Black RWBY Academia

by stringdog

What if the characters from RWBY and Black Clover were in the MHA universe, how would the story be told then? Well, it's time to find out in this three-way crossover set entirely in the MHA universe in a retelling of the story with additional characters and the roles that they will play in the war between All for One and One for All.

43. Chapter 43: Crushing a Hard Diamond

Here is the forty-third chapter in this story released in accordance with my release schedule for this story. One battle with a Diamond Company soldier is over but another was going on at the same time and it was a harder battle that lasted beyond the end of the other. As such it's time to switch to the battle between Mars and the Golden Dawn to see what's going on there and how it will end. That is all that I have for the administrative stuff I have for y'all and while there are no questions to answer here there is one guest review that need a response, one of which will involve a question to y'all, so I will do that now. Do keep them coming as your support is the best motivation for me to keep producing chapters at this kind of rate.

To Guest (guest), thank you for your review, glad to see that you enjoyed the last chapter. Yup, the change with Nero being there and how the Black Clover characters' magic or Anti-Magic have been adapted allowed for the capture of Lotus. Of course Lotus is a slippery, tricky, man so who knows what he might have in store for our heroes. Yup, time to see how Mars fights as we move to his role in the first part of the dungeon adaptation. Do keep reading and enjoying my work.

That is it for this slightly shorter than usual pre-chapter note so it is time to sit back and enjoy the forty-third chapter in Black RWBY Academia.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these three great franchises.

Chapter 43: Crushing a Hard Diamond

The man standing before Klaus and Yuno looked to be about Klaus's age, maybe a few years older, with short, spikey light purple hair and pink, cold, emotionless eyes. He wore a skin tight, short-sleeved, white shirt with a jagged opening in the chest down to the black belt at his waist with red edging that showed off his muscular physique, with matching white pants but for a red edging around the crotch and white and pink cowboy-style boots. Over his shoulders he wore a black fur cloak that came down to just above his ankles with a silver insignia that Klaus couldn't fully make out at this distance on the left shoulder.

Oddly, however, there was no rank insignia on him. Instead, the man had three clear diamond-like stones imbedded into the center of his forehead and a fourth, larger one in the center of his chest. It was a disturbing sight and the man's aura was that of a killer. It chilled both Klaus and Yuno but both stood their ground before the villain that was approaching them. They had a mission to complete and a friend to protect and they'd do both no matter how strong this man appeared to be.

"Stay there Mimosa." Klaus said as steel flowed from his feet and he began to move it over to Mimosa. "I've…"

"Klaus, allow me." Yuno said interrupting his senior. "We have authority to use our Quirks and mine is probably better at shielding after what those crystals or whatever it was that he created did to your steel."

"Fine but stay on the defensive." Klaus said not liking that he was leaving the protection of a member of the great Quirk Knight Houses in the hands of a low born orphan but he had no choice as Yuno was right so instead he turned his steel, still flowing from his feet, arced up in a wave overhead. "I'll deal with this intruder."

Yuno just nodded as Mimosa groaned where she lay though he had no intention of letting Klaus fight alone if it came to it. The groan told Yuno that Mimosa was still conscious which was a good sign so he didn't look back as activated the defensive aspect of his Quirk around her.

For her part, Mimosa open her eyes as she lay painfully on the hard ground in time to see the wall of stars form around her and begin to connect as Yuno formed a barrier around her with his defensive stars. She noted that they used the floor and the blast doors as added elements so she was safely behind a dome of sorts, one that even the villain's crystals would struggle to break through without concentrated effort.

Therefore, the constellation shield formed and began to glow brightly, Mimosa knew that she was safe for the moment and thus she had time to sort herself out. As such, and with a fair bit of pain, she brought her palm near her mouth and a seed formed in it. Soon a pink flower bloomed from the seed in Mimosa's hand and she quickly ate it. It would take a few moments to act but when it did it would dull the pain so that she could move if need be though it took a lot out of her to make the seed for such a potent flower.

"I'm sorry sir, I made the roots to scout this area, I should have realized that someone else was here." Mimosa said her voice weak as she looked at Klaus and Yuno's backs as they stood protectively before her. "What use am I to you if I can't do that much?"

"Don't worry about that Mimosa, I get the feeling that this guy wasn't where you set up the roots." Klaus said as he adjusted his spectacles while the man continued to walk towards them his boots making a clear noise with every step. "Focus on your own safety while I deal with this person."

"Klaus, sir, any idea who he is?" Yuno said ready to act as well but holding back as instructed. "Other than clearly a villain that is."

"I don't know who he is personally but I think I know where he comes from." Klaus said as he looked at the man and noticed that silver insignia on the left side of his black cloak was of a shield with a circle inside it and then an octagon within that and final a diamond in the center with an elaborate design within the diamond and between the octagon and the circle. "Based on the insignia on his cloak I'm almost certain that he's a soldier for the damned Diamond Company. Would make sense given the location but still, it's dishonorable to attack from behind. What kind of warrior would do such a thing?"

As he asked the question at the end an accusatory tone filled Klaus's voice and he pointed at the approaching man, who was called Mars, with so much seriousness that the man stopped. He paused for a moment as he looked at Klaus a flicker of confusion in his eyes as he processed the question.

"I don't understand what you're asking." Mars said after a moment his voice the same tone it had been when he'd told them to move or die. "There is no honor in what we do, we do what we have to if we are to win. I told you to move or die, you've chosen the latter and so you will die."

"We will not move; we are aspiring Quirk Knights associated with the greatest of the Squads, the Golden Dawn." Klaus said defiance and pride in his voice. "We will not back down. Now tell me. Who are you?"

"Who I am is of no concern to you." Mars said as jagged crystals appeared from under his feet. "You are nothing more than pebbles who will fall by the wayside as I pass through. Now die."

With that Mars sent out the jagged spikes of crystal right at Yuno as he wasn't being protected. Before Yuno could act, he still had plenty of power and stamina so could call up more stars, Klaus did as he moved the steel that was in a wave behind him and swiftly moved it in front of Yuno and molded it into a thick barrier that this time managed to not just block the crystals but break them so that they didn't move as the crashed into Klaus's steel with a loud gong. To add to it Klaus still had the steel connected to him so he could continue to manipulate it.

After his failure to protect Mimosa, Klaus had gotten a sense for how strong these crystals were and had adapted to that by strengthening and thickening his steel. Still, the force of the impact had dented the steel which showed just how powerful this man was and Klaus had to swallow his pride and change his orders from a few moments before.

"Back me up Yuno." Klaus said his anger at the situation overriding his prejudices regarding class for the moment. "We've got to deal with this villain. When this is done he won't forget the strength of the Golden Dawn, the top Quirk Knight Squad in all of Japan. He'll have a lot of time to think on it while he languishes away in Tartarus."

"Yes sir." Yuno said seriously as he prepared for battle. "We won't let him defeat us."

Mars for his part was unconcerned by this. So the annoying older teen before him could block a simple attack, he had more to show and this was just scratching the surface of what he could do with his Quirk. All he did was calmly continue to execute his orders as he sent another wave of crystals, or more accurately a special mineral he created with his Quirk, at the Quirk Knights before him.

This time Klaus turned the steel shield into a spinning drill while also creating two more from his palms that he blasted out and at the crystals that were coming towards him so that they spun and shattered through them and continued towards Mars showing the toughness of his steel when Klaus turned switch to using it offensively. At the same time Yuno created several offensive stars all around Mars and blasted out offensive starlight at him that would at least keep him rooted in one place while Klaus's drills bore down on him.

However, Mars didn't move as the attacks came, instead armor made from the same crystals that he'd just used to attack them formed over his body and took the blasts of starlight on it before they could hit him, which given the speed of Yuno's attack was impressive. The armor got even more impressive as while the starlight cracked the armor, it didn't break it and it was quickly healed before the next strikes hit. Only this time, as it healed it got tougher as Mars got a sense of how powerful the starlight was and adapted his mineral armor accordingly.

This wasn't all though as he made a wall of crystal erupt before him almost simultaneously to thickening the armor on his body. Said wall of crystal intercepted Klaus's attack and stuck the steel drills fast before the wall was shifted to the side with the steel drills imbedded in it.

Because they were attached to Klaus, he had to detach them the moment that they got stuck in the mineral wall so as to avoid being tossed with them. As he did he saw his opponent again and was surprised to see that he'd not moved and the only addition was the armor all over his body that was now tanking the starlight without so much as a scratch on it.

"My stars aren't working." Yuno said as he ended his attack knowing that it was better to conserve energy and wait for the right moment to unleash a more powerful blast of starlight than to press on. "He's adapted to the power of my stars and the power they put out."

"His Quirk is powerful, that's for sure." Klaus said as he studied the man before him as he realized something, this man was far too powerful for them to handle and so he grit his teeth as he made the call that he knew was right. "Yuno, his power is such that we've not got a chance against him so I'll stay here and hold him off. Break through the blast door and get the data and then use your stars to escape with Mimosa. That is the most important thing right now, we can't let him secure whatever data is down here."

"Klaus, sir, he's extremely strong." Yuno said using Klaus's first name as he already considered the older teen a friend at this point so he was going to call him by his first name the way friends and fellow Quirk Knights would. "Are you sure you can handle him without backup? If you can't we should run while we have the chance. I can move faster than he can and can get all of us to Asta and then bring Asta back. If anyone can help it's him."

"There are times when that is the right call but now is not it!" Klaus shouted though his own prejudices were causing some issues as he refused to be saved by a brash low class orphan like Asta. "Stop questioning me and do what I say! Learning to follow orders and choosing your battles is part of being a hero no matter the branch. We're out of options because I'm sure that the Black Bulls won't arrive and while I hate leaving this to a commoner like you we need that data for the good of Japan. This monster before us is proof that the Diamond Company is getting stronger which means they're planning another invasion so we need to complete this mission, we can't let them destroy that intel!"

"Fine." Yuno said as he turned to the doors and created a line of stars along the seam between them so as to blast through the locks there which should allow him to force open the doors even if he hated the order.

However, just as he was about to do this a cluster of spikey crystals shot up out of the ground and encased Klaus's left foot immobilizing him and preventing him from creating steel from his sole. Right as it did that another jagged line of crystals shot at him while he was surprised and couldn't move.

"No! How!" Klaus yelled his voice getting Yuno's attention and Yuno turned to aid. "You didn't create that from your body. How is that possible!"

Before Klaus could get his arms up as he was questioning the scope of the Diamond soldier's Quirk, a whole sky's worth of stars appeared before him with the ones directly in front of him forming a constellation shield while the others unleashed fast, repeated, blasts of starlight in a rapid staccato as Yuno used his offensive and defensive stars at the same time. The result was that the crystals were blasted apart before they could reach Klaus and anything that got through as shrapnel from the starlight shattering them hit the shield and bounce harmlessly off it.

"What are you doing you moron!" Klaus shouted as he looked back at Yuno his foot still encased in the minerals. "I gave you a direct order. The mission is the priority right now, not me."

"I know, I ignored it." Yuno said bluntly. "Because you are my friend and I will not leave you behind!"

Klaus panted at what had just happened as the constellation shield remained before him. He was angry and conflicted at the same time but he couldn't deny that he'd just frozen from the surprise of his opponent's power as he'd presumed that the crystal creation was similar to his Steel Creation Quirk but it wasn't as he'd made the crystals that still encased Klaus's left foot appear from the ground around him. Just who was this man and what was his Quirk?

Diamond Company Special Asset, Mars, Quirk: Mineral Knight. Mars can create armor and weapons out of his body made from a special crystalline mineral that is unique to him. While not as hard as diamonds, it is similar to them and very durable and makes him a force to be reckoned with due to the offensive and defensive capabilities of his Quirk.

This is now more so as he is the sole survivor of a horrific Diamond Company experiment where kids who were either bred to have strong Quirks or had been identified and kidnapped by the Diamond Company and then put through harsh training with a high fatality rate. Those who survived the training were then forced to participate in a deadly battle royale in which only one of them would survive. That survivor was Mars.

His reward for being the strongest was to be implemented with special artificial stones created by the Diamond Company that forcibly awakened and enhanced his Quirk meaning that he can now create his mineral constructs out of anything that he can see, even thin air. He is the first in what is planned to be a new wave of super soldiers that will become the next generation of Generals for the Diamond Company and this is his first test run.

Mars was still expressionless as he looked at Yuno and Klaus who were still standing before him. Yuno did glance back at Mimosa who seemed to be doing better but she was still on the ground and panting a bit though not as bad as she had been after she was initially attacked. She was safe for the moment behind Yuno's constellation shield so he could focus on the battle at hand.

"That's no excuse to come back here!" Klaus said as he pivoted to glare at Yuno despite the situation and what Yuno had just done for him. "We have to complete the mission and that means breaking into that record room, securing the data, and then getting out of here even if you have to leave me and Mimosa while you get it. I can protect her long enough to ensure that you get that data and then retrieve her so that you can get the data to the right people. You need to learn that there are some fights that you can't win and must retreat so that a better suited hero, huntsman, or Quirk Knight can fight the villain."

"No." Yuno said bluntly. "I understand your logic Klaus but that doesn't work for me. Honestly, I'm not sure we can get through that door just yet even with my stars and besides, I won't leave my friends behind. If we want to complete this mission we must first defeat him before we all enter the room together. It's either that or fleeing and leaving the records to him and we won't let that happen. This ends now."

"What are…" Klaus began but he was cut off as another field of stars appeared but this time they all began to move into four clusters to make the points of a square.

Klaus was stunned by the raw power that Yuno was showing, along with his ability to learn and grown in the middle of a battle, as the four clusters merged to create four decently sized stars that glowed brighter than his normal stars. This was something new and akin to an Ultimate Move which Yuno shouldn't be at the level to manage yet but here he was creating one without even realizing.

"This ends now." Yuno said bluntly as the stars glowed even brighter. "Surrender or be driven into the ground. The Quirk Knights will take control of this compound and secure that information. You will never retrieve it."

At no sign of surrender, the four stars simultaneously fired larger, more intense, beams than before. However, rather than all fire at the Diamond Company soldier, they fired inwards and converged on a singular point and merged into an even larger, brighter, beam of starlight before suddenly firing from that singular point right at Mars.

Yuno grunted as he kept his focus up, it was taking a lot combined several stars into 4 and then their power into one but he knew that he had to do something to up his output if he wanted to end this with a single, massive blow. This was what he'd come up with on the fly to do just that because as strong as the villain's mineral armor was, Yuno's stars should now be stronger and thus the beam would be powerful enough to pierce through the armor and blast the villain down into the concrete floor thus taking him out of the fight.

Well that would have been the plan but clearly the man wasn't fazed by it as the light tore at him. instead, and for the first time since he'd come to a stop, he moved as he raised his right arm and suddenly an absolutely massive sword with a strange, almost arrow shaped top, and thick, reinforced, blade formed in the air and almost reached the side wall. It was an unreal creation with his Quirk, which was already strong, and just the counter that was needed for Yuno's attack.

Mars then slashed the mineral sword down faster than Yuno would have thought possible given the sword's size so that it intercepted the front of the converged starlight with a colossal boom that shook the whole room and caused a massive explosion of crystals and light that momentarily blinded everyone as the attack was stopped by the sword. When it was clear the sword had a chunk that went more than halfway through it missing from its blade but as it was moved back to over Mars's head it began to fix itself and return to normal while the last of the starlight faded from everyone's vision.

All Klaus and Mimosa could do was stare in shock at the block while Yuno panted in exhaustion from the effort it had taken to merge and blast his stars like that. He'd pushed himself to the limit and then past it but he'd still failed.

"How is that possible?" Klaus asked. "The power Yuno was using was beyond any I've seen before other than what I've seen Captain Vangeance do and he blocked it with that thing.

Mars didn't say anything for a long moment as he held Yuno's gaze, a cold look on his face that was matched in his eyes. It was as if he wasn't impressed at all, it was a powerful attack even it had been futile, and now it was time to end things.

"Begone." Mars said coldly. "All of you."

With that Mars shifted his position turning his left shoulder to face a still panting Yuno as he raised his right arm above his head and moved his left as if to get a hold on the floating sword though it was clearly being controlled telekinetically. The sheer power before them was unreal and frightening but to Klaus at least it felt almost unnatural in a way as he watched having fallen to a knee by the block of Yuno's attack though a side effect of either the explosion or the creation of the sword was that the crystals on Klaus's left leg had crumbled away freeing him up to move once again.

That wasn't really much of a concern for Klaus at the moment as he watched what was going on. Yuno was strong, even Klaus had to admit that after learning that Yuno had come top in the normal Entrance Exam with the highest score since the Wizard King which was apparently a big deal though as Klaus was a recommended student he wasn't aware of that, and then seeing what Yuno could do both at the Sports Festival had backed up that fact apparently. Hell, Yuno had placed 3rd in the Sports Festival and had only really faced one challenge during it which was a testament to his power.

That said, Klaus didn't put too much stock in the Sports Festival as the top student in his class and therefore the school, Mirio Togata, had never placed in it and it had been won in the past by boorish lowborn commoners like Voltia and Xiao-Long while this year that brute Bakugo and the loudmouth Asta had been the finalists for the first years. Still, even he could acknowledge that Yuno had done well in it. The kid had managed to come second in the first event, orchestrated his team's win in the second, and didn't move once in the final event until the semifinals and had thus gotten Captain Vangeance's attention.

Yet despite all this, as well as what Klaus had just witnessed, Yuno's Quirk was completely ineffective against the man before them as he was hardly breaking a sweat in his handling of Yuno. True there were plenty of villains out there that could easily beat a first year even one from U.A. and the Diamond Company were no ordinary villains as their soldiers were trained to the level of an average Quirk Knight, mid-tier hero, or a standard huntsman. Even so, this guy was at best 2 years older than Klaus and was facing a strong and strange Quirk in Starforce without an issue.

There had to be a reason for it, especially as Klaus was outmatched as well and he was of high birth with a strong Quirk that had secured his recommendation to U.A., and Klaus was sure that he knew what it was. It had to be the stone things that were imbedded in the man's forehead and chest because they were the only things that were different about him compared to the standard Diamond soldiers that Klaus had learned about.

As a rising Quirk Knight track student and one with the utmost honor of being recruited by the Golden Dawn, Klaus had made a strong effort to learn about the Diamond Company as they, along with the Spade Kingdom in Siberia, were the two greatest threats to Japan that the Quirk Knights dealt with. However, all Klaus had heard were rumors about something like this being experimented with by the Diamond Company from those already in the Golden Dawn and who'd been around during the last Diamond Company invasion of Japan.

While those were rumors, what was commonly known was that the Diamond Company was a technocratic organization that melded technology with Quirks similar to what happened on I-Island only without any oversight, ethics, or morals, so there had been stories of them experimenting with illegal, artificial, Quirk boosters. There were of course Quirk boosting drugs but these were said to be a whole new level as they not only permanently boosted your Quirk due to being implanted into a person so that he or she couldn't remove the booster, but in some rumors forcibly awakened it.

Had Klaus not been staring at someone who could produce a strong, tough, crystal from his body as well as create it out if concrete away from his body and conjure it in thin air he'd have dismissed the forceable awakening out of hand but now he was not so sure. The expanded range, toughness, and strength of the man's crystals could be explained by a Quirk boosting drug or worse an item that kept the boost going but not the conjuring of the same material. Klaus didn't really know how Quirk Awakenings worked or what they entailed other than an evolution of one's power but this seemed to qualify for it.

To make this all more sinister, Klaus was also aware that the Diamond Company engaged in active Quirk breeding amongst its members that made Quirk Marriages look tame by comparison as well as the abduction of promising children from all around the pacific region. It was said that the most gifted of these offspring and abductions were intensely trained from a young age in a brutal competition that stripped their humanity, killed the weakest, and who were then made to fight to death in a bloody battle royale, according to the rumors. The winner would be the strongest and receive the boost.

All this was unconfirmed but given who Klaus was looking at he wasn't sure that the rumors were as false as many believed they were. It was disgusting and repugnant and even if it wasn't all true, this man before them was clearly some kind of human weapon forged by the Diamond Company, an abomination in many ways, and his presence had turned what was supposed to be a straightforward mission into a dire one that really needed a qualified Quirk Knight to be present to be successful, and a good one at that.

That said, the most indignant thing to Klaus at that very moment was that he was a high born elite who was from one of the older Quirk Knight Houses. That practically made him a noble in their branch, if not in Japan as a whole, and to many it did make him and the others from the houses that were established in early years of the branch a form of pseudo-nobility only surpassed by members of the three Great Houses, and to top that off Klaus was a work study student of the Golden Dawn. That meant that he was going to be a full member of the greatest Quirk Knight Squad to ever exist once he graduated from U.A.

However, despite all of his pedigree, Klaus had let one of the two first years under his charge, and the one who was a scion of one of the Great Houses even if she wasn't in the direct line of House Vermillion being born to the younger brother of the current patriarch, get badly injured, while a lowborn common orphan from the ass end of nowhere in north Hokkaido was protecting him. Klaus's extreme pride, built up over the years at U.A. despite the fact that he was not a member of the Top 10 students in his class, couldn't handle the situation at hand especially as it was one he'd never been in before.

"This is utterly unacceptable." Klaus growled as he raised his hand and concentrated his Quirk within his forearm and palm, building the power and pressure as fast as he could. "I will not allow this injustice to continue any longer! Spiral Lance!"

At that Klaus used one of his Ultimate Moves, a rapidly deployed and fast blast of steel that he'd built up before firing it and which he quickly molted into a large, fast rotating, lance that could penetrate most defenses and injury an opponent so bad that he or she would be knocked out of the fight by the blow. It was one of his better moves but brutal so it had to be aimed carefully and only used when absolutely necessary.

Personally Klaus preferred smaller, more manageable drills when he fought, but this was a time for his Ultimate Move and so he wasn't going to hold back. However, Yuno shouted out a warning as he'd already gotten the sense that this was not a fight that brute strength alone would win. Well, at least not their brute strength.

Alas it was too late as the lance tore past Yuno and right at Mars almost too fast for the eye to see showing just how fast Klaus could launch the attack. Klaus grinned as he could tell that his Ultimate Move would work and he'd restore his honor and pride from it as the lance reached Mars and slammed into him with an explosion of mineral dust presumably from a last minute shield that the villain had erected to block the attack.

It wouldn't work and Klaus watched as the explosion covered Mars and even his sword but Klaus was expecting an opponent of this caliber to try and block it, even if the block was in vain. That was because not even the crystals this man produced could block Spiral Lance.

Or at least Klaus thought that until the dust cleared and to his shock the lance was still spinning but being slowed down and breaking apart as it was blocked by the hand a crystal clone of the villain. The clone had its hand out and used it to intercept the lance which had caused the explosion but the clone wasn't looking any worse for wear while its creator stood a few feet behind it safe from the attack. The only notable thing was that Mars was no longer armored so he'd likely used that as the base for the clone and made the rest from there showing how fast he had to act while also showing his immense power.

"What, how much power do you have with that Quirk?" Klaus asked incredulous as the lance broke apart into nothing but steel chunks and Klaus had to cut off the shaft of the lance that clattered uselessly to the ground. "He created a crystal clone to block it? Not even Marron's earth golems can block my Spiral Lance."

Mars said nothing as suddenly the clone rushed forward in a clanking, slightly awkward, run directly towards Klaus. That was a total shock as no one expected it to be moving and the fact that Mars was controlling it as well as the sword showed that they were still underestimating just how powerful Mars's Quirk was.

Despite this, and for all of his pride and ego inflating views, Klaus hadn't reached where he'd reached for nothing and at the last minute he got both hands up and created a thick steel wall before him just as the clone punched at him. The result was a deep dong sound and the steel wall being dented and cracked by it had saved Klaus and allowed Klaus to thicken the steel so that the next punch didn't even dent the steel.

"That was too close." Yuno said worry in his voice as he looked back at Klaus having not been fast enough to intervene but as he did a shadow fell over him and he turned and looked up to see the flat of the sword had been moved to be over his head before it turned so that it was blade down and came down in a powerful overhand strike at him. "This won't be."

Yuno didn't have time to worry about Klaus, he trusted that his senior had the clone in hand and reacted to avoid the attack coming for him. That was easy enough for Yuno, he created a transportation in front of himself and another in the air behind his opponent and transported himself between the two just before the sword would have hit him.

It still slammed into the ground with enough force to churned up the concrete with a loud boom but Yuno was safe and better he was able to turn in the air as he created two stars bellow his feet to steady himself in the air as he faced Mars's back. The man had attacked Mimosa from behind so Yuno wasn't above attacking him from behind in return.

As such Yuno created a whole field of offensive stars and started blasting starlight at Mars. However, the man was more than capable and turned his head right before the attack begun having noticed Yuno vanish from his sight so had presumed that the black haired teen had gotten behind him so he swung his sword around in the air to cut through all of the starlight ensuring none hit him as he swiped it at Yuno.

Thankfully, Yuno had plenty of practice flying on his stars by this point and so he quickly flew back and away from the sword swipe but Mars kept up the attack. The speed and skill in which he moved the sword kept Yuno on his toes, well on his stars but same thing, as he evaded it but even in the large training hall space was a premium when so much of it was blocked by the sword that was pressing in on Yuno so there was only so much that Yuno could do. To add to it, the attack was so relentless that Yuno didn't have time to focus on creating transportation stars, all he could focus on was dodging the swipes.

Alas with the room's size it was only a matter of time before Mars managed to corner Yuno up by the ceiling where it met one of the side walls allowing him to twist his sword and thrust it upwards. The result was that the sword slammed into Yuno's sternum and drove him up into the ceiling with enough force to crack it and cause Yuno to cough out blood. The only thing that saved him was a last second, hasty, and weak constellation shield that he made right before the point hit him which blunted most of the impact even if it broke through the shield and hit him with enough force to break a rib.

Mars realized this and dopped the sword down before spinning it in the air and at Yuno but the gap gave Yuno the time he needed to make a transportation star before him and another high and away from Mars. As such he fell into the star before the sword hit the roof causing concrete to rain down on and imbed the sword for a moment as Yuno got free and clear from it.

Yuno didn't waste this at all as he made a series of connected transportation stars around Mars in a sequence that ended back in front of the blast doors near where Klaus was still dealing with the mineral clone that had begun to pound on his steel shield though the steel was now so tough that the clone's hands were starting to crack and weaken from its efforts. The transportation stars would keep Yuno one step ahead of his opponent and allow him to focus on attacking as he entered the sequence.

What resulted was a form a pseudo flight as Yuno teleported between the stars with a short gap between each so that he was visible for a few seconds at a time before teleporting to the next star in the sequence. As he moved between the starts, Yuno reorientated his body sideways similar to how Bakugo had been in their semifinal matchup and formed two stars on the palms of his hands that he then began to blast rapid fire at Mars as he moved.

It was in essence a rough copy of what Bakugo had done do him in their semifinal match that had allowed Bakugo to land the hit on Yuno's back only this was with Yuno's Quirk not Bakugo's. Yuno wasn't one to not learn from his defeats so he put that to good use as he blasted offensive starlight at a higher than normal concentration at Mars while flying around him along the path he'd created.

Mars just stood there and while many of the shots were wide a few did find their mark forcing Mars to recreate his armor to protect himself. However, this was not before one of Yuno's shot slammed into his right shoulder and staggered him leaving a burning hole in his shirt and blood running down from the wound though it was only a minor wound.

Still, it was a hit and showed that it could be done which gave Yuno heart as he reached his last star and twisted to land on his feet on the ground, sliding over it for a few feet as he raised his hands and concentrated as much of his offensive star power there as he felt was safe to use on someone who's only resistance was armor made from his admittedly durable crystal or mineral Quirk. Then just as Mars turned to him, Yuno blasted out a pair of starlight blasts right at his opponent.

Again the result was an explosion that kicked up crystal fragment, light, and even a little bit of concrete as the blasts landed and Yuno fell to his knees panting a slight burning in his palms from using his own power so close to his skin. However, as the smoke cleared Yuno could only gasp as Mars stood there unarmed in an even mor elaborate suit of armor than before as this one looked more traditional with grieves, chest and shoulder protections, thigh, hip, and leg plates and even spiked crystal boots. all of it was reinforced with dense chunks of crystal that added to impressiveness of the whole thing.

"Such a pitiful Quirk." Mars said scorn in his voice though there was a hint of pain as well. "Those lights of yours won't work on me."

Yuno grunted at that as he slowly got to his feet. He was pushing past limits and barely getting anywhere against this guy but Yuno wasn't going to give up, he wouldn't unless he was knocked out or killed. So, as his opponent created another massive mineral sword and brought it down on Yuno stood, Yuno created a transport star on him and teleported away to another star in the air and to the side. Then, as the sword was swung up and at him once again he created a whole field of transport stars throughout room.

This time Yuno waited until the very last moment before he twisted backwards so that his right shoulder blade hit a star and he vanished right as the sword would have hit causing it to swish through empty air. Yuno kept this up, hopping between his stars this time in as random a pattern as he could make it while the sword swung around and at him, the entire time clenching his right fist around a single offensive star that he'd made there and condensing as much power as he could into it as he waited for his opening.

That opening came when he ducked below the sword as he fell from one of the transport stars and his foot hit the transport star there while the sword hit a different transport star that had been a few feet behind Yuno and was teleported to the other side of the room. That was just what Yuno needed and as he reappeared elsewhere in the room he held out his right hand, aimed, and unleashed the concentrated blast of starlight at his opponent before the man could bring the sword back around.

Thanks to the extra second that Yuno had to aim his attack hit home, blasting into Mars's right side, and punching through the mineral armor over his ribs there and scoring a hit to his body that was as bad as the earlier hit to the villain's shoulder. The blow should have staggered Mars but he'd created minerals from his feet and the ground to anchor himself to it so he didn't move from the blow and his armor regrew, reinforcing it as he regenerated it so as to adapt to the star power that Yuno was now using.

"It's no use, you're no match for me." Mars said as Yuno teleported between two more stars and blasted another short off, this one striking Mars in the left shoulder but doing nothing more than crack his armor because he'd been unable to put as much power into the shot as he had before. "I've got a sense of your power; it won't defeat me."

"That's what you say but I know that anyone can be beaten!" Yuno roared as he teleported again and sent out another blast that was almost as strong as his first one in this exchange but which barely cracked Mars's chest plate. "So I will find a way to defeat you!"

"No you won't, it's no use just accept it." Mars said his voice the same tone as it had been all battle showing how little of a threat he truly saw Yuno to be. "You won't beat me. It's pointless, just give up already."

The words that Mars uses brought back a memory of Yuno's childhood as he landed on the ground behind Mars thanks to his latest transport star being low to the ground thus putting Yuno's back to the entrance to the training hall and took that moment to send another blast at Mars that exploded on him and this time didn't even crack the armor. Still, Yuno didn't give up as the memory was of his training with Asta when they were kids, long before Asta's Quirk finally manifested and he was training to fight Quirkless and Yuno was practicing his accuracy.

Back then Yuno would blast his star power at low at Asta so that it would knock him back but not hurt him too bad, which also served to help Yuno train to control the offensive output of his stars, while Asta would charge him with a stick. Asta had to avoid or push through the star beams but no matter how hard he tried it seemed that he couldn't manage it and Yuno kept saying that it was no use, that they should give up and go home. Asta was as stubborn as ever, however, and roared that he'd do it and kept it up saying that he'd never give up.

It turned out that it was Asta who had been right that day because in the end he had managed to push through the attacks, he wasn't really dodging them at that point, and landed the blow. It was just a simple tap on Yuno's head with the stick but it showed that Asta could do it and showed Yuno that despite appearing weaker you could still push through to win.

It was that memory and his deep rivalry with Asta that drove Yuno to keep fighting now despite facing a clearly stronger opponent. He would not give up and keep going until he won or was knocked out. Asta had shown him back then that it could be done and after his loss to Bakugo in the Sports Festival, well Yuno didn't want to taste defeat again, especially not so soon as he yelled and sent out another blast of star power that he'd been building at Mars and which slammed into the villain's chest plate.

"Will you stop your pointless posturing." Mars said as the cracks that the attack had caused quickly healed. "It's not getting you anywhere."

"I won't, not while I can still fight!" Yuno replied defiantly as he created a second offensive star in his left hand, some of the transport ones blinking out as he could no longer sustain them at the same time as using his offensive stars, and began to alternate shots. "While I stand I know that I can win!"

"Move already." Mars said unfazed by the hits, they were chipping his armor so they were stronger than normal but that was it, they couldn't break through it. "It's over for you."

"I told you, I won't." Yuno replied as Mars recreated his sword again, Yuno hadn't realized that the last one wasn't in play until now, and raised it over his head as his pink eyes met Yuno's gold ones. "I will defeat you!"

"Give up." Mars said as way of a final warning.

"I will not!" Yuno shouted back.

Mars didn't say a thing, there was no need to, all he did was coldly brought his arm down and the sword twisted so that it was blade was coming at Yuno as it began to descend towards the U.A. first year. Yuno roared his defiance and dismissed all his transport stars and the offensive one on his left palm so that he could focus all his power into the one on his right and blast off an intense beam of offensive starlight at the sword putting all that he had into it.

The beam slammed into the blade and they pushed for a moment, a chip appearing but the density of the crystal that the sword was made of was too much for Yuno to overcome and the blade held through Yuno's attack before continuing its descent towards him. Things were not looking good as Yuno's star spluttered out and he fell to on knee, blood running down his chin thanks to the earlier blow he'd taken to the chest.

"Yuno!" Klaus called out worried as he tried to deal with the mineral clone he was still engaging as he'd dismissed abandoned his steel wall for a lance after the clone ran around it but that was all Klaus could yell as the sword fell to Yuno while Mimosa remained where she was watching in horror at what was about to happen.

Yuno panted with exhaustion as he looked up at the sword and was trying to muster the strength to form a constellation shield to block it or a transportation star to get him out of there but he couldn't. He'd gone plus ultra to try and beat this guy and nothing had worked, he was past his limits and the remaining stars with the exception of the ones around Mimosa flickered and died above him as the sword fell towards him. This could be it and Yuno wasn't sure what he could do just as footsteps rang out behind him.

---

"We're almost there." Luck said as he led the charge of the Black Bulls through the rest of the compound and towards the sounds of battle following their victory over Lotus back in the canteen. "I can sense it. The person who's fighting is really strong."

"We can hear it as well." Asta said as an explosion rang out though no where near as loud as Bakugo's were so it was nothing to the first years. "They're fighting that final Diamond Company guy I take it."

"Yeah and he's real powerful." Luck said happily. "Seems like two of them are engaging him while the third is down. One's fighting a person who's not moving except to turn to face him while the other some kind of artificial creation."

"So we're dealing with a creation based Quirk." Nero noted. "Likely elemental and no doubt powerful if the person can hold off Golden Dawn recruits."

"Sounds about right, we did just deal with smoke and the Diamond Company tends to like elemental abilities." Luck said his smile never wavering. "So we should be there soon."

"If one's down then can you tell who?" Noelle asked a little worry in her voice as they closed in and could hear the occasional shouted word in addition to the explosions. "I might be able to protect whoever it is."

"The girl, I can just about tell gender with my scouting ability." Luck said. "She's hurt I think. I'm pretty sure that Lunettes is the one dealing with the artificial creation so the other first year must be the one engaging the villain directly."

"Way to go Yuno." Asta said. "But don't worry, I'll join you soon enough."

"Damn it Mimosa." Noelle said ignoring Asta as worry for her cousin clear in her voice. "She'll need protecting, I can do that."

"I can heal lacerations and broken bones but I really shouldn't go into the fight just yet." Nero said. "I'm not the best at offense and my skills there require close quarters which I feel won't be possible at the moment. I'll hang back in the corridor for Asta to beat him with his sword and then I can rush in and seal him up before he can use his Quirk again."

"That's a good idea." Noelle said glad that Nero had common sense, Asta and Luck were already charging on ahead of the girls and lacked it but right now they were the hammer that the Black Bulls were bringing to this fight so that wasn't a worry for the girls. "But I need to get to Mimosa."

"Use those two as a distraction then." Nero said. "Asta will no doubt go to where Yuno is while Luck engages whoever he wants though as he's learned from our last fight he might leave the main guy to Asta. Whatever they do, they will provide you the time you need to skirt the edge of the room and get to Vermillion."

"Good idea." Noelle said with a nod as they reached the door into the training hall. "See you then, stay safe Nero."

"You too." Nero said as she came up short and Noelle veered to the right to do as Nero had suggested the moment she entered the training hall.

It was the right thing because in the middle line of the room though pretty close to the blast doors at the end that no doubt led to the records room that was their goal was a man in crystal or mineral armor with a massive sword made of the same material in the air and coming down on a kneeling Yuno who seemed exhausted and injured. Off to the side a mineral clone was engaging Klaus in close combat as they wrestled over a steel lance in Klaus's hands while Mimosa lay at the base of the doors protected by a constellation shield clearly hurt.

That was what they'd expected and Mimosa was Noelle's target. She hurried to her cousin while keeping to the wall knowing that Asta would provide her the distraction that she needed to get to and protect Mimosa.

Asta did just that though he didn't notice what Noelle was doing as he charged forward and at the unknown guy bringing down a sword onto Yuno. Clearly Yuno was in bad shape, either injured, past his limits, or both, and Asta wasn't going to let his best friend, brother, and rival fall here.

He'd discarded his swords as he'd run towards the training hall as they'd have slowed him down to carry but now he summoned the great sword again and pulled it from the rend that appeared in the air. Asta drew it in a single smooth motion as he leapt over the kneeling Yuno and yelled while slashing it at the mineral or crystal, Asta wasn't sure what to call the material, sword coming towards Yuno.

---

Yuno heard the footfalls but didn't have time to look behind him before Asta was leaping over him and yelling, his great sword swinging and intercepting the mineral sword with a clang while in midair. The result was that the sword was cut in half by Asta's, the top half flying up and to the side while the bottom half continuing down to crash into the ground as Asta landed before Yuno his great sword in his right hand to his side while Klaus and Mimosa stared in surprise at Asta's arrival though the latter knew that she shouldn't be seeing as she already knew how amazing Asta was.

Even Mars looked surprised for the first time all battle as his mineral sword cracked and broke apart from the cut point, both halves doing so, before it vanished as if it hadn't been there at all though the top half did hit the concrete ceiling and imbed in it for a few seconds thus sending chunks of concrete down before it vanished. Asta ignored all of this, that wasn't his focus as he stared at the man before him.

"Hey, you, freaky looking pale dude, keep your hands off my rival!" Asta shouted still in his crouch as a few chunks of concrete rained down around him. "Yuno's not yours to fight and defeat, he's my rival so that's my job! You got it?"

"You must be kidding and just when I thought that I was making up for not reaching the final of the Sports Festival like you did." Yuno said with a smile as he looked at Asta's back. "You go and do something like this to remind me that I'm still behind you at the moment."

"Hey, I can't believe you Yuno." Asta said as he turned to face Yuno. "Just when I do get one up on you by coming second, which in my book makes up even given that you topped the Entrance Exam and we both lost to the same guy in the Sports Festival, you're about to be killed by some random guy! Were you just going to let this loser beat you?"

"Mind your own business." Yuno said his usual tone with Asta when Asta got like this coming through though he was glad for it as it helped his own motivation to surpass his rival and gave him the strength to get back to his feet though he was starting to feel the pain in his chest from that blow he'd taken earlier. "I was just about to take him down before you arrived. I had him all figured out and was just biding my time as I waited for the right moment to beat him."

"That's a lie and you know it, I can always tell when you're lying." Asta said pointing his finger at Yuno, their argument distracting everything and ensuring that Noelle could slow down and sneak along the wall to Mimosa while Luck just watched amused though he did keep an eye on the mineral clone fighting Klaus as it looked tough so he was going to go and beat it while Asta dealt with the mineral dude as his sword was best for that guy even though Luck wanted to face him as well. "I can see it on your face, you're injured and pretty bad if I had to guess. You're a wreck and were totally about to die!"

"No I was just about to launch a devastating counterattack as I'd finally gotten the feel for his armor." Yuno said fighting the urge to wipe away the blood that was running down his chin and it took a lot for Yuno to not labor in his breathing while knowing that it wasn't entirely true that he was about to counter attack but he could never tell Asta that though. "You simply interrupted me before I could do that."

"Lies, lies, and more lies!" Asta accused and Mimosa blinked at this side of Yuno that he never showed in class, it really showed how much he respected Asta that he was able to be this petty and childish with him. "You know I'm right."

"No, I was simply waiting for the right moment." Yuno said refusing to give Asta the satisfaction of knowing that he was right. "A battle is about finding that moment and then capitalizing on it."

"I've seen you fight and I know when you're beat." Asta said not relenting. "This is just like you Yuno."

"Are you done interfering with this, Asta?" Yuno asked in a bored tone while Mars continued to stand behind Asta in his armor and watch the argument. "Because if you are then you can leave while I finish this villain off."

This was a perfect opening that Mars should have capitalized on but the nature of it, the spirited comradery, trust, and rivalry between the pair, struck something within Mars and a deep, repressed or blocked, memory from years ago momentarily broke through to the surface of his mind. He didn't know what it was but it gave him pause, especially because it was just a brief flash that he didn't pick up before it was gone, and he raised his right hand to his forehead to try and figure it out as Asta and Yuno finished their argument smiling at each other with Asta resting his great sword on his shoulder.

"Alright, tell you what." Asta said as he turned back to the Diamond soldier that Yuno had been fighting and who had to be the person that Lotus had spoken about a few moments ago. "How about we fight to see who brings him down first. Whatever it takes, we'll beat him."

"Sure because it will be me." Yuno said smiling as he accepted Asta's challenge.

As this was happening, Klaus too was having an existential crisis of his own off to the side and behind the Mars. Between himself, Yuno, and Mimosa, three students hand selected by the prestigious Golden Dawn Squad and the unconquerable Captain Vangeance to intern, and in his case do a work study, for it, couldn't take him down or do more than score two glancing blows. However, the villain's incredible power and Quirk control had been bested by a Black Bull intern with a single interception. Not just any intern, a rude, loudmouthed, uncouth, low class orphan to boot. It was absurd and Klaus couldn't process it.

It was thanks to this crisis that he let his guard down and the mineral clone, which was still in play as his he'd been unable to bring the lance he'd made when it had run around his steel to bear before the clone had grabbed it, ran around him, and began to move in its awkward run towards Mimosa where she lay behind Yuno's constellation shield now that Klaus was no longer paying attention to it. Given Yuno's state there was a good chance that the shield was weaker and clearly the clone was acting on orders to deal with it and take care of Mimosa.

"No!" Klaus yelled as he noticed and turned but before he could act, or do anything to try and stop the clone that he'd yet to beat, there was a sudden flash of lightning and the air was filled with the stench of ozone as lightning crackled through it.

Klaus didn't even see what happened before he heard the clang and the head of the clone flew off as Luck kicked it with a lightning booted foot sending the head clattering away along the floor and the body tumbling down to lie still. Luck landed just past Klaus, his lightning boots still on and his usual smile on his face as he stood next to Klaus looking at the back of the Diamond soldier.

"Man that was no fun, it was really fragile, right Lunettes?" Luck asked with a giggle. "I was hoping that it would be more of a challenge but it wasn't. I'm surprised you didn't deal with it sooner."

A vein throbbed in Klaus's temple as he looked at his classmate, the kid known both at U.A. and in the Quirk Knight world as Luck the Cheery Berserker, as he giggled and the crisis in Klaus's head grew. Here he was, a top student academically and with his Quirk, well he believed he was even if he didn't have the Sports Festival or class results to prove the latter, and a future full member of the Golden Dawn being rescued by a ragtag bunch of lunatic misfits.

True both Luck and Asta were Sports Festival medalists, Luck a three time medalist having gained all three in his time and Asta the first year runner up, but they were commoner of the lowest birth and certified nutcases. It was an overwhelming indignity to Klaus's pride, honor, and general understanding of the Quirk Knight branch and by extension the world in general. So much so that he was bent over rubbing his head trying to process it.

"Woah Lunettes, you alright?" Luck asked as he looked at his classmate. "You seem to be having a problem with the situation but I get it, you want to fight the main guy as well but our juniors are showing us up when we're the ones who should be setting the example for them. Not too long ago I'd have been annoyed as well but I've learned since then, fighting together is fun so play to your strengths and right now Asta's better suited than me to take down this guy."

"Gah what is going on!" Klaus roared. "Why is this happening?"

"Seems like Lunette's is dealing with his own issues." Noelle said as she reached Mimosa and looked at her lying on the ground inside a constellation shield, blood on her lips and her breathing short and a little ragged. "But that's his issue to deal with. Mimosa, how are you doing?"

"Hey Noelle, I'll admit I'm a bit ashamed to be seen like this by you." Mimosa said looking over and smiling at her friend and cousin. "I got careless and was hit right as the battle began so I've been totally useless to the boys. Guess I'm still a dim bulb."

"While you do lack in the sense department at times, you're still a kind and good hearted person." Noelle said as called up the water through her wand. "So it's not a shameful thing that this happened or that I saw it. Besides, I'm here now and I will protect you."

With that Noelle blasted out the water from her wand and mentally formed a dome of water with it the way she'd done so at the USJ and practiced since then, the water swirling around it to add to the protection as Noelle made sure it was full functioning and strong. Her Quirk was strong, Noelle had accepted that, but she still lacked offensive control so this was all she could do right now but damn it she'd do it and in the process allow Yuno to drop his shield and thus focus on the main battle as it had to be taxing to maintain the constellation shield around Mimosa and fight at the same time.

"Thank you Noelle." Mimosa said with a smile. "You've really come a long way since starting at U.A., I'm happy to see that. I know it was meant to be some kind of punishment, but Nozel really did the right thing by sending you there. It was for the best I think."

"Yes, well, I have a few to thank for that." Noelle said trying, and failing, to not think of Asta as her cheeks flushed but she made sure her back was to Mimosa so that her cousin didn't see that. "Anyway, how bad are you hurt?"

"Definitely a bruised sternum and back though I can move my legs so nothing broken back there as far as I can tell." Mimosa said. "Klause blunted the blow with his steel but I still took a hit to the chest, might have a cracked rib or two. I'm not coughing blood nor can I taste it so my lungs are fine which is good. I took a special flower that I can make to numb the pain a bit but it's slow acting and takes a lot to create, especially when injured."

"Well then it's a good thing we've got someone who can handle broken or cracked bones without a problem." Noelle said not glancing to where Nero was hidden in the shadows of the entranceway her dark blue dress indirectly helping to camouflage her. "Just hold on and once Asta wins this we can get you properly patched up."

"Thank you." Mimosa said again. "We couldn't have done this with the Black Bulls and I'm sure even Klaus will realize that."

"He will even if I have to force him to but you just rest up, this will be over soon." Noelle said before she shouted at Yuno now that Mimosa was secure. "Hey Yuno, I've got Mimosa so you can drop the stars. I'm sure keeping them up is taking a toll on your Quirk."

"Huh, oh right you're Asta's fussy friend who's always following him around." Yuno said, he still didn't really know the silver haired girl that was Mimosa's cousin and Asta's closest friend in his class, but he knew that Asta trusted her so he could as well and as such he dropped his stars while Mars continued to surprisingly not act. "Alright thanks for that, I'll leave Mimosa in your hands."

"Yeah thanks Noelle, you're amazing as always." Asta said with a grin causing Noelle to let out an eep and flush deep red at it before getting pissed at Yuno's description of her and ranting at him for that but neither Yuno nor Asta heard her as they turned their full attention to Mars. "Now we can focus on this guy. So, are you the dude that did this the Golden Dawn?"

"And what is it to you if it was me or not?" Mars rhetorically answered back finally snapping back to the fight at hand and pushing away the flashback that he'd had and created a whole mineral clone army around him while his armor remained on. "In this world it is the strong who remain while the weak fade away into nothing. That is the way of the world, it's as simple as that."

"What the hell is this Quirk?" Asta asked looking at the crystal clones that had suddenly appeared. "Creation out of thin air? How'd he do that?"

"It's no doubt either artificially boosted or somehow awakened, that's the only explanation for the creation out of thin air aspect though the amount he's showing without seeming fatigued is unreal." Klaus said from behind the clones as Luck got really happy at the sight of things to fight. "I've heard of the inhumane experiments of the Diamond Company but I wasn't sure it existed. This is proof though."

"Ooh so many crystal clones, or are they mineral clones? Well, whatever they are they look fun to fight." Luck said. "And I really see how teamwork will help here."

"You kids should know that the battlefield is a place of power." Mars said ignoring the chatter from behind him and focusing on the two in front of him. "There is no room for the weak on it. That is why I was bred and born; it is my job to destroy weaklings like you."

"Is that so?" Asta asked as he chocked up on his great sword and set his feet any distractions gone from his mind. "Well then how about you put your money where your mouth is and destroy me!"

With that Asta pushed off and closed the distance with Mars in seconds but rather than strike he actually went past the bastard and swung his sword around and at Mars's back as he came to a stop. The blow was a sensible one, quick and to the point and most wouldn't have been able to avoid it but Mars was no slouch, he'd not gotten where he was by being slow, and he quickly leapt high into the air leaving a mineral clone in his wake which took the blow and was bisected by Asta before it crumbled away into nothing just like the mineral sword had after Asta had hit it when he'd arrived.

"Don't worry, I fully intend to do that!" Mars said as he created another massive sword in the air as he looked down on Asta and brought it to bear.

"That didn't work last time, it won't work now!" Asta shouted as he leapt up and at the sword without any hesitation and proceeded cut through the sword just like before. "See! My sword is stronger than yours!"

This time, however, he landed on the sword lower half of the sword before it started to crack and disintegrate from the point that Asta's great sword had hit it, ready to leap off it and at the airborne Diamond soldier but as he reached the end Mars raised his hand to manipulate the mineral that the sword was made of to burst up and hold him just like he'd held the four eyed teen earlier. This failed, though, because Asta had nullified the power controlling the sword so Mars couldn't affect it with his Quirk.

Asta didn't even notice that Mars had tried it as he leapt off it and at the older teen with a yell never breaking stride. Mars didn't have time to blink in surprise at what had happened before Asta swung his great sword and slammed it into Mars's gut, right under the chest plate so where there was no armor, thus bending him over the sword for a moment before Asta swung through the blow and blasted the man backwards into the ceiling with a crash that cratered it, sent debris down, and caused Mars to cough out blood as he sharply exhaled from the impact.

That was basically all that Asta needed to do to win this battle as it was clear that the villain's Quirk Factor was his whole body so his Quirk was briefly nullified. This was confirmed by the armor on his body cracked and falling away from him as he crashed to the ground.

"Damn it, what the hell!" Mars said his composure breaking for a moment as his training took over and he righted himself to land in a crouch his Quirk no longer responding to what he wanted it to do as he tried to activate it while hacking out a gob of blood and spit from his mouth. "What did you do to me you brat!"

"Not telling." Asta said as he landed on the ground as well and pushed off it the moment that he did. "But I need to knock you out so hold still."

"Not going to happen!" Mars shouted as he pushed off the ground and at Asta his left hand out and going for a grapple like he'd been trained just in case he faced someone who could neutralize Quirks like Eraser Head. "You're nothing but a pebble to me!"

"Yeah, well, I may be a pebble!" Asta roared in response to that and swung his great sword around and into Mars's hand. "But I'm the pebble that shatters diamonds!"

The man reflexively grabbed Asta's sword, he knew that it was blunt from the blow a moment ago, but the force of Asta's blow, enhanced by his raw strength, broke Mars's hand and wrist and sent his arm flying back and away as he howled in pain. That was only the start though as Asta was still yelling as he finished the swung by slamming the edge of his great sword into Mars's chest, resetting the time period that his Quirk would be nullified for and breaking several ribs with an audible crack.

All Mars could do was expel a fair bit of blood before he was tossed back by the blow and thrown over hallway across the room before he hit the ground hard and bounced off it and spun limply in the air. There was no way that Mars could get his feet under him so all he could was spin before he hit the ground again and bounced a second and then a third time before he finally stopped bouncing when he hit the ground a fourth time. Still, his body rolled several more feet before he came to a stop on his chest not too far from the entrance to the training hall.

Mars tried to get up but with a broken hand and wrist along with numerous broken ribs and several bruises all he managed to do was push himself slightly up with his right arm, cough out a fair bit of blood that splattered onto the gray concrete, and collapse back to the ground his eyes rolling into the back of his head as he passed out. His final thought, though, was that he knew what that sword did so if he came to he could deal with it as it nullified Quirks and Quirk Factors.

That was it for Mars though and he collapsed forwards, head to the side and eyes closed as he lay there with his mouth open and blood leaking out of it. Thanks to how close he was to the entrance, the moment he was out, Nero rushed from the darkened entranceway and reached Mars well before his Quirk Factor would have returned had he remained conscious. This was why she'd stayed back and she couldn't help but thank Asta for making this easy for her as she fell to her knees at the defeated man's side.

Quickly and with precision born from practicing on the other Diamand Company men they'd captured, Nero moved his arms to his sides and closed his legs before she sealed up all the muscles and joints that she could thus rendering him immobile. She'd have to get help from the fussy bespeckled third year as with what she'd seen of this man's Quirk he'd still be a threat sealed up if he regained consciousness, but that was for later as she heaved the man onto his back once again glad for all the strength training she had to do at U.A. and noticed the bruises on his gut and chest along with the discoloration on the latter.

There wasn't anything that Nero could do about the bruises, not that she would if she could as they weren't life threatening, but given the blood still burbling out of the man's mouth, she turned his head to the side so that he didn't drown on it, at least one lung was punctured. Again, Nero couldn't do anything about the internal damage but she could mend his ribs and thus prevent the damage from getting worse so she did that. It wasn't ideal but it was the right thing to do and Nero worked quickly to mend his ribs and ensure that he survived though she left his hand and wrist as they were for the moment.

As Nero was doing this, Mars's mineral clones crumbled to mineral chunks with his passing out having never moved to engage in the fight. That broke the stunned silence that had fallen over the others with Asta's quick and decisive victory.

"Aww, I was hoping to fight the clone things." Luck complained. "Plus Asta had all the fun. Man that was anticlimactic."

"How?" Klaus asked. "How was that possible? We all struggled but…I don't get it. How was he able to do what none of us could and in only a few moves? It shouldn't be possible for someone like him to pull this off."

"Of course you don't, you still see Asta as nothing more than a lowborn orphan." Noelle said cooly as she brought the water back into her wand and then down into the pouch she kept it in the moment she saw Nero reach the man as she knew that the threat was over. "You saw him in the Sports Festival, you know that his sword can nullify the effects of a Quirk but you clearly didn't notice that it's more than that. It can also nullify a Quirk Factor as well so long as he strikes it. That's what makes Asta special and how he won against elite families like the Ida and Todoroki family, Mimosa was just wise enough to bow out rather than be routed when she faced him."

"Yes I knew that I couldn't beat him so I surrendered rather than fight him." Mimosa said as she flushed at the memory. "I was a bit late though, that was my fault but I didn't really mind what happened even if it was a bit awkward."

"Don't remind me of that." Noelle said her anger and jealousy flaring though she didn't know why the latter was there and pushed past it and the addition thought that she wished she'd been in Mimosa's position. "So yeah that's why Asta's special. Didn't you watch his battles? Didn't you see how Bakugo had to adapt to beat him in the final? He was the only one who did so and even then Asta almost won and Bakugo passed out only seconds after he beat Asta so it was almost a tie."

"Yes, well, that is a good Quirk I guess." Klaus said adjusting his glasses and knowing that he had a lot to think on after everything but that could come later as the mission came first. "In this situation it was the best. Now let's deal with that villain, I can encase him in steel that will hold him."

"You sure Sir Spectacles?" Asta asked as he turned to look at the older teen. "He seemed pretty powerful."

"Yes I'm sure, no one has broken out of my steel." Klaus said proudly a bit of his usual arrogance coming back into his voice. "Not even a charged up Valkyrie or Xiao Long with her Quirk active has managed it. Hell, even Amajiki's Manifest can't break through it despite him manifesting large animal parts."

"But Togata got out." Luck said. "In seconds."

"Yes, well, he's different." Klaus said defensively. "When you can phase through things simple bindings won't work. This man I can hold without a problem."

"Well that's good because I'm done sealing and patching him up so that he's stable if you could get over here and do just that that would be great, Sir Spectacles." Nero called out her voice carrying over the large room as she looked over at the others. "My Quirk can restrain people but I saw the man's power, it can't stop someone who can mentally manifest and control things."

"Huh, oh right you lot had one other person didn't you." Klaus said turning to see the other girl he'd seen outside standing up from where she'd appeared next to the downed villain. "Very well, I can do that."

With that Klaus headed over to sort it out as Nero stepped over Mars and walked back while Asta turned to them and grinned. He'd done it and in short order which made him happy.

"Man that was easier than the smoke guy." Asta said. "That guy was really annoying."

"It's simply a matter of Quirk compatibility." Yuno said calmly not wanting to admit that Asta had bested him today. "Yours is better for a hard, stationary target like that. He'd adapted to my stars so I needed to get around that but the more power I used the more I taxed my Quirk. I'm sure smoke wouldn't be an issue for me."

"Yeah probably." Asta said. "You could transport it away with your teleportation stars and then hit the guy; he had no physical defense so it would have taken as much effort as you needed to take down Yaoyorozu to take him down. I've got training to do to deal with a man like that."

"Likewise." Yuno said as Nero reached them while Klaus began to work on adding to Mars's restraints. "I won't fall behind you Asta."

"And I won't fall behind you, Yuno." Asta said with a grin. "So don't slack because I won't."

"Please, it's you who shouldn't slack." Yuno said as the pair devolved into their usual form of good natured bickering.

Nero just ignored the bromance and headed over to Noelle and Mimosa, the latter was still on her back on the ground though she was smiling at their victory. Nero could tell that there was an injury and knelt down next to Mimosa the moment she reached the other girl while Noelle turned to them leaving Asta and Yuno to their latest one upmanship contest.

"I can't heal bruises or internal damage, at least not most of it and not yet but I might be able to in the future once I get a better understanding of the human body from Recovery Girl." Nero said as she looked Mimosa in the eye. "But I can heal cuts, lacerations, and broken or cracked bones. If you have either tell me and I'll mend it."

"My ribs." Mimosa said, her breathing was better now and she wasn't really in any pain as the flower that she'd eaten was masking most of it but she knew that there was damage there. "They're not broken, at least I don't think so, but I'm sure they're cracked."

"Let's see." Nero said placing her right hand on Mimosa's side and over her ribs, it would be easier with the chest but, well, Mimosa was very well endowed and so her boobs got in the way of Nero's Quirk as she activated it and sent Sealing into Mimosa's ribs to ascertain, and then fix, the damage. "Yeah, you've got a few cracks in them and your sternum. Not bad, a simple fix."

"I owe Klaus for blunting the attack then." Mimosa said with a smile before she winced in pain as Nero sealed her bones back into place healing the cracks there, returning the bines to normal and soon the pain faded. "Huh, no more pain. Even the flower I ate couldn't fully dull it."

"Mending bones will hurt, at least with my Quirk, but once they're mended and your body can process that there is no need to send pain signals to your brain it stops doing that." Nero said as she got up but bent down and offered Mimosa her hand. "Can you stand?"

"Yeah thanks." Mimosa said as she took Nero's hand and let the girl haul her to her feet. "I'm feeling better. Still sore from the impact but I'll be good now."

"Good." Nero said before she turned just as Klaus dragged the villain to them, his body now encased in steel from neck to feet so he was in a sarcophagus of it and thus standing with his head lolling forward, blood slowly dripping out but that wasn't a bad thing as it meant that any blood that gathered there dribbled out rather than collected. "And that's smart, I mended his ribs but he's got at least one punctured lung, keeping him upright is a good idea."

"I am a third year; we do get first aid training." Klaus said. "And thank you, your Quirk helped a lot."

Nero nodded at that not sure what to make of Klaus now. He'd clearly been forced to face some unpleasant truths, Asta had a habit of doing that to basically everyone he met, and was processing it so she left him to it as everyone gathered up and looked at the door.

"Well that was more exciting than I expected it to be, not that I'm complaining mind you." Asta said and Yuno nodded. "Still we did it and only a few injuries. Oh right, Nero, Yuno's hurt."

"I'm fine." Yuno said still doing his best to control his breathing so as to not show the pain that he was in as Nero turned to him and walked over to him. "Don't…"

"Shut up." Nero said bluntly as she placed a hand on Yuno's chest and activated Sealing causing a blue glow to spread over it as Nero worked. "Yup, a few cracks and one broken rib which explains the blood on your chin. That could slow you down, we can't have that, not when field healing can be done to get you into a better shape and who knows if we'll need to fight again. This will hurt a bit, sorry."

With that Nero sealed up Yuno and he let out a gasp of pain that he couldn't suppress but it was only momentary before he was back to normal and his breathing returned to normal. There was still pain and he'd need a proper doctor but it was good for the field.

"Thank you." Yuno said and Nero nodded.

"If that is all we've still got one more thing to deal with." Klaus said getting their attention and they all turned to him to see that he was staring at the blast doors that were still closed. "How do we get past this? It's locked, likely electronically so…"

"That's not a problem." Nero said as she stepped forward and placed her right hand on the seam between the doors, a blue glow coming from the contact. "This is nothing to me."

There was a heavy clunk and suddenly the doors started to hiss open. Klaus blinked at that though no one else was surprised as their either knew the core aspect of Nero's Quirk or in Yuno's case just wasn't surprised that she could unseal a door after she sealed up his bones.

"How?" Klaus asked. "What the hell is your Quirk?"

"Sealing." Nero said as the doors slowly opened not looking at Klaus. "I can seal or unseal things that I touch with my hands or feet, it's why I don't wear shoes in the field. There are a lot of applications to it but originally it was believed to only good for opening and closing locks and doors so this is trivial to me."

Klaus just blinked and tried to process how someone with such a versatile support Quirk was with the Black Bulls. They were really surprising him but he had to push it to the back of his mind and deal with it, and everything else later, as the door finished opened and the records room was final before them. This was their mission and so without hesitation all of them walked forward towards the room unaware of what was still to come as they finally reached the goal of their mission.

I think this is a good place to end the chapter on, and as you can see it's nice and long and that is why it was broken off from the last chapter. Naturally, there are plenty of differences to this battle given the changes to fit MHA, mainly with Yuno using stars and not wind and of course the differences between Anti-Quirk and Anti-Magic altering how Asta v. Mars went down. Don't worry, there's still plenty more to come because they're not out of the woods yet so stay tuned for the next part of the dungeon mission adaptation. Anyway, that is all that I have for y'all so I will leave this chapter off here. If you like this story please follow, favorite (this story and me) to keep up with it and leave a review or PM; your support is what helps motivate me to keep up this work and any questions posed before the next chapter is uploaded I will try to answer. Until next time.

Stringdog