Shattered Fate

by CaedesPlerique

A world so focused on heroes has lost its way. As the beginning steps of the critical events to the future of their world start to occur, they get some unexpected help. Can these new arrivals save their world from themselves? (MHA/Spider-man/Naruto/Ranma)

8. Chapter 8 - Class President

Chapter 8 - Class President

It had felt like the Battle Training had taken all day, but it had only been a few hours. Unfortunately, that meant another hour of regular schoolwork for the day. After the stress and excitement of Heroes vs. Villains, World History dragged on somewhat.

As their World History teacher left the room after the final school bell rang, students began to pack up or flock to each other. Sakura was packing up her things so she could head out when she was approached by her two opponents from earlier.

"Haruno?"

As Kyoka waited in front of her desk, Sakura looked up and behind her. She also noted that Denki had moved in front of Shoji's desk. "Yes?"

"We heard after training that Saotome called you a Ninja. Is that true?" Kyoka asked.

"Huh?" Sakura was confused by being confronted like this and that someone had been able to tell she was a shinobi. She also noted that Mezo didn't appear to be in a hurry to leave and had looked her way.

"He– she did call you a ninja," Mezo confirmed that the claim was accurate. As the three looked at Mezo, he continued with what else Ranma had commented. "She had said she had difficulty nailing down what style of fighting you used."

Mina and Tenya had also come over, having overheard Mezo's comment. "Yeah, I am curious about that as well, Sakura," Mina said.

Sakura looked at her audience and wasn't surprised by Tenya remaining silent about it, as he both knew the partial truth to that as well, that it was her choice. He had learned his lessons on that front some time ago. She sighed, deciding that the modified 'truth' was sufficient.

"Yes, I am a shinobi. I was raised as one from a young age," Sakura said. Mina, Kyoka, and Denki all made exclamations of surprise and began to shoot out some rapid-fire questions.

"Do you have a black full-bodysuit?"

"Do you have shuriken?"

"Did you ever fight a samurai?"

"Have you ever had to hide from enemies underwater, using a reed to breathe?"

"Did you, like, dose yourself with poisons so you can't be taken out with'em?"

"Do you have any black eggs?"

They halted, however, after Sakura raised a hand. "I was raised in an isolated part of the world that had little to no contact with most of it. Due to an incident with someone with a warping power, I was separated from my home last year and have been trying to find a way back. Because of how isolated we were, we don't know where to look."

"Woah, for real?" Denki asked.

The trio looked downcast at hearing the story. None of them could say they'd been through anything of that magnitude, but they could imagine getting separated from home was a horrible experience.

"So why did you want to become a hero?" Mina asked.

"It's a healthier means of resolving issues and conflict than my home is used to dealing with. I want to learn all I can about the hero system, so if I can return home, I can teach it to them."

"I thought pretty much the whole world used the Hero system, though?" Denki asked in his confusion.

"You moron! She just said they're isolated!" Kyoka exclaimed, smacking the back of his head lightly.

"Hey! Does that mean you don't know a bunch about modern Japan? We should totally hang out!" Mina piped in.

"I've actually been here for a while now; I'm pretty much caught up." Sakura smiled. "But I suppose hanging out wouldn't be too bad."

Sakura received a smile from each of them as they got up to leave. "Well, feel free to ask us for any help, Haruno," Kyoka said before making her way to the door.

-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-

"Ranma-san! Wait up!"

Ranma stopped and turned to find Izuku following behind her, and Ochako was also trying to catch up. "What's up, Izuku?"

The freckled boy paused as he tried to get his head around the fact he was speaking to a girl. But that girl was Ranma. He barrelled through to the point before he got too stuck on that thought. "I was wondering if you could train me?!" He yelped.

"Eh?" Ranma asked, a little surprised, giving Ochako the time to catch up. "Sure."

"Wow, really?! I-I actually didn't think it would be that easy…," Izuku muttered before he realized he didn't know any other details. "Umm, so what do we do?"

"Well, you can follow me for one," Ranma said as she shrugged and began walking again. "I was going to check out the martial arts clubs here to see if they are any good."

Izuku and Ochako both blinked at that. "Ummm, I thought we weren't allowed to join clubs?" Ochako asked.

"I looked into that before school started," Ranma said, with thumbs in the waistband of her skirt. "Turns out it isn't against the rules for those in the Hero Course to join clubs, just not recommended since most people are already swamped by the course load."

The other two blinked, not having known that.

"Wouldn't have mattered to me anyways; almost all of my free time is spent training. But that isn't why I am checking them out. Most school clubs are limited to the basic sport. I would be teaching my own school of Martial Arts," Ranma noted before looking at her other follower. "Are you here to ask for training as well, Ochako?"

Ochako was surprised, not having expected the conversation to drift to her. But after a moment, she smiled. "It wasn't why I came over here, but I think I can try it," she said before looking away, and her face turned red. "I embarrassed myself today."

"Eh, it wasn't too bad, Ochako. They just had a good plan." Ranma waved off her self-recrimination.

They soon came to one of the gym areas. They paused when they noticed Ranma headed to the lockers and decided to wait outside since they didn't have their gym clothes with them. Izuku stole a glance at Ochako before looking away with some discomfort. He felt so guilty about how battle training went down. He really should have done better. But Ranma was back before he could even envision how to apologize for his failure. It only took her half a minute before she exited wearing the clothing she did for the recent battle and her hands in her pant pockets.

"Ummm, Ranma-san? Why are you wearing your costume?" Izuku asked.

"Eh?" Ranma reacted in puzzlement before the light turned on. "Oh, I don't really have a costume. These are just my normal clothes."

"You don't have a costume?" Ochako asked, "Why not?"

"Don't want one," Ranma replied.

The other two heroes in training couldn't understand. "Why?" Izuku asked.

"My primary goal is to be a Martial Artist. But my code requires that I protect the weak. It overlaps with what a Pro Hero is supposed to do, so if I want to do that without getting into trouble, I need a license."

"Why wouldn't you want to be a Pro-Hero?" Izuku asked. It confused him and ran counter to his own thoughts.

"It's fine," Ochako said with a smile and catching Izuku's attention, "Not everyone who becomes a Pro-Hero does it just to become a Pro-Hero." Ochako, on the other hand, did have different goals in her life and understood Ranma's point.

They continued to follow Ranma as they entered the gym. Inside, they found diverse groups wearing doji's or other uniforms and various mats people were practicing on.

Their entrance was noticed as several groups turned to look at them. A few started walking towards them, smiling at the thought of new members. As they neared, though, a few caught sight of the orientation buttons on their shoulders. The reactions varied, ranging from indifference, disappointment, or outright hostility. "What are you Hero course students doing here?" One of them asked, with nothing in their voice to indicate their thoughts.

"Checking out the local martial arts clubs, seeing if they are any good," Ranma responded easily with a shrug of her shoulders.

"You're not allowed to be here! Hero Course students are barred from club activities!" One of the more hostile members yelled.

"Nope," Ranma replied, hands still in her pockets and not acting bothered at all while she looked at all the various groups. "Wouldn't matter to me even if they were. Part of checking your clubs out is to see if anyone has any skills. You got other members that are out at the moment?"

"No, this is all of our members," one of the boys from the Judo club replied with curiosity.

Izuku and Ochako were already feeling a bit intimidated by some of the glares they were receiving from a few members. Still, a crowd had already begun to form, listening in on what was happening.

"Damn, then this part was a bust." Ranma sounded depressed before shrugging. "But, pretty much what I expected."

A few members started glaring at them harder, making Izuku and Ochako even more uncomfortable. "What the hell do you mean by that?" One of them asked.

"Well, I'm not impressed by what I see. You guys all suck."

Izuku and Ochako had thought Ranma was here to join a club, not insult them! They looked ashen as they stared at their friend, as the intensity of the room grew exponentially. The entire room looked ready to kill them on the spot. They were quickly encircled, with no way to escape.

Izuku caught sight of one boy that was smiling as he made his way to the front. He looked like a young adult, likely a third-year student. "Well, we can't just let a challenge like that go unanswered." Izuku's hopes were dashed as his smile turned malicious. "I challenge you to a duel!"

"Not good enough," Ranma replied, much to the pair's horror. "All of you at once. If any of you can even touch me, then maybe I'll consider you impressive enough."

The boy stared at Ranma, trying to assess her before deciding. "Challenge accepted!"

They quickly reached one of the largest mats, with Izuku and Ochako herded along. Every karate, judo, and kendo club member stood ready to cream them. Ochako tugged part of Ranma's shirt to get her attention before whispering in panic, "What are you doing?"

Ranma looked back at her new students, seeing their fear and confusion. But she smiled to help reassure them. "It's simple, really. It's called advertising."

The pair blinked in bewilderment as Ranma made her way to the center of the mat. They huddled close together on the side, but they were closely guarded by a few of the members.

"Rules?" One of the leaders asked.

"Up to you if you want to use quirks. I'd just be careful with any quirk usage so you don't injure anyone else," Ranma answered. She looked totally relaxed, her arms folded behind her back and tipping back and forth from her toes to her heel as she waited. "I'll already be handicapping myself significantly anyways."

"Then anything goes."

"That's the spirit!" Ranma replied with a wide smile and a bounce in her step.

Using her words as the start call, multiple members charged in. The members appeared to prepare punches, kicks, and bokkens as they moved to engage.

Izuku became tense when they started closing in, and Ranma hadn't even moved! Then she suddenly slid backward a meter as if on wheels, avoiding three attacks from the front and sides. Another slide happened as those first attackers finally realized she wasn't there anymore; this time, the slide to the side was to avoid a roundhouse kick to her head. She then leaned back so far that her torso was parallel to the ground, allowing the next attack, a swipe of a fist and a bokken, to sail over her, the bokken hitting the puncher's arm and causing a cry of pain.

A karate member tried to capitalize on her awkward position to swipe her legs out from under her with a sweep of his leg, but she simply did a light hop over it with a backflip. Ranma countered-attacked with her legs, kicking out at the bokken user and the leg-swiper upside down. They keeled over, clutching their guts, crying in pain and out of the fight.

Before Ranma had finished her backflip, she then intercepted another punch making its way toward her as she continued twisting. One set of toes touching the ground, the other catching an arm in the bicep before the swing could generate any force. The fact the attacking girl was in the air when she tried it caused her center of gravity to shift badly, and she landed awkwardly on her back and head.

A brief pause occurred after watching those last few exchanges as many stared in disbelief. Ranma hadn't removed her arms from behind her back.

"What's wrong?" Ranma asked. Then he tilted her head just a little as she closed her eyes and smiled. "Have you guys finally decided that you do suck?"

Ranma's grin widened as the enraged members re-engaged even more vigorously. She easily avoided attacks by continuing to slide around the mat, her body contorting as her legs intercepted limbs, bodies, and weapons, disarming or disabling the attackers. Her kicks were punishing as she used her opponents as springboards to move around the mat. She was impossible to hit.

Their numbers at the start were over thirty fighters, and fifteen had already gone down. Quirks began to activate as the club members tried to equalize the playing field. Some grew in size, changed shapes, and others started using various melee or ranged attacks. Sure of their superiority, they charged in again.

But the outcome didn't change, and Ranma's arms remained behind her, never unfolding. But the most impressive thing, Izuku noticed, was that she wasn't a blur of motion. Her speed and strength didn't look greater than anyone else's on the mat. Something else Izuku realized was how efficient she was with her movements: no exaggerated motion was shown. He opened his bag, pulled out his notebook and pencil, and began muttering as he tried to think of what to write. But he had a hard time doing that as his eyes continued to watch Ranma decimate the club members.

There was another pause in the combat when only a few fighters were left beside Ranma. She just stood there, patiently waiting. Most downed combatants tried to get off the mat, some having to pull their friends away.

Once the mat was cleared, the remaining fighters waited. Their leader spoke up again, giving Ranma a deeper evaluation. "You must have some sort of precog quirk."

"Nope!" Ranma bragged. "I'm just that good!"

"Bullshit!" The leader shouted, outraged at the suggestion and insult of being bested by some first-year. "No one's that good! Especially not some newbie hero student!"

"I don't care what you think. And I already got what I wanted from this," Ranma said. She then turned to look at two other observers that had shown up before the fight started. The audience had missed their entrance as they focused on teaching her a lesson. The new observers were staring in disbelief at the mat and at Ranma. "Sup, you two! Looking for a decent martial arts club to join?"

Izuku, Ochako, and the rest of the audience turned to stare at the new arrivals. Both wore a dogi with some black belts around their waists. One was a girl with long orange hair tied to the side by a ponytail. The other was a boy slightly taller than her with short yellow hair and an odd but large tail sticking out of his back.

"I'm almost done beating these duds," Ranma said with a smirk before ducking to the side and leaving a leg extended over her previous position, tripping the person who tried a sneak tackle. She stood back up and looked very chipper. "We can talk when I'm done."

-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-

"Parker-san?"

Peter stopped walking, looked up from the map he had been reading, and turned, seeing Momo walking toward him. "Can I help you… Yao… I'm sorry, I don't remember your name correctly," Peter said as he blushed in embarrassment.

Momo bowed as she did a proper greeting. "My name is Yaoyorozu Momo; it is nice to meet you."

Peter returned the bow and the greeting.

"I was wondering about your drone from earlier," Momo asked. "I don't think many of the others noticed the significance of it, but that drone was very advanced. Where did you get it?"

Peter smiled, glad that he had an easily available answer for it now. "We designed and manufactured it a few months ago."

"We?" Momo asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Melissa and I. We've been working over the last year on multiple projects we're collaborating on. Her Dad is helping us get our corporation off the ground and deals with many of the business and logistical aspects."

"What kind of projects?" Momo didn't care if he felt she was fishing for information, as that was what she was doing. Her Mother would never let her hear the end of it if she didn't at least ask. "Those questions from Ectoplasma-sensei didn't deal with engineering or machine intelligence, but with high-level physics and chemistry primarily."

Peter smiled at that. She had already shown she was brilliant and her knowledge. "While I can do some A.I. work, I leave most of that to Melissa since that tends to be a field she specializes in."

Hearing that name again sent a warning bell through Momo's head. She had heard that name sometime recently but didn't have a photographic memory, only an eidetic. Momo decided to probe on that point. "Where do you live? Or at least used to live?"

"I live by myself nearby for now, and I grew up in Queens, New York. But I've been staying with my guardian for the last year on I-Island."

Momo finally made the connection, surprising herself. "Would your partner be Melissa Shield, daughter of David Shield?"

Peter blinked but shrugged it off. He had gotten used to David being fairly famous in certain circles. Maybe not as renowned as Tony was, but still recognized worldwide. "Yes, Dr. Shield is my guardian."

Momo smiled. "That explains some of it. My parents have stock in some of the I-Expo's sponsors. I overheard them expressing concerns about Dr. Shield and how he was stepping away from his position on the island and instead running some new startup company. I heard Melissa's name come up once."

"Yeah, he's gotten some flak for that," Peter said as he rubbed the side of his head in embarrassment. "Some of our new tech is just getting off the ground, and we haven't been showcasing it to them. So they've been rather pissed."

"Well, that drone at least shows some serious work. I also note you were heading towards the Development Studio?"

"Yeah, we're giving a few of the early models of our M.P.S. to U.A. I'm on my way to set them up for me to showcase them tomorrow after classes."

"M.P.S.?" Momo asked, unfamiliar with what it stood for.

"Manipulative Projection System," Peter said easily. "You're welcome to attend if you want. And while I might need to check with Dr. Shield and the teachers, you might be able to invite your parents as well. If they can get some of the board to stop breathing down his neck about it, it'd be a load off his back."

Momo smiled at that, curious about what this M.P.S. was. The name hinted that it might be related to hologram usage, but that field had been dead for decades. "I'll talk to them about it. They can contact the school about attending."

"Sure thing," Peter smiled back before giving a small bow. "I'll see you tomorrow, Yaoyorozu-san."

"You as well, Parker-san."

Peter watched her walk away as she pulled her phone out and started working with it, most likely contacting one of her parents. Peter turned away and continued his walk towards the Development Studio.

It took him only a short time to reach the doors with the sign. The doors were thick, reinforced steel doors with rivets. Considering some of the shops he had encountered on I-Island, he wasn't surprised by the precautions. He grabbed the handle and slid it open.

Just as Peter walked into the room, his spider-sense tingled. A quick leap backward and to the ceiling allowed him to avoid the bloom of smoke and shock waves from the explosion that occurred. The spider-sense tingled again, and his reaction speed allowed him to lower his hand to catch the figure sailing through the hole before it could impact anything. He snatched them out of the air by grabbing the back of their shirt and letting his hand absorb as much of the momentum as possible. While it would be a little jarring, it was nowhere near what impacting a wall would have done.

Things quickly started calming down as Peter chuckled. While explosions as large as this were uncommon, accidents in Development Studios like this one were not. Hell, he was a chemist; he had gone through his share of explosions when mixing certain chemicals.

Peter lowered himself from the ceiling with one hand attaching himself to it as the figure in his other hand started coughing. He flipped off the ceiling while still holding them up by the back of their shirt.

"What the hell happened here?" A voice yelled from inside the studio before coughing due to the smoke that was trying to settle.

"Owie…," said the figure in Peter's hand. Peter noted it was definitely feminine, and Peter finally got a look at them. The girl was at least ten centimeters shorter than him, had shoulder-length pink hair tied into thick dreadlocks, and wore a black tank top and black coveralls with the top half tied around her waist. She also wore black gloves, though the index finger was gloveless around the P.I.P. joint.

They finally got their legs under them and stood up shakily. That was when Peter got a better look at her as she looked up, and he saw her eye's irises were a green-yellow with crosshairs centering on the pupil. She recovered her wits quickly, stood up straight, and looked at Peter.

Peter gave a smile, glad she was alright. Though, if she was the cause of the explosion, he suspected she was used to such things. He had his hand let go of her shirt now that he was sure she wouldn't collapse again and took a step back. "Hi, I'm Peter."

The girl blinked but didn't respond before promptly ignoring him, turning towards the open doorway, and screaming. "My baby!"

Before Peter could ask her what she meant, she sprinted through and helped cause the cooling smoke to spread out again. As she thrust through it to her workbench, Peter quickly recognized where the explosion occurred. Peter chuckled as she panicked over the destroyed item, cradling it in despair.

Peter saw the other voice waving his hand to get the additional smoke out of his face. It was a short man, especially since he was hunched over and shirtless, showing off his skinny but impressive physique. He had spiky ginger hair that was only visible through the small gaps in his giant yellow metal mask that looked like a rectangular dinosaur. He also had cyan pants and some massive fingerless gloves. The tips of his fingers had metal tips attached to them, which was a sign of the man's quirk.

"Hello, Power Loader-Sensei," Peter greeted the man. Considering the correspondence that David and the school had been in, Peter had been first introduced to the man over the phone.

Maijima Higari, also known as Power Loader, turned towards the entrance to see who had spoken, grinning as he recognized him. "Parker! Glad you're here. Sorry about the mess, but I think I will have to have a sit-down discussion with one of my new students," Higari said as he glared at the girl.

"No problem, Sensei," Peter replied, "I'm used to lab accidents. I've had a few myself. Though this one is just a little larger than most…." Peter looked at the object the pink-haired girl was inspecting, quickly recognizing its purpose. "Then again, I wasn't too partial to jet packs."

Peter walked towards her as she looked over the metal backpack with a large hole in one side. Sniffing the air some, he recognized the chemical mixture she had used. "Why were you using Kerosene?"

"Kerosene!?" Higari yelled as he got closer, "What the hell were you thinking, Hatsume?"

Hatsume Mei didn't bother to look at the two men, instead looking at the hole in her backpack, and spoke softly. "Kerosene will get me more thrust and speed… and we didn't have any of the right hydrogen peroxide mixtures for me to use."

Higari could only palm his face at the girl. She scored the highest on engineering designs for the entrance exam and was only beaten on physics and chemistry by the young man beside them. She was brilliant from what he had observed but also careless at times. He worried that his apparent age would catch up to his real age in just a few months if this continued. Even if this was her first day, he knew the type and the toll they took on their teachers.

"You didn't have the distillation formula for the hydrogen peroxide?" Peter asked, getting the girl's attention as she looked him in the eyes again before shaking her head. Peter sighed, grabbed his bag off his shoulder, and then his notebook and pen. The two others watched Peter rapidly start writing, giving him the few minutes he needed as he wrote it down.

When Peter finished, he tore it off and gave it to Mei, who looked it over, and her eyes opened in glee. "YES!"

"That formula should allow you to achieve a ninety percent purity ratio," Peter said with a smile as the girl read it over. "Be careful with the heat and keep away any catalysts, of course."

Higari reached over her shoulder and plucked it from her fingers, then held it high over his head as she frantically tried to retrieve it. "As punishment for causing the explosion, I will be holding onto this," Higari said as his face formed a malicious smile. Maybe he had just found a way to reign her in. "No explosions in the lab for a week; then you will get this back."

Mei didn't appear to be listening as she frantically tried to crawl up the Pro-Hero's body to get her objective, but he was too strong and used to such actions that she didn't make any progress. After another fifteen seconds, she calmed down after looking into Higari's eyes through his mask. "Fine," she said in a huff and turned back around.

Higari chuckled as he slowly lowered the sheet in case it was a ruse by her to try to snap it back. His caution was warranted as she did try to leap out of her chair, but it was made moot by Peter holding her down by her shoulder and preventing her from getting up. Then, Higari folded it and put it into his pants pocket as the girl moped.

"Thank you, Parker. I'll show you where we plan to have you install the M.P.S. for the presentation tomorrow. The crates are already waiting there," Higari said.

"M.P.S.?" Mei asked, suddenly getting her complete attention again. "Do… do you mean the Stark Industries M.P.S.?"

That took Peter and Higari by surprise, though Peter less so since if you were a serious science nerd like he was, you kept up to date on new technologies. He had seen that look of awe many times after the M.P.S. was first shown off, and people that had heard of it. Peter smirked before turning to Higari as another idea came to mind. "Yep! I'll be installing them today and showing them off tomorrow after class. But I think Power Loader-Sensei only wants well-behaved students attending…."

"I'll be good!" Mei shouted as she exited her seat in a flash and stood stiffly with a military salute. "How can I help?"

Higari chuckled as he led the way toward the back. The room had been nearly emptied, leaving several large crates in the middle of the room, four long sets of collapsed stands along one wall, and lots of exposed cables here and there. A few people were about to remove the remaining items and rewire the floors, walls, and ceiling. Standing on one of the crates was Principal Nezu in the middle of it all as he directed people.

Peter blinked as he got a good look at the tiny man. When they got closer, he smiled as he heard his voice. It was lighter than most men, seeing as he had a smaller body to work with, but it still held a strong baritone. Having heard of him through David and others, Peter was immediately reminded of another furry being he once knew, causing him to smile.

"Ah, Young Parker! Glad you were able to come," Nezu said as the trio approached. "I was worried that the explosion just now would cause a delay. I take it young Hatsume's jetpack exploded? I saw her working on it earlier."

The fact that Mei didn't look embarrassed at all caused Nezu to chuckle. He then noticed Peter's smile, recognizing it as appropriate for a positive experience or memory, not for greeting people. "Remembering something pleasant, Young Parker?"

Peter was embarrassed at being caught, but the more honest smile returned. "Yeah, sorry. You just reminded me of an acquaintance I met a few years ago. He was like you, an animal with a quirk that made him brilliant."

Nezu was surprised. He knew he wasn't the only animal with a quirk, even if it was far rarer than humans with quirks, but he was unaware of any others that gained intelligence. Considering what else he knew, the circumstances might account for it. "Really? What species and what was his name?"

"His name is Rocket, and he's a raccoon," Peter replied, wondering what kind of mischief the two animals could get up to if they ever met.

-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-

Sakura walked with Chiyo through the front entrance for the second day of classes. Today was different since microphones and cameras had been shoved in their faces and questions thrown their way. Questions regarding All Might teaching classes.

Sakura was at a loss on how to respond since this was so far out of her normal experiences when dealing with the news. Chiyo helped her cut through the line and eventually to the safety of the grounds.

"Did they really have to be that aggressive?" Sakura asked as she peeked back at the reporters who found a new target to harass.

"Not all news reporters are aggressive," Chiyo said as they walked. "But when something large happens, such as All Might taking a teaching job, it causes people to panic. The public becomes fearful that the shield that has protected them so well for the last thirty years is dwindling. News companies know this, so they try to get information."

Knowing that it was sometimes difficult for Sakura to see things from their perspective, Chiyo thought of another way to explain it to her that fit her background. "Tell me, what would your Villages do when vital information about their safety needed to be acquired? That whoever gets it first is more likely to survive, and those that come second or don't acquire it at all being in a far weaker position and possibly perish?"

Sakura didn't have to think long about it, "They would use almost any tool or trick they had to secure it."

"And what about the ninjas themselves? What might your Village do to them if they fail? Or if they receive false information that ends up endangering them?" Chiyo asked.

"Some, like Konoha, might imprison them at most if it was due to gross incompetence. Some of the other Villages would execute them, even if they did everything they could."

"Think of the news teams as ninja teams and their news organizations as your Villages. Getting the information will increase your organization's survival and your own. Instead of literal death, it would lead to career and social standings ending."

Sakura paused as she absorbed the analogy and then sighed when she understood. "I get it. Different organizations might be more willing to use dishonest or cheap tricks to get ahead, but some would feel compelled to be aggressive or use underhanded methods. These methods can get you a return, but they don't recognize or acknowledge the long-term detrimental effects of this methodology. This just leads to others being aggressive as well because they see it can work."

"Excellent! Well done, Sakura," Chiyo said as her student made the correct logical connection to that analogy. She had grilled Sakura over the last year to truly understand what her home was like. It painted a grim picture but let her make those connections to a more modern era.

"Remember, though, in many ways, they are desperate; they are trying to find any means to survive. Sometimes, they are the ones that should be pitied."

-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-

Izuku sat in class, waiting for Aizawa-sensei to wake up. The fact the class knew he was already in the room, but secure in his sleeping bag, had already become old news to them. They all waited as the minute hand was one tick away and the second's hand performed its never-ending laps. When it finished its next lap, the chime rang throughout the school, and they saw their sensei get out of his sleeping bag.

Shota still wore the black shirt and pants, with his dirty white scarf circling his neck. He picked up a few papers on the podium as he addressed the class.

"Good work with yesterday's Battle Training," Shota said as he looked around the class. "I've looked over your grades and evaluations. While many of you had a poor performance, it was not due to irrational behavior, and you learned from the experience. Remember them, and you'll do well in the future."

Shota was happy to see those students nod their heads, already accepting the critique. He then looked at those on the other end of the spectrum. "As for those that did perform well, you all used sound tactics and strategies to come out ahead. Don't drop your guard or let it go to your head."

"Now, onto the home-room business. Sorry for the sudden announcement, but today you'll pick a class president."

Shota wasn't surprised to see the excitement in the students as most of them got out of their seats and exclaimed how they would like to be president. He did notice several students hadn't gotten up, but he didn't care. He ignored it all as he returned to his sleeping bag and crawled inside.

"Quiet down, everyone!"

The students did settle down as they looked at Tenya, who had shouted.

"Leading the many is a task of heavy responsibility. But ambition does not equate to ability!" Tenya said, surprising many of his classmates. "This sacred office demands the trust of its constituents. If this is to be a democracy, then I put forward the motion that our leader must be chosen by an election!"

"But Iida, we haven't known each other long enough to build any trust," Tsuyu said as she turned around to look at him.

"And everyone will just vote for themselves!" Eijiro pointed out.

"That's precisely why anyone who manages to earn multiple votes will be the best-suited individual for the job!" Tenya replied, catching his class by surprise. They quieted down. Tenya turned to their sensei, who was sitting down now and preparing for his nap. "Will you allow this, Sensei?"

"However you do it, just make it quick," Aizawa said as he finished lying down and nodded off.

-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-

"This is unacceptable! We are short one vote! Who didn't vote?" Tenya loudly questioned the class.

"What's it matter? Just declare me the class rep already," Bakugo barked angrily.

"Like hell, it would be you! It should be me!" Eijiro yelled at the blonde as he grinned widely, receiving a death glare in response.

"Is it possible we misplaced one?" Momo wondered.

"Maybe they didn't vote 'cause they didn't care?" Kyoka pondered.

"We have a tie!" Iida shouted out, raising one stiff arm into the air, which Ranma noted seemed to be his favored way of speaking. At least he wasn't annoying like Kuno, using flowery speeches or pointing out how perfect he was. He had to listen to his old man for twelve years speaking like that while insulting him constantly, so Tenya's pattern was refreshing. "We must have that vote! It may be the key to breaking the tie between Haruno-san and Saotome-san!"

Ranma nodded along, not in the least bit interested, as he stared off to the side with unfocused eyes. The class could deal with it themselves; no need to add him to the mix–

"Wah?" Ranma finally caught on to one of the names that were said. He then finally looked at what was written on the board. "What the hell?"

He looked at the tally on the board. That couldn't be right; why was he tied with Haruno's three votes to be the Class Representative? Especially since he didn't vote!

The only other person with more than one vote was Yaoyorozu, but he wasn't too surprised. Both girls gave off that energy of caring about the class, so more power to them.

"We must cast another ballot to verify the vote count!" Tenya said. "Everyone, prepare another sheet for a second ro–"

"The missing vote's mine," Ranma said, waving a hand. "Put it down for Sakura."

Iida paused, surprised that it was Saotome that hadn't voted. Especially since if he had voted for himself, he would have easily been Class Representative. But he was a professional, so it didn't matter. "We'll have to double-check that you aren't being fraudulent just for surety's sake, but very well! Haruno-san will be our Class Representative, and Saotome-san the Vice-Class Rep-"

"No thanks!" Ranma roared, interrupting the boy and getting the attention of the rest of the class again. "I don't want it! She can have it!" He said, gesturing at Momo

The class was speechless after that, surprised that anyone would turn it down. Didn't he know what an honor it was to have it? Many stared at him as he calmed down and leaned back in his seat.

It took Tenya a moment to re-orient himself, but he eventually recovered. "We will need to do another round of voting as Saotome has withdrawn their name. I assume everyone else still wishes to run for the position? Please prepare anoth–"

"Leave it," Aizawa said off to the side as he remained lying on the floor. "It's good enough as it is."

Tenya halted as he was interrupted yet again. He recovered more quickly. "Then our Class Representative is Haruno-san, and the Vice-Class Representative is Yaoyorozu-san."

-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-

"Ranma-kun? Can we sit here?"

Ranma looked up, not surprised to find Izuku and Ochako waiting for him. Though the addition of Toru was a little surprising.

"Sure. Have a seat."

The four ate silently for a bit, enjoying their meal. Ochako decided to break the peace as she asked the question that had bugged all three of them. "Ranma-kun?"

Ranma looked up after just putting his next bite in his mouth. "Hmm?"

"Why did you not want to be Class Representative?" Ochako asked as she tilted her head in curiosity.

Ranma looked at her for a moment before swallowing his food. "Eh, I'm not the type to be interested in leading things like classrooms. Besides, you two already know I have to finish setting up my new Martial Arts club."

"But being Class Representative is useful to have when looking to join or form an Agency!" Izuku added, still lost.

"Like I told you guys yesterday, I'm not interested in being a normal Pro-Hero. Not gonna join or start an Agency."

"You're not?" Toru asked, surprised to hear this from the other boy. "Why wouldn't you? Isn't that why you're attending U.A.?"

Ranma turned to the invisible girl but paused with his mouth open as he remembered she wasn't with them yesterday. "My main goal is to teach Martial Arts. Due to what my Art is capable of, I will most likely teach Pro Heroes, sidekicks, and students who want to become Pro Heroes. So learning what Pro Heroes deal with will help any potential students I may get."

"Next is to show the heroes out there what my Martial Arts is capable of, so being a Pro will make for great advertisement. Lastly, my honor code requires that I protect the weak, with or without a license. Having a license will be less of a hassle in the long run, less running from cops."

Toru blinked a few times, not having expected such an answer. "So you will become a Pro, but you won't care about the leaderboard or anything like that?"

Ranma smirked as he looked at her, "Who said I wouldn't care about the leaderboard?"

Ochako caught on first. "Oh! More advertising!"

"Right," Ranma said with a nod toward him. "After all, if someone whose quirk has almost no impact on what they can do gets high on the leaderboard, how strong does that make my Art?"

"Wait, what do you mean about your quirk?" Toru asked.

"My only quirk is changing into a girl and back," Ranma said easily as he picked up another bite.

Toru's arms flailed dramatically if her clothes were any indication as she immediately called him out on it. "Bullshit!"

Ranma just grinned at her as he explained it.

-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-

"So, Haruno-san, what do you think our plans for the class should entail?" Momo asked as she finished another scoop of her rice. Momo had come to respect Sakura's intelligence, finding her stimulatingly clever while focusing on different areas of interest. They still overlapped, but Sakura seemed more interested in biological and medical sciences and less focused on the mechanical and physical sciences. She only had the one experience with her, but tactically, Sakura focused more on how a team would work together while she focused on support items and their uses.

"I've looked over the curriculum, and I've found it rather…lacking in certain areas," Sakura said honestly. She took another bite of her fish, enjoying the flavor the chef was able to give it before she elaborated. "There are two severe areas of training that I think should be adopted by hero schools, but very few schools in the country cover them to even mediocre degrees. They seem to leave it to the students to fill in those gaps, and the students that do are scarce."

Momo was a little defensive, feeling she needed to stand up for her country, but decided to wait to hear more. "What areas are those?"

"Martial Arts and teamwork."

Momo paused, as did many of their classmates that ate with them. She did note the only one that hadn't was Tenya. Martial Arts were practiced by some heroes, but compared to quirk mastery, its usage in combat against even the simplest of quirks wasn't sufficient to warrant the time spent on it.

Teamwork, on the other hand, she could see benefits from it. But they already strived to use teamwork, so it confused her. "What do you mean?"

"I've noticed that Martial Arts is not considered an important skill for Pro-Heroes, and teamwork between heroes tends to be rather abysmal."

"Yes," Momo said as she followed along. "For Martial Arts, from what I understand, you must dedicate much of your time to get minimal benefits. But comparing that to time spent enhancing your quirk or how many quirks make Martial Arts entirely useless, it is understandable why it has fallen to the wayside. As for teamwork, what do you mean by abysmal? Heroes team up regularly."

Sakura sighed as Momo spelled out the flawed thinking she hoped to correct. She paused for a moment as she thought of how to explain it. "I think you and many others have a flawed understanding of what I am referring to. So let's get some groundwork dealt with first," Sakura said and waited for the nod from Momo before she continued. "We'll start with one subject and then cover the other. First, what is Martial Arts?"

"A formal means of teaching hand-to-hand and weapon techniques," Momo answered.

Sakura nodded. "An accurate definition, but what would you say is the common usage?"

"Martial Arts is usually used in conjunction with specific styles such as Karate, Judo, Kendo, or others that became sports."

"The type of Martial Arts I am referring to isn't a sport, but the traditional definition of studying warfare. It is finding and using the most effective means to destroy or incapacitate your opponent. It doesn't matter the tool or the opponent; it is learning how to win those fights."

Momo frowned as Sakura explained her usage. "But how is that different from what we already do with training our quirks?"

"Because that's just one tool." Sakura then blinked. "Your quirk makes this debate a challenge language-wise."

Momo furrowed her brow even further, "I'm not following…."

"Let's try this. You have a sportsman who drills karate moves regularly, building up their muscle memory and refining their movements until they are polished to perfection. Exhibition judges give perfect scores, that sort of thing. Then you have someone that brawls against others, just street fight after bar room brawl after back alley boxing. They've got no specific form or katas to practice, just hard-won experience. What are their strengths and weaknesses? What happens if they fight each other?"

Momo concentrated as she went over her knowledge. "I suppose the sportsman has form and efficiency of movement, built up muscles for his specific movements and attacks. He probably wouldn't be as flexible in an actual fight. The street fighter would be flexible mentally, likely able to adapt to whatever the sportsman would come at him with. They presumably wouldn't have the foundation to set up a quick, smooth finish, but they'd have the advantage if they didn't fall to the first attack.

"A sufficient summation," Sakura said with a nod of approval. "But it doesn't paint the complete picture. The primary problem is a lack of determining efficiency and effectiveness."

"While the sport Karate user might be more efficient in the specific moves they have learned, they have a path that they aren't going to stray from because they're stuck in thinking there's only the one best way to win. There may be moves that are more efficient or more effective in different scenarios, but those aren't 'as good.'" Sakura explained while moving her food around with her chopsticks.

"The street fighter can see the results, the goal, but they may get stuck thinking 'this way is best.' So they encounter a similar negative feedback loop to the Karate user. The street fighters' main advantage is that they are more likely to adapt when proven wrong."

Momo paused as she listened, finding Sakura's explanation logically sound. "Okay, so how does that apply to our training?"

"Pro-heroes are taught more like this is a sport. U.A. and a few other schools do a good job of this, better than others from my research. The culmination of generations, real efficient sports Pro-Heroes. But it's incomplete. After graduating, you're thrown into street fights and must adapt to reality. The only reason this isn't a glaring problem is that most criminals are in similar situations as you. They are mostly just street fighters. But the most dangerous of villains are those that have been street fighting for some time. They will have an effect disproportionate to their quirk."

Momo grimaced. She had read about some of the more dangerous villains Pro-Heroes have faced in the past; some of them had quirks that were unremarkable on paper. It was how they used them that set them apart. She wasn't the only one, as others thought the same thing.

"The other side of that equation is the top heroes in the country. Most heroes get by just on the strength of their quirk, but the ones that push beyond, not just in their quirk but fighting in general, rise to the top. They learn it through harsh reality and push themselves to learn the lessons they should have been taught before graduation."

Sakura sighed, thinking of her own graduation from the academy. "Not everyone will rise to that level, so you must find an appropriate cutoff point, or only a few will pass. But you do not want to train just to the lowest common denominator. My main issue is that, as far as I can see, too much emphasis is left on the trainee to rise to those levels. U.A. just sits at the top of that pile because its criteria and training are better than the others. But it is incomplete. It needs to be pushed in more directions."

The table became quiet, the various listeners absorbing it in different ways. Kyoka broke the silence by asking her question softly. "Is this because of your different upbringing?" It earned her some curious looks from those that hadn't heard about Sakura's past.

"Yes," Sakura replied after a momentary pause. "We were taught from an early age how to fight. Because our environment was different, it was also more lethal."

There were quite a few gasps and cringes. "You mean, like, assassinations and stuff?" Mina asked. It startled some classmates and others to be further confused.

"Partly," Sakura responded. "We have our equivalent of villains, basically rogue fighters. But we also had the threat of open conflict between our neighbors. It always seemed like the smallest events could turn into an all-out war between us. Many battles with those rogue fighters or smaller battles between our neighbors ended with people dying."

"Hero business is no stranger to dealing with lethal intent," Sakura said as she looked around the table, eying the more squeamish listeners as she brought a bit of reality to their situation. "The difference is that the Heroes are more likely to attempt non-lethal methods. Villains are often not limited to that morality. The main reason they may avoid it is attracting too much attention. But if they don't care, they will kill civilians or pro-heroes."

"I am used to dealing with life and death battles. Those with more experience in fighting and those that trained to a higher degree are almost universally more difficult to deal with than those with a stronger quirk. That includes getting training from others as well as teaching yourself. Back home, my team and I… we needed this training against opponents with powerful quirks. And some of the quirks are more dangerous than any other quirk in our class."

"Like what?" Shoto asked. His voice was calm and attentive, but he was effectively detached. "Could you give us some examples? Our class has some powerful quirks; it could be useful to know what could be in our future."

She smirked as she looked at him. "How about a quirk that can trap you in your own mind, where they have total control of your mindscape for three entire days. They can torture you in any way they can imagine, and you're completely at their mercy. Then it ends, and only a second passes in the real world. But you're left with all those experiences on your mind instantly. And all they had to do was look you in the eyes, and you were caught."

Shoto grimaced but gave a small nod to the dangers a quirk like that would represent.

"To defeat quirks like that, you must learn how to fight and bypass your normal limitations. How to fight with all the weapons at your disposal, not just your quirk. That is the kind of training I am talking about."

"So what would that entail?" Momo asked, "How would we change our training?"

"You have to understand, Martial Arts is more than just knowing how to throw a punch. It also teaches you how to move, roll with a blow, fall, or turn situations around in your favor. A baseline requirement would ensure they had the minimum required knowledge on moving through a battle without their quirks. This can be a crucial and lifesaving set of skills."

"Once you have that foundation, then you start building them up based on the needs of the individual. Their size and body shape become important, such as how quickly they can move or take a hit and their unique quirks. You train them in ways already known to work well with what they have. After that, you push them out of their comfort zone and into things where they experiment and find what works best for them."

"Okay, so you have some ideas on that front. How do we start implementing it?" Momo inquired. She understood what Sakura was talking about and agreed with it now. And if the little of her past that had been hinted at was true, she was something of an expert.

"I want to check with Ranma before I start anything," Sakura replied, grabbing another bite of her food with her chopsticks.

"Saotome?" Momo asked as a pause went around the table, "Why?"

"Some of you have had some training," Sakura said as she eyed Momo and Shoto especially, "But most of it is in an incomplete basic form. Ranma, however, has trained very extensively in pure combat. If there was anyone in our class I would be worried about going up against, it would be him."

Momo saw the looks between some of her classmates and decided not to go down that rabbit hole. The discussion was already going longer than she anticipated. "You also said something about abysmal teamwork?"

"Yes," Sakura said after swallowing her latest bite of food. "Teamwork is another area that I see Pro-Heroes lack severely in."

"There are different types of teamwork that also have multiple levels to each of them. I could go into heavy detail explaining them, but I will try to keep it simple for now," Sakura said after looking at the clock in the cafeteria. They only had another fifteen minutes before they would need to return to class. "Leaving aside things such as leadership, logistical support, or information gathering, teamwork can be identified by four behavioral types: basic support and avoiding friendly fire, combination attacks, timing attacks, and synchronicity."

Sakura noted there was some confusion for a few listeners. She had plans to explain it more in-depth when they started training for it. A summary would have to be good enough for now. "These types have many levels of skill and mastery involved with them. It can take years of practice, but if a group of people can master all of those types, they can fight opponents that far exceed their own capabilities. Or at least get a specific or desired effect, a 'win' condition if you will."

Momo paused in thought, working it out in her own mind. "Alright, so–"

"Security Level Three has been broken. All students, please evacuate in an orderly fashion."

Momo and the others halted as the buzzer sounded and the voice spoke.

"Okay, that's unexpected," Momo said as they all got up. That was when the throng of students rushed to the exits. Momo quickly noted it was not in an orderly fashion. "They're panicking!"

"Sakura-kun! We need to calm them down! What should we do?" Iida asked, looking around.

"We need a little information first," Sakura jumped onto one of the small dividing walls between the tables. She looked around and saw them swarming toward the main entrance, forcing people into a squeezed position. "Tenya, get their attention to calm them down and then get them to evacuate safely," Sakura said as she held a hand out toward him.

Tenya grabbed it and was hoisted up next to her. She then grabbed him around the waist and leaped to the entrance, covering the distance and landing on the side of the wall. She set her friend on the mounted exit sign in full view of the mob, letting his hand grab the pipe on the wall as well. "Go on, Tenya. Ensure they get organized; even if it is a false alarm, they must respond accordingly. I'll leave you to it. I need to check on what else is happening."

Tenya nodded before shouting at the students, quickly getting their attention from his position above them. They seemed resistant at first, but after mentioning how prestigious the school was and its staff was filled with Pro-Heroes, they relaxed and continued the evacuation. Sakura had already leaped over near the windows, seeing the media trying to swarm the grounds and some of their teachers intercepting them.

Chiyo's earlier lesson about the desperate lengths some reporters might go to, she couldn't discount a foolish reporter being responsible for the breach. But they also might have only taken advantage of an opening created by another. She couldn't see enough out there to place what was really happening, but an idea came to her. She looked around the room, spotting the person she hoped to find.

"Ranma?" Sakura asked as she landed next to him. He wasn't bothered by the crowd or panicking in any way. But he was frowning as he looked out towards the direction the media had come from. "Did you detect something?"

"Yeah, a surge of anger and killing intent," Ranma said, not bothering to look her way. "They just left the premises."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "What did they do?"

"I felt them when the alarm went off. They entered the premises, went off the path for a moment, and then left. I don't have much more to say; it's a little far to tell me much more than that.

"Keep an eye out, if you would," Sakura requested as she headed towards the exit where the students were more calmly exiting now. She needed to find Chiyo.

"Sure," Ranma replied casually as his body relaxed a little.

-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-

"Thank you, Sakura-chan," Chiyo said as they walked toward Class 1-A's room. "I'll be sure to inform the Principal about it. Hopefully, it will give us more details about what happened."

"Certainly, Shuzenji-sama," Sakura responded. "Breaches like that were things we trained for back home. I am just glad Saotome could detect and keep an eye on them. He really is looking promising. I look forward to when we can actually spar."

Chiyo nodded. "Principal Nezu has been intrigued by him much like how he was intrigued by you. I already warned you we may have to come clean to the Principal eventually, but I am curious if there is more to Saotome's situation too."

"They are definitely unusual," Sakura pondered. "But I can't speculate what it is without more details."

"While I may know more, I cannot divulge that," Chiyo answered calmly.

"I know," Sakura sighed. She was still getting used to the oddities of a doctor's Hippocratic Oath, such as strict privacy rights. That concept was alien to her world, but Chiyo, Ai, and Kenji had thoroughly explained it to her, and she could agree tentatively. But when information was needed to make a security assessment, it conflicted with her upbringing. She was too used to having more access to such private information from civilians or other ninjas.

Sakura came out of her musing as they reached the classroom and opened the door for Chiyo. Sakura went to the front of the class, got her classmates' attention, and the next Hero Training session started.

-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-

"There you are, Momo!"

Momo turned around and found the person she was waiting for walking up to her with a big smile. She smiled and greeted her in return, "Hello, Mother."

Yaoyorozu Toshiko smiled as she strode up to her daughter. She was a woman in her thirties, several centimeters shorter, with long black hair that reached the middle of her back. Unlike her daughter's hair, hers was fluffy. She also wore half-rimmed rectangular glasses, and her business suit and skirt made her look professional.

"I'm sorry it took me a while to get here, but that incident from lunchtime with the reporters caused a bit of a stir with the school. I had to go through a few more security checks than usual."

"That is fine, Mother. We should go in, though. It will start shortly," Momo said as she led the way into the Development Studio. They followed a few others to the back of the connected rooms.

"Hmm, I do wonder what we will be shown," Toshiko said, "I asked around about this M.P.S., and the few that knew anything was that it could be groundbreaking new technology."

"Not to mention that Parker sounds fascinating, Momo! To know how to properly balance synthesizing Palau'amine, for one so young, is extraordinary!" Toshiko grinned impishly at her daughter. "Is he cute?"

"Mother!" Momo cried out, turning her face to prevent her Mother from seeing how red it was. Not that it helped, as she was giggling like a mad woman. She was glad her Mother had decided to not make the situation worse and remained silent as they approached the room.

They walked to the designated section and found several raised benches had been moved into the large room. Four rows of benches on all four room walls were filled with people. Momo noted that most of those present wore U.A. uniforms or were teachers. A few looked like they were outside observers, like her Mother.

"Hmmm, an impressive gathering, considering the room. All classes from all three levels are present. They wouldn't do something like that for an insignificant presentation," Momo's Mother said as she inspected the room.

Momo led the way to some open seats. She noticed that most attendees looked bored or minimally attentive to what was going on. A few seemed to be bouncing in their seats, scrambling over their devices and notebooks, or talking excitedly to others.

The stream of people was finally dying down, and everyone found an appropriate place to sit.

Luckily, they didn't have to wait long as the lights dimmed over the benches, and they saw the Principal walking to the center of the presentation area. The room quieted as they waited for the Principal to speak.

"Thank you all for coming, everyone. Many of you are questioning why we asked you to attend this presentation. I can assure you that it is not the secret of my fur care regimen; I can tell you that you should get good sleep and invest in a quality conditioner. What will be presented to you today is a new tool our school has acquired from a new technology company called Stark Industries," Nezu said as he waited for the room to absorb his information. He noted the majority did not respond, but a few suddenly perked up at the name.

"Our presenter today will be Parker Peter, a new student of ours that is currently a member of Class 1-A." Nezu heard the many voices giving disapproval since it made no sense to them why someone from the Hero Course would do a presentation for the Support Course. Especially a first-year and on the second day of school.

"What many of you do not know is that young Parker has been the ward of Doctor Shield for the past year." Nezu smiled, as that had shut up every dissenter in the room.

"Young Parker could have easily taken the Support Course, but he opted to take the Hero Course as that is something he has a deep desire to do. He proved his worth in the Practical Exam, having the third highest score this year."

That surprised Momo since the other student's grades tended to be kept private. But she figured the reveal was done with his permission as a means of further quieting talk about whether he belonged in either class.

"He also scored one of the highest on mathematics and sciences for the written exam."

Considering what their Math Sensei had said about Parker, it wasn't too surprising for Momo.

"After discussing it with his guardian, Dr. Shield offered their new company to provide us with an early model of a new system they are developing. Only a few of the most advanced support companies globally have even glimpsed it. We are one of the first to acquire a working model. Because young Parker helped develop the system, he offered to present it to all of you," Nezu said as he looked around the room for a few moments before he looked to the side. "I now present to you, Parker Peter."

Peter walked towards the center of the stage, giving the small man a bow, before taking his place in the center. "Thank you, Principle Nezu."

Peter then looked around at the various stands with nervousness. He was rather glad for his previous experience dealing with crowds, even though he wore a mask during those times. He wished he could wear it now, but that wouldn't be very helpful.

"Thank you all for coming," Peter started off. "As Principal Nezu explained, what I will show you is a tool for designing any object your mind can imagine. Whether it is a support item, a new piece of technology, or any other purpose you might have where you need to design or edit something. The technology is called the Manipulative Projection System, or M.P.S. for short. It is only part of a larger toolset we are developing that will hopefully be available later this year."

Peter waited as he heard people murmuring to the sides. "First, before I get started, does anyone here have a blueprint and a support item I can use as an example of the system? Preferably two separate items to show how it can work from either starting point."

"Oh, I do!" A feminine voice spoke up. Momo traced it to the girl with pink dreadlocks, Mei Hatsume. She nearly teleported to the center with a set of blueprints and a vest in her excitement. "Here you go! Two of my latest babies!"

"... Thank you, Hatsume-san," Peter said as he accepted the items after a bit of hesitancy and embarrassment. Momo smiled a little at the interaction while her Mother didn't hold back her giggles. Peter then walked over to a small scanning station off to the side. "This first part will scan the blueprints. You can also set small devices or parts of devices on it to scan them individually. For objects too large to fit on the scanner, we have handheld scanners that can be used on the object."

The audience watched as the scanner lit up and an arm moved across the blueprints as Peter cycled them through. Then he picked up one of the scanners he referred to and swept it over the harness a few times, getting it from all angles. Afterward, he returned the items to an excited Hasume before she rushed to the side.

"Alright, let's get started. Computer? Activate the M.P.S., pull up the recently scanned files, and file them under Hatsume Mei. Let's start with the blueprint first. Please display the blueprints and construct the device as a full 3D model."

The audience watched as the room got a little darker as the presentation floor lost the bright lighting. Then they watched as holograms displayed the 2D images of the blueprints. The holograms were a light blue hue, lacking much else in the way of color. But they watched in amazement as the blueprints seemed to dip away until the page disappeared entirely. Lines denoting the physical parameters of the blueprint were left but quickly started reorganizing themselves for the separate pages until there were three sets of 3D images for the three pages of the blueprint. Many 'oohs' and 'aahs' were given at that display, but they were quickly silenced as the three separate blueprints combined to display a pair of large boots.

The boots were large and bulky, each with two circular sections on the sole and one additional one on the heel that was at a forty-five-degree angle. They would likely come up to the shin or the knee of whoever wore them, with an open front and a belt for securing it. It was massive in size compared to a normal pair of boots.

"Hmmm, hover boots. Not a bad idea or design," Peter said after it finished assembling. "Let's look closer and see what we can find."

The audience remained silent as they watched Peter reach out and pinch the air near the hologram. When he started walking toward the center of the stage, the hologram followed. Peter released it, letting it remain stationary. Momo saw him put his hands together, his palms and fingers touching each other before the hologram. He spread the two hands apart slowly at first, then quickly separated until his hands were spread far enough apart for him to hold a gigantic beach ball. The holographic item matched the speed of Peter's motions, with the invention breaking apart as pieces separated, including individual screws or parts. When he lowered his hands, it was more akin to an engine displaying every individual piece after it had been completely disassembled, but the pieces were flying in the air.

Peter then reached forward and tapped twice on a particular item, which gave it an orange-colored highlight. He tapped it again, and other pieces became colored as well. He then moved his hands and collapsed them until the highlighted items reformed. The item in question was the bottom of the boots with the three large fans and an additional section that looked like it stored the battery.

After dragging the orange hologram away, he swept an arm in a big motion, dismissing the remaining blueprint. After that finished, he released it, and it returned to its previous blue color. He spun the item around, looking at it from different angles. He reached up, grabbed one of the blade housing units with his fingers, then grabbed the section connecting the housing unit with his other hand and pulled them apart, splitting them. He dragged his new part to the side as it showed the fan blade.

"Let's see what we can do with this. Computer, please display an estimated simulation of the device and the specs." He watched as another area nearby displayed the usage with a wireframe person fitted to the boots and then showed how they were supposed to work as the boots lifted off by a few centimeters and pushed the person forward. In addition, a few 2D pages displayed all the noted stats about their estimated performance.

"Hatsume-san, what type of blades have you attempted?" Peter asked without looking away. He waited a few seconds but didn't hear anything from the lively girl, so he looked in her direction. Peter chuckled as he saw her eyes had turned glassy, and drool was coming out of her open mouth as she looked at the system. He repeated her name and still got no response. He tried it one more time, only much louder than before.

Finally shaken out of her spell, she responded, "Ummm, only the basic three-blade steep pitch I had available."

"Well," Peter said as he thought it over, "Let's see if some alternative fans can generate more lift for you. Computer, please substitute the fans for any currently known blade design. Run simulations on all of them without the basic housing, ignoring how the air intake currently functions."

The audience continued to watch as additional simulations ran, showing better contenders quickly cycled through, then added complexities like the current airflow, and he helped redesign the intake system to get the desired effect. He then changed the battery from a Lithium-ion to a solid-state, improving the system's safety.

It took him thirty minutes, but he had completely redesigned the boots to provide the same lift but at a higher efficiency, reduced the power draw, reduced the weight, and redesigned how the boots opened and closed for the wearer to make it easier and safer to get in and out of. The end result was sleeker and less bulky. Once it was done, he had it print the new specs to replace the current one.

Momo and her Mother had been entranced as they watched the entire presentation. They knew they were seeing the start of something momentous. Momo had looked around at the various students and teachers and saw the same glassy-eyed stare and drool running down most of their chins that the pink-haired girl was still sporting. It seemed Peter was going to be very popular.

-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-

"Come on, Sakura, she went this way!" Mina exclaimed as she tugged Sakura behind her and the rest of the girls in their class as they carried their lunch trays with them. It was their third day of school, and the girls finally decided to confront Ranma.

Sakura rolled her eyes but didn't actually resist. She wasn't the only one that wasn't concerned, but all of them did want to at least hear the answers. She was admittedly curious, especially since Ranma wasn't doing stupid things like posing naked for dirty old men like Naruto would. It was even easier to find their target since she had just sneezed loudly.

Sakura saw Ochako peel off from the gaggle to intercept Izuku. Shortly after, he went toward some other classmates. They found Ranma at her table, just beginning to eat her meal, but looked up as they neared. She had a confused expression for a few moments before it slid into an understanding look. She then sighed in exasperation and fatalism.

"Have a seat," Ranma said as they approached the table and set their trays down. "You're a few days later than I expected."

"So you were expecting us?" Kyoka asked as she organized her tray and drinks. "I take it you've done this before?"

"Yeah," Ranma replied. "At least the girls tend to have valid questions, unlike most guys."

They hardly needed to think about it to imagine what questions some guys would ask, but the thought was still disturbing.

"Okay, so, what's the deal with your quirk changing you into a girl?" Mina asked, getting the interrogation started.

Ranma shrugged as she answered. "Cold water turns me into a girl; hot water turns me into a boy."

"That sounds like an odd quirk," Momo said. "Quirks do not usually function off of an activation like that."

"Usually, no, but my Dad had something similar. He would turn into a giant panda and back when splashed with cold and hot water. I've also been told I look like my Mother when she was my age."

A round of aahs went around the table as the quirk particulars began to make more sense as some form of inherited quirk. Sakura decided to get her own question out there, her medical skills and previous experience with girl hedges at the forefront of her mind. "How complete is the change?"

Ranma grimaced a little. She hadn't been pleased about learning how complete the change was. "It's a total shift. My D.N.A. changes entirely to female and male chromosomes; essentially, I become my own twin. Yes, I can get periods. It's based on accrued time rather than a monthly cycle, so I can't escape them by turning into a guy. It just delays them." The girls noticed her face shift to disgust. "Can make situations really… awkward... if I forget."

"Interesting," Sakura said as she thought of some of the more specific biological changes that could occur from that. "What about hormones and behavioral changes?"

Ranma sighed before her grimace returned. "Hormones shift as well, but it isn't noticeable most of the time. It can be hard if the hormones are unbalanced due to a period or something. I've gotten some help managing it, at least."

Sakura reviewed what little details she had picked up and decided to probe them. "I take it, from how you aren't exactly happy about it, that you had problems with your quirk?"

Ranma rolled her eyes as she answered. "Yeah, I've had trouble with it. Especially growing up."

"What kind of trouble?" Toru asked.

"When I was a toddler, my Dad was training me in Martial Arts. Before I even entered school, my Dad decided to take me on a training journey away from my Mom. He vowed to make me a 'Man among men.'"

The table stilled as every girl looked at Ranma with expressionless faces, some leaving chopsticks full of food hanging in the air. "What?" Kyoka asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah, he made that promise before my quirk manifested. He still tried to keep it, so I grew up and was told to be a 'man' and all that. It wasn't too bad when I was younger, but eventually, it was impossible to not notice the difference. My Mom wasn't too happy about the situation when I finally saw her again. It made the circumstances very uncomfortable. Though she did admit I was rather manly, she was proud enough about that. My Mom and pops are… characters."

"How are your parents now?" Mina asked.

Ranma stared ahead, not answering them for a moment. The girls were worried something was wrong before her expression softened, and she looked defeated. "I don't know. I got separated from them a year ago and haven't been able to find any signs of them. I don't know if they are alive or dead."

Any thought of grilling her about what her parents were like was forgotten after that admission as the girls looked ready to leave their seats to comfort her. Sakura stopped them with a wave and quickly cleared her throat. It didn't prevent Toru and Ochako from touching Ranma's shoulders to console her. While Sakura had deterred them from reacting, it still hit her hard since it matched her own situation, word for word. Sakura knew her problem was more complex since she had journeyed to another world, unlike Ranma.

"What happened? Ribbit," Asui asked softly in lieu of physically comforting her.

Ranma breathed a heavy sigh before answering. "Woke up in the woods with a squirrel, got into a fight, helped some people out, and then got taken in by my guardians. They've been helping me to piece together what to do regarding my quirk."

"How so?" Momo asked.

"They watched many of my mannerisms and how I just kept saying I was a guy, using male speech when I was a girl and more. When they learned how I was raised, they pointed out that the male identity was drilled into my head, and I had been conditioned to take it. They told me it wasn't wrong, per se, just that it was an ingrained reaction. I never made a choice about whether that was what I wanted, so they've been trying to get me to try to be a girl when I am a girl and a boy when I am a boy without my upbringing influencing me. They wanted me to understand what I truly wanted and not what I was told I wanted. They want me to make an informed decision, but to do that, I have to actually know what the choices are."

"How is that going?" Ochako asked.

"Awkward. With the help of my Guardians and my psychologist…," Ranma said with yet another grimace before straightening her face, "they helped me to break down what was what in terms of my behavior, so I could more easily identify what is actually going through my head at times. Quite a few times, I panicked, and the part of my head that was just saying I had to be a guy popped up. But they helped me identify it was my reaction to being seen as feminine, as being feminine as a guy I often would get yelled at, laughed at, or ridiculed."

Several of the girls winced. While none of them had outright experienced it, it was often seen as funny to see men acting feminine or in girl clothes in different stories, like manga, television, or movies. They started understanding how that would affect someone struggling with that genuine problem.

"So what about things like liking girls or guys?" Ochako asked. She was oblivious to a few more socially adept classmates slapping their faces.

Ranma gave her biggest cringe yet. "That was one of the hardest pills to swallow. My psychologist worked hard for it but helped determine that my… preferences… actually shift when I change. Not to a large degree, but it can be noticeable."

Toru's mischievous smirk was hidden by her quirk, though Ranma became instantly nervous when she felt a change in her emotions. "So, have your eyes on any hot guys?"

Ranma sputtered and blushed, making most of the girls giggle at the reaction. Sakura was one of them, though she did have an internal and very malicious smile. Toru's suggestion was an excellent question she would ask Naruto the next time he performed his 'Sexy Jutsu' in front of her.

"Are you switching every day?" Tsuyu asked, getting the discussion onto a better track.

"I was getting used to it where my guardians live, but there aren't many people around. It was suggested that I change back and forth and just let things happen. See how things turn out," Ranma said as she got her blush under control with a much easier topic to discuss.

The girls nodded at that. While her quirk was unusual in some ways, it wasn't so terribly different. "How do you want us to address you?" Momo asked.

This time, Ranma sighed in relief as it appeared the grilling was over. "You can address me however you feel most comfortable, but my preferences, for now, are just to treat me as the gender I am at the time or for the day if I switch temporarily. You can also just call me Ranma."

"I think we can do that," Sakura said with a smile.

-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-

The class was seated again after lunch as the school bells chimed, signaling the start of the next lesson. Aizawa stood at the teacher's podium, waiting for the final bell to finish ringing. He was glad the entire class was seated before the first bell started. Finally, after thirty seconds, the bell stopped.

"Now for today's Basic Hero Training. This time, All Might, myself and one other will supervise." Aizawa paused for a moment, but no one interrupted. "Today, we will be preparing you for disaster relief. Today, it is Rescue Training."

Aizawa finally encountered the expected chatter as the students expressed their excitement. "Hey. I'm not done."

When the class quieted again, he continued. "It's up to each of you whether or not you wear your costumes or gym clothes, as some of them are ill-suited for this kind of activity. The training site is a bit remote, so we'll go by bus. That's all, so get ready."

-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-

"Sakura-san, should we organize how we get on the bus?" Tenya asked as they made their way.

Sakura looked ahead at the bus, noting it was different from the one from the other day, and thought of Tenya's suggestion before coming to a quick conclusion. "Not a bad idea, Tenya, but let's see how things go first. You don't have to control everything so strictly. Let's just see how it goes. We can implement some order if it looks like it isn't working."

"Understood!" Tenya said, giving a quick military salute. Once the bus started opening for them to get on, they quickly boarded it. It also showed that the class didn't need a heavy hand after all, as the bus had half the seats facing each other, though a few started to bicker about seating in the back. Tenya moved to chew them out, but Sakura put another hand on his shoulder to stop him from getting out of his seat.

"Not yet, Tenya," Sakura said softly. "Give them a little time to resolve it themselves. If you get involved too early, the problem may resurface down the road anyways. Sometimes letting them figure it out themselves is a better long-term solution."

"Right! Thank you, Sakura-san!" Tenya whispered loudly while raising his hand as if giving a high five. They watched as it was resolved, mostly by Peter agreeing to sit next to Bakugo.

Momo had been silent throughout the multiple exchanges but decided to probe their interactions. "I take it you two know each other?"

Sakura smiled after turning to Momo, "Yes. I met him at his brother's hero agency when I was invited."

"Brother's hero agency?" Izuku asked in excitement. "Who is he?"

Tenya smiled as he looked across at the smaller boy, then answered proudly. "My brother is the Turbo Hero, Ingenium!"

"Oh! He runs a Hero agency out of Tokyo and employs sixty-eight sidekicks at his office!" Izuku replied with ease.

"Isn't that the Hero Agency that has been getting a lot of praise lately? Even though none of them are considered very high on the Hero charts, other than Ingenium? In fact, he's shot up significantly in the last six months. I believe he was around the seventies in rank last year, but now he's in the thirties and still going up!" Eijiro said in excitement.

Sakura smiled at that, happy to see Tensei and his team getting more praise and recognition.

-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-

"Whoa!" Eijiro yelled out in excitement as they entered the grounds. "Is this Universal Studios Japan?"

The class looked around at the site, amazed at what they saw.

"There's the flood zone, landslide zone, conflagration zone, and more," said a feminine voice, one slightly muffled by the large dome mask she wore. "Every disaster and accident you can imagine is simulated here. I built this facility myself. I call it the 'Unforeseen Simulation Joint!'"

The class turned as they saw the new arrival. Their voice was the only clue to their gender as she wore what looked like an astronaut's bulky space suit.

"So it really is U.S.J.!" Denki replied.

"It's the Space Hero, Thirteen!" Izuku said, happy to see another known hero teaching them.

"Ooh, I love Thirteen! She's the hero that does the best work in Rescue Scenarios!" Ochako said, even happier than Izuku.

Aizawa walked up to Thirteen while he searched around. He asked her softly to avoid being overheard by the class as they continued to look around the site. "Thirteen, where's All Might? I thought he was meeting us here."

"About that, Senpai. He just about reached his limit during his morning commute. He's resting in the break room."

Aizawa glared forward as he realized what Thirteen was talking about. "The height of irrationality."

He sighed, getting his emotions back in place as it seemed Toshinori made things more complicated for them again. "So be it; let's get started."

Thirteen nodded as she stepped closer to the class. "Before we get started, I have one or two points… or three… or four…."

The class waited silently, a few rolling their eyes as she kept adding how many points she had to make.

"As many of you know, my quirk is called Black Hole. It can suck in and tear apart anything."

"And you've used it to save people in all sorts of disasters!" Izuku said gleefully as Ochako nodded her head up and down rapidly.

"Indeed," Thirteen said as she paused briefly. "However, my power could easily kill. I've no doubt there are some among you with similar abilities. In our super-powered society, quirks are heavily restricted and monitored. It may seem that this system is stable, but we must never forget that it only takes one wrong move with an uncontrollable quirk for people to die."

The class became silent as they absorbed her lesson. "During Aizawa's physical fitness test, you came to learn of your own hidden potential. Through All Might's battle training, you experienced the danger your respective quirks can pose to others. This class, however, will show you a new perspective! You will learn how to utilize your quirks to save lives!"

She was glad to see smiles across most of their faces as they silently waited. "Your powers are not meant to inflict harm, so I hope you leave here today with the understanding that you're meant to help people."

"That is all. I thank you for listening," Thirteen said before giving a western-style bow, with one arm across her belly and one shooting off behind her.

Several students clapped and cheered on the speech, and most enjoyed it.

Aizawa leaned against the rail before he got the class's attention again. "Great, first off–"

Aizawa paused as he saw Parker suddenly stiffen. He wondered what was happening when he heard an odd noise from below, near the water fountain. He turned, seeing a black swirling cloud forming near it, growing in size. When a hand reached from inside to grab the edge was when his concern grew significantly. It peaked on seeing the face coming through the swirl.

"Huddle up, and don't move!" Aizawa shouted to the students behind him, checking in their direction momentarily before returning to the mass below them. The students looked startled, surprised by their sensei's demanding tone. "Thirteen! Protect the students!"

When he looked back, he saw the first of them had fully exited the swirl, and he got a proper look at them. They had grayish-blue hair that was more unkempt than his own, but the most disturbing part was the severed hand resting on the front of his face, palm and fingers splayed out as it masked his features. As he came through, more severed hands were found, one on the back of his head, two on the back of his neck, two on his shoulders, two under his armpits, and three on each arm. He wore a dark long-sleeved shirt, pants, and red tennis shoes.

Soon, the swirl opened further as more people came through it. Men and women of various sizes, many with obvious mutation quirks that made them look intimidating. Others had bladed or blunt weapons, while some looked like they would have ranged quirks or guns.

When the swirls finally ended, over fifty figures were arrayed below them, all looking up with glee and malice.

The students finally noticed the group below; many didn't know what to think.

"What the heck's that?" Eijiro asked as he observed the group. His voice sounded more like he was trying to reassure himself that what he was seeing was something different. "More battle robots? Like during the entrance exam?"

Aizawa couldn't fault his ignorance, but he had no time to deal with that as he raised his goggles hidden under his scarf to cover his eyes. They helped to hide the activation of his quirk, causing the loose ends of his scarf and his hair to float. "Don't Move! Those are Villains!"

-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-

A/N - Again, want to thank my Beta Reader, Boldish42, for his assistance with this. Iron454 has also helped occasionally with ideas and comments.

Next chapter is shaping up to be a banger and I hope to release it next week. But because of how high of a standard I am going for on it, there is the possibility it could be delayed beyond Saturday. It also nearly doubled in size from earlier drafts from 10k to 19k, with it possibly growing more.