It was getting late at night on the eve before the festival, and Class 1-A was working on one more run-through of their concert to make sure they had everything down. Mina breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that Tenya was finally starting to loosen up enough to pull off the dance routine they created.
"I think we'll be ready in time for tomorrow. Everyone's been stepping up their game for this." Sero noted. "Still, I didn't expect Ashido to be such a merciless dance instructor."
Eijirou laughed. "Well, to be honest, dancing is her passion, so she takes it seriously."
Penny was racing along the catwalk, using Configuration: Blackwhip to drag Yuuga along by steel cables from her wrists. The idea was to give the illusion that the Franco-Japanese boy was flying while shooting off his lasers.
"9:00 PM, students! Time to call it a night!" Hound Dog barked as he came into the gym.
"You heard him, guys! Let's clear out and head for the dorms!" Izuku said. "We'll need plenty of sleep for tomorrow. That means no late-night snacking!"
"Duly noted..." Hilda sighed, recalling how one night, she tried to get something from the Pan-Dimensional Vending Machine, only to get sleep gummies instead.
Back at the dorms, Ben noticed something about their supplies.
"Looks like we're low on the dry ice we planned on using for the fog effect."
"We were using a lot of it during the rehearsals. Unfortunately, since it's a chemical compound I can't make it." Shoto noted. "The most I can accomplish is blue ice, which won't make fog when exposed to heat or water."
"Yeah, and Momo's asleep, so she can't make us anymore. I'll take Hilda, Penny, and Kirby and stop by the hardware store tomorrow to pick up a fresh supply. It opens at 8:00 in the morning, and it's only fifteen minutes away from UA. We should be able to get there and make it back in less than an hour."
"Augh...why did you wake me up at this hour?" Kirby moaned sleepily, rubbing her eyes.
"It's just a little fetch quest before the show begins," Ben said. "You keeping track of time, Penny?"
"Indeed! It is currently 7:25 AM. We'd best hurry if we're to make it to the hardware store on time!"
Hilda gulped down an energy drink and wiped her mug before letting out a loud and proud belch. Kirby winced as the bellowing burp made her stand up straight.
"Okay, that woke me up..."
Hilda chuckled. "Glad to be of service!"
It took some time to prepare the dry ice for the purchase, meaning it was close to 8:30 when the four finally exited the hardware store. As they hurried out, they nearly ran into a man wearing a long raincoat and concealing hat, along with sunglasses and a mask. Ben also noted a shorter girl next to him in similar attire.
"Dear me! Do please be careful where you're going, young ones." The taller gentleman said. "You almost ruined the taste of the Gold Tips Imperial my associate and I had just enjoyed. That's a travesty I could not be able to ignore."
"Sorry about that!" Kirby apologized.
The taller man was actually Gentle, who was internally panicking at this sudden turn of events.
"I can't talk too much or else he might recognize my voice. I must minimize contact in order to avoid suspicions." He cleared his throat. "Come along, my dear."
"Coming, darling!" The shorter girl said.
However, the four Hero students were already getting suspicious with Penny's eyes glowing as she took in what few features she could make out of the two.
"Gold Tips... Oh yeah, our friend served that tea the other night. I guess that house is some kind of cafe." Ben noted.
Gentle gasped in delight, which left La Brava concerned as he approached Ben again.
"I had no idea you were such a connoisseur. You're obviously someone of truly refined taste. Quite a pleasure to have met you."
"Well, it's more my friend who's the connoisseur. I just remembered the name since it stuck out for me." Ben clarified. "And you wouldn't know it with how huge she is. She's like a big cuddly marshmallow wrapped up in the package of a fine lady."
"Hahaha, yup! That's our Momo!" Hilda beamed. "She may seem like this posh lady but she's a total sweetheart you just wanna squeeze!"
"You must run in some high-class circles, then," Gentle noted before gasping in realization. "Which would mean he likely goes to some sort of elite school... But the only school within walking distance is..."
His eyes, hidden by the sunglasses, looked over to where UA was. And he suddenly realized just why these four teens looked so familiar to him.
"These are students of UA...and I recognize them as very high-profile members. Such rotten luck, the only saving grace being that Midoriya isn't among them."
La Brava was really concerned. "We need to leave. Not a fast exit, that will only cause him to chase us. We need to move away slowly, like we're just anybody else..."
"That tea you were talking about. It wouldn't happen to be part of your ritual, would it?" Penny asked suddenly.
Gentle froze in place. He'd been made. The stiffening of his body was all the four UA Hero Students needed as they got ready, Hilda activated her Full Gauntlet while Kirby took a small chunk of dry ice and ate it, transforming into Ice Kirby.
"If Gentle sets off those alarms, it'll ruin the festival. Eri might never recover from her trauma if that happens, not to mention all the hard work the entire school put into this. We've caused the General Ed students enough trouble. We're not going to let this man through. No matter what it takes!" All four thought unanimously.
"Just what are you implying by 'ritual'?" Gentle asked, hoping he could find a way to make it out without a confrontation.
"A few of us actually saw your video," Penny explained. "I know what you think you're intending by trying to rob UA. But you have no idea just how many people you'll hurt, how many people will suffer, if you pull this off."
Gentle sighed. "Nothing for it, then... La Brava, it's time to bring out the camera. Seems our stream will be starting a little early."
The four heroes got on guard as the two threw off their disguises, a few passersby gasping in surprise as some got prepared to record the action.
"My words will have to be brief for this video, dear viewers. For during the planning of my latest caper, I've run into a sudden obstacle. One that will be much harder to surmount than any I have faced before. But rest assured, my infiltration of UA High School will run through as I intended!"
"Wow, this guy is such a dork," Hilda noted before rushing in to take advantage of Gentle's lack of focus...only to wind up getting stopped by something rubbery.
"What the...is this the air?!" The plump girl thought in shock.
"I conjured this barrier as I threw off my overcoat." Gentle explained. "Still, I'm impressed. Your incredible strength and speed put you within inches of cleaning my clock regardless. If you've seen my Quirk you should already know... My Quirk is called [Elasticity], which can let me give anything I touch a rubbery quality. Even if it's not solid."
"Aww man, Izuku would LOVE to learn more about that!" Kirby noted.
Hilda was launched away, bowling over her friends in the process as La Brava said a small "Strike!" to comment on it. However, the four all quickly recovered and prepared to fight as Hilda dusted herself off.
"La Brava, it seems we must take this stream on the road. Our newest guest appearance will not be as easy to remove as previous cases."
"Aww come on, this is just getting interesting!" Ben said as he punched the ground, using the Earth Element to send hands of stone to try and grab the two.
However, Gentle and La Brava quickly dashed off, avoiding the stone hands as Ben rolled his eyes.
"Guess it's gonna be one of those days...Penny, take point!"
"Roger!" The Android Girl said, activating her jet boots and flying after the criminal duo.
Gentle noticed Penny coming and waited for her to come close before slapping the ground.
"GENTLY TRAMPOLINE!"
The Android gasped as the moment she landed, she was bounced back into the air by the now rubbery ground. Kirby quickly blew out ice that turned into a giant ice glove which caught her friend before she could go too far.
"I too once held social events during my time in school. I'm sure you must have personal feelings towards this, but they are no match for the determination I hold!" Gentle said.
"HOENN SMASH!"
Gentle freaked and got out of the way as a burst of air pressure hit the ground near him.
"Don't presume to know my personal feelings towards this festival!" Hilda warned. "You have no idea what's really at stake here!"
"Yeah!" Kirby agreed, skating on ice she formed with her feet.
"Looks like we'll need to avoid them the hard way..." Gentle decided, "La Brava! Follow my lead!"
"Right!"
The duo began bouncing along on several air trampolines Gentle made, La Brava turning around to see Ben rushing after them with jets of flames exploding from his legs with Penny flying right after him while Hilda used a mixture of [Float] and [Blackwhip] to fly across, Kirby riding on her back.
"These four may not be as insanely powerful as Midoriya, but they are still strong enough to match him! That rubenesque girl was even able to beat him in the Sports Festival!"
"It seems we'll need a wider berth than I anticipated. I don't know why they're so invested in this culture festival, but it must be something truly important to get them so angry at my words." Gentle noted.
"Oy! Get back here!" Hilda snapped, shooting more whips forward as Kirby spat out ice bullets.
"Zounds! They're relentless!" Gentle exclaimed as he and La Brava dodged.
"Eyes on the prize, buddy!" Ben said, suddenly appearing before the two as he coated his fist in paralyzing electricity. "Might just save your life out here!"
Gentle quickly grabbed La Brava and bounced down to the roofs just seconds before the electrified blow could land on them. He looked around and found himself at the construction site as the four landed right in front of him.
"So what's all this about? You just aiming for more attention? Or maybe you hope to expose some secrets of UA." Ben commented.
"Either way, you won't even get to see the barrier. Right now the campus is on emergency alert. Someone's bound to catch you sneaking in, and then everything will get shut down." Penny added. "It is best you simply turn around and abandon this mission. We will not pursue you otherwise."
"Come now, give me some credit. My partner is skilled enough that she can easily disable any of the alarms." Gentle said. "And we have no intention of disrupting the festival itself, just a brief infiltration and we'll be leaving. Ergo, both sides win."
"Hardly, even if you shut down the alarms the patrols will notice that the barrier was compromised." Kirby countered. "Even a simple gal like me knows that alone will get things shut down. The only winner would be you."
Gentle sighed. "It seems any arguments would only fall in your favor, and I've no time to continue chatting."
He quickly picked up La Brava and started bouncing off the air until he hit a nearby I-beam, affecting it with his Quirk, which resulted in the bolts being removed and causing it to fall.
"Configuration: Mighty Arms!" Penny said, using a configuration based on Death Arms' Quirk as she caught the beam and pulled it away to safety. "This might take a minute, my friends!"
"Don't worry, we'll keep on them!" Hilda said as she, Ben, and Kirby followed after Gentle and La Brava.
"Wow, you look gorgeous, Kendo!" Izuku smiled as he and Katsuki had gone to check up on Class 1-B and how their play was coming along.
"T-Thanks, guys..." Itsuka blushed, wearing a blue gown that showed off her figure nicely.
"Seems like there's gonna be serious competition for the beauty pageant. We'll be rooting for you and Hado-Senpai, Yaoi Hands, especially since that Support Course hoe seems so worked up over maintaining her title."
"Yaoi Hands?" Itsuka inquired unimpressed.
Izuku then noticed a drone bringing in the dry ice, which also had a small chunk taken out of it.
"That's weird. I thought Ben, Hilda, Kirby, and Penny would be back by now. What held them up that they needed to call in a drone to bring in the ice?"
Izuku closed his eyes and used his Observation Haki, only to gasp when he saw what was going on and quickly hurried along.
"Sorry, Kaachan, something's come up!"
Gentle had managed to springboard off a crane at the construction yard, La Brava still in his arms. Right behind him, Ben, Hilda, and Kirby were leaping across the roofs at blinding speeds. Gentle then got a shock as the trio started bouncing off his own air trampolines.
"It usually takes a while for whatever I affect with my Quirk to return to normal. But still... To think those children had enough spatial awareness to memorize where I placed them..."
"At this rate we'll need to use my Quirk to stop him," La Brava said.
"I'd prefer to save that for an absolute last resort. You can only use it once per day, so it's best saved for when it's time to make our escape." Gentle argued.
"But if we don't do something your clever caper will fail!" La Brava pointed out.
"I'm aware, my dear. This once simple excursion has become a race against the clock." Gentle sighed as he landed just within the forest at the base of the mountain before turning to see the three heroes overhead. "And our pursuers are fast indeed!"
"Ever heard of Acrofatic?" Hilda smirked. "Put a lot of work into making sure this big fat sexy body was as agile as it was strong!"
Gentle created a new barrier, but Ben simply bounced off one of the earlier ones, placing him in shooting distance of Gentle. Quickly he set up another barrier, but Ben was expecting that, and quickly aimed for the earlier barrier.
"Skadoosh!"
Ben fired a bullet of compressed air from his finger, which bounced off the barrier and right past the other two, slamming into Gentle's solar plexus.
"Oooh, that had to hurt!" Kirby winced.
"Gentle!" La Brava cried before finding herself pinned by Hilda as Ben did the same for Gentle.
"You should know that we're officially licensed heroes and we do have permission to use our Quirks in an emergency such as this," Ben said. "We're not at the school grounds right now, so if you surrender here we can end this without any further incident."
Gentle tried to struggle against Ben's grip as he was held in an armbar. But it was like trying to struggle against a steel vice.
"He's too strong...How did it come to this...?"
Gentle briefly turned to look at La Brava, who was completely decimated.
"In the past, Gentle would have run away the moment he was discovered by the heroes. But this time he put all of his passion into his caper... And now it's getting him hurt... My poor Gentle..."
La Brava thought back to when she first met Gentle. Back then, she was just a girl named Manami Aiba who tried sending a love letter to a fellow student she had a crush on. He shot her down in the cruelest way possible, then spread rumors that she had been stalking him. Yes, she had tried to get to know everything about him, so maybe she had been stalking him. But it was never malicious, and the boy was making her out to be some sort of creep.
This caused her to lose faith in just about everything, turning into a total shut-in. She was spiraling down, and was contemplating suicide, she stumbled onto one of Gentle's videos.
"Have you lost your passion? Then please, put your faith in me. For I will change this wretched world."
In that moment, it was like a ray of hope had shined back into Manami's life. She had hacked into Gentle's account to find his address, hoping that this new chance at happiness wouldn't be ruined just because Gentle saw her as weird.
As luck would have it, she had nothing to worry about. Maybe it was the idea that he had a devoted fan, but Gentle took Aiba in and heard her story. He never made fun of her, and at first, didn't want to take advantage of her devotion. But before long he agreed to make her his partner, and perhaps even his lover. It helped that Manami was of legal age and there was only a ten year age difference between them.
"Gentle gave me the code name La Brava to reflect how I was the prefect partner for him and before I realized it... My feelings for him... They became more than devotion... They became something more real..." La Brava thought as she began tearing up. "My darling Gentle...it can't end for you here."
Despite her tears, she smiled. They only had one shot, and with the situation as dire as it was, there was no better time to do so.
"Gentle...I love you."
Gentle closed his eyes as he heard this, tears welling in his own eyes as well as he gave a small, genuinely grateful smile.
"And I do you...Manami."
"GUYS, BACK UP!" Hilda cried, her [Danger Sense] going into overdrive.
Acting quickly, Kirby pulled Ben and Hilda away as Gentle rose up, a flaming aura of crimson energy radiating off of him.
"I had hoped it would not come to this. I usually wait until the escape to have La Brava use her Quirk since doing otherwise would be the same as misusing her feelings. You see, children, La Brava's Quirk is known as [Love]. It's quite literally the power of love in Quirk form."
"Guys, I can feel something..." Ben said, closing his eyes. "He's Haki-sensitive...and they're only sparks but...I can feel he has the will of a king inside him!"
Gentle picked up La Brava and rushed her to safety at speeds the three could barely keep up with.
"I abhor using brute force. And under normal circumstances, I would have gladly abandoned my caper the moment you discovered me. Call it the selfish whims of a man who dreams of fame, but this is one caper I just had to see through to the very end."
"I think I understand you a little better now..." Hilda said. "This is why you edit out your fights with heroes. You don't want any fans of yours to think of you as just another brutish villain."
"I can respect that. Honestly, I really can." Ben sighed. "But for the record, we can't let you pull this off!"
Gentle narrowed his eyes and dashed forward, delivering a powerful chop to Kirby, declaring her the weakest link. He hated having to strike a lady, but he aimed for a swift and painless takedown.
"YOINK!" The pink-haired girl yelled as she squished down to dodge the attack, Gentle's move missing her by mere centimeters. "Phew! Good thing Kaachan has been helping me harness my Haki more!"
"So you're that determined to preserve the peace of the school" Gentle sighed as he leaped back. "Love versus peace. Let's see which is stronger."
"You'll find that our love is strong as well!" Penny's voice came in as she landed down beside the three. "Don't worry, friends! Everything is A-Okay!"
"Glad to have you back with us, Penny!" Hilda smiled.
"And Gentle...love and peace...you can never have only one. Together is what makes them both truly thrive!" Ben pointed out. "And this culture festival...is the perfect example of that!"
That's when fireworks went off at nearby UA, signaling the start of the Culture Festival. Hilda used that as a cue to deliver a powerful stomping move that created a shockwave that Gentle barely moved La Brava out of the way off, some of his jacket getting tattered in the process.
"You should stop now!" Penny ordered. "There are four of us and only one of you. Logistically, you are outnumbered!"
"How did it come to this? I thought my Love Quirk would help, but these four are just so strong they can even overpower Gentle in Love Mode." La Brava said weakly, falling to her knees in despair. "Gentle, I'm sorry. It seems my love wasn't strong enough to help you."
"Don't fall back into despair on me now, La Brava, nothing's certain yet." Gentle said as he landed on a tree. "Your feelings will see us through somehow. They always have. GENTLY SANDWICH!"
He created a series of air barriers and slammed them into Ben as he came flying at Gentle, pinning the Elementalist to the ground, with Gentle landing on top to keep it that way.
"BEN!" Hilda cried as she rushed in with Penny and Kirby, only for Gentle to quickly slam more air barriers on them as well.
"The thinner the sandwich, the more elegant it's considered, though with your incredible powers, I had to pile on the layers just to keep you pinned. It's unfortunate, but such sacrifices must be made... To achieve the dreams of my youth. To make certain history remembers me! This is no longer an ambition I hold solely for myself. If I don't want my name to fade, I must persevere. My aims are not so trivial that I would abandon them just because you demand it! As UA students, I would think you of all people must understand what it means to yearn for a goal."
"You know something? You're absolutely right." Hilda said. "But some goals... Have more weight than others!"
Ben pressed his hands down into the ground, causing the very foundations of the earth to tremor and rattle, causing Gentle and his towers to topple.
"And for someone who understands this, you seem to have no qualms about upsetting the goals of others! Our school has worked so hard for this. The school is about more than the Hero Course. Those in General Ed have been eager to have a moment of peace, a time to shine! And one little girl is counting on seeing this festival just to remember what it feels like to smile!" Kirby said. "If we just stand aside and let you have your way at the expense of all those others... I think we'd make pretty pathetic heroes!"
"If that's what it takes to make my name legend, then so be it!" Gentle snapped back.
However, as he prepared to make his move, he suddenly had a vision, more like a flashback if anything.
It wasn't all that long ago that Danjuro Tobita once tried to become a hero. One that would shine in the history books. Unfortunately, his grades were never the best and he kept getting held back. This alone wouldn't have stopped him, but he had failed the Provisional License Exam four times in a row. Things came to a head when, while at a favorite cafe of his, he heard people calling out in an emergency. He raced to the scene to find a man falling from a scaffolding. He tried to cushion his fall with an air barrier, only for it to get in the way of a flying hero.
To make matters worse, all he ended up doing was causing the man to fall harder due to the piece of ventilation that had been falling with him. Seeing his actions cause the poor man to nearly die made Danjuro realize that he really wasn't cut out for hero work.
To make matters worse, he was now in trouble with police officials and expelled from school, and his parents ultimately disowned him and threw him out due to being driven to poverty-fighting a lawsuit from the injured man. He understood their anger but it still hurt him all the same, even more so when he learned later they had both committed suicide.
The final nail in the coffin was when a classmate of his, Takeshita, whom he thought was a good friend, had all but forgotten about him after forming his own hero agency. Being forgotten by everyone he ever knew broke him at a deeply emotional level.
Not wanting to die alone, old and pathetic, he chose instead to walk the path of a criminal.
"TELL ME!" Gentle suddenly shouted after snapping out of his daze. "WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE HEROES?!"
"Let's just say we all had someone to strive to be like..." Hilda said. "Someone who made a goal to strive for! For the countless masses who cry out for a hero where none can be found!"
"I was made to be a weapon! I WAS a weapon until I was found! People who actually gave a shit about me!" Ben said. "People I can proudly call my family! At first, I thought I was nothing but a monster...but now I'm a Hero people can rely on!"
"I'm an alien from outer space. I always felt out of place amongst everyone, even if you had all fantastical superpowers that made my point of origin moot." Kirby said. "But I found someone who believed in me! And I helped change him for the better!"
"I always thought I was just a machine, a tool to be used for society," Penny said. "But then I found people who saw me as something else...a real girl with hopes and dreams of her own!"
Gentle grunted as he felt something of his own welling up within him, a massive burst of Conqueror's Haki suddenly exploded out of him, surprising the four heroes but not doing much to falter them.
As the battle was going on, La Brava pulled out her laptop.
"There's still time! If I can crack into UA's security system, we can get inside and finish the infiltration! This program I created has to work!"
She was quickly proven wrong when a bug hit her laptop, courtesy of Penny's technological connections.
"Oh no. This far out the service is too slow to bypass the security. I need to try and get closer. That should allow the program to run faster."
She ran as fast as she could, rubbing dirt on herself just in case Hound Dog was patrolling nearby. Gentle spotted this and gasped in fear.
"No! It's dangerous for her to run off by herself! If she runs into one of the faculty she'll be defenseless!"
Gentle's fears were proven correct when a mighty force slammed down in front of La Brava, rising to its feet like a demon out of Hell as Ben, Hilda, Penny, and Kirby all gasped in surprise to see Izuku had arrived.
"Kept you waiting, huh?" The green-haired boy smiled at his friends before beginning to approach La Brava. "Sorry, but you're going to have to come with me-"
"NO!"
Gentle shocked everyone by turning around and coating his fist in Armament Haki, punching Izuku square in the face and sending the green-haired boy crashing into a tree. Everyone was shocked while Gentle himself was horrified at having resorted to such violence, falling to his knees as Love Mode wore off.
Izuku quickly got back to his feet, wiping a bit of blood off his lip as he saw Gentle hugging La Brava close. Ben, Hilda, Penny, and Kirby made their way over with concern on their faces.
"I'll surrender...You've proven that your dreams for everyone... Are greater than my own selfish ambitions..."
I wanted to put the whole battle with Gentle in here so I could do him and La Brava the proper justice they deserve.
Don't worry, this won't be the end of their story.