue or aid the injured civilians. Juzo and Itsuka though have a bad feeling. "It's been too easy right?" Juzo said while looking after some civilians. "Yeah I was just thinking that. Especially if you compare…. Villain attack! Get ready!" Itsuka says to Juzo and a few others.

While most are confused what she is going on about, Ituska just thinks back to what happened to her a month ago. 'I got caught up in a massive villain attack, and almost died. Even if they don't intend to go to quite the same stakes, they'll still want to make sure that we can handle a villain incursion.'

Right as Itsuka is thinking this, a wall breaks, and costumed goons start pouring in. With the Dragoon Hero, Ryukyu marching in with them in a black and blood red version of her costume. "Deal with any heroes that get in your way. And take the civilians for all they're worth." Ryukyu orders while morphing into her dragon form. She doesn't intend to fly, but she can still knock around some of the students with her power.

She and her goons, however, are not expecting the reaction that comes from the students. Namely, Manga, Ibarra, and Bondo creating a set of obstructions with their quirks. And to keep Ryukyu busy, Jurota beasts up to his maximum and engages the dragon in a grappling match. Picking her up and body slamming the woman into the ground.

While he is doing this, Juzo and a few of the others from the various schools use their restraint specializing quirks to capture as many goons as quickly as possible. Itsuka meanwhile works with a few of the more hand to hand specialized applicants and knocks a few of them out that way. Even stealing their cement guns to trap their enemies.

Jurota meanwhile is struggling to keep Ryukyu in one place. He had an advantage at first, but the elder hero noted that he seemed to be more reckless. Especially given some of his charges ended with him plowing into the wall. "You have an impressive quirk. But it won't be enough to stop me." Ryukyu says before whipping up some wind to distract the hero student.

Right as he is sniffing around for her, the Dragoon hero is on him and slams the boy onto the ground and has her soldiers cement him in place. This puts Jurota out of commission, but the assaulting students aren't done yet. Itsuka being one of the lead ones with a few of the upperclassmen from other schools to stand in Ryukyu's way.

'I can't beat her as I am. But… I don't have to.' Itsuka thinks while weighing up her options. She catches Juzo's attention and subtly signals what he needs to do before asking if her senpai were ready to fight a dragon. "You've got guts I'll give you that young lady. But that won't be enough!" Ryukyu says before letting out a powerful roar.

But she and her allies are determined to stop or defeat her. One from Ketsubutsu who had an expansion transformation quirk like she used to, ran in first. Using his expanded legs to leap in and kick at the dragon. Meanwhile, another from Seiai engages with a telekinetic power. Throwing multiple small objects rapidly, even as she is running.

Itsuka meanwhile was tossing her traps, grenades, and other restraining devices to trip up or even stop the Dragoon hero in her tracks. This does work a few times, with some of the shock traps and nets making Ryukyu's legs or arms seize up. Leaving her open to attacks from the other attackers.

But this still isn't enough to defeat the more experienced hero. After she catches onto the pattern her attackers have, she easily counters and disables a few before she is looming over Itsuka. "You fought and directed the others well. Even threw me off quite a bit. I have to say you have been quite impressive. And you aren't even flinching at me staring you down. Despite no longer having your quirk."

Hearing this, a few of the older applicants are shocked. As well as impressed by Itsuka's courage for facing down a monster with no quirk of her own. Itsuka just snorts before saying, "you know I've been hearing that a lot lately. How most aren't sure I can do this now that I'm quirkless. How they want me to try and stay safe because I don't have my quirk to rely on. And now I realize just how arrogant and stupid all of us were if we said that to anyone else who was quirkless. It's no wonder the Forgotten want to make all of us see the worth we pushed away. A worth I intend to show. Even if most don't believe in it."

Ryukyu's eyes widen as she acknowledges what Itsuka is saying and what she is fighting for now. Mentally planning to ask the girl to intern with her, or if she passes to do a work study at her agency.

'She will be a hero. Even if it isn't right away, she'll be the hero a lot of people need or could use. So, I'll respect her by taking her down.' And Ryukyu tries to capture or trap Itsuka since a few of the other applicants are either occupied or captured by the cement guns of her goons. But Itsuka is nimbly avoiding all of the dragon lady's swipes and attacks. Some by the narrowest of margins. "You can't keep avoiding me!"

"I don't have to. I just need to keep you busy until the right moment." Itsuka says with a smirk. Right as she is saying that Jurota, who had been freed by his classmates, roars, and charges at Ryukyu. But before she can ready herself for a counter, Itsuka tosses two more devices at the hero.

One impacts on Ryukyu and shocks her whole body, leaving her open for Jurota's attack. The second though is right where she assumed the two would land after Jurota's attack. It was a quick acting sleep grenade she worked with Melissa and Saphentite on to take out large opponents. And with that, the Dragoon Hero is defeated by the cooperation of the students.

After another five minutes, the rest of the civilians are cleared and the villains stopped or restrained, the Provisional License Exam comes to an end. Once everyone has started recovering, a few start muttering and discussing the fact that Itsuka no longer has her quirk and didn't need it to pass the first and second parts of the exam. "She even stood up to the number 9 hero! No quirk and she stared down a freaking dragon! If that's the case, do you think they'll really let her pass? I mean, it seems reckless."

Itsuka was getting tired of the ramblings and rumors about what she could do, but before she could address them the proctors called everyone back in. The head examiner gives his congratulations to all of the applicants before explaining the criteria that they were all judged under. "Now then, you will see the names of all those who passed this exam. And for those who did not, you will have a chance to redeem yourselves in remedial classes held in a few months. There is one exception. Miss-"

"Don't you even think of passing her over you bastard!" Ryukyu says while in full dragon form above the head proctor. She glares down at the man before saying she wouldn't let his quirk supremist mentality push down someone who defeated her. "She did not defeat you! She-"

"Used everything at her disposal to take down an opponent five times her size. If that isn't worthy to be a hero, then none of these applicants deserve to pass." A few others from the crowd started yelling, agreeing with Ryukyu that Itsuka had earned her place as a hero. With some of the older students threatening to drop out and go vigilante to stand with her.

Hearing this, and a few of the other proctors restraining and removing the former head as he starts spouting nonsense similar to the ideals of Destro, a huge smile grows on Itsuka's face, and some happy tears fall.

Even more tears fall when Ryukyu comes back and shows the results. Aside from all of class 1-B passing, Itsuka is handed her evaluation sheet. And it shows that she had passed with 86 out of 100 points. Seeing that, all of her classmates' cheered and congratulated her on passing and proving she had what it took to be a hero. With Vlad King raising her up as one of the best students he's taught.

A few from Ketsubutsu and Seiai congratulate her for her skills and for her tenacity to prove she was a hero. "Hey, I was wondering something. That girl with purple hair. How does her illusion and mind reading power work?" The telekinetic Itsuka worked with gives the girl a funny look. "Illusions? Sen can't cast illusions or read minds. She can just link ten minds to one another. Making her perfect for coordination and communication."

This makes all of the students and teachers' eyes wide at the implication. Back with Setsuzoku, she relaxes and lets the illusion she placed over herself fade. "Ugh. Shouldn't do that for long periods. It's not easy to mask your appearance from multiple minds." Celine Sakamoto aka Psych Link says while massaging her head as her hair turns to brown and she grows another 7 inches. Let alone puts on a large amount of muscle compared to the person she was impersonating.

She pulls out her phone and calls Natalie. "Hey, I checked out that exam site like you asked. Found two interesting things while I was there. There's a former quirked person who is trying to be a hero… and she's could be out ticket to get that Justice guy again. Yeah I'll talk to you soon."

It might seem like I sped through this, but there are a few things that aided 1-B in this and in the canon. In canon, we know that most knew more about 1-A given their performance during the Sports Festival. Add in that in this version, there would have been a few who knew about some of them.

But not as many compared to what we all knew. Not to mention, 1-A were the ones directly targeted by the LOV thanks to… circumstances. On the other hand, 1-B wasn't as much of an interest to the LOV so they wouldn't have had as much interest. But one member now is thanks to what happened here.

That aside, if it seems strange that Itsuka would be able to do this compared to a quirkless Izuku, I think there are two things everyone ignores or forgets in his case compared to her. First, he hadn't actually been training all his life and thus would not have been as capable compared to Itsuka in this story where she has been trained in martial arts.

Also, most people try to make Izuku into an Iron man but he's not. His analytics, strategies, and planning. That's a Batman thing. In a sense you could think of Itsuka now being in a skill point similar to Batman, and had spent a week learning from Melissa what the gadgets she lent her could do. Please review.