CH.27: THE GAP BETWEEN US

Toshinori in his gaunt form watched the heroes take care of the villain fairly easily from a safe distance. The sole reason those pros were having such an easy time was the fact that they had a troop of Titan robots backing them up. Allmight had even watched one of the machines dive protectively in front of a group of civilians to shield them from a hail of bullets and shrapnel before he could even transform and intervene. The hero just quietly walked away keeping his trench coat and hat on so no one would recognize him. As he made his way through the crowds he pulled out his phone to continue reading the online articles.

Teenage Genius Ushers In a New Technological Age

Titans, the Mechanical Peace Keeping Force

Izuku Midoriya Sets New Standard for Professional Heroes

These were some of the headlines of the articles that have been circulating lately. After it was revealed that the disgraced pro heroes that Midoriya exposed were the ones paying to have slanderous articles written about him, new more progressive journalists, who kept an open mind and non-biased agenda were writing articles about honest opinions of the boy. There were still some negative things written, but all the positive things he accomplished were out weighing them in the eyes of the public.

With the way things have been going lately it almost seemed like the city didn't even need the symbol of peace anymore. Crime was decreasing, villains were being rounded up in droves, and robots were daily patrolling the streets keeping civilians safe and assisting heroes at every turn. It looks like some good came from young Midoriya's scheming and plotting after all.

No matter how much his old teacher tried to convince him he still didn't see young Midoriya as evil. A villain yes, but he didn't think that made the boy inherently evil in his book. He had discussed it with his successor Mirio and they both came to the same conclusion that Izuku was just looking for the one thing that he had been denied his whole life, purpose and meaning. As someone who was once in the boy's shoes Toshinori could understand what it was like. It was true that he had forgotten, but lately the more he looked at Midoriya the more of his past quirkless self he saw in him. It always hurt to wake up every morning in a world where the majority were born with something that made them unique. To have nothing that made him stand out or special, to wonder if he was born a mistake or a cruel joke from the universe. To feel like he didn't fit in.

Part of Toshinori almost didn't want to stop Midoriya, because in some ways the boy was right. However he knew it was only a matter of time before Izuku crossed a line and he did when he took those hero's quirks. He couldn't allow that vile quirk All for One to exist yet again in any shape or form or in anyone's possessions no matter who it was. Not after everything he did to finally put that man behind bars. He owed it to his master and all the previous vessels of One for All to put a stop to it. If that meant going all out to defeat Izuku Midoriya then so be it. He would just have to make it up to him some way when this was all over.

THE ISLAND

"And here they come", Izuku waved his gauntlet and created three portals in front of him. From each came one of the three members of his Knights of Balance. Todoroki, Uraraka, and Iida. The three former U.A students came each carrying a couple bags and suitcases. Not only did they have to leave their school, but part of the agreement was that they had to live here at Midoriya's new fortress while they trained until they were ready. Shoto's dad Enji was furious that his son dropped out of U.A. He told Shoto that as his masterpiece it was his duty to become the number one hero since he had his quirk stolen. Of course the dual quirk wielder told his father to blow it out his ass and that he'd be the hero he wanted to be and not what his father thinks he made him for before handing him his legalized emancipation papers.

As for Uraraka, her decision was even harder. She finally had to step forward and tell her parents that she is working for Midoriya. At first they were afraid for their daughter's safety, but she reminded them that it was just as dangerous being a hero in training. Plus Izuku had much better security than U.A, an army of robotic enforcers and the added protection from the government.

Iida had to let his family know what was going on as well, and explain why he was leaving U.A. They took it pretty well. Though his brother Tensei was very worried about his decision to act as a spy within the H.R.D. Iida assured him that he had everything under control and that Midoriya would be none the wiser.

"Welcome everyone to H.Q", he gestured to the large island fortress around them. "Finally finished it this morning. Come on I'll give you the tour", Izuku said with the excitement and enthusiasm of a kid on Christmas morning. "Leave your things, something will get them." The group of teenagers did just that and followed after their new leader. Izuku conducted them around the complex, showing them the automated Titan factory, the lab, the work shop, and the living quarters. The tour ended at what he called the training area.

"Shall we get started", Midoriya smiled at them.

"What are you talking about?" Todoroki questioned.

"I thought we'd break in our new training facility with a little group combat practice", Izuku smiled as he as he led his new elite force through the finally complete island base. "No time like the present." He thought the first thing they should do as a group would be a bit of sparring to see if they learned anything sense the last time they fought.

"You think this training facility you built will accommodate all of us?" Todoroki asked with a skeptical gaze. Izuku just chuckled lightly at his question while Uraraka did the same. She had seen the plans after all.

"Why don't you take a look for yourself and then judge", Izuku led them to a large metal door. Upon their approach the doors slowly opened revealing a huge open training room. The walls, floor and high ceiling seemed to be made of identical square metal panels and the room was lit with solar powered lights scattered above them. The gauntlet user pulled out a small remote and pressed a few buttons. The group watched as the panels mechanically rearranged themselves forming platforms, levels, walls, and barricades. "Tada!"

"Impressive" Todoroki complimented.

"That's right and fully reinforced to withstand even the most powerful quirks", Izuku boasted the capabilities of his state of the art training room. "Now then go changed and we can begin", a set of panels in the wall opened revealing an entrance way to what they assumed were changing rooms.

When the three came out they were dressed in training jump suits similar to their former school's gym uniform, but these were gray with the symbol for Izuku's department printed in white on the back. There was also some elbow and knee pads attached. As they walked back into the large open room they were surprised to see that Midoriya had also changed from his suit and was waiting for them. He was dressed in a black tank top, black work out shorts with black leggings underneath that were cut with holes for the heels and toes, and a single fingerless glove on his right hand opposite his gauntlet.

"Wait are we training with you?" Iida was surprised when he expected their first training exercise would be against some of those robots of his. Even Todoroki was caught off guard, but it didn't seem that odd to him. Uraraka of course wasn't that surprised really. Before gaining his position he had helped train her in some new fighting moves and other ways to use her quirk.

"Well of course", Izuku said nonchalantly. "I believe in a more hands on approach. Plus this is the best way for me to see how much you've improved since the junk yard and what areas you need to work on." He gestured for the three of them to step forward. Once they did the metal panels they stood on were raised about a foot high along with a large even expanse. The whole thing clearly resembled the same square fighting platform from the U.A sports festival. "Now first each of you is going to have some one on one spars and hopefully with time permitting we'll have a group exercise", Izuku smiled warmly at his knights. "So who wants to volunteer to go first", without hesitation Shoto Todoroki stepped forward. The other two stepped off the ring to watch from the sidelines.

"Now then the rules are simple. Free use of your quirk, first to be knocked out of the ring or pinned down loses", the green haired gauntlet wielder explained. "Also if you can't go on feel free to tag out with someone else"

"Can we start this already?" Shoto asked impatiently.

SHOTO VS IZUKU

"Ready whenever you are", Izuku barely got the words out when a glacier of ice suddenly erupted towards him. "Woah!" He shattered the ice was a simple one for all powered back hand. "Not very sportsman like"

"I wasn't aware you wanted a fair fight", Todoroki remarked sarcastically.

"I don't. In fact come at me with every trick you have", Midoriya taunted. A moment later a torrent of flames shot towards him like a spear. Izuku leaned back to dodge, but was unprepared for the floor to suddenly turn icy, nearly making him slip and fall. Correcting his balance the gauntlet user quickly melted the ice using the reality stone. Todoroki, not willing to give his opponent a moment of breath, followed up with a ball of fire, hurled at Izuku's chest. The green haired teenager used his right hand to catch it instead of his gauntlet protected left, much to the shock of his opponent and the two spectators.

"Energy Conversion!" Black and purple energy bolts emerged from his hand and arm, attaching to the ball of fire like tentacles. The bicolor haired boy watched with curiosity and unease as the heat from his attack was sucked away until it fizzled out into mere embers. Seeing the look on his opponents face Midoriya decided to satisfy his curiosity. "Oh I'm sorry I don't think I ever explained. The soul stone allows for me to use any quirk that I've taken", Izuku smirked at him. "That was one of them called 'Energy Conversion', it converts any energy, heat, electricity, or even kinetic and converts into another form of energy. For example", he held his hand out and created a ball of raw power, glowing a light purple with black sparks dancing around it. "Catch!" He called, hurling it at Todoroki without hesitation.

'Dammit!' Shoto scowled as he erected a wall of ice. The ball of energy impacted it, nearly shattering it if the dual quirk user didn't reinforce his wall with more ice. The fight continued on with Todoroki attempting to gain the upper hand, yet to his frustration it seemed Midoriya had a counter to everything he did. Any ice that came near him was either shattered with his near Allmight level of strength or melted into water by the power of the reality stone. Fire was also useless, for the heat was always leeched away by that energy converting quirk Midoriya claimed to have appropriated and thrown back at him.

"Don't tell me you haven't learned anything since the last time we fought", Izuku taunted harshly with a disappointed gaze.

"Actually I did", Shoto said as he pointed both his hands at Midoriya. First he cooled the air between himself and his opponent. Then he followed up by rapidly heating the air. The end result was a large superheated blast sent directly at the gauntlet user. Izuku took the blast head out of sheer respect for the other boy's inventive attack. Using the space stone he projected his protective barrier outwards in front of him like an umbrella, amplifying it with the power stone to tank the other boy's attack. The collision nearly blew away the two onlookers from the sidelines.

"Very good!" Izuku complimented him as he stepped out of a cloud of smoke. "You've been learning how to use your fire I see", he put emphasis on the word 'your', reassuring Shoto again that it was still his power and not Endeavors. "But so have I", black sparks formed around his right hand before it was engulfed in flames, hell flame to be exact. With what was once the number two hero's quirk Izuku launched an arc of fire at Shoto.

Todoroki panicked for a moment seeing those familiar flames baring down on him. The very sight of it was giving him the worst kind of déjà vu. However instead of cowering in fear he faced it head on like Midoriya always did. Using as much ice he could produce Shoto completely overwhelmed the fire, nearly giving himself frostbite in the process. Unfortunately he was too drained to dodge or block the oncoming foot that kicked him in the chest and pinned him to the metallic floor.

"So then", Izuku smiled as he kept him down with his foot. "What did you learn?"

"Your too powerful", Shoto glared at him in frustration at not being able to put a scratch on his opponent. It made him feel so weak after everything he's been through.

"There's no such thing as too powerful", Izuku corrected him. "This is what it's like to fight me when I'm prepared. Last time we fought I was caught off guard and had to improvise. This time I was mentally prepared for everything you could through at me", he bent down and poked Todoroki in the forehead. "That is your greatest tool. Any idiot can throw their quirk around, but if you know not just the ins and outs of your own quirk but your opponent's as well you'll always have the advantage", he removed his foot and extended his hand out to help the other boy up. "You've improved in leaps I would say", Todoroki willingly took his hand as well as his advice.

"Now whose next?" Midoriya glanced towards Uraraka and Iida. "Uraraka, a fight between us wouldn't be a good representation of your new skillset. How about you fight Iida here"

OCHAKO VS TENYA

The two stepped up to the platform as Izuku and Shoto walked off of it. Uraraka was smiling and bubbly as she always was even when facing her friend Iida.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Midoriya asked.

"Oh! My staff!" Uraraka wanted to smack herself for being so forgetful.

"It's alright", Izuku made a small portal directly above her. The new staff that he made for her, since her previous one was confiscated by her former school, came falling out of it. Without even looking Ochako caught it with one hand, giving it a quick spin as she turned to face her opponent. Iida almost took a step back at the expression change on her face. She looked so serious and focused, the complete opposite of how she looked a moment ago.

"And….begin!" Izuku gave them the go ahead to start the fight. Iida wasted no time and rushed at her with the speed his quirk granted him. When he was inches away from Uraraka, at the last possible second the brown haired girl dipped forward out of the way of his charge. With a single swipe of her staff she nearly bashed his face in.

"Stay on your toes Iida!" Midoriya advised from the sidelines.

'She's quick on her feet', Iida thought as he evaded her swings as best as he could. 'Quicker than she ever was before'. The gravity girl suddenly pole-vaulted over him using her metal staff. Immediately Tenya whipped around expecting her to be mounting an attack from behind, but was caught off guard when she was not there. A grapple claw attached to a tether wrapping around his torso was his only clue to her whereabouts. Following the line he found her floating up in the air above him. She must have used her quirk on herself the moment she jumped over his body.

"Newton Drop!" Uraraka shouted the name of her new move as she yanked herself down at Tenya while deactivating her quirk. Iida was so taken by surprise that he couldn't stop the feet that plowed into his chest, knocking the air out of his lungs and slamming him on the floor. Ochako pinned his body down with her own, placing her right elbow on his throat.

"Alright that's enough!" Izuku called the match. "You did well, both of you, but clearly Uraraka is the victor", the gravity girl stood, removing her arm and grapple staff from the taller boy's body. Ochako reached her hand out to help him up. Tenya being a good sport took her offered hand.

"I didn't expect the fight to be that short", Todoroki remarked.

"I did", Izuku smirked. "She doesn't like to drag battles out." He knew that much about her. "Now then I think I've seen enough. Todoroki you need more close combat training. Iida you rely too much on speed and lack a proper defense. Uraraka I've already been working on what you'll need, so just keep up what you've been working on"

"Why aren't those villain's here training with us?" Tenya suddenly asked. It didn't seem fair that they were getting 'special treatment' while the villains that Midoriya recruited are out doing who knows what.

"Oh they'll be here" Izuku turned his gaze towards the engine quirk user. "Stain is just giving them a quick crash course", his phone suddenly went off and he promptly answered it. "Ah good she's here"

"Whose here?" The dual quirk user wanted to know.

"You'll meet her soon. Let's take a short lunch break everyone while I go get her settled in", Izuku started walking away. "The robots will escort you to the mess hall, after that we'll get back to more training", he dismissed them as he opened a portal and stepped through it. One of the Titan robots entered the training room, this one was white unlike the typical black ones.

"I don't know about you two boys but I could use a bite", Uraraka smiled before making her way to their mechanical escort, leaving her staff behind on the floor. The other two begrudgingly followed after her.

THE LAB

"It's like a toy store!" Mei happily moved around her new lab, examining all the state of the art tools and equipment that was now at her disposal. With all this she could make the ultimate babies.

"I figured you'd like it" Izuku smiled watching his friend and colleague enjoy her new work space. "Sorry about the Hero Public Safety Commission grilling you. Part of the agreement I have with the government is that they get to screen all the employees I hire", it honestly frustrated him how the commission was doing everything it could to try and slow him down, rather than work with him. Luckily for Izuku his six knights don't count as employees and thus don't have to go through that process.

"It's alright. Not like I have anything to hide", Mei shrugged as she examined one of the power drills.

"Now then I think it's time I explain why I need your expertise and my little…project." Walking over to what looked like a table, it was actually a large digital screen. Activating it with a simple touch the screen lit up showing schematics and blueprints.

"Oh! What's this?" Mei was intrigued by what she was seeing.

"This is what you'll be working on in addition to the support gear I need. With Allmight on the verge of retiring the people will need a new symbol that they can get behind." Izuku explained smoothly. "This will be a temporary solution until a new human hero can rise to fill the void." What he was showing her was the plans for a new Titan robot. A more powerful unique Titan, designed to be better than any other. "I call it Nemesis"

THE MESS HALL

"This place is too big for just a few people", the three young heroes in training sat together alone in a big empty room filled with unoccupied eating tables.

"Izuku eventually wants more people to join the organization", Uraraka explained while she ate. "He built this whole facility to accommodate the future members"

"He really thinks ahead doesn't he", Todoroki commented.

"Yeah." The brown haired girl glanced over to Iida who was eating quietly while staring off at the walls. "Are you alright Iida? I didn't hurt you too badly did I?"

"N-no it's alright", Tenya suddenly snapped to attention. "I underestimated you so it's my fault not yours", he promptly apologized for what he viewed as his own blunder. "I was just thinking about how powerful Midoriya really is compared to what he's shown us"

"I couldn't even land a good hit on him", Shoto could admit that he was somewhat frustrated by that. "Plus I get the feeling that he wasn't going all out."

"You haven't seen what he's really capable of", a voice from behind their table interrupted them. They turned around to see the villain known as Dabi standing there with a tray of food. "I was there when he fought against Allmight. Trust me when I say he's a lot more powerful than you imagine" Without invitation he sat down next to Todoroki.

"He's also super smart!" Someone else spoke up as another person sat at their table right next to Uraraka. The gravity quirk user turned to see Toga beaming at her with her enlarged canines.

"Toga", Uraraka greeted rather coldly. She'd met the other girl before and didn't exactly hit it off with her.

"Ochako", the blonde girl said in a sickly sweet tone.

"He didn't waste any time I see", Stain appeared as well, plopping down in the seat across from Tenya. "Put you right into training", Iida glared at him through his glasses. "I get the impression that you still don't like me Ingenium Junior"

"What was your first clue?" Dabi smirked as he watched the interaction.

"Still mad about your brother?" The former hero killer finally glanced up at him. "Even though he's going to be able to walk again from what I hear?"

"You're the one who put him in that situation in the first place", Tenya practically spat.

"Yeah I did", Stain sighed. "I won't apologize though and I certainly don't feel bad for what I did, but I will concede that I was wrong", everyone stopped and turned to look at serial killer with shock. "Midoriya proved to me that his method is better. Why kill fake heroes when you can expose them and make them live the rest of their lives in shame", he grinned remembering the video of what happened to Endeavor. He got a copy of it from Izuku so he could watch it over and over again.

"Speaking of fake heroes, how is your old man doing these days?" Dabi suddenly asked turning to face Shoto while he ate.

"Still whining about losing his quirk and job", the dual quirk user supplied in an even tone, not really caring about his father anymore.

"That's good", Dabi almost seemed gleeful at hearing that.

"Why do you care so much?" Shoto asked the patched up man.

"Let's just say your father and I have a very personal history", Dabi said while taking a bite of his lunch.

"Are you a villain he fought in the past or something?" Shoto inquired with a narrow gaze. The last thing he needed was someone coming after him for what Endeavor did to them.

"Not really, but from my perspective he was more the villain in our relationship", Dabi smirked at him. While the two of them were having a stare down Ochako and Toga were having their own little chat.

"So what have you and Izuku been doing all these months?" The blonde psychotic girl asked. "I hardly ever see him, and I hear you two have been hanging around together"

"If you must know we've just been training and I've also been acting as his assistant until he hires someone to replace me", Ochako said in a matter of fact voice, not leaving any room for it to be misconstrued.

"Training huh? So that means you got to put your hands on his body a lot", Himiko grinned widely making the other girl blush.

"W-W-Wait! It's not like that", Uraraka stammered out.

"Your blushing so much, but that must mean that", Toga gasped loudly. "You like him too!" She accused with a laugh. Before the gravity quirk user could deny her words a portal opened up in the middle of the mess hall and Izuku poked his head through.

"Are you guys ready to go again?" He asked. Midoriya looked to the table where his knights were seated. Iida was glaring at a nonchalant Stain. Todoroki had his cold gaze pointed at a smirking Dabi and Uraraka was blushing bright red while Himiko was giggling next her. "What I miss?"

"Nothing!" Ochako answered while she tried to hide her red face.

"Okay", Izuku seemed skeptical but let it go. "Back to the training room then", his head went back into the warp gate as it closed.

"After you", Dabi gestured with his arm while still smirking at the youngest Todoroki.

TRAINING ROOM-LATER

"Alright this time I want Iida, Todoroki and Dabi to come at me all at once while the rest of you wait on the sidelines", Izuku picked his next sparring victims as he liked to call them. After several hours of making them fight one on one and switching partners he decided now was a good time for a group match to see how well they did working together against a single overpowered opponent.

"Three against one? That doesn't seem fair", the black haired fire user raised a brow at the challenge.

"Your right it isn't fair" Izuku shrugged. "You three won't even be able to touch me", he taunted with a small amount of arrogance.

'I'm not going to underestimate him this time', Tenya thought as he stared at his leader. 'I'll fight Midoriya with everything I have and finally see how big the gap between us really is'.

"Is everybody ready?" Izuku stood at the opposite end of the ring. Dabi got into a prepared stance summoning blue flames in the palms of both hands. Shoto covered his right arm in an icy mist while his left was engulfed in fire. Tenya's leg engines roared to life as he stood ready to charge in. "Good and….let's go!" The three boys launched everything at him while the green haired boy just smirked at their attacks. "Infinity Gauntlet…one hundred percent output", each of his opponents was blown back by the rush of energy and power that exploded out their leader. Izuku would show them all just how strong he really was with the full power of his invention.

So the thing with me is that I'm taking a bunch of classes right now to finish my bachelor's degree. Unfortunately class work takes priority over writing. I'm sorry, but that's the way it has to be. In addition to that I find myself often too mentally exhausted to write chapters after I'm finished with said class work. It sucks because part of knows that its been forever since I updated and another part just wants to relax and watch Netflix. This is why updates are so slow for anyone who wants to know.

Short little sparring matches in this chapter. More in the next chapter. I'm very excited because in the next chapter Izuku's is going to be giving some of them their new support gear and I can't wait for you to read what I've got planned for Shoto and Uraraka.

Let's talk about the reveal in this chapter Nemesis. It's basically his version of Ultron, or what Ultron was originally supposed to be. Mei is going to be building the pieces and Izuku is going to put it all together and program the AI. I'm sure some of you have put together where the mind stone might possibly come into play here. It's not going to go crazy and try to destroy the world, let me be clear about that.

Iida's codename will be Quicksilver. Thank you all for your suggestion, but I liked that one the best so we are going with that.

Thanks for reading.