Misora Isurugi: Last time on "Building Up A Hero!", Banjo, the teens, and I went on a day trip! And it was pretty fun all things considered, I got to be a normal girl for once.
Mina Ashido: Would've been a lot better if Faust didn't appear at all.
Pony Tsunotori: Yea, they ruined our fun time!
Sento Kiryu: Wait a minute, that's not the most important part we discovered at all! The most important part is that we've got a lead on why Katsuragi might've been murdered! From the flash drive we got from Mrs. Katsuragi, we found out that not only was he the head scientist of Faust, but that he built the Build Driver as the "ultimate defense system"! This is a the biggest lead we've found, and considering how Faust operates, it's likely that someone within the organization was the killer! And whoever the killer is, is responsible for framing Banjo, and might've had a hand in erasing my memories as well!
Ryuga Banjo: Actually, now that I think about it, since you lost your memories, Sento Kiryu isn't your real name, right?
SK: Yea, and?
RB: How'd you come up with the name?
Souichi Isurugi: I came up with it for him. I took the first kanji for "tank" and the kanji for "rabbit" and squished them together.
SK: You mean my name's literally RabbitTank!? Why would you name me after a Best Match!?
SI: Hey, give me a break, I didn't have a lot of names on the top of my head to use.
Izuku Midoriya: So wait, where did you get the Kiryu from?
SI: From "Barber Kiryu", it's my favorite barbershop to get my hair done.
SK: What!? Why!? Why not give me your last name!?
SI: Hey, Misora is in hiding and I'm using a fake last name at my part time jobs! It'd be suspicious if a smart guy shared a last name with an astronaut, wouldn't it!?
Setsuna Tokage: Wow, this is all... really silly, I'm sorry Mr. Kiryu.
Itsuka Kendo: Yea I never really expected this sort of reasoning for your name.
SK: Don't make fun of my name, when all of you have some weird meaning in your names related to your Quirks!
STo: What're you talking about?
SK: Your last name is a homophone for "lizard", Kendo's has "hand" in it, Ashido's name sounds like "acid", Pony's is pretty self explanatory, Kirishima's involves "cutting" and "sharp" like his Quirk, and Midoriya's got green hair and his last name has "green" in it!
Eijiro Kirishima: I- um... oh my god you're right.
IK: Wait, why DO we have names that fit us so well like that?
PT: This is freaking me out!
Sawa Takigawa: Wow we've really gone off track here, huh? Well, with all this information that we've found out, we're on the right track to discovering more and more about Faust! Will Team Build keep on making discovery after discovery, or will Faust stop them in their tracks? And will Ryuga finally become a Kamen Rider? Find out in this chapter of "Building Up A Hero!"
RB: Where have you been all this time?
STa: You don't want to know.
This was it. Today's the day. Izuku and his friends stood at the front gate of UA, staring at the gargantuan school. They've trained months on end for this, and spent the last few weeks training with All Might himself, faced off not only against Smashes, but also the leaders of Faust. Out of everyone here, they were probably among the most prepared students for the Entrance Exam.
So why were Izuku's knees shaking nonstop?
"You okay, Midoriya?" Kendo asked, looking at the trembling green-haired boy. "You look like you might pass out."
"I-i-it's nothing! Just some pretest j-jitters," Izuku replied, trying to shake off his anxiety. "It's just... we're really about to do this, huh? Trying to get into the best hero school in Japan..."
"Yea, and with all the work we've put in, we're bound to do great!" Eijiro said, giving his friends a big toothy smile.
"Let's go and kick butt!" Pony said, puffing her cheeks out in determination, as they walked forward in determination, when a voice Izuku was deeply familiar with stopped him in his tracks.
"What the hell are you doing here, Deku?"
Izuku turned around, and saw Katsuki walking towards him. "Boosted abilities or not, you're still fucking Quirkless, so get out of here and let some real talented people in, dumbass."
"U-u-um let's do our best Kacchan!" Izuku said, flinching and smiling nervously as his former friend walked past him. Even if he hadn't been bullying him nearly as much recently, the explosive blond still had it out against him. And just because Izuku gained a handle over One for All and became a "reserve" Kamen Rider, he didn't really lose the respect and fear he had of him. The others looked at the scowling teen, confused and annoyed by his attitude, though only Eijiro seemed a little more curious in him than the rest of them.
"What's his problem?" Setsuna muttered, her eyes narrowed at him.
"Must've gotten bit on the butt by something this morning," Pony followed.
"You okay Midoriya?" Itsuka asked, looking at the trembling greenhead.
"N-never better!" he answered, lying a bit. "N-now let's do this!"
Izuku took a step forward, not realizing that he had just stepped on his shoelaces. He fell forward frozen, time slowing down as his friends sprung to help him. "Well I guess my hero career's over now. Ended before it started, sorry All Might."
Before he hit the ground, though, he had come to a complete stop. He looked down at the ground, then up at his friends before turning to the side and seeing a girl with a round face, brown hair styled in a bobcut, a big brown coat and pink sweater, black skirt and stockings, and a plaid scarf, and a very, very friendly smile. "Sorry about that! I used my Quirk on you to stop your fall. It'd be bad if you fell down before you took the Entrance Exam, right?"
"Um, uh, er-" Izuku stuttered, looking at the bright smile the girl had on. She helped adjust him in the air, planting him on his feet before touching her fingers together, and he felt gravity pulling down on him again.
"Well, hope you do well, Curly Green! Good luck!" she said, walking off and waving bye to the boy. Izuku stood there, frozen, still processing what just happened.
"You alright, Midoriya!?" Eijiro said, as the teens rushed to him.
"Yea, that would've been one nasty fall!" Pony said, as she checked him for any damage.
"We're just lucky she was nearby to stop you from just eating it," Itsuka said, as she helped straightened him out.
"Seriously, who was that guy and what's his deal?" Setsuna asked, crossing her arms.
"He's Kac-, Katsuki Bakugo, he was a childhood friend of mine until I was, well-" Izuku said, shifting his gaze to the side.
"Say no more, we understand," Setsuna said, as they all gave him a reassuring pat on the back. "Well, we just gotta prove him wrong, right? See you guys later, I gotta go to the recommendation entrance exam room. Good luck!"
"Good luck, Tokage!" Mina said, giving her a thumbs up. "Let's do our best, everyone!"
"Yea!" they all cheered, rising their fists into the air, as they all went into the school, ready for the exams.
"Man, Sento really wasn't kidding when they said that he had to work without any breaks, huh?" Ryuga said, as he walked up and down between the café and Build Shop. "It's been so long since we've seen him here."
"Can't be helped, ten years into one simple presentation and paper in three weeks? It'd be tough, even for a 'brilliant genius scientist' like him," Misora said, shrugging as she tapped away at the puzzle game on her backup phone (thank god she connected all of her games to her social media accounts). "He did at least stop by to get that Comic Fullbottle I made."
"I know, but something about today feels... off," Ryuga mumbled, as he took a seat at the café's counter. "I just don't know why..."
"Midoriya and the others are taking the UA Entrance Exams. Maybe you're worried about that," Misora said, shrugging.
"No, it's... something more, I just know it," Ryuga said, as he scratched at his head, trying to figure out what's off about today.
"Prime Ministers Tajimi and Mido have arrived at the airport and are on their way, sir," Utsumi said, tablet in hand as he talked to Prime Minister Himuro in his office.
"... Where's Gentoku?" Prime Minister Himuro asked, noticing that his son was nowhere to be seen.
"Your son had some business matters to attend to, so he had to excuse himself for today. He told me that he'll join you as soon as he can, however."
"I see... that boy," Prime Minister Himuro grumbled. That boy was so much trouble nowadays. Ever since the Skywall Incident, something had changed him from a dutiful son to a war conspiracy theorist. He was lucky that he was able to convince his cabinet to give Gentoku a job as the head of the Touto Institute of Advanced Matter Physics, where he had an important job, but nothing that would give him too much political power. Especially since Touto needs to maintain its pacifism and calls for uniting Japan whole again. "That boy really needs to set his priorities straight, or at least inform me more of his plans... He'll be the death of me, I'm sure."
"Nonstop work weeks suck..." Sento grumbled as he laid on a bench, with several empty canned coffees on a nearby table. "I hadn't been at the café at all... at least I finished the presentation and paper in time with Kawai and- Kuwata?"
Sento watched his aforementioned coworker Shingo Kuwata walking down a flight of stairs, a gas mask made for his bird-like head around his neck, and a canister of gas on his back. He was heading downstairs to the security room. He got up, and went to the lab to grab his own gas mask. If the suspicion he had was true, then he was going to need it.
Shingo typed away at the computer, dozens of security guards unconscious from the gas he had brought. He had to be fast, or else-
"Kuwata!"
Shingo stopped, and turned around to see Sento, who had put on his own gas mask. Smart guy. "Kuwata, what's going on!? What are you doing!?"
"The time for change... IS HERE!" Shingo cried, pulling out a red Smash Bottle. Sento's eyes widened as he saw his coworker dump a load of Nebula Gas onto himself, turning him into a Smash that resembled a motorcycle of all things. It had a wheel-like shield on its left arm, a head with a single headlight-like eye, multiple wheel-like protrusions on its shoulders and legs, and its right arm had suspension springs covering it. Its cries and growls were vrooms and revs, and it sped out of the security room, breaking through the wall. Sento stared at the giant gaping hole in the wall, before transforming into Build with the Rabbit and Tank Fullbottles and took out his Machine Builder to catch up with the escaping Smash.
Izuku smiled as he looked down at the front of the testing room. He definitely passed the written exam, so now it was going to come down to the practical, the most important part of the Entrance Exam for the Hero Course. The lights went out, and a cloud of smoke rose from the ground before revealing a tall lean man with long yellow hair that was styled upwards like a cockatoo's head crest and a thin mustache. He had a speaker-like muffler around his neck, shades, headphones, black leather jacket, pants, boots, and gloves. "Hey ya'll welcome to today's live performance! Can I get a hell yea!?"
Silence.
"That's cool!" There some tears in the man's eyes. "Let's get down to business! Yea that's right, I'm talking about the PRACTICAL EXAM!"
"It's Present Mic!" Izuku mumbled, his hands to his face. "I've been listening to his radio show for years! To think I'd actually get to see him in person-!"
"Shut the fuck up," Katsuki grumbled, snapping Izuku out of his mumbling state.
"Now I bet you're all wondering how we're getting this little show on the road! Well listeners, you'll all be entering a 10 minute long 'mock cityscape maneuvers' exercise, where you need to destroy as many villain bots as possible! There're three types that have points from 1 to 3, 1 being the easiest and 3 being the hardest! The more you destroy, the higher your score is! You'll all go to the testing locations designated on your ID number card, and can bring any equipment you've registered for the Entrance Exam! Just remember that purposefully tripping up other applicants is an automatic disqualification! Anyone caught doing that won't be hero material here, and don't think we won't see! We've got cameras everywhere!"
"Huh, so I guess they do that so that people from the same middle school don't end up helping each other out," Izuku muttered, noticing the testing centers on Katsuki's card and his were different.
"Damn, and I wanted to crush you to remind you of your fucking place," Katsuki grumbled, narrowing his eyes.
"Excuse me!" a blue-haired teen with glasses said, shooting his hand straight up into the air as he stood. "You said that there were three types, when there are four on this handout given to us! Such an error like this seems unbefitting for a prestigious school like UA, doesn't it! And you two in the back! The green haired mumbler and the blond kid!"
The teen turned around, pointing to Katsuki and Izuku. "Don't whisper! You're distracting the rest of us here!"
"S-s-sorry!" Izuku said, as Katsuki growled. People around them started snickering, though Izuku heard a distant "Boooo! Don't pick on him!", no doubt from Pony.
"Excuse me!? He's very clearly disrupting!" the blue-haired teen shouted back.
"You're the only one disrupting anything!" That was definitely Itsuka yelling back from a distance.
"I-I-I-!"
"Settle down, listeners!" Present Mic said, laughing a bit at the scene. "It's just like you said, caller! There is a fourth type! However, it's more of a stage hazard than an enemy! Think of it like those Thwomps from those Mario games if you will! You don't need to break them, just avoid them and you'll be fine!"
"I-I see! Thank you sir, and I'm sorry for the interruption!" the blue-haired teen said, giving a respectful bow to Present Mic.
"Now that that's settled, head to the locker rooms and get changed so you all can roll! And remember the school's motto, to push yourself beyond your limits, to go Plus Ultra!" Present Mic said, as the students in the examination room got up and walked to the locker rooms to get prepared. Izuku gulped, and clapped his cheeks with his hands. It was time to prove the training he went through with All Might and Sento was fruitful. That he was worthy of One for All and the Build Driver.
"Get back here, Motor Smash!" Build said, having chased the Smash around in the streets for nearly two hours now. He shot at its feet with the Drill Crusher to coral him towards a rock quarry where it could cause minimal damage. Once they made it there, he shot at its back, making it fall and stumble against the dirt and gravel. Build hopped off the Machine Builder and landed a kick against the downed Motor Smash before it could recover. He jumped away, and pulled out the Ninja and Comic Fullbottles.
"Time for a flashy ninja story!" Build said, inserting the two into the Build Driver in place of Rabbit and Tank. "Ninja! Comic! Best Match! Are you ready?"
"A Best Match! Nice!" he added, cranking the Build Driver's handle. A purple runner formed in front of him while a bright yellow runner formed behind him. "Build Up!"
The runners slammed onto him, changing the RabbitTank's red and blue to purple and bright yellow. The armor on his right upper arm, shoulder, upper chest, and left shin resembled ninja netting, with purple leg armor that gave it the appearance that he was wearing one leg of poofy ninja pants and segmented purple skirt armor, and his left foot appeared to be a purple "sock" with a black "slipper" on it. A purple scarf flowed out from the back of the purple segments of his chest armor. His left arm was entirely yellow with only a black bracelet, a left bracer that looked like a fountain pen, shoulder armor that looked like a yellow comic book with a page being turned, and a shoe that looked like a fountain pen as well. The yellow segments on his chest had black lines that appeared to be a comic book strip. His left eye resembled a purple ninja star with one elongated point, and his right eye looked like a comic book page being drawn on by a fountain pen. "The Stealthy Entertainer! NinninComic! Yeahhh!"
"I've found the winning formula!" Build announced, doing his signature finger flick, as he ran at the Motor Smash, striking it on the neck, shoulders, and chest with his fingers, with energy projections of a kunai covering his right hand and a fountain pen on his left. He jumped back a bit, and threw energy ninja stars at it. "Nice, strong striking power and energy ninja stars!"
The Motor Smash moved backwards and swung a fist towards Build, who suddenly disappeared as his scarf wrapped around himself. The Motor Smash looked around, and was surprised by Build reappearing behind it and kicking him hard. "Oh, this scarf can camouflage me, too! And the kicking power's great, too! Though I am a little slower than RabbitTank... Guess that's the trade-off for better punching and kicking power."
He pointed his left fist at the Motor Smash, and shot a stream of ink from the pen-like bracer into the Smash's eyes, blinding it as it screeched from the splashing liquid. "And blinding ink, too! But something about this Best Match is missing something... Oh! I should make a sword for it! That'll make this more like a ninja! And I could make it look like a comic strip too! Genius! Midoriya's gonna love this!"
Izuku took several deep breaths, trying to shake off the nervousness that coated him. He had changed into a green tracksuit with white lines on the sleeves and pant legs, and of course his favorite red shoes. He looked around the area, and noticed the girl who helped him from earlier.
"Oh! I should go thank her for the help," he thought to himself, as he started to walk towards her when a hand grabbed his shoulder. He turned and saw it belonged to the blue-haired teen from the examination room.
"Are you planning to interfere with her?" he accused.
"N-no! I wasn't! I was just-"
"She's clearly focusing to prepare herself for this practical! It's incredibly unheroic to interrupt-"
"Yo, Midoriya! You're at this testing center?" Eijiro shouted, as he, Itsuka, and Pony approached him. "Wow, talk about a coincidence!"
"What the-!? Are you all friends!? How are you all here then!?" the blue-haired teen said, shocked by the three approaching him.
"We're from different middle schools. We met each other outside of classes before," Itsuka said, as she and Pony narrowed their eyes at him.
"Hardass," Pony muttered underneath her breath.
"Hm?" One of the applicants had turned to see what was going on behind him, and saw Izuku, his friends, and the blue-haired teen talking. "Oh, I think I know you."
"Huh? You do? From where-" Izuku said, as he looked at the student. He noticed that he was a tall, muscular masked teen with white hair, and six arms. "Oh! You were at Daguba Beach that day!"
"Indeed. I don't remember much of what happened, but I assume that when I was turned into that... Smash thing, I had attacked you. I apologize for that," the six-armed teen said, giving Izuku an apologetic bow.
"N-no need to apologize! You were turned into a Smash against your will!" Izuku said, waving his hands to stop the teen from bowing. "I-I-I rather we be friends instead! My name is Izuku Midoriya!"
"Mezo Shoji," the teen responded.
"Well, if Midoriya's your friend now, we are too!" Eijiro said. "I'm Eijiro Kirishima!"
"Itsuka Kendo."
"Pony Tsunotori! We have one more friend, but she goes to the same school as Kirishima, so she's the only one at a different testing center"
"F-fraternizing before the practical!? How shameless!" the blue-haired teen said, shocked at what was happening.
"You really need to chill out, Glasses," Pony said, when Present Mic's voice came out of the intercom.
"And go!"
"Huh?"
"What are you waiting for!? The test's started! GO GO GO!"
Suddenly, everyone there broke into a frantic run into the testing site for the practical city. Izuku and the others rushed in, and looked around.
"I think we'll be able to get more points apiece if we split up!" Itsuka said, watching the chaos as applicants searched and smashed the enemy robots around. "Good luck, you guys!"
"Same to you!" Eijiro said, everyone nodding as they divided up. Izuku took a deep breath, and activated One for All, letting it flow throughout him.
"Alright, it's time to show the fruits of my labor!" he muttered to himself. "Watch me, All Might! Mr. Nezu!"
All Might and Nezu watched the screens with other UA faculty members, observing all the applicants smashing and breaking apart any of the enemy robots they could find (some were wily enough to find the off buttons, which netted them the point). All Might bit at his nails, watching Izuku, Eijiro, Mina, Itsuka, and Pony going after robot after robot. "Come oooooon, you five! You can do this!"
"Seems like we've got a nice batch of teens that we can whip into shape!" a dominatrix-themed heroine said, licking her lips as she watched the applicants, especially the male ones. "Ooooh, this is getting me excited!"
"You should really, really calm down," a cowboy-themed hero said, crossing his arms. "After all, we're only getting enough kids for three Hero Course classes. Still, look at all this potential. Can't wait to see what we'll get. Greenie there is especially interesting."
"Hmph, the way he's moving is amateur at best," a black-haired man with stubble said, moving his eyes to the screen with Izuku on it currently. "If he thinks that'll get him enough points, he's in for a nasty surprise."
"I don't know," a cement-block looking person said, his hand on his chin as he rubbed it in thought. "The way he's moving and looking, makes it seem like he's done something like this before..."
"Wait, isn't that the kid you saved, All Might?" a man in red spandex and fangs that poked up from the bottom row of his teeth. All the teachers looked at the screen and began to mutter.
"Now that you said it, I think I have seen that kid in some headlining stories before..." the dominatrix-themed heroine said, squinting at the screen with Izuku now.
"Y-yes! But trust me, I'll be treating him the same as other students-" All Might said.
"Wow, seems like someone's already got a favorite. Good thing you're not one of the practical exam judges," the cowboy hero snickered.
"Indeed, he'll have to earn his right to be here like anyone else!" Principal Nezu laughed. All Might sighed. He can't believe how his coworker pegged him down so easily like that. Regardless, he knew that the teen members of Team Build were more than capable. After all, he and Sento helped prepare them for this day.
"Alright, looks like you're just about finished!" Build said, as he cranked his Build Driver's handle. "Ready, go! Vortex Finish! Yeah!"
"Secret Style: Ninpo Panels!"
Build disappeared as five comic book page-like projections surrounded the Motor Smash. They spun around the Smash, confusing it as an image of Build's NinninComic began to appear on the pages, appearing as if ready to strike, before the real Build leaped out of one of the pages, hitting the Motor Smash with a large energy projection of a ninja star. The Motor Smash flew backwards before landing and exploding in a cloud of fiery dust. Build took out an Empty Bottle and extracted the Motor Smash's essence from Shingo. The bespectacled bird-faced man slowly got up, and rubbed his eyes as he looked at Build.
"... I suppose I've done my role if you're here," he said, standing up. "After all, if you're away from the Institute, then my allies have made their move to take the Pandora Box!"
"What!?" Build said, when Shingo pulled out another Smash Bottle, though it seemed to have no color unlike most Smash Bottles.
"Tell me, did you know that the Nebula Gas used for Smashification was filtered through a special process?" he asked, shaking the bottle and twisting the cap. "What do you think a dose of unfiltered Nebula Gas will do to a person after having their Smash essence extracted?"
"You wouldn't-!" Build yelled, realizing the implications of what he was saying. "Don't, stop-!"
It was too late. Shingo pointed the Smash Bottle at himself, as he began to glow with a yellow light, much like what had happened to Kasumi months ago. "I'll tell you one more thing, Build! Takumi Katsuragi... is alive!"
Build stood there, shocked as the deranged man laughed as he disappeared into particles of light. He shook it off as much as he could, however. Right now, he needed to get back to the Institute as soon as he could. If he was right, then Faust should be there making their move now.
Eita picked up his smartphone, as he finished typing away at a computer. "The security locks have been disabled, Sir Night Rogue."
"Excellent work. The operation can officially begin now. Everything for Faust."
"Everything for Faust."
"That's 25!" Izuku said, smashing a 3 Pointer robot. Things have been going well. Thanks to all the work he put into training and his experience with dealing with Faust-controlled Guardians and Smashes, not to mention that fight with Meta Bolt, he's gotten pretty sharp about his surroundings. Not anywhere near pro-level, but still had an edge over some other applicants.
"You doing alright, Midoriya!?" Eijiro said, as he leaped and struck a robot behind Izuku. "I've gotten 39 points so far!"
"Got 28!" Pony said, landing near them.
"Earned 25 myself," Itsuka joined in, running towards them.
"3 minutes! Get it together and kick some major robot butt!" Present Mic yelled in the intercom.
"Two more robots should do it, right?" he muttered. That was going to be difficult, a lot of the robots had been destroyed by now. Before he could think about where else to go, he and everyone around him felt the ground shake. He turned around, and saw a giant, massive robot stomping towards them all.
"Holy moly, that's big!" he yelled, as people began to run away. "That's way more than just a stage hazard!"
"Let's get outta here!" Eijiro said, as they started to break into a run when they heard a voice behind them.
"Ow!"
They turned, and noticed that the girl that helped Izuku earlier that morning had fallen, having been pinned down by rubble at her ankle. And the giant robot was looming nearby.
"Oh no! What do we do-" Pony said.
Izuku didn't waste a second. No time to worry about keeping One for All under control. She needed help. He put everything he could into his legs and leaped into the air. He reared his right arm back, also shoving as much of One for All as he could into it. He felt the bones in his limbs pop and crack, but right now, he had no hesitation.
"Detroit SMAAAAAAAAASH!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, throwing his strongest punch into the giant robot's face. The wind from the swing collided with its metal plating, denting it before it got completely torn off its neck motors. Everyone around stared at the boy who just destroyed a robot worth zero points, but only Eijiro, Pony, and Itsuka stared with horror.
"Midoriya!" Eijiro shouted, watching as his friend began to fall from the air. There wasn't a second to lose, they needed to figure out what they could do, when they noticed that the girl had used her Quirk to take the rubble off her ankle, and had jumped onto a downed robot.
"Someone, please, throw this! I need to get to that boy!" she asked, looking around. Itsuka ran over to her, and enlarged her hands to grab the downed robot.
"Alright, here you go! Go for it!" Itsuka yelled, throwing the girl and the downed robot. The girl touched the robot, slowing her ascend enough that she reached Izuku, and slapped him across the face. He lost his gravity, slowing down his descent as the two got closer to the ground, before she released it by touching the tips of her fingers together. The girl took a deep breath as nausea took over, and she threw up.
"Midoriya! Are you alright!?" Pony cried, as she and the other two ran to his side.
"Time's up! The practical is over now!" Present Mic yelled over the intercom, as Izuku passed out from the pain.
"Dude, did you see that?"
"That kid just took out that giant robot! Who knew he had it in him?"
"His limbs are all jacked up, though."
"They don't get it," the blue-haired teen from earlier thought. He had just ran by Izuku seconds before he leaped into action, having witnessed why he had done so. "He jumped in to destroy a robot worth nothing to save her! Of course I would've done the same! Wait... what if-"
"Oh dear, you seem to be in quite a pickle."
The applicants looked and saw an old woman with a cane shaped like a syringe in her hand as she hobbled over to Izuku. A boy with a bamboo-like spear pointed at her and said, "Who's the small old lady?"
"Oh my, don't you know?" a blond boy said, a sparkle flying from his wink. "She's the reason why UA can train hard, she's-"
"Recovery Girl!" Eijiro said, catching everyone off guard.
"You gotta help Midoriya! He's all broken!" Pony cried, pointing at her unconscious friend.
"Yea, he-" Itsuka began.
"Pipe down, pipe down. I know what to do," she said, waving them off. She looked down at him, and shook her head. "Dear oh dear, I certainly hope that if UA accepts you, that you won't be a recurring guest at my office."
She puckered up her lips, and gave a big kiss onto Izuku's head, as everyone watched as his limbs straightened themselves out, though a pair of robots came towards them with a stretcher. "Take him to the nurse's office, we'll need to give him some more bandages and treatment there, but the worst is done. Move along now, kiddos."
The three friends watched as the robots wheeled themselves away with Recovery Girl following them. Hopefully they managed to get enough points to get into UA. Especially Izuku, since he leaped in and saved that girl.
"Stalk, get ready, the security locks have been disabled," Night Rogue said over his radio.
"Right, right, I'm getting to it," Blood Stalk replied, as he and a hacked Guardian troop got in from the basement. "It's time to put up a good show, right?"
He motioned to the Guardians to follow him, and they begun their march.
"Welcome, Prime Minister Tajimi, Prime Minister Mido," Prime Minister Himuro said, giving the two guests a polite bow. Neither of them returned it.
"Prime Minister Himuro, so nice to see you in person again," Prime Minister Tajimi replied. She narrowed her eyes at Prime Minister Mido. "And you as well, Prime Minister Mido."
"Likewise," he said, giving a nod to the two of them. "Let's get to it, shall we?"
"Alright. Utsumi, is the presentation and paper ready?"
"Of course, Prime Minister Himuro. I'll be giving it to you once we are at the Pandora Box," Utsumi said, pushing his glasses up. He led the three into the Institute, towards the Pandora Box observation room with a few guards following them to protect them.
Ryuga and Misora watched one of Misora's favorite fashion channels, waiting for everyone to get back to café nascita. Izuku and the other teens should be done with the UA Entrance Exam by now, and Sento's probably giving that presentation and paper as well.
"I wish we had something to do," Ryuga grumbled, when his phone started ringing. He picked it up and saw that it was Sento's number. "Hey Sento, you done yet-"
"Banjo, Faust is going after the Pandora Box."
"What!?"
"One of my coworkers turned out to be a Faust member and led me away from the Institute so that I wouldn't interfere. I need you to go there as soon as possible, it'll take me too long to get there from where I am right now. We can't afford to let Midoriya or the teens get involved with this at all. It'll risk everything they did for the Entrance Exam."
"Alright, I understand. I'll head over there now," Ryuga said, as the two hung up on each other. "Faust is making a move to steal the Pandora Box."
"What!?" Misora said, staring at him.
"Sento got lured away from there, and he needs me to go since he doesn't want Midoriya to get involved with this," he explained, as he grabbed two of the Fullbottles that were left behind, Lock and Jet, and stuffed them into his pocket with the Dragon Fullbottle. "Won't hurt to bring in some extra help. Come on, Cross-Z Dragon! Let's go!"
Izuku and the teens walked away from UA, as he stared down at the ground. He kept thinking about how he did in the practical. It wasn't bad, far from it, but it definitely could've been better. Mina and Setsuna were given the gist of what had happened, and both looked at him with concern.
"Hey, cheer up Midoriya," Itsuka said, giving the boy a friendly pat on the back. "I'm sure you did great! And hey, I got 25 points, too, so there's a chance we both got in!"
"If you don't get in, UA doesn't know what it's missing out on!" Pony said, puffing her cheeks out. "You were super heroic with how you jumped in to save that girl!"
"Yea, it'd be nuts if you didn't make the cut!" Eijiro reassured, smiling at him and giving him a thumbs up.
"Thanks guys," Izuku sighed, smiling a bit. "We should call Mr. Kiryu and the others to give them the news."
Izuku took out his phone and dialed Sento's number, but his call wasn't picked up. He dialed in Ryuga's number; same thing. "Huh, that's weird... why wouldn't Mr. Banjo pick up? I'll call Misora."
He punched in her number, and she picked up. "Midoriya! So how did your exams go?"
"They went fine," Izuku replied. "I'm pretty sure we all passed the written exam. I'm... not sure how well I did on the practical, though. Hopefully it was good enough, but..."
"I see... well, Sento and Banjo are still out, and my dad's-"
"Wait, why would he be out?"
"Oh! Uh... dang it. I guess it won't hurt to tell you now. Banjo's out on a mission for Sento, and it's super important."
"S-should we go and help-"
"No. You guys just took your exams, you must be tired. So just come over and rest, alright?"
"I... I guess," Izuku sighed, as the others looked worryingly to him.
"Good. You did well on the exam, I just know it. See you soon."
"See you soon, Misora," he said, hanging up.
"What's happening?" Mina asked, concerned.
"Something's going on with Mr. Kiryu and Mr. Banjo," Izuku whispered. "Misora said not to worry about it, but still..."
Ochako sighed as she walked to the train station. She had asked Present Mic and the other teachers if she could give that curly green-haired guy some of her points. She felt guilty about that, how he helped her like that. He just smashed a giant robot's head off to save her, after all. How couldn't she try giving him some more points? They assured her that they were handling the situation, and not to worry, but still.
"I hope he gets into UA," she mumbled to herself. "He deserves it..."
"Oh? Sounds like someone's got a little hero crush."
Ochako looked around, startled by the unfamiliar voice. She turned around, and saw a man dressed in a gray undersuit with black pipe-like armor, a smokestack-like horn, and a blue spanner emblem on his chest and a blue spanner-shaped visor.
"You're- You're that Smash guy, Meta Bolt!" she said, backing away from him. "W-what do you want!?"
"I saw your performance today, and wanted to congratulate you!" Meta Bolt laughed, pulling out his combined gun-blade rifle thing. "Devil Steam!"
"You 'saw'!? How did you-"
"Doesn't matter how," he said, pointing his rifle at her. "Not like you'll remember much after this anyways."
He pulled the trigger and fired a gas bullet at Ochako before she could run. It exploded, and she tried to hold her breath so she wouldn't inhale it, but it was no use. The gas found its way inside her.
Build flew through the sky with HawkGatling as fast as he could when he got a message on his BuildPhone. He pulled it out, and his eyes almost popped out when he saw a Smash Alert too far from him and the Institute.
"Dammit! I can't handle that, and Banjo's already heading to the Institute!" Build muttered. "The only person who's close to it is- Midoriya?"
He took another look at the Smash Alert. No doubt about it, it was near UA, just a street or two away from there. It couldn't be-
"Did one of the Faust members turn an applicant into a Smash!?" he said, gasping. "Those bastards really have no respect for anyone!"
He typed a message down as fast as he could to the BuildPhone and sent it to Izuku and everyone else. Hopefully All Might won't be too mad about this, but it really was an emergency.
"Smash Alert near UA. Cannot make it. Too far away and Faust is trying to steal the Pandora Box. Ryuga's on his way to Institute too. Midoriya please handle it."
Izuku and the teens stared at the screen, processing what Sento had just sent to them.
"Faust turned someone near UA into a Smash!?" Eijiro said.
"I think them trying to steal the Pandora Box is a bit more important!" Setsuna said, biting at her thumbnail. "But it is really scary to think that they would feel confident enough to go near UA like that!"
"What do we do!? I left my Build Driver, the Beetle Fullbottle, and the Battler Beetle at the Build Shop!" Izuku said, before remembering something. "Wait! Sento helped me make a special app, that's right! If I just press this, the Battler Beetle should come and bring everything!"
Izuku pressed the app, and looked at the map for the Smash Alert. It really was close to them. Hopefully his Rider gear will make it in time.
"Let's go follow it, to make sure it doesn't go too far," Itsuka said. Everyone nodded, and headed towards the Smash.
All Might shook with rage as he read Sento's message. A Smash so close to UA? How? Was it another prospective UA student? Who was it that did it? Night Rogue? Blood Stalk? That damned Meta Bolt? Not only that, they're plotting to steal the Pandora Box! Who knows what could happen if it were in their hands!? He changed into his muscle form, and leaped into action. Even if he can't safely extract the Smash's essence, he can at least make sure that it didn't leave so that his protégé can do it in his place.
"There it is... the Pandora Box," Prime Minister Tajimi said, as the container unlocked, revealing the alien metal cube. "So magnificent..."
"To think, it is the cause of the Skywall," Prime Minister Mido marveled, a wicked smile crawling on his face. "Just imagine what power lies within it..."
"Utsumi, please start the presentation-" Prime Minister Himuro said, when an alarm began to go off. "What the- What is going on!?"
"Gaaaah!"
Another security fell down, as they disappeared in a purple miasma like the others. A tendril from Blood Stalk's gauntlet retreated back, as he looked around. "Hm, I guess people without a Nebula Gas dose don't stand a chance against that amount of poison, huh?"
He looked up to the wall, and spotted a security camera. Blood Stalk motioned to it with his hand. "Hey, do it."
Eita watched from the security room as Blood Stalk gave the hand signal. With a silent nod, he began typing down on the keyboard, activating the energy barrier around the Pandora Box.
"What is the meaning of this!?" Prime Minister Tajimi demanded, as an energy barrier was activated, trapping them and the Pandora Box.
"Is this your doing, Himuro!?" Prime Minister Mido accused, turning to the older man.
"N-no! Of course not!" Prime Minister Himuro said aghast. "Utsumi-!"
"It's no use, sir! We can't get out!" he replied, turning away from the three arguing prime ministers, giving a sly smile. The plan was going ahead without a hitch.
Scientists ran away screaming as Blood Stalk and his Guardians marched through the equipment room. This was all too easy. Blood Stalk stopped walking when several bullets bounced harmlessly off his armor. He turned around, and saw a Guardian troop and security guards coming from behind.
"Stop right there!" one of the security guards shouted, as they all pointed their rifles at the Faust executive. Blood Stalk shook his head, and snapped his fingers. The Guardians' faceplates flickered and broke off, turning around and firing at the security guards. They strode over shooting every single one, while making sure they stayed down by stabbing them with their rifle's blades.
"You all should've done your homework!" he laughed, watching the carnage unfold. "Shouldn't have brought Guardians to get me!"
"The Guardians are going out of control!" someone on the radio shouted. "They're killing all of us- AAAAAAAAAGH!"
A swarm of security vans and men surrounded the Institute, as reporters and bystanders looked on, curious as to what was happening. Gentoku stood outside, watching the scene unfold remotely from a computer that they managed to connect to the security feed. "Protect the Prime Ministers! Ensure their safety!" he shouted through the radio, as he heard the screams and yells of dying men. A small sacrifice to be made for this country to protect it.
Unbeknownst to him, Ryuga snuck his way amongst the security guards, Souichi thankfully giving him one of them as a disguise. He went inside, with all the Fullbottles hidden in his pockets, ready for anything.
"You're not gonna get away with this Faust," he muttered under his breath, ready to fight whichever Faust executive he knew he'd have to face.
"There it is," Setsuna said, as she and the others hid behind a building. The Smash was wondering around aimlessly, though thankfully it wasn't attacking anyone, on the account that there weren't any people nearby. It had a UFO-like head with a pink flashing light along the rim of the UFO, no doubt its eyes. Its torso appeared feminine, if only because it really looked like two UFOs floating above each other, with a thin cable-like midriff and neck connecting the three UFOs. Its shoulders had round planetoid-like armor with thin arms that connected to large robotic hands with flashlight-like fingers. The legs were also very thin, though its feet resembled some sort of landing legs.
"I guess Mr. Kiryu would call that the Alien Smash, right?" Pony said, thinking to how Sento would name the Smashes.
"That's not fair! Why does this person get to be Alien Smash? I look like an alien, but my Fullbottle was Bee!" Mina whispered, jealous that her Smash form wasn't something like this.
"Is that really something to be jealous of?" Itsuka said, sweating a bit at what she said.
"Hopefully my Battler Beetle is coming soon with my Build Driver," Izuku muttered. "We just gotta make sure-"
"NEVER FEAR, FOR I AM HERE!"
All Might landed in front of the Alien Smash, who responded to the sudden appearance of the Number One Hero by pointing its fingers and shooting lasers out of them. He jumped away as the lasers hit a car behind it, but instead of vaporizing it, the car started to float into the air.
"It can make things lose gravity!?" Eijiro said. "What kind of Quirk would let you-"
"Wait, it can't be-" Izuku said, remembering what happened earlier that day. "Is it that girl-!?"
"Oh no!" Mina whispered, horrified that someone that nice was targeted by Faust.
"We gotta do something!" Itsuka said, as All Might dodged laser after laser, unable to get in close to pin the Smash down or else lose his gravity. Beeps and whirls caught their attention, and they looked up to the sky to see the Battler Beetle arriving, dropping the Build Driver and Beetle Fullbottle into Izuku's hands.
"We will!" he said with determination, slapping the Build Driver onto his waist as the Battler Beetle changed into its adapter mode. He inserted the Beetle Fullbottle into the Battler Beetle. "Get up!"
He inserted the Battler Beetle into the Build Driver and cranked its handle as golden orange runners formed around him. "Battler Beetle! Are you ready?"
"Transform!" Izuku cried as the runners slammed together to form his armor. "Get up shocking! Battler Beetle in! Yeah!"
"I'm going to save everyone, as a hero, and as a Kamen Rider!" Battler proclaimed, as he leaped into action, his right arm's beetle drone flying off to attack the Alien Smash. All Might noticed him, and jumped out of the way, ready to let his protégé to handle it. The Alien Smash kept firing its lasers at the bettle drone, distracting it enough for Battler to strike it with several punches and kicks. While that was happening, the beetle drone flew down and struck the Alien Smash in its back, allowing Battler more openings. The Alien Smash was discombobulated, trying to figure out which one to focus on as it shot its lasers erratically.
"It's time to end this!" Battler cried, as the Alien Smash grew weaker and weaker from the attacks. He cranked the Build Driver's handle, as the beetle drone flew in front of him. "Ready, go! Beetlelic Finish! Yeah!"
"Kabuto SMASH!" Green electricity coated Battler's hand as he punched the back of the beetle drone as hard as he could, launching it into the Alien Smash. A cloud of fiery dust surrounded the Alien Smash, and it was sent flying backwards. It landed on its back, too weakened to move, and Battler extracted its essence. In its place was the girl from earlier today, just as they thought.
"Oh man, that poor girl..." Mina said, as they went over to help her.
"Where should we take her?" Izuku asked, taking the Battler Beetle out of the Build Driver.
"Should we take her to UA's nurse office? Mr. Nezu and Recovery Girl would understand, right?" Eijiro asked. Unbeknownst to them, the girl started to stir and grow aware of her surroundings.
"It is the closest place, the café's a good distance away, and-"
"All Might!? And the curly green-head kid!?" the girl said, looking at them. More specifically, at the belt around Izuku's waist, who had forgotten to take it off with the Battler Beetle. "Why do you have that belt thing that the Kamen Rider- Oh my gosh, are you the Kamen Rider!?"
"Uh oh," Pony said, as everyone turned to look at the girl.
"We should learn how to be faster with decisions like this," Itsuka said, pinching her eyebrows.
"Yea, this is déjà vu with how I learned," Setsuna said, chuckling nervously.
"Gotta write this down in the journal: take off belt immediately so no one can see who you are," Izuku said, sighing as he realized his colossal mistake.
"... What's one more on the secret?" All Might said, shrugging with an awkward smile. "Hopefully Mr. Kiryu won't mind."
"Tell us what is going on, Himuro!" Prime Minister Mido said, when the barrier went down. They looked to the entrance of the observation room and saw a man in a red undersuit and pipe-like armor with a green cobra on his chest and on his face as a visor.
"Ciao," Blood Stalk said, giving them a wave. The guards that were trapped with them pointed their guns at him, but he struck them each with a tendril, poisoning them as they groaned in agony and disappeared in a purple miasma in seconds. "I'm here for the Pandora Box, if you don't mind."
"How dare you! Who do you think you-" Prime Minister Tajimi said, walking up to Blood Stalk as if he were a two-bit thug. He pointed his Transteam Gun at her, stopping her in her tracks. Before shooting the security cameras in the room.
Gentoku growled as they lost their connection to the security cameras in the Pandora Box observation room, courtesy of Blood Stalk shooting and breaking all of them. "Stalk, what are you doing!?" he whispered to himself. He was going off script as usual. Gentoku shifted his eyes around. "That bastard... he wouldn't-"
Blood Stalk walked along the hallways, the Pandora Box in his arms, and Guardians around him. Things were going pretty well, all things considered.
"I finally found you!"
Blood Stalk chuckled as he turned around and faced Ryuga Banjo. "Gotta admit, Banjo, pretty bold of you to just waltz right into a government facility like this."
The Guardians began firing at Ryuga, who rolled behind a nearby pillar. He pulled out the Dragon Fullbottle, shook it and twisted the cap open. With a battle cry, he leaped from behind the pillar and charged at the Guardians, swinging his fists as blue shockwaves of fire radiated from each of his punches. They tried to swing their bladed rifles onto him, but he retaliated by grabbing a downed Guardian's rifle and attacking them with it. Soon only Blood Stalk and Ryuga remained standing. He prepared himself to face the Faust executive, when some plain-faced Institute employee walked in.
"Let me handle this, Sir Blood Stalk," he said.
"Alright, you asked for it," Blood Stalk replied, pulling out his Steam Blade. "Devil Steam!"
He pointed the blade at the plain-faced employee, who yelled a battle cry as his body transformed into a Smash. His head was incredibly square with finlike protrusions from the side, a stout metal torso that reminded Ryuga of those old scuba suits that he saw in those those American cartoons, thick muscular armor-plated arms with square fingers, and bulky legs with flipper-like feet. The Smash charged at Ryuga, who attempted to get around it.
"Hey, get back here! Stalk!" Ryuga shouted, as he punched the Smash several times. Blood Stalk scoffed, and just went on his way. The Smash punched him again, sending him flying backwards. "Argh, fine. You wanna punch it out!? Let's go!"
Ryuga shook the Dragon Fullbottle and twisted its cap again, running towards the Smash and hitting it with several hard punches, shockwaves forming from each one. "Man, if Sento was here, what would he call you... I guess Big Smash will have to do!"
Blood Stalk walked onto the rooftop, looking for where to go. "This is different from the planned escape route. Mind telling me why you chose to change the plan?"
He turned around, and saw Gentoku behind him, his Transteam Gun in his hand. "Heh, guess I got a little lost."
"By shooting all the security cameras on your way? Highly doubt it. Just what are you thinking, Stalk," Gentoku said, as he shook his Bat Fullbottle and inserted it into his Transteam Gun. "I guess I'll have to teach you a lesson about insubordination, Stalk."
"Bat!"
"Vaporize."
Gentoku swept the Transteam Gun, as a cloud of gas surrounded him. In his place stood the bat-armored Night Rogue, as his smokestack horn and pipe armor launched "fireworks" that dispersed the gas. "Mist Match! Bat! Ba-Ba-Bat! Fire!"
"Hand over the Pandora Box, now," Night Rogue said, motioning Blood Stalk to give it to him as he summoned his Steam Blade alongside his Transteam Gun.
"And if I say no?"
Night Rogue growled before swinging his Steam Blade at Blood Stalk, who leaped over Night Rogue with the Pandora Box in his hand. He rolled onto the ground before coming to a stop, set the alien cube onto the ground, before jumping towards Night Rogue, an wave of red energy flying out of his hand into Night Rogue's face. Night Rogue sidestepped the attack, which allowed Blood Stalk to summon his own weapons. The two began to clash with their blades, firing at each other, and trading kicks.
"There's no room for traitors in Faust!" Night Rogue snarled.
"Like you're one to talk! Stop acting as if Faust only belongs to you!" Blood Stalk retorted. Just then, several gunshots struck Night Rogue in the back, making him stagger forward, allowing Blood Stalk to strike him with his Steam Blade. Night Rogue turned around, and saw Meta Bolt standing behind him with his Steam Rifle's barrel smoking.
"Looks like there's a party going on, and I almost missed it," Meta Bolt said. He charged at Night Rogue, striking him in the back, as Blood Stalk resumed his attack, the two double-teaming against their fellow Faust executive.
"What is the meaning of this!?" Night Rogue demanded, as the two knocked him backwards.
"I'm just taking out some frustrations I have against you, that's all!" Meta Bolt stated, kicking Night Rogue and then shooting him. "After all, you suck as a leader!"
"Alright, looks like I- didn't miss anything?" Ryuga said, as he opened the door to the roof. His disguise was ragged and he had scratches all over him. "Never mind, what the hell's going on!?"
"Hm?" Blood Stalk looked back as Meta Bolt and Night Rogue continued fighting. "How'd you get past that Smash?"
"I kicked its ass! Couldn't get its essence, though!" Ryuga stated bluntly. "Now it's time for round 2 between you and me, Stalk!"
He shook the Dragon Fullbottle and twisted its cap open, rushing towards Blood Stalk fists swinging. The Cross-Z Dragon provided support by taking the Jet Fullbottle and firing fast-moving fireballs shaped like jets. Blood Stalk laughed as he took Ryuga's punches and returned some of his own. "You really think you're that strong-"
With a shout, Ryuga threw another punch into Blood Stalk's chest, this time the shockwave emitting from his fist stronger than ever. Blood Stalk staggered back, and had barely any time to block Ryuga's second punch, which sent him flying backwards into a wall.
"... Hazard Level 3! Hahaha, nice one, Banjo! You're finally strong enough to be of use!" Blood Stalk laughed, as Meta Bolt and Night Rogue looked over. "But that's still not enough to keep me from taking the Box."
Before Blood Stalk could get back to the Pandora Box, several bullets came from the sky, blocking him from it. When he looked, Build landed onto the roof in his HawkGatling form, his Hawkgatlinger ready and pointed.
"... What the hell took you so long!?" Ryuga said.
"Hey, give me a break! I was flying here as fast as I could!" Build said, taking another look at what was going on. "But I can see that there's some infighting going on!"
"Well, looks like you wasted time, Night Rogue! Now Build's here to stop us from taking the Box," Meta Bolt said, as Night Rogue glowered at him. "Should've just let Blood Stalk handle it."
"SHUT UP!" Night Rogue said, as he refocused his assault onto Build and Meta Bolt. Blood Stalk took this as an opportunity to run with the Box, but was stopped by Ryuga.
"I'm not letting you go that easily!" Ryuga said, as he punched Blood Stalk across the face. "You're going to pay for everything that you've done!"
"So this is the thanks I get for helping you out when Rogue tried taking Misora, huh!?"
"Don't act as if one good thing fixes anything!"
Build switched Best Matches, going for NinninComic to fight against the two Faust executives. They swung their Steam Blades towards him, but he disappeared before they made contact, before reappearing behind them and striking them in the back with energy shuriken. Night Rogue fired his Transteam Gun at Build, who was knocked by the bullet's force, and swapped Fullbottles again, using RhiDryer and hitting Night Rogue with the Drhinomic Gun, blasting him with heated air before connecting it to the Buildryer and cranking the Build Driver's handle.
"Super Heat!" "Ready, go! Vortex Finish! Yeah!"
"Dynamic Drying!"
Build unleashed a stream of heated air, sending Night Rogue back into the wall, pinning him to it as he struggled against the stream of hot air. Unfortunately, Meta Bolt had dodged in time, and had his Steam Blade at the ready.
"Devil Steam!" "You're wide open!"
He slashed Build's back with two slashes, sparks flying as Meta Bolt followed with inserting his Spanner Fullbottle into the Transteam Gun. "Steam Break! Spanner!"
He fired a large energy spanner into Build, sending the Kamen Rider flying to the side as his transformation got undone by the amount of power he was hit with. Sento rolled as he fell onto the ground exhausted, his Fullbottles flying everywhere. Blood Stalk knocked Ryuga away, who was also growing tired from fighting, grabbed the Pandora Box and made a break for it. Night Rogue growled as he turned his attention to the dropped Fullbottles.
"Well if I can't have the Pandora Box with me yet, I'll just settle for taking your Fullbottles for now," he muttered, managing to grab the Rabbit, Tank, Phoenix, Robot, Hawk, Gatling, Ninja, Comic, Gorilla, and Diamond Fullbottles, inserting them into a Pandora Panel before Meta Bolt punched him in the face. Sento took this opportunity to get the remaining Fullbottles.
"You think our fight's done, Rogue!?" Meta Bolt shouted. "I'm not done venting yet!"
"I AM HERE!" All Might landed onto the roof, taking a glance at Sento and Ryuga before glaring at Night Rogue and Meta Bolt. "Your time is up, Faust! I've faced villains worse than you, and trust me when I say that with or without a Hazard Level, I'll take both of you down!"
"Alright, I think I am done," Meta Bolt said, as he swept his Transteam Gun and disappeared in a cloud of gas. "See you all later!"
"Tch, whatever. I've gotten something out of this," Night Rogue muttered, preparing himself to leave, when All Might had moved to him in an instant, and punched him in the gut. Night Rogue coughed as the wind was knocked out of him, and collided with the wall behind him. He fell to his knees, and from all the attacks he endured from Blood Stalk, Meta Bolt, Build, and now All Might himself, his armor dissipated, revealing his true identity.
"Mr. Himuro!?" Sento said, his eyes wide.
"The Prime Minister's son... is the leader of Faust!?" All Might said, his mouth agape before changing into a furious frown. This was bad. Really bad.
"You're that guy when I met everyone that day!" Ryuga said, pointing at the man.
Gentoku growled. He couldn't believe it. His identity that he took so many lengths to protect, revealed in an instant. To the Number One Hero of all people!
"Dammit," he muttered. This was going to ruin so many plans if he didn't figure out a way to salvage it. "So you found out who I am. I doubt that anyone would believe you, though. A disgruntled scientist who lost their job and a criminal wanted for murder and breaking out of prison? Who'd believe you two? And even if you're the Symbol of Touto, I don't think anyone would believe a word about me without evidence!"
"What do you mean a disgruntled- Oh," Sento said, as it hit him. "I guess this is my resignation, huh?"
"All Might, trust me when I say that everything I've done, was done for Touto!" Gentoku shouted. "You're getting weaker every passing day, and you can't hold that form forever! I needed to do whatever it took to protect our country!"
All Might froze. That was right. The Prime Minister and his cabinet were made aware of his state about him losing his power and his true form. And that included Gentoku, who's not only the Prime Minister's son, but his aide.
"Getting weaker?" Ryuga said, confused. "Can't hold that form forever? What?"
"This is goodbye for now, Symbol of Touto," Gentoku said, grabbing the Pandora Panel with the Fullbottles he grabbed. He swept his Transteam Gun, and a cloud of gas surrounded him. "But before I go, I think I'll go and find that treacherous Blood Stalk. Damn him and taking the Box for himself, this is all his fault!"
"Hold on!" All Might shouted, rushing to grab Gentoku. But it was too late. He had disappeared like his cohorts.
"Dammit, and he took so many Fullbottles!" Sento said, punching the ground. "The only Best Matches I have now are Deeramid, LionCleaner, RhiDryer, SmaphoWolf, and RocketPanda!"
"That's still a lot," Ryuga pointed out, getting up and walking towards the two.
"We can't let Faust have Fullbottles, Banjo!"
"Right, right... and we still need to get Blood Stalk and the Pandora Box back," Ryuga said. "Hopefully he hadn't gotten far or used his gun to get away."
"We shouldn't waste time, we should-" All Might said, before Ryuga collapsed again.
"Dammit, I guess I'm more tired than I thought," he muttered, before All Might picked him up.
"I guess I'll need to take you back to the café." All Might turned around, and faced Sento. "Take care of yourself, alright?"
"I will, Stalk won't get away so easily," Sento said, as All Might jumped away, carrying the worn out Ryuga with him. He took a look at his Fullbottles, and sighed. "I guess the only one capable of flight I can use now is RocketPanda... Well, it is pretty fast, so-"
"Well, this has been a productive day," Blood Stalk said, as he walked near the back entrance of the Institute. "Got the Box, got to beat Rogue up a little, got Banjo to Hazard Level 3, things are looking up-"
He heard something moaning coming his way, and he saw the Smash he made from that Kawai guy earlier stumbling around, having crashed through an entrance. "Oh, that's right, Banjo didn't take your essence out, and you've recovered a bit it seems. Well, since I'm in a good mood right now, I guess I'll go ahead and extract it for you."
Blood Stalk set the Pandora Box onto the ground, and immediately assaulted the Smash with punches and kicks. It didn't have time to respond, getting knocked back before he summoned his Transteam Gun and Steam Blade, combining the two into his Steam Rifle. He fired several rounds into the Smash and followed it up with a slash from the rifle's blade. It groaned weakly from the assault. "About time to finish this, right?"
Blood Stalk took his Cobra Fullbottle out, shook it and twisted its cap open, and inserted it into this Steam Rifle. "Cobra! Steam Shot! Cobra!"
He fired the Steam Rifle, as an energy projection of a cobra followed the bullet and clamped its fangs down onto the Smash. It exploded in a fiery cloud of dust that sent it flying backwards again, and it struggled to get up, but couldn't due to being in pain. Blood Stalk pulled out an Empty Bottle, and pointed it at the downed Smash, returning Eita to normal.
Build landed nearby in RocketPanda, and was about to chase Blood Stalk who was walking away when Eita shouted at him.
"Takumi Katsuragi! You're Takumi Katsuragi, right!?"
Build froze, hearing Eita say that. Was what Shingo said earlier true, then? Was Katsuragi really alive?
"Mr. Katsuragi could never be killed like that, by some- by some lowly thug like Ryuga Banjo! Is it you that's Katsuragi!? Or is it Meta Bolt!? There- There has a to be a reason why you're in that suit, right!?"
Blood Stalk looked away as he bluntly said, "Takumi Katsuragi is long dead."
"No! No that isn't true! Mr. Katsuragi was a genius! All of this technology he made, he- he could've used it to fake his death! So just tell me the truth, Mr. Katsuragi!"
"Hm. I see. You mean like this?"
Blood Stalk walked over to Eita, and grabbed his face as smoke blew out of it. Eita screamed as his arms flailed around, before they fell, limp and dead. Eita's face began to change shape, until it turned into that of the dead Shingo. "Hm, shame. People with low Hazard Levels rarely seem to survive that."
"So are you really Takumi Katsuragi!?" Build said, shaking off the stupified feeling he got from watching that. "Why did you fake your murder and frame Banjo!?"
"Oh no, not you too," Blood Stalk said, shaking his head. "He's already dead like I said."
"Stop lying!" Build said, changing from RocketPanda to LionCleaner. He used the Long Range Cleaner to suck Blood Stalk in to keep him from leaving, and struck him with his Gold Lio Gauntlet's charged punch. Blood Stalk blocked it with this Steam Rifle, and struck Build with a punch to the gut. "Why are you still a part of Faust!? Didn't you call the Rider System a tool to defend people!? Why did you create the Smashes!? Just what is your goal, Katsuragi!? Have you lost sight of what science is!?"
"The Rider System's the greatest weapon!" Blood Stalk retorted, shooting his Steam Rifle at Build, who sucked up the ammunition with his Long Range Cleaner and blew it back out at him. That didn't phase him, and he kept on shooting while dodging his returned blasts. "It's going to revolutionize how war works! It's designed to spill blood and dye the dirt red! And you should realize something-" he inserted the Train Fullbottle into the Steam Rifle, "- science will always lead to destruction!"
"Fullbottle! Steam Attack!"
Blood Stalk pulled the trigger, and a light green energy bullet shaped like a train flew out of the barrel at high speeds, knocking Build back into a tree hard enough to cancel out his transformation. Sento gasped for air as he struggled to get up. "The more science advances, the more humanity ruins the world for more resources! Deforestation, pollution, fracking, you name it! Hell, just a while ago there was that beach that was full of nothing but garbage that people would toss into thanks to the 'currents' they blame!"
"That's true, but science has saved and connected as many lives! Medical science, faster modes of travel, Quirk study, science in used in the right way can bring joy to people-"
"You really think that's enough? Thanks to medicine, there's too many people alive that need more and more resources than what the planet can provide! Thanks to faster modes of travel, pollution is at a all time high! And don't get started on Quirks, since we both know that there are people who shouldn't even have them in the first place."
"And besides-" Blood Stalk said, as he grabbed the Pandora Box, "- are you really saying that you haven't hurt anyone with science before?"
Sento's eyes shifted around. He began thinking back to all the Smash victims he saved. Sure, he fought them, but that was to extract their essences, no one ever died-
"Heh, took you long enough, huh?" Blood Stalk said, as Sento's eyes widened from his realization. "Poor ol' Banjo, losing his girlfriend at the hands of the vigilante Kamen Rider! Girl was suffering from a genetic defect from her Quirk's incompatibility with her body, and you had to go and kill her!"
"N-no! It's not my fault! I- You- Faust is the one responsible!"
"Shifting blame to your villains, I see how it is. Easy to do without feeling guilty about your actions," Blood Stalk, shaking his head. "Fact of the matter is that while we did turn her into a Smash, it was you who ultimately took her out for good, right?"
Sento's fists tightened into a ball, but before he could say anything else, he was kicked in the stomach by Night Rogue, who had appeared from nowhere with a Guardian troop surrounding Blood Stalk. He rolled across the dirt and pavement, the Rhino, Dryer, Deer, Pyramid, Lion, Vacuum, Wolf, Smartphone, Panda, and Rocket Fullbottles falling out of his pockets.
"I'll finish taking these," Night Rogue said, picking the Fullbottles up before the beaten scientist could stop him. "As for you, I'm taking custody over the Pandora Box and hiding it now. Is that clear?"
"... Hm, fine, not sure how our sponsors will like it, but whatever, I've had a productive day either way," Blood Stalk shrugged, handing it over to Night Rogue. As he took it from him and handed it to one of the Guardians to hold, Night Rogue pulled Blood Stalk by the muffler, and growled, "You and Meta Bolt will have a lot to answer for when I'm back from hiding the Box."
"G... give back the Fullbottles... the Pandoa Box... everything back... Himuro..." Sento grunted, struggling to get up.
"Oh? Sounds like someone's found out your 'secret', Genny," Blood Stalk chided.
"And that's one of the reasons why you two have a lot to answer for," Night Rogue added.
"Blaming others for your own faults, huh? Alright. Oh, hold up."
Blood Stalk tossed the Smash Bottle containing the extracted essence from Eita. "Take that. We can't purify that at our lab, so that's a consolation for you!"
The two marched off, disappearing in a cloud of gas with the Guardians, leaving the injured Sento on the ground, alone. He pulled out his phone, and typed in a message, before passing out.
"How could you let the Pandora Box be stolen!?" Prime Minister Tajimi yelled, as she and Prime Minister Mido glared at Prime Minister Himuro.
"This is a disaster as big as the Skywall Incident! All that potential power, in the hands of villains! How will you answer for this, Himuro!?" Prime Minister Mido demanded. "How will you and all of Touto fix this!?"
"The responsibility lies entirely on me!" Prime Minister Himuro said, trying to assure the two furious Prime Ministers. "We'll organize a search for Faust! Every hero, every officer, every soldier, every Guardian we have will- will-"
Prime Minister Himuro clutched his chest, his heart pounding harder and harder, until he fell to the ground on his knees and collapsed. Utsumi rushed over to check the fallen old man, and even the other two prime ministers got low to the ground to check him.
"Prime Minister Himuro! Prime Minister Himuro! Someone call an ambulance!" Utsumi yelled, as a few surviving security guards managed to come into the observation room and saw the commotion. The bespectacled aide struggled to hide his smile about this situation, as did the two prime ministers.
Gentoku walked back, feeling a little better at having hidden the Pandora Box somewhere where Blood Stalk and Meta Bolt don't know. Those two bastards really caused him a lot of trouble today. but he managed to salvage the Pandora Box theft at least. When he got to the front, he saw an ambulance, and to his shock, his father being wheeled out of the Institute on a stretcher.
"What happened, dad!?" he said, running to his father. His father struggled to get the words out, convulsing from a heart attack.
"G-Gentoku u-until I r-r-return," he said, grasping at his son's jacket. "Y-you must t-take care of Touto!"
The paramedics lightly pushed Gentoku to the side as they loaded the Prime Minister into the ambulance. He watched as the ambulance drove off, sirens blaring as they rushed into the street. He stroked his goatee in thought.
Take care of Touto.
That means that his father entrusted him to be his voice until he returns, right?
A sinister smile spread over Gentoku's face.
ORIGINAL AO3 NOTES:
- Wow this one ended up being really long, huh? I kinda struggled with determining where I should've ended this.
- So I know I referred to Katsuki in the narration as "Bakugo" before, but I'm starting to use everyone's first names in narration now rather than their last names while they do so in dialogue (excluding when they have the same last names of course or if they asked to). So from this point on in this fanfic I'll be trying to stay consistent with that since he appears in both "Building Up A Hero!" and "Ultraman Hero Academia". I'm going to excuse Utsumi from this, though, because I keep forgetting that Utsumi's his last name, and that his first name is Nariaki, but I'm definitely more used to referring to him as Utsumi in general.
- I'm not going to lie. I completely forgot that there weren't any more bird-based Fullbottles since I chose to replace PenguinSkater and MerryChristmas with CrocodiCon and F1Saurus, meaning that the only ones are Hawk and Phoenix. Not to mention that the flying Fullbottles like Jet, Rocket, and Helicopter were already made. I gave Shingo the bird-like appearance 'cuz he was going to be a bird/flight-related Smash like in canon before I realized my mistake. Oh well, what's happened has happened. Then again, we got Ninja from Fumikage (who I was split on giving between him and Shihai), so it's not like they're necessarily obvious still. And I never did reveal his Quirk, so let's assume that it's the same sort of situation like Tokoyami who also has a bird head but his Quirk isn't bird-related.
- I'm debating on whether or not to also start bolding All Might's dialogue when he talks in his muscle form here like how I do it in "Ultraman Hero Academia". I think for now, I won't, but it is something I'm considering.
- If you need some help figuring out the order of events in this chapter, Build began chasing the Motor Smash at the time they started the written exam, and just finished fighting the Motor Smash at the same time the practical ended.
- Does it feel like it came out of nowhere that Gentoku knew about All Might getting weaker and stuff? 'Cuz like, I did imply that he knew about it early on in the story when he demanded that the officers with him and the Guardians to stop shooting at All Might. And I'm pretty sure that the government DOES know about All Might's condition (but not his Quirk's true nature).
- Had a different segment after the "Night Rogue is Gentoku" reveal, but I decided that it deserved to be the beginning of the next chapter instead of being near the end and stuff. That, and this chapter is already really long, so I decided that it was better to get to the segment to Build VS Blood Stalk (sans the motorcycle and combined Guardian robot thing that Stalk never does again) and him losing more Fullbottles.
- I hope the MHA side of this chapter wasn't overwhelmed by the Build side, since it does end more on the Build portion of things.