Before this chapter, I have some good news! I was able to find an editor for this fic. So if you see any updates here's just be aware. I hope you all are having a great day thank you.

Chapter 13 Go Maximum!

It was night, Deep in the woods of Japan. A small boy with short spiky black hair, His style of clothing consists of a short-sleeved collared shirt with buttons and dark shorts. In the colder months, he is wearing a sweatshirt with a hood. He also wears a red hat with two golden spike-shaped horns on the front. He had a look of anger on his face.

His name was Kota, a young boy who sulked alone by a cliffside. He stared at the stars, with dead eyes. He took a deep sigh.

In a world of superpowers and heroes, how could anyone look this way when the world was filled with so much excitement? Unfortunately, every bright side of the world has a darker shadow to follow. Kota gazed at the stars, if there was one thing that didn't make him mad in this world, it was the stars.

It was the only thing he could think of that didn't have anything to do with heroics or superheroes. Why did this young boy hate heroes so much? A long time ago, a great tragedy had struck the boy's past. His parents were both respectable heroes in their day called water horses. Unfortunately, their heroic lives were cut short one day. By a villain who took both of their lives. They were leaving the boy alone in this world.

"Mom, Dad why did you leave me? Why did you have to be heroes and die," Kota thought in sadness. He was robbed of his childhood. He couldn't be tucked into bed or celebrate Christmas with them. it was all alone, and he blamed it all on heroes and quirks.

that's what's wrong with this world superheroes and supervillains shouldn't be real only exist on the pages of comic books. Why did this world have to be so lost in its power?

"I wish the world would change,"

The young child gazed at them and could see a shooting star. He wanted to wish for something but quickly gripped his fist and anger would be the point of wishing for something if it wasn't going to come true.

"What's the point, it's not like any of it would come true," He said. Then he noticed that the shooting star was starting to get very close. Kota narrowed his eyes only to realize that a ball of fire was hurling towards him. Kota let out a fearful scream and ran away as fast as he could.

A loud explosion abrupted behind him and flung the young in the air a couple of feet. He landed with a thud and covered his ears. His vision was blurred with dust but as soon as the dust settled. Kato's eyes widened seeing a bizarre object, embedded into the stonewall of the mountain.

It was a silver pod crackling with electricity. He paused when he saw the sound of something struggling in said pod. Kota slowly backed away when all of a sudden, a yellow scanner studied its surrounding area. Then the sound of escaping air exited from the pod sides.

Kota took a step back, then from within the pod came a loud slam. The boy frightfully tries to take a step back but falls backward on his behind.

Then the top of the pod busted open. Kota could see a hulking figure crawl out of the metal. It easily stood over ten feet tall and had glowing orange eyes. Kota didn't know what to say as he was petrified with fear.

"Where am I?"

Kota had only one thing to say.

"AAAAAAAAH!"

Izuku sat at his desk bored out of his mind, you already understood the lecture and didn't even need to glance at the board he already knew what the lesson was. He just really wanted this class to be over so he could head over to the Maximals base. It had been a week of constant training with them. Izuku's right now was lifting a small weight under his table.

If it was the thing he needed to work on it was endurance. Miko and Carmine both could see Izuku was still hard at work and they had worried faces.

The bell had rung and class was over. Izuku quickly left for the hallway.

"He's pushing himself, I'm starting to worry about him," Miko said.

"It doesn't look like he's getting enough rest," Carmine said then he gave a fatigued sigh. "Remember when we were just normal teenagers who didn't have to fight giant robots?"

"Oh you can go on complaining about that, I'm having the best days of my life right now. It's just I think he's being too hard on himself," Miko frowned, remembering what the Predacons had done just last week.

"Can't blame him after that last mission. Izuku has been on edge after Optimus went missing," Carmine said. The events of last week had been crazy. Knowing more aliens had been targeting Earth. Optimus had been transported and they were without leadership for a while. Izuku had even been selected to be the next leader. He had to shape up fast or else the whole planet would be doomed. Miko and Carmine quickly approached him from behind.

"Yo, Izuku wait up," Carmine said walking by his side.

"Yeah I know giant robots are cool but no need to rush," Miko suggested, trying to make their friend relax for a couple of minutes. Izuku lowered his head and kept walking.

"I can't stop guys and you know that. I need to bring myself up physically. I can't just be the person to hold a shield,"

Carmine and Miko both turn to each other seeing their friend was having a very stressful day.

"Hey come on man, just relax for a moment. Me and Miko, we're gonna head to my house, you're welcome to come if you want," Carmine said. Izuku glanced up, Seeing that his friends were just worried about him. Maybe he should take a layoff, a lot of things were on his mind. He couldn't hurt to get something off his chest.

"Alright I mean there's no harm in taking a short break," Izuku said out loud. Miko and Carmine both signed in relief. They just wanted their friend to relax.

"Yeah, I mean it's not like the Maximals are in trouble right now," Miko said.

Currently on the Axalon.

Rattrap was on one of the monitors lazily checking the cameras. Letting out a big sigh of ennui, even though Maximal was bored however he was still able to relax. Rattrap smiled and kicked back, putting his feet on the dashboard.

"Hmm. looks like it's gonna be a nice evening, no kids, no boss, and most of all no sign of trouble today," Rattral let out a quiet moan as he drifted off.

Then the rat jumped at the sudden sound of an alarm popping up on the screen. Almost falling off his seat. He glared at the screens. All of them said emergency in big bold red letters. He glanced at the alerts and his eyes widened. He pushed an intercom button and shouted into the microphone.

"This Rattrap we have an emergency, a Maximal pod has dropped on the planet!"

The door opened to reveal Optimus and Rhinox. They had startled expressions. This was a struggling discovery. They did calculate when some of the proto pods would drop but it was at least a month away. This one was ahead of the agenda. Optimus activated the hologram map. The whole country of Japan was displayed in front of them. They could see a red tracker appear on the screen.

"This is a problem," Rhinox said. Rattrap was a bit confused by his friend's words.

"What do you mean? We're finally getting some reinforcement," Rattrap said.

"I wish it was as simple as that but unfortunately Megatron isn't far behind," Optimus said glaring at where the distress signal alerted. Rattrap let out a sigh and began to type on the keyboard wanting to pinpoint the coordinates.

"Well it looks like it's a race, do we use the space bridge?" Rattrap asked. Optimus glanced at the map, taking the information that was given. The stasis pod was incredibly far away however, if they quickly traveled by foot, they could make it by nightfall.

"We don't need to recklessly use the space bridge, Me and Rhinox will go on foot. I'm sure if we leave right now we'll be able to get that Maximal," Optimus said. The two began to exit the room but Rattrap had to oppose.

"And what about our human friends, might I add that you'll be entering new territory without a guide," Rattrap said. Optimus glanced back and let out a lax sigh.

"I'm sure we'll be fine, Izuku needs some personal time off. He's been working himself down to the bone recently not to mention he still needs training," Optimus said. Rattrap nodded in approval. The ape smiles, trying to put on a confident front.

"Besides we are in disguise I doubt a human would even notice us," Optimus said walking out of the room. Rattrap went back to lounging in his chair. He turned on one of the screens watching a human television program.

"Let's how you guys do, good luck Optimus," Rattrap said.

Izuku, Carmine, and Miko stood outside the entrance of a junkyard. Its rusted gates dangled in the breeze while the air smelt of metal. Izuku could see all sorts of big machinery and broken-down vehicles. On top of the entrance written in English was "Yeager junkyard," all on a wooden surface. Izuku stared at the sigh and looked into the place. He turned to face his friend.

"You live here?" He asked. Carmine shyly rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah sorry, it's a bit dumb,"

"Literally," Miko added, getting Carmine to glare at her.

Izuku quickly held his hands up.

"No, no it's fine. It's just a little uh stuffy is all," Izuku said not wanting to offend his friend. Carmine rolled his eyes and opened the rusty gate. That made a loud screech.

"Come on guys," Carmine said. Izuku walked into the junkyard, entering a maze of metal. He couldn't help but think how high the junk walls were. Soon they walked around the corner seeing an old farmhouse. It was so strange it felt out of place. An old-looking Western house In the middle of Japan.

They walked up to the old white pouch steps. The screen door opened and rolled out on board. Was a dog statue made of scrap and metal. Though it was just a metal box with a head shaped like a dog.

"Bark, Bark who goes there," It said in a robotic voice.

Izuku paused at the strange contraption. "Uh, what is this?"

Carmine glanced at the robotic dog. "This is K-9, my uncle made him for my birthday. It's kind of…" Carmine trailed off with his sentence, trying to find the right words to describe it.

"A piece of junk!" Miko quickly chimed in. Carmine reluctantly nodded.

"I was going to call it an interesting design choice but we all have our own opinions," Carmine then glanced down at the metal mut and patted its head.

"K-9 these are guests stand down," Carmine said walking into the front of the house. K-9 did as it was told and drove back into the house.

"Woof, Woof, affirmative!" K-9 said.

"That's right Carmine you said your Uncle was an inventor, wow I wonder what else he's made," Izuku thought.

Izuku and Miko walked through the hall of Carmine's house. Izuku looked at the pic on the walls and found them to be interesting. One of them was Yegar shaking hands with a bunch of heroes. There was one that had a woman with hair white, the two looked like friends. They both posed while in a smelting factory. Izuku could see in the photograph that the woman had an ice quirk.

"It must be pretty useful to make those statues if you have somebody with ice powers," Izuku thought. Carmine smiled knowing Izuku was sightseeing.

"Yep, those are all the heroes my Uncle has made statues for," He said with a smile. Miko joined in and wanted to get to know more about Carmine.

"Hey, who's that blonde chick in that one?" Miko pointed out. Carmine's face formed into a tired face as he already knew which picture she was pointing at.

"That is my cousin. Tessa Yegar and she is a… dick!" Carmine said plainly. Izuku and Miko both looked shocked at the words they heard.

"Kinda heartless to say," Izuki said.

"Trust me, she is the worst. She ran away to Australia with some dude who was older than her. Left me and Uncle Cade alone. She would always brag about getting into a big college but money was tight and the bills weren't going to pay themselves. My uncle supported her even taking loans from the bank to help her. This was all before the hero commission work," Carmine spoke with a heavy heart.

"While we were trying to pay the light and mortgage for a house. She just abandoned us, so no I don't like her," Carmine said. Izuku knew what that feeling of abandonment was like to have someone just leave and never look back.

"Sorry Carmine I didn't know," Izuku said. However Carmine just waved it off.

"Eh, it's fine besides I have you guys. stuff getting angry at people I just let it go. So Izuku check out this one photo. It has Hawks in it,"

Izuku's inner fanboy screamed he recognized the third hero of Japan. He couldn't help but smile at the galley of heroes however he stopped when he noticed one. A picture that drew his attention the most.

He slowly stopped his pace and stared at the picture seeing All Might shaking hands with Cade Yager, right behind him was the famous Toyoko All Might statue. A feeling of melancholy entered his mind. Izuku had learned that you don't need a quirk to fight. Carmine spun around and noticed the long stare onIzuku's face. Miko did as well; it was clear Izuku was hiding something personal.

"Yeah, that was Uncle Yager's biggest commission ever, it pretty much put him through to the higher-ups," Carmine said. Miko smiled and walked by Izuku.

"Yep everyone loves All Might, big loveable blond man," Miko joked. Izuku still stood motionless and nodded. Carmine put a covering Hannah on his front shoulder and began guiding him to the kitchen.

"Come on you can fanboy all you want with something in your stomach," He said. Izuku nodded and entered a white kitchen with blue tiled floor cabinets above and down below with a nice silver sink and a small round white table with three chairs. It was a cozy kitchen, something you would see on a sitcom.

"Come on, take a seat," Carmine said, opening the refrigerator. Putting a couple of sodas on the counter. Izuku took a seat, setting his hand on top of the table and looking nervous. This had to be the first time he was invited to a friend's house. It was a nice change of pace, Izuku was truly happy to have friends like them.

Carmine sat on the counter edge, cracking open one of the pops. Miko grabbed two cans and passed one of them to Izuku. They were both cherry Cokes, a beverage Izuku never had before.

"Maybe this will help me relax a bit," He thought. Izuku then took a swig and couldn't help but enjoy the carbonated drink.

"So you wanna tell us what's bothering you?" Carmine asked. Miko looked at Izuku with a concerned face.

"I don't know what you mean," Izuku said, looking down at the table, avoiding eye contact with his friends. Miko could see the distress in Izuku and had to help in some way.

"Yeah man, you've been pretty tired as of late. Have you been getting any sleep?" Miko asked. Izuku didn't respond and held his hands under the table.

"Me and Miko aren't mad at you, it's just you need to take it, easy man," Carmine said in a calm voice.

"I know how much the Maximal means to you but you are not alone in this. Was it the bodies that messed with you?" Miko asked. Carmine agreed he was still having nightmares of seeing all the dead in that one room. Izuku's fist tightened so slightly. Any dare mention of the atrocities that Megatron committed made his blood boil. It was very rare for him to be angry at anyone but anytime that name popped up. He just wanted to punch a hole in that Predacons face

"Yes, I wish we could have saved them but it is something else… I'm weak and I need to get stronger," Izuku said out loud. His determination flared in the kitchen.

"I need to get stronger. Optimus, you guys, and everyone, I need to be better for all of you," Izuku said in a mutter. Carmine could see what Izuku was doing to himself and he didn't like it.

"Hey, tough guy, maybe you should relax. I get it you want to do better but not resting or taking some time for yourself is going to be the end of you," Carmine said. Izuku took a heavy sigh and rested his head in his hands.

"I know, I just want to be strong now," Izuku said. Miko let out a soft chuckle.

"Isn't that the story, everyone wants to be ripped but that takes time and well we don't have a gym to stop by," Miko said the truth plainly as day. Carmine put down his can of pop.

"Let's face it Izuku we are heavenly, unprepared for any of this. I mean we're scared of Harimi. it's not even like she has a threatening quirk. She has a quirk and we don't. That's what the people with no quirks face every day," Carmine said gazing at the floor. Mike also had a deep frown.

"You just walked around the street and you see all these people with amazing gifts but when they take a glance at you, they see nothing," Miko said remembering the harsh times at her home. Izuku shared their pain but didn't agree at all they had to get stronger. He could show them that but how was the question?

"Izuku, it's okay. You can keep fighting with the others. We just wanted to make sure you're okay," Carmine said. Izuku had a hopeful glee. Through the still needed help.

"You know, some people without a quirk should be considered lucky," A voice came from down the hall. All the teens froze as an adult had eavesdropped on their conversation. Slowly walking into the kitchen was Cade Yeager. His hands were covered with oil and scratches. "It means you may work for your goals and, work for the skill refine it,"

Izuku had only one word to describe the man and it was stern. Not that he was acting strict, but the way he held himself and stood, made the young teenager think of strength. Carmine spoke in a nervous tone of voice.

"How long were you standing there?" He asked. Cade walked by the group and grasped a couple of paper towels wiping off his hands.

"Well, I heard about you guys wanting to become stronger and the quirk part. I'm going to take an educated guess right now and say that the Harimi girl is messing with you," He announced. The three teens let out a humongous sigh of relief, thinking that they had almost blown the cover that aliens crash-landed on this planet. Izuku understood that he had to pretend Cade was right.

"Yeah she even beat Carmine last week," Miko said pointing out to the others. Cade glanced at his nephew with a curious glance. Carmine was fluttered and had a displeased face pointed at Miko.

"Okay, it's true. I didn't see it coming though from behind so lucky on her," Carmine said the truth.

Cade smiled and finished cleaning his hands.

"Yes sir it's been difficult for us," He grumbled.

"Sir… listen you don't have to call me sir. My name is Cade Yager. Carmine who's your friend,"

"Oh, well this is Izuku Midoriya. He's new here but he's a good friend," Carmine said. Cade nodded and glanced at the young.

"So Izuku when you talk about getting stronger do you mean having a quirk or do you want to have real power like this," Cade flexed his arm showing the muscle on his bone.

"Yes, I want to be strong like that, I know that I'm Quirkless, I'm all that I am and there's nothing wrong with that," Izuku said. Cade smiled and let out a small chuckle.

"Well, what if I offered you a proposition? You, Carmine, and Miko," He said and smiled like he had hoped someone would say these words. Carmine had a suspicious look at his Uncle.

"Wait a minute, what are you talking about?" Carmine asked.

"Oh, nothing too serious. You see, there was a recent delivery of a large amount of trash delivered to the junkyard. I need it to be sorted and crushed…now this wouldn't be too hard for me if the pile was so tremendous for alone. I don't ask for much, I'm not even offering to pay, but if you want out of your own free choice, you can help me move it, and I'll show you how to get fit like me,"

The proposal was strange to Carmine. To him, it sounded like his uncle was trying to get people to work for him unpaid. Izuku wouldn't waste this opportunity. It's not like the chance was knocking at his door. He would take any option he could.

Miko felt a sense of duty after helping the Maximals with the awesome adventures she would be able to go on while hanging out with friends. Was a life goal she didn't wanna miss out on. She needed to be stronger for not just her friends, but also herself.

Izuku and Miko both bowed their heads to the man.

"We accept, please teach us!" They both cried out in unison.

"Oh brother," Carmine thought. Cade nodded and walked by the two.

"Alright, I'll see you two tomorrow after school, don't be late. When I say don't be late here, I mean sprint to this junkyard every day got it,"

"Yes sir," Izuku said only for Cade to spin around and disappointedly shake his head.

"You don't have to call me, sir,"

"Oh right, sorry. Thank you for this opportunity Mr. Yegar," Izuku said. Miko nodded and patted her friend's back.

"Don't you worry, it will be a piece of cake!" Cade said finally walking out of the kitchen.

"Think my Uncle just scammed us into doing work," Carmine said with a frown. Miko got up and roughly slapped his shoulder.

"OW!" He cried out in pain.

"Tuff up cream puff because you're not in any better condition," Miko said. Izuku stood up and was determined, especially on his face. A look that held the flames of ambition that were soon spreading into a wildfire of dreams.

"Guys, I'm gonna go ahead and help your uncle. I have a promise to myself right now at the end of the summer we're gonna be in the best shape of our lives, we will do it to the maximum!" Izuku said, pumping his fist into the air. Carmine and Miko both stared in surprise, then it slowly turned into admiration.

"They're the Izuku we know!" Miko said in a cool voice.

"Well, it was nice knowing you guys, looks like I'm on a diet of protein, shakes, and eggs again," Carmine grumbled and cried into his hands. Izuku walked over to his friend and politely patted him on the back.

"Hey, we're not doing this separately. We're all in this together because nothing's gonna stop us. you guys are looking out for me now it's about time I do the same,"

Carmine smiled and scratched the back of his head. It was looking to be a hard journey, but his friend was right he wasn't going to be alone. Miko then came behind and lightly jabbed Izuku back.

"Look at you coming up with a catchphrase maximum that sounds so cool," Miko gushed over Izuku's choice of words. Carmine nodded his head.

"Yeah, I kinda like it. It sounds better than Go Beyond Plus Ultra. Yours sounds more simple and effective," Carmine cleared his throat and did a heroic pose.

"Never give up, just give it your maximum! See it just rolls off the tongue," Carmine said. Izuku only blushed in embarrassment but was happy to know that he wasn't the only one carrying the obligation of being a hero.

Agent Simmons and Agent Fowler were sitting in the back seats, while junior Agent Witwicky drove the black car. Fowler had a displeased look on his face, it wasn't too long ago that they put out a hero escort request.

So far they had only one candidate who volunteered to go. This hero would stay anonymous until a hero picked them out. Fowler had no idea who this person was yet they quickly picked up the request.

Fowler glanced out the window, they had been driven by six big hero agencies already so who was this person? The car soon pulled into a parking lot. Fowler looked at their surroundings with a questioning face.

They were at a public park, with nice green grass and clean sidewalks. It looked pretty empty; it was the crack of dawn so not that many activities were going. Fowler took a deep sigh.

"Are you sure this person is even here?" Simmons asked. Fowler glanced at his friend fixing his tie.

"Well better than nothing, is what I say," Fowler said hopefully. From the Corner of his eyes, he could see someone dressed in dark clothing sitting on one of the benches. Laying by her feet was a brown luggage case.

"Is that them?" Simmons asked. Fowler stepped out of the car.

"Only one thing left to do is check," Fowler said, walking toward the mysterious individuals. Closing the door behind him. Simmons quickly rolled down the window and looked at the man.

"Try not to make the situation awkward," Simmons jokingly said. Fowler nodded his head as he began to step into the grass. He slowly approached the bench and took the space.

"Am I guessing you're our escort?

"Yes, I am, forgive me, Agent Fowler. I have to keep a low profile. I didn't want any of the media to catch on that I was here," the mysterious person who kept their hoodie on tight, making sure their identity was completely unseen. However, the voice was that of a woman.

Fowler understood the secret of nature. Sometimes pro heroes needed a day off and relax in the public eye. Well could draw the wrong sort of paparazzi. He nodded and pulled a file from his suit pocket. Passing it to this individual.

"I understand your privacy. I'm very grateful that you took the time to be very secretive right now. We don't know who we can trust," The mysterious person grabbed the file and opened the context inside.

"So Agent Fowler why does the American government have a sudden interest in a random blackout?" She asked. Fowler remained unfazed by the accusation.

"The same reason you're here Ryuko Tastsuma, it just doesn't make any sense," Fowler said, only looking at the horizon. The individual quickly spun her head to face the American agent, showing her face.

Her golden eyes matched her blonde hair. The pro hero's mouth was slightly gaped showing her sharp teeth.

This was Ryuko Tastsuma a pro hero. With an amazing quirk to turn herself into a dragon. Fowler knew who this hero was and what her ranking was, she was the 30th most popular hero in Japan. Not too far from being in the top ten.

"Oh please don't be so surprised. You tried to act all secretively with an American agent of the US government. It's my job so tell me why you're here today wanting to help us?" Fowler said as he glanced back at the horizon like nothing had happened. Ryuko took a deep breath and cracked a smile.

"Good, it seems like you guys know what you're doing," Ryuko rested her elbows on her lap. Fowler could tell she was relieved.

"What in the name of Uncle Sam star and striped shorts are you even here?" Fowler asked. Ryuko sadly glanced down at the floor, she stared at the floor in a strange, momentary silence.

"I wish to uncover why the blackouts happened," Ryuko answered calmly. Fowler stood up and began to walk away.

"Wait, where are you going?" She frantically asked.

Fowler turned around and crossed his arms in a disapproving manner. He was a special, United States agent who knew how to weed out people.

"Ma'am, I've worked in the US government for most of my life, I know when somebody's not telling me the full story. Now with everything that's been happening in the past days, you have a bigger interest," He said then he crossed his arms, having a serious brow. Ryuko stood up and glanced at the man.

"Something you want to get off your chest, you have to understand that out of all the people you could choose to go on a mission while the world is panicking, you choose us, why?" He asked. Ryuko had a stern front. It was clear that there was gonna be no funny business while working with the Americans. It was time for the truth and would do more good than harm.

"Are you aware of the hundred dockworkers that went missing?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm quite familiar, over a hundred workers disappeared without a trace. Which also correlates with a week after the blackout. The real question is are they connected?" Fowler said, making Ryuko give a sharp nod.

"I do believe the two incidents are connected somehow, but there is still more… My father was one of the workers and I needed to know where he was. So after I had a rumor, two of a couple of Americans showing interest in the blackout, I thought you guys might have a better idea than I do," She said with a serious tone of voice. Fowler walked forward to the pro hero and extended his hand outward.

"Well if you want to join, you're welcome to come with us, however, we might seem a little crackpot to you," He said. Ryuko tilted her head in interest wondering what he was implying.

"And why is that?" She asked.

"Tell me do you believe in extraterrestrial life?" Fowler said in a calm voice. Ryuko was confused and a bit dumbfounded. Fowler smiled and it seemed they found the perfect hero to escort them.

"I told you not to scare them off!" Simmons yelled from the car as he rolled down his window.

Notes: Hey what's up I know it took a long time to post this chapter just sort of had other stuff on my mind school started a couple of weeks ago. So I've been busy. Yes but now we're getting a new Maximal Yahoo! Big hype I'm also happy to set up the hero who going to be investigated. I thought Ryuko Tastsuma would be a good choice. Not to mention getting some big training for our humans. We're getting close to the beginning of the first school year so will see what happens. So don't have a good have a maximum day! Also, the next fic Chapter I'm working on is A Human Touch and Legneds of Ten until then, t'ill all are one.