My Hero Association Chapter-8
Month 1: Weeks 1-4:
Chapter-8: Iida's Quest
A Quick-Disclaimer by the Author:
I realize that this might seem a tad incongruous for some people, since I ended the previous chapter on a bit of a cliffhanger, but I wanted to hit the pause-button on all that stuff for a bit, and see what Iida and Sero have been up to this whole time. I promise I'll get right back to the rest of Class-1A after these next couple of chapters, and I'll do my best to make them a whole lot more than just "Filler-Content". With all that said, let's turn back the clock to 2-Weeks ago...
The Hero and the Anti-Hero's Journey: FlashyFlash, Iida
Iida met FlashyFlash in front of Training-Room Delta, just as instructed. He had a backpack full of items, hopefully ready for anything this world could throw at him. He didn't know what sort of climate this mission would take place in, so he decided to pack a mixture of clothes for the trip, although he mostly focused on weather conditions that revolved around his current environment, believing that the weather conditions shouldn't fluctuate that much on a single continent, especially after looking at weather reports for all the different cities. He still found it incredibly strange how all the cities were given a letter designation instead of actual names. Did the cities here get destroyed so often that they just stopped bothering to name them?
In addition to clothes, Iida had packed various tools and wilderness-survival gear, a massive canteen full of drinking-water, a fresh notebook and pen for jotting-down any advice or bits of information he learned from FlashyFlash, a first-aid kit, a flare-gun, a 12,000-volt taser, and a complete-map of the entire supercontinent. Last but not least, he had his cellphone with him for keeping in touch with his classmates.
"So, you came." Iida was stirred from his thoughts by FlashyFlash's calm and collected voice.
"Yes sir, after having some deliberations with my fellow classmates, I have decided to join you on your quest. I thank you for having me." Iida said with a bow.
FlashyFlash began walking down the hallway and gestured for Iida to follow him.
"There is no need to thank me, I am simply doing what Sitch requested of me. Your training, and the mission that follows it, will be grueling, and with a considerable risk of death, as long as you understand that." Flash replied.
"I understand, and as a Hero, danger shall not deter me." was Iida's immediate reply. FlashyFlash simply nodded. Iida began to speedwalk to catch up to him, before slowing back down once he finally caught up. He looked at the Ninja and noticed that he didn't seem to be packed for the mission at hand. Other than his hero-costume and sword, he only had one brown sack for presumably his own materials and belongings.
"Sir, are you sure you're properly packed for the mission?" Iida asked.
"I am quite thoroughly prepared." was Flash's simple and confident reply. Iida nodded in understanding, despite not understanding at all.
"Mind telling me our destination?" Iida inquired.
"Our target lies on the outer edges of City-V, the uncharted settlement most likely." Flash replied.
"Our target? So, this is an…acquisition assignment?" Iida asked.
"Elimination." was all Flash said in reply. The tone with which he said that word made Iida freeze for a moment. It didn't take a deductive genius to guess what he meant.
"And, what caused him to draw your ire for this…. mission?" Iida asked.
"A number of things, really. But most recently, he's been sending multiple assassins after me, and I'm tired of it." Flash said, shocking Iida.
"Wait? Assassins? So that prisoner in the cell…"
"He was an agent for an old enemy of mine. Apparently my continued-existence has been robbing him of sleep, and he won't stop until I've been killed. That one you saw in the cell yesterday was… The Eighth, I believe?"
Flash spoke about it so off-handedly that it stunned Iida into silence.
"Will there be any other heroes on this assignment?"
"Two heroes will suffice. I can handle most of the threats myself. However, I require at least one associate for another task that is… outside my area of expertise."
"I… I see." was all Iida said.
He was slightly worried about this mission now, and could understand why Flash reiterated his chances of survival on such a quest. Their target, whoever it was, had to be in some sort of position of authority to command at least eight different assassins to try and kill FlashyFlash, and they all must have been extremely skilled if they believed they would be able to kill a Class-S Hero. It would be like someone trying to assassinate one of the Top-Ten back in their world. Iida would have to stay sharp and train hard for this mission. He didn't want to weigh the hero down and potentially get him killed if he had to protect him.
The two left the Association Headquarters and got into a car. It was a long drive, Iida noted. He tried to strike up some casual conversation, but FlashyFlash wasn't a very talkative individual. He decided to instead look out the window and marvel at the cities they passed through. While mostly not too dissimilar from their own world in terms of architecture, it did have very strange cultural differences in many of the buildings and surroundings, like it was a hodgepodge of different cultures in one city. Some structures would look familiar to him, like they were back in Japan, but directly next to that would be something that looked like it was from America or Europe, or even India.
"Maybe this world used to be more similar to our own, and something had caused them to migrate to this supercontinent..." Iida wondered. It would explain some of the different culture-clashes he saw, as it simply wouldn't be possible if they all started on this one continent.
The car eventually came to a stop near the outskirts of the city, into a vast, mostly barren field that stretched beyond the horizon. The only thing that was noticeable in the field, other than the tall grass that came up to his knees, were the large rock spires that rose out of the ground, ranging anywhere from 10 to 15-feet high. The stony pillars were numerous, and scattered all throughout the countryside.
"We walk from here. The journey should take a little over three weeks." Flash said.
"Couldn't we have driven a little closer?"
"No, they would know that we were coming, if they didn't already, and a vehicle would only draw more attention and become a death-trap... And besides, I said that I would be training you for about a month to prepare for the mission. We'll reach our destination one day at a time." Flash tossed the brown sack he had slung over his shoulder to Iida. The surprising weight of it caused Iida to nearly fall over as he caught it. He looked inside to see what it was; a set of blue-colored clothing that reminded him of stereotypical ninja-gear. He took the clothes out, requiring much more effort than he thought he would've needed.
"What is all this?" Iida asked as he pulled out an armband that went over most of his arm.
"Weighted clothing, for building-up your strength and stamina. Your training will begin once you put them on."
Iida nodded. He began to disrobe before stopping and looking at Flash.
"Could you turn around?" Iida asked. The Ninja did as he was asked, turning around, and waiting for him to put on the uniform. The sack also came with a T-shirt, and long pants along with a pair of boots. Each piece of clothing weighed much more than he thought it would, but he managed to finally put everything on and discarding the bag.
"How…how much does this stuff weigh?" Iida asked, barely being able to stand up.
"I started you off with something relatively light. In total, it weighs roughly 180 pounds." Flash answered. Iida was shocked by the assertion that this was somehow "light". It more than doubled his own weight! But he wasted to time arguing with him on the subject.
"You will refrain from taking that clothing off until the training is complete. Understood?" Flash said with a tone of finality to his voice. Iida nodded his head in understanding.
"Your First-Trial is to run 5-kilometers to that far rock ahead. I have marked it with my sword. Then return here, and repeat the process another 9 times, which will add-up to a 100-kilometer run in total. Do not use your Engines for this." This got a reaction from Iida.
"Surely you jest, without my Quirk? That would take far too long with me encumbered like this." Iida argued.
"Which is precisely why I'll have you doing it this way. Right now, you rely too much on the power of your Engines, which by my estimation, only lasts a relatively short time, approximately 10 to 12 minutes. So, your opponent would simply have to outlast you in order to defeat you, if you rely on that power to fight. You should treat your Engines more as an additional-bonus to your skills, not the entirety of your skills." Flash reasoned, before gesturing to the large rock in the distance.
With a little thought, Iida could see that Flash was right. Thinking back to their sparring-session from just the other day, and how powerless he was after his Engines died-out, it was clear that he needed to learn how to fight, even without the use of his Quirk. He remembered something he heard Mr. Aizawa say to the entire Class once…
"You can't be a Hero if you only have one trick."
Iida was shocked out of his thoughts, hearing those very same words spoken aloud by FlashyFlash.
Iida nodded his head, and started running towards the designated rock. Hopefully he would know the mark when he saw it. He didn't remember seeing Flash move that far to even do such a thing, but he didn't seem like the person to joke around with such talk, so he did as he was instructed. Eventually, after 18 exhausting minutes of running, he finally made it to the rock in question. The 'mark' was the large rock being completely cut in half from the top down. It was a perfect and clean bisection.
He started his run back towards Flash, taking another 20-minutes, but the blonde waited for him in the same spot. He now had a cup of tea in his hands and was taking a sip by the time he returned.
"Again." was all that Flash said to him.
"Sir, is this really necessary? Isn't our mission time sensitive?" Iida asked.
"No. Again." Flash said in response, as he sat down, removing his cape and using it as a sort of carpet to keep himself from touching the ground completely.
Iida silently nodded, and ran a second lap. Like the first, it took him around 20 minutes to reach the severed rock, and then a similar amount of time to make it back. Already, Iida's muscles were burning with pain. Flash certainly wasn't lying when he said the training would be rigorous. Before he started his third lap, the Ninja spoke to him.
"This is mostly just to get you accustomed to the new weight and to build-up your stamina early on, so complaining now would be fairly premature of you." He stated before gesturing him off with a shooing motion. Iida did as he was told. He ran and ran continuously, until everything started to blur-together in his mind. After the fifth lap, he was running on fumes, his lungs gasping for breath with every step he took, and his body sweating profusely in the heat compounded with his weighted clothing. He couldn't run anymore, even if FlashyFlash threatened him to.
Fortunately for Iida, FlashyFlash wasn't completely unreasonable. Seeing the state that he was in by the end of the fifth lap, he got up and offered the young man a large canteen of water, the same canteen he had packed for the journey.
"You're halfway done. I'll give you 30 minutes to rest and rehydrate. Each day, you will be permitted at most two of these 30-minute breaks, at least until your stamina has improved, so be mindful of how you spend them."
Iida accepted the canteen and thanked Flash for the brief respite. He chugged down about half of the water, making sure to save some for when he finished the second half of his running. Then he pulled a couple energy-bars from his backpack and ate them while sitting down in the grass. He didn't want to unpack any of his camping equipment that he brought with him, as he assumed that Flash actually wanted to make some progress towards their destination. Once he finished his meal and break, he set off again to finish the remaining 5 laps. The next few hours of running were completely torturous.
He began to feel overheated and stuffy. He couldn't feel his legs and he could hear his heart beating through his body. Eventually it became too much for him to take, and he collapsed from exhaustion; he had only finished about 9 laps, a total of 90 kilometers traveling just back and forth. The sun was setting, and the last thing Iida saw before losing consciousness were the feet of FlashyFlash casually walking towards him as he laid down on the ground.
By the time Iida came to, it was already morning. Checking his phone, he saw the time was 6:12 was unconscious for nearly 11-hours? He looked around, and saw that he was lying on a cheap sleeping mat, right next to the bisected rock that FlashyFlash had marked the other day. His backpack was nearby, and thankfully the contents were still there.
Now, as he finally got his bearings again, Iida searched for his mentor. Turning around, he noticed that some of the tall grass had been evenly cut to form a sort of trail for him. Iida followed the trail, and realized that he was still wearing his weighted clothing, reminding him of the agonizing trial he went through yesterday. Despite his worries, Iida carried onwards, following the trail until, after a brief run for 15-minutes, he finally saw FlashyFlash off in the distance. He stood in the middle of a large, circular space, the grass there evenly cut short with astonishing precision, just like the trail Iida had followed to get there. The Ninja appeared to be practicing forms with his sword. When Iida cautiously stepped into the circular area, he sheathed his blade and looked him in eyes.
"Good, I was worried I might have to wake you up myself." Flash said to him. "Before we resume your training, I have breakfast for you this way…"
FlashyFlash walked to the right, and Iida now noticed smoke rising from a short distance in that direction. Following him, he saw that Flash had prepared a small campfire, with some kind of stew being cooked over it.
"It doesn't provide all that much in terms of flavor, but it's optimal for physical development, and recovering after periods of intense training. If you must, you may also eat some of the rations in your backpack."
Iida half-expected the stew to taste horrible, but instead it had no real taste at all, just a bland stew concoction. He wondered where Flash could have gotten all of this from, as he didn't seem to have it on him the day before.
After they both finished eating breakfast, FlashyFlash stood up and beckoned Iida to follow him. In a swift blur of white-light and motion, Flash cut more grass, creating what Iida presumed to be a starting-line for him. Far off in the distance, one of the giant rocks spaced out across the fields suddenly split in half, just like the one from yesterday, but again, Iida hadn't seen Flash travel over there to cut it. "Had he done it while he also cut the grass?" he wondered.
FlashyFlash pointed towards the new marker, which was again 5-kilometers away.
"Yesterday you only completed 9 laps out of 10, so for today I will have you run 11 to make up for it. If you fail to complete all 11 laps today, the goal will be 12 laps tomorrow. However, if you complete all 11 laps in less than 5-hours, you will only need to run 8 laps tomorrow." He instructed.
Iida was stunned at these rules. He was terrified at the prospect of having to run 11 laps today, but also enticed by the incentive Flash gave him to complete them all as soon as possible. He began to run, and just like yesterday it was a nightmare, but now that he knew what to expect, it felt slightly more manageable.
This time, after gaining Flash's approval, he separated his two 30-minute breaks into four separate 15-minute breaks, to divide between every 3 laps. This allowed him to better pace himself, and when Iida first proposed the idea to Flash, a smirk came to his face.
"Interesting, that's the same strategy I once employed."
Iida had already speculated that Flash must've undergone similar, or perhaps even more intense training to become as formidable as he was, and this comment of his seemed to confirm that suspicion. This new pacing certainly did improve Iida's performance, but his legs still felt like jelly, and by the time he did his final lap, he fell to the ground and took huge gasps of air. It took him 5-hours and 11-minutes to finish, not counting his breaks, meaning he wouldn't get the easier 8 laps tomorrow, but at least he wouldn't be getting the harder 12 laps, either.
Flash waited at the campfire for him, having evidently prepared dinner. He offered no remark of approval or appraisement, nor did he scorn him at all, only giving a slight nod of his head before passing him some of the tasteless stew. Iida ate the stew, and then out of nowhere, Flash asked him a question.
"This Other-World you and your friends are from, what sort of enemies are awaiting you there?"
Iida nearly choked on the stew, but after some coughing and swallowing, responded with a question of his own.
"Who told you we were from Another-World?"
"Nobody did," Flash explained. "When Sitch summoned the Class-S Heroes and incentivized them to train you children, I knew something was up, but he insisted it was classified. However, I didn't join the Association just so I could be used for an agenda that I'm kept in the dark about. So, I checked their database and the security-footage back at HQ, shortly after we sparred."
Iida couldn't say he was shocked that FlashyFlash would do something like that. He was a ninja after all, and it was certainly understandable that he'd be suspicious. Iida himself was suspicious of the Association. Flash continued to talk.
"Based on the intel I gathered, it sounded like wherever you're from, Monsterization does not exist, and instead these mutations you call "Quirks" are commonplace. Additionally, it sounded like you and your friends were in the middle of some kind of large-scale conflict with powerful adversaries, before you ended up here, and you now wish to become stronger in order to defeat them once you are able to return. Is that correct?"
"Yes, it's spot on." Iida answered.
"Honestly, what surprised me most wasn't even the concept of alternate-universes, but rather… that Cube..."
Iida gulped. "He knows about the Cube as well?!" He remembered what Sitch and Blast had told them all, how they were not to speak about the Cube to anyone.
"Don't worry, I'm good at keeping secrets, and you're not to blame for me finding out anyway." Flash reassured him. "I only bring it up because… I've seen a Cube just like that once before…"
"Wait, you have?!" Iida's fatigue had vanished at this point, replaced with intrigue and curiosity.
"Another story for another time," Flash said. "Back to my initial question, what sort of enemies await you in the Other-World? Knowing their capabilities would allow me to teach you more specific techniques to counter them."
Iida was still uneasy about FlashyFlash knowing about where he and his classmates came from, but since he was offering to better help him prepare for the coming war back home, he decided to accept the offer. He spent the rest of the night telling Flash about several of the villains back home, what they could do, etc.
The next morning, Iida woke up to find Flash having prepared more of the stew. After finishing breakfast, he beckoned Iida to follow him.
Iida attempted to keep up with the Ninja, but after all that running, the continued prospect of walking made his body begin to clamp-up, and he dropped like a sack of rocks towards the ground. Flash only took one quick look back before continuing forward. He began to swing his sword back and forth, creating a similar pathway for him to follow like he did yesterday.
Iida spent the next 10-minutes catching his breath and regaining the feeling in his legs, then he packed up his things and continued forward. After jogging down the trail that Flash made for him, Iida managed to catch up to him. FlashyFlash was there, waiting for him to arrive. He was laying his back against one of the rocks with his eyes closed. At first, Iida thought maybe he was sleeping, but as he drew closer his eyes slowly opened to stare right at him.
"Today you will begin a new exercise, one designed to remove another weakness you have in combat." Flash explained. Iida listened intently.
"As you noticed during our initial sparring-session back at HQ, you rely too much on your Engine-enhanced kicks. You've neglected your entire upper-body strength in a fight, causing your attacks to become predictable, and easy to read. Instead of limiting yourself to only half your body, you must aim to strengthen and make the most out of your entire body. Observe..." Flash remarked, before he elbowed the rock that he was leaning against, completely shattering it and sending a small burst of wind that billowed behind it. This shocked Iida into paying full-attention to what FlashyFlash said.
"Even I must admit that without my sword Instakill, my offensive-abilities would be greatly reduced. Still, it is by no means the only source of my ability, like you are with your Engine-kicks. Without them, it seems like you don't have much else. We will change that. You will punch that rock multiple times until it is destroyed. You have 4-hours before you have to run again." Flash said, pointing to a rock similar to the one he was just leaning on, a few meters away.
"However, this time, instead of 10 laps, you need only run 5, since you will be spending half the day performing this new exercise as well."
4-hours to destroy that monolith with just his fists, and without his Quirk, no less? That seemed almost impossible, but having just witnessed what Flash did, maybe the rocks were a lot flimsier than their appearance made him believe. He went into his bag and began to dig out his armor. While he wasn't going to put the whole thing on, he chose to be safe and put on the arm portions to better protect his hands.
"What are you doing?" Flash asked him.
"Uhh, putting on some protection to not break my hands, sir?" Iida said as a question. Surely, he didn't want him to punch solid stone with nothing but his hands, did he?
"No, barehanded." Flash replied.
"Okay, so he DOES want me to break my hands." Iida thought as he stopped digging into his bag for his armor. He dropped the bag and stepped up to the rock in question. Just like the others it was around 10-feet high and 5-feet wide. He hoped it was more fragile than it looked. He took a swing at the monolith, and pain immediately coursed through his body. He reeled back and held his hand, rubbing it to alleviate the sting. To make things worse, the rock didn't even have a scratch on it.
"Flash made it look so easy..." Iida thought.
"Again, do not slow down, continue." Flash instructed.
Iida punched the rock again and again, without getting any luck. He alternated between arms to save himself from some of the pain, and to ensure that both arms and hands were given equal amounts of exertion. Unlike previously, where Flash was very distant and didn't really offer much in terms of criticism or feedback, he was now intimately observing Iida's punches and technique, offering his own input on improvements that can be made, such as the direction of impact, when he should extend his elbow, the different types of strikes one should go for to inflict a certain type of damage, even down to how he should shape his fist, depending on the target's body-type. He was so thorough in his remarks that Iida considered writing down notes to keep them in mind for later, but Flash stopped him, saying that he should "let his body remember", whatever that meant.
Still, all the pointers in the world didn't make a difference in what he had to do. Hours of punching, and the rock barely budged.
He made a few good impacts, being able to dent the thing with Flash's advice, but it showed no signs of breaking anytime soon. And when the 4-hours were finally up, Flash ordered for him to start running the 5 laps. Iida just sighed and took a breath and began to run. He managed to complete them just as the sun set. Both his legs and arms were on fire, and he was too exhausted to even have any dinner before going to sleep.
As morning came, Flash was gone again, and another pathway was made to lead the way to where he went. Iida guessed this was going to be an everyday occurrence. He made his way towards another clearing, and found Flash leaning against another rock, just like the day before. He made a gesture towards another rock and instructed him to start punching it. This was a different monolith from the one before though, meaning that all the progress he made was reset. Iida could still feel that his knuckles were incredibly sore from the other day, and now he had to do it all over again.
Just like the previous day, he failed to break the rock within the time-limit that Flash set for him, and was therefore instructed to run 6 laps instead of 5. This routine of punching and running persisted for the next couple of days. His hands were shaky, no doubt from the nerve-damage they must've sustained in his time training with FlashyFlash. He had gotten several texts from his classmates, but he didn't want them to worry, so he just replied that he was fine, and that Flash was treating him… fairly. He didn't like to lie, it was unbecoming of a hero to do so, but it wasn't a lie at all, he realized. Once Iida caught on to FlashyFlash's terms and got used to his training methods, he had to give him credit; As brutal as his training was, he didn't pass inconsistent judgment. Every time he failed a task, it meant that he would have to endure an even harder task the next day, but every time he surpassed the required goal, he was granted a day of leniency.
By the end of the first week, Iida could see the results. He was actually starting to crack and chip-away at the rocks he was punching, and by the middle of the 11th day, he was finally able to break the monolith. Not quite as wholly as Flash demonstrated, but he was able to cause enough destabilization in the pillar for it to crack apart and topple over. Iida raised his bloody fist into the air and let out a mighty roar of both exhaustion and triumph. He did it! He actually did it!
"That is definitely sufficient enough to be considered destroyed. Excellent work. Now, pick up that large piece that fell, and do not let it touch the ground, or your lap will not count." Flash said, earning a shocked look from Iida, his head switching back from Flash to the stone that was on the ground. His hands still shook from the damage they sustained just from punching the stupid thing! Now he wanted him to lift this massive stone and just lug it around?! While already wearing weighted clothing and being forbidden to use his Engines?! How could he possibly manage that?!
"H-how many laps?" Iida asked with hesitancy.
"For today, only one, but for tomorrow it will be two. By my calculation, that rock should weigh around 110 pounds." Flash answered, before pointing in the direction of the newly-marked monolith in the distance.
Iida sighed. At least today he'd only have to do 1 lap. He stood up and walked over to the stone fragment. He struggled for a moment to grasp the thing, but finally managed to lift the rock and began to march his way towards his goal. Due to having to keep it balanced on his shoulder, he couldn't really move as fast as he would have liked. The rock nearly doubled his weight again. Still, he was able to complete the lap without dropping it, and much to his pleasant surprise, he had even managed to finish his day of training long before sunset, at only 12:35 PM.
That's when he knew something was up. Flash wouldn't have given him the mercy of only running a single lap, just because he met his expectations and destroyed the stone within the 4-hour window. And he certainly wouldn't give him the rest of the day off. He was probably going to give him an even crazier task to spend the remaining 6-hours of daylight on.
But strangely enough, that's not what happened. When he returned from his lap, FlashyFlash had more of the stew prepared for lunchtime, and congratulated Iida on completing both tasks. The two of them ate in silence, until Iida finally decided to say what was on his mind.
"Sir, what will my next task be? I assume you have some other exercises planned for today."
"No. You may spend the rest of the day as you wish. Tomorrow will be the same as today, except you will be running 2 laps with the rock instead of 1."
Iida was stunned by this. He could spend the rest of the day however he wanted? All 6-hours of it? He found himself conflicted. Just a few days ago, he would've been overjoyed by FlashyFlash's generosity, and spent all of his free-time relaxing while he had the chance. But on the other hand, relaxation wasn't the reason he agreed to this journey. The last week had been excruciating, and a small respite might be called for, but...
"I assure you there's nothing wrong with taking time to rest." FlashyFlash stated, seemingly reading Iida's mind. "You've been working very hard, and with hardly any complaints. Furthermore, you successfully carried the rock without dropping it even once. For that I will grant you a small break. More trials will await you. Be prepared for them."
Iida hadn't been expecting this, but he decided not to challenge his mentor on it. He checked his phone for any new text-messages from his classmates, and found that Kirishima had sent him a video of Midoriya sparring with one of the other Class-S Heroes. He was awestruck at the display, and was even more determined to excel in his own training. He went to bed a couple of hours early, hoping that the additional rest will help him conquer the trials ahead.
The next day was just as FlashyFlash said it would be. Iida began punching another monolith until it broke apart, then he picked up the largest piece and started running with it, this time going 2 laps as opposed to 1. On the third day he was required to run 3 laps with the giant rock, on the fourth day he ran 4 laps, and then finally on the fifth day he ran a total of 5 laps. Flash explained to him that this exercise was designed to further improve his upper-body strength as well as stamina, allowing him to carry heavier loads with him while running, and without losing speed or balance. Iida completed the 5 laps in just under 3-hours, earning the cold-yet-polite praises of FlashyFlash, for finishing it in less time than he expected him to.
Over two weeks had passed now since he began his expedition with FlashyFlash. Iida hoped that the others were growing a lot stronger too, and that they were safe. As he ate his dinner under the light of campfire, he decided to ask FlashyFlash a question that'd been on his mind for a while.
"So, just who is this target you're after?" Iida asked.
"Hmm, since you've progressed this far, I suppose it would be wise to tell you. His name is Siegfried, and he's known by many as the King of Human-Trafficking in the criminal-underworld." FlashyFlash explained.
"Human-Trafficking!?" Iida remarked, astonished. Maybe having this man be FlashyFlash's target wasn't such a bad thing after all.
"Yes, he's notorious for such crimes, controlling the borders of City-V and City-F, and using various fronts to transport sex-slaves by train or by boat to other cities around the continent. He holds an extensive black-market organization at his beck and call."
"Which is why you said that it could be dangerous for me." Iida said, earning a nod in return. A part of him wanted to point out that he himself was just one man, and such overconfidence could lead him to his death on such a mission, but he supposed that FlashyFlash was simply that good, and decided to ask about something else that had just occurred to him.
"That means... he could have prisoners?" Iida inquired.
"Most likely, yes. And given how much of a shameless coward he is, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Siegfried were to use them as hostages, or even meat-shields. Anything to save his own skin. He knows how much of a professional I am, and that as a Class-S Hero, I am professionally-obligated to protect the lives of the innocent. He also knows by now that he and his forces cannot hope to win against me in a straight-fight, so he will stoop to any low in order to stack the odds against me. As long as there are civilians in immediate danger, Siegfried has the leverage he needs to keep me from eliminating him instantly, and he can force me to enter the battle on his terms…"
Flash looked Iida directly in the eyes.
"That is where you come in."
"Me?" Iida was still processing all that FlashyFlash had told him so far. The thought that this Siegfried person would threaten to kill countless innocent people just to give himself an advantage was truly sickening.
"I have wanted to go after Siegfried for quite some time," Flash exposited, "However, such a mission would require me to rescue, protect, and evacuate civilians, many of whom will likely be children, and… I'm just not very good with kids."
Flash looked away as he awkwardly said the last part. Iida was surprised. For the very first time since meeting him, FlashyFlash looked unsettled.
"That's the only reason I haven't already eliminated Siegfried and his entire organization. I can't eliminate him without also endangering innocent lives. This mission requires a secondary agent, someone who can rescue, evacuate, and comfort the innocent... while I punish the guilty…"
Iida had long suspected that FlashyFlash intended to murder Siegfried, and this all but confirmed it. He still couldn't approve of it, but he doubted there was anything he could do to stop him. Still… The least he could do is challenge him about it.
"I assume that you intend to kill him, but… is killing him really necessary? I mean, don't the criminals here get put on trial first?" He asked.
"Normally, yes." Flash replied. "However, Siegfried has far too much money, power, and influence to be convicted. In fact, I strongly suspect that he is one of the Hero-Association's top-donors. It would explain why they never deploy any competent heroes to City-F or City-V, despite both of them having abnormally high crime-rates for many years now. It's gotten to the point that a vigilante-gang called The Hunters have started to gain more public-support than the Hero-Association in both of those cities, as well as City-H."
Iida took a minute to process all he had heard.
"How could the Association ever allow such a thing?"
"I'm sure you have already suspected that the Hero-Association... is not always a force for good." Flash explained. "Like any large and significant institution, corruption is inevitable. There are those who infiltrate, pervert and exploit the Association, as a means to advance their own self-interests."
"But then... why do you still work for them?" Iida asked.
"I don't work for them; I work with them." FlashyFlash corrected. "As for why... I suppose you could say that my options are very limited as far as occupations go, and the only alternatives I have are precisely the sort of things that I joined the Hero-Association to escape from. Many within the Association are corrupt, but at least I have the choice not to partake in their decadence. They do not control me. If it ever reaches a point where their founding principles have been completely forgotten, then I will simply leave the Hero-Association and work independently."
"As a vigilante?" Iida asked.
"If necessary, then yes." FlashyFlash answered. "Which is also why I intend to kill Siegfried. Because killing him is necessary."
Iida pondered over his words. If what Flash said was true, and Siegfried was too powerful to be arrested and convicted, then this might be a rare case where...
He sighed. "This world... and these heroes... It's all far too blurry." Iida thought.
"And what about your world?" FlashyFlash asked, startling Iida. Did he speak his thoughts out loud by accident?
"What about it?"
"Is there no such corruption in your world? A lack of Monsterization is one thing, but a lack of evil?"
"I never said there wasn't any evil." Iida argued. "It's just that..."
"You're young, and you've obviously had a very fortunate and sheltered life. You've been fed a sugar-coated fairytale about truth and justice, where the heroes never have to get their hands dirty, and the judicial-system is devoted to punishing criminals and degenerates rather than protecting them."
"But as heroes, are we not obligated to respect the law? If we don't hold ourselves to a higher moral standard, then who will?"
FlashyFlash looked away, and stared out into the shadowy abyss beyond the campfire's light.
"I am a hero in title only. I am a powerful and skilled assassin who has chosen to lend his services to the cause of eliminating evil. But I am not a hero. Not the kind that you're thinking of. And I never will be, because I can't."
FlashyFlash turned back to Iida. "I will get my hands dirty, so that you will not have to. I will do what you cannot, and I'm counting on you to do what I cannot."
Iida wanted to argue more. He wanted to ask FlashyFlash why he believed he was incapable of being a real hero. But it was getting late, and he was too tired to continue. Instead, he focused on the one part of the mission that he and FlashyFlash could agree upon.
"If I find any captive civilians, I will rescue them and escort them to safety. Not a single one of them will die on my watch!" Iida said with conviction, staring into the cold blue eyes of FlashyFlash.
"In that case, the mission is as good as complete." Flash stated before walking away. Iida stared back into the campfire. Now the mission held more importance to him than before. He needed to make sure that any civilians he encountered would be able to make it out alive, which meant he needed the power to do so. He put out the fire, and then went to sleep.
The next couple of days were mostly the same after that, with Iida punching one of the monoliths until they were broken, followed by running laps while carrying a chunk of the broken rock. At this point, he was able to break the monoliths much sooner, and his knuckles would no longer be bruised and bloody afterwords. He was still worried about sustaining nerve-damage in his hands, though, especially when he started to feel an odd clicking and humming sensation in both his arms. The strange feeling had also begun to appear in his spine and shoulder-blades, but it didn't seem to interfere with his performance at all. He decided to consult a doctor when he returned from his trip.
While running laps on the seventh day of this routine, he did end up dropping his rock at the halfway-point, on account of him trying to finish in a hurry, and instead had to run a total of 8 laps instead of 7. Unlike the first day, he no longer was able to finish before sunset. FlashyFlash quietly observed his progress, and when Iida completed his final-lap, the Ninja blitzed out of sight, and instantly reappeared right in front of Iida.
"You won't be needing that anymore." Iida heard him say, before the rock he held in his hands completely shattered into hundreds of pebbles. Iida never even saw Flash move. One second, he was carrying a large rock almost as heavy as himself, and the next it's just gone, reduced to many small fragments that rained down onto his shoes. After recovering from the shock of what just happened, he looked over to FlashyFlash.
"Tomorrow, we will begin the nest stage of your training. Make sure to get good rest." The Ninja told him. Iida simply nodded.
The next morning, Iida found that he was alone, and that FlashyFlash had once again cut a trail out of the tall grass for him to follow. This trail was longer than the previous ones, and at the end of the trail, Iida had reached the end of the monolith-decorated grasslands, and arrived at a vast treeline marking the edges of a dense forest. FlashyFlash appeared out of nowhere, and Iida fell back in shock. Flash waited for him to get back on his feet before talking.
"The remaining 12 days of your training will be focused on improving your reaction-time and maneuverability. You possess decent speed, but you don't have much control over it. You struggle to make sharp-turns and sudden-stops while running at your top-speeds, thus limiting your speed's utility and combat-applications. You won't be able to survive like that in this world."
FlashyFlash raised his sword and pointed it at the woods.
"Within this forest, I have built an obstacle-course for you to run through, using your Engines." He explained. Iida couldn't help but smile. It was finally time for him to use his Quirk again, so he could kick the dust out of his mufflers before the mission.
"Sir, can I put on my armor?" Iida asked, raising his hand as if he were back in homeroom at UA, and to his non-surprise, FlashyFlash shook his head.
"Not quite yet. But you're getting there."
Iida had expected as much. He followed FlashyFlash to the starting-line of the obstacle-course, and Flash instructed Iida to use his top-speed, and to not decelerate for the entire run.
"Slowing down to better navigate would undermine the purpose of this exercise." He said. "You must learn to traverse even the most complex and uneven terrain, while still moving as fast as possible. If your top-speed can only be used to run in straight-lines, and with no obstacles to evade, then your speed is of little use. Your agility, dexterity, and reaction-time must all match your speed in order to make the most of it."
Iida took those words to heart as he activated his Recipro-Turbo and blasted down the forest trail. He was almost immediately met with a sharp right turn that was made from severed tree trunks. He nearly crashed into the toppled tree, but corrected his course just in time to make the turn, only to end up slamming into another tree-trunk just a few meters farther down the course, failing to make a sharp left turn that almost instantly followed the right. The obstacle-course proved to be a claustrophobic and zigzagging maze built out of the forest, with Iida as the rat.
Just like with all of FlashyFlash's previous tests, Iida needed to complete the route flawlessly. Each time that he failed or hit the sides of the course, he had to start all over again. And because his Recipro-Turbo had a time-limit, he needed to wait 5-minutes for his Engines to cool-down and start the course again. During these brief respites, FlashyFlash would offer advice on running-posture, and even how he should pace his breathing while running to maximize his performance.
By the end of the first day of this new regimen, Iida had finally managed to complete one run through the course. As he went to sleep in his tent that evening, he felt the strange clicking and humming sensation in his arms and back return, and now it also seemed to be coming from his Engines. It kept him awake for most of the night, until he finally fell asleep at around midnight.
The next day, Flash was nowhere to be seen, and he left no trail to follow, so Iida decided to run through the course. It was already there, after all, so he assumed that Flash wouldn't have bothered with creating something else for him to follow. Iida traveled to the end of the maze before he finally spotted Flash waiting for him at the end. He pointed to a brand new course that had been prepared for him, extending deeper into the woodlands.
"There will be additional obstacles for this course." Flash remarked.
"I'd expect nothing less from you." Iida replied before stepping up to starting-line.
He wasn't kidding. This new obstacle course was completely different from the previous one; it included pitfalls, Logs swinging on ropes like pendulums, and stones placed in the middle of the trail to act as speedbumps and hurtles. Iida was impressed that Flash was able to create so many elaborate traps in such little time. He was only able to finish half of the course that day, but that didn't deter him. He vowed to complete it tomorrow.
When he ran through the course the next day, Iida realized that the layout of the course had changed. The turns were different, and the obstacles and traps were placed in a different order. Flash must have reconfigured the entire maze while he was asleep. Not only that, but the traps and obstacles had become more numerous, which Iida deduced was the penalty for not completing the course yesterday. He then realized that if he couldn't complete this course at least once today, then Flash would no doubt continue to increase the difficulty for him, just like he would when he failed to meet his training-quotas before. That was enough incentive for him to push himself as hard as he could, desperate to avoid incurring another penalty.
After 14 failed attempts, Iida finally completed the course, just as the sun was setting. As Iida took a minute to catch his breath and observe the reddening sky, that strange clicking and humming sensation had returned, even stronger now than before. Iida wondered what it could be, and prayed that it wasn't anything dangerous.
On the fourth day, Iida ran through the second course to meet Flash at the end, and once more Flash had prepared a new maze for him to run through, and once again the layout was different than the previous ones. FlashyFlash then informed him of another change.
"Today, I have introduced a new element to the exercise. Somewhere within the course, I have planted your helmet for you to grab as you run through it. Do not slow down. You must now complete the course, without slowing down, while also searching for and grabbing your helmet. This will further improve your awareness, reactions, and parallel-processing ability while moving at your top-speeds. The goal is for your navigation at such velocities to become natural and instinctive, which means you must exercise your Kinesthetic-Sense."
"My what?" Iida asked.
"The Kinesthetic-Sense." Flash clarified. "It's one of the lesser-known senses of the human body, different from the basic-five. An instinctive sense of one's own locomotion, and subconscious control thereof. It's how a person is able to walk up a flight of stairs without having to think about it, or even read a book while doing it. This training is meant to push your Kinesthetic-Sense to superhuman levels. Your brain and senses must be as quick as the rest of you."
Iida nodded, and began his next trial. He searched for his helmet, but doing so distracted him from the various traps laid out for him. He tried to memorize the order in which the turns and traps were all set, and with every try was able to go farther and farther. On the ninth attempt, he spotted his helmet three-quarters down the course and immediately rushed to grab it, but ended up fumbling it in his hands, dropping it before he reached the finish-line. Iida cursed himself for screwing-up right when he was so painfully close to completing the exercise. The tenth run was even less fruitful, not even making it halfway through the maze. Finally, after another 25 attempts, Iida managed to flawlessly navigate the entire course, grabbing and carrying his helmet out with him and crossing the finish-line with it, all within 30-seconds. Iida rushed back to inform FlashyFlash of his success, relieved that he was able to accomplish his goal at least once before the day was over.
Flash only gave a slight nod of the head, and after they both had dinner, he was off just like that, vanishing out of sight. Iida tried to follow after the Ninja, but he was gone in no time at all. FlashyFlash was insanely fast. Iida couldn't imagine what he would do with that kind of speed.
Every night, FlashyFlash would disappear like this, leaving Iida to sleep in his tent alone. When Iida had asked him about it, Flash coldly informed him that "A Ninja must never allow anyone to know when or where he sleeps, for that is when they are most vulnerable."
Suddenly, a loud THUMP was heard from within the darkening forest, shocking Iida out of his thoughts. He wandered towards the source of the noise, before accidentally tripping-over something on the ground. He touched the thing with his foot to get a feel for it, and what he felt freaked him out. He anxiously ran back to the campsite, and grabbed a flashlight out of his backpack. He rushed back to the spot he tripped over and shined his light on it. It was just as he feared. Lying there on the ground was a dead body. A man, wearing some kind of private paramilitary uniform, was bleeding-out from a wound on his chest, his body lifeless and still.
Iida mind began racing with terrified questions. Could Flash have done it? Were they being watched this entire time? Iida examined the body, and after getting a closer look at the uniform, deduced that he must've been a spy for Siegfried.
"Flash must've killed him." Iida thought. He felt an ache in his stomach, as the reality of his situation fully sank in. He was being trained by a merciless killer.
If this man truly was an agent of Siegfried, then it's unlikely that he was a good person by any stretch of the word, but to so carelessly dispose of a human-being's life...
"Good or evil, the least he deserves is a proper burial." Iida decided. He spent half the night digging a grave and burying the nameless dead man. It was a good thing he packed a collapsable shovel. Once the man was laid to rest, Iida finally returned to his tent, and immediately fell asleep.
Waking-up the next morning, Iida went and saw that the grave he made for the mystery-man was still there. He had hoped it was just a bad dream, but no such luck. After giving it one final glance, he continued onwards through the maze, meeting FlashyFlash on the other side.
"You look rather unsettled." Flash noted.
"You killed that person who was watching us the other night, didn't you?" Iida questioned him.
"Yes." Flash answered.
"Did you know he was there? Do you think there were others with him?" Iida asked, looking around the trees around him again.
"Calm down, he should be the last one for the rest of our travels." Flash replied.
"Last one? There were others?!" Iida asked with shock.
"Yes, that was the third scout. They have been attempting to track our movements for the past week." Flash explained. Iida gave him an incredulous look.
"And you didn't have any thoughts about telling me?!" Iida asked. "And how can you be so sure there won't be others?" In response, Flash chucked a piece of paper he got out of his pocket.
"This is why."
Iida read the paper it was written in ink and had some blood stain on it no doubt from the man back in the forest. The message was essentially a taunt to lure Flash into the facility. Siegfried said that there would be no more tricks, and that he will await him with his full armory at his base.
"And you believe this? He could be lying." Iida argued.
"Perhaps, although he has no reason to in this scenario. He's getting desperate. He would dispatch his entire army to me if he believed that they could kill me, but he wants the advantage of home-terrain. Not that it would make much of a difference." Flash said offhandedly.
"How… how can you be so calm about all of this?" Iida finally asked. He was acting like this would be a walk in the park, like the mission held no danger for him at all.
"Because none of them compare to Where I Come From..." Flash answered, piquing Iida's interest about what he could've meant, but he just gestured to yet another obstacle-course that Iida had to run through. Iida revved-up his Engines, and rushed into the labyrinth.
Iida had noticeably improved his reaction-time and maneuverability compared to the previous four days. He managed to complete the course after only 5 attempts. Satisfied by this, FlashyFlash then reconfigured the course, changing-out the placement of all the different traps and obstacles and altering the turns. Iida spent the rest of the week running through a different course with a different layout each and every time. Though he never bothered to explain, Iida had an idea of what FlashyFlash's reasoning behind this choice was. By changing the course over and over again, Iida wouldn't be able to complete it simply by remembering the traps and turns from previous attempts, like he would when playing a videogame. Instead, he had to rely on his quick-wits in the moment, improving his ability to make split-second decisions while on the move. In a real high-speed chase, he wouldn't have the luxury of multiple tries. He had to get it right the first time, or not at all.
This continued for several more days, until finally the day of the mission was tomorrow. On the twenty-ninth day of their month-long journey, Iida had successfully ran and completed Flash's obstacle-course five times in a row, despite the layout being altered every time, and needing to search for and grab an object that Flash had planted in the course as he went, the object in question also changing every time.
"Excellent work. I do believe you are ready for the mission." Flash stated, once Iida returned to their campsite. Iida hoped he was right. As the two of them silently ate more of the flavorless stew, he realized that after tomorrow, he would be returning to the Hero-Association's headquarters, and more importantly, reuniting with his friends. He wondered if they were any closer to finding a way back home. Will they even still have a home to go back to? What if they were too late?
Suddenly, Iida felt an excruciating pain overtake his body. With each passing day, that strange clicking and humming sensation and grown even stronger, and much more frequent. But this was completely different. Iida felt like his arms were being contorted in multiple directions at once, and his chest and back were screaming in agony. He dropped the bowl containing his stew and fell over, convulsing and crying out for help.
"What... is... happening to me?" Iida thought. The pain grew stronger and stronger, until finally it became too much for him to handle, and everything went dark...
Morning came, and Iida had awakened from the deepest sleep in his life. He was still in the forest, and could hear songbirds chirping in the trees above him.
"Ah, you're awake."
Iida turned around to see FlashyFlash already eating breakfast.
"The target is less than 10-kilometers from our current position. Pack your things, and put on your armor. Or at least, whatever still fits."
"Still fits? What do you..." But before Iida could finish, that cursed humming sensation returned... except that it didn't hurt anymore. Iida checked his arms, and could hardly believe what he saw.
"I have Engines in my ARMS now, TOO?!"
"Yes, and another built into your back, with mufflers protruding out of your shoulder-blades." FlashyFlash commented. Iida tried looking over his shoulders, and just barely managed to see that two sets of mufflers had popped out of his back, tearing open the back of his shirt in the process. He could feel the humming in his back now, too. The humming of his Engines.
"I wasn't expecting you to undergo a metamorphosis like this." Flash remarked.
"Neither was I..."
Iida smiled while examining his new Arm-Engines. They reminded him of his older brother Tensei's Quirk. Both arms had two mufflers popping out near his elbows, plus they looked and felt much sturdier and more mechanical on the inside. In fact, he felt as if his entire body had internally changed to match his legs. He didn't fully understand how this had happened, but he was certain of one thing. He made the right decision, going with FlashyFlash on this journey. It made him stronger.
"Congratulations," The Ninja said to him. "You have not only met, but exceeded my expectations."
"Well, I did have one hell of a teacher." Iida pointed out.
And for the first time since they sparred back in Hero-HQ, FlashyFlash was smiling.
At last, the two heroes had arrived at their destination. They stood on a hill that overlooked what appeared to be a paranoid billionaire's estate, with high-stone walls, a high-security gate, and a large building beyond the gate that had a modern art-deco style to it. Iida pulled out a pair of binoculars he had packed, and used them to survey the villa. He saw no movements or signs of life anywhere, but he suspected that the enemy could be lying in wait, just like they said they would.
"So, what's the plan?" Iida asked.
"First, I will scout ahead to locate Siegfried, and confirm whether or not he has any hostages." FlashyFlash stated, and then immediately vanished from sight. No more than 2-seconds had passed when the Ninja reappeared next to Iida, his white-cape billowing in the breeze generated by his rapid movement.
"Siegfried is holed-up in the center of the complex, on the tenth-floor of the main building. He has four bodyguards with him. The hostages are being held in a cell-block underground, with a dozen armed guards watching them. If Siegfried's life is endangered, they have orders to open-fire."
"So then what do we..."
"Siegfried doesn't know that we're here yet. and I stole this from one of the guards..." Flash said, as he handed Iida a green, plastic keycard with a digital barcode on it.
"This card should give you access to the sub-levels. Remember your training."
"What are you going to do?"
"Attack."
FlashyFlash blitzed out of sight again, leaving a streak of sparkling white-light behind in his tracks.
"Wait, HOLD ON! Where do I..." Iida reached out a hand to stop him, but it was too late.
Iida blinked his eyes, and when he opened them again, the gate was completely demolished, and the two guards posted outside were brutally sliced apart. With no time to lose, Iida fired-up his Engines, both in his legs and in his arms, and blasted off, chasing after his mentor.
He was glad to finally be out of the weighted clothing Flash had given him. It felt almost dreamlike now, to be wearing something so light. His costume didn't account for his new Engines, and so he had to cut holes in the armor and fabric to make room for his extra mufflers. As he ran down the hill and past the gate, he felt as if he weighed nothing at all, casually breaking the sound-barrier and then accelerating even faster.
Unfortunately, the excitement he felt over his upgraded horsepower was interrupted by the sight of numerous corpses littering the ground as he ran by. FlashyFlash was on a killing-spree.
"My teacher is a killer..." Iida thought. "What does that make me? An accomplice?"
He may not have been the one who killed them, but he did just spend an entire month training under the one who did, knowing that he was planning to. And aside from that one debate they had...
"NO! Stay focused! Right now, there are people who need rescuing! THAT'S what you're here for!"
Slamming the brakes on his Quirk, Iida came to a screeching halt, and took a few seconds to clear his head. He took one last glance at the bodies behind him. FlashyFlash's mission was to assassinate Siegfried. But Ingenium's mission was to find any hostages and get them to safety.
(Meanwhile, in a labyrinth directly underneath the grounds of Siegfried's estate...)
In a cold, damp cell underground, there was an 11-year-old boy named Shun. His mother died in childbirth, and he couldn't even remember his father's face. He was taken away from him when he was very little. Taken away by strangers who got paid to let other strangers do horrible things to him. He kept his head down and did what he was told. He was moved around the continent, taught to act like everything was fine whenever they were in public. He endured the abuse and exploitation, afraid of what they might do to him if he caused them trouble.
Heroes were a distant, far away thing to Shun. He occasionally heard talk about them from his masters and the guards, and he could vaguely remember watching a cartoon about them when he was very little, but he didn't think they were real. How could they be? Heroes were strong, brave people who fought monsters and saved people from badguys. To Shun, they sounded more like something out of a fantasy, too good to exist in the same world that he lived in.
A few weeks ago, Shun was moved again, but this time, he was sharing a cell-block with dozens of other children, who must've been taken away from their families, too. For a long time, Shun had wondered if there were others like him, or if he was the only one, but now he knew that he wasn't. He couldn't decide how to feel about it. A part of him was glad that he wasn't alone, but how evil is it to wish for countless other people to suffer the same as him?
Something was different, he noticed. It had been several days now since he and the other children were moved to this new location, but so far none of them were forced to do any kind of work. All the bad-people were wearing military gear and carrying weapons around, and they seemed unusually tense. Then one day, though he couldn't even tell if it was daytime from underground, A dozen men in black-ops gear were brought down into the Labyrinth.
"The second the Boss gives the order, fill 'em with lead!" One of the guards said.
"Why do we have to wait? We could shoot 'em all right now." Another guard asked.
"Yeah, and throw away our leverage in the process."
"You really think FlashyFlash cares if a few children get shot? He's probably killed more people than all of us in this room combined!"
Shun had no idea what was happening outside, but knew better than to ask anyone.
Then, without warning, the door to the cell-block was kicked right off its hinges, and a mysterious flash of blue-and-white sped across the room, knocking out all the guards in mere seconds. Shun blinked, and standing in front of him was a man in a blue suit and white armor, his face hidden underneath a matching helmet. His arms and legs had fire and smoke coming off of them, and there were skidmarks on the ground.
Most of the children stumbled back in fright, startled by the man's appearance. Shun did not. Instead, he stood up and grabbed the bars of his cell, his eyes wide with astonishment.
"Who are you?" He asked.
"My name is Ingenium, and I am here to save you!" The man gallantly proclaimed.
"Are you... A Hero?"
Ingenium was silent for a moment, as if needing time to really think about the question.
"That is what I aspire to be. Though I am not sure if I have earned the right to be called one yet."
Ingenium grabbed the steel door to Shun's cell, and with just one hand he ripped it clean off, releasing Shun along with four other children, some of them even younger than he was.
"What about us?!" Shouted a little girl in another cage across the room. "You're gonna free us too, right? Please don't leave us!"
"Fear not! I have come to save all of you!" Ingenium assured her. He searched all the cells and counted 87 prisoners, all of them children, who couldn't have been older than 13. They were malnourished and deprived of sunlight for an extended period of time. It was enough to make the Hero's blood boil. Ingenium ripped the doors off every cell and the children all came pouring out.
"Alright, Listen carefully!" Ingenium shouted, moving his arms in a robotic fashion as he spoke. "Outside, my teacher is fighting the rest of the enemy forces. It is my job to rescue and evacuate any and all civilians and hostages. There are 87 of you here, and I can carry up to three of you at a time, so I will need to make multiple trips."
Ingenium grabbed three of the smallest children, and ordered the rest to stand back for their own safety. He revved his Engines and was off like a rocket. Less than 20-seconds later, he returned to the cell-block and grabbed another group of kids, blasting off and carrying them to freedom as well. He repeated the process several more times, all the while Shun marveled at the man's incredible speed. And yet it wasn't the speed of Ingenium that surprised him the most.
In that moment, fantasy became reality. A Hero. Something that had always seemed impossible, was real. Heroes Were Real.
"Mr. Ingenium sir..." Shun whispered as the Hero lifted him up and held onto him tightly.
"There's no need to be so formal. Just Ingenium is fine."
"Oh, okay... Well... Ingenium... Thank you for saving us."
Iida smiled underneath his helmet. "No thanks are necessary. I am simply doing what I was always meant to do..."
Iida's Engines roared even louder, blue fire blasting out the mufflers.
"These Legs... Are Meant to Carry Lost Children Home."
What happened next was only a blur to Shun. Up until now, Iida had only been using his baseline horsepower, but now that the guards were defeated and all the other children were evacuated, he activated his new and improved Recipro-Turbo. He rocketed out of the labyrinth, extremely grateful to FlashyFlash and his obstacle-course training, as he swerved through the subterranean maze at speeds far exceeding Mach-15. In 1-Second, both he and the little boy were over 20-miles away, joining the other children at a campsite in the middle of a dense forest.
Iida gently lowered Shun down to the ground and patted his head. Then he turned to all the other children, and after counting heads to make sure that he got everyone, promised that they would all be returned to their families. He pulled out his cell-phone and contacted Sitch from the Association, and informed him of the situation.
"I'll send a squad of agents to your coordinates immediately!" Sitch told him. "Thank you so much for all your help here today! I hope your training under FlashyFlash wasn't too harsh."
"It was a very arduous experience, but a very fruitful one." Iida assured him.
"That's good to hear. The agents should be arriving within the hour. Please send FlashyFlash my regards and my thanks."
Then Iida realized that FlashyFlash was nowhere to be seen. Was he still fighting? Given how much faster he was, he expected him to be finished killing Siegfried long before he was finished with evac. Did something go wrong?
"Please excuse me, children! I must go back to assist my mentor! I will return shortly!"
Ingenium entered a running-stance, his Engines roared with power, and he blasted away at hypersonic speeds. Shun watched him go, his eyes wide and filled with wonder.
"Someday, I wanna be a Hero, Just Like Him!"
Racing back to Siegfried's estate, Iida charged headfirst into the main-building and worked his way up every floor. Countless bodies littered the halls, and the stench of blood hung in the air. After reaching the tenth floor, he simply followed the trail of carnage until he was greeted by a massive door that presumably led to Siegfried's panic-room. He kicked the door open just in time to see a streak of silver-and-white light cross his vision. He was suddenly pushed out of the way as he heard Flash utter the words…"FLASHY-SLASH!"
The name of his ultimate-move was immediately accompanied by a sharp burst of white-light and an incredibly-satisfying "CHING" sound. Theentire top-half of the building shifted, sliding off and revealing the sky. Iida was shocked by the sheer display.
He turned and looked towards FlashyFlash, who was kneeling on the ground, his right-arm extended out while holding his sword.
"FlashyFlash, are you alright?" Iida asked as he rushed over to him. He didn't look injured, but he noticed that a single tear was running down his cheek.
"What are you doing here?" Flash asked in a cold, distant voice.
"I came to make sure that you were alright! I... Thought you would've been finished by now."
"Yes, well... Things took longer than I expected. Siegfried had one final trick up his sleeve."
"Really? What did he have?" Iida asked.
"Information." FlashyFlash exposited. "Information that he knew I wanted, but only he possessed... Or at least he claimed to. But he was lying. It was nothing but a desperate trick to steal himself a few more minutes of life."
The Ninja sheathed his sword and stood back up, then started asking a few questions of his own.
"Are the children safe?"
"Yes. I carried them all back to our campsite in the woods."
"Very good. I assume you notified the Association?" Iida nodded.
"The mission is complete." FlashyFlash stated, walking out through the doors that Iida just came in from. Iida surveyed the room. Everything was sliced-up and demolished, blood was everywhere, and numerous chunks of flesh were scattered around the place. Iida prayed that this was truly necessary, and not done out of bloodlust or cruelty, then followed after his mentor.
The Association soon arrived, and after a quick debriefing, the two heroes were able to get everything squared away. Iida promised them all that he would come to visit them later, and waved goodbye as he and Flash began the trek home.
As they ran through the forest, Iida thought about the mission, and how easily he was able to incapacitate those 12 guards. He thought about the countless bodies FlashyFlash had dropped. There was something he just didn't understand. He hit the breaks and came to a sudden stop. FlashyFlash stopped as well.
"Something wrong?"
"I have a question. You said you needed my help to evacuate the civilians, but... Why? If I was able to do it, then surely you could've done it faster. You could've easily handled all of it by yourself. Were you just giving me something to do so that I felt like I was helping?"
FlashyFlash thought for a moment before answering.
"I told you before. I'm not very good with kids, and I am not a hero. Practically speaking, yes, I could've done it myself, but you contributed something else that I could never do."
Some Author's Notes:
Happy Halloween, everyone! I'm so glad I was able to finish this chapter before the end of October!
If my username and avatar didn't make it obvious already, Speedsters are my FAVORITE power-type, so getting to write an entire chapter about two very different Speedsters was really, REALLY exciting for me, and this might be my favorite chapter so far along with Chapters 2 and 7.
I'll admit, for the little boy Shun and the way I described his backstory and inner-thoughts, I was basically just ripping-off Hawks' origin-story, and the way HE described it, but if anything, I think that makes it even better, because of how it reflects and continues the themes of the show.
Also, just in case you were wondering, Shun's name is pulled from the Japanese word and kanji 'shun', meaning 'Fast', or in another kanji it means "Talented". FlashyFlash's sword is named Shunsatsumaru, or Instakill when translated into English. I don't know yet if I'll be bringing Shun back in later chapters or not, since he was a character I just kinda made up on the spot for the sake of reinforcing and paying-off the themes I set up for this chapter, but I have a couple ideas for where I could go with him. If any of you have ideas, I'd love to hear them in the reviews!
If you're curious about what information FlashyFlash wanted to know, but didn't get, fear not, all will be revealed in due time.
And YES, the Quirk-Awakenings have begun! In case it wasn't already clear, Class-1A's gonna get CRAZY STRONG, and by the time they return home, several of them will be Class-S, and not a single one of them will be below Class-A in ability.
I often feel that, when it comes to power-scaling in fiction, there's DC, Marvel, and DragonBall, but then Everyone Else is Complete Fodder by comparison. I really, REALLY love MyHeroAcademia and OnePunchMan though, and I don't want either series to be just another anime/manga that gets left in the dust completely. Especially OnePunchMan, since its entire premise revolves around a SuperHero that's comically overpowered. So yeah, I'll be cranking things up quite a bit, but I'll also make sure to keep logically consistent, and not just OP for the sake of OP.
If you're wondering what the exact power-scaling is for Iida right now, let me break it down for ya:
Pre-Isekai and Before Chapter8: Iida's standard running-speed was exactly 1,500 mph, and his Recipro-Turbo boosted his speed to 15,000 mph for 10-minutes. (And yes, I'm using miles-per-hour, not kilometers. I'm from Texas.) His speed was in the higher-tier of Class-A, but all his other abilities placed him in Class-B.
Post-Awakening Iida now has upper-body strength equal to his lower-body strength, his standard running-speed has increased tenfold, and the potency of his Recipro-Turbo has increased by 5.5-Times, meaning his baseline is 15,000 mph, and his maximum is 825,000 mph, putting his top-speed above WatchDogMan, but still nowhere near as fast as FlashyFlash, and current Deku with FaJin could still outpace him. Also, the time-limit on his Recipro-Turbo has gone from 10-minutes to 20-minutes, and his cooldown time has been cut in half. His Arm-Engines let him punch a lot harder and ups his strength, and of course his maneuverability has improved thanks to all that training.
At first, I thought a 55-Times Speed-Increase sounded a bit too mild of a power-up, given how hard he worked, but after considering the difference between 10 mph and 550 mph, I think it's rather impressive. Even the best racecars with the most generous road-conditions can't reach 450, let alone 550, but even I could reach 10 mph on the treadmill, and I'm not super-athletic or anything. So yeah, it's actually a HUGE difference in speed, but it still gives Iida room to improve, since I'm only two-thirds done with the First-Act, and there's still a LOT more story to go.
If you're wondering what FlashyFlash's current scaling is for my series, his top-speed is roughly 1,551.25-Times Faster-Than-Light! For comparison, Iida with his Quirk-Awakening is still less than 1% the Speed-Of-Light, and the same goes for Deku. So yeah, it's kinda like how in OnePiece, Zoro immediately after the Time-Skip is WAY stronger than he was before, but still countless episodes worth of power-ups away from reaching and surpassing Mihawk.
I hope you guys enjoy your Halloween, and that you think this Chapter was as sweet as the candy you stuff your faces with! Next Chapter we'll get to see what Sero's been doing with Atomic-Samurai and company, and then it's back to the A-plot! So long, and GodSpeed!