Author's Note 1: My Super Robot Academia is a non-profit fanfiction series.
My Hero Academia is a property of Bones, Funimation, and Kouhei Horikoshi.
Any original characters or concepts are owned by Navek and xpegasus.
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Chapter 10: Invasion! Terror at the USJ!
A PHONE CALL IS HERE! A PHONE CALL IS HERE! A PHONE CALL IS HERE! A PHONE CALL IS…
Izuku groaned as he was woken up by the sound of his phone ringing and ringing. Today was the day of the big rescue exercise, and he was trying to get plenty of sleep beforehand. Through bleary eyes, Izuku reached for his phone, nearly dropping it as he grabbed it. Izuku looked at the screen and saw Katsuki was calling him… at 6:00 AM. With a sigh, he answered the phone.
"Kacchan," Izuku murmured, still half-asleep. "It's so early. Why are you—"
"Izuku, get your ass up!" Katsuki shouted. "Your face is all over the news!"
"Wait, what?" Izuku tapped on the local news app on his phone…and his eyes widened in shock. At the top of the trending page was an article from The National Jinkai titled The Quirkless U.A. Freshman Revealed. "Wh-what?!" Izuku clicked on the article and was greeted by a candid photo of himself. He scrolled down, and Izuku's blood ran cold. The article went on to detail his entrance exam results, Striker, his educational file, and even his Dad's job. Even worse, with how the article was written, it seemed like the writer was trying to use Izuku's acceptance into U.A. to try and slander the school. "WHAT?!"
"It's blowing up all over the news and social media."
He wasn't lying. Izuku searched "Quirkless ua student" and was flooded with blog posts, tweets, and videos, all reacting to this revelation.
Some were actually nice and showed concern for his safety and well-being.
I can only hope that boy is doing his best. It must be hard to keep up in a school like that.
Others were a lot more condescending.
My cousin's a local pro with super durability, and he got hospitalized last fall. I don't know if this Midori kid is incredibly brave or incredibly stupid going into a dangerous field like that.
And others were just straight-up unhinged.
"I've been telling you guys for years on this channel that U.A. has been going down the shitter!" an unkempt YouTuber ranted. "It used to be a respectable institution, but even the hero system has been affected by the PC virus. Why else would they let a fucking cripple into their top hero course? There's no fucking way he managed to get past the entrance exam. You know, the exam that tests the students' QUIRKS, something this kid distinctively lacks! I'm telling ya right now: the only reason someone like Izuku Midoriya is in U.A.'s Hero Course is because too many fucking soy woys complained about the exam being 'too unfair.' This is all a goddamn publicity stunt. And I bet the little shit's in on it too."
Izuku felt a pit forming in his stomach. "H-How did this even happen?"
"No idea," Katsuki said. "But if I ever find the jackass who wrote this article, they're gonna know what a mouthful of nitroglycerin tastes like!"
That didn't make Izuku feel better at all. In fact, he wondered if things could get any worse.
An hour later, when he and Hisashi tried to leave for school and work respectively, it turned out that things could get worse. The two Midoriya men were accosted by a legion of paparazzi as soon as they opened their front door. They and Inko were bombarded with all sorts of probing questions, though it was hard to make out any specific question due to the sheer volume.
"Fuck." Hisashi whispered as he quickly slammed the door shut. "Those guys are relentless."
"I'm sorry," Izuku said.
"Don't be, Izuku. You didn't cause this," Inko said, placing a comforting hand on her son's shoulder.
"I mean, I figured we'd have to deal with paparazzi one day," Hisashi said, trying to make light of the situation. "Just thought you'd be out of high school when it happened."
Izuku appreciated that his parents trying to make him feel better. But with the mob at his door, he had no idea how he would make it to school. However, salvation came when his cell phone beeped with a message.
Ochako: We're here to rescue you! Go to your bedroom window.
Curious, Izuku did as she instructed, his parents following him to his bedroom. Izuku opened the blinds and saw Ochako floating in front of his window, waving at the Midoriyas with a cheery smile. "Morning, Izuku."
Eyes wide with surprise, Izuku saw there was a tether wrapped around her waist. Izuku opened the window and looked down to see Mei, Tenya, and Katsuki on the street behind the apartment building, with Mei holding what looked like a high-tech fishing rod connected to Ochako's tether.
"Quick, I'll float ya down before anyone sees us."
"That's great! But how's my dad going to get to work?"
"Kacchan said he took care of that."
The Midoriya family was confused until they heard an unmistakable yell coming from their front door.
"BACK THE FUCK UP! I GOT FOUR CANS OF PEPPER SPRAY, AND I AIN'T AFRAID TO USE THEM!"
"And I have a taser!"
'Mitsuki! Dr. Lim!' The older Midoriya's felt a bit better at the sound of their old friend shouting and their neighbor. With a smile, Izuku reached out, and Ochako grabbed his hand, activating her Quirk. Mei reeled the two in, and as soon as they were on their ground, all five friends bolted for the bushes to hide.
Izuku scanned the area, and it looked like the paparazzi were none the wiser to his escape. He breathed a sigh and relief and smiled at his friends. "Thanks, guys."
"Think nothing of it," Tenya said as he pulled out an oversized green hoodie and a pair of sunglasses. "We also brought a disguise."
At the Midoriya's front door, Hisashi and Inko opened it. They saw Mitsuki yelling at the crowd, holding up a can of pepper spray, and Lim holding up an activated taser to get them to back off.
"Thanks, ladies!" Hisashi said as he quickly cut through the crowd and ran to work.
"No prob, Hisashi," Mitsuki said as she and Lim entered the Midoriya apartment and slammed the door shut. They quickly locked the door and windows and closed the blinds. Mitsuki turned to her friend. "You okay, Inko?"
Inko nodded. "This isn't the first time I've had an overzealous crowd swarm my apartment."
Lim raised her eyebrow at this. There was a story there, but Inko's distressed look told her that now was not the time to ask about it.
"Well, we'll do the same thing we did back in college," Mitsuki said. "Crack open the wine and binge-watch some Sengoku Sensation."
"Oh my god, I haven't watched that show in ages," Lim said.
"You know what, that sounds nice right about now," Inko replied. Though she was still worried about her baby boy. Izuku had never dealt with this kind of infamy, even after the Skeletron incident.
Thankfully, he had his friends with him. And U.A. was a safe and secure environment. They would protect him from any overeager paparazzi.
Though Inko would later realize the 'safe and secure' part would come into serious question.
Sometime later, Izuku and the gang were finally approaching U.A. after taking the backstreets to minimize any chance of running into more paparazzi or reporters. The hoodie and sunglasses did their part, as no one on the streets or the train seemed to recognize him. As they turned the corner, the five students figured they were in the clear.
"Oh no," Izuku whispered.
They could not be more wrong. There was a crowd in front of the gate, and it wasn't just reporters, bloggers, and paparazzi this time. Now, they were joined by a massive crowd of parents and young adults, holding crude, hastily made signs with all manner of words and phrases like 'Unfair,' 'No Sense,' and 'UA HAS LOST ITS WAY!' Many of them also had drawings or blown-up photos of Izuku with his eyes crossed out.
"I had to go to a goddamn trade school in Osaka because you guys rejected me!" A young man with literal electric blue hair shouted, with eyes wrought with fury. "And then you guys let in a cripple?! That's bullshit!"
"My baby boy was put in the freshman general course!" A mother shrieked. "Why is he stuck there while a Quirkless boy is enrolled in the hero track?! What kind of sense does that make?!"
And as if that wasn't bad enough, the police and a few local heroes like Death Arms and Kamui Woods were on hand to diffuse the situation.
"Well, this is fucking fantastic," Katsuki sarcastically said. "How are we gonna get past this circus?"
As the gang tried to figure out what to do, a woman in the crowd noticed them.
"Look over there," she said to her boyfriend.
He turned around, and his eyes widened. "Hey, it's that Midoriya kid in a crappy disguise!"
The protester's heads whipped around, looking directly at Izuku and his friends. They started moving away from the gate and towards the kids. Kamui Woods and the other local heroes tried to hold the crowd back and calm them down, but there were too many of them. Dozens of angry protesters slipped past the heroes and ran towards Izuku.
"How much did you bribe them with, you little shit?!"
"You're gonna get yourself killed!"
"What the hell makes you so damn special?!"
Panicking, Ochako quickly made her friends weightless and tossed them into the air before doing the same to herself. The five students found themselves floating above the crowd of rabid, practically foaming-at-the-mouth protesters.
"Great plan, Round Face," Katsuki said as he glared at the crowd. "Now, what the fuck do we do?" Some of the protesters were trying to make a human pyramid to reach the hero students.
Izuku looked around when his eyes fell on Tenya and an idea came to him. "Tenya, Kacchan, rocket us over the gate!"
"Like on election day, that's brilliant," Tenya said. He held out his arms, letting Ochako and Izuku grab on, hanging off his biceps like monkey bars.
Katsuki smirked. "Grab on tight, Crazy Eyes."
"Right!" Mei exclaimed. She lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Katsuki's chest, hanging off the blond boy like a backpack. A blush colored Katsuki's cheeks as he felt Mei's breasts pressing into his back. "Uh, you okay?" Mei asked.
"Let's go!" Katsuki said, pointedly ignoring her question. He activated his Quirk, sending himself and Mei flying over the crowd and towards the school. Tenya immediately followed suit, igniting his engines to carry Izuku, Ochako, and himself to UA. However…
"AAAHHHHHH!" Izuku screamed. "TENYA! MAKE IT STOP!"
…where Katsuki carried himself and Mei through the air quite gracefully, Tenya and his passengers went careening through the air, spinning end-over-end on a collision course for the school building.
"I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T THINK THIS THROUGH!" Tenya yelled.
Ochako slapped a hand over her mouth as her face turned green. "I'm gonna hurl!"
Suddenly, the three came to a screeching halt, a hair's breath from crashing through the window. Some sort of white cloth was wrapped around them, pulling Izuku, Tenya, and Ochako down to the front courtyard.
When the world finally stopped spinning, the three saw they'd been saved by Eraserhead. He and Midnight were standing guard in case any of the protesters managed to get past the wall. Katsuki and Mei were standing, well, floating next to the heroes.
"Uraraka, please deactivate your Quirk," Eraserhead said. After making sure she wasn't going to lose her breakfast, Uraraka pressed her hands together, and the five friends felt gravity return.
"You kids okay?" Midnight asked out of concern. Though she was particularly looking at Izuku.
"We…we're fine, sensei," Izuku replied, still disoriented from his flight.
"Thank you for saving us, Mr. Aizawa," Tenya said with a bow. "A truly exceptional display of skill, I expect nothing less from—"
"Just get to your classes. You're already running late," Eraserhead said, seemingly nonplussed by the massive crowd just beyond the gates. "Heroes can't let themselves get distracted. Understand?"
"R-Right." The gang began to walk into the main building. And when the time came for them to separate to go to their own classrooms, Mei placed a comforting hand on Izuku's shoulder, her expression soft.
"Hey, if anyone gives you trouble today, let me know. I'll give them the old Hatsume Glitter Bomb special."
Izuku smiled softly at that. Katsuki didn't say anything, but the two shared a look. And Izuku knew from experience that his explosive friend would have his back.
"I'll keep that in mind," Izuku said softly before turning to Katsuki. "See you later."
"Good luck with that rescue thing," Katsuki said. He and Mei then looked at Ochako and Tenya. His expression softened to the two's surprise, his eyes lacking that familiar sense of cockiness and aggression. "Take care of him, okay?"
"You can count on us," Tenya exclaimed while Ochako nodded.
A few minutes later, Izuku, Ochako, and Tenya stood before the door to Class 1-B. Izuku took a deep breath before opening the door. And just as Izuku expected, everyone's eyes were on him.
"M-morning, everyone," Izuku said before quietly taking his seat. He could feel Honenuki staring at the back of his head and Kamakiri. Kendo, Tsunotori, Kuroiro, and Koda looked at him like he was made of glass. Tokage, Mineta, Kaminari, and Sero looked at him like he was a rare animal on display. However, Sero had the decency to feel somewhat guilty. Kaibara, Yanagi, and Jirou's expressions were neutral, though he noticed the side-eye the punk girl was giving him. He couldn't tell what Fukidashi and Hagakure's looks were, but he figured their expressions weren't that much different from their classmates. But on the bright side, Awase and Kirishima offered him some understanding smiles, so that was nice.
"Alright, everyone; settle down." Vlad King said as he addressed the class. "Now, today, we're conducting our special rescue exercise. But in light of recent events, let me remind you all: UA has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind. You're all here to become heroes, and prejudice has no place in this line of work."
As the students began to murmur amongst themselves, Izuku already had a feeling that today was going to be a long day.
Meanwhile…
"YOU BETTER HOPE I NEVER GET OUT, ALL MIGHT!" A massive villain with a thumb-shaped head shouted. "IF I EVER SEE YOU AGAIN, I'LL—"
"Tear my world apart, make me rue today, have your righteous vengeance, etc., etc.," All Might jovially retorted as the villain was hauled away, the crowd cheering their hero on, all while medical personnel tended to the wounded. "I've heard it all before, from villains much more threatening than you. I'd save my breath if I were you."
As the crowd gathered around him, asking for autographs and selfies (which he was happy to do), the Symbol of Peace snuck a glance at his wrist stopwatch.
'Just under four hours left for today.' Toshinori thought to himself. 'I better wrap up patrolling for the day, or else I'm going to be cutting it close for class today.'
But then, the Hero of Heroes' ears heard the M.D.s talking amongst themselves. "We just got another dispatch order; a girl with a magnetic Quirk had a panic attack and caused a train to derail in Shinjuku. We've already got over 20 confirmed injured!"
All Might internally sighed. Logically, he knew he needed to conserve his energy for the Rescue Lesson later on…but it wasn't in his nature to ignore citizens in peril and a young girl in need of help.
He was just going to have to rely on the other teachers to hold down the fort until he arrived.
Back at UA, the students of Class 1-B had changed into their hero costumes and walked towards a bus. According to Sekijiro, they were going to a remote facility specially designed to simulate various rescue scenarios, hence the need to travel.
"Okay, guys," Kendo said. "Let's enter the bus all nice and easy."
"And be sure to line up and find a seat according to your ID numbers," Tenya stated. But as they entered the bus, to Tenya's dismay, the seats were all on either side of the bus instead of rows, so everyone just sat wherever they wanted. "Curses. It had to be this kind of bus."
Izuku chuckled a bit and looked at his phone. According to a text from Power Loader, the support department put Striker in a charging birth and placed it inside the designated training facility. That way, it would be ready to go when Izuku needed it. Power Loader also offered his condolences for the media circus the pilot was facing right now. But after reading that over, Izuku also noticed that most of his classmates were still giving him side glances, with a select few outright staring at him. And he knew exactly why.
"Before you guys say anything, I'm just letting you know...I've heard it all before," Izuku said with a tired look in his eyes. "All of it."
"Clearly not enough times," Kamakiri grumbled, with Honenuki shaking his head in agreement.
Izuku clenched his fist in his lap. "I've earned my place at UA, the same as all of you."
"No offense, Midoriya, but I'm pretty sure anyone would've passed the entrance exam if they had a giant robot," Kaminari said. There wasn't any malice in his voice, and he said that like someone saying what the weather was outside. Izuku was about to retort, but Ochako spoke up before he could, her brown eyes glaring at the electric boy, as well as everyone else.
"Where was all this when you thought Izuku had a Quirk?!" Ochako exclaimed. "Why is Striker suddenly an unfair advantage now that you know he's Quirkless!?" Kaminari floundered for an answer before shutting his mouth and sinking into his seat.
"Well, he was kind of tricking us," Tsunotori said. Izuku scowled at the implication of intentional deceit. It's not his fault the only ones who had ever bothered to ask about his Quirk were Tenya and Awase.
"Yeah, and we can all manage on our own without support gear," Kaibara continued. "If Striker goes down, what are you gonna do then?"
"Same as all the greats," Awase said to his buddy's defense. "And all of us; he'll adapt."
"I mean, it's kind of hard to adapt when ya got nothing to work with," Tokage said, awkwardly rubbing the back of her head.
Tenya was about to speak up when Vlad King entered with heavy footsteps that shook the bus. "Enough! What did I say earlier?"
"But sensei—" Yanagi began to say, only to be silenced by their teacher's glare.
"I meant what I said about zero tolerance. The next student to say anything out of line will be asked to leave the bus and get an automatic 'F' for this exercise." That got everyone to shut up. "You're training to be heroes. So act like it."
As Vlad King walked to his seat, Awase moved next to Izuku. "Hey, you okay?" Awase whispered.
"I'm alright," Izuku replied. He gave his friend a small smile. "Thanks for standing up for me, Yosetsu." Awase stared at Izuku with wide eyes before the green-haired boy realized he'd called the boy by his first name. Izuku moved to apologize, but his friend simply smiled.
"Anything for a friend, Izuku," Yosetsu said with a smile. Then, suddenly, the bus started moving.
The next twenty minutes of driving were filled with awkward silence. Some students started to chat about random stuff, trying to avoid talking about the elephant in the room. By the time the bus stopped, everyone was relieved and ready to get started on the exercise. The facility was a massive dome-shaped building. And when the twenty hero students entered the building, all the unease and tension gave way to amazement.
"Oh my gosh! It's like a theme park!" Hagakure shouted out with all of her enthusiasm.
"Did we step into Universal Studios Japan?" Jirou asked.
Indeed, off in the distance, there were several massive zones. Each of them looked like a different set from a disaster movie, separated by a central plaza area with a water fountain. Near the end of the walkway leading to a large set of stairs was a massive container with a fingerprint reader. Izuku quickly identified that as Striker's charging pod. They also heard footsteps approaching them.
"There's the Flood Zone. The Landslide Zone, the Conflagration Zone, etc." A feminine voice muffled through a helmet said. The speaker turned out to be someone moderately short, wearing a costume that consisted of a thick space suit, a black helmet with solid white eyes, gloved hands with silver caps at the end of each finger, and yellow boots. "I personally designed his facility to simulate every kind of disaster you can imagine. I call it…The Unforeseen Simulation Joint!"
Yosetsu was going to comment that those initials were just USJ…but was stopped when a certain gravity girl let out a loud squee.
"Oh my gosh, ohmygosh, OHMYGOSH! IT'S THIRTEEN, THE SPACE HERO!" Ochako shouted, bouncing like a mad woman with the biggest smile her face could muster.
"They're the rescue ace who always save people with a polite and proper attitude," Izuku said out loud. He wasn't quite as excited as Ochako, but then again, the girl was meeting her favorite hero. He was practically the same when All Might was teaching them. Tenya nodded in approval of the 'polite and proper' moniker.
Thirteen chuckled at Ochako's enthusiasm. It was always nice to meet a fan. But then Vlad walked towards them and asked quietly. "Thirteen, where's All Might? He should be here by now."
"Word has it he's been caught up in a few incidents today," Thirteen whispered back. "He'll probably need some time to rest when he gets to the school."
"Of course," Vlad King sighed. "Well, we should just get started then."
"Right." Thirteen then addressed the students. "Alright, before we begin, I got some points to make. Some of you probably already know this, but my Quirk is Black Hole. With it, I can suck in and tear anything apart."
"You've used that to save hundreds of people in disaster situations," Izuku stated, Ochako rapidly nodding her head in agreement.
"That's true." Thirteen replied before their eyes narrowed. "But here's the thing; if I wanted to use it this way, or if I was careless, my Quirk could easily kill someone. And I'm sure the same thing could be said about any of you."
The students were silent as they contemplated this. Ochako could easily float someone into the atmosphere. Tenya could ram into someone with enough force to kill them. Yosetsu could weld deadly weapons or explosives to someone. And even Izuku knew he had to be careful with Striker's size and strength. Thirteen continued their speech.
"In our superpowered society, the use of Quirks is heavily restricted and monitored. On the surface, it may seem like a stable system. But just remember, all it takes is one wrong move with an uncontrollable Quirk, and people could end up dying. Kan's physical test at the start of the semester gave you an idea of how you all can improve. And All Might's battle training class gave you a taste of the danger your Quirks could possibly impose on others. So for this class, you'll gain another perspective; how to use your Quirks," Thirteen quickly glanced at Izuku, "and all the other tools at your disposal to save lives."
Izuku, Ochako, and the vast majority of Class 1-B looked at Thirteen with respect, inspired by the space hero's speech.
"In this line of work, you will probably end up fighting and harming villains. But as heroes, your top priority should always be to try and save people. Whether they're innocent civilians or your fellow heroes. And it's my hope that by today's end, you'll all learn what it means to help people."
But before anything else could happen, Jirou's elongated earbuds picked up something. "Hey, you guys hear that?"
"Hear what?" Tokage asked.
"It's hard to describe. It's like a strange swirling sound," Jirou said. "And it sounds like it's coming from the fountain."
Vlad overheard this and took a look down. His crimson eyes noticed something off. Like Jirou said, there was something just in front of the central fountain; a small swirling orb of black & purple smoke. The mass then expanded…and someone peaked their head out.
In an instant, Vlad knew something horrible was about to happen. The person that peaked their head out had messy silver-blue hair, red eyes that overflowed a special kind of madness…and what looked like severed hands grasping their face and the back of their head.
"Everyone, stay back!" Vlad shouted, getting everyone's attention. "Thirteen, we have a Level 5 break-in!"
"What?!" The space hero asked before they looked down, and their eyes widened. "Oh no."
The stranger stepped out of the mass as it continued to expand. Their full appearance was that of a lanky young man in an all-black costume with red sneakers and almost a dozen severed hands grasping onto his arms and shoulders. And he wasn't alone. Out of the portal came more and more strangers in various costumes, several with Mutant Quirks, and many carrying weapons of all shapes and sizes.
The most disturbing of them all was the…thing that stood behind the lanky man. It was easily 8 feet tall, with dark purple skin, and its sole piece of clothing was a pair of beige pants. Its physique was immensely muscular, easily on par with the largest of heroes. Its head was more unsettling, with a massive yellow beak where its mouth would be…and the exposed brain and soulless, unblinking eyes.
"The hell?" Kirishima asked. "Are those more robot villains?"
"They look really intricate if that's the case," Kuroiro stated.
"They're not," Vlad said, his voice so deathly serious it sent chills down his students' spines. "They're villains."
A wave of dread fell over the students as the lanky man looked up at the group. Finally, he spoke up, his voice raspy to an eerie degree. "Huh. That's odd. The schedule I peaked at said All Might was supposed to be teaching this class."
Vlad scowled. So now he and Thirteen knew the identity of their mystery intruder from a few days ago. The mass behind all the villains then changed shape, taking on a vaguely humanoid silhouette, glowing yellow eyes looking at the lanky man.
"It appears as though there might have been a sudden change in schedule."
The hand-covered man growled. "I hate it when there's an unannounced patch." But then, his red eyes lingered on the students, and a sinister laugh escaped his lips. "We've come all this way with a full party, and the big boss ain't even here. Oh, well. I guess the only way to get the Symbol of Peace's attention…is to murder some kids."
A fear unlike any other threatened to suffocate the hero students. They had no idea what this overwhelming presence they were feeling was. But later on, they would know it well. That overwhelming feeling…was killing intent.
"T-This can't be real!" Mineta cried out, panicking as more and more villains appeared, almost numbering nearly a hundred.
"Aren't the alarms supposed to go off?" A scared Tsunotori cried out as she hugged Kaibara, the spin teen hugging her back while being just as terrified.
Thirteen quickly tapped on their helmet. "Nezu, we have a break-in!" But all they got was static. "Just as I thought, these guys are blocking the sensors and all means of communication. Whoever they are, they planned ahead."
"All of you, get to the exit!" Vlad King said. The tubes in his arms started pumping blood. The crimson liquid flew out of the white-haired hero's palms and began to float around him. "I'll hold them off!"
"Sensei, that's crazy!" Kendo shouted. "You can't fight all of those guys by yourself!"
"It ain't even close to a fair fight!" Awase chimed in.
"It's never a fair fight when villains are involved!" Vlad shouted, spotting a few eager villains rushing up the stairs. "NOW GO!"
Vlad King immediately ran down the stairs two steps at a time and fired globs of blood at the villains. To their shock, the blood quickly expanded and hardened, immobilizing them. One villain charged at him with a knife. Vlad quickly the villain's arm with blood. The blood hardened, immobilizing the villain, and Vlad knocked him out with a right hook. Another shot at Vlad with streams of fire. Vlad evaded while coating his fist in swirling blood. He launched the swirling mass of blood at his attacker, knocking them out. The blood returned to his palms as he ran down the stairs, battling villains the whole way.
But despite his teacher's prowess, Izuku couldn't help but worry. No matter how skilled of a hero Vlad King was, he was one man going against a literal army. No matter the skill gap, all it would take was one lucky shot for him to be taken down.
And that's when Izuku knew his next course of action, lightly slapping his cheeks to hype himself up. Izuku ran to the container, unlocking it with the fingerprint scanner. He ignored the cries of his friends and Thirteen as he quickly leaped into Striker and activated it. The cockpit hatched closed, the light of the consoles shining off Izuku's helmet visor and Mei's Gear Charm that hung from the dash.
"Izuku, wait!" Ochako shouted as the robot stood up and walked out of the container. She had a bad feeling about what her friend would do.
"Striker—"
"Don't do it!" Kaibara shouted.
"GO!" With that yell, the jets on Striker's back ignited, and the green super robot blasted into the fray.
"Midoriya!" Thirteen shouted. "Dammit!"
"Is he insane?!" Kamakiri shouted.
While Vlad was dealing in CQC with a pair of villains, another smirking villain with a silver helmet eyed the blood hero. He aimed his gun barrel fingers at Vlad King.
"Eat lead!" Bullets flew out of his fingers. But just as the projectiles fired, Striker landed in the space between the villain and Vlad, the floor cracking under the robot's Alpha Titanium frame. And to the villain's horror, the bullets completely bounced off of Striker, landing harmlessly on the ground.
"Shining like a beacon in the dark, the invincible super robot…has arrived!" Izuku shouted as Striker aimed its left hand at the gun barrel villain.
"What the hell?!"
"Putty Shoot!"
Pink pellets fired from Striker's fingers and hit the villain. The pellets exploded into a putty that quickly engulfed him and hardened, immobilizing the villain.
"Midoriya?!" Vlad shouted. "What in god's name are you doing?!"
"Acting like a hero!" Izuku said, echoing his sensei's earlier words. But truth be told, Izuku was asking himself the same question. He knew what he was doing was crazy! He was a novice! A high school freshman going up against hardened criminals! What was he doing?
Maybe the part of him that wanted to be a hero overrode any common sense he had when he feared for his teacher's safety. On the other hand, maybe he wanted to prove his doubting classmates wrong by getting in on the action. But whatever the case, now Izuku was in the thick of it, as a villainess with growing metallic silver hair wrapped around Striker's right arm.
The villainess smirked…until Striker's arm snapped back, sending her flying away. But Izuku was then besieged by a large, muscular man with a bull-like gas mask charging at him, grabbing the machine by the waist.
"I don't know what ya are, but I'm gonna turn ya into scrap metal!" But the bull villain's bravado quickly faded as Striker grabbed his arms by the wrist and pulled them up. The villain groaned in pain, fear in his eyes as Striker loomed over him. Striker lightly kicked the man, sending him flying and crashing into the water fountain. The large villain groaned before passing out.
Everyone, from the villains to the teachers, the students, even Izuku himself, was stunned by what he had just done. 'I…' Izuku thought to himself, a strange feeling of euphoria washing over him. 'I took out villains! I TOOK OUT THREE VILLAINS!' A wide smile appeared on Izuku's face. Then, on his monitor, he saw several villains staring at Striker in worry and bewilderment as the robot turned to face them.
"Alright!" Izuku shouted as Striker took a combative stance. "Who's next?!"
Vlad narrowed his eyes and weighed his options. On the one hand, Izuku was an absolute novice. But on the other hand, he just saw said novice and his robot quickly defeat three villains, and they were still surrounded.
"Okay, Midoriya," Vlad said as he stood next to Striker. "Just stick by me. And if things start going sideways, no matter what happens to me, you run. Got it?"
"I got it, sensei."
"Good." Suddenly, Vlad spotted another group of villains charging at the two. "Now, let's go beyond! PLUS ULTRA!"
"PLUS ULTRA!"
'What the hell are those two doing?!' Thirteen thought to themselves as Vlad and Striker began to fight some supervillains together. It was hard to deny that Izuku's robot was obviously powerful…but even still, it didn't sit right with the rescue hero to have a student fight against hardened criminals.
Izuku's friends were also internally conflicted. Tenya, Ochako, and Awase wanted to join in and help Izuku. But they also knew they would probably be outmatched by the more experienced villains. Other students tried to get to the exit as their sensei had instructed.
"Sorry, children," a voice rang through the air. Suddenly, the black mist villain materialized in front of the escaping students. Looming over them, his shape solidified. He became more humanoid, a silver neck brace wrappped around his neck. "I cannot allow any of you to escape."
'Shit!' Thirteen thought while the students looked on in fear. 'This guy is definitely a teleporter!'
"Ah, but where are my manners?" the shadow man said in a surprisingly polite tone. "We are the League of Villains. And you might be wondering exactly what we want. Well, that's relatively simple; we have invaded this bastion of heroism…so that we may kill the Symbol of Peace, All Might."
Ochako's stomach dropped. 'They…they to want to kill Mr. Yagi?!' Images flashed in her mind. Her mentor and predecessor in his skinner form. The hideous scar where his stomach should be…and him being torn apart from that exact same injury. Her eyes widened, and her body began to shake uncontrollably.
"Now, I would rather not spill the blood of children today. So if you could all please sit sti—"
"FUCK YOU!" Suddenly, Kamikiri and Kaibara rushed forward arm blades unsheathed and limbs spinning. Kaibara's attack went right through the shadow villain, and he effortlessly moved out of the way of Kamikiri's blades.
Kirishima then charged forward, swinging a hardened fist that passed through the villain. 'Dammit!'
"Ah, there it is, the recklessness of youth. I suppose it was a pipe dream to believe you'd all calmly cooperate. Very well."
A shiver went up Thirteen's spine. Years of experience telling them that something very bad was about to happen. "Everyone, get back!"
"Begone." Suddenly, the black mist exploded forward quickly enveloping Thirteen and the students. "Writhe in torment…until your very last breath."
"GUYS!" Izuku shouted as the shadows began to consume his classmates. However, his cameras spotted Kaibara, Kamakiri, Hagakure, Fukidashi, and Thirteen pushed out from the enveloping darkness from flying limbs. More body parts flew out of the dark before merging back into Tokage's whole body. But when the shadows faded, the mist villain was still standing…and everyone else was gone.
"What…what did you do to them?!" Thirteen shouted in anger.
"Hm. So some of you evaded. But fret not; the students are still within his building." The villain's eyes then narrowed. "But whether or not they remain unharmed…is out of my hands."
And true to his word, that last attack had teleported all those caught with it to different areas within the USJ. Kirishima suddenly regained his sight, confused as to why it was now raining. Confusion turned to panic as his eyes widened in realization. He was 100 feet in the air and falling to his doom!
"AAAAAGGHHH!" the redhead screamed. Kirishima instantly hardened his body in a vain hope that it would break the fall. He was about to smash right into the roof of a building…but then, he felt an invisible force bring his fall to a screeching hault. Kirishima opened his eyes, he was mere centimeters from the concrete roof.
"Are you…unharmed…Kirishima?" He turned and saw Yanagi with her hands held out and breathing heavily. The redhead suddenly saw he was enveloped in a ghostly purple aura and realized Yanagi had caught him with her Quirk.
"Hell yeah, thanks to you," Kirishima said with a toothy grin. Yanagi nodded, dismissing her Quirk and letting him land safely on the roof. "That was a super-manly save, Yanagi!"
The silver-haired girl nodded before the two took stalk about where they were. All around them were abandoned buildings, wind and rain blowing around them.
"Where the hell did that guy send us?" Kirishima asked out loud as the rain began to soak him.
"Look yonder," Yanagi said, pointing up to the sky. Kirishima did just that and saw the UA logo in the sky. He then recalled that there were two domed locations inside the USJ. "It would appear that shade deemed the USJ to be our place of battle and sought to separate us."
"So he must've split up the whole class," Kirishima said. He scratched his head, trying to think. "But what's to stop us from just going back to the entrance and beating him up?"
Yanagi looked down, and her breath hitched. Kirishima looked down in the same direction, and his eyes widened as he saw several villains climbing up the side of the building, using their claws or grappling gear. "I-I believe that is our o-obstacle," Yanagi said, her voice heavy with fear as Kirishima's hands trembled.
Elsewhere, Jirou suddenly found herself submerged in water. She snapped her mouth shut, trying not to drown. The punk girl saw something swimming toward her; a shark-like villain with a massive row of teeth. Jirou was terrified before she felt someone else grab her and was blasted out of the water, landing onto a boat. She let out a violent, body-shaking cough before her lungs started filling with air. She looked up to see that her savior was none other than Tenya.
"Are you alright, Jirou?" Tenya asked, quickly taking off his helmet to get some oxygen.
"Y-Ya. Thanks."
"You guys okay?!" The two turned and saw Kendo running towards them, and unlike them, she was completely dry.
"We're fine, vice prez…kind of," Jirou said before looking over the boat's railing. And her eyes widened as she saw several aquatic supervillains had surrounded the boat the three were on. "Oh fuck!"
In yet another part of the USJ, Ochako fell out of the shadows and instantly felt herself enveloped in overwhelming heat. She saw she was standing in a street where the buildings surrounding her were on fire. But before Ochako could get her footing…
"AGGGHHH! EVERYTHING'S ON FIRE!"
…she was met with the site of Mineta screaming and quickly rolling around to put out the flames on his cape.
"Mineta!" Ochako approached the purple boy as he continued to freak out. The gravity girl stood the still-screaming boy upright and lightly slapped him on the cheek. That stopped him, but he looked up at the brunette in confusion.
"Why did you just slap me?" He asked, sounding genuinely hurt.
"I-I thought that would calm you down."
"WHY WOULD THAT CALM ME DOWN?!" Mineta shouted. "WE GOT ATTACKED BY A SUPERVILLAIN, AND THERE'S LIKE A HUNDRED MORE OF THOSE GUYS!"
'…he's right.' Ochako thought, her own fear beginning to surface, but she quickly pushed it down. "L-Look, I'm pretty this is one of those fake disaster zones Thirteen mentioned. We just got to find our way ou—"
But Ochako stopped mid-sentence as she and Mineta heard the send of sinister chuckling. "Well, well, well. Lookie here."
The two teenagers turned and saw a man walking towards them, unphased by the inferno blazing around them. He was a tall man with a black jumpsuit that covered his body, spiked gloves, and a dark red cloak with a hood covering his head. "Two little lambs…fresh for the slaughter. You two should be honored."
The villain pulled down his hood, revealing a pair of red & black goggles and his wild mane of spiked black hair. "You shall be the first victims," he began as his goggles began to glow, "of BARON VON HELLGAZE!"
Ochako quickly grabbed Mineta and leaped, barely evading a massive orange energy blast fired from the Baron's goggles. The two heroes-in-training looked at the villain looming towards them, both of them terrified.
In yet another part, Kaminari landed face-first in puddle of mud. "Ugh, gross," Kaminari groaned as he spat out some mud. He got up and saw Yosetsu and Honenuki getting up. "You guys okay?" Kaminari asked his fellow students as tried to wipe the mud off of themselves.
"Yup. Everything's still attached," Honenuki said as he rubbed his head.
Then, the three boys heard…humming. A soft & demure humming that sounded similar to a lullaby. The boys looked past the debris surrounding them and saw someone walking towards them.
It was a woman dressed like a nun, wearing a Venetian carnival mask. The mask was half-black and half-white and resembled a woman's face, calm and serene and hauntingly beautiful. It had a pair of tassels, a black tassel on the white side, white on the black side. A shining sickle nestled in her left hand, with an identical one strapped onto the side of her belt. The woman's humming came to a sudden stop. The three boys tensed up, preparing for a fight. "Worry not, dear children," the nun said, her voice soft and ethereal. " I am Sister Mercy, and I am here totake away your pain and bring you peace."
Yosetsu raised an eyebrow at her. "What does that—"
Sister Mercy brought a finger to mask's lips. "Shh." Suddenly, the world became quiet. Deathly, unnaturally quiet. Yosetsu opened his mouth to speak…but even though his mouth moved, no sound came from him.
He looked and saw Kaminari moving his mouth as well, but couldn't hear anything he said. The same thing was happening with Honenuki. And it wasn't just their words. Yosetsu soon realized there was no sound AT ALL. It was as if someone had put the world on mute. He whipped around to look at Sister Mercy, but she was gone.
Icy cold dread filled Yosetsu's veins as searched for the villain, feeling in his gut she was still near, and probably closer than they thought.
And finally, in the mountain zone, Tsunotori came to, groaning as she started to look around. She saw Koda and Kuroiro and was about to say something when a hand came from behind and covered her mouth. She began to thrash until the person behind her spoke.
"It's me, Sero," he whispered before removing his hand. "Keep your voice down."
"Why?"
Sero pointed to the cliff near them. "We're not alone."
Tsunotori took a look down the cliff. She slapped a hand over her mouth to keep herself from screaming. There was a group of villains searching the mountain zone, no doubt looking for them. Leading this pack was a large burly man with a brown handlebar mustache and a black domino mask, dressed in a stereotypical safari hunter outfit, holding a grisly barbed whip in his hands.
But more intimidating than the burly man was the beast among the villains. It was a tiger, a truly massive tiger that looked more at place in myth and legend than reality. Aside from its sheer size, the tiger's black stripes were shaped like flames, and its eyes were a burning orange.
What was supposed to be a day of learning quickly turned into a day that these young students would remember for the rest of their lives. This would be…their baptism by fire!
To be continued…
Author's Note 2: Our version of the USJ arc has started! We got some awesome team-ups and dynamics coming up in the next few chapters. And I can already tell it's gonna be a blast writing everyone's favorite crusty psychopath.
By the way, yes, this story will tackle the topic of Quirkless discrimination against Izuku. It's kind of a necessity to do for stories of this nature. But fear not dear readers; we are not going to fall into wangst territory like some stories I've read. The Quirkless discrimination is going to be part of MSRA but not the sole focus.
Next Time: Unleash Your Inner Hero!
Please remember to read, favorite, and review!
PLUS ULTRA!