blööh1

by bibidibabidiboom

obibij

42. the second

Preface

The Second Coming
Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at /works/47172853.

Rating:
Explicit
Archive Warnings:
Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Categories:
F/F, F/M, Multi
Fandoms:
僕のヒーローアカデミア Boku no Hero Academia My Hero Academia (Anime & Manga), Multi-Fandom
Relationship:
Momo Yaoyorozu and Original Male Character(s)
Characters:
Original Characters, Nezu, Yagi Toshinori All Might, Aizawa Shouta Eraserhead, Midoriya Izuku, Yaoyorozu Momo, Eri (My Hero Academia), Kobayashi (Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid), Harry Dresden
Additional Tags:
Self-Insert, Multiple Crossovers, The Company - Freeform, Waifu Catalogue, POV Multiple, The Company Fucks Everyone, All For One Quirk (My Hero Academia), Sex
Language:
English
Stats:
Published: 2023-05-14 Updated: 2024-06-10 Words: 187,517 Chapters: 119/?
The Second Coming

by Emerald_Cube

Summary

A Company Agents breaks free of his contract and making a fresh start goes off on his own.

Ethan

I sat in the chair as the Company representative scowled across me from her desk.

It was a stark white room, white light coming from all the walls in an attempt to give off that 'unending expanse' look.

I was mildy amused by the attempt to be honest. For the uninitiated it would probably be somewhat intimidating, eerie sight that would befuddle the senses and distract from the important discussions about to take place. With my experiences and current collection of upgrades and abilities however, the attempt fell entirely flat.

It was also probably a good idea for someone scared of their own shadow, like this person for instance. Not that I think this particular individual is scared of their own shadow or anything.

Yet.

"Agent Carlisle," the woman said. She was a Maleficent in a well fitted black office suit. "Do you know why you are here?"

"No," I said simply. "Would you like to elaborate miss…" I leaned forward to take a hard look at her chest, which was devoid on a name tag. "I apologise, but you don't have a nametag," I said to the woman who knew I knew what her name was.

The Maleficent in front of me scowled furiously. Her two hangers on, a Korra decked out in cybernetics like Cyborg from the DC comic universe and the other, what I assumed based on the trench coat and hockey stick/staff was Harry Dresden, bristled. I could only imagine what kind of effort Harry was going through not to make a quip of some sort right about now.

Maybe the urge had been beaten, or fucked out of him. He had that look of someone who was from the female pointing side of the Company rather than being an agent himself. I could practically see hearts in his eyes as he glanced to his likely 'Mistress'. Good for you Harry, at least you're probably happy to be fucking this beautiful eldritch fairy creature.

"You may not have broken the rules of the Co-"

"No I haven't," I interrupted her.

"Y-yes you have!" Korra shouted. "You haven't finished any missions!"

"Where did my contract specify that?" I asked politely, ignoring the terrible breach in decorum. "I took 'Exit Stage Left', didn't I?"

The straight line of Maleficent's scowl was so sharp it could cut through steel. She looked to Korra who cringed back apologetically. What the stupid headstrong girl was doing in this side of the roganisation was anyone's guess. Maybe the cybernetics were supposed to help keep her personality under control?

"As I was about to say. You may not have broken the rules of the Company, but you have at least broken the spirit of them," she stated. "Agents are expected to explore the multiverse and spread the Company's influence, capturing Waifus or Husbandos and completing assigned missions. Not as you have done, merely exploring, occasionally defeating a local villain and little else." She paused for what I assumed she thought was dramatic effect.

"Continuing on," she said, looking down to a screen on her desk, as if she didn't already know what she was going to say. "You abandoned your pocket apartment along with your single Waifu, a Miss Kobayashi," I smiled fondly in remembrance of the woman I'd 'bought' and left to relax in the privacy of the small apartment, free of any nuisances, or obligations to go to a boring, mind numbing desk job. That seemed such a long time ago now. "You also breached protocol by travelling to other universes without completing your first assignment."

"I didn't use Company tech to hop universes, so that's not actually in breach of the rules, is it?" I asked disinterestedly. "You guys should've been more specific in your contract language."

God that was going to annoy some fae higher up in the Company wasn't it? Whoever had fucked up my contract was going to see how far their head would roll. Or maybe it was simply always like that and they hadn't noticed my contract to make necessary updates. Either way, the result was the same.

"Be that as it may," Maleficent intoned. "It falls to me to demand restitution of your Company privileges. You are to surrender yourself to have your perks and other Company granted upgrades removed, including any materials or assets you have acquired."

"And if I don't?" I asked, a mild smile on my face as I resisted the urge to let it turn into a grin. "I have done nothing wrong."

"Then they will be taken by force," Maleficent stated. Clearly the game was over if the niceties had been discarded. Nobody likes losing by their own rules do they? Oh dear.

As if to highlight her words both her enforcers stepped forward in an attempt to remind me of their presence.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" I asked then casually. The Elder Wand popped out of a storage ring on my finger. I twirled it casually between my fingers as the light of my jailbroken Omnitrix bathed the stark white stick in an eerie glow.

Korra seemed far too willing for a fight, but Harry Dresden, contrary to the lackadaisical blunt instrument he would often portray himself as in his media, was canny enough to be wary of my attitude.

"I've been around quite a few worlds by now," I told them. "Are you sure it's worth trying to fight me?"

Maleficent eyed the wand in my hand and then realised I was still an Agent of the Company, who had been wandering the multiverse for oh so many years now, without supervision. Suddenly she apparently realised that this wasn't going to be so easy as she had probably imagined.

But one might ask… How strong could a company agent who had barely any points to start off with, and who had refused to stamp, or seduce, anyone gotten in a mere handful of years? Hell I hadn't even taken any templates!

It turned out, quite.

Quite strong indeed.

"A higher ranked agent could be brought in," she told me. "An executive."

"And I'm sure they would be very… annoyed at being drawn away from important duties, or fucking their harem, or their important duties of fucking their harem," I replied drolly. "I'm sure you don't want to be the one who has to explain why they were called in for little old me, do you?"

We had reached an impasse.

"I'll offer you a deal," I told her. "I'll surrender almost everything I have. All my possessions are currently in my storage rings or sweet home. In return for my surrender of all assets etcetera currently in my possession with the exclusion of my name, memories, soul and body, you will grant me immunity by contract from any reprisal of the company directly or indirectly provided I do not engage in hostilities first. Something like that. How does that sound?"

The offer of a new agreement was like waving meat in front of a hungry crocodile. Maleficent's lips curled into a big smirk across her face.

"I am willing to negotiate," she told me.

Three hours later the deal was in writing. I would keep the important bits like my body, mind and soul. The supernatural, technological, etc would be forfeit. Once all materials were retrieved without bringing m e to harm and I was of sound and capable mind and body again, blah de blah, I then had three hours to leave Company territory or be killed. The Company couldn't come after me in any way shape or form for past misdeeds and grudges, pertaining to my involvement with said company for the same amount of time. There was a bunch of other legal mumbo jumbo to cover my bases incase of some legal trickery. My assets would become the responsibility of Maleficent, meaning she got to keep them herself and they wouldn't be my responsibility once I relinquished them. She'd been quite eager to agree to my effective immunity from reprisals once that that carrot was set it in front of her.

I'd get a clean break and as an aside the Company couldn't lay claim to any territory claimed by me for fifteen thousand years. I'd started at fifty, but quite frankly I'd have settled at a mere five thousand. Nothing by Company standards really, but plenty of time in my opinion.

"Well, I'm happy to have met you all," I said as I finished signing on the dotted line, in blood of course. Dramatics are everything in these sorts of arrangements.

A special Company agent came in and processed the agreement, including the removal of my various perks etcetera. There wasn't really much to take except from the talents like 'Soul Defence' which had been quite useful I'll be honest. I'd almost wanted to negotiate to keep that one in particular, but that would've defeated the whole point of this exercise. Then I was left with Maleficent and her bodyguards again. I hadn't even needed to leave the office.

"A pleasure doing business with you," I said. I took off my Omnitrix and storage rings, even a tesseract was deposited on the table before I got to my clothes. Couldn't forget them, I had specified all assets after all, and they did count. Based on the expressions on the Fairy Queen's henchmen I could tell they were glad things hadn't come to blows and we'd sorted this all out amicably.

That done, I offered her my hand.

"Likewise," Maleficent said, not upset by my nudity apparently. Instead she looked like the cat that had caught the canary, and not because she got to see me in the buff. She had come out of this whole deal with quite the windfall in terms of the stuff she'd have acquired. I'd collected quite a few interesting things during my travels and it was now all hers.

"So tell me," she asked in that smug casualness of someone who is about to reveal their cunning deception. "Now you are no longer an Agent of the Company, how do you expect to leave Company lands without any access, technology or permissions?"

She was right. If I wasn't gone in a few hours I'd be dead for sure.

Oh no!

"Oh I'll be getting a lift," I said.

The confused expression on Maleficent's face was priceless.

"I have friends," I explained, like I was talking to a simpleton. Which I sort of was, really. Fairies are quite simple creatures when you get down to it. They rarely think… outside the box.

I looked at the tesseract. A wonderful piece of technology.

"Goodbye now, and thanks for everything," I told the woman who had once given me my contract. Not that she apparently remembered that fact somehow. That would be embarrassing once someone pointed it out to her.

The last thing I saw before the light of teleportation took effect was Maleficent's furious scowl.

Ethan

I appeared in a basement, or at least a dark concrete bunker.

On one side of the room a body was lying motionless. It wore a black suit and had a metal collar beneath a scarred and mangled face. If it weren't for the supernatural abilities of this particular individual one wouldn't be faulted for wondering how he could have survived such horrific injuries to leave them like that.

"Hey," came a voice from next to me.

It was Izuku. He was sat on a folding chair, having been waiting for me to arrive. Next to him and sat on her own chair was Eri, the twelve or thirteen year old girl was leaning against the eighteen year old Izuku's side affectionately. Or amorously, based on where her hands were positioned. She was rubbing the inside of the green clothed hero's thigh suggestively.

"Hey dude, doing alright?" I asked while Eri rubbed up against the young man's side further. Then they seemingly realised I was stark naked.

"Why are you naked!?" Izuku shouted indignantly, pulling up a hand to cover Eri's 'innocent' eyes.

She wasn't fooling me. I'd seen what that little goblin had convinced the object of her affections to do to her. Izuku might have been reluctant about it at first, and his typical Japanese Beta personality still left him embarrassed whenever the eager girl did stuff like this in public, but Eri had worn him down as soon as she'd discovered that tab A went into slots A through C.

"I didn't negotiate to keep my clothes," I told him drolly, choosing not to point out the man's hypocrisy what with what I knew about his relationship with the young girl at his side.

"Oh, I guess it doesn't matter that much," Izuku commented with a sigh and no small amount of annoyance in his tone as Eri managed to pry her eyes away to get a look at me with a giggle on her lips. "How did it go?" He asked, choosing the better part of valour and ignoring Eri's antics.

"Exactly as planned," I told him as I watched Izuku try and fail to bat away Eri's now once more wandering hands with amusement. She got like this when we were mostly in private together. I was the guy who'd thrown Izuku in her general direction. She was probably a bit more demure around other people.

Izuku jumped up in his chair slightly as Eri's hand did something behind his back.

Or maybe not.

"So you got them to leave my world alone?" Izuku asked.

"I got fifteen thousand years for this world and the others I've visited. That should be plenty of time for you to build up some defences and such, or contact other universes to get more help."

"Thank you," Izuku said with relief. "Really, I can't imagine what could have happened if someone else had arrived here before you did."

"I didn't do it all just for me," I told him pointedly. I glanced to the pod containing the body of All for One.

"Still. We appreciate it, we all do," Izuku said seriously. "To think slavery like that is occuring, on such a scale too…"

I wasn't going to tell the young man my own opinions on the matter. There was a reason I'd been hired by the Company after all.

"Just one thing left to do," I told him. I approached a second pod, this one empty and open.

Izuku stood up to stand next to me.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked. "What if something goes wrong?"

"I accounted for everything before," I told him. "Half a dozen technologies went into this machine among my other preparations. There's no chance his 'soul' will be able to carry over. It'll be entirely my own."

"I spoke to Nezu," Izuku revealed. "And I let him see it. Not to touch it or anything, I just wanted another opinion."

"Fair enough," I said, doing my best to hide my annoyance. Although I was slightly annoyed by the man's going behind my back like that. Izuku at least seemed ashamed enough to be apologetic for breaking his word, although not enough to not do it to begin with. "What did Nezu have to say?" I asked curiously.

"He couldn't understand parts of it," Izuku admitted. "But he thinks it will work, but you won't get anything but the base Quirk."

"I know," I told him. I was aware of this. I couldn't design the machine to do otherwise as that would lead to bleedover from the other quirk souls trapped in there and to eliminate the soul memory of each individual quirk could take literal years that I didn't want to risk. It's not like I didn't have a plan anyway. "I should hope so," this is basically my life's work," I told him. Several decades anyway. I wasn't young anymore, in fact I was beyond middle aged now. That didn't matter though, the machine would fix that too, hopefully.

"I guess there's nothing to it then," I said. I climbed into the machine.

"Is there anything I need to do?" Izuku asked.

"Just press the green button," I told him. "Otherwise it'll take as long as it takes. It could be a week or two before I come out, the machine will handle everything."

"Okay, but I'd like to see you before you leave," Izuku said.

"Computer," I stated to the room. "Send Izuku an email twenty four hours before the transfer is estimated to be completed, and a text an hour before too."

"Acknowledged," responded a computerised voice from the machinery on the wall.

"It knows my phone number?" Izuku asked. Like that was the important question to ask right now.

"Yes," I told him, settling into the machine carefully. "It's all yours, after all," I commented. I'd been telling the truth to the Company Maleficent after all. I didn't have any assets left out of the ones the Company had retrieved from me. I'd gifted a bunch of things away though, mostly to Izuku.

Ahh, contract law. It's all in the wording after all.

"Okay I'm ready, fire it up Izuku," I asked the green haired holder of All or One.

Izuku pressed the button. The pod filled with white gas, obstructing my view before needles were inserted by mechanical arms into various points across my body. I winced, I'd forgotten to include anything like anesthetic for this part.However, the gas was partly a nanite swarm and the other part was drugged. I inhaled deeply, I could already feel it working and in no time at all I closed my eyes and knew no more.

Ethan

When I woke up it was to a splitting headache.

I narrowly avoided bashing my head against the glass of the pod as I climbed out, supported by Izuku's strong hands.

Eri was with him again, watching from a chair this time.

"How long was I out for?" I asked as Izuku helped me to my feet and gave me a shoulder to lean against.

"Five days," Izuku told me. I nodded, the motion causing agony behind my eyes and I gasped in surprise. Only five days? That was much faster than I had initially thought but the machine had done its job it seemed. I glanced over to it, where a small LED light flashed. An indication I had put in to check that there had been no changes or alterations to the process.

"The next question is, did it work?" I told him. "May I?" I gestured towards Eri.

"Eri come here please," Izuku asked. The girl stood up and approached us. She held out her hand and I took her wrist in a gentle grip.

It was there, just like I had expected. Like a loose string in some clothes. If I wanted to I could pull on that string until Eri's quirk came all the way out.

I let go.

"It worked," I told them. I stumbled forward and Izuku hurried to keep me on my feet as I went to sit on the chair vacated by Eri.

"Just give me a moment to centre myself," I told them. "I need to meditate."

"You sure you don't want anything to eat first?" Izuku asked. "It's been five days."

"N-not yet," I muttered as I closed my eyes, trying to block off outside stimuli and focusing on my mind. I needed to keep my priorities straight.

The Company let me keep my memories, another oversight by a foolish girl in a woman's body, no doubt still lashing out at a universe that had hurt her once upon a time. It meant I got to keep the bits of training I'd picked up along the way. Skills like Occlumency, and how to build a Memory Palace. Or in my case, a true Mindscape which was necessary for the next step.

It was empty. A featureless void with a black floor that extended into infinity as these things were wont to do. I hadn't actually tried to set it up yet, although I had done the groundwork which just needed to be finished. It was just incase something went wrong in the procedure.

I arrived, my mental projection showing myself as I thought of myself. My mature body, with a heavy thicket of chest hair, lanky grey hair hanging from my head and tanned, weather worn skin, earned over decades of multiversal exploration and a number of close calls. It would change, given time. I was no longer that man, but it would take a while for my mind to process that. I looked down to my feet.

The body of One for All laid there in the emptiness. Comatose, entirely by my design.

I reached forward and grasped him by the chest, through the chest.

The mind-soul of All for One was held in my grip. It wasn't a true soul, at least not as I understood the true spirit was. It was merely a facsimile of a soul. A collection of the man's memories given form, not that he had many right now. A mindflayer had seen to that. Given enough work a mind-soul like this could become sentient. Then, given enough time in an environment like this they could even go on to act of their own initiative and attack or interfere with the main body of the quirk holder. Meaning this fragile thing, bereft of any memories or thought, needed to die.

The shards of the remaining shreds that were All for One's mind clattered to the floor of my mental realm like glass.

And the Quirk it left behind?

The last vestiges of a mind holding onto the quirk were dead. With nowhere else to go they connected to the nearest consciousness available. I let the power flood through me, like wind and light rushing through my actual soul I could feel it becoming one with me. Before it was merely part of me, but it was not completely connected to my mind like a birth-quirk would be. Now? It was truly mine.

When I went into the pod I had been rendered just an ordinary man again. Weak, nothing special, just like I had started so many years ago…

I stood up. The pain and discomfort of a few moments ago was gone. Before my last interaction with the Company I had had a sort of presence about me when I met more ordinary people. Even Izuku hadn't been immune to it the first time we'd met.

Now I had a fledgling fraction of my old power back, and based on a cursory glance at my body I even had my youth successfully restored to me. It was enough to get started with. I looked to Izuku and Eri. They both took a step back instinctively while they looked at me while the weight of my presence dominated the room. I had seen things they might only dream of and the weight of those experiences were no doubt carried in my eyes.

"Now then," I said with a gravitas befitting my newly regained potential and the opportunities ahead of me. Izuku and Eri stood still, waiting for my next words with baited breath.

"I could really do with a sandwich."

Harry Dresden

Maleficent scowled at the space the now former Agent of the Company had been standing. She'd been staring at that one location for several minutes as Korra and Harry awkwardly tried to decide how to approach the situation without the fairy blowing up at them.

"Boss," Harry hedged. "You okay?"

Maleficent took a deep breath, sighing explosively before turning to her bodyguard.

"It… is fine," she said. "I had thought I had tricked him successfully," she complained with a sigh.

"Can't win 'em all," Harry replied, a placating expression on his face, although he knew from experience working for her that the fairy queen still wouldn't be entirely calm yet. "We got all his stuff though, didn't we?" he gestured to the various storage devices on the table. Of particular interest, the Omnitrix. The absolute idiot had left an Omnitrix behind.

That had been what had worried Harry the most. He and Korra had plenty of firepower between them but short of a sucker punch to kill the guy straight away there was little chance he couldn't activate the incredibly powerful device and potentially turn into Alien X and then they'd be royally fucked. They simply didn't know what else the guy had at his disposal either, the Company hadn't been able to track his acquisitions effectively because he'd kept everything in those rings that weren't Company property and therefore weren't being monitored.

Harry looked at the various trinkets he'd left behind. A tesseract labyrinth meant Warhammer 40k, storage rings indicated some Cultivation setting. The Elder Wand he obviously got from Harry Potter and an Omnitrix from Ben 10's world, his first world Harry remembered from Maleficent's notes. Those four were already an incredibly dangerous collection of universes the guy had visited and survived. What was even more worrying was that that was all they'd seen proof of him visiting. He could have acquired powers or abilities or tech from any number of other worlds they didn't even know about.

"I did succeed there at least, didn't I?" Maleficent commented with a small smile.

The tech was what was important, neutering the Agent before he potentially went Robbie was a necessary maneuvre, the Company didn't need any more of those out in the universe causing trouble. He might have escaped via a friend and he might be free from direct reprisal by the Company, but his personal powerbase was entirely shafted with his agreement to relinquish all his assets. Now he was just a man, who could die in a ditch for all Maleficent likely cared.

She picked up the Omnitrix and looked to Korra.

"I'm sure you're looking forward to integrating this little device into your body," Maleficent commented. Korra eyed the Omnitrix hungrily. Harry didn't blame her. A motherbox's tech combined with an Omnitrix would be incredibly powerful. Korra barely used her bending anymore these days what with the laser arms and all. Harry doubted the cyborg Eskimo girl would ever touch her spiritual powers again once she had an Omnitrix in her arsenal.

"After it is reconfigured, of course," Maleficent teased. "It will no doubt still be configured to the Agent's DNA and might contain some traps to be disabled. It will of course be an expensive fee to get it done…"

"I'll be sure to… pay you back, Mistress," Korra said, already going to her knees and reaching for Maleficent's dress.

It was times like these that Harry wished he hadn't fallen in love with his boss. Damn it'd be easier to just get a Maleficent waifu of his own and call it a day but he'd just had to go falling in love with this one in particular, didn't he?

Harry looked at Korra's eager face as her tongue rolled out of her mouth. There was a piercing there, it was loudly and visibly vibrating.

It was looking like it'd be another night of hand puppetry for poor Harry then…

All three of them were distracted when there was a flash of light from the desk. A small pyramidal creature was suddenly sat on the desk, it had a little cutesy face with big round eyes and it glowed with its own light.

"What is that?" Maleficent asked, backing away in sudden fear of the unknown entity.

"I dunno," Harry said. He looked at the tesseract labyrinth, which was cracked. As they watched it cracked further down the middle and split into two. The Necron technology clearly now rendered little more than a fancy paperweight.

"Damn, we lost whatever else he had stored in there," Korra observed, rising to her feet again. The mood had clearly been lost.

"Hello!" The creature said, recapturing everyone's attention and waving it's little pink arms around. "I'm Mr Frundles."

"Is it some sort of pet?" asked Korra.

They all stood there staring at the creature which smiled back at them with big friendly eyes.

"Hey there little guy," Harry said awkwardly as it looked back at them with a charming smile, little teeth poking out from the top of it's lip.

"Is it dangerous?" Korra asked?"

"I don't think so…" Harry said. He reached forward to the stationary creature with his staff to give it a poke.

Surprisingly quick, Mr Frundles turned around to face the stick and… bit it.

Harry pulled the weapon away, but the damage had already been done.

"Mmm, I'm Mr Frundles," said Harry's staff. Harry immediately dropped the stick in panic as the stick began to wriggle of its own accord. They started in horror at the staff which rolled over to show a face identical to the first creature bulging out from where Mr Frundles had bit it.

Korra was already moving, but she didn't react in time before the original Mr Frundles had leapt at her, biting her arm. Another face with cutesy round eyes appeared on her metallic arm.

"I'm Mr Frundles!" declared the face. Then Korra's arm snapped backwards with the audible snap of metal and bone so the creature could bite Korra on the cheek.

Shin

A strange Western looking boy had shown up at the entrance of the compound. No doubt the grunts at the gate were very rude and otherwise did their best to turn him away. Although that hadn't deterred him apparently.

The boy had been polite, shockingly so for a foreigner and had asking to meet the leader of their organisation, calling him by his name. Something most people were smart enough not to do.

So once Shin had been informed he'd had the boy escorted in, guns were brought out and the stranger had been kept under threat of violence until being brought to an empty room and sat down for Shin to come and interrogate him.

"Who is he?" Shin asked of the grunt who was escorting him to what would now be the interrogation.

"Says his name's Ethan Carlisle," the thug told him, mangling the English slightly but not doing a terrible job as most Japanese speakers often did. "He says he's here to make a deal with the boss. I thought you'd want to speak to him first."

"Did he have anything on him?" Asked Shin.

"Nothing, just clothes. Doesn't even have any ID on him."

"Good," Shin said. He glanced to Hojo who had joined him for protection in the face of a potential unknown. He was a good man, by most metrics. Not as honest as Chisaki was, but he was one of the more dependable members of their organisation. Hojo gave him a silent nod of encouragement. Nodding back Shin stepped to the door and entered the room.

He was normal height, at least for a Japanese. So probably a bit short by Western standards. He had auburn hair and piercing green eyes.

"Hello," Ethan said politely. He was perfectly calm as if there was nothing wrong with the situation, like the guns pointed at his head from the two thugs in either corner of the room. It didn't bother him in the slightest. It was all bit paranoid to be sure, but you could never feel entirely secure in this world of Quirks. Perhaps he had a defensive Quirk? Or there was a possibility this stranger was even more dangerous. Shin would be the first line of defence.

"Hello," Shin said then he activated his Quirk, forcing the boy to tell the truth. "What is your name?"

"My name is Ethan Carlisle," the young man said.

"Are you a threat to myself or the people in this building?"

"Yes." Shin scowled behind his mask as the man's expression didn't waver for a second.

"What is your purpose for being here."

"To make your boss an offer he can't refuse," Ethan replied, only making Shin tense up further. The grunts behind the man leveled their weapons threateningly, ready to shoot at a moment's notice.

It was Truth, but not specific enough. The man seemed calm, too calm. Surely he should have noticed by now that Shin was using his Quirk to force answers out of him. Did he know what Shin's Quirk was in advance? He could have acquired that intelligence somewhere, although Shin's Quirk was kept mostly a secret for this exact reason. It was far more effective when nobody knew about it.

"Do you intend to harm Kai Chisaki?" He asked next.

"Yes," the man said. "Or at least what I would consider to be harm. He will likely consider it a blessing."

It had to be truth, all of it.

"What do you intend to offer my employer?" Shin asked.

"I'm going to offer to give him the thing he wants most in life," Ethan said. "I'm going to offer to take his Quirk away."

Shin's eyes widened behind the lenses of his mask. He glanced to Hojo. "He's telling the truth," He stated, not that Hojo wasn't already aware of that. Hojo's normally stoic look morphed into one of surprise and concern as he looked back at Shin, understanding the incredible importance of the revelation.

That… that was big. Hell in the wider world that was big. There were Quirks that disabled other Quirks, but outright taking them away? That was everything they were trying to achieve and this guy just walked into their laps?

"If you meet with my employer, do you intend to attack him without provocation?"

"No," the man said.

Truth. That was good. Shin was breathing heavily underneath his mask. Using his Quirk too much in short order could leave him slightly out of breath, like he'd been holding it for several seconds and needed to recover slightly.

"Guard him," Shin ordered Yu. "Wait here. I shall speak to my employer," Shin told the man, before quickly turning to leave the room.

He needed to speak to the boss and fast.

Chisaki

Chisaki had patiently listened to what Shin had had to say and undoubtedly his interest had been piqued.

A way to actually remove his quirk? Not just repress it, but outright remove it.

A hand came up to the side of his face, scratching irritably in a familiar motion. The pain doing just enough to settle his discomfort with the presence of his Quirk but doing nothing to settle the burning feeling of uncleanliness in his soul.

He simply couldn't ignore this 'Ethan Carlisle'. Even if it was some sort of convoluted trap he couldn't let this opportunity to go waste.

So he had the man brought downstairs, to their more private areas. The other Eight Bullets were present too. Hidden in plain sight or nearby just incase something went wrong.

When Carlisle was brought in he had a calm expression on his face. Which was completely at odds with the attitude one might expect when they were flanked by Katsukame and Hojo. The two large and intimidating men were ready at a moment's notice to respond in the event that something funny happened.

The usual modus operandi for the Yakuza was to put on a front of civility. Serving tea and kneeling in seiza and such. Chisaki didn't have any patience for that sort of thing. Perhaps the boss would have, but he didn't.

So instead the man was brought to one of the break rooms scattered throughout their underground base.

"Good day," Carlisle said. He offered a hand to shake and after a moment to glance at Shin, who nodded, he accepted the handshake.

That was all it took. There was a painful feeling in his hand, at the centre of his palm where Carlisle's hand met his own. Overhaul's knees buckled, his strength left him and a moment later he passed out.

Shin

Shin didn't understand. He'd said he didn't intend to attack Chisaki unprovoked. His Quirk had confirmed it.

Yet now the boy who called himself Ethan was cradling Chisaki's body after having caught the man before he could collapse to the floor.

"Occlumency," Carlisle said. "Lets me hide and block certain thoughts. Your Quirk was useless," he explained with a shrug, to Shin's horror.

Then, he leapt forward. Katsukame and Hojo had stepped back in shock at the sudden attack of their leader but they were too close to avoid the boy's hands as he leapt for both of them.

Katsukame was first to go down. A single touch from the boy rendered him unconscious before she could so much as swing a fist. The giant man 's enormous bulk collapsed backwards.

Hojo did little better. Crystals grew from his arms rapidly to intercept Carlisle's hand. It would have worked too, except as contact was made the crystals broke up into blocks, Overhaul's stolen Quirk parting the crystal like water and his hand came into contact with Hojo's skin.

Two of the heavy hitters were down alongside Overhaul.

The other Bullets were moving though. Deiodoro was the first to enter, his Quirk activating immediately and it clearly had an effect on their attacker.

Carlisle was sent stumbling back into Chisaki's desk, right above the unconscious form of their leader where he braced himself.

Kurono was next, his hair going to touch the enemy on the arm and freezing him in his tracks.

Seeing the threat had been cleanly captured, Deidoro released his Quirk and the others filed into the room, eyeing the captured enemy as they did so.

"The fuck did he do?" Asked Mimic, who clambered out from beneath Katsukame.

"He has the power to take Quirks, and use them himself, it seems," Observed Tengai calmly as he looked at the strange shapes that had been produced out of Hojo's crystals. He was the newest of their members, albeit one of the friendlier and calmer ones which was always helpful to have. In contrast to Rappa, whose bloodlust was pumped up and who was approaching the interloper, likely to smash him to pieces.

"No wait," Setsuno interrupted. "We need him alive."

"I don't have to listen to you," Rappa growled. Setsuno pulled out his gun.

"Let's not get too hasty now everyone, Tengai attempted to call everyone down. "I'm sure Chisaki will be happy to let you kill him once he has recovered."

The nearly stationary Carlisle was stuck in his position as they observed the mess. "Mimic poked Katsukame on the neck.

"He's still got a heartbeat," he told everyone.

"Good," Kurono said, he sounded tired. No doubt the adrenaline leaving everyone's systems was affecting him as he continued to hold their captive in place. "We need…" He yawned, "we need to tie… tie…"

He stumbled groggily, his hair detached from Carlisle and suddenly the man was free.

"Sorry folks," Carlisle said. "I've got places to be."

The ground parted beneath him and he fell into the gap and disappearing from view. The ground reformed behind him. He'd escaped.

"After him!" Shin shouted. "Scout the area, secure the girl. I'll stay here and guard these. He can't get far!"

The other Bullets ran from the room, hoping to capture the invader.

Shin was left to tend to his comatose friend. He kneeled down on the floor and checked Chisaki for a pulse which was thankfully still there just like Katsukame's had been.

As he sat there stewing over his failure he could only hope that his comrades in the Bullets would be able to capture the man alive, so Shin could put a bullet into him himself.

Eri

Eri was sat on her bed in the lab.

She was so tired. After all the needles today and all the blood that had been taken away she had been left drowsy again and she could barely muster the energy to sit up.

That was better though, when she was extra tired it made it harder for her to accidentally use her Quirk.

She was so useless. She couldn't ever get a handle on it. Only Mr Chisaki could do anything about it, but when he did it hurt, lots.

She had to stay in the room to wait for Mr Chisaki to come back and take more blood. Maybe soon he'd find a way to stop her Quirk from hurting her. That way he wouldn't have to put the needles in her arm anymore and maybe Eri would be allowed to go outside again like last month.

Eri was distracted from her morose thoughts when a man literally walked through the wall, which parted around him and reclosed behind him just like how Chisaki's Quirk worked.

He took a moment to look around the room and when he spotted Eri his eyes lit up.

"Hello Eri," he said.

"W-who're you?" Eri asked, worried at the sudden introduction of a new person into the room. She didn't usually see anyone but Chisaki and the other Bullets.

"I'm Ethan," the man said, "and I've come to save you."

"W-what?" Eri asdked, even as she sluggishly backed away on her bed.

The man offered Eri his hand. "I can take away Quirks," he told her. "I took away Overhaul's Quirk, and I'd like your help Eri. Will you let me take your Quirk away from you? Afterwards I'm going to take you away from here, let you go to school. How does that sound?"

Eri's eyes widened in shock as the man went to kneel there on the floor by the bed. She could feel it, that energy in her horn lighting up as her heart rate suddenly spiked. Excitement and hope blossomed in the little girl's heart as the man knelt there patiently.

"W-what do I have to do?" Eri asked.

"Just take my hand," Ethan said, he gestured with the arm he was holding up. "It'll feel a bit uncomfortable and you'll fall asleep for a while afterwards, but when you wake up I'll take you away from here and make sure you never come back, how does that sound?"

Eri could feel her power starting to reach that point again though. She needed Mr Chisaki to come and stop her hurting herself. But what Ethan had said, did that mean Chisaki wasn't coming this time?

There was no time to wait, no opportunity for second guessing. Eri took a hold of Ethan's hand.

It did hurt a bit, but that was nothing compared to what Eri had already experienced in her short life as Ethan took her Quirk away.

It was working, Eri wasn't going to have her Quirk anymore. She wouldn't be able to hurt herself or anyone else anymore.

As her eyes closed, the last thing Eri felt was Ethan's arms pulling her into a hug.

Eri

When Eri woke up it was due to a bright light shining through her eyelids.

Her head hurt, and it wasn't helped by the bright light, but as she opened her eyes that didn't matter.

The sky overhead was blue, a smattering of clouds dotted the skyline. A big white bird chirped loudly from overhead. The rest of the girl's view was slightly obstructed by the bottom of a boy's chin as she was sat in his lap.

"Welcome back, sunshine," Ethan said, patting her hair.

"W-where am I?" Eri asked in awe as she looked around.

"The seaside," Ethan said simply.

It was quiet, nobody else was around. The beach they were sat in was devoid of many other people. Although Eri could hear noise nearby, people shouting or screaming in happiness.

"M-my horn, it's gone," Eri realised.

"I took away your Quirk, remember?" Ethan reminded her. Suddenly a horn sprouted from his forehead, just like hers. Then I disappeared back into his skin like nothing had happened. "I have it now."

"Thank you," Eri gasped out, entirely unsure how to express her thanks. Ethane patted her head again and then gestured out around them, diverting Eri's attention. Eri turned to look in the direction he was pointing.

The ocean. It went on forever. Eri gazed out across the water with wide eyes.

Eri slowly climbed off the boy's lap, her bare feet sank into the sand. She stumbled, but caught herself on the soft, warm sand and stood up fully.

"Wow," she murmured, taking another awkward step forward, towards the ocean. A gust of fresh sea air blew over her face, making her hospital gown flutter at her sides.

"Eri," Ethan called for her attention. Eri spun around to look at the man who had saved her.

"Perhaps you'd like to change into something a bit less revealing?" He asked, holding up a dark blue one-piece bikini.

Eri was confused for a moment but another gust of wind made her realise what the man meant.

"Eeep!" she squeaked, reaching behind herself to cover her exposed bottom. Ethan's eyebrows were raised in amusement. A wall of sand formed up out of the ground next to the boy, creating a divider.

"Why don't you get changed, and then we can play in the water for a bit."

"Eri nodded, a furious blush on her face as she quickly went behind the wall. The bikini was handed over and Eri carefully took off the gown and tried to slip into the outfit. It was a struggle, but Eri managed to do it on her own after a bit of trial and error.

Once she came out from behind the wall, a blush still covering her pale, freckled face it was to see Ethan in dark blue shorts and nothing else. He was muscled, with a visible six-pack on his stomach and visible muscles everywhere else.

A few scars dotted his features and a couple of large ones too. He had one across his leg and another broader one across his shoulder where the skin was paler and slightly sunken in.

"All ready?" Ethan asked. He held out a hand to her.

"Y-yes," Eri squeaked, going to take the boy's hand. He gently walked her to the ocean. The cold water lapped at Eri's feet and the spray tickled her legs. She didn't let go of the boy's hand the entire time. She was almost worried that if she let go again he'd disappear and then she'd wake up and this would all have been a dream.

The water was so deep, Eri thought. She didn't know how to swim. Eri could walk in and just float away if she wasn't careful! Suddenly she wasn't so sure about being in the water like this.

Suddenly Ethan let go of her hand though. He stepped out into the water and beckoned her to step further in to join him.

He didn't disappear, but Eri's sudden anxiety gave her enough confidence to step into the water, defeating her brief surge of fear of the great big pool of water. She went up to her waist as she got close enough to grab hold of Ethan in a hug. He patted her hair, calling her brave and then he picked her up under her legs while the girl clinged to him for all she was worth.

The wet water on her skin was cold as the wind blew over her again, but the sun was bright and warm while Ethan stepped back out of the water to the spot they'd been sitting before.

Another young man, and a girl with grey hair were near the back of the beach in their own swimwear. They were walking towards them. The girl waved enthusiastically, she had a small horn sticking up out of the front of her head and red eyes.

It took Eri a few seconds to realise, but that girl looked just like her!

Eri

"So there's more worlds, just like this one?" Eri asked the girl who'd revealed herself to be another Eri, except older.

Ethan and izuku were sunning themselves and chatting further up the beach. Eri, and the older Eri had gone to get some ice cream!

The ice cream was the most wonderful thing Eri had ever tasted. It hadn't lasted very long. Now Eri had another headache, albeit a milder one than before. The older Eri and she were leaning over the barrier overlooking the beach and the two men sunbathing below.

"Yup," older Eri revealed. This is my universe. Ethan'll be taking you back to yours later. This was just a good way to relax a bit and let you recover a bit first.

Eri nodded.

"You still have your Quirk. Didn't Ethan offer to take it away?" She asked innocently.

"No," Older Eri said. "I already learnt to control my Quirk. It was hard though."

"Oh," Eri replied. Suddenly wondering if Ethan could have let her keep her Quirk instead of taking it.

"Don't worry," Older Eri said. "Ethan has a plan," she said jokingly. "He always has a plan. He helped Izuku save me when I was about as old as you."

Eri nodded. In that case she'd let him decide what to do next. If he could give her her Quirk back or not, it didn't matter. Eri was probably a lot safer without it.

"So what do you think of Ethan?" Older Eri asked. "He's quite handsome isn't he?"

Eri blushed at the teasing from the other girl.

"H-he's very muscly."

"Not as much as my boyfriend," Older Eri told her. It was true. While Ethan was muscular, Izuku took it to a whole other level. He was practically build of muscles, Eri could see the lines of his abs from all the way over here!

"W-well Ethan's great too," Eri said, suddenly feeling defensive of the man who'd saved her. Older Eri shrugged.

"I understand. Izuku was the one who saved me," Older Eri revealed. "I was in that prison with Overhaul just like you."

"Really?" Eri asked, wondering who Izuku was and how he had saved her older self.

"We're both very lucky," Older Eri said, looking over at Izuku.

Eri looked out at the man who'd saved her. He seemed relaxed, chatting with Izuku about something, although they were both too far away for Eri to hear anything. They both got up suddenly, rolling up the towels they'd been lying on and then they made their way up the beach towards the two girls. The to boys had decided it was time to go home and so Izuku ferried them into his car and drove them all to his home, a large penthouse apartment overlooking the city.

Older Eri took Eri in to wash the sand off and get some clean clothes. Eri was given an old looking red dress which she wore over a white top. Then they went out into the living area to join the boys.

"Hey," Izuku greeted, as he relaxed in some casual jeans and T-shirt on the sofa. Ethan was dressed similarly, lounging on another sofa next to Izuku as they watched Tv.

"It's about time for dinner soon," Ethan said. "We thought we'd order takeout. Izuku recommends this barbeque place. Thoughts?"

"Mmm, the place ran by that bull man?" Older Eri asked. She went to join Izuku on the couch, lying against him. Izuku let out a sigh but didn't resist the girl's advances. "That sounds lovely, you'll love it, trust me," she told Eri. Eri nodded, looking forward to the meal.

"But first," Ethan said, sitting up just before Eri could join him on his couch. "I was hoping I could enlist some help from you Eri… and Eri," he told the two girls with amusement in his tone.

"Sure, what is it?" Older Eri asked.

"Could you use your power to return Eri's Quirk?" Ethan gestured to the younger Eri. Eri's eyes widened in confusion while her older self did the same before she frowned in thought.

"Like with Mirio? Why would you want to do that?" She asked in confusion. Eri nodded her head. Ethan already had her Quirk, She was safe from her own Quirk and Ethan had it now. Why would he want her to get it back?

"So I can take a second copy of your Quirk, if you're willing," Ethan explained. That got curious looks from everyone.

"Would that even work?" Izuku asked. "Wouldn't they… overlap?"

"Eri returned Mirio's Quirk. There's no reason I can think it shouldn't work for this too," Ethan stated. "And I don't think so. In theory I should have two copies of the same Quirk." Izuku nodded thoughtfully.

"Why, if you could do that," he murmured to himself. "Then there's no reason you couldn't use your own copy of Eri's Quirk to reverse people back after taking their Quirks, letting you essentially copy their Quirks…" He began muttering to himself, contemplating the possible implications of the idea. Older Eri smirked inn amusement and poked him in the cheek as he continued, eliciting absolutely no response from the green haired young man.

"That's the plan," Ethan told them. "But I haven't trained with Eri's Quirk yet so I don't want to make any mistakes. So, Eri, and Eri. Think you can help me out?" He asked.

"O-okay," Eri replied. If Ethan wanted a second copy of her Quirk then she would do that for him. She owed him her life. Older Eri nodded.

"How long ago was it you took her Quirk?" She asked.

"About five hours, I think," Ethan replied. Older Eri nodded. She offered a hand to Eri.

"Ready?" she asked the younger alternate.

"Yes," Eri said.

It was a strange sensation, feeling her power working on her again, except this time it wasn't coming from her. Slightly anxious, but willing to trust her older self, Eri held tight to the other girl's hand until it was all over. Suddenly the sores on her arms were a bit more itchy again, a bit more painful. Eri noticed suddenly there was a red patch staining the sleeve of her shirt where her IV had been.

"Oh no I should've anticipated that," Older Eri commented. "I'll go get a fresh bandage."

"Thanks," Ethan said. He got up and picked Eri up to place her in his lap. "Thank you for doing this Eri," he told her.

"It's okay," Eri said. "You saved me," she explained. "If you want me to give you another copy of my Quirk I don't mind." Ethan patted her on the head.

"Well, when you wake up it'll be time for dinner, plus I have a surprise for you." He brought up his other hand.

"Your first Quirk was hard to control, but this one doesn't seem so difficult." A flower made of blue crystal formed out of the palm of his hand. It stuck up on his palm, stuck to the skin where it joined. Ethan reached around Eri with his other hand and snapped off the creation and handed it to her. Eri accepted the gift which glittered in the light. "How would you like to try again with a different Quirk for a while?" He offered.

Eri couldn't express herself. She wanted to say thank you again but the words wouldn't come. She twisted in her seat on Ethan's lap and buried her head in his chest, hugging him tightly.

"I'll take that as a yes then," he said. In the meantime Older Eri had returned with some bandages. Eri rolled up her red stained sleeve so the girl could apply the bandage.

"Actually, let's get you a change of clothes first," Older Eri suggested. She pulled Eri up off Ethan's lap and lead her back to her dressing room where Eri had the new bandage put on and a new change of clothes were found for her, identical to the previous pair. Then the two girls returned and Eri immediately went back to Ethan, who had been left with the crystal flower.

Izuku was still muttering to himself.

"Has he been like that the whole time?" Older Eri asked with a bit of annoyance in her tone.

"Yes," Ethan said with a sigh.

"Okay you handle yours, I'll sort out mine," Older Eri instructed her younger self. She went over to Izuku and slapped him around the head. Izuku was startled out of his fugue by the sudden smack.

"Thanks," he said apologetically. Older Eri let out a huff and settled into his lap.

"You can thank me properly later," she said, making Izuku blush and glance towards Eri and Ethan. Eri wondered what she meant by that, but put it out of her mind for now. She'd ask Older Eri tomorrow. She approached Ethan.

"Are you ready Eri?" he asked. Eri nodded. It couldn't be any worse than last time, could it?

"Okay then," I'll see you again when you wake up," Ethan promised.

For the second time Eri's Quirk was pulled out of her. It barely hurt this time but Eri still felt herself losing consciousness through the process. Eri fell asleep against her saviour's chest with a smile on her face.

Harry Dresden

The fallout was tremendous.

Mr Frundles had taken out an entire office planet. Plenty of people working for the Company were just office drones. They didn't get perks or other benefits, why would they bother when they were relatively safe in their homes and workplaces? Perks and Defences were expensive for the ordinary rank and file, and nigh impossible to buy for anyone who didn't have any decent access to a Catalogue. Most people saved their points for ways to stay alive longer or buy themselves a Waifu, or Husbando.

So they had been easy pickings.

Harry had been burned a few too many times in his life, seen too much of what could happen to someone if they crossed the wrong eldritch entity. So he had been smart enough to buy a suite of defensive perks with his Company credits.

After that he'd been saving his other points for making himself a Jedi, he already had the lightsabre of course, that had been the second thing he'd bought once he'd been sworn in to the Company. They sold them for cash, cash! He'd had a whale of a time in the workshop while a Rei manning the workshop patiently assembled one of the devices for him. Traditional Luke Skywalker style, of course.

It was the perks that had saved his life though when his own staff had jumped up to bite him on the arm. The eldritch horror hadn't been able to convert him thanks to his perks.

Maleficient apparently hadn't bought the necessary defences to save herself or Korra. Harry had quickly realised what was happening once the converted Korra leapt at her former Mistress to get her too.

Harry had saved Maleficent, but it was at a cost. He'd pushed the subsumed Korra back with a quick spell and then pulled out his lightsabre to cut away at the two bites already infecting Maleficent's leg and wing. Maleficent had screamed in pain and horror as he did so, but it was absolutely necessary to prevent the infection traveling further. Then he'd pulled the woman he loved into a blind jump into the local Fae realm and away from Mr Frundles.

They had landed thankfully in what was just another Company realm. It was just like the real world with more offices and such, albeit with slightly more belligerent and annoyingly Fae office staff. Harry was used to dealing with those types though so there'd been little to worry about there, especially when he'd warned them that there was an incursion of a likely level 9 or higher entity on the other side of the portal he'd just hastily shut behind him.

For a moment he'd thought that was enough, that they were safe. Apparently the boundary between realities wasn't enough distance where Mr Frundles was concerned because an alert had been released a few seconds later that Mr Frundles had found his way there too.

It was probably via a portal someone carelessly left open, but that didn't matter now. Harry had quickly dragged the near comatose Maleficent through a conveniently located Stargate, but not before setting it to self-destruct behind them to prevent Mr Frundles simply just following them through that too. That's how they'd ultimately survived. Others hadn't been so lucky.

Right now they were on another Company world, in a different universe entirely. Maleficent was lying unconscious on the hospital bed. They'd said they could restore her leg and wing, that was the easy part. Most physical injuries could be healed with the right biotech or healer on call. A White Mage with a bored attitude had told him she would be fine in a few days, although she'd have some scars around where the injuries were healed.

Maleficent was quite vain, naturally expected from any kind of Fae royalty. So she'd probably be a bit put out by the disfiguration, not that many would be that bothered by it. Harry knew from personal experience that it wasn't the physical scars that mattered, it was the mental ones. Maleficent would need all the support she could get to recover after what had nearly happened.

She wasn't going to be waking up for a while though. For now Harry settled down in his chair and tried to get some sleep.

Nezu

Nezu had seen many strange things in his time, a world of Quirks had made it more of an everyday occurrence really.

The young man sat opposite him now would likely not strike the layman as being particularly odd. Although there were plenty of tells to give away that there was something more than just met the eyes here.

It was the eyes mostly.

Eyes full of experience, telling of a young man who had seen a great many wonders, or horrors.

Nezu thought he had accounted for all such individuals, those who were of particular historic note, either recently or more historically. So his initial suspicion was that this young man was some sort of shapeshifter or a body snatcher were valid.

The apparent truth was far more terrifying than that.

The young man who had suddenly appeared had, after Nezu had calmed down, then sat down and told Nezu his story.

"Please, could you tell me that last part again, just what is your Quirk?" Nezu asked, panicking internally but feigning ignorance as the, well, intruder, sat opposite his desk with the little girl next to him in a separate seat. Eraserhead should have received a warning by now and would likely be less than five minutes away. The other teachers were likely coordinating their assault/rescue operation even now while he approached to lead their charge to save him.

"I have the Quirk All for One, and yes I know you know what and who that is," the young man said dryly.

The girl next to him, an adorable little thing called Eri apparently, was looking between Nezu and this 'Ethan' in confusion. She didn't seem to understand the significance of all the claims this young man was making. Why would she? How would one expect a child to appreciate the implications of a multiversal traveller who had come to your universe with perhaps the first or second most dangerous Quirk in existence.

"I see," Nezu hedged. "So please tell me, young man. If you are not an alternate All for One, then how did you acquire his Quirk?"

"Technology," Ethan told him. "Careful application of Star Trek genetic science mainly. I used an illithid to destroy his mind and prevent him trying to overtake my mind with the mind-soul from his Quirk. A few tweaks to my biology to make sure I was Quirk compatible and then I had a machine facilitate the transfer."

"I see," Nezu said. None of that was useful information to Nezu, but he was looking forward to finding out exactly what an Illithid was. If there was technology that could facilitate the actual transfer of Quirks though.. well knowledge of that was best kept hidden. "And, forgive me, but having acquired All for One, you wish to join the hero studies course at my school?"

That had been the hardest revelation to wrap his head around.

"And for you to help me enrol Eri here in a normal school, that's right," Ethan said. He looked to the little girl who looked up excitedly at the prospect. She was a bit pale, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. Although based on Ethan's testimony and the girl's own reactions it seemed like this Ethan Carlisle was telling the truth.

Unless she was also some sort of shapeshifter, but Nezu didn't get the same feeling from the little girl as he did from Ethan. No, he got the same impression of Eri as he did most other small children. A boundless curiosity with an urge to learn about and touch new things that caught her interest. Like Nezu.

Ethan had blessedly restrained the little girl's curiosity straight away, explaining that 'yes he's a cute, furry animal,' and 'no you can't pet him, at least not without permission first.'

Nezu was at least grateful for that. Children like Little Eri, Nezu had found, were best kept at an arm's length. Lest they get a hold of him and… well.

Nezu was fluffy. It was hard to be taken seriously at the best of times. He also didn't like having to wash his fur after all the sticky little fingers had been all over him.

The small creature resisted the sudden urge to commit violence as a number of unpleasant memories made themselves known. He let out a mild sigh outwardly while inwardly he struggled to bottle the unpleasant feelings for later. There would no doubt be some sort of examination of the newer Hero course students coming up in a month or two, he could let it all out then.

It was at that moment when the Hero course teachers invaded the office.

Eraserhead was first. His Quirk activating immediately as he caught sight of Ethan and Eri. Following that Cementoss must have been in one of the adjacent rooms because a defensive wall of concrete sprung up between Nezu and the young man and girl.

That was all Nezu was able to see of course. Ethan didn't seem to be reacting aggressively whatsoever. Instead he'd only gone to cover Eri lest she be injured by one of the Hero's attacks. He had passed Nezu's impromptu test with flying colours.

Nezu could have called off the attack or course, but why waste the opportunity to see how Ethan would react to a surprise assault? The fact he instantly went to Eri to protect the girl he seemed to have adopted was heartening. It was another sign that the young man had a heroic sprit hiding behind those somewhat intimidating eyes of his.

It took a good ten minutes to calm things down. Eraserhead and the staff interrogated the young man and received much the same story Nezu had been told.

During that time Nezu was more than able to apply his prodigious mind to the ramifications of what young Ethan had told him so far and decide what to do from here.

Of course they couldn't just let the young man go, although Nezu wasn't entirely sure they could contain him even if they wanted to. As for the young man's claims. Well there were a number of reasons Nezu could think of for why Ethan would want to come to UA. When Eraserhead asked the obvious question of why, a multiversal traveller would want to go to school the young man's reply was very succinctly put and confirmed Nezu's expectations.

He wanted to become a hero because it would facilitate his being able to use his Quirk freely to grow more powerful. He also needed their help to get himself an identity in this world where he legally didn't exist.

The young man's frank honesty was enough to help Nezu decide what to do though. They had brought in students with more questionable moralities and ambitions after all. Hell, they had active heroes with more questionable motivations. It seemed Nezu had acquired a new student!

Of course, they'd need to do some work to help Ethan and Eri settle into things and they'd need somewhere to stay too, but that would be easy enough with the Support Course and Cementoss at the ready for some quick building work. Nezu could use some of his connections to give them both an identity that would pass muster.

Of course, it was also somewhat important that they succees

It would also give Nezu the opportunity to interrogate the young man further about the multiverse and what else might out there.

Oh Nezu's life really never got boring did it?

All Might

All Might, also known as Toshinori to his friends was somewhat concerned. Which was not an unusual state of affairs to be in. He had existed in a state of worry for the last several years, panicking about the state of the world, panicking about All for One, and then panicking about what would happen if there was no symbol of peace to replace him should he die. Panicking about first finding a protege and then subsequently panicking about said protege was more recent, but not a burden he was unwilling to take on.

Truly he had been exceptionally lucky in finding Izuku Midoriya.

Now he got to worry about a new individual though and for vastly different reasons. Someone who somehow wielded All for One.

Toshinori was somewhat put off by Nezu's explanation that the young man was from an alternate reality. He'd believe it when he saw proof. Until then he would trust Nezu's judgment though. He was man enough to admit he knew when someone was smarter than him and Nezu knew what he was doing far better than Toshinori did. He was far better at punching his problems away and this one probably called for a bit more finesse.

That didn't mean his concern for young Midoriya wasn't still running sky high at this point.

His protege had passed the written portion of the exam. He'd convinced Nezu to look it over quickly and the Principal had confirmed that Izuku would pass that portion of the test. Now it was the practical portion of the exam and all Toshinori could do was watch, wait and see.

Izuku wasn't doing well. There were plenty of robots but most of the other potentials were doing far better with easy access to their Quirks than Izuku had and the young man was struggling to even find a robot to fight. If only there had been more time! If Toshinori had found Izuku earlier, he could have trained his protege to better harness One for All, or found someone better able to train him at any rate, and then none of these problems would have occurred!

"You're killing the vibe," Eraserhead said from next to him as he sat slumped in one of the provided chairs. He wasn't even facing the screen!

"Sorry," Toshinori said anyway.

"Your kid's not doing well," the perpetually tired looking hero commented, revealing that he had been watching somehow.

"Yes, young Midoriya is struggling," Toshinori said defeatedly. He would have to up his student's training regime.

"I'm sure your successor will prove himself in time," Nezu commiserated. That was good enough for him to say. Nezu's little project in the boy with All for One was clearly showing great success.

The boy had already docked up a solid thirty points between robots destroyed and fellow students 'saved'. His Quirk, the matter shifting one being the one he was using at any rate, was proving tremendously effective. He'd been practicing with it since Nezu had 'adopted' the boy and his adoptive sister in this Eri girl. So his performance was to be expected.

And to think that Quirk had been in possession of a villain. All Might would have been able to handle him of course, but that kind power wasn't to be trifled with and was far better in the hands of a Hero. Toshinori would just have to do his best to ensure that this second coming of All for One was firmly entrenched in the light side of things.

The fact he'd saved little Eri though was telling enough about the boy's character. He'd taken the girl's Quirk, a dangerous time reversal Quirk which he revealed he was still learning to control himself. After that he could've just walked away, but he'd chosen to bring the girl along with him and now she was glued to him at the hip from the sounds of things.

Speaking of that, the girl let off another whoop of excitement as this 'Ethan' boy destroyed another robot. She was enjoying the show the young man was putting on at least with all the excitement one might expect of a little sister. Toshinori sighed again.

It was a good twenty minutes more before the zero pointer made itself known to the examinees.

When Izuku leapt into the air to smash! The robot away, Toshinori didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Feelings of elation and simultaneous worry at seeing exactly what Izuku had done to himself by abusing One for All at full power were replaced by trepidation when Ethan approached his disabled apprentice.

He had a horn on his head, two of them protruding at either side. He offered Izuku a friendly smile and then Toshinori's heart dropped into his nonexistent gut when the young man put his hand in Young Midoriya's own and one of those horns started to glow.

Then Toshinori was subject to a miracle. It was only a few seconds, and Ethan clearly looked to be left incredibly tired from the experience but what was most important was that Izuku was fine again.

The young man stood up on unbroken, unbruised legs, albeit he seemed a bit shaky as Ethan pulled him up properly.

"Is there no audio on this thing!?" Toshinori snapped, on realising he couldn't hear what was going on. He ignored Nezu's polite, but firm reprimand, pointing out that the nearby audio devices had apparently been shot out by the explosion caused by Izuku's punch. They weren't built to withstand the shockwave apparently. Toshinori couldn't care less about that right now!

Izuku seemed pleased with whatever Ethan had said though, offering the other boy a smile. A brunette girl, one Izuku had evidently raced to save and who had in turn caught Izuku as he fell with her powers, joined them as they returned to the examination starting point. They chatted briefly along the way and then Ethan left them to it, heading off through a side door. No doubt to come find his adopted sister before she found him first. Once Nezu had confirmed that the examination was over the girl had immediately raced off out of the door while shouting Ethan's name excitedly.

Did she even know her way properly to the examination centre?

Toshinori shook his head in exasperation with his unsettled thoughts and went back to the matter at hand.

Izuku was fine, he was fine. Toshinori told himself. Although he'd be checking that himself later for certain.

Who'd have thought this mentorship thing could be so difficult!?

Ethan

My new apartment was built in just four hours on an as yet unused tract of land belonging to U.A. I assumed it was the same territory that would be used for the students in canon. Watching Cementoss and the other workmen using their Quirks to full effect had been highly impressive. Their individual skills with their personal abilities plain to see.

It was basically a bungalow. We both had a room. There was a shared bathroom and a living area with a little kitchen attached. Midnight, being one of the few female members of staff popped by once a day to make sure we were donig alright and to make sure Eri was being looked after probably.

Of course she was. I'd always wanted a little sister when I was actually young, and now I could live that dream.

I was on my own most days. Nezu had arranged some small lizards to be delivered for me to try practicing with my two copies of Eri's Quirk. He had deduced from what would be the first of many conversations that via Eri's Quirk I might be able to both heal Toshinori and also give him his own original copy of One for All.

Toshinori hadn't been told that yet. Nezu told me he wanted it to be a surprise, while rubbing his little paws together like some machiavellian criminal.

This reality was lucky that the Quirk enhanced creature was on the side of the angels. What he might get up to if he were villainously inclined was anyone's guess, but I could easily imagine him putting his brain towards crashing international markets for shits and giggles.

Anyway, I was supposed to be studying for my soon to be classes, but quite frankly I couldn't be arsed. I'd done well enough in that written exam so I felt confident that I'd manage in the actual classroom.

I'd had Star Wars engrams pumped into me. Lessons on Star Trek science from Data himself and the memories of the brainer aliens provided by an Omnitrix at hand. I already knew Japanese, among a host of other languages and so felt fairly confident I wouldn't struggle even if I didn't put in much effort.

I was currently lounging on the sofa. The Tv shows in this reality were wild. Japanese game shows mixed with Quirks made for some particularly strange episodes of this reality's equivalent to Takeshi's Castle.

The Sumo round in particular…

There was a Quirk for obesity, apparently. The look on those kid's faces when the opponent just… expanded, either slowly or rapidly to push them out of the little ring was hilarious.

I was made aware of Eri arriving home when the door opened. The precocious girl escorted in by Eraserhead today who had gone to pick her up from school. The grumpy man looked even more frazzled than the last time I met him.

"And then we made paper airplanes!" Eri told him excitedly as she followed the man through the doorway. Clearly she'd been talking the man's head off all the way home.

"Heya Eri, how was school?" I asked, diverting her attention to myself instead of the beleaguered teacher. She got a big smile on her face and rushed up to give me a hug hello.

Eri proceed to start telling me about the wonderful day she'd had with her new classmates and all the things she had learnt today.

I'd had an entire week of this already. Eri seemed absolutely determined to make up for lost time at school and was doing well, spectacularly so based on everything she was telling me. I'm sure it was going to get tiring after a while, or Eri would lose interest so for now I tried to enjoy the experience as best I could.

Eraserhead meanwhile was watching our interaction with a complicated expression on his face.

"Hey why don't you go wash up and we'll have an early dinner," I suggested to the girl.

"Okay!" Eri said and raced off into the bathroom.

Once she was gone Eraserhead let off a long sigh. I got the impression he'd been holding it in all the way home.

"How do you manage it every day?" he asked me tiredly.

"Enthusiasm and brotherly pride," I replied cheekily.

Eraserhead sighed again.

"I'm out," he said. "Before I go though, package for you." He tossed me an envelope which I caught.

"Is this what I think it is?" I asked.

"What else would it be?" Eraser replied testily.

I opened the envelope to find a holo disk being the only contents. I placed the disk on our table and found the switch to turn it on.

All Might's face was projected into the air, the larger than life image somehow continuing to impose his aura on the room despite being a hologram.

Eri rushed back through upon hearing the Symbol of Peace's voice while I and Eraserhead watched the recording confirming my attendance and my score. I'd come eleventh apparently. Not bad, considering I wasn't trying particularly hard to begin with. If I'd wanted to I could've beaten out Bakugo, but that would've probably required I use the other useful Quirk in my arsenal, being Crystallization. I had recovered it from Eri, who I had gifted the vitality draining Quirk to play with instead.

Eri hadn't been as excited by the Vitality draining power, but she'd made good use of it to overload her energy levels by feeding from me every day before school, which was in part where the girl's boundless energy and enthusiasm was likely coming from.

I'd take the Quirk back eventually. Once Eri's occasional minders stopped being so entertaining to watch trying to keep up with her.

"Congratulations then," Eraserhead told me. "I'll see you in class. I expect high performance from you," the teacher told me seriously.

I gave him a nod, understanding that the man was trying to be encouraging, in his own way. Eraserhead left me to it and I let Eri chatter on about her day again as I prepared some dinner for us.

The stage was set for me. I had a legal identity and in a few short years I'd be a Hero in this world, with all the privileges that entailed.

For right now though, I let Eri talk my ear off about origami.

Ethan

It was the big day. My first day of school.

Despite myself I felt a bit excited. That trepidation of a big step in your life.

I'd travelled the multiverse, met heroes and villains across reality. Fought the occasional monster, befriended a couple too.

But it's stuff like this that somehow gets to me, makes me feel that little rush of excitement and nervousness again. Not as pronounced as I remember it from childhood, but it's there.

I'm surprisingly not the first to arrive.

Present Mic had come round to pick myself and Eri up on his Mic-Mobile, a novelty bike that was allegedly powered by his Quirk. It was shaped like a Harley Davidson but the front bit was basically a microphone.

Somehow it came off as a bit tame.

Either way it gave me an opportunity to see Eri's school, which was as idyllics idyllic as one might expect of an anime world's primary education. Eri waved us off as the other children watched with wide eyes. Present Mic, completely unable to remain silent for any five minute stretch of time and sensing the opportunity to look cool, let out a shout of "Yeeeaaaah!" as he gunned the throttle. It made his bike tilt backwards onto its rear wheel before the squealing tire built up enough friction to give us traction and we sped away with a cloud of dust behind us, no doubt in violation of many traffic laws.

But that was a perk of being a Licenced Hero in this world. Laws are for peasants, who aren't allowed to use their Quirks in public or anything cool like that.

Present Mic drove us back to campus, dropping me off nearby so people didn't see him doing so. Nezu didn't want anyone cottoning on to the fact U.A. was housing one of its students, that would only bring up questions and I didn't want my soon to be classmates to think I was getting any special treatment.

So I walked up to the main entrance gate and followed along with all the other U.A. students who were excitedly chattering away after their holiday period in March. Japan had a relatively different system to the US. Their academic year begins in April, U.A. starting part way through the month, and we'd be studying until late July most likely.

So the weather was pleasant at least. I looked around for Izuku and Ochako but I didn't see them. If canon held true then they would be meeting Iida again right about now.

I shrugged and didn't worry about it. I had a classroom to get to, I'd meet up with this universe's Izuku and Ochaco again shortly.

It was spring, the trees were beginning to blossom. It wouldn't be a highschool anime if there weren't Sakuras blossoming in the distance and dropping little white and pink petals onto the ground at my feet as I walked up the large path up to the main building. Japan certainly liked its symbolism. Right now it was Spring. It was the time of new changes, new growth. Shedding the past for something new.

And that was exactly why I was here.

Momo Yaoyorozu

Momo was first to enter the classroom. She had arrived early, as was proper, earlier than everyone else it seemed.

So she found a desk and sat to wait patiently for her classmates or teacher to arrive.

This was so exciting! Momo couldn't wait to meet everyone.

Of course everyone would be talented and intelligent, they would have to be to have succeeded into getting onto the prestigious hero course at U.A. Momo was determined to prove her worth!

It wasn't long before someone appeared. An auburn haired boy, a bit taller than her entered the room. He looked around before spotting her and then a smile came onto his face.

"Hello there. It's nice to meet you," he said. He had a distinct foreign accent. British, based on Momo's lessons, but there was an inflection to it that Momo couldn't quite place. "I'm Ethan Carlisle. It's nice to meet you."

Momo jumped up, mentally berating herself for not reacting faster. He'd introduced himself first!

"I am Momo Yaoyorozu," she introduced with a small bow. "It is a pleasure to meet also Carlisle-san," she said, hoping she had interpreted the boy's name correctly and he hadn't said his surname first as was typical in the East but was done the opposite in the Western world.

Ethan gave her a little bow back in politeness. Then he went and sat down on the desk next to her, on the actual desk, not the chair. "So, looking forward to our classes?" Ethan asked.

"Oh most definitely," Momo said. "The opportunity to be a hero, and trained at U.A. It has been my dream for years. I've been studying up on the publicly known features of the classes. Did you know that U.A. have special training grounds for learning to operate in different environments?"

"I did actually," Carlisle-san replied, making Momo blush. Of course he knew that, what was she thinking? "I'm looking forward to learning exactly what it means to be a Hero," he said. Momo nodded excitedly. What an insightful thing to say. Of course it wasn't the quality of the facilities that mattered as much as the teachers they would be learning from.

"I wonder who our homeroom teacher will be," Momo commented.

"Well we'll find out shortly," Carlisle-san said. "I'm sure whoever it is will give it their all."

"Indeed!" Momo half shouted in enthusiasm before realising she'd been speaking a bit too loudly and blushing in embarrassment again. She sometimes got like that. It was a nervous tick she'd never quite got the hang of. Carlisle-san didn't seem to take offense though.

"I can't help but notice your accent," Momo began. "If you don't mind me asking, where are you from, Carlisle-san?" Momo asked politely.

"Oh I'm from Britain," Carlisle-san replied. "I've done a lot fo travelling though so my accent's a bit off," he trailed off, suddenly looking a bit thoughtful. His eyes spoke of melancholy, Momo wondered exactly what he was thinking about. Then suddenly he bounced back. "Yeah lots of different places for the last few years, it's hard to track really," he said while scratching the back of his head.

Momo was interested in knowing where the boy had visited, but she could tell that there was some sort of old wound there and it would be more polite not to bring it up.

"And yourself?" Carlisle-san asked. "I can tell someone with your bearing must be well educated," Carlisle-san complimented. Momo blushed again. Nobody had ever brought it up quite like that before.

"I was raised at home," Momo said. "My family are the Yaoyorozus," she explained. Ethan nodded in understanding.

"So quite sheltered then," he commented. "I take it you were able to convince your family to let you come to U.A. then?"

"Oh yes, it took a great deal of arguing but I was able to convince my parents to allow me to attend," Momo said. "Since then I have been training with my Quirk and studying hard to prove myself."

"Impressive," Ethan said. "So when was that decided?"

"Oh when I was… ten I think," Momo said. Ethan's eyes widened comically for a moment and then he chuckled.

"So you've been preparing to come to U.A. for the last five years?" he asked.

"Oh yes," Momo said. "Although aside from physical conditioning not much of my studies changed."

"I see," Ethan said. "Well I can only selfishly hope the rest of our classmates aren't quite as dedicated as yourself or I might find myself falling behind," Carlisle-san said jokingly.

"So what's your Quirk?" he asked. "It'll be good to know my fellow classmates abilities," he commented. "Mine's Overhaul," he revealed. "It lets me reorganise matter into different shapes. He poked the desk by his leg. A spike of wood protruded up from the wooden surface and then the desk returned to its original shape.

"Oh that is fascinating!" Momo said. "Our Quirks are slightly similar in fact. My Quirk, Creation lets me create objects from my body," She told him. She produced a small rod of metal, which protruded from the palm of her hand for Ethan to see. She picked it up and handed it to the other boy.

"Fascinating," Ethan mimicked her wording. "Steel?" he asked. Momo nodded.

"I have to know the composition of anything I make," she explained. "It required a great deal of study but simple objects such as that are relatively easy to make."

"So no electronics then?" Ethan half-asked while nodding to himself. He put the metal flat in his hand and Momo watched as he closed his eyes, clearly concentrating. The metal shifted and moved before Momo's eyes, reshaping into a flat disk. Then finer writing engraved itself upon the metal, The school's name and the date below it. Ethan handed it back to her.

"For you," he said.

Momo took the gift with awe. Turning it over, she realised her name was also embossed on the back.

"Thank you Carlisle-san," she said, putting it to her chest and bowing appropriately to show her gratitutde. What a thoughtful gift to commemorate her first day at U.A. She could only hope her other new classmates were half as kind as this boy.

"My pleasure," Carlisle said, scratching the back of his head again. "I've been practicing with my Quirk as best I can, but I've not had as much practice as I'd like to be honest."

"Really, how long have you had your Quirk?" Momo asked curiously.

"Only a couple weeks," Carlisle-san revealed casually, to Momo's shock. He must have been an incredibly late bloomer if his Quirk had only just come in. Most people discovered their Quirks before they turned five! It was all the more impressive that he had the kind of control necessary to make such fine alterations already. She would have to double her own practice with her own Quirk. She couldn't fall behind!

"It takes a lot of concentration," he said. "I'm hoping I'll be able to eventually use it to heal injuries and such. I'm nowhere near there yet though. Simple stuff like metal is one thing, flesh and blood is far more complicated." Momo nodded in understanding. They really did seem to have so much in common, at least in their Quirks.

Momo decided to return the favour. Concentrating hard she formed another disk of metal, the same size and shape as the one carlisle-san had gifted her. Blushing again as she realised they were effectively exchanging gifts like this, she handed him the gift. Oh this was the sort of thing lovers did! Momo took a deep breath to push away such inappropriate and embarrassing thoughts. They'd only just met!

Carlisle-san smiled in gratitude, bowing much as she had done.

They chatted more about Quirks and Momo gave the boy some tips on things he might study up on to help with his own Quirk while they waited for their other classmates to arrive.

The other students did trickle in. A number of loud, boisterous personalities and some aggressive ones in the form of Bakugo-san who it seemed was perpetually angry with the world and everyone in it. The loud boisterous behaviour was fitting for a Hero course she supposed, but after the polite friendliness she'd seen from Carlisle-san she had somehow expected more…

Then Erasherhead appeared. The tired looking hero was someone she knew of, of course, having studied up on their teachers in advance. Momo was surprised to find not all her classmates were as prepared as her though. In fact many of them didn't even know who Erasherhead was!

Then Eraserhead revealed that while they'd got into U.A. right now, that wasn't the end of it. He then escorted them down to a training area for a surprise test!

Tokoyami

The surprise test revealed to them all that their time at U.A. was going to be like no education they could have expected.

Their Quirks mattered for the first time in a world where everyone was expected not to use them, not to stand out. As Heroes, they were meant to stand out, show the world that there was light in the darkness. That the evils of the world would be held at bay.

For a boy like Tokoyami that was everything he wanted to hear and more. His admittedly terrifying Quirk, which he'd had to suppress all his life lest his inner darkness hurt those around him would be brought out into the light, brought out to defend society.

The foreigner though, Ethan Carlisle. There was something just not quite right about him. It wasn't his horns. The two skin-coloured appendages that popped out of his head were easy to overlook. There were far more obvious physical heteromorph traits, like Tokoyami's own bird head. He seemed quiet, not quite standoffish, but only really engaging in conversation briefly. He wasn't shy though, just relaxed. Indeed he seemed to have already befriended Yaoyorozu-san easily enough before Tokoyami arrived.

He had then performed middlingly in the skills tests, apparently his Quirk wasn't suited well for physical activity. He only used it to propel himself forward in the footrace from his starting position. It was seemingly some sort of ground based matter manipulation Quirk and he had used it to poor effect to propel himself forward. That was pretty much the extent of what he did.

Tokoyami had been left more than slightly unimpressed. It seemed like the other boy was lazy, unwilling to work to discover his true potential if that was the best he could do with a Quirk with such obvious potential. Then the boy had scratched the back of his head and revealed he'd only started practicing with his Quirk in the last few weeks.

Barely in time for the entrance exam, which he had obviously passed to have gotten this far. The foreigner seemed like a walking contradiction.

He'd not been the only one with a new Quirk though. Midoriya-san had outperformed him, leaving Carlisle-san the lowest performer in their group by far. Midoriya-san had demonstrated great physical fitness beyond the foreign boy's, leaving Carlisle-san in the dust, at the back of the pack.

Then in the last test, Midoriya-san revealed his Quirk.

The ball flew away at breakneck pace. Outstripping Bakugo-san's based on the reader Eraserhead showed them. At least Midoriya had demonstrated something worthwhile unlike Carlisle-san. Then Tokoyami was surprised again.

His fellow classmates were interesting indeed, the test their new teacher was providing was a good way to gauge everyone's skills and abilities while introducing the class to what everyone could actually do.

For example Toyokami would have never considered the threat that Ochaco-san's anti gravity Quirk could represent.

Flying out into the sky, feeling the clouds on your skin as the light of the sun burns you. Punishing you for flying too high, even if it was not by your own choice. Then the knowledge that at any moment that gift of flight would run out, sending you plummeting like Icarus to your death.

Truly, Tokoyami had underestimated his classmates, the pretty brunette girl was just one example of his folly.

idoriya-san had impressed with his performance, to a degree. He obviously didn't do better than Ochaco-san's score of infinity metres but it didn't matter now. He'd done enough to pass.

Midoriya san was cradling his bruised finger, having come away with only a minor injury. Apparently that was an improvement. Tokoyami didn't understand. Even if Midoriya-san injured himself he had clearly demonstrated that he had potential.

Eraserhead seemed less enthused or optimistic about Midoriya-san, but he was accepting of the boy figuring out a minor solution to his problematic Quirk, for now.

What mattered now was that Carlisle-san had done the worst out of all of them. Erasherhead had already warned them that the lowest performer in their group would be expelled.

"Oh no," Ethan said, demonstrating more amusement at having come overall last in the Quirk Apprehension test than anything else. "Have I come last?"

Did he not realise that he was going to be expelled? He was going to lose the chance of a lifetime to study at U.A. to be a Hero and he was laughing about it?

Yaoyorozu-san was also put out a bit it seemed. Her new friend was going to be expelled. Tokoyami's heart went out to her.

"Well I guess that's all there is then," Eraserhead said. "I guess I have to announce then…" he began tiredly. "That…"

The class waited in anticipation as Erasherhead looked at Carlisle-san with an unimpressed look upon his face. Carlisle-san only looked back, a cocky look on his own face.

"You all pass," he said with another sigh. Throwing Tokoyami for a loop.

At least he wasn't the only one, he was alongside his fellow classmates as they all shouted out their surprise, exclaiming "WHAT!" while Carlisle-san's grin only grew wider.

"Well that was all very exciting wasn't it?" Carlisle-san said once everyone had calmed down. "Izuku, come here and I'll heal that finger for you."

"Carlisle-san, you aren't to heal Midoriya," Erasherhead admonished grumpily, apparently anticipating what he was about to do. The glowing of Carlisle-san's horn diminished. It hadn't been glowing before when he used his Quirk. "Let it be motivation to improve. A hero who injures themselves is even worse than someone who can't even perform," Erasherhead told the Western boy critically.

Carlisle-san shrugged cheekily and then apologise to Izuku. Izuku was sent to see the school nurse while everyone else was able to give their congratulations to the Western boy for surviving Erasherhead's test despite coming last among all of them.

Some were critical, like Iida who was more condemning of the boy's poor performance and warning him to do better. Others like Yaoyorozu-san seemed just relieved that he wasn't going to be their first casualty and leave them one student short.

Tokoyami though was concerned. The confidence on Carlisle-san's face before, and even now as he chatted with their classmates was putting him off. Erasherhead changing his mind to let him stay in the class was also still concerning him. Tokoyami didn't know what was going on, but of one thing he was certain.

Like his other classmates, who had revealed hidden depths today. There was far more to Ethan Carlisle than met the eye.

Ethan

So I came pretty close to last… so what?

I mean, I honestly expected it. My new younger body was fit, but it wasn't properly anime bullshit fit. At least not yet. I'd grow into it hopefully, after being fed steadily on a diet of last minute powerups, heartfelt revelations and changes of heart.

I wasn't entirely comfortable with working on manipulating my biology yet to speed things up. Overhaul didn't leave room for error, as I discovered when trying to alter the biology of one of the lizards Nezu had lent me.

I say lent. He wasn't getting them back.

Today I had been given the assignment to design my costume. I hadn't been sent a costume request form it seemed following my acceptance into U.A.. It was only l lucky comment from one of my classmates that caught my attention to the problem. So Eraserhead was having me sort it out now while grumbling about telling off whoever was meant to be responsible for the form's delivery.

Izuku had spent his entire life planning out his costume perhaps unsurprisingly wasn't alone in that. Many of my classmates were in a similar position, having decided being a Hero was the future for them before they hit puberty and having been daydreaming about what their costume should look like since then.

I'd not given much thought to it and the costume side fo being a Hero had completely passed me by. So now I was the centre of attention with everyone else sitting or standing around me and trying to offer suggestions.

"Perhaps something with earthy tones?" Suggested Mina, the pink skinned heteromorph.

"Perhaps something that leaves your feet bare?" Izuku suggested. "If you need to touch things with bare skin to use your power then having constant access to the ground would be very useful."

There were mods of agreement from my fellow classmates. It was good advice too.

"Carlisle-san's power isn't just manipulating the ground though…" Momo pointed out.

"Of course yes, you healed me before in the entrance exam," Izuku commented.

"Yeah, I'll be honest that was more spur of the moment," I admitted. In hindsight it was kind of dumb of me to make the mistake in using Reversal in public like that.

"Something earth or rock related to go with your terrakinetic powers?" Tokoyami suggested.

"Those aren't Carlisle-san's powers though," Momo corrected the bird-man politely, perhaps a bit annoyed he hadn't heard her first comment. "His powers let him manipulate all matter he touches," she commented, making the boy's eyes widen in surprise for a moment before he nodded thoughtfully in understanding.

"That's right," I said, carefully controlling my expression as I did so. "How do you make a costume fit 'matter manipulation' anyway?" I'd blundered by revealing that I could heal Izuku during the entrance exam. Erasherhead had taken me aside later and told me off for potentially revealing I had All for One a second time. Thankfully aside from the teachers and Eri, nobody saw it other than Ochaco and Izuku during the entrance exam. Nezu wanted me to get my provisional license before they'd "reclassify" my Quirk and claim I had discovered a way to use it to ape All for One. "I'd apologised and promised to be more careful in the future.

There were still enough people out there who remembered All for One who would not want a return to the previous establishment, or perhaps more worryingly from the Hero's perspective, those who would want to see All for One, or someone like him, back in the saddle. I had no intention to become the world's boogeyman and fill the shoes left by the currently disabled Quirk thief in that way, but I understood Nezu and Eraserhead's point.

So for now my Quirk was merely matter manipulation via Overhaul. Eri was going to have to keep the vitality draining Quirk for the time being too, to her teachers' dismay no doubt.

"That makes the theme a bit more difficult," Izuku admitted. "Your Quirk isn't straightforward, perhaps you should try something a bit more personal and not build your costume around your Quirk."

There were nods and noises of agreement all around.

"So what do you recommend then?" I asked the green-haired boy. "You're the expert on all things Hero here," I teased him. The boy blushed bashfully in response.

"I-I don't know…" Izuku hedged. "Perhaps pick your favourite colour and go from there?"

"Well that's a good idea," I said. "So bright fluorescent pink then," I told the room, nodding seriously.

The looks and noises of shock my classmates produced made me burst out laughing. They all looked at me petulantly as I chuckled at them.

"No, something simple for now," I thought out loud. I quickly doodled a rough drawing of a man. Then I drew a few more lines.

The final product was something subtly fitting my real power. A dark blue, almost black suit with white lines running up the arms and a circle, also in white over the backs of my hands. There would be a small dot of a lighter blue in the centre of each circle. The palm would have to be left bare of course, to facilitate using both Overhaul and All for One so that would be something like . I decided I didn't need my feet bare, which would let me affect the ground through that point of contact. If I needed to I'd just disassemble the footwear. SO I gave myself some white boots which went up to mid calf.

Getting into it now, I gave myself a white belt that I could feasibly carry small equipment etc around. Then I drew a circle around my chest. That would be a white circle also, but with a similar dot of blue as was on my hands.

It was pretty plain, but I didn't have to keep the outfit. I'd probably mix things up eventually, but for a five minute doodle it'd do. The only other thing I could remember from canon was that there would be a mixup with Mineta's costume specifications, resulting in him receiving the diaper costume.

So now the question was whether I should help Mineta avoid that disastrous outfit they gave him or not.

It turned out that Mineta wasn't the weakest link in class 1-A. I hadn't bumped him out of our group via my arrival. Instead tail-dude, who's name I couldn't honestly remember had been bumped across to 1-B and one of those students had drawn the short straw and hadn't made the cut.

I caught the little gremlin eyeing up Momo's bust in what he probably thought was him being sneaky.

I decided to leave it.

Maleficent

A creature, a smiling face on every surface, reaching out through the floor, the walls, her own limbs. All it wanted was to bite, to subvert and consume. That disturbingly friendly smile superimposed across the face of her lover, her bodyguard who would have never betrayed her. It leaned forward, reaching for her face, ready to bite and destroy every ounce of her being.

Maleficent woke with a shout. The pain in her extremities from the rapid movement registering a moment later.

"Shh, it's alright." A strong hand pushed down on her shoulder. It was Harry. "You're safe now," he told her.

Maleficent took in the room. She was sat in a hospital bed. There were bandages wrapped around… around where that thing had bitten her, converted her very flesh into more of it's kind.

She remembered pain. A searing heat as Harry's lightsabre ignited and cut away her flesh, her beautiful body mutilated to save her life. She'd passed out from shock then.

"They regrew your wing and leg," Harry told her. "There'll be some light scarring, but it's better than the alternative."

"You saved me, thank you Harry," maleficent told the man. He practically preened at her words, as she expected. Harry wasn't her property, but he was easy to manipulate. A dog eager for its bone.

"It was part of the job," Harry deflected.

Of course it was, if one ignored the stipulations of his contract. Company agents weren't expected to put their lives on the line unless specified by contract and many of them excluded certain types of events like that, that thing. Harry hadn't been obligated to do anything but escape once the creature attacked. Saving her had been his own choice, born of the affection he held for her. And wasn't she grateful for that affection right now?

He'd been hard to work on, but Maleficent knew Harry Dresdens. They were all the same in the end. She'd worked on this Harry for a long time, of course. She'd been one of the first to get near him. She'd helped him settle into the Company, all nice and friendly, seeing to his little needs. She'd even helped the man get his lightsabre. After that token effort the man was easy to wrap around her finger once she'd learnt his particular tells.

Her beauty, second only to that sow, had come to her advantage too, and with her social talent Maleficent had managed to make the man fall in love with her. She looked at his hopeful face. He was hoping for something more from her, to help.

Well he'd done plenty of helping already. A little shudder went through her, the phantom feeling of the plasma sword cutting through her flesh. She took a breath to recentre herself.

"Leave," Maleficent ordered suddenly. Not wanting Harry around her for the time being. "Please," she added as an afterthought. There was no need to damage their relationship irreparably. Harry thought she was merely standoffish, a "tsundere," as many would put it.

The man looked hurt at her dismissal of him but didn't complain as he left her alone with a muttered "I'll come check on you later," she could patch his fragile ego up later. Right now she wanted to be as alone as she could and come to terms with what had just happened. The close brush with death was not something Maleficent had expected to happen in her cosy administrative job.

The point rewards from the position were low and rarely seen. Paid in increments rather than even whole points. Points were scarce in administration positions and access to the catalogue was limited. But Maleficent had realised she could game the system a bit to steal some well deserved points here and there from the agents she had been assigned to manage. That was how she'd acquired her little sow and upgraded her Korra with a motherbox.

What were they going to do? If they noticed then they couldn't fight back, could they? Not with Maleficent safe and sound on a Company world with a Harry Dresden willing to lay down his life for her, and her slave bodyguard Korra at her beck and call too. Maleficent had enough connections to get any complaints lost in the system. The higher ups wouldn't get involved.

She'd gotten cocky though. She'd gotten stupid. She should never have met the agent face to face, but the opportunity to get at all his assets had simply been too much to resist. She'd needed to meet with him to arrange things so that she'd get his stuff and it wouldn't just go to the Company.

It had all backfired though. She'd lost her Korra, who she'd invested a large number of points into. It was all lost to her now. She'd have to start again.

Perhaps next time she'd get something a bit less muscular. Korra wasn't the best lover either. There were far superior women she could buy.

Watchking Korra beat her little sow black and blue had been enjoyable enough, but perhaps she could get another slave with different abilities for some newer games.

Yes, that would be excellent. All she needed to do now was get back on her feet. Sort out Harry's pride and then next time buy all her as yet unpurchased defences!

She was interrupted from her thoughts when the door to her room opened. It wasn't a doctor or a nurse as she first anticipated. Instead a surprisingly intimidating looking Elsa came through the door, wearing an officer's uniform and with a silver coloured sword at her hip and an omni-tool on her wrist. There was also a golden collar sitting prominently around her neck, signifying that she wasn't independent but instead a Waifu operating on behalf of someone else. Someone important. She was flanked by an equally intimidating Sailor Mercury decked out in similar equipment.

This Elsa might not be free, but Maleficent knew this wasn't a woman to cross.

"Hello Maleficent," Elsa said. "I'm here to talk to you about the incident with the Mr Frundles that was released on Company property."

"It came from a Tesseract, belonging to an Agent I was disciplining," Maleficent told her, eager to ensure the Company knew who it was that was responsible for the mess. "I was supposed to retrieve his assets as he was not following Company doctrine," she explained. "He must have set up the Tesseract to break and release the creature before he escaped."

"Oh is that right?" Elsa asked in interest, nodding along to Maleficent's words. "That fits with what we understand of the situation," she said, glancing at Mercury.

Good, Maleficent thought with glee. The Company could move in and hopefully capture the man and maybe if she was lucky Maleficent would get the opportunity for revenge. She would have to spend some time thinking of a particularly unpleasant punishment. She was a Fairy after all, she was sure she would come up with something good.

"Then next, could you please explain this contract," Elsa demanded suddenly. From out of thin air she produced a roll of parchment. It was the contract that had been signed just prior to Agent Carlisle's escape.

"I don't understand," Maleficent said. "That's the contract he signed before he escaped."

"It states here that all his former assets were to be given to you," Elsa explained coldly. A pit of dread suddenly settled in Maleficent's stomach as she recalled the specific wording that they had agreed during their negotiations. "And that you accepted full responsibility for all of said assets from the moment the contract was signed," Elsa continued.

Maleficent sat stock still in her bed. That meant…

"Which means you are responsible entirely for failing to secure the Tesseract Labyrinth," Elsa told her. "You are responsible for it escaping, and you are responsible for a great deal of lost Company property," Elsa informed her.

"W-what happens now?" Asked Maleficent.

"I'm glad you asked, let me explain," Elsa told her, a sadistic grin breaking through her otherwise stone-cold expression.

Maleficent listened to what the woman had to say.

As she listened to Elsa explain what was going to happen next and dread pooled in her stomach she wondered if perhaps death to Mr Frundles would have been a better alternative.

Ethan

We spent the next couple of days in normal classes. Mathematics was taught by Ectoplasm who could create copies of himself, or make himself into one giant person. It was an interesting power, presumably a facet of an ability to split into parts each remaining linked to the central consciousness. It was basically a discount Shadow Clones. I wondered if Ectoplasm retained memories through the ability. I elected to ask him eventually, once all the staff were a bit more comfortable around me.

They'd all been made aware of what I was. I didn't think any of them were traitors in the series, that was the ever flamboyant Aoyama, who's Quirk, 'Navel Laser' was actually granted to him by the original All for One. So I wasn't terribly worried about my identity being revealed. Not that it would matter to me in a couple of weeks.

Surprisingly English was a class, the students expected to learn it as a foreign language. I wasn't surprised to see that Yaoyorozu knew how to speak and read it when she confidently answered the questions posed by Present Mic. Although I did notice to my slight dismay that they were learning to speak American English rather than normal human English.

But there was one class that I was looking forward to.

Battle class! I mean, Hero basic training.

All Might entered, like a perfectly normal human being, hanging onto the doorframe and declaring his catchphrase of "I am here!" He was also wearing his Silver age costume for some reason. I wasn't entirely sure why. Perhaps the Japanese were slightly uncomfortable with the guy wearing the more obvious red white and blue outfit that declared his Western leanings while in a school? Maybe it was just his preference.

He was blond too, wasn't he. Actually what nationality was All Might? Presumably Japanese, and the hair colour didn't mean anything in anime worlds, could All Might be part American too? It'd make a great deal of sense at least.

I had been zoning out of the introduction while everyone else fawned over the man's outfit and he explained that we were going to be engaging in Battle training! Woo.

Our costumes popped out of the side wall, numbered according to our seats and we were instructed to suit up by the Symbol of Peace for our first battle practice.

My costume was fortunately already prepared, likely on account of its relative simplicity. So after a moment of worry I was able to don my own Hero costume and join my classmates at today's training grounds.

Deku was dressed in the earliest version of his outfit. A dull green coloured outfit that was painfully reminiscent of All Might's own appearance. The look on the guy's face was priceless as he tried not to laugh at his protege's obvious fanboying.

Uraraka for one, who had been given a skintight bodysuit…

She filled it out nicely.

"The hero course is the best," observed Mineta as he took in the sight of the girl's outfit.

I mean, it was a creepy thing to say, especially with a thumbs up like that, but he wasn't wrong.

I turned away to let Izuku have his lovey dovey awkward interactions with Uraraka without as much of an audience.

"Oh Carlisle-san," Yaoyorozu greeted me as I walked past Deku. "Your outfit suits you," she commented. She looked me up and down.

They'd managed to get it mostly right. I essentially has on blue spandex. The support course had managed to include the circles on the back of my hand and there was a loop of fabric that went around my middle finger to make the outfit fit tightly on my arms properly. There was also the solid circle on my chest and the white belt and boots were present too, although they were more like simple trainers than the boots that rose to mid calf I'd requested.

Hopefully the next iteration of my costume would be better up to scratch.

"Thanks," I said. I felt lucky that they'd managed to make a costume that fit to be honest. "Although they didn't get everything right. I'm just glad I have something to wear at all.

"Haha yeah," commented Kaminari. "If your costume wasn't ready in time maybe you'd have had to come out in your underpants," he joked. Sero and Kirishima who were nearby heard his comment and laughed at the joke.

"Well there's always next time," I said. I gave Yaoyorozu a cheeky wink, making the girl blush and cover her mouth in embarrassment. There was a squeak from beside me. Apparently Hagakure, the invisible girl, had heard my comment too and found it a bit too cheeky.

"Gather around!" declared All Might. He then began to describe today's exercise.

The rules were simple. We had two teams of two. One side would be 'Villains', the other 'Heroes' and the Villains had to protect 'the bomb' for a set time or capture the heroes with some 'capture tape'. On the other end the Heroes were tasked with touching the bomb to signify disabling it, or capture the villains with their own capture tape.

So basically a more exciting game of tag, with extra violence!

Of course that didn't stop everyone from asking some questions. Such as whether we were still allowed to beat people up during the exercise from Bakugo, or what our opinions were on Aoyama's cape.

"It's fantastic dude," I told the blond boy.

All Might deigned not to answer when I asked if he knew why the answer to life, the universe and everything was forty two.

We drew lots out of a box to see who our teams were.

I was quite looking forward to the exercise and being able to make use of my power in a more practical scenario. Of course I'd use it on the fly when I'd rescued Eri and I'd used it to good effect during the entrance exam, but otherwise I hadn't had much opportunity since I'd started training with Overhaul.

I pulled out my slip and looked around for my partner.

Uraraka was giving Izuku an uncomfortable boner by suggesting that their pairing must be "fate" I caught Mineta stared at Ashido's boobs while everyone else was gathering with their own teammate. I looked to my temporary partner.

"Tch," Bakugo said, dismissing me immediately.

I raised an amused eyebrow and waited for the team matchups to be declared.

All Might looked slightly constipated as he declared that the first fight was to be teams Izuku and Uraraka versus Carlilse and Bakugo.

Oh, this was going to be fun.

Toshinori

Of all the things that could have occurred…

Toshinori wasn't going to paint young Mr Carlisle with the brush of his defeated nemesis.
Goddamn did this whole situation raise his hackles though.

The new holder of One for All acting as the Hero in his first training exercise, against a new holder of All for One, acting as the Villain in his first training exercise.

There were children present, swearing was not appropriate of a teacher and neither was favouritism. All Might couldn't just decide to redo the matchup.

Could he?

No, Nezu would undoubtedly chew him out and Erasherhead would never let him hear the end of it. Young Midoriya couldn't be coddled. He'd say, and Toshinori had to agree with his friends on that.

Midoriya and Uraraka-san were talking hurriedly as they planned their assault on the bomb which the explosive young Mr Bakugo and Carlisle-san were heading up to the dummy bomb that was set up in the building. Both the boys would have the opportunity to discuss their own tactics and move the bomb. Meanwhile the rest of the class were going into an observation area where some screens had been set up to watch.

"So Carlisle-san and Bakugo-san both have very dangerous Quirks. I hope Uraraka's not going to get hurt," Toshinori heard Hagakure comment to Ashido-san. There were comments from the other students, suggesting that it was a bad matchup. Uraraka's Quirk, Anti Gravity was deceptively powerful, but against the destructive power of Bakugo-san's Explosions and Overhaul, the Quirk that Carlisle-san was opting to use as his default Quirk for the time being, Toshinor didn't see the young girl doing particularly well.

As for young Midoriya. Toshinori's protege hadn't learnt to handle the Quirk yet, leaving him a particularly fit young man, albeit with a self-destructive attack that could change the playing field, at the expense of self injury.

The look of the boy's bruised limbs during the Entrance Exam came to mind.

Toshinori had been anxious at first, but seeing Izuku being returned to full health had been a balm on his soul. A conversation with Nezu and then Recovery Girl had put some of that worry back though. If Midoriya continued to abuse his body to try and master One for All then there would come a point where Recovery Girl couldn't help him. Erasherhead had perhaps cruelly told Ethan not to heal Midoriya, citing that using the time reversal Quirk could give away that he wasn't all that he seemed to be. Toshinori didn't like it, but it was fair. All Might had been left gnawing at his lips in worry though. The knowledge that someone else would make a far better teacher to Midoriya was becoming more and more apparent as more problems arose.

On the screen Ethan and Bakugo-san were having an argument, it seemed. Or at least Bakugo was arguing with Ethan. Ethan seemed more amused than anything else.

"What were they talking about?" He asked the students, realising he hadn't been paying attention.

"Bakugo wants to go off and confront them," Kirishima told the teacher. "He seems a bit upset about Midoriya. Carlisle wants them to stay together and defend the bomb."

Fair enough, Toshinori thought with a shrug. Both options were technically valid ways of taking part in the exercise. They'd have to come to an agreement between both of them. He picked up a microphone that connected to speakers throughout the training building.

"Are both teams ready?" he asked, a bit of excitement building in him despite himself. There were affirmations from both pairs of students.

"Then your timer begins now!" All Might declared.

Midoriya and Uraraka immediately raced into the building, apparently having come up with a plan to search the building from the bottom upwards together.

Meanwhile up on the seventh floor of the building, Bakugo was about to head off on his own.

"Hey wait," Carlisle said. His voice carrying over the microphone and making Bakugo pause.

"The fuck do you want?" The aggressive boy asked. "You can stay here if you want, I don't care."

"Just, before you go," Ethan said. "Let me…" He reached up for the doorframe beside Bakugo.

The blond boy was unprepared for the concrete to quickly reshape around him, taking a hold of his arms below the elbow and trapping him in place.

"What's he doing?" Ashido commented in bemused worry. "Bakugo's on his side!"

"I don't think Bakugo's on anyone's side," Tokoyami-san said dryly. "Look, what's he doing now?"

Indeed, All Might watched as Ethan used his powers to great effect, moving Bakugo's body around in the concrete it was now encased in. He used his Quirk to force the boy's limbs apart where he couldn't use his explosions to escape while the blonde raged at him ineffectually. With his Quirk only working through his hands and his limbs disabled there was absolutely no way Bakugo could break free of his restraints which became apparent when he set off some explosions from his hands which did absolutely nothing to help him break free.

"Let me go, you bastard!" Bakugo shouted in absolute fury. "I've gotta go fight that Deku!"

"Muhaha!" Ethan shouted back, putting his hands on his hips and posing for the cameras to see. "I have double crossed you, my erstwhile ally! I, The Blue Spot shall hold the city to ransom with my deboninator bomb, and take all the money for myself!"

"He knows it's just a game, right?" Asui-san asked the group.

"It appears Carlisle san is acting his part as the villain," Iida observed, clearly impressed by the boy's attempt at getting into character. He then went on to explain nebulous benefits of playing the part of a Villain, such as being better able to understand the mindset. One of which Toshinori did have to admit often saw criminals double crossing each other at the last moment.

Honestly, he was playing the part, which was sort of good for the exercise. Having said that, disabling his comrade left Bakugo unable to really learn, although it seemed he'd wanted to go confront Izuku for some reason personal between the two boys. So Tshinori was slightly relieved that Ethan had done what he did.

But then he remembered that this was a holder of All for One doing all this, getting into the mindset of a villain. No matter how ridiculous the boy's over the top acting was, as he started to monologue to Bakugo his "Evil Plan" Toshinori couldn't help but feel an instinctive, irrational anxiety about what was going to happen next.

At this rate Toshinori was worried that if his stomach injury didn't kill him first, his two new sources of anxiety in the form of Midoriya and Carlisle would!

Uraraka

Uraraka didn't know what to expect when she and Izuku found the bomb. Although they hadn't found it yet. Instead they'd discovered Bakugo. Well, more like heard really.

Well, she'd expected the shouting anyway. Bakugo did a lot of shouting in his normal life. Now in a situation where he was expected to be loud and violent, Uraraka expected he would be the happiest he'd ever been.

"Let me go!" screamed Bakugo from through the doorway.

Or not.

Izuku turned to look at Uraraka. She looked back at him with curiosity. Izuku was smart, he'd have a good idea of what was going on

"Did something happen maybe?" She asked. "Maybe there's a surprise element to the test."

"I don't know," Izuku said. "But whatever it is it's got Bakugo trapped and that can only help us."

"Then should we just go in then?" She asked. They needed to check if the bomb was in the room.

"It might be a trap…" Izuku hypothesised. He crept up closer to the doorway. "We need to check it out though. So let's be careful." Uraraka nodded seriously.

They entered quietly through the doorway. Uraraka was ready at a moments notice to activate her Quirk and send someone flying out of one of the open windows that were spread throughout the building.

They entered proeprly and took a look around. The bomb wasn't there, but Bakugo was!

Bakugo was there alright. He was trapped in concrete which had been moulded so his arms stood out diagonally with each grenade shaped glove stuck in the concrete too.

Bakugo was huffing with exertion, slumping slightly in his bonds after no doubt having been trying to break free of his restraints ever since he got caught. There were char marks on the ceiling and shards of rock and dust scattered around the floor. That explained the explosions and distant rumbling they'd heard before then. No doubt he'd been using his Quirk but hadn't been able to angle the explosions enough to have any meaningful effect.

Seeing there was nobody else around, Izuku quickly ran up to the boy he claimed was his childhood friend. Uraraka wasn't so certain about that to be honest.

"Kaa-chan, are you okay?" Izuku asked worriedly. Katsuki's head shot up in surprise and anger. On seeing Izuku, he screamed again.

"Don't you dare touch me you filthy Deku!" he shouted, spittle spewing from his mouth he was so angry. Izuku's offered hand of help was withdrawn quickly and he took a couple of steps back.

"What happened to you, Bakugo?" Uraraka asked. She was caught somewhere between concern and laughter at the boy's predicament.

"That bastard Carlisle! He did this!" Bakugo growled.

"I certainly did!" Declared a comically deep voice from behind them.

Uraraka and Izuku turned around to see Ethan by the doorway they'd just come through. The only entrance in the entire room, Uraraka suddenly realised.

Carlisle-san put his hand on the doorframe. With sudden trepidation, Uraraka remembered what Carlisle's Quirk could do. The concrete around the doorway began moving like water. The doorway sealed shut behind him.

They were trapped!

Midoriya

"Muhaha!" laughed Carlisle-san dramatically as he crossed his arms and looked over at the two Heroes in training.

"I have you now, my rival!" He declared. "Today is the day that the Blue Spot finally defeats the Green Rabbit!"

"Whuh?" Izuku replied. He shared a glance with Uraraka.

"Truly our fated battle shall be legendary!" Carlisle-san continued as if everyone in the room wasn't completely thrown for a loop by his behaviour. The usually polite and well spoken young man boisterously laughed again, like he'd just come out of a Saturday morning cartoon.

"Oh and not to forget your little friend too, Pink Cherryblossom Sparkle! I may not be the type of man to ever hit a lady, but you're a teenager, so it doesn't count!"

"Hey!" Uraraka protested despite herself. "I am so too a lady!"

Izuku looked around the room, looking for a way out of… this.

"The only way you're getting out of here is through me!" Carlisle-san said, as if he was reading Izuku's mind. "Stick 'em up!" He raised his fists in a boxer's stance, waving them aggressively as he made little hops forwards and backwards towards Izuku.

Izuku wasn't sure what to do. Carlisle-san had thrown him for a loop.

"Clock's still ticking my eternal rival!" Carlisle-san said. Or rather, it was The Blue Spot talking right now. That reminded Izuku of where they were. They still had to get to the bomb and disable it or 'capture' Kacchan and Carlisle-san with the capture tape. Izuku looked to Uraraka. She nodded back determinedly.

"Okay let's do it!" Izuku shouted. "If the only way out is through you then we'll just have to beat you!"

"That's the spirit!" The Blue spot said. His grin widened. He gestured with his hand for Izuku to come at him. "No Quirks, let's do this mano-a-mano!"

He didn't want either of them to use their Quirks. Was that just a feint to get Izuku to not use his Quirk? Or did he really mean it?

"I don't want to hurt you!" Izuku shouted as he tried to get at the other boy, tape in hand. It was no good though, Carlisle-san's hand made contact with the tape for just an instant and it disintegrated into pieces right before his eyes.

Slightly dumbstruck Izuku looked at the remains of the tape. It would be of no use now.

"You've got good speed Green Rabbit but it's no good. Come at me with the intent to kill if you want to win this!"

"I got Bakugo!" Uraraka shouted from where the blond boy was fuming impotently while watching the fight. He had the tape hung loosely around his neck. So they'd caught one of the 'Villains', but the other one was still at large and they couldn't capture him without a tape!

Bakugo was caught though, that was good at least. Izuku let out a sigh, releasing some tension that he hadn't realised he'd been carrying. Kacchan had been even more irritable since the Quirk Apprehension test and Izuku didn't expect the boy to behave rationally during the test now.

"Come on Izuku," Carlisle-san said. "No Quirks, show me what you've got," he said it a bit more kindly this time.

"Okay!" Izuku said. "We'll win this!" he declared, rushing forward to engage Carlisle-san in melee properly this time.

This wasn't like Izuku had expected his first bit of combat training to go. There was a playfulness in Carlisle-san's tone and attitude, he was treating it all as a game, and that's what it was really wasn't it? Just a game, just a simulation.

Izuku surged forward, swinging with a punch which went wide as The Blue Spot swayed back away from the swing. He tried again, only to see his fist batted away by the other young man.

They engaged in a close battle, but it was clear that Carlisle-san was the superior opponent. It was like every time Izuku could have landed a hit he just redirected all the motion of Izuku's attacks away.

"H-how are you doing that?" Izuku asked, panting for breath after another flurry of attacks failed to land.

"Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist," Carlisle-san explained. "I'm by no means a master of it, but I'm definitely good enough for the likes of you," he taunted, that odd deep voice he put on when he was playing as The Blue Spot coming back.

"Let's get him together!" Uraraka cried out. "He won't be able to fight if he has no gravity!" She declared, rushing forward.

Carlisle-san took that as a challenge. Suddenly he rushed forward into Izuku's space. The boy wasn't ready for a pair of punches to the gut and then Carlisle-sanp wicked him up and flung him at Uraraka! They collided and both teammates were sent tumbling to the floor.

"Owie," Uraraka muttered, rubbing her head where she'd banged it on the concrete floor. Izuku had landed on top of her. Both Izuku's and Uraraka-chan's eyes widened comically as she realised what Izuku had already done so. Her… her assets were pressing into his chest.

Izuku jumped up, quickly apologising and bowing repeatedly with a big blush on his face while the girl got up herself.

"It's okay, it's all his fault!" Uraraka-chan stated while glaring at Carisle-san and making Izuku relax somewhat. She looked to the side and then her eyes widened in sudden realisation. "You keep him busy here, I'll go find the bomb!"

"But the doors are all blocked shut," Izuku pointed out in confusion.

"The windows aren't!" Uraraka-chan stated, running towards them and getting ready to jump out. "I'll use my Quirk to float upwards and keep looking, you win this!"

"I'll do my best!" Izuku stated and he turned back to Carlisle-san who was waiting patiently for him to approach.

He was ready this time! He ran forward to engage the other boy with a smile on his face!

Toshinori

Carlisle-san was absolutely handing his protege his ass, Tsohinori couldn't help but admit.

Izuku was fit, incredibly fit by now and he knew how to throw a punch. He wasn't on the other boy's level though.

This 'Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist' was incredible to see. A martial art that the boy must have learned somewhere. It was clearly a more defensive type, meant to redirect the flow of combat and return the force of someone's blows back at them if Izuku's pained wheezing was anything to go by on that last return hit delivered by Carlisle-san.

Oof, he winced in sympathy as his protege got up and tried again only to be once more handed his ass back to him. Young Midoriya was going to feel that last punch to the solar plexus later. The other students were watching Carlisle-san's beatdown of the byo in awe.

"That's incredible!" Kirishima declared. "Where do we learn something like that?" He asked.

"I… Have absolutely no idea!" All Might told them cheerfully. The class collectively slumped dejectedly. "You'll have to ask Carlisle-san, although I imagine he won't be able to teach it to you himself. Based on his words it sounds like he cut his training short after studying under a Master. You don't go around just teaching a Martial Art like that without being te acknowledged heir of the style."

The class' interest in Carlisle-san's abilites abated somewhat on hearing they probably couldn't be taught the martial art, but they kept watching as Izuku squared off against him.

Izuku's sharp mind was spotting flaws in Carlisle-san's technique now, he even managed to finally land a hit.

It was a good strategy they'd found themselves in. Uraraka might have been able to get Ethan with her Quirk, but Toshinori honestly didn't think it'd make much difference with the disparity in fighting ability on show today.

"Go on Midoriya!" Ashido-san shouted encouragement, even though the green-haired boy couldn't hear her. That prompted the other students to voice their own words of encouragement for either Midoriya or the Western boy. Midoriya got the most praise, the students rooting for the obvious underdog. There were a few holdouts who were stoically, or not so stoically refusing to take part in the cheers.

Todoroki-san, Endeavour's son, was leaning against a wall in the background, not participating. Toshinori wasn't looking forward to having to deal with the young man's apparent attitude. The other teachers had commented on his standoffishness so far. Toshinori had some idea of what the young man's home situation was like but he had no idea what to do about it. It was Erasherhead's responsibility mainly though, hopefully he'd come up with a solution in the coming weeks.

Yaoyorozu-san was fidgeting as she watched the show. She seemed stuck between wanting to root for Carlisle-san but not being brave enough to voice her encouragement with almost everyone else supporting Midoriya.

Aoyama-san was making up for a lot of the noise though. He was cheering Ethan on loudly, no doubt having chosen his side after the Westerner had complimented his cape before.

Uraraka-chan was doing well, using her Quirk to search the outside of the building as quickly as she could by pulling herself around the outside of the building.

The time was running out though and the girl had made a crucial mistake. She wasn't checking the earlier floors. Ethan had moved the bomb to the ground level shortly after they explored the first couple of floors while the girl was busying herself with the topmost layers.

Nothing else meaningful was happening though and their time was up. It was time for other students to get a turn, he couldn't forget that. All Might pressed a button, making a buzzer ring out around the training grounds.

"The Villians win!" All Might declared, trying his best to hide his disappointment and not quite succeeding. "Please all four of you come back and we'll see how you all did."

This was going to make for an interesting conversation at least, Toshinori thought as he went over the entire encounter in his head, preparing commentary on each of his student's performances.

"Err, Ethan, before you come down, could you please also release Bakugo-san," Toshinori added.

Toshinori

"So you mean to say that their 'Quirks' if you will, are entirely based on mental components?" Nezu asked. "Fascinating."

"Yes it seems so anyway. It's a smorgasbord of methods to acquire power," Ethan told him. "As I said, the martial arts and sword arts are skills in their own right which can be trained. The individual powers or techniques seem to be either specifically trained skills or innate abilities which can appear seemingly at random, or by design through science and technology. Then there's the limit breaking or powerup effects too."

"And that is just a matter of truly wanting to improve?" Nezu asked for clarification, somewhat skeptical but having no reason to disbelieve Ethan's words.

"Kind of," Ethan said. "Determination to improve, or overcome an obstacle is a factor, yes, but it also seems to be a matter of what the individual's actual goal is. So someone wanting to be 'the best' at something will definitely veer towards that direction. The determination factor seems to play a key role too with how close that person gets to the goal. The more they want it the closer they get. Bravery is rewarded, cowardice or complacency are not."

"Absolutely bizarre," Nezu said. "Although I can only imagine the kind of trouble we'd be seeing in this universe if both Heroes and Villains had the same capacity for growth."

"Who's to say they don't?" Ethan suggested. "You see Heroes, and sometimes Villains going 'Beyond, Plus Ultra,'" Ethan made finger quotes as he recited the term. "That's really just the same kind of limit breaking with a different name. I'm only saying 'Limit Break' because that's a term coined by and for another universe that's become common parlance. The method by which it occurs might vary but the end result is the same, determination to reach a goal or overcome it resulting in a permanent boost to fighting strength or power."

"Truly incredible," Nezu said, putting everything Ethan had told him to memory. "He would have to look back through records and double check, but with an outside perspective pointing these things out he was finding all sorts of new explanations for things he hadn't even thought to appreciate before.

"Plus there's the monsterification," Ethan told him. "When the goals or objectives of the individual are warped then they tend to become monsters, which are characterised by an increased obsession with their respective desires beyond even the most extreme human interest."

"Disturbing," Nezu said. "Thank you Ethan, I've learnt so much in this little chats of ours already. I hope you don't mind me taking up your time."

"It's no bother," Ethan told him. "I haven't had many opportunities to talk to someone trustworthy who was interested in other worlds like this."

"Yes," Nezu agreed. It would be a rare individual who would be interested in other universes and their particular quirks as it were for purely their own interest and not to exploit the information.

"So, are you settled into your new home yet? I hope it was built to a high standard."

"Your staff do good work, they're a credit to their employer," Ethan told him. Nezu smiled at the compliment. "Eri's happy and I am too. She's doing well in the school you set her up with."

"I should hope so," Nezu said. "U.A. owns and runs a number of children's school nearby and I have a great deal of control over them. The one I sent Eri to is one of our highest performing projects."

Ethan nodded. "Well thank you regardless. Eri needs a good environment to interact with others and I wasn't entirely sure how well she'd cope in an environment with lots of other children so soon after being isolated the way she had been. She's bounced back from it tremendously well."

It appeared that Ethan wasn't quite aware of how hard Eri-chan had latched onto the boy. Her mental state was quite fragile still and based on the reports from her teachers she had a severe case of hero worship for Mr Carlisle that he was mistaking for mere sisterly affection. Nezu shrugged.

"So moving on to more entertaining subjects. Tell me, did you really plan out that entire battle test scenario?"

Ethan blushed slightly and went to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment. "Spotted that did you?" he asked.

Nezu certainly had. Uraraka-san's idea to escape through a window with her Quirk was exactly the sort of out of the box thinking they wanted to cultivate in the new students. Nezu had wondered whether Ethan had left that little escape point specifically for her to notice.

Clearly, he was a genius teacher in the making if that was his plan. Anticipating the entire confrontation and giving Uraraka a chance to grow and learn herself. Disabling Bakugo, a somewhat unruly element was also prudent, as well as hilarious and arguably a lesson in humility for the young man. Nezu had watched the boy's outburst half a dozen times before it stopped being funny.

Then Ethan had gone on to engineer a scenario where Midoriya-san could get some combat experience without needing to use One for All and potentially hurt himself in the process.

Absolutely marvelous.

"You must consider taking up a teaching position one day," Nezu suggested. "Although I imagine you've already had experience doing just that…" He trailed off, waiting to see if Ethan would provide any more interesting information about his past.

"Not exactly, no," Ethan told him. "I helped mentor a couple of people once or twice, but that was mostly giving them a few kicks in the ass to get over themselves and do better at the time. A lot of heroes have a tendency to mope," he grumbled.

Nezu anticipated another interesting tale or two around that subject could be brought out of the boy, but he'd already taken an hour of Mr Carlisle's time and he didn't want to find out everything all at once. Nezu was perfectly capable of waiting, and the anticipation of their next meeting would only make whatever tidbits Ethan revealed next more the sweet to learn. He steered the conversation to a close and suggested Ethan get home to take care of young Eri-chan. It wouldn't be long before the girl arrived home and she'd be expecting to see her saviour as she had every day since they'd moved into the apartment.

Alone again, Nezu relaxed into his chair, contemplating the future as it pertained to Mr Carlisle.

So far Nezu was perfectly vindicated and satisfied with the results of his decision to accept Carlisle-san into U.A. The future was looking particularly bright with him already showing signs of a heroic mentality and he was even contributing to the educations of the other students! The pure entertainment value he brought was worth it in itself though. Speaking of that, Nezu decided to indulge himself. A few clicks of his mouse and the video of Bakugo-san and his reaction to Carlisle-san's antics was back on his screen.

Yes, Nezu decided as he watched Bakugo-san's reactions for the seventh time now. Definitely worth it.

Ethan

When I got home it was just as Eri was being dropped off, this time by Midnight who had picked her up after school.

"Ethan!" Eri shouted, jumping out of Midnight's car to give me a hug.

Really, this never got old. I looked up to Midnight.

"Thanks," I said. "I'll take it from here." The R-rated heroine gave me a cheeky wink.

"I like a man who takes charge," she told me saucily. The joke apparently went entirely over Eri's head as she pressed her face into my belly. I looked from Eri and back to Midnight and then raised an eyebrow. She at least had the good grace to look contrite.

"I'll leave you to it. See you in class Carlisle-san," she said.

Eri and I bid Midnight goodbye and waved as the woman drove away. Then I guided Eri back into the apartment.

Now I'd been thinking about something since the Battle Class and now was time to get some answers.

"Eri, did any post come by say a week or two ago?" Eri took a moment to absorb what I had to say before her eyes widened.

"Err," Eri replied her tone giving away exactly what had happened.

"It's just because apparently I was supposed to receive a letter from the Support Course asking about my hero costume."

Eri's expression grew slightly more frantic, the girl began fiddling with her fingers. "I-I…" Tears started to come to her eyes.

"It's okay," I told her, gonig down to one knee and wrapping the suddenly crying girl in a hug. "I'm not upset okay?" I told her.

"I'm sorry!" Eri said into my shoulder. "When it came I looked inside and it said stuff about your hero costume so I thought I'd draw one for you and then I left it in my bedroom andI forgot and I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay," I said. "I sorted it out a couple of days ago. I was hoping you might tell me on your own."

That only made Eri cry harder.

I reached for the straps of her little backpack and took it off and then I picked the girl up and carried her into her bedroom. I hadn't come in there very often so far. I'd checked to make sure she was keeping it all tidy, but apparently I hadn't been paying quite enough attention. I'd mainly been looking for discarded clothes or rubbish on the floor.

Usually what had happened was that she'd have come into my bedroom. She'd had nightmares the first couple of nights but had settled down after that.

I looked towards Eri's desk. There was some paper scattered about, bits of drawings and such. There underneath some paper I found the form I should have received.

Eri wrapped her arm around my neck tightly, apologising again for her mistake.

"It's alright Eri, don't worry about it," I told her. "Just don't go taking my mail again okay?" She nodded into my shoulder.

The rest of the evening was dedicated to making sure Eri was calm again. We had dinner and then we played videogames until the girl started to get tired and then I got her into bed.

It seemed at least Eri had learnt her lesson, but she had been awfully clingy the rest of the night. I didn't have much basis for comparison there though to know if it was out of the ordinary. I'd been an only child,never had kids of my own for fear the Company would acquire them, or clone them as contractors or slaves. I hadn't even adopted any kids that were under fifteen or so. My relationship with those had been more just a friend than anything familial. Regardless at least I'd figured out what had happened and addressed it.

I went to bed myself. Bakugo's surliness after the Battle Class had been handled well enough by All Might's presence although I imagined we hadn't seen the end of his irritation with Izuku. The greenette had come away from the practical lesson with a better appreciation of his own fighting skills and Uraraka had also improved in her tactical awareness.

The rest of the class had been interesting too. There was nothing extraordinary from my classmates. Mina and Mineta had performed poorly together, their Quirks not synergising at all and they'd been taken out easily by the team of Yaoyorozu and Tokoyami. The intelligent young woman had created flashbang russian doll-looking things which had stunned Mina and Mineta long enough for Dark Shadow to swoop in and capture both students with tape before they'd realised what had happened.

The test had also highlighted some of the weaknesses of our class. Denki could only release his electricity in a surge which left him wiped out with brain overload for instance and the animal controlling Koji found that his quirk wasn't so effective when there weren't many animals around, such as a specifically built stadium. Apparently he could also control bugs, but he was also had a phobia of them.

Both boys would have to find workarounds or alternative means of fighting for when their Quirks failed them. That had occurred in canon, presumably, so I wasn't terribly worried. Suddenly I realised I could have made notes on the abilities of the older class 1-A with the alternative universe Izuku's help.

It didn't matter now. I'd used up all the Mycelium I'd acquired from the Discovery in the few jumps I'd made so far and there was no current way back to visit the other universe. The transporter would be defunct now so they couldn't make the trip themselves. It was an important thing to do because I didn't want to spark an inter-universe war if that Midoriya chose to contact other universes and they weren't friendly.

I still knew how to make more devices to travel the multiverse. Or at least I had memories of building those devices using the Omnitrix's 'Grey Matter' alien. I'd be limited until I found some intelligence boosting Quirk, or Quirks, because I couldn't make heads or tails of my memories of the science involved. Trying to reverse engineer everything from memory without the intelligence to apply it all would only be asking for trouble. One day I might be in a position where I'd want to do that again, but it wasn't now most certainly.

I went to bed myself to get some sleep. Tomorrow was a bright new day of Hero training.

Everything was going to plan.

Ethan

Following the Battle Class everyone had some important things to think about. Mostly it was how they could improve. For some that was particularly important. Students like Denki had demonstrated that they didn't have a lot of combat potential, at least not yet.

Of all of us the only person who really hadn't gained anything from the experience was Todoroki. Although he already had plenty to brood over.

I was in a similar boat. Although I had other concerns, especially right now.

"I know absolutely fuck all about History," I muttered bluntly as I stared at the questions.

Hell I didn't even know who the Prime Minister of Japan was in this universe. Did they still have an emperor? Did they even have a Prime Minister?!

I was getting funny side glances from my classmates. I tried to reign in my little breakdown.

For fucks sake this never mattered before.

Never, in decades of exploration. I'd never needed to know more than the bare bones of the local universe's history.

I fumed at myself for thirty minutes, waiting for the test to end.

God I wasn't a kid anymore but this was still managing to push my buttons.

Snipe, the cowboy themed hero was teaching this class. He collected the tests, glancing at my own unmarked sheet. I gave him a weak smile.

"Is there a reason you didn't write anything on your paper Carlisle-san?" He asked frankly.

"Would you believe I was raised in the woods by a pack of particularly eloquent wolves?" I asked the teacher.

"No, I wouldn't," the teacher said while sighing through his mask. "Okay clearly this is going to be a problem," he looked around the class. "Is anyone willing to tutor Carlisle-san in History and get him up to speed?"

A couple of hands nervously went up but then went back down again. The students in question probably realising it would be something of an undertaking getting me up to speed. I was touched by the quick offers of charity even if they were retracted, it showed well the positive feelings I'd apparently managed to evoke from my fellow students this far. Although one student was far more excited by the opportunity.

"I shall tutor Carlisle-san Snipe-sensei!" Iida volunteered himself, standing up at attention as he did so. "I shall make sure Carlisle-san does not fall behind and-"

"Okay that's great," Snipe interrupted before the boy could put his foot in his mouth. clearly glad for such a quick solution to be presented.

"Sir, I don't think that's a good idea," I interrupted apologetically. "I'm sorry but I'm worried if I have to spend one on one tutoring time with Iida I might try to turn him into an orange juice powered moped."

"Can he actually do that?" Asui asked while Iida freaked out over what I'd threatened to do.

"I don't know, but I'm not sure I want to find out," I replied.

"I volunteer!" Yaoyorozu shouted, jumping up in her seat enthusiastically and taking everyone by surprise.

"Do you have any objections to Yaoyorozu tutoring you?" Snipe asked me.

"No of course not," I replied. The pretty girl was smart and dedicated, she'd make a great tutor. Also she wasn't an absolute ass like Iida, that always helped. The only sudden urges I expected to have with Yaoyorozu would be the urge to tease the somewhat socially awkward girl. "Yaoyorozu is clearly the smartest and most knowledgeable among our class, I'd be a fool to refuse her help," I said. Yaoyorozu blushed furiously at my complimentary words.

"Okay then, Yaoyorozu-san. I leave it to you and Carlisle-san to organise tutoring sessions between yourselves. I'll ask for reports in a couple of weeks."

"Thank you sensei," I said, bowing politely after the man really just threw me a bone. With the severe educational pressure in the school system, especially U.A. he probably would have had decent grounds to do more than just demand I get tutoring.

I waited behind for Yaoyorozu while the rest of our class filed out.

"Thank you for volunteering," I said sincerely. "I had no idea my knowledge on history was so lacking."

"It is perfectly fine," the girl replied. "I would have offered to help any of our classmates," she told me.

"Even Mineta?" I asked jokingly.

"Even Mineta," Yaoyorozu admitted after a few moments consideration.

"Well I shall be in your care then," I told her. "How do you want to meet up?"

"Is it traditional for the tutor to visit their student's home for extra study. Could I tutor you there?" She asked me.

"I don't see a problem with that," I said. "I'll have to run it by the Principal though. He's technically my landlord." That made Yaoyorozu look at me curiously.

"Carlisle-san, why are you living on school grounds?" She asked me.

"I didn't have anywhere else to go," I admitted. "I'm technically homeless. Nezu-sensei had somewhere built for me and my adoptive sister to live free of charge while I'm at U.A."

"I had no idea you were struggling with homelessness!" Yaoyorozu commented. "And if you are expelled from U.A. Then you will have nowhere else to go!" Yaoyorozu said. "Do not worry Carlisle-san I shall make sure you are more than up to standard in History and any other subjects you may struggle in!"

"Thanks, but it's just History really. I should be more than fine with the other subjects," I told her placatingly.

We arranged to meet out of school in a couple of days. Then we began to make our way out of the classroom, it was time for lunch.

"I did not know you had a sister," Yaoyorozu commented. Would you please tell me about her?"

"Her name's Eri. I rescued her from some criminals. It's part of how I ended up here at U.A."

"Incredible!" Yaoyorozu told me. "Although using your Quirk like that is against the law. I cannot fault you for doing what you did," she told me.

"Yeah…" I said, choosing not to comment on that bit of strangeness around Quirks. Maybe it truly was necessary to preserve human society.

We arrived at the cafeteria, ran by Lunch Rush. It was as good as any food I might have hoped to encounter short of the addictive food cooking ability the Company could provide for a handful of 'points'.

A horrifying idea, getting such easy access to such high quality cooking. One could easily get used to luxury like that, truly a terrible thing to happen to someone. Where was the enjoyment? The excitement in learning a skill the harder way? Of discovering something new that you can enjoy. The slight trepidation of trying something new and not knowing if you'd like it or not?

I shrugged it off. Those days were in the past.

The future though? Well now I had a whole wide future ahead of me.

Not long now. Our second practical lesson was almost upon us and I couldn't wait.

28. Ethan

We had just been told we had to pick out a class representative.

I let out a sigh. I really had better things to do. I looked back to my book on modern history. Even the obviously biased, I was starting to suspect also edited, historical accounts of this futuristic Japan were more exciting than this.

Seriously, every universe, Japan's always the same kind of bullshit. It was always 'We did nothing wrong in WW2,' or '731? We've never heard that number before.' God could any nation other than the UK just admit its past bullshit? 'Yes we bought the Elgin Marbles fair and square, no you can't have them back.' At least we were honest about most of our shit. Especially the shit we stole.

I'd have to visit the British Museum in this universe. I wondered if there were any different artifacts there in this timeline.

I could only assume that with All for One presumably being Japanese that the nation had recovered, or done well in the post Quirk chaos that seemed to have been some sort of world war from what I presumed would have happened. Or perhaps, knowing human nature the collapse of society was inevitable when individuals could show up one day, crash an economy or take over anindistry entirely with their specific ability, and then subsequently leave it high and dry after they died or retired.

It was a series of disasters waiting to happen and the clearly conservative behaviour of the current day as it pertained to Quirks reflected the worries that those days could return

Cheerful stuff.

Getting back on track… Apparently everyone wanted to be Class Rep. Good for them.

Iida then reminded everyone that being a class representative wasn't to be taken lightly. It was an important responsibility, a " calling," if you will. Fucking dweeb. Then he suggested we all vote on it. That was actually a half decent idea at least.

So everyone put a name in a slip of paper and then the votes were tallied up. Most people voted for themselves, naturally.

Uwaaah!" The class cried in amazement. There were two winners it seemed. Yaoyorozu and Midoriya had both received three votes apiece. I'd voted for the pretty heiress, she honestly seemed like a good fit for the job.

"What do we do then, who should be the Class Representative," Ashido asked as both Midoriya, who looked like he was going to have a panic attack, and Yaoyorozu who was perfectly calm, stood up at the head of the class.

Iida was having a conniption in his seat, but he provided another solution. Each student except Momo and Izuku would vote again and the decision would be based on that.

So they did, and Midoriya won it. Somehow.

"I don't know what I expected," I muttered to myself. "Talk about reality conspiring against you." Idd hoped my presence, and my vote, would be enough to divert canon a bit and see Yaoyorozu getting a bit more recognition, but it seemed not to be.

The rest of the morning was dominated by the knowledge that someone had broken into the campus. As a result, Iida somehow impressed Izuku enough to get the boy to ask that everyone accept him for the role of Class Representative.

Even Yaoyorozu was willing to allow the boy to take the lead, not complaining at all. Although I could see a hint of annoyance in her face as she accepted what everyone else was clearly gonig along with.

I mean, Iida was probably the right kind of uptight for the job and Izuku had plenty of other things to worry about, but by god did I find Iida annoying.

I was mildly disappointed for Yaoyorozu, but if she wasn't going to step forward and complain then that was her decision. It wasn't like it'd change everything with the class having now accepted Iida.

Everything was still on schedule though.

The campus had been invaded this morning although they hadn't found a culprit yet. Which meant this afternoon was going to be interesting indeed.

29. Ethan

We were sat in a bus, heading towards our next practical training experience. I had on a slightly updated costume. I had the light blue dots in the center of the white circles on my chest and the back of my hands now. I also had white 'gloves' which were more like bracers made of fabric which were fastened on around my middle and ring fingers. My boots had been improved too. Now they were more built into my costume, rather than being more like trainers they went up part way up my leg and even had shin guards.

What about your Quirk Carlisle-san?" commented Asui, the students had been discussing Quirks and how we would fit into the Hero community.

"I dunno, I was thinking once I've trained up properly I could become a healing Hero," I told them.

"That seems a bit of a waste don't you think?" Izuku commented, although not unkindly. "I mean, with your ability you'd be great at stopping Villains."

"Oh yeah most criminals wouldn't know what hit them if you glued them to the concrete," Kirishima commented. "You could trap them and then take selfies or something, it'd be great for your profile."

"Haha yeah that's not a bad idea actually," I commented. "I'll probably take part in stopping crimes obviously. Although if our class is anything to go by then we've got plenty of proper crime fighters in the making already. You'll be a great hero dude."

"Thanks!" Kirishima replied, taking the compliment well. "I still wish my Quirk was a bit flashier though…" He opined. "I'll probably never make the top ten without some wow factor though. Now Bakugo and Todoroki's Quirks, they'll be great for Pro Hero work."

"Carlisle-san is right," Izuku said. "I think you'll do well as a hero Kirishima. You're confident and friendly, they're great qualities in a Hero."

"Plus, Bakugo's too angry to be a popular hero," Asui commented getting nods from those around us. The boy in question naturally got angry at this and was about to say something when Denki spoke up in favour of the frog-girl's argument.

"So what really makes a hero? I asked the group. "Is it the attitude, is it the Quirk? Is there more to it? What do you all think?"

"Well you need a strong Quirk first and foremost," Kirishima said, flexing his Hardening Quirk for a moment. "But you need to be able to use it properly too," he glanced at Izuku.

The boy in question blushed awkwardly at the reminder of his ongoing problem.

"I think its as much about your attitude," Asui said. "You need to be able to keep people calm and maintain control over a situation," she told us.

A few others piped in, agreeing with other Kirishima's or Asui's viewpoint. All the class agreed though that All Might's Qirk wasn't just why they thought he was the number one hero. It was the way he went about it, saving people with a smile on his face was what made him the number one.

We arrived at the Unforseen Simulation joint.

It was a large, glass domed building owned by U.A. but not on campus. It was lent out to other heroes and hero courses around the country for training purposes in different environments.

As a piece of engineering it was impressively large all on its own. It was the inside that was truly impressive though.

All sorts of environments had their little slot in the building. Fiery cityscapes, raging seas surrounding a cruise liner, a landslide, all sorts of environments were hosted here and soon the students were going to have an opportunity to experience them.

The Hero, Thirteen was present when we arrived, decked out in a space suit costume. At her feet, between where her puffy space suit pants ended and where her equally large shoes began, her legs were partly exposed in leggings or tights. That was the only indicator of her gender I could see. It was a strange costume really, not particularly mobile from someone who was supposed to operate primarily as a rescue Hero.

Thirteen spoke to us briefly about the building and what opportunities it held for us to learn to use our Quirks to save people rather than just beat up criminals.

Then the unimaginable happened. Black portals opened around the wasteland environment at the centre of the building. Tens, or perhaps even hundreds of individuals came through the portal of all shapes and sizes and they looked like they were spoiling for a fight. We were under attack.

I felt a smile come to my face.

Perfect.

30. Iida

Iida was terrified.

A Villain claiming to be part of a 'League of Villains' had attacked the USJ. Villains had attacked the facility, en masse. 1-A had tried to help but then the teleporting Villain with the purple fire over his head had used his Quirk. Several of the students had been caught, including Iida himself!"

When Iida landed on the hard ground the first thing he noticed was that it was hot. Fire burned all around them, coming off the walls of destroyed buildings and even through the floor.

"One day I'll learn to stick the landing," Carlisle-san said from beside him as he stood up, brushing himself off casually.

"Where are we?" Iida asked as he looked around their fiery surroundings.

"Looks like one of the simulation zones," Carlisle-san said. He looked to Iida, his eyes widened for a moment in surprise at seeing the boy before he turned serious. "It seems like with radio signals cut off we need to get a message out some other way. You're the best able to do that, but you're very far from the exit right now," he told the other boy. "So our objective is to get you out of the facility and heading back to U.A. to call for help." Iida nodded, then Carlisle-san continued.

"But right now if we're both here then I'll bet bottom dollar that everyone else has been transported to other simulation zones and-"

Carlisle-san stopped talking, pricking up his ears. A moment later Iida heard it too. The sound of running feet nearby telling him that there were other people in the simulation zone with them.

Iida turned to where the noise was coming from. Three men, wielding weapons came out from behind one of the buildings. They stopped when they saw the two U.A. students.

"And there's people like this hanging around waiting for us," Carlisle-san finished his sentence.

"Haha, we found them first!" one of the criminals shouted with glee. "I get dibs on the blue one's legs!"

"How rude," Carlisle-san said, suddenly looking disinterested. He put his hands in his pockets, something that was included in his newly updated costume apparently. "And to think I was having such a lovely day. Cannibalism is it?" He looked at the speaker, a shortish, wiry looking man with a brown mask over his mouth and two daggers in his hands. "And with a mask over your mouth? How cliche."

"Hehe," chuckled the Villain. "All that bluster but he's scared, just look at him trying to look all calm and collected. I've changed my mind. I call dibs on this one. You two can have the other one," he said hungrily. He ran forward eagerly, ready to swing his dangerous looking daggers.

"Watch out!" Iida shouted in panic, caught off guard by the man's speedy approach and not seeing Carlisle-san so much as move to react.

The dagger came up, ready to cut right into Carlisle-san's neck. It swung, faster than Iida knew he would be able to react himself at that distance, but then at the last moment the boy just swayed to the side, the weapon going wide. In the same movement a hand came out of the boy's pocket.

A single hand reached out, grabbing hold of the man's arm and stopping the criminal flat out. Iida saw the fabric around the Villain's arm disintegrate, no doubt Carlisle was using Overhaul to break through the fabric.

An open palm gripped onto bared skin. The man in Carlisle's grip froze. A moment later he let out a choked scream before he instantly passed out. The Villain fell limply to the floor at Carlisle-san's feet.

In the sudden silence, only punctuated by the roaring of the fires surrounding them, Carlisle-san reached down to the ground to where the man had dropped the twin daggers he'd been wielding only a few seconds ago. Carlisle-san picked up one of the knives, twirling it expertly in his hand.

The blade spun around in his palm almost hypnotically. He looked up to the two remaining thugs, tilting his head to the side and he then seemed to lose interest. Instead he began looking at the dagger in his hand.

His hand holding the dagger began to wave side to side quickly and repeatedly, and Iida could see it, the speed of the swings was increasing with every motion. It kept going faster and faster until after several seconds the noise produced by the dagger became an audible wurring. It was like the sound of a propeller as it cut through the air.

"Poor showing," Carlisle-san said to himself. "Not particularly impressive Quirk either. A very slight ability to move his limbs faster in a single motion, with the speed increasing the more times you repeat the same back and forth motion," Carlisle said thoughtfully.

"Interesting enough for a teaser I suppose. Certainly not useless, at least not when paired with the right skills or equipment, whatever those might be. Still like I say, not that impressive at the end of the day. But then, I don't know what I was expecting really, from just basic mooks." He sighed explosively. Then he looked to the other two thugs again.

"Power lottery, am I right?"

The two remaining thugs seemed to recover themselves. They split apart, eyeing the boy warily as they circled to either side of him.

"What the fuck did you do to him?" The larger of the two who was wielding a club asked. Fear clearly colouring his tone. Iida looked on in horror. The thugs might be slow on the uptake but Iida wasn't. Iida already had a sinking suspicion of what Carlisle was suggesting he'd just done, but he wasn't sure he wanted to believe it. Carlisle-san gave the man an amused look before letting off a bark of laughter.

"Well I'd tell you," Carlisle-san said to the criminal. "But then I'd have to kill you," he joked. He tossed the dagger into the air where it spun madly before holding out his other hand and catching the blade by the handle which landed perfectly in his palm as it fell.

"Carlisle-san?" Iida asked, worried by the strange attitude suddenly being presented by the other boy. "Are you alright?" Carlisle-san turned to look at him.

"Sorry Iida, I was just playing around with the Quirk I just took from that guy," Carlisle-san said casually. His eyes suddenly widened in surprise. He turned around to look back at the criminals, he brought his free hand up to cover his mouth in mock horror. "Oops," he said apologetically, looking towards each of the Villains. Then he sighed.

"Well, I did say…" he told them with an apologetic shrug. He stepped toward the larger one who had spoken before. "Momma didn't raise no liar."

The two criminals turned tail and ran.

"Well that was easy enough, I suppose," Carlisle-san said brightly as the criminals disappeared around the same corner they'd come from. "Right then," he turned towards Iida. His face turned serious.

"I think it's time we got you moving and I get going to help reinforce the others, don't you?" He asked.

There was an intensity in his eyes the likes of which Iida had never seen before.

Iida could only nod in acceptance.

31. Dark Shadow

Tokoyami, Koda and Denki had been teleported over the water environment. On contact with the water Denki had immediately shorted out, releasing all his electricity uncontrollably and rendering both himself, Tokoyami and Koda unconscious.

With nothing to keep them afloat, three unconscious boys were left to sink slowly but surely to their doom.

But for one thing.

The water was deep. Light broke through the surface, but it could not penetrate far enough to reveal the darkness beneath.

Dark Shadow found strength in the darkness.

There was just enough light coming through the water to help him maintain his bearings, his sanity and control despite that his flesh and blood other half was unconscious.

This had never happened before. Yes, Tokoyami had been rendered unconscious in the darkness before, leaving Dark Shadow to his own devices. Dark Shadow's insanity had been brought forth in those times and he had run amok until Heroes had arrived and put him to sleep with bright beams of light.

Now Dark Shadow was free, but he was in control. He'd quickly gathered his bearings and picked up the other boys and tossed them to the boat. He kept Tokoyami in the water though, facing upwards so he could still breathe. Dark Shadow had then stretched himself back around Tokoyami's torso and into the water once more. He turned his amorphous eyes then onto his surroundings.

At the villainous scum who dared attack his partner and his friends!

They had clearly been chosen for this terrain for a reason. They were all adapted in one way or another for water environments with their Quirks. But as Dark Shadow stretched out deeper into the water, feeding off the shadows he found there and growing stronger and larger with every second, he knew one thing.

A giant shadowy claw reached out from the water and grabbed hold of one of the Villains. They gave off a yelp, the only warning for their comrades before they dragged down beneath the tide.

They didn't understand the darkness that lay at the bottom of the water.

Dark Shadow would show them.

32. Kirishima

"Die!" screamed Bakugo.

Kirishima had initially been somewhat disturbed by the repeated shouting of that particular word, worried that Bakugo was indeed trying to kill the villains that had accosted them once they arrived at their destination. He wasn't entirely sure but none of the ciriminals seemed to be actually properly dead.

Bakugo was strong though. He was capable, worth following. Worth the hassle of being his friend. For all his bullshit, Kirishima did sort of like Bakugo.

Well while they'd survived the experience that was Bakugo, the Villains had been roughed up quite a bit at least. Kirishima couldn't find it in him to worry about how many concussions and second degree burns Bakugo was likely leaving the thugs with. Whatever was going on they had to defend themselves and stop the Villains at whatever they were planning to do.

A sword clattered uselessly off Kirishima's rock hard skin. He turned around and punched the perpetrator, knocking out teeth and sending his attacker to the ground in one hit.

Beating up Villains was pretty cathartic actually.

Kirishima looked around for another opponent. There wasn't anybody. They'd run out of attackers, for the moment.

Bakugo had wanted to go back to reinforce Eraserhead, but Kirishima had pointed out that their classmates might need more help than Eraserhead right now and Bakugo had reluctantly agreed. He'd jumped up into the air using his Quirk and gotten a look around their surroundings. He'd spotted a large crowd of people in one of the neighbouring areas.

It was a wasteland environment and the two boys had realised the crowd meant some of the other students were likely also fighting their own attackers. Bakugo hadn't like it but he'd accepted that Eraserhead didn't need their help as much as their classmates might right now. Even if he didn't put it in such polite terms. The two Heroes in training set out at a run towards where Bakugo had spotted the group.

It was while they were running that Carlisle-san arrived. He was crouched down, his hands on a flat stone platform and he was speeding along with the dirt beneath the platform flowing like water in a wave. He came up next to them.

"Hop on!" He shouted.

The two boys jumped on to join him. Kirishima was glad for the opportunity to rest his feet for a moment.

"You both alright?" He asked, not taking an eye off the direction he was travelling for a moment.

"Yeah," Kirishima replied. "Me and Bakugo handled the criminals here, we were going to the next area to beat up some more."

"Good! I was with Iida. I got him to the outside border and made an exit for him. He's on his way to get help now," Carlisle said to Kirishima's relief.

"What's the situation everywhere else?" Bakugo demanded.

"I dont know whats going on at the entrance, but I saw a big ice slide by one of the other areas. Todoroki'll have that one handled and hopefully he's on his way to reinforce Erasherhead," Carlisle said. Bakugo made a t'ching noise in acknowledgement, not entirely happy that Todoroki was going straight to the central fight and he wasn't. "So the only areas unaccounted for now are the Wasteland, the Water and the Cold zones."

"Drop us off by the Wasteland, it's right ahead," Kirishima suggested. "There's tons of criminals over there and we think some of our classmates are fighting there." Carlisle nodded.

It didn't take long for them to get there. Bakugo immediately jumped off and broke into a run. Propelled by explosions from his palms, he raced toward the sound of fighting with an eager grimace on his face.

"Thanks," Kirishima said, for the both of them. Bakugo could thank Kirishima later for saying thanks for him.

"I'll leave you both to it," Carlisle said. From their new position they could get a good view of all their surroundings. "I'll go to the water area next and make sure everything is fine there," He said.

It was at that moment as they overlooked the scene that they both saw a dark tendril of shadow reach out of the Water area. There was clearly a figure in its grip, flailing about helplessly. Then the giant tendril sank quickly back into the water. It wasn't recognisable as one of their classmates at least.

"I think the water area's fine. Tokoyami probably has things covered." Carlisle-san said after a moment's pause. Kirishima nodded mutely.

"I'll go check out the Ice region then and then reinforce Eraserhead," Carlisle said. "You'll be alright here with Bakugo?"

"Yeah," he said. "Good luck!"

Carlisle nodded before speeding off on his makeshift raft.

Not for the first time Kirishima wished he had a cooler Quirk like that as he watched the boy speed away.

Right now though, he needed to support his classmates. He flexed his Quirk, hardening his skin in preparation. He could always take out his frustrations on the villains.

Assuming Bakugo hadn't got to them all first.

33. Mineta

It was cold, so incredibly cold.

The cold wasn't affecting Mineta nearly as much as he thought it ought to be right now though. Mineta had never been more terrified in his life and that seemed to offset the chill a great deal. He glanced to Asui who was next to him.

The girl was frozen completely solid.

Mineta was small, he was somewhat more vulnerable to heat and cold as a result due to his tiny body not holding as much heat or having as much insulation as others. He was shivering, but he hadn't reacted nearly as quickly, or as badly as Asui had once they had landed in an alleyway in what looked like one of the simulation areas.

Asui was completely helpless. Mineta didn't understand what had happened to her. As soon as they'd landed she'd started getting slow and sluggish and a few seconds later she'd stopped moving entirely. She'd barely gotten a word out before leaving Mineta essentially high and dry.

Then Villains came out and surrounded them. Thugs, some of them with weapons. They wanted to hurt them, kill them. Mineta had panicked. At first his instinct had been to run away. Then he'd remembered the girl on the ground, trapped in ice that had already begun forming over her body.

She was completely helpless.

Mineta had screamed and cried, even as he threw his balls at the approaching enemies in a mad panic. Somehow to Mineta's absolute relief it'd actually worked. Every single one of the Villains was now stuck in their position and rendered unable to move and get any closer to them. Mineta had even managed to stick to some of their weapons, stopping the thugs from simply throwing them at the two Heroes in training. Even a couple of stragglers had been caught unaware and now Mineta and Asui were safe, for the moment. He was now trying to find a way to pry Asui off the ground somehow and get her somewhere safe before his sticky balls expired and the Villains broke free.

"Come on, come on!" He almost shouted. It was no use though, Asui was frozen to the ground and Mineta wasn't strong enough to pry her away. He wasn't sure he might not hurt her too. The idea of accidentally snapping her arm clean off if he used too much force on the frozen girl made him want to be sick.

"When we get out of here you're dead twerp, dead!" Screamed on of the brutes, still straining against Mineta's balls which had him stuck to the ground by his feet and also to some of his comrades.

They didn't need to tell Mineta that, he already knew what would happen if he stayed to protect the unresponsive frog-girl. He probably had enough in him to produce enough sticky balls to hold them all off once more, but he couldn't guarantee he'd get them all as well as he did the first time and they knew what his Quirk did now. They'd be far more careful the second time around.

Mineta let go of Asui, looking around for something, anything to help keep them both alive.

Suddenly a noise came from behind the crowd of Villains.

"Ugh, hey what's going on?" One of them shouted.

The thugs were turning and twisting in their sticky bonds, trying to see what the commotion was. Mineta wasn't sure what was happening. He couldn't see past the Villain's bodies.

Shouts of alarm and panic issued forth from the crowd. Mineta heard bodies falling. There was the sound of a brief scuffle, more sounds of distress and then finally the cause of the noise made himself known.

"Carlisle!" Mineta cried tears of joy.

"Good work Mineta," Carlisle said. He came walking out of the blizzard and over the bodies of the now fallen Villains to approach him and Asui. "You held out until help arrived. You should be proud of yourself." He looked to Asui's frozen form. "The others were transported into other training zones but it looks like yours was the worst matchup. Come on," he said, reaching for Asui. "It looks like Asui's Quirk doesn't react well to this environment."

The ground below the frozen girl fractured around her position as he touched the concrete and Carlisle heaved as he picked up the frog-girl along with a bit of the stone beneath her. "Let's get you both out of this cold."

34. Todoroki

Izuku and Todoroki had both landed in a beaten up building, not unlike the space that they'd had the battle test in a few days ago.

"We need to get back and help Eraserhead," Midoriya stressed as they recovered their bearings.

"We'll probably have to fight our way out," Todorki said calmly, analysing the situation. "No doubt there's other villains around somewhere in this building waiting for us. Save your Quirk for now," he instructed the greenette. "I can handle everything here for the moment, you save yourself for the main Villains when we get back."

"Right," Midoriya agreed.

Todoroki nodded, glad that Midoriya was taking this all seriously. Although really he would have preferred if he was on his own and didn't have to worry about Midoriya. His Quirk was incredibly powerful, but far too uncontrolled. Todoroki didn't want to risk having to carry the boy back! It would be far easier if he were on his own.

The first villains arrived to confront them. Izuku wisely hung back, perfect.

Ice spread out from Todoroki's side, instantly engulfing the two men and one woman who had come to attack them.

"Before we go back, we need information," the ice wielding boy stated authoritatively. "So…" He approached one of the frozen villains. "You guys aren't anything special," he stated dismissively to one of the two men who was now trapped in the ice with a dumbstruck expression on his face. "The ice will slowly kill off all your cells if I don't release you. So, why don't you tell me about the ringleaders."

They didn't have much information to give. They were here for All Might and they thought that the black creature they'd spotted before being teleported away was supposed to be able to take him down. Todoroki had seen All Might at his best. Whatever that person, or more likely monster based on their perceptions was, it would have to be strong if the ringleaders thought it could face off against All Might.

"Let's go," Todoroki instructed, going to a nearby window. Midoriya followed.

"Don't you think you should let them go? They told you what you wanted to know," Midoriya reminded him. Todoroki had almost forgotten his implied offer.

"Fine," Todoroki replied. He went to the man and let his heat defrost the man. It had the secondary benefit of counteracting some of his own built up cold at least, so there was that.

"Let's go," Todoroki said once the three Villains were released. They were left merely shivering on the floor instead of dying of hypothermia. He was momentarily glad that Midoriya was with him after all, Todoroki didn't want to kill anyone and he'd lost focus as he learned about the potential threat posed by the invaders. He approached the window again. With a gesture of his hand Todoroki formed an ice slide all the way to the ground. He jumped on and Midoriya wasn't far behind him in racing back to the main area.

They were distracted by more villains on the way, that slowed them down. Todoroki handled most of them with his ice, but Midoriya handled a couple himself, without his Quirk even.

When they got back to the scene of the main fighting things weren't looking good.

Eraserhead had clearly put up a strong fight but he was caught now, trapped underneath the bulk of the black creature. One of his arms was clearly broken at a horrible looking angle and it didn't look like he'd be any more use in this fight. Except perhaps if he could maybe still find it in him to use his Quirk from that position.

The grey haired boy, the Ringleader who had eagerly done all the talking after arriving turned to look at them. He was flanked by the man with the purple flames.

"Oh look, new challengers!" He cheered. "Not All Might though," he said in disappointment. "I guess we can spend a bit of time grinding more exp before the boss finally arrives at least."

Todoroki and Midoriya were ready to square off against the black monster and its master. Then something else happened.

The ground was shifting behind the Villain's position. The cause of it was revealed a moment later when Carlisle-san burst up from the ground. He was fast, too fast for the enemy to possibly react to as he came up behind the purple villain.

His hand came up, grabbing hold of the man at where his head would probably be while his other arm wrapped around the butler's metal choker, pulling him off his feet and back against Carlisle-san's chest.

"Ack!" The fiery Villain managed to get out, flailing his arms in panic at the sudden unforeseen attack.

The Villain with the grey hands all over his body turned around in alarm just in time to see his accomplice's purple fires disappear as Carlisle-san seemed to choke the butler out in seconds. The purple flames went away to reveal what the Villain looked like underneath.

Without the flames provided by his Quirk the man didn't look like much of a threat now. Beneath the fire he was bald with wrinkled, emaciated skin. The now unconscious man looked more like a corpse rather than the professional and intimidating threat he did before. Carlisle-san lowered the now unconscious man properly to the ground. Then he pulled away the metal choker which had been covering the man's neck and lower jaw. He tossed it to the side casually as he stood up again. He looked at the Villain's ringleader for the first time.

He held his arms out to either side of him in what would have been an almost friendly gesture if it wasn't for the darkly satisfied look on his face. He made eye contact with the Ringleader who took a step back in sudden fear.

"You can't fast travel right now," he said. "There are enemies nearby."

Ethan

I eyed up the Nomu. It was huge, almost as big as All Might which was decidedly intimidating when it was covered in what looked like rubber and was bulging all over with dense muscle.

It was like facing up against a bodybuilder in a gimp suit, and there was no safe word.

Shigaraki was coming to grips that his one and only avenue for escape wasn't available right now. The boy was obviously panicking.

"W-who are you?" He demanded, breaking the silence my sudden arrival had caused. He looked from Kurogiri's fallen form and back to me. I saw it when the metaphorical lightbulb went off, he'd clearly realised that I'd somehow disabled Kurogiri beyond what even Eraserhead's Quirk could achieve. "I call hacks, that's not fair!" He shouted petulantly.

He turned to Nomu. "Leave him, get the boy, kill him!" Shigaraki demanded madly of the creature that was still squatting over Eraserhead. "Don't let him touch you!" Shigaraki shouted, suddenly realising that I might be able to repeat the same thing to the Nomu as I had Kurogiri.

The Nomu took a moment's pause, clearly trying to figure out how it was going to hurt me without touching me itself. It thrust it's hands into the dirt. The dirt ground beneath us was compact, but that layer was also quite thin I'd discovered already. Nomu's hands sunk into the ground and with its immense strength it pulled out a clump of concrete. It's improvised weapon in hand, the Nomu threw the boulder at me.

I rolled to the side, avoiding the projectile entirely. If the Nomu wanted to hurt me, then it would need to get in closer. I made a come hither gesture.

It was then that Todoroki and Midoriya broke out of their own shock and made their moves. The green boy ran forward, readying his finger for a 100% One for All flick to send the creature packing. A wall of ice burst forth from Todoroki, chasing after the Nomu but not quite catching it as it ran forward to swat me away with a second lump of concrete it had ripped from the earth.

I ran to meet the creature head on before either Midoriya and Todoroki could somehow interrupt me.

The Nomu smashed its rock down to crush me under the combination of the boulder's immense weight and the Nomu's own strength, but the attack was more than telegraphed. I leapt to the side and rolled back to my feet as the creature went to pick its weapon back up. I leapt forward, reaching out with my hand extended and ready to bring this fight to an early finish.

I was close, so close to making this entire thing an absolute victory. I just needed to get my hands on the Nomu. Then the burst of air from Izuku's sudden finger flick caught me in its wake. I was diverted from my mid-air lunge and sent tumbling away into the air, like I was fucking Team Rocket being blasted off again.

Damn you Izuku! I screamed internally as I flew away. I considered for a moment activating Kurogiri's Quirk, but I couldn't risk fucking up with it, not right this second. It required exact positioning, concentration along with coordinates or line of sight and I couldn't concentrate on that right this second, nor could I have risked it against the Nomu. Clearly Kurogiri was either a genius or he'd been enhanced further to use his Quirk the way he did. It'd take some practice to get on his level, just like I had discovered with the other complicated Quirks I'd picked up. Even Overhaul, my most used Quirk thus far, I was still learning to master fully.

I landed and tumbled to a stop some distance away. A few remaining mooks brought in by Kurogiri before were nearby, fighting the remainders from 1-A that hadn't been caught and separated across the facility by the teleporter's Quirk like I had been. It was Sato and Sero who were stuck trying to fight off the remaining criminals and they were supported by Uraraka. They were all doing well without any obvious injuries. I had to give props to them for that. Especially Sato, who's sugar Quirk could boost his strength even further than his already impressive physique allowed. He was handling himself particularly well with strength enhanced punches that sent the criminals flying.

His Quirk was so very basic in its execution, but damn was it impressive to see him in action. Once he was fully trained, he'd be an absolute beast in a fight.

I tried to activate Warp Gate, ready to move the hundred feet or so back into the battle. As I flexed the muscle I knew was there I suddenly hit a roadblock. Warp Gate just wouldn't activate. It was like I was trying to hold multiple items at once and I could only carry so much, my other Quirks pressing in on it and pushing down the proverbial pile until I couldn't 'reach' it, for lack of better terminology.

A quick moment of internal reflection saw that I simply couldn't wield all the Quirks I had in my possession at the same time. I could carry them, but to use Warp Gate I would first have to 'deactivate' some of the Quirks I was holding onto.

I sat still, concentrating on pushing out Larceny and a couple of other Quirks I had acquired earlier. Then I tried to bring Warp Gate to the fore once more. It worked. I could feel the difference now as Warp Gate became a Quirk that I had access to.

It wasn't particularly difficult, it just took too much effort to comfortably do without being able to concentrate properly first and I didn't think I c it I'd actively use any Quirks while I was doing it either. I wouldn't be able to use any of my other Quirks without dedicating several seconds of meditation to swapping them out first, so to speak. So I was limited, but I was more than comfortable with what I had access to right now.

"Carlisle! Are you okay?" Sero asked as he shot out tape to wrap up another one of the criminals. It seemed they were coming from the other simulation areas now that my classmates had either been rescued or escaped themselves. I'd already sealed shut the fire and ice regions on my way out of both areas which should have at least reduced their numbers. Just how many of these guys were there? I didn't care perse, but it was just surprising that All for One or his subordinates had managed to recruit as many common criminals as he had for this foolish assault.

"I'm fine," I told Sero as I got to my feet slowly. Actually swapping out my 'active' Quirks like that had taken more out of me than I'd anticipated. "A bit of a communication error," I told them dryly.

As I stood there catching my breath I spotted one criminal suddenly fall over, clutching his testicles with no apparent cause for his pain. Hagakure was also here then. That meant there were seven students still unaccounted for, including Aoyama. Although he was a special case. It was likely that they were either with Tokoyami or part of the group Bakugo and Kirishima had gone to support.

"What's going on over there?" Uraraka asked. "Is Eraserhead okay?"

I was about to speak but a Villain chose that moment to race towards me. She was an ugly, bulky woman brandishing a sledgehammer for an arm that started at her elbow. Her wild swing down was sidestepped easily as I stepped forward inside her guard. I slammed my palm forward into her neck. The thug went down to the ground even as I devoured her Quirk.

Annoyed, I touched the floor and activated Overhaul. The ground rose up at my command, wrapping up a number of the criminals and leaving the defenders with plenty more breathing room.

"Eraserhead's not doing so well but Todoroki and Izuku are there now. I have to get back and support them, are you all alright here?" I asked.

"Yeah, go!" Sato shouted, not having noticed what I'd just done as he took advantage of Sero's Quirk to swing a tied up Villain into a couple of others. They collapsed like dominoes.

I raced back in the direction I had been thrown from. When I got back it was to find that the battle was going about as well as one could hope.

Nomu had been frozen in Todoroki's ice, half it's body stuck in place and left brittle by the icy trap.

Midoriya came up next and with a flick of his ring finger this time, he shattered the ice. Nomu's entire side broke apart like glass. He'd apparently already used his Quirk twice more since my inglorious removal from the fight then.

The two boys clearly thought they'd eked out a win as the Nomu swayed drunkenly on its feet, but I spotted Shigaraki running towards Midoriya even as the two young Heroes watched in horror when the Nomu's incredible healing factor kicked in a second later.

"Watch out behind you!" I shouted. Midoriya turned but he couldn't leapt away in time and Shigaraki was able to get a hand on the other boy to use his Quirk.

I winced. I already knew what Shigaraki's Quirk could do. I braced myself to see the horrific results of Shigaraki's Quirk in action.

Nothing happened though.

Across the way I saw Eraserhead, looking up at Shigaraki weakly from his position on the floor.

Midoriya pushed away from Shigaraki and made some room for himself. He suddenly found himself stuck trying to split his attention between the Villainous child on one side and the Nomu on the other. Eraserhead was clearly at his limit though, his head dropped back to the floor with a thud. He wasn't going to be any more help in this fight.

"Damn you!" Shigaraki cursed, looking towards Eraserhead, having realised what had happened. Then he saw me. "Come back for more?" Shigaraki asked. "You won't get away twice. Nomu kill Eraserhead, and then kill him!" Shigaraki ordered again. "If I can't have All Might at least I'll kill his friend and some of his students!" His hands were twitching as he looked back at Midoriya, contemplating whether he could try again and catch the inheritor of One for All off-guard a second time.

There was a fat chance of that happening, I decided. I looked over the battlefield. I was far enough away from the action nobody could immediately get to me, and I had line of sight.

Time to try out my new Quirk.

Purple fog erupted from my hands and began flowing forwards. Nomu was caught off guard as my mist reached its position and I reached a hand through the portal I formed to touch it on the shoulder.

Nomu froze and then began to shudder as I activated my Quirk. One Quirk, then two. I absorbed them both into myself.

"A hacked character?" I asked, pretending I'd only just discovered Nomu's abilities. "For shame."

My work done, I pulled my hand back. The Nomu collapsed to the floor a second later, completely unresponsive. I hadn't tried to deal any damage, there would be no need to once I took away the only thing holding the monster together. The black rubber coating its skin seemed to sink into its body, leaving exposed muscle instead of actual skin. Blood started leaking from all over the creature as it laid there, dead. Without its Quirks to hold it together it wasn't capable of sustaining itself. I looked up to the one remaining opponent that mattered today.

As Shigaraki watched in horror I took the opportunity to reach into my mind and shuffle around the Quirks I was using. Then I formed a portal behind Shigaraki and stepped through it.

"I think it's game over kid," I told Shigaraki who spun around, wide eyed and fearful as I closed the remaining distance between us. "Your strongest fighter is down. Your teleporter is out of service. It's just you and a handful of mooks that my classmates are already handling themselves. Surrender," I ordered.

"No!" Shigaraki shouted, apparently not able to cope with the sudden turnaround. "No, it's not possible. How are you taking their Quirks away? Only one person can do that and it's not you!"

The boy closed in on himself, devolving into muttering. I couldn't quite make it out but he was clearly freaking out at the idea that All for One had chosen to interfere here today, despite his promises not to do so.

"I don't know who you're referring to," I lied shamelessly, redrawing his attention to me. "But I have a pretty cool Quirk that lets me do what I just did. Wanna know how it works?" I offered, deactivating Warp Gate and raising my uncovered hand. I showed him the back of my hand so he couldn't see the divot in the palm left by All for One, I wiggled my fingers. "Overhaul lets me manipulate matter however I see fit, including other peoples' bodies. I've removed your friends' Quirks completely with just a touch of my fingers."

The boy's expression changed and he went still. He must have come to a decision. His irrational mind coming to the only solution available to act as a salve to his bitter pride. If he couldn't escape then he was going to take me down before he was captured, wasn't he? Typical.

There was barely any distance between us now. He lunged forward. I didn't stop his approach and the boy reached out to take a hold of me and activate his Quirk.

My own hand came up to grasp Shigaraki's wrist and I stopped him cold. The kid who up to this point had probably barely done any real exercise in his life folded in my tight grip. Shigaraki went to his knees with a whimper as I tightened my grip on his wrist even further.

He wasn't done yet though. In desperation the boy reached out with his other hand, touching my stomach and activating his Quirk with a mad laugh. I felt it as my skin peeled away, and my organs suffered the same fate. He'd caught me slightly off guard with that last attempt, I'd give him that.

It was painful. Among one of the most painful things I'd ever experienced. Some might think it seemed stupid, allowing myself to even be at risk and come to harm like that. But now all it was was just a bit of pain. Why would I be worried about anything Shigaraki could do right now? I thought with satisfaction, when this poorly thought out attempt at one last attack brought him right to me.

I took a hold of his second hand with my own other hand, rendering him practically powerless with no way to touch me with his fingers. I held him there like that, staring down at the Villain who clearly knew he'd been bested.

My new healing Quirk activated as I held him in place. My flesh quickly restored itself, my organs restored leaving healthy skin showing through the hole left in my costume.

I looked down at Shigaraki, perfectly healthy. He stared back in a mixture of horror and pain. He was beaten. We both knew it. Now we were just playing out the final seconds of the encounter.

I could've said something. Taunted him, used my knowledge of Shigaraki's past to damage him psychologically even more than he already was. Pointed out the fucking stupidity of his worldview.

But why would I bother? He didn't matter. At least, he wouldn't in a second. I prepared to activate my Quirk.

"It's not possible," Shigaraki muttered, making me stop. He struggled futilely in my grasp before giving up and slumping down. "It's not fair! You shouldn't exist. You can't do this, you aren't real! It was supposed to be just All Might! Hacks, I call hacks!" He shouted at me.

I sighed and raised an eyebrow, looking down at the petulant child on the floor at my feet. He wasn't even trying to hold himself up at this point, the only reason he was even still partially upright was because I was holding him up, like he was a toddler throwing a tantrum.

Eri was only ten and she was far better behaved than this genuine young adult… I thought critically. Hell, I was better behaved at his age and I'd just been hired by the Company back then.

"Let me tell you one thing kid," I looked down at him, deciding to give him at least some parting advice. "Life isn't a game, but somebody still has to lose, and nobody likes a sore loser." With that I activated All for One and Shigaraki was rendered unconscious as I absorbed his Quirk and gained the ability to disintegrate anything with a touch.

The Quirk as it was right now was only capable of doing more or less what I could already manage with Overhaul. Given training though I could feasibly unlock its ability to operate at a range and speed that I didn't think I would be able to achieve normally with the matter manipulation Quirk.

I let go of him, letting Shigaraki's now unconscious form slump to the floor. Then I looked over to Todoroki and Midoriya who were watching with wide eyes.

If the cat wasn't out of the bag already it would be now. That was the point though. I'd left plenty of evidence in the thugs I had encountered so far and the Ringleaders I had just dealt with, there could be no hiding this no matter how much the establishment might want to.

My classmates, having beaten the remaining Villains had come to support us only to see the fighting was all over. Instead of charging to the rescue they'd only arrived in time to see me use Kurogiri's stolen Quirk and take the Quirks from Nomu and Shigaraki. I wasn't worried, I wanted them to see even. I didn't need to hide my powers now. Nor did I want to, I wasn't some weak coward hiding from society like All for One. I wasn't going to hide in the shadows.

I was going to stand in the light.

Eraserhead

Eraserhead had taken an absolute battering from the Nomu, as the boy called Shigaraki had called it. The creature's strength was entirely of its own, not Quirk related and he'd been caught completely off guard as a result.

Eraserhead was better now though. He was fighting fit, practically at 100% with what he'd worried would be life changing injuries dealt by the Nomu being reversed in minutes. He didn't quite know how to feel about that.

Carlisle had healed him. Activating Reversal, the Quirk he'd acquired from Eri only a few weeks ago, the boy had restored Eraserhead to perfect health. When used right, it was truly a powerful healing Quirk with seemingly no limitations except the time since the injury was dealt and the skill of the wielder.

The rest of class 1-A had been shaken up, but otherwise were going to be fine. There hadn't been any significant enough injuries that Recovery Girl hadn't been able to treat them once the students were escorted back to campus. They all needed some rest and then they'd probably be sent home to recover a bit more.

It was him and All Might right now sat opposite the boy in a classroom near the infirmary and they were listening to Carlisle describe his version of events.

"And then I took Shigaraki's Quirk and knocked him out," the boy told them plainly. "That was when you arrived," he nodded to Toshinori.

Eraserhead let off a sigh of annoyance. Too many people had seen Carlisle use All for One, even if he had seemingly gone out of his way to claim it was Overhaul that let him steal and copy Quirks. There was absolutely no way this wasn't getting out now. Regardless of what you called the ability, the public was going to discover sooner or later that there was someone out there with the ability to give and take Quirks.

"You're putting us in a precarious position Ethan," Toshinori said gruffly. He was currently lacking the bulk provided by One for All, having expended a lot of his energy fighting crime earlier and then rushing to the USJ to save the students. Eraserhead felt how he looked. "The political implications are going to cause chaos."

"I understand entirely," Carlisle said, perfectly frank.

Of course he did. He knew the likely fallout from revealing his Quirk, but of course he'd done it anyway. The public would be a mixture of intrigued and panicked. People who knew about what things had been like with All for One in the picture would be either intrigued or afraid. There would be people clamouring for his death alongside people looking to control and manipulate him, alongside simply those who wished for his help.

People like Midoriya had been before Toshinori had discovered him, Quirkless and desperate. Those people who were looked down on by society would finally have hope that they could gain a Quirk of their own.

Hope was a dangerous thing.

Carlisle had certainly painted a target on his back. It was enough to merit sleepless nights and that was without considering the other revelations from the day.

The attack had been meant for All Might. That much had been made obvious by what Shigaraki had said during the encounter. Which meant that someone was out there with the capability to have broken through U.A.'s defences and then attacked the USJ on the same day.

There was only one person Eraserhead knew of who might be in a position to do that and even go through the effort of it all too, and they were supposed to be dead.

"Why didn't you tell us All for One is still alive?" Toshinori demanded of the boy, getting right to the point. A reasonable question if there ever was one.

"Because it didn't matter," Carlisle said, clearly infuriating the hero. "You aren't in a position to fight him right now and I didn't know where he was located, or where he might have been regardless." He looked to Toshinori's stomach pointedly, where his injury from the fight remained. "I knew where Shigaraki was going to appear, along with Kurogiri and the Nomu, all of whom have incredibly powerful Quirks. By taking them I've secured myself for the future and put myself in a position to make meaningful change."

It was at that moment when Nezu entered the room.

"At least some of the blame lies with me," he revealed. "I already spoke to Carlisle-san about his plans today and I gave the go ahead."

Carlisle nodded. "Yes. I spoke to Nezu and he agreed for me to move forward. We felt the risk was worth it. I've denied All for One several powerful assets today. Without Kurogiri's Warp Gate, his mobility is greatly reduced and Shigaraki's Quirk could grow to be incredibly dangerous in the future, making him a significant threat. As for the attack…" He paused, looking embarrassed.

"Kurogiri's teleportation ability in the canon timeline sent the students to different locations in the USJ," Carlisle said. "They all did splendidly well during the incident in the canon timeline and I didn't expect less from them here. I didn't think anything would change once the attack went off as expected. I was wrong and I apologise for that mistake. Once I realised what had happened I took steps to protect the students as best I could."

Erasherhead couldn't deny it, he'd succeeded at that at least. Mineta's clear hero worship of the boy as he was brought back to campus was a good indication of his work to protect the others. Mineta had come away from the entire incident with only a mild case of hypothermia thanks to Carlisle's intervention He'd escorted Bakugo to help out the largest group of students in one of the other zones too. The only zone which hadn't seen Carlisle intervene in was the water zone, where Tokoyami's Dark Shadow had… needed persuading to let go of the Villains it had been… collecting.

Eraserhead let off a huff of annoyance. Of course the Principal was already aware of everything too...

What annoyed him the most was that it all made an irritatingly large amount of sense. Operational security in this situation was frightfully important. Keeping All Might out of the loop was more than necessary too. The man absolutely wouldn't have gone along with the plan. Carlisle had made sure Iida could come to gather the hero's attention just in case though.

They'd covered their bases and won what sounded like an astounding victory. Eraserhead didn't like it, but they were right.

"I'd prefer you tell me your plans next time you include me in them," he told the boy and his boss gruffly.

"We will," both the boy and the Quirk enhanced creature said simultaneously. They both stopped, looking to each other with slightly embarrassed smiles before letting out disturbingly similar chuckles.

"I will be more forthcoming, although a lot of my information isn't useful now. I can tell you about what might have happened with Shigaraki and All for One, the key players who might make an appearance and what they're capable of, but my work today has hopefully prevented a lot of future events from occurring and those people might not make any moves at all now."

"What would have happened?" Eraserhead asked out of curiosity. He wanted to know the stakes Nezu and Carlisle's plan had been hinged upon.

"Shigaraki is your teacher's grandson," Carlisle revealed to Toshinori. "He was abused by his family and after he unlocked his Quirk and accidentally killed his family. All for One found him and raised him in secret."

Eraserhead looked to his friend. Toshinori looked stricken with shock.

"All for One wants to use him as a weapon against you, obviously," Carlisle told him. "He either is planning to, or will potentially decide to give Shigaraki his Quirk, allowing him to effectively possess Shigaraki through All for One and grow stronger. Shigaraki would beat the odds though. He'd eventually overcome All for One's mind and gain all of his powers in the process."

"I take it that's not a good thing?" Eraserhead asked glumly.

"No," Carlisle said simply. "Shigaraki hates the world. He wants everyone to suffer like he feels he did. So he'd likely decide he wants to destroy the world to stop the sort of thing that happened to him from ever happening again." Carlisle snorted in derision. "It's fucking dumb logic of course, not taking into account that he'll only cause more suffering in both the short and long terms and probably not change anything in the end. To be honest it's all just a justification really. There's no real rhyme or reason to it. He really just wants to hurt people."

"You think he can't be saved don't you?" Toshinori asked. There was a deep pain in his tone.

"Some people are beyond redemption," Carlisle shrugged. "Let me tell you a bit about the Shigaraki I encountered in the past, the one from the universe I came from before arriving here."

"This is the universe where you acquired your version of All for One from?" Erasherhead asked for clarification. Carlisle nodded.

"So yes I got my Quirk from the All for One of another universe. I caught him by surprise with a mindflayer-like creature I discovered in another universe, far different to yours. It destroyed his consciousness utterly, leaving him in a catatonic state and he was kept in stasis until I acquired the Quirk from his body recently," he revealed. "In the intervening time, after I left, the Shigaraki in that universe continued to act as a Villain without All for One's influence," Carlisle revealed. "He went on to acquire and detonate nuclear bombs in Hong Kong and Seul before he was finally put down by an affiliate who got close to him and ultimately changed sides, a girl called Himiko."

Toshinori gasped in horror at the devastation the boy had caused. Carlisle nodded grimly while Eraserhead's frown only deepened.

"Maybe you think that with the changes I've made by my presence that this Shigaraki can be saved?" Carlisle suggested. "Based on what I've experienced I don't think so, at least I have no reason to think it can be done."

Toshinori stood up from his chair. "I need some fresh air," he said before leaving the room.

Eraserhead watched him leave, not faulting the man for poor manners given the circumstances.

"Did you really need to tell him all that?" Nezu asked with a sigh.

"He deserves to know," Carlisle said with a shrug. "He'd only find out on his own anyway. Shigaraki will be more than happy to tell him."

Nezu hopped off his chair with another sigh. "Well I better go after him… Regardless, I thank you for your work today Carlise-san. Hopefully we have dealt a decisive blow to All for One's future plans."

"I hope so too Nezu," Carlisle said. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Most definitely," the creature replied before hurrying off after Toshinori.

It was just Eraserhead and Carlisle left in the room now.

Erasherhead went over everything Carlisle had just told them. If everything Carlisle was saying was true then he couldn't blame Nezu for having given the go-ahead. If that's the sort of thing Shigaraki could end up doing then neutralising his powers and his support in the form of Kurogiri was important.

"For what it's worth I'm sorry you got injured," Carlisle said. Eraserhead gave him a gimlet look in reply. He's heard enough.

"I'll see you in class," he said by way of goodbye before leaving the room. After all he'd experienced today, he needed a drink.

Ethan

After Eraserhead left I went back to the hospital room where my classmates were receiving treatment.

I felt fantastic. I couldn't quite keep the smile off my face.

Because I'd done it. I'd achieved all my primary objectives. Teleportation, super regeneration, incredible blunt force durability, disintegration. Four of the strongest individual Quirks I knew of in this world all in one place and I'd managed to get them all. There were likely less than ten individuals on this planet who could, or had the potential to pose a serious threat to me now.

I'd worried that my presence might butterfly away certain events, that the attack on the USJ wouldn't happen. It had though, even if random chance had seemingly seen Class 1-A spread out to different locations than in the canon storyline. Everyone else had survived at least, but it was a close call for some. Once I'd realised the situation I'd done the right thing and saved them before going to confront Shigaraki.

I'd got more than just the Quirks of the main Villains though. A dozen or so weaker Quirks from the criminals I'd encountered around the training zones were also now in my possession. I could experiment with the more promising looking ones later.

Unfortunately it seemed I had reached the limit of the number of Quirks I could comfortably control at once for now, but those Quirks I could use at the same time right now? They were each powerful in their own rights. The cream of the crop.

I was limited to five slots, at least when controlling the more powerful of my Quirks. I could likely hold many more weaker Quirks simultaneously in the relative 'space' I could fit in just Overhaul or Warp Gate for instance. Five seemed like such a small number, trivial even, but quality didn't need numbers to back itself up.

Reversal, Super Regeneration and Overhaul were active, thrumming inside me with the potential for immediate use and I saw no reason not to keep the three of them all active indefinitely. I had a second spot currently dedicated to my other copy of Reversal, keeping a second copy of the time reversal power charged up and ready for use in an absolute emergency on account of the Quirk's need to charge up before being used. That was what gave me the second horn on the other side of my forehead. With the final spot, taking up more effective space than the others, I currently had Warp Gate. It wasn't activated. I was still made of flesh and blood, but it was ready for me to flip that mental switch and activate it properly at a moment's notice. It would take time and effort to increase my capabilities, make my copy of All for One stronger and increase my capacity to use more Quirks at a time.

I'd acquired All for One through theft. I'd taken more Quirks since then that obviously weren't originally my own either. But to use them all. The ability to do that would be through my own strength, cultivated through hard work and skill. That was what I wanted most. Personal growth, driven by my own will and hard work. Hell, I'd also have to train with the other Quirks I acquired as I improved my capacity to use them. I wasn't going to be like All for One, relying on only the most immediately useful Quirks. If I saw potential in a Quirk I was going to try and use it, even if it did require training and skill to use.

It was getting late. I'd have to get home soon. I got up to check on my classmates.

Inside the infirmary the remaining classmates who hadn't presumably already been discharged were either sleeping or sat up in their beds. Recovery Girl was typing away on a computer, she turned to greet me when I entered.

"Oh hello dear," she said. "Everything okay?"

"I just wanted to check up on everyone before I head home," I told her. I looked around.

Everyone seemed okay. Tsuyu was wrapped up in a bunch of blankets, no doubt warming up after her experience of the intense cold in the Frozen area. Mineta was passed out on a nearby bed.

Only one of my remaining classmates was awake though. Bakugo was grumpily sat on his own bed. He looked absolutely fine, if not for a couple of minor scrapes.

"Hey," I said, going up to Bakugo. I decided to approach the boy in conversation through the topic I thought he'd best react to. "So, how was your first experience of real combat?"

Bakugo waved him hand side to side. "They were weak," he said. "I got 'em all though."

"Good job," I told him honestly. He made a t'ching sound. "Seriously thank you. Knowing you were available to help reinforce everyone else was a load off my mind."

"'S what a Hero does," Bakugo grumbled. Although he seemed almost pained to say it.

"Nonetheless you did a good job and you deserve praise for that. I know it must have been hard for you not to go and join the fight with Eraserhead."

"Thanks," Bakugo said, making sure to express how uncomfortable he was with saying the word.

"I'll see you later," I said, letting the conversation die as the other boy clearly wanted it to. I made to leave.

"That thing you can do, taking Quirks. You could always do that?" Bakugo asked suddenly.

"Yeah," I replied, turning back around to face him. "I can give copies of the Quirks I have out too," I admitted freely.

"Did you give Izuku his Quirk?" The blond boy asked gruffly. There was an intense curiosity in his eyes.

"No I didn't," I told him honestly. Bakugo nodded. He seemed to believe me, but he wasn't pleased about the answer.

It was at that moment when the doors burst open and Eri came rushing in.

She looked frantically around before spotting me quickly and running up to me.

"Are you okay?" Eri asked hurriedly, there were tears in her eyes. "Mr Eraserhead said you got hurt in a big fight." I looked to Present Mic who had followed her through the door, he shrugged helplessly.

"She saw the text," he explained.

"Of course I'm fine," I said to the girl who was looking up at me with worry. "Don't I look fine?" Eri leaned back to take another look at me critically.

I was still in my costume, which was a bit battered and covered in dirt. It had been torn apart around my stomach where Shigaraki had got a brief hold of me, destroying the fabric. She poked my exposed belly experimentally, finding nothing wrong with it. She seemed satisfied after a few seconds though and decided to pull me into a hug which I returned.

"Is everyone else okay?" Present Mic asked. Only a few of the U.A. staff had been needed to sort out the remaining villains while my classmates were brought back to the campus for treatment, he hadn't been among them.

"All good," I said. "A few bumps and scrapes, among other things, but Recovery girl has it all handled. Eraserhead's all fine too, he left already."

"Phew!" Mic said with relief, wiping his brow. "I'll leave you to it here then," he said. "I've gotta get home myself."

I blinked, surprised to learn that the man was married. Was he married in the other timeline I visited, I wondered. I'd never heard that version of Present Mic mention it but I hadn't spent a lot of time with the faculty staff there. I waved the man goodbye as he left.

Eri poked me in the side, apparently dissatisfied with the amount of attention she was getting. I squeezed her tighter for a moment to placate her.

"Ready to go home?" I asked. Eri nodded.

"I'll see you in class Bakugo," I said. The boy who had been eyeing the little girl uncomfortably like she might eat him or something nodded goodbye.

With Eri in tow I set off home with a slight spring in my step. I had only one responsibility left for today before I could sit down and relax. My adoptive little sister needed some food in her before she got hangry.

Harry Dresden

"So what are you going to do now?" Asked Harry.

"I dunno," Harry replied. "Things are all kinds of messed up right now. They're still cleaning up the fallout in my office so I'm basically unemployed for the time being."

"That's rough," said another Harry from across the table. "You still get paid though right?"

"Half pay," Harry said. "Still, it's not like I'm hurting for cash and five grand a month is like five times better than I was making as a PI."

"Amen to that," said a fourth Harry, an older one who had been brought into the company after accepting the Winter Mantle.

"It goes to show I guess," a fifth Harry said, coming in from his kitchen. He was hosting tonight's get together. "The Company's terrified of agents going Robbie. That was a classic example of someone fucking up enough to make it happen."

Harry sighed. It certainly was. The Company hadn't pulled its punches on the one responsible either.

Maleficent was gone, spirited away in the time he'd left her at the hospital and when he'd returned. It seemed the higher ups had not been happy with what Maleficent had done once they'd started investigating what had happened. She'd been skimming points off other agents, blackmailing them and in one or two cases getting them killed. Harry had had no idea about any of it. That sort of thing was relatively common, apparently he'd been told later. Maleficent had fucked up mainly by trying to play games with an experienced contractor who'd just been minding his own business, but who had apparently been holding resentment for the Company for a long time.

Harry had no idea how he'd been so blind to Maleficent's behaviour. He'd been hoodwinked by the pretty Fae Queen. That was something Harry Dresdens apparently did a lot, fall for the wrong sort of woman.

"It's a lesson we all learn," The second Harry said. This was one who'd been recruited from a similar point in the timeline Harry had been, but he'd been around this scene a decade or so more than Harry. Aside from the different ages and the abundant muscles on his frame, the main difference, the most important one, with this one was that he was a Star Trek fan rather than a Star Wars fan.

The multiverse was truly a strange place, but he was a Harry Dresden, despite his sacrilegious opinions and he was allowed at the table.

"Still, several Company worlds," the fourth Harry said. "He's killed a lot of people, innocent people." This was the youngest Harry of them all, picked up before his entire 'canon' journey had properly began. He had joined the Company at a similar time Harry had so they'd become friends in training.

They'd survived a Stacy together, they were brothers for life.

"Someone'll need to put him down eventually, before he comes back at the Company for a second shot," commented the third Harry gravely. He was a somewhat quieter Harry on account of his apparently taking a Hyuuga template without looking at the likely impact of it carefully enough. He had assimilated a good deal of Hinata Hyuuga's shyness in the process. He also had the lavender eyes of that particular Hyuuga. It was kind of off-putting.

There were nods from around the table at the Hyuuga Dresden's words, although the oldest Harry, tonight's host, didn't seem in agreement.

"He's gone now," the much older man advised them sagely. "There's no point in kicking that particular anthill a second time. Trust me. He's in the wind now and hopefully none of us will ever encounter him."

A shadow entered the room, wearing a pink apron over its form, carrying a plate of snacks. The stamped Demonreach now had a gender and she was her Master's first wife. She was… nice.

"Hello dears," the mature feminine voice said. "I brought some more snacks just in case you run out," the Genius Loci declared in a friendly manner. The fourth Harry looked at the spirit uncomfortably. Out of all of them bar the spirit's husband, he was the only one that had had any experience with Demonreach before being recruited. He was finding it hard to cope with the difference between the entity he had once encountered and the one here now.

That was still a terrifying idea. A great deal of Harry's life had been narrated by someone and now there were books details his adventures, or at least the adventures he would have gone on if it wasn't for his being recruited. Demonreeach was one such entity he'd never had the fortune, or missfortune of encountering. This one…

She was just so nice. There wasn't another word for it. It was like she was a stepford wife who loved her husband unconditionally, obeyed him every whim. Incidentally she would also happily tear all the guests her today limb from limb if she decided they didn't belong in her husband's home. The perfect woman, some might say.

"Thank you love," their host said, standing up to take the bowl of snacks and leaning to kiss the spirit on the cheek. She turned her head to catch his lips on her own, both husband and wife smiled into each other's mouths in a painfully lovey dovey sort of way before breaking apart.

"I'll leave you all to it," she said and then left. Of course she was still there. She was the island spirit and she was all around them, but she was making the appearance of giving them their privacy for their games night. Harry resisted the urge to shift uncomfortably.

"He's still out there though," the youngest Harry stated, returning to the previous topic of conversation. "He can't just go unpunished for all those crimes."

There were murmurs of agreement. The hosting Harry gave off a sigh.

"There's nothing that can be done about it now. I suggest we don't say anything more on it tonight," he said. "What matters is that you survived the whole thing. Give me a call sometime after tonight though. I'm here if you need any advice or just a friendly ear," he said to Harry kindly. He looked back around the table.

"Right, now enough of all this macabre talk, this is games night! Everyone, bring out your character sheets. I know nobody wants to be the Wizard, but at least I hope some of you didn't all just pick Fighter or Barbarian again or this campaign's going to be annoying."

Harry looked at the two characters he'd prepared for the night's festivities. A Fighter and a Barbarian. He looked up at his fellows. They were all hosting sheepish looks of their own.

"I have a Ranger," the Star Trek loving Harry stated, getting weird looks from everyone else. Truly, he was a strange one.

A quick look around by the hosting Harry left the older man sighing. "I should really have anticipated this," he muttered. "All right, you'll draw lots to pick a more balanced party and then make up new character sheets if needed. There will be no complaining if you draw Wizard or Warlock."

There were grumbles of dissent from the Harrys around the table but they nonetheless accepted their host's terms and they all picked their character randomly and then put together new character sheets.

Finally they could play and the night picked up. It was a cheerful friendly atmosphere as the five Harry Dresdens enjoyed a simple evening of fun, drinks and good food. They were occasionally interrupted by Demonreach who popped in to make sure they were all having a nice time but otherwise it was just the five of them.

Harry was enjoying the evening but after their conversation earlier he couldn't quite take his mind off of what had happened.

The agent, Carlisle, had done so much damage and he'd just gotten away with it all and there was nothing that could be done because there was a signed contract stating that the Company couldn't go after him…

One of the Harrys said something, catching his attention.

"Sorry I wasn't paying attention," he apologised. "My turn?"

He tried to settle his thoughts and enjoy the rest of the night, and it was a good night tonight to be sure. The oldest Harry among them definitely knew how to host a good party.

When the night was finished though and he went home to his empty apartment. Harry went to sleep thinking about that agent and the carnage he'd left in his wake.

Momo

Momo didn't know what to think right now.

Or at least she wasn't entirely sure of what to think.

Carlisle-san had the ability to take and copy people's Quirks.

It was terrifying in its implications and she had a very good idea of the likely fallout once the news got out. There were simply too many people who had seen Carlisle-san use his abilities and it was inevitable at this point. Naturally all of Class 1-A was aware now and some of her classmates weren't handling the revelation well. The idea that someone could take your Quirk away, what made you special and in their case in particular what was required for your entire future livelihood was terrifying.

Iida for instance was clearly one of the most shaken up out of their class. He and Carlisle-san had been transported into the fire training zone together and Carlisle-san had done something to spook him. Momo had asked the Class President during a private meeting as Class Representatives if he would tell her his experiences from the USJ incident and he was at least willing to tell her his story.

"When we were transported Carlisle-san was calm as usual. He was even joking around," Iida told her. "Then when the Villains attacked he just… changed. He was the same. The same attitude, but it was like suddenly he was just… terrifying," Iida told her, not quite having the words to express himself. "He beat one of the Villains easily and took his Quirk, then he threatened to kill the other two because they'd seen it. It wasn't until later that I realised it was a trick, Carlisle-san wanted them gone so we could make a move ourselves instead of fighting. They ran away straight away and I don't blame them. It was just so… casual like he was a cat playing with a mouse, like they were just beneath him."

Momo hadn't been able to connect her ideas of Carlisle with the boy Iida had described. She'd spoken to Todoroki next who had described how Carlisle-san had handled the fight with the ringleaders of the attack. Todoroki had described something similar to Iida. Carlisle-san had been in control, eager for the fight even and he'd been terrifyingly effective in how he'd fought, disabling the teleporter, then after returning to the fight after being knocked away by Midoriya-san he'd done the same to the muscular Villain and then finally the ringleader. Based on Todoroki's own self-effacing words, Midoriya-san and Todoroki-san hadn't been needed there at all. If anything they'd just been getting in the way based on what Todoroki had had to say.

Meanwhile Carlisle-san had been much the same as he had before. He'd been cheerful and friendly. Perhaps even more cheerful than before. Today the class had been somewhat awkward around him but he hadn't let that phase him whatsoever.

And now she was standing outside Carlisle-san's home, waiting for him to answer the door for their first tutoring session.

The door opened. Momo expected to see Carlisle-san at the door. She was slightly confused that seemingly nobody had answered the door but then she looked down and saw the most adorable little girl looking up at her.

"Hello," the girl said brightly with wide eyes. "Are you Yaoyorozu-san?"

"I am," Momo said.

"Ethan said you were coming!" The girl said, bouncing up and down excitedly.

"Eri-chan, is it Yaoyorozu-san?" Carlisle-san's voice came from behind the door. "Would you let her in please?"

Eri stepped back, beckoning the girl through the door. Momo looked around.

There was a small corridor which led into an open living area. Momo smiled uncomfortably at the adorable girl but took her shoes off and followed at the girl's beckoning.

Around the corner Ethan was working in the kitchen, preparing some food.

"Sorry, you seem to have arrived at just the moment I was finishing off here," Carlisle-san said apologetically. "I'll have to ask you to wait a couple of minutes. Eri, would you like to sit Yaoyorozu-san down and then get her a drink?"

"Okay!" Eri said, the clearly excitable little girl took Momo's hand and led her to the living room and directed Momo to sit on the couch. "What would you like to drink?" Eri asked.

"Just some water, please," Momo replied, still slightly taken aback by the girl's excitable demeanor. She'd known carlisle-san had adopted little sister but she hadn't quite imagined she would be this young.

Eri raced off into the kitchen and returned with a glass of water. Momo thanked her.

"So you're one of Ethan-nii's classmates?" Eri asked.

"I am," Momo replied.

"Wow," Eri said with wonder. "You must be super smart like Ethan-nii!"

Momo was saved from replying when Carlisle-san returned to the room.

"Apologies," he said. "I had to finish everything off. I've got everything on a low heat now, it should be all ready in a couple of hours."

"It is no problem," Momo said politely.

"Anyway, you're here about tutoring," Carlisle-san said brightly as he sat down next to her. Eri-chan sat down on another couch nearby, watching them interestedly. It was somewhat off-putting. "I am in your hands," he said simply. "How would you like to start?"

"It would be best if you gave me an idea of what you need to learn," Momo replied. "I will be best positioned to help you that way."

"Well…" Carlisle-san said with amusement in his tone. "The beginning's a good place to start. How about we go from the origin of Quirks and work our way forward."

"But… how?" Momo couldn't help but ask as she heard what he had to say. "Surely you must know some history." They taught about the glowing child in the earliest years of childhood education.

"I really shouldn't tell you why my knowledge is so spotty," Carlisle-san said. "My lack of knowledge is somewhat sensitive information," Carlisle-san revealed apologetically. "I tell you what. If you can get me up to at least the middle of the class in our History grades then I'll tell you everything about my past."

Momo was intrigued, but also slightly offended. "I was intending to tutor you until you were the top of our class," she said. "I will accept nothing less!"

"Ahead of even yourself?" Carlisle-san teased.

"If you are able to surpass my grades then I shall consider it a job well done," Momo replied seriously.

"Then I look forward to your tutelage, and eventually telling you about my background," Carlisle-san said with an amused smile. "Shall we begin?"

"Certainly," Momo said. She pulled out an E-reader and brought up some documents online about the Glowing Child.

They spent the next two hours going over the origin of Quirks and some of the historical accounts of the era that Momo had easy access to via her E-book. Carlisle-san was listening attentively. Eri eventually lost interest as Momo continued lecturing the boy and went to play games in her room. Momo was impressed with Carlisle-san's work ethic. He produced a pad and pen and began taking notes even. By the time Momo had finished with what she wanted to go through he had taken an impressive amount of notes. Momo packed away her things and stood up.

By this time the smell of cooked food from the kitchen had left Momo ravenous. Suddenly a rumble from her stomach revealed exactly how hungry she was. She blushed furiously.

"You can stay for dinner with us if you like," Carlisle-san offered.

"I-I shouldn't," Momo replied. She had told her family she would be home by a certain time and even though the food smelled absolutely delicious she had promised to return home straight away after the tutoring session. She should have brought snacks!

"No problem, maybe next time," Carlisle-san said, not taking offense. He glanced through one of the windows. "And it looks like your ride home is here too," he commented.

Momo turned around to see her family's car waiting for her.

Momo bowed. "Thank you for the offer of food Carlisle-san but I must get going."

"On the contrary, thank you for your help," Carlisle-san said. "You've been a great help today already. I look forward to next time."

"I shall produce more notes for next time," Momo declared. "Then we shall be able to study properly."

"Sounds good," Carlisle-san said. "Let me see you out then."

He escorted her to the door and Momo put her shoes back on before Carlisle-san opened the door for her.

As she stepped through the doorway Momo couldn't resist the urge to ask any longer. "Carlisle-san?" She asked.

"Yes," the boy replied.

"Your Quirk, does it truly let you take other people's Quirks?"

"It does," he replied honestly. "I know why you're asking," he said. Momo cringed uncomfortably. "I honestly expected you to ask sooner, or maybe even put this whole thing off, but you've been incredibly professional this evening." Momo blushed at the implied compliment. Carlisle-san continued.

"I have no intention to take the Quirks of someone who isn't a Villain, or who doesn't give me permission first," he told her. "And to clarify I can't just take away other people's Quirks. I also have the ability to return someone's Quirk or give them an entirely different one out of the ones I have taken."

"Oh," Momo replied, that just brought up a whole new slew of implications for his ability. The boy seemed genuinely honest though. So while he had given her plenty more to think about it was at least a load off her mind.

"Is that what you wanted to know?" Carlisle-san said. "I've honestly been thinking about addressing the class about it. This whole elephant in the room is already starting to make everything feel uncomfortable."

"That would be a good idea," Momo replied. "I am worried some of our classmates are afraid of what you can do with your Quirk, I mean, could do, could do with your Quirk. Not that I think you'd actually use it like that or anything."

"It's fine Yaoyorozu-san, really," Carlisle-san said kindly. "I knew there would be negative reactions to this. I anticipated it to be honest. I will address it next week in homeroom."

"Very good," Momo replied, somehow feeling both chastised and forgiven at the same time. She glanced to the car waiting for her. "I should go."

"I'll see you next week," Carlisle-san said cheerfully. Momo walked up to her family's car and got in. Eri's head popped out from behind the boy and she squeezed past him to wave goodbye alongside Carlisle-san as she was driven away.

Ethan

Well things calmed down well enough in the coming days. Although the press release on the USJ incident had been highly edited to paint the scene in the best possible light.

The fact I'd taken some people's Quirks was also kept out. I wondered how long the establishment would be able to keep that information quiet.

Well the world was going to find out, one way or another. Soon too.

"Everyone please listen up," I said on Monday morning as I stood at the front of the class. "After the events of last week I want to clear up some concerns you might have had."

There were looks of apprehension from my classmates. I couldn't blame them. They were afraid of me, perhaps irrationally, but again I couldn't blame them.

"Some of you have noticed and obviously you've told each other. I can take Quirks," I admitted. "I understand that you might be afraid because of that, the idea I might take your Quirk is no doubt terrifying. But I want you to understand that that's not something I'm going to do, not even by accident." I tried to present a friendly smile to everyone.

"Even if I were to take a Quirk, even by accident, not that I would without your permission. I am also capable of returning Quirks. So please, do not be afraid." I tapered off. "There's not much else I can say here. I hope you won't hold my abilities against me. I'm still the same person you've come to know since we joined U.A. I'm still here to learn to become a Hero like you and I hope you won't let that hurt my friendship with each of you." I bowed politely before returning to my seat. Hopefully I would have at least kept my fellow students on friendly terms with myself.

"Thank you Carlisle-san," Eraserhead said from his desk. "I might also add that myself and the faculty are aware of Carlisle-san's ability to give and take Quirks and we have allowed him to remain in Class 1-A. If you are unsure about Carlisle-san's words, at least trust us when we say we trust him.

That was probably the most the teacher had said in one go since becoming our teacher.

"Thank you sir," I said bowing appropriately. I sat down.

"T'ch, not like he's special anyway," Bakugo said. "At least with what he could do to someone they'd still be alive."

"What do you mean?" Asked Mina curiously.

"T'ch," the boy said again. "It's not like the rest of us aren't dangerous. Look at me," he raised a hand, letting off a tiny explosion. "We've all got dangerous Quirks. We could really kill people if we tried. Like you," he gestured to Mina. "You produce Acid. You don't think that's not dangerous? At least if Carlisle fucks up he can fix it. If we fuck up we aren't going to be able to bring someone back from the dead." He looked around.

"If you're afraid of someone's Quirk then you should just quit now," the boy declared. "You think his is the scariest shit you've ever seen? Well there's scarier shit out there. Hell I almost died to a guy before coming to U.A. I couldn't fight him off then but I'm still here. So me? I'm not scared. If I lost my Quirk you think I wouldn't keep on trying to be a hero? You think I'd stop!?" He looked around at everyone.

"I'll tell you what I'd do. I'd go up to Carlisle and beat the shit out of him until he gave me my Quirk back. That's what I'd do!"

The boy had finished speaking, although he remained standing. He looked around at everyone who was sat stunned after his speech.

"Fuckin' extras," Bakugo muttered, sitting back down.

"Thank you Bakugo," Eraserhead said dryly from his seat.

After Bakugo's impassioned speech the class seemed a bit more comfortable with me now and a number of them came up together to apologise for their fearful behaviour before. Kirishima was bold enough to be the first to actually touch me, patting me on the shoulder in a show of support and that he wasn't afraid of me. I gave the guy a smile in gratitude.

The day progressed as usual from there. I'd announced my capabilities to the class. Now all of Class 1-A knew that I could take Quirks, use them myself and also give people the Quirks I'd taken. Although I'd been careful to keep up the pretense of my real Quirk being Overhaul for the time being. Now I was just going to sit tight in class and wait in anticipation of the next scheduled event to occur. The U.A. sports festival.

At lunch I sat opposite Bakugo and Kirishima. The blond boy made an uncomfortable face and a grunt at my deciding to sit with them this time, but he didn't actually complain. Kirishima at least greeted me with a smile and we chatted briefly while we ate.

I thought that was the end of it for now. I was caught off guard while I was putting away my used plate and cutlery. Hagakure had snuck up behind me.

"Carlisle-san?" the usually bubbly sounding girl asked. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure, what is it?" I asked.

"Can we talk in private?" She asked uncomfortably.

I nodded and gestured for her to walk with me. We went outside, finding a quiet bench to sit on.

"So what's going on?" I asked her.

"Before, when you were talking about your… your abilities," she began. She seemed nervous. Incredibly so.

"Go on," I said. I leaned back slightly to give the girl some room.

"You can give people their Quirks back once you take them right?" She asked.

"Yeah I can," I said.

"Could you… Could you do that for me?" She asked. I suddenly understood.

"You want to know what you look like without the invisibility," I guessed.

"Y-yes," Hagakure said. "I mean I like my Quirk it's really useful and stuff and I want to be a hero too. But…"

"But you've always wanted to know haven't you?" I asked. "How long has it been since your Quirk Awakened?" I asked.

"I was two," she told me.

"I see," I replied. She'd gone her entire life without being able to see her face. "Well…" I muttered contemplating the impact of using my Quirk now on one of my classmates so soon after I had promised not to do that sort of thing.

"I'll do it," I told her. "But I want to do it somewhere where the class is all present and can see that I'm not a threat. Is that okay?"

"Y-yes, that would be great," the invisible girl replied with relief.

"Okay," I said, offering the invisible girl a smile. Although I was looking right through her of course. "We'll announce it in class later and we'll do it tomorrow after school okay?" I asked. "In fact we'll make an event of it," I decided. "I'll set up a party tomorrow for everyone to come. Does that sound like a good idea?"

"Okay," Hagakure said after a moment, she gave me a thumbs up. "Actually that sounds great!" She said, starting to get into the idea. "Can my parents come?" She asked excitedly.

"Of course, but I'll need to check with the teachers," I said. "I'm living on campus," I explained, anticipating confusion from the girl. Not that I could see it if there was. "But I'm sure they won't mind. One or two of the teachers will probably be there as well so there shouldn't be any problems. You need to confirm everything with your parents first too, okay?"

"Yes, that's great!" Hagakure cheered, apparently seeing no problem with the idea. She got up. "Thanks Carlisle-san! I'll see you later." She left with clear excitement as she hurried away. It was at that point that the poorly hidden Mina, Jiro and Ochaco appeared from some bushes and began whispering to the girl as they walked away.

I watched them go for a moment, slightly bemused at the other girls' antics. Then I palmed my face.

Now I had to set up a party!

Tohru

Toru was a bundle of nerves and excitement as she walked around the U.A. campus towards where the class had been told Carlisle's home was located.

She had Mina and Ochaco with her. The bubbly pink-skinned girl had been almost as excited as her and Ochaco wasn't far behind.

The rest of the class was following behind too at a more sedate pace, but Toru had found her pace accelerating unconsciously when she wasn't paying attention.

Carlisle's house was nice. It looked practically brand new with pristine brick walls outside and a short roof. It wasn't that big, but it was probably enough for just him.

The three girls went up to the door and Toru knocked. They didn't have to wait king until the door was opened. It wasn't Carlisle-san who greeted them though.

"Hi!" The little girl greeted. She had bright red eyes and grey hair and a big smile on her face and she was dressed in a little red dress. She was absolutely adorable! "Are you Ethan-nii's friends?" She asked, looking at each of them in turn.

"We're his classmates," Ochaco said, leaning down towards the girl. "I'm Uraraka, and this is Ashido and Hagakure."

"I'm Eri!" The girl introduced herself, then she turned around, looking back into the building.

"Big brother your friends are here!" Eri-Chan shouted.

"Let them in then!" Came the response from Carlisle-san further in the building. Eri opened the door further and the three girls entered. They took off their shoes and went through into the living are while Eri, having spotted their classmates in the distance stayed by the door to greet them.

"Wow this place is so nice!" Mina said as they entered the living area.

It was too. It was roomy for one. Carlisle-san had also clearly been working hard as there were loads of snacks and drinks ready for the party laid out on foldout tables on one end of the room. There was lots of foods there Hagakure didn't recognise too that she guessed must be European.

"Hi girls," Carlisle-san greeted them from across the room where he was carrying a row of some sort of desert pastry. "Looks like I'm ready just in time," he commented as he set down the treat.

"Wow you've made so much!" Mina said, looking at the things Carlisle-san had just put down. "What are they?" She asked in interest.

"Cannolis," Carlisle said. "Easy enough to prepare partly in advance," he said, then he yawned. "Gotta admit though I was up a lot of last night getting this stuff ready."

The girls looked over the many many foodstuffs he'd laid out for them.

"Are you going to be okay for later?" Toru asked, wondering if Carlisle might be too tired to be able to take her Quirk or not.

"Oh don't worry," he said in response. "There'll be no problems I promise."

It was at that point the rest of the class made their appearances, led by Eri who was enjoying all the sudden attention.

"Wow these are nice digs!" Kirishima complimented, getting nods and noises of agreement from the classmates around them.

"It was all U.A.'s staff," Carlisle said. "Really impressive stuff. You want to use your Quirk in construction don't you Uraraka?" He asked.

"Oh yes," the girl replied. "Quirks make a massive difference. It's why I got interested in being a hero."

Carlisle nodded politely. Then he looked around. "It looks like everybody's here," he said. "I think Present Mic should be on his way. I promised Karaoke," he commented idly. "Your parents are coming too right?" He asked Toru.

"Yes, one of the teachers is supppsed to be escorting them through," Toru replied.

"Well while we wait for everyone else to get here feel free to dig in!" Carlisle said. Everyone immediately went to the snacks table.

It wasn't long until Toru's mother and father arrived. Her dad had a bending Quirk which let him bend all his joints backwards. Her mother had the ability to emit light from her body. Somehow that had resulted in Tohru's Quirk that bent the light around her form, granting invisibility.

Toru came up to greet them. The two parents had been escorted by Midnight, alongside Eraserhead who had come along with All Might who said hello before grabbing some snacks

"Hello!" Toru was interrupted from greeting her family herself when Carlisle-san appeared to the side. "It's a pleasure to meet you both. I take it you are Hakagure-san's mother and father?"

"We are," Tori's father said. "It is a pleasure to meet you Carlisle-san. We appreciate everything you are doing for our daughter today." He bowed formally. Her dad could be such a stick in the mud sometimes!

"I was more than happy to help," Carlisle said. "Although please do not feel like you owe me anything. I'm not sure if you are aware but I will keep a copy of your daughter's Quirk for myself as part of this process. It is all the payment I could possibly require."

"Wait you will?" Toru asked.

"Did I not say that before?" Carlisle asked, scratching the back of his head. "I apologise if you feel I've deceived you in any way."

"No it's fine," Toru said. "But if you keep my Quirk after you've done this won't you be invisible like me?" She asked curiously.

"I can turn my copied Quirks off," Carlisle-san said. "Don't worry about it."

"Oh," Toru said, surprised by how much that disappointed her for some reason. "Anyway, everyone here, should we get started?"

"I'm ready when you are," the boy said. "The process will put you to sleep for a while so let's get it done sooner and then you can have your party."

Sounds great!" Toru said.

Midoriya

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Izuku was kind of intimidated by Carlisle-san, but he was also a friend.

The boy had demonstrated already that he would be an incredible hero one day and Izuku had worried that he was falling behind the other boy. He wasn't the only one though.

Most of Class 1-A had been taken aback by the boy's performance in the Battle Test and the USJ incident had only gone on to highlight how powerful he was.

Before then Izuku had been worrying that he wasn't the right person to carry One for All. Someone like Carlisle-san who was friendly and capable and already powerful in his own right would have been a much better fit. Heck, he could even heal his own injuries with his Quirk so he'd be much better able to learn to use the powerful inherited Quirk, unlike Izuku who was struggling.

Now it seemed like Carlisle-san getting One for All would be overkill.

Izuku had already put together some notes on his classmates. Their strengths and weak-nesses. Overhaul was an incredibly versatile Quirk, suited for all kinds of hero work. Based on that alone Izuku would have put Carlisle-san in the top few of their classmates with poten-tial to be in the top ten Heroes one day. Now Izuku knew he had more Quirks. Teleportation and super healing among them.

Carlisle-san was already a powerhouse. If he carried on like this, what would he be capable of by the time they finished school?

Izuku looked over at the boy as he escorted Hakagure-san into Eri-chan's bedroom. He was going to come away from this today with another Quirk, Invisibility. That would add stealth to Carlisle-san's list of impressive abilities.

Izuku had spoken to All Might about it. The man had revealed to him that he had encountered a Quirk stealer before. They had been the one to give him his injury. All Might had thought the man was dead, but it seemed the attack on the USJ had revealed that the Villain All Might had called All for One was still alive.

All Might had stressed that Carlisle-san was to be trusted. He was vouched for by Principal Nezu and that was all he was allowed to tell him. He'd also admitted that he was uncomforta-ble around the boy but then said that Izuku shouldn't let All Might's biases colour his percep-tions of the other boy.

Izuku really didn't know what to think as he sipped his drink and the class waited for Carlisle-san to come back from the bedroom.

They were all silent waiting now. It was silent in the other room too. Only Hakagure-san's parents and Recovery Girl had been allowed inside, the healing hero ostensibly to keep an eye on things.

There was a gasp. The sound of muffled words from Hakagure-san's parents and the Car-lisle-san came back out a few seconds later, followed by Recovery Girl.

"It was a success," he told the class. "Now we just need to wait for her to wake up."

Chapter End Notes

Hi, I hope you've enjoyed my writing. This story and my others are written much further ahead than you will see here on Ao3. Check out my Subscribestar.adult account under Ememrald Cube to see my current content. If you're itching to read further then this story in particular is past 100 chapters over there available to download, a month's subscription only costs $2.

Either way, thanks for reading.

Mina Ashido

The anticipation was real, but after ten minutes everyone settled down again and continued enjoying the party.

Mina was loving it. Everyone was having a good time. Carlisle-san had done all this in just a day! No not even that. He'd done it all in one evening and a bit of this afternoon from the sounds of things.

Right now everyone was just chatting really. Wondering what Toru might actually look like under the invisibility. Her parents were very different people with Toru's father having yellow hair and tanned skin while her mother had a lovely shade of cerulean and extremely pale skin. Based on her appearance Toru took after her mother's more buxom form so Mina guessed she'd take after her more.

People were talking about other things though. Kirishima and Denki had somehow got to arguing good naturedly about some sort of videogame. Iida was talking Eraserhead's head off about something, although their home room teacher really didn't seem to be paying attention. Then Mina spotted Asui with Mineta. They were heading outside where there was a small garden. Completely unable to help herself, Mina followed as stealthily as she could.

The two students having found their privacy came to a stop. Mina settled in her hiding spot to listen in.

"I just wanted to say thank you," Asui-chan said with that oddly croaking voice of hers. "You stayed behind to save me at the USJ," she paused before continuing. "I-I was completely helpless I have no idea what could have happened if you hadn't come. So thank you Mineta-san," the girl said.

"I-It was nothing?" Mineta said, sounding completely embarrassed. "Carlisle saved us both in the end."

"Yes, but you could have ran away," Asui-chan said. "So thank you Mineta. I owe you a lot."

Mina could picture it now. Asui-chan blushing as she thanked the boy for saving her. Maybe she'd kiss him on the cheek next. Oh this was just like those silly romance stories she used to read as a little girl! The silly boy somehow wooing the girl in a moment of heroism.

"If you owe me… Can I touch your boobs?" Mineta blurted out hopefully.

"No," Asui said flatly.

And there, all the goodwill was gone, just like that. Mina sighed internally as she watched Asui stalk away. Talk about a swift turnaround. Mineta really needed to put a filter on what he said.

Asui went back inside and Mina took that moment to step out of her cover to look at the short purple boy. He jumped back in surprise but collected himself after a second.

"You saw all that?" He asked awkwardly.

"Yeah," Mina replied, putting her hands on her hips as she looked the short boy up and down critically. "Like you totally had a chance there Mineta," she told him. "If you'd played your cards right you could've asked Asui-chan on a date. Then you put your foot in it, like you always seem to do."

Mineta slumped dejectedly. "I can't help it. It just comes out," he said.

"Well I don't know how to help you," the girl replied exasperatedly. "Maybe one of the teachers could help," she suggested.

"Yeah but who'd be willing to help me with this?" The short boy asked. "It's not proper hero stuff is it?"

"Well you never know," Mina said. "Aizawa-sensei can probably point you in the right direction. You should ask him for some advice."

"I-I'll do that," Mineta muttered. "Thanks Ashido-san," he said then he walked past her and back towards the party.

He didn't even sneak a glance at her skirt, Mina realised as she followed the boy back to the main party. Maybe there was hope for Mineta yet.

Midoriya

"So how's everyone enjoying the party?" Carlisle-san asked.

"The food is delightful!" All Might declared. The giant man had a bucket sized handful of various snacks in his hand and he waved a cannoli in the air. "I haven't had Western food this good in ages!"

"Thanks," Carlisle-san said. "It's been a while since I could really cook anything myself. So I made a bunch of different things. I'm glad you like them," he said to the hero.

Of course, Izuku realised. All Might had been in America for many years before returning to Japan. He probably missed some of the foods you could eat there.

Although… Should he really be eating like that? With his condition and everything. It was probably fine, maybe? All Might probably knew what his limits were…

Okay perhaps he didn't. Izuku made a mental note to speak to Recovery Girl later if he got the chance. He didn't want All Might to die because he ate too many sweets of all things!

While Izuku had had a brief panic the rest of the class had said their own thanks for the party to the embarrassment of their host.

"It was nothing, really," he said. "I like cooking so it's nice to have to put out a spread like this and it's a good reason as any for us all to relax a bit."

That seemed to be enough for the class. Everyone was all friendly with Carlisle-san again now, even though they'd all come to know about his ability to take Quirks away. Izuku was surprised at how quickly they'd changed their minds.

"So you've got Toru-chan's Quirk now right?" Mina asked. "Can you show us?"

Everyone looked at Carlisle-san curiously. He nodded his head. "Well yeah I suppose I can show you it all worked, one sec."

He closed his eyes briefly in concentration and then opened them. He looked around the room and before everyone's eyes he vanished!

Or at least, everything except his clothes did. Everyone gasped. Then Carlisle-san's body reappeared.

"It all works," he said. "Although there's only one thing left to show you all. Eri, come here please."

The crowd parted at his words, revealing little Eri-chan who had a big piece of cake in her hands. She froze, seeing everyone's eyes on her.

"Eri, how much cake have you eaten?" Carlisle-san asked in exasperation.

"Errr," Eri-chan replied. Carlisle-san sighed.

"You're gonna make yourself sick you know?" He said, sounding disturbingly like Izuku's mother for a moment there. "Come here, I want to show everyone I can give away Quirks."

"Ooo," Eri-chan said with interest She put the cake down and hopped over to stand beside him.

"So I took Eri's original Quirk which was putting her at risk of hurting herself," Carlisle-san explained. "Since then I've given Eri a chance to try out few different Quirks like Energy Drain and Crystalise. So she's well suited to the process by now and doesn't even fall asleep after I do it."

"Yeah, I have Larceny today. Look!" Eri exclaimed, holding out her hand.

There was a sudden noise of dejection from the direction Eri had pointed. All Might was looking at his empty hand where he had been just about to presumably put something in his mouth. Izuku looked back to Eri to see the girl holding a cannoli in her previously empty hand. She bit down on the treat eagerly, smearing more icing across her face.

"Yeah," Carlisle-san said with more exasperation. "Well believe it or not that one was less difficult for her teachers to cope with than some of the others."

"Yes," principal Nezu said from next to Izuku. Izuku flinched back and gave off a little shout in surprise, having not realised the Quirk-enhanced creature was present at the party. "At least this way they aren't being put to sleep during class," he said with a pointed look towards the little girl who gave a sheepish look in response.

"Anyway, playtime with Larceny's over Eri-chan," Carlisle-san said, making the little girl pout. He held out a hand. Eri looked slightly mutinous for a moment but then she acquiesced and put her other hand, the one not covered in icing sugar into his own.

"Okay, ready?" He asked.

"Yes!" Eri replied.

Nothing seemed to happen for a moment but Eri-chan swayed on her feet for a moment, only held there by Carlisle-san's hand in hers. Eri shook herself then looked up to Carlisle-san. "Ready!" She said.

"Alright then," Carlisle-san said. He must have activated his Quirk again because Eri swayed on her legs again, her eyes fluttering closed and she fell back slightly only to be caught by Carlisle-san who held her up.

"It takes a lot out of you," he explained to everyone who was watching in mixed interest and worry. "Eri's almost entirely used to it by now but most people pass out the first few times."

"I'm okay!" Eri shouted out, slightly drunk sounding but she was back on her feet, still completely visible though.

"Give it a moment," Carlisle-san commented

Just like Carlisle-san before, Eri's entire body suddenly disappeared. All that remained was her clothes and the icing sugar and crumbs covering the little girl's mouth.

The group collectively gasped again in awe.

"I'm invisible!" Eri exclaimed in excitement, apparently having woken up properly. It was only the motion of her clothes that let Izuku figure out she was looking down and through herself.

Noises of interest and exclamations of excitement came from the crowd.

"As you can see it all works like I've said," Carlisle-san told them. He reached for a napkin and started wiping the girl's face clean while she giggled.

"What do you all think?" Carlisle-san asked, standing back up straight.

"Eri didn't turn invisible straight away," Izuku commented. "Is that normal?"

"I can turn the Quirks I use on and off but I can only use so many at a time," Carlisle-san explained. "It's not the same for any Quirks I give out like with Eri. It takes a few seconds for it to settle and start working though."

Suddenly both Carlisle-san's legs bulged out at the upper thigh, the shape of his feet did too. Carlisle-san pulled up his pants legs to show he now had thin, scaled legs from the knee down. They were like a Chicken's. The large clawed feet stuck out against his socks, tearing through the fabric at the heel as the proportionally giant chicken's feet were too large to be accommodated by his socks which were made for more human appendages.

"I got this Quirk from someone at the USJ," he explained. Then his legs turned back to normal, to everyone's astonishment, leaving a hole in the back of his socks and the fabric overly stretched out as proof of what had just happened.

"It is certainly impressive!" Principle Nezu stated, drawing everyone's attention. "Although you may have made a mistake," he gestured towards Eri.

The now invisible girl was hastily finishing undressing, pulling her underwear down now and leaving her now entirely impossible to locate by sight. There was a giggle from the spot as Eri stepped away from her discarded clothes. Carlisle-san reached for where the girl was, but his hand only touched air and the girl's laughter echoed around the room.

"You can't see me!" Eri exclaimed, the sound of scampering feet indicating she was running away. Carlisle-san stopped for a moment his face turning to one of exasperation. He palmed his face.

"I… really didn't anticipate that," He said to the room who were all now nervously looking around, trying to spot a sign of the invisible, naked child in their midst.

There was an exclamation from Ashido-san off to the side, she reached around to cover her bottom, blushing furiously as everyone looked at her. There was another giggle from Eri.

"I'll... I'll round her up later. Just… Try and ignore the naked, invisible little girl for now, please," Carlisle-san beseeched.

Hagakure

It wasn't long before Toru woke up.

Her mother was there, waiting for her with one of Toru's hands in hers. Next to her, Toru's father had an arm wrapped around his wife's shoulders. Both of them were crying.

Her hand.

It was pale and pink. Four fingers and a thumb just like anyone else's, but what made this so special was that she could see it.

"It worked," Toru murmured to herself. She brought both her hands together, holding them and just watching how her fingers interlaced.

Toru's mother couldn't contain herself. The woman jumped forward, pulling Toru into a hug and her father wasn't far behind her.

The three of them cried tears of joy but they were interrupted by Recovery Girl who cleared her throat.

"Let me check you over dear," she implored, leaning over Toru. Both her parents reluctantly stepped back while the nurse looked her over with a handful of small devices, nodding her head.

"I can't tell that anything is wrong with you," she commented. "You don't have an extra joint in your pinky toe either, which is interesting," she finished. "Presumably that means the presence of the toe is more of an indicator of Quirk potential than a guarantee of Quirk manifestation. I should speak to Carlisle-san about-" Toru stopped listening.

She got up off the bed. There was a sudden nervous excitement racing through her veins. She'd spotted before that there was a small vanity on the wall. She went up to it and for the first time she could remember, found her own reflection.

She had lime green hair, tinted with a variety of other colours at the ends. Green eyes with a lime coloured ring in the iris stared back at her. It wasn't a normal feature, perhaps it wasn't part of her Quirk? She was slightly pale, but healthy looking and she could see now how the contours of her features that she was familiar with looked from the outside. Toru ran a hand down her side, seeing and feeling the motion in the mirror as she pressed her hand against her skin which yielded to the motion.

"This is me," Toru said to herself in awe. A tear fell down her cheek, she watched it fall down to her chin and then it dripped off her and onto the floor. That just made her want to cry some more!

"Perhaps you should go out and show your friends," Recovery Girl suggested kindly from behind her. "I'm sure they're excited to see you in the flesh for the first time too."

Toru sniffed and wiped her face, getting a bit more control over herself and she nodded to Recovery Girl and her family. Her parents didn't say anything. Her mother just nodded encouragingly and then Toru turned to the closed door.

There was noise coming through it, everyone was enjoying the party and there was even some music playing. She could hear Present Mic's voice coming through. It was a surprise that she hadn't noticed all the noise before.

Toru took a deep breath. Then she opened the door and stepped through.

Ashido

Mina was watching Present Mic make a fool of himself on the Karaoke machine and waiting for her own turn with Jiro beside her. The other musically related Hero in the room was itching to have a go on the machine.

The party was an absolute success and everyone was having a good time, even the usually quiet Koda was talking quietly with Ectoplasm in a quiet corner. Carlisle-san was chatting with Sato and her other classmates were having a good time too. Even Bakugo and Todoroki seemed to have let go of some of their usual surliness and Mina was sure she'd even seen Todoroki crack a smile at some point as he spoke to Snipe.

Quite a few of the teachers had been showing up tonight in fact. Midnight, the R-rated Heroine was having a conversation with Yaoyorozu-san about something, Present Mic was obviously on the Karaoke and even Aizawa-sensei was here, currently speaking to Mineta. It seemed the purple boy was actually acting on Mina's advice. Good for him.

All Might seemed to have disappeared though. At least, Mina didn't think the giant man would be able to hide in the room anywhere considering his size.

The singing from present Mic stopped. Mina turned back to the Karaoke stand to see that the man was quickly reaching for the music machine to turn it off.

The music stopped and Mina suddenly realised that everyone else had stopped talking too. Heads were turning and Mina followed their example to look towards the door to Eri-chan's bedroom where a new girl had made an appearance.

Except it wasn't someone new. It was Toru-chan.

"H-hi," Toru-chan said.

There was a moment of tense silence and then Mina broke it, rushing forward and pulling the girl into a hug.

"You're so pretty!" Mina declared while the girl blushed furiously. That was all the sign everyone else needed and Toru-chan was surrounded by wellwishers with everyone talking over each other to try and say something.

"Give her some room," Aizawa-sensei's voice came out over their heads. That was enough for the class to settle down and back up a bit although Mina kept her arms around her friend for a second longer before letting go.

"S-so you like how I look?" Toru asked weakly.

"You look lovely!" Mina asserted from next to her.

"Thanks!" Toru-chan said, getting back to her bubbly self. He spotted Carlisle-san just behind the crowd of students.

"Thank you," She bowed to the boy who smiled pleasantly back.

"It was a nice thing to do," he said with a shrug. "It's not like I haven't got something out of all this either," he admitted. He turned briefly invisible and back to normal. Toru gasped.

"Do that again?" She asked. Carlisle-san turned invisible again and Toru came up to inspect him.

"Wow, that's kind of weird seeing my Quirk on someone else," she stated.

"I don't think I'll use it very often," Carlisle-san said jokingly. "I'm not as body positive as you are," he commented.

Toru shrugged. She was no doubt used to being in the nude to use her powers. Not being visible had probably meant she didn't have quite the same sense of shame as everyone else.

"It's not Carlisle-san you need to worry about. It's his little sister." Denki commented from the side. "Oww!" He said suddenly, jumping in the air and lifting his leg to rub the back of his thigh. He looked behind and to the side, but there was nothing there to see obviously.

"I showed everyone how my ability works by giving Eri-chan a copy of your Quirk," Carlisle-san commented. "I hope you don't mind. She seems to like it."

"It's fine," Toru commented brightly with a little laugh. "I used to do that too! She said to where Eri presumably was a few seconds ago. As long as I can have it back later myself I don't mind."

"Certainly," Carlisle-san replied. "Meanwhile, this party was all for you, so let's enjoy it!"

The party once more got into swing with everyone taking a moment to say hello to Toru in the flesh. The girl seemed a little overwhelmed by it all but she was happy which is all that mattered. Eri made an 'appearance' and spoke to Toru about her Quirk and how much she liked playing with it. Toru seemed flattered and pleased by the little girl's words.

All things had to come to an end though and it was getting late. Some of the teachers said their goodbyes and one by one the members of Class 1-A did too. Everyone needed to get home to get some sleep before tomorrow's classes and once it got past ten pm it was Aizawa-sensei's stern voice that really got everyone moving. A few minutes later there was only Mina, Toru, her family and a few of the teachers left.

Before leaving though, there was one last thing to do.

"Are you ready?" Carlisle-san asked.

"Y-yeah," Toru replied.

They were both sat on chairs facing each other. Carlisle-san had one of her hands in his. It was almost a romantic scene as the boy looked into Toru's eyes if not for the almost melancholic tone of the scene.

"There's two ways I can return your Quirk to you," Carlisle-san explained. "I can actually give your Quirk back to you, or I can use Reversal to reverse you back before you had the Quirk taken away to begin with. That's the way I want to do it, is that okay?"

"Sure," Toru replied. She seemed kind of sad, that she was going to go back to being just invisible again. It was almost like a fairy tale, Mina thought. Where the princess had to go back to the castle or leave the party.

"Hey chin up," Carlisle-san said kindly to the unusually melancholy girl. "I bet with practice you can learn to turn off your Quirk by yourself, and show the world that beautiful smile of yours again. Consider tonight motivation," he suggested. Toru blushed furiously at the boy's words and Carlisle-san smirked in amusement for a few seconds until the girl calmed down.

"You really think I could learn to turn off my Quirk on my own?" She asked.

"I'm positive you can figure it out," Carlisle-san said. Toru seemed buoyed by the boy's words.

"I will then," Toru nodded determinedly.

"Alright then here goes. Step back everyone please," he said. "I need to concentrate."

His horn on the left side began to glow. There wasn't much to see. Toru's body seemed to shimmer for a second and her eyes fluttered closed but a few seconds later her invisibility was back. Carlisle-san stood up and stretched while Toru seemed to look at her hand before standing up herself.

"I'm getting better at that," he said to himself while stretching.

Everyone else got ready to leave. Toru, flanked by her family were the last to head out and Mina waited for her friend to say goodbye herself before leaving. She was staying at Toru's tonight so she didn't have to take a long train home.

"Eri come say goodbye," Carlisle-san shouted back into the house.

"I'm right here," Eri replied cheekily from next to him. He smirked and that was all the warning Eri was given as the boy quickly reached down and picked her up. The little girl squealed in surprise.

"Got'cha," he said smugly. There was a brief struggle and then clearly Eri gave up, hanging limply in the boy's arms. Carlisle-san adjusted his position so that held the invisible child under his arm, by the waist from the looks of it.

Toru leaned forward and gave carlisle-san a hug. "Thank you for today," she said.

"It was my pleasure," he said. "I'll see you both in school tomorrow," he said to both of the girls.

With that they said their final goodbyes before turning to leave. Carlisle-san closed the door behind them.

Everything had gone great tonight! Mina thought. Toru-chan had seen what she looked like under the invisibility and everyone had had a good time. But next…

"Sleepover!" Mina shouted excitedly.

All Might

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

There were benefits to being the number one Hero. One of which was that when you asked various law enforcement officials for a favour they'd give it to you, and often not even ask for said favour to be returned.

The prison cell was dark and intimidating. It only held one prisoner. There was no need for chains or other special containment. The prisoner had no Quirk. There was no risk of entering the cell with him. All Might was far too powerful to find himself at risk should they decide to try attacking him.

Toshinori stepped forward through the door. There was no reaction from the room's one occupant at first. Then the bedraggled looking Shiragaki lifted his head to look at the Symbol of Peace.

"All Might," Shigaraki said. He spread his arms wide. "Welcome!"

"Shigaraki-kun," Toshinori began. Suddenly he didn't know what to say.

"What?" The deranged young man said. "Cat got your tongue?"

Toshinori bowed his head. "I'm sorry," he said simply. Shigaraki reeled back as if struck.

"Excuse me?" The boy asked. "I'm sorry, he says!" He burst into laughter. Toshinori stood silently, waiting for the boy to finish.

"So you figured it all out did you?" He asked. "I didn't even get my big reveal," he complained.

"We thought you and your family would be safer without us around," Toshinori said. "If I'd known even fo-"

"You didn't know though, did you?!" Shigaraki shouted. "You were gallivanting off in America, being a Hero. Well here I am Hero you didn't save anyone but your own ego!"

Toshinori took a deep breath. "I think we both know there was more going on than that. All for One-"

"He saved me!" Shigaraki screamed. "He did far more for me than you ever did. He took me in, gave me a home. He showed me the world as it really is."

"And that is?" Toshinori asked with dread and resignation pooling in his stomach.

"The world is diseased," Shigaraki said. "Heroes and Villains? Just a symptom. People sit nice and comfy knowing that they're safe and sound. They don't care as long as they have Heroes looking after them do they?" He giggled. "They don't care about anyone who gets left behind as long as it's not them, do they?"

The prison cell was silent as Shigaraki finished speaking. Toshinori couldn't look away from the boy he'd failed to protect.

The words of Carlisle-san had sat heavy in his mind since the USJ incident. His mentor's grandchild turned into this. Was he truly beyond saving? Ethan thought so. Nezu seemed to agree too.

Toshinori didn't want to consider it. The truth was staring him right in the face though.

"Well?!" Shigaraki demanded. "Do you have nothing to say? Do you!?!?"

"I don't think there is anything I can say to express how sorry I am for what happened to you Shigaraki-san," Toshinori said. He bowed in apology. "I failed you."

"You did, didn't you," Shigaraki teased maliciously. "Do you see it now? What a failure you are? You should just kill yourself All Might. Maybe that would balance the scales."

All Might stood up straight.

"No," he said.

"What?" Shigaraki asked in surprise. "What you're too scared huh? Showing your true colours as a selfish grandstanding fake!"

"No," All Might said once again. "I'm sorry I failed you Shigaraki," he said. "I did what I felt was right at the time, but I failed. Perhaps if I was there I might have saved you, but there were bigger things at play. I had to grow stronger to stop All for One. I might have failed, but it seems I almost succeeded too if he has to act through proxies these days. I still failed you though, and for that I am truly sorry," he said, bowing shallowly once again.

"But if I let my failures stop me," he said, rising to his full height. "If I let every setback or mistake pull me down I wouldn't have come to be who I am today. I wouldn't have brought about this era of peace," he looked down at Shigaraki. The boy cringed back, intimidated, but he still had it in him to scowl back with impotent rage.

"We can only ever do the best we can," All Might said. "I may not be perfect. I may not be able to save everyone. But I've done what I can. I'm not alone. I'm a teacher now and I can teach the next generation to be better than I was. It's they who will carry the torch forward and surpass me, I'm sure of it."

There was another moment of silence. Then Shigaraki started chuckling.

"You don't get it do you?" He asked. "No matter what you'll do you'll never achieve real peace. It'll always be a lie you tell yourself, pretending like there aren't people suffering. You're just passing on the same flawed ideology to the next generation so they can continue your mistakes!" Shigaraki spat on the floor.

"Maybe you're right," All Might allowed, taking Shigaraki by surprise. "Maybe the peace I envision for the world will never truly come to pass." he smiled then. Pearly white teeth shone in the dark cell for a moment as the Symbol of Peace looked the boy he'd failed to save right in the eyes.

He had failed Shigaraki. That much was true. There were those who for all All Might's efforts he had failed to save and they would forever weigh down on his conscience. As much as it pained All Might to admit it, Ethan was right. Shigaraki was beyond saving, at least beyond All Might's ability to help. He was lost to his rage, hatred and bitterness but there were others out there suffering right now like Shigaraki once had. People that wanted to be saved, that could be saved.

"Maybe the next generation won't surpass me. Maybe I can't save everyone on my own," he admitted as he stepped out of the cell. He looked back at the boy for the last time before turning to walk away.

"But I can damn well keep on trying."

Chapter End Notes

Thanks for reading. If you'd like to read more before it's released here then this story is published up to chapter 115 over on my Subscribestar adult account.

Ethan

Today's tutoring session was being held over the lunch period. I was sat on a bench with Yaoyorozu who had brought a book of notes she had prepared on relevant important historical events.

It was as thick as my arm, a phrase I'd much prefer seeing used by other people, in other contexts.

"This is incredible," I told the young woman. "Truly you've gone… above and beyond what I expected from you." I very carefully did not use the term Plus Ultra. That would only encourage her.

She really had, geeze. I looked at the quite frankly intimidating bundle of papers the girl had open in her lap. She moved it to the side so it covered both of our legs while we sat together on the bench.

"This is just the preliminary notes I prepared since our last study session," Yaoyorozu said. I resisted the urge to goggle at her. "I have prepared a schedule of the topics to study which I acquired from Snipe-sensei. We shall first cover the bare essentials and then work our way forward through the periods that Snipe-sensei has suggested." Yaoyorozu turned a page, showing me the schedule she had outlined.

"This is all brilliant," I said, complimenting her again. I took a hold of the book on my side, using my other hand to turn the pages so I could see everything else my tutor had prepared for me, my arm brushed against hers as I did so. "How long did it take to prepare all of this?" I asked.

"Not long," Yaoyorozu said bashfully. "I only had so much spare time to dedicate to it. About ten hours or so."

I let out a chuckle. "Above and beyond," I said, turning my head to face her. The girl had the good grace to blush and bow her head, not looking me in the eyes. "I appreciate all your assistance Yaoyorozu-san," I told her. "Although I would ask that you don't spend too much time helping me. Don't let all this tutoring take up too much of your free time. I'm worried you'll burn out," I said. "And then where would we be without the smartest girl in our class," I teased.

"That is very kind of you to say," Yaoyorozu said back slowly after a few seconds. She was fun to tease wasn't she. "But I must insist that I do everything I can to assist you in making up your grade."

"Well I'll look through all this in further detail later," I said, pulling the book into my lap fully. "Is there anything I can do for you though. I'd like to pay you back for all your help," I said.

"I don't know... I don't think so," Yaoyorozu said apologetically after a few second. I nodded.

"Let me take you out to the movies or something then," I suggested.

"T-that would be inappropriate. I-I'm your tutor!" Yaoyorozu said immediately. I repressed a snort and raised an eyebrow at the pretty young woman.

"Well I'm a Western Savage. So will you allow me my inappropriate behaviour?" I asked her jokingly. I looked into her eyes imploringly. That only made the heiress' blush grow more prominent.

"I-I suppose I wouldn't mind going to watch a m-movie with you," the girl stuttered out. My smile widened. I resisted the urge to say 'it's a date then'. I was half worried her head might explode if I did.

"That would be wonderful. Perhaps this weekend?" I suggested. "I can pick you up from your place."

"But… how?" Yoayorozu asked. "You don't have a car, do you?"

"I can teleport now, remember?" I pointed out. I turned my arm to purple mist for a second and back again. I was getting the handle of activating and deactivating my Quirks now. I didn't need the full transformation to activate Warp Gate.

"Oh you can't do that!" Yaoyorozu said in worry. "You'll get in trouble for using your Quirk!"

"Fair point," I said. I'd forgotten for a moment how restrictive society could be about Quirk usage. I'd need a… Provisional Hero License first, wouldn't I? "Perhaps we could simply meet at the theatre then?"

"That would be fine," Yaloyorozu said after a moment's consideration, getting herself back under control.

"Then we'll just have to decide on what film, what to see and the exact time then," I said with finality. Yaoyorozu nodded. "We can discuss it later," I said, giving the girl a way out for the time being. She nodded rapidly in agreement and some amount of desperation.

Date with pretty heiress get. Take that, Johnny from my first year highschool. It only took me…

Actually I wouldn't dwell on how long it took me to get to this stage I could ask a pretty girl like this out on a date without stuttering up a storm.

The bell to return to class rang. Yaoyorozu jumped up from her seat.

"We should return to class!" She said. "I shall see you there Carlisle-kun. I mean san," she said. She bowed repeatedly and then hurried off, apparently forgetting we were going to be headed to the same destination.

"See you later Momo-chan!" I shouted after her. She stumbled for a moment and if anything her pace quickened.

I got up myself to follow after her. I wasn't too worried about being late. There was plenty of time, but Yaoyorozu probably needed some space right now. I stopped and looked to the side.

"Are you coming, girls?" I asked some nearby bushes.

There was a collective yelp as Uraraka, Ashido and Hagakure fell out from behind the bushes in a tumble of limbs. I snorted and started making my way back to class.

I hadn't even noticed they were there. I was just guessing that someone was watching. I let off a jaunty whistle as I continued walking.

I was starting to get into this anime highschool thing.

All for One

It had been a handful of days. All for One had realised that something was wrong when Kurogiri didn't show his face and there was no contact from Shigaraki either. He had been waiting since then for his subordinates to escape their likely captors. His spies in the police and HPSC weren't providing any information on their whereabouts yet either.

Had All Might beaten the Nomu? Was Kurogiri in custody? The teleporter was highly useful to All for One. So useful that he hadn't tried to take the Nomu's Quirk for himself after the doctor and he had crafted him.

If he used his abilities to summon them to him he would also be letting the authorities know that Shigaraki had other support and that there was another teleporter in play. His patience had run out though and he'd decided it would be worth it to summon one of his minions and find out what had happened during the USJ attack.

Disgusting black tar erupted from his mouth as he activated the Quirk. A few seconds later the process was finished. The body had no heat to it, it was cold. All for One had summoned a corpse.

It was naked, the chest had been split open with a rib spreader still lodged inside the cavity. It seemed the police had been in the process of carrying out an autopsy on the now dead Kurogiri. All for One let out a growl. Doing so only irritated his injuries and made him more annoyed.

That explained a lot. Kurogiri was dead and without him Shigaraki had had no way to escape the USJ.

The disgusting taste of halitosis left by the Quirk was rancid in his mouth but he needed to use it once more. There was only one individual he might want to summon now, at least who he both could summon and who would be able to provide answers.

Shigaraki was summoned before him. The boy was decked out in grey and black striped prison garb and he appeared before All for One sat on his behind on the floor.

"Master!" The boy said, jumping to his feet upon realising where he was. He turned to face All for One and bowed low. It was uncharacteristic of him to show such deference. "I am sorry but I failed you," he said. "Thank you for saving me," there was a manicness about the boy as he dug his fingers into his palm.

"What happened?" All for One asked of the boy. He gestured to Kurogiri's corpse.

Shigaraki looked to the fallen body of the advanced Nomu. "There was a boy at the USJ," he said. "He had the ability to take away Quirks," the boy said. There was a hint of accusation in his tone. He was wondering whether All for One had interfered in the attack.

If All for One still had his eyes they would have widened in surprise at the revelation. There were a handful of Quirk copiers out there, but none that could do what he did.

"Explain," he demanded more seriously this time. It seemed like this wasn't just a failure on Shigaraki's part.

"He says he uses his Quirk, called Overhaul to take away people's Quirks and then he can copy them for himself," the boy said. "He… Master he took my Quirk too," he said with a mixture of self pity and spite.

All for One leaned back in his chair.

This… This was dangerous news. Another person able to take and distribute Quirks? Someone young, no doubt able to carry more than All for One himself was currently, on account of it being a younger, more evolved Quirk?

His fingers clenched around the armrests of his chair. He looked down to Shigaraki, who was looking up to him with a mixture of hope and fear in his eyes.

"I do not blame you Shigaraki," All for One said. He gestured for the boy to approach and he did. All for One patted the child on the head in a fatherly gesture.

"Someone with the ability to take Quirks away entirely was something we could not have foreseen," All for One commented. In fact there had been no way to know. Overhaul was the Quirk carried by Ethan Carlisle, a European boy who had no discernible background. It was an impressive sounding Quirk, capable of matter manipulation of all kinds and the boy also knew some sort of martial arts on top of it. The spy hadn't told them anything about him having the ability to take away Quirks though. Clearly he had been keeping that close to his chest it seemed and with good reason no doubt. The ability to take and redistribute Quirks was one the public at large would no doubt be scared of.

When planning the attack they had put off the boy's lack of background as unimportant. A young Hero in training would have been no match for the Nomu alongside both Kurogiri and Shigaraki and the many low tier Villains that had been recruited for the attack. The only real threat should have been All Might.

"All Might, was he there?" All for One asked.

"He didn't show up," Shigaraki said, surprising All for One again.

Was their information out of date? Had the spy been identified and used to provide false data? Had the information acquired just before the attack been deliberately planted or had they reacted and made changes immediately in response?

There were too many coincidences. First this stranger shows up out of nowhere with the secret ability to do what All for One could do. Then All Might isn't even at the USJ for the attack intended for him in particular.

Aoyama must have been compromised somehow. The foolish child might not even be aware that he had been deceived. All for One had no way of contacting him right now though. Without Kurogiri he was stuck with limited mobility, especially if he wanted to remain incognito.

Right now he needed more tools. More people to carry out his bidding while he kept out of the Heroes' eyes.

"Shigaraki-kun," All for One said. "Do not fear at having lost your Quirk and do not think I am upset with you. It was my mistake that led to your defeat at the USJ," he attempted to soothe the boy's pride. He placed a fatherly hand on the boy's forehead. "We shall find you a new Quirk. Multiple Quirks in fact and I shall give you another opportunity at your revenge. Does that sound reasonable?"

"Thank you master," Shigaraki said. The madness that All for One had so carefully cultivated in the boy shining through his eyes anew. "I won't let you down."

"Contact the Doctor," All for One ordered. "He shall be able to assist you in locating interesting Quirks."

"Thank you Master," Shigaraki said again and bowed low, then he turned to leave. All for One was left alone again.

Shigaraki had failed, but it was not due to any fault of his own. A Quirk stealer was a dangerous threat, especially with the element of surprise on his side. All for One was testament to that. It was a big part of why he had initially kept his powers mostly a secret.

This Ethan Carlisle had drawn his interest though. One for All might be the pinnacle of Quirks. His means to ultimate power, but a new Quirk capable of taking and distributing Quirks just like his own? This new Quirk had gathered All for One's interest. It might be the secret to expanding his own capacity to hold more Quirks, or at least a stopgap measure to tide him over until the Doctor's research bore fruit.

He needed more information though. Clearly this new player was dangerous and with the Quirks he had no doubt acquired at the USJ he would already be very powerful. But he was young, inexperienced. If his Quirk world at all like All for One's did then he would be limited. He would no doubt have Nomu's regeneration Quirk active at all times. He would be practically invincible in a fight to the death but not impossible to capture provided he disabled the boy's ability to use Warp Gate.

All for One would wait for now. All his plans were up in the air. He would have to reassess the situation and in the meantime hopefully Shigaraki's efforts would bear fruit and the boy would become a dangerous weapon to use against his enemies once more.

Or perhaps he could simply turn the boy into a Nomu? He had said he would give him multiple Quirks.

No All Might was still out there. The boy was still a weapon to use against the hero's fragile psyche. Turning him into a Nomu wouldn't be as useful as keeping Shigaraki around long term.

So he would wait and see. Plan and prepare and then he would make another move.

Ethan Carlisle's Quirk would be his. After that, once he had gained more power through Overhaul. Then he would be ready to attempt a second battle against All Might and One for All would finally be in his grasp.

Toshinori

Toshinori entered Nezu's office with a stack of papers. They were grades for 1-B's latest Battle Practice with some comments on room for improvement.

He had been impressed with 1-B overall. There were some really good kids in that class, just like 1-A. Most of the time the perception of the second class would be that they were inferior to the first, that being 1-A. Toshinori didn't subscribe to that philosophy. 1-B would shine just as much as 1-A if he had any say in the matter.

Although, he secretly did prefer the class his protege was in.

Nezu was sat there with Ethan. The boy was relaxing on a chair while they shared a cup of tea. It was Western tea, rather than the Japanese variant.

"Well I am British," Carlisle said, continuing his conversation with Nezu. "Although I never really got into Earl Grey. I'm a bit of a pleb really." Nezu chuckled, then looked to Toshinori.

"Toshinori!" he greeted. "Oh you can just leave those papers on my desk."

Toshinori went over and put the documents down before turning back to see Ethan pouring a new cup for Nezu.

"Carlisle-san was just telling me about a strange world where they teach young girls to ride tanks of all things, in an academy," Nezu said.

"What?" Toshinori asked in confusion.

"Yes, tanks," Nezu said. "And they were all named after brands of tea for some reason, the girls not the tanks."

"I don't understand it either," Carlisle said with a nod and a shrug. "There's some strange universes out there. I mean there is a world where all the global powers, nations and such are actual real people living through roughly comparable events to their 'real life' countries. There was a Hitler that went Super Saiyan at one point, or at least Super Aryan. It was a comedy I think. I never visited that world though. All my knowledge is from memes. Not sure I want to visit it either, quite frankly," he finished.

"Come, join us!" Nezu invited the skeletal looking man who was standing awkwardly, trying to take in what Carlisle had just said.

Toshinori relented after a few seconds and went over and sat down. Ethan poured him a cup and he gave thanks before taking a sip of the hot liquid.

"So girls named after types of tea?" He asked.

"There's stranger things," Ethan said. "Right, so there's a world where there's a person called Kiba, because he's got dog err, powers and his parents presumably had a distinct lack of imagination," the boy said. "There's also a land of Kiba and a pair of famous weapons called the Dual Kibas and the guy also has an attack he calls fang over fang, Kiba over Kiba in Japanese.

"So in theory," Carlisle-san began. "If he went to live in the land of Kiba and was given those weapons. Then he'd be Kiba, of the land of Kiba, wielder of the dual Kibas who's special attack is Kiba over Kiba."

Toshinori snorted despite himself. "Strange to think that there's worlds out there like that," he commented.

"Yes, it's almost as strange as naming your attacks after various American states," Ethan said with a perfectly straight face. He'd perfectly timed the sentence for when Nezu was taking a sip of his drink and the chimera choked on his tea as he tried not to laugh at Toshinori's sudden offended expression.

Or maybe he wasn't trying to hold it in, Toshinori thought in irritation as the white furred person continued to chortle for an entirely too long amount of time. He was pointing too.

"It was just part of the theme," he said defensively. "It sounded pretty good at the time and I was foreign and I needed to integrate into the culture," he defended himself.

"It certainly does sound good," Nezu commiserated, patting the man on the arm kindly. Although a large part of the gesture was lost due to the animal's continued chuckling. Nezu regained control of himself. "Although, getting to the real reason I asked you to stay," he said leadingly and looking towards Ethan.

"In case you haven't already realised," Ethan said. "Reversal lets me reverse things."

"Yes..." Toshinori asked, not quite following what the boy and animal person were both trying to say.

Nezu let out a sigh for some reason Toshinori didn't know.

"I can reverse my taking of people's Quirks," Ethan said. "I think that I can also do the same for yourself and One for All."

Toshinori's mouth hung open.

"You could return One for All to me?" he asked. The fire that was but mere embers of what had been left behind by One for All after he gave it away crackled and inside him, responding instinctively to the hope that suddenly rose in his chest. Toshinori almost instinctively went into his bulkier form before he calmed himself down a moment later and looked at Ethan intently.

"I can do more than just that…" Ethan said, looking the hero in the eye. "I was telling Nezu earlier that I think I can manage about eight weeks or so at a time safely with a full charge of Reversal, which takes about a day or so to build up. How long ago was your fight with All for One?"

"Almost six years," Toshinori said numbly, catching on immediately this time. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Well then," Carlisle said with a raised eyebrow. "That would mean it'll take what? Twelve weeks?"

"Approximately seventy eight days," Nezu chimed in from his seat. "Plus another day or so to account for those seventy eight days but less assuming you improve during that time." The Quirk enhanced creature casually took another sip of his drink.

"Eighty days maximum then," Ethan repeated, a big smile on his face. "Do you think you can keep a secret for the next three months or so?" He held out a hand to the Symbol of Peace. His horn on the left side began to glow.

There was no consideration to be had. Toshinori immediately took the boy's hand and held it as the light coming off the horn grew brighter still. Ethan's brows furrowed in concentration, gripping tight as he used the time reversal Quirk. It took several minutes and at the end of it nothing much seemed to have changed from the outside looking in. Toshinori was still the same emaciated wretch of a man as he had been for the last several years when out of costume.

But one thing had changed. Toshinori let go of Ethan's hand and stood up from his chair. He grew into his giant form, muscles building through the no longer loose and baggy clothes he wore.

All Might clenched his fist, feeling the strength of his grip, feeling the fire in his soul roaring in triumph.

He felt great. He hadn't realised how much losing One for All had affected him both mentally and physically. Right now All Might felt like he could hold up the world.

Opposite him Ethan was slumped in his seat, clearly exhausted from the intense concentration and the drain of using the Quirk as much as he had.

"Thank you, Ethan Carlisle" Toshinori said simply. He couldn't put into words how grateful he felt in that moment. The boy raised a weak arm and gave him a thumbs up before the limb fell back down limply.

"Don't thank me yet," Ethan commented tiredly. He yawned. "I'm gonna need to do this another eighty odd times," he groaned out. "You never know I might make a mistake and turn you into a baby," he finished, his voice had started slurring as he spoke.

"It's getting late. I think Mr Carlisle here could use some help returning home," Nezu said with some mild concern in his tone as the boy closed his eyes and his head lolled to the side.

"I'll take him home," Toshinori immediately said. "Come on young man," he said in English. He transformed into All Might and easily picked the boy up in his arms.

"'m older th'n you," Carlisle slurred out in protest.

"Wait, he is?" Toshinori asked Nezu in surprise. The Quirkified creature shrugged, giving Toshinori the impression that he already knew. Toshinori looked back to the now clearly unconscious man who nonetheless looked very much like a teenager.

"Should… should we be letting him go to school with all the students?" he asked.

"Mr Carlisle is a child at heart," Nezu commented lackadaisically with a shrug of indifference.

"I guess… I'll have to trust your judgement," Toshinori said with a sigh after a moment, choosing to put it out of his mind. It was Nezu's school, not his. If Ethan wanted to go to school and become a Hero in this world, who was he to deny him the opportunity. Especially when he'd committed today to ensuring that All Might was returned to his prime. And Nezu was right. Ethan was incredibly childish at times, mainly during battle training. He seemingly couldn't help himself but to ham it up as much as he could every time. The other teachers had a blast watching his performances. Most people looking at him would only see a particularly irreverent young man acting out for a laugh most of the time.

All Might said goodbye to his friend and then began quickly making his way with the not quite a boy in hand to return Ethan to his home on campus where little Eri-chan was no doubt waiting for her big brother.

On the way thoughts kept racing through his mind. Izuku Midoriya was his protege, the future. All Might had put so many hopes into the young man, left slightly bitter in the knowledge that due to his injuries he probably wouldn't get to see Izuku really reach his full potential.

Now though? Now in only a few short months All Might would be back in his prime. He'd have the opportunity to watch Izuku grow, become the hero All Might knew the young man could be and he'd be right there supporting him to take All Might's mantle as the next symbol of peace.

All for One was still out there though. No doubt weakened and crippled from their fight before, seeing as he hadn't shown his face himself yet despite All Might's increasingly fewer public appearances. All Might had taken a good licking back then too, but now thanks to Ethan his injuries would soon be a thing of the past. All for One would rear his head once more that much was certain though. The villain that Toshinori had committed himself to stopping would reappear. Izuku was growing quickly but he was in the infancy of his Hero training. He wasn't ready to face All for One and it wasn't his responsibility to put that old monster down to begin with. It was All Might's fight, All Might's responsibility.

So next time?

Next time All Might would take this second opportunity given to him and finish what he started.

Ethan

I woke up lying on the couch with Eri spread out on top of my chest.

There was a lamp still on in the corner but it was dark outside.

"Fuck…" I murmured. That had really taken a lot out of me. I thought I was ready but apparently eight weeks at a time with Reversal was still a stretch. It was like trying to pull a string of gum as far apart as possible without it breaking. A single mistake and I could lose control over the power and send All Might hurtling backwards in his personal timeline to even before he received One for All and there would be no undoing that. That was the happier outcome. I could potentially also reverse him to infancy, or outright kill him by reversing him beyond his actual birth. Overhaul allegedly used his Quirk to keep Eri from hurting herself or others despite her lack of ability to control it herself, but I wasn't as experienced as the Yakuza boss by a long shot. There was no way I could use it to fix a mistake like that.

Maybe I'd adjust things to seven weeks at a time then, at least while I got some more practice in and I'd get that practice with All Might now if we kept doing this. I also had a second charge to play with so I could make up the lost time if need be and have All Might up and running again in the initially promised eighty days. Although, I was loath to not have at least one charge of Reversal on hand for when I might need it.

I stroked Eri's hair, the girl shifted in her sleep in response, rubbing her cheek on my chest. She was wearing her Pjs at least so she'd probably gone through her normal nighttime routine. Hopefully Toshinori had helped put some food together for her before he left.

I slowly started to sit up, cradling the girl to my chest as I stood up fully.

The motion wasn't as careful as I had hoped though because Eri let out a yawn and woke up.

"Ethan-nii?" She asked. A pair of arms came up to wrap around my neck.

"Hey Eri-chan," I said. "Did you have anything for dinner?"

"Uh huh," Eri replied. "All Might made sandwiches."

Of course he did. Still, I was grateful for the consideration.

"That's good then," I said. I was feeling hungry myself now. "Did you leave any for me?"

"Yeah," Eri replied sleepily. I put her down on the couch and went over to the kitchen. It wasn't 'made' sandwiches, All Might had clearly raced off and got takeout from somewhere because I didn't have big sub rolls like that in my cupboards.

I dug in, quickly scarfing down enough that I wasn't hungry anymore and then I went back to Eri.

The girl had started to wake up properly while I was gone and she was sat up rubbing her eyes when I returned.

"Hey there. Ready to go back to bed?" I asked. Eri nodded and held out her hands. I obliged her and picked the girl back up.

"Can I stay with you tonight?" She asked.

"Sure," I said, not having it in me to refuse her.

I took her into my bedroom and set her down on my bed. It wasn't a single, quite luxurious for what it was. Eri snuggled under the covers while I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth.

I came back out dressed for bed and slipped under the covers. Eri immediately latched onto me as she had a habit of doing when she joined me at night. She hadn't done this in a few days though. Maybe my misadventure with Reversal had shaken her a bit?

"Everything okay sweetheart?" I asked.

"Uh huh," was Eri's ever so eloquent reply as she pressed her face into the crook of my neck. I patted her head.

"Alright then," I said. "Time to get some proper sleep then I guess. "Goodnight."

"'Night," Eri replied.

Ethan

It was a big complex. Hundreds of people were here today at the mall where I had agreed to meet Momo.

A date, an actual date. How long had it actually been since I'd done this?

I honestly couldn't remember, but it was before I joined the Company.

God those had been rough days. The much younger and far more insecure me trying to take my then girlfriend out. I had few social skills and she wasn't doing much better than myself. Our mutual inability to communicate and the fact we both wanted something different out of the relationship had seen that one fall flat in the end, just before my recruitment by the Company as it turns out.

Now I was here though. A limousine rolled up and out popped Momo Yaoyorozu in the flesh.

She was dressed in a red dress with short sleeves and which went down to mid thigh. She had a thick belt on over her stomach and below that she wore lettings and some boots that ended just below the knees.

Another young teenager's head craned around to look and he collided with a lamp post with a satisfying sounding thunk. So it wasn't just me then.

"Momo-chan," I greeted, approaching her.

"Ethan-kun," the girl greeted. She turned to withdraw a small handbag from her car, giving me a good look at her from behind. I carefully schooled my features as she turned back around to face me.

"You look lovely," I told the girl.

"Y-you do also," Momo replied, ducking her head slightly.

I was wearing some simple jeans and a leather jacket over a sky blue shirt. It wasn't particularly impressive in my opinion. My clothing choices were relatively limited and the bit of pocket change Nezu was giving me was all going towards today's activities. If Momo liked it then I was happy.

"Shall we go in?" I asked, offering the girl my hand. A public display of affection, how scandalous.

"Yes," Yaoyorozu said after a moment. She took my hand, blushing up a storm all the way. I'd have to inure her to these kinds of displays of affection if I actually succeeded here today. I'm a Western savage after all. Her hand was somewhat dainty in my own, but I could feel the roughness brought out by the necessity of the kind of training that had been a part of how the girl had got into U.A.

Together we entered the complex. First things first, the cinema!

"So do you watch a lot of films?" I asked her casually as we walked.

"Not often," Momo admitted, giving me more of an impression that she didn't watch movies at all. "I rarely have the time to spare with my studies. I do enjoy reading encyclopaedias though which combines enjoyment with education."

"I used to enjoy reading when I was younger," I told her. "Although my preferences are more into fiction than self improvement. Quite a lot of young adult stuff, the old Superhero stories are entertaining reads." Momo nodded.

"Your martial arts. Did you study them when you were younger too?" She asked me.

"It was kind of recent actually," I told her. "Master Bang was a great teacher, although he was on his own mostly. One of his disciples scared off all his other students before leaving himself. So it was just me and another guy called Chiranko. He was technically my senior disciple, but the guy… wasn't very good."

"I must admit I tried to look up the Water Stream Smashing Fist online," Momo informed me. "I couldn't find mention of it anywhere online. I even contacted some prominent martial arts studios and they hadn't heard of it either," she said leadingly.

"You're verging on asking about my background again," I teased. "No I'm not surprised by that, but that's all I'll say," I told her. Momo pouted for a moment and then her face turned into a frown.

"I would like to learn more about you Ethan-kun," the girl said. "I know you said that you would tell me about your background after you improved your grade in History, but… but I am aware that this outing today could lead to something… more," she said, trailing off nervously. "I don't want to go into this blind. So would you be willing to tell me something now?" She asked me. I stopped and Momo did too. I made a decision.

"Here isn't exactly the place to talk about it," I admitted. "And this'll probably take a while, and you're right. You deserve to know everything, especially if you're going to be my girlfriend from now on," I told her. I squeezed her hand in mine. "If you prefer, we can do that today instead of going to the cinema."

"I… I think that would be good," Momo said, nodding.

"Okay then," I replied. "Let's grab some food from somewhere. We can make a picnic of it and find somewhere quiet to talk."

Ochaco

Uraraka, Mina and Hagakure were all hiding out of sight, hidden by the crowd and some nearby potted plants as they waited for Yaoyorozu and Carlisle-san's date to commence. Hagakure's Quirk was great for spying work and she'd managed to sneakily overhear their classmates agree on a time and place to meet.

"Oh they look so lovely together," Mina said. "Red and blue outfits too. It's like they're a perfect fit."

"Oh look, they're holding hands!" Gasped Toru.

Indeed they were. Carlisle-san seemed pretty confident but Momo clearly looked deeply embarrassed by the public display of affection between them, on the first date no less!

"I guess it's kind of normal, Carlisle-san being from the West," Mina commented. They did things differently there. Although she wasn't entirely sure the boy didn't know what he was doing to poor Momo. Oh she looked so adorably flustered.

"Oh wait they've stopped," Ochaco commented, the girls craned their heads together to look through the gap in the fake bushes they were hiding behind.

"What are they saying?"

"I don't know," replied Mina. "Maybe Toru-chan could sneak up and try to listen in."

"What if someone notices me?" The girl replied. "I'm not allowed to go out naked in public, I'll get caught for public indecency!"

"You're invisible though," Mina pointed out.

"People would still be able to touch me though and it technically counts as using my Quirk in public," Toru replied. Mina shrugged.

"They're moving again," Ochaco commented, having been ignoring the byplay. "They're turning away from the cinema."

"What are they doing?" Mina asked. "Oh they both kind of look a bit more serious now," she observed.

The three girls quietly watched their friend and classmate head to a food vendor. In short order they had gathered a decent sized bag of takeout food and were now heading back out of the building.

"That's a lot of food," Mina commented. "I'm so jealous of Momo-chan sometimes."

"Yeah she can eat anything she wants," Toru commented. "She never has to worry about getting fat, like ever."

"You're one to talk!" Mina sniped back. "You're invisible!"

"I can still get fat," Toru replied defensively. "And anyway Carlisle-san thinks I could learn to turn off my Quirk so maybe someday it'll matter properly."

"I've seen what you look like while visible. No matter how fat you get, you've got absolutely nothing to be worried about."

"Ladies," Ochaco diverted the two girls from starting an argument, or a compliment competition. "They're getting away, should we follow them?"

Mina suddenly looked sheepish. "We did already order our tickets for the movie," she commented.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to waste my allowance…" Toru said awkwardly.

"We can see the movie another time," Ochaco said, not giving them the opportunity to change their minds. "Come on!"

They followed the couple out of the building and down a path by the river.

The sun was out. It was a beautiful day.

Yaoyorozu produced a blanket with her powers and she and Carlisle sat down to dig into their food. Some distance away the three girls hid behind some bushes and watched as the boy and girl ate and talked.

"What are they saying?" Mina asked and not for the first time.

"We should've got Jiro to come with us," Toru commented despondently. "She'd have been able to tell us what they're saying."

"All that food looks really nice," Ochaco muttered, suddenly aware of her own empty stomach. As if in answer the sound of Toru's tummy rumbling came out from the invisible girl.

"Sorry," she said in embarrassment.

Down with Carlisle and Yaoyorozu the conversation had moved on. It looked like Yaoyorozu had gasped and she put a hand to her mouth. She said something and Carlisle nodded.

"What are they sayiiing?" Mina whined.

"Whatever it is, it must be really serious," Ochaco said.

They'd been talking for a good few minutes now and the girls' interest was at its peak but then the young couple stopped talking. Carlisle and Yaoyorozu began eating in silence.

The girls watched from their hiding spot, wondering amongst themselves just exactly what they had been talking about. There was a clear air of discomfort between them now. Carlisle and Yaoyorozu spoke some more, but the girl clearly wasn't pleased by the boy's answers and he didn't seem so happy to be telling her. The beautiful girl stood up abruptly. She bowed briefly and then she walked off in a hurry.

"Oh no…" Mina said sympathetically.

Carlisle watched the girl go, it wasn't until she had gone out of sight that he let out a bark of laughter, it wasn't a happy sound. He fell back down on the blanket and just laid there silently.

"Do you think they're both alright?" Toru asked.

"Perhaps we should go ask Carlisle-san?" Ochaco suggested, wondering if revealing they had been spying would be worth the opportunity to find out what was wrong and maybe try and help.

It was too late for that though. Carlisle got up suddenly and bundled up the blanket and all the foodstuffs in it. He carried it down to the river.

"He's not going to dump all that in the water is he?" Mina asked in surprised disappointment.

He wasn't. Before the girl's eyes the blanket and everything inside it crumbled into dust. The dust blew away in the wind. Next Carlisle's arm turned into mist and a portal appeared before him. He swiped horizontally with the misty appendage, creating a portal and then he stepped through. The portal closed abruptly behind him.

"What was all that about?" Mina asked.

"I dunno but Carlisle-san seemed pretty upset himself," Hagakure said.

With nothing better to do the three girls went back to the mall and had a good time together. The day was somewhat ruined though by what they'd seen before. All three of them were wondering just what had happened.

None of them knew what Carlisle and Yaoyorozu had been talking about but whatever it was it was very serious stuff. They decided they weren't going to try asking about it.

Uraraka had come today hoping to see some romantic encounter between her two classmates. Now she just hoped that after whatever had happened that they would both be alright.

Kyoka

The U.A. Sports Festival was their opportunity to shine!

All the top Hero agencies would be watching. The whole world would be watching and everybody was taking it seriously. Especially the other students at U.A.

A large number of students from the other courses had even crowded around 1-A's classroom trying to scout them all out. It was kind of flattering really, but also intimidating.

Hitoshi Shinso from the General Studies course had lit a fire underneath all of them. They'd all thought themselves safe in 1-A, that they'd made it. This new boy had pulled that rug from beneath all of them.

Although he'd completely failed to affect some of their classmates. Bakugo for instance had calmly accepted the challenge for what it was, declaring he would rise to the top either way. Kyoka had been left worried at first but Bakugo was right. It didn't matter what stood in their way. There was only one way forward and one destination, the top. The USJ had already shown class 1-A what the world out there could be like. They'd already seen combat. What was one more challenge after having fought for their very lives?

Some of the members of class 1-A took the warning to heart, but some people didn't seem to either notice the threatening words from the newcomer or more accurately, care. Well, at least one of their classmates didn't.

Carlisle-san hadn't even got out of his seat while Shinso had announced his warning to them all, he'd been quiet lately too. In fact the boy had barely said anything today and if the gossip from Mina was right then it was all due to some conversation he and Yaoyorozu had had at the weekend during their date. Once she'd learned that the tension between the two of them was far more noticeable.

Most of class 1-A filed out, pushing past the crowds but Carlisle hung back a bit longer. He was probably waiting for everyone to get bored and leave before doing so himself. Jiro hung back around a corner, curious to see what would happen.

Apparently the boy lost his patience because Jiro could hear as he stood up and grabbed his bag to leave. Obviously his way was blocked by the other U.A. students.

"The last to leave, by a big margin" Shinso commented. "You don't seem that worried. Is that confidence, or misplaced arrogance?" The boy wondered out loud. Jiro could practically feel the condescension in the boy's tone.

"Hello, I'm Ethan Carlisle, it's nice to meet you," Carlisle said dryly. He held out his hand.

The boy from the General Studies course eyes the hand briefly before accepting the handshake. Carlisle only raised an amused eyebrow at him as they shook hands, his fake smile widening slightly in more genuine amusement.

Had… had he just taken the guy's Quirk? No, he was still awake. Still that sudden Cheshire grin on Carlisle's face looked anything but friendly.

"You know it'd probably have been smarter to have hidden your intentions to challenge the class," Carlisle commented. "Standing up and declaring your intent to overshadow them and bump one of them out of the Hero course is only going to light a fire under them."

"That's what I want," Hitoshi replied. "It's not enough to just show I'm as good as one of you. I'll need to step over one of you at your best to show the faculty I have what it takes."

"That's… sound reasoning," Carlisle acknowledged after a moment of consideration, nodding his head. "In fact, I agree with you entirely. You need to be able to show the faculty that you're strong enough to be a Hero. That you can get past any obstacle that crosses your way, all of you," he said looking around the watching crowd who leaned back, intimidated by the boy as he looked at them directly. He tilted his head as if in thought.

"What's all that supposed to mean?" Hitoshi asked. He came across as still aloof but Jiro's advanced hearing could hear the undercurrent of unease in the boy's tone. Somehow Carlisle's grin widened further. There was a sparkle in his eyes.

"Well that would be ruining the surprise," Carlisle said. He made to walk past but then stopped suddenly, as if frozen.

"Tell me what you mean," demanded Hitoshi.

Carlisle turned around.

"Why would I do that?" he asked amusedly.

Shinso reared back as if struck and Carlisle-san turned to walk away, the crowd parted around him as the boy stalked away.

"I'll see you all during the festival," Carlisle promised, raising a hand in farewell. "I'm sure we'll have lots of fun."

Ethan

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

The U.A. sports festival!

A massive event where the many students of U.A. could show their stuff. Not just the hero course students, but the general studies, the business course and even the tech course students. Eleven courses of first years at U.A. in total at least four hundred kids all vying to show off their stuff and in quite a few cases prove that they had what it took to be on the Hero course.

We also had to do a student pledge. The winner of the U.A. entrance exam, one Katsuki Bakugo got to make a speech…

He used his time to shine well, letting everyone know he was going to win the sports festival in typical Bakugo fashion. Good for him. It's important to be confident in yourself.

Then everyone was gathered up and sent into the starting zone.

Remember when I mentioned that a lot of the kids wanted to prove they could've been on the Hero course? Naturally this meant that everyone was gunning for the Hero course students to hold them back and otherwise cause us trouble.

Fun.

Everyone was very excited. There was a clamour of kids all preparing themselves for the race.

"Welcome to the U.A. Sports festival!" Present Mic's voice echoed out across the stadium. There was a muted roar of applause and cheering from the stands. The pressure was on.

Izuku was panicking in a corner, although that was fairly standard for the guy so I figured he was doing alright. Bakugo was gritting his teeth in his eagerness to get started. Other members of 1-A were dealing with the pressure in their own way. Only the most determined of us would make it to the end of this in canon.

I mean, I wasn't exactly worried. I could literally teleport. How was I supposed to lose a footrace of all things? Provided I knew the right coordinates I could beat our class' resident speedster to the finish line if I so chose.

No, I was excited for a different reason. There were a lot of cameras out here today. The whole world was watching on live Tv.

"Begin!" Cried Present Mic's voice. The doors opened and everyone raced forward, eager to break away from the pack and prove their worth.

There were robots. Smaller ones and also giant zero pointers the same as Izuku had encountered in the entrance exam. They leaned over the students, looming threateningly.

I created a portal and stepped through to stand on one of the robot's heads as the crowd mostly reared back in sudden fear from the giant robot.

I activated Overhaul, dissolving the robot into chunks and splitting it down the middle. I let my own weight carry me down as I continued to dismantle the machine until it was rendered two pieces of scrap to either side of me. My feet touched the floor and the remains of the robot fell down to either side of me.

"Come on you lazy bastards!" I screamed. "Prove yourselves! PLUS ULTRA!!"

That was enough to elicit a response. Bakugo had forced his way to the front, charging ahead with the force of his explosions propelling him forward. He had the good sportsmanship to explode the side of another nearby robot, sending it listing to the side and making things a bit easier for our fellow students.

"Fuck you!" He screamed as he passed me by. I waved cheerfully as the aggressive young Hero in training raced ahead.

Todoroki completely disabled the last one of the robots with his ice and he slid on by, eager to get to the finish himself. He was perhaps the one with the most to prove today out of all of us, but he wasn't the only one who had something to prove.

Other members of 1-A were eagerly fighting through other smaller robots as they eagerly raced forward. There were a few faces I recognised. Indeed a few people I recognised from the corridors and halls of U.A. having passed them occasionally in between classes or seeing them during lunch periods. Although the majority of the more successful fighters were members of the two Hero course classes it seemed and they pulled ahead easily.

Well with the heavy hitters in Todoroki and Bakugo having made their moves it was time to have my own bit of fun.

"You're all too slow!" I shouted at the remaining students as Iida and a couple of other students raced past me. I waved to Izuku as the young man passed me by. I wasn't sure he even noticed me. He was determined, with the face of a young protagonist striving desperately to prove themselves. Adorable.

The big names were already breaking well free of the pack. It was impressive to be honest. Meanwhile everyone else was lagging behind for one reason or another as they were waylaid by the robots or by the mass of the crowd continuing to hold them back.

I flexed mentally, letting Warp Gate activate properly, covering my body in mist. I teleported further out, activating Overhaul next and creating a massive thirty foot high wall to obstruct the entire way forward. That wasn't enough though, oh no.

I jumped further back and did it again, and again until there were half a dozen walls obstructing the U.A. first years' way.

It would be unsportsmanlike to obstruct their passage like that without providing a way through though, wouldn't it? I thought to myself as Present Mic excitedly wondered just what the hell I was doing. Well he was about to find out.

I teleported back to the top of the first wall. There were students approaching the first obstruction I had so kindly provided. A few trailed off, seeing the obstacle in their way and stopping entirely to look up gobsmacked. I stood from the top of the wall, looking down from a great height at everyone else.

I had blocked the way, but again, my fellow students still needed a way forward, didn't they?

Portals formed at my command. Black circles of mist, ten of them lined up along the first wall.

And the wall behind that, and the wall behind that too. So many portals, well, about seventy. It was surprisingly straightforward. I had to concentrate briefly to form each portal but once they were present I was able to maintain them fairly easily. Although I wouldn't have been able to do it without my occlumency to help manage the various mental burdens. It was like trying to hold up multiple things at once, but it was doable. Now one might wonder why I would create the walls to begin with if I was just going to provide a way through and then you might ask why I would create so many portals at all.

My fellow students were about to find out.

"Students of U.A.!" I shouted grandly with a massive grin on my face at the approaching crowd grew larger.

"Let's play a game!"

Chapter End Notes

If you've enjoyed reading my work so far, you can find more of my work on my Subscribestar.adult account, a subscription is only $2.

Thanks for reading.

Eraserhead

"Look! What's Carlisle doing now!? Present Mic shouted into his microphone.

Eraserhead slumped down in his seat despondently.

He really should have anticipated something like this.

"Four, five, no six walls barring the rest of the competitor's way!" Present Mic declared. "They must be at least twenty five foot high and a good ten feet thick. It'll take a lot more than just vim and vigour to get through those in a reasonable time and the heaviest hitters in Class 1-A aren't here to thin down these obstacles! Is that even legal?" He asked his co presenters.

"The rules were that Quirks were allowed," Eraserhead supplied dully into his own microphone. "Carlisle is… skirting the rules."

"Phenomenal!" Present Mic said with the complete opposite amount of enthusiasm that Eraserhead was presenting. "Wait what's he doing now? I can't believe this. He's creating portals, wow ten on each wall. I don't have Carlisle's Quirk but I can only imagine that's no mean feat!"

Eraserhead found the strength to look up, exasperation warring with irritation. Present Mic was right. Ten portals on each of the six walls the boy had made. Carlisle and Nezu had been up front with him in telling him what Carlisle intended to do during the sports festival. They just didn't elaborate on how Carlisle was going to go about it. It seemed Carlisle was going to announce himself to the world flamboyantly.

There were indeed ten portals on the approaching side of the walls. Only there weren't ten exit portals. Oh no, there was one, occasionally two portals on the opposite sides of the walls.

Eraserhead flicked through some camera feeds that were looking over the stadium.

Yes there they were. Portals scattered about the pathway leading to the starting position. If someone chose the wrong portal then they were going to have to race all the way back to try again.

And with six walls and ten portals each. That was going to be a whole lot of running, or luck to get through.

"It's a shell game," Eraserhead deduced. "Some of the portals go through to the next entrance, some of them lead back to the start. The competitors are going to have to figure out the right route through trial and error."

"Damn what a brutal bit of sabotage. I'm gonna have to get in on those battle classes. Just how is All Might training these kids!" Present Mic enthused.

"This isn't the result of All Might's teaching," Eraserhead sighed. "Carlisle is a force unto himself."

"Well either way, the rest of U.A.'s first year students are approaching fast! Let's see how they're going to handle Ethan Carlisle's tricky parlour games. Will they break through? Will someone pull out a sneaky trick and get past these extra obstacles without even needing to guess the right way. Or will there be an upset? Will one lucky U.A. student guess right early on and find themselves getting through on sheer dumb luck!

"Here they are now!" Present Mic said. "Some of the students have stopped in their tracks, but not all of them. There's kids running straight through the portals! Diving into the unknown is something Heroes do every day, but diving into the effects of someone's Quirk? Is that bravery or stupidity? You decide!" The musical Hero declared to the audience in the stands and those watching at home.

The crowd was loving it at least. Flashy, interesting uses of Quirks and they hadn't even got past the opening event yet. Erasherhead wondered if the viewers had realised yet that Carlisle was clearly and blatantly using two different Quirks.

Eraserhead continued watching as more students tried to brave Carlisle's impromptu gameshow challenge. He could see some members of the Hero course popping through. Kirishima had managed to get through to past the third wall on his first attempt alongside another boy, Tetsutetsu from 1-B. The two thick headed boys had evidently got into a competition between the two of them. They split up and the red-haired Kirishima raced for the portal directly in front while Tetsutetsu veered off for another.

Kirishima got to his portal first and raced through just as the Steel bodied Hero in training reached his own portal. Only it seemed both boys had chosen poorly. Kirishima headed right through his portal and out of the one Tetsutetsu was about to enter. Taken completely off guard, both boys collided head to head. If it were any other pair of students Eraserhead would be worried about them receiving an injury. In this case all their collision did was make a resounding clanging sound of steel on rock. They both went sprawling onto the floor.

"This is gonna take a while," Eraserhead muttered.

Mineta

The wall was huge.

Minoru was a small guy, he knew that, but still that thing had to be over thirty feet high!

Yaoyorozu, whose back he had been clinging to had stopped, dumbly staring at the wall when it appeared before them.

Then there were portals.

Ten portals. It took a moment for Minoru to figure it out but once it clicked it was obvious what Carlisle was doing… This was like those stupid gameshows from twenty years or so ago.

He let go of the balls on Yalyorozu's back and jumped down to get a better look.

"There's going to be more walls, isn't there?" he asked glumly.

There was probably a one in ten chance of picking the right portal to pass through. Then he'd have to do it again, and again until he got all the way through. But if he got it wrong Mineta wasn't sure what that would mean. He couldn't see any other portals except the ones lining the wall. They could lead anywhere.

There were probably at least three walls. Ten, by ten, by ten. A one in a thousand chance of getting it all right on the first attempt, or ten thousand, or one in a hundred thousand.

Mineta figured if he'd set up the portals like this then the exits were probably somewhere fur-ther back near the start of the race. If he got just one portal wrong then he'd have to run all the way back, properly this time!

There was only one solution. He couldn't risk making a mistake going through the obvious approach, he'd be out of the race. He couldn't go through either, so he would just have to go over instead.

Mineta threw a few balls down in a cluster on the floor. The bouncy pad was a good spring-board. Clutching his balls in his hands he raced forward. He jumped on his improvised bounce pad and leapt up half way up the wall. Sticky balls in each hand left him clinging to the sheer surface desperately.

Stupidly, Minoru looked down. Fear gripped him and he froze in his position against the wall.

It took a minute for him to untense himself and by that point other students were gathering below now. They were grouping up and trying to decide what to do. He needed to move. He had to move. Minoru grit his teeth.

He could do this, Plus Ultra.

So he looked up to where Carlisle was casually sitting on top of the giant wall he'd made. That was his goal now. He started climbing again.

Half way up he froze as a massive tremor went through the wall. He risked the prospect of freezing up again to look down.

There was a ginger haired girl down there with some sort of gigantification Quirk. She'd just punched the wall with her massive hands. The wall was very much still intact but Minoru wasn't going to take any chances if she tried again. He quickly went back to climbing as the girl tried to break through the wall once more, sending tremors all the way up it and forcing him to hold on lest he fall down.

He couldn't stop now! He could do this, Minoru told himself. He looked up. He was almost there!

He finally made it, clambering onto the thick flat top of the wall. It must have been a good three metres thick he realised. There was no way the girl down at the bottom was going to be able to break through all that! It'd take Bakugo or Todoroki to get through it.

"Hey dude, how's it going?" Carlisle said from beside him.

Minoru glanced across at the boy who was casually watching the other runners trying their luck with the portals. Then he glanced ahead. There were another five walls in front of the first one.

Six sets of ten portals each. Getting through all of them on the first try was a one in a million chance.

"You are absolutely evil," Minoru said, panting for breath.

"Eh," I mean I do have a mean streak," Carlisle admitted casually. "It's a good thing I'm ex-pressing it in such a healthy way though. Imagine what I could get up to if I really wanted to fuck with people?"

Minoru adjusted his position so he was sat down next to the other boy. It seemed Carlisle had genuinely set up a way through these walls, seeing as some students had apparently found the right first one and were now trying their second attempt at getting through. He absolutely hadn't needed to do that. Suddenly Minoru had the mental image of the final wall just being portals back to the start of the walls, Or Carlisle sitting at the end of the race and just sending random students all the way back to the start.

"Okay you have a point," the purple ball-headed boy commented resignedly. "But why are you doing all this at all?"

"A few reasons," Carlisle said, waving a hand. "First, I don't mind not coming first. I don't want to deprive our classmates of the opportunity so I won't just go to the end. Plus I gotta admit I was a bit ticked off by that Gen Studies kid, Shinso. There's other, more important reasons too, but honestly this sounded funny in my head, so why not y'know?" He shrugged.

Minoru didn't know. He glanced across at the other walls. That'd take a lot of work to climb over, and he needed to get down to the bottom first. Perhaps if he could get enough of his balls in the right place, he could jump down and bounce up onto the next wall?

"You're the first to try actually climbing over," Carlisle stated. "Good out of the box thinking," he praised. "That's proper Hero thinking right there. You see an obstacle you can't get through conventionally? You find an opportunity to bypass it or you go around it. Good job dude."

"Thanks," Minoru said awkwardly. He wasn't used to praise like that.

Down below some other students were trying their luck. Minoru was right before, it seemed the wrong portal would send you back to an earlier spot in the race. Yaoyorozu had seeming-ly tried going through the portals at first and now she was racing back forward with her roller skates and a pole vault. She was going to follow Minoru's example and try climbing over the wall herself.

"Well anyway I guess I'll get moving," Carlisle commented, he patted the boy on the shoulder and then stood up. "See you at the finish line bud." He waved his arm, creating a new portal beside him.

Carlisle made to step through, no doubt headed to somewhere further in the track, past all the walls. Minoru's eyes widened in realisation, seeing an opportunity. He leapt forward without thinking, sticky balls in hand he connected with Carlisle's back but in the process sent both of them tumbling through the portal.

They landed roughly on the dirt. Minoru was clinging to Carlisle's shirt as the boy landed on his front. The smaller boy let go and jumped back. The boy got up and turned around to look at him. His mouth opened and shut like a goldfish in surprise as what Minoru had just done.

"S-sorry?" Minoru stammered out.

There was a tense silence, Minoru wondered if the boy was going to do something in retalia-tion.

Then Carlisle burst into laughter.

Eraserhead

Nobody had noticed it yet, Eraserhead thought as he watched the many contestants to the festival Carlisle was making a farce out of continuing to try and navigate his little game.

The boy had disappeared when the cameras were focusing on the crowds, taking Mineta with him it seemed.

The portals were all still there though, including one at the end of the row behind the first wall which nobody seemed to have noticed yet.

Eraserhead had the faintest suspicion that whoever went through that one would probably turn out at the end of the wall segment and beat the entire thing. That sounded just like some-thing Carlisle would do too.

He made a mental note of it. It would at least be somewhat entertaining to point that out to the rest of 1-A once this was over.

Damn, he was starting to sound like Nezu.

Of course, the first obstacles weren't the end of it though.

Carlisle, with his apparent minion in tow, was now busying himself setting up his next obsta-cle. He wasn't setting up his own creation entirely this time though. No he was making use of the pillar drop challenge instead this time. It looked like he was covering up the entire pit with large square panels of rock.

He had created a square panel of rock over the pitfall trap and Mineta was jumping up and down on it repeatedly while the Western boy concentrated.

Suddenly the platform shattered. Mineta windmilled his hands for a second before being caught by Carlisle's mist and he was deposited back on the ground. Carlisle gave the boy a thumbs up which he timidly returned.

Eraserhead looked back at the other competitors. They'd find out whatever this next trick the boy was pulling shortly.

Shoto, Bakugo and Iida were doing well. It seemed even Izuku was somehow still in the race. Eraserhead hadn't noticed at the time but All Might's successor had got past Carlisle before the boy had managed to set up his first traps too.

Well Eraserhead was happy for them. At least they got to take part in the opening race the way it was intended.

It seemed it had only taken a minute or so for Carlisle to finish setting up his next obstacle though and He'd abandoned Mineta at the opposite end of the newly refurbished portion of the track. Carlisle was now stood by the finish line, waiting for his other classmates to show up.

Was he just going to step over the line right before the first one got to the finish line? That would be incredibly cruel. Eraserhead could picture Nezu cackling at the idea already.

Shoto, Iida and Bakugo were all racing at a breakneck pace to the finish. Meanwhile Izuku was doing something with the mines.

It seemed All Might's successor was making use of that big brain of his. Once he figured out a solution to using One for All he'd probably turn out to be a great Hero. Not that Eraserhead would ever mention that to the young man's face.

Present Mic screamed in excitement next to him as Izuku made use of the remaining mines, creating a massive explosion and propelling himself to the finish. Izuku had a confused ex-pression on his face at seeing the other boy just standing there. Carlisle saluted the boy cheekily as he crossed the line.

They had a winner though. Izuku was quickly followed by the rest of the students that had got this far before the Westerner had interrupted proceedings. There were about twenty places remaining of forty two spots.

With the exception of Mineta who was now coming out the other end of the former minefield, the only students left were currently approaching Carlisle's second creation. That wasn't enough though. It seemed having played with two portions of the track wasn't enough for Carlisle…

He walked past Mineta, waving the boy on as he made his way to the loose dirt and rock that made up the former minefield.

Kirishima

Eijiro was exhausted!

It took absolutely ages to get through the walls set up by Carlisle. He and Tetsutetsu were practically neck and neck throughout. Ultimately the two boys settled their differences and worked together to pool their knowledge and find the solution to the portal problem.

It seemed they weren't the first to arrive at the next obstacle though.

"I just know this is Carlisle's doing," Eijiro said, getting a funny look from his ally and new rival. Yes this was definitely Carlisle's work, because who else could have set up this?

Hundreds of squares about two metres wide each were lined up in a grid and a few of their yearmates were already trying to cross it.

Except not every square was solid, Eijiro realised as he saw another classmate as they went plummeting to their doom with a panicked scream as they guessed incorrectly and the floor fell out from under them.

A few seconds later the unlucky contestant appeared through a portal located a little ways back and to the side. The portal was angled it seemed and they went flying diagonally in the air. The student who Eijiro didn't recognise lost their momentum and collided painfully with another student who was just approaching, having only just finished navigating the wall obstacle.

There was a bridge. Or at least there were solid panels scattered about the course forming a rough path for anyone who had already discovered it. The game was to guess the floor panels correctly and make your way to the other side. The loose panels once they fell were gone, leaving just the real bridge behind. So if you guessed wrong then you'd probably fall, got back to the start and potentially give other competitors who didn't try their luck an advantage.

"Dude you've spent far too much time watching old game shows," Eijiro muttered as he stepped forward after Tetsutetsu who was running ahead to have a go himself.

On top of everything else it seemed the puzzle was also a maze. There were branching paths, some of which seemed to lead to nowhere based on the empty and open spaces surrounding those points.

Eijiro followed the other guy on.

"If we work together we can catch each other and stop us falling," he advised the other boy after he caught up with him. That way they wouldn't have to start from the beginning.

"That's not a bad idea!" The metallic boy commented, nodding enthusiastically and more than happy to team up again.

They worked together, quickly gathering a crowd of others around them, hoping to benefit from the two boy's efforts. They weren't even thanking the two boys, just standing there and hoping to leach off their success.

That was so not Plus Ultra of them, but Eijiro didn't care. He just wanted to finish this race.

It wasn't them who were making the most progress though. There was a girl from 1-B with long vines for hair who used her Quirk to test the panels and find out if they were sturdy or not at a distance. The two boys quickly joined her and Tetsutetsu introduced Eijiro to Ibara Shiozaki from his class.

"Thanks for the help Shiozaki-san! Eijiro said as the girl brought them ever closer to the end of the puzzle.

The girl put her hands together and bowed politely in gratitude even as she continued to concentrate on her Quirk.

"The boy who did all this?" She asked. "He is in 1-A?"

"Yeah Carlisle," Eijiro admitted. "He's… He's strong, and kind of an ass."

"But like how'd he do all this?" Tetsutetsu asked. "What's his Quirk?"

Eijiro wanted to answer but he stopped himself. It was supposed to be a secret wasn't it? But Carlisle had already shown off both Quirks and this event was even being televised.

"You guys know about what happened at the USJ right?" He asked. Both Shiozaki and Tetsutetsu nodded.

"Well during it Carlisle figured out a way to take people's Quirks," Eijiro revealed. "He used it to take the Quirks of a bunch of Villains and saved some of my classmates, and Eraserhead," Tetsutetsu gasped. "His real Quirk is Overhaul, which lets him manipulate matter. That's how he created those walls and did this. The teleporting mist he got from a Villain at the USJ though."

"Damn I'm glad I didn't say anything rude to him before," the steel bodied boy said with relief. Eijiro rememberd him being there when all the other students were trying to get a look at Class 1-A. Yeah, it probably was the smart thing. Carlisle had a mean sense of humour.

Shiozaki meanwhile was wide eyed and fearful.

"T-that is horrifying," the girl said, pale faced. "T-taking people's Quirks?"

Eijiro shrugged. "They were going to kill us otherwise," he said. "Like I said the portal ability of his, that was one of the Villains' Quirks. If he hadn't taken it like he did then they probably would've gotten away too."

"Damn!" Tetsutetsu said. "And instead of just winning the race cuz he can teleport, he's just playing games with us all? What a scary dude."

Eijiro shrugged again. "He's kind of cool once you get to know him. He's promised us he wouldn't take someone's Quirk without permission either," he added. "So don't get worried about that or anything."

That didn't seem to be enough reassurance for Shiozaki who had withdrawn some prayer beads from beneath her shirt and was clutching them desperately while muttering something.

"I-is she okay?" Eijiro asked.

"Hey Shiozaki, snap out of it," Tetsutetsu said. "You're making 1-B look bad!"

The girl collected herself and shot the steel boy a dirty look. "Very well," she said. "Let's finish this maze."

They got to near the end, but discovered that there wasn't an obviously safe path over to the other side form their location. It seemed the correct path was another way. Shiozaki's Quirk was great though. She used her vines to pick up both boys. She could lift them all the way over the gap with her long vine hair and she deposited them on the other side before using her vines to climb over herself. The three students were all the way across. They'd left behind a number of dejected hopefuls who had been hanging back and hoping to take advantage of the vine-haired girl's hard work.

"Thanks again!" Eijiro said to the girl. "Come on, let's finish the race together!"

The three students stuck together and headed to the final obstacle in the race.

Present Mic

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

"And Shiozaki from the Hero course class 1-B comes in again with another great use of her Quirk!" Present Mic declared. "It looks like Kirishima from 1-A has made some friends in the students from 1-B too!"

Eraserhead managed to slump further into his seat somehow. The guy was such a stick in the mud sometimes. Why he was here and not say All Might, Present Mic didn't know. He was just glad Nezu changed his mind about letting Mic announce this part of the competition. This was great!

"Is it over yet?" Eraserhead asked dully.

"Twenty one competitors have made it through so far!" Mic shouted excitedly. "That means we've only got another twenty one more hopefuls yet to pass through and claim their spot in the next stage of the competition."

"And look now, here comes the first group to pass the tile maze set up by Ethan Carlisle. We can finally see what the boy has in store for them here!"

The mines had all been exploded which would have just left the entire area clear and the only risk remaining for the run being the chance of tripping over some loose earth.

Carlisle had come and created a number of raised stepping stones lined up randomly along the path. The ground beneath them was still loose and muddy from all the explosions earlier. Mic couldn't wait to see what the trick to this one was.

"And it seems Kirishima from class 1-A is first to take an attempt. He's stepped onto one of the stones," Mic narrated for the audiences at home, anticipating what was about to happen next as the boy struggled to not fall over. "Aaand he's caught his balance. It seems there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary about that one ladies and gentlemen, but perhaps there's more trickery at play. Any one of those stepping stones could be some sort of trap!"

Kirishima jumped to the next stone. They were spaced just far enough apart that it couldn't be done easily. His new fronds from 1-B watched on anxiously.

The next stone was fine too. Kirishima turned around holding a pair of thumbs up for the other students.

Together the 1-B students jumped onto the stones. Shiozaki's prehensile hair was writhing in agitation but she didn't use her Quirk, following in Kirishima's wake as the boy jumped from one stone to the next.

"He must have the luck of a devil because Kirishima hasn't tripped any traps on this course!" Present Mic declared. "A bit of good fortune for the 1-A student."

Eraserhead was looking over this part of the course again. He watched Kirishima's miraculous success as he and the 1-B students made their way slowly across the muddy path one stepping stone at a time. He suddenly let off another groan.

"It seems our other commentator has spotted something I haven't!" Present Mic cheered. "Care to enlighten us my friend?" He asked pointedly.

"There is no trick," Eraserhead said dully as more students approached and began following Kirishima's strategy, albeit more slowly and carefully, clearly expecting some sort of trick much like Mic had. "Carlisle has just set up stepping stones for people to use to cross the mud. The students are just assuming they have to use the stones to get passed and that there's some trick to it all when in fact there is no trap. They could just run over the muddy areas with no problem whatsoever."

Mic's mouth hung open before he let out a laugh of mirth. "He's sure got them hasn't he?" Mic said jovially to the audience. "Ooo that has to hurt!" He added as one unlucky student fell off a stepping stone and fell into the mud. They quickly climbed back up and back onto the stepping stone, looking below themselves in a panic for fear of something happening. The student wiped their forehead in relief and then continued trying to jump from one stone to the next.

Present Mic continued watching, cheering and narrating the misadventures of the remaining runners for the festival jovially. This was the best opening to the U.A. Sports Festival ever!

Some of the kids were getting to the end though despite all the extra challenge Carlisle had given them. Kirishima, Tetsutetsu and Shiozaki were the next to arrive after successfully navigating the stepping stones.

Kirishima said something to Carlisle and the two boys clasped hands, laughing together and Tetsutetsu did much the same shortly afterwards. Both boys waved to Carlisle as they crossed the line.

Shiozaki seemed absolutely terrified of the boy though, giving him a wide berth to cross the line and hurrying off after that.

Following that a few others started to appear at the finish line.

Yaoyorozu-san ran through, followed closely by some other students right on her heels. She gave Carlisle a conflicted look as she ran past. There was even a standout in an interesting young boy from the General Studies course who looked incredibly out of breath. He and Carlisle exchanged some words. Carlisle nodded cheerfully and the boy gave the Westerner the stink eye as he crossed the line.

One by one other competitors made it, primarily from 1-A and 1-B it had to be said. Carlisle stayed put though. In fact the only thing he did other than congratulating people on getting to the finish was create a big board with his Quirk declaring how many people had crossed the line already. He updated it after every student crossed.

It was only as another student came up to the finish line that something changed. It was Denki Kaminari from 1-A.

He stopped some distance away, seeing the sign and then Carlisle-san standing under it by the finish line.

He shouted something, although Eraserhead couldn't tell what it was for certain but he was probably asking if Carlisle's sign was telling the truth. Carlisle shrugged his shoulders.

Kaminari stepped forward. Carlisle took a small step closer to the finish line.

Denki's shoulders slumped, he said something else. Carlisle shrugged cheekily again before replying. By this point other students had arrived and had seen the sign themselves.

Forty one students had passed the finish line. Which meant there was only one place in the next stage. Anyone who crossed the finish line would get to the next stage. Except Carlisle was stood right there by the finish line and silently threatening to cross it himself before any of them did.

Denki edged slightly closer, continuing to talk all the time, clearly joking with Carlisle based on the boy's reactions.

Then suddenly the boy released his electricity. Lightning flew out in all directions even as Denki started running towards the finish line, albeit not too quickly, the boy having short circuited himself in his attack.

The other runners nearby were caught in the blast and knocked down. Carlisle however, his skin turned black and glossy almost immediately. Eraserhead recognised it as the rubber skin of the Nomu creature from the USJ. The rubberised skin completely nullified the electricity and Carlisle made a show of jumping over the line just before Denki' semi-conscious form could shamble over himself.

"What an upset!" Present Mic declared.

Chapter End Notes

Thanks for reading up to here. If you've enjoyed my story so far and want to read ahead, then you can find this story written up to chapter 125 on my Subscribestar.adult account.

Nezu

Nezu was having a jolly good time in his luxury box while he watched the opening to the festival. There were a few of the U.A. sponsors present. They were all watching the event in the lap of luxury, as they deserved to after sponsoring his school. Lunch Rush was even serving food, which Nezu's guests were enjoying immensely.

There were a few Pro Heroes attending naturally. Best Jeanist for one, the stylish hero having made an appearance in a tuxedo made of denim. It was quite eye catching.

There was also Ryukyu and Fourth Kind's respective agencies attending. Both heroes were well respected either for their Hero work or other public work in the case of Fourth Kind who was very active and well respected both in his local community and nationally for his work as a Civil Servant.

"Just who is that boy?" Ryukyu asked Nezu from her place lounging next to the Principal of U.A. Currently the boy was doing something to the minefield. "He seems like he needs some reigning in."

"Ah Carlisle-san is a favourite of mine from among our new students," Nezu said. "Although you never heard that from me," he said, eliciting polite chuckles from the various guests.

"An interesting kid," Fourth Kind said politely.

"He's teleporting around a lot with those portals. Quite impressive," Ryukyu admitted. "But the earth manipulation to make those walls too? what's his Quirk?" She enquired casually.

"Oh Carlisle-san has multiple Quirks," Nezu revealed. He took in the surprised faces of the guests with some degree of internal relish. "In fact what you've seen today are two of his Quirks in action. His original Quirk being Overhaul the matter manipulation Quirk and another Quirk, Warp Gate produces the portals."

"The kid has multiple Quirks?" Fourth kind asked, already understanding the implications. He was one of the few Heroes that had an inkling of All for One's existence, both being a Civil Servant and a Hero at the same time. No doubt he suspected the boy was some sort of experiment gone rogue.

"Of course you all are aware of the recent Villain attack on the USJ facility?" Nezu asked, receiving nods from his eager audience. "Carlisle-san underwent a Quirk awakening and gained the ability there. It was a lucky thing too. Thanks to his new ability he was able to round up the criminals himself and even saved many of his classmates too."

"Impressive," Fourth Kind noted. Of course he had enough connections to be aware of more than just the publicly available information on the attack. He probably had heard about missing Quirks. There were rumours amongst the public already. If they weren't going to reveal it now then Carlisle's abilities would have been leaked sooner rather than later.

"Yes Carlisle-san is something of a diamond in the rough, as it were," Nezu said. "He might have the attitude of a comedian," Nezu said as he watched the boy set up his sign by the finish line, already having an idea of what the boy was up to. "But underneath it all that boy is more than capable and he will make a fine Hero one day."

"It's the political implications I'm worried about," Ryukyu pointed out. "Someone who can take away Quirks. People are going to be worried about that, especially the religious types."

"Indeed I had anticipated that," Nezu admitted with a nod. "Hopefully the sports festival today will show young Mr Carlisle in a good light."

"Heh," well he's already entertained the public with his little stunts," Fourth Kind noted. "That's half the battle," he said sardonically. "Ooof," he added, watching as a student lost their balance and face planted into one of the stepping stones on the former minefield.

"Indeed he has a flair for dramatics which is good, even if his attitude could use some work," Best Jeanist also commented. He was watching the replays of Carlisle's stunts with interest. Had Carlisle-san managed to catch a top ten hero's interest already? The Hero Training Placements were coming up soon. Ethan could do far far worse than a stint with Best Jeanist.

"Oh, don't tell me you're already interested?" Rykuyu teased the man. "Why if he wasn't a boy I dare say I would probably be interested myself. I might be convinced anyway…" she finished, giving Best Jeanist an arched eyebrow in challenge.

Those were strong words from the Dragon heroine. She rather famously didn't take men into her organisation. The people around them, watching subtly and not so subtly were listening with rapt attention. The fact these three prominent heroes were readily discussing this new Hero in training with so much interest was sure to have positive repercussions for Ethan's reputation. All according to plan.

"He has clearly already shown great potential in combat. The potential of both the Quirks he has shown so far is immense. The only thing he really has to work on right now is his public image," Best Jeanist commented, pointedly not rising to the bait.

"Yeah it'll be an upward battle no doubt," Fourth Kind said. "But the kid has potential."

"Of course it's not just Mr Carlisle who has potential in our first year classes," Nezu reminded them. He couldn't just leave the rest of the students out to dry after all.

The conversation went from there to discussing the other standouts so far. Iida and Todoroki were obviously pigeonholed in terms of where their future lied, no doubt going to their respective family Hero firms come the Hero Placements. Midoriya and Bakugo had garnered some interest but it seemed neither boy had done enough to get the interest of the heroes in the room yet. Hopefully they would both perform well in the next few challenges.

The race came to an end with Mr Carlisle jumping over the line. Nezu held in his mirth.

It would be impolite to cackle with other people watching.

Midoriya

Izuku had made it, but that wasn't the end of things.

He looked back at the scoreboard with the ten million point score he'd received for coming first.

Well he'd made it at least. Although it seemed like he'd also had it easier than some of the other students.

He'd passed Carlisle twice during the obstacle race, once at the start and then once again at the end. Carlisle hadn't been idle though, oh no. The boy who by all rights should have won the race from the very start had spent the entire time playing around, making the entire obstacle course harder for everybody else and when he was confronted by a number of other students afterwards he didn't look apologetic at all. Speaking of.

"How's it looking from the top?" Carlisle asked him, approaching Izuku from the side. He had his own score, being worth a paltry five points for coming forty second despite the fact he should have won the whole thing!

"It-it's kind of scary," Izuku admitted. "I don't feel like I deserved this though," he admitted, looking at the other boy pointedly. Carlisle-san gave a cheerful chuckle.

"Honestly I felt like I'd be cheating a bit if I used Warp Gate to win," Carlisle-san said. "Hey though, if I wasn't here I reckon you would've won all on your own anyway. That was all you out there," Carlisle said with surety. "Plus the number doesn't worry me, as long as I can get to the actual fighting round this stage doesn't really matter."

Izuku nodded, although he felt like Carlisle was still missing the point. He would have preferred coming in second fairly to winning because someone just decided they weren't going to compete properly!

Although right now he'd actually prefer getting to swap positions with Carlisle at this point. Almost Nobody wanted to be on his team because everybody else would be gunning for Izuku's headband once they started the Cavalry Battle.

Well, Izuku had Ochaco-chan at least. The anti-gravity girl had accepted being part of Izuku's team with a confident smile a kind word and a blush on her face. Izuku knew he could count on her.

"Speaking of that. Can I join your team?" Carlisle asked with a self-deprecating look to him. "For some reason I'm worried nobody else will want me on theirs."

Izuku's eyes boggled for a moment and he looked around the area at the other groups of students that had already formed into teams, some of them were eyeing Izuku up like a slab of prime steak, but a few others were giving Carlisle dirty looks too. Were they all mad? He hadn't bothered trying to ask Carlisle to join his team because he thought the boy would already be taken!

"Yeah they all seem a bit put out with me for some reason," Carlisle commented while scratching the side of his face idly. "Can't think why."

"Yes definitely! I mean, yes definitely you can be on my team!" Izuku said nodding his head rapidly before the boy could change his mind. Carlisle shrugged and held out a hand Izuku shook it.

"Well then, let's win this thing," Carlisle said.

Nezu

The Cavalry Battle was entertaining, but not nearly as much as the race had been. With Carlisle's powers his team had hidden in a cloud of mist. Bakugo and Todoroki's teams had been smart enough not to try going after Midoriya's ten million point headband.

Other teams hadn't been so smart about it.

"You'd think after the first attempt they wouldn't have tried the same tactic twice," Ryukyu criticised the girl with the large bull's horns on her head as she fired her horns into the mist a second time.

She'd tried firing them into the mist blindly, only to have them reappear and nearly knock the head off her party member. It was only his quick thinking and deflection with his razor like mandibles that stopped him being knocked off his party's shoulders. The girl with the horns was acting as a mount for, alongside an unknown student from the general studies course. Neither the girl, the insectoid looking boy riding the team's shoulders or their third teammate were earning any favours today.

Both the girl and the leader were from 1-B. The last student had come from the General Studies course. They were in fact the second to get through from that course in the obstacle race. Although it was clear they'd got through purely on luck. The young man's Quirk wasn't much to look at, allowing him to turn his head around three hundred and sixty degrees. If he somehow made it to the final round, he'd probably lose in a battle with any experienced Hero course student.

Not that that mattered though. It seemed that Carlisle-san wasn't playing around. The second attempt at firing a horn through the mist resulted in more severe retaliation. The horn came out from behind the girl this time, striking her on her behind. Sideways, thankfully.

"Ooof," Fourth Kind said in sympathy. "That could have hurt."

Yes it certainly could have. Those horns weren't small. Hopefully the girl would take the message and not try again lest Ethan's patience ran out and his more nefarious side started getting ideas again. That last attempt was a clear and obvious threat if ever there was one…

Best Jeanist meanwhile palmed his face in exasperation. He brought out a notepad he'd been using earlier and took some more notes. Nezu could tell the man would be offering Carlisle a placement with his firm. He wondered idly for a moment if the number three Hero would actually be able to instil some discipline in the not so young man. Nezu really doubted it.

Team Midoriya was the least interesting part of the battle though. Teams Todoroki and Bakugo were currently fighting it out viciously to at least get second place. Their teams were synergised and well organised with competent leadership. Both those teams were practically guaranteed a place in the next round.

If only the women on this year's Hero course could have performed a bit better. Nezu could practically read the thoughts on Ryukyu's expression. She clearly wasn't impressed so far. All the girls seemed to be turning out more like followers than leaders. It wasn't a bad thing perse, but Nezu knew the Dragon woman really wanted more members of her gender to step up to the plate and make names for themselves on their own terms.

Aside from the two obvious contenders for second place there was a dark horse coming through though in the form of one team, that being team Mineta.

The boy had recruited Asui with her frog Quirk and Tokoyami with his Living Shadow. They were holding their own, using the frog girl's tongue to snatch headbands of unsuspecting teams that strayed too close and the sticky balls and the living shadow to form a highly effective defence. They were doing well, but it would be a close thing. The other teams were all vying for fourth place at this point. Midoriya's team was happily turtled up and would win thanks to Midoriya's ten million points. Bakugo and Todoroki's teams were clearly going to take second and third.

"The grey-haired boy, what's his name?" Fourth Kind asked, gesturing to the only other General Studies student that had got to this stage, one of only three non-Hero course students.

"Hitoshi Shinso," Nezu introduced the boy. "He is on the General Studies course."

"Impressive to get this far, but what is his Quirk?" Best Jeanist commented.

"It is called Brainwashing…" Nezu admitted, not feeling the need to elaborate further. The other heroes collectively sighed. "Yes, not exactly the most friendly sounding Quirk is it?" Nezu commented. "Although it seems the young man is determined to prove himself and earn a transfer onto the Hero course regardless of the stigma he faces."

"No opportunity for a placement right now though," Fourth Kind pointed out. The boy wasn't on the Hero course so he wasn't eligible for an official placement, but he had got this far without preliminary training or a combat focused Quirk. Nezu was pleased to see the other heroes were at least entertaining interest in the young man.

Not that it mattered for now though. Young Shinso was out of the competition, entirely due to Mineta who had apparently sussed out the boy's Quirk at some point. Shinso was now covered head to toe in in sticky purple balls and he couldn't so much as open his mouth with his face completely covered in them. More balls on his 'teammates'' feet meant he was absolutely trapped in place, unable to control the students he had under his thrall and he had even lost his headband to Asui's deft tongue which now sat proudly on Mineta's own forehead. The small boy from 1-A had completely dismantled the other student from the offset. It was an impressive display of intelligence. Mineta had identified a powerful contender and disabled them from the outset while also having the smarts to not go and interfere in the battle for second place. Some of the other teachers had had reservations on reading the boy's psyche evaluation but Mineta was proving today that Nezu's student selection process was perfectly valid.

While young Shinso was definitely out of the competition and his respect for others certainly needed some tending to, Nezu was already earmarking him for Eraserhead's personal attention. He'd like a little apprentice of his own and Shinso would probably get on with the Quirk erasing Hero.

They could even have matching scarves!

(Bonus - Midoriya)

"I spy with my little eye. Something beginning wiiiiith, F!"

"is it floor?" Ochaco asked.

"Yes!" Carlisle said. "Okay your turn Uraraka."

"I spy with my little eye…"

They'd been at this between them for a while now, Izuku thought to himself. Carlisle's mist was the perfect barrier, nobody could get to them or Izuku's headband in here. They had absolutely no reason to leave it and just had to wait the contest out. Still Izuku was starting to feel frustrated despite himself.

He couldn't complain though, shouldn't complain. He was getting to the battle round of the tournament.

He sighed as Carlisle once again got his turn.

"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with C," Carlisle said.

"Is it clouds?" Ochaco asked. "As in clouds of mist," she clarified.

"Nope," Carlisle replied, looking quite pleased with himself from his position holding Izuku up.

At least after this it would all be up to just Izuku, the green haired boy thought to himself.

He sighed.

This was all so… anticlimactic.

Ethan

We got through to the next stage. Izuku, Myself and Ochaco hadn't had to do anything once I'd surrounded us in my mist after I transformed. They'd got through but hadn't had the opportunity to really do anything during the cavalry battle themselves. The next stage would be individual battles though and they would now have their opportunities to prove themselves with everyone watching.

We had been corralled together to see the matchups as Midnight was currently explaining to the audience.

"Excited?" I asked Ochaco beside me.

"I'm kind of worried," the girl admitted "This is getting pretty intense now. Look at Bakugo."

Bakugo a little ways across from me was glaring sullenly at Midnight, waiting for the matchups to be announced. He practically radiated with anticipation and many of the other competitors weren't much different.

"Well hopefully you get the right matchup," I commented as we waited patiently. After my experience in the battle class I didn't expect the canon matchups to appear, although I did expect some degree of match fixing. It would be a shame if Todoroki and Bakugo met at the start for instance, rather than near the climax of the fights.

The matchups came up on the board. My first battle, Tenya Iida. I looked to the speedster Hero. He looked nervous but determined, good. We were all directed away and towards some stands left especially for the competitors while the first matchup, Izuku vs Momo. The competitors were directed to go to some waiting areas outside the battle zone and get ready.

"Hey," I greeted Iida. The boy shot me a conflicted look.

"Carlisle-san," he said politely. He looked and also sounded frustrated.

"I know I don't have much chance of beating you with Warp Gate," he said, suddenly developing an edge of determination to his tone. "But I will give it my all!"

"That's what I want to see," I told the young man simply, glad to see he was still going to commit everything to show off his skills. "If it makes you feel more confident I don't intend to use Warp Gate during this stage."

That made Iida's eyes widen. "But why?" He asked. "With that power you could easily win every match!"

"Yeah, and?" I said. "It wouldn't be good for everyone else would it? I'm gonna get plenty of attention during these matches anyway. I don't want to drag everyone else down at this stage. This is about us all having a chance to shine. Still though, I do intend to get to the end, if I can."

"That… Thank you," Iida said with a great amount of relief that he couldn't quite disguise.

"Don't think that means I'll go easy on you though," I warned. "I still have plenty of other abilities to show off."

"Right," Iida acknowledged. There was a change about the boy now. He felt like he had a chance now and that'd only encourage him to work harder. He wasn't just going to try while knowing he'd fail anyway.

Next up there was an intermission with other students invited back to play some games for the watching spectator's amusement. It wouldn't get them back in the competition but it was a light bit of fun. I headed over to see what was on offer but on the way I was waylaid by Yaoyorozu.

"Carlisle-san," she said as she approached me from among the other students.

"Hey," I said, noting the change in honorific. "Finally ready to speak to me?" I asked dryly. It had been days. I'd acquiesced to her wishes when she'd told me she needed to leave to think things through on our aborted date. Since then I'd been waiting for her to come to me, but the girl had been frustratingly quiet and it had only left me more frustrated as time went on. Yaoyorozu nodded.

"Perhaps we should find somewhere more private to talk?" I suggested as the girl fidgeted, thinking Momo would prefer a less crowded environment to talk. I myself didn't want to discuss any particulars of my background with any prying ears nearby. Most of my peers were having their own conversations but I didn't doubt one or two of them would be listening in. There might be people in the crowd with the ability to lip read or other Quirks that would let them listen in too.

"My battle is up first and I should spend it preparing. I-I wanted to apologise for making you wait," she said bashfully. "Would you be willing to wait until after then, so we can talk?"

"I've got my own fight straight after yours," I pointed out. Yaoyorozu glanced at the bracket.

"Perhaps after then?" She asked me.

"Sure," I said. What was another hour or so? I thought dryly. At least I'd got an agreement out of her to finally hash this out.

"Thank you," the girl said. "I shall see you after our battles!" she declared before leaving quickly, no doubt to get herself ready for her fight. It was her vs Izuku. An interesting matchup for both of them. Yaoyorozu had the advantage in skill and equipment, but Izuku had pure offense with his finger flicks that could end the fight before it even began.

I watched her hurry off. At least it wasn't so abrupt this time. It seemed I'd have to wait until later for her to let me down.

I took part in a few of the games with some of my fellow first years. That was sort of fun but I lost interest fairly quickly, I just wasn't in the mood. Plus, it seemed the television cameras had been turned off so there was little practical point in putting myself out there right now. So I headed back to the viewing area and relaxed quietly while I waited for the first battle to start.

It seemed Momo hadn't got her time to prepare though, I realised. Instead she'd been waylaid by the other girls in 1-A and was now wearing a cheerleader's uniform, having been roped into the activity by the other girls.

I can't say I was disappointed in the result. All my female classmates were some kind of beautiful and even though Yaoyorozu didn't seem to be particularly enjoying having been roped into cheering the other students on, she did look pretty cute in that outfit. I still felt mildly annoyed that we couldn't use the time more productively and just get this conversation over and done with now though. For a brief moment I considered kidnapping her, but that seemed like a rude thing to do and I'd probably filled my quota for that today already.

Midnight finally announced that everyone had to go to the stands before the first battle began. We obeyed and went to our own viewing area to get a good view of the spectacles that were about to take place.

The two competitors came out of their preparation areas and faced off across the white square that was the arena. Izuku looked incredibly nervous. No doubt considering the utility of using his Quirk at this stage. He couldn't guarantee any healing between matches so each broken finger now was a finger he couldn't break later. Momo had a significant advantage with the gear she could produce and she was capable with a bo staff along with any other devices she could conjure up, like flashbangs.

I settled in to watch. Momo's chances were slim. At any moment Izuku could try and use a finger flick to send her flying out of the stadium. She would need to get in close early and capitalise on any advantage she could get before Izuku decided it was worth it to use his Quirk and probably end the fight right there.

Chapter 65

They all needed to prove themselves today, especially Izuku.

He needed to show that he deserved One for All. That All Might had made the right choice despite Izuku's inability to use the Quirk properly.

Opposite him Yaoyorozu was approaching the centre of the arena.

"You ready kids?" Midnight asked. "Losing conditions are the first one to touch the ground outside the ring, knockout, orrr death," she said. Izuku and Yaoyorozu both reared back in worry at the woman's ominous declaration. A moment later she leaned back and laughed.

"Just kidding don't worry. Cementoss is here to stop anything lethal from happening," she told them. "Although I don't think it's either of you I need to be warning about that…" She commented. No doubt she was thinking about Kacchan and Todoroki.

"Either way, both of you are… ready to perform for me?" She asked, the undertone of her words implying something far different to what the two teenagers were about to engage in.

"Yes," Both Izuku and Yaoyorozu replied.

"Then to your positions. I will give the go ahead to start," the woman said.

They squared off. Izuku raised his fists and Momo held her arms out, ready to use her Quirk.

"Begin!" Midnight shouted.

Yaoyorozu raced forward, immediately throwing something forward. Izuku was barely able to react in time, covering his eyes to stop himself being blinded by the flash of the grenade Yoayorozu had thrown and then she was on him.

She had formed a bo staff and swung it sideways. Izuku ducked underneath it. He saw an opportunity and took it, reaching forward with a punch toward the young woman which she backed away from.

Izuku had some space, but Yaoroyozu had him dangerously close to the out of bounds area. A second attack could see him knocked out of the competition!

"You're good with your Quirk," Izuku complimented her, hoping to buy some extra seconds to devise a strategy.

"And you aren't with yours," Yaoyorozu said back. Izuku cringed in response. She was right, but did she really need to say it like that? He couldn't think of a good strategy except to either use a finger flick or to try and overwhelm the other girl before she did anything else.

"That may be so but I still have to beat you!" Izuku shouted. He raced forward, choosing the second option for the moment. Yaoyorozu reached exactly as Izuku expected, she engaged at close quarters with her staff. It became clear though that she was the far better fighter, especially with her bo staff. Izuku wasn't able to figure out a way past her offence and was steadily pushed back again.

Suddenly the girl changed tactics. From her hand she produced some rope, small bollas which she flung at Izuku's legs, tangling them up and sending him tumbling down dangerously close to the boundary.

He needed to use his Quirk! It was the only way to stay in the competition. Izuku brought up a hand, ready to flick his fingers with One for All and send Yoayorozu flying. Hopefully she wouldn't take it personally.

Except even as he was bringing the hand up Yaoyorozu was reacting. The bo staff came up, diverting Izuku's hand and even as pain raced through his finger, the attack went wide.

The staff struck him in the chest, sending Izuku falling back and out of the arena.

"Momo Yaoyorozu wins!" Declared Midnight.

All Might

All Might watched as Izuku came back from the battle cradling his broken finger. The boy looked completely dejected with tears falling down his cheeks.

This wouldn't do. He made his way down beneath the stands and waited for the young man to be seen to by Recovery Girl.

It was several minutes before Izuku came out of the nurse's station.

"Midoriya-shounen," All Might greeted him. Izuku froze, before quickly wiping his eyes and looking up at him.

"All Might…" Izuku greeted. He bowed low. "I am sorry," he said. "I-I'm not cut out for this. I should never have accepted One for All. If you ever find another worthy successor I will happily pass One for All to them!"

"Midoriya…" All Might said. He put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Stand up straight young man."

Izuku did so, although he couldn't find it in him to look Toshinori in the eyes.

"Walk with me," he instructed. Izuku nervously followed the symbol of peace out of the stadium and into the open paths outside it. It was quiet, everybody else was in the stadium.

"First of all," he said. "Don't ever say that to me again," he instructed harshly. Izuku flinched back but then the hero's words must have caught up to him and he finally looked up to All Might's face.

All Might smiled down at Izuku.

"You lost today, that much is true," All Might told him. "Do not think for a moment that I am not proud of you Izuku. You've come a long way in such a short space of time. If anything the fault lies with me."

"W-what? All Might don't say that!" Izuku protested. "If someo-" All Might held up a hand to stop him.

"You simply haven't had enough time to train and learn to use your Quirk," All Might said. "There is no shame in that. Do you think when I accepted One for All I was as capable with it as I was before I gave it to you?" He asked the boy. "No, I had to train for years to get to where I am today, making One for All as strong as it is now and growing strong enough to keep up along with it all the way. The only reason you've struggled as much as you have is because One for All is simply so strong that you still need to adapt to it."

"T-then I just need to train more?" Izuku asked.

"Yes," All Might replied. "We need to find a way to help you in your training though, a way to control One for All so that you can use it effectively and build up your endurance," he sighed.

"I know I'm not a very good teacher," Izuku was about to say something to the contrary but All Might interrupted him. "I'm not. It's absolutely not in my wheelhouse. I've never had to train anyone before. I've had sidekicks, but they came to me fully trained and ready for action. You're the first untrained young hero I've worked with and my lack of ability here is showing. I am sorry."

He bowed to his successor then. Izuku's eyes widened in embarrassment, his hands were up and shaking, silently begging All Might to stop apologising.

"I-I'll find a way," Izuku promised. He looked down at his no longer bruised finger, courtesy of Recovery Girl. "There has to be a way."

"There will be," All Might said, pleased to see the boy make a sudden turnaround. "I have full confidence in you Midoriya," the Hero said. "And one day, when you are ready I'll take you out as my sidekick." Izuku's eyes glistened with hope and tears.

"B-but your condition?" Izuku asked. He looked around the empty grounds. "I thought you. I mean…" All Might looked around himself. There was definitely nobody about.

"You thought I was going to retire?" All Might half whispered. Izuku nodded.

"I did too," the Hero admitted. "I've been told to keep this a secret," he said. "But I think of all people, you I can tell, and quite frankly if I don't tell someone I think I might explode.

"I'm being healed," All Might revealed. "Carlisle-san's Quirk, Reversal has reversed my body to before when I gave you One for All. If I keep visiting him, I'll be fully healed of my injuries in the next few months."

Izuku's mouth hung open.

"T-that's incredible!" He said, honest excitement colouring the boy's tone. "Congratulations All Might!"

"It certainly is incredible," All Might said, feeling gratitude once again for the gift Ethan was giving him, the opportunity to continue making a difference. "So don't think you're going to be alone young Midoriya," All Might said. He held up a hand to shake and after a moment Izuku took it, his much smaller hand dwarfed by All Might's own as he clasped it tightly.

"You might have stumbled, my successor," the Hero said with pride. "But this is only the start of your journey, and from now on I want you to know that I'm going to be with you every step of the way."

(Bonus - Gran Torino)

In his cosy bedroom a small old man watched the television. The young green haired boy was clearly unable to control his Quirk, a powerful strength enhancing Quirk.

First of all, who did Toshinori think he was honestly fooling? Anyone in the know could put two and two together and figure out that the young man had inherited One for All.

On top of that though the boy was clearly untrained, barely able to handle One for All's strength without ripping his body to pieces! What was that man doing?

Well, Gran Torino thought grimly. If his memory still worked then soon U.A. would be offering Work Placements for the first years of the Hero course. He reached for his phone. He had some phone calls to make and after that some people to give a good telling off to.

"Make me get out of bed why don't you…" Gran Torino grumbled, fumbling in the dark for his old Hero costume. "I'm supposed to be retired," he bemoaned.

Ethan

"Damn," I said, impressed. I honestly hadn't expected Momo to come through there, but she'd done a good job against Izuku. The boy hadn't come at her with all he had and as a result he'd been knocked out of the tournament. Hopefully he was doing okay.

Uraraka was fiddling with her fingers, already eyeing the entrance to their stands for Izuku to return. I gave it good odds of her racing off to go find and comfort her not so secret love interest before he got back.

"Tch," Bakugo muttered. He glanced sideways and saw me looking at him. "I expected better," he grumbled, managing to put a huge amount of contempt and disappointment into just those few words.

"I think we can all agree Midoriya made a mistake there in not giving his all," I said.

"He was probably saving his Quirk for later, seeing as he injures himself when he uses it," Iida analysed. I nodded in agreement.

"Well hopefully that lights a fire underneath him," I said. There was nothing I could do about that now and it's not like it'd hurt the young protagonist's chances going forward. In canon he'd been adopted by Gran Torino for a few weeks to get up to snuff and I honestly expected the same to happen now too. If anything the crotchety old man was probably even more annoyed that Izuku's combat potential was so lacking right now.

Although, this change of events might affect Todoroki's chance of getting over his issues with his dad if Midoriya wasn't there to shounen protagonist him into having a revelation about it all. Izuku needed to get his powers under control before the next 'arc' though. I was pretty sure in canon that was just before the camp arc coming up where he would fight that guy with the power to create external muscles.

That would be an interesting power to have... I wondered if Rubber body would let me create a skin over it. I could experiment another time, assuming Muscular even showed his face now. It was Shigaraki's plan for them to attack the camp event and kidnap a few people. Whether that would be the same plan now I wasn't so sure.

Not that it would ultimately matter though.

Next it was myself versus Iida. I glanced at the speedster.

"Ready?" I asked, waiting politely for the boy so we could walk down together.

"One moment," Iida said, finishing off another drink. He stood up.

"I'm surprised you didn't make yourself pee drinking so much of that," Denki commented, not quite rudely but Iida gave the boy an annoyed look regardless.

"I need to charge my engines," Iida said evenly. "I want to be at my best for our battle," he said, looking at me.

"It's knockout by being put outside the arena though," Denki justified his defeatist attitude. "I mean you're fast dude don't get me wrong," he said apologetically. "But Carlisle's just gonna teleport you outside the arena before you get close."

He shot me a dirty look himself. Well he'd tried getting past me at the end there at least. Against anyone else it would have worked and He almost took me by surprise too. But even if his electricity had hit I would've recovered before he had a chance to cross the line at the speed he had been 'running'. The only person who might have foiled my little plan was Hagakure, but she had been coated in mud by the time she arrived at the finish line and that had been before Denki. Sadly for her she'd been eliminated during the cavalry battle.

"I'm not going to use Warp Gate during the fights," I said, surprising everyone. "At least not on you guys," I said. "It'd feel a bit cheap if I just did that every fight and I'm not about that. You all deserve the opportunity to show what you can do." That elicited nods of appreciation and understanding from my classmates.

"So what I'm going to do instead is use different Quirks for each fight," I revealed with an amused tilt to my lips I couldn't quite turn down. "Well, I'll keep Regeneration up and Reversal too, but that's it."

I wasn't going to tempt fate and deactivate the healing Quirk. Keeping Super Regeneration up seemed like a bit of a cop-out, but people could still knock me out of the arena too or trap me so I didn't feel like I'd be really cheating too much by keeping it. Reversal needed to stay so it could charge up for All Might's daily session of rewinding. I wasn't going to use it unless there was a real emergency. This entire thing would be good practice at using my new Quirks from the USJ too, along with having a bit more fun in general.

"So… what Quirks are you gonna use then?" Ashido asked curiously from behind me.

"Now that would be spoiling the surprise," I said, winking at her. Iida came to stand by me, ready to leave.

"We'll see you guys later," I said. I waved goodbye to the class and both myself and Iida headed down to the competition.

This was it. This was what I came here for today. Everyone would be watching me now. This wasn't just a competition but a platform to make my presence known and show the world what I was about. Reveal just what I could do and control the narrative. Show that I wasn't some faceless, nameless monster with a terrifying power.

I was a human being with a personality and I was going to become a Hero. So why should people be afraid of me taking their Quirks?

I'd deliberately garnered a lot of attention earlier. Given people a reason to notice me, to start asking questions about the mysterious boy with two Quirks.

Now I was going to answer them.

Yaoyorozu

When Momo returned it was to find her classmates all chattering excitedly about Ethan's upcoming match with Iida.

"I can't believe he's going to do that," Kirishima commented. "Feels kind of rude."

"He's kind of right though," Mineta said. "With that teleporting ability he'd just be able to win every fight without any of us being able to do anything. At least this way things are interesting."

"What are you talking about?" Momo asked.

"Oh hey Yaoyorozu!" Kirishima said. "We were just talking about Carlisle deciding not to use all his Quirks during his matches."

"Really?" Yaoyorozu asked, confused. She wondered why he would be doing that. "Please would you explain?"

Kirishima filled her in quickly. Momo was surprised, but it sounded like the sort of thing Ethan would do. He rarely took things seriously. She could believe the boy would willingly hamper himself like that, especially if he felt it would help their classmates.

If only he'd applied that same kind of thought during the Obstacle Race… She thought. Those walls had been tough to get over!

Regardless of the added obstacles she'd pulled through though, climbing to the top of Ethan's first wall and then using her Quirk to create a very large pole to hop over the rest. That had tired her out immensely. She'd snuck off to grab something to eat while waiting for her match. But she'd still need to get something more to eat and recover some of her strength for later during the battle tournament.

Especially if Ethan was next… She glanced at the tournament bracket. If Ethan won then they would be fighting against each other next. That just left all sorts of odd feelings roiling inside her.

"And now for our next competitors!" Present Mic shouted into his microphone. "Two more young students from Class 1-A. Our first competitor, Tenya Iida comes from the Iida family, a long running line of heroes. Hoping to race forward and catch up to the legend of his brother Ingenium; Iida's Quirk called 'Engine' left his racing ahead in the obstacle course and how he's racing back onto the arena. Give it up for Iidaaaa!"

The crowd cheered wildly after Mic's introduction.

"And his opponent. The boy who upended the obstacle course by making one of his own! The one you've all been secretly wondering about, Ethan Carlisle!"

The crowd cheered again as the boy came out onto the arena. Albeit they were somewhat more muted this time for a comparatively unknown name.

The two boys faced off against each other.

"Are both competitors ready?" Midnight asked.

"Yes!" Iida replied stoically, looking at his opponent.

"Definitely!" Carlisle said, a confident grin on his face as he looked back.

"Then begin!" Midnight shouted, waving a flag to announce the start of the match.

Iida raced forward, fire issued violently forth from his engines as he closed the gap at impossible speed.

"Recipro Kick!" He shouted, bringing his leg up in a wild sideways strike.

It wasn't the strongest attack Momo had seen Iida use, but it was up there. He wasn't just testing Ethan. He was going in for a sucker punch right at the start.

It was only once the boy committed to the attack that something happened.

Crystals, bright blue and sparkling in the light burst forth from Ethan's arms as he raised them to block Iida's attack. The boy managed to adjust the angle of his attack barely enough to avoid striking the pointy crystals with his legs. He went spinning away, landing on his feet and stopped to take in Carlisle's appearance.

"An explosive start from Iida!" Present Mic announced. "Racing off to close the gap he opened up with a wide kick, barely dodging Carlisle's defensive retaliation! But what is that on Carlisle's head!?" Present Mic shouted in interest. Yes, Ethan had activated the first of his Quirks but that didn't seem to be all. It wasn't just the crystals which were new. No Ethan's head had seemingly turned into a massive green… afro?

"What, I can?" Present Mic's suddenly surprised voice came over the speakers. There was a pause. "Well ladies and gentlemen I'm so excited to be presenting here today because I've just been told I'm allowed to spill the beans. Now if you've been paying attention at home you may be wondering dear audience what the hell is happening with Carlisle-san!" Present Mic enthused. "Didn't we see Carisle-san use a teleporting Quirk and also move the earth during the obstacle race? What about now, where'd those rocks come from, or that hair!

"Well that's not all he can do! No, during the failed attack on the USJ recently our young student underwent a Quirk awakening. Carlisle's got the ability to take away people's Quirks, use them himself and even give them to other people! During the attack he used his new ability to defend himself and his classmates and it looks like today he's going to be showing us exactly what kind of Quirks he took from those crooks looking to hurt the next generation of Heroes!"

It seemed Ethan was happy to play along with Mic's narration because he took that moment to speak.

"Crystal lets me form hard crystals from anywhere in my body," Ethan revealed, lifting his hand which was encased in sparkling blue gemstones. An impressive Quirk to be sure with great combat potential, Momo analysed.

"And 'Broccofro' gives me an afro made of real, perfectly fresh and most importantly edible broccoli!" The boy declared.

Sudden fear and anxiety at the prospect of someone able to take away Quirks gave way to confusion as what the boy had just declared found its way to the watching audience's ears.

"Wait, did he say 'Broccofro?'" Asked Kirishima, echoing the thoughts of no doubts thousands of people in the almost silent stadium.

"I… think he did," Ashido said. "I-I'm not sure."

Down in the arena, Iida seemed as confused as everyone else.

"What?" He demanded. "I thought you were going to take this fight seriously!" He demanded.

"I am taking it seriously!" Ethan said back. He reached for his head and plucked a piece of broccoli off himself. The missing piece grew back a few moments later.

"Crystal and Broccofro aren't the only Quirks I'll use to beat you!" Ethan declared. "I also have another Quirk in my arsenal. 'Popeye' grants minor effects depending on what type of vegetables I eat. He popped the loose piece of broccoli into his mouth.

"And shahwk teef letf me, mmf, chew fafteh!" He declared as he plucked more broccoli from his green afro. A multitude of rows of sharp pointy teeth were visible for barely a moment before he closed his mouth around the vegetables and chewed them all up to mush before swallowing it all down in seconds. It was a couple of seconds after that when the effect of the broccoli was apparent. One piece wasn't enough for them to see in the stands, but multiple were. The boy was growing rapidly under the effects of the Quirk until it was clear he was now several inches taller than when he started.

"You're fast Iida. I'll never catch you in this wide space as I am," Ethan admitted. "But if I keep eating Broccoli I'll keep growing and growing until soon I'll just be able to pick you up and throw you out of the arena! Or I'll make myself sick eating uncooked broccoli, whichever comes first!"

This was the boy she'd accepted going on a date with, Momo reminded herself as she watched the handsome boy dodge another intense attack from Iida. He was relentless this time, constantly circling around for another attempt. Ethan blocked one hit with a crystal coated forearm and dodged under another attack a couple of seconds later. Only the speedster's foot grazed over the large green vegetable afro this time. Sprigs of broccoli were sent flying into the air. Ethan leapt after them, spinning dramatically to catch some of the now slightly burnt veg in his mouth, on account of the fire coming out of Iida's engines, before growing ever so slightly larger once again while he landed perfectly on his feet.

It was a race against time for Iida to break through Ethan's defences in the form of dodges and the hard shell produced by the crystals from this 'Crystal' Quirk. All the while the boy continued to munch on the broccoli that came off his head, getting bigger and probably stronger every time.

Ethan suddenly choked for a moment, allowing Iida the opportunity to land a hard kick to his stomach. The impromptu Heimlich manoeuvre sent the broccoli Ethan had been choking on flying from his mouth dramatically. Then the battle continued. Ethan once more continued to shovel broccoli into his mouth, dodging or blocking Iida's attacks with a mouth full of broccoli all the while.

Momo palmed her face.

Best Jeanist

Best Jeanist had his head in his hands as he watched the battle between the next Hero from the Iida clan and Mr Carlisle.

Meanwhile Nezu was having a whale of a time. Ethan had completely befuddled everyone with his bizarre strategy and Quirk combination, somewhat offsetting the anticipated kneejerk negative reaction to the confirmation of his abilities.

Present Mic had obediently explained the situation with the boy's Quirk taking ability, establishing the narrative of what people would think was the origin of Ethan's power. Eraserhead was now explaining his own deduction to the audience that the boy could have used Warp Gate to just win every match or overwhelmed them with all his Quirks. Instead he was giving his fellow classmates a chance to shine themselves, along with himself. All in all they were collectively doing a good job of presenting Ethan as friendly and well meaning, despite the obvious terror his power had initially inspired.

"I don't know whether to be impressed or horrified," Best Jeanist commented. Of all heroes it would be this one who had an idea of the wider game at play.

"Yes, Mr Carlisle does have that effect on people," Nezu said placatingly, completely ignoring the man's comment on what he had no doubt realised by now was all essentially a drawn out PR stunt.

"He's certainly got… spirit," Ryukyu said. She cringed as the boy continued to shovel broccoli into his mouth. "That can't taste good," said the Dragon Hero.

"Heh," Fourth Kind said as he watched Ethan try desperately to hold down the increasingly large amounts of vegetables he'd consumed. "Kid's got a good attitude, showing respect for his classmates like that when he could just go ahead and win this thing easily. He's showing off, having a good time. But he's not hobbling himself too much, or depriving his opposition of a good battle either. I doubt I'll get a chance to recruit him for a placement with me, but I certainly wouldn't say no if he turns all the top ten firms down for some reason."

He was probably thinking about all the potholes the boy could fill in for him with his Quirk, Nezu thought idly.

"Mirko won't be recruiting at least," Ryukyu commented before taking another sip of her wine. "All Might is a solo act too and Endeavour'll be taking his kid probably. So it's more like seven you'd be competing with, at most."

The conversation switched to the rabbit heroine and her recent and rapid rise through the rankings while they continued watching the spectacle.

Nezu was incredibly pleased. It seemed their other plans were well in effect now too he thought, glancing at Best Jeanist. Ethan would be well positioned for the work studies coming up. He could congratulate the not quite so young man over his performance up to now tomorrow.

The crowd was getting into it now. They'd got over their initial shock and were now excitedly cheering for either of the two students as Iida desperately tried to break through Ethan's defences. Ethan was good at dodging but as he kept growing larger it became harder and harder to dodge and he was increasingly relying on his crystals to block Iida's powerful kicks. Sparkling crystals went flying with every attack, creating a beautiful sparkling effect in the sunlight as Iida tried to topple his increasingly huge opponent before it was too late. Ethan was well over twice his original height at this point.

It wasn't meant to be though. Nezu and his guests watched as the fight progressed. With Carlisle still moving around and making it difficult for him, Iida was fighting a losing battle with the Crystals growing back too fast for him to knock them away to get to Ethan's more squishy human parts. At this point he'd sacrificed any defensive instincts for pure offence in his struggle to overcome Carlisle and so he wasn't prepared during one attempt for Ethan to suddenly catch his leg in one giant hand. Iida immediately kicked out viciously with his other leg and Carlisle let go, but the damage had already been done. Crystal had formed around the entirety of Iida's leg, obstructing the engines on that side and weighing the boy down.

"I-I give in!" Iida surrendered a few moments later when it was apparent that he couldn't dislodge the covering. The crowd cheered the competitors on as Ethan leaned down to give his classmate a hand up, patting him on the back. Ethan reached down, breaking apart the crystals around Iida's leg using Overhaul and allowing the boy his mobility back as Present Mic riled up the crowd some more. Ethan raised his classmates arm up and after a moment's confusion Iida managed to let off a smile as Carlisle said something to him. They waved to the crowd as Ethan escorted the limping boy away.

"Smart, knowing when you're beaten," Ryukyu admitted, popping a delicacy from a passing server into her mouth like the lazy dragon she sometimes allowed herself to act as.

"Iida-san performed admirably," Nezu said. "He just wasn't prepared for Carlisle's somewhat bizarre strategy and interesting use and combination of those Quirks, but he's made a good showing of himself nonetheless." Indeed, he expected no less from the young man.

"I'm just wondering what Carlisle-san'll pull out next," Fourth Kind said. "Do you know what other Quirks he's got?" He asked the Principal interestedly.

"I know most of them, yes," the Principal admitted. "I have my own suspicions about his next strategy too," he revealed to them, thinking about just who the young man would be going up against in the next few rounds. "But like I'm sure Mr Carlisle has already said to his friends, I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise."

Momo Yaoyorozu

Ethan and Iida had left and there was a brief intermission before the next fight while they brushed away all the crystals left over from the battle.

"That was awesome!" Denki cheered.

"Yeah, Iida put up a great fight but Carlisle really stole the show there," Kirishima said as he got up to get ready for his own fight against Tetsutetsu. "That Crystal Quirk was pretty awesome to look at."

"Still if those're the kind of combinations he's gonna be pulling off then anything could happen in his next match," Midoriya commented.

"Yeah that Popeye Quirk sounds really powerful," Denki said.

"I don't really think so," Midoriya contradicted the boy. "All those vegetables he had to eat to get that big. There must have been loads of broccoli he was eating. It was only thanks to 'Crystal' and his dodges that he was able to survive long enough to grow big enough to beat Iida. Anyone with that Quirk on its own would probably struggle just to carry all the vegetables they'd need to use their Quirk effectively."

"That kind of thing requires training," Sato interjected from the side. "That Quirk seems like it works a bit like my own. Trust me it took a lot of training to get my Quirk to where it is now. The effects seem a lot weaker too, even compared to how my Quirk worked when I was younger. But that Quirk could be a lot more versatile than my own if each vegetable has a different effect. I wonder what effects other vegetables would give."

"Strength, for one," Ethan said as he returned to the stands. "Spinach for strength. Carrots for night vision, there's a few others I figured out too but they weren't very exciting."

"Where's Iida?" Asked Kirishima.

"He's with Recovery Girl," Ethan said. "He got scratched up a bit and she wanted to make sure his engines were all clear after how I stopped him." He looked towards Momo.

"Fancy having that conversation now?" He asked.

Momo stood up. "Yes," she said nodding and she quickly followed the boy away and out of the stands.

They went down outside the stadium and walked aimlessly down one of the smaller paths, among the cherry blossoms.

"I figured you'd want some privacy," Ethan said.

"Thank you," Momo replied. They certainly were alone. Everyone else was in the stadium. She gestured to a nearby bench. "Shall we sit down?"

They did. Ethan leaned to one side and then looked at her.

"So," he said. "It's been a few days."

"Yes," Momo replied. "I am sorry for how long it has taken me to… to speak to you," she said.

"It's fine," Ethan waved a hand dismissively, although Momo fancied she could sense an undercurrent of annoyance in his tone. "Well, would you like to say what you're going to say then?" He asked. Momo frowned, somewhat confused by the boy's tone.

"First I want to say thank you for telling me… everything you have already," Momo said, trying to choose her words carefully. She jumped to her feet and bowed respectfully. "And I am sorry for running off like that, it was incredibly rude of me," she said. She'd been so embarrassed at school the next time she'd seen him she'd been unable to so much as approach the boy until today.

"It's fine," Ethan said. "Really. It was a lot to take in and I don't blame you for wanting to end things. Better to do it now than later."

Momo frowned again and then her eyes widened in surprise as she realised what Ethan was saying.

"Ethan-kun I-I'm not breaking up with you," she said, mortified.

"Wait, you aren't?" Ethan replied, nonplussed.

"No!" Momo said, speaking hurriedly. "I-I just needed some time to think before with everything you'd said, it was a lot to take in and I know I was scared but then it had been more than a day and I wasn't sure what to say and it was embarrassing and there wasn't an opportunity to speak to you alone!" she let it all out in a rush, suddenly realising that the boy had been thinking all this time she was going to break up with him. She'd been too embarrassed to speak to the boy in front of their classmates and there hadn't been any other opportunities to talk!

Oh no she'd made such a mess of things! He probably thought so poorly of her.

Ethan brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"God I'm such a moron. I can't believe I forgot this was an anime-land for a second there," the boy said. "Okay then, let's just straighten this all out. You're not breaking up with me?"

"No!" Momo shook her head resolutely.

"So you want to keep dating me?" He asked again. "Despite knowing what I am, or was. How old I am?"

"W-well it is all rather strange," Momo said. "But I have gotten to know you these last weeks and although you are so much older than me, you are also quite immature," she said by way of explanation.

The boy palmed his face.

"Right…" Ethan said. "So you want to keep seeing me, hold hands in public, have me tease you until you blush red, go on dates, share food together and kiss under the sakura trees when nobody's around to see? All that stuff?" he asked for clarification.

Momo's mouth opened and closed like a goldfish at what the boy was describing and she could feel her blush growing brighter and brighter as he kept talking but she couldn't look away until he stopped speaking. In the ensuing silence she looked away in embarrassment.

"O-only if you still want to?" She half asked, half said.

"I most certainly bloody do!" Ethan said. Momo wasn't looking so he took her by surprise as he cupped her cheeks in his hands and turned her face to face his own. The girl wasn't given more than a moment to be surprised by the act before Ethan leaned in to kiss her.

Momo froze, completely taken by surprise as Ethan stole her first kiss.

He pulled back after a few moments, looking into her eyes.

His eyes were a startling shade of green, Momo realised as she looked into them. There was a depth to them, a depth of experience and… and passion. She was captivated.

Tentatively, Momo reached forward herself, taking hold of Ethan's jaw and running a hand through his hair. She nervously leaned forward and he didn't stop her as she kissed him this time.

Ethan

When we returned it was to see that the next battle had already started.

"Hey," I greeted everyone. I spotted a pair of seats and went to sit down with Momo following me.

After everything that had just happened it seemed the girl didn't want to be apart from me right now. I was entirely fine with that and the shy girl blushed adorably but didn't resist as I rested my arm over her shoulders, maintaining some body contact with her even as we settled into our seats.

"What'd we miss?" I asked.

"Asui's going up against Shiozaki-san," Kirishima said.

"The girl you met in the race?" I asked, leaning forward slightly to get a better look at the fight.

Asui was diving and dodging all over the place and she'd no doubt been doing so for a while considering how long I was gone with Momo. She was trying to get close to the girl with vines for hair. Asui was struggling though, the closer she got the more vines there were until it was impossible for her to close the gap.

It seemed we had returned at a fortuitous time as it was at that moment that the frog-girl was finally caught and wrapped up from head to toe in vines.

Asui slumped in her bindings as Shiozaki placed her outside the boundary of the arena and Present Mic declared the girl from the other Hero course class to be the winner.

We politely clapped the girl before she stepped out of the arena. Shiozaki returning the other way, no doubt to go speak to her classmates who would be eager to congratulate her on her moving to the next round.

"She seems tough," I stated.

"Yes she has a great deal of versatility," Momo noted.

"Not as much as Carlisle!" Kirishima commented good naturedly. I shrugged.

"If I wind up facing her then I'm not sure what my strategy's going to be," I admitted. "I'm thinking I might have to use Overhaul before I get to Todoroki or Bakugo."

"You'll have to beat me first," Momo reminded me indignantly.

"Well yes," I admitted awkwardly. Although I already had a strategy in mind for taking on Momo, which was now going through some edits now that we were officially together with no problems.

Momo must have read something in my expression because eyes widened in indignation.

"Do not think that just because we are t-together now that I will be an easy victory!" She exclaimed.

"I wasn't thinking anything of the sort," I replied. "But I already know how I'm going to beat you," I told her challengingly. Momo's expression grew even more indignant.

There was a fire in her eyes as she looked back at me, equal parts indignation and competitiveness rearing their heads at the suggestion that I thought I could beat her without both of my strongest Quirks. The embarrassed blushing heiress of a few minutes ago was completely gone as she looked at me with her own challenging expression.

"We'll see about that," she said. "I'll either beat you, or I'll at least make you use more than just the Quirks you've decided on if you do beat me."

"Oh I'm quite confident in my strategy," I replied, leaning in to match her stare. "Don't be upset if you get a resounding spanking when we face off." Momo's face went slightly redder at my choice of language, but she didn't give an inch as she stared me down. She leaned in further.

"How do you not know it's you that wi-will be… spanked," Momo whispered the last word, too embarrassed to speak it clearly.

"Well," I whispered back, leaning in just a bit closer and closing the gap so our foreheads were touching. I could feel my horns rubbing sideways against her forehead. They were surprisingly sensitive I suddenly realised. I licked my lips, looking into the girl's eyes and wondering if this was too forward a thing to say. "Because I think," I said leadingly. "That when I spank you, that you'll like it."

Momo's mouth opened slightly in response. She was breathing heavily, incredibly red in the face but she wasn't backing down despite the mental image I was no doubt leaving her with. Was I pushing the envelope here? Most definitely. We'd basically just got together after all. But she wasn't backing down and I wasn't the type of person to back away from a challenge either.

Our lips were close, we were absolutely caught in the moment and we leaned in further to kiss.

"Could you guys not flirt?" Kirishima complained, making us lean back suddenly and ruining the moment. "Some of us are trying to watch the competition."

Momo's face was absolutely nuclear as she practically flew back to sit in her chair, knees together and hands folded demurely. I considered escalation, maybe pulling the pretty girl into my lap in defiance of Kirishima being a cockblock. But she clearly wasn't in the mood for that now. Maybe later.

Perhaps during our fight…

Shiozaki, the girl with vines for hair had beaten Asui. The frog girl's agility wasn't enough to even land a hit on the religious girl. Uraraka versus Sero was next. It was an interesting fight, although it was over quickly on account of a poor matchup.

The tape using boy had quickly realised he needed to tie up the girl with his Quirk but he also needed to avoid letting her activate her own Quirk on him, which was easier said than done seeing as his tape was connected to him. He tried disconnecting his tapes before Uraraka could touch them and seemed to be doing well at first.

Then Ochaco, showing an inspiring amount of grit and determination managed to catch the boy out and sent him slowly flying out of the arena. His tape would have been useful in such a situation. In a real world scenario he could have saved himself, but there wasn't anything there for him to latch onto with his own Quirk on the flat terrain except Ochaco who dodged his tape nimbly. In a real battle with actual terrain things would have been far from over and Sero would have had a much better chance. Eraserhead and Present Mic both agreed with my mental assessment as they narrated the fight.

Bakugo versus Tokoyami was next and it went about as well as would be expected for the Shadow user too. The light produced by Bakugo's explosions weakened Dark Shadow and the bird-headed boy was knocked out of the arena quickly with little opportunity to fight back.

Both those fights were bad matchups really and it couldn't be helped. Tokoyami and Sero both returned disappointed in their performances but otherwise satisfied they'd done everything they could. They'd been let down by the luck of the draw more than anything else. Sero for instance probably would have done better against Iida.

I used an intermission to quickly race off and grab some food for myself and Momo. When I got back it was time for the fight between two students from 1-B.

The boy's Quirk was the ability to create platforms of air out of his breath. It was a strange ability, not exactly versatile but I could see how it had helped him in the obstacle course. The guy had probably used his Quirk to walk straight over all the obstacles…

In fact now I thought about it. I thought back to all the students that had got through the race. A lot of them were people with Quirks that had let them circumnavigate my obstacles instead of actually playing my game…

Well there was always next year. Hopefully Nezu would let me try again. Perhaps a hexagonal maze of doors and walls? I could set up pit traps in them. Or maybe a rickety bridge with cannonballs being fired at the other students.

I suddenly realised I wasn't paying attention to the fight and put it out of my mind for now.

The girl with the ability to detach all parts of her body was a surprisingly effective fighter. With multiple angles to choose from and multiple body parts to fight with she was able to pummel the boy until he was knocked out of the arena. It was a good showing. I could see clearly how useful her Quirk was from a Hero work perspective. This Tsubaruba boy probably had potential at least. He could solidify air he breathed which would make for an effective defensive and capture tool one day. But he lacked offence and right now his Quirk was too weak to survive prolonged attacks from his classmate. In fact I had acquired a Quirk at the USJ not dissimilar to his, which only made me feel a bit more disparaging of the boy at his current level.

One more fight before I got to face Momo in the arena. The girl next to me had seemingly noticed too. That energy in her eyes was there again and for a few moments I found my heart racing.

First though. Mineta, versus Todoroki.

Mineta, along with Tokoyami and Asui had pulled through in the Obstacle Course and gone on to survive the Cavalry Battle by the skin of their teeth in terms of points. Now though the small boy was up against Todoroki, who looked decidedly angry.

Well, at least he got to the finals?

Momo Yaoyorozu

Momo had been starving. She'd almost lost her composure again and kissed Ethan in public when he left during an intermission and returned with two heavy bags of food. Wherever her boyfriend had acquired all the food from she didn't know and she wasn't going to ask because she was pretty sure that he'd got a takeout from somewhere he could have only accessed in time via his Quirk. It was filling and helped her recover her stamina though so she would look the other way, just this once.

Kirishima versus Tetsutetsu had gone on for a while. The two boys had been evenly matched with their incredibly similar Quirks. Ultimately it had been a mutual knockout and they had been invited back on to decide the winner via an arm wrestle. Then the fight with the two students from 1-B had been relatively brief.

Mineta's battle was over quickly. Todoroki had been embarrassed by his sudden overly aggressive outburst of ice at the start of the fight and had apologised to the boy while trying to thaw him out. The entire arena on that side was covered in ice.

Then finally it was time for Momo's chance to battle her paramour.

"Wait, before we leave," Ethan said. He pulled up a piece of paper from his pocket and a pen and quickly scribbled something on it. He went up to Izuku.

"Could you please hold onto this?" He asked the boy.

"S-sure," Izuku agreed, slightly surprised but accepting the request easily enough.

Ethan thanked the boy and then came and joined Momo to walk down to the competitor's area. She was suddenly a strange combination of excited and nervous.

"What was that you gave to Midoriya-san?" She asked.

"It's the list of Quirks I intend to use in our fight," the boy said. Momo immediately understood.

"So you can prove you will win with just those Quirks?" She asked.

"Indeed," her boyfriend agreed. "After our conversation earlier… I thought we could make a bet of it?" He asked faux innocently.

She knew she shouldn't, but Momo's interest was piqued.

"What kind of bet?" She asked.

By now they had reached the point to split up to their respective entrances. They both stopped.

"Well whatever you like," the boy said. "It could just be something silly like the winner gets a kiss from the loser," he said perfectly casually. "Or it could be something else. You decide," he said with an eyebrow raised in equal parts amusement and challenge.

Momo wondered what she would ask for. It could be anything. Suddenly she had the mental image of Ethan in a skimpy butler's uniform, feeding her grapes while she reclined on a sofa. She developed a blush, she seemed to be doing that a lot around this young man who had decided he wanted to sweep her off her feet. But… if she did lose then she'd have to do whatever it was herself. Suddenly she pictured herself in a maid uniform, doing much the same for him. That didn't help things at all!

"Well? Any ideas?" Ethan asked teasingly and reminding Momo that the boy was still there.

"I-I don't know…" Momo said. She certainly was not going to suggest what had come to her mind just a moment ago, for fear it might actually come true.

"Okay, how about whoever wins decides what our next date is?" Ethan said. Momo was taken by surprise. With the way he'd savagely kissed her earlier Momo had pictured the boy demanding something… illicit.

"That is fine," she said, nodding. She wasn't sure if she was disappointed that he'd chosen such a tame forfeit or not.

"Then I'll see you out there," he said.

Momo was turning away to leave her own way when the boy's hand on her arm stopped her. He suddenly pulled her to him and kissed her passionately for a few seconds before pulling away, leaving her breathless.

"For luck," he said by way of explanation and with a cheeky grin on his face. Then he turned and hurried off.

Momo gaped, still stunned by the sudden action for a few seconds as she watched him leave. Momo pouted in the direction from where the boy had left. The cheeky boy had stolen another kiss from her with that excuse. What's more he hadn't gone so far as to say which of them that kiss was meant to be lucky for.

She couldn't wait much longer though. They had a battle to fight. That nervous energy suddenly came back. There was excitement and trepidation at the prospect of the battle itself, and she had to admit to some curiosity at exactly what this strategy of Ethan's was going to be.

She turned to make her way to her own starting entrance with a determined stride.

If Ethan thought he could win their fight by filling her head with lewd thoughts and other… distractions then he had another thing coming!

Momo Yaoyorozu

Momo entered the battle arena for the second time. The sun was still shining. The crowd were loud and boisterous.

Opposite her, coming out of his own entrance was Ethan.

This was going to be a tough challenge but she was determined to win! She'd not back down just because this was her boyfriend and she expected nothing but the same from him either.

They walked up, only Momo caught herself when she saw Ethan moving. He was… he was taking off his shirt!

The boy was pulling his U.A. Top off, leaving him with just his right fitting grey undershirt as he tossed the first garment to the side.

Then as he came closer he reached for the hem of the undershirt too!

He lifted it up, exposing a well defined stomach and six-pack. The garment came off and was tossed away casually and suddenly Momo's shirtless boyfriend was approaching her from across the arena!

She didn't let herself stop, but she couldn't take her eyes off her opponent. The sunlight shone down on him, casting shadows which only served to highlight the definition in his muscles.

She came to a stop automatically, still looking at the boy with wide eyes.

There was a noise from beside her and Momo was briefly startled. She looked to the side where Midnight was looking at her like the cat that had caught the canary.

"I'm sorry but could you please repeat that?" Momo asked in embarrassment.

"I said neither of you need to go over the rules again," the R-Rated Heroine said. She turned and looked back at Ethan, her eyes raked over the boy's exposed upper body like he was a piece of meat to be devoured. Momo felt a sudden surge of possessiveness over her boyfriend.

"You know… I wouldn't be opposed to some one to one training," Midnight purred.

"I'm afraid I already have my hands full with one beautiful woman," Ethan replied, making Momo's blush deepen. "Although…" he said a bit more quietly. "If said beautiful woman is up for experimenting one day…"

Momo's eyes widened and she shook her head, waving her hands side to side in protest at the teasing. Midnight chuckled, it was a husky rumble that couldn't be mistaken for an attempt to convey anything but eroticism.

This was all just psychological warfare! Totally unfair! Momo complained internally.

"Both of you to your positions," Midnight said. Momo turned away gratefully. She quickly began making her way to her side of the arena.

That… that boy! She wasn't going to fall for all this. She wasn't going to let the handsome, charming boy distract her with all his flirting and muscles. She pulled herself together, forcing down her blush and turned back around ready to fight and win this thing!

Ethan wasn't facing her when she turned around. No he was crouching down doing something. It was a few seconds later when he straightened up that she realised what. He was taking off his shoes and socks and he put them down just outside the arena.

He turned to face her.

"Are both challengers ready?!" Asked Midnight.

Momo unbuttoned her top, exposing her midriff which was covered by her heavy duty bra. She needed as much exposed skin as she could get to use her Quirk effectively. She nodded and Carlisle nodded in acknowledgement too.

"Then begin!" Shouted Midnight, waving her referee's flag.

Momo immediately began forming a bo-staff from her hand as she ran towards her opponent. She kept her eyes forward, ready for any sudden movements or surprise Quirk activations.

Ethan reached down, taking hold of his trouser pants and with a great tearing sound tore them off!

Despite everything she'd just been telling herself, Momo came to a stop.

Ethan was right there, almost fully nude. His entire body was on display. From the neck down to his feet he was all lean muscle. The only thing left to preserve her boyfriend's modesty was his underpants, black briefs which were very tight.

Ethan held up four fingers.

"Anyone would die for the opportunity just to hold your hand Momo-chan!" He declared. "And I can tell you from personal experience that they would be right to think that," he complimented her. "So in the spirit of that I'm going to beat you with four Quirks!"

Momo was stunned in place, left unable to do anything but stare as her boyfriend posed proudly in front of her. His hands were on his hips and the stunned crowd was no doubt checking out his fantastic body, just like Momo was despite herself.

"That's right four Quirks, and the first of them…" He stated grandly into the silence. His hands went to his underpants, the only stitch of clothing on him. He tore them away, even as he activated the first Quirk.

"Invisibility!"

The torn underpants floated silently in the wind as the crowd, and Momo stood in an even more mute silence. The underwear fluttered past her and out of the corner of Momo's eye she saw it. Yes the underpants were black at the front, but something Momo hadn't been able to see from her position was that at the back of the garment caught her eye as it fluttered in the air. On the back of Ethan's underpants was a bright yellow smiley face.

Hagakure

"This is so embarrassing!" Toru said.

She put her hands over her eyes. She couldn't watch this!

Carlisle was using her Quirk in his fight with Yaoyorozu! He was completely naked! Not that anyone could see, that was the whole point of the Quirk, but he was still naked down there!

Down below Yaoyorozu was stuck frozen with indecision. Carlisle could be anywhere in the arena thanks to his invisibility.

"Where are you!" Yaoyorozu shouted in frustration.

"That would be telling…" Carlisle said with amusement in his tone. "You'll just have to find me."

Yaoyorozu immediately turned to the location she'd heard the boy's voice from. She pro-duced bollas from her arm and threw them, all in one swift motion at the direction the boy's voice had come from.

"Uh uh uhh…" came the boy's teasing voice from the other side. "I'm not there," he said. Yaoyorozu spun around. "Not there either," he said again.

"Invisibility is only the first of four Quirks I'll beat you with," Carlise said, reminding everyone of his declaration at the start of the fight. "My second Quirk, Ventriloquist, makes it so any sound I produce comes from somewhere else. You won't be able to find me by the noises I make."

"Damn that's a pretty cool combination," Kirishima said. "He's basically cut off both Yaoyoro-zu's sense of sight and hearing!"

"Yeah," Izuku said from his own seat where he was watching the fight with interest. He even had a notepad out. "Although he still has to beat her somehow. So he has to get close to do that," he pointed out.

"She needs to figure out a way to attack a large area all at once," Bakugo put out, surprising all his classmates. Up until now the bomber boy had been gruffly silent as he watched the fights. "What?" He asked. "It's what I'd do, try and box him in. Make it so he's got nowhere to go and then beat the shit out of him there."

"But how is Yaoyorozu supposed to do that?" Kirishima said. "She doesn't have a Quirk like yours," the boy said. Bakugo shrugged in response.

"Beats me," he said. "But she needs to figure it out herself or Carlisle'll have this in the bag."

Down below Yaoyorozu was finding it difficult, no doubt for a multitude of reasons.

There was a naked boy down there! And it was Yaoyorozu's boyfriend too! This must have been so embarrassing for her. Toru was getting second-hand embarrassment from just see-ing her Quirk in action down there. Was this what it was like for other people when she used her Quirk to fight?

Down below Yaoyorozu's face was flushed as she tried to figure out a way to locate the invis-ible boy.

Then she jumped, her lower body jerking to the side slightly as she reacted to something. Yaoyorozu swiped to the side with her bo-staff, probably hoping to catch the boy out but the staff didn't connect with anything and she was forced back to stalking the arena.

"What was that?" Ochaco asked curiously.

"It must have been Carlisle, look at how she's reacting," Kirishima pointed out. Suddenly down below the girl let out a squeak and shied away from something on her other side this time with a blush on her face.

"Is Carlisle doing something? He's not actually hitting her or anything," Izuku ana-lysed. Yaoyorozu tried swinging her weapon around a bit, no doubt hoping to catch Carlisle out but it seemed he wasn't within her reach now.

"You can't catch me!" He said teasingly, his voice carrying strangely on account of this 'Ven-triloquist' Quirk.

"It looks like he got away," Ochaco said. "This fight is gonna take a while if he won't properly try and hit her…"

"No," Iida said, surprising everyone. "Carlisle-san must have something planned. He's made himself undetectable, but he must have a strategy beyond that for how to beat Yaoyorozu-san."

"That's right," Izuku said in support of Iida's words. "He's only used two Quirks so far," Izuku reminded them. "He said he was going to use four."

"So he's invisible, he can't be located by sound, and he's doing something with the other two Quirks he's using," Iida said.

"That's not a lot to go off though," Izuku pointed out. "I wonder if Yaoyorozu-san's figured out anything."

"If she has, she hasn't figured out what to do about it," Iida said grimly. "If she can't figure out a counter soon then it looks like Carlisle-san is going to win," he said with finality.

Nezu

Ah young love.

Ethan's strategy was quite painfully simple, it would be interesting to see if Yaoyorozu would figure it out before it was too late. Nezu had confidence in the girl though. She would figure out a solution to the boy's invisibility sooner or later. Nezu had an idea or two himself already for how she might counter it.

"So they're together then?" Ryukyu asked with amusement.

"Indeed," Nezu replied. "It seems Mr Carlisle intends to win this one without Miss Yaoyorozu coming to any harm."

"How chivalrous," Ryukyu said dryly as down below Yaoyorozu let off a squeak of surprise when Ethan presumably poked her in the side again.

Or he may have been doing something else, Nezu wasn't entirely sure. He didn't think the boy would do anything overtly sexual though. He didn't even need to do that regardless. He was probably getting enough amusement from the conflicted embarrassed and frustrated expression on his girlfriend's face as it was.

Romance, it was a pity Nezu would never find someone to call his own. There weren't many animals with Quirks and nothing he could ever produce children with on account of his unnatural biology. It was only thanks to his own Quirk that Nezu was capable of higher thought and speech so finding another animal with the same capacity was quite unlikely. What made it more frustrating was that the number of intellects on his level were rare, among even humans.

Still, Nezu had a good life. His call to teaching was always a good balm to that particular unfilled need for personal companionship he sometimes felt.

Down below Yaoyorozu was speaking.

"So is this your strategy then?" She asked, looking around and no doubt hoping to locate the boy. "Stay invisible and hope to tire me out?"

"Maybe," Ethan replied after a few seconds. "Want to know what the other two Quirks I'm using are?"

"Yes, please explain," Yaoyorozu asked politely.

Clever girl, Nezu thought. Using your opponent's need for theatrics, or to monologue, against them. An often underappreciated strategy in a Hero's arsenal.

"The third is Super Regeneration," Ethan explained. "I'm counting that one for this fight seeing as I specified only four. I won't have anyone accuse me of cheating."

That was fair. Nezu thought. He really hadn't expected Ethan to relinquish the healing Quirk for a moment. He was far too canny for that. He wouldn't be the type to risk himself when he had such a ready solution to a surprise attack on hand.

Momo flinched to the side as the boy must have touched her again.

"The fourth is Energy Drain," the boy revealed. "Can you feel it working?"

Yoayorozu's eyes widened as Ethan's strategy was revealed in full. Perhaps Ethan was being more subtle at first and she hadn't noticed initially. But yes the girl did look tired, more tired than she should have been considering the relatively light amount of activity so far in this battle.

And so the strategy was revealed. Ethan was using his stealth provided by two Quirks to get in close and slowly drain Yaoyorozu's endurance bit by bit until she was unable to continue. He wouldn't even have to throw a punch to beat her if he played his cards right.

Just like his last fight it was suddenly a race against time. Yaoyorozu needed to figure out a way to locate Mr Carlisle and beat him before he simply outlasted her.

It seemed she had found a solution though.

She suddenly flung a bunch of small objects in Ethan's general direction. Oh she wasn't going easy on the boy either. Thumb tacks, lots of them, were scattered across the arena and a few even collided with the invisible boy.

"Oooh!" Miss Yaoyorozu has found a solution!" Nezu crowed, and a somewhat cruel one at that too, he realised.

Indeed with the metal tacks scattered across the ground Mr Carlisle was at severe risk of hurting himself if he put a foot wrong on account of the fact that he was not wearing any shoes.

Meanwhile the young woman did still have footwear, effectively rendering her immune to harm. She had also somehow located the boy and she charged at his position.

"Ow ow ow!" Ethan said as he stepped back, catching a tack on his foot in the process. "That hurts!"

"W-well you shouldn't have poked me!" Yoayorozu declared, still equal parts flustered and frustrated at the boy's teasing approach up until now.

"I'll do more than just poke you then!" The boy declared challengingly.

"How'd she locate him?" Fourth Kind openly wondered from his seat watching.

"Ventriloquist makes every noise you make seem to come from somewhere else," Nezu explained his own deductions. "She baited Mr Carlisle into talking a lot and through process of elimination based on the sounds he was making she figured out his rough location as that was the one place noise wasn't coming from."

Nezu was pleased to see the three heroes were all impressed by the girl's show of intellect. Clearly she was one to watch with an impressive Quirk and a mind to match.

Yaoyorozu had located the boy now, there was no more hiding. A small trickle of blood from his foot and the tack stuck to his heel gave Ethan's position away and she was cleverly not giving him the opportunity to get rid of it by hand. Super Regeneration was still working though after a couple of seconds it forced the tack out of Ethan's foot and even drawing back some of the blood around it. So it wasn't a permanent solution on its own, but with Yaoyorozu continuing to scatter tacks here and there Ethan was continually stepping on them and so she could keep locating him by looking for the tacks on the soles of his feet.

Yoayorozu quickly produced and threw some bollas, wrapping up Ethan's foot. Although it seemed she hadn't caught both of his legs, he was now completely locatable thanks to the ropes around his leg.

Yaoyorozu pressed her advantage but in her eagerness to attack the boy with her primary weapon she got too close and suddenly the still mostly invisible Ethan had grabbed onto her bo staff too!

The invisible opponent had a firm grasp of the young woman and she wouldn't or perhaps couldn't let go of the staff. Yaoyorozu's eyes widened and she struggled to pull away. No doubt Ethan was using their physical contact to activate his Energy Drain Quirk and tire her out, draining her energy much faster this time now that he wasn't doing it secretly.

From her stomach Yaoyorozu produced something with her Quirk. It was a Russian Doll which fell to the floor at their feet. Nobody was quite prepared for the sudden explosion of sound and light from the attack. The bright flash left everyone watching blinking and Ethan who was right next to it and took the attack head on.

The boy clearly must have let go and Yaoyorozu took the opportunity to disengage. Both competitors then took a few seconds to recover from the flashbang. Even if she had been prepared for it, it would have still affected Yaoyorozu at that close proximity no matter what she did. It was a necessary sacrifice though, Nezu thought. After that last engagement she was visibly panting for breath now. Any longer and the battle would have been as good as over. Clearly that last use of Energy Drain had tired her out a lot more now that Ethan wasn't holding back with it.

"Brains and beauty," Ethan said. "It looks like I'm going to win our wager though," he said to the visibly tired girl as he unwound and tore at the rope around his leg which fell to the floor after a bit of effort.

"D-don't think I'm beaten yet," The girl said, determined to prove herself. Although despite her words she was on her last legs, bracing herself on her staff. It was only the many tacks still scattered across the floor that probably stopped Ethan from simply closing the distance and ending the fight right there.

"Never," the boy said. "Your strategy with these pins caught me by surprise. I thought you'd just throw some flour at me or something. Not caltrops."

"I-It's hard to make lots of bits of flour l-like that," Yaoyorozu panted out by way of explanation. Ethan snorted in response.

"I see," Ethan said. "Still it's time to finish this and claim my prize from my beautiful girlfriend. I'll be choosing where we go out on our next date!" he declared.

Yaoyorozu blushed in response to the reminder of this apparent bet, but she didn't falter as she straightened up as best she could and settled into another fighting stance in anticipation of Ethan approaching her through the floor hazards. She wasn't prepared though for Ethan to suddenly come up behind her.

She was forced to drop her staff as her arms were suddenly pinned to her sides. Ethan had no doubt wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug, holding her in place. The girl was too weak to resist as Ethan used his Energy Drain Quirk again to tire her out further. Yaoyorozu fell limp in Ethan's arms, caught by the boy who held her up so she didn't fall. He adjusted his hold on her so he was carrying the unconscious girl bridal style.

"Ethan Carlisle wins!" Declared Midnight a few seconds later when it was clear the girl wasn't immediately getting up. The audience cheered.

The visibly tired out Yaoyorozu recovered and woke up a little after a few seconds. She raised her limp arms to wrap around Ethan's still invisible neck while he cradled her against him.

Both competitors were cheered off as Ethan carried the girl away and out of the stadium.

Ethan

I dropped Momo off with Recovery Girl and then quickly popped off to get some fresh clothes before returning to wait outside the medical room.

Momo came out a few minutes later, she was still very tired and escorted by Recovery Girl.

I pulled the girl into my arms and she didn't refuse me as I gave her a quick peck on the lips.

"I'll take her from here," I said to the woman. The aged Heroine chortled in an unladylike way in response.

"Get her something to eat," the nurse ordered me. "She'll be fine once she recovers some energy."

"Will do," I said cheerfully, wrapping an arm around Yaoyorozu's waist. We set off at a gentle walk. Momo rested her head on my shoulder.

"You won," she complained.

"I certainly did," I said, holding her tighter against me. "This evil Western barbarian has beaten the princess in combat. I guess now I should have my wicked way with you."

"N-not right now," the girl beseeched weakly.

"Oh so later then?" I asked teasingly. My girlfriend blushed again and pressed her face into my shoulder. I decided I'd relent for now. I'd probably filled my quota for embarrassment for today anyway.

A quick teleport back to home base and I picked up some snack food from my cupboard and then returned us both to the stadium. I guided Momo to sit down in my lap. The girl didn't have it in her to refuse and settled comfortably against me while I proceeded to feed her snacks.

"Hey everyone how's it going?" I asked casually. I was getting some odd looks from my other classmates at the obvious PDA. They could all go to hell. I had a pretty girl in my lap, I wasn't going to let them make me feel guilty about this.

"Ochaco is about to go up against Shiozaki," Izuku told me. He came and handed me the pa-per I'd given him before.

"Thanks bud," I said to the boy. I unfolded the paper and handed it to Momo. It was a list of the four Quirks I had used against her with a little drawing of a heart at the bottom.

Momo pocketed the paper. "I guess that confirms it, you won fair and square," she told me.

"Indeed I did," I told her. "I've already decided what we're going to be doing on our next date," I told her.

"Where will we be going?" Momo asked curiously. I felt my mouth stretch in amusement.

"I want to surprise you," I told her. Momo pouted but relaxed against me after a few seconds. I rested my chin on her head. This was surprisingly comfortable.

We chatted with my classmates briefly, discussing my fight with Momo. Everyone had been impressed by her strategy and to be honest she'd almost got me too. If she'd caught both my legs with those bollas she'd have probably got me on the ground and managed to yoink me out of the arena somehow. That seemed to please the girl in question's pride at least.

It was Shiozaki up next though, versus Ochaco. Izuku was at the edge of his seat, he'd al-ready realised the likely outcome and the battle went exactly as one would expect.

Ochaco's Quirk was strong when it could be leveraged properly, but Shiozaki could embed her vines in the rock beneath her feet to ground herself. Ochaco was swiftly trussed up and deposited outside the arena. The anti-gravity girl was grumpy at her easy defeat when she returned, but accepted that there was nothing she could have done against Shiozaki's particu-lar powerset.

After that it was Bakugo versus Kirishima and Todoroki versus Setsuna.

Both matchups were poor ones. Kirishima had a decent chance against Bakugo on paper, being able to tank his explosions, but in the end the Hardening Quirk wasn't enough to survive Bakugo's relentless attacks and good strategy.

Setsuna managed to get a handful of body parts away before she could be completely caught by Todoroki's ice but it only took another few blasts to completely capture her too, ending that fight and leaving the audience hungry to see the two boys face up against some-one more on their level.

Some Quirks were just tougher than others. Given time both Kirishima and Setsuna would probably figure out new tricks, but they'd never be a real match against the power or versatili-ty of Bakugo and Todoroki's respective powers.

It was the semi-finals though. Myself versus Shiozaki and Todoroki versus Bakugo.

First up, I had to face Shiozaki. I deposited Momo in my seat and said my goodbyes and went off for my next battle.

Momo Yaoyorozu

"So Shiozaki and Carlisle. I wonder what he's going to pull out this time," Kirishima said with excitement. "You think he'd got some sort of garden shears Quirk?"

Bakugo snorted from next to the boy and there were some polite chuckles from their class-mates.

"What Quirks do we know he has anyway?" Mina asked.

"There's that hammer arm Quirk," Sato commented.

"He took a Quirk that lets him move his arms faster and speed up when he repeats the same motion," Iida supplied.

"I remember a guy with a compass on his head from the tundra zone at the USJ," Mineta said. "That's the only one I remember though."

"None of those sound like they'd be particularly useful against Shiozaki-san," Izuku said. "But considering what he did with the other Quirks so far that doesn't really mean anything."

"Oh look, they're coming out," Ashido said.

Momo watched Ethan as he stepped out onto the arena for what was now the third time. He'd left her with a bunch of snacks and she was happily munching away on some sort of small pastry he'd brought her too. It was very sweet and tickled her tastebuds delightfully. She needed to remember to ask him what it was called later.

His first fight with Iida had been great to watch and even though her boyfriend had teased her so heavily during their match. He could have come dangerously close to-to touching her in inappropriate places! She could still feel the phantom sensation of him poking her in her side and under her arms.

It had nonetheless been an interesting battle to watch from the outside, at least based on her classmates' responses to it. The combination of Quirks Ethan had used had indeed been in-spired and he'd found a way to beat her without even throwing a punch. Momo wasn't sure if she was annoyed by the attempt at chivalry or flattered that he went out of his way like that for her.

The memory of her love interest stripping down to use Invisibility was seared into her mind forever though. A flush came to her features just thinking about it. Her classmates were all to one degree or another incredibly fit, she knew that intellectually, but Ethan was the first time she'd seen another boy entirely like that. Honestly, he was so irreverent and disrespectful of propriety but Momo couldn't say she didn't somehow find his attitude exciting for some rea-son.

On the opposite side of the arena appeared Shiozaki who steadily approached. She looked uncomfortable though, scared even. That didn't look right. Momo leaned forward in her seat, trying to get a better look.

They both approached Midnight and the referee for the battles asked both competitors.

"I'm sorry but I have to back down," Shiozaki said, eliciting confused murmurings from the stands and confused looks from both Midnight and Ethan. "I can't risk losing my Quirk t-to this monster!" she bit out suddenly.

"Excuse me?" Ethan said, slightly offended. He instinctively stepped forward a step. "I don't intend to take your Quirk Shiozaki-san."

"I don't believe you!" The girl shouted, stepping back and keeping her distance from the Western boy, apparently not able to control herself any longer and raising a hand to point at him dramatically. "Y-you've made a mockery of Quirks, you've been flaunting your horrible power over everyone here, making a-a joke of it all! I won't be party to this, I won't!" The girl cried out.

The entire arena was suddenly silent. Carlisle stepped back a few steps. He looked around the audience.

"I don't doubt you're the only one with similar opinions," The boy said frankly, looking around the onlookers. There were some mutters, and uncomfortable looks from the crowd that gave away that Shiozaki wasn't alone in her opinion.

"A Quirk capable of getting you into U.A.'s Hero course, and it's strong enough to get you to the semi-finals of the first year's Battle Festival. It's only natural you'd feel an instinctive panic at knowing what I could do. My classmates were much the same at first," Ethan said. He turned around, looking over the crowd.

"I knew today that I would be fighting an uphill battle. To earn your trust as a future hero," he told the stadium. "I knew there would be a fallout, but I didn't back down! I'm going to be a hero and use my powers to help people. I might not be the next All Might, but I'm going to fight for peace in this world," he said to the stunned crowd. "If you'll let me!"

"You're lying!" Shiozaki shouted from across the arena. "T-taking Quirks can't ever be a good thing. It's wrong no matter how you try to present it. You can't ever be a Hero!"

"Oh really?" Ethan said, turning back to the girl. "Well you sound pretty sure of yourself. Please then, tell me why it's wrong," he asked with a hint of condescension to his tone.

"Quirks are a gift from God! They're what makes people special, unique. Nobody should be able to take away someone's Quirks but the Lord!" The girl declared. "Taking them away would be a crime of epic proportions. No matter what someone does, nobody deserves to have what makes them special taken away! That's the sort of thing a Villain would do!" The girl shouted back passionately.

"I understand," Ethan said simply, catching Shiozaki and everyone else by surprise. "You've lived your whole life with your Quirk. It's a part of you, something you've built your life around. It's something you're going to build your entire career around too. For someone like you losing your Quirk would be a terrible thing. Anyone here can see and understand your perspective I'm sure. From your perspective my ability to take Quirks can only be seen as Villainous, but you're forgetting something," the boy turned around on the spot slowly, looking around the arena at the watching audience.

"Not everyone gets to be like you Shiozaki," he said. "They don't get power and beauty and opportunities with their Quirks. There are people out there whose Quirks hurt them. That cause them difficulties and pain. People without the life and privileges you've had that need help just to overcome the challenges brought on by their Quirks."

Ethan dropped his arm and looked back around him. "Everyone here today knows someone, or at least knows someone who knows someone else who has problems caused by their Quirks. Whether it's not being able to just do something perfectly normal like go swimming because your body is made of heavy rock, or they can't find simple intimacy because their Quirk is harmful in some way to others and they'll quite literally hurt anyone who gets too close to them. There are Quirks that are perfectly harmless, but which other people assume are villainous and leave the holder a pariah regardless of who they are as a person.

"It gets worse than even that though," the boy continued. "There are Quirks out there that af-fect our minds, that have had a profound psychological effect on people. Quirks that have addictive psychological effects, making people do bad things, making them hurt themselves or others and driving them to madness. People whose Quirks make them into monsters who will never be able to fit into society because of a Quirk of fate giving them a power that hurts them far more than it helps."

Shiozaki opened her mouth, trying to formulate a response.

"There are also people without Quirks too, in case you forgot," Ethan reminded her, not giving Shiozaki a chance to speak. From in front of her Momo heard Midoriya gasp suddenly. "People who've struggled in this world. People who've been picked on and left behind by so-ciety simply for not having a Quirk. Would you deny me giving them a Quirk if they wanted one? Would that be so wrong?"

"W-well," Shiozaki said, trying to formulate an answer but it was clear she couldn't think of a reasonable argument against that.

"Well?" Ethan parroted back, anger colouring his tone. "Come on Shiozaki-san. Tell all the world, everyone's watching after all. Tell me why I shouldn't be allowed to help those people because your God says it's wrong. Those people who would do anything to be rid of their Quirks. Tell them, and the people who would so desperately wish to have a Quirk, any Quirk that my powers are wrong. Tell all those people that I can't help them because your God, who by your own rationale put them in their situation to begin with, says so! Go on!"

"I-it's wrong!" The girl cried out weakly. "I don't know why God works the way he does, but it must be for a good reason. People might struggle but they need to understand that that's the Lord just showing them their path!" Ethan scoffed.

"I don't prescribe to your philosophy Shiozaki-san. The only person who determines my des-tiny is me!" the boy declared. "Quirks affect us, but they aren't the only thing that matters about you. They don't define you unless you let them! It's not some unfeeling God that de-cides who you are. It's the choices we make, the paths we take that show who we are as people, for good or for ill."

"It's still not right!" the girl replied pleadingly. "People should never have what makes them special taken away! It's evil, why can't you see?"

"Me see?" The boy replied. "I've seen enough I think. You stand here declaring my evils to the world. Well who have I hurt with my evil power? Villains? People who use their Quirks to hurt, to cause chaos in this world. People who want to destroy society instead of build on it. Do they truly deserve their Quirks if all they're going to do with them is hurt those around them? I can make far better use of their Quirks to help the world, find far better wielders of those Quirks, you'll see," he rebutted.

Shiozaki was clearly wavering on true hysterics now, Momo thought. The girl could barely formulate a response, spluttering as she tried to think of something to say. Ethan sighed.

"Go on Shiozaki," Ethan said tiredly. "I'm not going to convince you like this. You've said what you want to say. You're not going to compete in the competition now, so we both might as well leave and let our classmates have their match." He waved a hand at her dismissively. "I'll prove naysayers like you wrong in due time." He turned to Midnight and bowed to the refer-ee. "I apologise for causing a scene."

The girl on the other side of the arena was flush and fuming with anger as the boy turned away to leave.

"No!" She shouted. "Come back!" She shouted at her opponent, who didn't turn around. She fumed for a few seconds, trying to figure out what to do.

"I-I'll fight!" She said, voice wavering. Ethan stopped and after a few seconds turned around.

"I'll fight you and prove you wrong!" The girl said more confidently, tendrils of green vines writhing angrily around the air. "I'll beat you and prove I'm right!" She challenged him.

Ethan raised an eyebrow and then looked towards Midnight questioningly.

"Shiozaki has already given up officially, but if you want to continue anyway then I'll allow it."

"Okay then," Ethan said, nodding to Midnight. He looked back to Shiozaki.

"You're willing to fight for what you believe in," the boy said. "I understand that entirely," he told her. "In that case I'll take your challenge in the spirit it was given," the boy said as he made his way back to his starting position.

"No Quirk combos, or gimmicks, or jokes," Ethan said. "I had a plan for how I'd face you be-fore I'll admit, but I don't think it fits the gravitas of the situation." He bent his knees, put one foot forward and settled into what was clearly a martial arts stance. "I have just the right Quirk to beat you."

A few seconds later the fight began.

Nezu

"Well she's not winning any prizes for public speaking," Fourth Kind commented, earning a snort of amusement from Ryukyu, not that anyone nearby would be acknowledging the noise from the woman for fear of her anger.

No she wasn't winning any prizes, agreed Nezu. Shiozaki had barely managed to spout her religious drivel before being shut down hard by Ethan's frank responses. Regardless, the damage had been done and many people would be latching hard onto her words to justify their own fears.

This was supposed to be a series of entertaining fights demonstrating to the public one of two things. Either Ethan lost at some point, showing that he wasn't an invincible thing to be feared; Or he won the competition, showing that he was strong enough to use his power wisely. Shi-ozaki's own religious bent was threatening to ruin things for Ethan's public image as she lam-basted him for his 'evils'. Nezu should have considered this, but he hadn't been able to fix the matchups and it seemed bad luck had seen Shiozaki able to get this far in the competition and affect things before she could be stopped by one of her other peers.

Bah, there were far worse things out there than a Quirk stealer, especially a benevolent one willing to also dole them out. Quirks didn't make people better, just more, and not always in a desirable way. They allowed people the opportunity to assert their individuality, but for 99% of the world that was it. They certainly weren't holy. Quirks were built on science, even if it wasn't fully understood yet, Nezu knew that much. Despite how fantastical Quirks could be, it was clear they came from Evolution, not Miracles or an otherwise absent God.

Ethan had countered with a number of comments aimed at steering the public perception to-wards accepting his stance. He'd done a good enough job memorising what Nezu had given him to say in the event something like this would happen at least and his public speaking was decent enough. He came off as genuine, even if his presentation had been a bit rough around the edges. It was understandable, considering the circumstances and his obvious distaste for the girl's attitude.

Ethan's more down to earth and quite frankly superior moral arguments, at least in Nezu's opinion, had left Shiozaki unable to do anything but step up and bring the argument onto a physical level. Now he'd been challenged, Ethan was left with no option but to indulge the girl or lose the argument. It was now a fight to prove he was worthy of the ability to take and re-distribute Quirks.

Honestly these humans with their little rituals. As if martial combat was a reasonable way of resolving any ethical dilemma…

Nezu had full confidence in the boy though as he stood at the ready, waiting for Midnight's signal to begin. Shiozaki was nervously stood at her own starting position. Her vines were versatile, but Nezu hoped that whatever Ethan was planning that he could pull it off.

"Begin!"

Shiozaki's vines raced across the arena even as Ethan stepped forward.

There had to be a dozen, coming at him from different angles with no apparent counter in sight. If the watching audience didn't know better by now then they would be forgiven for thinking that the fight was as good as won by the vine haired girl already.

Ethan's hands swirled. Hands chopped down, through the vines which were severed by his touch. A flick of the wrist sent a couple more vines knocked away and a casual sweep of the hand cut them off too.

The initial obstacle removed, Ethan stepped forward. Only he was forced to stop again to contend with more vines from Shiozaki.

The girl was wide eyed and staring at her opponent, having not possibly anticipated that kind of retaliation. Shiozaki's hands were clasped together. Nezu couldn't hear what she was mut-tering to herself, but it was clearly some sort of prayer. Out of what he'd demonstrated so far they'd been weak Quirks. Powerful in concert, but individually weak. Only the Quirks Ethan had used earlier, Overhaul and Warp Gate were on a level to contend with Shiozaki's own Quirk. She clearly hadn't considered the young man would have something more destructive in his arsenal.

A vine got past Ethan's defences, wrapping around his arm, only to be cut off a second later but some of the vine remained. Blood leaked from the wound, thorns digging into the boy's arm.

The following attacks were relentless but Ethan was making progress on getting closer to the vine using girl. Then finally the attacks stopped. Ethan was left panting for breath, nursing his injury. He didn't remove the vine around his arm though, only tearing his shirt away to expose his arm beneath. Blood was leaking down his skin. The vine was tight, it probably acted as a makeshift binding.

Had he actually turned off his Regeneration Quirk?

Perhaps the girl's words had annoyed Ethan more than Nezu would have anticipated if he was willing to put himself at real risk for this fight. Indeed, the man in a boy's body had a gri-mace on his face as he looked at the injury. Or perhaps… Yes if the vine stayed there and remained tight then it would continue to pierce his skin. The regeneration Quirk might heal him but the injury would only be reopened once Ethan moved his arm even slightly and agi-tated the sharp thorns. Nezu frowned in interest. Why wasn't he using his Disintegration Quirk to remove the vine? Was it too close to his body?

Then the answer came to him. He was impressed despite himself. Ethan knew exactly what he was doing. Nezu was impressed by Ethan's commitment.

He was halfway across the arena now, having steadily made his approach over the course of the last few minutes through the onslaught of vines.

The pause was as much for Shiozaki to catch her breath as him though. No doubt producing her vines was usually easy, but having them cut away so rapidly rather than being able to re-tract them and reuse them was already taking a toll on the girl. It would be a limitation to wor-ry about in the future of her career. A Villain might be able to burn or cut her vines away like Ethan was doing.

The boy in question settled back into his fighting stance.

Usually at this point the two combatants would have something to say. Some quip or declara-tion, but there was nothing they could say that they hadn't already. By some unspoken signal they began again.

Ethan was closer now, but this just meant Shiozaki's attacks were more intense and she could attack him with shorter vines. He wasn't cutting away such large amounts of material at a time anymore.

Then, it happened.

Vines had shot under the ground behind the girl, outside Ethan's vision and they returned to shoot up from beneath the ground and wrap around Ethan's legs and arms. Shiozaki used her Quirk to pick him up and hold him up in the air, arms outstretched. Vines wrapped further around his limbs and forehead, digging painfully into his skin as she fully trapped him.

"Give up!" Shiozaki shouted. "I've won!"

"If I ever gave up I wouldn't be here!" Ethan shouted back, struggling to move his hand enough to touch the vines, activate his Quirk and escape.

"But you can't win!" The girl shouted incredulously. She was right, she could just place Ethan down outside the arena and win eight now. But she had no doubt realised, at least instinctual-ly, that this had become more than just winning. Now this fight was about making Ethan ad-mit he was wrong and Nezu knew well that that wasn't going to be happening. It seemed Shi-ozaki did too.

"If you won't give up then… Then I'll make you!" She declared.

Clothes in tatters, clearly in pain, Ethan only looked back at her as he hung limply in his bondage. He could break out at any time. He had dozens of different Quirks to choose from. There was no way he wasn't still able to beat her should he choose to go all out, even in this position.

"You'll have to do more than that," he said defiantly.

The vines constricted, thorns dug into Ethan's skin, tearing his clothes to pieces and leaving lines of red across his skin. Blood dripped from a thousand tiny cuts, staining the green vines that caused them a deep brown as blood leaked through wounds that couldn't close.

Still though, the boy didn't budge, staring defiantly back at Shiozaki as she glowered up at him in turn. She tightened her hold further. Nezu fancied he could almost hear the boy's bones creaking under the strain. The crowd was enraptured as they beheld the boy being tor-tured, because whatever else could it be.

Shiozaki seemed to have realised what she was doing herself. There was a line and she'd managed to cross it. She could have stopped this, admitted that she was wrong, but she'd committed herself now, choosing to instead of back down herself, to double down on the mis-take she'd made in the heat of the moment. It was that which ultimately led to her downfall.

Her vines in their eagerness to constrict Ethan further got too close to the boy's hand. Fingers grazed fleshy plant matter and a moment later Ethan's bonds were disintegrating all around him.

It was a matter of moments for Ethan to break his remaining bonds and he fell to the floor, landing painfully on his front. He was barely able to brace himself but he managed to avoid hurting himself too badly from the fall.

He stood up. His upper clothes had been completely ruined and they dropped off him as he straightened up, properly exposing the injuries now marring his skin which steamed as they healed. He reached for his face, wiping away the blood dripping down into his eyes from a single thorny vine that was still wrapped tightly around his forehead.

"Do you feel like the Hero in this debate Shiozaki-san?" Ethan asked as he stepped forward, arms outstretched to either side of him. "I don't believe in your God, but if they do exist, which of us do you think is being tested today?"

She'd expended too much energy, Nezu realised as he looked at the girl who reared back as if struck. She didn't have much more in her. She needed to recover before she could attack the boy again.

"Is it me? Am I being tested to see if I have what it takes to wield this awesome power?

"Or is it you," the boy continued. "Are you being tested, or perhaps as is the way of those holy texts, are we both?"

It was said plainly. A simple challenge in words the girl would understand, without cruelty or malice.

Ethan stepped forward.

"Stay away!" Shiozaki shouted. She managed to produce a single vine which she sent for-ward.

It struck the boy on the chest, leaving a deep gash in the skin there that healed a second lat-er.

Still, Ethan stepped ever closer.

Shiozaki wasn't able to produce any more vines it seemed. Her hair once long and flowing was now much shorter, condensed into just the one remaining strand.

Another strike and Ethan continued to close the distance.

The third strike he raised an arm. The vine was batted aside and then Ethan grabbed a hold of it with his hand, wrapping his arm around it like it was a rope to be pulled.

"I could have taken your Quirk through your vines, by the way," he told the girl whose eyes widened in surprise at the realisation. "I figure you thought you could beat me at a distance and remain safe from my ability, but you were wrong," he informed her.

The vine outside his grip lashed weakly at his arm but Ethan didn't budge. Then a second lat-er, as if to prove a point, he let go.

The vine retracted immediately. Shiozaki cowered back as the boy approached at a walking pace.

"I understand," Ethan said. "I stand in opposition to basically everything you've been taught to believe. You think Quirks are sacred, that they define someone's identity. To take away someone's identity, that would be a crime," he told the girl as he approached. " So I don't fault you for reacting the way you have. I'm sure there are still people watching now who will be scared of what I can do, terrified even."

Shiozaki cowered in on herself, shrinking down to the ground, frozen on the spot.

Ethan reached down with fingers that could disintegrate anything they touched.

A hand came to rest on her head.

"You stand opposed to me. You fear me and what I might do, or at least what I might be-come," Ethan said. "An evil man, a monster would just kill you here and now, or at the very least take your Quirk so you wouldn't be a threat to me. They would make an example out of you."

Despite himself, Nezu found himself holding his breath, much like all those in attendance.

"I don't consider myself a good person," Ethan said frankly. "But I know what evil is. That drive to just give in to your darkest impulses, to take instead of trade. But not everything is always so black and white. There's almost always some good in the bad, some bad in the good."

"So for all the things you've done today," Ethan said. He crouched down next to her and moved his hand to her shoulder.

"I forgive you."

The wind whistled as it blew through the silent stadium.

The girl looked up, a mix of confusion, fear and dare Nezu even think, hope? She looked into the eyes of the boy, who smiled and offered her a hand.

"There are monsters in this world. This world and the next," Ethan said. "Monsters that need fighting. Will you help me fight them, Ibara?"

The girl took the boy's hand and they stood up together.

Ethan

The first thing I did when the battle was over was escort Ibara to Recovery Girl for a check-up, psychological more than physical this time. I didn't say that or anything but we shared a look between us when Ibara wasn't looking and I think I got the message across.

Ibara's expression had turned from fear and panic to shock and awe at the end there and she'd been curiously quiet as I walked her out of the arena. The biggest tell that I was going to have to deal with this some more in the future was that she'd been disappointed, almost un-willing to let go of me once I dropped her off with Recovery Girl.

Mission success? I'd apparently made a True Believer out of her, or at least now I had the pretty girl crushing on me which I was a lot more comfortable with than the alternative. It wasn't my intention to cause the girl to have a religious revelation, I just wanted to show that I was deserving of this power to give and take Quirks. The masses would need reassurance and the old classic of "prove my convictions through combat" was the best way to do that in a Shounen universe. Things had just… got out of hand there.

Still though things had been dicey for a second there. Disintegrate was powerful and I had to ensure I didn't use it too much for risk of actually hurting the girl through her vines. The fight had also revealed a weakness in my regeneration. Something that actively forced itself to remain in or on my body, such as being wrapped around me tightly could continue to hurt me despite that my regeneration was trying to counter it. I'd have to keep that in mind for the fu-ture. I already had an idea of a solution to that particular problem though. Disintegrate and another of my Quirks would be a quick and easy solution if or when that particular weakness was ever exploited.

When I got another change of clothes and then got back to the stands there was a hushed quiet from my classmates when they saw me.

I went and casually sat down next to Momo, giving her a kiss on the cheek as I did so to the girls blushing pleasure.

"So how'd I do?" I asked casually, eliciting an awkward response from my classmates.

"Carlisle-san, did you really mean everything you said down there?" Izuku asked me.

"Yes," I said. Everything I'd said to Ibara was the truth. Quirks caused a great deal of prob-lems in this world and I had the power to change that. Help in a way that also benefited me too, incidentally. When I had my Hero Licence, and provided the various governments of the world didn't panic too much, I was going to offer my services to remove and give Quirks out. I could do an awful lot of good by helping the people who were marginalised in this Quirk so-ciety. "I take it you want to ask about one thing I said in particular?" I asked.

"A-about people without Quirks," Izuku said, because of course that's what he was most in-terested in.

"If someone without a Quirk came to me and asked for my help, yes I'd give them a Quirk," I told the boy. "I don't see how anyone could honestly complain about that."

"You'd be giving the Quirks you take from Villains?" Iida asked for clarification, raising his glasses with interest.

"Not all the time," I said. "It'd be a good demonstration though wouldn't it? Give people Quirks from criminals and when they turn out as perfectly normal people it'd show that it wasn't the Quirk that drove them to crime. It'd get rid of a whole lot of stigma surrounding some Quirks, hopefully.

"As for the rest," I continued. "We're all quite lucky. Our Quirks are incredible and while they can be dangerous they're under our control. For some people though their Quirks are more of a burden, I could fix that," I told them. "I get that it doesn't seem palatable, but for some peo-ple not having a Quirk, or at least exchanging the Quirk they were born with for another might be the best thing that'll ever happen to them."

My classmates took all that in for a few seconds.

"Anyway though. Bakugo versus Todoroki next," I pointed out, noticing that neither of the two boys was present. "Who'd you guys think is gonna win?"

The change of subject seemed to get everyone a bit more excited and soon everyone was giving their opinions on how the fight would go.

"Are you alright?" Momo asked me quietly while Mineta argued that Todoroki's ice would just out compete Bakugo's explosions.

"I'm fine," I told her. "Not hurt or anything."

"Not that. I mean, you seemed upset by what Shiozaki-san said down there, before the fight started."

I sighed.

"The religious thing bothers me," I admitted. "I mean I'm not against religion," I told her, I low-ered my voice slightly. "There are gods out there, but not in this universe. When they don't exist, or they cause more problems than they solve and people still worship them, it always bugs me."

"You think Shiozaki's God isn't real?" The girl asked me.

"All my knowledge indicates no," I told her. "I'm open to being pleasantly surprised though." Momo nodded in understanding. Then she reached across and took my hand in hers.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"I'm fine!" the girl said defensively, but then she settled down. "It was still scary, seeing your fight," she admitted.

"It was probably a bit more intense than the other fights so far, wasn't it?" I acknowledged. I'd probably have Eri sneaking into my bed tonight again. Their class was supposed to be watch-ing the fights and she'd have seen most of what happened down there just now.

I looked around at my classmates. They were all arguing about how the battle between Ba-kugo and Todoroki would go. Nobody was looking at us, at all.

I leaned across and kissed Momo on the lips for a few seconds before letting go and leaving the girl a blushing, panting mess.

"W-what was that for!" Momo half whispered at me in protest.

"You being all concerned for me just gave me this sudden urge to kiss you," I told her.

Momo's adorable blush didn't recede at my response but I didn't tease her any further. We shared the last of the snacks I'd brought earlier before Bakugo and Todoroki's match began.

All Might

All Might had a brand-new lease on life.

Suddenly all those things that had seemed so tiring before were things he had the energy to work on again. He wanted to go out unleash all that excited energy. He wanted to re-establish himself as the Symbol of Peace, go out into the world and declare "I am here!"

Only right now he wasn't allowed. That damned Nezu and his logical arguments.

No. While he'd gone against Nezu's instructions and told Midoriya the great news, he had to keep everything on the down low, at least until All for One was dealt with. Which meant no more Hero work than what he had been up to before which had been a startlingly low amount compared to what he used to get up to.

That didn't mean he wasn't able to stick his nose into other things in the meantime.

Endeavour was scowling as he watched the fight. He was standing at the top of the entrance to some stands, keeping a relatively low profile as his son was steadily broken down by Ba-kugo's explosive attacks. He looked back when he noticed All Might's presence.

"What?" demanded of the Number 2 ranked Hero.

"Your son is losing," All Might told him straight.

Endeavour growled and looked back to his son's fight. Indeed, he was. It was only a matter of time, the audience probably couldn't see it but to a trained Hero like them the signs were all there.

"I don't need to hear that from you," he said. "Your boy was eliminated at the start of the competition."

All Might was momentarily surprised at Endeavour's return comment. It seemed he hadn't been quite as sneaky about his relationship with Midoriya as he had thought. Oh, what did he know about being subtle anyway?

"Midoriya getting this far is promising," All Might said in his protege's defence. "He's only dis-covered his Quirk recently and he needs training in it. Your boy on the other hand…"

All Might gestured down below where Todoroki was rapidly building up with ice on one side. He would soon reach the limit of his ability to use his Quirk if he didn't use his fire to counter-act it.

"Todoroki has promise, a great deal of promise," All Might said. "But his hang ups are holding him back from his full potential."

Endeavour snorted.

"Tell me something I don't know. It's just a phase, teenage rebellion. He'll see in due time that he needs to use his other half. He'll come to understand that I always knew what was best for him."

"Perhaps," All Might acknowledged, not choosing to gainsay the man's obvious delusion. "It does not change the fact though that it is your responsibility for putting your son in this posi-tion to begin with."

"I did nothing!" Endeavour hissed, the fire coating his form flaring in anger for a few mo-ments. "This is nothing but a petulant child throwing a tantrum over something he doesn't fully understand, or appreciate."

"I know enough to be able to say you know that's not entirely true," All Might said.

Down below Todoroki was at his limit. Bakugo was strong indeed. The young man had come out with no Heroic pedigree to speak of, no mentor or support and yet he was already proving that he was going to become one of the strongest heroes among the next generation. It filled All Might with pride to know that he was going to be able to have a hand in teaching the boy more in the coming years.

"You need to reconcile with your son, somehow," All Might advised.

Endeavour snorted in bitter amusement.

"You clearly don't know as much about our situation as you pretend then," Endeavour told the Number 1 Hero.

All Might resisted the urge to sigh. He did know enough about the situation with Todoroki. He'd done his looking into things and Nezu had been forthcoming with his own observations when asked. He'd hoped Endeavour would at least be willing to try and develop a more friendly relationship with his supposed heir and legacy.

All Might didn't say anything more. He opted to leave Endeavour to stew in his frustrations as Bakugo finally overcame the young man and knocked him out of the arena.

Todoroki wasn't getting the support he needed from his father. His mother was fragile and vulnerable and wasn't in a position to support him either. Her current mental state meant there was likely no hope for change there, much like how Endeavour's particular issues were forcing him to be obstinate about the entire situation too. All Might was well aware he was at least indirectly the cause of all of this as much as it pained him to admit.

The young man needed someone in his life that could support him and drive him to be the best Hero he could be. Someone who could indeed convince him to use his fire, but it wasn't going to be Endeavour. All Might already knew that there was probably too much bad blood there. Their conversation had just confirmed that there was no hope on that front.

Of all the things All Might was most grateful for in the new opportunity Ethan was offering him was that now he had time to do the things he wanted to do in life.

He had been doing a poor job in training young Midoriya to harness his Quirk thus far. Midori-ya had the spirit of a hero, if not the power, but that would come in due time with training. Todoroki had the opposite issue in that his Quirk was excellent, but his heart was as much set on sabotaging his father's ambitions for him as it was on actually becoming a hero. Todoroki needed emotional support rather than actual training.

All Might already had the one apprentice and a few weeks ago he'd have honestly said that that was too much for him to handle already. He was committed to supporting Midoriya to become the best Hero he could be. Under no circumstances could that change either then or now.

If the expletive filled text he'd received from Gran Torino a few minutes ago was any indica-tion though, then Midoriya's problems would soon be well in hand. It was an absolute relief, even if he wasn't looking to the telling off he was going to be on the receiving end of once he met his old mentor in person again...

Gran Torino was going to be taking the green-haired boy on in the next few weeks now which All Might was secretly glad about. If anyone could help young Midoriya it was his old teacher. Still, All Might was going to be left to his own devices with all this extra energy that he abso-lutely needed an outlet for.

So, All Might wondered to himself. He already had an apprentice; he couldn't take on one more.

He could still… meddle though.

Ethan

Once Todoroki was recovered it was time for the third place fight. The two losing semifinal-ists faced off, but it was a quick fight. Neither Shiozaki or Todoroki seemed interested in the fight but even with only half his Quirk Todoroki quickly won. Shiozaki hadn't recovered enough of her vines to put up a meaningful fight.

There was then another intermission before the finals, giving Bakugo a chance to recover properly and be fussed over by Recovery Girl. No doubt the boy was fuming silently, but obediently letting the woman do her thing.

He'd won handily in the end. Todoroki still refused to use his fire to the bitter end and he'd bit-ten it. Perhaps he'd eventually find the right justification to use the other half of his Quirk. I didn't know what would happen now, but it wasn't like I was responsible for his personal de-velopment. He'd have to find another source of motivation now that Izuku hadn't tripped the necessary flags to try and shounen protagonist his way towards pushing the boy to be better.

I made my way down to the arena. The last battle, the final test. The winner of this fight would get…

Absolutely nothing!

It was just a game, a competition with no prize, except perhaps an improved public reputa-tion. However, getting this far already meant you'd shown a whole lot of promise to the world as a future Hero. Regardless of whichever of the two of us won today we would be getting a lot of offers for work study placements. Admittedly I didn't expect to get as many as Bakugo, I was probably something of a hot, controversial topic. Ultimately though, we both only need-ed the one Hero firm to be interested in us.

Bakugo looked gruff and eager as we approached each other from beneath the stands. I of-fered him a grin.

"Good job that last fight," I complimented, he'd indeed done well against Todoroki, even if the boy had been holding himself back out of spite. "You ready for this?" I said by way of greet-ing. Bakugo nodded silently.

"What Quirks you gonna use?" He asked immediately.

"Overhaul, Shock Absorption, Regeneration, Hammer Arm, Personal Gravity," I told him freely. There was no reason to hide it now. He'd find out in a few moments anyway. I activat-ed the shock absorption Quirk. Three Quirks for Defence, coupled with two for offence. He wouldn't be able to wear me down at least, or knock me out of the arena. The blond boy de-veloped a lopsided grin on his face.

"Saving the best 'til last?" He asked me, pleased at least that I was going to be using some dangerous sounding Quirks.

"Certainly," I said. "I wouldn't want to go too easy on you," I teased. That brought up the boy's bloodlust and he glared at me challengingly.

"You won't catch me by surprise this time," he said, no doubt thinking about what had hap-pened during our first battle class. I shrugged unrepentantly.

"Are both competitors ready?" Midnight asked. We both nodded.

"Then begin!" She cried out.

Bakugo immediately charged, twin explosions from his hands propelling him forwards. I crouched down, touching the ground and activating Overhaul.

The ground rose at my command. A wave of rock went forward to be blasted apart by Baku-go as he closed the distance.

The fight was on.

Yaoyorozu

At least this last fight was just about the thrill of the competition, Momo thought to herself as she ate some more of the leftover snacks.

Her boyfriend was up against Bakugo, the most hot-headed of their classmates against the jokester that was Ethan.

Bakugo had quickly closed the distance despite her boyfriend's initial attack and went for a sweeping attack on Ethan. The first explosion had little effect though, barely swaying Ethan's body and Bakugo was forced to back away when Ethan swung forward in a punch with his transformed arm.

It was slightly longer than his normal reach and Bakugo had to take care to avoid the heavy swings. Bakugo was relentless though and reclosed the distance almost immediately. The battle became as much a hand-to-hand engagement as it did anything else.

Bakugo was fragile though. He might have his explosive Quirk, strong enough to knock Ethan back a bit, but one hard hit would damage him severely and it was plain to see by how he had to dodge the heavy hammer swings from Ethan.

Bakugo suddenly raised both hands and let off dual explosions from his palms. The explosion sent him sliding back, although Ethan absorbed much of the blow and was only pushed back a couple of paces.

"Are we having fun, Bakugo?!" Ethan asked.

"Fucking die!" Bakugo screamed back.

Ethan tilted his head slightly and shrugged, clearly amused by Bakugo's language. He was the one who restarted hostilities and brought his hammer arm down onto the ground, creating an explosion of rock with Overhaul. Bakugo immediately charged through, deflecting the projectiles with his explosions with a vicious grin on his face.

The two boys engaged in another close battle, Bakugo using his explosive Quirk to manoeuvre and try to stay ahead of Ethan's heavy attacks. Ethan managed to get a touch on the ground to try and trap him in stone a few times, but Bakugo was wise to the trick now and he was always able to destroy the stone before he could be caught.

Ethan came down with a heavy blow of the hammer which Bakugo neatly sidestepped. He wasn't ready though when on contact with the ground it cratered and pillars of rock shot up around him.

The bomber immediately blasted his way out of the trap, sending shrapnel flying but which did nothing but bounce off Ethan's rubber skin as he closed the distance to keep up the pressure.

"He's not strong enough," Izuku said quietly. "Carlisle-san's just too durable."

"He could still knock him out of the arena though," Iida said.

Down below Bakugo ducked underneath a wild horizontal swing from Ethan. He brought both hands up underneath his opponent and cupped them together. Ethan was only given a few moments to widen his eyes before Bakugo released a massive explosion beneath him.

Ethan was lifted into the air through the force of the explosion but a moment later his momentum immediately disappeared and he crashed back to the ground. Bakugo was forced to use his explosions to blast himself backwards and away to avoid a painful collision. The ground cratered on impact, sending rubble flying around them. The entire stadium was rapidly breaking up into rubble.

"He's not able to push him around though. Carlisle-san's barely budging when he lands a direct hit," Mineta commented from the side. Izuku nodded in agreement.

"Either way, I don't think that's how Kachan wants to win," Izuku admitted.

They kept at it. Bakugo was relentless, desperate to push Ethan back but it was clear that he simply didn't have enough power to make enough headway before Ethan pushed back and away from the boundary line.

Bakugo became increasingly reckless as the fight wore on, no doubt aware that in a battle of attrition he was going to lose. Still though, Bakugo wasn't making any headway against Ethan's defences. The other boy was tanking every hit and coming back for more.

Something had to give eventually and it was when suddenly Ethan's hammer arm swapped to the other side that Bakugo was caught off guard and finally, Ethan landed a solid blow on Bakugo's side with a solid punch with the metal end of the transformed appendage.

Momo gasped and she wasn't the only one. The crowd collectively gasped in sympathy as the sound of ribs breaking echoed loudly around the arena.

The bomber used an explosion to create some distance between them and he brought up an arm to his injured side. He was bleeding, red blood was seeping into the fabric of his U.A. sports uniform. It looked like Ethan had landed a solid hit to the boy's ribs and they'd punctured through the skin.

"You alright there bro?" Ethan asked, not closing the distance as Bakugo struggled with the pain of his injury.

"I'm fine!" Bakugo snapped, wincing again. Just speaking seemed to have aggravated his wound. He forced himself back onto his feet and into his fighting stance even though it was obvious he was barely able to stand.

After a few moments, even though he was clearly reluctant about it, it was Ethan that chose to attack. The blond boy engaged him, but it was obvious that his injury was hampering him. Their fight had mainly been hand to hand so Bakugo was caught off guard a second time by a sudden kick from Ethan to the leg and Bakugo crumpled. His injury was agitated further and the boy shouted out in pain. A moment later Ethan had used the distraction to capture him with bindings made of the ground.

"I think I win?!" He shouted slightly nervously, clearly worried for Bakugo's health.

"Ethan Carlisle wins!" Midnight shouted in agreement.

Ethan released Bakugo's bindings and knelt down next to him, saying something although Momo couldn't tell what. Bakugo went to say something but winced again and nodded his head.

The onlooking crowd made a collective gasping noise as Ethan's horn on the left side began to glow and he took hold of Bakugo's wrist.

A few moments later Bakugo was blinking in surprise as he climbed to his feet. He lifted his shirt to expose his chest and poked at his injury. He was completely healed.

The crowd cheered, seeing the good sportsmanship for what it was. The two boys stood facing each other. Ethan offered Bakugo a fistpump which the boy accepted after a few seconds of sullen reticence.

Momo couldn't hope to hear what the two boys said to each other over the roars of the audience but Bakugo visibly snorted at something Ethan said as they waved to the crowd.

The first year's U.A. sports festival was finished.

Ethan

I and everyone else who made it to the finals were brought out for the award ceremony. I was caught by surprise though when Eri made her presence known behind me.

"Ethan-nii!" The girl shouted at me as she ran across to my position and jumped up into my arms. I'd thought she was supposed to be at school. I put it out of my mind, it was probably Nezu's doing. Cute little girl comes to congratulate her big brother after winning the tournament. It was a cute image.

I laughed and held her up with one arm as I and the other two boys were instructed to go stand on the winner's pedestals and I waved to the crowd.

Well, I was waving. Todoroki looked sullen and Bakugo just looked grumpy which to be fair was the blond's normal state of being. It was probably an improvement on his behaviour in canon at least.

"Woow," Eri said, looking around the cheering audience.

"Wave Eri, everyone's watching," I suggested to the girl who began waving enthusiastically to the crowd along with me.

It seemed I'd won over the audience for the most part, hopefully I'd had as much success on a national and international scale. That would remain to be seen, but I was hopeful at least.

All Might came and presented the medals we'd earned.

"Congratulations," he told me as he placed a gold medal around my neck.

"Thanks," I said.

All Might nodded with that big smile of his and went to give medals to the other two boys. In the meanwhile I took my medal off and put it around Eri's neck, to the girl's obvious pleasure.

All Might made a speech, talking about the future, how proud he was to be training the next generation of heroes and then it was just about over, at least for us.

Once that was all finished with, I left with Eri still in my arms to return to my classmates and girlfriend.

Everyone seemed in a good mood, either glad the event was finished with or just glad to have taken part. Overall I'd call today a success.

I had half a mind to suggest throwing another party, although I wouldn't be able to prepare in time so I decided to put it off for now. Maybe another day. We could invite 1-B next time and get a chance to mingle with them too.

Once everything was over with it was time to head home though. I said goodbye to Momo before heading off beneath the stands with Eri where I planned to teleport us back.

I was waylaid though by Shiozaki who stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.

"C-Carlisle-san," she greeted me.

"Shiozaki-san," I returned.

"I…" The girl fidgeted in place, her demeanour not helped by Eri who crossed her arms and glared at the other girl.

"Eri," why don't you go back and see if you can find some of my classmates," I suggested.

"But-" Eri started.

"Right now Eri," I said, a tiny bit more sternly. "I need to have a private chat with Shiozaki-san, we aren't going to fight or anything, okay?"

"Okay," Eri said grudgingly. I put her down and the girl left, giving Shiozaki one last look before she left.

Her hair was much shorter now, more of a pixie cut after how I'd cut a lot of it away during our fight.

"I am sorry," the girl said to me, bowing in supplication. "I've been thinking since our fight. I-I was wrong to say what I said," she told me.

"I already forgave you, Shiozaki-san," I told her, trying to sound kind.

"I needed to say it though," she told me, bowing again. She looked like she was about to start crying. "I-I wasn't thinking before and I let my fears take hold of me. It was wrong… I won't bother you again," she said despondently, turning to leave.

I watched her leave, wondering whether I should call out to her. I could offer her some platitudes, but clearly Shiozaki was going through some stuff after our fight before.

"If you ever want to talk, I'm available," I told the religious girl.

She paused and turned.

"Thank you," she said with a small blush and a nod of the head before turning back to leave.

I watched her go. Hopefully the girl would be able to reconcile with what had happened today. It wasn't my place to hold her hand, but I'd talk with her, if it might help.

That was all secondary though. Tomorrow was a weekend. I could relax a bit and get ready for next week when the offers for work studies with hero firms were going to be coming in.

On a brighter note, I also had a date to organise.

Harry Dresden

The petite ginger haired woman stepped into the cafe and spotted him immediately.

"So you're him then?" Kobayashi asked as she approached. She looked Harry up and down in his seat as he cradled his cup of coffee.

"I'm the one who wanted to talk to you, yes," Harry said. He was getting a strange feeling from the woman in the Force. It was anticipation, mixed with a hint of… regret?

"Oh so you're not buying me then?" Kobayashi asked immediately, slipping into the seat op-posite him. Apparently she'd read something in his expression. Her shoulders seemed to slump a tiny bit more. Harry had never seen someone look so tired before.

"Y-you want me to buy you?" Harry asked. She was only worth a couple of points, he could do it, if he wanted to. Harry was saving the points though, he needed to get stronger and he didn't see how this tiny woman with no combat potential would be of any utility to him. His work as an acquisition agent meant he was pretty much required to be in hostile situations these days.

Kobayashi looked him up and down again before shrugging.

"Beats going back to that office," she said by way of explanation.

"Look, I wanted to speak to you about your last Master," Harry said, cutting to the chase.

"Ethan?" Kobayashi asked. "I already told you guys, I don't know where he is," she said with a sigh.

Harry slumped in his chair.

"Okay I guess I'll just go then," Kobayashi said, sounding annoyed. She went to get up. She probably thought he was wasting her time. In fact the force was as much as declaring her annoyance to him.

"No wait, please," Harry said.

Kobayashi scowled.

"You might be a contractor but unless you're gonna try and stamp me then I haven't got a reason to stay here," she said. "And that's not allowed, by the way. I'm a valuable asset. You've either gotta get my permission or buy me outright."

"Look, just…" Harry began, "Hear me out, okay?"

Kobayashi sighed.

"Alright, what do you want to know then?" She asked.

"I wanted to know about Carlisle," Harry said. "I was bodyguard to his manager, I was there when it all blew up on us. I just… I wanted to understand why he did it."

Kobayashi sighed.

"I barely knew him," the woman said. "He left me in his Sweet Home, but I guess you already know all that," she began.

"Ethan was… nice," Kobayashi said. "Kind of spaced out a bit, but annoyed by everything. He didn't want to be a Company agent, but he didn't think he had much of a choice."

"So what, sour grapes?" Harry asked. Kobayashi shrugged.

"He said he'd have preferred a different way to explore the multiverse," Kobayashi told him. "He got me because he had to have a Waifu and he'd figured out of all the ones he knew I wouldn't mind being just left alone in his Sweet Home. He was turned off by the whole stamp thing. He felt it was cheap. He was also ticked off that apparently he met the criteria for an agent, didn't like what it said about him," Kobayashi shrugged again. "Then he went off to his first world and disappeared, just like he said he would."

Harry sighed. The woman wasn't lying. She wasn't telling him anything he didn't already know though.

"When was the last time you saw him?" Harry asked.

"Just before his meeting with that manager," Kobayashi said. "I hadn't seen him since back when he first bought me though. It took ages for you guys to track him down even to force that conversation y'know?"

"Damn," Harry muttered. This entire meeting was a waste of time.

"So why'd you care so much anyway?" Kobayashi asked, the tired looking woman managing to sound completely uninterested in what Harry might have to say. She'd still asked though and Harry could feel her curiosity.

"He destroyed worlds," Harry said. "Completely fucked over everything for the Company. Trillions of people are dead, the Company's hamstrung in this sector. They're saying it'll take thousands of years to get back even half the influence we have in the local area."

Kobayashi shrugged.

"But you're forgetting something, this is the Company. We aren't the good guys. Everyone involved in us is evil by association. There's a lot of universes that would be happy knowing the Company won't be able to touch them now."

"A lot of those worlds are going to be destroyed too, without someone to help them," Harry argued. "Entity infestations for one." Kobayashi nodded.

"Sure we might do good here and there, but it's not out of any real altruism, at least not on management's part. It's just business. We're still the lesser evil no matter what you say." She shrugged. "The Company still goes to worlds looking for slaves. We still harvest entire uni-verses for resources and eat innocent people's souls. Don't try playing morality games with yourself on this, you'll only lose."

Harry fumed silently.

Kobayashi sighed. "Look, you survived," she pointed out. "So did anyone else with the right defences before upper management managed to close the gateways and stem the breaches. There's no point dwelling on it now, he's gone."

The wave of frustration and longing that came off the woman after that last sentence was heady. Harry really needed to get a hold over his new powers. He pulled himself together.

"Do you not understand the scale of what he did?! Harry hissed, frustrated by the woman's attitude. "He can't just be allowed to get away with it!" Suddenly he realised it was quiet. Peo-ple around them were stopping what they were doing to watch their conversation. Embar-rassed, Harry leaned back in his chair and tried to look more casual.

"Of course I do," Kobayashi said after a few more seconds of awkward silence. "But there's nothing you can do to bring all those dead back," she said. "And you don't even have the moral high ground, not really. Because all those dead people? They were part of the Compa-ny, officially or unofficially they were still propping the whole thing up. You know this though. You're a Harry Dresden, you're supposed to be a hero, or at least an anti-hero so you already know all this. So why do you care, really?"

"I…" Harry began before catching himself short.

Why did he care?

The attack had revealed Maleficent's deception. Her manipulation of him. Hell, if anything Harry himself was better off on a personal level after Carlisle's attack. He was a proper agent now, an enforcer with a job that paid points.

But trillions of people were dead for a start. That had to count for something, right? No matter what their association was.

"Look," Kobayashi said. "You seem like you've got a lot of issues, and I wasted one of my rare and valuable holiday days on this conversation. So you want my advice? Figure out what's really upsetting you about all this because you aren't going to get anything done until then."

She got up and left. Harry silently watched her go. He sipped his coffee.

It had gone cold.

Kobayashi

Kobayashi got home late afternoon. It kind of sucked not being able to afford the good teleporters. She had had to make do with the trains.

What a waste of time.

She shrugged off her jacket. There had been those mist clouds again and even though she'd bundled up she was still soggy. She pushed off her shoes and pulled her sodden socks off too.

Here she was, home sweet home. About thirty square feet of apartment and it didn't even belong to her. A far cry from the beautiful galactic vistas she'd enjoyed in the much larger apartment she'd been chilling out in for the last few decades.

God those were good times. She thought, looking back.

Sure the loneliness hurt a bit, until she figured out a way back onto a few choice Company worlds. But she'd always been a bit of a loner anyway. She didn't mind the solitude most of the time.

There was no view in her current abode. Her flat was located in a converted Hive city. They really crammed those office drones like her in. It was cleaner than it was under the Imperium of Man to be sure. Also there were hardly any chaos cultists or horrifying monsters to be found after that all-female Ghostbusters crew had been brought in to sort out the last infestation of demons.

That had been weird to see. The fetish gear too had been a bit weird.

Who could have thought up a modified ghost trap connected to a pierced clitoris? Kobayashi winced a little at the reminder of how it'd actually worked, the chain stretching painfully and pulling on the women's most sensitive parts. The trap itself had also been a buttplug and once the monster was caught, well it zoomed back right up into the asshole of the girl it was connected to. Kobayashi and everyone else in the office had been made to watch the video. It was part of the Ghostbusters girls' contract that wherever they did work that a video of their escapades would be watched by everyone who'd benefited from their services.

Kobayashi had learnt later the whole story behind it was that someone in upper management had seen the Ghostbusters remake and been incredibly offended by it. They'd decided to buy a few sets of the Ghostbusters girls and do whatever they could to humiliate them and that had led to this team's current predicament. They were hired out to do a bunch of jobs which were deliberately designed to be either humiliating, painful or a combination of the two and it was always sexual in some way. The two fat ones weren't exactly attractive by Kobayashi's standards, but she'd got a bit wet when the other two had been made to do a humiliating dance and show off their bodies. Then they had to eat each other out in some ritual to dispel the demons that were trapped and currently fighting to escape their plugged up butts. The demons' attempts to escape incidentally were making the already too large toys vibrate and jostle uncomfortably inside their too small assholes. If the girls didn't get each other off at the same time then the demons would get closer to escaping, signified by the plugs growing larger inside their asses every time. They failed to synchronise their orgasms the first two times, but got there on the third attempt.

Kobayashi still felt kind of guilty whenever she thought about that scene because the whole thing had actually turned her on.

That Harry Dresden really didn't get it. The Company was the lesser evil, and not even by much. The Company fucks everyone. One way or another. Sometimes it was pretty obvious, like what happened to the Ghostbusters girls. Other times it was more subtle, like whatever mental malfunction that Harry Dresden was going through right now.

Kobayashi wasn't a hypocrite. She included herself in saying that particular Company motto.

She'd got her husbando. Or at least she got to be a Waifu. He was young, charming. He had a domineering attitude about him and he was even the type to look after a girl's needs. And he didn't want to fuck her because he was ticked off by the whole 'made to love you' thing.

Damn she wished he'd taken her with him. There was no stamp over her mons anymore. She wasn't bound to him anymore in any way right now, so her feelings were definitely genuine at this point. She'd have gone with him, stamp or no stamp, if he'd just asked. Of course though it wouldn't have worked like that. He'd given up all his assets though and Kobayashi had counted as one of those too.

Fucking men!

She threw off her clothes as she stomped over towards her small bed. She didn't mind that herself, she was a small woman so it worked out.

She reached for her bedside table. Mr Vibe, a bright emerald green in the otherwise dull apartment, was there waiting for her as usual. All the men in her life had been one or more kinds of useless. Kobayashi could at least rely on Mr Vibe though. He'd stuck by her through thick and thin.

She pressed the toy against her throbbing clit as it started to buzz on a gentle setting. All those thoughts about the guy who used to own her and then thinking about the Ghostbusters had got her turned on again. She was going to spend the next hour edging herself to a climax and see if she couldn't make herself pass out like she'd managed to do before that one time.

Just as she was starting to get going, of course it was then that Mr Vibe stopped buzzing. Kobayashi scowled and reached for her dresser. It was then that she realised she was out of batteries.

She flopped back down into her bed and let out a long sigh of annoyance. She just had to tempt fate with her thoughts, she bemoaned to herself before going to use her hands. She wasn't very good with just her hands. It'd take ages to get off like this and not even in the fun way, but she had all evening at least. She could probably get herself to cum at least once, or maybe even twice tonight.

She should have remembered. She'd just been out. She could have gone and got some fresh batteries but nooo, she always forgot the essentials. Public travel in the Hive was limited though, so she couldn't just go out and get another pack today.

She rubbed her legs together, pressing down on her clit with her fingers and trying to get a rhythm going. Idle fantasies about the guy she desperately wanted to be with right now and all the fucked up stuff that defied reason to help turn her on flowed through Kobayashi's mind.

Kobayashi didn't know what she'd do if she ever saw her former owner again. No, she knew what she'd do. She'd slap him, then demand he finally fuck her like she'd spent several decades on her own fantasising about. Just because the guy fucked off across the multiverse didn't mean the binding didn't make her fall any less in love with him! It didn't do anything to change the fact she'd gone from being a closeted lesbian to a bisexual, at least where he was concerned.

Until she got stamped again Kobayashi knew there was absolutely no way she was getting over Ethan and finding someone new. Kobayashis weren't even popular purchases, she'd foolishly gotten her hopes up with that Harry Dresden.

Yeah, the Company fucks everyone. Yet despite all that, what rankled the most was that despite it all, what really frustrated her the most was that for all that she'd been fucked over by the Company. Kobayashi was still a virgin.

Ethan

On late Saturday afternoon I showed up outside Momo's house.

Well, her gates. It was quite the swanky place. Ostentatious wasn't the word for it, but I could tell that Momo had been born with a platinum spoon in her mouth.

I was expected.

The gates opened and a car came down the long drive to stop beside me.

A butler stepped out of one door and opened the rear door of the car for me.

I got in at the butler's urging and was driven up the drive all the way to the front of the house.

Momo was waiting for me there. She was dressed in that lovely red outfit she'd worn on our first attempt at a date. Next to her though, was a stern looking older man. Her father.

"Hello," I said politely, bowing appropriately before going to stand at rest while the man looked me over. It was an attempt at intimidation. I wasn't scared in any way of course, but I knew this was probably a big deal for Momo so I calmly met the man have his moment. After a few more seconds of staring, he finally spoke.

"I saw your fights during the sports festival," he told me. "You were impressive," he said.

I shrugged. "They were a good excuse to exercise my other Quirks. It made things interesting for everyone watching and it gave everyone I was up against the opportunity to show what tehy were capable of."

The man's stare hardened.

"And your fight against my daughter?" He asked.

"The quirks I used allowed me to beat her without harming her," I said. There was also a great deal of teasing going on then, maybe I'd offended him? I really couldn't blame him for being upset even if everything had been explicitly not quite R-rated.

The man looked back to Momo who was fidgeting in place with nervousness. He sighed.

"Just like your mother, I doubt I will ever be able to deny you anything Momo-chan," the man said with no small amount of defeat in his tone. He looked back at me.

"There are standards of behaviour I demand from my children," he told me more seriously. "If you are to be with my daughter then I require you to follow a similar standard also."

"I understand," I told him, nodding. "I am going to become a publicly important figure in the next several weeks," I revealed. Not that the man probably didn't already know that if he'd seen the sports festival. He likely knew many of the implications of what I could do and the likely fallout. Already there was buzz online and even on the news about my abilities. "I'll keep our relationship private wherever possible, there will be no scandals, I promise you."

The man nodded although he didn't look entirely convinced at my words. He nodded to his daughter, gave a quiet goodbye and then left.

Momo was left outside the house on her own.

"I-I apologise for my father," she said. "He just wants the best for me."

"Then the best you'll have," I told her. Why would I take offence to a man being protective of his daughter? I offered Momo my hand. "Shall we go?"

She stepped forward and took it. I offered her a small smile before creating a portal. "This way," I said.

Momo followed me through.

The other side of the portal took us to a forest clearing. It was on U.A. grounds, part of their training areas. It was private, incredibly so.

Momo looked around in surprise.

It was getting dark already, the sky was clear, the moon was out in the sky was a stunning orange as the sun started to set.

I had laid out a blanket and a picnic basket beside it.

We sat down. Momo's eyes were already on the basket and I heard a small noise from her, making her blush when she realised I'd heard. I felt a small smile come to my lips and I opened it before beginning to lay out the spread of foods I'd brought. I'd thought we could chat first for a bit, just enjoy each other's company, but it seemed the food came first.

We chatted as we ate though, about our classes, about our classmates and the Sports Festi-val. Then our conversation became a bit more serious. Momo told me about her time growing up. It was mostly things I already knew, but it gave me context. I learnt quite a bit more about her than I would ever have done reading the manga or watching the anime.

She was sheltered, but supported in whatever path she chose. Like most young people in this society, heroism was what naturally drew her attention and the then little girl had pushed her-self to the limit to achieve her dream.

Her drive was incredible. I got by simply through the long term buildup of my own powerbase backed by meta knowledge and the support of those I met over my travels. If I'd had half as much drive as Momo I could have done some great things.

"But what about you?" Momo asked. "What about your childhood?" She asked me as we sat opposite each other, nibbling at one of the cupcakes I'd prepared for dessert.

I was caught off guard by the question. What people generally cared about was who I was now, not where I came from. I didn't often think about my life before. It was so long ago now.

"Nothing as exciting as yours," I said. "A middle class family. I was in a good catchment area so my school was good." I shrugged. "I spent more of my time imagining going on adven-tures, playing games and reading books than anything else."

Momo looked deeply interested so I continued. "I got into university. That forced me to grow up a bit. I wasn't used to living with people though. Halls were packed with other kids. So I withdrew into myself a bit more than I already had."

Momo looked surprised. I chuckled. "I didn't always used to be able to talk to people like now," I told her self-deprecatingly.

"It was then that you were hired by the Company?" Momo asked.

"Yeah. I got hit by a car, I think. Some sort of accident, I don't really remember clearly. All I remember is waking up in hospital one day and there was an agent there waiting for me.

"I was given an offer. Either I join the Company, or I'd be left to die quietly in my sleep that night."

"That's horrible," Momo gasped. "Why wouldn't they help you either way?"

"It's just not good business I guess," I said. "Recruiters have quotas of new agents to fill, cer-tain death makes signing up a great motivator."

"Thank you for telling me," Momo said after a few moments thought. "The multiverse sounds like a dark place."

"It's not all bad," I said, turning to look at her. "The Company is just one group. There's other organisations, some worse, some far better."

We lapsed into a companionable quiet as we laid back and looked at the stars. It was a beau-tiful night. Momo asked me about the other organisations out there. I told her about other enti-ties, organisations and systems out there. The Celestial Forge, the many Gamer systems, two powerful types of entity that seemed to primarily exist solely to provide adventure to the insane, disenfranchised or lonely. There were groups like the Multiversal Heroes Alliance, or the Alliance of Cucked Heroes, which weren't always easily to tell apart. They were usually only differentiated by their shared backgrounds and they often worked together despite their different viewpoints on some key issues. I didn't mention the darkest sides of the multiverse like Vae Victis, or the Fat Bastards. It wasn't a happy thing to think about at the best of times, and certainly not something to bring up during a date.

It got slightly cooler as the evening progressed, so I wrapped an arm around my girlfriend and she let me pull her close against my side.

This was nice. Momo's weight against my side, her arm over my chest. She snuggled up a bit closer to me. I looked down and she looked up at me, so I kissed her.

She was blushing faintly when we both eventually pulled away, but her eyes were wide with eagerness.

I pulled her up on top of me, making her gasp before she settled, straddling my lap and look-ing down at me.

She leaned in this time to kiss me and I eagerly returned it. I let a hand roam up and down her side, not doing anything else. I didn't think she was really ready for more than a bit of petting.

The way she settled over my crotch though… Perhaps I was wrong to think that.

I felt her grind ever so slightly against my clothed member. So I did the natural thing and put both hands on her waist and pulled her down against me.

Momo let out a delightful gasp of excitement but didn't stop kissing me.

We didn't go any further than that, not today. This was plenty enough for me, some honest romantic intimacy. I wasn't in a rush, we had all the time in the world. I wasn't going to push Momo for more, not right now at any rate.

We eventually settled back down and just cuddled as the clouds started to roll across the sky, blocking out the stars.

"I should take you home before your parents start to worry," I told her. Or before it started raining, I added mentally.

Momo pressed herself against me, making a small whining noise into my ear from where she was comfortably lying half on top of me.

"I suppose we should," she accepted begrudgingly. I was glad to see she was enjoying the evening as much as I was. She got up and we tidied up the picnic together before I teleported her back home.

We appeared outside her front door. There was a brief buzz of an alarm, but when the securi-ty personnel came round the corner and saw us they stepped down immediately, blending back into the background they had come from. It was impressive coordination and training.

"S-sorry," Momo said. "I should have said something."

"No it's my fault," I said. "I should've dropped you off outside the gates instead."

We lapsed into a slightly uncomfortable silence.

"I had a good time tonight," Momo said. I smiled, pleased.

"Then you won't mind going out with me again then?" I asked.

"No, of course. I-I'd like to do tha-this again," Momo said.

"Perhaps sometime next week then?" I suggested. "After school?"

"Maybe," Momo said, sounding unsure. "I'll need to check my schedule," she said apologeti-cally.

"Sounds great," I said. "We can talk times after class or something."

Momo nodded, pleased that I was being accommodating, I couldn't help but wonder what her 'schedule' looked like. She suddenly leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek.

"I'll see you next week Ethan-kun," she told me.

"I look forward to it," I told her as she stepped back.

I created a portal and gave Momo a wave and a smile before heading back home myself.

Madame President

The meeting was private. Things could be said here that would not, could not be known to have been said by the general public.

The head of the Hero Public Safety Commission was sat at the table with her aids nearby. She was a stern woman, a hard woman, built on hard times in the struggle to keep society afloat. There were monitors arranged before her, the interested parties for the upcoming dis-cussion were connecting via video link.

The final representative from Europe connected. He was a German man with no particularly interesting characteristics. If one met him on the street he could just as easily be forgotten the moment you looked away. It wasn't even his Quirk, just a characteristic of his own.

"Welcome all," Madame President said. "I shall cut to the chase, you have all seen the broad-cast from the U.A. sports festival. Please, does anyone have any comments or opinions to share?"

"I'd like to know how you managed to let this one slip through the net," a bulky American woman said across the connection. Madame President repressed a sigh, she knew this ques-tion was going to be asked, she'd hoped it wouldn't be the first thing that was commented on though.

"We had no way of identifying the boy in advance, he isn't on any of our local systems or records in Japan. It's like he showed up out of nowhere. The best we have been able to gath-er is that he was involved in an attack on a Yakuza base shortly before Principal Nezu legally adopted the boy under U.A.'s banner." It hurt to admit it, but despite their efforts there was no way they could have foreseen Ethan Carlisle's arrival. Even their limited use of precognition Quirks had fallen flat where usually they were at least somewhat reliable at identifying outli-ers. There was also the fact they'd identified that Overhaul was in fact someone else's Quirk that Carlisle had taken from one of the Yakuzas. It seemed that his ability to take Quirks was his original Quirk, which brought all sorts of implications up she wasn't going to mention here. It was academic anyway and would only serve to cause concern amongst her contemporar-ies.

"Yakuza?" The American representative asked in surprise. "I thought they were ancient histo-ry."

"Can you say you've entirely removed the Mafias from America?" The Russian representa-tive interjected dryly. He was a balding man with a hooked nose, Madame President knew there was a dislike between the two parties, a throwback to the first Quirk Wars and earlier relations between the two nations.

The American representative face soured further at hearing the comment. "They are nothing like they used to be," she deflected. "Still though, is that all we know? The kid's from Britain isn't he?" The representative asked, prompting the European delegate to move in his chair, gathering everyone's attention.

"I have already made enquiries," the European representative commented. "There are no records of an Ethan Carlisle having gone missing in the United Kingdom, or any boy match-ing his appearance, or whose Quirk even vaguely had the potential to evolve to affect Quirks that are not already accounted for. We have isolated his accent as being from the North of England, although our experts say there is significant drift with influences mainly from East-ern cultures, primarily Japan. They suggested the possibility he has travelled to many other countries during his life before arriving in Japan."

"So you've got nothing?" The American representative asked.

"We know what we do not know," the European representative replied tersely. "The very fact that this young man defies any attempt to identify his origins is only another thing to be con-cerned about. It is likely he was moved to Japan at some point before coming under the ae-gis of U.A. more recently. Beyond that, I have no further information."

"Knowing where he came from does not help us in any way to finding a solution to the boy's presence here and now," the Russian said. "The question we should be asking ourselves is whether the boy should be silenced, or whether he could be an asset. What are our options?"

"He's already a public figure," Madame President said. Indeed, there was a great deal of speculation already amongst various political and social groups. "If he just disappeared then people would rightfully begin to ask questions, including his supporters among active heroes at U.A." And those people were tenacious. They would find out the HPSC's involvement and a lot of their good work would go down the drain.

"So we fabricate a crime and imprison him?" The American asked.

"He spends all his time at the U.A. facilities which we do not have unrestricted access to," Madame President said. "At most we have some evidence of Quirk use in a public place, once, technically twice, for reasons that would not normally see someone of his age tried. The only thing we could achieve by attacking him publicly like that would be more unrest as people realise that there is a conspiracy to remove him. It would likely not work regardless. His own support base is not without its own influence and they would oppose us."

"We could just kill him," the German said plainly.

"That may be difficult," the Russian said. "The boy has some sort of advanced healing Quirk, you all saw it. We would need a powerhouse on par with All Might or Star and Stripe to kill him without disabling his healing first, and there are very few Quirks, or other avenues avail-able to us capable of achieving that easily."

He was right at least, there were very few Quirk disabling Quirks around at all and of those only a couple that could be used as reliably or as easily as for example Eraserhead's Quirk, none of which were available to the HPSC, at least not for an assassination operation such as this.

The Russian was interested in the boy though. He was angling the conversation towards a position of not killing him, Madame President realised, and why wouldn't he be? Someone capable of redistributing Quirks could represent a significant swing in international combat potential. The nation in control of him could theoretically create an army of loyal soldiers with powerful, carefully selected Quirks, maybe even multiple Quirks. She wouldn't kid herself and pretend nobody in this meeting hadn't considered the potential military power exclusive access to Carlisle's Quirk would bring.

"Ther'll be ways," the American woman said. "Just gotta hold him down, destroy his body ut-terly before he can regenerate, or find a weakness in the Quirk, there always is one," she said matter of factly.

"Mind control could be an effective tool," the Russian suggested, only confirming Madame President's suspicions. "We have individuals with the capability," he reminded them. "I would be happy to lend their services to the Japanese," he said, far too casually.

The American scoffed. "I'd sooner see him killed than under any other nation's direct control," she told him, correctly reading the Russian's play here. There were murmurs of agreement from the other members who up to this point had remained silent. The Russian scowled.

"Then what shall we do?" He asked. "We cannot kill him easily, at least without taking unnec-essary risks. You do not want to control him. Give me a solution to the problem that we have not yet considered."

"We could work with him for now, leave him be," the German said. "The boy is not immortal, he will eventually grow old and die, likely taking his ability with him. So he will not represent a permanent change in the status quo. Allowing him to function as he has declared he will would only create stability in the short term as he addresses the tensions about Quirk dispari-ties which we are all aware have been on the rise more recently." There were some nods of agreement from the members.

"If we take it in that direction then he needs to be seen to be on our side so he does not dimin-ish our perceived control; which could be done through the correct manipulation of the media and public events," Madame President said, trying to retake control over the conversation. "As it stands, we would just have to leave him to his own devices, he is already on track to be a hero after all, with some of the best teachers in the world. He is likely to become a Hero without our interference and serve our interests unknowingly.

"That could change though, if undesirable parties are able to influence him at any point," the American pressed.

"Many groups will be interested in him," the Russian representative agreed. "But we already have eyes on them. Perhaps we should accelerate our timetables for the local troublemakers in Japan?"

"My plans are already underway," Madame President said squarely, careful not to invite any suggestion of help from the other nations. Breadcrumbs were being laid for prominent Heroes to encounter the various steadily growing groups currently in operation that they knew of and hopefully put their activities down with none the wiser to her or the HPSC's prior awareness and involvement.

"He's only collected a handful of truly powerful Quirks thus far," Madame President contin-ued. "You saw the Quirks he has demonstrated during the Festival. While collectively they are indeed powerful, he is far from invincible and we suspect he is limited to the number of Quirks he can use at a time. Provided we prevent him from gaining access to any other powerful Quirks then we should be able to contain him, if it becomes necessary.

"As for control," she said. "A honeypot would normally be suitable, although it appears he is in a relationship with one of the heiresses of the Yaoyorozu family."

They collectively recognised the name. The Yaoyorozus had acquired a great deal of power in the early days after Quirks appeared on account of their abilities to create materials of var-ious types and that had transitioned into an international presence. The current heiress choos-ing to become a Hero was surprising but not an undesirable move from the HPSC's perspec-tive, and now she'd somehow engaged in a relationship with Carlisle. Interference in the rela-tionship of the daughter of an internationally significant family could cause problems if it were discovered. It wasn't an option they could consider lightly.

Madame president shrugged. "Again, it appears that Carlisle-san is already fitting into the mould we would have tried to put him in without outside interference."

"So we wait and see?" the American representative said in the ensuing silence. "We should at least try and get ahead of the publicity, make it seem like we're in control. Still, the boy's come out of nowhere and is already making major political moves, moves that benefit us and our work. It seems too convenient, I don't like it."

"You're just afraid of the fact Japan will now have arguably the two most powerful Heroes," the Russian chortled nastily.

"Star and Stripe is stronger than this boy, and also All Might," The American said bitingly. "While Russia has no Hero capable of matching any of them," she reminded the room, flex-ing America's very prominent global power through simply having access to the heavily na-tionalistically themed Heroine. "Obviously a confrontation between them shall never occur so it is entirely academic to debate it. Regardless, Star and Stripe will be All Might's real succes-sor, you all know this. I'm not afraid of this newcomer interfering in that."

It was true. All Might could not last forever. Eventually he would have to retire and that date seemed to draw ever nearer as the man made fewer and fewer public appearances. With the loss of All Might, Japan's influence would diminish and that was something Madame Presi-dent did not want to see for a number of reasons.

The only reason Japan was even at the table was because U.A. and All Might were in her country. Otherwise Japan still remained a minor international power at best. I-Island being within spitting distance helped too, but that was an international group and not beholden to any one nation. Japan was the home of most of the world's strongest Heroes, that was their greatest strength. Carlisle could be a suitable Heroic power to counter the political and social threats to Japan's global standing which were now being presented by Star and Stripe. Whether her contemporaries were aware of her own designs the head of the HPSC wasn't sure, but regardless they had all played right into her own ambitions today.

Discussions were had. Members suggested other strategies which were shot down for vari-ous reasons. Honeypots were proposed and subsequently also shot down. While she was not under their direct control, the Yaoyorozu girl would suffice to keep the boy on the Heroic side of things and that was all that mattered for the time being. If something changed then another potential paramour could be introduced.

They eventually came to an agreement though. Ethan Carlisle would not be touched, for now.

"If we are to go ahead with this, we will need assurances," The American representative commented. "The boy will need to have some sort of international presence so that we can all benefit from his Quirk. If he becomes a threat then he also needs to be handled, immedi-ately."

"I have already been considering methods to allow for an international presence, although do understand that these plans are for the future, once the boy is qualified as a Hero and has an established record of Heroism," Madame President stated. She already knew coming in to-day she would have to make concessions if they chose to allow the boy to live. They were all mostly concentrating on Carlisle's potential to move Quirks around and paying only lip ser-vice to his own personal power, which was their mistake. Carlisle would likely eclipse other heroes given time and become the next number 1 Hero simply through his immense combat potential. She needed to keep the next big thing in Japan and everyone else on board and not interfering while she solidified her country's hold on the boy.

"Should he become a problem though, what do you intend then?" Asked the German.

"If Ethan Carlisle is seen to become a flight risk then he should be dealt with, no matter the cost. I assume we are in agreement on that?" Madame President stated. "I have already be-gun preparing for that eventuality," Madame President revealed. "Although I may wish to make use of international assets."

There were various noises of agreement and acceptance from the representatives.

Names were suggested for a team that might be capable of killing the boy should it come to that. It would have to be a tragedy as far as the public were concerned, the operatives en-gaged in the mission would have to be deniable assets considering the boy's current celebrity. There were plenty of agents who fit the bill though. They had plenty of potential assassins to choose from; a few Heroes who had it in them to do what was necessary to keep society afloat and also Villains who could be paid or convinced to take part in such an attack.

The meeting was closed. Madame President sent her two aides to carry out their instructions and begin preparations to house the agents that would be kept on standby to take the boy out if they needed to. She hoped it wouldn't come to that. Other plans were in place, to keep the boy close and see if the boy was amenable to working with the HPSC. Hopefully some of them would bear fruit.

She sighed and settled into her seat, giving herself a few seconds rest before she had to leave to her next meeting.

Ethan Carlisle was valuable as a potential new top Hero for Japan. But if he did show signs of becoming a liability then he needed to be removed before he grew too strong to contain. In the event of that then Madame President knew what needed to be done. The public weren't aware of it but these were hard times. Hard times made hard people who had to make hard decisions.

Despite her leanings towards her homeland she needed to consider the big picture for the world as a whole. For all that they blustering and politicking, everyone else in that meeting was of a like mind with her and they could be trusted to make the right decisions. Society was only being held together by the hard work of the HPSC and its contemporary organisa-tions. Ethan Carlisle represented a huge potential benefit for her nation, but the stability of so-ciety as a whole needed to be protected at all cost.

If things worked out well then that was good, but if Ethan Carlisle became a threat then he would be dealt with, one way or another.

Ethan

Following the Sports Festival Class 1-A and 1-B were given the most important task of all.

Deciding on Hero names.

Everyone was given a whiteboard to write down prospective names. Eraserhead slumped in his chair while everyone excitedly started scribbling or otherwise suggesting names to each other.

'King Explosion Murder' was suggested by Bakugo and I burst out in laughter, making Bakugo scowl adorably, but he didn't back down, eventually going for 'Great Explosion Murder God' which was likewise rejected. Meanwhile Izuku chose 'Deku,' of course. He'd bounced back since the Festival but he still had that complex born from Bakugo's treatment of him in the past.

Momo went with 'Creati'. It was a great name for a future Heroine that could create anything she put her mind to. There were a few others, such as Uraraka's 'Uravity'. Most of my classmates had been thinking about their hero names since they'd been kids so there were no butterflies to flutter here, they'd already decided on these names long before I'd inserted into this world.

I stepped forward suggesting my own name.

"D'artagnan!" I said. "I read it in a book once," I explained to the class with a shrug.

"No," Eraserhead said immediately. I gave the man an amused look and he scowled at me in return.

"But sensei," I said. "I'm really feeling this name calling to me for some reason."

"No," Eraserhead said again, the class gave us confused looks.

"Okay then…" I said going back down to my seat with mock dejection.

"What was that about?" Krishima whispered to me.

"I have no idea," I said, pretending innocence. "What do you guys think then? I'm open to suggestions."

"How about Hotswap?" Mineta suggested. "Seeing as you can use different Quirk combinations."

"Overhaul is a pretty cool name just on its own," Kirishima pointed out.

"Those are both good ideas," I said to the two boys. "I'm just not feeling it though."

"You could go something more straightforward," Ashido said, "Like something talking about how you can take and give out Quirks."

"It'll need to be something friendly though," I said, in agreement.

"How about Retry," Izuku said. "Because if you do what you said you'd do with Quirks, you'd be giving people a second chance with a Quirk."

"Like a videogame?" Uraraka asked, interested. "I dunno, it doesn't quite fit still," she said while looking at me consideringly.

"No," I said. "I like games, don't get me wrong, but it's not going to be my theme. "Maybe I'll just go with Blue Spot."

"You aren't going with that either," Eraserhead said from his desk. I pouted.

"This is kind of hard," I said. "The gods didn't gift me with a brain for naming things," I said self-deprecatingly.

"Gift!" Izuku said.

"What?" I said back.

"You should call yourself Gift!" Izuku said.

My classmates eyes widened and suddenly everyone was nodding their heads in agreement. I shrugged. It sounded alright, a bit more impressive in Japanese too. 'Okurimono.'

"Is 'Gift' okay?" I asked Eraserhead.

"Yeah," our homeroom teacher said disinterestedly, not finding anything wrong with it.

"Well," I said, going up to the front of the classroom with my marker. I held up the board, displaying my hero name.

"Gift," I said. "Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue."

After we'd chosen our Hero names next we had to pick prospective Hero firms to go on a work study with.

I was slightly wrong about how it went down. There were a bunch of Hero firms that offered to take on any students and everyone got to choose which of them they wanted to go to. It was other firms which could make independent offers themselves. A few of my classmates were given opportunities, a few didn't get many offers, but everyone got at least one.

One being the case for Izuku Midoriya. The poor guy was confused, not recognising Gran Torino initially, but he was curious and decided on accepting the offer of internship.

I looked towards Momo. She'd been offered a few places and decided to go with someone called Uwabami, who I didn't recognise offhand. Hopefully she'd have a good time.

The most interesting offer for placement was Todoroki's.

He was going to intern at the Nighteye agency. All Might's former sidekick was taking the boy on. I knew he took on some students like Lemillion, but why would Todoroki have decided to go for Nighteye of all people?

It seemed butterflies had flapped their wings. Hopefully Todoroki was going to receive some good training from All Might's friend.

I looked at my own invites. There were plenty of offers to choose from. I could only pick one though.

"Oh, Hawks sent me an offer," I said, interested despite myself. I got some interested looks from my classmates. Hawks was an up and comer, the youngest among the top ten Heroes who'd made his way to becoming the fourth most popular Hero in Japan in just a few years. He was also an interesting individual to receive an invite from for other reasons.

Damn and now I was torn because the alternative option I saw was Best Jeanist who I'd have probably chosen if it wasn't for this. Both heroes were great in their own ways. Hawkes might be interesting for a number of reasons. I had a good idea of why both of them might have made offers too… But why they were interested in me didn't matter.

It was which of them was most up to the task ahead that mattered.

Bakugo

Katsuki was looking forward to meeting his new teacher for the next couple weeks. Best Jeanist wasn't All Might, but the guy was a Top Ten Hero and there had to be a reason for that. It'd be stupid to think that this guy didn't have anything to teach him.

He arrived outside the office. This was the place, so he stepped inside only to be surprised at what he found.

Carlisle was there, in his Hero costume and talking to a secretary who tittered at something he had just said. He hadn't announced who he was tutoring under in class. Katsuki wasn't sure if he was annoyed at the other boy for joining him or satisfied that if they were both here then it was just a sign he'd made the right call. Still, it seemed Katsuki had been beaten to getting there first.

On hearing the automatic doors opening the secretary turned to look at him.

"Hello," she said. "You must be Bakugo-san." She reached for a phone on her desk. "Sir, they are both here," the woman said.

Carlisle stepped forward and offered Bakugo a fistbump which Bakugo returned with only slight reluctance. Carlisle was an ass, but he was tough. Tough enough to take everything Bakugo had during the festival and come back for more. Nobody else in the class could really say that at this point. Hell, Katsuki didn't think some of the teachers would've done half as good a job. Carlisle was probably U.A.'s strongest Hero student, as much as Katsuki would rather not admit it.

The heights Carlisle was already at seemed daunting. He was only going to get stronger over time as he acquired new Quirks and mastered the ones he'd already acquired, but that didn't phase Katsuki. His classmate was only showing him how far he had to go to hit the Number One spot one day.

"Hi dude, good to see you," Carlisle said.

Katsuki would have responded but he was interrupted when Best Jeanist appeared through the doorway. He was tall, blond and as his name implied, he was covered in denim which went up past his nose to just under his eyes.

"You're both here, excellent," the Hero said. He looked both boys up and down, taking in their Hero costumes. "Follow me," he instructed.

They both followed the Hero into another room. There were open plan cubicles with a couple of the Hero's subordinates working at computers. Bakugo recognised a couple of them, he'd done some research before accepting the Hero's offer of a placement. None of these guys were big names, but they were good at what they did. Working for a top ten Hero agency was in of itself a decent accomplishment as a younger Hero.

Best Jeanist escorted them through to his office. Once both boys were inside, the door closed with a thud. Best Jeanist's attitude and presence suddenly had a lot more weight to it as he turned to look at them. Despite himself, Katsuki felt a tiny bit intimidated.

Best Jeanist went and sat on the edge of his desk. He looked at both of them critically.

"Do you know why I offered you both a placement?" he asked the two boys.

Katsuki shrugged. "We did the best in the tournament."

"No," Best Jeanist said flatly. He looked towards Carlisle. "Do you have any idea?" he asked.

"Yup," Carlisle said brightly. "My stunning personality could do with some work."

Best Jeanist snorted in amusement. "That's not how I'd have put it," he said frankly. Carlisle shrugged unrepentantly.

"I took you both on because you both need training," he told them. "Not in terms of combat potential," he clarified when Katsuki made to protest. "Your presentation, your relationship with the public is critical to your success as a Hero and right now it's lacking in the extreme."

Katsuki scowled. "What's wrong with how I look?" he demanded gruffly.

"It's not just your appearance," Best Jeanist explained, "It's your attitude. While you're with me I'm going to help you learn how to behave like a Hero. Although we might be giving you both a makeover at some point too," the man told him to Bakugo's internal dismay. He looked to Carlisle.

"Bakugo-san needs an attitude adjustment," he said. "You on the other hand need all the help you can get."

Carlisle snorted. "Fair enough," he said, completely unphased at what the Hero had told them.

They both maintained eye contact with each other for a few seconds.

"Actually," Carlisle said. He reached into his belt, it was a white utility belt and he pulled out a small note. He handed it over to the Hero. "You'll want to read this," he told the Hero.

Best Jeanist unrolled the paper and held it up to read. Katsuki looked between Carlisle and the Hero with interest, wondering what exactly was going on. After a few seconds Best Jeanist's eyes widened before he continued reading.

"This better not be a joke," he said.

"Absolutely not," Carlisle said seriously. Katsuki continued to look between them both with curiosity.

"What's it say?" he asked.

Best Jeanist looked back at Katsuki. He'd come across as serious before, but now there was a stiffness to his stance as he deliberated for a few moments. Katsuki resisted the urge to shift nervously.

"There's no reason he can't know at least, as long as he keeps his mouth shut," Carlisle put in.

"I can keep a secret," Katsuki said, eager to find out what they were talking about.

"It's a message from Principal Nezu," Best Jeanie said after a moments consideration and then he continued to read. "He's not coming," Best Jeanist told Carlisle, looking back up. "Quite frankly I'd be worried about looking after just you," he said to the other boy.

"Nezu said you'd say that," Carlisle agreed as Katsuki looked on in annoyance, wondering exactly what he was going to be excluded from.

"Really there's no offence meant, but this is just too high profile dude," Carlisle said to Katsuki. "I'm only really being included because of my teleporting Quirk and my ability to take them."

"It's a mission," Best Jeanist elaborated for Bakugo. "A Villain who has gone unnoticed until now needs to be caught. They've been hidden in plain sight for a very long time. They also have dangerous," he glanced to Carlisle, "Individuals under their control and connections in the government and police. Hence this mission needs to be completely secret, and considering the situation, we need to take him by surprise."

Carlisle nodded. "Dangerous doesn't quite cover it," he said. "In fact, you might have met the guy we're talking about once, under a different name," he told Katsuki. "Doctor Tsubasa."

"He… was the guy who did my Quirk evaluation when I was a little kid," Katsuki recalled with a fair amount of confusion. What could that guy have done to deserve all this secrecy. Carlisle nodded.

"He's been doing a bit more than just Quirk evaluations," he said grimly. "Let me fill you both in properly."

Best Jeanist

The hospital Doctor Garaki operated out of had visiting hours between 1pm and 4pm. Half past four was when the operation was slated to occur, at the quietest time of day. It was currently 4pm. They needed to move.

"We'll see you tomorrow dude," Gift said to his classmate as he created a portal.

Dynamight nodded tersely.

Best Jeanist eyed the portal. It was an interesting and powerful Quirk. He'd spoken to Nezu after the Sports Festival about Carlisle and his Quirks but NEzu had been cagey about revealing any information about his student. It was horrifying to think now that this Quirk was supposedly made, albeit from a number of other Quirks being combined together.

He stepped through and found himself in a classroom at what he assumed was UA. There were already a number of Heroes present, all of them being UA staff. These were all well known and respected Heroes in their own rights. Many of them were high in the Hero rankings despite their relative low public presence which said quite a lot about their capabilities as Heroes. Others eschewed the limelight like Eraserhead who was only really known for his teaching role. Most wouldn't ever be aware of the man's existence, despite his stellar performance as a Hero, but if it came down to a fight between any of them here today, Eraserhead would probably win most one to one engagements.

Of course finally there was All Might. The Number 1 Hero was leaning against the wall, having been talking to the Principal who was sat at the teacher's desk.

"Ah the men of the hour!" Nezu said on seeing them.

"Hi everyone," Carlisle, or rather 'Gift' said. "Is everyone here?" He asked, looking around.

"You are our final arrivals," the Principal told him. The white furred creature stood up to address the gathered Heroes.

"You have all been informed about today's mission although not everyone has been fully briefed on the entire situation," Nezu said, nodding to Best Jeanist. "Therefore I shall provide a brief overview and let it serve as a reminder for those who may want a refresher."

The animal-being picked up a controller from next to him and clicked it. A large screen rolled down from the ceiling before lighting up with the image of the relatively famous Doctor Tsubasa. Beneath the image was his real name, Doctor Garaki.

"Doctor Garaki has been carrying out illegal human experiments in secret," Nezu said. "Working on living subjects and the deceased he has found an imperfect way to insert Quirks into other people and even replicate a few choice Quirks for the same purposes. He has been using his position for the last many years to acquire test subjects and carry out his research in secret."

There were mumblings from the Heroes present. Nezu nodded seriously. Best Jeanist was mildly surprised to see Carlisle step forward to stand by the teacher.

"We know he has likely managed to create multiple 'Nomus', creatures not unlike the one present during the USJ attack," he told them. "That creature had a super regeneration Quirk alongside Rubber Body which would allow it to take powerful blows from even All Might without receiving any permanent damage. It was also enhanced in general with great muscle strength and speed that notably are not the result of a Quirk factor and so they cannot be disabled through Quirk affecting means. It is likely that Garaki has created Nomus with up to six Quirks, which the Nomus will likely use in synergy with each other or in combination."

Six Quirks, Best Jeanist thought idly to himself with worry. The note hadn't specified that that was the kind of threat they'd be facing but Gift had gone that far into detail. Gift paused to let everyone take that information in. He'd seen what Carlisle had done during the Sports Festival with just a few weaker Quirks each time. Six, that sounded like the kind of threat it'd take multiple top flight Heroes to put down and there was potentially more than one of them.

"Doctor Garaki's lab is located under the Hospital he works at," Nezu said. "Therefore our top priority alongside capturing this Villain is to protect the Public. To that end we will be attacking now, after visiting hours are closed and the fewest potential casualties are present."

"What's our strategy?" Eraserhead asked before Best Jeanist could.

"All Might, Best Jeanist and Gift will enter the facility using Warp Gate and neutralise it from inside," Nezu said. "Using the same Quirk I shall be accompanied by Hound Dog and Ectoplasm to detain the Doctor in his office while everyone else will be interspersed in and around the Hospital to reassure the public and contain any Nomus should the worst come to happen and they escape the lab."

Best Jeanist had been surprised by the plan which was asking for his involvement alongside the young Hero in training. Nezu hadn't gone into sufficient detail beyond explaining the importance of Gift taking part to carry out a surprise attack on the facility and Gift's explanation had been slightly lacking without visual aids. Now he was seeing the scope of the scenario fully, he was starting to truly understand why Gift needed to be involved. Nezu was asking Best Jeanist to play fast and loose with the rules here. Normally trainee Heroes without a licence wouldn't be included in any fighting if possible, but in the end, it was at the discretion of the Hero in charge of them. By having Best Jeanist involved via the work study, Gift could legally use his Quirk to facilitate their attack and also to disable the Nomus without there being any accusation of nepotism or abuse from U.A. Now as Gift spoke to the adult Heroes present, he was starting to see why Nezu seemed to have so much confidence in the boy.

Best Jeanist looked to his temporary protege. Gift looked serious. In fact he lacked any of the telltale signs of someone new to serious combat. The young man was clearly experienced in operations such as this and life or death situations. He'd suspected the majority of the boy's blatant PR work at the festival had been merely on account of Nezu's interest in just the boy's potential. It seemed there was more to it though. Carlisle and Nezu were acting almost like colleagues rather than teacher and student, he'd clearly underestimated the boy.

Nezu clicked his remote.

"Insert points are located on this map," the Principal explained, before going through each marked location which had the names of the Hero pairs. "As I said I shall detain the Doctor alongside Hound Dog and Ectoplasm, then I shall attempt to hack the Hospital systems and acquire any pertinent data I can acquire on the Doctor's activities."

Snipe raised his hand, drawing everyone's attention. "No offence, but what's the kid going into the lab? That's the most dangerous location. Shouldn't he be running opsec and providing portals for everyone?"

"I'm able to take away the Nomu's Quirks," the boy reminded the man simply. "Hopefully I'll catch them by surprise, culling their numbers before things get out of control or they escape. Eraserhead's Quirk works at range, but the Nomus still have their physical enhancements and they could still feasibly beat him without a Quirk if they get close. They are intelligent and they will go for him the moment they realise what he can do. He's best positioned outside the Hospital with avenues for mobility, ready to shut down any escapees alongside yourself. My method is more reliable and permanent," he said. "If I'm beaten, then at least the ones I've already taken out won't be a threat anymore."

"There are other things that probably bear mentioning," Nezu supplied. "As I have said, the reason Gift is being involved in this operation is that he is both capable of setting us up for a surprise insertion, alongside his Quirk removing abilities being highly useful to shut down the Nomus. Strictly speaking Best Jeanist is responsible for Gift during the next two weeks during which he can bring Gift on Hero missions at his discretion. This allows us to circumvent the need for a Provisional Hero licence which would not be possible to acquire in the short term. So thank you Best Jeanist for your support today."

Best Jeanist nodded in acknowledgement of the Principal's thanks. It was good to see the animal person understood and appreciated him for the risks he was partaking in here.

Nezu continued on to explain that the secrecy of the mission also was important. Doctor Garaki clearly had friends in high places and contacting the police early could spell disaster. Aside from everyone in this room nobody else knew about the operation, with the exception of Bakugo at least who would no doubt be bored out of his mind doing drudge work at the office. It was revealed that there may also be regular villains present who might attempt to take part in any fighting. Notably a "Shigaraki," who had taken part in the USJ attack was expected to be present with the possibility of other lesser known, but nonetheless wanted individuals.

"There is one more thing…" All Might said, capturing everyone's attention immediately.

"There is a chance that a certain… individual may be located at this facility, or that they might come to support Doctor Garaki," he said. "He is incredibly powerful and if you encounter him then you should retreat immediately."

Best Jeanist's eyebrows rose. Someone who gave pause to All Might of all people was clearly one to watch out for. "How do we recognise him?" He asked immediately.

"He wears a distinctive metal choker and has scarring across his face, covering his eyes," Gift supplied. "He also has a tendency to monologue, so take advantage of that if you can until help arrives. Just don't engage him. All Might will come to support you as soon as we are aware the man is there."

Best Jeanist watched the byplay with interest. All Might knew this Villain, but it was Gift that knew what he looked like today. There had to be more going on behind the scenes there but it wouldn't be his problem provided this individual didn't make their presence known. Now wasn't the time to ask those questions, he's broach it after the fact with Nezu, Gift or All Might.

There were a few more questions posed by the other Heroes about the environment and what they might expect but there wasn't much more information Nezu could provide. Then finally, it was time to move.

"I'll set up portals along the walls here," Gift said, gesturing to the side wall. "Good luck and take care. I don't want any of you to get hurt."

There were some noises of appreciation and a few amused dismissals, at the kind words from the boy before everyone lined up, ready for action. Nezu nodded and Carlisle shifted to a form made of purple mist. With a wave of his hand portals formed up in front of the Hero teams.

Everyone raced through the portals to their individual insertion points. All Might went ahead of Best Jeanist and Gift, leaving just the two of them in the room.

"I know I said I'm happy with you on this mission," Best Jeanist told the boy. It was a slightly selfish thing to ask, he knew. Still, a lot of pushback in a legal sense would be avoided by the public not realising Gift's involvement in the attack, even if any after action reports would need to include the boy's involvement. "I'd prefer you stay out of the spotlight today, your being involved with this operation should be seen to be as minimal as possible to avoid public blowback." Gift nodded.

"I understand," he said. "I'd probably think the same thing. Unless we deem it necessary I won't go out fighting in public view."

That was the most Best Jeanist could ask.

"Thank you," he said, grateful the boy was being so reasonable.

They couldn't wait any longer, this was the moment. Ready for battle, Best Jeanist nodded to the boy before going through the one remaining portal, after the Number 1 Hero.

91. Nezu

Nezu stepped through the portal after his subordinates and arrived outside Doctor Garaki's public office.

And what do you know, the Doctor was in.

The rotund, ancient looking man stood up from his chair on seeing the sudden arrival of the heroes, but he wasn't able to give more than a word of protest as Hound Dog leapt forward and caught the man by surprise. Slamming him down against his desk and pulling his hands behind his back.

Nezu strolled in, a pleased smile on his face.

"Doctor Garaki, you are under arrest for kidnapping, murder and illegal scientific experimentation on human beings," Nezu said with no small amount of pleasure. It was somewhat cathartic to arrest someone for the kind of crimes that Nezu had once been subjected to.

"W-what?" The doctor said. "I-I don't understand. That's not m-my name," he whimpered unconvincingly. "I haven't done anything!" He said, a couple of onlookers around the hospital were poking their heads into the room.

"I'm afraid the evidence is already overwhelming," Nezu said with more amusement at the Doctor's panicked response to the surprise assault on his public place of work.

Ectoplasm, seeing there were no problems, went outside to disperse the crowd that was quickly gathering. There were some noises of protest. One nurse was particularly vehement that the Doctor must have been innocent of whatever crimes he was being accused of but Ectoplasm was doing a good job of pacifying the crowd. Nezu paid it no mind. Garaki's colleagues would be very surprised to learn the scope of the man's work, assuming it was even revealed to the public. With a case as high profile as this one though, it would probably be necessary.

"If you please," Nezu gestured to Hound Dog.

The Hero pulled Garaki away and pressed him against the wall easily. The old man was weak and frail, apparently on account of his life extending Quirk. Nezu happily jumped into the Doctor's empty chair and began looking through the man's computer.

"Y-you'll never find anything," he said. Neezu looked over at the Villain with amusement.

"They always say that," Nezu said idly before continuing his search for information. At the very least he could track through the Doctor's public work and it may help put together a timeline of some of his crimes or provide some circumstantial evidence to prove the same.

There wasn't anything incriminating here he decided after a few minutes, at least not from a cursory inspection. Nezu pulled out a small storage drive which he plugged into the computer. The advanced bit of tech immediately started downloading all the stored information onto the drive.

"Nothing more to say?" Nezu asked the Doctor, once the process was completed. "You must have figured out by now that you've been completely rumbled, as they put it."

Garaki stayed silent.

"No doubt you are thinking your Nomus will come to support you, or use that one you made with the teleporting Quirk to rescue you," Nezu said, inspecting his claws. He took great pleasure in seeing the Doctor's face turn to one of shock.

"Yes, we know all about your research," Nezu said. "In fact we also know about your primary base of operations, at least the one you invited Shigaraki-san into. Escaping here will only see you caught by the Heroes there."

The Doctor's face turned to one of pure panic for a few seconds before he schooled his expression back to something to hide his worry. He scowled furiously and opened his mouth to reply but then they were all taken by surprise when suddenly a black ooze seemed to come out of the man's mouth. The Doctor smirked around the foul looking substance as it enveloped him before transporting him away. The Nomu with the teleporting Quirk had been activated it seemed.

"Damn," said Hound Dog." Nezu sighed.

"It appears the Doctor indeed had some sort of contingency in place," he commented. "Perhaps some voice activated trigger or delayed alarm. This was expected, it is likely he is now in his lab. I'm sure our team down there will be able to subdue him."

Hound Dog nodded. "Is there anything else you need from me? Maybe I should go support the other Heroes."

"Stay for a little while, please," Nezu said. "I do not know if Doctor Garaki has left any other surprises here and I may need your assistance." Or protection, Nezu thought internally. He wasn't unaware of his limited physical prowess and he did not want to have to try facing off against any Nomus on his own.

Hound Dog nodded and Nezu went back to work, confident in the knowledge that while Garaki might have escaped his office, he wouldn't be getting far.

All Might

They arrived in a dark room, a makeshift bedroom from the looks of it. There was some lighting and All Might's eyes adjusted to the relative darkness quickly. He immediately began scoping out their surroundings as Beast Jeanist arrived, followed by Carlisle, or Gift as he was to be known while undergoing Hero work.

This was where the signal from Shigaraki's implanted tracker had sent its one and only ping. It had been a deliberate choice as All for One had the ability to block communications but he might miss a single burst of data, especially if it were sent in the latest hours of the night when even the most unreasonable psychopath would likely be asleep.

Still, their insertion couldn't have been better. There were no visible or audible alarms, nobody was there to see them.

Best Jeanist and Gift were also canvasing the room they'd arrived in, looking on grimly at their surroundings.

"Shall we move then?" Gift asked after a few seconds. "Let's not lose the element of surprise by delaying."

Both adult Heros nodded and they proceeded to start their explorations. There was a door leading to a corridor and the team followed it, checking through each room they came across.

The first room they found contained several large glass tubes, containing sleeping Nomus which were also connected to what was probably some sort of life support system. There was another body strapped to a table, whether it was dead or not All Might didn't know and he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know. To think, these things were once people.

Mainly they encountered more of what appeared to be storage rooms, albeit with a sinister purpose. In each there were about a dozen Nomus in storage, likely waiting to be used for whatever purpose Garaki or All for One envisaged, or perhaps more research. There were several such rooms and each one they found left All Might feeling more and more grim.

"Not good," All Might muttered as they passed yet another room. "Let's keep moving."

Their good luck ran out eventually though when they encountered an awake Nomu. It was a tall creature with a metal covering over its head and it loomed in the darkness of the room it was being kept in.

"Intruders?" It asked with surprise. That was all the opportunity it was given though. All Might wasn't going to take any chances against these opponents. Before it could react, he charged forward, fist extended to strike the creature with a powerful sucker punch to the chest.

The creature was blasted back by his punch and collided with the wall with a loud clang, it's body practically ruptured at the location where All Might had struck it, not holding back as he normally would against real living people. The Nomu slumped down to the floor, but it was still alive. It's arms moved weakly, and the anticipated healing Quirk started to activate.

"Not so far there, buddy," Gift commented dryly as he approached the monster. He put a hand on its side. The creature shuddered and then went still, the healing effect stopped abruptly, leaving a partially healed but still debilitating injury. The creature slumped down, unresponsive.

"That was a nasty one," Gift commented. "A spacial distortion Quirk which works at range," he said. "Picture something like Thirteen's, and a classic, Laser Eyes," he said with some dry amusement. He turned his head to the side and Both All Might and Best Jeanist watched as a bright beam of red energy emitted from the boy's eyes as he concentrated for a few seconds. The intense heat was enough to melt through a portion of the wall even during the brief few moments it was active.

"A long range fighter," Best Jeanist surmised. "We were lucky to encounter it here rather than elsewhere." It would certainly have been a tough opponent for him, likely able to cut his threads and deal significant damage at range. The collateral damage it could cause alone…

"Indeed, we got lucky with this one. Let's hope there aren't any more with Quirks as dangerous as that," All Might commented to which the other two nodded. "Let's keep moving, stay alert."

Garaki

Doctor Garaki appeared in an underground room before Johnny, the Nomu having been activated and facilitating his escape. He sighed in relief. He'd got away from the Heroes above in the Hospital. He was safe, for the moment.

But Nezu had said that there were other heroes also present. They could be in his base right now!

An explosion of noise alerted him to the fact that was very much true. Someone was in his facility, threatening his work!

He needed to save as much of his research as he could, and get the Shigaraki boy away too, as a matter of fact. He was here now, along with a couple of minor Villains the boy had recruited so far.

Well, he said minor. Twice, was relatively notorious for his Quirk letting him copy things, and people. He was something of a support Villain if there was such a thing, and he had been kind enough to let Garaki have some blood samples.

Yes. Garaki needed to get himself, his research and his associates out. All for One would harbour him of course, despite this setback. The hidden puppetmaster of the world had invested far too much into Garaki's work to stop at this setback. It was arguably his associate's fault anyway. The Shigaraki boy must have been used to tip the heroes off somehow, that was the only likely explanation.

He picked up Johnny, who would be vital in assisting his escape and scowled as he hurried towards the room Shigaraki was currently staying in. The Nomu was hard for him to carry on account of his physical weakness but he ploughed through. A bit of momentary discomfort was nothing if it meant saving his work!

Inside he found Shigaraki, along with Twice and the Toga girl. They were sat on a couch, it seemed they had been playing one of Shigaraki's videogames. Now they were alert though, on their feet with the controllers discarded and they'd been no doubt alerted by the noise Garaki had heard himself.

"What's going on?" Shigaraki asked immediately, failing to hide the concern in his tone.

"The Heroes are here," Garaki said. "We need to get out of here," he said. "I need you all to help provide a distraction while I download the data I need and prepare for our escape."

"Data?" Twice asked. "I know you care about your research Doctor," the Villain said. "But-"

"I will not lose my research!" Garaki hissed at the man, shutting him up. "Will you help me or not?" He demanded of Shigaraki and the girl.

"I'll help!" Toga said brightly, her psychotic tendencies shining through immediately.

Shigaraki shrugged. "I don't even have a Quirk right now," he said. "What do you expect me to do?"

He made a good point. The plan was for the boy to recruit some more Villains for this Villain Organisation he was apparently trying to create after the vigilante Stain had appeared in the news. Alongside that, Garaki had been helping the boy in finding and acquiring some victims with suitable Quirks for All for One to transfer over to him. In fact they had the first Quirk already, a young boy was in storage right now in another room.

The kid they'd acquired had a Quirk giving him flaming hands that All for One was going to transfer to Shigaraki. That was after Garaki had done some research on blending them together of course. It would be a project akin to his early work to create Kurogiri, putting together a number of Quirks to produce something greater than the sum of its parts and turn Shigaraki into a powerful Villain once more. It seemed though that all their preparations were now at risk of being for nothing. They'd have to start again from a more secure location.

"You can all help me by waking up the other Nomu and securing the boy for your future operation too," Doctor Garaki said. "The Nomus should help fend off the Heroes until we can escape," he said, feeling a momentary pang of sadness that some of his creations were likely going to be destroyed by those brightly coloured fools.

Shigaraki nodded before hurrying off to one of the nearby storage chambers. Twice and Toga followed him and Garaki went off into what was his out of work office, where all his files and research were kept.

The computer was fired up and he set up for his files to be downloaded onto a hard drive. Meanwhile Garaki began tinkering with Johnny. He would need the Nomu to summon as many of his other creations to him after their escape, lest they be captured or destroyed. The machinery could be replaced, his Nomus could not.

Garaki glanced at the screen of his computer. Nezu might be going through his public computer, but there was nothing of use to him there. Once he was done here, Garaki would ensure that none of his research and data here could be retrieved. His life's work was his and his alone!

A rumble of noise reminded him that the Heroes were getting closer. Panic set in once again. There wasn't enough time! How could they be getting closer so quickly? His completed Nomus should have been more than a match for the Heroes, especially in these cramped confines.

It didn't matter. Garaki grabbed a phone. Damn the secrecy. He needed to contact All for One and have the man extract him and Johnny before it was too late.

Ethan

Three Nomus were down so far. Best Jeanist had been effective in tying the next two up for me to disable permanently. The first had been one with lots of mouths across its body and metal teeth. The second had four eyes, but which most importantly had some sort of absorption and emission Quirk but which had been nigh useless against our physically aligned team. I looked forward to trying it out. Perhaps Aoyama wouldn't mind assisting me with his own Quirk. We could put together a combination move, it'd be fun.

All Might was leading us and as we came around a corner he stiffened in surprise, making myself and Best Jeanist pause.

"Shigaraki!" He said in annoyance, before immediately giving chase.

Myself and Best Jeanist immediately followed as All Might hurried after the boy.

"I took his Quirk away, but don't assume that means he's harmless. He might have a new Quirk by now," I advised the fibre manipulating hero.

We followed All Might as he chased Shigaraki into another room. When we entered though, the worst case scenario was already unfolding.

A row of glass tubes with Nomus in them lined the long hall. There were also people in some of the tubes. Victims likely on track to be experimented on.

Shigaraki was alongside another Villain who I recognised. Twice was fiddling with the controls, releasing the Nomus. Shigaraki had an unconscious little girl in a loose fitting schoolgirl's uniform in his grasp and a kitchen knife in his hand.

"Don't come any closer!" He shouted, holding the weapon to the unconscious child's neck. His eyes found me as I looked around All Might and the boy stiffened before scowling furiously.

"I might have known you'd be here too," Shigaraki said spitefully.

All Might stepped forward.

"Stay back!" Shigaraki shouted before All Might could speak. "Stay where I can see you!" He demanded of us. "If I see you trying to use Warp Gate the kid dies!" He informed me madly.

The other two heroes froze and I raised my hands in supplication, for the moment.

The tubes were opening after draining of fluid, the Nomus were becoming alert and beginning to clamber out of their containers, dripping whatever substance had been coating them in the glass tubes. None of them were ones I recognised, they were probably low tier, trash Nomus that Doctor Garaki was only starting to put together. Ones that would never amount to much except as useful distractions for the Heroes and police. Considering how many of them there were, I wasn't going to assume they weren't a threat. If just one had a particularly useful Quirk it could spell disaster. If they got out then there was no way we'd catch them all in a timely manner.

"Give up Shigaraki, it's over," All Might said seriously. "You won't get away again."

"I-I think I will!" Shigaraki taunted back, brandishing his knife when the Hero seemed to be making another move to approach. "Even if you capture me here, he'll just save me again."

The Nomus were getting their act together and starting to eye myself and my comrades. Any moment they could choose to attack and Shigaraki still had a hostage.

There was something off about all this, I thought, trying to apply my knowledge to the situation.

Then it hit me. The kid was dry. Which meant she hadn't been in one of the tanks. That knife didn't belong to Shigaraki, it belonged to…

"That's not a child," I said, immediately going to activate Warp Gate. The Nomus hearing my exclamation took that as motivation to attack.

All Might and Best Jeanist were taken slightly off guard but they immediately went to move themselves and tackle the Nomus.

I formed a portal and jumped through to come down on Twice from above. The man went down. His Quirk, so very useful in the right hands, was now mine.

Shigaraki meanwhile had been flung back by Himiko Toga who had grabbed her knife back from the boy and lunged forward, an eager smile on her face.

I swayed out of her knife's reach, but the girl was fast, anime fast and I couldn't catch her myself. If I were anyone else I might have been worried by her attacks, but a little knife wasn't going to do anything unless it pierced my brain and even then it still might not outright kill me.

"Hey cutie, what's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" I asked. My words didn't distract her, she didn't even respond which felt kind of out of character from what I remembered. I needed to finish this fight quickly though, if the shapechanger was too hard to catch with conventional means then I would just have to try a different tactic.

Third Left Hand activated, the limb bursting forth from my outstretched wrist. It almost worked, but Himiko was indeed fast and nimble and managed to step out of my reach.

I had the advantage now though and I quickly closed the gap, using my extended reach to corral the girl. Himiko stepped away to try and escape but my longer reach and the effective larger breadth of movement granted by my third arm left her with little opportunity to retaliate except to leave gashes in my hands that quickly sealed over.

Her back hit a wall, her eyes widened in surprise and it was all the opportunity I needed to finish things. Himiko didn't have more than a second to look surprised before I stole her own Quirk. I caught the girl in my arms as she lost consciousness and lowered her to the floor, leaving her to lie on the ground.

Shigaraki had been wisely maintaining his distance. He wasn't even armed and it seemed he hadn't acquired a new Quirk yet. There was little he could do to threaten me.

"Looks like you fail again," I said to the boy. I leaned down to touch the ground and the metal floor came up at my command to bind the boy who wasn't fast enough to resist, and to be fair he didn't even try that hard to resist. He looked at me hatefully and opened his mouth to say something but with a touch to the metal wrapped around his body, I had some of it mould itself to wrap around and cover his mouth too. His eyes widened in humiliation before he slumped, realising he was defeated.

I considered killing him for a moment. It was the smart thing to do after all, but then I dispensed with the thought and shrugged. Before everything went down with the Company I might have done it, but that wasn't what I was about anymore. I didn't need to be so ruthless anymore. I could be a Hero in this world. That was what I was about now.

All Might and Best Jeanist had detained the Nomus while I handled the Villains. Best Jeanist had a number of the villains wrapped up in his fibres, some of them were still struggling in their bonds.

"These used to be regular people," I said. "Maybe we can put them back on ice until help can be provided?" I might be able to heal them with Reversal, the thought passed my mind.

After taking their Quirks too of course, I tacked onto the end of the thought.

"A good idea," All Might praised me, probably realising my idea himself. No doubt the foolish man would want me to prioritise these people over himself. Personally I'd prefer getting the Number 1 Hero back at one hundred percent first, but we could have that conversation later.

Best Jeanist used his Quirk to full effect, returning the struggling monsters to their glass cages and I used the controls Twice had been working on to reactivate the pods. It took a couple of minutes, but the Nomus were rendered unconscious again, and 'safe,' for the moment.

"We need to keep moving," I said as I bound up Twice and Himiko on the ground with metal, much like I had done with Shigaraki. The boy said something through the gag but it was unintelligible, the best kind of intelligible as far as I cared.

We left Shigaraki and his accomplices in their bonds. There were no doubt more Nomus active in the base, former criminals that didn't need to be saved and I just couldn't wait to take their Quirks.

There was another explosion in the distance.

"What was that?" Asked All Might.

"Maybe some of the Nomus escaped somehow?" Best Jeanist suggested.

There was a dark chuckle from Shigaraki, catching all our attention. I stepped forward, blocking his view of the situation and dismissing him entirely.

"Most likely," I said. "Shigaraki may have released more Nomus. Hopefully the Heroes outside are already active and have evacuated the Hospital but I doubt they're finished."

"Then we need to hurry, perhaps we should split up," suggested All Might. "Will you two be alright on your own?"

I nodded immediately.

"Yes," Best Jeanist said. "You go ahead and secure the outside if there's a breach. The safety of the public is our top priority. We'll try to keep any more from escaping."

"Alright," All Might said. "Good luck, both of you," he said before racing off after the sound of the noise.

I went to stand beside Best Jeanist. We nodded to each other before continuing on to canvas the base.

Midnight

Nomus had appeared, but contrary to the obscenely powerful creatures they'd been warned about, these things were barely more dangerous than the average criminal.

It was their smarts mostly. They were… wild, for lack of better description and they generally lacked a healing Quirk like they'd all been warned about, so once they were knocked out they normally stayed down, thankfully.

Midnight swung her whip at another creature, one with wings. It screeched through its gas mask before she used its momentum against it, swinging it around to strike the side of the Hospital building. There was a crunch as a wing broke and she was relieved to see that the creature didn't get back up after it fell down. The more mobile ones were the most annoying and best equipped to get past her.

Behind her people were being evacuated from the Hospital. Others couldn't be moved though. She'd much prefer switching with someone else. Out here, her Quirk wasn't effective and could easily blow back into the crowd but it was her that got onto the scene first so here she was.

"Keep moving!" She instructed the civilians, reminding them that they needed to get out of there rather than just stand around and watch. As much as it pained her to say, now wasn't the time for voyeurism. Once the crowds were gone she could use her Quirk without risking making any nearby civilians sitting targets rather than moving ones.

To her relief Eraserhead and Snipe appeared around a corner, having been running towards the sound of her fighting. The two Heroes in turn gave a sigh of relief at seeing Midnight had already been on the scene and she let out a noise of pleasure at seeing her allies' arrival.

She was about to say something lewd about two men coming to assist her after she'd han-dled all these other men, but there was some sort of explosion of concrete and a dozen No-mus burst out from the ground.

Eraserhead stepped forward immediately, disabling the Quirks of the Nomus. They didn't go down, but their Quirks were disabled and leaving them as only particularly strong humanoids.

Snipe was next. He had one hand on the trigger, one to cock the hammer of his revolver and he fired at the hoard of monsters rapidly. Bullets were shot into the creatures limb joints, his perfect precision meaning the creatures were disabled immediately. Unable to move, the Nomus collapsed to the ground where they writhed ineffectually.

"Keep an eye out, I'm going to deactivate my Quirk," Eraserhead said.

He closed his eyes and a few seconds later it was apparent that some of these Nomus had healing Quirks, the bullets were dislodged from their limbs and a couple of them started to get back up again.

Eraserhead sighed and gestured to Snipe. More bullets were fired, this time through the No-mu's eyes and into their brains.

"A shot to the brain kills them, provided you disable the Quirk first," he said with some reluc-tant frustration at the need for the act.

Midnight forced the sudden uneasy expression off her face. Killing was something Heroes rarely did if they could avoid it. Of all times though, this was a necessary one. The Nomus were simply too powerful, too numerous, and too close to vulnerable civilians for them to do anything else.

There was gunfire in the distance. None of the other Heroes had guns which meant the police were finally here and while that was a good thing they weren't truly equipped to handle the Nomu.

"Goddamnit they're all over the place," Snipe complained as they all started moving.

"We should spread out," Midnight said reluctantly. "I can still probably put them to sleep with my Quirk, you both go ahead."

"Right!" Eraserhead said, accepting her idea. "Stick to the South side for now. "We'll handle the high traffic areas."

Eraserhead and Snipe hurried off and Midnight turned tail to head back the way they'd just come.

The Nomus weren't all as tough as they'd been led to believe, but there were still so many of them. Hopefully All Might and the other two would finish their work and come to assist soon or Midnight was worried they'd be overrun.

Midnight cracked her whip, catching the attention of a new pair of Nomus as one dug its way through the ground with a drill-like head.

This was no time for complaining.

"Hey there boys, ever heard of S ?" she asked the Nomus, before once more engaging in combat.

Chapters 96-100

Chapter 96 – Ectoplasm

The Nomus were coming out of the woodwork all over the place and they were attracted to the sound of the crowds fleeing the Hospital.

Inside the Hospital, Ectoplasm was doing as much as he could to fend off the creatures and guide hospital staff and patients away from the fighting. Many of the Nomus were far weaker than they had been warned about, but a few had healing factors or Quirks more suitable for combat. One Nomu in particular had a large spiked tail and coupled with its healing factor he couldn't beat it on his own.

Around the corner Cementoss appeared though, he was perfectly suited to capturing the Nomus with his own Quirk and it was child's play for him to wrap the creature up in concrete until it didn't have the leverage to move.

Ectoplasm, or rather one of his clones nodded to his friend.

"Thanks," he said.

"Some of these Nomus are strong," Cementoss said as they watched the creature struggle, and even make some headway. It screamed in their direction but otherwise couldn't do any-thing but futilely try to break its bonds as Cementoss reinforced its bindings further.

"Let's team up, I'll find 'em and you put 'em down," Ectoplasm suggested.

"Agreed," Cementoss said.

The original Ectoplasm joined his friend and they proceeded to make their way through the Hospital together. Thankfully it was only the lower floors which were infested with the horrific human experiments gone wild, but the Nomus were spreading out, making it harder for all the Heroes present to contain them.

One of Ectoplasms's clones encountered another Villain and Ectoplasm relayed the infor-mation to his teammate only seconds before the creature lunged forward, it's arm extending and punching the clone to dispel it.

It wasn't like the normal Nomus. This one had a sort of cover over its head, like a hood. It was also notably larger than many of the others they had encountered.

They caught up to it quickly and Cementoss immediately went to use his Quirk, coating it in wet cement that hardened instantly.

"Y-you th-think this'll hol-old me?" The Nomu asked. It was stuttering, struggling to speak, but regardless this was the only time either of the two Heroes had heard words from one of the Nomus. They glanced to each other, recognising that this was likely one of the higher tier Nomus they'd been warned about. They nodded resolutely to each other before looking back at the monster, ready for a big fight.

They were right, a moment later the concrete shattered around the Nomu and it lunged for-ward. There were jets on the creatures back, granting it greater speed and its hand stretched out again, increasing its reach for a solid punch.

Ectoplasm jumped away, while his friend went to his usual go-to, creating a multitude of walls in front of him to hold the attacker at bay.

It wasn't enough though. Cementoss couldn't react in time and the creature blew through the few barriers he managed to put up with just one fist, the other was cocked for a mighty blow.

He wasn't fast enough. If they were in a bigger space maybe Ectoplasm could have used his ultimate move and done something but right now there was no opportunity to save Cemen-toss.

"Smash!"

The creature was caught off guard as All Might broke his way through the wall on one side and punched the Nomu, sending it flying through the exterior window and outside the building.

"Are you unhurt my friends?" All Might asked as he went to the new opening he'd created.

"Yes," Cementoss said, brushing himself off. "As always you have impeccable timing All Might."

"Haha," the Number one Hero laughed boldly in response to the joke.

Outside the Nomu wasn't out for the count. flying up on the jets created from its back.

"It appears this one is quite a bit tougher than the rest," All Might said. "I'll handle this, you both keep scouting inside and keep an eye out for any more like this one."

Both Heroes nodded at the man's instructions and All Might's grin shone in the dimming light of the sun outside before he leapt out after the Nomu. The Nomu wasn't fully ready for the sudden attack but it managed to throw a punch of its own and their fists collided. No matter how strong the Nomus was though, it was no match for the sheer strength of the strongest Hero. All Might was pushed back by the recoil but the Nomu was blasted back violently. All Might caught himself on the wall of the building, cratering the concrete and making the entire structure shake for a moment before he pushed off, propelling himself after the monster with fervour.

Chapter 97 – Midoriya

After the morning where Izuku had met his new mentor they had been working on Izuku's issues controlling One for All. It was evening now. Over the course of the day they'd alternat-ed between actually training his Quirk and taking small breaks to go over some of the less practical sides of the hero business, paperwork mostly.

The deskwork side of things was something Izuku needed to learn about too. Izuku had known about it all, intellectually, but hadn't really thought about in real terms before. Heroes could be taken to court in the event their actions were brought into question. It was all stuff Izuku needed to know about and he had taken to the academic reading with interest. It was amazing that All Might found the time to complete all the reports he must have to do consid-ering all the time he spent actually out there saving people.

Izuku had been listening to Gran Torino with interest as he discussed some of his own past experiences as a Hero. Izuku had been taking notes, fascinated to hear about what the world of Heroes had been like before All Might had made his mark. The news had distracted them both though as the events at Jaku Hospital were broadcast to the public. Izuku had recog-nised the building immediately. There was no way he could forget the place where he'd had his original Quirk evaluation, discovering his status as Quirkless. It was perhaps one of the lowest points of his young life.

Right now there was a feed from a helicopter showing a number of what Izuku immediately recognised as Nomus attacking the Hospital. Even as they watched, the helicopter had to swerve away as a Nomu with wings flew at it. The Nomu's long barbed tongue reached out to try and attack the flying vehicle before the creature was shot out of the sky, courtesy of Snipe and the fed cut to a ground level view.

"S-should we go and try to help?" He asked, eager to do something, anything at what he was seeing as the crowds ran past the police who were decked out with riot shields and even guns to help repel the monsters. Izuku noticed that they were coming out of the building too, which meant that anyone inside was potentially also at risk!

"No," Gran Torino rebutted his temporary ward. "You aren't even nearly ready to face those kinds of monsters," he said gravely as he looked at the screen. The Hero had a dark look to his tone as he spoke. Izuku gulped and opted not to ask about it any further. Something about the man's tense stance told Izuku that the old man might have chosen to lend his own aid if he wasn't with Izuku regardless of his retired status.

Izuku unfortunately had to agree with the man. He'd only just figured out what he needed to do with his Quirk. Actually limiting the power was a challenge in itself and he'd achieved only minimal success so far. Hopefully soon he'd have enough control that he could properly use his Quirk at an appreciably strong level but that would take more training.

"I-I need to train," Izuku said seriously and he stood up. He was more or less fully rested at this point anyway.

"And you will," Gran Torino said firmly before sighing. "It's getting late. You should head off home now before the trains get too busy with this mess. I'll see you tomorrow."

Izuku nodded and bowed to his new teacher before making his way to the door.

"And don't think I won't woop your ass if I see you running off to Jaku Hospital!" Gran Torino shouted after him. "I know your type boy. Hold in all that excitement for now. There'll be plen-ty of Villains to stop and civilians to save when you're ready for it."

"Yes sir," Izuku replied, feeling momentarily chastised even though he wasn't thinking about going after All Might.

He wasn't!

No, Gran Torino was right. Izuku wasn't ready. He needed to train some more, apply his new revelations about his Quirk and really make some progress. His performance at the sports festival ran through his mind. He could do better. He had to do better.

Izuku set off home at a relaxed pace, trying to resist the nervous energy that told him she should be doing something. All he'd done so far was train his Quirk and study Hero laws. It seemed like a setback, not being able to go out and experience Hero work. But getting con-trol of his Quirk was paramount.

All Might was out there and Izuku wasn't in a position to go out and help him. Izuku clenched his fist.

Not yet.

But soon.

Chapter 98 – All Might

The Nomu had jets on its back which let it fly in the air, or at least an approximation.

All Might leapt off the side of the Hospital building to strike the Nomu again. The second punch sent it flying back into the neighbouring building and it collided with the concrete with a painful crunch. The Nomu didn't maintain its flight, instead opting to more or less float down to the ground while All Might fell under normal gravity, landing on the hard concrete of the road outside the hospital.

There were no cars or anything, it was a wide open area thanks to the Police having arrived and setting up a cordon. That meant that there was an area of relative safety where civilians weren't going to be at risk. That was good, All Might could tell already that this was going to be one of his toughest fights and he wouldn't be able to hold back as much as he ordinarily might.

The Nomu was clearly strong. On top of that it had a healing factor they'd been warned about. All Might was sure his punch had broken a few of the creature's ribs, but now it was absolutely fine. If anything it looked excited.

"All Might, a worthy opponent!" The Nomu said eagerly as it stepped forward. Its oddly pro-portioned body didn't seem quite able to walk properly, but the creature's limbs returned to an approximation of humanity after a few seconds. Its head however remained warped, elon-gated with the appearance of fabric wrapped around the distended neck. As All Might watched, sinew seemed to burst out from beneath the skin of the creature's arms and they wrapped around the creature's upper limbs, giving it the appearance of being extremely muscular.

"You can speak? Do you have a name?" All Might asked, hoping against hope that with the momentary reprieve he could potentially talk this creature down, or at least delay its potential rampage. Any second he could keep it talking was another second the Nomu wasn't putting civilians in the line of fire.

"I-I ca-an," the Nomus said. "You can call me Hood," the Nomu said.

All Might nodded. "We know what was done to you," he said. "We may have the means of turning you back to normal, but I need your cooperation for that. Will you come quietly?"

"N-no. Why w-would I want to g-give this u-up?" the Nomu stuttered out, sounding amused and almost confused by what All Might had said. "I l-like being like this. I'm stronge-er now."

All Might scowled. He'd seen all kinds of Villains over the years and this one didn't take much figuring out. This one just wanted to fight, to revel in violence for its own sake.

The creature was practically vibrating with glee as it beheld him. Of course, it wanted to 'test' itself against him, didn't it? Prove it was the strongest around, because that was all that mat-tered to it.

The last five years had seen a decline in his strength. All Might's injuries had caught up to him. Maybe a few weeks ago with only the distant flicker of One for All in his heart, this No-mu would indeed have proven stronger than him. But thanks to Gift, All Might once more had One for All thrumming beneath his chest.

All Might's clenched fist tightened as the monster raced forward. It was shouting something inane about their fight, about proving itself. It didn't matter.

This Villain with its combination of powerful Quirks thought he was a match for All Might wielding One for All did he?

They'd see about that.

Chapter 99 – All Might

A shockwave of force erupted where All Might's hand collided with Hood's own. The creature was strong and All Might felt himself being pushed back, his feet dragging through the con-crete beneath him through the friction before he regained his bearings.

"Yes!" Hood shouted as it slowed its own momentum from how it had been pushed back also. "This is what I wanted, a good fight at last!"

All Might grunted, feeling the blowback from the attack reverberating through his bones. This guy really was no pushover.

"Any other time I might have happily sparred with you," All Might stated. "Now is not the time though."

Hood looked around. There were still civilians in the distance. Police working to create a cor-don and direct non combatants away.

"Who c-cares about th-them?" Hood demanded.

"I do," All Might replied unflinchingly.

The sound of shattered glass caught both Hero and Nomu's attention. A number of Nomu had charged through or been knocked through the windows and they landed on the ground with a crunch.

Two of them didn't get up, but several did after a few seconds and upon spotting All Might they immediately charged.

"Don't interrupt!" Hood snarled suddenly. Its arms extended as it threw a wide punch, blasting the Nomus back into the building where they collided, sending tremors through the building. It turned back to All Might. Amy moment it was going to re-engage.

The Nomu was strong. It was probably stronger than anything else All Might could remember fighting in his career. All Might wasn't given any more time to think about a strategy to over-come the Villain when it indeed blasted forward. The jets on its back propelling it forward in a mad rush. Fortunately he didn't need a plan, he just needed to fight.

All Might caught the wild attack on the side of his arm, halting the Nomu's momentum and it immediately engaged him in close combat.

It was skilled too, he realised as they traded blows, the Nomu's back jets adding just a little more oompf to his attacks. It was leveraging its Quirks to its advantage, eschewing any kind of guard and relying on its healing factor to take the few blows All Might landed. What's more, the Nomu had some skill and experience in hand to hand combat, even against stronger op-ponents.

Which was serving it well, because for all that it boasted about how great it was, how many enhancements Garaki had given it. All Might was still stronger!

All Might landed a punch to the creature's flexible arms, which no matter how effective it's Quirk was still were pushed back and it gave him the opening he needed. All Might let loose a powerful blow to the creature's chest, sending it packing once more, its chest caved in from the strength of All Might's punch.

"Garaki might have enhanced you, Hood," All Might stated as he took the brief reprieve to catch his breath. "But without a heroic spirit you'll never be the strongest around. It's only when we have something to protect that the depths of our strength is truly realised!"

Hood picked itself up. Its healing factor activating and making the most recent injury All Might had dealt it disappear in moments.

"I might not be the s-strongest," Hood admitted. "But I can still beat you All Might," the crea-ture bragged. "With my Regeneration I can ou-outlast you," the creature said with enthusi-asm.

The crowd in the distance let off a shriek of alarm as something happened. It seemed there were Nomus attacking the police. The police were firing back it seemed, gunfire echoing around and All Might could just catch sight of Vlad's Quirk in action as he fought them off over the fleeing civilians.

Hood had spotted it too. He turned to All Might and the hero could already tell what the crea-ture was thinking.

As was often the case with Villains, it blasted off sideways, threatening to attack the civilians itself. Either to bait All Might into putting himself at risk or simply to get some sort of emotional damage in and dishearten him. It didn't matter whatever the creature was thinking.

At the end of the day, it was always the coward's way forward with these sorts of monsters. The moment they feel like they might not win, then they start trying to leverage any ad-vantage they could.

So All Might was perfectly ready for it and he raced after the creature. It was fast, but he was just fast enough to catch up and grab hold of the flying creature by its foot.

The Nomu only had a second to turn and look in surprise before All Might dug his feet into the ground, tightened his grip and spun the Nomu around, slamming it into the ground at his feet.

It was blasting itself up on its jets a moment later with a fist cocked, but All Might was ready for that too.

"Texaaaas SMASH!"

The creature was shot back, the air billowed as he landed a real clean hit on the Nomu. The air pressure of his strike sent it packing, away from the civilians where it collided with the ground, skipping and leaving furrows in the concrete as it lost momentum.

All Might rolled his shoulder as he stepped forward through the dust cloud his attack had cre-ated to behold his opponent. Even with its healing factor, All Might's attack had left its mark. The Nomu clambered up on shaky legs. It swayed slightly before righting itself and facing him as the healing Quirk continued to work.

All Might wasn't going to let himself think he couldn't overcome its healing for a moment. But it was obviously going to take more than what he'd done already to put down this Villain. If it was just going to heal through any injuries he dealt it, then he'd have to just hit harder until its healing factor just couldn't keep up! He'd probably have to pull out his Ultimate Move to finish this.

The Nomu stretched its neck, like it was rolling it as it prepared for the next clash. Then it seemed they were both surprised when the Nomu's mouth suddenly erupted with some sticky black substance.

"N-no!" The Nomu shouted through the miasma. "I wasn't lo-losing, I wasn't!"

It charged forward, even as the dark substance continued to cover it. It wasn't fast enough though and before it could reach All Might for one last attack the Nomu was gone, spirited away.

It always rankled when a Villain escaped. No doubt this one would reappear at some point, at the worst time.

Still, what was most important was that the civilians had been protected from the monster.
All Might observed his surroundings, smiling in the direction of the crowd that had been near-by during the brief fight. The citizens needed reassurance. They needed to know that help was here, that they needn't be afraid and what better way to do that than being able to smile no matter what.

The sound of fighting in the distance caught All Might's attention. He cocked his head to the side, trying to locate the source of the fighting. Everything was okay here, for now. His com-rades needed support elsewhere though.

One Villain down, however many more to go. All Might leapt up into the air towards the sound of the fighting.

Chapter 100 - Ethan

"That's another one of the big ones," I said to my temporary minder as I mentally sorted through the Liquefaction and Self Explosion Quirks. A nasty combination, allowing someone to explode their body and then reform it at will. The Liquefaction Quirk would make for an interesting movement and potentially could see use as a defensive tool. It'd let me bypass the weakness of Super Regeneration which Shiozaki had revealed during the Festival. I was looking forward to trying it out and seeing its functionality.

"Indeed," Best Jeanist said. "There can't be many more like that," he said as he looked over the damage left by the Nomu's brief fight. He'd been completely sidelined as the creature simply moved around his threads with her liquid Quirk. The way forward had been blocked off by the initial explosion, the Nomu had been trying to delay our progress by collapsing the corridor. Fortunately Overheaul meant I could easily dig us a path.

The only explicitly female Nomu had gone down quickly, which was a good thing for the re-maining structural integrity of the facility and the Hospital built under and around it. Her power was dangerous and her ability to turn into a liquid form would make her a nightmare to face via conventional means. But with my own healing factor coupled with Rubber Body nullifying much of the damage, I was able to get close enough to take her down before she realised she could survive collapsing the building on our heads.

Things had gotten quieter down here now, at least. We'd captured a handful of the weaker Nomus and with Best Jeanist holding them in place I'd used Overhaul to trap them in the metal of the walls or floor. With the exception of two, it was only the stronger, high tier Nomus that I'd taken the Quirks from because we simply couldn't contain them ourselves as they'd just break out of their restraints once we moved on. This was because after using All for One on weaker Nomus we'd realised that the Nomus were left barely alive by the process, or in one case immediately dead and it was regretfully suggested that I shouldn't use my Quirk to kill the Nomus unless it was impossible to restrain them first.

I might have thought to use Reversal to immediately heal them and basically cheat my way into acquiring their Quirks. But unless I found a Nomu with a particularly exciting or interest-ing Quirk I wasn't going to waste my Reversal charge when I might otherwise be able to save a life with it later.

So my tally was only up to five Nomus right now. Ones I could justify putting down instead of restraining for pickup and potentially saving later. I'd acquired only a couple of new and use-ful Quirks, the others were almost completely pointless and I had no good use for them given other Quirks I had access to already.

The multi-mouths Quirk for instance. I already had a Quirk that synergised with it, which was Shark teeth. Mixing that one with the Steel Jaws Quirk that came with the same Nomu would make the already sharp teeth stronger. Perhaps I'd find some Quirks that synergised with it further still, making it more viable as a combat tool. But I wasn't seeing a great deal of effec-tiveness from it right now when I could do far more damage with a simple touch of a hand.

Wasn't there a Quirk out there that gave someone longer teeth? Maybe that would help make it a useful combat tool. I flexed the Quirk, producing a mouth in my palm. The divot of All for one seemed to move to the tip of the mouth's tongue as I tried out the muscle, stretching out the tongue to see how far it could go which was a good few inches as a matter of fact. My mind immediately went in a sexual direction. All I could think of right now was that this Quirk would let me perform oral sex on multiple people at once. Or perform oral sex on the same person multiple times at once.

When we got around to it, Momo wouldn't know what hit her.

I'd have to broach the idea to her slowly though. It might be a bit much exposing her to the more deviant part of my imagination so soon. So far we'd barely got past heavy petting.

Otherwise there had been some obviously powerful Quirks I would need to add to my reper-toire. The Laser Eyes Quirk was powerful on its own, nevermind the spacial distortion Quirk. I also now had a Quirk that gave me suction cups for hands and feet courtesy of the first No-mu to immediately die to my ability. Not all of them were going to be winners.

There was a noise from up ahead. A mumbling accompanied by a frantic clattering of pa-pers.

It was a man's voice. Was this doctor Garaki? It seemed he'd escaped Nezu and the Heroes with him. Unless he had always been down here from the start.

We came to the doorway the noise was coming from, both myself and Best Jeanist silently looked across at each other. We stopped to listen.

"Yes, now!" The man said. "I don't know how long I have!"

I caught on quickly, he had to be speaking to All for One. Grimly I wondered if he was asking the man to help fight or demanding his help in escaping.

I gestured to Best jeanist, asking silently if we should enter.

He gestured back, pointing to himself to go first. I nodded, accepting his command.

The man stepped into the doorway, his Quirk at the ready.

He didn't give those inside a chance to react, immediately sending forth his fibres to restrain them.

"Agh!" Doctor Garaki shouted. There were rumblings and animal-like noises from others in-side, who had been quiet until now.

Best Jeanist stepped forward, giving me room to enter myself. He was clearly straining and I took that as my cue to move in myself to support him.

Garaki was there, flanked by two more Nomus, high end ones probably. There was also a smaller, teal-coloured creature next to him with only a stubby tail and two legs with a pipe leading from the tail to a nearby wall. I'd engaged in questionable science before. But how exactly Garaki had made that thing, or rather what he'd made it from left me still feeling slightly uncomfortable.

There was a Nomu with an elephant's trunk, the other with some sort of head protrusion. Al-ready they were struggling against Best Jeanist's hold. The elephant Nomu's body bulking up, its powerful trunk twisting as it flexed against the fibres. The other Nomu's ribcage was ex-panding outward, struggling against the bondage while its antenna was growing longer, reach-ing out offensively towards its captor.

Best Jeanist wasn't able to contain the attack and it raced forward to impale him. Not that I let it get that far.

I caught it in my hands and immediately activated All for One. The Nomu shrieked in surprise before collapsing as I drained the powers holding it together.

"Goddmanit, right now!" Garaki shouted, wide eyed as he stared at us, shouting at his phone where he was still gripping it while Best Jeanist held his arms up.

Suddenly before our eyes a black miasma came out of the man's mouth, along with the smaller Nomu.

Thinking quickly I activated my laser eyes Quirk, piercing the Nomu and Garraki in the pro-cess. If they really were going to get away so soon then I wasn't going to make it easy on them. Both man and creature screamed in pain before being engulfed by the material and disappeared before our eyes, spirited away by All for one.

"Damn," I cursed. The bastard had got away in the end. I mean it was expected, but I knew Nezu would've liked to implant a subdermal tracker on the guy before All for One rescued him.

"Who was he talking to?" Best Jeanist asked, apparently not questioning my decision to at-tack the man before he escaped. Pragmatic of him.

"It was probably the other guy. The one All Might warned us about," I said as I stepped around him. "It seems he still has use for Doctor Garaki's research into Quirks."

The one remaining conscious Nomu was still struggling against Best Jeanist, but the Hero was well able to contain it now that there was just one Villain to focus on.

"Damn, he's gone through and deleted his data too," I said, checking the PC at the Doctor's desk.The phone though… I reached to pick it up.

"Nezu might be able to get something from it," Best Jeanist said somewhat optimistically, alt-hough I wasn't fully listening.

"You still on the line?" I asked as I put the phone to my ear.

There was a dial tone. Nevermind. I could taunt the guy with the world's shittest motivation to commit evil another time. I put the phone down.

"Let's disable this one too. Then I'll set up a portal between here and the Doctor's other office, Nezu should be there," I said.

I was about to use Warp Gate to do as I'd said when I realised that the same black substance as before was coming out of the Nomu's mouth.

"Damnit!" I cursed, realising that I hadn't managed to kill the smaller Nomu in my last second attack. Garaki was using it to summon his creations to him. There was still something I could do though, I realised.

"Oh no you don't," I stated, reaching over to take the Nomu's Quirks. I wasn't going to let it escape to be used by Garaki another time. The pinnacle of warfare is taking an enemy's as-sets and making it your own after all. Plus, hey, who never secretly wanted an elephant's trunk? Eri would probably find it hilarious.

Despite my taking the Nomu's Quirks, the teleportation Quirk continued to act, spiriting away both of the defeated Nomus that had been in the room and no doubt many others.

I and Best Jeanist shared a look between us. I shrugged. There was nothing we could have done to stop that but at least I'd deprived Garaki of another weapon. With nothing more to do here, I created a portal to Garaki's office and we both stepped through.

Nezu was there when we arrived, going through the computer.

"Ah Gift and Best Jeanist," the Principal greeted. "I'm afraid you've arrived late to help with much more than the cleanup. Only the weaker Nomus are still active. The others have been dealt with by the other Heroes or appear to have just been transported away a few seconds ago."

"Garaki was down in the labs," I said, updating Nezu with our own information. "He got away with a teleporting Quirk." Nezu nodded.

"He escaped us a while ago with the same kind of teleportation Quirk that Kurogiri's body was removed by," Nezu commented with a nod, hiding his irritation by putting on an air of merely mild annoyance.

"That was expected though," I reminded him. We didn't think we'd have any chance of con-taining the scientist long term. All for One simply wouldn't let him remain in prison for long. Slipping a tracker onto him would have been nice, but there was a decent chance All for One would've figures out that trick when we tried it again.

"Indeed," Nezu said. "He might have gotten away sooner than expected, but nevertheless this operation was a massive success. We have deprived him of the majority of his forces and hopefully stymied his research for the time being," the Principal told us with satisfaction.

"We should assist in the cleanup efforts," Best Jeanist piped in, having been watching the by-play between myself and Nezu. I was slightly surprised, he'd told me not to go out and be seen by the public and I had no intention of doing so now.

"You don't think I should hang back, out of the spotlight?" I suggested. The Hero shook his head.

"The fighting is mostly over. You deserve some publicity and credit for making today possi-ble," he told me honestly.

"Thank you," I said, pleased to see I'd apparently won some respect from the Hero today.

I quickly filled in Nezu about the what happened in the lab and then teleported both him and Hound Dog down there to see what they could achieve with Garaki's now inert computers. Then I used Warp Gate to take myself and Best Jeanist down to the ground and assist in any relief efforts.

We helped out where we could. There were still a few Nomus that needed rounding up which hadn't been captured or which Garaki hadn't managed to retrieve and I used Overhaul to as-sist Cementos in reinforcing the building which had taken some damage.

All Might was around of course, and he favoured me with a hello when he spotted me. Lack-ing anything to do in the moment, I decided to go with him.

"How is it out here?" I asked.

"Mostly good," All Might said. "Some injuries, no confirmed deaths yet but we are still waiting for everyone to be accounted for. It was far better than we had expected. Our surprise attack was the right call."

"Good," I said, pleased to see even All Might considered today's outcome a success.

We came around a corner and were immediately spotted by crowds watching the now paci-fied area, reporters included.

There were a number of cameras aimed at us, flashes of light letting me know what to ex-pect on tomorrow's front page.

"You'll have to get used to this,"All Might told me frankly. He stopped, letting the reporters get their various recordings.

Today had been mostly about cutting off All for One's support network and acquiring some new Quirks. Publicity had been a secondary matter entirely, not that I was complaining right now.

Being on the front page alongside All Might? There were Heroes out there that would give up limbs if it meant they could get this kind of publicity.

We waved to the crowd briefly before going on to assist in the recovery efforts. There were people trapped in rubble where the fighting had been at its worst and getting them out would've been incredibly slow and dangerous using normal means. I however, could use Warp Gate to sidestep all the digging. I slipped my dark mist through the cracks in rubble to retrieve a few trapped civilians, delivering them to the EMTs on site without so much as jos-tling their injuries.

All in all, I had to say it was a productive start to my Work Study.

Midoriya

After the morning where Izuku had met his new mentor they had been working on Izuku's issues controlling One for All. It was evening now. Over the course of the day they'd alternat-ed between actually training his Quirk and taking small breaks to go over some of the less practical sides of the hero business, paperwork mostly.

The deskwork side of things was something Izuku needed to learn about too. Izuku had known about it all, intellectually, but hadn't really thought about in real terms before. Heroes could be taken to court in the event their actions were brought into question. It was all stuff Izuku needed to know about and he had taken to the academic reading with interest. It was amazing that All Might found the time to complete all the reports he must have to do consid-ering all the time he spent actually out there saving people.

Izuku had been listening to Gran Torino with interest as he discussed some of his own past experiences as a Hero. Izuku had been taking notes, fascinated to hear about what the world of Heroes had been like before All Might had made his mark. The news had distracted them both though as the events at Jaku Hospital were broadcast to the public. Izuku had recog-nised the building immediately. There was no way he could forget the place where he'd had his original Quirk evaluation, discovering his status as Quirkless. It was perhaps one of the lowest points of his young life.

Right now there was a feed from a helicopter showing a number of what Izuku immediately recognised as Nomus attacking the Hospital. Even as they watched, the helicopter had to swerve away as a Nomu with wings flew at it. The Nomu's long barbed tongue reached out to try and attack the flying vehicle before the creature was shot out of the sky, courtesy of Snipe and the fed cut to a ground level view.

"S-should we go and try to help?" He asked, eager to do something, anything at what he was seeing as the crowds ran past the police who were decked out with riot shields and even guns to help repel the monsters. Izuku noticed that they were coming out of the building too, which meant that anyone inside was potentially also at risk!

"No," Gran Torino rebutted his temporary ward. "You aren't even nearly ready to face those kinds of monsters," he said gravely as he looked at the screen. The Hero had a dark look to his tone as he spoke. Izuku gulped and opted not to ask about it any further. Something about the man's tense stance told Izuku that the old man might have chosen to lend his own aid if he wasn't with Izuku regardless of his retired status.

Izuku unfortunately had to agree with the man. He'd only just figured out what he needed to do with his Quirk. Actually limiting the power was a challenge in itself and he'd achieved only minimal success so far. Hopefully soon he'd have enough control that he could properly use his Quirk at an appreciably strong level but that would take more training.

"I-I need to train," Izuku said seriously and he stood up. He was more or less fully rested at this point anyway.

"And you will," Gran Torino said firmly before sighing. "It's getting late. You should head off home now before the trains get too busy with this mess. I'll see you tomorrow."

Izuku nodded and bowed to his new teacher before making his way to the door.

"And don't think I won't woop your ass if I see you running off to Jaku Hospital!" Gran Torino shouted after him. "I know your type boy. Hold in all that excitement for now. There'll be plen-ty of Villains to stop and civilians to save when you're ready for it."

"Yes sir," Izuku replied, feeling momentarily chastised even though he wasn't thinking about going after All Might.

He wasn't!

No, Gran Torino was right. Izuku wasn't ready. He needed to train some more, apply his new revelations about his Quirk and really make some progress. His performance at the sports festival ran through his mind. He could do better. He had to do better.

Izuku set off home at a relaxed pace, trying to resist the nervous energy that told him she should be doing something. All he'd done so far was train his Quirk and study Hero laws. It seemed like a setback, not being able to go out and experience Hero work. But getting con-trol of his Quirk was paramount.

All Might was out there and Izuku wasn't in a position to go out and help him. Izuku clenched his fist.

Not yet.

But soon.

All Might

The Nomu had jets on its back which let it fly in the air, or at least an approximation.

All Might leapt off the side of the Hospital building to strike the Nomu again. The second punch sent it flying back into the neighbouring building and it collided with the concrete with a painful crunch. The Nomu didn't maintain its flight, instead opting to more or less float down to the ground while All Might fell under normal gravity, landing on the hard concrete of the road outside the hospital.

There were no cars or anything, it was a wide open area thanks to the Police having arrived and setting up a cordon. That meant that there was an area of relative safety where civilians weren't going to be at risk. That was good, All Might could tell already that this was going to be one of his toughest fights and he wouldn't be able to hold back as much as he ordinarily might.

The Nomu was clearly strong. On top of that it had a healing factor they'd been warned about. All Might was sure his punch had broken a few of the creature's ribs, but now it was absolutely fine. If anything it looked excited.

"All Might, a worthy opponent!" The Nomu said eagerly as it stepped forward. Its oddly pro-portioned body didn't seem quite able to walk properly, but the creature's limbs returned to an approximation of humanity after a few seconds. Its head however remained warped, elon-gated with the appearance of fabric wrapped around the distended neck. As All Might watched, sinew seemed to burst out from beneath the skin of the creature's arms and they wrapped around the creature's upper limbs, giving it the appearance of being extremely muscular.

"You can speak? Do you have a name?" All Might asked, hoping against hope that with the momentary reprieve he could potentially talk this creature down, or at least delay its potential rampage. Any second he could keep it talking was another second the Nomu wasn't putting civilians in the line of fire.

"I-I ca-an," the Nomus said. "You can call me Hood," the Nomu said.

All Might nodded. "We know what was done to you," he said. "We may have the means of turning you back to normal, but I need your cooperation for that. Will you come quietly?"

"N-no. Why w-would I want to g-give this u-up?" the Nomu stuttered out, sounding amused and almost confused by what All Might had said. "I l-like being like this. I'm stronge-er now."

All Might scowled. He'd seen all kinds of Villains over the years and this one didn't take much figuring out. This one just wanted to fight, to revel in violence for its own sake.

The creature was practically vibrating with glee as it beheld him. Of course, it wanted to 'test' itself against him, didn't it? Prove it was the strongest around, because that was all that mat-tered to it.

The last five years had seen a decline in his strength. All Might's injuries had caught up to him. Maybe a few weeks ago with only the distant flicker of One for All in his heart, this No-mu would indeed have proven stronger than him. But thanks to Gift, All Might once more had One for All thrumming beneath his chest.

All Might's clenched fist tightened as the monster raced forward. It was shouting something inane about their fight, about proving itself. It didn't matter.

This Villain with its combination of powerful Quirks thought he was a match for All Might wielding One for All did he?

They'd see about that.

All Might

A shockwave of force erupted where All Might's hand collided with Hood's own. The creature was strong and All Might felt himself being pushed back, his feet dragging through the con-crete beneath him through the friction before he regained his bearings.

"Yes!" Hood shouted as it slowed its own momentum from how it had been pushed back also. "This is what I wanted, a good fight at last!"

All Might grunted, feeling the blowback from the attack reverberating through his bones. This guy really was no pushover.

"Any other time I might have happily sparred with you," All Might stated. "Now is not the time though."

Hood looked around. There were still civilians in the distance. Police working to create a cor-don and direct non combatants away.

"Who c-cares about th-them?" Hood demanded.

"I do," All Might replied unflinchingly.

The sound of shattered glass caught both Hero and Nomu's attention. A number of Nomu had charged through or been knocked through the windows and they landed on the ground with a crunch.

Two of them didn't get up, but several did after a few seconds and upon spotting All Might they immediately charged.

"Don't interrupt!" Hood snarled suddenly. Its arms extended as it threw a wide punch, blasting the Nomus back into the building where they collided, sending tremors through the building. It turned back to All Might. Amy moment it was going to re-engage.

The Nomu was strong. It was probably stronger than anything else All Might could remember fighting in his career. All Might wasn't given any more time to think about a strategy to over-come the Villain when it indeed blasted forward. The jets on its back propelling it forward in a mad rush. Fortunately he didn't need a plan, he just needed to fight.

All Might caught the wild attack on the side of his arm, halting the Nomu's momentum and it immediately engaged him in close combat.

It was skilled too, he realised as they traded blows, the Nomu's back jets adding just a little more oompf to his attacks. It was leveraging its Quirks to its advantage, eschewing any kind of guard and relying on its healing factor to take the few blows All Might landed. What's more, the Nomu had some skill and experience in hand to hand combat, even against stronger op-ponents.

Which was serving it well, because for all that it boasted about how great it was, how many enhancements Garaki had given it. All Might was still stronger!

All Might landed a punch to the creature's flexible arms, which no matter how effective it's Quirk was still were pushed back and it gave him the opening he needed. All Might let loose a powerful blow to the creature's chest, sending it packing once more, its chest caved in from the strength of All Might's punch.

"Garaki might have enhanced you, Hood," All Might stated as he took the brief reprieve to catch his breath. "But without a heroic spirit you'll never be the strongest around. It's only when we have something to protect that the depths of our strength is truly realised!"

Hood picked itself up. Its healing factor activating and making the most recent injury All Might had dealt it disappear in moments.

"I might not be the s-strongest," Hood admitted. "But I can still beat you All Might," the crea-ture bragged. "With my Regeneration I can ou-outlast you," the creature said with enthusi-asm.

The crowd in the distance let off a shriek of alarm as something happened. It seemed there were Nomus attacking the police. The police were firing back it seemed, gunfire echoing around and All Might could just catch sight of Vlad's Quirk in action as he fought them off over the fleeing civilians.

Hood had spotted it too. He turned to All Might and the hero could already tell what the crea-ture was thinking.

As was often the case with Villains, it blasted off sideways, threatening to attack the civilians itself. Either to bait All Might into putting himself at risk or simply to get some sort of emotional damage in and dishearten him. It didn't matter whatever the creature was thinking.

At the end of the day, it was always the coward's way forward with these sorts of monsters. The moment they feel like they might not win, then they start trying to leverage any ad-vantage they could.

So All Might was perfectly ready for it and he raced after the creature. It was fast, but he was just fast enough to catch up and grab hold of the flying creature by its foot.

The Nomu only had a second to turn and look in surprise before All Might dug his feet into the ground, tightened his grip and spun the Nomu around, slamming it into the ground at his feet.

It was blasting itself up on its jets a moment later with a fist cocked, but All Might was ready for that too.

"Texaaaas SMASH!"

The creature was shot back, the air billowed as he landed a real clean hit on the Nomu. The air pressure of his strike sent it packing, away from the civilians where it collided with the ground, skipping and leaving furrows in the concrete as it lost momentum.

All Might rolled his shoulder as he stepped forward through the dust cloud his attack had cre-ated to behold his opponent. Even with its healing factor, All Might's attack had left its mark. The Nomu clambered up on shaky legs. It swayed slightly before righting itself and facing him as the healing Quirk continued to work.

All Might wasn't going to let himself think he couldn't overcome its healing for a moment. But it was obviously going to take more than what he'd done already to put down this Villain. If it was just going to heal through any injuries he dealt it, then he'd have to just hit harder until its healing factor just couldn't keep up! He'd probably have to pull out his Ultimate Move to finish this.

The Nomu stretched its neck, like it was rolling it as it prepared for the next clash. Then it seemed they were both surprised when the Nomu's mouth suddenly erupted with some sticky black substance.

"N-no!" The Nomu shouted through the miasma. "I wasn't lo-losing, I wasn't!"

It charged forward, even as the dark substance continued to cover it. It wasn't fast enough though and before it could reach All Might for one last attack the Nomu was gone, spirited away.

It always rankled when a Villain escaped. No doubt this one would reappear at some point, at the worst time.

Still, what was most important was that the civilians had been protected from the monster.
All Might observed his surroundings, smiling in the direction of the crowd that had been near-by during the brief fight. The citizens needed reassurance. They needed to know that help was here, that they needn't be afraid and what better way to do that than being able to smile no matter what.

The sound of fighting in the distance caught All Might's attention. He cocked his head to the side, trying to locate the source of the fighting. Everything was okay here, for now. His com-rades needed support elsewhere though.

One Villain down, however many more to go. All Might leapt up into the air towards the sound of the fighting.

Ethan

"That's another one of the big ones," I said to my temporary minder as I mentally sorted through the Liquefaction and Self Explosion Quirks. A nasty combination, allowing someone to explode their body and then reform it at will. The Liquefaction Quirk would make for an interesting movement and potentially could see use as a defensive tool. It'd let me bypass the weakness of Super Regeneration which Shiozaki had revealed during the Festival. I was looking forward to trying it out and seeing its functionality.

"Indeed," Best Jeanist said. "There can't be many more like that," he said as he looked over the damage left by the Nomu's brief fight. He'd been completely sidelined as the creature simply moved around his threads with her liquid Quirk. The way forward had been blocked off by the initial explosion, the Nomu had been trying to delay our progress by collapsing the corridor. Fortunately Overheaul meant I could easily dig us a path.

The only explicitly female Nomu had gone down quickly, which was a good thing for the re-maining structural integrity of the facility and the Hospital built under and around it. Her power was dangerous and her ability to turn into a liquid form would make her a nightmare to face via conventional means. But with my own healing factor coupled with Rubber Body nullifying much of the damage, I was able to get close enough to take her down before she realised she could survive collapsing the building on our heads.

Things had gotten quieter down here now, at least. We'd captured a handful of the weaker Nomus and with Best Jeanist holding them in place I'd used Overhaul to trap them in the metal of the walls or floor. With the exception of two, it was only the stronger, high tier Nomus that I'd taken the Quirks from because we simply couldn't contain them ourselves as they'd just break out of their restraints once we moved on. This was because after using All for One on weaker Nomus we'd realised that the Nomus were left barely alive by the process, or in one case immediately dead and it was regretfully suggested that I shouldn't use my Quirk to kill the Nomus unless it was impossible to restrain them first.

I might have thought to use Reversal to immediately heal them and basically cheat my way into acquiring their Quirks. But unless I found a Nomu with a particularly exciting or interest-ing Quirk I wasn't going to waste my Reversal charge when I might otherwise be able to save a life with it later.

So my tally was only up to five Nomus right now. Ones I could justify putting down instead of restraining for pickup and potentially saving later. I'd acquired only a couple of new and use-ful Quirks, the others were almost completely pointless and I had no good use for them given other Quirks I had access to already.

The multi-mouths Quirk for instance. I already had a Quirk that synergised with it, which was Shark teeth. Mixing that one with the Steel Jaws Quirk that came with the same Nomu would make the already sharp teeth stronger. Perhaps I'd find some Quirks that synergised with it further still, making it more viable as a combat tool. But I wasn't seeing a great deal of effec-tiveness from it right now when I could do far more damage with a simple touch of a hand.

Wasn't there a Quirk out there that gave someone longer teeth? Maybe that would help make it a useful combat tool. I flexed the Quirk, producing a mouth in my palm. The divot of All for one seemed to move to the tip of the mouth's tongue as I tried out the muscle, stretching out the tongue to see how far it could go which was a good few inches as a matter of fact. My mind immediately went in a sexual direction. All I could think of right now was that this Quirk would let me perform oral sex on multiple people at once. Or perform oral sex on the same person multiple times at once.

When we got around to it, Momo wouldn't know what hit her.

I'd have to broach the idea to her slowly though. It might be a bit much exposing her to the more deviant part of my imagination so soon. So far we'd barely got past heavy petting.

Otherwise there had been some obviously powerful Quirks I would need to add to my reper-toire. The Laser Eyes Quirk was powerful on its own, nevermind the spacial distortion Quirk. I also now had a Quirk that gave me suction cups for hands and feet courtesy of the first No-mu to immediately die to my ability. Not all of them were going to be winners.

There was a noise from up ahead. A mumbling accompanied by a frantic clattering of pa-pers.

It was a man's voice. Was this doctor Garaki? It seemed he'd escaped Nezu and the Heroes with him. Unless he had always been down here from the start.

We came to the doorway the noise was coming from, both myself and Best Jeanist silently looked across at each other. We stopped to listen.

"Yes, now!" The man said. "I don't know how long I have!"

I caught on quickly, he had to be speaking to All for One. Grimly I wondered if he was asking the man to help fight or demanding his help in escaping.

I gestured to Best jeanist, asking silently if we should enter.

He gestured back, pointing to himself to go first. I nodded, accepting his command.

The man stepped into the doorway, his Quirk at the ready.

He didn't give those inside a chance to react, immediately sending forth his fibres to restrain them.

"Agh!" Doctor Garaki shouted. There were rumblings and animal-like noises from others in-side, who had been quiet until now.

Best Jeanist stepped forward, giving me room to enter myself. He was clearly straining and I took that as my cue to move in myself to support him.

Garaki was there, flanked by two more Nomus, high end ones probably. There was also a smaller, teal-coloured creature next to him with only a stubby tail and two legs with a pipe leading from the tail to a nearby wall. I'd engaged in questionable science before. But how exactly Garaki had made that thing, or rather what he'd made it from left me still feeling slightly uncomfortable.

There was a Nomu with an elephant's trunk, the other with some sort of head protrusion. Al-ready they were struggling against Best Jeanist's hold. The elephant Nomu's body bulking up, its powerful trunk twisting as it flexed against the fibres. The other Nomu's ribcage was ex-panding outward, struggling against the bondage while its antenna was growing longer, reach-ing out offensively towards its captor.

Best Jeanist wasn't able to contain the attack and it raced forward to impale him. Not that I let it get that far.

I caught it in my hands and immediately activated All for One. The Nomu shrieked in surprise before collapsing as I drained the powers holding it together.

"Goddmanit, right now!" Garaki shouted, wide eyed as he stared at us, shouting at his phone where he was still gripping it while Best Jeanist held his arms up.

Suddenly before our eyes a black miasma came out of the man's mouth, along with the smaller Nomu.

Thinking quickly I activated my laser eyes Quirk, piercing the Nomu and Garraki in the pro-cess. If they really were going to get away so soon then I wasn't going to make it easy on them. Both man and creature screamed in pain before being engulfed by the material and disappeared before our eyes, spirited away by All for one.

"Damn," I cursed. The bastard had got away in the end. I mean it was expected, but I knew Nezu would've liked to implant a subdermal tracker on the guy before All for One rescued him.

"Who was he talking to?" Best Jeanist asked, apparently not questioning my decision to at-tack the man before he escaped. Pragmatic of him.

"It was probably the other guy. The one All Might warned us about," I said as I stepped around him. "It seems he still has use for Doctor Garaki's research into Quirks."

The one remaining conscious Nomu was still struggling against Best Jeanist, but the Hero was well able to contain it now that there was just one Villain to focus on.

"Damn, he's gone through and deleted his data too," I said, checking the PC at the Doctor's desk.The phone though… I reached to pick it up.

"Nezu might be able to get something from it," Best Jeanist said somewhat optimistically, alt-hough I wasn't fully listening.

"You still on the line?" I asked as I put the phone to my ear.

There was a dial tone. Nevermind. I could taunt the guy with the world's shittest motivation to commit evil another time. I put the phone down.

"Let's disable this one too. Then I'll set up a portal between here and the Doctor's other office, Nezu should be there," I said.

I was about to use Warp Gate to do as I'd said when I realised that the same black substance as before was coming out of the Nomu's mouth.

"Damnit!" I cursed, realising that I hadn't managed to kill the smaller Nomu in my last second attack. Garaki was using it to summon his creations to him. There was still something I could do though, I realised.

"Oh no you don't," I stated, reaching over to take the Nomu's Quirks. I wasn't going to let it escape to be used by Garaki another time. The pinnacle of warfare is taking an enemy's as-sets and making it your own after all. Plus, hey, who never secretly wanted an elephant's trunk? Eri would probably find it hilarious.

Despite my taking the Nomu's Quirks, the teleportation Quirk continued to act, spiriting away both of the defeated Nomus that had been in the room and no doubt many others.

I and Best Jeanist shared a look between us. I shrugged. There was nothing we could have done to stop that but at least I'd deprived Garaki of another weapon. With nothing more to do here, I created a portal to Garaki's office and we both stepped through.

Nezu was there when we arrived, going through the computer.

"Ah Gift and Best Jeanist," the Principal greeted. "I'm afraid you've arrived late to help with much more than the cleanup. Only the weaker Nomus are still active. The others have been dealt with by the other Heroes or appear to have just been transported away a few seconds ago."

"Garaki was down in the labs," I said, updating Nezu with our own information. "He got away with a teleporting Quirk." Nezu nodded.

"He escaped us a while ago with the same kind of teleportation Quirk that Kurogiri's body was removed by," Nezu commented with a nod, hiding his irritation by putting on an air of merely mild annoyance.

"That was expected though," I reminded him. We didn't think we'd have any chance of con-taining the scientist long term. All for One simply wouldn't let him remain in prison for long. Slipping a tracker onto him would have been nice, but there was a decent chance All for One would've figures out that trick when we tried it again.

"Indeed," Nezu said. "He might have gotten away sooner than expected, but nevertheless this operation was a massive success. We have deprived him of the majority of his forces and hopefully stymied his research for the time being," the Principal told us with satisfaction.

"We should assist in the cleanup efforts," Best Jeanist piped in, having been watching the by-play between myself and Nezu. I was slightly surprised, he'd told me not to go out and be seen by the public and I had no intention of doing so now.

"You don't think I should hang back, out of the spotlight?" I suggested. The Hero shook his head.

"The fighting is mostly over. You deserve some publicity and credit for making today possi-ble," he told me honestly.

"Thank you," I said, pleased to see I'd apparently won some respect from the Hero today.

I quickly filled in Nezu about the what happened in the lab and then teleported both him and Hound Dog down there to see what they could achieve with Garaki's now inert computers. Then I used Warp Gate to take myself and Best Jeanist down to the ground and assist in any relief efforts.

We helped out where we could. There were still a few Nomus that needed rounding up which hadn't been captured or which Garaki hadn't managed to retrieve and I used Overhaul to as-sist Cementos in reinforcing the building which had taken some damage.

All Might was around of course, and he favoured me with a hello when he spotted me. Lack-ing anything to do in the moment, I decided to go with him.

"How is it out here?" I asked.

"Mostly good," All Might said. "Some injuries, no confirmed deaths yet but we are still waiting for everyone to be accounted for. It was far better than we had expected. Our surprise attack was the right call."

"Good," I said, pleased to see even All Might considered today's outcome a success.

We came around a corner and were immediately spotted by crowds watching the now paci-fied area, reporters included.

There were a number of cameras aimed at us, flashes of light letting me know what to ex-pect on tomorrow's front page.

"You'll have to get used to this,"All Might told me frankly. He stopped, letting the reporters get their various recordings.

Today had been mostly about cutting off All for One's support network and acquiring some new Quirks. Publicity had been a secondary matter entirely, not that I was complaining right now.

Being on the front page alongside All Might? There were Heroes out there that would give up limbs if it meant they could get this kind of publicity.

We waved to the crowd briefly before going on to assist in the recovery efforts. There were people trapped in rubble where the fighting had been at its worst and getting them out would've been incredibly slow and dangerous using normal means. I however, could use Warp Gate to sidestep all the digging. I slipped my dark mist through the cracks in rubble to retrieve a few trapped civilians, delivering them to the EMTs on site without so much as jos-tling their injuries.

All in all, I had to say it was a productive start to my Work Study.

101-110

Chapter 101 – Garaki

Garaki arrived and immediately doubled over in pain.

All for One was beside him immediately.

"I-I'm fine," Garaki growled out, waving off the offered hand. He needed to retrieve his Nomu!

He stumbled though, a second spike of pain in his abdomen leaving him almost unable to move.

He didn't refuse the second offer of help from Shigaraki.

The boy it seemed had also just arrived. Garaki reached for Johnny.

"Summon all the Nomu and our allies from the building that you can recall!" Garaki ordered the creature. There wasn't the technology nearby to do much else like force the Nomu's Quirk to activate on all of the Nomu. All for One wouldn't know the Nomus enough to summon them himself. Johnny's Quirk had been modified enough to work on more vague terms, but still it would be down to the creature to actually perform the task it was designed for without the technological support Garaki had built for it.

It was as Johnny activated its Quirk that Garaki saw it, and his heart plummeted.

It was just like his own injury; Johnny had been hit by that boy's laser eyes at the same time he had, only the attack had gone all the way through Johnny to get to him.

Johnny groaned in pain through the miasma, even as it did its best to summon as many Nomus as it was able to.

A number of Nomu, a couple dozen in fact, arrived simultaneously. That was all though, that was the limits of Johnny's underdeveloped memory. Garaki had relied on computers to use the Nomu's Quirk on large numbers of people before. That limitation was coming back to bite him now.

It was mainly the upper tier Nomus and the High ends that Johnny had encountered and remembered enough to summon. Many of them were injured, writhing on the ground. Seeing that they weren't at the hospital anymore, the still mobile ones settled down immediately while a few of the injured ones healed up with their copy of one of the regeneration Quirks Garaki had given them. They had enough intelligence to calm down and wait for instructions rather than run amok. Garaki was pleased to see that they recognised their father at least.

Of course in every family there is at least one problem child.

Hood made himself known immediately, towering over the other Nomus.

"I was going to win!" It complained childishly. "I had him, right where I wanted him!"

"Who were you fighting?" All for One asked with interest, recapturing everyone's attention with his innate charisma and sheer presence. Hood turned to look at the man. He instinctively cowered back a little, knowing just who he'd been talking to. He had just enough of his former self left to remember who and what All for One was.

"All Might," he admitted reluctantly to the most powerful man in the world.

There was a pause before All for One chuckled, through his respirator.

"You are powerful, but not that powerful," All for One chided. "Even with just the remains of his Quirk, All Might is still out of your league," the Villain said. "But you will no doubt have worn him down," he mused. "That will be advantageous when I reveal myself fully."

Instead of responding, Hood merely settled down to sulk. As it turned its head something caught its attention though.

"Hey doc, look at this," he said.

The Nomus spread apart as Garaki limped forward to where Hood was looking.

They had been amongst the crowd so he hadn't seen it before. Some of his Nomus were lying on the floor, dead.

Garaki clambered past the bodies of Twice and the Toga girl, who were likewise insensate on the floor to fall at the floor by some of his greatest creations.

"What have they done to you?" He asked as he stroked the malformed form of Robot. The Nomu's chest was caved in from a punch. Despite its healing factor which should have saved it from such an injury, it was lying still. Its skin was cold.

Likewise the other High ends were there. They'd been beaten, killed despite their powerful Quirks. Which… Eleph didn't have his trunk? It took Garaki another few seconds to realise what had happened. It wasn't so obvious with Robot but with Eleph, Ribby and Chubbs the signs were plain to see. They'd had their Quirks removed!

Johnny weakly crawled up to lean against him. The Nomu was spent, having used up all its energy in one last use of its Quirk. Johnny's body was already extremely fragile and its own injury was even worse than Garaki's. There was no way it would survive the next few minutes without proper medical care and facilities only Garaki had had access to that were well out of reach.

"My children!" Garaki began to sob, stroking Johnny's smooth head as the Nomu gave its last breath. His greatest creations had almost all been taken from him. Only Hood and these few others were left now.

It was another minute before Garaki allowed himself to be moved to get some medical attention.

It was only later, once his injury had been bandaged up and he laid in bed that Garaki spared thoughts for the cause of his bitter losses. His life's work had been taken from him and he knew who did it too.

All for one wanted the boy for his own ends but Garaki didn't care. He swore it to himself, Ethan Carlisle would die.

Chapter 102 - Todoroki

Todoroki watched the replay of the news from his temporary desk at the Nighteye Hero Agency.

A part of him wished he could've been there. His Quirk would have been highly effective in capturing the Nomus but based on the reports the entire operation had been kept a secret lest the highly connected Doctor find out about the attack ahead of time.

No doubt a number of his classmates had been watching on with similar thoughts. Bakugo for one, he was supposed to be at Best Jeanist's agency. His not being included in the mission would have rankled with the blond bomber, especially as Carlisle-san had been involved.

He sighed and looked back down at the paperwork he'd been given to scan and file. This absolutely wasn't how he'd expected his work study to start. All Might had taken him aside and asked him to go to Nighteye, and Shoto had been more than happy to snub his father with the implied backing of the Number One Hero. He'd expected All Might to appear yesterday during his first day, only for him to appear on the news. Still, despite the more uninteresting work the experience was good for him. Shoto knew a bit about the desktop side of Hero work, but he'd never truly been involved with any of it. There was so much paperwork associated with Hero work…

The other Heroes at the Agency were friendly. Centipeder was a very well spoken man and an interesting person to learn from about Hero work. His Quirk gave him the head of a centipede and the ability to elongate his limbs.

Bubble girl was the other sidekick that worked for Sir Nighteye full time.

Shoto shot a brief glance at the young woman before looking away with a blush.

She was nice. What made speaking to her difficult though was that her Hero costume, like many female Heroes' costumes, didn't exactly leave much to the imagination…

There was also Togata-san. He was an upper year student from U.A. who had an innocent friendliness about him that was hard to resist. His Hero name was Lemillion, declaring his intentions to save a million people, an attitude which Shoto couldn't help but respect.

Neither Lemillion nor the full-time sidekicks were particularly well known although Lemillion was supposed to be among the top of the third year Hero course at U.A. In fact, the Nighteye Agency wasn't particularly high in the rankings, it wasn't even among the top thirty Hero firms, yet. They were pushing up the ranks with Sir Nighteye at the helm though. All Might's former sidekick clearly didn't need to hide behind All Might's shadow.

His office though…

Shoto figured Midoriya would probably get along quite well with All Might's former sidekick. That was a lot of merchandise.

He was almost finished with the first batch of documents to be scanned. Then he'd have to go through an check there weren't any missing pages and such. Resigned, Shoto prepared to continue when he was distracted again by the doors to the office swinging open.

Despite himself, he still felt a moment of awe as All Might stood there. It was hard to get used to the man's sheer presence, even when you saw him every day at school.

Sir Nighteye came out of his office immediately to greet the other man.

"All Might!" He said, rushing over.

"Nighteye!" All Might returned, striding forward to clasp his former sidekick's hand in his own.

"Let's speak in my office," Sir Nighteye said. All Might nodded.

"Finish what you're working on Icy-Hot," he instructed. "Then come join us."

Shoto nodded. He quickly finished off the next box of files all the while doing his best to hide his eagerness and a twinge of nervousness as he got up to follow after the two Heroes.

He accidentally caught Bubble girl's eye as he walked and she gave him a bright smile and a pair of thumbs up as he continued walking.

With a force of will, Todoroki managed to stop his eyes wandering down. He nodded at her in thanks and then to Lemillion also, who he hadn't realised was also favouring him with thumbs up and a smile. Well, he couldn't be blamed for being distracted by Bubble Girl. Lemillion had quietly spoken to him about the young woman and how distracting she could be yesterday. It was a constant struggle to maintain proper decorum around Bubble Girl even for the older boy who seemed incredibly innocent. Shoto was just glad he had someone to commiserate with about it.

Shaking his head of the errant thoughts, Shoto continued on into the office.

Sir Nighteye was leaning against his desk while All Might standing opposite him. The two heroes were speaking quietly but they stopped when Shoto entered.

"Ah Todoroki-san!" All Might said. "Perfect timing."

Sir Nighteye didn't seem to really think so, but Shoto nodded and approached the two men.

"My apologies for not being able to see you yesterday," All Might said. "I had to prepare for yesterday's mission."

"I understand entirely," Shoto said immediately. What went down at the Jaku General Hospital had definitely needed All Might's attention. Not just in the news, there were less well censored videoclips circulating around from the event of the Hero fighting off the incredibly powerful Villain outside the Hospital. There were very few Heroes who could've stood up to that monster. All Might nodded in thanks.

"Of course you're aware that coming to my agency was merely a smokescreen," Sir Nighteye said factually. "All Might hasn't told you why he wanted you to come here, has he?"

"Not in so many words, no," Shoto replied. Regardless of the subterfuge, Shoto's father had still been upset with Shotos shunning of his father's agency, which was enough of a reason to make obeying All Might's request worthwhile. Sir Nighteye nodded.

"That is to be expected," Sir Nighteye said sardonically as he looked at his friend. "Today shall be a training exercise. I already have a training area booked up for us all to use."

"Excellent!" All Might said, teeth shining in the light as he smiled at his friend. "You were always one step ahead my friend." Shoto blinked in surprise, Nighteye seemed to be repressing a blush at the other man's complimentary words. He knew the other Hero idolised the man, but this was just a bit weird.

"Today we're going to be training!" All Might continued brightly. "I hope you're ready Todoroki-san, because today myself and Nighteye here are going to put you through the ringer!"

"I'm ready," Shoto said with determination. All Might's smile brightened up the room further at Shoto's enthusiasm and he took a hold of Shoto's shoulder in his massive palms to guide him to the doorway. Sir Nighteye gave off an uncharacteristic snort of amusement before following after them.

"Let's see how you feel about those words this evening," the precognitive said.

Chapter 103 – Todoroki

Todoroki has 'sparred' with his father a few times. But even during those times he had never felt so outclassed.

The training facility was really just a large ice biome. It had nothing on U.A.'s facilities but it was sufficient for just three Heroes to engage in some relatively light training.

Well, training didn't quite put it into context.

Neither did 'light.'

Shoto panted for breath. They'd been at this a while now.

All Might stalked the tundra environment like some sort of ghost. The bright colours of his suit did absolutely nothing to give away his location. It was disturbing really. Shoto Todoroki had spent most of his life seeing All Might as this larger than life, impossible to miss Hero. The contrast between this almost frightening persona the Number 1 Hero was putting on right now and his regular mannerisms was palpable.

Meanwhile, Nighteye was acting as a civilian that Shoto had to 'protect'. The man wasn't really putting his all into the role, not that that was entirely necessary as far as Shoto was concerned. He was acting more like an examiner than anything else. This entire exercise was so Sir Nighteye could get a feel for Shoto's abilities first hand so it made sense for him to be paying close attention rather than play acting for realism's sake.

The questions and comments didn't help though.

"You're struggling with your Quirk," Nighteye commented critically. He could see, of course he could see. Shoto was freezing over already thanks to this environment and using his Quirk wasn't helping either. "What is your strategy to overcome it?"

"I'm fine," Shoto said. It was cold and that absolutely wasn't helping his Quirk but he could pull through. This was just a training exercise. He could pull through here. "This is just a limit of my Quirk," he explained to the Hero. Pointedly he chose not to think about his fire, which would have served well to stop the ice getting to him.

Of course it was the moment of distraction when All Might made his presence known once again.

He wasn't subtle about his attacks at least and Todoroki was able to put up another wall of ice between him and his opponent.

It wasn't enough though. His Quirk was weakening. Even though All Might was adequately simulating the hit and run tactics of a 'weaker' Villain for this escort exercise, Shoto wasn't performing nearly well enough! They were barely halfway to the 'extraction' point.

He pushed aside the frustration. This wasn't a time to bemoan how weak he was. He needed to do his best and impress the man who'd asked to train him for the next couple weeks.

The next attack the ice wall failed to stop All Might's charge. All Might blew through it and Shoto wasn't fast enough in his already frozen state to stop the man tapping his former sidekick on the forehead.

Sir Nighteye fell to the floor dramatically.

"I have been slain," he stated dully.

Lights turned on around them, the turbines that created the wind and spread the cold snow were deactivated and suddenly it was possible to see again.

Sir Nighteye accepted a hand up from his former boss.

"I think that gives us a good idea of Todoroki-san's limits," the precognitive Hero stated conversationally as he looked at Shoto critically.

"Indeed Todoroki-san. That was a good showing, your reaction times were superb," All Might praised him.

Sir Nighteye didn't seem so enthused though.

"Yes that's all well and good," the man said before immediately getting to the point. "Now if you would so kindly, please explain why you chose not to use the fire aspect of your Quirk."

Shoto couldn't look the Hero in the eyes, not sure what he wanted to say.

All Might surprised him when the man's large palm landed on Todoroki's shoulder.

"I think young man," The Hero said. "That it is about time we had a chat about what it is you want to achieve in life."

Chapter 104 – Ethan

When I got home the next day after the Jaku General Hospital mission it was to find Present Mic going over some notes while Eri was quietly doing some homework.

"Oh hey, how's it going!" Present Mic declared, standing up to greet me. Eri immediately jumped up to come say hello herself, wrapping her arms around my side.

"Not as exciting as yesterday," I said dryly. Present Mic chuckled. Of course he'd seen the news today just like I had. My involvement in the attack on the secret facility had been a hot topic among the press and there were claims of nepotism on behalf of U.A. at having let me take part in the fight. We had sidestepped that though and after Nezu's explanation to the press last night the buck had been handed to Best Jeanist who had officially given me permission to take part in the events.

So my temporary boss had been in a bit of trouble today. We'd had some reporters gathered around his office looking for a scandalous story, but this particular Hero was well adapted to speaking to the public and he navigated their pointed questions effectively. His ability to handle the media was the primary reason for I and Nezu in choosing to ask Best Jeanist to help us with this and we weren't disappointed. He dealt with the reporters himself in short order. He even celebrated my commitment and 'bravery' in choosing to take part and assist his and All Might's insertion into the facility.

"Yeah, that's why I became a teacher in the end. It's less paperwork," Present Mic joked. I sighed good naturedly.

"Well maybe I'll take up teaching at some point," I suggested.

"What's for dinner?" Eri interjected before Mic could respond.

"No idea. We'll see what we've got in," I told the girl.

"Anyways I best be off," Present Mic said, making his way to the door. "See ya around dude, dudette," he told us, making Eri giggle before making his leave.

It was just the two of us. I set out making something to eat while Eri finished her assignment. Then we sat and ate. I put the Tv onto the news.

The big news story was still yesterday's events at the Hospital. For a while there'd been major discussions about the ramifications of my Quirk as the public was rightfully eager to discuss everything.

That had seguayed nicely into just what had happened at the Hospital. The news hadn't been revealed that the Nomus were the product of Quirk related experiments yet, but people had figured out it was human experimentation easily enough. There was now a manhunt for Doctor Garaki as the police and Heroes worked to uncover the man's many crimes. It wasn't just the seriousness of his criminal activities that had caught the public's interest. It was the sheer breadth of what he'd done. The man had been active for a long time and he'd spent much of that forwarding his research on unwilling subjects. A great deal of missing persons reports and cold cases were being put to rest.

Eri didn't pay it any attention to it at all, telling me about her day instead with the bull headed enthusiasm of a small child.

I opted to turn the Tv off. There wasn't anything there I didn't already know. Instead I opted to turn my ear to my adorable little sister who started to complain about how maths was just so hard.

Speaking as someone who had once transformed into an ultimate genius alien, and still having the memories of all the fucked up equations that alien somehow actually understood on an instinctive level, I could comfortably say she had no idea.

Chapter 105 – Ethan

I stood in the holding room.

The Police had rounded up the other Nomus. The ones that had survived the fighting at any rate.

It was unfortunately a matter of cold calculation. The Nomus had been people at one point but nobody knew if they could be saved. If there was anyone to save in there after what Garaki had done to them. The civilians who were at the hospital took priority. There was still hope for the surviving Nomus though.

Reversal was a powerful Quirk and as I'd expected him to do, All Might had pulled some strings before shanghaiing me here this evening to see if I could do anything for Garaki's victims.

There were a number of scientist and doctor types here too, watching from a mirrored room while I was the only person in the actual holding room itself. They were no doubt eagerly waiting for things to start, with their clipboards and tablets ready to take any notes about what was about to happen.

This Nomu in particular wasn't anything special. It had a row of spikes running down its spine and its legs were a pair of pogo sticks. Really beyond it's unnatural strength it was no more dangerous than a regular person in terms of real combat. Again, that was part of why this Nomu had been chosen.

It was tied down on its front with metal bindings affixed to the table. A good thing too because while it wasn't much of a threat to me, it was also awake and struggling to break free of its restraints which would make the entire process harder to concentrate on, and I certainly needed to concentrate for what I was about to do. DNA tests had revealed that the person who had been used to create it had disappeared just under five weeks ago which was still just about my comfortable limit on reversing something.

It shrieked, and not for the first time as it continued to fail to escape. The police had done a good job at restraining it despite the creature's impressively muscled physique. I looked up at the mirrored viewing area.

"Start whenever you're ready Ethan," All Might said encouragingly over the speaker. I nodded.

"Here goes," I muttered.

Reversal was indeed a powerful Quirk. Probably one of the most dangerous around considering its bullshit effects and potential uses.

The Nomu shrieked again when I touched it, but then it seized up as I activated Reversal.

I didn't stop though. The process needed to be seen through, there was no point in hesitating now.

It took several minutes of concentration, reversing the Nomu all the way back.

We saw in real time some of the damage Garaki had done to his victim. Cameras scattered around the room caught sight of injection points opening and closing and some of the injuries, or I guess surgeries Garaki had performed had been pretty invasive.

The spikes retracted as the Quirk in question was removed from the victim, leaving just their original Quirk.

And then, finally the body was completely reverted to its original form.

He was a blonde guy, broad chested but not much else. Apparently, he'd been a common thief, using his pogo legs Quirk to escape criminals and in one particular case a Hero. Then one day he'd been caught by some junior heroes, some dragonfly themed hero in training who'd just flown up and caught him in midair.

I stepped back. The range of time I could affect with the Quirk hadn't improved much with the practice I was getting, at least without just letting it run wild and reversing someone to death. My endurance had however and I was in a far better condition than that first time using it on All Might.

After a few seconds, nothing happened. The guy didn't get up. He didn't start talking or anything now that the damage had been undone.

I walked around the former Nomu who was still somewhat restrained on the table although without the added musculature provided by Garaki's surgery the guy could have probably slip his current restraints.

I gave the guy a nudge on the arm, only to receive no response.

I glanced up at the viewing room before leaning down and pulling the guy's closed eye open.

"He's alive," I said. I could see his pupil dilating. He was breathing too.

Only…

Reversal was a powerful Quirk, a bullshit Quirk. But there was one thing it consistently didn't work on despite reason dictating that it should have had an effect on it.

It didn't matter that I could return the body to its previous condition, if there was no longer a mind there to use it. The lights were on, but at least in this case, there was nobody home.

"I'm sorry," I said, as much to All Might as the guy I'd tried and failed to help.

"Thank you for at least trying, Ethan," All Might said over the speaker.

I nodded absently, before leaving the room as technicians came in to take the comatose body away.

All Might saw me home and I had enough juice left to give him a little temporal pick-me-up but I only had enough in me for a couple week's reversal on the Hero, which did leave me feeling a bit more wiped out.

So I did what I'd wanted to do from the start that evening and slumped on the couch watching Tv with Eri. She cuddled into my side but my adopted little sister could see there was something wrong

"Are you okay?" She asked me with worry.

"I'm fine," I told her, patting her head to mollify her. "Just tired."

I'd not really thought it would work to begin with, but I'd given it a chance at All Might's behest. I hadn't been particularly invested in this either, but the man's charisma was infectious and a bit of his own hope that I'd succeed seemed to have rubbed off on me.

I never did enjoy failure. Even when it wasn't strictly my fault.

"I think I'm going soft," I muttered as I reflected on my mental state. The me of a few months ago wouldn't have batted an eye at all of this.

Eri poked me in the side.

"You've still got lots of muscles though," the girl pointed out obliviously. Her hand slipped up my shirt sleeve and squeezed my bicep. It was a bit ticklish and I squirmed slightly in response.

"Not like that," I said. "Just… Nevermind, don't worry about it," I told the girl. I didn't need to burden her with my internal angst.

"I guess I'm just starting to relax, get into the swing of things here," I told her, hugging her against my side briefly. That had really been the point of all this.

A real Isekai adventure, all of my own. I'd wanted that for a long time and I'd finally got it.

It was sort of refreshing really. I wasn't carrying around so much angst and frustration at my situation anymore. I was free, in ways that not many people really got to be and it was only now just catching up to me properly.

Eri distracted me from my internal monologue by poking me in the side curiously, apparently having become interested in my muscle definition.

"When you sit down, your tummy goes all soft. But when you stand up or lie down it's all firm." Eri observed seriously.

Yeah, I had absolutely no idea how to respond to that statement, although my little sister was now starting to poke around my stomach some more and I squirmed at the ticklish sensation before deciding to retaliate in kind.

Eri squealed in laughter at the sudden assault and we played a little like that for a while before having dinner.

I went to bed that night feeling more relaxed than I could remember having felt in a very long time.

Chapter 106 – Harry Dresden

Meditation was difficult, but with time and effort supported by his template, Harry had got the knack for it. Feeling himself as one with the Force was incredible.

The Force was a truly powerful thing. It passed through all life and for someone who could feel it, it provided a powerful awareness of your surroundings and even yourself.

Harry had looked inside himself and was disturbed by what he was seeing. He'd decided quickly that this wasn't something you just sit on and had opted to get some help.

The phone answered on the third ring.

"Hello?" Came the voice of Demonreach over the line.

"Hi, it's Harry," Harry said.

"Oh hello!" The genius loci answered, seemingly already knowing which 'Harry' was speaking to her. There were quite a few of them so that just raised a bunch of red flags. "Do you want to speak to my husband?"

"If possible," Harry replied.

"He'll be here in a second, he's just finishing up with something," Demonreach said in a friendly tone.

"Really though," she continued, sounding slightly reproachful. "We expected you to come calling us much sooner."

"You did?" Harry couldn't help but ask in surprise, feeling first slightly guilty due to the feminised spirit's chiding tone and then slightly uncomfortable that the entity's words could bring that kind of reaction out in him.

"Oh yes," the spirit said. There was a brief pause. "Here he is now, goodbye," Demonreach said.

"Bye," Harry said before the phone was presumably passed on to the older Harry Dresden. This was the one who had hosted the D party a few weeks ago. The much older and experienced Dresden was definitely the right person to ask about all this.

"Harry!" The older man said. "Good to speak to you. How can I help?"

"It's… It's hard to say," Harry replied frankly.

"No problem, you're on… Arcadia right?"

"Y-yeah," Harry admitted. Of course the older Dresden would have some weird way of locating him. He was currently located on the planet Arcadia, a Hive World that was now under Class B control in this multiversal cluster. The fact he knew just that for a start, and presumably also knew the other details of his location was quite frankly astonishing.

"Cool, meet me at the old war memorial," the man said.

"Sure," Harry said before both men cut the line. The guy's awareness of what was going on was impressive, but it was also just so good to just be on the absolute same wavelength as someone else.

The older Harry was waiting for him when Harry arrived a few minutes later. He turned and gestured for Harry to come over and the younger of the two went to stand next to the other man.

The old war memorial was a column, and in the usual manner of the Imperium of Mankind, it had been built larger than might be considered reasonable. It had been built outside the hives proper, on the surface where it might be seen easily for miles around, even inside the nearby hives. Even now, having been broken in half at some point the memorial still stood well higher than any skyscraper Harry had seen on normal, mundane Earths.

"What do you think?" The older Harry asked.

"It's broken," Harry replied dryly.

Indeed, the other half of the memorial was lying off in the distance, mostly covered by new structures that were built around and on top of the broken off section.

"It is," the older Dresden said. "Do you know why?"

"Why it was knocked down?" Harry shrugged. "No clue. It was before I came here."

"That's to be expected. It happened well over a thousand years ago by normal Company timekeeping." The more mature Harry sighed before going into the explanation.

"Today it's just called 'the old memorial' but it used to be the 'Great Memoramdum Pillar.' Think of it like the memorials for the World Wars on Earth in England," he said. "Only this pillar was made to record every regiment Arcadia ever produced that was wiped out while fighting for the Imperium over about eight thousand years."

"Wow," Harry said. He looked a bit closer. Indeed he could just about see some faded words etched on the structure with his night vision. Based on the size of the text and the width and height of the pillar…

That was a lot of regiments representing many lives each. The Warhammer 40k universe really made you feel small with its sheer scale of history and weight behind just about everything.

"Yeah, impressive in scale isn't it?" Older Harry asked, obviously guessing what Harry was thinking. "Getting back to the point though. It was knocked down and the text scrubbed off when the Company officially gave this world to Class B."

"Why'd they do that?" Harry asked, just to ask the question so the guy could continue talking. He was nice like that.

"To make an example. This was the occupier's way of showing that no matter what had happened. No matter what history Arcadia had before Class B came along, none of it mattered anymore."

The older Harry shrugged. "Barely any of the citizens on this world even know much about Arcadia's past. It's just another Company world now and as far as most know, it always has been. Reach out with the Force if you don't believe me. It's palpable."

Harry looked at the monument as the sheer rock was bathed in the orange light of the sun as it started to rise. He could only try and picture the sheer amount of history that had been lost, destroyed deliberately by Class B. Now the planet was just another Company world. The citizens were still a resource for a larger entity, so in many ways not much had actually changed. He could feel it in the Force though now that he knew to look for it. The weight of that loss reverberated around him. It was both the loss of the lives that this monument once represented, and the loss of the history that had been dealt by knocking this thing down.

"Why are you showing me this?" Harry asked finally.

The other man chuckled.

"You ever wonder why I invited you and the others for that party?" He asked, seemingly changing the subject.

"I just figured you wanted some good company," Harry replied drolly. The older man chuckled again.

"That's certainly half of it," he said. "It's nice to have guy friends y'know? The other half though…"

He sighed.

"You called because when you were meditating, you felt something in the Force, something about yourself, an emptiness, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Harry said, nodding. He hadn't really said as much over the phone. But he wasn't at all surprised that the other man knew exactly what he was on about anyway.

"Most of us are pretty in tune with soul stuff, plus a lot of us get the Force eventually too," Older Dresden said. "In the early days a lot of us found the same thing you did when we looked inwards. It took us a while to figure it out, nobody was willing to actually tell us outright. Then we got together and decided that it was best that rather than leave all our alternates fumbling around trying to figure it out themselves too, we'd find the newbies like you and once you got close enough to figure it out we'd tell you straight what was going on. It's a little thing us Dresdens do for each other. You'll find that a lot of little groups like that exist in the Company, alternates of the same guy or girl, just coming together and helping each other out."

"Like the Barbies?" Harry asked, remembering that particularly bizarre part of Company history.

"Yeah kinda, just less… well, we've never felt the need to organise a mass rebellion," the older Dresden explained frankly and with a hint of defensiveness. "Getting back on track though…

"You know our story right?" Older Harry asked for clarification. "You've read the books?"

"I've read a few of them, yeah," Harry said. It got kind of uncomfortable after a while. First seeing some of his cases just there ,written down. Then seeing what might have happened next if he hadn't been recruited and he'd put the books down in favour of something that caused less existential worry.

"Did you get to the bit about being a Starborn?"

"No," Harry said. He hadn't read that far, he didn't really want to know what could have been, the idea was just too bittersweet. That seemed like a bit of a mistake now…

"We, 'Harry Dresden' are Starborn," the older Harry told him. "It was supposed to be some cosmic destiny, probably involving time travel, maybe even becoming the original Merlin."

"What, us?!" Harry blurted out, dumbfounded, before laughing. Then he saw that the other Harry wasn't laughing with him. He was serious?

"Hard to believe I know," the older Harry said wanly.

"The problem though," he continued. "Is that that hasn't happened yet. The multiverse hasn't settled on a canon explanation to what being a Starborn is," the other man explained, struggling a bit to get his message across. "The story hasn't been told yet. What we know only goes so far and we won't know what happens next in 'canon,' what being Starborn really means until that story is told."

He sighed and then stood silent for a few seconds, overlooking the monument.

"So," he finally continued. "What do you think happens with us being Starborn when someone from outside the Dresdenverse interacts with it, or specifically in our case, when one of us joins the Company and we 'break free' from our destiny?"

"I-I dunno," Harry replied. That sounded like something well above his metaphysical paygrade but he was starting to get the idea of what the other guy was saying.

"The Company can't do anything with our capacity as Starborns," older Harry told him. "They can't make it a proper template. It's not locked in enough for that. Sure sometimes they'll produce something they claim is the Starborn template, some power source or effect, and it usually does more or less what you'd think it should do based on what we do know. But they can't give you the genuine article.

"For us who already have that potential though, once we drop out of our universes, we just stop being Starborn. The potential is still there and in theory some younger Dresdens might get it back once the multiverse settles on a continuation of the story. Generally speaking though, it just goes poof." He gestured with his hands, miming the sound. "You step out of the curve and suddenly no more Starborn. You're just Harry Dresden. Nothing more, nothing less."

"So that's what I was feeling?" Harry asked. That emptiness was the part of his soul where his… destiny, whatever made him Starborn had been and was now gone.

"Yup," older Harry said, seeing he was getting it. He turned back to look at the memorial.

"When the Company gets involved, something always gets lost," the older Harry said. "That emptiness you feel, get used to it because it's not going away anytime soon. Kinda like this pillar," he gestured at the stone.

"Damn," Harry muttered, starting to see the metaphor. The monument, what was left of it, would stand there, an eternal blip on the landscape until maybe one day it finally crumbled away. The names were already faded, impossible to read. Perhaps once they would have been meticulously maintained by artisans and masons of the Imperium. No doubt now any records were lost, any possibility of repairing or replacing the monument as it once was was long gone.

The older Harry clapped him on the back, distracting Harry from his thoughts.

"You got any questions?" He asked.

"I'm fine, I think," Harry said. "I suppose I always knew something was off. I'm glad for the explanation though." This was just something else he'd have to come to terms with.

The older Harry nodded. "You're taking it better than most," he admitted. "Hyuuga Harry looked inside himself recently with his Byakugan, had a little cry."

"He did?" Harry asked.

"Really broke down and everything. That dodgy template really messed him up," the older Harry admitted.

"Thanks for this, really," Harry said after a few seconds. "I guess I'll just have to meditate on this a bit and come to terms with it." He'd definitely have to if he ever wanted to make use of his Skywalker Template and grow in power with the Force.

"That's the most any of us can do," the older Dresden said. "Give me a call if you want a chat about anything else though. My door's always open."

"Thanks," Harry said.

The older Dresden walked away at a casual pace, leaving Harry to his thoughts.

He wasn't a Starborn anymore. He had no destiny to fulfil or anything like that anymore. He'd given something up without even knowing he had it to begin with!

All he had now was the Company. His few remaining points and whatever he fancied doing with his time when he wasn't on missions. Really the question he needed to be asking himself though was whether it was still worth it?

If anyone had asked him a few years ago, told him he could have all these opportunities arrayed before him. He would've said that they'd be stupid to turn it down. The Company offered so much after all.

Love and companionship were easily acquired, so was real tangible power. Even in his wildest dreams he'd never thought he'd so much as meet Carrie Fisher, let alone have the potential to one day have a dozen twenty something Princess Leias all laid out in gold bikinis for his viewing pleasure and more if he so desired, and his heart didn't just give out on seeing that view. Hell, beyond the selfish reasons for doing it, there were plenty of other reasons for joining the Company. Once he was strong enough he could go to other Dresden verses and just fix everything by dint of being simply too powerful for any of the big players like the White Court to be able to stop him. He could even go to another Dresdenverse and save his mother, finally speak to her again.

He knew intellectually that if he did choose to do that that it wouldn't really be his mother so much as she was parent to another Harry Dresden. It'd be bittersweet, but just being able to see his mother in the flesh again would be almost worth the inevitable heartbreak.

Saving his own mother would be off the table unless he got an agreement with Sandy of course. Sandy was the guy who'd initially recruited him and who technically 'owned' the particular universe he'd come from. Sandy was kind of an ass but he was more or less straightforward and upfront with any agreements and such. It'd be expensive, getting his original universe. But the potential was there. If he could find something Sandy thought was worth trading for then he could eventually buy back his home universe and fix everything. Just that on its own would have been enough motivation to join the company. He'd been willing to sacrifice his own life for less.

But now as he watched the old memorial standing there, he realised that he couldn't have everything. He could go back and fix everything but the one thing he'd never have was that original adventure, that 'canon' story. This busted up, worn down pillar right here was a bit like that. It was a monument to what couldn't be brought back. It was painfully fitting.

Harry stood there for a little while and eventually settled into a meditative trance, looking for that feeling he'd found before. It was there, right where he'd left it. He considered the hollow feeling. This was where his actual destiny had once sat. No matter what; even if he found something to try and fill the metaphysical hole, that… that emptiness was never truly going to go away. The destiny he'd given up would always just be out of reach.

Suddenly he remembered the cynical line he'd heard parroted by a few other contractors and agents.

"The Company fucks everyone," Harry murmured.

Some it seemed, more so than others.

Chapter 107 - Ethan

"I can't believe she only wanted me because I'm attractive!" Momo told me as we sat together at the cafe.

"I can only imagine how annoying that is," I commiserated, not feeling at all hypocritical. I wanted Momo for her body and her mind after all.

We were on a date in the mall we'd met at the first time. The current plan was a meal and then a film, but Momo seemed pretty high strung after a week of frustration working for a Hero that wanted her for her beauty, not her brains. I was also attracting attention from passersby. I was a news item right now and while I wasn't afraid of the onlookers, I didn't want our date to be ruined by strangers demanding my attention.

Back to Momo though, I almost couldn't blame this Heroine really. Momo was a stunning beauty, but that didn't mean she didn't have more about her. Momo could take being desired solely for her looks, she told me with a blush. But she was mostly annoyed by the fact that while the woman had taken Momo on just for her beauty, she wasn't interested in providing any Hero training, even the paperwork she was doing was more to do with photoshoots and modelling than it was actual Hero work. Momo felt like she was being held back and she had no idea what to do about it.

"You should complain to the Principal," I told her. "That sort of behaviour isn't acceptable when it's your training that's being hampered. He might be able to pull some strings and get you moved to another Hero firm for next week."

Momo slumped, apparently not interested in my suggestion. "I don't want to cause a scene," she said. She sighed. "At least I'm getting an idea of what it's like as a pro Hero, even if I would prefer a different perspective," she groused.

"You're already plenty capable," I told her, trying to cheer her up. "You're going to be a great Hero one way or another. This is just a setback that a few years from now won't matter at all."

My words didn't have the intended effect, the girl petulantly took another bite of her sandwich.

"How is your internship going?" She asked me.

"Pretty well," I said. "Best Jeanist is a nice guy, determined. Honestly after all the excitement on Monday and Tuesday it's been pretty mild," I said. Well, I was getting a feeling that it was more like the quiet before the storm really. "Except the paperwork stuff, he's been mainly drilling us on our behaviour with the public, making us hang back and observe. It's been fairly interesting." Momo pouted.

"At least you're both learning something," she groused. I shrugged noncommittally, unable to say anything more on the subject.

"It's only one more week," I said, trying to cheer her up again. "After that, who knows what the teachers will have in store for us next."

"As long as it's productive, I'll be happy," Momo said sourly. I reached across to pat her hand and then took it in mine to squeeze affectionately. My touch brought a light dusting of red to her cheeks at the blatant PDA I was engaging her in. Ooo, handholding in public. I could just imagine some passersby clutching their pearls.

"Want to skip the movie and do some training or something?" I asked her. Getting out of here before something annoying happened was probably the right idea, I realised. There were a few people clearly working up the nerve to approach us, or rather me.

"That sounds wonderful," Momo said to my satisfaction.

I escorted the girl out of the building and into an alleyway. Not because I was going to do anything nefarious or naughty to her. Well, at least nothing of the fun variety.

Out of public view I created a portal and guided my partner through. We came out in the same forest we'd had our date previously. It was daylight now, the clearing was lit by the sun in the sky shining down on us.

"How about some fight training?" I suggested. "No Quirks or weapons, just normal fighting."

"That would be brilliant," Momo enthused, looking around the new location and finding it satisfactory.

Indeed the ground was flat, soft and spongy. If either of us were knocked down then we wouldn't receive any injury. There weren't any stones or rocks or anything to trip over. I'd hit a winner on discovering this spot, which had been mostly by accident when training Warp Gate.

We weren't really dressed for it, but this wasn't serious sparring, just a bit of light exercise. I walked a little bit away from Momo and then turned to face her. I settled into a fighting stance and Momo did the same opposite me.

"You study… karate?" I asked, recognising her posture.

"Of course I do," Momo said primly. "I am a black belt in Karate and a red belt in Judo."

"Oho!" I said. "Well that is indeed impressive," and here I only knew one style that I was of middling skill in, probably the equivalent of a second or third belt in reality. I really should've studied some other fighting styles at some point but I'd been fairly lazy about things over the years. One day I'd have to go and study under Bang again, or at least find another Bang out there in the multiverse who would be willing to train me further.

On an unspoken signal we started. It was clear from the outset that Momo was the more skilled fighter, at least with her respective disciplines. I on the other hand had real combat experience and a martial art that was half as much punch-wizardry as it was an actual fighting style.

We started off lightly, trading probing attacks to get a feel of each other's reach and reflexes. Things picked up quickly from there and soon we were properly fighting. Momo was agile, I'd give her that. But Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist was far more reactive, so I waited for her attack, maintaining the advantage of the style. I directed a hand away as she jabbed at me, using the momentum to reach forward and strike her in the side. Momo bent away from my jab with impressive flexibility. That only gave me an opening to sweep her feet out from under her but she jumped over my counter and backed away.

I licked my lips, this was fun. When I'd studied before I'd only ever had opponents too strong for me or too weak to get practice with. This was a great change of pace.

Momo was a good opponent for me, better than some of my classmates like Izuku who didn't really know how to fight properly. As she engaged me again I was a bit more ready for her this time and when she went for a kick I was able to redirect her momentum and send her spinning onto the floor.

"Point to me," I said as I offered her a hand.

Momo nodded, letting me pull her up. "Again?" She asked eagerly.

"Of course," I said. I settled back into my stance and she did the same.

The second time we engaged finished with Momo delivering a good hit to my gut that left me buckling and the air rushing out of my lungs.

"Are you alright?" She asked me worriedly.

"I'm fine," I said, standing back up straight. My regeneration had already kicked in. It didn't do anything to stop the momentary pain though. I smiled at her. "Point to you," I teased, letting her know there were no hard feelings.

"First to five?" I suggested.

"Yes!" Momo said enthusiastically.

We went a few more rounds. It went to 4-2 in my favour.

"Looks like I have the advantage," I told the girl. She could keep up with me to be sure, but it was the unique abilities granted by my own martial art coupled with my being both bigger and stronger than her that really gave me the edge. We'd both been knocked onto the floor by now. Little grass stains and bits of dirt clung to our clothes.

Momo pouted adorably as she settled back into her stance. The next bout saw her close the gap, but the one after that saw her taking a jab to the stomach. I'd won.

Once she was stood up again Momo slumped, but she didn't seem upset at losing. Indeed she seemed more upset that we'd come to the end of our little competition.

"Once more?" she asked hopefully.

"Okay," I said. "Wanna make this more interesting though?"

"How so?" Momo replied, but I could already tell she had an idea of what I was suggesting.

"Loser has to do something for the winner," I said, giving Momo a slightly lusty look.

She licked her lips, catching on to my meaning immediately.

"W-what sort of things are we talking about?" She asked nervously.

"Just a kiss?" I suggested, not wanting to push it too far. This was supposed to be just a bit of light fun.

"It-it should be something m-more than that," Momo said with a blush. "Otherwise there's no point in who wins," she justified her position with perfect logic.

I found my eyebrows raising in interest. I approached her and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her against me. Clearly there were lewd ideas running through my girlfriend's mind.

"So what do you have in mind then?" I asked huskily.

"I-I don't know…" Momo said, her hands went around me in turn. There was practically steam coming out of her ears as she looked up at me, suddenly looking like a deer caught in headlights despite that this escalation was entirely her idea.

"Well how about we stick to… within reason then?" I said. That way she could back out if she felt it was getting to be too much.

Momo nodded, she wriggled a bit and I let go of her. She took a few steps away from me and settled back into her fighting stance.

We engaged again. Apparently dangling sexual favours in front of her was a way to motivate my paramour because she came at me relentlessly.

But that was entirely to my advantage and Momo's more aggressive attacks left her open and I knocked her to the floor once more.

"I appear to have won," I said as I pulled Momo to her feet and then into my arms once more. I much preferred her like that, pressed up against my chest.

"Y-yes," Momo panted breathlessly.

"Unless…" I said leadingly. "Double or nothing?" Momo's eyes widened.

"H-how would that work?" She asked, intrigued.

"The same rules," I said. "But I'll have you at my mercy, twice if I win," I said. "To be held for later dates, of course," I said, letting Momo imagine just what I might be thinking of using such favours for in the future.

"H-how about if I win, then I may ask something from you?" She suggested.

"That doesn't sound entirely fair," I argued back teasingly. "Although I'm not against it. I think if we do it that way and you lose again then that should make it three favours to me, don't you think?"

Momo's tongue slipped out to wet her lips as she considered my counter offer. "Or perhaps, each bout could be its own individual prize? So you may keep the first… favour but I may win my own favour from you."

"That sounds good," I said. "Perhaps we could make this a thing. It would be good… motivation to improve in the future, wouldn't you say?"

Momo gave a shaky nod at the promise of more to come in the future. She seemed slightly lost in her own imagination right now. To be fair, I was dedicating a bit of brainpower to exactly what I might do with the prize from my first victory.

We entered our fighting stances again. Both of us were a bit sloppy this time, distracted by our own thoughts, but once again I was the victor. It was more of a technicality this time as we both fell to the floor at the same time. Momo touched the ground first though, landing on her back. I barely managed to catch myself before I landed on top of her.

"Y-your win," Momo said grudgingly, breathing heavily as I adjusted my position to hold myself up over her.

"So it seems," I said, trying not to sound like I was rubbing it in. I leaned down to kiss her.

Momo leaned up into the kiss, only to let her head fall back and rest on the grass beneath us as I pressed my lips firmly against her in a passionate kiss. Her hands came up to run through my hair as I relaxed slightly, letting my body press against hers.

I was more or less situated between her spread legs as we kissed, if we were undressed then my rapidly hardening member would have been in prime place to take the girl's virginity. As the thought ran through my mind I instinctively pressed down, my clothed lower body pressing against hers and making Momo's legs close around my waist tightly in response.

I rolled over onto my side and then onto my back, pulling Momo with me so she was on top of me. It meant my hands were more free and I could more easily run my hands over her red outfit and under the short skirt to touch her legs and then her bum through the leggings she was wearing.

Momo let out a little gasp as I took a hold of the two cheeks of her ass in my hands. I kneaded them and pulled them apart over the fabric, doing delightful things to the girl above me. She pulled back from my lips and looked down at me with an inscrutable expression on her face.

"A-are you using the first favour?" She asked.

"Do you want me to use the first favour?" I asked cheekily. I moved my hands up under her skirt, slipping under her top to touch bare skin there. Momo bit her lip and didn't respond beyond a slight tremor running through her frame.

"If at any point you want me to stop then we stop," I told her, rubbing her lower ribs with my thumbs. I wasn't going to use the first favour if I didn't have to after all. She nodded mutely and I took that as permission to continue running my hands up her body until I found her bra beneath her top.

Momo had large breasts, coupled with her very active lifestyle she therefore had a preference for some heavy duty brassieres as a result. I found the multitude of clasps and unlatched them one by one. Momo let out a soft breath, recognising what I'd just done immediately but not doing anything to stop me as I brought my hands back around to slowly slip under her bra and take her breasts in my palms.

She let out a little whimper, leaning back so she was sat on me, resting her hands on my chest and pressing down on my clothed but very hard shaft as I began to explore her. I could feel her hard nipples pressing into my palms. To my minor amusement they fit into the divots at the centre created by All for One. I moved my hands slightly, the action causing her nipples to pop out for lack of better terminology, squashing them again against the heel of my palm, before running my hand back down and letting them once more squeeze into that divot.

Momo gasped, her eyes closed tight as she put more pressure on me. It was a beautiful sight. I pinched her nipples gently and the girl let out a whimper, biting her lip and opening her eyes to look down at me desperately. She moved her hands under my shirt, touching my chest directly with splayed hands.

"So, now do you want me to use that favour?" I asked, wondering what her response was going to be.

Momo looked down at me and managed to pout through her obvious arousal. Which did nothing to make me want to slow down with what I was doing.

"You didn't say anything before," I said shamelessly in my defence. "This is just normal exploration isn't it?" I said as I rubbed my thumbs over her nipples. Momo gasped delightfully again before narrowing her eyes at my cheek.

"I want you to use the favour," she said seriously, looking into my eyes, daring me to go further.

"Then for my first favour, take off your top," I ordered her. "Let me see you."

Red faced, not quite reluctantly, Momo reached for the hem of her top.

She pulled it up in what felt like a torturously slow speed but was really just a normal motion, exposing her bare skin to my gaze. Her loose bra did just enough to cover her modesty further, even though I was still holding her sizable mounds in my hands.

Her hands came down as she threw the top away, removing any support the bra had to hold it up and it slipped down slightly, although with my hands where they were now I was effectively holding it in place.

I pulled my hands away, taking Momo's bra with them. Perhaps losing a bit of confidence, Momo went to cover herself as I threw the bra away on top of her discarded top.

Momo looked down at me bashfully, not quite willing to move her arm away where it now covered her breasts. It was an enticing sight to be sure, but I could see I'd somewhat pushed the envelope at this point.

I didn't try to get her to expose herself properly, as much as I was sure the view would be truly astounding. Instead I leaned up, giving myself enough room to pull my shirt up and off before I laid back down on the warm grass beneath, letting a wide eyed Momo see me naked from the waist up. Not that it was nearly as impressive to see my bare torso as it was that of the girl sat on my lap. I reached up and pulled Momo down against my chest until she was forced to move her arm and suddenly her bare breasts were pressed against my own uncovered chest, the soft flesh squashing against my firm muscles.

She was close enough to kiss in this position and we eagerly did so. I took advantage of our positions, stroking her back and sides, running my fingers through her hair and then finally moving to stroke the sides of her breasts, teasing her into leaning back bit by bit until her breasts parted with my chest and I could reach between us to touch her there again.

She definitely liked that.

Chapter 108 - Momo

Momo had no idea what she was doing, but she so desperately didn't want this to end.

They'd kissed before already. They'd been in this exact position before, in the same place even and that night she'd been left unable to sleep for thought of the feelings he brought out in her.

Now they'd taken it a step further. She'd felt so free during their spar, finally letting herself decompress after what had been a frustrating week. Then she'd gone and agreed to their little competition at the end. Ethan-kun was the better fighter, that had been apparent already even with his middling proficiency in his own fighting style. Momo wasn't sure if she'd agreed because she didn't want the spar to end or because she wanted to win and be able to ask her boyfriend to do something for her. There was a third option though, that she didn't want to contemplate right now. That she might have secretly wanted to lose.

She had lost. He'd won, he'd beaten her and now having wound her up so tightly, he was disentangling her like she was a ball of string to be played with.

Ethan's touch against her chest was heavenly. His fingers just teased and stroked and pinched her in ways that sent her heart racing and built an almost uncomfortable warmth between her legs.

That wasn't everything though. Her legs were spread either side of his waist and she couldn't help but press down against what she knew had to be his… his erection.

Momo groaned into her lover's mouth as he squeezed her breasts, taking their weight in his hands which on its own was an incredibly peasant sensation as the weight was taken off her back. There was nobody about to hear her moan. There was no propriety or expected behaviour here. They were in the middle of nowhere where nobody could see them.

Momo pressed down, intensifying the kiss, rewarding the boy who only redoubled his efforts to dominate his tongue with his own.

It was too much. The pressing need between her legs was too much to bear. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. Momo wanted nothing more than to take things further, to see to the need she was feeling, but she was too shy to move forward, she didn't know what she was supposed to do next. She didn't know what to do! She could do nothing else but try and impress on her boyfriend with desperate eyes that she wanted this to go further.

Suddenly Ethan let go of one of her breasts, the free hand going up to take a grip of Momo's hair and he pulled her back by his hold on her. Momo gasped, caught off guard by the slight hint of pain but the sensation was all muddled up in her head, leaving the sensation only slightly discomforting and that was mainly because her partner's lips were taken away from her. She gasped for breath as Ethan manhandled her unresisting form.

Her back arched slightly and she was made to sit back while he leaned forward into a sitting position. She looked at him, suddenly aware as Ethan 's eyes caught sight of her bare breasts.

At a different time and place Momo would've felt embarrassment, maybe even shame, but as Ethan devoured her with his eyes Momo could only look back with anticipation and hope he pushed things even further.

He did. He leaned forward further and suddenly his lips were covering one of her nipples, sucking it into his mouth and Momo moaned openly, caught off guard by how intense the feeling was as he grazed her nipple with his teeth.

She held him up, tugging him closer to her breast ,eager to feel more of his lips on her, feeling as one of his hands went back to massaging her unattended breast.

This was too much, it was too much for her to handle. Momo felt herself begin to tremble as her weight pressed down on Ethan's clothed manhood and he toyed with her chest, driving her to greater heights.

She needed to kiss him. She needed to feel his lips on hers and she pulled him back to kiss him furiously. Then even as he accepted her silent plea and began the task of reconquering her tongue, she needed to feel his lips back on her breasts. She wanted both, she wanted more but he only had one mouth and even as she tried to decide where she wanted his talented mouth she realised either way it wouldn't quite be enough.

Her lover seemed to know though. Like he was reading her desires suddenly Momo was rolled over onto her back again and the boy was looming over her, threatening silently to do more to her, but how could it be a threat when Momo was more than just willing?

She pulled him down to kiss her again and he adjusted himself so he wasn't lying between her legs but more kneeling over her, supported on one elbow with his hand cradling the back of her head and leaving the other hand free.

It was that hand which mattered because even as Momo was struggling to put the thought together about what she wanted, her lover was already seeing to it.

A hand crept up the inside of her leg, quickly finding her burning centre and Momo gasped as he pressed his fingers between her legs against the fabric of her leggings and underwear over her crotch.

It was too much, it wasn't enough. Momo wanted more. More of this, more of something else. She couldn't decide but she knew whatever she needed that Ethan had complete control over her in that moment, and he was going to give her what she craved.

His fingers stroked her core through the fabric, pressing down on every sensitive bundle of nerves he could find. Momo moaned into his mouth, bucking back against his hand, desperate for more stimulation.

He kept going, the motions of his hands growing more insistent, more confident as he developed a rhythm that drove her wild until finally, like a dam bursting, Momo came.

Her grip slackened and tightened, her body shook, her lover continued to stimulate her through her climax and only extended it, pushing Momo to higher ecstasy that she had never thought possible.

Suddenly she realised her eyes were closed tight and she opened them to see her boyfriend leaning over her, having been watching her as she came. Embarrassment and arousal warred within her until the young woman couldn't tell the two apart.

Ethan had stopped stroking between her legs. He adjusted his grip on her, rolling her over onto her side so that she was cuddling against him. Momo settled against him comfortably, hot and sweaty under the afternoon sun.

She'd experimented as a young girl, found the feelings unsatisfactory and distracting and hadn't experimented further when she'd been caught by her mother once. The embarrassment had almost killed her. If Momo had known she could reach the heights of sensation that she'd just experienced then she certainly wouldn't have stopped her fledgling explorations back then. Although, she suspected that her boyfriend was a large part of how good that had all felt.

This was great, she thought. She'd never experienced anything like this. This intimacy was so new, so exciting and she felt so comfortable with the boy, the man she reminded herself, who was holding her against him. Her bare breasts squashed against his side, slightly sticky with their combined sweat. Despite that, she felt so delightfully comfortable as she luxuriated in her afterglow.

But… she realised, suddenly feeling slightly guilty. Ethan had done all that for her. She hadn't done anything in return!

Nervously she brought a hand down between her boyfriend's legs, finding his penis which bulged up slightly through the fabric. She immediately caught Ethan's attention and he sat up a little as Momo felt him through his pants.

"You didn't… finish?" Momo half asked, half said. She didn't really know about how boys got sexual pleasure.

"Don't worry, today was all about you," Ethan said. "I didn't want to press you."

"I want to make you feel good too," Momo said back seriously. It struck against both her pride and her sense of fairness that her lover had done so much for her today and she hadn't returned the favour.

He didn't ask her to stop so Momo kept going. She rubbed his steadily growing shaft through his pants. It was growing thicker, harder and she could feel his shaft much more clearly as she continued.

"Is this good?" She asked. She'd never done this before.

"That's good," Ethan said. He reached for her chin and tilted her head until he could lean down and kiss her. "But you'll need to do more than that," he told her huskily.

Then she would do more! Only… Momo blushed as she realised what more meant.

No she wouldn't back down now! And it's not like she hadn't already pushed past her boundaries today. What was one more new experience?

She reached for the top button of Ethan's pants. He reached down himself and helped her and then suddenly she could reach into his pants.

She reached down and found the covering of her boyfriend's underwear. Underneath his pants she could really feel him beneath the fabric, even take a hold of him through the thin cloth but that wasn't enough. She knew what she needed to do next.

She pressed her hand beneath the waistband of his underwear. There was hair and it tickled her fingers for a moment before she found his penis with her fingers and wrapped her hand around it.

It was warm, firm but yielding. Ethan gasped as she squeezed it gently, the first real noise he'd made up to this point. She looked up at him and he kissed her for her trouble.

"Up and down, gently," he instructed.

Grateful for the advice, Momo did as he said. He let out a long sigh of pleasure as she developed a rhythm and Momo was glad to see she was doing a good job. This wasn't quite comfortable for her though. His underwear was getting in the way though.

Cheeks aflame she let go and reached for Ethan's waistband to pull his pants aside.

The hard shaft bounced free without the underwear in the way and Momo gasped at seeing a real penis for the first time she could remember.

She took it back in her hand and experimentally pumped it again, seeing how the flesh moved, the foreskin stretched around the wider head of Ethan's shaft.

Ethan leaned back against the grass, letting out another sigh of satisfaction.

"Faster," he commanded, reminding Momo what she was supposed to be doing.

She picked up the pace, pleasuring her lover like he had done for her. Ethan was enjoying it, she could tell and she settled back against him, finding a comfortable position as she watched what she was doing, felt his body tense and relax and listened to his heartbeat as it thumped rapidly in her ears.

Her boyfriend let out a groan of pleasure. That meant she was doing a good job, right? Momo resolved to herself to do some reading on the subject of pleasuring her partner. There had to be guides or something she could consult.

"I'm getting close," he told her after a few minutes.

A few seconds later Ethan's penis jumped in her hand, tensing up repeatedly and he suddenly let out a deep groan. His hand came up to cover the head of his shaft. Momo felt it as he ejaculated, cumming into his hand and she paid rapt attention to the feeling as his penis throbbed.

It didn't last that long. She was sure her own orgasm had lasted quite a bit longer, but Ethan's other hand came to cover hers, stopping her from continuing to pump him.

"Too sensitive," he gasped out, sitting up and making Momo sit up herself.

"That was great," Ethan said, he leaned in to kiss her gently.

"So I did a good job?" Momo asked.

"Definitely," Ethan told her, trying to repress a chuckle and not quite succeeding.

"At least the worst part of the cleanup is a bit easier," he said while holding up his fingers covered in sticky, white ejaculate. Before Momo's eyes the substance disintegrated as he activated one of his Quirks. Ethan looked at his now perfectly clean hands, he seemed very pleased with himself at having been able to do that.

Now she thought about it, Momo was a bit sticky between her legs. She'd need to take a shower and change her clothes once she got home later.

They cuddled for a bit, Momo enjoyed the simple intimacy after what they'd just done together. Both of them basking in the comfort of the moment, not feeling the need to redress, or make themselves presentable or anything like that. It was freeing in a way Momo couldn't quite describe.

A sudden gust of cold wind through the clearing left them shivering.

"Perhaps we should get moving," Ethan commented, looking up at the sky where the sun was starting to set.

They cleaned up as best they could, Momo redressed and so did Ethan. Grass and dirt stained her top and pants, mainly from their sparring before. Hopefully none of the staff would notice anything out of the ordinary when it came time to sort her laundry…

Once they were as presentable as possible, Ethan teleported them outside her home's gates.

"I had a fun time this afternoon," he said.

"I as well," Momo admitted, thinking about everything that had just happened. She quickly leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Why that made her blush after what they'd just been doing, she didn't know.

"I'll see you next weekend?" He asked hopefully.

"Definitely," Momo said, pleased.

They agreed a time next Saturday and Momo agreed before her boyfriend said goodbye and teleported home.

Momo went through her gates and opted to walk up to the manor rather than get a car. She felt just so calm after all that. Like all her worries had been diverted when she was with her boyfriend and she'd rather it hadn't had to come to an end.

Ethan had let her vent about what so far was a terrible work placement and then he'd given her an opportunity to decompress in the spar and then he'd helped her decompress in a different way… Truly, her boyfriend was everything she could have hoped for, even if he was a bit perverted.

Not, Momo thought to herself as she pictured what they might get up to next time, that she minded that, at all.

Chapter 109 - Nezu

"The Quirk only works on the physical form apparently," Ethan explained. "The mind, and presumably the soul are both unaffected."

All Might was sat on the couch next to them and Ethan had been recounting what had happened at the hospital the other day. The Number One Hero was understandably depressed about the whole thing. He's really got his hopes up that Ethan could save the Nomu.

"There was nothing that could be done?" Nezu asked, ignoring for the moment a confirmation that the soul exists.

"Not with the powers I currently have access to," Ethan said frankly. "I dunno, if there is a Quirk out there that can affect minds like a psychic might then that might be able to help them, but I'd think someone with that kind of power would be well known already."

"Indeed," Nezu replied. "There are Quirks that can have a number of different effects on the mind, but nothing with precision and utility like what you've described from other universes."

"People in other universes might be able to help?" All Might asked, immediately regaining interest.

"Maybe," Ethan said. "I know of at least one universe where there's people with those kinds of powers, but they're also full of unfriendly galactic and cosmic tier threats whose attention I would gather immediately if I entered those universes as I am right now and where there are what is considered to be street level threats that could take even you down under the right circumstances."

All Might slumped back into his chair.

"Thanks for getting my hopes up," he said dully. Nezu patted the Hero on the arm in commiseration.

"If this were before I came here with my old equipment and abilities it might be a different story," Ethan told them. "I once had the conceptual power to 'reject' things. Kike injuries, or even death."

Conceptual powers were something Nezu had been interested in before. Truly a terrifying idea, being able to manipulate reality on a whim like that. The ability to reject something, whatever you might choose to reject provided you could just conceive of the thing you wanted to be affected. There was only one person on Earth with that kind of ability and that was fortunately the Heroically aligned Star and Stripe.

"And you lost it?" All Might asked, sounding slightly

"Gave it up, really," Ethan said, not going into the events of him leaving 'The Company' as he called it. Nezu agreed with his choice not to mention it. It'd only cause Toshinori stress to know the man opposite him had killed more people than had ever been alive on this planet even if the circumstances and context of the situation left the ethics of the act somewhat… muddy.

"I got it from a girl called Orihime in a divergent universe," Ethan continued. "She'd gone mad with depression after her boyfriend was killed and… a number of unsavoury things happened to her and her remaining friends. After I showed up and put down the big bad, she 'rejected' her ability's power to not be given away and gave it to me instead." Ethan sighed. "She killed herself a couple of days later."

"Damn," All Might said.

"A tragic story," Nezu said, feeling some pity for this 'Orihime' girl.

"That sort of thing is all too common unfortunately," Ethan said. "There's a lot of universes where mundane, normal things change with little real change to the likely events of that universe occurring. But if the right thing goes wrong then suddenly events can spiral out of control, leading to something far beyond the 'canon' of that setting. Usually resulting in a disaster of some kind."

"And your interference in other universes?" Nezu asked. "Does your arrival not upset the balance of events?"

"It does," Ethan said, nodding at Nezu's insightful question. "In my travels I'd generally abuse my metaknowledge and my other still to avoid major tragedies. Plus a lot of universes seem to… recalibrate to some degree though, at least initially. We've seen it here with the sports Festival where most of the same kids inexplicably got to the finals despite not everybody having been best suited to overcoming the obstacles I put up. And also my messing around in the cavalry battle. Obviously some things are timetabled already so my presence wouldn't really affect those events unless I actively tried to disrupt them. Like say the Licencing Exam taking place soon. By now though, the 'stations of canon' are somewhat damaged. We'll see some similarities to canon, maybe major events taking place at roughly the same time or place. But it'll be somewhat removed from what might have happened originally."

"Interesting," Nezu said as he digested the information. That certainly put a new spin on the concepts of 'destiny' and 'free will'.

"Anyway," Nezu said, clapping his hands. "Shall we go ahead with today's treatment?" He asked pointedly, hoping to cheer All Might up a bit.

"Let's," All Might said, he offered his hand to Ethan and the boy took it.

Ethan was improving with the power, he was up to six weeks or so by Nezu's estimation as the Quirk-enhanced animal observed the Reversal Quirk in action. Give it another month and All Might would probably be back at one hundred percent.

He wasn't even close to passing out after doing it anymore either. Although Ethan did look a bit tired after they finished.

Both All Might and Ethan left shortly after. Ethan to return to his adorable little sister and All Might to prepare for next week's lessons.

Nezu was of course already prepared for the coming days. His prodigious intellect making his paperwork more of a formality really. So, for a little while at least, he could indulge in other pursuits.

A clip from the Sports Festival began to play. It was a specially curated one Nezu had prepared for himself, containing all his favourite scenes from the Festival.

Each scene was randomised too, so as not to grow too boring.

The video showed one young man from the General Studies course attempt to navigate the final series of stepping stones from the opening race of the festival. He had decided to attempt it at speed, leapfrogging from one stone to another, using his momentum to bridge the uncomfortably large gaps between the individual platforms.

Then his footing gave way and he slipped. His eyes only had a few moments to widen in panic before he slid forward, his forward leg stretched out and his other leg pushed back as he did the splits, but he still had his forward momentum and the boy collided crotch first with the side of the next stepping stone.

Nezu burst out into laughter.

Chapter 110 - Ethan

When we got back to classes next week everyone was abuzz with excitement after their own Work studies.

I for instance had taken part in a major attack on a hitherto unknown Villain's lair. My temporary boss had also given me a snazzy haircut as part of his attempts to teach myself and my co-trainee about how to present ourselves to the public.

Asui had taken part in a battle against a Villain with an Octopus Quirk. Certainly one of the more interesting sounding Heteromorphic Quirks in my opinion. Kirishima and Tetsutetsu had had their thick skulls briefly knocked about by Fourth Kind who seemed to be some weird blend between civil servant, mafioso and Hero.

Momo had had an opportunity to shine near the end there with an attack on a production hosted by the Hero who had taken her on. So she'd got some experience from the whole affair but one brief unexpected experience of real combat didn't make up for several days of lack of teaching.

My partner was, as was typical among the Japanese, reticent about complaining and standing out because of it. The whole nail that stands up thing. She might not want to complain, but I was going to mention it to Nezu when we spoke next time. What happened to Momo was unprofessional to the extreme, potentially hampering a Hero's training and Nezu would absolutely want to know what the Hero in charge of Momo's work study placement had done with his student's time, if he didn't already.

Some of my other classmates hadn't got what they wanted from their Work Study either. Iida for instance, looked disgruntled in his seat. The young man had interned in Hosu, where the hero Killer, Stain was reportedly active and he'd been looking for an opportunity to take the Villain on in retaliation for injuring his brother.

But Stain had kept quiet for the last few days after his latest attack on someone in the city, having almost been caught by a surprise attack orchestrated by the same Hero and another Hero organisation who'd used the guy as bait. It was all made possible by an anonymous source with stunning hair. The message they'd sent to the Police and other Hero firms in the area had informed them how the man's Quirk worked, along with an advised strategy on how to capture the guy.

Stain was still at large, but his message had been severely curtailed, at least for now.

"How was your work study dude?" I asked Todoroki beside me.

The boy with mixed hair colours turned to give me a tired look.

"All Might visited, and he and Sir Nighteye took me to a training centre," he said dully as if that was all the explanation that was needed.

"I see," I said. "So did it go well?" I asked, hoping for some sort of explanation.

"It was… rough," the boy said. "They showed me some ways I was lacking with my Quirk."

"I see," I said nonjudgmentally, realising what they'd probably done. Namely beat the stuffing out of him until he agreed to use his more fiery side probably. "Did it help?"

Todoroki managed to both sigh and wince at the same time. "Yes," he admitted.

"Well I'm glad for you then. Hopefully they won't decide to do it again eh?"

Based on his expression, Todoroki seemed unsure whether he wanted a repeat performance or not. Clearly whatever All Might and Sir Nighteye had done to/for him had been good for him though.

Across the classroom, everyone else was chatting about their work placements.

I leaned back in my seat, enjoying the brief moment of peace before classes began again.

Mineta coming to sit next to me caught me by surprise though.

"Hi," he said, slightly nervously.

"Hi yourself," I replied. "How'd your placement go dude?"

"Alright, but nothing exciting happened… Not like yours," the short boy told me pointedly.

"It wasn't all as fun as it sounds," I said. "I did get to see Bakugo get a haircut though."

Mineta chuckled weakly.

"Look, err, can we… talk, like after school?" He asked me, looking around to see who might be watching. Nobody was though, to the boy's relief.

"Sure," I said, curious about what he wanted to talk about but I nonetheless didn't pry. It seemed Mineta wanted to keep this one close to the chest.

"Thanks," the boy said before hopping off his chair and going back to his own assigned seat, just in time because it was then that Eraserhead arrived to announce our latest obstacle in our Hero training.

A fun game of hide and seek.

111-115

Chapter 111 – Ethan

A new mini test. Or really, a way for the students of U.A. to demonstrate what they'd learnt and how they'd improved during their work studies.

I stood between Momo and Tohru as All Might explained what was going to happen.

It was going to be in groups of five. Everyone would be released into the training zone with the objective of finding All Might, who had hidden himself somewhere in the training zone. He would be playing the part of a civilian in need of rescuing.

The training zone in question was a sort of industrial city-scape area, with lots of concrete and metal pipes and such all over the place. Without a map you'd struggle to find your way around it easily and the entire area had to be a good half mile wide. Finding All Might first, despite his large size and brightly coloured costume would still be a challenge.

I leaned in close to Momo.

"If we both go in together, fancy making this a… competition?" I asked.

Momo stiffened slightly as I whispered into her ear but I doubt anyone was really listening.

She wet her lips as she turned to look back at me with a faint dusting of red on her cheeks.

"Yes, that sounds fine," she said, almost perfectly normally.

"Same rules as before?" I asked quietly, referencing our last date.

"O-of course," she replied, nodding rapidly and making my lips stretch out into a grin despite myself. "Although..." she continued. "What if both of us wins, or neither of us wins. Should we decide based on who gets to All Might first, or which position we come in?"

That sounded dreadfully boring. No, I had a better idea.

"Let's… say only a win counts, first place," I suggested. "If we both win our groups, we both win, and if we both lose, no matter which position either of us comes in, then we both suffer the consequences," I said slightly huskily, deliberately. All to just provoke a little bit more of a reaction from my partner. I was pleased to see it was working.

If we both won in our groups then we both won a forfeit. If we both lost then we both lost a forfeit to the other. There was only first place, no seconds or thirds. The other competitors winning our groups could see us both lose. The only way to truly win would be for one of us to win ourselves and the other to fail. Of course if we were in the same group…

I was almost curious about what Momo might ask from me with her own forfeit. Of course that wouldn't happen if I won and she lost, but I was really stacking the deck against both of us here, which was kind of the point.

"T-that is acceptable," Momo replied with that delightful blush. The intelligent young woman had figured out what I was trying to say. She was no doubt thinking much the same sorts of things as myself right about now.

I had ideas, lots of ideas.

"Excellent," prepare to lose Momo-chan," I told her.

The girl next to me huffed, but didn't rise to the banter any further. All Might nearby looked to be about to give us our groups and Momo straightened up slightly in anticipation.

It was randomly selected much like our first battle training session. The screen before us lit up. There were four columns of five rows.

Aaaaand…

Oh yes! I resisted the urge to celebrate. Ashido, Tohru, Bakugo, Momo and last but not least, myself. I looked at my girlfriend who huffed again in amusement. She raised an eyebrow at me in challenge.

"Game on," I said.

Chapter 112 - Hagakure

Tohru had been doing her best not to listen in, promise!

But Carlsile and Yaoyorozu were flirting, right there next to her! How could she have resisted the urge to pay closer attention after realising that?

They were making it some sort of competition between them. Whichever of them won got… something.

Oh gosh she would never have imagined the prim and proper Yaoyorozu to be willing to play lewd games like that. Because it was clear to see that that was what they were competing about. It had to all be Carlisle's doing, he was really nice, but he could also be such a bad boy.

They weren't the first to go out thankfully. It was Midoriya, Jiro, Mineta, Tokoyami and Sero who were going first. Everyone else got to watch from the observation area. Those five left to their assigned starting positions. Midoriya looked determined, so did Sero and Mineta. Tokoyami was doing his usual 'stoic' thing while Jiro had a bit of a blush across her features for some reason as she followed after the other boys.

Had she overheard too? Maybe, Tohru wasn't entirely sure how Jiro's quirk worked but it was a listening type Quirk so it should probably have let her listen in, assuming she was paying attention?

Oh she had to talk to someone about what she'd just overheard! She quickly approached Mina-chan.

"Hey," she whispered frantically in her friend's ear. Mina-chan immediately realised something was going on and she looked through Tohru to see if anyone else was watching.

"What is it?" She whispered back, the two girls edging slightly away from the group so nobody could overhear them.

"I-I overheard Yaoyorozu-chan and Carlisle talking," Tohru told her, catching the pink girl's attention immediately. Then she proceeded to recall everything she'd heard from the overheard conversation and how both the boy and girl had behaved across the conversation. Mina-chan's skin was bright pink but it didn't stop her blushing slightly as she came to a conclusion similar to Tohru's.

"W-wow," she said, glancing across at the couple who were watching the first group start the test. "I would have never figured Yaoyorozu for stuff like… that. And so quickly too. They've only been going out for a few weeks."

"I know!" Tohru replied. "I'm so jealous," she whispered, before realising what she'd just said and going to cover her mouth with an "eep!"

Mina-chan's lips curled into a grin. "Jealous?" She queried.

"K-kinda," Tohru admitted. "I mean Carlisle's pretty handsome…" She admitted. Mina-chan couldn't argue with that at least. "It's not like you wouldn't be interested either."

"I'm not the one who admitted it though," Mina-chan teased.

They'd had conversations like this before of course. It was natural that the girls would get together and put together a ranking of all the boys. Some of the boys, like Mineta, had probably done the same with the girls anyway so it was fair game.

On the screen their attention was diverted when the competition started.

Midoriya had been struggling to control his Quirk before. Now he was running. He wasn't as fast as Iida, but he was still going super fast.

"It looks like he's figured out how to control his Quirk," Carlisle pointed out the obvious with a grin.

"Hey good for him!" Kaminari cheered. "I guess it was only a matter of time before he got it down."

"Yeah," Carlisle said. "Although… I'm betting a bunch of us here have new tricks to show too," he said leadingly. He looked around at the rest of the class, like everyone would suddenly cave and reveal all.

"Speak for yourself dude," Kirishima said. "All I did was sweep streets and do community service. Don't tell me you've got more Quirks now too?"

"At the Hospital incident yeah. Although after that my experience with Best Jeanist was pretty similar to yours," Carlisle told him. "I did get a few new Quirks and I think I'll try using some for the test," Carlisle admitted. "Some others I'm struggling to fine a good use for though." He raised his hand and from his palm there appeared a mouth, with a big long tongue sticking out of it too.

"Not exactly combat viable, this one," he said conversationally. "It works with some other Quirks I have, but yeah, not very useful for fighting considering I have stuff like Disintegrate too. I'm sure I'll think of some other ways to use it though."

Tohru's mouth hung open. S-she wasn't a lewd girl or anything, but something immediately sprung to mind for a way to use that Quirk in particular.

Next to her it was clear from her expression that Mina had come to a similar conclusion as her. So at least it wasn't just Tohru whose mind had just jumped straight down the gutter. It was a perfectly natural thought to have when you saw a handsome guy with an extra tongue sticking out of his hand.

She looked to Yaoyorozu who seemed perfectly fine. She didn't seem to have cottoned on to the same ideas the rest of the girls had. She was kind of sheltered considering her upbringing. Carlisle was kind of a rebellious type though, he'd probably-

No! Bad thoughts! Tohru tried to distract herself by looking back to the screens showing her other classmates as they raced to find All Might.

Still though, she couldn't help but think to herself that Yaoyorozu was so lucky.

Chapter 113 - Minoru

He wasn't built for this kind of stuff. The other students were probably going to beat him. At least Tokoyami and Sero would. Minoru already had an idea of what those two guys could do in this sort of environment. The tape would make for a great traversal tool and Dark Shadow would function much the same if Tokoyami used it right. That wasn't getting into the fact that while Jiro might not have mobility she'd probably be able to locate All Might and make a beeline for his location. His Quirk however was designed more for capture than mobility or search and rescue. He couldn't use it for that last one. Mobility was important in all kinds of Hero work though so Minoru had needed to find a solution.

He would have to try out his new technique. Racing around this training zone would tire him out, but it wasn't like they had anything else to do today. Minoru grabbed a hold of his balls and tossed a few down to the ground.

They stuck to everything else, but where he was concerned he could either choose to stick to them or they could act as bounce pads.

Mineta bounced on one pair of sticky balls, before throwing another pair down ahead where he was going to land.

By conserving his momentum he could jump higher and higher, the laws of physics at his mercy and Minoru managed to jump to the top of one of the dummy buildings that made up the training environment.

"Damn this going to be hard," Minoru muttered to himself as he got a good look at the training zone.

Still, he was a man on a mission. He raced ahead to the edge of the building. He needed to get moving and find All Might. It was a long way down to fall, but he had his balls. He'd just throw some down and bounce back up, it was something he'd been practising in his free time after the sports festival but this was the first time he'd used it in a proper exercise.

He bounced up a few times before leaping forward, using his built up momentum to surge ahead and suddenly he was flying in the open air.

"Notgoodnotgoodnotgood!" Minoru chanted to himself. Why did he think this was a good idea again!??!

From this even greater height though he could see all over the place. He couldn't spot All Might anywhere. Minoru took a deep breath. He was starting to lose momentum and soon he'd quickly find himself falling back to the ground.

That was okay though, he reminded himself. He just had to nail the landing with his balls before landing himself and he could just bounce up again!

He accelerated down quickly, towards another rooftop.

That looked like a hard landing…

Terrified, but determined, Minoru grabbed some more balls and threw them down. His aim was true and the boy landed in the bouncy pile and buoyed by his own success Minoru wasn't afraid to put some force behind his next jump, propelling himself forward once again.

There! He spotted a flash of blond hair in the distance. It had to be All Might!

With excitement Minoru eagerly prepared for his next landing, ready to propel himself in All Might's direction.

But wait, what was that?

A flash of green light had caught Minoru's eye. That didn't look like anyone else's Quirk? Not any of his classmates, or the teachers for that matter. Could this be a surprise element to the test? He wouldn't put it past Aizawa-sensei, but All Might was usually straightforward with these things.

Regardless, the exercise was supposed to be search and rescue. If there was a 'villain' present then saving the civilian from them was just part of that.

Minoru bounced off his next improvised jump pad and soared ahead towards All Might. It was then that he realised what he'd seen.

It was Midoriya! Minoru immediately put it all together. The boy had figured out how to control his quirk and now he was racing ahead towards All Might.

He was fast too. Minoru's strategy relied on conservation of momentum, he couldn't easily stop, he'd have to slow down, or bounce off some other surfaces a few times to bleed off momentum to get to All Might.

He wasn't going to make it was he?

Midoriya got to All Might, touching the man's arm and winning the competition, just as Minoru sailed over their heads and past the roof All Might was on. Tossing some balls ahead of himself, Minoru managed to bounce back the other way this time. All Might's location actually made it so he didn't need to do more than create one more landing spot for himself and Minoru bounced up and down on it a few times, using up his kinetic energy until he could land on the ground safely.

"Mineta-san! Good job!" All Might said, teeth gleaming as he gave him a thumbs up. "You just barely came second,

Midoriya looked worn out. He'd been going flat out.

He'd only lost by a few seconds really. Minoru sighed and offered the Symbol of Peace a weak smile and a return thumbs up. It was hard to feel depressed with All Might smiling at you like that.

His smile grew broader though after a few seconds to think about it. Minoru might not have won, but the Minoru of a few weeks ago would've been lucky if he'd come second to last, nevermind first!

He was getting stronger. Now he just needed to keep proving himself, plus ultra!

Chapter 114 - Ethan

Izuku won the race but it was a surprisingly close thing. Sero's Tape and Tokoyami's Dark Shadow made for very effective mobility tools and they navigated the terrain very well. Mineta had been a standout though, showing a lot more mobility than one might have expected from him. He'd almost won it too. With a bit of practise, he'd get better at that bouncing trick of his, but of course in the meantime everyone else would be improving too.

Jiro too had her own advantage in that while her Quirk didn't give her advanced mobility, at least not yet, she could use her ear plugs as a discount sonar. Or perhaps she just listened for All Might. Still, her lack of real mobility left her in the dust of the other students and she'd come last.

Midoriya had been a man on a mission though. He'd clearly trained and trained these last couple weeks and the boy's mobility was impressive for someone who'd only really begun learning to move around with advanced strength and speed recently.

All Might seemed pleased too, although it was somewhat hard to tell considering the man was always smiling. I decided I'd tease him a bit about it later when we did his daily reversal.

It was my own group's competition next. Like the sports festival, I wasn't just going to use Warp Gate, which seemed somewhat unsporting considering my bet with Momo, even if the delicious look of defeat on her face might be worth seeing too. But I wanted to try out some of my new Quirks a bit too and this was just an exercise for us to show off our abilities after a couple weeks away. So now I needed to decide how I was going to approach this.

We were arranged at separate entrances and left to fend for ourselves before the competition began. So I spent the few moments I had trying to decide how I was going to approach this.

I had a strength enhancing Quirk now, some physical transformation abilities like Liquefaction and a Quirk that let me explode parts of my body at will. The muscle Quirk would bulk me up, increasing my physical strength tremendously. I activated it and suddenly my previously built physique was that of a bodybuilder, only above the waist though.

I looked down at myself, seeing the slight transformation and I could really feel my costume struggling to contain my new bulk. Eri had burst into laughter when I'd demonstrated this Quirk for her the other day as I'd torn my clothes. Fortunately, it only worked on my arms as I'd have otherwise given the little girl a show she was definitely too young for. My Hero costume was built of sterner stuff though. My costume stretched tightly around my bulked up muscles and revealed new definition as I stretched the outfit to its capacity.

Of all the Quirks I'd acquired, this Quirk was probably the least exciting all things considered. But it was still a strength enhancement and I was also interested in seeing where its limits lied. I wouldn't win the competition this way. I had only one idea for how I was going to increase my mobility, but I'd not actually tried it yet.

Liquefaction was an uncomfortable Quirk, but one I needed to get used to. Activating it below the waist, my former limbs were now just a blob of matter that I could move around. There was little sensation to be had sadly. No pain. I could feel heat and touch was more a factor of feeling pressure rather than the tactile sensation of the same thing on my skin. It was hard to describe. I also had to actively concentrate on both holding myself together and holding myself up too. The instinctive ability to stand on my legs without thinking about it didn't apply to this alien physiology.

I could move around a bit like this, but not tremendously faster than a normal moving speed. No, the mobility came from the second Quirk I was going to use.

The second Quirk was one I was going to refer to as Self-Destruct. It let me selectively explode parts of my 'body' and that included the water that currently made up my lower half. I tried it out.

Liquid burst out around my 'feet,' propelling me forward and I was surprised at how quickly I moved, having to catch myself against a wall.

It didn't quite hurt either, because that part of me didn't have any pain receptors. Regeneration still restored the lost fluid, much like it would have if I'd lost a limb.

I tried it again. I was ready for it the second time. And I found I was able to propel myself forward, even stop myself with a secondary explosion.

Grinning, I raced forward, ready to find All Might and win the race.

Momo's ass was mine!

Figuratively, not literally.

Well, at least not yet.

Chapter 114 Extra - Hagakure

Tohru's Quirk was Invisibility…

She set off at a run from the start line anyway, even if she realistically had no chance of winning. Really her Quirk just wasn't meant for some stuff. She was all about stealth, not running around and stuff. Her Quirk would work during combat at least. She'd be able to spy on villains too, which was a really exciting idea for her future career. But for things like this? She had no chance.

So she'd resigned herself with the knowledge that wherever All Might was hiding one of her classmates would definitely find him first.

Case in point, explosions echoed in the distance as Bakugo raced through the training zone to find the Number one Hero.

Carlisle would probably be doing something cool with a Quirk none of them had ever seen before. Mina-chan was probably in the same boat as her. So at least it wouldn't be just her that was struggling to keep up.

Still, quitters never win. She ran through the training zone, hoping to find a sight of All Might. He couldn't be that hard to find. She could still at least not come last.

Chapter 115 - Ethan

When I arrived at All Might's location it was to see Bakugo had already arrived first.

"Darnit," I said good naturedly. "Was I at least close?"

"Bakugo-san arrived about a minute ago," All Might told me.

"Damn," I said. "Good race though," I offered Bakugo my fist and the other boy accepted the fistbump with what I was going to call surly good-naturedness.

"I don't recognise that Quirk," All Might told me, interested, having seen my approach. He'd left us before myself and Best Jeanist had encountered this particular one hadn't he?

I proceeded to tell both him and Bakugo about the encounter with this particular Nomu and how she'd tried to fight before being caught off guard by my own Quirk. I went on to explain that it was two Quirks that let me move quickly in what was technically a sort of a copycat of Bakugo's own explosive mobility. Bakugo gained a somewhat more sour look on his face as I explained that it was an explosive Quirk that I was using.

"Still, it's only thanks to the combination that I can do even this much," I told them, trying to mollify the boy. "On its own, even with a healing factor that Quirk would be basically useless except to commit suicide. Gotta feel sorry for the person who originally had it."

"That guy did my original Quirk evaluation," Bakugo told us after a few seconds. "He took some blood samples when I was a little kid."

My mouth dropped open as I realised what Bakugo was implying. All Might also looked slightly disturbed too.

"You think this was Garaki's attempt at copying your Quirk?" I asked. The boy gave a tight nod.

"Damn," I said. That fit far better than the ability having been a natural Quirk. Quirks weren't deliberately self destructive, although they could have components that caused self harm when used. "Well I'm not giving it back to you," I joked. "You're explosive enough already."

Bakugo snorted. "I don't need a cheap knockoff anyway," he said, brushing away the implied offer.

"You're not upset?" I asked.

"No, of course not," Bakugo dismissed. "At least I know it's not being used by Villains now. You'll put it to good use at least," he admitted.

"Thanks dude," I said sincerely.

"A good attitude to have Bakugo-san!" All Might praised him, clapping the boy on the back and sending him stumbling from the force of it. Despite his usual demeanour it was clear that Bakugo enjoyed the praise.

"It's kinda scary to think I could've been one of those things," Bakugo admitted to us. "Maybe someone did try to kidnap me and I just never noticed? Maybe they never found an opportunity. Maybe… cuz I always had people around me…" He realised.

"Fuckin' Deku might've saved my life and I never even knew it," Bakugo muttered to himself.

We lapsed into silence, waiting for the others to arrive.

Momo arrived next, less than a minute after our conversation. She clambered up the side of the building with a grapple and rope she'd conjured with her Quirk.

She was out of breath and let out a noise of disappointment at seeing us before going to rest her hands on her knee, breathing heavily.

"Who won?" She finally asked, looking at me.

"Bakugo did," I told her. "Looks like we both lose," I told my girlfriend pointedly.

Momo let out a chuckle, not having it in her for flirting right now. She went to sit on the ledge of the building.

"So do we know where the other two are?" I asked as I went to sit next to Momo and wrapped an arm around her shoulder which she didn't refuse.

"We don't," All Might told us. "I'm sure they'll find us shortly.

It wasn't long before the other two girls did find us. Although we heard them coming first.

"Come on, go faster!" Ashido complained.

"I'm trying! I've never done this before," Hagakure's voice came back.

"Just pull up with your hands and loosen your legs when you do it," Ashido advised.

"This is hard" Hagakure complained as she went to follow the advice. Then there was a small squeak of surprise followed by a much louder high pitched "ouch!" from the invisible girl.

"S-sorry," Ashido squeaked out, sounding incredibly embarrassed. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine," Hagakure replied. "I should've let you go first," she commented. "Your horns are pointy though," she complained as an afterthought.

All noise from the two girls stopped when they realised both myself and Momo were looking over the ledge at them from above.

Hagakure waved one gloved hand up at us nervously.

"H-hi," she said.

115-120

The Second Coming Chapters 116-120

Chapter 116 – Ethan

The rest of the afternoon was spent watching the rest of 1-A in their own groups trying to find All Might. Then we finished slightly earlier than usual, just on account of the timings really. There wasn't enough time left in the day to do much else but head home early.

Some of the class did well, but nobody really showed off any major improvements except Todoroki who it seemed had got over his hangups and was now using the fire side of his Quirk, which I attributed to All Might's intervention.

We left and I said goodbye to Momo before heading home at a leisurely walk. I could've used Warp Gate but I wasn't in a hurry. It was nice to just enjoy the pleasant weather. It wasn't long before Mineta caught up to me though, the boy going to walk beside me.

"Oh hi dude," I'd almost forgotten we were going to have that chat he'd asked for.

"So…" I said after a few seconds. "What's up?"

Mineta didn't reply immediately.

"How do you do it?" He asked me.

"I don't know what you mean," I replied. Mineta sighed. He seemed to be at war with himself a bit.

"Talk to girls," he finally said, wringing his hands together.

I managed to stop myself from making a noise of amusement at what he'd just said but it was a close thing.

"You want girl advice?" I asked. "I mean I know I'm going out with Momo-chan," I told the boy and admittedly that was an achievement in itself. "But I dunno if I'm the right guy to ask about these things."

I mean I'd actually been out with only a handful of women ever, and I'd only actually slept with two women too over the course of that life, mainly on account of wanting to avoid accidentally receiving a love confession and activating my stamp automatically. My first girlfriend, before the Company, was best forgotten. I was a far different person now than I was then. The second woman I'd been with had been a drunken one night stand that was definitely something best left out of mind.

The only thing I had now that I didn't then was a confidence born of experience. I don't think 'go travel the multiverse for a few decades, doing your best not to let a woman fall in love with you in case they accidentally enslave themselves to you. Then turn yourself back into a teenager and go back to highschool' would be taken as good advice.

"B-but you're so cool," Mineta replied. "Most of the girls in class give you googly eyes when you're not looking, haven't you noticed?"

"No, I haven't," I replied, surprised. "Do they?" I couldn't help but ask. It was slightly flattering, I hadn't been trying to come off as attractive to my other classmates, just as myself. After years of trying to avoid these things, I actually hadn't noticed anything beyond the occasional bit of light stalking when I was supposed to be alone with my girlfriend and that I'd assumed was mainly to have a nosey in and see what happened.

"Yes!" Mineta said in exasperation that I had apparently failed to notice the amorous eyes on me.

"Huh," I said, making Mineta pout at my non-reaction. So there were other options open to me, not that I would necessarily be going for them. I wasn't trying to form a harem, as much as that idea obviously appealed to my masculine ego. Momo was plenty enough for me and I wasn't interested in putting that at risk.

Mineta slumped. "Sorry," he said. "I've just wasted both our times."

"No wait," I said, stopping the boy as he proceeded to walk away. "Come on, my place isn't far. Midnight might be willing to give you a lift if we get back before she drops off Eri."

I could practically see the guy's attitude change at a chance to interact with Midnight, not that I could blame him, considering. The woman was basically sex on legs. Mineta acquiesced to my request and we continued walking.

"Look, I think I know where you're coming from," I told him. Anyone could see that Mineta was just bad at talking to girls. "I think…" I began, trying to figure out what I wanted to say.

"I think the first thing I can say is, you come on too strong."

"I've heard that before," Mineta said glumly. I resisted the urge to palm my face.

"It's really the best advice I can give you," I tried to emphasise. "You start talking about sex and boobs and stuff all the time, eyeing up anything in a skirt. You've gotta choose your moments. Try and be funny instead of just creepy about things or just don't say those things at all. Throw out all the thoughts about sex and boobs and just talk to a girl first, sex and all that stuff comes later." I struggled to think of a way to put this that wouldn't just be insulting.

"I think for most girls, it's plain to see you're… you're thirsty dude. Girls don't like knowing you'd just go for anybody in sight that you find attractive."

"Uhuh," Mineta replied, taking in everything I was saying. I turned to look back at him and did a double take. The little dude had a notepad out. He was taking notes. Damn if he didn't need the advice, but really?

This wasn't even good advice. I was just telling him the obvious wasn't I? Surely someone had had this conversation with him before?

We arrived at my place. It was still ten minutes or so before Eri got home. I went to get us both a drink of water.

"Thanks for your advice Carlisle-san," Mineta said. "Really."

"Don't worry about it," I replied. I hadn't told him anything special or anything. But the guy seemed genuinely grateful. Did he have anyone he could ask about these things? That might explain some of his more extreme behaviour. He was friendly with most of our male classmates to be fair, but then Sero and Kaminari didn't exactly know how to talk to women either.

Had… Had I just become Mineta's dating guru? I shook off the slightly disturbing thought.

"So this is the last bit of advice I'll give you," I said as I took a swig of my drink. "Think first before speaking. Then pick someone you're into, who you think might be interested in. You focus on them, not anyone else. Then try and ask them out. Don't go in expecting anything, just be nice and see what happens," I said.

Mineta nodded, looking into his drink seriously.

"You're thinking of someone aren't you?" I asked.

"Y-yeah," he replied.

I didn't ask who. I really didn't think he was thinking about Momo. Although a frank part of me commented that I shouldn't be surprised if he was. She was the prettiest in our class, at least in a traditional sense. All the girls were attractive in their own individual ways though.

"Asui-san," he said. I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

"She's cute," I said. She didn't really do it for me. But I could see where the guy was coming from. Asui was a lovely person and she was pretty, in her own way. The effects of her Quirk left the girl somewhat… different to traditional ideas of beauty though. Her hair for instance always looked damp and her skin likewise had a sheen to it that made it look, well slimy. There wasn't a kinder way of putting it. But I really couldn't throw stones there, considering some of my own personal history.

"You think I should try asking her out?" Mineta said.

"Yes," I said. "I dunno what you've… said to her before," Mineta flinched and I rolled my eyes, not interested in diving into whatever had happened there.

"First, apologise for what you said. Then offer to take her out somewhere as part of that apology. Ask her where she wants to go, unless you can think of somewhere you think she'd enjoy yourself. Just try and have a nice time and if she has a good time maybe she'll accept going out with you again."

"Do you really think that'll work?" Mineta asked me.

"It's a good start," I said with a shrug. "That's the best I can give you. But if she does say no, then at least you've apologised. There'll be plenty of other girls out there who might say yes another time. Maybe try and get to know someone in 1-B. We'll have joint classes with them eventually, I imagine. Fresh start."

Mineta nodded. He'd finished his drink by now and he jumped off the couch to stand on his short legs.

He bowed to me.

"Thanks Carlisle-san," he told me formally.

"Really, don't mention it," I replied dryly. "You can thank me if it works."

It was only a few minutes later that Eri arrived home, escorted by Midnight. The R-rated heroine stepped in to see us both and raised an eyebrow in interest. There was probably something lewd she wanted to say, but she probably held herself back on account of Eri.

"Hi sensei," I said. "Mineta came round after school today. I was wondering if you could give him a lift to the station?" I asked while Eri took her shoes off and came to sit next to me expectantly. Mineta was doing his best not to stare at the admittedly beautiful woman in the skintight outfit, and failing.

Baby steps Mineta, baby steps.

"Sure," Midnight said after a moment. "C'mon kid, I'll give you a… ride," she said, making Mineta's face turn beet red. He looked like he was about to have an aneurism, or something else that didn't bear thinking about. The woman really couldn't help herself, but then I'd really given her that one on a platter hadn't I?

After a few seconds to regain his self control, Mineta quickly went to put his shoes on and followed after Midnight.

"Thanks again Carlisle! I'll see you tomorrow" Mineta said as he left, closing the door behind him.

Eri pouted.

"He didn't say goodbye to me," she complained.

"That's… probably for the best," I said, patting the annoyed girl on the head.

Chapter 117 – All Might

All Might arrived at Carlisle's place and knocked politely on the door.

He was expected and squeezed through the smallish doorway as little Eri let him in.

"Thank you Eri-chan," he said to the comparably tiny girl who smiled back up at him before closing the door.

He was in plain clothes right now, rather than his Hero uniform. He wasn't going out fighting crime tonight. If he were still properly injured then he'd need to rest anyway so it wasn't like he was doing any less than he'd been doing in the months prior to meeting Midoriya. So for the time being he was having to make the pretence of still having a timer on using his Quirk.

It still rankled. But knowing that All for One was still out there lent him greater motivation to go along with the ploy. If he could catch the villain off guard and finally finish this then it'd all be worth it.

"And here's our last guest for the evening," Ethan greeted him cheerfully. "Sit down, please," he gestured to the couch.

All Might fell into it gladly. Partially healed or not, a full day of teaching still took something out of you and he was glad to sit down and relax. Ethan came in a few moments later.

"Thank you," Toshinori said, letting himself relax, even letting go of his Quirk, as he took the drink. Eri let a little squeak of surprise as she beheld his 'true' form.

"W-what happened? Are you okay?" The girl asked hurriedly. She looked to Ethan. "Mr All Might needs help!" She said, to Toshinori and Ethan's joint amusement. She hadn't actually seen him like this had she?

"I'm fine Eri-chan," All Might said kindly, resisting the sudden urge to spit blood and freak her out more. "This is just what I look like without my Quirk activated," he partially lied.

"He is poorly," Ethan contradicted All Might's explanation. "I'm using Reversal to make him all better. But he's been like this for a long time so I'm having to reverse him a bit at a time every day."

"Oh, okay then," Eri said after a few seconds, bouncing back immediately in that way only a child could.

Ethan sat opposite him. "Busy day," he said conversationally. "Are you pleased about Midoriya's progress?"

"Immensely," Toshinori admitted, not feeling the need to deflect around the man in a child's body, who probably knew as much, if not more about his apprentice's potential growth than he did. "I take it you knew he'd learn to control his Quirk with Gran Torino?"

"Yes," Ethan admitted freely. "Although I imagine it was only a matter of time until you figured it out between the two of you, even without Gran Torino stepping in."

"I see," Toshinori said dryly. "Couldn't you have just told me what advice to give Midoriya yourself?" He asked. He could've told Izuku what to do and then he wouldn't have had to sit through a thirty minute tirade from his old mentor. That old man still had a good pair of lungs on him.

"Where would be the fun in that?" Ethan replied drolly then he became slightly more serious. "Better to let Izuku grow without out of context handholding. I'd be pigeonholing him too, forcing him down the same path he would've in canon. It's kinder to let him grow without interfering in a meaningful way, let him be his own person rather than decide what he should be."

Really, the man's perspective seemed a bit alien to Toshinori at times. It was times like this when he felt he saw a glimpse of the real man behind the childish facade. He couldn't entirely disagree with the logic though. Letting Midoriya grow and learn independently was important for his development as a Hero.

"You've seen a great deal of people like Midoriya, haven't you?" He asked. Ethan shrugged.

"You'd be surprised how common the 'Young Hero' archetype really is," Ethan said. Toshinori huffed. Still, the subtext of that really made Toshinori wonder what sorts of Heroes were out there in this 'multiverse' Ethan was basically introducing them to. Maybe he'd join in on the little chats with Nezu more often.

"Is Mr All Might staying for dinner?" Eri interrupted, sounding hopeful.

"If he wants to," Ethan said. "He might have other appointments or things to do. I wouldn't want to impose on his time," he said, offering Toshinori a polite way out.

"It depends, what are you having for dinner?" He asked jokingly, not entirely against the idea of a free meal after that great spread Ethan had put on at that party a few weeks ago. One might wonder what the point of eating was when he was having his body reversed every twenty four hours or so. But even though Ethan was reversing his body every day, he still needed to eat in between sessions to keep his energy levels up in the meantime. Right now he could really do with something with a bit of meat in it. Something Western.

Damn, when was the last time he'd had a pizza? Or a cheeseburger? Suddenly his mouth was watering as he remembered one particularly delicious example of the American staple food he'd had, somewhere in Detroit.

Damn, and now he realised he couldn't actually remember the name of that place. He'd only been in the city for a few months, he'd probably never be able to find it again, assuming it even still existed.

"I've not decided on anything yet. Got some stuff in but it'll all need cooking, if you don't mind waiting," Ethan told him.

"I have the time to kill," Toshinori admitted, before realising the irony in the words and chuckling. "I'm more than happy to wait."

"I'll take a look in the cupboards and we'll let our guest decide what we're having then," Ethan told the little girl.

He had some ground beef, some buns and even some sliced cheese too!

Ethan got everything prepared and cooking and then they did Toshinori's daily reversal. Eri watched on in interest, seeing what was now her former Quirk in action.

Of course there was relatively little change. Toshinori's injury had been in more or less the same condition for the last five years. After the worst of the injury had been healed after the battle, it had grown worse very gradually. It was buildups of toxins and the general strain on his body being what would have eventually killed him.

The meal wasn't quite as perfect as Toshinori had hoped, the burger just wasn't quite as good as his memories of that one meal, but it was still delicious. The entire evening was kind of domestic really. He watched from the sidelines a bit. Ethan was really good with Eri. He seemed to truly enjoy his role as parent/brother figure.

Toshinori had never had children, he'd barely had any romantic relationships either. He was getting older now though. He should've settled down by now, but he'd gone for a higher calling. He'd always told himself he didn't have the time or opportunity for that sort of thing, especially with All for One in the picture. After their fight though, even though he'd thought the guy was gone, his injury and the limited amount of time he'd had left had put a damper on any romantic ideas.

Perhaps now, he realised, with Ethan's interference he'd have the opportunity to step back a little while Izuku stepped forward to fill his shoes. Then Toshinori would be able to enjoy those bits of a civilian life he'd never really engaged in.

He left a little later that evening, thanking both Ethan and Eri for the meal.

All in all. While he couldn't say he was fully on board with Ethan, but the guy had his head and heart in the right place. His interference in their world was clearly turning out for the better in the end. He'd helped hobble the Villains' plans and set back what sounded like a grim future. All for One was on the back foot now, with limited resources and support. The trap was slowly closing in on the Villain and All Might was eager to see it finally close.

Soon they'd put that old monster down and All Might could relax, take his time training up his protege and one day retire to watch the next generation of Heroes build on the foundations he was proud to have laid.

Chapter 118 – Izuku

Everyone left for home slightly early. Ochaco-chan had things to do and Iida was going to visit his brother, who was still in hospital. So Izuku set off for home on his own.

He was waylaid by a hand on his shoulder.

Turning around Izuku was surprised to find Kacchan standing there. He had a disgruntled look on his face.

"H-hello Kacchan," Izuku said, surprised and still slightly intimidated by the other boy. They'd had a couple of conversations in the last couple of weeks. The blond boy had wanted to know what was going on with Izuku's Quirk, but he hadn't wanted to tell Bakugo to maintain the secret of One for All.

Bakugo glowered at him silently for a few seconds.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

"W-what?" Izuku asked, not quite understanding what he was saying.

"I said thanks!" Kacchan growled out, louder this time.

O-okay?" Izuku replied, still somewhat afraid of his childhood friend/bully. "I-I don't understand."

Bakugo glowered at him for a few more seconds. "You know about Jaku Hospital, what went down there?"

"Yes?" Izuku replied.

"You saw Carlisle too right? His new Quirks."

Izuku nodded, wondering what the other boy was talking about.

"One of them is an explosive Quirk, lets you explode parts of your body. I was a patient of Garaki's when he was acting as Doctor Tsubasa. I remember him taking blood samples."

"Wait you went to him too?" Izuku replied, before realising how silly a thing that was to be surprised by. They grew up in the same area after all.

"Yeah," Bakugo said. "The guy probably used my DNA to make that explosion Quirk and put it in one of the Nomus."

"Oh wow, that's- are you okay?" Izuku said honestly.

"I'm fine!" Bakugo snapped, giving absolutely the opposite impression. "No it's… Garaki kidnapped people, kids. He was interested enough in my Quirk to try and reproduce it, but he didn't try and kidnap me. The only reason I can think of why he didn't was because there were always people around me, like you," Bakugo said. He managed to make it almost sound as if it were an accusation.

Izuku's mouth fell open as he realised what Bakugo was saying. Could he really have unwittingly stopped his friend getting kidnapped when they were little?

"So yeah, thanks, I guess," Bakugo said. He started walking forward, bumping Izuku's shoulder on the way past, but it was half-hearted.

Izuku watched the other boy as he left.

"You're welcome," he muttered.

"What was that?!" Bakugo shouted, spinning around to glower at him.

Izuku swallowed instinctively as the other boy tried to shoot daggers at him through his eyes.

"I said you're welcome," he said, suddenly feeling a bit braver. "I-I know I probably didn't do anything really, but I'm glad you weren't kidnapped," Izuku told the other boy quickly. On a roll and not wanting to miss the opportunity at his sudden spurt of bravery, he continued talking.

"You're really strong Kacchan, you're gonna make a great Hero someday," he said, speaking from the heart. "I-I'm glad that I maybe helped you at some point. I know you don't like me, but I-I want you to know that I respect you a-and I know you're upset about my Quirk. But you have to believe me, I was never hiding it from you."

Bakugo's lips pursed and he took a deep breath through his nose.

"Then what happened?" He demanded. "You were Quirkless, Garaki himself said you were Quirkless. Of all people, surely the mad scientist would've noticed if you really had a Quirk, don't you think? And I can't believe he wouldn't've wanted access to your Quirk. I spoke to Carlisle, he didn't give it to you either. "So if you didn't have a Quirk then what's going on?"

"I-I can't tell you," Izuku said, looking down. "I promised not to say."

"Well that's not good enough!" Bakugo shouted.

"I…" Izuku began, but Kacchan had already brushed him off.

"Fuckin' Deku," he muttered as he turned away.

The school grounds were empty. There wasn't anybody allowed to hear it.

"I got my Quirk from All Might!" Izuku revealed.

Bakugo froze, before turning around. He looked at Izuku expectantly and the green-haired boy couldn't stop himself from continuing to speak.

"His Quirk, it lets someone transfer it between people. B-back with that sludge villain, I met him. He decided to give me his Quirk after that day, just in time to apply for U.A. B-but I wasn't really for it, it was too much, that's why I've been struggling to control it so far. It's only during my work study I figured out how to use it properly."

Bakugo's fists were clenched. He glowered down at the floor, his hair covered his eyes in shadow. Then his head suddenly shot up to stare Izuku down.

"You really expect me to believe that?" He demanded.

"It's the truth," Izuku said.

"No!" Bakugo refuted. "You really expect me to believe that you somehow managed to impress All Might? What'd you do, show him those stupid notebooks you made?"

"I-I…" Izuku said.

The patter of water droplets on the ground announced it was starting to rain.

"No," I don't believe it. "Bakugo interrupted. "After all my work, all my training to become a Hero… I'm here now, at U.A. I'm working hard. Only Carlisle's stronger than me, but he's a freak of nature and he earnt his strength. Even without all those extra Quirks he was fuckin' strong before then too.

"And now you tell me that of all the people All Might chooses to pass his Quirk on to, it's you? You, who did nothing except hang around daydreaming all your life, waiting for a handout, and you fuckin' got it too!" He laughed cynically. "That's not an origin story, that's an insult to everyone who ever had to work to get where they are!"

Izuku didn't know what to say.

"I don't care that you got All Might's Quirk," Bakugo continued, riling himself up. "I'm gonna be a better Hero than you anyway you stupid Deku! You hear me!?"

Izuku stuttered, unable to formulate a response. He could feel tears in the corners of his eyes as Bakugo tore into him.

The blond seemed to suddenly run out of steam. He glared at Izuku for a few more seconds, daring him to respond but seemingly realising Izuku didn't have anything to say. He huffed dismissively before turning abruptly, slinging his bag back over his shoulder and storming off.

Izuku stood there, watching as Bakugo left.

All Might was so kind and supportive. He'd promised to help him control One for All and Izuku had done so with Gran Torino's advice. But he could've given it to anyone else too. Did Izuku really deserve it? Bakugo was right, he hadn't really done anything about becoming a Hero before All Might started training him. He'd wished so hard to become a Hero and somehow he'd managed to get a Quirk, from the Number One Hero no less and now he was on the hero course. But there were so many other strong, capable students on it and despite the awesome power One for All promised, he was falling behind. There were other students like Todoroki, Bakugo and Carlisle who were just so much stronger than he was, even with One for All now under control he didn't think that had changed. Heck Izuku had learnt today that Todoroki hadn't even been using one half of his Quirk and he'd still managed third place in the sports festival.

Maybe Izuku was just a mistake? All Might had told him it was alright, that he wasn't disappointed in him so far. But Izuku hadn't done anything to really earn that kind of trust. He hadn't shown All Might that he was worth believing in.

Was All Might just being kind? Had he made a mistake, giving Izuku One for All. Was All Might now just making the best of a bad situation now he was basically stuck with him? With Carlisle's help using the Reversal Quirk he could give someone else a copy of One for All too, someone more capable, more deserving of All Might's legacy.

Thoughts continued to run through Izuku's head, each one more hurtful than the last. He started walking himself, heading for home.

The rain continued to fall, disguising the tears that fell down his cheeks.

Chapter 119 – Ethan

Eri was lying curled around the top of my head and I had no idea how she'd got there.

Well I knew how she'd got here, in the room with me. Lately she'd started joining me in bed more and more. I didn't mind having a cuddle buddy, she was still little and I figured she'd probably grow out of it at some point. Still, how she'd managed to find her way in her sleep to basically wrapping herself around my head, I wasn't entirely sure.

She snored too. Adorably, but she still snored, right into my ear... That was what had woken me up.

I rolled around so I could gently pick her up and pulling her down under the covers.

She squirmed slightly and I grabbed a pillow and put it within reach. The girl wrapped her arms around it, cuddling it to her and giving me the opportunity to sneak off the bed and out into the living room, grabbing my phone along the way.

I went to grab a drink of water too before going to sit down on the couch.

Like lots of universes there was a 'legally distinct' social media website which carried out the same functions as the sites I had known before jumping into the multiverse.

Like most aspects of this world Heroes were prevalent in the online sphere too. You could 'follow' Heroes in the same way you could celebrities. A great deal of regular entertainment was focused around Heroes one way or another. Becoming a Hero, even if you did the minimum amount of actual Hero work, was the best way to succeed in this world. It was the best way to succeed at anything really.

I scrolled through the feed. There wasn't much in the way of memes, but this society had discovered cat videos at least.

Then I received a text.

Nezu: You're awake.

I most certainly was. It seemed the Principal had bugged my phone.

Ethan: Hello, don't you know it's rude to bug people's phones?

Nezu: I know.

I snorted.

The phone started to vibrate, it was a video-call from Nezu and I answered it immediately.

"Having a good night?" I asked.

"Well enough," the Principal replied. "I've been thinking about the training trip."

"You don't want to go through with it?" I asked.

"It is putting my students at a risk against something I don't have a great deal of foreknowledge of," Nezu admitted frankly.

"Something similar should happen to canon and they did well enough then," I said. "Some Villains won't be present now as the League of Villains isn't really a thing which should reduce some of the danger. It should only really be the remaining Nomus of which there's only one really dangerous one left. But we'll have the other teachers ready to reinforce too without everyone being caught by surprise, unlike in canon. Still, I know that's no guarantee of safety," I reminded him. I could already guess at the Quirk-enhanced animal's thoughts.

"It still grates on my sensibilities," Nezu said. "The USJ incident was one thing, we knew what was going to arrive there. The risks were almost entirely predictable. Now though…

"Garaki is with All for One on a more permanent basis, he's entered the scene sooner than your 'canon' timeline. Shigaraki might choose not to attack, but like you said the other day, the world does seem to adjust itself to force certain events to unfold in a similar way."

"We're prepared though," I said. "If anything we have the element of surprise as they won't anticipate our foreknowledge. Aoyama has no idea we know about him and so neither should All for One."

"That is true…" Nezu sighed. "You really do present me with some interesting dilemmas my friend."

"At least I'm interesting," I said, stifling a yawn. "I'll do whatever you think is best. I know we didn't get a tracker on Garaki, but we could still try and use Aoyama's connection to stage an attack on All for One if you like," I suggested.

"That would likely necessitate putting the young man deeply into the line of fire though," Nezu told me.

"It's just a suggestion," I said. A higher risk to one student might be better than a lower risk shared amongst all the first year students. I was distracted from saying anything else when I heard my bedroom door open.

Eri came out, carrying a pillow in one hand and pulling the duvet behind her with the other. She dragged it across the floor to me where she went to climb over me.

"I'm sorry but I think our conversation's going to have to finish another time," I told Nezu with some dry humour to my tone as Eri crawled onto my chest, pushing me to lie down on the couch. She almost petulantly cuddled up against me, pulling the blanket over us. Nezu's lips pulled up into a smile of amusement as I reorientated the camera so I could still see the Principal.

"I'll see you tomorrow then, Mr Carlisle. Goodnight," said Nezu kindly. He'd probably deduced what was happening or caught a glimpse of something through the connection. Or maybe he had secret cameras in the living room too... Well I certainly wouldn't put it past him, all things considered. I hoped he didn't have anything in the bedrooms, that would just leave me feeling uncomfortable even if he wasn't a human and capable of sexual thoughts of that nature. It was probably better to remain ignorant.

"G'night," I said to Nezu, who was grinning at me in amusement, probably anticipating my thoughts. Then I ended the call and put my phone down.

"Sorry," I said to Eri, wrapping an arm around her and settling down with my head on the pillow she'd brought. I didn't get a response and looked down at her.

She was already back to sleep.

I let off a huff of amusement before closing my eyes and seeing if I could achieve the same.

Chapter 120 – Ethan

Everyone had been left abuzz with anticipation for our first term Final Exams.

All we'd been told was that this would be a summary of our studies to date, including rescue and combat training. Of course we knew there would be some practical element to things, on top of actual book learning and knowledge. The only question was what form our practical finals would take.

Class 1-B had appeared briefly and from them we'd learnt from upper years that the test would be fighting against robots.

Of course I already knew the truth. Right now Nezu was probably rubbing his little paws together with excitement at the prospect of engaging in some violence of his own. I'd told him about the canon finals test already and he was probably eagerly presenting the idea to his teachers right now.

I didn't want to spoil the surprise for my classmates though, so I was playing at ignorance, for now.

Momo had volunteered to set up a study group for everyone who was interested. Only a few of my classmates had accepted though. Sero, Kaminari, Jiro and Ashido had accepted the girl's offer with gratitude and Momo looked really excited to be hosting. I had accepted of course, partly in solidarity and also as an excuse to spend more time with my girlfriend. She really looked in her element here and I could tell she enjoyed teaching, or at least helping people learn. She was currently cheerfully reciting some factoid about electricity for us. The rest of the 1-A students present looked about ready to die of mental overload, even the electricity using boy who should have cared a bit more about this was just incapable of mustering up any enthusiasm for the subject. I was barely keeping up with her myself, mostly on account of my own exposure to my partner's educational enthusiasm as she helped tutor me in the local history.

Eri was here too. I normally left her with some of the teachers minding her whenever I went out. They were all busy today though so the little girl was with us too, happily watching Momo with wide eyes. She'd been very impressed by Momo's home so far and my partner's fancy demeanour. I hadn't even needed to pull out the colouring books I'd brought to keep her entertained yet.

Ashido's head hit the table with a light thunk, although Momo continued reading the text in her hands regardless. She hadn't quite figured out my classmates' tolerance for learning wasn't as grand as hers yet, or perhaps she was just running away with it and hadn't noticed their lack of attention yet.

"Perhaps we should break for lunch?" I suggested. Trying to offer a way out for everyone, not excluding myself. Three hours of hard studying had left my classmates wiped. Jiros head shot up at hearing the suggestion and as if in agreement with me I heard a rumble from Kaminari's stomach.

"Of course!" Momo agreed with me immediately, spinning around and offering me a pleased smile. "We need to keep our energy levels up so we can study hard, at one hundred percent!" Momo's cheerful demeanour was in stark contrast with everyone else's.

There were minor grumbles from my classmates at that but Momo didn't seem to react to them. She turned expectantly to one of the doorways where a butler had quietly appeared.

"Lunch is prepared," the distinctly British sounding butler said.

"Thank you," Momo replied, offering the servant a small bow in gratitude. I wasn't entirely sure whether that was normal by Japanese social interactions, but I put it down to the odd mix of Western ideas and ideals that had pervaded this alternate future Japan.

We went through to another impressive room with a giant long table and settled down to eat.

"Delicious," I commented, taking a bite of the sushi we'd been given. Eri looked at the food with a raised eyebrow. It was a bit posh for her young palette and I'd really been feeding her mostly Western cuisine at home rather than more Japanese fare. Seeing Momo and myself willingly take a piece each though, she experimentally took one of the smaller pieces to nibble on. Her face scrunched up adorably as she experienced wasabi for the first time.

"Man, I hope all that stuff comes up in the exam," Kaminari commented as he took a bite of his own food.

"It's all stuff we need to know one way or another," Jiro said despondently. "Imagine what the support course students have to learn." Ashido shuddered theatrically in response.

We kept chatting about the course while we ate and then it was time to get back to studying.

"We've still got the practical though," I said as we made to leave the room. "At least that'll be interesting.

"Yeah, but it's just gonna be robots right?" Kaminari commented. "After everything else we've had to deal with so far I dunno how tough that part's gonna be."

"I agree, the USJ incident was scary," Ashido said. "Although… Weren't you unconscious for most of it?" She asked the electrical boy.

"Yeah, I guess I was…" Kaminari admitted. "Kind of embarrassing really," he said, rubbing the back of his head with a laugh.

"Is there no way you can just hold your electricity in?" I asked with curiosity. "I'd have thought you'd be able to… turn it off or something."

"I've tried, believe me," Kaminari said despondently. "If I ever touch water though it's just poof all gone."

I didn't press any further. It was probably a relatively sore spot for the boy.

"But robots. Now those I can handle," the boy said a bit more brightly, eliciting chuckles from everyone else present.

Something must have been visible in my expression though because Momo's hand on my arm stopped me.

"I just need to speak to Ethan-kun a moment," Momo said apologetically. "We'll see you inside," she said.

That didn't merit any questions from my classmates or even Eri and everyone else carried on while Momo pulled me back around a corner and out of sight. She suddenly had me pressed against a wall. She looked serious.

"Everything okay?" I asked, slightly concerned by the expression on her face and uncharacteristic behaviour.

"You know something," Momo told me.

"About what?" I asked, wondering what she meant.

"About the Practical Exam!" Momo pressed, sounding slightly annoyed with me now. It was then that it came to me. She felt I was holding something back from her.

"I do know something," I admitted quietly, although there was nobody else around to hear anyway.

"Tell me," she demanded, practically boxing me in against the dark wooden wall. This was the most assertive I think I'd ever seen her.

"First, it doesn't really change anything. Still, if I tell you you have to keep it a secret," I told her. Momo glanced to the side in the direction where our classmates were. "I'm serious," I said.

"Do you know this because…" Momo glanced around, looking to see if anyone was listening but the corridor was empty.

"Yes," I said, letting her know this was my wider universal knowledge at play. She knew I'd encountered other My Hero Academia worlds and she'd been pleased to know she had the potential to become a top Hero like the canon timeline implied most of 1-A would one day become. But she was level headed enough to understand that there were differences, that the canon wasn't gospel, or guaranteed to occur and she'd still have to work for her success. Also my knowledge wasn't absolute and I didn't have any incredible understanding of the personalities of people in those settings, like herself. So I wasn't really cheating with this relationship. She also knew that my presence had already derailed much of 'canon' too. It had been a long conversation, almost as in depth as Nezu's earlier quizzing about the multiverse.

"Oh," Momo said, slightly disappointed but still interested. "I'd still like to know, please," she told me.

"It's not robots like previous years. It's two of us up against one of the teachers," I revealed quietly.

Momo stepped away from me after the reveal, frowning in thought. I could practically see the cogs whirring in her head as she dissected the new information and extrapolated how the test was likely going to be designed.

"That doesn't change anything really," Momo said after a few seconds, slightly frustrated at the realisation.

"Not really no," I agreed. "They'll be testing us on our performance regardless, even beating the challenge might not necessarily mean a pass." Nezu was probably going to mix it up a bit from canon in my opinion, although maybe he'd keep things relatively similar anyway. It was hard to second guess hyper intelligent people like him. If you tried then they'd often just run mental circles around you for the fun of it.

"Shall we go back?" I suggested, putting a hand on her waist to recapture her attention fully. "Wouldn't want our classmates to get the wrong idea about why you pulled me aside, Class President…"

"Yes," Momo said. Although rather than pulling away, her own hands went to either of my hips. She licked her lips in a way that I doubted was a deliberate attempt to be seductive, but that just made it moreso.

I moved my hand around to the small of her back and pulled her against me, making my girlfriend let out a soft noise of surprise before my lips were on hers. After a second my girlfriend sighed into my lips as I pulled her tighter against me so I could feel all her soft curves against my body.

"Now that's over with," I said, feeling my voice take on a huskier tone. "Tell me, have you given any thought to what you'd like to do with your favour from the last Battle Class?"

It took Momo a second to realise what I was talking about. Her eyes widened and she looked away in embarrassment for a couple of seconds. I could see her eyes lose focus for a moment as she pictured whatever it was in her head. Then she mustered the courage to look back at me again.

"Y-yes," she admitted, slightly nervously for some reason.

"Excellent," I replied, smirking down at the girl. I couldn't say I wasn't curious, but I was looking forward to being surprised by whatever it was Momo was thinking of. I kissed her again and the girl melted against me.

I let my hands roam over Momo's bottom. Her outfit comprised a white shirt and tight pants today and I gripped her cheeks in my hands as my partner's own reached up to my face. She cupped my cheek with one hand and ran the fingers of the other through my hair.

We pulled away after a few seconds, slightly out of breath.

"We should go back," Momo said, slightly reluctantly.

"We'll finish this though," I promised. Later, once Eri could be dropped off with someone for a couple of hours. Nezu probably wouldn't mind Eri hanging around his office for a bit, he loved kids.

Momo nodded and stepped away from me although not fully letting me go as she went to take my hand in hers before leading me back to the room we'd been working in before.

When we returned everyone had their heads down, studiously working hard at their revision. Momo seemed pleased with their dedication and we both rejoined our classmates like nothing untoward had just happened.

It turns out it's a lot harder to study when you're picturing all the lewd things your girlfriend might be thinking of asking you to do with her later.

121-125

Chapter 121 – Yaoyorozu

The other students of 1-A set off home, visibly drained. Momo had felt slightly put out by it but she chose to let it go. She knew she was a bit intense about studying, although she would have appreciated some more gratitude from her classmates.

Ethan had left too, apologising in part because the promised time alone together didn't come to be. Ethan hadn't been able to find someone to take Eri off his hands so he'd had to take his sister home with him for the evening, rather than being able to spend some quiet time alone with Momo. Not that he'd said it quite like that in front of the little girl.

Right now she was settling down for bed after a very productive day of studying. She was dressed in a simple buttoned up t-shirt and pants, both made of red satin, her favourite colour. Momo was pleased with her work today. She'd done some good work in helping her classmates study, along with her boyfriend too who seemed slightly above some of their classwork like mathematics but he'd appreciated her ongoing efforts to help study on History. Momo had briefly shown everyone, including her boyfriend, her bedroom which had just been… exciting somehow. She'd never actually had anyone else in here except for a few servants and occasionally family members. It felt kind of silly, but Momo had never been able to do that thanks to her sheltered upbringing.

Now of course she was alone. Only her bedside light remained lit, leaving the large room bathed in shadows. Sleep was important for mental study. A good night's rest would let her retain all the day's hard work and despite how she portrayed herself she was tired after all that studying. She went to turn off the light.

Then Momo jumped out of her skin when a hand ghosted over her side.

Spinning around, she saw the perpetrator. Even in the relative darkness she recognised him immediately. Momo chided herself as she gave the boy opposite her a flat stare. She really should have anticipated her irreverent boyfriend would do something like this.

"How's it going?" Ethan asked cheekily.

"You scared the life out of me!" Momo admonished. She looked to her bedroom door. Nobody seemed to be coming in. So he hadn't alerted the security systems with his entry. To be fair, that portal/teleportation Quirk in particular was incredibly strong. There wasn't any Quirk out there as capable of doing what Ethan could, Momo had checked. There were Quirks capable of teleportation to one degree or another, but none capable of doing it so quietly or so accurately either.

"Sorry," Ethan said, although the grin didn't fully leave his face. He adjusted himself on Momo's large bed into a cross legged sitting position. He was dressed for sleep himself, with dark green pants and a paler, lime coloured t-shirt.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Momo asked as her beating heart started to settle down. She went to copy her boyfriend's sitting position, sitting opposite him.

"After today I just wanted to spend some time alone with you. I did promise after all," Ethan said, his eyes boring into Momo's own and making her heart start to race for different reasons. "Eri's asleep, in her own bed for once," he said ruefully.

"O-oh," Momo said eloquently. She licked her suddenly dry lips as the fact there was a boy, alone with her in her own bedroom and the implications of that started to race through her mind. She could feel blood rushing to her cheeks as butterflies suddenly fluttered in her belly.

"You were really good today," Ethan told her, distracting her wandering mind. "I know everyone else seemed more drained than anything else but I think they appreciated your help even if they didn't really say it."

He knew just what to say didn't he? Momo thought to herself, grateful for her partner's kind words. Momo was somewhat used to praise and compliments but it felt slightly different coming from the boy, the man in a boy's body opposite her. Honestly, Momo wasn't entirely sure anyone her actual age would compare favourably with him at this point. The moments of intimacy they'd shared alone… She couldn't imagine any of her classmates having brought out the same feelings in her. The sparring and games he'd introduced to their relationship, the favours she'd found herself competing with him for which pushed her boundaries, but never too far. A favour which Momo had not quite won during their last competition but which she'd still earned nonetheless.

"Iwanttousemyfavour!" Momo suddenly blurted out before she could change her mind, taking the boy across from her by surprise. Then he bounced back, leaning forward closer to her.

"And what does my beautiful girlfriend require of me?" He asked huskily.

She… hadn't thought that far ahead, Momo realised. But now he was waiting for an answer. Momo didn't want to just admit she didn't quite know what she was doing… Everything before had really been at Ethan's urging, he'd been the one in charge and he'd initiated most of everything.

It was much easier just going along with her boyfriend's urgings.

Ethan seemed to realise Momo was stuck and he kindly offered her a lifeline.

"I have some suggestions, If you like," he said as he crawled across the bed, going to lie on his side. He beckoned her to lie opposite him and Momo did so, resting her head on the pillow, facing her lover.

Ethan's hand went to her bare arm, stroking up and down. His touch just left goosebumps running across her skin.

"Wh-what would you suggest?" Momo asked. It was partly out of curiosity, partly out of a need to delay to hide the fact she couldn't think of anything.

"Well," Ethan said, putting a hand on her arm, stroking up and down. "We could just take things to the next level and I could finger you properly, rather than rub you over your underwear like last time. Or maybe something simple like a massage. The first thing that came to my mind though, was oral sex."

He subconsciously licked his lips once he'd said that, and left Momo feeling her lips were suddenly dry. It drew Momo's eyes to her boyfriend's tongue too as the slippery muscle left glistening saliva behind. Just that little act gave Momo all sorts of mental images.

This entire conversation was only revealing to Momo how little she knew about the things a couple could do together. She felt so silly and inexperienced, not quite knowing what some of the things her boyfriend was describing fully entailed when he clearly expected her to know. She could guess though. She'd kissed Ethan of course. She'd felt his tongue brush against hers, duelling her own tongue into submission until she couldn't do anything but let him have his way with her mouth and seemingly map out every contour of it.

Just what would he be able to do to her if he put his lips down there?

Momo wasn't used to being on the back foot like this. She really needed to do some proper research into all that… stuff. She mentally made a note to do so once their exams were over. She wouldn't be caught out like this again!

Her moment of indecision seemed to have prompted her lover to act. Ethan got up onto his hands and knees and crawled over her. Suddenly Momo found herself on her back, on her bed with a handsome boy looming over her with hungry eyes that promised to deliver Momo to new heights of pleasure beyond what he'd already shown her.

"So, what's it going to be?" Ethan asked huskily.

She couldn't think of anything. The ideas she'd been entertaining herself seemed either too tame, couldn't be done here, or were just too embarrassing to actually ask for. There was only one thing she could do in this situation.

"I want you to decide," Momo said.

Chapter 122 - Ethan

Well, this was certainly exciting, I thought to myself as I looked down at my girlfriend.

She looked a strange combination of nervous and aroused right now and the overall effect left her looking that kind of adorable that just made me want to eat her up.

Fortunately for me, that was one of the options available. I needed to handle this carefully though. Momo was trusting me here to do right by her. I was starting to suspect my lover had something of a submissive streak which I had no problem with whatsoever. Quite the opposite in fact.

I leaned down to kiss her gently before pulling away.

"Are you sure?" I teased. "It's supposed to be your choice you know."

"I-I'm sure," Momo said, looking up at me.

"I hope you'll like what I'm about to do to you then," I told her. Momo's eyes seemed to become lustier once I said that, pleased with my words. She was definitely leaning on the more submissive side of things.

I leaned down and kissed her again, for a bit longer this time. My girlfriend's arms came up to wrap around my neck, holding me against her and prolonging the kiss until she finally ran out of breath and had to let me go. Her arms fell down to either side of her, framing her face and making her look almost vulnerable. It looked like she was signalling to me that she wouldn't resist, she was putting herself at my mercy.

"Well for my favour then," I said, thinking carefully. "I think I'd like to see all of you today," I told her.

That provoked a fresh heat to her rosy cheeks as she realised what I meant. Momo reached between us to her button up top and began to undress.

I sat up, between my girlfriend's currently spread legs. I put a hand on her thigh and began massaging it as I watched her watching me while she finished the act.

The two halves of the top were spread apart, her breasts were revealed to my gaze, uncovered beneath the red silky fabric.

I didn't let her act go unrewarded though and I pulled my own top off, throwing it to the side and baring my own torso for her to see.

We both took a second to take in each other's appearances. I really felt I was getting the better deal here. Momo's large breasts couldn't quite defy gravity, both collapsing in on themselves slightly but still maintaining their shape. Attached to the rest of her well sculpted body and with her loose silky hair framing her beautiful face as she looked up at me, she looked like a piece of art.

Rather than see her do it, I reached down to her pants myself. I stroked my fingers around the hemline of her pants which matched her red top. She didn't object, only watched with anticipation and I took her lack of words as a sign to continue.

My fingers slipped under the waistband, along with the underwear she was wearing beneath.

Momo raised her hips, allowing me to tug the garment down, exposing her most precious place to my gaze.

Due to our positions I couldn't pull the garment off properly with her legs spread either side of me like they were. Momo had to raise her legs up and put them together, allowing me to slide the soft fabric up her long, smooth calves and past her dainty feet. I threw the garment to the side, next to my shirt.

Momo went to lower her legs, but I held onto one of her ankles, keeping that leg held up and stroking the inside of that leg with the tips of the fingers on my other hand. I leaned forward and kept my eyes on hers as I turned to kiss the inside of her calf, making her toes curl before I finally let go.

Hesitantly, Momo lowered her legs, returning them to their previous position and baring all to me.

She really was beautiful. She groomed herself down there, in keeping with 'modern' Japanese norms. As a result there was a small bush above her otherwise bare lips that only served to draw the eye. Beneath that, her inner lips stuck out, drawing the eye further down to her pussy. They were very slightly darker in tone than the surrounding skin. I reached forward, moving slowly enough that Momo had the opportunity to object if she so chose. I gently prised her lips apart, exposing the softer, pink flesh beneath that glistened in the light due to her arousal.

Momo let out a little gasp and shuddered at my touch which drew my attention back up to her face.

"Beautiful," I told her, trying to impress in my tone exactly how genuine I was in saying that. I continued stroking her, running my fingers over her sex, feeling her out and making my partner buck up against me when I found her clit hiding amongst her folds.

I leaned back down, bracing myself on one arm so I could continue to stroke my lover's folds.

Momo leaned up to meet me halfway and kiss me, relaxing back into the bed as we continued until she was lying back down again.

I leaned back again. Now was the exciting part.

It was unoriginal, but I don't think my girlfriend was experienced enough regarding intimacy to be of that opinion right now.

So I kissed my way down her body, taking a moment to take a nipple into my mouth along the way. I pinched the nipple between my teeth and tugged on it gently. That made Momo let out a surprised moan of pleasure. I continued down her stomach and adjusted my position as I went, holding her legs open with my hands as I made my final approach.

She watched me, hands fisting the sheets. Her breathing was becoming more erratic as I got closer and closer until my nose brushed against her pubes and then I moved the rest of the way all at once. I ran my tongue up from the bottom of her pussy all the way up through her lower lips and flicked up against her clitoris as a finish.

Momo's entire body bucked up against me when I did that. I took a moment to enjoy the sight of it, before diving back in.

Momo threw her head back into the pillows as I got to work. Her hands came down, fisting through my hair as her legs tried to close around my head, obstructed by my grip on her thighs.

I adjusted my hold on her. Moving my hands to the inside of her knees, I pushed my lover's legs back and up, exposing her utterly to me. This let me see her, see her reactions as her lips remained parted, as her eyes closed tight while I continued pleasuring her to the best of my abilities.

It wasn't long before she came.

Momo had enough presence of mind to let go of my hair with one hand to grab a pillow and cover her mouth with it. It was a smart thing to do, muffling what I was sure would have been a loud noise of appreciation for what I was doing. If she'd been able to moan out her orgasm properly someone might have come to investigate and I doubted either of us would be happy with that.

I gently lapped at her clit, making her shudder each time at the overstimulation as her orgasm tapered off. Her entire body went slack as she finished, panting softly on the bed.

I climbed back up to my knees and then went to lie next to her. Momo looked sideways at me.

"T-that was oral sex," she stated.

"It certainly was," I said with amusement.

"C-can I do that for you?" she asked me.

"Absolutely," was my immediate and perfectly frank response.

I was still clothed below the waist. It was partly to assuage any sudden concerns I was going to push things too far.

Momo rolled onto her front before going to crawl down to copy what I'd done before. I didn't stop her. A part of me wanted to suggest a sixty nine, but if this was going to be Momo's first attempt at giving oral then I honestly wanted her full attention on the task.

The naked girl knelt there between my legs and mirroring my approach, she slipped her fingers beneath my waistband to take them off.

The pants came off, exposing my manhood which stood up proud and ready.

Momo had seen it last time, of course. Now she was going to try something a bit more extreme than just giving me a handy. She stared at my member for a few seconds, before leaning down, putting her face close to it.

"W-what should I do?" She asked suddenly.

"Okay, there's only a few things you need to know," I told her. "Don't touch with teeth, or suck too hard. Just take as much as you're comfortable putting in your mouth."

Momo listening to my words followed the instructions. Her lips closed around my cockhead. I could see she was concentrating, taking in my instructions while also experimentally feeling out what she was doing. I reached down and stroked her hair.

"Now the rest is just like before. Do what you did last time with your hands," I told her.

Momo adjusted her position so she was able to partially kneel while also going to take the untouched part of my shaft and begin pumping it gently.

The act pulled my foreskin back, exposing my glans to her palette. I could feel her tongue start to experimentally lap at my sensitive cockhead.

"T-that's good," I praised. "Just like that, keep doing that."

Encouraged by my words, Momo got to work in earnest.

Like everything she put her mind to, Momo was a quick study at fellatio. The next several minutes I got to experience as Momo felt out my reactions, exploring the contours of my cock with her tongue, watching my reactions to see what was particularly effective. She even began to lightly bob up and down with her mouth which I hadn't planned on suggesting but which she must have thought of herself. I wasn't exactly experienced, and in my young body I wasn't able to hold out very long with this surprisingly skilled treatment.

"I'm gonna cum," I warned her after what had to only have been a few minutes. "You can take it in your mouth and swallow, or you can let it go on your body somewhere, or I can catch it in my hand. It's your choice," I offered her, deciding to just throw out all the options and see what she wanted to do. I wouldn't pressure her into swallowing, but I wasn't against the idea of her doing it.

Momo's eyes were on mine as she continued working, sucking just slightly harder and making my mind go blank.

I came, with the warm wetness of Momo's lips around my shaft. It was I who was forced to contain my own noises now as Momo had had to do under my own oral ministrations earlier. Cum erupted into her mouth and my lover immediately choked, instinctively pulling back. Realising what had happened, I brought a hand up to catch my ejaculate, so it wouldn't make a mess while Momo coughed.

The ejaculate broke down to nothing as it contacted my hand. Momo managed to regain control of her gag reflex and looked up at me.

"Was that okay?" she asked me.

"That was brilliant," I praised her honestly. Her pleased reaction at having done a good job was almost funny. She clambered up to lie down next to me. I pulled the naked girl against me and she moulded herself to my side.

"So was all that worth using your favour?" I asked her. Momo pressed herself up against me. I leaned down slightly to peck her on the lips.

"It was," Momo replied. Her voice was slightly scratchy. It lent a huskiness to her tone that threatened to bring my softening member back to life.

I mentally ordered my body to settle down. Now wasn't the time. My body strenuously objected to that instruction pointing out that there was a soft, warm body pressed up against me and I could feel arousal begin stirring again inside me. I chose to ignore it for the time being.

"I aim to please," I told her.

Momo brought up a hand to feel my chest and torso, indulgently exploring my body as she spent a few moments in thought.

"I enjoyed that, all of it," she told me. "And I'd like to do this again."

"What, right now?" I asked in surprise. Momo's eyes widened in response, clearly she hadn't meant right now.

"O-only if you want to," Momo said hesitantly after a few moments. I considered her response myself. She sounded more like she wasn't sure whether I would want to go again.

"I think I would," I told her. "But give me a minute to recharge first."

That comment elicited an explanation of men's anatomy as I fondled my lover and she experimentally reciprocated in turn. Soon I was fully hard once again.

"Want to try something slightly different?" I asked her.

"Go on," Momo asked with curiosity.

"Sixty nine is a sex act where both partners perform oral sex on each other at the same time," I told her.

"But how would tha- oh," Momo's eyes widened as she figured it out. She nodded.

"Climb on top of me then," I instructed. Momo obeyed, letting me direct her how I wanted her, with her thick thighs and decently sized rear facing me while she was facing my rapidly returning erection.

"Want to make this a race?" I asked jokingly.

"Ethan-kun, you can't make everything a competition," Momo complained with exasperation.

"That sounds like something a loser would say," I told her cheekily before taking a firm grip on each of her thighs and pulling her wet quim down against my mouth.

Momo let out a little squeak of surprise as her weight shifted and she was left basically sat on my face. That was followed by a moan as I immediately began attacking her clit with my tongue. She regathered herself and leaned forward to return the favour, her large breasts pressed against my stomach as she took my cock into her mouth again.

It was a close thing, but I won, making Momo shiver in climax above me. Although that didn't stop her and she attempted to take my ejaculate into her mouth a second time, having much more success than she did previously.

She pulled away once I was finished, going to sit on her knees next to me. I could see her rolling my cum around in her mouth with curiosity on her expression.

She swallowed what was my second load that night with one loud gulp before going to settle back against me once more.

"It's an interesting taste," she sounded contemplative.

"Good interesting or bad interesting?" I asked curiously. Her tone was unsure, so she might fall either way.

Momo pondered for a moment before looking up at me again, there was a hint of cheekiness in her tone as she answered my question.

"I don't know," she told me slyly. "I may need another taste, just to be sure."

"Oh really?" I asked, amused. Super regeneration didn't actually help my refractory period, but I felt I had another go in me. If necessary I had enough of a charge in Reversal to jump back an hour or so and then I'd be raring to go again, but also completely unsatisfied, again. Both at the same time. Which would be great for satisfying my partners, but not necessarily enjoyable for myself.

"In fact now that you mention it, it's a good thing you want to go again," I said musingly. I rolled us over slightly so we were both on our sides facing each other.

"I was wondering if you might like to help me train with one of my new Quirks," I told her. Momo gave me a confused look at the apparent change of subject. So I raised one of my hands, palm facing her and showed her what I meant.

"I… oh," Momo managed to get out as she saw the tongue sticking out of the mouth that had formed on my palm and came to the right conclusions.

She looked back at my face. I raised an eyebrow in challenge.

Momo licked her lips as she looked from my face and back to my transformed hand with a bit of trepidation. I had absolutely no idea why.

In full view of my partner, giving her plenty of time to object, I lowered my palm between her legs. Momo hesitantly parted her legs for me, giving me access.

It was a good while longer before I said my goodbyes and left my lover to get some much needed sleep.

Hopefully once morning came along and we returned to school, nobody would notice the bite marks.

Chapter 123 – Eri

Eri sat on the sofa in her PJs, waiting for Ethan-nii to come home.

He'd been gone a while now, but Eri didn't know quite how long. She'd woken up as she usually did and went to go cuddle with her big brother in his bed only to find that he wasn't there!

She'd worried at first but then remembered her big brother was super strong so he had to be okay. After a bit of thinking Eri had realised that Ethan had probably gone to see someone, like Momo onee-chan.

So he was okay, but that didn't mean she wasn't upset with him!

Eri had a bedtime, and Ethan-nii was very serious about Eri sticking to hers and here he was going out really late at night!

So Eri was sitting up, waiting for him. She had her arms crossed and she'd been practising the look she'd give him when he got back.

Only… Eri was getting really tired after having waiting up for him for so long. Ethan-nii was in s-so much trouble.

Eri tried to keep the big yawn from coming out but lost the fight and her mouth opened of its own volition as she yawned.

W-when Ethan-nii got back, Eri was going to-to give him a big telling off, with wag-wagging fingers and everything.

The sofa was pretty comfy, she realised.

The cushions were pretty soft too, she thought to herself, settling in so she was comfy. There was no reason she couldn't get comfortable while waiting for him.

Eri felt her eyes drooping and did her best to keep them open. It was probably really late, no wonder she was tired.

She was losing the battle though, she realised with a huff. At this rate she'd fall asleep before Ethan got back!

She tried to get more comfortable on the sofa, leaning back in one corner. She needed to do something to help her wake up.

A lightbulb went off in her head! She could take a nap like they did at school sometimes! Whenever they did that Eri always woke up super energised. Eri nodded to herself, deciding that that's what she'd do.

She was just going to rest her eyes for a few minutes. Then she'd be up and ready to catch Ethan-nii sneaking back home. She'd spot him right in the act!

Pleased with her new plan, Eri settled down on the sofa and closed her eyes. It was only for a second, but the next thing she knew warm hands were picking her up and she found herself held tight against their owner's chest.

"Eri-chan what are you doing here out of bed?" Ethan asked gently.

W-what? Ethan-nii had snuck up on her! Eri realised. Somehow, her plan had failed…

"I was waiting for you, stupid Oni-chan, going out past your bedtime," Eri managed to murmur, hands tightening on his shirt as he held her to his chest. She must have fallen asleep for real instead of just having a nap… After all that work staying up she hadn't managed to catch him. "You smell funny," she said as an afterthought.

"Come on, let's go to bed," Ethan said, stroking her hair. It felt really nice, but that didn't mean she still wasn't cross with him.

But going to a proper bed did sound like a good idea, Eri thought as the boy carried her to his bedroom. She'd been really cross with him before, and she still was! But right now all she wanted to do was get back to sleep.

Ethan set her down and Eri slipped under the covers. Then he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth before he came back and slipped under the covers behind her.

"Let's both get a good night's rest, okay?" Ethan said.

"Silly oni-chan," Eri mumbled, rolling over so she could cuddle up against him. She wouldn't have been there on the sofa if it wasn't for him sneaking out…

She wanted to be cross with him. But she was so comfy she just couldn't muster the energy right now.

Maybe tomorrow, Eri thought to herself. She could tell him off tomorrow.

Eri fell asleep cuddling with her big brother.

By the time morning came around, she'd completely forgotten about being mad at him.

Chapter 124 – Jiro

It was time for the practical exam!

Kyoka and everyone else were in their hero costumes, ready for their assignments.

Everyone knew by now that the exam was. A rescue scenario of some sort where they'd be fighting robots.

"Line up everyone!" All Might shouted boisterously.

They all arranged themselves in a rough line at the Hero's direction, facing the Number One Hero who smiled grandly at all of them.

He started explaining the practical exam, talking first about the reward for passing the test. They'd be going to a training camp in the woods. Everyone else would be left behind. Then All Might described the test. He described a scenario like they'd all anticipated, them being set to battle against robots to rescue one of the teachers who would be playing the victim, much like their last Battle Class where they'd raced to get to All Might after the internships only this time with actual fighting involved.

Only… Kyoka knew it wasn't that already. She was proven right as All Might raised his hand with a flourish, telling them that he'd been lying. Because that was what the test would have been. Then he proceeded to explain what this year's first term practical exam would really entail.

Only Kyoka and two of her other classmates had known in advance about the change and she'd only learnt the truth because she was too curious for her own good.

Her hearing was acute, especially when she actually tried to use her earphone jacks to listen in on something. She'd been curious during the study session at the weekend and so she had overheard both Carlisle and Yaoyorozu talking about the exam. Carlisle had told his girlfriend that the teachers were changing the test this year. Exactly how the Western boy knew, Kyoka didn't know, but what mattered was that he did. It sounded like he'd been talking with the Principal about it, but based on his words Kyoka wasn't sure that was entirely the reason behind his foreknowledge.

A hint of red came to her cheeks as she remembered the rest of the conversation. Something about favours, whatever that entailed. There was also the sound of kissing too. It had been enough to leave Kyoka's heart beating rapidly in her chest as her imagination ran away with her.

Kyoka could easily picture the handsome boy and the beautiful girl kissing and that night her mind had run wild picturing them together. Her memory of exactly what Carlisle looked like in his underwear hadn't helped and Yaoyorozu wasn't exactly sky about her figure either… So it was surprisingly easy to picture them undressed together, and doing more than just pressing their lips together.

She shook her head, dispelling the mental image. She couldn't afford to get distracted now, of all times. All Might finished his grand introduction by telling everyone to turn around to see their opponents.

All their teachers were there. Snipe, Eraserhead, Midnight. Even Thirteen, who they hadn't seen since the USJ incident, was here. All Might explained that the teachers would all be wearing weights to reduce their capabilities but that was a cold comfort. Kyoka could tell her classmates, who hadn't had advanced knowledge of this sudden change, were generally of the same opinion. It would be a two on one scenario. Two members of class 1-A up against a teacher together.

"And now, to reveal just who you'll each be up against!" All Might said cheerfully. There was a display screen and it lit up, revealing each of the teachers, along with the two students who would be teaming up against them. Kyoka looked at the screen glancing past the other students and quickly finding her own name.

Midoriya and Todoroki were going up against Eraserhead it seemed. Carlisle was being put up against All Might, which totally made sense considering. Kyoka continued looking down the names.

Koda was up against Present Mic, alongside Hagakure. Kyoka had thought she would be up against Present Mic with Koda. Was that discriminatory? Putting the sound based Hero up against two other sound based Heroes in training? Well it made some kind of sense, but in this case she'd been wrong.

She got to the end of the list and frowned. She hadn't seen her own name.

That was odd, she must have missed it. She quickly looked through the names again, wondering where she was assigned. But she'd seen everyone's assignments hadn't she? Well actually, she hadn't looked at who was against All Might alongside Carlisle, but she wouldn't be put there would she, she internally chuckled. That would be ridiculous.

She looked though, just out of curiosity.

That… that was her name alright.

A sudden pit of anxiety appeared in her stomach.

Th-this had to be a mistake. She wasn't ready for that.

Feeling slightly numb, Kyoka followed her other classmates into the monitor room to watch the first pair to go up against a teacher. It was Cementoss versus Team Bakugo and Kirishima.

Kyoka awkwardly approached All Might.

"Err, Sensei?" She asked, capturing his attention, and all of the other teachers who had gathered together a bitto watch the exams in elative privacy from their students. Suddenly all of them were looking at her and Jiro felt all their gazes like a physical thing.

"Yes Jiro-san, what is it?" All Might asked calmly as Jiro tried to regather her confidence at all the sudden attention.

"I think there's been some sort of mistake," Kyoka said.

All Might raised his eyebrows. "What is the problem?" He asked.

"W-well the matchups?" Kyoka asked, gesturing to one of the screens on the wall where the matchups were also listed.

"I don't understand," All Might said. Kyoka glanced to the other teachers who were watching the conversation and absolutely not helping.

"I-I mean… a-am I supposed to be being paired up with Carlisle?" Kyoka asked.

All Might frowned and looked to the screen and then back to her.

"Yes I believe so," he said nodding confidently. He looked to Eraserhead who silently nodded his head in agreement.

"O-oh," Kyoka said. "Okay, thank you Sensei," she said. She nodded politely to them all and then calmly left All Might to watch the match alongside the other teachers.

This absolutely wasn't happening. This was all just a bad dream, Kyoka thought to herself as she rejoined her classmates.

You're supposed to pinch yourself to see if it's a dream and make yourself wake up right? She thought as the match of Bakugo and Kirishima versus Cementoss began.

She reached up with one hand to pinch her other arm.

Aside from a small bit of pain, nothing happened.

"Oh dear."

Chapter 125 – Bakugo

"Damn I'm so pumped for this!" Kirishima declared.

Katsuki didn't respond, but his friend couldn't have put it better himself.

"We go in hard and fast," Katskui instructed the boy as he surveyed the environment they'd be entering.

It looked like a typical urban area. Mostly concrete, but set up like residential blocks would have been in real life with wide roads and pavements.

"Absolutely. Hard and fast's my middle name!" Kirishima said making the blonde boy snort in amusement this time. Did his friend even know how he sounded half the time?

They had thirty minutes to either capture Cementoss with the handcuffs they'd been provided, or have one of them get to the escape point to 'run for help'. Not that they'd be needing to do that.

"Are you both ready?" All Might asked over some speakers.

"Yeah!" Kirishima shouted. Katsuki nodded.

He'd wanted to complain about who he was up against, but there'd been no time and really he couldn't underestimate any of his teachers. Of course All Might was the strongest but none of the others got to where they are by being pushovers. It just meant he had a bit of an easier ride than he thought he'd have.

"Then your test, starts, now!" All Might shouted. A buzzer went off and both Katsuki and Kirishima raced forward.

He didn't activate his Quirk to race forward initially, as was his first instinct. Bakugo wanted to save his Nitroglycerin for actually fighting. Plus it'd be uncool to just leave Kirishima like that. They were both in this test and he deserved a chance to actually take part.

"He's probably near the escape point," Kirishima said. Katsuki nodded. So they hurried through the training zone to find their teacher more or less exactly where they'd expected him to be.

Cementoss was about a hundred yards away from the escape point, and he had his hands on the floor. He was waiting for them.

At his urging, the concrete around them came to life. Solid blocks of concrete came up, trapping them.

Now was a perfect time to use his Quirk!

Katsuki eagerly blasted the first block that came his way, only there was another right behind it.

"You're playing that game huh?" He asked. "Well no matter how many obstacles you put in my way, I'll blast through all of them!" He declared, feeling a savage grin come to his face.

This was what he was best at. Blowing shit up. Katsuki went forward, blasting apart any concrete that came his way from the teacher. Cementoss couldn't move from his position, he had to keep up with the concrete to push Katsuki back but it wasn't enough. Katsuki was pushing forward despite the impressive mass of material Cementoss was throwing his way. Katsuki just had to get to him and he'd have won this thing.

"Ack!" Kirishima shouted from behind him.

Bakugo turned just in time to see his friend was being completely encased in concrete. He simply didn't have the firepower Bakugo had.

"Watch out Bakugo!" He shouted.

Bakugo turned just in time to blast apart some more concrete as it came to him. But with Kirishima apparently handled Cementoss was able to focus his efforts on Bakugo.

Even the very ground rose up beneath him. Arms either side of him, Bakugo blasted apart more and more of the rock as it continued to encroach on him.

But it wasn't enough!

"Damnit!" Bakugo screamed as he realised his leg was suddenly encased in rapidly solidifying concrete. He couldn't turn his body properly like this and he couldn't put his attention to breaking free, he was barely holding back the tide of cement.

Frantically now, he kept twisting and redirecting his palms at the closest bits of concrete, but it was no use. The material steadily closed in on him and just like before he was rendered trapped.

"Fuck!" Katsuki shouted, completely encased in concrete up to his neck with his hands trapped up to the wrist. There was no way he could break out of this.

"It appears you have lost," Cementoss said in that oddly calm voice of his. He sounded disappointed.

"I don't need your pity," Bakugo snarled.

Cementoss raised an eyebrow on his inhuman, blocky face. It wasn't even particularly judgemental, but Katsuki could tell what the guy was thinking. He was looking down on him!

He couldn't stand people looking down on him. Katsuki needed to get out of here. He needed options.

Behind him, Bakugo could just about see where Kirishima had been caught out. The red-haired boy would be no help unless Katsuki could free him, but it didn't look like Red Riot would be of any use anyway.

Katsuki scowled.

"I didn't think I'd have to use my trump card for this test," he admitted to the teacher.

Cementoss' expression turned to one of interest.

"You have twenty minutes left," he said. "But you won't get that far," he finished with grim certainty.

The teacher crouched down again, his hands touching the concrete ground, ready to use his Quirk and probably end the exam by completely encasing him. Katsuki would not be having that.

"Self-Destruct!" Katsuki screamed, hoping against hope that the sensors in his costume would be able to hear him.

They did.

The capsules of explosive layered around his costume ignited. Nitroglycerine he'd prepared and stored for exactly this kind of scenario.

The rock Katsuki had been trapped in blew apart, violently.

Immediately, Katsuki had his hands moving and he activated his Quirk, not to rush forward. No, that's what Cementoss was expecting. He'd immediately brought up a fresh wave of cement to block his attack, but it would be no use if Katsuki wasn't there!

Aided by his explosions, Katsuki blasted away to the side and around the buildings and most importantly, out of the teacher's field of view.

Turning off his Quirk, Katsuki immediately began running.

If Cementoss found him again he was toast. He couldn't escape like that again, the torn remnants of his costume could attest to that. It had been a one time use escape and probably always would be.

He'd also taken some damage, he had to admit. Most of his personal durability was in his hands, after all his training with his Quirk. The rest of him wasn't quite as used to point blank explosions. He'd have to work on it in training.

Still, if this is what it took to pass the test then it would be absolutely worth it. Katsuki would not fall behind!

Cementoss was a decent distance away from the finish spot. He didn't like it but Katsuki would have to swallow his pride and go for that passing state, rather than capturing the teacher. He couldn't take the risk.

Peeking his head around the corner, Bakugo spotted Cementoss still there. The teacher was still where he'd been previously, not moving from his initial spot. But he was still looking around for Katsuki to show his face. Katsuki ducked back behind his cover and ran the numbers in his head.

If he just stepped out then there was still probably enough distance between his location and the escape point that Cementoss could catch him before he got there.

Well fuck that. Katsuki knew he didn't look it, but he could use tactics when he needed to.

He still had his gauntlets. One of them was damaged, the circuits inside must've been fried as it wasn't responding to his inputs. But the other…

It was mostly charged too. Perfect.

Katsuki quietly took off the gauntlet and quickly opened the control panel on the inside of the glove. Finishing his work Katsuki set it down quietly and then carefully crept his way around the building. He only had one shot at this.

Five minutes. There had to be a good ten minutes of time to spare. Five minutes would give him plenty of time to get ready.

He snuck back to where he'd been hidden before. Now he just had to wait.

If Cementoss moved, or something else happened then he was toast. Without his gauntlets his firepower was reduced a lot. Weakened as he was like this, Katsuki wouldn't be able to fight off Cementoss' attack even half as effectively as last time if this went wrong.

Katsuki's heart beat rapidly in his chest as he tried to control his breathing, waiting until finally the gauntlet went off.

Cementoss reacted exactly as he'd expected him to, blasting his cement in the direction of the explosion, anticipating an attack that wasn't coming. Off to the other side, Katsuki activated his Quirk, blasting himself forward towards the escape line.

Cementos turned, hearing the second explosions from Bakugo himself, but after the distraction, he was too slow to react. His Cement didn't move fast enough to even get close to catching him and Katsuki crossed the line.

He skidded to a stop. His costume was in tatters, he was out of breath and his ego had once more taken a beating at the realisation that he hadn't been strong enough to face off against one of his teachers who'd been sandbagging it too. Little cuts dripped tiny bits of blood while sweat, dust and grime covered his features. But none of that mattered because Katsuki had won.

"How'd you like that!" Katsuki shouted triumphantly.

Chapters 126-130

Chapter 126 – Jiro

Kyoka glanced to the side at Carlisle and Yaoyorozu. They were stood together, naturally, as they watched the first pair of students in their test. Yaoyorozu looked serious as she observed the two boys racing towards where Cementoss was located. The exact opposite of that, Carlisle looked cool as a cucumber. Of course he was relaxed about this, he never seemed to worry about anything. He didn't have to worry about any combat exercise with all the Quirks he had access to. Not even if he was going up against All Might. He was basically top ten Hero material already.

Kyoka really wished she could feel that relaxed about things.

On the screen, the first test had started. Bakugo was blasting his way through concrete walls produced by Cementoss. But no matter how many he blew up, the other Hero had another two more in his way. It had immediately become a battle of attrition. Meanwhile Kirishima was struggling just to stop himself being completely encased in cement.

Across the room, Yaoyorozu said something. The Western boy leaned in to let her whisper into his ear before he responded himself the same way.

What were they talking about?

Nobody was behind her, or even watching her. So Kyoka saw the opportunity to move one of her earphone jacks closer to the couple and listen in without interference from the other conversations going on nearby.

"-dea," Carlisle said. "I'd expected it to be Bakugo and Midoriya going up against All Might."

"Well I suppose it was too much to assume you'd be able to guess everything," Yaoyorozu said with a sigh. "You did mention butterflies."

"Yeah," Carlisle admitted. "Still, Power loader will be an interesting matchup for you and Kaminari."

"That will be straightforward at least," Yaoyorozu said. Kyoka was surprised at the other girl's words. "I suspect I know how he will fight us and I have the beginnings of a plan, but it will take some management of Kaminari though…" Carlisle snorted in amusement at his girlfriend's words.

Up on the screen, Bakugo had been completely encased in concrete.

"And it's me and Jiro versus All Might," Carlisle said. "I mean I see why they put me up against him, I suppose. Still, I'd have expected Midoriya or Bakugo as the other one."

"Yes," Yaoyorozu agreed. "I should go and speak to Kaminari about our test," she said apologetically.

Carlisle nodded. "Good idea," he said. "Although, before you go…"

"You want to make this another competition, don't you?" Yaoyorozu said with resignation.

"You have to admit, the last one had some interesting outcomes," Carlisle replied. There was a slight reverb to his tone that left Kyoka's heart suddenly beating more rapidly.

"N-not today," Yaoyorozu said, her tone had a slight pleading tone to it. "I need to concentrate on this test."

"That's alright then, no problem," Carlisle said immediately. "It's only ever in good fun, only when we're both on board with it. I understand entirely," he said, letting Yaoyorozu understand he wasn't upset.

Carlisle was kind of pushy, but he was also very respectful when Yaoyorozu pushed back on something in turn. Kyoka felt kind of ashamed. She hadn't really expected that kind of attitude of the Western boy for some reason.

"You can have a kiss though, for good luck," Yaoyorozu said by way of compromise.

Only Jiro seemed to be paying attention, everyone else looking at the screen as Yaoyorozu turned and gave the boy a quick peck on the lips. She pulled away with rosy cheeks and a slightly pleased expression on her lips, even as she looked around to see if anyone had noticed.

Kyoka immediately averted her eyes and retracted her earphone jacks quickly.

Yaoyorozu hadn't spotted her, had she?

She kept her eyes on the screen as Yaoyorozu walked past her, without so much as glancing her way. Kyoka let off a little sigh. It looked like she'd gotten away with it.

Bakugo was really working hard out there, but Cementoss didn't look like he was holding back at all.

"Hey," Carlisle said from behind her. Kyoka jumped out of her skin, barely repressing the uncool squeak of surprise that threatened to escape her lips. She turned around.

"C-Carlisle-san," she said. "You almost scared the life out of me."

"Sorry," he replied. "I'd have thought you'd hear me coming, with your Quirk and all."

Did he know she'd been spying on them!?

The boy's honest and friendly expression gave nothing away. Kyoka forced herself to calm down. She was fine. Neither Carlisle or Yaoyorozu knew she'd been spying on them. Everything was fine, fine.

"Don't worry about it," Kyoka said, trying to put on an air of cool calm. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I thought we should discuss strategies. Seeing as we'll be together in our exam."

"Th-that's a good idea," Kyoka said. She was the one who would struggle here. So she should've been the one to go to him instead of the other way around. He was probably thinking she looked really lazy or uncommitted or something. This was so embarrassing!

"So do you have any ideas?" Carlisle asked casually.

Kyoka licked her lips.

"N-not really," she admitted. "I mean… What am I supposed to do to help you fight against All Might?"

"I don't know," Carlisle said. Kyoka's heart plummeted in her chest at his outright admittance he didn't think she'd be of any use to him against All Might. "But this isn't a test about just fighting. If you can get to the escape area, then we both pass don't we? Maybe if I play distraction, you can sneak around and get to the exit."

"That could work," Kyoka said. "Could you just use that Warp Gate Quirk and drop me off?"

"I could," Carlisle acknowledged. "But if I do do that." He hesitated, not sure whether to say what he was thinking. "I think you'd probably fail the test if I did that. They want to see what we'd do. Warp Gate would pass us purely by the rules they're giving us, but it wouldn't show what you're capable of. You need to actually do something, even if it's just running away and escaping."

"Yeah…" Kyoka acknowledged. It was the same reasoning he'd given for not using that Quirk during the Festival tournament. This was supposed to be a test of both of them. Kyoka wouldn't pass if she didn't show any skills of her own that were worthy of being a Hero. She couldn't just stick to the Western boy's side her entire career. As much as that mental image of being his sidekick strangely appealed to her for some reason.

Well yeah, it wouldn't be a bad career move, would it? Carlisle was going places, everyone could see that. There was already a big buzz in the media about his ability to give and take Quirks. Some of it good, some of it bad, a lot of it controversial.

But that was a big part of being a Hero. Being publicly known was half the battle and Carlisle was already showing the world he had what it takes to use his power responsibly.

So working under Carlisle, or 'Gift' once he graduated, as a sidekick would probably be a really smart career move. Even if she never graduated to running her own Hero Agency Kyoka would probably become a known name if that's all she did, kind of like how Sir Nighteye was a well known name from just being All Might's sidekick. Hell, there were probably other Hero students out there in other schools thinking the same thing already, if not in UA too.

"Well we have a plan at least," Carlisle said. He glanced to the screen where Bakugo had escaped Cementoss and was now sneaking around the terrain, waiting for an opportunity to get past the Hero.

They watched the rest of the test. Bakugo successfully tricked Cementoss, going completely against his entire normal attitude to get to the exit and eke out a win.

Next up was Midoriya and Todoroki versus Eraserhead, followed by Mineta and Sero versus Midnight and then it would be their turn.

So at most she had an hour, Kyoka thought to herself.

She glanced to her side where Carlisle was watching the outcome of Bakugo's test with interest. She had Carlisle to herself for all that time at least.

At least? To herself? Kyoka found her thoughts cutting short as they suddenly played back to her. Since when was she worried about having him all to herself? She thought critically.

She wasn't going out with him. No, that honour went to the prettiest, smartest girl in their year with the big breasts and all the money in the world. What chance would Kyoka have had anyway, compared to that? A girl shouldn't have boobs that big while also being so obviously fit and athletic either. Kyoka knew she was kind of skinny. She might as well not have breasts when compared to Yaoyorozu's frankly unfair roll on the genetic lottery.

"So Bakugo presumably passes, while Kirishima fails," Carlisle mused, completely unaware of Kyoka's internal monologue. "Yeah, I don't think just dropping you at the exit is a good idea," he said apologetically. Kyoka nodded mutely, not trusting herself to speak for the moment. She knew he wasn't doing it to be mean, but he hadn't needed to say that again, it just made her feel stupid.

Bakugo and Kirishima returned, one disheartened and the other looking decidedly grumpy. But that was Bakugo's usual expression so it didn't necessarily mean anything.

Kyoka glanced at Carlisle as they waited for the next test to begin. Around them everyone was chattering excitedly about how Midoriya and Todoroki were going to handle Eraserhead.

She wanted to say something, but nothing cool to say came to mind and the conversation cut off now they had nothing more to talk about.

They stood there in the relative silence between them. A tension started to build, at least in kyoka's mind. A glance at Carlisle showed he was as cool as he usually was.

That was so unfair.

Kyoka shifted slightly on her feet. Damn, their test wouldn't start until after the next two were done. So at bare minimum she'd have at least another half-hour of standing around, feeling awkward. Kyoka was almost starting to look forward to their test so she could escape this atmosphere that was pressing in on her from all sides.

Carlisle nudged her on the side, making Kyoka jump in surprise, again.

"Don't dwell," he told her kindly. "You got this far, remember. You've got what it takes to pass," the boy told her.

"Th-thanks," Kyoka said. Carlisle must've been thinking she was worried about the test, but right now she just wanted to curl up in a hole and die of social anxiety.

They lapsed once more back into silence. The need to say something to break the quiet closed back around her like a vice. She needed to say something, anything.

"S-so you have a sister right?" She managed to blurt out, the first thing that came to her mind.

That sounded so stupid now the words had come out of her mouth. Of course he had a sister. She'd actually met Eri at that party for Hagakure before!

"Yeah, Eri's brilliant," Carlisle said. He began chattering away about the little girl.

Kyoka did her best to listen, feeling an incredible relief wash over her. She was good at listening at least. As long as Carlisle was talking, she didn't have to fumble over trying to think of something to say without putting her foot in her mouth.

Up on the screen, Midoriya and Todoroki's first term exam started.

Chapter 127 - Todoroki

Shoto stood at the entrance to the training zone. UA had a lot of training zones that simulated urban areas like this. It made sense seeing as Hero work was often carried out in the big cities where there was more crime.

"This is going to be tough," Midoriya said next to him, seemingly as much to himself as Shoto.

Shoto had to agree. They were both greatly reliant on their Quirks. If the Quirk disabling Hero managed to disable their Quirks then they wouldn't last long against him.

"We need to work together. If Aizawa-sensei disables both of our Quirks, then we're done for," Shoto said to the other boy. Izuku nodded.

"His Quirk works on line of sight," Midoriya supplied. "If you use your Quirk to create some ice walls then he won't be able to see us."

"Good idea," Shoto said. He'd already thought of that, but it was good to know Midoriya thought it was a good idea too.

"But I don't think I'll be able to cover all of the way to the escape area," Shoto admitted. "At least not both sides of the road. And if Aizawa-sensei gets one look at us, we'll basically be trapped by my ice with no way out."

"Maybe we should use stealth then," Midoriya suggested. "If we split up and try and hide then he can't get both of us."

"But if he comes at us one at a time then we're both in trouble without any help," Shoto argued, trying to present a second opinion.

Above them a speaker sounded. "One minute and then we shall begin," All Might's voice came over the speakers.

"Damnit," muttered Shoto. They needed a proper plan!

"Let's stick together then," Midoriya said, sounding a bit relieved about that idea. "Aizawa Sensei's probably going to find us anyway. So we try and split his line of sight and take him on together."

Shoto nodded. He took a deep breath. He didn't want anyone to see how nervous he was feeling right now, especially not Midoriya.

He'd always relied on his Quirk. It was powerful, it'd always carried him through any obstacles he'd faced, even just his ice.

Why had he never considered the idea that it might not always be available to him? He'd never properly prepared for it, even knowing that people like Aizawa, or Carlisle were out there he hadn't given it any serious thought. He'd become complacent.

Midoriya had the same problem. He had only just come into his Quirk but he was still reliant on it all the same. Were the teachers trying to impart a lesson on both of them while also testing them?

That sounded like the sort of thing Aizawa-sensei would cook up. Shoto fiddled with the capture device, the handcuffs in his hands.

They had two means of passing. Either they got to the escape point, or they wrapped one of the cuffs around both one of their wrists and also one of Eraserhead's wrists.

It sounded so simple when you put it like that…

But Shoto had learnt that nothing was simple during his time at UA. All Might had taught him that. Even his Quirk. Denying the use of his flames wasn't just snubbing Endeavour. It had also been hampering his own potential as a Hero and Shoto had been too blinded by his anger to see it.

The buzzer sounded. They both raced ahead.

"Let's head to the escape point. You go up on the roofs," Shoto suggested. "I'll go on the ground, maybe we can bait him out, or at least act as a distraction so the other one can escape."

Midoriya nodded determinedly and activating his Quirk he jumped up, clambering onto the top of one of the false buildings and out of Shoto's line of sight.

Shoto started at a jog, making sure to move between buildings. He activated his Quirk, very lightly freezing the area around his arm, hoping to be able to sense Aizawa-sensei that way.

Of course it wasn't long before his Quirk stopped working. Aizawa-sensei was nearby.

"Watch out!" Shouted Midoriya.

Shoto only had a few moments to turn, but he wasn't fast enough to get out of the way as Midoriya came down, tied up by Eraserhead's capture scarf and completely unable to stop himself colliding with Shoto and sending them both sprawling.

Shoto quickly picked himself up. Midoriya was struggling with his bonds, but without his Quirk there was no way he'd escape Eraserhead's capture tool in a short amount of time.

Shoto stood up and looked in the direction where Midoriya had come from.

Aizawa-sensei was there, perched on a dummy telephone pole, like a predatory bird waiting to swoop in and catch its prey.

The weight of his teacher's apathetic gaze was trained on him. Instinctively Shoto swallowed and tried to prepare himself to fight, for the first time without his Quirk.

Chapter 128 - Midoriya

Izuku grit his teeth as he tried to untangle himself from Aizawa-sensei's capture tool.

He'd been caught by surprise as he leapt from one roof to another and Aizawa-sensei had had his wrapped up before he'd even landed on the roof.

Then he'd been flung down, colliding with Todoroki and completely ruining their chances of passing the test!

"I see that expression a lot you know," Eraserhead said coldly, boredly. "That panic as you realise you're nothing without your Quirks."

Izuku had to look away from his teacher's critical gaze.

He was right, of course. Even All Might had said it.

Someone without a Quirk couldn't be a Hero.

And Izuku had had to be given his.

"Maybe," Todoroki said off to the side. He glanced Izuku's way, but never took his eyes off Eraserhead for a moment. "But I still have to pass this test."

"And how're you gonna do that?" Eraserhead asked boredly. "Do either of you actually know how to fight without your Quirks backing you up?"

No, they didn't.

Neither of them did, Izuku realised. He'd been so caught up in learning to master his Quirk he hadn't learnt the basics of how to fight. Like the martial arts Carlisle had used on him during their first Battle Class.

Maybe if he had he wouldn't have done so poorly against Yaoyorozu in the Sports Festival.

They could still pass though! Izuku wasn't going to count himself out yet! All Might still had faith in him. He'd promised to make Izuku his sidekick one day. What would Izuku's hero think of him if he just gave up? That wasn't what being a Hero was about.

With renewed determination Izuku began struggling again. He didn't know how he was going to beat Eraserhead but he knew he couldn't even make an attempt at it if he didn't get out of these restraints! He could just about get one of his hands free of the bindings, but not his whole arm which was wrapped up tight.

"Anyway, let's get this over with," Eraserhead said dully. The lanky man jumped up, flinging more of his scarf in Todoroki's direction as he went back on the offence.

"Watch out!" Izuku shouted pointlessly. It was then that he remembered. He was still connected to the rest of Eraserhead's scarf.

It was long, hanging loose. Exactly how long Eraserhead's scarf was Izuku didn't know but it was something.

Izuku rolled over, reaching for the loose bit of scarf.

Eraserhead wasn't look in his direction as he landed, having barely missed capturing Todoroki with his opening attack.

Izuku grabbed the loose bit of fabric, and then with nothing else to lose, he rolled.

Eraserhead was basically playing with Todoroki though, like a cat with a mouse. There was enough time.

Todoroki leapt to the side as Eraserhead swung his capture tool almost lazily and then again as Eraserhead manipulated the equipment with clear familiarity to have it loop back around and suddenly catch Todoroki by the ankle.

"Agh!" Todoroki shouted as his footing was pulled out from under him and he fell to the ground.

Izuku kept rolling. He was getting further and further away now, the capture scarf wrapping around him again and again.

Eraserhead began reeling Todoroki in even as the boy tried to release himself.

Then, finally, the scarf Izuku had been wrapping himself up in became taut.

Eraserhead's face was turned away from him, but the man yelped in surprise as he was suddenly strangled by his own equipment and pulled back to fall onto the ground.

Izuku didn't let up though. If he could trap, or at least delay Eraserhead then maybe they could still win this thing!

He still couldn't activate One for All. Eraserhead was still keeping his eyes open. The sheer strength of will to be able to do that had to have been learnt over many years.

Eraserhead didn't let go though. Even as Izuku kept rolling himself up in the scarf, Eraserhead was still likewise reeling Todoroki in.

"Todoroki get moving!" Izuku shouted.

"I'm trying!" The boy with dual-coloured hair said. The scarf was wrapped tightly around his feet. He couldn't get it off!

Izuku was really starting to feel dizzy now. Dust from the ground was coating his face, making him want to cough.

Eraserhead somehow managed to get his feet back under him. He stood up, straining against the scarf still around his neck.

Todoroki was almost upon him now. Eraserhead had a time limit on his Quirk, because he had to blink at some point. But if he managed to get them both in his line of sight together and with Izuku basically out of the fight then it was as good as over for both of them.

"Look on the bright side," Eraserhead said. "Once you're both tied up we can just sit down and relax for twenty minutes. You'll have plenty of time to think about your mistakes then."

The teachers were supposed to be playing the part of Villains, but did their Sensei really have to be so personal about things?

Todoroki was within spitting distance now and he must have decided to change his strategy. Instead of trying to untangle himself he pushed himself up and leapt forward with his fist extended, going for a sucker punch on the Quirk erasing Hero.

Only, Eraserhead had been more than ready for it. He dodged the boy's amateurish swing and a pair of swift punches had Todoroki's breath forced out of his chest and he collapsed to his knees, doubled over from the swift takedown.

Eraserhead sighed.

"You gave it a good effort," he said, talking down to them both. He took a hold of the scarf Izuku had been holding onto and unwrapped it from around his neck with disturbing ease. With a flick of his wrist Todoroki was tied up, albeit not as much as Izuku, who looked more like a ball of yarn than a person at this point.

Eraaserhead stepped to the side, his eyes were now trained on both of them. Then, he blinked, refreshing his Quirk. Izuku slumped in his bonds.

Once again he hadn't done enough. Time after time he'd only found more obstacles in his way, showing that he just didn't have what it took to be a Hero. Tears began falling down Izuku's cheeks.

Eraserhead stood over them.

"Feel free to mope, we'll discuss exactly what you both could've done better later," he told them, completely reverting back to his teacher persona. Because why bother continuing to make the show of Villainy when the test was over.

Well, not for another twenty minutes. It was a half-hour test.

Thoughts ran through Izuku's mind as he contemplated the things he could've done better. Maybe spreading out was the right call. By forcing Eraserhead to choose between them, one of them might have been able to escape the test area.

Or finding some way to disable Eraserhead's Quirk. Line of sight, and blinking were the primary vulnerabilities of his Quirk. Could they have capitalised on that more somehow?

He had more of his arm free now, although the rest of his self imposed bondage meant Izuku still wasn't going anywhere. He reached up to wipe the tears off his dust covered face.

His hand came away, covered in grey cement dust, a byproduct of how quickly these training zones were built, destroyed and subsequently rebuilt. Inhaling that stuff couldn't be good for his lungs.

The entire ground was caked in it. The bright sunshine having baked the concrete dry and leaving what Izuku could see was a lot of dust to blow around gently in the light breeze.

Next to him, Todoroki had adjusted himself into a sitting position. He was barely wrapped up compared to Izuku. If he had his Quirk available it'd take barely a second to escape his bonds, or even trap Eraserhead. There was no way their Sensei could dodge a full blast of Todoroki's ice at such close range.

Todoroki glanced to Izuku. He looked almost as dejected as Izuku had felt a few seconds ago. But that was then. Hope was blossoming in Izuku's chest as a plan began to form.

"Actually… Wanna start that chat now?" Eraserhead commented, stepping up in front of them. "We really might as well use the time productively," he said.

He was only a few feet away. Izuku made eye contact with Todoroki, hoping against hope that he'd get the message.

Todoroki didn't seem to react much, giving only the barest of nods. Izuku wasn't even sure that was just a natural motion. He had no choice though. He could do nothing, or he could act. Izuku would just have to take a leap of faith and hope Todoroki had understood enough to be ready to move.

Izuku adjusted his position, bracing himself against the ground and pushing himself up so he was at least upright now.

Then, as Eraserhead was about to say something else he acted.

Izuku flung his hand forward, releasing all the dust he'd accumulated right at Eraserhead's face.

The teacher wasn't prepared and reeled back as the dust made contact with his face. Going into his mouth, his nose and most importantly his eyes.

"Now!" Izuku shouted, but Todoroki was already on it. Freezing cold blasted forward from the boy's side and Eraserhead was completely encased in ice.

They both froze, waiting to see if something had changed, for Eraserhead to pull out some trick and escape. The man was completely encased in ice though and couldn't move at all.

"That counts as a capture, right?" Izuku asked. They hadn't used the handcuffs like they'd been given before the test.

"We did it," Todoroki said, slightly baffled. He stood up, the scarf falling away from his body now Eraserhead wasn't holding it taut. Izuku had access to his Quirk and quickly managed to unwrap himself with the added strength of One for All.

"We did," Izuku said. The hope of a few seconds ago blossomed into unfiltered joy.

He looked up, trying to spot one of the hidden cameras observing the test.

All Might was watching from the monitor room. Izuku could only hope he'd done his mentor proud.

Chapter 129 - Ethan

I stood at the starting point with Jiro. We were in a wide open field. It had to be several acres large, with a handful of trees scattered about here and there. The terrain was uneven, with small hilltops covered in grass being all there was to provide the barest amount of cover.

"You ready?" I asked Jiro next to me.

She hadn't exactly taken the revelation she'd be up against All Might particularly well and I couldn't exactly blame her.

"I'm fine," Jiro said, completely failing to engender any confidence in her mental state right now.

She'd seemed awkward while we'd watched Izuku's match but calmed down a bit after I spoke to her. Then as our own start time drew near she'd started fidgeting with her hands and her earphone jacks. I hadn't known what to say to help keep her calm. Speaking to her more just seemed to make her more nervous though.

"We have a plan," I said. "Circle around the training zone, stay out of sight if you can. I'll keep All Might distracted."

Jrio nodded. She inhaled deeply and then sighed. "I'm ready."

That was good, because it was right then that Eraserhead declared that our test was about to begin.

All Might was absolutely no pushover. Even limited in canon, allegedly, he'd thrown Bakugo and Midoriya around like ragdolls. Not to think disparagingly of my partner, but Jiro wasn't going to be much help here. I was basically on my own. So I had to push my limits a bit today, which I was one hundred percent up for.

Now I couldn't exactly go lethal here. I wasn't going to use Disintegrate or Overhaul for example and try and take away All Might's limbs…

I still had Overhaul up though, because I could use it to affect the terrain in lots of ways. I also had my two sets of Reversal up of course, alongside one of my copies of Super Regeneration. Two copies of Super Regeneration only seemed to make me heal faster after a few seconds. The Quirk took a few seconds to identify an injury and then get to work on it. There was little point in doubling up on it when it was that delay that took up the majority of the time between receiving an injury and being healed.

Rubber Body activated and my skin turned darker, going completely black. My entire body became its own shock absorber, capable of absorbing impacts and releasing a big portion of that energy back in the direction it'd come from.

I activated my strength enhancement next, my upper body becoming more muscled, not quite grotesquely so, but it was definitely verging on making myself look like I'd done some roids and then forgot leg day.

Energy drain would be useful. Any chance to absorb a bit of All Might's strength, even temporarily could only help me. I doubted I would be able to tire the man out, but if I could supercharge myself off of him I might be able to match him temporarily.

Personal Gravity let me increase my own weight, hopefully stopping All Might from just punching me into the skyline like something out of a Saturday morning cartoon. It meant I couldn't use Liquefaction though, as my watery body just collapsed to the floor if I combined them.

Third Left Arm was ready to be activated, alongside Hammer Arm. Which would give me a third, quite dangerous limb to hopefully catch the Hero off guard with.

I didn't really have much else that would be of use and this was more or less my limit as it stood with what was six relatively weaker Quirks, plus four more of what had become my standard setup. I would've taken Warp Gate, but it was taxing on what I could currently carry and although it was powerful, it required concentration to use effectively. I doubted All Might would give me the opportunity after seeing how effective it was these last few weeks.

A few other Quirks had already been considered and then cast aside.

Reswing for instance had initially seemed like a Quirk I could incorporate into my arsenal for combat. It helped me move my limbs faster but it was highly limited, only operating on 'straight' movements along flat plains. I could swing my arm and it would help speed that motion up, but if I went for a proper punch, not even that counted. It also threw me off something fierce as it was an automatic effect and sometimes one of my limbs would move faster than they should have if I wasn't paying attention. Which was killer for any use of martial arts.

Some other Quirks like Ventriloquist were functionally useless in what promised to be a test of raw physical power rather than trickery. Others like Popeye could be helpful, but they were just too weak to use effectively or provided no benefits to make them worth using over anything else. I doubted I could increase my own strength a sufficiently helpful amount using the small amount of spinach I had on me in comparison to the strength enhancing Quirk I'd acquired from one of the Nomus. I needed to speak to Sato and get some advice on how to train Popeye effectively. It had a ton of potential if I could train it up a bit. I'd find the opportunity to speak to him once this test was over.

Crystal was one I'd been reluctant to let go of. It would've been an ideal defensive Quirk. It let me form a hard shell over my body, but it wouldn't absorb impacts and was otherwise just hampering my defences provided by Rubber Body. If I had to choose between both of them then I chose Rubber Body.

The buzzer sounded. I was ready. I hoped Jiro was too.

"Let's go," I said to Jiro. "Go round the left side. I'll take All Might the other way.

"Right," Jiro nodded before jogging off.

I meanwhile sped directly forward, hoping to catch the Hero's attention.

The area wasn't flat, not really. It was somewhat hilly, albeit covered in grass. I crested a rise and looked around.

I couldn't see All Might. Exactly where the Hero was I wasn't entirely sure. The fact I couldn't see him though, that had me worried.

I bit my lip in indecision. If All Might had gone for Jiro first and found her quickly, then he could've tied her up or something and then it'd just be me and him up against each other.

Should I just keep moving? Should I go and check up on Jiro?

Neither of us liked her chances up against All Might and my caveman hindbrain was telling me to go protect the cute girl from coming to harm, even pretend harm, like the imposing macho man I absolutely still was.

Even if I did now lack that thicket of impressive chest hair like I did before turning myself back into a teenager.

Of all things, that was something I most regretted giving up. It had looked so manly.

Getting back on track. The smart thing to do was keep moving. It would be the opposite of our plan, but Jiro probably wouldn't complain if I got out and we both managed to pass the test that way.

So I kept going. The exit really ought to be on the other side of the training area but it only took me a few minutes to be able to see it.

Only… There was no exit.

"Fuck," I said, immediately catching on that something was likely going on.

If there was no exit, that meant the only way to pass the test was to beat All Might.

I jumped to the side, barely dodging a hammer blow of force that came out of my blind spot. Wind buffeted me, threatening to send me flying if it wasn't for my increased personal gravity.

The second punch came right after the first and struck me in the side, sending me skipping over the ground as I was propelled away, not prepared for the intense attack.

I collided with a particularly large hill and came to a stop with loose grass and dirt raining down around me.

"Damn," I muttered as I climbed up to my feet, none the worse for wear thanks to my defensive and healing abilities. "So we're really playing that game huh?" I asked the Number One Hero.

"The surprise attack is a hallmark of Villainy!" All Might defended his actions.

I licked my lips as they curled up into a grin.

"The exit is gone too," I stated, not quite accusingly as I considered what that might mean for this test.

"Indeed. You should always be prepared for the situation to change suddenly! Sometimes there simply is no escape!" All Might told me, managing to sound incredibly sinister in that moment despite the fact he was still wearing his Hero costume.

"Quite," I said, not letting his words get to me. He wasn't that scary. Although I imagine if it were any of my classmates then they would've been trembling a little at the sheer dissonance of the man's current attitude compared to his normal public one.

It was probably plenty of people's nightmare to see All Might turn Villain.

I rolled my shoulder, feeling my muscles move and feeling for any lasting damage, of which there was none. "So the only way out of here is through you, huh?"

"Do you think you have what it takes to beat me?" He asked me challengingly.

"I could probably kill you, if I wanted to," I said honestly. If I got in close with either Overhaul or Disintegrate I could kill him. He had no defence against that sort of thing. And with my healing factor combined with my teleportation powers I could theoretically just keep coming until I literally wore him down and he couldn't fight back any further.

"But this is just a test, Nezu would probably be upset if I did that," I joked.

All Might chuckled darkly in amusement, not breaking character per se, but acknowledging my meaning.

"I've been wanting to test your fighting skills personally for a while now, Carlisle," he told me as he settled into a fighting stance.

"Wel l hope I can live up to your expectations," I told him, moving into my own fighting posture.

The Hero charged at me. I wasn't entirely sure if he was actually holding back, or being held back at all.

I planted my feet on the ground and strained my Personal Gravity Quirk to keep myself in place. I put my trust in my two defensive Quirks to stop the strongest man on this planet from pulverising me with a single blow and then I struck forward, meeting the giant of a man with all of my currently enhanced strength.

The grass nearby tore up around us as it was torn away by the blast of air produced by our fists colliding.

For a second we strained against each other, but it was plain to see I was no match for All Might on pure strength alone.

So it was a good thing I didn't intend to fight him that way.

The Hero went in for a second strike, going for a low blow on my torso.

I swerved away, using hard earned fighting skills to avoid the blow directly. Even as the wind buffeted me. I pushed the Hero's arm just out of the way, activating Energy Drain even as I thrust with my third arm, the hammer punching forward only it was dodged easily by All Might bending backwards with reflexes honed from years of fighting.

"The thing about knowing that you've got all these Quirks, like that healing one," All Might said as he went to strike me again. "Is that I don't need to hold back!"

The next blow was powerful. In a way I had rarely encountered directly. The wind forced me to instinctively close my eyes as I raised my arms to block it, using all my might.

I slid back, my personal gravitational effect right now lending me enough weight to stop me being blasted away. The ground furrowed under my feet, turf bunching up behind my ankles, revealing how freshly laid it actually was.

"Impressive," All Might said as he stepped through the dust created by the attack. "The Nomu at Jaku Hospital didn't handle that attack nearly as well as you did just now."

"Thanks," I said as I caught my breath. Just weathering what I realised was a Texas Smash had taken a lot out of me, all the energy I'd managed to absorb from the Hero in my brief contact with him too. And it had not been inconsiderable either. "But you're supposed to call out your attacks, you philistine!"

"I'm a Villain right now. I don't have to obey cultural norms!" All Might refuted as he leapt towards me for another attack.

"Well let me teach you a lesson then, evildoer!" I declared. I reached down to the floor, activating Overhaul and commanding the ground to move at my command. "Rising Earth!"

At my command a jagged spear of earth and stone came from the ground, aimed directly at All Might. The Hero punched right through the spear of earth, sending dirt and debris flying all over as he continued his descent towards me. Only that hadn't been the only use of the ability.

From behind a pillar of earring swung out, a wide sweep that sent the Hero tumbling away and towards the ground nearby.

Before he hit the ground, All Might punched the floor. The earth cratered, a shockwave erupted from the impact and created a tsunami of earth that spread in every direction. If the tools were available I had no doubt the effect would probably have registered as a minor earthquake.

I created a wall of stone to block the debris that came my way then immediately withdrew it, trying to get a look at where the Hero might be. Then I thought better of it and charged forward.

This was no time for hesitation.

All Might came out of the latest cloud of dust, heading right to my previous location. But because of all the dust, neither of us realised where we both were until we were right on top of each other.

The two of us exchanged rapid blows. My martial arts and the force redirection effects of my Quirk combined with my enhanced strength against All Might's nigh unlimited power.

I took a glancing blow to the chest and retaliated with a hammer swing coming around my lower torso via Third Left Arm. All Might's beefy hand came up to grab the appendage but that just gave me the opportunity to land a couple of blows on his diaphragm, taking care to avoid his injury because that would be unsporting. I sent the Hero stumbling back in surprise at the strength of my counterattack.

No I wasn't as strong as him, not nearly as strong as the Number One Hero. It would take One for All a few dozen power enhancing Quirks to even barely match him at his weakest. I didn't need all that though because with every point of contact with the other man I was draining his unlimited reserves of energy and sending it right back at him!

I couldn't help but break out into a mad grin as All Might closed in again with the fervour of a warrior with his blood up. I couldn't help but notice that the Hero himself was also smiling, perhaps he was enjoying the fight as much as I was.

Quite frankly I didn't care about the test anymore. My sparring with Momo had been fun and led to some really fun times afterwards. But this was proving to be the most intense fight I'd had in ages.

Chapter 130 - Jiro

Kyoka heard the crash as All Might's unstoppable force collided with Carlisle's immovable object.

The very air was alive with the sound of their fighting and they had to be over half a mile away.

Specs of dirt were blasted up from their distant fight, peppering Kyoka with debris even all the way over here.

Just what kind of world did she live in, where people that powerful existed?

She didn't have to fight them though, Kyoka reminded herself again. She just had to find the exit, she just had to get out of here and she'd have passed the exam.

She'd been following the boundary fence of the test zone. Obviously trying to go over the twenty foot high barbed metal fence wasn't an option. Even if she could climb over it it'd probably count as a fail for escaping the zone through the wrong location.

Plus it was electrified, because why not? She'd found that out by sticking one of her earphone jacks against it. They were good with electricity so it hadn't hurt or anything beyond a weak shock. Still though, it kind of felt like overkill.

Thunder crashed in the distance, only this wasn't nature at work. This was the sound of two titans colliding as All Might and Gift absolutely demolished the surrounding landscape.

Wind blew up past her, ruffling her loose top and jacket even at this distance. Not for the first time she was glad she had opted not to go with a skirt for her costume as she'd initially considered, before realising it'd make her look like an edgy Idol.

She needed to find the exit and get the hell out of here! Before that fight made its way closer to her position.

Only… the exit was somewhere ahead of her, and unless she doubled back around she'd have to get within spitting distance of where All Might and Gift were fighting.

But what if they were fighting there because that was where the exit was? All Might was probably guarding it wasn't he? Kyoka realised.

"Damnit," Kyoka cursed. She was running out of time as it was. She had to get closer, didn't she?

So she sunk to her knees and tried to hide behind the hills which hadn't yet been destroyed while crawling around the edge of the improvised battlefield.

Another explosion nearby made her flinch as she kept going. A glance to the side as she snuck between a pile of loose rock and a partially destroyed bit of hill let her see what was going on.

The two men had engaged in a test of strength. Both of them gripping each other's hands and trying to overpower the other. All Might even had Ethan's extra arm, currently shaped to look like a hammer trapped in one of his hands. Carlisle looked to be losing, his knees buckling as All Might increased the pressure, but the fact he was even holding on spoke volumes.

She kept crawling and after a couple minutes of frantic activity she was more or less on the other side of where Carlisle and All Might were fighting.

She'd got to the other side, but what was important was that in the process of doing all that she hadn't encountered the exit gate.

She should've seen it by now. It had to be here so where was it!?

It was a bit of a risk. All Might wasn't going to come after her with Carlisle on his tail. She wasn't worth diverting his attention right now. So Kyoka crawled up the hill she'd been hiding behind, trying to get a better look at her surroundings and find the exit.

Frantically looking, Kyoka could see a big chunk of the fence boundary from her current position. But the exit point wasn't here.

It had to be further around. It was just dumb luck she'd picked the wrong direction to go down at the start of the test, right?

Or maybe there wasn't an exit? W-was that something they could do?

From her elevated position panic started to set in. Kyoka's gaze turned to observe the progress of the fight.

A giant hand made out of rock formed from the ground and slammed down palm first at presumably wherever All Might was. Then it exploded as All Might punched through the centre of the attack, jumping up and onto the now inert structure to stand above Carlisle.

"A nice try!" He shouted jovially, teeth still shining in the sun. All Might brushed off some loose debris as it landed on his shoulder while Carlisle panted after exerting himself like he must have just done.

All Might had come away entirely unscathed from an attack that barely anyone in class 1-A could've survived and that was after everything else that this fight had included already. This was the kind of fighting beyond anything Kyoka had ever honestly expected to see in her entire Hero career.

All Might suddenly froze and turned in her direction. He was looking right at her!

Kyoka dropped back, rolling down behind the hill. He'd definitely noticed her, but All Might wouldn't bother coming after her right? Carlisle would distract him again wouldn't he?

"Jiro run!" Carlisle shouted, dashing those thoughts. But the warning had come too late.

All Might landed, the ground cratering beneath his knees as he landed right in front of her.

"Muhaha!" All Might shouted. "Now I've found the other one of you!"

Kyoka flinched back from All Might's evil looking grin as he reached out to grab her. Then she suddenly felt something touching her back and sides. A second later she was wrapped up in something around the waist. Kyoka was suddenly yanked back through the earth and then back into open air on the other side of the battle.

All Might wasn't to be deterred though. He punched through the hillside as he came after her, sending all that dirt flying forward while he only stepped through, leaving the devastation behind him like it meant nothing.

As Kyoka continued to be pulled back, Carlisle ran past her. His hand trailed along the ground, maintaining control over the earth that he was saving her with. He came to a stop in front of her, the belt of dirt he'd pulled her back with crumbled away leaving Kyoka free to move. Not that she could muster the nerve right now. She was absolutely terrified.

"Your fight's with me, old man!" Carlisle declared.

All Might's expression broke momentarily at the other boy's words. He looked genuinely offended for a moment before the uncanny guise of the Villainous All Might reasserted itself across his features.

"She shouldn't need saving, if she's a real Hero anyway," All Might taunted.

Carlisle glanced back her way as Kyoka cowered back from the Hero. He turned back to All Might.

"Nonetheless, your fight is with me!" he said confidently, settling into a fighting stance.

All Might gave another dark chuckle. "So be it," he said with finality. "You only have five more minutes by my reckoning," he told them both. "You've both figured out by now there's no exit to this training zone. You aren't strong enough to beat me as you are either. I'm too strong and too durable for you to take down like this!" the Hero playing the Villain taunted.

"Even if I can't beat you, I can still try!" Carlisle declared boldly and he raced forward.

Kyoka flinched back as the two fighter's fists met again, producing a shockwave that sent her sprawling back.

She needed to run, she needed to get away from these two titans before their incidental reshaping of the landscape left her as an accidental casualty.

She turned and went to climb to her knees, ready to run away from the battlefield, away from the fighting. But then she paused.

Was this her? Was this what Kyoka wanted to be? The girl who ran away?

Kyoka glanced back at where Carlisle and All Might were duking it out. Both men had basically devolved into trading heavy sloppy blows as they tried to maintain their footing on the loose, muddy ground.

She hadn't done anything worth celebrating today. She'd run and hid and now she was planning to flee.

But what was she supposed to do? All Might was too strong. His skin was too durable, his strength too great. What could she do even if she made an attempt to help? What was she gonna do, shout at him?

She had her speakers built into her shinguards though. She had her Quirk. She wasn't helpless, she was a Hero in training!

This was really stupid, but if they were going to pass this then it looked like Carlisle needed all the help he could get.

Kyoka stood up and turned around to plant her feet beneath shaky legs. Her earphone jacks plugged into the speakers. She only had one shot at this. She would have to give it her all.

Plus Ultra!

A shockwave of noise emitted out towards the two combatants who were both focused entirely on each other. As a result they were completely caught off guard by Kyoka's indiscriminate sonic attack.

Instantly both Carlisle and All Might stopped, putting their hands to their ears to block the intense noise and falling down to their knees on the floor. Kyoka's mouth fell open.

Sh-she'd done it. She'd helped! Well not really. Carlisle had also been caught up in that.

All Might fell from his knees onto his front on the ground, unresponsive after all the fighting and the surprise use of her Quirk.

Had she really just done that? Had she really helped take down All Might?

She shook her head. The test wasn't over yet. They could still pass. There was no exit. The only way to win was to 'capture' the Villain, and Kyoka still had the handcuffs she'd been given at the start of the test!

She stumbled forward over the uneven ground.

Carlisle was recovering quickly, no doubt thanks to his healing Quirk but All Might was still struggling to regain his equilibrium. He got up on his hands and knees. He was about to get back up!

"Do it again!" Carlisle shouted, gritting his teeth in preparation a moment later.

Jiro activated her Quirk once more. Carlisle fell to one knee again as he endured the attack while All Might spat blood, collapsing back down to the earth with a cry of pain.

That couldn't be good.

"Come on quickly! Don't worry I'll heal him in a second," Carlisle said. "After we've passed," he said as an afterthought.

Kyoka raced forward, slipping the handcuffs around her slender wrist, she attached the other to All Might's.

And with just that, they'd won…

They'd won!

Carlisle came over.

"Still alive old man?" He asked. There was a gurgling chuckle from All Might. He put his hands up underneath him and pushed himself up slowly to his feet.

"Err," Kyoka said, glancing at the handcuff connecting her to All Might. She was forced to raise her wrist simply on account of the relative height difference between the two of them.

If this had been a real scenario, then there was no way that'd have really finished the fight. All she'd have done if this were a real scenario was give All Might easy access to use her as a human shield or as a weapon to try an beat Carlisle up with. But thankfully it wasn't.

"Congratulations both of you," All Might said. "I think I can say already that you both pass with flying colours."

Chapters 131-135

Chapter 131 – Hagakure

Recovery girl pushed past everyone else as Jiro, All Might and Ethan-kun arrived back in the monitoring room via one of the boy's portals.

Jumping up, the diminutive, elderly woman grabbed the much larger Hero by his ear and proceeded to pull him away by it, completely ignoring the man's weak protestations as she took him to get looked at in the medical room.

"Did everyone else just see that too?" Kaminari asked as everyone watched the doorway through which All Might had been taken.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Ethan-kun said with a deadpan expression. Jiro next to him giggled, giggled. Tohru didn't think she'd ever heard that noise from the punk-looking girl.

Heard yes, because Toru's eyes were entirely on Ethan-kun's bare chest.

Wow.

He looked like a Greek warrior after coming back from the battlefield.

She said Greek, because the other word that came to mind was Adonis.

"You guys enjoy the show then?" Carlisle asked, casually flexing his muscles like it wasn't a big deal everyone could see him like that.

Well, Midoriya had muscles like that too, probably. And Bakugo was probably super fit based on what she could see when he was in costume.

All these thoughts made her seem like a pervert or something…

"Hell yeah!" Kirishima shouted, having been one of the more vocal students as the fight between Carlisle and All Might took place. "That was far out dude."

The boy shrugged. "All Might's tough. I was barely holding on throughout that fight even with Regeneration and Rubber Body activated and Energy drain to try and match his strength. Plus, that was also with him still sandbagging, I think."

"That was sandbagging?" A bunch of classmates asked at once, including Tohru. They'd been contemplating the idea that All Might had actually not been given anything to limit his strength for that fight.

Eventually everyone finished asking questions of Carlisle and Jiro and got ready to watch the next fight. It was Yaoyorozu and Kaminari versus Power Loader.

Tohru sat down next to Mina, but her attention kept being diverted to Ethan. The boy was sat by Jiro, the lucky… b-bitch. If only she'd been put with him for that test then that could've been her!

Although Jiro looked really tired right now after the adrenaline had worn off. Tohru couldn't really blame her. When they'd been watching her slow approach during Ethan and All Might's fight everyone had been on the edge of their seats.

On the screen, Yaoyorozu and Kaminari seemed to have a strategy for how to take on Power Loader. But based on what they were seeing he had pre-prepared his robot so it was immune to Kaminari's electricity. He'd even prepared for all of the devices and such that Yaoyorozu had shown she could make during her training, meaning both of their Quirks were practically useless. The two Heroes in training had to run from Power Loader's mecha as he went on the offensive, which was really fast!

"Damn, really not going soft on them huh?" Ethan-kun remarked as they watched the test.

"I'm sure Yaoyorozu will pull through," Jiro said. "She's really smart."

"Thanks Jiro," Ethan-kun replied. "But I do have faith in Momo-chan. She just needs to figure out a new strategy, or get to the exit. Look, they've both decided to split up."

Indeed. Kaminari had been given some rollerskates of his own at some point and now the two students had split up, forcing Power Loader to choose which of them to chase.

"Are we sure there's actually an escape point this time?" Carlisle asked loudly in the direction of the teachers.

"There is this time," Eraserhead, said. "Any situation can change at the drop of a hat though," he finished ominously.

That didn't sound good… Tohru thought. They'd all been told what their tests were going to be like and who they'd be up against, but it seemed that to compensate the teachers were going to occasionally mix things up a bit and keep everyone on their toes.

Carlisle chuckled at Eraserhead's words gettingside eyes from everyone else in response. That was all well and good for him! He'd finished his test. Tohru pouted silently in her chair.

Why did she have to start fancying him? Ethan-kun was smart and handsome and charming and everything. He was even a bit naughty like how he sometimes teased Yaoyorozu; none of the other boys in 1-A were even half as interesting as the Westerner. But that was the thing, he was with Yaoyorozu and even if she was the kind of girl that would try to steal someone's boyfriend, Tohru didn't stand a chance against her! Yaoyorozu was so pretty and Tohru was invisible. Even if Ethan-kun was right and one day she'd get more control over her Quirk she still had nothing on Yaoyorozu.

Tohru was going to be left pining for Ethan-kun, and then she'd finish school a virgin and she'd start her career wishing she'd been brave enough to do something when she hadn't, and she'd have her career and it'd be great and everything, but something would have always been missing and Tohru would die a lonely old lady without ever having kissed a boy!

Tohru pinched herself to stop the unhappy thoughts running any further away from her.

It wasn't long before her own exam. Tohru had to step up and do her best right now. She could worry about her love life and the boy she fancied another time!

Chapter 132 - Mineta

Yaoyorozu's test went poorly, at least in Minoru's opinion. They split up and set off in different directions and Kaminari eventually got to the finish point while Yaoyorozu distracted the Hero. The entire time Yaoyorozu kept trying and failing to find a weakness in Power Loader's equipment. It was really impressive how many different strategies she wound up employing, but Power Loader's mech seemed to have been already adapted to everything Yaoyorozu could possibly throw at it.

Still, it left him anxious for his own test.

It was him and Tsuyu-chan against Midnight-sensei and he couldn't be more worried.

Ever since his conversation with Carlisle he'd been trying to change his behaviour, and it'd worked! For the most part. He hardly ever said anything stupid anymore and it'd really had an effect on his interactions with the opposite sex. Ashido had come to him and complimented him on how he'd changed lately. So the diminutive boy couldn't be more grateful for Carlisle's advice. He felt he was almost ready, ready to try and ask Tsyuyu-chan out.

Only… Minoru was afraid of taking it to the next step.

He'd avoided speaking to the girl with the Frog Quirk for the last few days. Now Minoru was being forced to interact with her as part of this test and on top of that, as if the fates were acting to try and get him to trip himself up their proctor for the exam was the incredibly sexy Midnight!

Minoru shook his head, trying to dispel the bad thoughts.

Midnight-sensei was attractive, and lewd and a bunch of other words that Minoru had put into his search engine from time to time. But not anymore! He was trying to turn over a new leaf!

He'd even taken up meditation to stop having lewd thoughts all the damn time. But Minoru wasn't sure all the zen focus he'd picked up from that book he'd picked up so far was going to be enough because Midnight-sensei was going to do her best to mess with his head, he just knew it!

This was completely unfair!

He stood next to Tsuyu-chan by the starting line. Their training zone was a forest, with lots of trees. It'd be hard to spot Midnight-sensei and she was going to come after them. She wasn't the type to wait for them to come to her, oh no. She was the type to go in balls deep and have her way with the competition.

No! Bad thoughts!

They hadn't even started yet and Minoru could already feel his nerves fraying.

"Should we split up?" Minoru asked Tsuyu-chan. If they were apart she wouldn't be there to see him make a fool of himself when Midnight-sensei caught up to him.

"We should work together," Tsuyu-chan said seriously, although there was a great deal of resignation in her tone too.

"Okay," Minoru replied, trying to sound positive despite feeling a hint of dread at the prospect he'd have to avoid having to cope with Midnight-sensei's antics in front of his crush.

"If we can catch her then we pass the test. Your Quirk is best for that," Tsuyu-chan said. "Gribbit."

"You're thinking we should use my Quirk and lay a trap for her?"

"It's a good idea," Tsuyu-chan defended, mistaking Minoru's words for criticism. Minoru cringed internally. Already this was going so wrong.

Eraserhead's uninterested voice echoed over the speakers set up through the test area.

"One minute before the test starts, be ready."

"I'm happy to work together if you are," Minoru said. "Let's try and trap her. If that doesn't work I'll try and hold her off while you run for the exit zone."

"Why, so you can go and perv on Midnight-sensei?" Tsyuyu-chan suddenly asked, acerbically.

Minoru's mouth opened and closed. "I didn't mean it like that at all!"

Where was all this sudden hostility from? She'd been fine during the festival test. She'd even let him ride on her shoulders for crying out loud!

"It just makes the most sense," Minoru argued. "You're faster than me, especially in these woods."

"Fine," Tsuyu-chan croaked. "Let's just get this over with."

The buzzer sounded and they both raced forward towards the treeline.

Chapter 133 - Asui

She was probably being a bit hard on the other boy, but then he had once asked to see her boobs when she had really hoped he'd just ask her out, or really anything else instead.

Now Tsuyu didn't know how she felt about Mineta anymore, but it was definitely veering towards the negative side. He'd been awfully quiet lately, but Tsuyu knew the boy still had a perverted streak a mile wide. He probably wouldn't be much help in this exam with them up against the Hero who famously had to have brand new laws made to stop her going out naked, but Tsuyu would at least give him a chance. She didn't have much choice in the matter.

Still, she was really nervous. After what happened at the USJ she'd been reading up on frogs properly and trying to figure out any more potential weaknesses she'd never properly considered before. Unfortunately, particularly for today's test, she'd found one.

Frogs could breathe through their skin. Which meant if Tsuyu got anywhere close to their teacher then she was toast. She'd always had it easy in athletics because of that particular aspect of her Quirk, allowing her to breathe more and last longer. Tsuyu didn't exactly want to mention it to the other boy though.

Mineta had seen her at her most vulnerable during the USJ incident. He'd saved her then, but that was a life or death situation. Mineta would probably start thinking lewd things like the fact that if she didn't need to breathe through her lips then…

Well, during her formative years Tsuyu had already had nasty things suggested about what she could potentially do with her tongue. She didn't need people harbouring any more thoughts about what she could do in the bedroom. E-even if they were right and she probably could do those things, if she were so inclined…

A blush came to her cheeks. Fortunately Mineta was behind her so he couldn't see her expression as she hopped through the tree branches while he tried to follow on foot.

Tsuyu shook her head, trying to pay the distracting thoughts no mind. She had to concentrate right now.

By pure luck she spotted Midnight-sensei up ahead. She had her whip out and she was ready for action at a moment's notice.

Stopping, Tsuyu chose to hop down to the forest floor, catching Mineta by surprise slightly although he had the presence of mind to keep quiet.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Midnight-sensei's up ahead," Tsuyu said.

"O-okay then," Mineta replied. "So we set up a trap and lure her into it right?"

"Yeah," Tsuyu nodded. She really hoped this didn't go wrong.

Mineta threw some balls onto the ground and then, jumping on them he bounced up to land perfectly on one of the larger tree branches.

"They'll either be too obvious to see or get covered in stuff," Mineta explained. "I'll catch her unawares, you lure her out."

"Right," Tsuyu replied. She turned in the direction she'd seen Midnight-sensei.

She had to make this believable and be careful not to get caught by Midnight-sensei's Quirk too. But with her agility that was more than possible. Tsuyu would just have to avoid the teacher's whip.

So she hopped up back onto the branches herself.

She had her capture tool, the handcuffs. She'd play it off as a stealth attack and then run in the direction Mineta was hiding in.

If this were a few weeks from now then Tsuyu would have been better able to hide.

Frogs could change their skin colour to provide camouflage and that was something Tsuyu was working on, but even if she had got it figured out it wouldn't be much use to her with her actual costume over her skin. Still, the green worked well with the leafy cover so it wasn't a massive problem right now. Once Tsuyu had got it down, and she would, then she would have to talk to someone in the Support Class about modifying her costume.

"Hmm," Midnight's voice came from below. "If I were a naughty boy or girl, where would I hide?"

Tsuyu stayed absolutely still. There was a possibility here she might be able to catch Midnight unawares and capture her, passing the test all by herself.

Midnight kept walking through the foliage, making plenty of noise to be located through hearing. She was walking around all over, looking for them probably based on what Tsuyu was saying.

She was directly below Tsuyu now. She could see the Heroine's pale costume through the foliage.

It was now or never. Tsuyu carefully prepared to drop down. She had the handcuffs on one wrist ready and the other loose in that hand, ready to wrap around Midnight's wrist and end the test.

Hopefully Mineta had still done enough to properly pass. If Tsuyu managed this on her own then technically the purple-haired boy hadn't done anything.

Now!

Tsuyu dropped down, ready to catch Midnight but just as she began her descent the R-rated Heroine was jumping to the side.

"I'd hide in the trees of course!" Midnight finished her sentence from before.

The Heroine's whip swung in Tsuyu's direction and the girl was forced to hop away quickly or be struck by Midnight's attack, the whip cracking as it struck the air. If it'd landed then that attack would've hurt!

Okay, she'd failed. Onto plan B.

Tsuyu leapt away, towards where Mnieta was hidden.

"Oh don't run," Midnight bemoaned, albeit sounding more sadistically amused than actually upset. "That means I'll have to punish you once I've caught you."

Tsuyu's eyes widened. Midnight-sensei was attractive, but she wasn't gay or anything. She didn't want any of that.

She landed among the trees again and went to hop away.

Then, she stumbled.

Losing her footing, Tsuyu found herself falling down to land on her face, thankfully her fall was cushioned by the loose foliage and soft ground.

Scrambling to get up, Tsuyu realised she couldn't quite move her limbs properly.

Oh no, she realised. She turned to look behind her.

Midnight stalked forward, hips swaying provocatively.

That was the last thing Tsuyu saw before she lost consciousness.

Chapter 134 - Asui

When she woke up Tsuyu was tied up.

There was a gag around her lips, her hands were now handcuffed together and her feet were tied at the ankle with something.

Oh, and she was being carried over Midnight-sensei's shoulder. Her teacher's back, admittedly shapely behind and the ground beneath her were all she could see.

"Oh, awake are we?" Midnight asked teasingly, apparently noticing her waking up. "And here I was thinking of things I might do to an unaware, vulnerable little thing like you…"

Tsuyu's eyes widened at the woman's words. She really didn't want to think about that stuff right now!

"Oh if only there was a knight in shining armour about," Midnight said loudly. "Someone to save this poor damsel before I have my wicked way with her. Or perhaps he'd like to join her…"

Tsuyu shook her head, trying to shout through her gag but whatever Midnight had gagged her with it was very effective. She couldn't get a word out, let alone her tongue.

"Oh don't worry," Midnight said. "It'll all be over soon," she patted Tsuyu's upraised bottom. Tsuyu blushed furiously at the inappropriate treatment. Midnight-sensei was supposed to be acting the Villain but wasn't this a bit much?

Oh no, she realised next. Was Mineta going to see her like this? Nevermind that. Everyone else was probably watching this from the monitoring room! Tsuyu tried to struggle, but she was barely able to muster the strength to wriggle in Midnight's hold. Midnight's Quirk had affected her even worse than she'd thought it might.

She was suddenly flung to the floor as Midnight reacted to something and jumped away.

Landing on her side, somewhat painfully, Tsuyu looked around.

Right in front of her, a purple ball!

"Oho!" Midnight cackled. "So the little boy finally shows himself. You missed all the girl on girl action before," she taunted.

A swipe from her whip and Mineta was forced to jump down from the trees and suddenly Tsuyu was caught in a standoff between Mineta and the teacher.

Mineta looked red in the face, his eyes shifting between Midnight and Tsuyu's bound form.

"Hey there big boy, my boobs are down here," Midnight purred, lifting her impressive bosom and then dropping them to make them jiggle enticingly. Mineta's mouth hung open wide enough to catch flies.

If Tsuyu wasn't bound she'd be facepalming right now.

"I… uh…" Mineta managed to say.

"What's the matter?" Midnight asked seductively. "Don't tell me I'm distracting you."

Mineta took a step forward, but then seemed to come back to himself and took a more combative stance.

"I won't let you distract me at all!" He declared. "I'm gonna pass this test!"

"Ohoho!" Midnight laughed uproariously. "So you won't just come over to me and join the dark side?" She asked teasingly. "We have cookies, and other things you can… put in your mouth."

Mineta's eyes were wide as he beheld Midnight who struck a provocative pose to punctuate her statement. He glanced towards Tsuyu guiltily, noticing her disappointed stare.

"Ignore her," Midnight said, redrawing his attention to her. "I've got everything you need right here," she said, tilting her pelvis and smacking herself lightly on the derriere.

Mineta pursed his lips and clenched his eyes shut. He looked like he was having some sort of mental breakdown.

"Tsuyu-chan's much prettier than you!" a red faced Mineta suddenly blurted out and then he reinitiated the fight, throwing his balls at Midnight who jumped away, careful to avoid the attack.

Meanwhile Tsuyu was looking at the boy wide eyed. Had he just called her pretty? Tsuyu blushed furiously through her gag. Her current helpless state did nothing to detract from the embarrassment she was feeling right now.

Mineta turned to look at her, then his eyes widened.

"Y-you heard me say that just now, didn't you?" He asked.

"Oh so you're ignoring me now?" Midnight interrupted before Tsuyu could try and respond. "Well in that case I guess I'd better go all out," Midnight said darkly, her expression shifting to a vicious smirk.

"I was going to go and wait by the exit gate," she told the panicking boy. "But then my sadistic side came out and I couldn't help but want to come and hunt you down myself. Then I got distracted by Froppy over there. But now I can dedicate all my attention to teaching you a lesson," She clawed at her costume, creating a boob window as the fabric tore easily in her grasp. Mineta's eyes went wider still as he watched the admittedly erotic display. Pink mist started to come off Midnight's form, her Quirk in action, threatening to put anyone who inhaled it to sleep.

"Mmmmf!" Tsuyu tried to shout through her gag, shaking her head and hoping Mineta would get the message and run away. At least one of them might still get to the exit and maybe they could both still pass that way.

Mineta turned to look at her but the action meant he was off guard and took a swipe from Midnight's whip, sending him flying. The boy quickly jumped up and proceeded to start running away through the forest.

"Sorry!" He shouted back apologetically as he fled the scene. "I'll come back for you I promise!"

Midnight huffed in amusement. "Chivalrous," she commented dryly to the bound girl. She stepped past Tsuyu in the direction Mineta had gone in.

"You just stay right there, Froppy," Midnight told Tsuyu condescendingly before proceeding to give chase at a light jog, leaving Tsuyu's bound form on the forest floor.

Suddenly she was alone, only the remaining mist from Midnight's Quirk left any evidence the two of them were there.

Tsuyu sighed dejectedly through her gag.

She'd messed up big time. There was no way they'd pass now. Mineta wouldn't last with Midnight teasing him and pushing all his stupid perverted buttons.

She rolled up onto her butt and sat up. She could at least sit up properly while the remains of Midnight's sleeping gas wore off.

Chapter 135 - Mineta

Minoru ran and ran as fast as he could.

Unfortunately Midnight was about three times as tall as he was and it wasn't hard for her to keep track of him, apparently opting to try and tire him out rather than go for the kill.

He'd have tried using his balls to bounce off of and move around but in this cramped environment he wasn't sure he could pull it off. At those speeds he was more likely to bang his head on a branch than anything else.

A vicious swipe from Midnight's whip almost caught him as he slowed down a bit. Minoru upped his pace, darting between the trees and trying to keep something between himself and the woman chasing him. Tears were falling down his cheeks, and not just because of the painful hit he'd taken before.

This was all going wrong! He'd let midnight get to him, right in front of Tsuyu-chan and then he'd gone and called the Frog Quirk girl pretty at such a stupid time too! It'd just come out, at least it wasn't something super stupid.

He needed to think of something, some kind of way to win. But it wasn't easy to concentrate with Midnight's voluptuous form right on his heels. He could practically hear her boobs jiggling.

At least with the whip constantly cracking behind him he wasn't about to fall for her charms again. That had hurt. Still, he had the tools to capture her, he just had to catch Midnight by surprise and then this would all be over. But that was easier said than done against an experienced combatant and Hero.

Scattering his balls on the ground, Mineta tried to create some obstacles to block the teacher's way and build some distance. If he caught her with just one ball then that might be enough to trap her and then he might be able to rescue Tsuyu-chan and maybe they could cross the line together and somehow salvage all this.

Like she'd want to talk to him ever again after today. His hopes of going out with the girl he liked were basically a negative number at this point. Today had just ruined everything. He was trying to bring up the confidence to talk to her again soon, but his own stupid nerves had always kept getting the better of him.

Suddenly Mineta felt angry.

At himself, at Midnight, at the Principal for putting him in this test, at Tsuyu-chan…

No wait, he wasn't mad at her. Everything she'd done was perfectly reasonable. It was him that was the idiot, the pervert, the coward running away from his problems!

Well no more! He suddenly decided.

Turning, he saw Midnight behind him only a few dozen yards away. Pink mist came off her form, leaving a tantalising cloud in her wake.

Midnight skid to a stop, sizing Minoru up as he glared right back at her. He stepped forward, ready to fight it out.

"Oh, you're approaching me now?" Midnight asked amusedly. "Finally realised you're better off not running and just taking a nice nap with your head in my lap?"

"I can't beat you if I keep running away," Minoru replied seriously as he faced up to her, choosing to ignore her tempting words. A lap pillow sounded good, so good. But he was too fired up to let that distract him now!

Midnight chuckled. "Then come at me big boy. Show me what you've got!"

He did. Mineta started throwing his balls with a frantic energy fuelled by his anger and frustration. Midnight dodged out of the way ,demonstrating an impressive flexibility for someone without a heteromorphic Quirk. She even managed to swing out a few times with her whip, but Minoru was ready for it this time and he managed to dodge around or even jump over the attacks.

Midnight was mobile though. She didn't let him corral her. With the aid of fans on her hips she wafted her sleep inducing gas in Minoru's direction, forcing him to dodge repeatedly, which was becoming easier and easier with the environment covered in his balls.

Minoru was committed now, he was going to show this stupid temptress that he was above her petty games. He wasn't going to be led around by his dick. Not anymore!

He could feel himself getting tired though. He only had so much endurance and jumping around and constantly producing sticky balls was seeing him at his limit.

A lucky swipe from Midnight caught him midair, Minoru was sent tumbling down onto a clear patch of ground.

"Ugh," he muttered, pushing himself slowly to his feet. He was breathing heavily now. He didn't have many more balls left in him before his head started bleeding. After an intense training session, Recovery Girl had told him once that happened he should avoid bouncing around using his balls like that because he'd be risking concussion-like symptoms. Which meant that once he hit his limit, the fight would basically be over at that point.

"Looks like it's over," Midnight said, carefully stepping around the balls on the ground. "You gave it a good effort though, and don't worry. Hard work gets rewarded."

Minoru snorted. "Don't bother teasing me. I don't care about any of that now," he said. "I-I just wanted to try and beat you. Looks like I've failed."

Maybe he could catch her by surprise? All he had to do was get her once with his Quirk and then it wouldn't matter how much energy he had left.

That was doable right? Once Midnight was caught he just had to find the exit, wherever that was. How long did he have left on the test? Minoru had no idea at this point. He should really include a watch in his costume somewhere.

"I've been trying so hard," Minoru admitted to the teacher, waiting to spot an opening. "Trying to stop being so dumb and perverted, but I guess it doesn't matter. Guys like me don't get to go out with girls like Asui."

Midnight was about to say something in response but then something must have caught her attention and she turned, not in time to stop it though as both of Froppy's still bound feet collided directly with her cheek.

The Hero was sent flying down to the ground, colliding with a handful of Minoru's balls which were in the way.

Minoru stood there, gaping at where the Frog-girl had come from.

Tsuyu-chan couldn't stop her own momentum though and she fell to the floor herself, still tied at the wrists and ankles. She even still had her gag in place.

"Tsu- I mean, Froppy, are you alright?" Minoru asked, immediately going to help the girl who groaned as he rolled her over. It hadn't been a comfortable landing at all. Minoru quickly pulled the gag away, allowing the girl to speak.

"I'm fine," Tsuyu-chan said. "Can you untie my feet please," she croaked.

"Y-yes, of course!" Minoru said, chastising himself. He started fiddling with the ropes around the girl's ankles. "How did you get all the way over here?" He asked.

"I realised I couldn't just give up on you," she said. "So I got to my feet and… hopped," Tsuyu-chan admitted, looking to the side in embarrassment. "Like a bunny rabbit."

T-that sounded really cute. Minoru wisely shut his mouth before he said anything stupid, like that he wouldn't mind seeing her in a rabbit costume. Which would be really sexy and absolutely not something he should be suggesting to anyone.

"L-let me untie you," he said, reaching for Tsuyu-chan's wrists, seeing as the ankle bindings wouldn't budge. They came away easily enough as unlike Tsuyu he could see what he was doing to put the unlock code in. Midnight seemed to be unconscious on the ground, but she couldn't be that hurt. "How long do we have left on the test? Can we still make it to the exit point?" He asked as Tsuyu rubbed her wrists.

A groan led them both looking to the side where Midnight was recovering from the surprise attack. The teacher tried to get up, but she was stuck to the ground by Minoru's sticky balls. Recognising she was trapped, the woman slumped back down, letting off a huff of annoyance.

"Don't worry kids," she said. "Pretty sure this counts as capturing me," she admitted with a grunt as she tested her accidental bindings. Minoru's eyes widened in surprised elation, he looked to Tsuyu-chan who had an equally astounded look to her features.

They'd passed!

Suddenly Minoru found himself wrapped in a hug from Tsuyu-chan.

Only a second later she pulled away.

"S-sorry," she said.

"I-it's fine," Minoru said. It had felt nice though.

Together they managed to untangle the girl's leg bindings and she went to stand up. It was only then that they realised the frog girl had touched one of Mineta's balls too, she was stuck sitting on the ground.

"Err, could you help me get out of this?" She asked.

"M-my balls don't stop working until they disappear," Minoru admitted to both the girl and their teacher.

"Oh," Tsuyu-chan said. "And how long do they usually take to wear off?"

"At least fifteen minutes," Minoru admitted bashfully.

Midnight snorted in amusement.

"You know, fifteen minutes isn't terrible as far as staying power goes," she joked. "But I guess we'll just have to stay here for a bit then. You might as well start the next test without us!" She shouted.

"Acknowledged," came Eraserhead's voice from a speaker which was somewhere. "Come back when you're ready, we'll start the next test in the meantime."

"Ah that's that then," Midnight said. "Just the three of us now," she said leadingly. "I think I might just take a nice nap. Don't mind me."

The Hero rested her head against the ground and then began snoring in an exaggerated fashion.

Minoru glanced back at Asui.

The girl was looking at him. Minoru averted his gaze.

"Did you mean it?" Tsuyu-chan asked.

"Mean what?" Minoru asked.

"Before, when you said I was pretty," Tsuyu-chan pressed.

"W-well… yeah," Minoru admitted. There was no point in denying it. It's not like anything would change between the two of them.

"Nobody who wasn't my parents ever said that to me before," Tsuyu-chan revealed.

"What, really!?" Minoru blurted out, completely surprised. "B-but you're so c-cute and stuff a-an-" He stopped himself short, realising what he'd just said and whatever it was he might have been about to say.

"Nobody else, no," Tsuyu-chan nodded. "At least nobody else said it and really meant it."

"I-I meant it," Minoru said, slightly defensively. How could nobody else have ever said that to this girl before? He absolutely didn't understand.

"That's really sweet of you Mineta," Tsuyu-chan replied.

They lapsed into silence.

"I-if before, when we were at that party for Hagakure," Minoru started, not brave enough to look Asui in the eye. "When we were talking a-and I said that stupid thing."

"When you asked to see my boobs," Tsuyu-chan clarified. Minoru's heart dropped at the reminder. He nodded shamefully.

"Y-yeah," he said, forcing himself to keep going. "Back then. I-If I'd asked you out on a d-date. Errr, would you have said yes?" He asked tentatively. He tensed up internally, ready for the damning response. There was a pause as the girl failed to immediately respond.

"I would have, yes," was the frog-girl's eventual and painfully honest response.

"Oh," Minoru replied.

Well at least now he had confirmation of what a massive screwup he was.

They sat there for a few seconds more of awkward silence.

"Oh just kiss each other already you morons!" Midnight snapped, having been completely forgotten by Minoru and the girl next to him. Completely caught off guard, Minoru jumped out of his skin and Tsuyu-chan wasn't far behind him.

Unable to bear Midnight's glare, even though she was still stuck to the floor, Minoru found enough courage to look at Tsuyu-chan and suddenly they were looking right into each other's eyes.

Midnight huffed. "Look you both like each other, so just admit it and stop dancing around like a bunch of nervous lemmings. You don't want to miss out on a good thing kids, trust me."

Minoru's eyes widened again. What Midnight was saying... She was implying that Tsuyu-chan actually held some feelings for him. Positive feelings!?

This was his chance, his second chance. He couldn't miss it now!

"Tsu-Tsuyu-chan," Minoru said quickly. "I'm sorry for all the stupid things I've said. I-I'm trying to be better. B-but w-would you m-maybe. I mean if you want to… W-would you like to go out with me s-sometime? I mean I know I'm an idiot and stuff a-and I say stupid things an-"

He was cut off when Tsuyu-chan put a finger to his lips.

The girl's Frog Quirk sometimes left her looking slightly deadpan, or maybe that was just her resting face. Right now though, her face was a rictus of emotions until she finally seemed to settle on a soft smile.

"I-I'd like that Minoru-kun," she whispered.

Don'tsaysomethingstupid, don'tsaysomethingstupid, Minoru thought to himself as suddenly Tsuyu-chan was leaning forward.

Then her slightly cool and just a bit clammy lips were on his and all those stupid, distracting thoughts disappeared.

Tsuyu-chan pulled away and they went back to looking into each other's eyes.

He really didn't believe this was happening.

"Y-you're free, by the way," Minoru realised. The purple ball stuck to Tsuyu-chan's side was gone now.

The girl looked down and nodded in agreement. She stood up.

"Let's go back to watch the rest of the exams," she suggested. Tsuyu-chan offered Minoru her hand.

"G-good idea," Minoru said, not letting himself hesitate and accepting his new girlfriend's hand.

Was he dreaming? Minoru thought to himself as Tsuyu-chan led him away.

Well if it was, he hoped he would never have to wake up.

Chapters 136_140

Chapter 136 – Midnight

Midnight laid on the ground, still stuck there by Mineta's balls. Asui had got lucky it seemed, touching an older ball that had had most of its timer expired. Meanwhile Midnight had landed on some fresher ones so she'd have to wait out the remaining timer.

The two new lovebirds had just gone and left her there alone, which was pretty rude but she didn't begrudge them that now they'd just discovered their blossoming romance. They'd also wandered off in completely the wrong direction. But it was a romantic way to end things at least, she'd give them a few minutes alone and then go and point them back in the right direction once she was free. She wouldn't even tease them too much either. She'd have plenty of opportunities to tease them both some more over the coming years hopefully.

That girl had no idea what a good thing she'd just got there. That Mineta was a pervy little twerp with wandering eyes, but that sort of thing could be trained out of a man as long as you got to him early enough and it seemed the boy had motivated himself to start on the self-improvement just for her. You didn't often see that kind of effort in a guy.

Mineta would probably always have wandering eyes though, no man didn't not look at other women. But Asui was guaranteed a loyal, loving partner if she stuck the course with Mineta from this stage. Hell, they'd maybe make for a decent power couple if they both succeeded as Heroes.

Plus, she couldn't help but acknowledge. A guy with a dirty mind wasn't always a bad thing per se, oh no. How many lonely housewives out there wished their husbands had even half as many dirty thoughts running through their heads as Asui's new boyfriend did? If she was patient with him, and they lasted the course, Asui just needed to figure out how to direct Mineta's energies to spicing up the bedroom and she'd be a well looked after woman indeed!

"Ufufu," Midnight allowed herself a dirty chuckle at the thought.

It had taken a bit of work convincing Nezu to let her proctor this test. The animal-person had initially wanted to test out both Mineta and Sero's perverted natures against her own R-rated energy. She'd convinced him to let her test these two instead and it had gone brilliantly. While Asui had initially floundered and looked to be about to fail, they'd both shown inner metal and Heroic determination in the face of her assault, enough to pass their exam. Plus, now they were together there'd be no more moping or awkward looks from either of them in her classroom. Hell, it'd probably motivate both of them to work harder too.

The sticky balls holding her down burst and disappeared with muted pops and Midnight was free again. She rolled over onto her back, a satisfied tilt to her lips. She stretched indulgently on the ground before getting up and going to find her two wayward lambs.

"Midnight the matchmaker strikes again."

Chapter 137 - Toga

Himiko watched dully as the stew was dumped onto her tray. They were also given bread today. It wasn't quite stale, but it was at least edible once you'd let it sit and soak up some of the juices.

Hurrying, but not in too much of a hurry as to seem like she was scared, the blonde girl went on in the queue to accept the cube of sugary desert they'd be given, not that Himiko was excited about it.

Everything tasted bland now. The world seemed just a bit… greyer every day since she'd lost her Quirk.

She sat down on her own, not interested in talking to any of the other inmates, not that they were interested in talking to her either.

She was a special case after all. If it were anyone else with her kill count she'd be in Tartarus right now. But without a Quirk… Well you weren't worth the cost of imprisoning there.

Himiko had once had a Quirk though. She'd killed lots of people and drank their delicious, delicious blood and become one with them thanks to her Quirk.

Had.

She wouldn't be doing it again. After that day she'd attacked another inmate, some woman who'd tried to threaten her. Himiko had cut her throat open with a shiv she'd made and put her lips to the woman's leaking carotid.

The taste of Copper had been there, the warmth as the woman's lifeblood passed her lips.

But nothing else. There was no connection, no transformation waiting to be activated.

She was alone.

In a world of grey, Himiko slowly finished her meal. Then, as she was walking back to her cell she was stopped by a guard.

"Come with me," the burly woman ordered.

Unresisting, Himiko followed after the woman through the prison.

She was escorted into a room. There was a desk in one corner of the room and on the other side, nearer the door there were some comfortable looking leather chairs. In one of the chairs a heavyset man with short brown hair and rosy cheeks was sat down comfortably. He had a Quirk that gave him a really big moustache, which was beneath his lips as opposed to being above them.

The man gestured to the chair and Himiko went to sit down.

The Himiko of a few weeks ago probably would've laughed at his appearance. The moustache was silly, curled up in a bunch of wavey patterns on one side and in a tight spiral on the other. The old her probably would have gone on to think about what his blood would taste like, probably richer than most. People with his complexion usually had sweeter tasting blood.

"Hello Toga-san," the man said. "Are you having a good week?"

Himiko shrugged. What was there to say?

The man wrote something down on the pad he had in his lap. Himiko probably could've leaned over to see, but she really didn't care.

She recognised what this was. This guy was a psychologist or something, wasn't he?

Himiko hated psychologists.

There was silence as the man looked at her. Himiko didn't bother to look back.

"I'm Simon," the man said. "I've been asked to meet with you once a week Toga-san, to see how you are coping with your… change in circumstances."

Himiko looked up at the man properly for the first time.

He wanted to know how she was coping huh?

Himiko lunged forward, grabbing a pen off the table to stab the man through the neck!

Only, she was surprised when she found herself caught in the air. The man's moustache had uncurled itself, revealing it was incredibly long and Himiko found herself trussed up with her arms wrapped around her torso like a straightjacket.

The doctor put her back down in her seat gently, his moustache going to Himiko's hand where it took the pen from between her fingers.

"I think we'll put it down as poorly for the time being," the psychologist said.

Chapter 138 – Harry Dresden

Time was… weird when you worked for the Company. Thanks to all the temporal shenanigans and such that could be pulled off when you were in a different universe entirely relative to someone else it was fairly easy to play games with it. Like organising a small army to reinforce an ongoing attack on one particular universe.

Harry wasn't quite a full agent, so today he was having to run one of the more interesting, and slightly more perilous missions the Company required of him. He got to be part of that small army, which was at the same time both far less and quite a bit more impressive than it sounded.

Explosions and screams echoed over the howling wind as the floating island steadily lost altitude.

Bioshock was a very popular universe, a game which Harry hadn't had the time to play. He'd read the cliffnotes of course. Understanding the ins and outs of a major source of power for the Company was important, especially considering the other risks involved in certain universes. One of those added risks being why he and the many Company soldiers were here. Vae Victis had found this universe and were attacking in hopes of acquiring the native Elizabeth, or Elizabeths. It got kind of confusing when you tried to figure out how her power worked.

"Crap!" Harry cursed as he jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding a spray of laserfire from the dozen armoured soldiers nearby, who had been sent in by the opposing multiversal organisation.

If it were any other group they were up against he'd have already worked his way through these punks. A bit of fancy metal wasn't going to stop a lightsaber and it probably wouldn't help much if he punted them off the island either. Unfortunately, most of his abilities were being cancelled out by the universal calibration field Vae Victus used as standard procedure wherever they went.

It was coming through the many small portals they'd used to enter the universe, effectively cancelling out all the myriad of powers most Company agents possessed. Only tech types were mainly unaffected. Of course that was depending on how unreal said technology was.

"Talk to me Oracle," Harry demanded through his comms. "Where's that support?"

"It's on its way!" His group's overwatch for this mission replied. "We have a counter to their power nullifiers en-route, ten minutes. Do you have eyes on Elizabeth?"

"No!" Harry shouted back. They'd barely arrived before being ambushed by these bastards. So he wasn't feeling too impressed by what was supposed to be Batgirl so far.

Harry took an opportunity to poke his head around the cover and check out the surroundings and cursed mentally at what he could see before being forced to duck his head back as the enemy shot in his general direction.

The two anime boys were dead, they'd gone down first. They were probably the stronger of the lot of Harry's group on paper, being from settings where they'd got a cheat skill of some sort. But without said cheat skill they'd been little more than whiney nerds. They'd never suffered real hardship. The kid with the smartphone just lacked a personality, the not-quite Westerner from the Shield Hero universe had been grating to interact with. He hadn't deserved to die though.

Everyone else was gone too. The three kid agents without a sleeve had come from mundane worlds and they'd fared a bit better, having a surprisingly better idea of how to wield a gun than most of the other 'characters' in their group. One of them had even been Canadian and she'd been the last to go. She'd taken a hit to the chest and she hadn't had long left but with that time she'd pushed Harry out of the way of laserfire that would've caught him and then with her last few breaths she'd charged into the enemy with grenade in hand, taking out several of them like a true hero.

Beyond the agent who'd sleeved into a Motoyasu, who he'd only known the name of because he'd read a bit of the Shield Hero light novel, Harry was ashamed to say he didn't know any of their actual names.

Now he was alone though. Harry only had his luck and normal fighting skills to see himself through this battle. All he had left for equipment was his Company provided pulse rifle which so far was proving to be the most reliable thing he'd been sent in with. He'd taken out a handful of enemy fighters himself so far but they just kept coming.

Harry stuck his weapon over the barricade and fired randomly into the approaching enemy. The clank as one of them fell was music to his ears. Hopefully that'd buy him enough time for the countermeasures to be employed. Whoever was coming would hopefully counteract the anti-power field and Harry could finally let loose with his own abilities.

Not having access to the force was leaving an itch in his skull.

He was basically cannon fodder without the Force or his magic to support him, but the kind of power upgrades it'd take to overcome Vae Victis' anti-power field was far more than he'd be able to afford, even after this operation's rewards came through. It was the stuff of the higher tier agents who had grown to nigh godhood or more specifically, those in upper management.

The clanking of feet heralded the enemies' approach, it seemed they weren't willing to politely wait for Harry to be able to turn the tables on them.

He considered his options.

To the left there was some cover, leading to a rail off to the side of the floating island they were on. Based on what he recalled of the map he'd been given leading vaugely to where the Elizabeth was located.

Off to the other side… nothing but dead bodies, and even less cover. There was a rail, but it had snapped off after the island in that direction had moved too far away to remain attached.

Well winners couldn't be choosers. Harry jumped up, making a mad sprint for the left side. Holding out his rifle, he fired blindly as he tried to maintain a small profile despite his 6'5 frame.

Blasterfire struck the ground and the terrain around him as he withdrew from his jacket that hook thing with his free hand. Harry reached the ledge and dived for the rail.

"Ack!" He shouted as a blast of whatever these guys were using as ammunition struck him a glancing blow in the thigh. He couldn't stop though and it didn't hurt his momentum. Wildly reaching out he managed to get the hook over the rail and suddenly he was sort of flying away.

Some more shots were fired in his general direction, but none of them were close. Harry had too much momentum for them to aim properly.

"Had to leave our island," Harry reported. "Just me left, we were completely overrun."

"Copy," replied Oracle. "No wait, shit, Harry which rail did you take?"

"I dunno, the left one," Harry snarked.

"Wait, I see you. Harry, you better think of something because the island on the other end of that rail's been rigged to blow."

"I don't think I heard that properly," Harry said. "It sounds like you just said I have the choice between letting go and falling to my death, or dying in a blazing inferno."

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Oracle replied grimly. "I'm sorry, Harry."

Looking around frantically once more Harry tried to figure out what to do. He could see the rail now, the end of it. There was absolutely nothing around he could just drop off on. Other islands were starting to lose altitude faster now. Even if he wasn't about to fall, he wouldn't have had much longer anyway.

"Now'd be a good time for that support to arrive boss," Harry said. With the Force on his side he'd probably be able to manage something, or if there even was one in this reality he could jump blind into the local fae dimension.

"ETA ten minutes!" Oracle said into the comms.

"You said that last time!" Harry shouted back. But it was too late now.

Was this the end of the line?

"Damnit!" Harry swore again as he looked at the island he was approaching. There was a series of explosive barrels, in red and there was a comically large clock wired to the pile of explosives.

Between certain death now and certain death in a few minutes, Harry chose the few minutes and let go.

He went into freefall, his Jedi robes flapping madly in the wind. He should've just stuck to his duster coat for this.

Okay, he'd bought himself a bit of time. Now he needed to figure out how to survive this predicament. Looking around for anything, Harry could only see a few signs of fighting in the lower islands. There wasn't anything beneath him. Now'd certainly be a good time to learn how to fall without touching the ground.

An explosion above him caught his attention, Harry twisted in midair to look behind himself.

Along with the debris of another floating island, a giant creature was falling towards him. It was the bird monster, whatever its name actually was. The Big Daddy thing that was supposed to protect Elizabeth and which would violently attack anything that tried to take her away from her gilded cage.

"Oh hells!" Harry swore. "This isn't my idea of help," He snarked as the falling creature approached his freefalling form.

Only, it wasn't aiming for him, no the creature was simply falling. There were no lights in its eyes, no wings out to try and curb its descent. The machinery animating it had stopped thanks to the reality field. It was pitted with many marks of blaster fire. Its right leg was missing just below the knee. It'd certainly seen fighting in the last several minutes.

Had that thing been still alive despite the Vae Victis reality field? Damn that thing must have had just enough real working parts and plenty of spite left in it to keep going despite likely more than half its body no longer functioning properly thanks to the reality field. Clearly someone had built a ton of redundancy into that monstrosity.

Harry didn't particularly care about the monster right now though. There was something far more important worth thinking about in his line of sight.

Elizabeth, the whole reason anyone was here was struggling to escape the stiff grasp of the falling corpse.

He couldn't fly, but he could at least angle himself enough to alter the direction he was falling in. Harry managed to swerve himself closer.

"Hey!" He shouted. The girl turned to look at him with fearful eyes. "I'm Harry, I'm here to get you out of here!"

"I'm stuck!" Elizabeth shouted over the wind. "Who are you!?"

"I'm Harry!" Harry repeated. "Hold on!"

He managed to drift close enough that he could grasp the fallen Big Daddy thing and then clamber down to where Elizabeth was trapped. He began pulling at the strong grip of the dead monster.

"It's no use!" Elizabeth shouted, tears drifted from her eyes as she looked down at the approaching ground. The tears were dragged up by the howling wind to fly up into the atmosphere.

"It's not over yet!" Harry refuted the pretty young woman. Damn she really was beautiful. A damsel in distress with big doe like eyes like that? What was Harry supposed to do except try to rescue her?

No wonder everyone wanted an Elizabeth Comstock, she was pushing all of his buttons certainly and while Harry had made some mistakes in the romance department, he didn't necessarily think he had poor taste either.

But the monster's hand wouldn't budge. It was locked in place, either due to rigour mortis setting in or a mechanical failure. Either way Elizabeth wasn't getting free.

Harry looked down.

Even if he did get Elizabeth free, there was also the matter of the fact they were plummeting to their deaths. That was a problem too.

Unless…

"Oracle!" He shouted, putting a finger to his earbud. "I have located Elizabeth, but we're in freefall and she's stuck with the monster holding onto her!"

"Can you get in close?" Oracle asked.

"I'm already next to her," Harry replied.

"Locking onto your location now for emergency evac," Oracle replied. "Good work, Harry."

A square portal ringed with purple light opened below them and a second later Harry had lost most of his momentum. More importantly he was now moving horizontally instead of vertically.

Flying forward, Harry curled into a ball and did his best to cover his head. Colliding with the ground, he bounced off the soft ground several times until finally he rolled to a stop.

Uncurling he rolled onto his back. Beneath him he could feel the blessed dirt and grass of terra firma.

He'd survived.

Opening his eyes Harry took in his surroundings properly. He was in an open field, a meadow of some sort. There were a few trees scattered about.

It was a strange choice of landing pad, but if it worked then Harry wasn't complaining. But at a guess it was only his suddenly reactivated magic and Force powers that probably helped him survive even that semi-soft landing from what had probably been approaching terminal velocity.

"Damn, talk about fast service," Harry muttered. All he'd needed to say was that he had Elizabeth and he was immediately out. The Company really were mercenary about the support they were willing to provide sometimes.

A creaking of metal off to the side came before a shrieking whistle emitted from the creature that had come along for the ride.

The monster lifted itself up shakily, finding one of its legs missing forcing it to lift itself up on its claws. It looked around, taking in its surroundings for a few seconds and observed the open field they'd been deposited in. It immediately located Elizabeth, who was unhurt except for a few scratches. The young woman had survived the landing and was now crawling backwards away from the creature with wide fearful eyes. Then, its glowing bulbous eyes seemed to alight on Harry.

"Oh come on!" Harry muttered as the mechanical monstrositiy's eyes turned a deep angry red.

Chapter 139 - Elizabeth

"Forzare!" The man who had somehow saved her and brought her here shouted.

Elizabeth watched with wide eyes as a blast of force shot out from Harry's hand and impacted the creature as it leapt for him. The creature was knocked aside and Harry scrambled to his feet, immediately backing away over the grass.

The Songbird was not deterred though and it immediately came back around, dragging itself closer, at a more cautious pace this time as it looked for an opening.

"Niiice crime against nature, gooood crime against nature," Harry said, like he was trying to talk down to an animal. From out of his dark robes the man slowly pulled a cylindrical metal device of some sort.

The Songbird shrieked and leapt forward again, apparently having lost patience. Elizabeth absolutely wasn't prepared for what happened next.

Harry leapt, practically at the last moment evading the creature's claws as he spun over it. A shaft of glowing green light emitted from the metal device in his hands. He swung with the weapon, leaving glowing metal behind as the shining sabre cut through the Songbird's reinforced covering with incredible ease.

Harry landed on the other side of the monster which immediately spun around, using the momentum to take a swing with its claw.

Somehow the man dodged it though, seeming to know exactly how to position himself to avoid the attack he leapt up, turning horizontal and spinning again, managing to sneak between two of the Songbird's massive claws and then he landed once more on his feet. The sword he carried seemed to nusheath itself with a prominent snap-hiss.

"Can't we all just get along?" Harry snarked as the Songbird dug its claw into the ground to reorientate itself.

The Songbird clearly didn't appreciate Harry's words. It leapt for him again, only it was much closer this time. Elizabeth gasped as it looked like the Songbird had landed fully on top of him!

But no, a second later Harry was coming out from the other side of the monster. The Songbird only had a second to turn its head before Harry had jumped onto its back.

Harry clambered up onto the creature, his currently unlit weapon in one hand. Then he took it in both hands, once again ignited the strange impossible sword and struck down, pressing the tip of the glowing blade down through the reinforced metal covering and into the creature's spine as far as he could.

The songbird shrieked again, thrashing to try and get the man off but Harry was already leaping back further away, withdrawing his weapon as he did so.

The Songbird tried to turn, struggling to control its limbs now. It was only able to manage enough that Elizabeth could now see its freshest injury.

Burnt metal and smoke came out of the hole where the weapon had penetrated. The Songbird had a large neck and thick armour but with the length of the sword, a large part of the obviously superhot weapon must have entered the vulnerable flesh beneath. The glowing sword had obviously done a tremendous amount of damage to the already injured monster and it swayed as it tried to hold itself up. Elizabeth's saviour raised his weapon in one hand while holding up his palm on the other in a warding gesture. Not that it would be needed anymore.

The Songbird shrieked again, but even as it cried out in rage and hate,the noise petered out. It seemed to glower at the man one last time before the lights in its eyes flickered and died.

The Songbird, the monster that had haunted Elizabeth's dreams for so long, was well and truly dead, slain by Harry the mysterious man who'd saved her.

And Elizabeth suddenly realised that here, on the ground for the first time she could remember there was no Songbird. There was no cult of religious fanatics to put her back in her cage. She was free.

Chapter 140 – Harry Dresden

"Are you alright?" Harry asked.

"Y-yes," Elizabeth answered as she accepted Harry's offered hand. Harry pulled her to her feet, it wasn't hard she was quite slender and petite, while Harry was well over six feet and pretty strong even for his build. The Force reinforced his physical abilities on top of his magic doing something similar.

"Looks like we're safe," Harry said, looking at the defeated Songbird. "No more nasties, hopefully."

Elizabeth favoured him with a weak smile.

"Where are we?" She asked.

"I don't really know," Harry replied. "Oracle said it was an emergency portal, so I guess it could've teleported us anywhere." Although considering he had his powers back, thankfully, Harry figured they were on a Company controlled world.

They lapsed into a momentary silence. It was then that Harry noticed how bright the sun overhead was.

"Come on, let's go get some shade," Harry said, going to walk away from the giant corpse and towards a nearby tree, big enough to sit under comfortably. Someone would probably be coming to collect them already.

He didn't really need the shade, his powers and defences made the intense light even less of an inconvenience than it would have been normally but they'd both be more comfortable in the shade. He could certainly do with a chance to sit down for a bit too after the two brief bits of fighting interspersed with a freefall without a parachute.

With nothing else to do or anywhere to go for that matter, Elizabeth followed him. They sat down, both leaning on the trunk of the tree.

"Ju-just who are you anyway?" Elizabeth asked. "Who were those men in the metal suits?"

"They were Vae Victis," Harry said. "I'm with the Company. We're two multiversal organisations. Vae Victis were going to try and capture you. We were there to stop that."

"What did they want with me?" Bioshock's damsel in distress asked.

Harry turned to look at her to answer but flinched as pain shot through his leg caused by the motion. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off he could properly feel it. He had his injury from where one of the Vae Victis tin cans had clipped him before and a few other bruises he was only just noticing started vying for his attention too. All things considered though, it was barely a scratch considering what he'd been up against.

"You don't want to know," Harry said honestly in reply to her question. He only knew a bit of what Vae Victis did with Elizabeths, but he'd heard horror stories here and there. Torture, dismemberment, being turned into some sort of contraption to power their reality engines. That was what Vae Victis used Elizabeths for.

Elizabeth frowned at the non-answer.

"And your… Company? What do they want with me?" She asked, rather astutely.

Harry opened his mouth to answer and then he caught himself short.

The Company, Slutlife, no doubt wanted to bind her with nigh unbreakable, soul deep mind control. They'd sell her to some schmuck and Elizabeth would become the guy's wife, concubine or whatever the guy happened to want from her. They'd probably also clone her a million times over to use said clones for mostly the same reasons.

"You don't want to know," Harry said honestly, suddenly feeling very tired. "But it's better than what Vae Victis wanted with you."

The Lesser Evil. Yup, that's what Harry had saved her for. Oh no, no torture until your mind breaks into pieces Miss Comstock. Instead you and your soon to be many copies, get to be technically willing sex slaves for the rest of your life. But don't forget that last part. I said technically willing, you'll probably like it.

Wasn't that just… grand?

Elizabeth seemed more than slightly perturbed by Harry's words and he couldn't blame her, but after a few seconds consideration it was plain that the girl who hadn't managed to activate her gestalt self yet and whose normal powers would have been thrown off kilter after arriving in a new universe wouldn't be able to escape using her own abilities. Harry turned back and let the silence overwhelm them. He couldn't think of anything to say right now anyway.

The girl suddenly giggled.

"It sounds like I've just exchanged one cage for another," she said with bitter humour.

The rumbling of an engine heralded a vertibird flying to their location and distracted Harry from replying.

Did that mean they were in Fallout?

It didn't matter, and the question was at least partly answered by what happened next. A handful of troops in the iconic Star Wars stormtrooper armour jumped out. Women from the looks of the boob plates.

"Hey!" Elizabeth shouted as one of them grabbed her arm to pull her up. She wasn't given more than a second to complain before another soldier came from the side and pressed some sort of syringe into Elizabeth's neck. The girl had a moment to glance in Harry's direction, betrayal clear in her expression. Then those eyes fluttered closed a second later and the first stormtrooper picked the girl up into a bridal carry.

Harry watched silently as Elizabeth was carried to the Vertibird.

A third trooper came up, bearing a bit more decoration indicating she was their leader.

"Good work with the Songbird," the surprisingly gravelly voice of the soldier said as she looked at the dead monster. "Glad I didn't have to fight that thing."

"It was already pretty messed up," Harry said. "Plus, the Force y'know? It's a real equaliser."

The soldier nodded.

"Need a lift back to base?"

"Yeah," Harry replied. The soldier offered him a hand and pulled Harry up easily.

He got on the craft and sat opposite the sleeping Elizabeth, who'd been strapped into her chair considering she was unconscious now.

The mission had been mainly about getting Elizabeth out, denying Vae Victis what they'd come for. Harry had been one of many soldiers sent into the fighting and he'd somehow lucked out enough to find the girl and save her.

Save her, only for her to become another asset of the Company, with everything that entailed for a Waifu like her.

She'd be cloned as many times as they could manage and each of those clones would go on to be sold as Waifus to Company agents. Some, quite a few really, would find happiness with men who loved them in return. Others would be little more than servants with sexual benefits for their owners. Some others…

Well Class A had a reputation among the unattached Waifus and orphanages for a reason and they were just the most obvious of what was many horrible fates that could await a Waifu.

Harry closed his eyes, not wanting to look at the girl he'd saved. Because when it came down to it. Had he actually saved her?

"The Company fucks everyone," Hary muttered.

At least this mission ought to have a decent payout, even if Harry hadn't had a choice in participating due to his contract. He'd get some more points, maybe better access to the Catalogue too considering he was the one to find Elizabeth and get her out of there.

More points, more power to affect his own destiny and make a difference, somewhere. The stronger he was the more bad stuff he could stop from happening elsewhere. The more people he could save, one day.

That had to be worth it. One day Harry would have the power to make real meaningful change. To have an impact, to be something like the Hero he had been meant to be.

One day.

They landed. Harry opened his eyes to see they were on a SHIELD skycarrier. Turning his head, he beheld the sleeping visage of the girl he'd saved one last time before jumping off to be escorted away by one of the personnel of the vessel.

Some Hero he was.

Tokoyami

He'd passed his practical exam, but Fumikage wasn't entirely happy with his performance. Iida and he had struggled to work together effectively, their personalities and fighting styles shouldn't have caused any problems but nonetheless they did. Iida had been somewhat antsy ever since his brother had been taken ill. He clearly wanted to ask Carlisle for his help in healing his brother but Fumikage got the impression that Iida was also apprehensive about speaking to him about it. Seeing the other boy's battle with All Might had only made Iida more anxious coming into their exam and his performance had suffered because of it.

They'd passed though. While he'd been reticent about running away at first, Ectoplasm hadn't been able to stop Iida escaping while Tokoyami did his best to distract the Hero.

And now it was the start of the weekend. He'd spent the last few hours preparing for the next couple weeks and now he could say he was fully ready.

Two weeks in a remote forest, training hard with new teachers was something Fumikage was absolutely on board for. The chance to grow stronger, improve his bond with Dark Shadow and make his control of his Quirk stronger was something Fumikage absolutely couldn't pass up on.

Right now though he'd opted to rest, recuperate and let his inner darkness settle so that the eternal night in his soul would be at its best for the coming tribulations.

"Would you like something to drink dears?" His mother asked, having popped her avian head through the door to his bedroom.

"No, mother," Fumikage replied. "I am perfectly content after the juicebox you gave me earlier."

"I'd like some cola," Dark Shadow piped up hopefully.

"Okie dokie, one can of cola coming right up!" Fumikage's mother said cheerfully, closing the door and heading to the kitchen.

"What?" Dark Shadow asked as Fumikage turned to glower at him.

"You can't even drink," Fumikage pointed out.

"Yeah, but I know you wanted something fizzy," his bonded partner replied. Fumikage sighed grumpily.

He had had a hankering for something sweet, but even though he secretly loved fizzy drinks they…

Well they gave him gas. Nobody in his class knew, and hopefully they would never find out. Fumikage would sooner commit seppuku than let his… disability be known to his contemporaries.

They were sat at Fumikage's desk, looking over the recent Hero news. Fumikage scrolled through some of the recent articles.

For the last several weeks the debate about Carlisle's ability to take and give Quirks had raged across the internet and news outlets. Carlisle didn't seem to be particularly worried about it all, assuming he was even aware. Fumikage figured he probably wouldn't care anyway. The Westerner was brimming with confidence, carrying himself like a fully blooded Hero in truth rather than the student he was supposed to be.

Even during the last exams…

Fumikage desperately wanted a copy of the recording of Carlisle and All Might's fight. It'd probably make him king of the online forums he frequented if he posted that.

Going back to Carlisle's abilities. There was a lot of back and forth about Gift's power to remove Quirks which had been revealed during the sports festival. But while sides were becoming polarised for or against him, nobody could really prove anything about Carlisle's attitude beyond what he'd already shown to the public.

They could argue against it of course, call Carlisle a liar, claim he would use his abilities for evil. But they were empty words in the face of the commitment the young man had shown in his fight against Shiozaki-san. The fact All Might seemed to support him too had done a lot to dampen hostilities. Fumikage looked at the photo of Gift with All Might's hand on his shoulder taken during the Jaku hospital incident.

Now that was an endorsement if ever there was one.

The door opened, letting in a bit more light into Tokoyami's bedroom as his mother once more made her presence known.

"Here you go dear, and I put in a straw too," she said cheerfully while approaching his desk. Her pink dress contrasting heavily with the black feathers of her mostly avian features.

"Thanks!" Dark Shadow said, taking the gift from their mother and setting it down on the table. "You're the best, mom!"

"I do try!" She said with a little giggle. "Oh, before I forget. You have packed everything for your camping trip right?"

"Yes mother, you were there," Fumikage replied, not managing to sound quite as terse as he wanted to when faced by his mother's kind eyes.

"And you did pack enough underwear?" She pressed.

Fumikage managed a brief glower at his mother through his embarrassment.

"Okay, okay, no more mythering," she said airily while Dark Shadow laughed at him. Laughed!

"I apologise," Fumikage said, shooting his partner a more meaningful glare. "I am just feeling slightly tense in anticipation of this training trip."

"No worries!" His mother said brightly. "Dinner'll be ready at seven," she finished before leaving the room.

Fumikage slumped down in frustration with a sigh.

He loved his mother, but she never seemed to respect his boundaries. She'd never really come to give the proper level of respect to Fumikage's future as a Hero. A Hero destined to fight Darkness in his soul even as he held back the Darkness that Villains wished to smother the world in.

Grudgingly, he took a sip of the sweet, fizzy drink.

Hopefully the rest of his classmates were having a good time this weekend. Fumikage hadn't been invited, but he'd heard some of his friends were going to visit I-Island. In his case he was happy to relax and prepare himself mentally for the trials to come.

"Fumikage-kun!" His mother suddenly shouted as she hurried into the room. "You have a letter!" She said excitedly, brandishing the document which she'd clearly already opened and read herself.

Fumikage accepted the document and pulled the notice out. It was from a competition he'd entered well before he'd started at UA.

His eyes widened in surprise and excitement. He'd won an invitation to go to I-Island!

142: Yaoyorozu

Not everyone was able to get access to visit I-Island for their Expo. She'd almost prefer to spend a day out with her boyfriend. There were so many opportunities that might be made available to her and her burgeoning Hero career. Momo absolutely couldn't miss this chance!

"I hope you have a good time," Ethan said over the videolink. "Sad I can't come. I was looking forward to seeing you this weekend."

"We'll have the whole of the training camp to spend some time together," Momo replied conciliatory, making her boyfriend smile.

"Indeed we shall. Maybe I'll find the opportunity to spirit you away into the woods for an hour or two," Ethan told her. Momo squirmed slightly in her seat at the idea of what her boyfriend might be insinuating.

After their last time together which had been incredibly eye opening, and then finishing the practical exams Momo had taken the opportunity to study up on… sexual things. There had been a lot of information to sort through but Momo had done her best despite how embarrassing it had all been.

She had… ideas now. Momo licked her lips.

A polite cough from opposite her reminded Momo that she wasn't entirely alone.

"Perhaps Miss would like some earphones to better hear across the line?" Her butler commented. Momo was startled as she realised that he'd just heard all that.

"Y-yes, thank you Jeeves," Momo said, feeling her cheeks heating up in embarrassment as the slipup.

Fortunately her butler was a professional. He produced the promised earphones from a pocket and Momo quickly plugged them into her tablet.

"I shall just be further up the plane Miss," the British man said. "I understand the clouds from the other end of the plane are fascinating."

"Thank you," Momo said, barely able to cover her embarrassment, dismissing the man and he hurriedly left.

Momo sighed. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to look the man in the eye later. She looked back at the screen where her boyfriend was looking back at her with amusement. Momo pouted. She knew what he was like, it was really her own fault for not anticipating her boyfriend talking about that sort of thing.

"Can I come play in the woods with you and Momo-neechan?" came Eri's voice from somewhere off the screen. Ethan turned sharply to the side, apparently having been caught by surprise.

It was his turn to look uncomfortable now. Momo felt a surge of vindictive pleasure at her lover's expression as he quickly tried to think of what to say to his adopted little sister.

"I was talking about boyfriend and girlfriend stuff Eri," Ethan deflected. "We'll play other games with you though, don't worry."

Momo could practically feel the girl's pout through the connection at the refusal. That'd teach him for trying to embarrass her!

"Anyway I'll leave you to it," Ethan said. "We still need to finish packing and then we can set off."

"We're going to Disneyland!" Eri cheered, popping her head in front of Ethan's face. There was some shuffling and then the girl was deposited in Ethan's lap.

"I will, goodbye Ethan-kun," Momo said. "I hope you both have fun too."

"We certainly will," Ethan said.

"Byeeee!" Eri said, the small girl smiling and waving cheerfully.

The connection cut off.

Momo chuckled. Eri seemed even more excitable than usual. It was probably because she was going to get her 'big brother's' attention all to herself for the weekend while Momo had been taking some of that for herself lately. Of course during the next week there would be plenty of opportunities to spend time with her boyfriend.

It would actually be Momo's first experience of camping in the wild outdoors too, but she'd done plenty of reading and preparation for the trip.

Still she had this weekend to think about. The Expo promised to be quite the experience. She could think about her boyfriend and all the… salacious new thoughts running through her head later. Like that fantasy she'd had about Ethan being a butler and using his influence over her, the naive princess to take advantage of her like in that doujinshi she'd found.

Momo felt her body heating up at the memory of that particular bit of erotic material she'd found.

Eager to distract herself she pulled out a magazine about the Expo. She wouldn't have her boyfriend around for the next few days, she'd just have to find other ways to distract her quickly developing libido.

Momo sighed in mild frustration. Ethan was making a lewd woman out of her.

She wasn't exactly against that idea though. Momo was at least gratified to know he was prepared to take responsibility.

143: Mineta

His shift was almost over and Minoru was glad for that, after several hours of service he was absolutely exhausted.

He'd somehow managed to land himself a gig waiting tables on I-Island. Mineru would never have considered it before, but it was the price of his ticket to I-Island and that was more than worth the work and humbling himself a bit.

Plus, his girlfriend was here too.

He offered Tsuyu-chan a smile as they passed each other. His girlfriend was doing much the same as he was, not having been able to afford getting to the island on her own. Apparently she had a large family, which meant money was tight, or at least that's what Minoru had inferred. Tsuyu also often found herself looking after her siblings in the evenings so she didn't have a lot of free time.

He'd never have thought she had all those burdens put upon her. Minoru didn't know of any way he could really help, but he'd still offer her his support if she wanted it.

This boyfriend thing was turning out pretty easy so far, he almost felt silly for how much pressure he'd put on himself before. The Minoru of a few months ago would have been amazed about how confident he was about it now. He just had to listen and politely nod his head and that seemed to be working when they'd chatted online after school. Although it wasn't like they'd been able to go on a date or anything yet, they hadn't had the time.

That was something to work on. Carlisle took Yaoyorozu out during the weekends doing whatever it was they did, so that was probably the right thing to do. He just needed to figure out something both he and Tsuyu-chan would enjoy doing. He was in luck there, I-Island was the perfect opportunity!

He quietly removed the last few plates from a couple's table, carefully not staring at them as he did so. They had clearly been on a date which was what had caught Minoru's attention. This job had been really helpful in seeing how some proper adults went about going on dates, he'd have taken notes if he'd had the time.

Half an hour later he was changing out of his service outfit, free to go and explore to his heart's content. Any other time and he would have been ready to just lie down for a bit after being on his feet like that for several hours, but with the prospect of going out and exploring the Island and some of the stands and presentations that were still available Minoru couldn't pass the opportunity up.

Waiting outside, Tsuyu wasn't far behind him, having changed into some casual clothes like his own. Minoru's face broke into a smile at seeing her.

"That was tiring," Tsuyu-chan said. "I can't believe people do that every day."

"Me neither," Minoru said frankly. "But it was worth it for a chance to come here."

"Definitely, gribbit," Tsuyu replied, looking around the street.

I-Island was beautiful, picturesque in a way that normal civilisation couldn't match. It was almost like a theme park somehow, except people actually lived there.

"Wanna go to the expo?" Minoru asked. He offered the taller girl his hand.

Tsuyu nodded, smiling and the new couple went off towards the big building where everything was taking place on what was officially their first date.

144: Yaoyorozu

Momo sighed as she walked through the expo. There was a great deal of interesting technology and other things on display so far, but she'd have liked to have shared the experience with Ethan.

She knew she couldn't monopolise him, that wouldn't be right but still it left her slightly frustrated. What's more it wasn't like there was anyone else around who she could speak with about this in what was effectively a foreign country.

Currently she was watching a demonstration of some sort of cold fusion propulsion device. It wasn't anything she could replicate with her power though, the circuitry involved in that sort of technology was possible, but she'd never figured out how to add the software into her creations necessary to manage advanced technology like that.

Turning she was caught by surprise though. A slender girl with a short bob of hair and two strips of flesh coming from her ears. It was one of her classmates!

"Jiro-san?" She asked.

The girl turned, confirming Momo's suspicion.

"Yaoyorozu!" she greeted, coming up to her.

"Oh it's good to see a familiar face," Momo said. Finally, someone she could talk to.

"Oh, is Etha- I mean Carlisle-san not here?" Jiro replied.

"He's in America," Momo replied, "taking his sister on holiday."

"Oh, that's too bad…" Jiro replied. "I guess he's the only one who hasn't been able to come."

"What do you mean?" Momo replied, confused.

"Pretty much everyone from our class managed to get here," Jiro said. "I spotted Midoriya before and Mineta and Asui were waiting tables at a restaurant." She shrugged. "Everyone else just got lucky, kinda weird if you ask me."

"Except Ethan," Momo replied.

"I guess," Jiro shrugged, sounding slightly disappointed herself.

"Shall we explore together?" Momo asked. Jiro agreed and the two young women waked on to one of the next exhibits. It was some sort of expanding and then solidifying foam technology that could be breathed through, but was currently still in the design stages as it was also an irritant to the skin. It was being demonstrated by a woman with a heteromorphic quirk that gave her scales all over her body, making her look somewhat like a snake, although despite her lacking hair all her proportions were baseline human.

"So how did you find your way here?" Momo asked conversationally.

"My parents got tickets to come from one of the bands performing at the gala tonight," Jiro revealed.

"Oh they're musicians?" Momo asked.

"Yeah, dad's a composer, he mainly writes music for pop groups," Jiro revealed.

The tw girls continued chatting a bit about music and then their classes as they went through the various exhibitions. There was a lot of science on display, most of it went well above both of their heads but Momo was interested to see how the denizens of I-Island were applying their knowledge.

Ethan would have probably understood it though. He'd probably seen technology like this before.

At lunchtime Momo and Jiro found an eatery and sat down to eat.

The food was nice, it reminded Momo of her first date in the woods with Ethan.

"You really miss him huh?" Jiro asked suddenly, taking Momo by surprise. Clearly she hadn't been disguising her thoughts very well.

"I do," Momo admitted. She was surprised by how much. She'd only last seen him the other day after all.

"What's he like, out of class I mean? I've never like, gone out with a boy before. What do you normally do?" Jiro asked casually, although there was a slight dusting of pink to her cheeks when she said it for some reason.

"Ethan is much the same out of class. As for our dates. Well we've been to the cinema and had meals together, but the first time Ethan-kun took me out to a forest to see the stars, it was quite romantic," Momo said, remembering that day. She was careful not to think about all the other things they did while they were on that date, or the next one spent in that clearing he'd found.

"That sounds cool," Jiro admitted, slightly enviously. She looked down at her food.

"I'm sure you'll find someone yourself Jiro-san," Momo commiserated.

"Yeah I guess," Jiro said. "Can't believe Mineta and Asui are going out though."

"It is quite surprising, but Mineta-san does seem to have calmed down a bit in the last few weeks," Momo commented.

"Well as long as he doesn't break Asui's heart," Jiro said with a shrug. Momo couldn't help but agree. While they'd cut the feed to the practical test it had been fairly obvious to everyone what had happened, especially with all of Midnight-sensei's teasing the next day. She hoped it worked out for them.

145: All for One

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

The boy with Overhaul was too powerful for anyone incapable of resisting his taking of their Quirk. That alone would have been reason enough to cancel any of his ongoing plans, but the boy had foolishly revealed to his classmates that he was going on holiday elsewhere when the attack was arranged to take place. So All for One was confident that the attack on I-Island would bear fruit.

Which was more than All for One could say about any of his other recent plans.

Shigaraki had revealed himself to be a disappointment. After all his time and investment in the boy All for One had found it time poorly spent. All Might had apparently moved on, absolving himself of any guilt for the boy's circumstances unlike what he had envisioned for the child. Shigaraki's Quirk had potential and that had been taken from him too. But the boy did still have his uses though, he was at least loyal and All for One rewarded loyalty.

But All for One had decided he was no longer interested in making Shigaraki his successor. There were other opportunities available to him now. He didn't need to exchange his current form for Shigaraki's to make use of the boy's strong will and enhance his ability to control the Quirks in his possession. Neither did he need to do so to return his sight. In the process of looking for more Quirks to replace Shigaraki's, Garaki had found and subsequently provided a multi-eyes Quirk which had returned All for One's vision.

Perhaps auspiciously, Garaki chose that moment to enter the room.

"He's ready," Garaki said.

All for One nodded, observing the man through his new eyes. After so many years without, it had been a relief to once more have his sight returned to him regardless that he had been abe to ameliorate the issues somewhat with his Thermal Vision Quirk. "You managed everything?" He asked, somewhat surprised by his friend's quick work.

"I just need you to add the Quirks and then I can finalise everything."

"Good," All for One said, standing.

Garaki led him through the base.

New servants had been acquired, less capable though they may have been compared to Kurogiri for example, but All for One was at least capable of finding those who would be loyal above all else. They bowed or offered words of greeting as they went about their business,which was mainly in assisting Garaki to set up his new infrastructure.

They entered Garaki's current lab. A multitude of medical devices All for One didn't truly understand were arrayed around the room and at its centre was an operating table upon which Shigaraki laid. He was bound by several leather straps around his limbs and head.

The boy was awake, surprisingly.

"Master," he said in greeting. His throat sounded slightly sore. His skin was pale and looked almost rubbery as the modifications to create the Nomu had been incorporated into his system.

His face was normal though, and he still looked sickly of course. Although ever since All for One had taken him in he'd always looked like that, it had to be said.

"Shigaraki-kun," All for One greeted as he approached. "It is time."

The boy couldn't exactly nod his head but he looked eager for what was about to happen.

"I'm ready," he rasped, eagerness plain in his tone and manner.

All for One put his hand on the boy's arm and began giving him the Quirks he would need for the coming confrontation. Garaki held up a clipboard, listing the Quirks they had agreed to incorporate into the boy's body.

"Super Regeneration times three," Garaki began listing off as All for one concentrated. "Five super strength Quirks, three speed Quirks, Metal Bones, Sandpaper Skin, Echo Form, Jump Step, Tool Arms-"

Shigaraki was straining in his bondage. The boy's body was struggling to handle all the Quirks he was being given at such a rate, his muscles bulging and then contracting, threatening to snap his restraints. Garaki was reading out the list a bit too quickly too, All for One hadn't even got to the Tool Arms Quirk yet.

He pulled his hand back, panting himself from the effort of adding several Quirks at once. It was something he'd never actually done before. Usually he'd hand over one, or maybe two to a subordinate. Gigantomachia was one of very few individuals with multiple Quirks whose mind had survived the process, and All for One had found the strain of adding them intense then too.

Shigaraki likewise was red faced, jaw clenched as he tried to adapt to the sudden influx of power he'd been given. He was holding out, albeit barely. Only the boy's intense force of will was holding him together despite Garaki's biological improvements and the copies of the Regeneration Quirk he'd given the boy.

"Why'd you stop?" Garaki demanded, annoyed. It was uncharacteristic of him. Usually he showed much more respect, and also attentiveness. Had he truly not seen how much Shigaraki was struggling?

"Shigaraki needs time to adjust to the Quirks I have already given him," All for One stated plainly. "I believe I should add the remainder in increments."

Garaki huffed but nodded after a moment, seeing the wisdom in All for One's words.

"I'll run some more tests in the meantime then," he said. All for One nodded.

"Be calm Doctor," he said, putting a hand on the diminutive man's shoulder. "It won't be long before we both have what we want."

Garaki nodded mutely. That was all the consideration he was going to give, it seemed but All for One didn't mind. There was nothing more he could do, so he decided to leave the Doctor and Shigaraki to it.

Returning to his rooms to rest, he relaxed into a comfortable chair and with a minor telekinesis Quirk poured himself a drink.

I-Island was a great opportunity. The Quirk enhancing technology those bumbling scientists had managed to develop could be exactly what he needed. It might even be enough to give him the power to outright take One for All, no matter how much the Quirk resisted his pull.

Of course then he would go on to acquire Overhaul. Additional sources of power of any kind should not be discarded, he had learnt that lesson the hard way already. He should've hunted down One for All in the early days and then all his problems would have been solved.

The boy was on holiday amusingly enough so there was no worry that the rapidly growing boy would interfere with the powerful Quirks already in his possession.

He had also dubbed himself 'Gift,' which was an unwittingly fitting descriptor. Overhaul would be a fitting reward for finally winning the long game he'd been playing with the inheritors of his brother's Quirk. But what next?

Villainy had been enjoyable, All for One acknowledged. Still it had grown a bit stale and if he were being truly honest with himself, only made exciting by the holders of One for All making their presence known every now and then. But the truth was that he'd chosen to act from the shadows at least partly out of fear.

Memories of what was now childishly dubbed the Dark Age sprung to his mind and were just as quickly pushed away. Those hard times didn't bear thinking about.

He took a sip of his drink, the burning alcohol teasing his throat.

Gift had chosen to reveal himself to the world, either by himself or under advice from the chimaera at UA. The general public response had been somewhat positive overall, a stark contrast to how All for One anticipated such a reveal would have gone two hundred years ago. It seemed the world All Might had ushered in over the last decade had become good for something at least.

So once this game of Villainy was over, what sort of era would he choose to usher in next? He could do with some inspiration, Shigaraki's games came to mind of course.

Shigaraki generally played in fantasy worlds. RPGs had never really gone away and had seen popularity in the current world of Heroes and Villains, for obvious reasons. That was too similar to the current state of affairs though. All for One wasn't interested in seeing another drawn out confrontation like he had with All Might. He wanted something different.

But All for One did remember there were other kinds of videogames. City builders and real time strategy games. Civilisation! That was what it was called. An Emperor ruling over a society. That did have a certain appeal to it.

He'd been a Demon Lord, a shadow ruler of the underground for well over a century, but he'd never actually been visible before. He'd never had to reveal his face properly to the world for fear of being hunted forever. But with One for All empowering him on top of his stolen Quirks he truly would be unstoppable. So why not step out and reveal himself truly?

It was a heady feeling, knowing that he was at the cusp of something new, something great.

He settled comfortably into his chair as he mulled over the forthcoming days.

Perhaps… yes. A change of plans was in order.

Turning Shigaraki into a new weapon to wield against the Heroes was still on the cards, but perhaps that plan could be adjusted. He would let Garaki continue his work for the time being. An empowered Shigaraki would be released into the world to eliminate the remaining threats in Japan and then All for One would swoop in and save the day, killing Shigaraki and riding on the goodwill and chaos created to take control of the country. He would become Japan's new Emperor.

It was then that he realised it.

Everything he'd just been considering was hinged on acquiring the Quirk amplifier. The attack on I-Island had to succeed no matter what or everything he'd just been thinking about would not be possible.

He stood up.

The Villains orchestrating the attack might be competent, but mistakes could still occur.

It was best he oversaw this mission personally.

Chapter End Notes

Thanks for reading up to now. If you'd like to see more of my content then you can check out my QQ via my profile.

146 Mineta

They'd spent the day taking in the sights, walking around the exhibits at the expo. Both Minoru and his girlfriend had found the experience fascinating, seeing the technology of the future, technology that might one day find its way into support equipment for Heroes like them. The jet boots someone had been demonstrating looked interesting. Once his costume redesign went through maybe Minoru could consider trying to incorporate something like that to give him more control when he was jumping around?

It was definitely an idea. They'd also seen a prototype bodysuit that was supposed to be able to endure extreme heat and cold. Tsuyu-chan had seemed interested at first but it turned out the material would dissolve in moisture, such as produced by Tsuyu-chan's skin. That had been disappointing but Tsuuyu-chan had bounced back, or at least she'd put on the pretence.

After that Minoru had decided it was time to leave. So it wasn't just because his legs were getting pretty tired after so long standing up, he didn't want to risk seeing things get any more unpleasant. Tsuyu-chan had accepted, she'd seemed surprised by Minoru's assertiveness, which had left him feeling slightly warm inside for whatever reason.

They wandered away from the crowds into a quieter area. There were some decorative water features, even some giant lilypads here and there and some beautiful lotus blossoms, which was strange because they didn't normally blossom quite this early in the year. Minoru put it out of his mind. He wouldn't put it past one of the many eggheads at I-Island to have figured out a special way to make plants bloom early.

They sat down on a bench as the sun started to set.

"So did you send your new costume design to the Support Course?" Tsuyu asked.

"I did," Minoru said. "But Power Loader said it'll take a few weeks before it's ready."

He couldn't believe how that'd turned out. A diaper of all things! How someone had managed to misinterpret his original design was beyond him. He huffed in annoyance. Just thinking about it annoyed him!

Well, the whole harem pants idea was also something he was a bit embarrassed by now too. So instead of trying to get the diaper thing fixed, he'd decided to change his costume entirely. He'd keep the purple, obviously, but he'd decided to just go with a simple bodystocking with some more normal looking boots and gloves for the time being, he could worry about other aesthetics later, when he wasn't going around wearing a diaper!

"I can't believe I'll have to wait, they said the new one won't be ready until after the Provisional Exams!" he bemoaned. Tsuyu chuckled.

"I'm still waiting on my costume upgrade," she said. "Carlisle suggested I get a heater built into my costume, to stop the freezing thing," she explained. "It won't be perfect, it might burn me if I use it too long, but it's designed to only start working when I get too cold so it's worth having for an emergency. Especially after the USJ."

"That's a good idea," Minoru acknowledged. Carlisle always seemed to be one step ahead of everything. He looked to Tsuyu, who was looking out over the still waters. A few insects were starting to chirp around them as day properly turned to night.

"Are you okay?" He asked, making Tsuyu turn to look at him. "I mean after the USJ."

"I'm fine now," Tsuyu said after a few seconds. "I was kind of shaken up at the time, but after my work study I think I'm over it."

"Yeah, yours sounded really exciting," Minoru complained in false envy. "All I did was paperwork," he groused. Although he wasn't the only one slightly disappointed by his first experience in the real world of Heroism. Kirishima had been basically made to do community service!

They fell into a companionable silence after that, looking over the water as the light of the moon reflected off the water. There were a few dragonflies buzzing about, their brightly coloured bodies barely visible in the light.

He needed to do something, something romantic. Minoru licked his lips, not sure how to approach this. He didn't want to do something stupid and mess things up.

Well a good start would probably be to hold her hand, he thought. He couldn't go wrong with that. He reached out to take his girlfriend's hand only to rear back as suddenly the girl leaned forward in her seat, her long froggy tongue shooting out over the water and pulling back in a second later. It took him a moment to realise what had happened.

"Thowwy," Tsuyu-chan said, her cheeks rapidly reddening in embarrassment, she looked away as she swallowed the insect. "It was a reflex."

"D-don't worry about it," Minoru said. He'd been surprised, but in hindsight perhaps he shouldn't have been. Tsuyu's Quirk was Frog after all. Some frog-like instincts were probably part of the package. That didn't change anything though.

He reached for Tsuyu's hand and took it in his own, smiling at the heteromorph girl.

"You're not… creeped out?" Tsuyu asked uncomfortably.

"No," Minoru said seriously, looking into her eyes to try and get across how serious he was being. He wasn't just saying that, he really meant it.

Cursing his diminutive height for the millionth time, he stood up on the bench and boldly leaned forward to kiss her.

Tsuyu was evidently taken by surprise but returned the gentle kiss a second later.

They pulled away from each other a few seconds later. Minoru returned to his sitting position, albeit with Tsuyu's hand in his now. The girl was sitting a bit closer to him now too, their hips actually touching.

This was honestly the closest Minoru had ever properly been with a girl. A part of him, that pervy part that had caused him so many problems was giving him a massive thumbs up right now. Somehow all those stupid thoughts and his motormouth were just… silent.

It was nice.

Their solitude was interrupted by the sound of an explosion going off in the distance.

"What was that?" Minoru asked, although he was worried he already knew the answer.

"It sounds like it was coming from the expo," Tsuyu said, standing up.

The two young Heroes in training looked to each other before nodding their heads in silent agreement.

They weren't proper Heroes yet, but that didn't mean they couldn't help out.

Still they were very far from whatever was going on. Mineta only hoped they arrived in time to help.

147: Ethan

I watched my classmates from afar as they fought the Villains at I-Island. Everything had gone swimmingly. The ruse may or may not have worked, because everything seemed to have gone as I'd expected it to.

The ability to make clones of people was a powerful deception tool. Right now my clone and one of Eri were sat on a plane heading to America. I could feel them in the back of my mind right now although I couldn't tell what they were doing or anything, only that they were still active. They were supposed to dismiss themselves in an hour or so. Hopefully it wouldn't cause too much of a panic on the flight, my clones were just going to go into the bathroom and dissolve. The material would dissolve into nothingness quickly too, leaving no trace that they'd ever been there.

Eri had been somewhat upset that she wasn't actually going on holiday, but she didn't complain when I explained I was trying to trick some bad people so I could catch them. I wasn't sure the attack on I-Island would take off if the enemy knew I was there. The presence of another Quirk stealer meant that there was little point in sending proper Villains in if it would only empower me more in the long term and not sending in criminals with powerful Quirks was just asking for failure if just one competent Hero was involved.

Regardless, the handful of criminals had taken over I-Island's rather impressive Security and Class 1-A had found themselves left adrift with the actual Heroes captured by the Island's security devices and under guard from the various, presumably unpowered henchmen armed with guns. They were safe, for the moment, it was of course Class 1A that needed checking up on.

My classmates had found their way up to the 80th floor and subsequently broken off to either deal with the unpowered goons or continue fighting their way up. Then Izuku had gone ahead, leaving Todoroki and Bakugo to handle the two powerful henchmen. It wasn't out of cruelty that I hadn't interfered in the fight at this point. The experience would do my classmates some good and I was watching to make sure they didn't come out to any permanent harm. Hell, the main guy's henchmen didn't have particularly impressive Quirks anyway. A discount 'Hulk Stronk' Quirk and a weird spatial displacement Quirk which was the only real reason Todoroki hadn't handed both of them their asses yet.

Well, I was still going to take their Quirks of course, I mean, anything's better than nothing and the displacement Quirk seemed interesting.

The last HenchVillain, 'Swordkill' well he'd scraped the bottom of the barrel when it came to names, and powers too for that matter. The poor guy should be up above, likely getting his ass handed to him by Midoriya. The Quirk was kind of cool at least, but it wasn't exactly more dangerous than simply carrying around an actual knife.

I had been surprised to see Mineta and Asui showing up at the base of the tower, which was fully locked down at this point. It appeared they'd missed the action and couldn't get in. I didn't remember them being particularly involved in the events of the film either way. The world's narrative causality had probably smoothed over any cracks in events to see things occur similarly to the canon timeline.

The fact they'd shown up together was mildly surprising. Mineta seemed to have stuck the landing with Asui, good on him.

Well it was probably time to announce my presence, I thought as I watched Bakugo and Todoroki finish off with the Villains with an impressive display of pyrotechnics on Bakugo's part.

Forming a portal I stepped through. It was Bakugo that spotted me first with Todoroki turning to see me a few seconds later.

"Carlisle-san?" Todoroki asked. "I thought you weren't on the island," he asked.

"You missed all the action," Bakugo said gruffly as he panted for breath. "We handled these clowns, but Deku's gone further ahead to help the Heroes."

I nodded as if I wasn't already fully aware. "Looks like I arrived late," I lied. I approached the frozen Villains and put my hand to the ice. "So these guys attacked the Expo?"

"They're probably after the bigwigs at the top of the building," Bakugo said. "Hey don-!" Bakugo began to say, before calming down a second later. He huffed in cynical amusement, realising what I was doing.

"You're going to take their Quirks?" Todoroki asked, sounding slightly disappointed.

"Waste not want not," I said cheerfully.

"Not like they were gonna do anything useful with them anyhow," Bakugo defended me.

The immobilised and trapped Villain, the one with the Hulk transformation wasn't going anywhere, completely unconscious. I used Overhaul to move the ice out of the way and placed a palm against his exposed neck, taking the Quirk. Then I stepped away and went to the other one.

"If they gave you two trouble, imagine what they could've done against anyone else," I said seriously.

I mean I'd been dismissive of them but once you actually thought about it, they were pretty dangerous Quirks. I had stronger abilities already, but these two would be no joke in the average Hero/Villain fight and this fight had demonstrated that clearly against two very powerful combat types. Bakugo and Todoroki were in the top percentile of powerful Quirks. Most active Heroes lacked their sheer combat potential.

Todoroki grimaced but didn't say anything further against it as I jumped up onto the ice holding the other Villain. His Displacement Quirk was added to my arsenal, the guy letting out a weak groan of pain as I took it but unable to do much else.

"What now?" Bakugo said. "Wanna give us a ride up to the rest of the action?" He asked, clearly eager for more combat, even if he was pretty beaten up after the fight he'd already been in.

"Well these guys don't need guarding do they? Even if they do wake up they won't be getting out of that ice," I admitted.

And it wouldn't hurt for the other two boys to get stuck in with the next fight.

I was about to acquiesce to Bakugo's request and create a portal up a few floors for us, but then I had a thought.

"Try to be quiet, we'll take them by surprise," I told them before stepping through.

148: Midoriya

They had found their way to the top of the tower. Now Izuku and Melissa were in a storage room where Melissa's father and his assistant were being kept captive. The plan had been to rescue them but now the truth of how this attack had all come to be had been revealed and Izuku wasn't sure what to say.

David Shield had tried to save his research, which had been cancelled by the administrators at I-Island, citing it was too dangerous to continue. It was a Quirk amplification device intended to help All Might continue on as the Number One Hero despite his decline.

Izuku had wanted to say something, that All Might was fine, that he was getting better but the truth was supposed to be kept a secret and it wouldn't change anything now anyway. Melissa meanwhile was angry at her father and wasn't taking the news well at all.

David though was confused as Melissa revealed the injury that Swordkill had dealt to her.

"But it was all supposed to be an act," he said. "They weren't real Villains."

There was a cold laugh from across the room. A man with a metal face mask was stood there, having entered when nobody was looking, flanked by one of the mercenaries in body armour that had supported the Villains.

"The only act I was pulling was pretending to be a fake Villain," the man said.

He was the boss! Deku realised, immediately preparing to use One for All and engage with the Villain. But Izuku wasn't given an opportunity to react before the man's hand touched the metal wall of the room they were in. Ropes of metal blasted out from around him, knocking Izuku into the air and pushing him to collide painfully with a wall. More metal rope came up, wrapping around him and trapping him so he couldn't move. More metal came up and wrapped around his face in a gag, there was absolutely nothing Izuku could do!

His Quirk lets him manipulate metal, Izuku realised, which was bad news. This entire room was made entirely of metal. Heck, most of the island was constructed out of metal.

"The device, Sam," the Villain ordered. "Hand it over."

Sam stepped forward immediately, grabbing the case from David and hurrying over to the Villain.

"Sam, this was your plan?" David asked, shocked.

Sam then revealed that he had been the one to hire real Villains, frustrated that he wasn't going to be rewarded for his work with David Shield.

"Here's the payment I promised you," the Villain said, raising a gun.

BANG

Izuku stopped struggling, eyes wide as he beheld what the Villain had done. Sam's eyes widened in shock before he fell to the floor, dropping the case.

"B-but this wasn't part of the plan," Sam said, reaching for his bloodied shoulder.

"It was part of mine," the Villain said, voice laced with dark amusement. He raised the gun again.

David was already running and took the second bullet.

"David… why?" the struggling Sam asked as the scientist laid on the floor.

David was about to answer, but the sound of clapping caught everyone's attention.

Another man entered the room. He was wearing a formal suit and had a metal choker around his neck and mouth. Two eyes bulged out from his face. They seemed too large to fit his face, bulging out in an uncanny way from his eye sockets and they lacked eyelids. It was probably his Quirk, Izuku guessed.

"Boss?" the first Villain asked. Izuku saw that the man's eyes were wide with fear for a moment longer before he got himself under control.

"My apologies, my friend," the newcomer said. There was a deep timbre to his voice amplified by the device over his mouth. "I became… impatient."

"Y-yeah," Wolfram said. "Sorry boss, I have the device here," he said. Wolfram opened the case and held it out to the Villain, the guy who seemed to be the leader behind the attack. The Villain reached in and took out some sort of device. It was mainly metal with several long strips of metal coming out of a central point ending in several blue tips that toughly converged around the front. It was swiftly revealed to fit onto the head when the Villain put it on like some sort of crown.

It turned on, the blue tips of the device lighting up and the Villain let out a long sigh.

"Incredible. I can feel it working," he said with satisfaction.

Wolfram sighed in relief, clearly having worried that what had to be the Quirk amplifier might not have functioned properly.

He looked around, his eyes alighting on David, Melissa and Sam and then they turned to Izuku.

"And who is this?" He asked, stepping forward. "Don't tell me All Might's little protege found his way all the way up here?" He asked with amusement. "And to think, I was expecting to have to track you down another day."

Izuku's eyes widened and he started struggling against his bindings in earnest.

This was All for One, it had to be. The guy who'd almost killed All Might. Izuku's eyes darted to the three civilians in the room. Sam might have betrayed David and David might have got them in this mess, but they both still deserved saving. Only Izuku was rapidly realising the situation he'd found himself in was far beyond one he was ready to handle alone.

"Your predecessor gave me some trouble, you know?" All for One said conversationally. "When we fought, I made the mistake of trying to take One for All, but then at the last moment I discovered that I couldn't and because of that your teacher found the opportunity to cripple me. Can you imagine how utterly galling that was?" He asked.

Izuku absorbed the Villain's words, but truly he was only half listening. He needed to figure out what to do.

He couldn't just run, he needed to get the civilians away and even if he did, he wasn't sure he'd be able to escape the Villain. As for fighting… Well he didn't like his chances but even once he got unstuck, based on the complete lack of concern All for One had demonstrated thus far, Izuku wasn't liking his chances.

"Indeed, it was probably the closest I have come to death since I was a young man," the Villain mused. "But truly neither of us were to know. Your Quirk, the Quirk All Might passed on to you,"All for One clarified, eliciting gasps of surprise from both David and Melissa. "Neither of us could have known it would actively resist my taking it."

"L-let them go," Izuku said, trying to put on a brave face. "It's me you want, let e-everyone else go, please," he asked of the Villain.

All for One chuckled.

"How very… self sacrificing of you, young Midoriya," he said with humour. "I can see what All Might must have seen in you, you really do have a Heroic spirit."

From anyone else Izuku would have been pleased at the praise. Right now he was just glad to see the Villain was still talking. They needed All Might if they were going to survive this, Izuku could only hope that someone else had managed to get up to the party where the heroes were being kept captive and free them.

"You would have made a great Hero, carrying on All Might's legacy," All for One continued. "But soon the world is going to change, and we won't be needing Heroes anymore," the Villain said.

"What do you mean?" Izuku demanded. Just what was the Villain planning?

All for One merely shook his head as he stepped a bit closer. "It does not matter. At least, I doubt you will live long enough to see my new world regardless, so telling you the details seems… counterproductive. I will tell you what is about to happen now though," he allowed.

"Thanks to the work of All Might's friend, my Quirk has been amplified," All for One explained. "It only seems to be working on my original Quirk, but ultimately that is all I need it for. With this device I now have the strength to simply take One for All and become the undisputed, most powerful man in the world. Nothing will be out of my grasp. I will become a God."

Izuku's eyes widened. If that was true then that absolutely could not be allowed to happen. He didn't want to leave the others, but if it meant stopping All for One finally winning, then as much as he'd rather not even consider it, he needed to get away above all else.

All for One chuckled, raising one of his hands. "I think I have dallied long enough. Be glad, young Midoriya. Your death will be recorded in history as the start of a new era of peace, as I force the world to kneel at my feet."

He couldn't risk it, he had to move. Activating One for All, Izuku shattered his bindings, but it seemed All for One was a step ahead. His fingers turned into black tendrils that shot forward, flowing with blocky red light along their length. The tendrils shot forward and before Izuku had even hit the ground the attack struck him on the shoulder.

"Agh!" Izuku cried as the attack pierced his flesh, coming right through the other side and pushing him back against the wall.

"No, I do not think I shall be allowing you to leave," All for One said dryly. He began to step closer. Izuku could see the man's other hand. If he touched him with his palm and used All for One then it would be over. He tried to struggled but a burst of pain from his injury told him he wasn't going anywhere.

Then suddenly the black tendrils connecting All for One and Izuku broke. Fragments broke off as the attack shattered.

The Villain grunted in pain, retracting the ability from his end as Carlisle revealed himself, having cut through All for One's attack.

"Sorry," the boy said, dropping his invisibility and revealing his naked form. "But this isn't that kind of story."

149: All for One

Cradling his damaged hand, All for One let his copy of Regeneration heal the injury.

If only he'd had it a decade ago he wouldn't be in such a poor state currently. Alas, he was stuck at a 'base' state, which meant while he was at no risk of further harm, the Quirk could not heal the injury dealt to him by All Might.

"You okay there Midoriya?" Asked the newcomer. All for One immediately recognised him. It was 'Gift'. But wasn't the boy with Overhaul supposed to be in America?

More importantly how had he avoided All for One's Vibration sense? The Invisibility Quirk could possibly have accounted for his Infrared vision, but the Vibration sense was far less easily fooled.

"I-I'll live," All Might's successor managed to say through the pain as he remained stuck to the wall. The Rivet Spears had not been completely destroyed and the other end had remained piercing Midoriya's body, trapping him in place.

"Good," the boy said, stepping to the side so he was now between All for One and the holder of One for All. The sound came from the other side now, away from where the boy had been standing.

Of course, the 'Ventriloquist' Quirk he'd demonstrated during the Sports Festival. He must have been using it to spread out the sounds and vibrations he made, disguising them in the ambient noise around the room. It probably required him to stay fairly still, minimising the vibrations he made, but it left him functionally invisible to the vibration detecting Quirk.

"So… how's it hanging?" Gift asked with false casualness, his voice echoed around the room as he kept the noise distributing Quirk active. "Didn't expect to see the biggest bad here tonight," he joked, clearly trying to put on a front of confidence. He knew who he was facing, that was certainly interesting because All for One certainly hadn't introduced himself properly yet.

"I did not expect to see you here either," All for One replied with curiosity.

Just what was he doing here? Had the Heroes been aware of his plans here and laid a trap? But surely if they were then things would not have gotten this far. All Might would certainly not have allowed himself to be trapped, or remain trapped a few levels below at the party. He would be pragmatic in the face of the threat All for One posed. It was why he'd not revealed himself until now. His lie detection Quirk was struggling to get a hold on him somehow, but it was confirming the boy was telling the truth also. He really hadn't expected All for One to be here.

Whatever the situation was, it didn't matter. All for One felt his mangled lips pull into a smile beneath his mask. This just meant he didn't need to chase the boy down later.

"Yeah, kind of weird," Gift said, tapping his foot. "I mean what's the chances you'd show up now of all times. I'd have figured you'd want some big grand reveal, take down All Might in public or something."

"I decided that it was safer not to take a risk and come to supervise this attack," All for One admitted. Midoriya was still trapped against the wall, he wasn't going anywhere so he figured he might as well indulge the other young man whose Quirk he intended to take tonight while he prepared to shut the boy down. He raised a hand to his head, tracing the contour of one of the fingers of the Quirk Amplifier. "I definitely made the right choice, don't you think?"

Gift's eyes twitched, looking between All for One's eyes and back to the Quirk Amplifier. All for One could see his expression turn slightly more grim. Indeed, the boy was putting up a decent front, but All for One could see his worry. It gave him a pleasant thrill of satisfaction every time to see the Heroes realise they were truly outmatched.

"Yeah, I can see what you mean. It looks like you're only a couple of steps away from winning it all. Still though, a 'new age'? Really? So what, got bored of the cops and robbers thing?"

"The current era of Heroes has grown stale," All for One said, shrugging, allowing the boy to play for time. After all, who was coming to help? All Might was still trapped at the party, ignorant of his nemesis' presence. There were no other Heroes about who were even half-way capable of testing him even without the Quirk Amplifier.

"And now the big scary Villain's going to just outright take over the world," Gift said. "Sounds a bit risky. Plus, all that responsibility once you're in charge? imagine the paperwork..." The boy shuddered theatrically, which inexplicably drew All for One's eyes down to the nude teenager's free-hanging genitalia.

He's given up on using Shigaraki as his successor, but he could still use a new body, he supposed. The Multi-Eyes Quirk fixed his vision but his current circumstances were still far from ideal, and Gift had set himself up quite nicely in the public sphere.

"We shall see how quickly I grow tired of the next era," All for one admitted, returning to the conversation. "If I decide I am not enjoying myself, well," he shrugged. "I can always reset the board."

"You mean wipe out most of the planet?" Gift asked frankly, his voice continuing to echo around with the sound dispersal Quirk while he restlessly fidgeted in poorly hidden worry. "Set yourself up as a God to the survivors or something?"

"Or something," All for One agreed. He could become a new Zeus, a new Skyfather handing down powers from the heavens. That certainly had a kind of appeal to it too. It was more of a permanent change though. He'd be dedicating himself to the project of building up civilisation from scratch if he did that.

Actually that wasn't a terribly bad idea, he mused, all the best civilisation games started from scratch, the stone age. Building up a society from the barest bones to a more modern age sounded exciting. Indeed, Gift was not unintelligent and had an engaging imagination. Taking his body and subsuming his mind was becoming increasingly more and more attractive an idea as he allowed the boy to keep talking.

"I don't think I can throw stones here," Gift said, walking around from side to side but maintaining his position between All for one and Midoriya. He snapped his fingers several times in quick succession, the sound continuing to resound around them irritatingly. "But if you're gonna kill a bunch of people don't you think you need at least some kind of justification?"

"The only justification I need is my own desire," All for One said factually. Then he caught himself short as he processed what the boy had said. Why would the boy think he couldn't throw stones?

Amidst his confusion, it seemed that the words he'd thought would be suitably intimidating were anything but. The boy merely chuckled.

"Ah, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised," Gift said. He clapped his hands together for emphasis, the sound travelling loudly in the room, irritating All for One's advanced senses further. "I mean, you are the guy who decided to style yourself a Villain because you saw an old comic book and thought it'd be fun."

That caught All for One by surprise. It was the truth, but short of his long deceased brother there was nobody currently alive who should have known that. Suddenly he felt more on guard as the boy continued to reveal knowledge he shouldn't have had. Meanwhile Gift continued talking.

"I mean, who reads a superhero comic and thinks, y'know these fucking losers, guys who get beat up every issue, made fools of and humiliated, 'I want to be like that,'" Gift laughed directly at him, derogatory amusement plain on his features. "What a fucking dumb origin story. At least make up something better."

All for One scowled, not finding the boy's ridicule amusing in the slightest and it was in his irritation that he realised he'd allowed himself to be distracted, to monologue. It was a bad habit, one he'd developed over the last many decades. Something to train himself out of in the future.

Shaking himself off mentally, he decided it was time to end this.

"I think that's enough indulgence," All for One said. He attacked without notice, firing his Rivet Spears forward.

Gift's eyes widened in sudden panic but he brought his hands up, using the stolen Disintegrate Quirk from Shigaraki to break the attack.

The surprise hadn't worked, perhaps obviously he would need to actually try to win this last fight. Which in all fairness was a novelty in itself.

"Wait, don't you want to know how I got here?" Gift asked.

"I imagine via Warp Gate, you did take that one from my servant," All for One stated, uninterested as he prepared to attack with both hands this time.

"No, I mean about how I got here," Gift pressed, continuing to walk around, the sound of his motion echoing around annoyingly.

"No," All for One stated, having had quite enough games. He attacked again.

Gift was quick, but he only had two, no three hands. Still it wasn't enough now that he was trying. A Rivet pierced the boy's chest, the others winding around his hands to strike the boy through multiple locations. A gasp of air came from his lungs and he choked. All for One would not have dealt the boy such severe injury if it weren't for the regeneration Quirk he knew the boy already possessed.

"I trust you will be quite safe there, while I finish with young Midoriya," All for One said dryly.

"W-well actually no," Gift said, clearly struggling with the pain. "But, I mean… I think I lasted long enough, don't you?"

Another odd turn of phrase. Then the meaning became clear. Gift's body started to change colour, becoming an off-white as his form started to break down like he was made of soft wax. All for One didn't have more than a second to realise he'd been tricked before his vibration sensing Quirk sensed something approaching behind him!

He turned, but he had to retract his tendrils from Rivet stab first and he was barely fast enough to see the open palm with fingers outstretched right in front of his face. The fingers brushed up against his cheek and the bridge of his nose as he continued to turn, the skin flaking off as the Disintegration Quirk acted. Hastily, he released an attack from Air Cannon and sent the attacker flying away.

Heart beating rapidly, All for One observed the newcomer as they tumbled to a stop against the far wall.

It was Gift, another Gift, presumably the real one. The boy had almost had him. All for One chuckled despite himself. To think he'd almost been completely caught off guard. If the boy had managed to do enough damage to his brain, he wouldn't have been able to stop the boy completely destroying his body. No amount of Regeneration would have been enough to save him then.

"Indeed you are full of surprises," All for One admitted, as he regathered himself. The boy stood up back on his feet.

"Almost had you dead to rights," Gift said with humour. "But hey, I didn't fail completely did I?"

Frowning, All for One wondered what the boy was talking about. It was then that he felt it.

The sound of metal snapping heralded one of the pieces of the Quirk Amplifier falling to the ground. Then he heard the sound of electrics crackling at the back of his head. Reaching behind himself he took off the device.

The primary control at the back of the device looked like it had melted, destroyed by the interloper's no doubt brief contact with the device.

Sudden fury overtook him as he realised what the boy had done. His final victory had been stolen from him by a petty trick at the last moment.

But not entirely, he could still recover this. David Shield was still alive. He would remake the device and then All for One could still take One for All for himself.

But that didn't assuage his anger. The boy had almost ruined his plans!

"Get the scientist and flee the island," All for One ordered Wolfram. "I shall join you as soon as I have dealt with… this."

Not waiting for a response, All for One mentally brought forth his Quirks, ready for real combat.

He wouldn't acquire One for All today, but at least he could take out his frustration before acquiring Gift's admittedly still impressive Quirk for himself.

150: Ethan

The problem with baiting the enemy was that you inevitably had to suffer the repercussions of their anger, I mentally acknowledged as the man glared at me. Lidless eyes bulging as they focused on me in a sight that any other situation could have been described as comical.

In canon, All for One had hidden in the shadows due to his injuries, not least of which being his lost vision. He had had Infrared Vision and Vibration Sensing to compensate but it was far from sufficient solution for anything more than day to day motions. In combat he would have struggled and the man had hidden in fear because of it.

But it seems butterflies had flapped their wings when I wasn't looking. All for One had regained his regular sight it seemed and now he had interrupted what would have been a canon encounter for Izuku. Fortunately the invisible clone I'd sent to keep an eye on things had managed to delay long enough for me to arrive, and not a moment too soon.

All for One had had the Quirk amplifier. Exactly what he expected to use it for I could easily guess at, taking One for All. That Quirk had been the Villain's self created White Whale for a good amount of time now and acquiring it would have been the end of things from the Heroes' point of view. Before, All Might, and now Midoriya's Quirk had the collective strength of several past wielders behind them, a strong enough collective consciousness that it could resist All for One's grasp. With All for One's primary Quirk amplified, there was a good chance he'd be able to overcome the Vestiges inside One for All and simply take it.

I had found that regular Quirks did resist, to some degree or another depending on the individual. I knew how that had affected All for One in the canon timeline and I wanted no part in that. The Quirks I had taken had been massaged down, the vestiges of the original holders worn down with my advanced mental abilities until they didn't have enough consciousness to put up a fight anymore. They were blank slates now, carrying the power and little else. I was absolutely not allowing other consciousnesses free reign in my head.

Well except the… conglomerate vestige of Eri that had somewhat… built up with the many exchanges of Quirks between myself and her. I'd promised to give the real girl Mime and Invisibility for a few days once she went back to school as compensation for not actually taking her to Disneyland. The little gremlin certainly knew what she was doing asking for those two Quirks in particular.

Those poor teachers…

"So… Did my clone tell you about Ligma?" I asked the Villain.

All for One responded with another powerful blast of air, but I was ready for it this time. Personal Gravity lent me enough weight that the attack didn't knock me away and Rubber Body reduced the impact significantly.

"I guess not," I said but there was no time for more levity. All for One was still on the offensive, the man firing off those black tendrils at me, which split up to attack from multiple angles.

He'd have to try harder than that if he wanted to hit me. Disintegrate broke the multiple attacks before they got anywhere close.

"Your clone did not survive that attack," the Villain commented questioningly.

"They only have half my strength and speed," I replied. That wasn't to say they weren't half as capable as me though, they were still just as intelligent and my clone had done more than just a good job distracting him while I closed the distance to destroy the helmet.

"Interesting," I shall have to experiment myself when I take that Quirk for myself," All for One stated.

"God you're boring," I replied as I considered what to do. The metal manipulating Villain was using his Quirk to drag away David Shield through the floor, Melissa was still stood off by the side and the other guy, David's assistant, was passed out on the floor. Todoroki and Bakugo had been ordered to stay back and not interfere the moment I had realised what I was seeing and a quick explanation of who that was had been enough to get them moving to rescue All Might. Meanwhile Izuku was struggling to break free of All for One's attack, still impaled against the wall. I was lacking in many ways to attack at range, but I only needed one or two didn't I?

My eyes ignited as I activated Laser Eyes, a searing beam of heat issued forth towards the Number One Villain. There was no need to hold back here, this wasn't All Might. I was going to go for a kill straight off the bat.

I couldn't actually see while using the attack so after a few seconds I stopped. All for One had put up his arms to block the attack. His sleeves were left singed, burnt away to reveal his limbs covered in metallic scales that while blackened, didn't appear damaged by the attack whatsoever, a tiny bit of damage healing right before my eyes.

"Your bouts in the Sports Festival were quite interesting for me," All for One said. "Your use of Quirks even taught me a bit about how to use my own abilities in combat. Offence and defence are both important at our level, I never truly respected that fact before."

I didn't rise to the taunting. Glancing to the side, Izuku was pulling himself free of All for One's broken off Rivet Spear thing. He was injured, significantly so, but I could see the boy was determined to stay fighting.

All for One seemed to notice where I was looking, or perhaps his extrasensory Quirks did so.

"Do not think you are going anywhere," All for One said levelly. He reached out, releasing Rivet Spears with one hand in Izuku's direction while firing off the same attack at myself with the other.

I was forced to use Disintegrate to break apart All for One's attack on me. It wasn't a significant threat this time with half as many attacks coming for me, but it was enough to keep me on the defensive for a few seconds. Izuku wasn't incapable of looking after himself though and once he had some proper leverage he was able to exercise his mobility. Jumping off the floor he was chased by All for One's attack which followed him at increasing speed around the room.

I couldn't use Laser Vision, I couldn't give up my sight for a moment because then I couldn't block the attacks still coming my way, but there was another strategy open to me. I activated Third Left Arm, the left hand sticking out of my shoulder. Then with another arm available to me, I used my other ranged Quirk.

It wouldn't work around the Villain, some sort of automatic defence blocking it but it did work on the Villain's attack.

A spatial distortion formed in front of All for One's attack, the unnatural phenomenon making All for One's attack shatter, rendering the extended attack beyond the distortion dead matter.

"Gagh!" All for One cried out, retracting the hand. It was the first sign I'd dealt him that had elicited any kind of response from the man.

"Izuku get moving!" I demanded. "I'll handle this bastard."

"Right," Izuku nodded. The boy immediately leapt for Melissa, grabbing the girl in a bridal carry, he glanced towards David Shield's assistant but All for One was practically on top of him. It obviously pained Izuku to have to abandon the man, he looked in my direction and I got his meaning.

I nodded in understanding and the boy ran away. I'd do what I could to save the man if the opportunity presented itself, but one miserable guy's life, especially one slated for prison regardless at this point, was not worth putting myself at risk against All for One.

"No, let's not allow any more distractions," All for One snarled. Rivet Spears burst down, impaling the unconscious man into the ground before retracting. Sam let out a choking noise as he gave his last breath.

There was nothing I could've done. He was too close. It appeared I'd have to explain myself to Izuku later, but I hoped the boy would understand, given the circumstances.

"You are not the only one with that kind of Quirk either," All for One continued, clearly incensed now. He raised his hands and I could feel as he tried to warp reality around my location.

My eyes widening, I responded in kind, using my ability to inexpertly counter his.

We strained against each other, but it was as much about experience with our respective Quirks as it was any skill or personal mental strength. I could feel I was losing the tug of war and jumped to the side. The floor beneath where I was standing warped, being sucked up into the vortex created by the Quirk effect and crushed into a tiny ball. Seeing I had escaped, All for One released his own hold on the Quirk. The incredibly dense sphere of metal fell into the crater beneath with a resounding clang.

Standing straight once more, I squared off against the Villain.

"You have some skill, I'll grant you that," All for One acknowledged, apparently having recollected himself. "And the Quirks you've acquired thus far, they serve you well."

I shrugged. "You basically handed them to me on a silver platter, what else was I supposed to do?"

"I suppose I did," All for One admitted ruefully. "But it is plain to see it is not just the Quirks that make you special Ethan-kun. Someone like you. You are clearly intelligent, imaginative. Do you not see how they are using you? The Heroes. They will take advantage of you, use your power for their own ends and when you think you have it made, it is then that they shall pull the rug under you."

"I feel like I'm doing pretty well," I said, smiling faintly.

"You have to trust me," All for One almost beseeched, real emotion seeping out of the cold man's tone. "I was in your place once too, growing stronger every day until they took everything from me, creating this world of Heroes and Villains. I know what you're trying to accomplish Ethan-kun, helping people with disadvantageous Quirks. You want to help just like I did."

I listened to the Villain monologue. He was really trying to be fair, the charisma just oozed off of him. Just to entertain him, I shifted uncomfortably, like he was actually getting to me.

"Those things they told you, about my wanting to become a Villain because I saw it in a comic book. Surely you must realise how ridiculous that sounds? They were lying to you, trying to make you thin-"

He stopped talking when he saw what I was doing. Holding out my hand, holding my fingers together and opening and closing my hand like it was a mouth.

"God you pricks are boring," I said. "Always with the monologues and the 'We're not so different, you and I.' God, just give it a rest. We know. Villains wouldn't be interesting if they weren't some kind of foil for the Heroes. It's like the first lesson they teach you in writing school."

All for One bristled at my disrespect.

"Yes you may be powerful, but you still have much to learn," he said darkly. "I was holding back before, but if you truly insist on standing in my way…"

He raised his arms, ready to fire off another attack.

"Then I shall show you what true power means."

151: Todoroki

It didn't sit right with him, but Shoto had abided by Carlisle's instruction.

Another Quirk stealer, he'd said. One with more experience and who would have no qualms about taking either his or Bakugo's Quirks for themselves.

Bakugo likewise had been scared. He had tried to put up a brave front, but like Shoto he was clearly afraid of the idea of losing his Quirk, what made him special.

But despite that it still left him feeling ashamed that he'd acquiesced so easily to not getting involved in the fight.

Bkugo was undoubtedly feeling the same way.

"Die!" the blond boy shouted as he basted through the corridor, taking out the unpowered henchmen and robots that were patrolling the upper floors.

Bakugo hadn't let go of whatever sense he normally held at least. He was at least controlling his explosions, merely flinging the enemies against the walls when they were real people.

Their most recent opponents taken out, the two boys hurried forward to a turn in the corridor.

Glancing at each other, they both nodded. Shoto leaned against the wall and quickly popped his head out around the corner before pulling it back in.

The sound of gunfire heralded actual bullets firing at where his head had just been.

It was another long corridor, with yet another kind of enemy. Two automatic gun emplacements had appeared from out of the ceiling by a doorway at the other end and they were clearly set to shoot at anything that they saw.

"It's gun turrets," Shoto reported to his classmate. "And that's a long corridor. There's no way either of us could reach them without getting hit."

"Tch," Bakugo grumbled, seeing the problem for what it was. They could *try* simply dodging around the gunfire and maybe if they were both less tired then that would've been an option. It was too risky though. Shoto would have had the ability to at least block the bullets with his ice.

Indeed, he could just use his ice to cover the entire corridor, but then *they* wouldn't be able to get through, at least not before Shoto melted his way through it and that would take time they didn't have.

Then, an idea came to him.

"I have a plan," Shoto said.

His ice made for a powerful barrier. Todoroki created a tall shield on his arm. It was heavy, but Bakugo came next to him and helped him lift the shield.

"Nice," he said, figuring out Shoto's plan.

Coming around the corner the two boys strode forward. The turret fired in their direction, ice chipped and shattered but Todoroki kept reinforcing the barrier in turn.

The turrets kept firing right until the two boys got close. Todoroki used his ice to freeze first one turret, then the other.

The sound of a massive explosion and the shaking of the building had both boys stumbling. The ice around the turrets cracked and Todoroki quickly reapplied his quirk before the weapons could break free.

"The hell was that?" Bakugo asked, not that neither of them could figure it out. He looked upwards, where Carlisle and the Villain were fighting now.

Whatever Carlisle was doing, Shoto hoped he could hold out until they could get All Might free to help.

Because if that guy could steal Quirks too, then the last thing they needed was him getting access to the arsenal that Carlisle already had up his sleeves.

152: All for One

A true demonstration of strength required the use of his most devastating ability. It was so strong it would usually injure him to use it, but now he had a regeneration Quirk he didn't need to worry about that quite so much, did he? And to handle a powerful regenerator, especially one with a defensive Quirk like Rubber body, overwhelming force was a must.

"My most powerful attack," All for One declared, holding up his hand. Static electricity flickered around his palm as he held it up, a ball of condensed light forming there. "Be honoured that you get to see it," he told his opponent.

"Impure Beam!"

Gift's eyes widened but he had no time to do more than move his hands in front of him, let alone time to dodge the attack which shot at the speed of light. The intense attack forced All for One to look away for how bright it was, but he still felt a grim pleasure in knowing that the attack would end the battle.

The attack collided and exploded, creating an explosion that rocked the building. The blowback buffeting his clothes for several seconds, dust and smoke billowing out and bits of rubble fell from the ceiling as All for One's attack caused the reinforced structure to fracture simply through the backlash.

It was tiring though, pulling on as much of his power as this. Slightly winded, All for one lowered his singed hand. Regeneration kicked in, but it was almost slow to start, struggling with the intensity of the damage he'd done to himself. All for One let the healing Quirk work at its own pace as he regathered his breath. Gift could have feasibly survived the attack, but he wouldn't be in any state to fight back when All for One came to take his Quirks.

Stepping forward, All for One prepared an Air burst to blow away the remaining wind. It was only the shadow of the smoke that gave him any warning as a figure shot out of the dust cloud to punch him in the chest.

Sent flying backwards, All for One activated Float, using the Quirk he'd stolen from Nana Shimura to stop his momentum along with the airbus from his uninjured palm. He lowered himself to the ground.

Across the room, Gift was stood there, shirtless, but otherwise without so much as a scratch on him.

"How?" All for One demanded. How could this infuriating *child* have overcome his most deadly attack?!

Gift smirked.

"Nice try," he said, glancing behind him at the giant hole that had been left in the wall, the night sky was visible outside, powerful winds howled as they swept in through the opening. "But it's light based," the boy explained. His form flickered, becoming transparent for a moment, only his clothing remained. "Your attack passed right through me."

The child had a counter for everything he'd thrown at him. If he used his copy of spatial distortion then Gift countered with his own copy. If he tried to use Rivet Stab then the boy used Disintegrate and his impressive martial arts to destroy the attack before it could reach him, and now *this?*

It seemed like Gift had set out purposefully to infuriate him at every step of the way.

The boy suddenly charged forward, seemingly ready to go on the offence now that All for One had lost the momentum. Activating Scale Skin and his hardening Quirk, All for One had to take the blow as the boy struck him. Gift was using Disintegrate and… something else, the armour covering his arm parting around Gift's fingers. It had to be Overhaul, operating on All for One's skin.

A second blow came up but he was ready this time. Impact Recoil was activated and the powerful punch Gift tried to deliver was reflected back, sending the boy skidding back across the floor on his feet. Rubber Body and his Regeneration left him as invulnerable as the Nomu the boy had stolen the Quirks from.

Ironic, that he was being stymied by the same Quirks he'd intended for use against All Might.

He needed something that could overcome the boy's regeneration and bypass Rubber Body's force negation effects or they'd be here until kingdom come. Of the powerful Quirks he had, Dark Balls would create many powerful explosions, but concussive force was what Rubber Body was best at negating… Black Lightning likewise would not find purchase.

There *was* one Quirk though.

Putting his hands together, All for One activated Acid Ooze.

The dark, sickly looking liquid issued from his fingertips, shooting forward in a hose of noxious acid strong enough to dissolve even the most resistant materials in seconds.

Gift's eyes widened again but then All for One found himself irritated once more. The boy's face morphed into a white mask, his hands covered in white gloves as he held both palms forward and facing out, as if in a wedge. The acid broke on an invisible barrier, split into two directions and completely missing its target.

Again?* All for One thought. This was patently *ridiculous.*

It seemed Gift wasn't willing to give him any more respite. The boy ran forward, lowering an arm to touch the ground with his fingertips as he came to reengage.

The metal floor rose up either side of him, two slabs to crush him. He could have flown away, but All for One would not *run.* He had his defences up already. Impact recoil saw the slabs blasted away the moment they touched his armoured form.

But that was obviously only a distraction though. Gift was on him again. Instead of a punch though, the boy went to grab his arm, negating Impact recoil's effect as there was no real force behind the attack.

Immediately, he could feel the boy trying to use Disintegrate, breaking through his armour again and then All for One felt the pain of his flesh being repeatedly broken down, only to heal thanks to his Regeneration Quirk.

Fine!* If the boy wanted to take this conflict into close quarters combat then he would indulge him. A long discarded skill copying Quirk had once taught him martial arts. It was some time since he had actually practised those skills though.

And his opponent was skilled himself. All for One did not have much experience in *martial* combat like this. Activating two of his copies of Kinetic Booster, All for One sped up his motions as he tried to bring his Brawn Booster Quirks up to increase his strength. His concentration was disturbed though by the pain caused by the boy's attacks. He was *faster* but Gift was *skilled* with that ridiculously named 'martial art' which had to be reinforced by a Quirk of some sort. The boy's hands were a blur as he deflected All for One's attacks with minimal force, sending his strikes and punches wide, his touch breaking apart the few attempts at using Rivet Stab at close range.

All for One managed to draw out his third copy of Kinetic booster, enhancing him further and it was with that enhancement that All for One was able to match him, he could feel then as the boy started to lose ground in theri constant exchanges.

Then the boy brought another arm into play, jutting out of his shoulder the third appendage forced him onto the defensive as it came at him from odd angles, grabbing his leg, trying to trip him up and allowing Gift to keep up the pressure, activating Disintegrate at every opportunity.

All for One was once more put on the back foot, the increased pain and unconventional attacks distracting him.

They were face to face now, arms rapidly moving as Gift tried to grapple him while All for One sought openings. Their arms interlocked, causing a brief pause in the fight as Gift and All for One glared at each other. The boy's expression changed, his eyes widening in realisation and then he smirked at him.

All for One was ready for a new trick, he wasn't ready for what happened next. It was a pull, on his… on his *soul.*

"Enough!" All for One shouted. He activated Hardflame Fan. The wall of flames ordinarily wouldn't have been suited for this but at this distance it pushed Gift back enough that he cold produce an air burst and force him away further.

Gift didn't put up much resistance, allowing himself to fall back several feet before skidding to a stop.

What *was* that?

All for One couldn't feel Regeneration healing anything, and it *was* still functioning, regenerating the last few injuries that Gift was dealing him. Something was wrong, the boy had *done* something but he couldn't tell what.

It was *then* that All for One realised exactly what the boy had done.

He was missing a Quirk. He only had two copies of Kinetic Booster active. Searching inside himself the Quirk hadn't been deactivated. It had been *taken.*

Overhaul was how the boy stole Quirks, destroying them in the process in a process that was functionally identical to his own Quirk, albeit coming at it from the physical rather than spiritual. That was what the reports had indicated.

Something was off* he realised. Overhaul was a physical Quirk. It operated on *matter.* All for One could understand if Gift had a way to take away his Quirks, perhaps even to disable his powers entirely. But no, he'd taken one of the Quirks All for One was holding with his own power, drawing it out of All for One's soul in a way that was disturbingly familiar to him.

There was only one Quirk he knew of that worked like what All for One had just experienced, his own.

Gift went back into his martial arts stance again.

"So," he said. "Figured it out yet?"

Afterword

Please drop by the Archive and comment to let the creator know if you enjoyed their work!