BEN 10 DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. MY HERO ACADEMIA DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. SO, IT TURNS OUT THAT I CAN'T CONTROL ANIMALS WITH MY VOICE… OR MY DOG IS DEAF. EITHER WAY, ANOTHER FAILED EXPERIMENT.

Here's a true test, Midoriya. Show everyone what you can do! We're kicking off 2020 with a bang!

My Alien Academia

Chapter 6

Explosions and Fallout

If Togata Mirio could be summed up in a word, it would be 'earnest'; if a second word was allowed, it would probably be 'humble'. He wasn't someone who boasted about his own abilities; if anything, he downplayed what he could do, because he considered so many other people, students and Heroes alike, to be better than him.

When All Might chose him as his successor, Togata had tried to refuse; he was positive that someone was a better fit, and had rattled off a dozen names, just to prove a point. But All Might didn't back down, and showed him a long list of the student's achievements as an intern. It didn't escape Togata's notice that that list had been provided by Sir Nighteye.

"You've done more with your natural abilities in your first two years at UA than I did with my inherited power," All Might had said. "You're strong, you've got a good head, and most importantly, you have a good heart. Believe me, if I didn't think you were worthy, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

Togata could admit that his heart had swelled with pride—though the moment was ruined when All Might suddenly reverted back to his skinny form and spat out an alarming amount of blood.

When confronted with All Might's fading health, Togata reluctantly accepted the power of One For All. That had been several months ago, and he was now starting to get a handle on his increased strength.

At least, he thought he had, but the limited amount of power he could use was barely enough to catch Nomu's attention; the best he'd been able to do was distract him so that he didn't smash Eraserhead's face into the ground. His best punches had done nothing, even when he pulled a risky move and tried hitting the monster's exposed brain. At least he had been able to avoid injury in return—as powerful as Nomu was, all Lemillion had to do was use his natural Quirk, Permeation. Neither fighter could hurt the other, but as Nomu responded to his master's summons, Lemillion couldn't stop him, either.

Maybe I can at least get Midoriya out of there, he thought as he channeled all the power he could safely manage so that he could increase his speed. Unfortunately, Nomu was even faster—if that Shigaraki guy was telling the truth, then Nomu was capable of fighting a fully-powered All Might.

He tried to get Midoriya—because who else could that crystal guy be?—to get out of the way. Instead, Midoriya placed his hands on the ground; a moment later, huge spikes of crystal formed a barricade between him and the charging Nomu. If Midoriya had thought his barrier would dissuade Nomu, he was mistaken; the monster's momentum was only halted when the sharp spikes pierced deep into his body.

Lemillion winced; causing those kinds of injuries could give even experienced Heroes some trauma, let alone a first-year student. Still, it looked like Nomu had caused his own defeat, so—

"Not bad," Shigaraki said calmly, as if his trump card hadn't just been impaled. "If that was anyone else, they'd be crippled, or even killed. Too bad for you, Nomu is no ordinary Villain."

Without a word escaping the monster's mouth, Nomu pulled himself free of the spikes; as Lemillion watched in horrified fascination, torn organs and muscles knitted back together, and skin quickly grew over that. In seconds, Nomu looked like he had never been injured at all.

"Well, that's a problem," Lemillion said as he dashed over to Midoriya.

"Yeah, I know." It was strange seeing a man made of diamond take a deep breath like a nervous schoolchild, but that was what happened. "From what I can tell, he's got super-speed, some kind of shock absorption, and rapid regeneration."

"And crazy strength," Lemillion added, while keeping one eye on Shigaraki. "I'd say he has multiple Quirks, which is impossible, but look at you."

"Oh, but he does have multiple Quirks!" Shigaraki laughed. "He was designed to be the perfect counter to All Might: the Anti-Symbol of Peace!" Lemillion and Midoriya tensed as a black portal opened up next to Nomu, and Kurogiri stepped out. "Where have you been?"

"My apologies, Shigaraki Tomura, but I was waylaid by several students, as well as Thirteen, at the entrance." Kurogiri looked unharmed, though the metal collar he wore was scratched and dented. "They were able to help one of their own escape, and going by how fast he could move, I believe that the Heroes will arrive soon. We should withdraw."

"You want to run away?" Shigaraki scoffed as he made his way over to his allies. "We haven't even cleared the minibosses yet, much less All Might. These small-fries might be able to handle the pawns, but they're no match for overleveled players like us, especially Nomu."

"Man, this guy is cocky," Lemillion said, and then glanced at Midoriya. "I don't think we can get away without a fight."

"Then I guess we have to fight." Midoriya's hands tightened into fists. "I have an idea, but it's risky, and it's not foolproof, but it's all I have right now."

"I'm all ears," Lemillion said. "Hitting them doesn't seem to work, so if you've got another option…"

"I do—the problem is, I can only do this alone."

"Well, I'm not leaving my junior behind," Lemillion said; his voice brooked no disagreement. "You'll have to come up with another plan."

"Are you two done talking?" Shigaraki asked. "I've been playing nice so far, but your strategy meeting is going a little long. Nomu, get their attention."

Nomu took a step forward, but then froze—literally, as ice crept up his legs. A moment later, huge explosions bombarded the area.

"I told you to stay out of my way, Icy-Hot! I can handle these weaklings on my own!"

"I didn't hear any complaining when I helped you earlier."

"Because I was busy beating the crap out of some punk who tried to jump me!"

Lemillion scratched his head, bemused, as Bakugo and Todoroki stepped into view; neither looked injured, but the arguing was almost comical. Behind them, Kirishima didn't seem to think so.

"Come on, guys, you can argue when we're not fighting Villains. Oh, hey, Midoriya! That's a new one!"

"Uh, yeah, I call this one 'Diamondhead'."

"I like it!" Kirishima straightened when he saw the older student. "Lemillion! Are you okay?"

"I'm good, don't worry." Lemillion turned back to face the Villains. "These guys are going to be a problem."

"Not if this works," Diamondhead said. "You wanted me to come up with another plan, Lemillion? Well, I think I can now make the first one work."

He then slapped the dial on his chest. Once the green light faded, Lemillion saw a tall figure that seemed to be made of living magma. His oversized hands glowed almost white-hot, while fire burned around his head. "HEATBLAST!"

Lemillion put a few more feet between him and Midoriya's new form; even at this distance, he'd started to sweat from the heat.

Shigaraki stared, wide-eyed as he saw what happened. "That's not possible! Did he just go from tank to DPS? He can swap specializations, and elemental bonuses? Nobody naturally has that kind of variety in Quirks! That's just… that's not fair!"

Lemillion almost laughed as Shigaraki ranted; if it weren't for his deadly Quirk, he'd have a hard time believing that the man wasn't all talk. Still, Lemillion dragged his attention back to Midoriya, who had turned to the other students.

"Todoroki-san," Heatblast said in a low, gravelly voice, "I have an idea, but I need your help to make it work. That big guy might actually be a match for All Might in terms of pure physical power."

Todoroki kept his surprise limited to wider eyes. "But you have a plan to stop him?"

"Yeah, it's pretty simple, actually—you put a wall of ice between you all and me, and you don't stop making that ice until I'm done."

"No way, Midoriya!" Kirishima looked nervous, but he didn't back down. "We can't let you fight that freak on your own!"

"You're going to have to," Heatblast said grimly, "because I can't be sure this move won't kill you guys by mistake!"

…

"You're not planning what I think you're planning, are you?"

"You're going to have to," Heatblast said, ignoring Ben for the moment, "because I can't be sure this move won't kill you guys by mistake!"

"Oh my god, you are." Ben wasn't visible at the moment, but his disapproval was obvious. "This is a bad idea, Izuku. If you get this wrong, even a little, you could kill everyone within a square mile of this place."

Heatblast responded by way of aiming his hands at Nomu.

Ben sighed. "All right, if you're really sure; I'll monitor your output and make sure you don't fry the entire school, okay? You've had a lot of back-to-back transformations; between that, and the power you're planning on using, you've got maybe five minutes left. Good luck."

"Todoroki," Heatblast said, "now!"

Todoroki either thought his classmate knew what he was doing, or otherwise didn't have a better idea, because he stomped down with his right foot, and a massive wall of ice separated Heatblast from the other students. He just hoped that it was enough.

"Deku!" Bakugo shouted. "You think you're really tough enough to fight a guy meant to fight All Might!? You're such an idiot! If you die to this freak, I'm killing you myself!"

Ben chuckled, a little disbelieving. "If I didn't know better, I'd say he almost sounded worried."

Somehow, I doubt it, Heatblast thought. No time to think about it now, though.

"All right, Villains," he said out loud, "time to see if you're just all talk."

Shigaraki rolled his eyes. "Cocky little punk, aren't you? I don't care who you are, or that you have multiple Quirks, you're not on All Might's level, which means you aren't on Nomu's. You'll be dead in a second anyway, so I don't even care that your Quirk is weird."

Heatblast gave the best smile he could manage. "Then come get me."

"Nomu, kill him."

Nomu stalked towards Heatblast, who unleashed two columns of fire from his hands that splashed against the monster's chest. The skin turned crispy and burned off, only for it to grow back just as quickly.

"Did you forget that he could regenerate?" Shigaraki mocked.

"No, I didn't, but I'm just getting warmed up!"

"Two puns!" Ben laughed. "You're on a roll today!"

I've seen regeneration Quirks before, and I've read papers on them, Heatblast thought. They take a toll on the body, just like Recovery Girl's Quirk. Quirks are biological functions, which means that there's a limit to how much energy they can expend before shutting down. I have to force this guy to heal so much that he exhausts himself!

And so, Heatblast increased the firepower he was using; slowly at first, then faster and faster, until the heat burned away the oxygen around him in a screaming hiss. The pressure from the intense blaze slowed Nomu's progress, but he wasn't stopping—therefore, neither could Heatblast.

Ben had taught Midoriya about this move, but only the theory of it; it was incredibly dangerous, and they had nowhere to safely practice. Still, Midoriya had an instinctive handle on at least the basics of his aliens' powers, and his mind was sharp enough to put theory into practice.

More heat, he thought fiercely, more fire! Come on, push yourself to the limit of what you can safely do!

The fires around Heatblast had long stopped being a reddish-orange; now, they were a blinding white, but he still kept going.

…

Todoroki wanted to just stop and stare; he knew fire-based Quirks better than most, but he'd never seen anyone use that much power and not kill themselves. Not even Endeavor had ever pulled off a move like that, and Midoriya was using even more.

"Guys, I think we're about to be busy!" Todoroki glanced over his shoulder at Kirishima's shout; some of the Villains that Eraserhead and Lemillion had beaten were starting to get back up, and more who hadn't fought were charging towards them as well.

Bakugo, who had been glaring at Midoriya this whole time, gritted his teeth. "Fuck! Fine, we'll take care of these weaklings. Icy-Hot, keep up that shitty wall so that that idiot Deku doesn't roast us."

Kirishima charged first, while Bakugo flew overhead to start the fight. Before he left, Lemillion gave Todoroki a thumbs-up.

"Good work, freshman; just keep an eye on Midoriya, okay? We'll cover you."

Todoroki nodded, and then turned back to Midoriya's fight. He still refused to break his oath, to use his fire in combat, but today, he had a workaround. Normally, he could only use so much ice before he suffered frostbite; he avoided that by ending fights as quickly as possible, and then used his fire to warm himself up. However, the heat Midoriya was putting out was so intense that it was melting his ice as quickly as he could make it; theoretically, he could keep this up almost indefinitely.

"Be careful, Midoriya," he whispered. "I don't know what your limit is in that form, but I think you're reaching it."

…

"Let's see how you handle this!" Heatblast shouted as he pushed past what he considered completely safe, and unleashed a true firestorm.

"NOVA… FLAAARE!"

There was a primordial roar as a fraction of a supernova was channeled in a straight line. The light was blinding, and when it faded, Heatblast fell to his knees; his fires had dimmed, and he was panting heavily. He looked up to view his handiwork, and was shocked.

Starting at where he stood, a huge furrow had been carved into the ground, all the way to the domed wall of the USJ. Rather than burned dirt, the trench he had carved was made of molten glass. Standing in the middle of that trench was Nomu; the monster had shielded his head with his arms, but the rest of his body was a dull black…

Which then started to crumble away like charcoal, until only his head fell to the ground intact.

Heatblast stared in horror, unable to do anything else, as the Ultimatrix timed out from using so much power. Midoriya was snapped back into full awareness when the superheated ground under him started to burn through his clothes and into his skin—he quickly scrambled back to the edge of what he had done, though not before earning burns on his feet, knees, and hands. He was about to stumble towards Todoroki, but then heard a noise that sounded like tearing meat.

He turned, and saw that Nomu's entire body was starting to regenerate from the neck down; it took almost a full minute, but the monster stood back up, without a single mark.

"No…" Midoriya fell backwards and tried to get away. "That's impossible!"

Nomu took a step towards him, and then another… and then collapsed, and didn't get up again.

It worked, Midoriya thought with no small amount of relief. He was able to recover from the damage, but regenerating that much must have overtaxed his body.

"Nomu?" Amazingly, Shigaraki and Kurogiri were still standing, though the former looked like he had a bad sunburn, and the latter's metal collar was warped from the heat. "Nomu, get up! The boss battle hasn't started yet, you can't disconnect now!" He glared at Midoriya. "You. You did this! You cheated! I don't know how, but you must have cheated!"

"Shigaraki Tomura…" Kurogiri reached out, but Shigaraki batted him away.

"I'm gonna kill you, cheater." Shigaraki charged at Midoriya, hands outstretched to turn him into dust. "I had the perfect plan to kill All Might, and you ruined it!"

Midoriya was exhausted, hurt, unable to transform, and now, he was terrified. Shigaraki had never seemed like the most stable person in the world, but now he was a grown man with the power to kill with a touch, in the throes of a temper-tantrum.

Shigaraki was mere feet away from Midoriya when the USJ doors slammed open—more than that, they were ripped clean off their hinges.

"STAY BACK, VILLAIN!" Midoriya blinked, and suddenly, All Might was there, standing between him and Shigaraki. Instead of his costume, he was wearing his yellow pants and white shirt. "You won't harm anyone else today!"

"All Might!" Kurogiri created a portal, just as the Hero threw a punch. "Shigaraki, get back!"

"TEXAS—" before All Might could finish one of his special moves, another blur tackled him to the side. "What? Young Mirio, what are you doing!?"

"Stopping you from making a big mistake." Lemillion panted as he fell to one knee. "Ow. Must've pushed myself too hard there. Anyway, if you'd punched into that portal…" he pointed behind him.

All Might glanced back, and saw the other portal hovering behind Midoriya; it didn't take him long to figure out what he had almost done. "Ah. I see. My thanks, Lemillion." He turned back to the Villains. "Your mission is over, criminals! From what I can see, your pawns have all been defeated, and your big friend over there is down for the count. Surrender peacefully, and since none of my students were permanently injured, I'll put in a good word with the authorities."

"Are you… pitying me?" Shigaraki's shoulders trembled. "Don't you dare pity me, Symbol of Peace! Everything I ever suffered is because of you, and Heroes like you! I promise you, I am going to kill you, All Might, but now, I'll make sure you watch as I turn everything you love to dust!"

All Might just raised an eyebrow. "Not from Tartarus, you won't."

Shigaraki grinned behind the hand on his face. "Only if you catch me. Kurogiri!"

All Might reached out, but a dozen portals surrounded Shigaraki and Kurogiri in a dome, protecting them as another portal swallowed the pair up.

"Watch your back, All Might," Shigaraki taunted. "I want you to see it all coming…"

The portals faded, leaving All Might to ponder the Villain's words, until a hiss of pain from Midoriya pushed it all to the back of his mind. He could worry about the Villains later; right now, he had an injured student.

"Don't worry, young Midoriya," he said, and gently scooped the boy up into his arms. "I am here."

Midoriya tried and failed to stop the tears that finally caught up with him. "Th-thank you, All Might."

All Might glanced at Lemillion, who jerked a thumb at Nomu and shook his head. "No, young Midoriya—I think I should be the one thanking you."

…

With All Might and the other teachers' arrival, the remaining Villains were quickly captured, and the students were gathered together at the entrance of the USJ. Police officers arrived a few minutes later to take the criminals into custody and to collect statements, while paramedics worked to help anyone who needed it.

Uraraka, now trembling as her adrenaline faded, was hugging Iida in thanks; the boy had pushed himself to his absolute limit, and his engines were still smoking. He stiffly returned the embrace, though his smile was genuine and warm.

"Is everyone all right, Uraraka?" he asked, and then limped over to a nearby bench to sit down.

"I'm not sure," Uraraka admitted. "Ashido burned herself pretty bad with her acid, but she's already being taken to Recovery Girl. Aizawa-sensei looked bad, though. The teachers are still gathering up everyone else—oh my god, Deku-kun!"

Everyone who heard her voice turned to see All Might carrying Midoriya in his arms; the boy had ugly burns on his hands and knees, and his shoes had been melted through to his feet. Behind them came Lemillion, who was limping, along with Kirishima, Todoroki and Bakugo, though those three looked unhurt.

"I-I'm all right," Midoriya stammered as All Might placed him on a stretcher. "I just need to wait for my watch to recharge, and then I can heal myself with Swampfire."

Principal Nezu turned from his conversation with a detective. "Are you sure, Midoriya-san?" When Midoriya nodded, Nezu looked satisfied. "Very well, that's one less patient for Recovery Girl. Todoroki-san, could you please provide him with some ice to cool those burns until he can transform?"

Todoroki nodded and created a rough chair out of ice for Midoriya. Lemillion gave both boys a thumbs-up, and then limped over to Nejire-chan and Suneater.

"How is everyone?" he asked.

Suneater slumped, but his words were steady. "One student had to be taken to Recovery Girl for acid burns, but she kept saying that she would be fine. Eraserhead had more serious injuries—I noticed several broken bones, and the flesh around his arm looked… rotted away."

"Yeah, it was the Villain in charge," Lemillion supplied. "I saw that he could decay things when he put his whole hand on them. Any other injuries?"

Nejire-chan shook her head, though she wasn't nearly as energetic as before. "Just some bumps and scrapes, nothing serious. What about you?"

Upon hearing that the other students would be fine, Lemillion relaxed, and his easy smile returned. "Well, I think I pushed myself too far, but it doesn't feel like anything is broken this time. I definitely tore some muscles in my leg, though."

Suneater sighed in relief. "At least it's not serious; I'll take you to Recovery Girl, and Nejire-chan can help with the cleanup." He waved a finger under Lemillion's nose. "No arguing about this, okay?"

Lemillion held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, let's go." Suneater put a hand on his arm to steady him, but as they passed Midoriya, Lemillion patted him on the shoulder. "You did good, freshman. Seriously, you really went Plus Ultra back there. See you around."

Midoriya blushed and nodded; when the older student left, he looked at Uraraka, who had been waiting impatiently behind them with the rest of their friends. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off when the girl hugged him tightly.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Deku-kun!" She pulled back and wiped her eyes. "When I saw you fall into that portal, I thought… anyway, you scared me again when All Might carried you outside! Don't do that again!"

"I'll do my best," Midoriya promised tiredly, his mind too unfocused to register that he'd just received his first hug from a girl. "Wait, I heard that Ashido was hurt, is she okay?"

Uraraka nodded. "It looked bad, but she was telling jokes when the paramedics took her to Recovery Girl. I think she's gonna be okay."

Midoriya sighed. "That's good. And everyone else is fine?"

"I think you and Ashido had the worst of it," Iida said as he limped over. "Everyone else will likely recover on their own in a day or two."

Now it was Midoriya's turn to wipe his eyes. "That's… that's great to hear." He, Iida and Uraraka all jumped when his watch beeped, and the dial turned green. "Oh, good, it recharged."

"Then hurry up and transform," Uraraka said, trying to sound stern, and failing miserably. "Those burns look awful."

"Yeah, one second." Midoriya cycled through his transformations, and then pressed the dial. "SWAMPFIRE!"

As Uraraka watched, the charred parts of Swampfire's body turned to a vibrant green. However…

"Uh, Deku-kun, I don't want to be rude, but that one smells really bad," Uraraka said, holding her nose with one hand and trying to fan away the smell with the other.

Asui wrinkled her nose. "I didn't want to say anything on the boat, Midoriya, but she's right, ribbit—that smell is awful."

"R-right, sorry." Midoriya quickly returned back to normal, and the smell faded. "I bet Recovery Girl is happy that I don't have to see her, though, right?"

Asui nodded. "Yeah, but poor Ashido is going to be with her, ribbit."

"That's true," Iida said. "As her friends, it would be uncouth of us not to check on her as soon as possible." Without his helmet, his wince was obvious. "And I admit that I might have strained something as well, so I should probably see Recovery Girl."

"Oh, Iida, I'm so sorry!" Uraraka dashed over to him. "Guys, come here and help me!"

Sero got to Iida's other side first, and between them, they supported the taller boy; Iida continued to protest, however.

"Please, this is unnecessary! I can walk to Recovery Girl on my own!"

Yaoyorozu smiled at him. "Maybe, but you obviously caused yourself some strong discomfort in an effort to get help."

"Yeah!" Midoriya walked over to the growing circle. "If you hadn't found All Might in time, he might not have been able to save me!"

Iida shrugged modestly. "Then it was obviously worth the pain."

"Regardless," Yaoyorozu said, and her voice was a little stern now, "we are going to help you get to Recovery Girl. Consider this an order from your Class President."

Iida probably knew she mostly meant it as a joke, but as soon as the words left her mouth, he straightened as much as he could. "Of course! I'll head there now." Yaoyorozu raised an eyebrow, and Iida winced again. "With help."

"It's nice to see all of you leaning on each other like this," a new voice said. Midoriya turned to see a man in a beige coat and matching hat. "Sorry, I'm Detective Tsukauchi, and I'm heading the investigation into this attack. I don't want to stop you from seeing Recovery Girl, but if none of your injuries are critical, I'd like you all to give statements to the officers here before you leave."

Yaoyorozu bowed. "Of course, Detective; it would be our pleasure."

Tsukauchi smiled. "Thank you. Don't worry, this shouldn't take too long."

For most of them, it didn't; only Midoriya took longer than a few minutes, since, among them, he'd had the most contact with the leader of the so-called 'League of Villains'. He had to describe Shigaraki's Quirk, his attitude, and any other detail he could. Thankfully, his analytical skills had their time to shine, and by the time he was done, Tsukauchi looked impressed.

"That was very detailed," he said. "I've met Pro Heroes who don't give reports that precise. It certainly cuts down on my work."

"Th-thank you, sir." Midoriya frowned when a thought occurred to him. "Um, Detective?"

"Yes, Midoriya-san? What is it?"

"Are… are we in trouble? None of us have our licenses, but we used our Quirks to fight Villains."

Tsukauchi tilted his head for a moment, and then smiled. "Don't worry about it so much. From every report I've received, you only fought because your lives, and the lives of your classmates, were in danger. As long as it's proven to be self-defense, Quirk use is allowed to fight someone else."

Midoriya sighed in relief. "Oh, that's good. Thank you."

"Just try not to get into situations that require self-defense," the detective warned, though he kept up his smile. "At least until you get your license."

Midoriya bowed. "Of course, sir."

"Good. Now, you should catch up with your friends." Tsukauchi pointed, and Midoriya saw Uraraka waving him over. "Don't worry about the rest, Midoriya-san; if we need anything else, we'll call you."

"Thank you!" Midoriya bowed once more, and then jogged over to his friends.

Most of the students were beginning to head to the locker rooms, but Mineta stayed behind, waiting until the rest of the class was out of sight before approaching the principal.

I can't do this, this was just too intense, he thought. I should just ask to transfer to General Studies.

"Excuse me, Nezu-sensei?"

Nezu turned. "What can I help you with, Mineta-san?"

Mineta opened his mouth, but then he looked at the retreating forms of Midoriya and his group of friends, and he thought back to when he was panicking in the water. Asui and Midoriya had been scared, just like him, but they hadn't freaked out.

I guess I just know there's no point in panicking.

I'm pretty sure that if I start panicking, I won't be able to stop. I'll freak out when we're not in danger.

They were no different from him; they were both beginners, yet they had maintained their composure in the face of true terror. More than that, they had saved his life several times in just a few minutes. If he backed out now… that would be spitting on their efforts. And he felt like he owed it to them to be better next time.

"Mineta-san?" Nezu tilted his head curiously. "Is something the matter?"

Mineta shook his head. "No, Nezu-sensei, it's just that I got a good look at the Villains in the Shipwreck Zone. If any of the police want to know any details, I might be able to help—I know I can identify them, anyway."

Nezu smiled. "Thank you, Mineta-san; I'll be sure to let the police know."

Mineta smiled back. Maybe this is my first step.

…

"He isn't weak," Bakugo whispered. "I hate that he's strong, but he is. What the hell happened? A year ago, he couldn't even look me in the eye, and now he's fighting Villains that can beat Pros."

He was still coming to terms with the fact that Deku had a Quirk at all; he was barely able to comprehend that the nerd had a powerful Quirk.

I have to get stronger, he thought fiercely. I've had my whole life to master my Quirk, and that useless Deku managed to surpass me. But I can focus on just my Quirk; that's the way I'll beat him. I'll show him and everyone else that quantity doesn't beat quality!

"Hey, Bakugo!" He almost stumbled when the red-haired kid—he supposed he owed it to him to learn his name, since he wasn't a half-bad fighter—slapped him on the back. "You good, bro? We all need to get out of our costumes and head home."

"Yeah, okay." Bakugo tried to look uncaring as he snuck a glance back at Deku and his worthless friends. "Whatever."

…

"Hey, guys!" Ashido smiled sleepily as her friends walked into the infirmary. "What're you doing here?"

"We came to see you, silly!" Uraraka bounced over and gently hugged her. "We weren't gonna leave you here by yourself."

"Aw, that's sweet, but I'm not by myself." She grinned at the two boys at the other side of the room and playfully swiped in their direction. "Hey, good-lookin'. Rawr!"

Togata seemed as tired as Ashido, but he laughed at her antics; Amajiki, on the other hand, pulled his hood further over his eyes in embarrassment.

"Looks like we're meeting again sooner than I thought," Togata said with a friendly smile at Midoriya. "You okay now?"

"Uh, y-yeah! One of my transformations lets me heal really quickly."

"Lucky you," Togata teased. "Recovery Girl had to fix up torn muscles and a fracture in my left leg. Nothing too serious, I just have to rest for a few hours."

"I agree with her that you need to be more careful," Amajiki said with a frown. "Your Quirk was already hard to master, and now it's causing you physical damage if you push yourself too hard!"

Togata nodded. "I know, and that's why I'm being careful not to overdo it." He gave the other third-year a confident smile. "I promise, I'm doing everything I can to make sure I don't end up here more than I have to, but I'd rather suffer a small injury than let someone else die."

Amajiki scowled. "What I really hate is that I can't argue with that logic." He stood up and looked at the younger students. "You know, none of us are supposed to stay in our costumes after lessons—even when they end up like today did. If some of you would keep an eye on Mirio and your friend, we can take shifts getting changed."

Togata laughed. "You make it sound like I'm gonna sneak out or something!"

"I can take the first watch!" Iida volunteered. "I already need to see Recovery Girl, so I can handle it all at once. Everyone else can get changed, and then return here."

"Hey, Yaomomo, can you grab my uniform, and my costume's case?" Ashido asked. "Recovery Girl said I can get out of here in a couple of hours, but if I'm changed and have my costume put away, I don't have to go all over the place before going home."

Yaoyorozu smiled. "Of course, Ashido. Come on, everyone, let's get changed before a teacher lectures us."

It only took about fifteen minutes for everyone to get changed and come back, though Midoriya had to drop off his costume with a note for the Support Department to repair his. He and Sero did decide to bring Iida's things as well, which he thanked them profusely for when they returned. When they opened the door again, they found Hado sitting next to Togata , talking and waving excitedly.

"You kids are so fussy," Recovery Girl said as the younger students crowded around Ashido. "She already has immunity to her acid, up to a point; between that and my Quirk, she won't even have a scar."

"You're the best, Recovery Girl!" Ashido smiled at the old lady.

"Ah! I'm not finished!" she waved her cane in the girl's face. "You probably know this more than most, but acid can be especially damaging to the nerves. If you push your Quirk beyond what you're capable of handling, you could lose your sense of touch completely, and possibly functionality in your hands."

Midoriya blanched, and he wasn't the only one; even Hado's ever-present smile dimmed.

Yaoyorozu put her hand on Ashido's shoulder. "Please, never push yourself that far."

Sero nodded. "Yeah, or you'll make Tsuyu sad. Tsuyu, give her your sad face." He gestured to Asui, whose expression never changed. "See? It's like kicking a puppy!"

Ashido giggled. "Okay, you're right; no making the best frog-girl I know sad."

"I'm pretty sure I'm the only frog-girl you know, ribbit."

"You are, which automatically makes you the best!" Ashido stuck out her tongue; in response, Asui reached out with her own tongue, from five feet away, and flicked Ashido between the eyes.

Everyone stared at Asui as her tongue retracted; her expression remained blank, but Midoriya was positive she was smug.

"Dang," Ashido said. "With tongue action like that, you are gonna have one lucky boyfriend someday."

Most of her classmates, even Asui, turned red, but the Big Three burst out laughing—or just smiling, in Amajiki's case.

"Oh, man, that was good!" Togata grinned at Ashido. "You guys are great; we should hang out more."

"That would be a great honor, Mirio-san!" Iida tried to bow, but since he was now lying on one of the cots, it just looked silly.

"Please, just Mirio is fine." He leaned back on his own bed and looked at his phone. "Whoa, it's getting late. You all might want to consider getting home soon."

None of the first-years wanted to admit it, but they had trains to catch. On the other hand, they didn't want to leave their injured friends.

Fortunately, Iida came to the rescue. "I will be released at the same time as Ashido. I can keep her company until then, and I can also walk her to her train; I believe we both use the same station."

Ashido blew him a kiss. "My knight in futuristic armor!"

Iida sputtered and turned red, but the rest of them went right back to laughing. Midoriya wiped away a tear; if this was what he'd been missing out on for most of his life, he couldn't wait for more.

…

Eventually, Izuku returned home, only to be nearly tackled as his mother ran into him.

"Oh, my baby!" she cried. "I know you texted me earlier, but then the police called, and your principal! I'm so glad you're not hurt!"

Izuku decided not to mention that he had been hurt, a few times, but turning into Swampfire had fixed everything.

"I'm fine, Mom," he said and hugged her back. "A couple of my friends needed to get fixed up by Recovery Girl, but they should be on their way home by now."

"You should have seen this guy," Ben said as he materialized. "He took down a bunch of the bad guys, including their heaviest hitter, saved two of his classmates from getting killed, and he didn't cry until everything was settled!"

Inko sniffed and wiped her eyes. "I can't tell you how proud I am of you, Izuku, but please, don't put me through that kind of stress until you've got at least a provisional license."

Izuku nodded. "I'll do my best, Mom."

"You look exhausted, sweetie," Inko noted. "I can heat some food up for you, but then I want you to get some sleep. Don't worry about waking up early—when your principal called, he said that class was cancelled for tomorrow, and you've got the weekend. Take some time to process everything, maybe talk to your new friends. And remember that you can talk to me, too."

Izuku hugged her again. "I'd never forget to talk to you, Mom. I think I'll just get some sleep, though. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Izuku." Inko watched as her son headed to his room, and then turned to Ben with a yawn. "All this stress has me exhausted, and I didn't fight Villains! I think I'll turn in early, too; goodnight, Ben."

"Sleep well," Ben said. "I'll keep an eye on everything, just in case." Inko turned and headed into her own room, just missing how Ben flickered erratically for a moment. Ben looked down at his hands and frowned.

"Already? I thought I'd have more time." He glanced back at Izuku's room. "You're going to have to be ready soon, buddy; I'm not going to be around forever…"

…

Far from the Midoriya household, in a bar located away from any major streets, Shigaraki was throwing a fit, along with several chairs.

"Everything was ruined!" he shouted. "All our men were defeated, Nomu was taken down by some kid, and All Might didn't even show up until we had no chance to beat him!" He picked up a barstool and hurled it into a wall. "No way RNG screwed us over that bad, and our plan was good, so what the hell went wrong!?"

"If you will calm down for a moment, Tomura," came a calm, cultured voice, one that froze Shigaraki on the spot. "The Nomu I gave you was one of my most powerful creations. I crafted it to match All Might, so who was this student who defeated it?"

Shigaraki scowled behind the hand on his face, but turned and bowed to the small television in the corner, the source of the voice. "No idea, Master. He wore a green hoodie with stupid-looking ears. He turned into different forms, all with different Quirks; one was a big dinosaur, another looked like it was made of diamond, and another shot fire so hot that it overwhelmed Nomu's regeneration!"

"Really, now?" Far from being upset, Shigaraki's master sounded intrigued. "Fascinating. I have not heard of someone with such vastly different Quirks since… well, we will have to keep an eye on this student. In fact, if mere students could defeat hardened Villains like the ones who served you, then we should be wary of that entire class.

"For now, rest and heal, Tomura. Once you have recovered, we will begin learning what there is to know about these would-be Heroes. You studied All Might in an effort to kill him; if these children are a threat to the League of Villains, then I suggest that you study them as well."

Shigaraki bowed again. "Of course, Master. I was prepared for the boss of the raid, but I didn't take the minibosses seriously enough. I also should have considered random encounters."

"See? Even though you failed to achieve your objective, you've learned something valuable."

"Thank you for your wisdom, Master."

"Of course, Tomura; it is why I am here."

I know that I probably could have fit this chapter into the last one, but I was tired then, so here's this. A little shorter, but it's the end of the first arc. Anyway, I hoped you liked the fight between Heatblast and Nomu; I got the idea from Endeavor's fight in the second Nomu encounter, only scaled up in power. I mean, Heatblast is written as being able to fire supernova-level blasts. Obviously, I didn't want Midoriya to destroy all of Japan with an attack like that, but I also wanted him to be able to beat Nomu.

And some stuff with Mirio! Keep in mind, he's had One For All longer in this series at this point than Midoriya did in canon, and he's in better shape, so his limit is higher than canon Midoriya's. How high is his limit? Probably fifteen percent right now, which is still stupidly powerful, but he still couldn't hurt Nomu, who could tank three hundred punches from All Might, who was using way more power.

Anyway, while I did say that I dislike Mineta (and still do), I feel like this scare from the Villains will set him on a better path. Also, some inspiration from Midoriya and Asui doesn't hurt. Will it make him less of a pervert? Eh, probably not, but he'll be less offensive in public, and more focused on his Hero career. Still, don't expect too much screen time (page time?) with him, simply because he's not a character I'll remain focused on. That's Midoriya and his friends.

Speaking of which, more friendship stuff with UA's Rising Stars! That has quickly become one of my favorite things to write, especially when it makes our favorite cinnamon roll happy. Expect more interactions between them and the Big Three, because I like them.

Unfortunately, Midoriya is also now on the bad guys' radar; never a good thing to do when you're not even a full week into high school.

As always, please consider buying my book, Alpha Sanction, by Josh Gottlieb, on Amazon. If you're unsure, you can read the first chapter for free on my website (link in my profile). You could also consider donating on P-atreon (also a link in my profile). People who do that get thanks and goodies (and by goodies, I mean a free copy of my book). Speaking of my patrons, thanks to those who have met the required tiers:

Serious Muffins: jafr86, SpaceEmperorSpar, Nimrod009, Anders Lyngbye, Krisjanis Jansons, Matthias Matanovic, ChaosSpartan575, Alexis Troy, John Collins, Calleo, Casey Pak, Red Bard, Ultimatrix10

Incredible Muffins: RaptorusMaximus, michaelb958, Crazyman844, Jaeger456, killroy225, Brian McGloughlin

Ultra Muffins: Adam Costello, Jeffrey Perigo, Matthew Bunting, RangersRoll

Next Chapter: Midoriya relaxes with his friends, but as the weekend rolls around, he has to get serious as his training steps up!

Happy Muffin Year!