MY HERO ACADEMIA DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. BEN 10 DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. ACCORDING TO THE MEN IN WHITE COATS, WHAT I THOUGHT IS LIGHTNING COMING FROM MY HANDS IS JUST STATIC ELECTRICITY. I DON'T BELIEVE THEM.

Okay, it's time for the new arc to start! How long do the heroes have before things go horribly wrong this time?

My Alien Academia

Chapter 28

False Light

Aizawa raised a single eyebrow at the form in front of him. "I appreciate that you want to get in a little more training, but tell me again why you wanted to use the pool today?"

"W-well, Aizawa-sensei, we thought it m-might be a good idea to head to the training camp as ready as p-possible."

Midoriya's explanation was rational, but something had Aizawa suspicious. Not of Midoriya, though—his stutter came from addressing an authority figure, not because he was hiding something. No, something was off about Midoriya's companions; anyone with working eyes could see that Kaminari and Mineta were up to something.

Still, as long as they didn't break any rules, Aizawa didn't actually care what they did. With a sigh, he finished signing the permission slip.

"You have until five-thirty," he said. "Not a minute more."

The three students bowed, and then hurried off. Aizawa considered tailing them, but then shrugged it off; if the two potential troublemakers did anything, he was sure he'd hear about it soon enough.

…

"You know, I'm kind of glad that you two talked me into asking Aizawa-sensei to use the pool," Midoriya said as he, Kaminari and Mineta walked out of the locker room in their swim trunks.

"You are?" Kaminari tilted his head. "Why's that?"

"Well, it's a good idea to get in any extra training we can." Midoriya smiled at them. "Besides, we aren't the only ones who asked to use the pool today."

Beads of sweat rolled down the other boys' necks, and they had to wonder if Midoriya knew more than he was letting on. Mineta didn't mind doing a bunch of exercise—though he was sure he'd be doing a lot of that at camp—but his real motivation came from when he'd overheard the girls of the class talking about using the pool on Friday. His imagination had run wild with thoughts of the girls in bikinis, and had shared that information with Kaminari; rather than maybe getting in trouble for spying on the girls, the other boy had suggested making their presence seem legitimate by having permission to be there. That was why they needed Midoriya; the Vice-President of the class was the perfect cover for them.

"What do you mean?" Kaminari asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Oh, the girls are using the pool today too." Midoriya tilted his head, eyes far too innocent to be genuine. "You didn't think I'd know? I'm friends with four of them, and one of them is my girlfriend."

That had been a risk for Kaminari and Mineta; they knew Midoriya and Uraraka were dating, and there was every possibility that Midoriya was the possessive type. They certainly didn't want to set him off enough to go Rath on them. Mineta assured his partner-in-crime that they just had to keep their eyes from wandering to Uraraka. It hadn't occurred to them that Midoriya might be protective of all of his female friends.

"Wow, that's a surprise!" Mineta whistled innocently as he picked up his pace. "Come on, every minute we spend here talking is a minute we aren't training!"

Even if Midoriya gets mad, I'll still get Yaoyorozu in a bikini forever seared into my brain! Mineta tried to hide a leer. I'll gladly take any punishment if it means taking that to my grave!

Just as Mineta and Kaminari exited the tunnel that would lead to the treasure they sought, a new obstacle reared its head.

"You two are late!" Iida chopped the air, and nearly smacked Kaminari in the face. "You were the ones to suggest this training, yet you were the last to arrive!"

"Sorry about that, Tenya," Midoriya said easily. "We just had to confirm this with Aizawa-sensei. Hi, everyone!"

As it turned out, 'everyone' was the entire class, all engaged in various stretches. Rather than the bikinis Mineta had insisted would be there, the girls were wearing the standard, and modest, UA female swimsuit. Kaminari was disappointed, but Mineta didn't care; the girls looked good no matter what they wore.

"It wasn't fair for just us to train," Midoriya said, and Kaminari would swear to his dying day that the other boy had a knowing look in his eye. "So I made sure the entire class got invited."

Yaoyorozu created a whistle and blew into it to get everyone's attention. "Now that everyone is here, we'll start with some endurance swimming. After that, as you all voted earlier, we'll have a race."

The pool was large, but not quite large enough for twenty people to get in the kind of training they were planning, so the class was divided in half. While Midoriya was swimming, he didn't notice Ashido gently elbow Uraraka.

"So, is this the first time you've seen Midori shirtless, or are you just yawning for a really long time?"

Uraraka's jaw snapped shut, and she glared at her friend, though it lost its potency because of her intense blush. Yes, Midoriya had some well-defined muscles now, but she was allowed to ogle her boyfriend a little, wasn't she?

"Well, what about Shoto?" she asked. "You've been staring at him since he got here."

Ashido slung an arm around Uraraka's shoulders and winked. "He's. Hot." She leaned in closer to whisper in her ear. "By the way, he asked me out on another date this morning."

Uraraka smiled. "Really? When and where?"

"After the training camp, but I'm totally stealing his first kiss before then." Ashido grinned. "A moonlit night in the woods… it'll be so romantic! You and Midori better take advantage of that setting while you can."

Uraraka's blush returned. "You know Aizawa-sensei will be keeping an eye on all of us."

"He knows you two are dating, he's not gonna be a wet blanket." Ashido frowned. "Probably. I hope. Maybe you should be careful where you're kissing." She shook her head. "Oh! Did Tsu tell you that she was planning to make a move on Hanta during camp?"

"No, but I'm glad." Uraraka's smile was a little evil. "I can finally get back at you two for all the teasing."

"At least we're not being clueless about our feelings, unlike you." Ashido paused to watch as the other half of the class got out of the pool, and made finger-guns at Todoroki as he toweled off. "See what I mean?"

Uraraka tried to hide a laugh when Todoroki, face completely stoic, slowly winked, sending Ashido into a sputtering mess. "Yeah, I don't have any dirt on you at… all…" She frowned. "Hey, where did Mineta go? I don't feel safe if I don't know where he is."

Ashido looked around. "I don't believe it. Bakugo is keeping him in line."

Sure enough, Bakugo was sitting next to Mineta as he waited for his half of the class' turn to use the pool. His hand rested on the back of Mineta's neck, and it could have been Uraraka's imagination, but she could have sworn that some smoke was rising from that hand.

"Okay, he might be a royal jackass, but he just earned some points for that." Ashido frowned. "Why is he on Mineta-duty?"

"Oh, we worked that out a while ago," Kirishima said as he toweled off, near enough to overhear them. "We've got a schedule for who keeps Mineta in line, and it's Bakugo's turn today."

"There's a schedule?" Ashido didn't know whether to be shocked or laugh.

"Most of the time we don't have to do anything, so you probably wouldn't notice," Kirishima explained. "It's only when we think he'll be worse than usual, like here; also, Midoriya gave us a heads-up this morning, so we were prepared."

Ashido smiled at him. "You guys are all great."

As Uraraka got ready to take her turn in the pool, she thought she'd be a little forward and winked at Midoriya. It was a little ruined by her heavy blush, but it got the desired effect; Midoriya's face went red, and he tried to hide behind his towel.

I'll have to give more thought about that romantic night in the woods, she told herself.

…

After getting thoroughly warmed up, the class was divided into groups of five for the race. There would be four heats, and then a final race between the four winners. Bakugo set a precedent when he used his Quirk to propel himself over the water to win handily; there were some arguments over whether or not that was cheating, but the rules hadn't stated the swimmers actually had to swim.

Sero had gotten into the spirit of things by using his tape to pull himself over the water, but lost to Asui. She came dangerously close to cheating by leaping out of the water so that she was level with Sero and winked, causing him to lose focus and fall into the water, giving Asui the win.

Iida narrowly beat Todoroki by balancing on the pool dividers and using a full-power Recipro Burst, though he nearly crashed into the far wall because of too much momentum. He was only saved from hurting himself because Uraraka tagged him with her own Quirk, and he ended up corkscrewing through the air and into the pool after gravity was restored for him.

Midoriya found himself racing Yaoyorozu, Tokoyami, Hagakure and Koda. Since everyone else was using their Quirks, he decided to play at that level; he activated the Ultimatrix and cycled through his aliens until he found XLR8. However, when he transformed, he found that he'd turned into Four Arms!

Wait, what? I thought for sure that I'd picked XLR8! What's going on?

Before he could think on it further, Kirishima blew on the whistle, signaling the start of the race. Even though he wasn't the alien he'd wanted, Four Arms' powerful muscles allowed him to easily outpace the others. However, as he pulled himself out of the water and turned back to normal, he thought he heard a crackling noise from the Ultimatrix. Cheers from his swimsuit-wearing girlfriend took his mind off the watch, though he made a mental note to ask Ben about it later.

"Hey, Izuku?" Asui stretched next to him as they got ready for the final race. "How come you didn't turn into Ripjaws or Water Hazard, ribbit?"

"Well, they have gills, so chlorinated water was probably a bad idea," Midoriya said, though he didn't add that he might not have turned into them, even if he'd wanted to.

As the finalists got ready, Midoriya activated the Ultimatrix again; this time, he turned into XLR8, but he was still a little apprehensive. Yaoyorozu blew the whistle to start, but when they tried to use their powers, they simply dropped into the water; at first, everyone was confused, until they saw Aizawa standing by the entrance, his own Quirk active.

"You've been here long enough," he said. "Go home and get ready for an early start tomorrow."

Interesting, he thought as XLR8 dragged himself out of the water and turned back to normal. My Quirk kept him from using his speed, but his transformation didn't end. Then again, his Quirk is insane, so I wouldn't be surprised if he had Emitter, Transformation and Mutant characteristics. He may be the hardest to train during the camp.

…

Shigaraki usually didn't get nervous; the last time he could remember getting anxious was when he'd failed a test that All For One had presented to him, but that had quickly faded when his master didn't get angry, and only showed him how he could do better. However, he was as close to nervous as he'd been in a long time, simply because of the raw power of the individuals in front of him, and he could count on the loyalty of only one of them.

Intellectually, he knew that having a smaller corps of powerful Villains was more efficient than running a huge mob of weaker pawns, but it wasn't helpful to think about how a good number of his potential allies were strong enough to challenge him.

"Nearly everyone is here," he said, infusing his voice with as much confidence as he could. "We're only missing one."

Kurogiri bowed his head. "My apologies, but in order to ensure the cooperation of the last one, the Doctor had to fulfill his part of the bargain you struck. He will be unable to join us for this operation."

"That's a shame." Shigaraki tapped the hand on his face with one finger. "Then again, his power is a little too flashy for what I have in mind."

"But you are going to send us out, right, Shigaraki?" Toga Himiko leaned forward in her chair, eyes wide and smile wider; her sharpened incisors glinted in the bar's dim light. "You promised that we'd be able to actually do something."

Shigaraki raised a single eyebrow; Toga had been one of the first of his new recruits, and at the time, he thought they wouldn't get any crazier than her. He wasn't the most socially adept, but even he could see that Toga had 'psycho stalker' written all over her. The girl, no older than sixteen or seventeen, was of average height, with blonde hair tied up in two messy buns. She wore a school uniform, complete with a too-large cardigan that Shigaraki had quickly learned contained more than a few knives. Regardless of her instabilities—and Shigaraki was honest enough to admit that everyone present had a few screws loose—once she finally revealed her Quirk, she had quickly become one of Shigaraki's top lieutenants.

"I did promise that, and I keep my word." When I have to, and it benefits me, he thought. "I've chosen the members of the team, and you're on it. We just need to go over the plan; once I'm sure there won't be any problems, I'll give you the go-ahead."

A man wearing black pants, an orange shirt, a black vest and matching top hat, and an elaborate mask tilted his head. "And why, pray tell, won't you be joining us on this mission? You are our leader, after all."

Shigaraki inclined his head at Mr. Compress. "Think of this as a test for all of us. I need to be able to trust you, which means I can't be hands-on all the time; if you stick to my plan and pull this off, you'll have that trust."

"Sounds good to me." A well-built man in a black bodysuit with stylized stripes then shook his head and spoke in a higher-pitched voice. "This whole thing is gonna go to hell!"

No one commented on Twice's odd behavior; they'd all gotten used to it by now.

"Anyway, the Vanguard Squad will be transported to the safe house tomorrow morning," Shigaraki said. "Everyone else will stay here. Any questions before we go over the details?"

"I do." One of the Villains in the back stepped out of the shadows. Most of his body was covered by a long trench coat, but it couldn't hide his claws, wolf-like head, or his long crocodile's tail. "You haven't told us why kidnapping this kid in particular is so important. If we want to prove how serious we are, why not take any of them? Better yet, why not just kill them?"

Spinner, a man with a Quirk that made him look like a humanoid lizard with long pink hair, scowled and made to draw the abomination he called a weapon from his back. Shigaraki stopped him with one lazily-raised hand, and looked Chimera in the eye.

"In reverse order… if we kill them, every Hero in the country will come down on us, and we're just not ready for that kind of fight." Some of the League looked like they wanted to argue that point, but Shigaraki kept going. "And it sends the wrong message. We need to give these kids the chance to actually become Heroes; if they turn out to be unworthy, then we'll kill them."

Though he appeared calm, Shigaraki was seething as he spoke Stain's creed. He actually would have been perfectly fine if every one of those UA students died, but a good number of the League had joined because they believed that Stain and Shigaraki were in accord. Until he was sure that his followers were more loyal to him over Stain's ideals, Shigaraki had to play it safe.

"Then there's your other question. We all know how much damage Heroes like Hawks, Endeavor, and especially All Might have done to criminal organizations. Knowing what you do now, would you pass up the chance to take one of them out before they became trained?" Shigaraki could tell that many of the Villains were quick to agree with him. "Now, I'd love to make sure that a kid this powerful never becomes a Hero, and the safest way to do that would be to kill him."

"So why don't we?" Chimera asked.

Shigaraki pointed to the television in the corner; instantly, even the most bloodthirsty of the League settled down. "Because he wants the kid alive. Besides, kidnapping him will make sure that people will have doubts about him before he even becomes a Pro, assuming he survives. That kind of thing will end a career as quickly as any injury."

Satisfied, Chimera backed down, but Shigaraki made a note to watch him. Several within the League, including Chimera, were powerful enough to challenge him for leadership, and several more were arrogant or crazy enough to try anyway.

"If there's nothing else, let's go over the plan." Shigaraki paused and looked each Villain in the eye. "Just remember—none of the kids can die. You can rough them up, even cripple them, but dead kids are just martyrs to the cause."

A young man with black hair and some of the most horrific burns Shigaraki had ever seen tilted his head. "What about the Pros?"

"Oh, them?" Shigaraki smiled behind the hand on his face. "Kill them all."

…

Izuku's attention was divided between eating his breakfast and checking his phone. Even though they would all be at school soon, the Rising Stars couldn't stop messaging each other.

Crayon: im so exsited!

Tape: And I just can't hide it!

Crayon: nice

Tape: Thanks

Book: Does everyone have everything they need?

Frog: If we forget something, you could just make a new one for us, ribbit.

Glasses: Tsu, that is an improper use of a Quirk!

Comet: I can imagine you chopping as you say that, Tenya.

Comet: And I could barely eat breakfast, I was so excited!

All Might: I still just want to know where we're going, and what we'll do for training.

Snowflake: Probably somewhere in the woods, or in the mountains. And I imagine a lot of sparring or something.

Book: I would not be surprised if each of us was given a specific training regimen for our individual Quirks and skills.

Comet: Then Deku-kun is going to be really busy.

Crayon: no passing out Midori! if u do, u cant make out w/ Ochako!

All Might: I guess that's a really good reason to stay strong.

Crayon: aw, he didn't freak out

Comet: Remember, Mina, Shoto has to do extra training. Don't overwhelm him early, or you won't get far.

Crayon: alshdaodso

Frog: Time to surrender, Mina. They've beaten you, ribbit.

Izuku laughed and almost choked on his food. He would have kept going in the chat, but his phone was yanked away and into his mother's hand.

"You can use your phone, or you can eat, and I'd rather you not be hungry before you even start training." Inko tried to look stern, but she couldn't hide her smile.

"Mom? What's up?"

"I'm just… so proud of you," she said. "Every day, it seems like you're a step closer to your dream."

Izuku's own smile was wobbly. "I know, and I'm so thankful to everyone who helped me get this far. Both Bens, my friends, Hawks, Nezu-sensei—and you."

Inko rushed over and gave her son a big hug. "Just remember to have fun, okay? I want you to relax a little, or you'll be wound too tight."

"I will, Mom."

"Good." Inko smiled evilly. "And make sure to pay attention to Ochako-chan! Girls like a boy who's driven, but not if it gets them ignored."

"Mom!"

Inko laughed, and then tapped the Ultimatrix. "You'll keep him out of trouble, won't you, Ben?"

Ben flickered into view and 'sat' in a chair. "I'll do my best, but Izuku has a habit of doing crazy thing-thing-thing-things."

Izuku and Inko both looked at him worriedly; despite Ben's insistence otherwise, his glitches seemed to be getting worse. It also hadn't escaped their notice that he projected his hologram less, and tended to speak only when directly addressed. However, every time they asked, Ben just deflected any questions, or claimed that his programming refused to let him answer. Though they still trusted him, they also suspected that Ben was lying to them about something, and had been for some time.

While Inko didn't want to confront her surrogate second son, Izuku became determined to do just that when he got a chance. If something was wrong with his best friend—practically his brother by that point—then he wanted to help.

"We'll see you in a couple of weeks, Mom," Izuku said, not-so-subtly changing the subject. "And I'll be even stronger."

Inko smiled. "Careful, Izuku; people might think you're aiming for All Might's spot before you're even out of high school."

"No, I'll settle for taking Endeavor's place in the ratings for now." He meant it as a joke, of course, but part of him was still furious and disgusted with Endeavor after what Todoroki had told him.

Inko laughed, and gave her son a hug. "I love you, Izuku."

"I love you too, Mom."

…

There was a palpable excitement in the air as Class 1-A gathered by the buses. Even the six students that had failed the exam were chipper, though they tried to look more subdued whenever Aizawa so much as glanced at them.

"For most students, this would be a time to rest and relax," Aizawa reminded them all. "But you've chosen a harder path in life, so you don't get that kind of break. Even after this training camp, you'll be expected to keep up with extra studying and physical exercise. If I think you've been slipping, I'll find someone more responsible to take your place."

With his piece said, Aizawa made his way onto the bus, presumably to catch a quick nap. Somewhat chastised, Class 1-A moved their things into the storage area on the bus, but they were still eager.

"What do you want to do first, Deku-kun?" Uraraka asked. "S'mores, or stories?"

"C-can we have both?" Midoriya smiled, and then blushed when Uraraka gently bumped her shoulder against him.

"You just want more opportunities to snuggle," she accused.

"Is th-that a b-bad thing?"

"No, but it is cute."

Further flirting was cut short when an unexpected guest joined the class.

"Hey," Shinso greeted tiredly as he dragged a suitcase behind him.

"Shinso-san?" Midoriya blinked; he'd only seen the other boy a few times since the Sports Festival. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I guess I did well enough in the Sports Festival to get Aizawa-sensei's attention; he's willing to give me a chance as a probationary Hero Course student until the end of the year, and then it might be permanent." He shrugged. "I guess that recommendation you gave after the Festival helped too, so… thanks."

Midoriya looked away, embarrassed; he had almost forgotten that he had asked Aizawa to give Shinso a chance. He and Yaoyorozu had created a rational, well-thought-out proposal that included how the UA entrance exam didn't account for people with Quirks not suited for combat. Aizawa had eventually caved and told them that he'd consider it, but there had been no further word after that. Midoriya had been too busy with internships, the revelations about Quirks, Eri, and everything else to follow up.

"It w-was n-nothing, really!" Midoriya smiled nervously. "I'm glad you're joining us, Shinso-san."

"What's this?" A voice that had all of Class 1-A on edge cut into the conversation. "The renowned Class 1-A has an extra member? Why, it's almost like you need the help!"

Yaoyorozu gave Monoma a piercing look, complete with a raised eyebrow, that Ashido had dubbed her 'superior rich-girl glare'. "Is there something you want, Monoma-san?"

The Class 1-B boy sneered. "Just confirming that the vaunted Class 1-A really did fail during the exams as badly as I'd heard. Six of you were unable to pass, yet all but one Class B student succeeded; how strange, when you're supposed to be superior to—urk!"

Everyone blinked when Kendo ended Monoma's tirade with a quick chop to the neck that sent him sprawling. "Sorry about that. He's getting better at avoiding me; I need to hit him harder."

"Kinky," Mineta whispered, only for Asui to slap him with her tongue.

"H-hi, Kendo-san," Midoriya said to break the tension, as the rest of Class 1-B arrived. "Wait, are we all going to the same training camp?"

"I guess so." Kendo enlarged one of her hands to easily pick up the semi-conscious Monoma. "No one told us you'd be going with us; we all kinda thought our classes would go to different camps."

"This is most fortuitous," Shiozaki commented, her hands clasped together. "It is a sign that our classes will break down the walls dividing us, despite the… disruptive elements we have."

Students from both classes glanced at Monoma, and then at Mineta; the former was being dragged into a bus, while the latter was already bound with Sero's tape and being manhandled by Kirishima.

"W-well, I guess we'll see you all at camp," Midoriya said; Tetsutetsu and Shiozaki smiled, while Kendo waved as she finished tossing Monoma onto the bus.

"All right, that's enough excitement!" Yaoyorozu waved to get her class' attention. "Everyone, please get onto the bus, we have a long drive ahead of us!"

…

Aizawa had warned his students—and possible future student—that they would be driving for an hour before their first break. The students took the opportunity to chat, joke, or just relax; at first, Midoriya was happy to spend time with his friends, but after about twenty minutes, he yawned. The other Rising Stars, taking up the seats behind, ahead, and to the side of his, all looked at him in concern.

"Did you have a hard time sleeping too, Deku-kun?" Uraraka asked; she was on the seat attached to his. "I kept thinking about today, so it took forever to fall asleep."

Midoriya nodded. "Yeah, I kept checking that I had everything packed."

Yaoyorozu turned around in her seat in front of them and smiled. "Why don't you two take a nap? We'll wake you when we stop."

"Thanks, Momo." Uraraka hesitated, then rested her head on her boyfriend's shoulder; after a minute, her breathing leveled out, and she was asleep.

It took Midoriya a bit longer to calm down; after all, his girlfriend had just fallen asleep on him, and he didn't really know how to deal with that. Uraraka had rested against him before, but that had been a show of affection; this felt much more intimate.

Still, he eventually calmed down, leaned back, and closed his eyes; he thought he felt his cheek rest against something soft, but by then, he was fast asleep.

It only felt like a few minutes before he felt someone tap his shoulder to wake him up; rather than a hand like he expected, it was Asui's tongue.

"Aizawa-sensei says that we're here, ribbit." Asui's face was its usual blank state, but Midoriya had known her long enough to tell when she was amused. "You should wake up Ochako."

Midoriya blinked as he tried to figure out what was so funny. Once he was fully awake, he realized that Uraraka had shifted around in her sleep; she was partially on his lap, and she was hugging him tightly.

"Er, Ochako?" Midoriya gently shook his girlfriend. "Ochako-chan?"

The endearing suffix was enough to wake Uraraka. She blinked sleepily—and adorably, to Midoriya's eyes—and then realized what she was doing. She jumped back like Midoriya had suddenly caught fire.

"Yes! What? Everything's fine!" Then Midoriya started to float, so Uraraka had to quickly release her Quirk.

"Um, yes?" Uraraka's face was unbelievably red, and if the heat Midoriya felt was any indication, his was probably the same. "It's time to get off the bus. The break? Remember?"

"Oh, right!" Uraraka stood up, smoothed out her skirt, and bolted for the door. "See you outside!"

Midoriya took a shuddering breath; he and Uraraka had gotten pretty comfortable with each other since they'd started dating, but neither had gone farther than hugging and kissing. Suddenly, the idea of spending two weeks with his girlfriend in a camp was raising all kinds of feelings for Midoriya.

He slapped himself a couple of times to snap out of it, and joined everyone else outside. Thankfully, other than a slight blush, Uraraka seemed to have gotten over it, and even laughed a little. As the students stretched out stiff muscles, they started to notice something off.

"Hey, uh," Kaminari looked around. "This doesn't look like a rest stop."

He was right; instead of a gas station or convenience store to take a break by, they were parked by a small cliff that overlooked a large forest. There was nothing else on the road, except for a car parked in front of the bus—and it was only Class 1-A's bus. Class B's was nowhere to be seen.

Midoriya had known Aizawa long enough to become just a little suspicious. Mineta, on the other hand, was a little too preoccupied to be thinking about that.

"Aizawa-sensei," the short boy said as he squirmed in place, "where's the bathroom?"

"You didn't think we stopped just to rest, did you?" Aizawa's mouth was hidden by his capture tool, but even Uraraka would have bet money that he was smiling cruelly.

"Hey, Eraser!" The doors to the car opened. "Been a while, huh?"

Aizawa nodded. "Yeah. Thanks again for all this."

The entire class stared as two women jumped out of the car. Both wore outfits that wouldn't have been out of place on cheerleaders, with short skirts and high-cut tops. One wore red, and the other wore blue; both had metal headpieces that looked like cat ears, big cat-paw gloves, and cat tails.

"Your feline fantasies have arrived!" The one in red, a brunette with red markings on her face, winked.

The one in blue, a blonde with a visor over her eyes, grinned. "Perfectly cute and catlike girls!"

"We're…" Both women struck a pose. "The Wild, Wild Pussycats!"

The entire routine was ruined somewhat by the little boy who stood behind them. His face was shadowed by his red hat, but he looked thoroughly fed up with everything.

Midoriya didn't notice the boy, though; he was too excited to see part of a popular Pro Hero team. "The Wild, Wild Pussycats! I don't believe it! They're a really successful rescue team, and they've maintained their place in the rankings ever since they debuted twelve years—oomph!"

The blonde woman was suddenly in front of him, one paw clamped over his mouth. "I'm eighteen at heart, understand?"

Something told Midoriya that contradicting this woman would be detrimental to his health, so he just nodded.

"Anyway," Aizawa said, looking almost as done as the young boy, "these are two of the four-Hero team that will be helping to train you all. Follow their instructions, and maybe they'll turn you into decent Heroes-in-training." He nodded at the brunette. "Mandalay, I'll leave the next part up to you and Pixie-Bob."

"Sure thing, Eraser." Mandalay grinned at the students and gestured to the forest behind her. "We own this whole area; you'll be training mostly at the camp, which is at the base of that mountain."

The students had to take her word for it, since the camp was concealed by the dense forest. However, all of them began to get more and more suspicious.

"Um, if the camp is that far away…" Uraraka shared a nervous glance with her friends. "Why did we stop all the way out here?"

"Because Aizawa isn't the only one who likes to be cruel, ribbit," Asui sighed.

"Back on the bus," Sero said, grabbing Asui by the arm and moving away. "Back on the bus, before it's too late!"

Other students followed his lead, but Pixie-Bob was blocking their path. On their other side, Mandalay popped out claws from her gloves.

"It's about nine-thirty," she purred. "If you hurry, you might make it the camp by noon, but if you don't arrive by twelve-thirty, you won't get lunch!"

Pixie-Bob grinned maniacally and put her paws on the ground; there was a brief glow, and then the soil erupted into a landslide that carried the class off the cliff. There were screams, shrieks, and not a little cursing as the students landed in a pile of dust and tangled limbs.

"That bitch!" Bakugo's hands sparked as he prepared to launch himself back up to give Pixie-Bob a piece of his mind.

"Hold on, man!" Kirishima and Sato grabbed him before he did something he'd regret.

Mandalay poked her head over the cliff, unconcerned with Bakugo's temper. "By the way, since this land is privately owned, you can use your Quirks as much as you want! You'll need to, if you want to survive the Beasts' Forest!"

Midoriya paused in the middle of dusting himself off and shared a concerned look with his friends. Beasts' Forest?

"Okay, I am officially done with Aizawa-sensei and his crap," Ashido growled.

"Look on the bright side," Todoroki muttered, "at least we can take it out on anything that tries to stop us."

"Is your class always this insane?" Shinso asked.

"Welcome to Hero training, newbie," Sero said. "Aizawa-sensei just tossed you into the deep end."

At the edge of the forest, Mineta sighed as he hid behind a tree; somehow, through some miracle of self-control, he had gone through that entire ordeal without emptying his bladder. All he had to do now was find a nice, secluded spot, and he would be good… for…

It was at that moment that Mineta looked up and saw an enormous, snarling monster staring down at him. It was understandable that he finally lost the battle to control his bladder, and he screamed.

"It seems the name is well-earned," Yaoyorozu said, though her own fear was tempered when she saw Mineta running away with a massive dark stain between his legs.

Koda rushed forward, arms outstretched. "Please, calm yourself, great beast! We mean you no harm!"

For a moment, Midoriya thought that Koda's ability to control animals would work, but then he saw patches of dirt fall from the monster's body. That triggered his encyclopedic knowledge of Heroes and Quirks.

"Don't waste your breath, Koda-san!" he shouted, as more creatures stomped into view. "That's Pixie-Bob's Quirk! She can control dirt in any way she wants!"

"I guess this is why Mandalay said it would take us so long to reach the camp," Uraraka said.

Bakugo grinned. "And since we can use our Quirks however we want, we can just kill these things!"

"Yeah, let's hurry up and blow past 'em!" Kirishima's arms Hardened, and he readied himself to charge.

"Screw that, let's have some fun!" Bakugo launched himself into the air. "Whoever gets the most kills wins!"

Yaoyorozu sighed. "While I hate to agree with Bakugo, this would be a good way to start our training."

"All right, Class A!" Iida rolled up his pants, and his engines started to growl. "Let's go!"

"YEAH!"

Midoriya slammed his hand down on the Ultimatrix; he was surprised when he turned into Cannonbolt instead of Humungousaur, but he had no time to ponder the watch's newest malfunction. He curled up and rolled out, slamming into the first monster, before bouncing off a few trees and into another; each impact made a huge crater that destabilized the dirt and destroyed the construct.

Iida kicked his Quirk-propelled leg through the head of one monster, then accepted a high-five from Uraraka and flew through the air to tear off the wing of another. The damaged constructed started to rise, but Uraraka made a log weightless and used it to beat the thing into dust.

Asui and Sero used their Quirks to entangle the legs of another construct that looked like a small Brachiosaurus, holding it down long enough for Ashido to melt it in half. Nearby, Todoroki froze two more constructs, destroying one, and holding the other in place so that Yaoyorozu could destroy it with a cannon she created.

The rest of the class enthusiastically threw themselves at the growing number of monsters—even gentle Koda sent flocks of birds to tear chunks of soil away, and Hagakure snuck around so that she could kick a construct in the head. She didn't do much damage, but she could distract them long enough for a heavy hitter to finish the job. Even Mineta fought fiercely, screaming obscenities as he hurled his balls to trap constructs, though he efforts were less impressive with his wet pants.

"Come on, losers!" Bakugo cackled as he blasted apart one construct after another. "I've already killed six of these things!"

"Good for you," Cannonbolt said, rolling past him. "I've got eight."

"Screw you, Deku!" Bakugo screamed in fury as he rocketed toward two more monsters. "These ones are—hey! I called those, Raccoon-Eyes!"

Ashido stuck her tongue out as the sizzling remains of the constructs fell around her. "Too bad, so sad, you mad?"

Cannonbolt waited until Bakugo stormed off—spouting curses, but impressively, never repeating himself once—before sharing a low-five with Ashido.

"By the way," she continued, "I'm on seven, Midori. If you're not careful, I'll catch up!"

Cannonbolt curled up and rolled off. "Not a chance!"

…

It was well into the evening when Class 1-A staggered into a clearing, where the camp was waiting. Each student was absolutely exhausted and suffering the backlash of overusing their Quirks—some examples included Sero, who was dehydrated, Uraraka, who was clutching her stomach, and Yaoyorozu, who had used so many lipids that she had to be carried by Iida. Kaminari was still a little out of it after using too much electricity, frying his brain, Sato looked like he was about to pass out after using all of his sugar supply, and Mineta's hair was more red than purple after all the blood he'd shed. Even Midoriya was exhausted; he'd transformed so often that the Ultimatrix had timed out several times. At one point, he'd tried to clear away whole mobs of constructs as Way Big, but a tidal wave of earth had nearly buried him alive; apparently, Pixie-Bob thought that was cheating.

Speaking of Pixie-Bob, she was nearly in hysterics when she saw the students limp over. Mandalay looked a little more apologetic, but not enough that anyone would think she was sincere. Aizawa was leaning against one of the buildings dotting the campsite, tucked inside his sleeping bag with one eye open; the students didn't need to know him to know they'd get no sympathy.

"Hey, look at that," Mandalay said. "You made it here before the sun completely set! Nice job!"

"You said it would take us three hours to get here!" Ashido moaned.

Mandalay shrugged. "Sorry, that's how long it would take one of us to make it through that course."

"Thanks for rubbing it in," Sero rasped; beside him, Asui ribbited weakly.

"Hey, you all did great," Pixie-Bob said. Her eyes then became calculating. "Especially… you!"

Midoriya became understandably flustered as Pixie-Bob was suddenly well inside his personal space, admiring him in ways that really didn't make him comfortable.

"You've definitely got some growing to do, but after you graduate, I'll have to be quick to snap you up!" Pixie-Bob's paw reached out for his face, only to miss when Uraraka tugged him out of the way.

"Please don't manhandle my boyfriend," Uraraka said tiredly; Midoriya made a noise of agreement as he hid behind her.

Pixie-Bob drooped. "Dang it…" She looked at several of the other boys in the class who had done well in the forest, but Todoroki was suddenly pulled away by Ashido, and Iida was protected by a stern glare that Yaoyorozu directed at the Hero.

That left only Bakugo as Pixie-Bob's target, but he just scowled. "Try it, and I'll turn you into a smear on the floor."

"Now I really am out of luck," Pixie-Bob groaned.

Aizawa glanced at Mandalay. "How long has she been like this?"

"It's recent," Mandalay admitted. "She's getting really sensitive about her age; she thinks she needs to find a man as soon as possible, or it'll be too late."

"Tell her not to flirt with my students," Aizawa warned. "That's a media frenzy waiting to happen."

Mandalay nodded tiredly, as if she was used to this, then narrowed her eyes at Pixie-Bob; the other woman suddenly flinched, and Midoriya figured that Mandalay had sent her a scathing lecture via her Quirk, Telepathy. After that, she turned to the students, who had already figured out that Mandalay was the saner of the Pussycats they'd met so far.

"Anyway, considering you had no idea we'd be doing this, how about we make it up to you with a nice dinner?" Mandalay smiled. "We won't do this again, though; you'll have to make your own meals after tonight."

The class perked up at that, but Midoriya still had a lingering question. "Excuse me, but whose kid is that?"

Mandalay glanced at the young boy, who seemed to be trying to glower at each individual, yet no one in particular. "That's Kota; he's my nephew."

Midoriya knelt in front of Kota so that he could look him in the eye. "Hi, Kota, I'm—"

The noise that escaped Midoriya's mouth wasn't one normally made by humans. Then again, most humans weren't punched in the groin by children. Kota sneered as Midoriya fell over with a wheeze. The other Rising Stars rushed over to him; even Ben materialized, though only Midoriya could see him, and winced.

"You little heathen!" Iida chopped at the air and glared at Kota. "That was uncalled for!"

"Like I care." Kota tried to glare while keeping his hat pulled low. It didn't work, and only Midoriya could see the anger and hurt in his eyes, since he was on the ground.

"Kota—!" Mandalay reached out for her nephew, but the boy had already stormed off. She turned and shrugged apologetically. "I'm sorry, he's… going through a lot right now."

"It's okay," Midoriya managed through clenched teeth as he gratefully accepted a chunk of ice from Todoroki.

Back with the rest of the class, Bakugo smirked. "I like that kid."

Kirishima rolled his eyes. "Of course you do."

"Enough," Aizawa said, getting the students' attention. "Get your things off the bus, then come eat. After that, you can bathe and get some sleep. Enjoy it while you can, because tomorrow, training really starts."

…

To no one's surprise—though to Mineta's disappointment—the classes' sleeping arrangements were divided by gender. The boys' bunkroom was much larger than the girls', but everyone still had enough room for themselves. The students quickly unpacked, then went to eat.

Dinner was loud, chaotic, and almost enough to make Midoriya forget about the hellish fighting just a few hours earlier. The food was amazing, made even better after working so hard to get to it. It was also almost enough for him to forget the pain between his legs, though that had finally faded.

Rather than simple showers that other campsites might have, the Pussycats' property had actual hot springs. Clad in a towel, Midoriya sank into the steaming water; his exhausted muscles—and still-sore groin—immediately relaxed. He took a deep breath and let all of his anxieties melt away; he would worry about training later, but for now, he was content.

"I can't believe we fell for Aizawa-sensei's crap again," Kaminari muttered nearby, even as he also sighed in relief. "When are we going to learn?"

"When we stop comparing UA to normal schools," Sero replied. "We should have known we'd hit the ground running."

Kirishima snorted, but since he'd sunk up to his nose in the water, he created a surge of bubbles before he sat up. "Well, since we were fighting actual dirt monsters, I don't think that's a metaphor anymore."

"I still don't know what I'm going to do here," Shinso said. "All I did earlier was run around and try not to get squished."

"Well, you're behind on the physical part of Hero training," Midoriya pointed out. "Think of this as catching up."

"Do you always fight monsters?"

Midoriya opened his eyes and shrugged. "Usually, it's robots, or sparring with each other."

"Ugh, robots." Shinso ran a hand through his messy hair. "I hate robots."

"That reminds me," Midoriya said. "Is there anyone your Quirk doesn't work on?"

"Besides Wildmutt," Sero added.

Shinso thought about it for a moment. "Well, the person has to hear my question and reply, so deaf people are immune, and they have to be able to speak. I'm not sure if there are other limits, though."

"Maybe you'll find out in training," Kirishima suggested. "I'll let you use your Quirk on me, if you want."

"Excuse me," Tokoyami cut in. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but Mineta is… being Mineta."

All eyes turned to the student in question. He was standing in front of the wall separating the baths, hands on his hips and looking determined.

"This is it," he said, almost to himself. "Beyond this wall is the greatest sight my eyes will ever see."

"Hey, uh, Mineta?" Kirishima waited until Mineta looked at him. "I'm pretty sure I know what you're about to do, and I really don't think you should do it."

"Why not?" Mineta demanded. "I might never get another chance at this!"

"They're why." Kirishima jerked his thumb back, and Mineta's blood ran cold.

They hadn't moved from their seats, but four students in particular were suddenly a lot less relaxed. Sero had angled one elbow in Mineta's direction; it looked like he was leaning, but he was readying his tape for a clean shot. Iida leaned forward, ready to burst out of the water; even without his Quirk, he could easily sprint to Mineta's location. Tiny wisps of cold drifted off Todoroki's shoulder, and his right hand rested on the lip of the hot spring; he could freeze Mineta solid in an instant. Midoriya looked almost bored, save for his intense stare, and his hand hovering over the Ultimatrix; Mineta had no idea what he would turn into, but he really didn't want to find out.

"Yeah, think about it," Kirishima went on. "Midoriya is dating Uraraka, pretty sure Todoroki and Ashido are a thing," he waited for Todoroki to nod before continuing. "And I don't know about Sero and Asui, or Iida and Yaomomo, but I think they'd still kill you on principle." He shrugged. "I mean, we all would, but they get first dibs."

For a brief moment, Mineta actually considered going for it, regardless of the risk, but self-preservation won out, and he sat back in the water with a sulk.

"Smartest thing he's done today," Sero muttered.

As everyone settled back down, only Midoriya noticed that the Ultimatrix had made that crackling sound again. It reminded him that he had to ask Ben about that, and he wouldn't let the hologram deflect his questions again. This time, he would get some answers.

…

On the other side of the hot spring, the girls of Class 1-A relaxed; Jiro had heard Mineta's heavy breathing minutes ago, and they had all been prepared to dive under the steaming water to prevent Mineta from looking at them if he actually tried something. Thankfully, that hadn't been necessary.

"I love those boys," Ashido sighed. "They're the best shield against perverts a girl could ask for."

"I kinda wanted to know what Midoriya would turn into to kill Mineta," Jiro admitted.

"We should blame the Pussycats," Yaoyorozu said. "They should have staggered the times so that the little troll wouldn't have had an opportunity. He's been getting closer and closer to crossing the line."

"And when he does, we can watch him get expelled, ribbit." Asui sank deeper into the water and closed her eyes. "Enough about him, let's just enjoy this."

"It was still pretty cute that your boyfriends were ready to leap to your defense," Hagakure pointed out.

Only Uraraka looked pleased; the other three girls just looked embarrassed.

"Shoto and I just started dating!" Ashido protested. "We're not official or anything!"

"Tenya and I are friends," Yaoyorozu insisted, though it was ruined by a red face that had nothing to do with the water.

Asui didn't say anything; instead, she ribbited and completely submerged herself.

Hagakure and Jiro shared a glance—at least, it seemed that the former did—and burst out laughing.

…

After bathing, the students had an hour to themselves before going to bed. Midoriya took the opportunity to address something that had been bothering him for a while. He made sure he wasn't followed as he hid behind some trees just outside the camp.

"Ben, we need to talk."

"Yeah, buddy?" Ben materialized, head tilted. "What-what-what-what's up?"

"That." Midoriya pointed at him. "We need to talk about that. You've been glitching out since I-Island—no, since before that, with the flickering. I know you're not telling me everything, but now the Ultimatrix is acting weird. I need to know."

Ben closed his eyes and turned away for a moment. "I should have said something when the Ultimatrix first malfunctioned. It's… it's my fault. I shouldn't have tried to find a way to subvert my programming."

Midoriya blinked. "You did what?"

Ben smiled bitterly. "Blame the real Ben; if I hadn't become self-aware, I wouldn't have even tried this. I rationalized delaying my own… final dispensation, you could say."

"You're still not telling me what you did, or what this is all about."

"Right, sorry." Ben made a show of taking a deep breath, then flickered wildly. "Dang it. Anyway, you remember how I've always said that I'm a tutorial program? Well, if you've played a video game, you know that tutorials… stop, after a while-while-while." He flickered again. "I was supposed to remain online until you were completely ready to set out on your own—by Ben's standards, 'on your own' meant getting the Ultimates. Even then, every step you took was another subroutine that I no longer kept active."

It took Midoriya a moment to realize what Ben was saying. "Wait, me becoming a better Hero was killing you!?"

"I was never really alive, so-so-so I don't know if that statement applies, but that's philosophy for another day." Ben smiled at his own joke, but it faded when he saw how horrified Midoriya looked. "Anyway, I knew how badly you'd take it if I just went 'poof', but I couldn't figure out how to tell you, so I… didn't."

"Why didn't you tell the other Ben, or Azmuth?" Midoriya asked. "They could have fixed you!"

"Probably not," Ben said. "If anything, I'm-I'm-I'm fulfilling my programming—programming they gave me. You don't need me anymore, so—"

"That's not true!" Tears welled up in Midoriya's eyes, and Ben flinched. "You're the first real friend I've ever had, my best friend! Y-you're practically my brother!"

Ben suddenly found the ground very interesting. "You shouldn't say that. I'm a computer program, and I was never meant to be your friend."

"Then why did you try to stay longer than your programming said you should?" Midoriya demanded.

Ben smiled sadly. "The downside of becoming self-aware; I wanted something for myself, to the detriment of someone else. My software is degrading more and more, and it's starting to affect the Ultimatrix's systems—the glitches, you turning into the wrong alien, that kind of thing. The watch might have been able to handle it thirty years ago, but it's old, and it was rebuilt from scraps. Honestly, it's kind of amazing that it works as well as it does."

Midoriya was silent for a moment. "What did you want for yourself?"

"You and your mom kept saying I was part of your family." Ben laughed, but it was bitter and sad. "I guess I didn't want to leave my family."

"Is… is there any way to fix this?"

Ben shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe Azmuth could figure it out, but you'd have to contact him through the Tennysons. If I recall-recall-recall, their last meeting didn't end well." He flickered again, and looked down at his hands. "And I don't think I'll last that long."

Midoriya's mind raced as he tried to think of something, anything, to help his friend. "Wait a second. You said that you were supposed to shut down after you unlocked the Ultimates."

"Yes…" Ben looked at him strangely. "What're you getting at?"

"What would happen if you locked that function again?"

"I—huh." Ben blinked rapidly as he processed that. "That would… slow down the degradation, at least a little. Maybe enough to get through the training camp so you can call the real Ben."

"I could call him now."

"Did you forget the rules-rules-rules Aizawa talked about yesterday?" Ben crossed his arms. "No phone calls until we're on the way back. He threatened to expel anyone who broke that rule, and my core programming takes precedence here. I will intentionally deactivate before I let you ruin your chances of being a Hero." His smile turned kind. "Shutting off the Ultimates will buy me time, I promise; we just have to get through this training."

Midoriya didn't like it; in fact, he wanted to give the proverbial finger to the rules so that he could save Ben. But he knew that Ben could only bend his programming so far, and if he thought that Midoriya would give up his dream, he would take the decision out of his hands. In order to save him, Midoriya would have to let him suffer, and it made him sick.

"Do it," he finally said. "I'd rather lose the Ultimates for a while than lose you forever."

Ben nodded; a moment later, the Ultimatrix beeped and the dial briefly turned. "It's done. The degradation has slowed down considerably."

"Thank goodness." Midoriya was still worried, but now Ben had a fighting chance.

"Now that the drama is out of the way," Ben said, "you should get some sleep. You have a lot of work to do."

Sorry for the delayed update. I hit a wall with this chapter, but I'm better now.

Anyway, there's a lot to unpack in this chapter.

First of all, Ben finally comes clean about what's wrong with him. He's running out of time, and it's starting to cause problems for Midoriya as well.

As for Aizawa being able to shut off Midoriya's aliens' powers—remember, in this story, Quirks came from the alien DNA of the Ben 10 universe. If Aizawa can shut off a Quirk, he can shut off active powers for an alien, though since the transformations are caused by technology, he can't force Midoriya back into human form.

We also see Shigaraki being tactical; unlike at USJ, he's not leaving things to chance. And for those of you who have seen Heroes Rising, you'll see some of the Villains from that movie are now part of the League of Villains. I liked those guys, and I wanted to bring them in here. That means that the events of that movie will be vastly different, if they occur at all. Trust me, I have plans in mind. So many plans…

Yeah, I was mean to Mineta in this chapter, but he was pretty bad during the pool/hot spring scenes. He deserved it.

Oh, and Shinso is here early! Let's be honest, his Quirk is stupidly powerful, and it is ridiculous that someone like that gets passed over because he couldn't fight a robot. Outside of Two Heroes (which he wasn't in anyway) nobody fights with robots in the MHA universe.

And Midoriya has lost the Ultimates, at least for now. Don't worry, he'll get them back eventually.

As always, please consider buying my book, Alpha Sanction, by Josh Gottlieb. You can find it on my website (link in my profile), or on Amazon as an eBook or physical copy. Sales help keep me afloat, and also make me feel like a real author.

If you want to support me in other ways, you can donate on P-atreon (link in my profile). Your generosity is much loved, and gives me the drive to write as much as possible.

And now, I'd like to thank the following Patrons:

Serious Muffins: SpaceEmperorSpar, Nimrod009, Anders Lyngbye, Matthias Matanovic, ChaosSpartan575, John Collins, Red Bard, Aaron Meek, Shaolin Khalil, killroy225

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Next Chapter: Training begins, Midoriya learns a bit more about the tragic side of being a Hero, and the League of Villains moves out.

Plus Muffin!