We'd done it. At long freaking last. Passed the damn test, rescued the stupid HUC civilians, and been handed our official - real, honest-to-god -

Hero licenses.

"Congratulations, Young Bakugou - Young Todoroki," said All Might as we left, licenses in hand.

"Hrmph. Bout time," I muttered, trying to avoid his eyes.

"Thanks," said IcyHot, giving the tiniest hint of a smile.

We got in the cab and drove away. What a fraking relief. No more Bodysuit, or Windhole, or getting barked at by Gang Orca…finally free weekends instead of having to deal with this all the time…Not to mention…

"No more having to deal with you all the time," I barked at IcyHot.

"We live in the same dormitory," he pointed out. "We see each other every day."

"Hrmph. You know what I mean!"

"I'm sorry you feel that way. I thought we worked well together."

"Worked together? When'd we work together?"

"When we helped those kids have fun….and back at the beginning, during the early exercises."

I didn't exactly have a comeback for that. I turned and looked out the window.

"Hey, look!"

A group of villains had appeared, headed up by one using some kinda liquid to rob people.

"Heh? We got trouble?"

"Any heroes around?"

"This just started, right? Not even 30 seconds ago…"

"I'll take care of it, then."

"Huh?" Said All Might. "Let's assess the situation first!"

"I've seen enough. You help guide the civilians to safety. It's not like you can fight. But we sure can!"

He pulled the cab over and we stepped out the doors.

"Boss! Weekends are where the real hauls are at!" Said some dumb villain. "Wallets and purses galore!"

A blast and ice to push those morons away.

"Yes, but - you've only had those licenses for half an hour!" Called All Might as we sprinted into the fray. I grabbed a pillar to keep out of the way of IcyHot's ice.

"Yeah? So? How many hours do we gotta wait before we're heroes?"

"And who are these wannabe heroes?" Asked the villain at the head.

All Might got on evacuating the civilians while IcyHot raised his hand.

"Those purses and wallets don't belong to you," he announced as a wall of ice went flying through the alleyway.

"Y'think a little bit of ice is gonna make me throw in the towel?" Screamed the lead.

"We did our homework on the patrol patterns round here, all to prep for today! Especially now, during the end of the year! We spent a month on this plan! It was all gone for this moment in this part of town where there'd be plenty of suckers and not a single hero!"

"Get a job, loser!" I snapped.

"Sadly, your plans will come to nothing," said IcyHot.

"Sadly? High school breast sure are naive nowadays. Not to mention dumb as rocks! Listen up! I control carbonation! Getting all shook up makes me feel really alive! I am way more determined than a couple of kids on their way home from school - determined to run away!"

He ran for it. Loser. Not hard to blast ahead of the goons and blast them in their faces. And they went down damn easily.

"Really? Out cold already? I was trying to tone it down just enough to trip you up, but I guess you ain't determined enough! Unless you're determined to feel pain!"

I blasted forwards towards him. Finally. This was what I'd been waiting for all this time.

"Not a chance!" He started, throwing blasts out me - freaking soda water?

"W-w-whoa! This thing's strong! It's too strong!" He cried, starting to lose his balance. Some dumb civilian was taking photos and calling "It's a snow and ice carnival!"

"Get back, miss!" Said All Might - and a pole that had been sliced in two by the soda crap was falling towards her -

All Might was running to save her-

I blasted the damn thing outta the way.

"You wanna do? Go somewhere else!" Shouted.

"Ha ha ha! Check it out! These things'er amazing!" The creep was shouting.

IcyHot raised his hand and blasted out a move with ice and fire.

"Heat eliminates carbonation," he informed the loser.

"That's the same crap you used against freakin Deku in the sports festival!" I pointed out.

"THey've all been taken out, right? Anyone hurt?"

"No, you idiot! You mocking me?"

"What about the woman?"

"She's fine, moron!"

"Are you two ok?" Said All Might, coming up to us with some Pro Hero.

"Oh! You're UA's infamous bad boy, aren't you?"

"What's up with this guy?" I asked.

"Ddi you two handle this all by yourselves?"

"Those criminals were stealing purses and stuff from civilians. We apprehended all of them, I believe," said IcyHot.

"And what about the stolen goods?"

I pulled the purses and shit outta my pockets.

"I pickpocketed em back so they wouldn't be blown to bits."

"Thanks for guiding the civilians to safety," IcyHot told All Might.

"Perfectly done!" Said the hero, and bizarrely he rushed in and hugged us both. "It's hard to believe you kids are still students! Thank you! You're sure to be top heroes one of these days! You can leave the rest to me, Slidin' Go!"

Nearby, the crook was totally floored by Icy Hot ,and his gauntlets seemed to disintegrate.

"His gauntlets blew up,"I muttered.

"Sure did! Nothing good can come of using inferior black market products!" Announced Sliding weirdo.

I felt a hand on my head. All Might had come up to us, and his hand was on IcyHot's too.

"You two did great."

"Thanks," said IcyHot.

"Ugh!" I grunted.

"Let's go home. You must be hungry.

"I have to melt my ice first."

"Yeah? Well, I ain't helping."

Daika City

"Go on, keep multiplying! You're all just sacrifices for our revival party anyway!" Shouted the Liberation army.

"Yikes!" "Creepy! Spooky!" "Sacrifices!"? Asked the Twices.

"Good going, Twice. While you're here, think you can open a path to the tower? They said their boss and Giran are up there, which could be a lie, but the closer we get, the more goons pop up. It's almost like they're guarding it. For now, forget about keeping em busy until Machia arrives. Killing the boss takes top priority."

"Take a seat and enjoy the show, boss!" Said Twice. "Cuz me myself and I are gonna wreck this liberation army all on our own!"

"Hey, me! Leave this to the other doubles!"

"Move aside, move aside!" "Hang in there, Giran, I'm coming for ya!"

"I guess Twice can handle it by himself," said Spinner.

"It's because he's too fond of Giran. Liberation army, you're gonna regret toying with a guy's emotions!"

"You, ringleader of the League of Villains!" Came a booming voice. "It's regrettable that you've had your way of things this long!" It was the political leader from earlier in his roving van.

"The politician! Forgot about him," said Spinner.

'People are not inherently weak! We all have power within us! And what we hope to demonstrate with our revival party is that good people and their meta abilities can triumph over evil! Through their innate power, life will prevail! We call for the dissolution of your League! Now, my fine people, Liberate them! Combine your powers and open a path to the coming era! Show the world that yes, everyone is a hero! And at the same time, no one is!"