Izuku the Reincarnated Chef By: (JoySeeker101)

by Copierpasta

Seen that nobody looks brave enough to help Izuku, may it be because he is Quirkless or because he wounded the frail EGo of an influential Chef, our Green-haired Hero is coming short of ideas, luckily helps does come from a bit farther than anticipated...WAY farther. THIS STORY IS NOT MINE

36. Chapter 36

UA University – Infirmary – Early morning -

Nemuri, or something that once was her, was lying on the bed of the school reduced to an unrecognizable mass of bruises and smashed limbs, several tubes connected her broken body to machines desperately trying to keep her alive.

"A slap from the giant Villain and a fly through several walls… By any means, she should be dead, and yet her heart still beats." Recovery Girl said with a low voice.

The soft and weak beeping representing Nemuri's heart feeble heartbeat filled the room.

"She always had been stubborn. I can't believe now I am finally praying for her to keep being that stubborn." Aizawa, looking miserable while he leaned on the window still to look outside, admitted.

He categorically refused to look towards her, lest the memories of another dear friend of his dying once again flooded his eyes.

"Why are not healing her?" Mic, now looking like a human wreck, asked while holding Nemuri's heavily-bandaged hand, and crying almost non-stop.

"There is only so much my Quirk can do. If it was only some broken bones and torn muscles, I would have already done that." Recovery Girl answered, shaking her head.

"But…"

"Even had she had her full healthy Stamina and Life Force, using my Quirk to heal her would have killed her. Her heart is barely keeping up thanks to the machines Power Loader managed to build for me to take over every function of her body."

"Hn?" Aizawa, still not looking at Nemuri, muttered.

"Not a single bone is sane, bruised stomach, punctured liver and collapsed lungs, her intestines had almost been squeezed out of her body by the slap. Her eyes are gone, her teeth are gone, there is probably a couple inches only of her skin that have not a bruise or cut on it. She needs those machines to not die of internal bleeding and still have bladder control." Recovery Girl listed with tired, defeated coldness.

Aizawa and Hizashi looked sick at that gruesome list of injuries.

"The only two organs functioning properly are the brain (albeit with a concussion) and her heart. Everything else is barely holding on, and that because machines are doing all the heavy lifting…"

"… How long?" Aizawa finally asked, and Hizashi's eyes grew wide.

"…"

"Chiyo!" Aizawa snapped angrily, and for once his eyes were not red because of his Quirk.

"Two days… Her heart won't last much longer. And even if I could… I wouldn't prolong such miserable existence either." Recovery Girl finally answered, eyes shut tight.

"Do something! Anything!" Mic yelled while shaking her.

"Like what?! Medicine and Quirks have limits! I can't perform miracles! I can't regrow limbs either, how do you believe I can fix all that?!" Chiyo yelled in frustration.

"Nemuri!" Hizashi yelled, throwing himself on Nemuri's unresponsive body to cry his eyes out.

"So, no solution?" Aizawa asked, finally, with a titanic effort, looking away from the window to look at Recovery Girl, and in part forcing himself to acknowledge how he was about to lose another dear friend.

"Unless a God or two decides to finally stop sitting on their ass and bestow a miracle on us, I have no clue what to do. If there is a Quirk able to heal her, I do not know it, and honestly, if it even exist, the User is probably closed somewhere under direct control of Government branches like the HPSC." She answered, shaking her head.

"And they don't share." Aizawa muttered in answer, trying to cut off Hizashi's desperate wailing as he clung to Nemuri.

"The world is a harsh place." Chiyo admitted, bitterly.

"Ehm… Is it a bad moment?" Himiko choose that moment to accompany young Eri inside the infirmary.

"… Ah, yes, I promised young Midoriya that I would have given Eri her missing shots. It was today?" Recovery Girl answered.

"Yes, but we can return later if you want?"

"Is the pretty lady okay?" Eri asked with a small voice.

"Yes… She… She is only sleeping. She is very tired." Mic answered, forcing a smile through tears and snot to protect the kid.

"Oh… Sorry."

"It's okay, I am sure Nemuri likes your company." Aizawa answered, barely holding back the shivering of his shoulders.

"Come, it will take a minute, then I will give you an apple-flavored lollipop. But don't tell your dad, okay?" Chiyo said with a gentle, grandmotherly smile.

"Okay! Dad doesn't like when I eat sweets before lunch." Eri answered.

"Yes, your dad… Your dad…" Mic tried to answer, then a particular memory went pushed forward by his brain once looked at both Eri and Himiko.

"YOUR DAD!" Hizashi yelled with wide eyes, then her rushed out.

"MIC! Where the hell are you going?!" Aizawa yelled.

"I FOUND A MIRACLE!" The other yelled, running outside as fast as his legs could carry him, soon followed by the roaring of his bike as he drove away.

"What does it even mean?" Aizawa asked, confused.

"I have no idea." Recovery Girl admitted.

Then both looked at Himiko and got the same spark of inspiration as Hizashi.

"HEALING CUISINE!" Both yelled, and Aizawa hurried out.

"I'll prepare everything! Go get the boy!" Chiyo yelled.

"Okay! You get Power Loader and Rush too!" Aizawa answered, scaring every student he met with his mad rush outside.

"Something I said?" Himiko asked, confused.

"No, dearie… Maybe we got an answer to our prayers." The old lady answered.

One hour later -

Due to Hizashi's chaotic blabbering and crying, it took Aizawa to explain Izuku why he had been assaulted by the madly raving crying man, but when they brought the young Chef back to UA in a mad rush that made confetti of traffic laws, they didn't hear the boy declare the job easy like they hoped.

"… Impossible. Are you insane? I can't heal all this!" Izuku had said, looking ready to puke violently once red Recovery Girl's list of injuries plaguing Nemuri's body.

"But you healed All Might! You healed Himiko-san! What's different between regrowing an arm and this?!" Mic asked, distraught.

"This is a way too different beast!" Izuku answered, both angry and sad.

"Exactly as I told you, there are limits to Healing Powers." Recovery Girl added, looking down.

"I can regrow arms? Yes. I can rebuild a damaged eye or both? Yes. Can I remove a tumour-like growth? Yes… But those were isolated cases! A single issue on mostly-healthy bodies! Even Himiko's skin was regrown barely an hour after the accident, Nemuri-san has been on thet bed for almost an entire day! Enough that the rest of the body started giving-up on its own!" Izuku answered, pointing at Himiko.

"Besides her skin and limbs, Himiko was healthy instead! Her body was not under near-death strain! All Might's Tumor was just a small thing located in a very precise area, I aimed at removing it, if the rest of your body healed too, it was only collateral Healing, I didn't plan for, just sheer dumb luck. Toshinorti's health had been settling down to compensate that for years, with his body adapting around the issue to survive!" He then pointed at Nemuri.

"She is 99% dead! Besides Heart and Brain, everything else is broken! If I heal her stomach, the strain will make her veins burst! If I fix her veins, her lungs won't hold it together and collapse! If I fix her Lungs, her heart will finally give-in! If I fix her heart? Very likely her brain won't get enough blood and she'll become a vegetable! Any dish I make for an issue, will probably put too much strain on another! It's a risk of cascading organs failure!" The Young Chef said, distraught.

"I would technically need to heal her entire body at the same time with a single dish, and even then, that doesn't mean she won't still die from the heavy burden of all that! You need a True Miracle to save her, and I don't have the right Ingredients to achieve that!" Izuku said, crying.

Said that, the young Chef collapsed sitting on a chair to bury his face in his hands and crying silently.

"So you have no idea how to do it?" Lunch Rush asked.

"I am a Chef, Goddamnit… I am not a Master Healer like Yosaku…" He whispered, sniffling.

"So there is really nothing you can do?" Mic asked, sobbing.

"I can try to see if I can modify the machines keeping Nemuri alive to give us a bit more time…" Power Loader offered, he too feeling useless and powerless.

"Recovery Girl too has limits, why can't I?" Izuku answered, bitterly.

"You say you don't have the right Ingredients to help Nemuri..." Nezu asked, appearing from the Infirmary door with a smoking cup of tea for both himself and Izuku, and as always unfazed and perfectly calm and in control.

"Here, camomile tea, it helps with stress." The Rat said, offering the cup.

"Thank you…" The young Chef answered, gratefully accepting the warm cup.

"Good, now, please allow me to ask you this; Let's assume you have the right Ingredients to help our friend Nemuri instead, what would you need?" Nezu asked.

"… Hahahahahahahahaha!" A hollow, humourless and cold laugh tore it's way out of Izuku's throat.

"Either the Legendary Ingredient PAIR, and I don't think there is a single person on this planet that can get it. OR a long list of near-esoteric Ingredients that cooked together can IDEALLY achieve the same affects. PAIR would give us a 100% success rate, but it's impossible to get it… To be fair, the Ingredient List, Plan B, is just as impossible, with the added downside of barely a 90% success rate." Izuku answered.

"Please humour me with that list too. I assure you that between my connections and UA's fame, I am confident I can get my paws on everything this world has to offer." Nezu answered, smirking.

"Boy, I got the greatest Ingredients providers and Restaurants kissing my ass daily to curb my favour, they will fetch me everything if I ask them." Lunch Rush added with a thumbs-up.

"Hemostashiitake, Eeliver oil, Lungshroom, Doctor Axolotl meat, skin-kelp, Iron stomach meat. And a couple dozen more." Izuku listed with a dead voice.

"I never heard of any of those." Nezu's smirk instantly faded away.

"Eh?" Lunch Rush dropped the thumbs-up.

"Precisely. They can only be found in the Gourmet World."

"… Never heard of that either." And now Nezu was frowning.

"That's why I am desperate, yes."

"Is that some secret place nobody knows about?" Aizawa asked.

"Oh, worse than that."

"And you know how to reach that place?" Mic asked, desperately grasping at straws.

"My Sponsor can bring me there with a Warp Gate, but as I am now, I would barely survive a minute there if I am not careful." Izuku answered.

"What if we accompany you?" Aizawa asked.

"No offence… You would have even less chances of survival than me." Izuku answered, shaking his head.

"You underestimate Heroes, Young Midoriya!" Toshinori yelled, bursting into the room already wearing his Hero costume.

"You coming too?" Mic asked.

"Nemuri is my friend too! If there is even just a chance to save her, I will gladly put my life on the line to achieve that miracle!" Toshinori answered immediately.

"There you have it, kid. You got Three Pro Heroes acting as your bodyguard, once of which the damn Number 1 Hero of Japan. I say we can do this." Aizawa declared, shaking his head and fastening his capture weapon scarf around his neck.

"No! Wait!" Izuku tried saying.

"I got you your heavy-duty speakers, Mic! Blast whatever gets in the way to shreds!" Loader said while tossing Hizashi part of his equipment.

"I will!"

"Please wait! You don't understand! The Gourmet World-"

"WE ARE COMING TOO!" Mina and few others of Class A1 forced their way into the room.

"How?!" Toshinori asked, confused.

"JIRO!" Aizawa roared.

"Yes, I was eavesdropping! We saw you and Mic-sensei rush in with Midoriya in tow and remembered his Healing Powers! So I listened from the room next to this!" Kyoka answered.

"We are already wearing our gear, we will be careful, Sensei! But Nemuri-sensei is one of our beloved teacher! We will take responsibility and accept any punishment, but we will never be at peace with ourselves if we do nothing to help her!" Tenya Iida added.

"Guys! It's not damn Disneyland!" Izuku yelled in anger.

"We are not weaklings, Izuku." Katsuki answered.

"Not your damn Ego again! Listen to me!"

"We are here too!" Rumi amd Nejire yelled at the same time, adding themselves to the now crowded Infirmary.

"Not all here! My Infirmary is not a damn Hero Convention!" Recovery Girl yelled.

"GUYS! I BEG YOU! LISTEN TO-"

"The Candidates as Guests for the System's Mission are acceptable." The System said.

"NOT YOU TOO!" Izuku shrieked in horror.

"Acceptable Candidates: Sero, Kaminari, Kirishima, Bakugou, Ashido, Hagakure, Asui, Yaoyorozu, Uraraka, Usagiyama, Hado, Mezo, Yagi, Aizawa and Yamada. They can accompany Host Izuku. The System will implant a mental suggestion to stop them from talking about what they will see. Host Izuku's will be the only one able to release that seal. System assure nothing and nobody will be able to access that info unless personally requested by the Host. As per Host-System agreement on secrecy." The Entity declared, solemnly.

"OH GOD NO!" Izuku yelled in horror.

"What's his problem?" Kirishima asked.

"Dunno! We aren't even all here! Mineta is still in probation, Koda didn't feel like he could be of help, Sato is still recovering from overusing his Quirk… I won't list them all, but it's not like all of us came here!" Kaminari answered, listing few names of all their classmates that couldn't join them.

A golden circle of light appeared under them all.

"The hell is this?" Katsuki asked.

"No! Please! I'll go alone!" Izuku begged as loudly as he could.

"Transportation Array ready. Beginning teleportation." The System alerted him.

"Noo!" Izuku screamed in Horror as light enveloped them all.

"DADDY DON'T GO!" Eri yelled and jumped into the ring of light.

"GODDAMNIT, ERI!" Himiko as well jumped in, hugging the girl to her chest, but unfortunately not pulling her away fast enough, and disappearing with the group.

"…"

"… Well, even I didn't see that coming." Nezu commented once the light faded away and the room was once again empty.

"That boy will be very angry once he sees the kid got taken along the ride." Power Loader answered.

"Let's prepare everything for when they return, prayers help only so much, we need to act too." Lunch Rush said, leaving the infirmary with rapid steps to prepare his kitchen equipment for Izuku's return.

"Help me stabilize Nemuri, Power. We need to keep her at the absolute best state her body can be if we want the cure to work… Hopefully." Recovery Girl said, sighing.

Gourmet World – Area 1 – Candy Forest -

In any other normal situation, the Hero students and the three Pros would have been gaping in surprise at seeing the grim and yet brightly-colored forest they found themselves in after the light from teleportation faded-away.

Unfortunately for them Izuku's bestial anger and tirade took precedence in their minds as they waited patiently for the young Chef to stop cursing their stupidity and selfishness with a single-breath rant that lasted a good ten minutes, most of which filled in veiled insults he used just because he didn't want to cuss like a drunken sailor in front of Eri.

It was almost comical, all of them had powerful Quirk and yet all of them were kneeling on the floor like chastised children in front of their furious father, waiting silently and obediently for their turn to talk.

"BUT NO! YOU HAD TO JOIN! YOU HAD TO JUMP TO THE OCCASION TO SHOW-OFF! THIS IS HELL ON EARTH! WHY NOBODY EVER LISTENS TO ME?!" Izuku roared madly.

"Hiss!" A colorful snake, six meters long and as big as a horse slithered down from the trees to attack whoever disturbed its sleep.

"PISS OFF!" The young Chef roared with blood-shot eyes.

"EEEEEEK!" The poor giant snake, normally regarded as a living death-sentence thanks to its 'Blood boiling venom', gave a very child-like shriek and hurried away to hide.

"Sorry, daddy…" Eri muttered, sniffling.

"I just wanted to come with you. I am always so scared you will never come back when you leave!" The kid admitted, hiccuping.

"Oh, no no no… Come here…" Izuku's anger faded away instantly, and he hugged the kid as tight as he could.

"I am not angry at you, Eri-chan. But at myself for not stopping this accident from happening." He said, kissing her forehead.

"I am sorry, Izuku, I should have stopped her sooner." Himiko said, looking down in shame.

"It's okay, Himiko. I am surprised the teleportation even worked since you and Eri were not included in the list."

"…"

"System?" Izuku asked with narrowed eyes.

"The child will benefit too from this trip."

"Goodamnit you!" The young Chef mentally hissed.

"Well… We are here now, can't help it!" Mina said with a forced smile.

"I swear, I will make you all survive this trip here only because I will put you through Hell once back to UA!" Aizawa growled angrily.

"Then I will do it! We'll take turns to punish you!" Mic added.

"But! But!" Tooru stammered in fear.

"Can you send them back?" Toshinori asked.

"Not until we are done." Izuku answered, bitterly.

"Time Limitation? Goddamnit." Aizawa answered.

"We have two days to collect Ingredients before Nemuri-san's body health deteriorates to a point even I can't help her. We need to move." Izuku said.

"Can we leave them here?" Mic asked.

"HEY!" The students yelled.

"No, in the Gourmet World, standing still is a sure-fire way to die." The young Chef answered.

"You need to give us a crash-curse on this place, Icchan." Rumi said, sighing and rubbing her temples.

"This won't be a walk in the park…" Izuku answered, groaning.

"You will act as our guide then, if this place is that dangerous." Aizawa answered, unconvinced.

"Very well, open your ears and listen, because we have not much time!" Izuku said.

"We are all ears!" Kirishima answered, smirking.

"You will regret that attitude soon…"

What followed was Izuku desperately cramming as much information about IGO and their Capture Level method to measure a Threat of the creatures of the Gourmet World, along a very fast rundown of the major security rules when travelling through the Gourmet World.

"Sorry, but that Capture Level stuff sound like bullshit." Katsuki admitted, humming.

"Of course you don't believe me…" Izuku said, groaning.

"Sorry, nothing personal, but it sounds so alien. So excessive!" Tsuyu added, shrugging.

"Hardly believable. Sorry." Mezo admitted.

"Oh, for the love of… Why would I lie?!"

"Dude, you talk as if we were on a different planet." Kyoka said at the end of the super-fast lesson.

"We may as well be. Now remember what I said. If is say run, you are not making any grand speech or act of heroism, you just turn around and run! The Beasts here won't care about your Heroic heart, only about you probable taste if they eat you." Izuku answered.

"Relax! Everything will be fine!" Kaminari answered.

"No. No it won't." The young Chef answered, sighing.

"Don't worry, bravado aside, my friends are very capable Heroes, trust me." Iida said, ready to do everything in his power to repay Izuku for helping his brother, even facing alone that strange place he said was pretty much Hell.

"You have no idea what you are about to face…" Izuku muttered in dismay, shaking his head and walking towards Himiko and Eri.

"808, Whitey, Shiro… Protect Eri and Himiko at all cost." Izuku asked with a tense tone.

"But…" The Taotie tried arguing against it with a worried whisper.

"I know how to defend myself here, but Eri MUST BE PROTECTED. She isn't supposed to be here to begin with. So her safety and Himiko's have priority." He said.

"Okay." Shiro begrudgingly did as asked and jumped down his neck to go wrap himself around Eri's neck.

"Understood, Friend Izuku." 808 answered, and rapidly moved to orbit around Eri's head.

"Understood." Whitey moved with heavy steps to stand behind Himiko.

"Thank you… Sorry for not stopping Eri in time." Himiko said with a grateful tone, and holding Eri in her arms in a protective embrace.

"Sorry, dad." Eri muttered.

"Don't worry, I am not angry with you or Himiko. I should have stopped you two. But now that you both are here, I'll do everything in my power to protect you." Izuku answered, smiling a small smile.

"We'll be careful, and I will protect Eri with all myself, promise." She answered.

"Thank you, Himiko. But please, be careful you too."

"I don't like how you talk, you make it seems like we are about to enter Hell itself." Tooru admitted with a loud gulp.

"Unfortunately, you are not exactly wrong."

"We are not random shmucks. Between Quirks and training you will see you have nothing to worry about. Although I appreciate the fact that you worry about us, at least you don't see us as expendable meat shields. We won't have troubles here." Aizawa answered, shaking his head.

"I heard many prideful adventurers and Hunters talk like that before coming here…" Izuku muttered.

"We'll listen to your scary stories later. Let's go." Aizawa interrupted him.

"What happened to those people?" Momo whispered.

"They never returned." He whispered back.

"… Damn it."

"Instead of whispering sweet nothings like lovebirds, let's go!" Mic said, marching forward blinded by the very tight time limit Recovery Girl gave them.

"Don't rush. It's the first rule here." The young Chef said.

"Yeah, yeah." The other answered, uninterested and walking past the colossal, vine-made archway acting as an exit point from the woods.

"Wait for us, Mic!" Toshinori said.

"We too, Teacher!" The students added, running to catch-up with the adults.

When the three Pros and the students stepped out of the woods, their first steps into the Gourmet World already resulted in complete shock.

"What the fuck is this…" Aizawa was the first to break the shocked silence, with an awe-stricken whisper.

All of them felt their breaths get caught in their throats as the impossible landscape unfolded before them.

"Welcome to the lands we call 'The Gourmet World'." Izuku declared with a sigh while he studied their surroundings with a more analytical mindset.

The Heroes, Pro and not, had been greeted by a vibrant explosion of bright colors as soon as the stepped out of the grim, dark forest.

Giant fruit trees, bizarrely-shaped vegetables, and towering stalks of grains that swayed lazily in a warm breeze filled the plains all around them; the air was thick with the sweet, intoxicating smell of ripened Ingredients, each one more tempting than the last.

"I tried to warn you. But you didn't believe me."

"This… This is not normal…" Iida said with a worried tone, for him, just like the others, it all felt like stepping into a paradise where everything was edible, alive, and begging to be tasted.

"Wow," Mina whispered, eyes wide as she gazed at a colossal strawberry-like fruit the size of a building, she tried guessing just how many families could live inside a single fruit if somebody were to hollow the inside.

"The Giant Strawberry. The Titanoberry. Sweeter than honey. Capture Level 350. Luckily the Wasps normally buzzing around them are not present, those Waspeno are the size of elephants and extremely aggressive." Izuku said.

"Waspeno?"

"The name comes from their poison, if extracted and dried, it creates a powder with a taste and spiciness similar to jalapeno. So, from mixing Wasp and Jalapeno, you get their name: Waspeno." The Chef said, walking forward.

"This place is insane! Like stepping into the drawing of a kid!" Kirishima said.

"But still, It's... beautiful." Jiro answered, looking everywhere in wonder.

"For now…" Izuku muttered, and his girlfriends immediately went on the defensive, trusting him to actually know the danger of the place.

"My instinct is screaming that danger is everywhere. But then… Why I can't stop shaking from excitement?" Toshinori muttered, his heart was beating like a drum, worry and excitement were battling for supremacy inside him, and for the life of him, he was rapidly getting addicted to once again feeling the excitement caused by facing the unknown.

Aizawa, he too like Toshinori, more keen to keep a level-head on most situations, tirelessly scanned everywhere, he had finally recognized Izuku's worry as the same haunted memories Veterans had when asked to once again walk through what they considered Hell; the eyes of somebody that was dragging himself through a Mission normally they would be vehemently against for very damn good reasons… So he too felt his muscles tense, but in his case in 100% pure dread.

Unfortunately, the students instead were not used yet to smell danger where there seemed to be none, and that only doubled the anxiety of Toshinori, Aizawa and Hizashi as they had to keep their eyes open for their students too, and instantly regretting letting them join.

The sky overhead was a brilliant blue, cloudless and serene, while the ground beneath their feet was soft, almost like a sponge, bouncing slightly with every step; everything was too colorful, too bright, too cheerful.

"Is that… CHOCOLATE?!" Kaminari yelled with wide eyes as wild rivers of glistening chocolate appeared before them once descended a shallow hill, wounding through lush valleys with their surface dotted with massive marshmallows that bobbed lazily in the current.

Plants of candied corn, bushes of lollipops and many other forms of confectionery that was apparently naturally produced by plants soon overtake the vegetation, there were even sweets-based animals roaming about, like the giant turtles lazily napping next to the group, each turtle with their shells made of squared cookies connected together in place of the normal plaques found of normal turtles.

"The Dark Chocolate river… Maybe I know where we landed from the portal." Izuku said aloud, uncertain.

"That… That can't be a fucking natural river of hot chocolate! It's physically impossible!" Katsuki yelled, shocked.

"There are underground pools of milk all around this valley, they intermix with natural rivers of extremely hot water thanks to the marshmallow volcano nearby. The raging currents then crush and extract the chocolate from the chocolate seeds of plants nearby, the harsh currents then mix them together. Whenever the volcano erupts… Well… Let's say that by a curious chain of events giant marshmallows are naturally created by the volcano and thrown everywhere when it erupts, most of those then fall in the river." Izuku tried explaining.

"That doesn't make sense!" The other answered, not even in anger, but near-hysterical confusion.

"Humanity has barely learned the 0.1% of the secrets of the Gourmet World, and the more secrets we decipher, thousands more appear and less questions are answered." He answered.

"WAIT! IS THAT ICE-CREAM?!" Tooru asked with a shriek while pointing at a far-away mountain range made completely of colossal spheres of Ice-Cream, each sphere the size of an actual mountain, all stacked on top of each other chaotically.

"Yes, the Gelatain Passes. Considering that I can see the hazelnut and strawberry and custard flavors, it means that we are in the south-east part of Area 1… By the shape, that should be the Sherbet Peak instead. Ugh! We are on the path of the biggest cluster of Ingredients I need, but they are also extremely far away." Izuku answered with a grimace.

"It was the safest landing area, Host." The System answered.

"Wait! So those are actual mountains, as in REAL MOUNTAINS, made completely of Ice-cream? Every inch of it?" Mezo asked with bulged-out eyes.

"Down to the very last drop. Each sphere is bigger than Mt. Fuji, but still, they are made of the best and tastiest ice-cream you will ever taste… IF you survive long enough there to try it." Izuku answered.

"Impossible… Ludicrous…" The poor guy answered, confused to complete brain shutdown.

"Everything here is out of scale, if not just physically impossible, and yet we are seeing this. How come nobody knows of this place?" Shoto asked.

"Everybody knows."

"Not us!" Tsuyu answered.

"… You'll understand soon, I fear." The young Chef answered with a shaken voice.

"This place defies reason." Sero admitted while admiring the birds with jewel-toned feathers that soared above them, their songs were harmonizing with the sound of rustling leaves and the distant roar of a waterfall that seemed to shimmer like liquid sugar.

"Uhm! Bejewelled Condors. The stones on their feathers are actually used to made high-class cooking equipment, they are natural whetstones. So we are close to sweet valley,at the very source of chocolate river,that is actually good news… But what side?" Izuku wondered aloud.

"So you can pinpoint our precise location?" Aizawa asked, hopeful.

"I have spent here a good amount of time here, I am familiar with most areas of the Gourmet World. I can plan for us a path with the lesser amount of danger." He answered.

"It must be where he gets his fancy Ingredients." Kirishima muttered.

"Very likely, the quality of what he makes does feel otherworldly after all. This feels like a completely alien planet." Tokoyami answered.

"You have no idea…" Nejire heard them, and with a sigh she shook her head at their obliviousness.

All around them was an endless sensory overload, and for a brief moment, the group felt an overwhelming sense of wonder.

"This calm feels too perfect, too... staged." Mic muttered.

"Glad to see you finally noticed." Aizawa answered.

"A trap?" Toshinori muttered next, moving closer to the two.

"One that has been sprung as soon as we arrived." Aizawa answered.

"There is a reason why everything here is peaceful and smells great. Be on your guard," Izuku answered.

Toshinori narrowed his eyes as he scanned the horizon, once again his instincts screamed that danger was just around the corner.

"Keep your guard up," he muttered, hands clenched tight into fists and One for All flaring to life into overdrive.

"This place... Doesn't feel right." Mic admitted.

"How so, sensei?" Tooru asked, confused.

Almost on cue, a massive branch of a near giant cherry tree that had appeared so harmless moments ago suddenly snapped forward like a whip with a deafening crack, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth hidden within its leaves.

Swing!

Momo leaped back just in time to watch in fear the snapping plant narrowly missing her arm, so close she could count the exact number of teeth in each leaf and see the glistening droll trailing behind the bite.

"Ah!" Her heart pounded in her chest as she watched the thin blade of energy Izuku shot with his dragon knife mince the entire branch in an instant.

"Fanged Cherries. The tree ensnares living beings to crush their bodies and extract every drop of water and minerals from the resulting pulp to fertilize its fruits. Their are perfectly ripe, want one?" With scary detachment, Izuku caught in his arms five or so cherries that fell from the cut branch, each big like a watermelon, and gave a bite to one of those dark-red fruits.

To him, those felt like the sweetest cherries human mind could imagine, with otherworldly juicy pulp and refreshing juices sweet and fruity to a level no normal cherry on earth could hope to ever match...

For everybody else, that was just the source of a terrifying realization: That land, the Gourmet World, wasn't paradise.

It was a death trap.

"Holy Crap!" Jiro, still trembling, pointed at the colorful flora. "That thing tried to eat Momo!"

"Unfortunately, that tree was just the one thing that could not hold back anymore." Izuku answered, sending the cherries away to his Restaurant's Storage Island.

"Uh?"

"INCOMING!" Toshinori yelled with wide eyes.

A loud rumble echoed through the valley, and all eyes turned to the source: a hulking beast with scales shining like gold and jaws wide enough to swallow an entire tree in one bite.

"A Golden Kong Troll? Is it Mating season already?! Fuck! They are extremely territorial and Violent! Even more so when they have already smelled a female in heat!" Izuku yelled in alarm.

The creature's massive tongue slithered out, tasting the air, before its eyes locked onto the adventurers with a predatory gleam.

Golden Kong Troll. Capture Level: 217.

"ROAAAAAR!" The roar was more deafening than the clap of a thunder-strike, and the hulking behemoth followed that by beating its colossal chest with its overly-muscular arms, and producing unnatural sharp noises, like metal striking metal.

"Run," Mina screamed, voice full of terror as the creature's Intimidation washed over the group.

"Wait! No! Don't run!" Izuku warned them with wide eyes, but it was too late.

The smell of fear, that was what the Gorilla and everything else around them felt, even if it lasted just a second before Mina recovered from the beast's Intimidation attack, it was enough to send the entire valley in a frenzy, because for a single instant Mina was not a trespasser, but Prey.

Plants came to life with vines and thorns sharp like metal blades, moles with far too many fangs erupted from underground, tigers with horns and six legs leaped down from the trees, other Troll Gorilla came running to look for the prey to kill and eat, birds stopped singing and started cawing at each other as if to argue about who had the right for the first bite.

The peaceful air was instantly shattered by that single instant of distraction.

"Damn it! Run ahead! Past the river! Hurry!" Izuku yelled, already moving towards the giant river of chocolate.

"Wha-"

"Just shut-up and run, goddamnit!" Rumi snapped, finally rebooting the overwhelmed students' brains.

The group broke into a sprint, dodging the attacking animals by zigzagging between the oversized vegetables and grotesquely large fruits, the plants' shadows were now twisting unnaturally as if to grab them.

The once-inviting landscape morphed into a twisted nightmare as the Ingredients themselves instantly became hostile.

"Izuku!" Ochako yelled.

"Down! Vajra Dicing!" The Chef yelled, and in a wide slash a big crescent blade of energy the color of moonlight shot forward at high speed, soaring over the heads of the students that had barely time to throw themselves on the ground.

The roots that had tried lashing-out like serpents to grab Shoto went diced into tiny cubes instantaneously.

"We need a bridge!" Mic yelled.

"Kansas City Smash!" Toshinori punched the ground to lift a giant slab of rock in front of him.

"Bodhi Pestle!" Izuku echoed right after, punching the giant boulder hard enough it propelled forward at insane speed, blowing away the golden gorilla running towards them, the giant rock landed in the middle of the massive river.

"Too small!" Mic said.

"I have an idea! TODOROKI! Ice!" Aizawa yelled.

"Yes!" The boy answered, using the massive rock as an intermediary point to form a bridge of ice big enough to carry them at the other side of the river.

"Go! Go! Go!" Never slowing down, the group hastily passed the rapidly melting ice bridge to reach the other side.

"Stomach tree! The fruits are corrosive!" Izuku yelled with wide eyes, because not even a second after the reached the other side, one of the trees in front of them started throwing big green fruits towards them.

"How?!" Mina asked.

"Self-defense! For that plant we are a threat!"

"Piss off! Samsara Moon Blade!" When the giant fruits came close enough to them, Rumi's right leg stomped down hard enough her feet went buried underground, anchoring her down so to use all her body strength to give a vertical kick with her left leg strong enough to create a blast of wind with such power it made the flying fruits scatter and drop all around them far enough to not hurt them, as soon as those fruits hit the ground they exploded into thick syrup that sizzled like acid.

"FUCK! My leg!" She then cried-out in pain while clutching her knee.

"Rumi!" Izuku was immediately at her side to help her.

"I tried to shot one of those fancy blades of yours, but I guess I am not there yet with ENBU." She said, smirking through the pain.

"Let's find a quiet place, I'll cook something with Healing Cuisine immediately." He said, worried sick about her.

"Thanks, babe." She answered, smiling grateful and kissing his cheek.

"We're not in a garden, we're in a battlefield!" Tooru shouted in horror.

The sky, so peaceful moments ago, now seemed oppressive, like it was pressing down on them.

"Texas Smash!" Toshinori punched forward as hard as he could, the wind pressure his punch generated forcing the birds chasing them to break formation.

"YEAAAAAAAH!" Mic at the same time pumped the volume of his costume's speakers at maximum and blew back the charging six-legged tigers of a couple feet with a loud scream, but besides probable ringing ears, those things seemed unrelenting in their pursuit as they charged them again as soon as their paws touched solid ground from their flight

.

Slepnir Tiger: capture Level 250. (400 if the entire pack is present)

"PISS OFF!" Izuku yelled next, eyes wide and Intimidation flaring to life.

To the others surprise, the scream actually seemed to have effect as the animals chasing them stopped abruptly, and locked eyes with the Chef.

"What… The fuck?" Katsuki muttered, confused.

The war of stares between Izuku, the birds and tigers lasted barely a couple minutes, then miraculously, the beasts all turned around and left.

"They seem to have lost interest in us." Toshionori said with narrowed eyes.

"Some battles are not worth fighting, Survival Instinct helps deciding that." Izuku answered, sighing.

"Indeed, young Midoriya."

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! WHY EVERYTHING IS DEADLY NOW?!" Kaminari shrieked.

"It always was, they were just waiting for you all to lower your guard." Izuku answered, sighing.

"It doesn't explain-" Mezo started saying, but then one of the shadows of a nearby rock seemed to detach from the ground to jump him.

Bang!

Toshinori's fist intercepted the attacking shadow, a baboon with pitch-black fur, and pushed it away.

"Oh, a Shaboon. The Baboons that hide in shadows." Izuku commented, unimpressed.

"Not a threat?" Aizawa asked while the thing twisted in the air to land on a tree branch and melt into the shadows like they were water.

"Only if in a group of ten or more. They are cowards, understandable since a single one has only a Capture Level of 40." He answered.

Shadow Baboon: Shaboon. Capture Level 40 (Capture Lvl of a group of 10: 200)

"Listen, you explained that Level thing. 40 would mean that a tank wouldn't hurt it. How can it not be dangerous? Are you pulling my leg?!" Mic said.

The Baboon had grown tired of circling them from the shadows, and tried rushing izuku from behind to what it believed being the young man's blind-spot.

"Because in the Gourmet World up to level 200 you are not a Predator, you are only Prey." Izuku answered, stepping to the side and letting the baboon fly past him.

"OOOK!" The thing drooled and spat in clear hunger, evidently already imagining eating them all, and they all could see it clearly in its eyes.

"Prey?" Nejire asked.

"Unfortunately, you will soon see…" Izuku answered, sighing sadly as he saw the Baboon grab a big mushroom from next to its feet.

As soon as the monkey bit into it, the fungus exploded in a cloud of poisonous spores, the baboon coughed, eyes wide as its skin started to blister, but before anyone could react, a large carnivorous flower swooped down and swallowed the monkey whole in a single gulp, leaving nothing behind but a pool of thick sap while the flower returned to hide between the leaves of a tall tree.

"…" Stricken silence followed the gruesome death.

"Don't get distracted. If you do, you die." Izuku said, shaking his head.

"Young Midoriya, be honest. What place is this?" Toshinori asked, extremely serious, so much so that his ever-present "All Might Smile" wasn't on his face.

"What do you mean?"

"This is not just another island, a secret location or any other buzzword a conspiracy theorist may use- not now, Young Todoroki!"

Shoto immediately lowered his hand.

"…"

"Mido… Izuku, where are we, really." Mic asked, bending down to meet Izuku's eyes and lowering his sunglasses.

"The Gourmet World." Izuku answered, with a pained sigh.

"Is it a fancy codename?" Aizawa asked.

"Not really… We are in a section of the planet far removed from the Human territories." Izuku explained.

"Human territories?" Himiko asked.

"Imagine the world map, with every state: America, Europe, Africa… All of them, the standard map… Picture it in your head." Izuku said.

"… Okay?" Toshinori said, unsure.

"Now imagine that the map continues beyond the 'blue circle' representing the oceans. The Gourmet World is located there, Out of frame. It's a vast, very vast expanse of land. Far bigger than the human territory."

"Wait! Wouldn't that mean that the planet is bigger than what we know?" Iida asked, confused.

"It is bigger."

"How much bigger are we talking about?" Aizawa asked, somehow feeling dread mounting in the back of his head.

"… 1.54 times bigger than Jupiter. Circa." Izuku finally said.

"Eh?!" The others screamed.

"This planet has a circumference of 220.213 kilometres." 808 explained.

"BULLSHIT!" Katsuki yelled.

"You can't hide the fact that the planet is this much fucking bigger! You can disprove flat-earthers because we got satellite images! We can see the entire planet!" He then said.

"Unless this is not planet earth." Izuku said, walking forward.

"Uh?"

"At least not anymore."

"Details are a mystery, but in an undetermined point in time, in the planet's past, something happened that changed the world. One of the Heavenly Kings, Coco, wrote a book about it. About his discoveries."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Aizawa asked, with his arms crossed.

"He jokingly called it Gourmet meteor Theory. He found a stone of unknown origin, able to absorb energy and grow from it. He theorized that a rather big chunk of it fell on earth and started absorbing energy from the planet's core, growing in size until the planet became big as it is today once that chunk of stone reached its limit. Turning what was Planet Earth in just a section of the new planet that grew around it."

"…"

"You saw the animals and plants here. How do you explain a mutation so massive to defy the laws of physics? Plants that, for example, thanks to internal chemical reaction can grow croissants already baked and still warm as if out of the oven?" The young Chef said, actually plunging one of those croissants from a branch and tossing it at Mina.

"Taste it." He said.

"… Down the hatch…" She muttered and gave a bite.

"HOLY FUCK!" Mina yelled in awe.

It was beyond perfect, a flavor profile she had never tasted before, the exterior layer was glazed to perfection, while the rest of the pastry was heavenly soft and fluffy, warm like just out of the oven and with a mesmerizing scent of baked sweets. It even had custard inside! Tasting of fresh eggs and with a smoothness Mina didn't think possible!

The girl just looked at the thing she had just bitten like something alien.

"Did I use to eat rotten stuff until now? That's what you are thinking." Izuku said, sighing.

"Yeah. Croissants don't taste like this… Nothing tastes like this…" Mina said, shocked and passing the half eaten thing to Tsuyu.

Croak! "They remind me of yours, from your Restaurant… Only… Different? Slightly Better? Can't say for sure." Tsuyu said with a very uncertain tone.

"That's because mine are made trying to replicate these. The fruits of the Croissant Pine tree. The Pinessant tree. Good to know I got closer still… I only need to use another kind of honey to get it 100% right, but I am glad that I got it 99% right by memory after eating it only once." Izuku said, grabbing more and tossing them at the others.

"A tree that grows food… How?" Mic said, studying the thing he was eating in confusion.

"Gourmet Era. That Meteor brought here Gourmet Cells, and those miraculous cells mutated everything everywhere, from the smallest microorganism to animals, plants, humans and even rocks." Izuku answered, cracking open a random boulder to show its inner colorful layers.

"… Is that a giant Jawbreaker Candy the size of a boulder?!" Kirishima said.

"Jawbreaker Stones. Yes, one this big is centuries old, every different ring is a layer of sugar that was added to it before the Sugar Volcano a couple kilometers from here spat it out. Remove the first few layers and then you can eat the rest."

"Wow."

"By the way, everything here is a Special Preparation Ingredient. If you want to try something, tell me, or else you will fail to collect it… Or die trying."

"Really?" Jiro said. "I call bull on that."

"Try to take one of the croissants yourself."

"Easy!" The girl said, smirking.

But as soon as her finger touched one of the fruits, those burst like balloons and splattered her face in hot custard.

"FUUCK!"

"You need to grab the lower end with two fingers, twist it slightly anti-clockwise while pulling with constant strength, then push it back against the branch while spinning it clockwise, and then pull it away with a sharp movement." Izuku said, doing as he said and safely collecting a new croissant.

"Why it has to be so complex?!" Jiro roared, and eating that pastry like a beast as a form of revenge against the plant.

"Oh! This is nothing, it barely fits into the Special Preparation label. The real esoteric ones are much more complex. Some Ingredients for example require you to visit the plant once a day everyday to pull on the fruit you want for no more than five minutes so to weaken the stems, do it for a month straight and you will be able to remove the fruit from the branch without ruining the fruit."

"Can't you just cut it!?"

"It rots instantly if you do."

"… Really?!"

"Feel free to not believe me."

"That is exactly my problem, young Midoriya. You can't hide all of this. Not even if every politician, Secret Society or Shadow Government or whatever pull their resources together. A cover-up operation for all of this is just not possible." Toshinori said, wildly gesticulating at everything around them.

"GRAAAAH!"

As a further addition to his words, a giant dragon (fifty meters long) with shining black scales flew above them roaring deafeningly, its high speed flying soon made it disappear beyond the horizon.

"…"

"Was that a damn dragon covered in those licorice spirals you find in candy stores?" Mic asked with bulged-out eyes.

"That was a Licorice Dragon. Capture Level of 600. It feeds on licorice trees mostly, to the point that their scales develop into actual candied licorice spirals once their body is done processing what they eat. Clockwise spirals for males, anti-clockwise for females." Izuku said, face-palming.

"Yes! You can't hide all this! Not even the HPSC can hide this! How does nobody know this?!" Aizawa yelled while pointing at the giant flying monstrosity.

"I'll explain everything as soon as we are done collecting Ingredients. Promise." Izuku answered, hurrying forward.

"Just because we don't have much time." Mic said, nodding and following him.

The group once again made their way through the strange valley of sweets, marvelling at the alien sights all around them, all accompanied by more scary visuals of plants and animals eating each other in very garish ways.

But they all decided to ignore the mountain the saw grow a mouth to take a bite out of a massive Oni-like being that had been attracted by the thing's flashy colors, especially the nightmarish crunching sound of the mountain munching with its mouth open.

"We are leaving the Dessert Plains, good. The first stop for the Ingredients is close." Izuku said, with a tone of relief.

"Where are we going?" Momo asked.

"Technically it is a swamp." Izuku answered.

"Technically?" Himiko asked, confused.

"Well. It's a swamp in looks. But everything there is coffee based." He explained.

"… I beg your pardon?" Aizawa muttered.

"The Caffeine Swamp, basically a giant cluster of thermal pools where coffee plants and other Ingredients congregate, so much so that by now those pools are full of every kind of coffee you can think of. You know… Venezuelan, Arabic… And that attracted many animals that have developed a dependency for Caffeine. One of which is the Caffeinoko we need. The Caffeinated Snake." Izuku explained.

"Why you need that thing?" Mic asked.

"I plan to make a stew using my Healing Cuisine. As I said, I need specific Ingredients to add special healing properties to the stew. The Caffeinoko is a very rare Ingredient and its venom, once purified, is used to create heart medicines. Nemuri-san's heart is under heavy fatigue at the moment, that medicine will ease that burden."

"So that explains the long list of stuff you need?"

"I compiled that list based on all the Ingredients I need to repair and strengthen Nemuri-san's body. We need a miracle to save her and I am not a God, so I need the proper instruments to do it."

"Then let's go collect them." Toshinori said.

"So you will ignore how strange this place is?" Izuku said with a weak smile.

"Be it a different planet, a massive cover-up operation or even a different dimension, if it will save our teacher, we will just march forward!" Iida said.

"Yes." Shoto echoed.

"Bring the weird! We can face it!" Tooru said.

"We are Heroes, there is nothing we can't face." Tokoyami declared, with Sero and Mezo nodding along behind him.

"I appreciate the bravado, I just hope that for once we won't meet the worse beasts you can usually find when you visit this part of the Gourmet World…" Izuku answered, sighing.

"Don't worry, nerd, You are selling us far too short! Me and those Extras can defeat everything we meet!"

"Except those golden Gorillas." Kirishima admitted, sheepish.

"Details!" Katsuki growled.

"Those are at the bottom of the food chain, the real threats are far worse." The young Chef answered, shivering.

Following the Chef, the group made their way forward, avoiding thanks to his directions two enormous deer-like beings over sixty meters tall smashing their horns in a contest of strength hard enough everything shook like during a cataclysmic earthquake.

"Okay… Maybe I can't kill that…" Katsuki muttered.

Followed by stumbling on several Twenty Meters tall bears shooting lasers from their mouths at each other in beam wars that would make Dragon Ball characters proud.

"… Neither that one…"

Then they saw entire swarms of Mosquitoes the size of elephants sucking dry a mountain-sized bison until only a dried-up hollow husks was left behind to disintegrate in the wind.

"Okay! Maybe I can kill one of those mosquitoes! Not a hundred, but maybe a single one I can kill!" Katsuki said, uncertain.

"Ssssh! We avoided those by miracle! Shut the fuck up!" Rumi hissed.

"How come you and those three don't seem as tense as we are?" Mina asked.

"We trust the fact that Icchan knows what he is doing," Nejire answered.

"And we saw our own fair share of weirdness, thanks to him." Ochako added.

"What do you mean?" Aizawa asked.

"I promised to not share too much details, but in turns, we all accompanied him in a sortie like this."

"How? Nezu would know if you left school." Mic asked.

"My Sponsor and their Warp Powers are at another level." Izuku said.

"At a dangerous level." Toshinori commented.

"They are not interested in kidnappings and power play. And maybe it's time you Heroes stop worrying about them being yet another Villain to vanquish, it's frankly annoying how you divide everything in just two groups: Villains or Heroes." Izuku answered, rolling his eyes.

"We are just worried about their possible reach if they can help students leave unnoticed." Mic said.

"Yes, I am aware that you others need to know absolutely everything about everybody so to monitor them 24/7, but to be honest, I don't like it."

"It's about safety." Aizawa scoffed.

"It's about totalitarian dystopic need of control. No amount of people kissing the ground you walk on will make me accept this just because you endorse or justify it, Aizawa-san."

"I don't endorse it. But you cannot know what your Sponsor-"

"I don't want nor need to know all about them. But by my own choice."

"Why?"

"Because I don't care. I want to own and manage my Restaurant, I want a quiet, uneventful, relaxed life… And ever since I started, I had not a single day of that between Villains, Rival Chefs and now this. I didn't follow the path of the Hero, and yet I am almost-constantly forced to fight against somebody to defend myself. I shudder to think what would have happened to me if I actually was part of your class."

"Maybe you should have joined instead. People need your Healing powers." Aizawa said.

"There are others already in the Hero Ecosystem with Healing Quirks, adding my powers to the pile won't change a thing. There are over fifty Healing Heroes in Japan alone. Recovery Girl is not that big a rarity, she is just the one more famous."

"One more is better than one less!"

"And what about what I want instead?"

"For the well being of the masses, you need to sacrifice what you want." Aizawa declared.

"Thank God the choice is not yours to make." Izuku answered.

"You-"

SLAM!

"Troublemaker." Whitey grabbed Aizawa by the throat and slammed him against a tree the moment the man tried grabbing Izuku's shoulder.

"GH!" Shota's face rapidly gained a blueish colour from choking.

"Aizawa!" Mic yelled, desperately trying to pull the robot's arm away.

"Call him back! Call him back!" Toshinori asked.

"Or else?" Shiro asked aloud, shocking the others.

"The pet can talk?" Mina muttered.

"He was just voicing an opinion!" Toshinori said.

"No. He was stating a fact. People need to stop worshipping him like the second coming of a God. He is not, and never was, infallible. And yet every time his opinions are put into discussion, others jump to his defence like lunatics." Shiro said.

"Let him go, Whitey. We are wasting time." Izuku said.

"Understood." The robot unceremoniously dropped Aizawa and returned to stand behind Himiko.

"Nothing Me or others say or do will change your opinions. And I have better things to do than defending myself from your fans that think you are infallible and always right. I won't do what you say. I am and will be a chef." Izuku said.

"But you-"

"It's either this or you kill me. I am done being forced to do what others tell me like a slave. You won't force me to obey."

"Others will! The HPSC-"

"Let them come!" He snapped.

"It's illogical."

"Big deal."

"So you are so selfish you want to put your family at risk to chase a childish dream?" Aizawa spat.

"… I'll pretend I didn't hear you threaten my family."

"Sooner or later you will need to lower your head and obey, selfishness kills."

"You done?" Rumi asked, scoffing.

"I am still your teacher!"

"FUCK OFF!" She roared.

"I will have you expelled."

"No, you won't." Mic said.

"Hiza-"

"Shut the fuck up, Shota. For once. Shut the fuck up."

"You-"

"Aizawa, I suggest you drop this. Or I will force you to." Toshinori said.

"I can stop your Quirk from working."

"And?"

"You can't attack me without it."

"I still have muscles and fists and my training… You are starting to believe your own hype, do you?"

"I am a realist!" Shota snapped.

"No, you are a pain in the ass that the public opinion put on a pedestal for some unfathomable reason." The other answered.

"… What is happening?" Izuku whispered.

"Lately Mic-sensei and Aizawa-sensei have been arguing more often." Momo answered.

"They always had clashing opinions, and I guess this clash has finally started showing its effects. Mic-sensei is more positive and hopeful, while Aizawa-sensei is more… let's say negative." Ochako added.

"It doesn't help that Aizawa-san also has a bad opinion of Life, Destiny, Fate, Luck, Society, School, Laws, Politicians… Well, he believes that a lot of bad things are inevitable and if you are hopeful then you are a childish fool." Nejire said.

"And nobody ever bothered to call him out on the giant stick he has up his ass. Vlad-sensei often says that he should be in therapy, instead of teaching. But Nezu likes to keep him around, probably he finds his antics amusing, and he met several 'Yes Men' that constantly second his delirious God Complex." Rumi said.

"Oh… So, since I said no to him, I triggered him? Is that the term?"

"Everything triggers him. Don't bother walking on eggs around him, that's our curse, not yours." Momo answered, sighing.

"So you will be in trouble?" Izuku asked.

"Mineta is still in school after all he did and just got a reprimand and obligatory Counselling. At worst we will get some detention. You instead, well, you got half the Heroes, Villains and Vigilantes of the damn Planet as your loyal customers… I don't believe you'll have to fear anything. Even The Great and Invincible Aizawa-sama can't face that. No matter what his ass-kissers say." Rumi answered.

"Ah, so you noticed." Izuku said, sheepish.

"You mean about your customers? Apparently only we four did, and we won't tell." Nejire answered.

"Oh, thank you!"

"YAOMOMO! OCHAKO-CHAN! Help!" Tsuyu yelled.

Apparently, during their talk Mic had grown tired of Aizawa's deranged ideas and had jumped him, and now the students and Toshinori were desperately trying to separate the two.

"What the hell?!" The five yelled.

"ENOUGH YOU TWO!" Toshinori yelled, lifting both men by the back of their necks like misbehaving cats to keep them apart.

"You won't get in the way of Nemuri's healing!"

"I am not getting in the way! I am just being realist! He is acting like a spoiled child!"

"He just wants to be free and happy! What's wrong with that?!"

"He has a duty! Ever since he unlocked those powers his Fate was sealed!"

"SILENCE!" Toshinori bellowed and shook the two.

"…"

"Good. Now, this is what will happen: You two will stay silent and accompany us and help. You will keep your opinions to yourself or so help me, I will give you two all the slaps your parents were too gentle to not give you to teach you manners!" All Might declared with furious, blazing eyes.

"…"

"Understood?!" his voice boomed and echoed in the area.

"… Yes, sir." Both Mic and Shota muttered with a grunt.

"Good." He dropped them on the ground.

"Shouldn't the boy apologize to me?" Shota tried saying.

"No." Izuku answered.

"You-"

CROAK!

A loud, distorted croak echoed from a pond of stagnant sugar water nearby.

"What was that? Sounded like a frog, only big." Tsuyu said.

"Oh no…" Izuku muttered in horror.

"What?"

Croak!

Three strange creatures were lazing about next to the pond, their bodies were around five meters long and four meters tall with short legs, stout and frog-like, with orange claws on their digits and large aqua-colored beaks full of sharp teeth and pupil-less black eyes.

"Mamew…" Izuku hissed, moving in front of Eri and Himiko.

"Dangerous?" Aizawa asked, anger and stubbornness forgotten and switched with his Pro Hero mindset.

"Very. They are monstrosities of muscle and claws, giant piranha on legs, they move endlessly in search of food like locusts, never satiated." He answered.

"Maybe we can avoid them by circling around-"

SNAP!

Everyone sharply turned around to watch in horror the twig that had snapped with a far too loud sound under Jiro's foot to interrupt Mic's suggestion.

"… Oh, shit!" Izuku cursed as the three Mamew immediately jumped to their feet to look straight at them.

"…" A long silence fell in the area.

"Capture Level?" Toshinori asked, gulping.

"By IGO old standards 'Immeasurable'… Meaning 101 at the very least, they never updated their ranking. It's unclear if each one of them is over 100, or if it refers to when there are multiple of them together." Izuku answered.

"Shit!"

"KRAAAAAAH!" One of the Mamew gave a deafening shrieking roar, sending its two companion in a frenzy as the three of them charged the group.

The three soon grew tired of circling them like predators, their beady eyes shone with mindless hunger, with their sharp fangs glinting in the sunlight as they charged them wildly enough the ground rumbled with their sheer weight as they closed in.

Aizawa, his expression hard and focused, snapped into action. "Stay together. Don't engage head-on unless I give the order! These things are leagues beyond anything we've faced until now."

"… Fuck. Whitey, 808, Shiro! Protect the others!" Izuku at the same time yelled and ran away.

"Understood!"

"Is he escaping?!" Kirishima shirked.

"He has no Quirk, let him seek a safe hiding spot! As for now his safety has priority!" Mic answered.

"Remember! He is a VIP Civilian in a dangerous situation now! We have to keep those three away from him!" Aizawa added.

"Incoming!" Toshinori yelled, punching the first Mamew away, and growing surprised at how sturdy their body felt.

With that toughness, it felt like he had punched something far bigger, like a giant Villain the size of Mt. Lady, not something as big as that Mamew.

"They are stronger than what they look! Careful!" He warned them.

Class 1-A braced themselves, sweat running down their faces as they flared their Quirks in preparation.

"I hate this place." Rumi muttered, jumping away to avoid a snapping bite.

They all knew, deep down, they felt the pure impossibility of this fight.

"These creatures! They're fast, impossibly strong, and built for war in a world that operates on different rules!" Iida yelled, speeding away as far as he could to try outrunning the Mamew chasing him.

"To put it mildly!" Toshinori answered while meting the charge of the Mamew jumping him head-on.

He twisted his body just in time to avoid a direct hit, barely skirting the savage bite to cross-counter it with a punch between the beast's eyes, with the shock-wave from the beast's charge and Toshinori's punch attack blasting behind the two hard enough to crack the ground, and making both skid back of few feet once the terrain fully gave-up under them.

A second Mamew charged in while the first was still tumbling on the ground from the punch, this time from the side.

Aizawa's eyes flared, his Capture Weapon scarf whipped forward to wrap around the beast's mouth and legs to try tripping it, and watching in dismay the Mamew managing to at least free its mouth with just few bites, with the rest of the power of its charge still making it reach him.

"Crap!" Aizawa yelled, rolling to the side and watching the thing bite a small rock behind him so hard the damn thing exploded.

"Yagi!" He shouted. "Keep them off balance! Class A-1, give him space!"

The students scrambled to execute his orders, Shoto unleashed a burst of ice, trying to slow the creature's advance, but besides tripping them to slow them down, the Mamews' sheer strength helped them shatter the frozen thick barriers he erected between them and the class like glass.

"Little help here!" He asked aloud.

"Acid works, but it makes them angry!" Mina yelled in distress, she was using her Qurik to coat her feet in acid and skate on the floor to gain enough speed to try escape the beasts.

"Spiral wall!" luckily Nejire's wall of energy spirals lasted long enough against the Mamew's assault to let her escape.

"Thank you, senpai!" Mina yelled in relief.

Meanwhile -

"THEY CAN SMELL ME!" Tooru, naked, thus completely invisible, was hanging from a tree branch while a Mamew under her kept jumping in the air to reach her.

"RRRAAAAH!" Mezo roared while punching the thing's side as hard as he could.

"Grrrrr…" With the only effect of annoying the beast that slowly turned to look at him.

"In my head this was a good idea." He admitted with a low voice.

"CROAK!"

"CRAP!"

"ENBU: Vajra Moon Spear!" Rumi came to his rescue with a flying kick that managed to make the Mamew slid away of few feet.

"Thank you!" Both Mezo and Tooru said.

"I barely bruised a rib of that thing! It's too son to thank me!" She answered while dragging both away to escape the thing.

At the same time

"Ice and fire doesn't work!" Shoto declared once seen the Mamew trying to eat him and Tsuyu fearlessly charge them through flames and ice walls.

"Eek!" Tsuyu at the same time thanked her frog Quirk to help her jump away high and fast enough to barely avoid the bite that was about to snap her in two.

"Can't you talk to them? They seem to be frog-like enough." Shoto asked.

"It doesn't work like that, Shoto!" Tsuyu yelled in answer.

"Are you sure? Because I read online that-"

"IT KEEPS EATING MY TAPE LIKE SPAGHETTI! HEEEEEELP!"

"Later." Shoto switched gear.

"Oh, for the love of God…" Tsuyu muttered with a sigh of dismay.

Not too far away

"Heads down!" Bakugo was already in the air, launching himself forward with explosions, trying to draw attention away from Toshinori.

"Over here, frog assholes!" His blasts landed fully on the beasts' thick hide to anger them and distract them.

"CROAK!"

"It worked!" Katsuki yelled in satisfaction once seen his bangs irritate them.

"Croak!" And in return, one of the Mamew swiped at him with one claw.

"Shit! It worked!" Bakugo attitude towards his distraction changed when he barely managed to avoid the strike coming with far more speed he had anticipated from something as bulky as those beasts, enough so the wind from its swing sent him fly like a ragdoll.

"Fuuuck!" He yelled in anger, and secretly relieved to see a deep gash being cut on his gauntlet, instead of on his chest… He also tried to not think about the fact that that deep cut on his armored gauntlets had been done by the air displaced by the attack, and not the claw itself.

"YEAAAAH! … Holy shit, they are relentless!" Mic was heard scream at random intervals towards the various Mamew to help the students escape and survive the beasts.

Toshinori gritted his teeth and his punch rose again, once again his towering strength burning brightly thanks to the resurrected One for All inside him; He dodged the wild, frenzied attacks of the third Mamew, rolling and sliding under its claws, and using the terrain to his advantage and finally punching the thing's gut so hard it finally sent it flying, although he couldn't tell if he could at least crack a rib of the thing, their hide was damn too thick to tell.

"Limping? Eh, I'll consider it a victory then!" He declared with a smirk once seen the faint limp the beast showed once back to its feet.

He glanced at Aizawa, with a plan finally unfolding in his mind.

"They're too stupid to strategise, they are all brawn but no brain." Toshinori said-

"That means they're predictable. They attack in a straight line, and charge forward too fast to properly change direction." Shota added.

"Precisely."

Aizawa's strategy was clear: wear them down and make them tire from their own relentless aggression.

"We need anything that can blind, disorient, distract and or confuse!" He said.

"I can do that!" Momo said, already creating smoke bombs with her Quirk.

"I can do bright lights!" Nejire, spirals of blinding light twirling in her hands, answered.

"Okay! Maybe we should have took Aoyama with us! He is the sparkling master!" Kaminari said, with his mind already wavering from over-usage of his Powers.

"Principal Nezu wants him to keep feeding wrong info to the Villains, he didn't let him come!" Kyoka answered.

"I know!"

"I can try making my acid viscous, it may not work at hurting them, but it can still glue their eyes shut!" Mina said, unsure.

"Good! Wait for my signal as soon as their next charge starts, then aim for their eyes!" Aizawa answered.

"Croak!" The Mamew were faster than anything they've ever encountered, making aiming for their smallish eyes even harder.

Already, Kaminari and Sero were struggling just to stay out of reach, dodging and weaving through the massive roots of the pastry trees, hoping their being big and heavy would work against the beasts.

"Do they ever get tired?!" Sero yelled, to them each dodge felt like it could be their last.

"Doesn't look like it!" Kaminari answered, hitting one of the Mamew's eyes with a bolt of electricity, blinding it just long enough for the thing to trip and fall face-first on the ground.

"YEAAAAH!" Present Mic's voice boomed, a deafening sonic blast aimed directly at the closest Mamew with enough force to stagger the beast and make it focus on him instead of the students.

"That's right, focus on me! There are more screams from where that one came from!" He said with a smirk, and watching the thing shake its head violently, recovering quickly. but with ringing ears.

"Keep moving! Don't let them lock onto you! Force them to switch target constantly! They don't seem good at tracking multiple people at the same time!" Toshinori yelled over the chaos.

He had just a split second to grab a Mamew's short tail to pull it away from trying to eat Jiro and Tooru and throw it away, and he was glad he managed to save those two at the last second.

"The skin is too thick! My jacks can't pierce! What the hell?! I can pierce concrete with these!" The girl yelled in disbelief.

Aizawa's voice soon managed to cut through the roars of the Mamews, sharp and commanding. "Retreat! Now! Fall back to the trees! We will use their bulk against them!"

One by one, the students scrambled toward the massive trees, their only possible cover.

"Croak!" The beasts regrouped and charged forward like a single wall of teeth, unfortunately for them their hulking frames showed being too large to follow easily through the dense next of roots under the massive plants, forcing them to waste time biting their way through while the Heroes and Students could just squeeze through them easily.

But as the team retreated, it became clear that even this cover wouldn't have been enough.

The Mamew still pushed forward through the giant plants and trees due to their endless hunger, their wild attacks cutting through trunks and branches like paper and the ground shaking from the sheer strength behind each step.

Toshinori ducked behind a tree trunk just before it splintered apart, sweat pouring down his face.

"There has to be a way…" He muttered in anger, his muscles were aching, willing to punch but unsure about how much power to put behind each hit.

Aizawa, catching his breath, looked to him, his eyes gleaming despite the overwhelming odds.

"No more direct fighting. We keep moving. We stay alive. We buy time."

"Time for what?" Mic asked, glaring at the Mamew still wrecking trees to reach them.

"Either until a Miracle happens, or until they finally deem eating us not worth the effort and they leave on their own." Shota answered.

With another deafening crash, one of the Mamew sliced through the towering pastries tree, sending a rain of debris and confectionery cascading down all over them.

"They are fucking stubborn!" Katsuki said.

"Wait! Where are Eri and Himiko?!" Ochako finally noticed who was missing.

"Oh my God!" Momo yelled at the same, horrifying realization.

To their surprise, Himiko and Eri were safely encased in a translucent dome of energy created by 808 and BoB, an indestructible barrier with a faint honeycomb motif that was keeping a fourth Mamew at bay.

"CROAK!" The beast kept assaulting the shield with tireless fury, throwing itself at the thing over and over again, uncaring of the bruises it was collecting.

"Attacking is futile. Desist." The tiny robot declared.

"Troublemaker, stop attacking or you will be stripped as an example to others!" Whitey declared with red eyes.

"It doesn't wear clothes, Whitey." Himiko said, body tense and eyes keeping track of the Mamew's every movement.

"Skin is a good substitute." The chubby robot answered.

"Okay, for now they are safe, but we need to hurry! I don't know for how long that thing can continue creating a shield!" Mic said.

"Sure as fuck we could use one of those!" Katsuki admitted between gritted teeth.

It was then that Toshinori noticed something, a slight delay in the attacks of that Mamew, a momentary pause in their rampage.

A flaw, however small, in their otherwise relentless onslaught.

"They tire. Not much, but they tire!" He called out to Aizawa, voice hoarse but steady.

"Then we keep wearing them down. Little by little." Aizawa's eyes narrowed.

"Our miracle?" Mic asked, smirking.

"Took it long enough!" He admitted.

The Mamews hunting them down roared again, their primal fury still going undeterred.

"That's good to know. But we are kind of getting tired here." Rumi admitted angrily.

The students of Class 1-A were still standing, but battered, bloody, and breathless, but they were still unwavering, making Toshinori and their teachers proud of them.

Crack! With a loud and dull sound, the last few roots finally gave-in, opening the way for the Mamew to reach them.

"Incoming!" Mic yelled.

Splat! A thunderous crack echoed through the plains, followed by a gut-wrenching crunch when a massive foot came down hard on one of the beasts to squash it.

The unfortunate Mamew only managed to let out a strangled roar of surprise before it got crushed under the colossal weight of the new arrival.

"What the Hell is that…" Mic muttered with his sunglasses slipping down a bit.

"A seven-meters-tall gorilla. The last thing we needed," Shota answered with a bitter tone.

The gorilla's thick, four-armed frame towered above the battlefield, its muscles rippling like the surface of a lake disturbed by a storm. The ground trembled beneath its feet as the beast regarded the fallen Mamew with indifference, as though squashing it was merely an inconvenience.

Crunch! Toshinori's eyes widen as the massive gorilla grabbed one of the two Mamew remaining in one of its massive hands and beheaded the creature with a single bite, then it roared.

Its bellow shook the air and sent a shiver down the spines of Class 1-A, The students stumbled back in horror, but Toshinori stepped forward.

"Aizawa," Toshinori muttered, cracking his neck. "Take the kids. I'1l handle this."

"Toshinori, no-" Aizawa started, but he then saw the determined glint in the Number 1's eyes.

This was different.

Toshinori wasn't making a stand for heroism, He was confronting the gorilla as if it was challenge, an instinctual battle between two powerful beings.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

And by how hard and loudly the giant gorilla drummed its chest with its massive hands, the beast seemed eager to test Toshinori's resolve, if as a test or just a game before eating the guy, nobody knew.

The gorilla's savage gaze locked onto Toshinori, and with a very human-like smile, as if recognizing All Might's approach for the challenge it was.

"Me and you." Toshinori said, unsure if the beast could understand him at all.

Seeing the gorilla going through a new round of drumming its chest, the Heroes guessed that the thing apparently understood the man's words.

BANG!

With an uncaring kick of the giant beast, the remaining Mamew went sent flying away, punishing it for daring to stand in the way between the Gorilla and its new playmate.

Without hesitation, Toshinori sprinted forward, meeting the monstrous creature head-on.

"TEXAS SMASH!" His fist collided with one of the gorilla's massive fists, sending shock-waves through the air.

The gorilla growled, swiping back with two arms in a devastating counterattack, but Toshinori slipped past the first, planting his feet and delivering a crushing punch to the beast's abdomen right on one of the creature massive ribs.

The force of his strike was immense, but the gorilla barely flinched, instead, it grinned, its fanged maw splitting open as it swung all four arms at once, forcing Toshinori to dodge with all his agility.

BOOM!

The others watched in horror as the four punches collided with the ground at the same time with the strength of a meteor, pulverizing many trees and drilling a deep crater large enough to fit an entire stadium in.

"Las Vegas Smash!" The exchange continued, With Toshinori assaulting the Gorilla with a powerful double punch.

With a new explosion of pressurized air, their primal dance of brute strength and raw willpower continued, human punch and gorilla punch meeting half-way in deafening bangs with overwhelming blasts of wind created by the clashing opposite forces rattled a wide area around the two.

Punches were thrown and parried, each blow more powerful than the last. Non-stop. Without rest or pause.

"ARGH!" Toshinori felt the impact of every strike rattling through his bones, each fist of the beast as big as a damn truck and hitting with terrifying strength… But there was no fear, no hesitation in his movements, something that shocked even he himself.

For the first time in his life, Toshinori felt something profound bloom in his chest…

Liberation.

His heart was pounding not with the weight of responsibility, but with exhilaration.

"This is different," He realized.

That fight against the Gorilla was not about saving lives, not about being a symbol of peace or even revenge… It was only about two beings, two forces of nature, testing each other's limits.

Two kids playing around with hits that could turn any other being into red smears, and they were exchanging them non-stop, without a care in the world.

With every hit exchanged, Toshinori felt more alive than he ever had, his body surged with power as he went all-out for the first time in a long time, pushing himself to the absolute peak, something he hadn't done in years.

"I feel… Free." He muttered while unleashing every last ounce of strength he's ever held back, with every muscle burning as he delivered punch after punch in complete freedom.

He felt faster, stronger, more brutal than ever before, but it was not reckless! It was calculated, primal! Pure primitive instinct beyond the training of a Hero!

"Hey, Gorilla-san..." Toshinori thought, grateful.

For the first time, All Might was no longer bound by fear or duty, he went beyond it.

"Is this a battle to the Death for you too? Or just a game. Eh, Gorilla-san?" He wasn't afraid of dying! Not here, not in this moment!

"Can you feel it, Gorilla-san? The Excitement?" Death seemed inevitable to Toshonori, but for the first time in his life, that also didn't matter, what was important was the fight itself, the pure clash of strength between two towering powerhouses.

The gorilla roared again, its body holding staggering power and putting it into each punch of its barrage of blows, and Toshinori still met its rush with a fierce grin of his own.

"Thank you, Gorilla-san. I am truly grateful… For once, I can just fight. Without fear of breaking stuff, without the weight of Duty and Honor or being judged for overdoing..." Toshinori's body was awash in pain, his muscles were straining, and the blood rushing through his veins felt like fire as the thrill of the fight washed over him.

Every instinct told him this was the end, but it was the most freeing moment of his life.

"OOOK!" The Gorilla roared, meeting head-on the small guy's fierce attacks with the pride of a father watching his kid taking his first steps.

The two continued to exchange blows, each punch shaking the ground around them; It was an unspoken understanding between the two warriors: this fight wasn't about survival.

It was a contest of strength between two powerful beings, and the gorilla almost felt honored of being the one thing Toshinori could finally go all-out with, having understood All Might's plight at lacking somebody able to stand after his full power was unleashed, a sense of understanding that transcended their difference in race.

Toshinori landed a powerful uppercut to the gorilla's jaw, finally sending it stumbling back of a single step.

"Well done, little thing. Feels good, isn't it?" It was so clear the Gorilla was thinking it, if one looked in its proud eyes and human-like smile, that the onlookers could almost swear the thing had actually talked to say it.

Blood dripped from the beast's mouth once it removed the one loose tooth the punch weakened, but no frown formed on the big animal's face.

"Thank you, Gorilla-san… Should I die today, I die with no regrets." Toshinori muttered with a beaming smile, one he was legendary for.

His Legacy will live on with Mirio, so his Quest against All for One, the new Generations of Heroes kept shining brightly, and even more New Heroes will come in the future! All things considered, All Might really had no regrets and openly embraced the possibility of dying that day, after an amazing, glorious battle against a worthy opponent.

"Maybe this is how Nana felt during her last moments… Finally free of every burden and just… Herself." Toshinori had that strange, morbid moment of realization, and yet in that moment it felt like it made sense.

"Come on!" Toshinori roars, his voice filled with the exhilaration of a warrior lost in the heat of the moment, his chest heaving with each breath, his body battered but victorious.

There is no fear. Only the raw, pure thrill of battle.

Fling!

Then something strange happened, the giant gorilla suddenly switched gear and rushed forward faster than before, maw hanging open and drool cascading like a waterfall, and a Beast took the place of the Warrior Toshinori was facing, as if it was all only an act.

But before the thing could actually jump All Might, the Gorilla stopped mid-step to remain frozen in place, like a still picture.

"… Eh?" Toshinori muttered confused, then he noticed the extremely thin line that was separating the beast in two vertical halves, he saw it because whatever it was was sinking deep into the creature's flesh.

"Hair net!" A youthful voice said smugly, and a tall man with extremely long and colorful hair walked out from behind the giant Gorilla.

"Brutish strength, hn! Never understood why people like to fight with these ugly things!" The stranger said with a frown, and yet his androgynous features still remained breathtakingly mesmerizing.

"Who are you?" All Might asked, and a flicker of light made him have a double-take… Was the guy paralysing that giant beast with one single hair?

"My name is Sanni, my uncouth and ugly stranger!" He said while tossing a fringe of hair back with a flourish.

"Uncouth and Ugly? Young Sanni! That… That's unnecessary mean! We just met!" Call it whiplash from the sudden change in situation, but Toshinori felt almost childishly offended at that remark!

Nobody ever called him ugly! The nerve of his poncy boy!

"Please forgive my brother, He tends to let his personal tastes in beauty cloud his manners." Another young and tall man, this one wearing a green turban, joined the scene as well.

"CROAK!"

"Behind you!" Mic yelled with wide eyes as the two Mamew remaining switched target from Eri and them to the guy.

"Poison Bullet!" The tall man said with a kind smile, and flicking a small ball of bright-purple sludge the size of a pea to each Mamew from his index finger.

Pluck! Pluck!

The two drops nailed the Mamew between the eyes with two very soft plopping sounds, and with a weak whimper the two charging monsters immediately fell on the ground unconscious.

"… The fuck? Just like that?!" Katsuki swore with wide eyes.

"My name is Coco. Nice to meet you." Coco said, and with another tiny drop of poison, the Gorilla too fell down on the ground.

"Hn! In a couple hours they will wake-up. Are you others okay?" Sanni asked.

"Yes, honestly I was running out of ideas to deal with them." Aizawa answered.

"We almost got eaten alive, but could have gone worse." Nejire added, chuckling.

"You were lucky, a Bully Gorilla and Mamew are between the worst you can meet in the Gourmet World." Coco said, shaking his head.

"Bully Gorilla?" All Might asked.

"This ugly thing likes to fight things, using increasingly more strength to break the spirit of the prey, then the victim either grows tired and gets eaten, or the gorilla grows bored and stops playing and eats the prey." Sanni answered.

"… Okay, it spoils my fight a little, but it won't ruin my good mood." Toshinori answered.

"Then stop kicking the monkey in the shins. That's petty even for you." Aizawa said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh. Sorry!" Toshinori, now blushing, finally noticed what he was doing to the unconscious beast and stopped.

"Silliness aside, thank you for helping us, we were over our head in this situation and would have been in deep trouble had you not arrived." Iida said, bowing respectfully towards the two.

"No need for that! We were in the area to look for somebody and saw you were being attacked, we would have never forgiven ourselves if we could not help you." Coco answered.

"You okay, young lady?" Sanni asked to the approaching Himiko and Eri.

"Uh-hu…" The kid muttered, shy.

"Uhm… Here." Sanni's hair moved by itself like a whip to attack a near tree and retrieve a lollipop for her.

"… Daddy says I shouldn't accept candies from strangers." Eri muttered.

"Oh! He taught you well! Good!" Sanni said, smiling.

"This is not a place for kids, may I ask you why you are here?" Coco asked.

"We are accompanying a friend here, a Chef. He needs some Ingredients to create a Healing Dish for a dear friend of me and Shota… But I fear we underestimated the dangers of this place." Hizashi admitted with a sigh.

"He didn't warn you about the Gourmet World?" Coco asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, Icchan did. But I think we kind of underplayed how serious he was." Ochako admitted with a forced smile many of her classmates copied sheepishly.

"That was not very bright! You were awfully lucky! Usually Mamew attack in packs of several dozens!" Sanni harrumphed with a prima donna flare.

"Several dozens?!" Tooru and Mina shrieked in horror while hugging each other.

"Three almost eat me alive! I can't fight a dozen at the same time!" Kaminari yelled.

"One of those bit through my Hardening, I don't want to imagine fighting multiple dozens at the same time!" Kirishima chorused.

"… It is indeed strange. It's very rare for Mamew to move in such small numbers, and even if they do, the rest of the pack is close enough a scream of theirs would call over every one else." Coco muttered while looking at the downed beasts.

"Where is your Chef friend?" Sanni asked.

"Izuku-san? He ran in that direction as soon as the fight started." Tsuyu answered while pointing to an isolated patch of trees.

"Deep into the Caffeine Swamp?" Coco said with an urgent tone.

"What?"

"Bad news?" Sanni said, tense.

"There is a sea of Elecromagnetic Waves there! That's where the rest of the Mamew pack is!" Coco answered.

"IZUKU!" Momo, Ochako, Nejire and Rumi yelled in fear while running away towards where their boyfriend ran.

"WAIT!" Mic and Toshinori yelled, chasing them.

"Stop running! He is probably dead!" Aizawa yelled, chasing them as well.

"Don't you dare even suggesting that, you Hobo!" Katsuki, turning frantic, screamed.

The rest of the students and Coco and Sanni joined the chase right after.

"Electromagnetic Waves?" All Might asked.

"Coco's eyes are special, he can see the full spectrum of light, Electromagnetic Waves and Shadow of Death comprised, he can use that to judge the power of a target." Sanni explained.

"Can you see if Icchan is alive?!" Rumi asked.,

"I can only see the Mamew's EM Waves… No wait, there is a single dot standing-out." Coco answered in relief.

"Maybe he's hiding!" Himiko said, afraid.

"Daddy!" Eri screamed in fear.

"You two will stay with the robot! It's too dangerous!" Aizawa ordered.

When they arrived at the caffeine swamp forest, they hurried past the trees and soon started seeing something strange.

"What the…" Mic uttered in confusion.

There were Mamew lying on the ground haphazardly, with some even dangling from the various trees, as if they were toys thrown around by a toddler during a tantrum, and the deeper they moved, the more numerous the beaten Mamew became.

"There it is, the rest of the pack." Coco said.

"All unconscious, Knocking probably. By the looks of it, made by a damn good user. Your Chef Friend must have passed by here." Sanni added.

"He did this?" Tooru asked, confused.

"ROAAAAR!" A loud roar almost blew open their eardrums.

"Another one of those gorillas!" Toshinori yelled.

BOOOM!

A loud bang rattled the trees and shook the ground, and the Gorilla's roar went abruptly silenced.

"Fuck! Run faster!" Katsuki yelled, eyes unblinking as he scanned everywhere for any trace of the young Chef.

"Over there." Coco instructed, guiding the others towards the source of the noise.

"I think we found both your friend and the guy we were looking for. And they happen to be the same person." Sanni said with a pleased smile once they reached Izuku.

"Good to know we were actually told the right place to be. Roppo-san really is a Master in her craft!" Coco added, he too smiling happily.

The others instead watched in silence the small clearing in the woods that had just been created by Izuku's fight against that horde of Mamews, a large circle free of trees that had been destroyed into splinters during the fight.

The young Chef was sitting on one of the fallen trees while watching the burning fire in front of him, all around him dozens of those Mamews that had been knocked unconscious, apparently in the same time Toshinori and the others took to deal with the three of them they stumbled on and the fourth one that had probably slipped past him in the confusion.

"…" Toshinori was looking at the towering bodies of two exemplars of the same giant gorilla he had just recently been exchanging punches with, and both creatures looked like they had been beaten black and blue by that same tiny Chef.

Izuku himself was a mess, kinda, his Uniform was still pristine clean, while his body was covered in bruises and scratches and bites, he even had a deep gash on his cheek so deep his gums could be seen clearly, but amazingly enough, he looked unbothered by his wounds.

"Someone once said…" They heard Izuku say with a lisp and laboured breath while he kept turning the Mamew to cook it on the open fire.

"That there is a clover with four leaves that come together to make a delicious Hamburger…"

"The four-leaves Cloverger," Coco said with a small smile, he walked forward and sat next to the young Chef.

"That there are french fries butterflies that smell of fragrant butter…" Izuku kept saying.

"The Butterfries." Sani, chuckling, said while sitting at Izuku's other side.

"This is the Gourmet World. A world full of still untold flavors." Izuku finished saying, eating the Mamyu's meat with giant bites.

"Are you okay?!" Momo yelled.

"I have been better. While waiting for you I captured that chubby snake, the Caffeinoko." Izuku answered, chuckling.

The four girls were the first to reach his side, followed by the rest of the group.

"NO! You can't get wounded we-" Mic started saying.

"It's okay, give me a minute to eat and-"

"No! You-"

"I said to give me a minute." The Young Chef calmly said that while pointing a knife at Mic's eye… That the man then saw was instead the teen's finger once he blinked.

"Exactly."

"What?" The Hero muttered.

"You let your guard down for a second, technically speaking, you should be dead by now." Coco explained.

"Uh?"

"Time ago, Humanity discovered that there was a whole other world outside the borders of what would one day be called The Human Territory (World)." Izuku started saying while eating.

"When the border between the Human territories and this new land was reached, they saw what they believed was Heaven being just a short trip away… Endless food, boundless richness of Ingredients beyond their mere imagination, all there for them to pick." Sani added, shaking his head, and without even looking, a single strand of his hair moved by itself to strangle a Mamyu that was trying to stealthily jump him, the beast was then left dangling over the fire to cook.

"Unfortunately, it was not Heaven. Hundreds of Thousands of hopeful people blindly rushed to explore this new lands, hoping to bring back untold riches that would not only change the world, but give them untold Wealth and Immortality, remembered forever as Pioneers of a new Era." Coco said right after, happily accepting the giant Mamew roasted leg Izuku handed him to eat.

"What the first explorers found, was the most delicious and colorful form of Hell. And of those countless hundreds of thousands of people that rushed here, barely a handful returned barely alive, scarred forever. Everything here is edible and delicious, to such degrees your mind would unravel if not prepared. Problem is, not just everything here is food, you and the explorers too were and are food for everything there." Izuku finished saying.

"Watch." Coco offered, throwing part of the Mamew leg through the trees.

Swing! Kasha! Chomp! Tear! Snip!

The Students, Mic, Aizawa and Toshinori all watched in abject horror as the giant leg (Weighting a good fifty kilograms of plump meat) went attacked by Bugs, Small mammals, Birds, and even plants! Each of the thousands shadows that swarmed the meat at near-invisible speed each took off a bite…

"…" The others all looked in shock as the meat couldn't even start its descent from the apex of its flight, it had been attacked barely a second after it left Coco's hand, and nothing reached the ground, everything had been eaten, bones too.

"In the Gourmet World, even a millionth of a second of distraction means instant death, and nothing will be left to be buried." Coco explained.

"Even the world strongest Gourmet Hunters, the Monsters of Humanity, are cautious here. Veterans that came here countless times, they too still act as if coming here for the first time, every time." Izuku added.

"And yet, if you are strong enough, here you will find Ingredients you can't even dream about. Beautiful, isn't it?" Sani asked with a smile.

"Then… Then why are we not being attacked?" Himiko asked.

"We are in a safe zone." 808 answered, still orbiting around Eri's head.

"Come here, Eri…" Izuku said, smiling and opening his arms wide.

"Daaaaaad!" The girl yelled in tears while hugging the boy tight, sitting on his lap right after to be as close as possible to him.

"Yes, we are in a Safe Zone, an artificial one." Coco confirmed.

"Artificial?" Toshinori asked.

"You three did something." Aizawa said with narrowed eyes.

"We are doing something, hn!" Sani corrected him, harrumphing.

"And what are you…" Katsuki tied saying before pressure mounted slowly on everybody's shoulders.

A Green Aura enveloped Coco's body and a towering lanky figure with empty sockets for eyes, sickly-looking purple skin covered in warts and an open mouth forming a dark void appeared behind him like a wailing ghost.

A golden light covered Sani's body and a towering creature made completely of hair just as colorful as the man's hair appeared behind him.

A Dark Red aura covered Izuku's body and the giant Muscular Gorilla with blood-red fur and long boar tusks in its mouth appeared behind him.

A feeling of danger pierced everybody's mind, activating the most primordial part of their brains to freeze them on the spot out of strangling terror.

"Dangerous as they may be, the Beasts of the Gourmet World are still animals, they will hardly attack something they perceive as a Threat beyond their abilities to fight." Izuku explained.

Coco

Coco's Appetite Demon (Whose poison either kills or enslaves entire planets populations like a drug)

Sanni (Sunny)

Sanni's Appetite Demon (Known as Hair Monster, Devourer of Worlds)

"Good control of your Intimidation," Sani complimented Izuku, chuckling.

"Thanks, it is still nothing compared to two of the Four Heavenly Kings." Izuku said, sighing.

"You are already pretty close, it's not a chasm separating us, so do not feel bad. Give it a couple of years, ten or so." Coco, as the gentle one between the Four, comforted him and gave him a pat on the back.

"Nerd…" Katsuki muttered, not in anger but in sadness.

"There are things I have been keeping secret…" The young Chef muttered.

It was then that Mezo noticed something wrong.

"Your wounds are gone!" He said with wide eyes.

"Good Food makes miracles, and using Gourmet World Ingredients with my Healing Cuisine has even greater effects." Izuku answered with a sad smile.

"Hoy! This is good and all, but we are waiting for you here!" It was then that a giant floating head of a man with both sides of his mouth lacking skin appeared before them; and every single animal that was tirelessly circling around the border of the Safe Zone immediately scampered away in utter terror.

"The Hell is that?!" Toshinori yelled.

"That's Zebra, our brother. Projecting his voice from the Village we were tasked to take you to." Coco answered, sighing.

Zebra

"Hn! Scaring all those poor animals off! You really are uncouth! We were trying to not scare them instead!" Sani yelled.

"Tch! See if I care! Just move your asses and come here!" Zebra's projection answered, scoffing.

"… How far away is this Village?" Mina asked.

"A couple tens of thousand of kilometres, not much luckily, so we will be able to take you there in a matter of minutes." Coco answered.

"Minutes?!" The adults yelled with bulged-out eyes.

"HE IS PROJECTING HIS VOICE FROM THAT FAR AWAY?!" The kids yelled as well.

"Don't scream, I can hear you loud and clear, fuckers." Zebra answered, with his projection rolling his eyes.

"YOU CAN HEAR US?!" Tokoyami shrieked.

"...Ow."

"Sorry!" He then immediately apologized.

"That's one hell of hearing!" Jiro said, amazed.

"Eh! That's nothing, girlie! Now stop babbling and get here!" Zebra snapped in answer… Then his head looked aside.

"No, I am not adding 'please'!" The projection said.

"…"

"Okay! FINE!… Please Hurry up… There, happy?!" Zebra's voice boomed even louder, and even more animals ran away in fear from the spike in his anger.

"Komatsu-kun must have asked." Coco commented, humming while the head projection faded away.

"Yep, he is the only one he can ask that and not get killed right after." Sani added, nodding.

"I am sorry, but how do you plan to help us cover that distance in that ludicrous short time?" Mezo asked, then a shadow covered the entire area.

"Hiss!" A giant pink snake was the one projecting the gigantic shadow, one so damn big just its head seemingly filled their entire field of view, simply too immense to properly describe.

"YAAAAH!" Many screamed with bulged-out eyes.

"That is my beautiful partner Quinn! She is still growing, measuring only a measly 100 kilometres in length, but soon she will grow into an adult Mother Snake." Sanni said with extremely proud tone and eyes.

Aizawa wanted to call out the bullshit, he really wanted to, but he looked beyond the head, and saw how the snake's massive body just kept going and going and going and going…

"How long are we talking about?" Mic asked with a whimper.

"Around 220 thousand kilometres." Coco answered while an equally enormous crow flew into the scene.

"UH?!" Many choked-out in surprise, for Coco's answer and the new giant animal arriving.

"The embodiment of darkness." Tokoyami said in reverential awe, mesmerized by the perfect black color of the crow's feather, a black so intense it was unnatural, as if absorbing light all around the bird into each feather.

"ANOTHER GIANT ONE!" Kirishima shrieked.

"That is Kiss, my own Partner. He is an exemplar of Emperor Crow." Coco answered with a fond smile.

"Hn! He grew again! He is what now, 30 meters?" Sanni said with a pleased chuckle.

"33, to be precise. Still far from the 3000 meters height of a fully adult one." Coco answered.

(How FAR a fully grown mother snake can reach. Toriko official manga panel...Yes, that is deep space)

Emperor Crow.

"We will ride those!?" Toshinori asked, not in fear, but childlike wonder.

"Yes, otherwise you will never get to the village in time." Coco said.

"How do you know that we even need to visit the Village?" Izuku finally asked.

That made the others pause, as far as they knew, nobody knew they were in that hellish place, nor why they were there to begin with.

"I do have some talent for Divination, but I only knew an old acquaintance would come visit… The Gourmet Diviner Roppo instead actually made your name and gave us a more precise timeframe of your arrival, she said you would have needed assistance. And here you are, punctual like clockwork." He answered.

"How does he know Izuku's name? Did she saw him on a newspaper?" Mic asked with narrowed eyes.

"She didn't use that name. She used the other one." Sanni answered, showing a breathtaking smirk.

Izuku's completion rapidly lost his color to unhealthy levels.

"I don't know what you are talking about!" He said immediately, eyes wide and pupils shrunk to almost disappear.

"I don't need my ability to see Electromagnetic waves to tell you are lying and that you actually know what I am talking about." Coco answered with a gentle, encouraging smile.

"I-I am just a normal Chef!" Izuku tried saying again.

"I see. Are you ready to go?" Coco didn't seem convinced of that answer, but decided to not press further.

"He needs to rest!" Mic said immediately.

"No, it's okay. I have eaten enough, I trust my Gourmet Cells to take care of the rest." Izuku said, shaking his head."

"Sorry to say this, my boy, but it's time. You need to let go of your fear." Sanni said, and with a pinkish blur of motion, and a majestic storm of giant black feathers, Quinn and Kiss swooped down to collect everybody on their backs.

"How do they know it's you!?" Rumi asked with a whisper.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Izuku answered, he was breathing heavily in clear panic.

"Do you think we can fight them off to help him escape?" Nejire muttered.

"I don't know, I saw them down two monstrosities with a single drop of poison and a single hair, I don't really fancy our chances. But between the others and Whitey, maybe we can stall them long enough for Izuku's Sponsor to take him away." Momo answered.

Izuku and the girls were riding with Coco on Kiss' back, while Quinn was acting as transportation for Sanni and the rest of the group.

"Every system online. Targeting reticule set. Friend Izuku's escape route has already been set and prepared for covering fire." 808 and BoB said as one, and unseen by them all, hundreds of small portals went created by the Bio-Obliterating Ballista station to bring the enormous mouths of many orbital cannons in the orbit of the planet, all of them aimed at Coco, Sanni and the two giant animals.

"Foolish Mortals! This Esteemed Taotie shall devour you all if you dare try anything!" Shiro thought in anger, with his fluffy fur standing up sharp like needles.

":.." Coco looked at the small animal then at the sky.

"Unbelievably strong electromagnetic waves from his Partner and above us… And the Shadow of Death looming by. You got yourself friends ready to do everything to protect you. Good!" Coco thought in relief and pride for Izuku.

"I say we are ready. Please hold on." He instructed with an amused chuckle.

"We'll be pretty beautifully fast!" Sanni added, laughing.

"How fast are talking ab-" Katsuki's question couldn't finish as both animals simply blinked away from the area.

"AAAAAAAAH!" Mina and Tsuyu, and everybody else, shrieked as reality became a colorless blur as the two animals went so fast their bodies simply became two hazy mirages faintly pink and black in color thanks to their ridiculous speed.

"WOOOOOOO!" Only Toshinori was screaming in excitement, he had started feeling alive ever since he arrived in the Gourmet World and was rapidly getting addicted to the rush of adrenaline everything there constantly gave him.

With Izuku and the girls – Kiss' back -

"We can't go straight to the village, I need to collect many other Ingredients." Izuku said.

"Which ones?" Coco asked.

"Hemostashiitake, Eeliver oil, Lungshroom, Doctor Axolotl meat, skin-kelp, Iron stomach meat… And many more." Izuku said.

"You are basically trying to tear someone out of the hands of Death itself." Sanni said, humming.

"And all of those are extremely rare Ingredients. All with a Capture level in the 1000 range." Coco added.

"It's either those or PAIR… And I know for certain that Monkey King Bambina will turn me into a smear on the floor just with a look." Izuku answered.

"Especially now that the Eight Kings jumped forward in power after their defeat at Neo's hands. Their might simply exploded forward so that they could return being worthy of the title of Kings." Coco hummed with a frown.

"Exactly." The young Chef said with a sigh.

"Is that Bambina monkey that strong?" Katsuki answered.

The answer was the two animals stopping abruptly to let a Mountain, an entire one, fly past in front of them at such insane speed the entire front part was red-hot thanks to air friction.

"… Was that a goddamn mountain?" Aizawa asked faintly.

"Bambina has a hobby: he uproots entire mountains from the ground and throws them as skipping stones on the ocean, the ocean is not big enough and so the mountain just keeps going, a mountain big like that usually manages to travel around the entire planet until air friction reduces it into a small disk the size of a CD that returns to the starting point." Coco answered.

"You are joking."

"…"

"No… of course you are not." Aizawa groaned and rubbed his temples.

(The tiny black dot is Bambina the Monkey King, cutting mountains whole at the base with a single tail swing.

wiki/Skipping_Stone_Mountains

I am not pulling bullshit out of my ass. It is canon in the Toriko Manga, see for yourself

"WHAT KIND OF INSANE PLACE IS THIS?!" Kaminari yelled.

"The Gourmet World." Izuku, Coco and Sanni answered at the same time, then Kiss and Quinn started springing forward at the same impossible speed of before.

"Most of the Ingredients you need can be found in the Mushroom Forest and surrounding area of Area 2…" Sanni said, with his eyes narrowed.

"Why that feels like bad news?" Toshinori asked.

"Because that place is part of the hunting grounds of one of the Eight Kings and its pack." Izuku answered, shivering.

"Hn?"

"The Battle Wolf." Coco said.

"And ever since Guinness regained its title as King, the Battle Wolves have become even more wary of intruders." Sanni added, shaking his head.

"The Pack Leader?" Mezo asked.

"Yes, It has the second highest Capture Level of the Eight Kings. But Guinnes and its race are probably the fastest creatures in the world…" Izuku said, shivering.

"How fast?" Iida asked.

Coco's head slightly moved to the side, and the others saw many shadows outrun Quin and Kiss with incredible ease and disappear from view in a blink.

"Those are scouts, they are going to report to Guinness that we are going to enter their territory." Sanni explained.

"Were they following us?" Aizawa asked.

"No, we passed by them and awoke them. They probably watched us long enough to ascertain our intentions, and once sure enough we would enter their lands, they moved past us to go report to their Leader our intentions." Coco answered.

"How long ago did that decision happen?" Toshinori asked.

"Four, maybe five seconds ago, they very likely just wanted to make sure."

"…" No answer seemed able to be formed by their minds at that.

"Will they wait for us there?" Rumi asked.

"Battle Wolves are said to be exceptionally smart. If we keep a low profile and do not look threatening, they will probably just let us collect the Ingredients I need and let us leave. Or so I hope… Hopefully my scent changed since last time." Izuku answered with shaking breath.

"What the hell is he even talking about…" The ones not in the know muttered to themselves.

"This entire situation is far too strange." Toshinori muttered with narrowed eyes.

Even with the insane speed they were travelling at thanks to Kiss and Quinn, the Students and the Heroes could still have a mind-blowing show of how massive everything around them was, and after a while, vegetation slowly started growing scarcer and scarcer, until rocks and desert slowly took over.

"Heat Shields deployed." 808 said as various domes appeared around the Guests thanks to micro drones.

"Why we need these?" Momo asked, only Izuku and Coco and Sanni were not using one.

"Here is where you can find Sun Flowers. The name is very much literal." Izuku answered.

"Eh?" Kirishima said.

"Harden and put a finger out of the barrier."

"OkaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Kirishima activated his Quirk, covering his body in a thick layer of armor, and stuck his index finger out of the small done around his body, and almost instantly pulled it back inside to blow on it.

"WHAT THE HELL IS OUT THERE?!" He shrieked, dropping his Armored State to let Shoto cover his sun-burned finger in ice.

"Sun Flowers are an Ingredient of the Super Special Preparation Rank. When they bloom the air around them becomes hotter." Coco explained.

"And there is an entire field not too far away from here." Sanni added.

"I almost lost a finger!" Kirishima yelled.

"At the moment the outside temperature if of 194 degrees Fahrenheit. (90 C)." 808 said.

"WHAT?!"

"They only started to bloom, soon here it will become even hotter." Izuku said, humming.

"They may be a nightmare to Capture, but they are a truly beautiful Ingredient! You can use their petals to create a balm that cures instantly sunburns and make your skin smoother than silk!" Sanni said with a reverential tone.

"Please tell me we are not going to try and get those flowers." Mic said in dread.

"No, don't worry, we are going to a place deep underground, a forest of mushrooms. Most of the Ingredients I need are there." Izuku answered, making him sigh in relief.

"There, the entrance should be that way." Coco said, and at his and Sanni's directions, Kiss and Quinn gave a sharp turn and moved towards what to the others resembled an extremely deep hole in the ground in the middle of nowhere, a circular chasm almost too precise to be natural.

"At the beginning it wasn't easy to entre there, years of careful work enlarged the entrance in a way that would not disturb the mushroom forest inside those caves." Izuku explained.

Once arrived at the border of the hole, Kiss and Quinn started a slower, more careful descend towards the dark bottomless pit under them, and soon the rocky desert above faded into a distant memory, with the only sound that remained being the soft whistle of the wind as it rushed past them.

"It's getting colder. By a lot and fast." Shoto muttered.

"Unnaturally so." Aizawa confirmed, he too speaking with a low voice.

Dust lingered in the air, disturbed by their movements, but as they descended deeper, the endless darkness started to give way to something else, something alive.

"Here we are. The Mushroom Forest." Izuku said, eyes narrowed.

"We will need to continue on foot once touched ground, Quinn and Kiss are too big to help us navigate here." Coco said.

"Bit of a pity, but understandable." Toshinori answered.

The thick, earthy scent of the mushroom forest kept rising to meet them, warm and humid, unlike anything the desert had prepared them for.

"It's intoxicating," Mina admitted.

"Surreal, you mean…" Iida corrected her, swallowing hard.

At first, the mushroom tops welcomed them, so massive they could easily be mistaken for trees, or even distant hills; their caps wide and domed, blotched with spots of red, purple, and yellow.

"Holy… You could use each one of those as a parking lot…" Ochako gasped in wonder.

"Far too big." Kirishima admitted.

As they moved nearer, the scale became truly overwhelming, some of the mushrooms were stretching as high as hundred-foot towers, with their gnarled stems winding into the earth like the veins of an ancient being.

"Keep your eyes on the descent," Izuku's voice cut through the stillness, gruff and steady.

Below them, the mushroom forest sprawled like a sea of colors and shapes, some familiar, like white button mushrooms the size of boulders, towering morels with ridges like ancient ruins, and others that defied logic.

Massive bioluminescent caps pulsed with faint, ethereal light, casting a soft glow in the shadowed depths, each one's colors shifting with the wind, pink one moment, green the next, leaving streaks of fading light in their wake, as if the forest itself is breathing.

"There is the ground, careful to not step on anything. I don't trust anything here." Toshinori instructed with a careful tone.

Tendrils of fungi hanged from every surface, draping the chasm walls in strange, fibrous webs.

"The air is thick with the smell of damp earth and decaying plant life. You almost couldn't tell there is a damn desert above us." Aizawa said while looking around.

"You sure? I smell something sweet, an almost saccharine perfume." Mic answered.

"That is bad news too." He admitted.

"Almost there," Izuku muttered, more a warning than a statement.

The rest of the group was silent, wide-eyed, taking in the view and feeling the weight of the air now, thick and almost oppressive, but it only serves to deepen the vividness of the colors below.

When they arrived, the two Pets moved to a side free of mushrooms big enough for them to wait comfortably, while they instead continue walking deeper into the mushroom forest.

"Down there, those concentric circles are a stairway that was build to help travel downward, if we follow that and the path, we will get to the lower point." The Young Chef instructed, guiding them down many ramps of stairs cut into the naked rock and levigated by time.

"Careful to not trip…" Nejire said, preferring to float around.

"It's getting creepier…" Tsuyu admitted, hugging herself.

Some of the mushrooms now had capillaries running along their stems like pulsating veins,

"Is that mushroom see-through?" Katsuki asked, unnerved, and pointing at a strange, transparent fungi with bubbling insidescatching the light from the luminous fungi around it in iridescent burst.

"Soda Mushrooms. You can try one, they have actual soda inside, sure they would be better if put in the refrigerator for a couple hours before drinking, but they are still good." Coco answered.

"… What?"

Fizzz!

"Here." Izuku grabbed one and twisted the cap, and the mushroom released a similar fizzing sound like a soda bottle being opened, and handed it to him.

"Shit… It is soda. And even if slightly warm it's damn good… What the fuck?!" Bakugo exclaimed in wonder once tasted it.

"Not every mushroom here is harmless though, be careful." Sanni said, and next to him a bush of mushrooms gave a hiss before collapsing in on themselves, releasing faint clouds of spores that drifted like shimmering dust in the air…. And a near mushroom burst into eerie purple flames as soon as those spores touched it.

"Ugh! Exactly." The man exclaimed in distaste and put out the fire with a vigorous pat of his long hair.

"It's like a dream... or a nightmare." Sero admitted, his voice trembling with equal parts fear and wonder.

"There, the lowest area, we arrived." Izuku declared once the group finally finished descending the last ramp of stone stairs, now their shoes kept sinking slightly into the soft, spongy ground at every step while the higher rings of mushrooms loomed over them oppressively.

"The floor isn't dirt, it's a thick, tangled mass of mushroom roots!" Aizawa said once seen the crisscrossing of hair-thin roots surrounding them in every direction, soft underfoot but unyielding,

"Exactly." The young Chef confirmed.

"This place…" Someone begins to speak, but the words die in the thick, fungal air. There's no need to say more. They all feel it.

Izuku, Coco and Sanni tightened their jaw, eyes scanning the strange growths with a mix of respect and something darker, deeper.

"We are being watched." Sanni said.

"By something with very faint Electromagnetic Waves, I have a hunch. But I hope to be wrong." Coco confirmed.

And as the wind brushed through the mushroom caps, a low, hollow whistling sound rose up, like the forest itself was exhaling, breathing.

"We're looking for the Hemostashiitake first," Izuku whispered, his voice barely carrying in the still, heavy air.

"Okay, what does it look like?" Mic asked.

"It's a rare species, recognizable for its cap colored a deep burgundy. If cooked right, its juices can heal damaged veins faster than any medicine known. It only grows in the shadows of the larger caps. Look for places where humidity feels higher, they love extremely humid environment,"

"We'll split in three groups then." Aizawa said.

"I can defend myself," Izuku said.

"Want us to help?" Coco asked, curious.

"If you don't mind…" Mic answered, unsure.

"Hn! No problem! At least we won't stay here for long! This place is far too ugly, let's go!" Sanni answered, smiling.

"Okay! Let's go!" Mina and Momo said at the same time.

The group fanned out, their senses sharpened by the gravity of their mission, because the Hemostashiitake was vital to save Nemuri, and without it, they'd be returning empty-handed.

"Those Mushrooms don't make enough light! Can you make some light with your Quirk?" Jiro asked, kneeling near a cluster of smaller fungi with her eyes scanning for the telltale red.

"I can try." Kaminari answered, unsure.

"Can you create a torch or something?" Rumi asked.

"Yes." Momo answered.

"Nothing in this area!" Nejire called out from the opposite side of the dark grotto, using the spirals in her hands to illuminate her section of the ground.

"Nemuri… Please be strong…" Mic, madly searching for those red caps like a madman, begged with a low voice.

Finally, Mezo was heard yell "Here! I think I found it!"

"Show me!" Izuku answered, hurrying at the guy's side.

Nestled under the broad shadow of a giant cap, a small cluster of Hemostashiitake clung to the roots of a larger mushroom, their deep red caps gleaming in the dim light like blood drops on the mushroom forest floor.

"There they are. And we are lucky, these ones are perfect for what we need, extra plump." The Young Chef said in relief his hand brushing the surface of the cap gently to check their quality, as if he were touching something sacred.

"Strong and lively Electromagnetic Waves, They are extremely healthy." Coco said.

"Yup! Very lively! Somebody here is very beautifully lucky!" Sanni chorused, his own hair delicately checking the mushrooms' quality.

"Thank God!" Hizashi seemed ready to cry in happiness.

"One item found, good." Aizawa too sighed faintly in relief.

"They need to be harvested carefully," Izuku said, summoning the Dragon Kitchen Knife from his tattoo.

"One wrong move, and the spores sacks will burst." His blade moved with precision, and soon the prized mushrooms were carefully stowed back in his Restaurant's Island Storage.

"Got it?" Momo asked.

"Yes, we can look for the next Ingredient."

"Which one?" Rumi asked.

"Next is the Lungshroom," Izuku said, his eyes flicking between the strange, spiralling stalks that coiled like smoke into the air.

"Describe it, we'll turn this place upside-down to find it!" Iida answered, ready to hunt those down.

"Okay. It's small and with long stalks, golden, and its spores can repair lungs when used as spice. But the spores are volatile, too much, and they'll burn your insides."

"In the worse case, the spores can actually give you severe lung cancer." Coco added.

"Oh God…"

"The spores need to be diluted, yes." Izuku confirmed the scary detail with a nod.

I'll create breathing masks for everybody then," Momo answered, immediately sending her Quirk to full throttle to create the right filters following Sanni's directions.

Once properly equipped, the group moved deeper, with he air growing thicker, almost suffocating as the mushroom caps closed in tighter until they formed a compact ceiling above them with the shimmering mist of spores hung heavier around them like a golden fog.

In the distance, Izuku spotted a patch of golden stalks, their caps billowing with a soft glow, resembling lungs expanding and contracting with each breath of wind.

"The Lungshroom!" He yelled.

They were beautiful but deadly, their spores swirling like a shimmering dust storm around their fragile caps, Izuku approached them slowly, his movements deliberate, and signalled to the others to stay back.

"Stay still," He warned.

"The slightest disturbance can release a cloud of spores strong enough to choke a man." With deft movements, he began harvesting the precious mushrooms, carefully placing them in sealed containers to avoid any accidental release of their potent contents, then sent everything to his Restaurant.

"… What do you think?" Sanni said, whispering.

"He used that collection method. I say it's him." Coco answered.

"Then why he denied it so vehemently?"

"I believe he is trying to hide his past."

"From us?" Sanni asked, crossing his arms.

"From himself, more likely." Coco answered, humming.

"Hn! No good. So we take him to that old man?"

"He needs to, it is for his sake, not just his mission."

"I second that." Sanni said, nodding.

"What are you talking about?" Tooru asked, curious.

"We'll explain later." Coco answered, smiling.

"Hey, Izuku-boy… Here." Sanni's hair moved upward, growing longer and longer until it reached way above the group, in the middle of one of the higher floors.

"That guy's hair are amazing." Kirishima admitted in wonder.

"I don't want to know how much he has to spend in conditioner…" Katsuki muttered in answer.

When Sanni recalled his hair, they were holding a big group of mushrooms with the utmost care.

"Bone Mushroom! How?!" Izuku said in awe.

Those were species so rare, it was almost legendary, just as legendary its ability to heal weakened cartilage was.

"I didn't include it in my List because I wasn't even sure there were any around! What are they doing here?! I thought they went extinct ages ago!" Izuku said.

"As always, Teppei has managed to miraculously resurrect several Extinct Ingredients, one of which these mushrooms." Coco answered, chuckling friendly.

"I planned to use my bone carrots, but these… These are far more effective! Thank you!" Izuku answered, eyes cloudy in tears.

"Consider it a present… Zaus-san." Sanni answered.

"Who?" Many asked, while Izuku almost dropped the mushrooms out of sheer horror.

"… How do you know it's me?" Izuku asked with a low whisper.

"If you want that answer, you will need to come with us to the Village. It's important, please." Coco answered.

GUAAAAAAAOH!

A deafening roar, deep and rumbling, echoed all around them as something came flying down on the loud sound of flapping wings.

"ZOMBIEEEE!" Mina shrieked in horror once seen the ghastly look and empty eyes of the creature.

"A Mycogryph. It most be the Guardian of this forest." Sanni said.

"Guardian?" Aizawa asked.

"A powerful creature that made of an area its territory, unknowingly helping Ingredients develop free of predators thanks to its presence. In a sense, Guarding the place and scaring away intruders." Coco answered.

"Crap, and we are a damn big group of intruders for that thing!" Toshinori hissed between clenched teeth.

The thing was creature that blended together the predatory looks of a gryphon from legends with the symbiotic nature of the forest.

Its body was covered in fungal growths, large bioluminescent mushrooms sprouting from its back and wings, allowing it to blend into the forest seamlessly, each feathers of its wings even had a spore-like texture, soft and wispy, adding to the mist of spores in the air it's own dust produced at every movement.

"… That Mycogryph though… I don't think it's voluntarily doing this." Izuku said, grimacing.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Nejire asked, confused.

"I am afraid the mushrooms took over, its eyes are completely lifeless, even its Waves are a flatline." Coco confirmed with a sad tone.

"What do you mean?" Mic asked.

"It happens in the human world too. There are mushrooms that can take over the host and somehow control it. Effectively turning them into zombies. I saw ants being a victim of that, not something this big." Toshinori answered, looking sadly at the once mighty beast, now just a flesh puppet for a bunch of mushrooms.

"Fuck…" Tooru and Jiro muttered in both disgust and sadness.

"What now?" Rumi asked.

"Maybe we should put it out of its misery, those mushrooms probably force it to attack everything that enters here to infect the victims with their spores so to have more living material to grow on," Coco said.

"Can you make is fast? That thing suffered long enough, I believe." Aizawa asked.

"Yes. Poison-"

Izuku's dragon knife moved faster, before Coco could shoot his poison, a blur of movement so swift that the wind barely had time to catch up as the pale-white crescent blade of energy reached the Mycogryph.

"One Blade: Samsara dicing." The young Chef muttered, sighing.

In one fluid motion, just as the Mycogryph lunged towards them to start its assault, it was already over.

It wasn't a strike of brute force, it was the precision of a Chef who had mastered not just Ingredients, but the very world itself, and in the span of a heartbeat, the creature froze in place.

Sigh! "Done." Izuku muttered while putting away his kitchen knife.

The flying Mycogryph flew past him, all the while its body gently collapsed into a neat grid of perfectly cubed pieces, no larger than an inch across until the very last cubes silently rolled on the floor at a feet from him behind his back.

Each cube fell soundlessly to the mushroom floor, releasing a strange, earthy aroma into the air, the bioluminescent glow faded from its pieces, now no more threatening than a prepared meal.

"Let's go. We are done here." He said calmly, sadly, as if slicing a colossal monster into bite-sized pieces was just another part of the job.

"…" Nobody of the Hero group talked.

"There are many things I have been keeping secret. Another reason why I wanted nobody of you to come here with me." Izuku said, sighing.

"Who are you, kid?" Aizawa asked.

"It's a very long story. One that I fear your will soon hear." He answered, gratefully accepting the group hug of his four girls.

"So you girls know?" Toshinori asked.

"Everything, yes." Momo confirmed.

"A bad story?" Mic asked.

"Oh, you have no idea," Nejire answered.

"We'll talk more once out, let's go-" Toshinori offered with a gentle smile.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Several loud sounds echoed above them as many massive shadows landed all around them on the rings 'Floors' over their heads, so to look down at the group from a position of advantage.

"Oh no…" Izuku whimpered.

"The Battle Wolves found us." Coco said with a tense tone.

"Or maybe they were waiting for us to be done collecting Ingredients before regaling us with their presence." Sanni answered, teeth clenched tight.

They were surrounded by giant wolves, all around 50 meters tall and with the most gorgeous white fur anybody present had ever seen, although not one of the Guests noticed that immediately as their eyes were fixed only on the hundreds of pink eyes of the wolves studying every movement they made from above.

Those wolves may have been far away, standing around the various rims of the concentric circles of mushrooms above them, but as far as they were concerned, those monster wolves could have been standing at an inch of their faces instead of few hundreds of meters away, Aizawa himself could swear he could still feel their warm breath push hard against his face.

"What a terrible presence, really worthy of being the pack of one of the Eight Kings." Coco whispered, not in fear, but in pure adoration for the Battle Wolves innate natural beauty.

"Is that big one covered in scars the Leader?" Ochako, shivering heavily, asked.

"No that is the pack Beta." Izuku said.

"Then where is that Guinness Wolf? Which one is it?" Katsuki asked.

"…" Izuku, face pale and yet covered in sweat, just shakily pointed straight up, and when all of them looked up, they noticed what was standing behind them while somehow completely erasing its presence like only an apex predator could do if they felt like it.

(Wolf King Guinnes. Capture Level: 6550 in the official manga, and now higher)

"That is Guinness." Sanni answered with his hair moving slowly by themselves, independently from the actual direction of the wind.

Understandably, Mina, Tsuyu and Kaminari fainted on the spot, the others instead felt their hearts stop as soon as Guinness stopped playing around and let go of its Intimidation to blast them fully with just its overbearing, suffocating presence.

"Was it just standing behind us?" Todoroki asked, with fire and ice slowly mounting at the two halves of his body out of hope it could buy them time to escape.

"I believe that all this time Guinness had been following us in here, a King never hides… Unless they feel like playing with their food." Coco answered, with his skin slowly turning purple from his powers releasing deadly poison from his every pore.

"I fear it also recognized me…" Izuku said with a whimper that deeply scared the others.

"Izuku?" Nejire asked.

Guinness Search!

The Giant (55 Meters tall) Battle Wolf Guinness gave a deep sniff, and the sudden air misplacement was as strong as the pull of a black hole.

In an instant, by using its extreme sense of smell, Guinness was capable of gaining all valuable information about the entire group via their scent, from their species, sex, age, habitat, ancestry, and DNA to their favorite foods and even their Appetite Demons/Quirks.

"Fuck…" Katsuki whispered with a weak voice as he felt his entire being, soul comprised, momentarily get stripped away from him with that short sniff.

The ability itself was not limited to living beings only, as it could extract information from inorganic matter such as rocks and water, too, the group's equipment comprised; and just like it happened to Katsuki, while such data was being forcefully "extracted" from organic or inorganic targets via this technique, they all were rendered pure white like cast-off husks, and in the case of Izuku and the others, they were rendered immobile as their entire essence momentarily left their body, making it seem as if their souls have been sucked right out of them.

"…" Guinness collected and analysed all that data, and once the entire group recovered from the ordeal, the giant Battle Wolf passed by them and gently patted Izuku's head with their massive tail before leaving the mushroom forest with a single jump to rejoin their pack and then leave the place together.

"…" The Battle Wolves then just silently retreated, giving the group permission to leave the area without a fight.

"… What the Hell happened?" Toshoinori asked with a whisper.

"Did the guy sniff us to death?" Mezo asked, shaken.

"Quite." Todoroki answered, watching the wolves leave in unnatural silence even with their immense size and weight.

"Guinness judged us not a threat and gave us permission to collect Ingredients here." Coco answered.

"How are you sure of that?!" Mic asked, still shaken.

"We are still alive." He answered.

"… I think I peed myself." Kirishima admitted.

"Understandable." Iida answered, trying to catch his breath.

"Why it patted Izuku's head?" Momo asked.

"Hn! I may be reaching a bit! But I believe that Guinness and the Battle Wolves have forgiven you, Izuku." Sanni answered, patting the young Chef's back.

"Forgiven him?" Katsuki muttered, unsure.

"… Hick!" A small pause was then taken to let the young man cry his eyes out in relief at the news of one of his biggest regrets having been finally forgiven.

Next stop, once left the big hole to return to the surface, was to visit the Village Coco and Sanni talked about, and Izuku dreaded every second of that long trip at high speed, a feeling of dark foreboding not helped by the various inquisitive looks of Pro Heroes and Hero students riding on Quinn's back.

"Izuku…" Toshinori said.

"Yes?"

"We are not on our home planet anymore, isn't it?" The Pro Hero asked, shocking the others.

"Yeah. Congratulations, you people travelled to another World. Believe it or not." The young Chef finally admitted.

"I thought so. Too many alien sights."

"What the fuck?!" Aizawa and Mic yelled in chorus.

"You'll see… As soon as we reach Blue Grill Village, everything will be clear. Unfortunately." Izuku said, sighing.

It was time to face his past, no more running.

Monkey King Bambina. (This is the guy throwing Mountains around. He is 150cm tall. 4'92 tall for you others that don't use metric)

Omake :

Interdimensional Ingredient Hunt:

The world's angriest ribs!

Halls of Primogenesis – Core -

A tall being of unimaginable power, with grey skin and four arms stood in wait, casting his eyes on every corner of the world even from the deepest recesses of the small pocket universe inside the massive crystal hanging in the sky; suddenly its eyes were drawn upward, and he finally spoke after weeks of silence.

"We are surprised," He said, voice low and slow as always, and even if he could not perceive or comprehend the appearances of who had just arrived, he immediately recognized the presence.

"We did not expect to be visited by one of The Ancients, the second born at that. What do we owe the visit to? We are in the middle of cleansing our world, so its appearances are hardly worthy of any important Guest." Ultima said, tone devoid of any feelings as always.

"Spare The System unnecessary pleasantries." the Entity answered, and even if robot-like-monotonous, Ultima still understood that the Being was in a very bad mood.

"We understand. Is there a reason for your visit still?" The God asked, almost curious.

"One of our Hosts is here with one of his women, he is following one of our Missions. Your sky trick and Toys are getting in the way." The System answered.

"Unfortunately we need Primogenesis to herald the rebirth of our world, but still, we can make sure it won't interfere with your Champion's mission." Ultima answered, unfazed.

"Very well. The System appreciates professionals that know how to act properly."

"We are no lesser beings or Mortals. Etiquette is something we know of, but, if we can be curious, there is a dilemma that had always piqued our interest." The God answered.

"Ask."

"You are the second born of the Ancients, the second oldest after Einai 'The first To Be'. And after you the other five Ancients were born. And yet now only you remain. Who or what killed Einai and the other five Ancients, and why were you the only one spared?" Ultima asked, with his eyes trying to catch a glimpse of the real form of the Entity.

"You must forgive the System, but that is not something we like to talk about." The Disembodied voice answered.

"We understand. We will ask this again at another proper time then, we extend our invitation to visit us once again after this world has been cleansed and reborn, by then we know it will be more welcoming to a talk between Gods. And certainly more pleasant to the eyes without all the stains now polluting it." Ultima answered, nodding.

"…" The System didn't answer, the Entity simply faded away.

Valisthea – Hideaway – Study -

A small group of people were standing around a small table while looking at the giant map covering it almost completely, all of them had a grim expression

"It is not merely the men and women of Valisthea who have been affected by the imbalance in the aether. These blackened skies have cast a pall over all creatures of the realm." Vivianne said, looking at the ominous purple clouds blanketing everything in a cover so thick no sun or moon could pierce it.

"And the Akashic are growing in numbers daily, they are breeding more than damn rabbits." Clive said, humming.

"No book we have access to describes all this as anything else than the End of Days. This doesn't bode well." The resident Scholar added, humming.

"There must be something we can do!" Jill asked.

"…" All of them turned as one to look at the impossibly-giant floating crystal hanging in the sky.

"The only solution I can think of is to destroy that thing." Joshua, Clive's brother, said.

"Too bad Ultima is waiting for us there. If we go there we will fight in his turf, in the halls of his final fortress." Clive answered.

"Then we know what we must do." Dion answered, pointing his spear at the giant crystal in the sky.

"From here, it looks small enough your spear could cut it in half pretty easily." Joshua said.

"I wish life was that simple, Phoenix. For once my heart yearns for an easy solution, instead of a hard-fought one." Dion admitted.

"That is not a hard-fought solution, that is a suicide mission." Jill answered, heart heavy with sorrow.

"But one we must undertake for the sake of the world." Joshua answered, sighing.

"And we are the only ones that can do it… And Ultima knows it." Clive added.

"It's all a damn game for that thing." Vivianne spat in distaste.

"CLIVE! CLIVE!" It was then that another man rushed to them.

"Gav! What's wrong?" Clive asked.

"We got a new development! A strange one!" Gav explained, gasping for air after his desperate running.

"Strange? As of now Strange has lost every meaning!" Vivianne said, annoyed almost at a personal level.

"The clouds and Akashic are randomly dispersing every two days, especially the ones over a random city, to then return full force. And I mean instant clear sky! And somehow the clouds open and close following a pattern, as if following something or somebody around!" Gav explained.

"… Okay, that is strange." Vivianne admitted.

"Told you."

"How is this supposed to help us, though." Clive wondered.

"The fact that the clouds open up and the Akashic retreat means that who or whatever is doing this has the power, or even just a specific power, that can counter Ultima's own hold on the world." Jill suggested.

"And that can potentially be one of our keys to victory. Good thinking." Clive answered.

"Thanks!" Jill and Gav chorused.

"Any idea where the next stop of our cloud-opener will be?" Clive asked.

"I can ask for more details to our Cursebreakers out there, but by the looks of it, I think we can find our answers in Dhalmekia." Gav answered.

"I'll contact L'ubor immediately, both to alert us if anything strange happens, and to keep whatever it is there until we arrive." Clive said.

"I'll help you organize everything." Jill said.

"Me too." Joshua added.

A long trip later – Desert Region of Dhalmekia -

Traveling as fast as their Chocobo mounts could take them, Clive and his two friends made their way to the biggest city of the vast desert region to meet their friend and contact there.

"Clive! Over here!"

"L'ubor!" Joshua said.

"Everything seems to be in order!" Jill added.

"Hopefully this will continue for long enough, or at least until we can discover what is happening." Clive answered, looking at the clear blue sky over them.

"Finally you arrived! You too noticed how here the weather is nicer lately, hn?" L'ubor said with a smile while watching them descend from their mounts.

"That's the reason why we are here. To understand what is happening." Joshua answered.

"Anything strange happened lately?" Clive asked.

"I do have a suspect." The man answered.

"Really?" Joshua said.

"Quite a bit… Follow me"

Following the City Leader, the three friends reached deep into the market street, where they saw many people collapsing on the ground on all four.

"How? How somebody so you can cook like this?!" One of the guys said in dismay.

"That kid?" Jill asked, confused.

"He arrived and started challenging every cook of the city, and pretty much showing them that they are still in need of lessons! Hahahaha! And let me tell you, watching Rashim lose that badly was a balm for my poor soul! That guy had always been insufferable whenever cooking was the theme of our talks!" L'Ubor answered with a hearty laugh.

"And the sky cleared when he arrived?" Clive asked.

"Oh, definitely! The damn clouds part whenever he goes! It's like the sun itself was damn in love with him and didn't want damn clouds to get in the way!" The man answered.

"This doesn't make any sense… Ultima would never let anything ruin his precious Ritual." Joshua said, unsure.

"And yet here we are, under a clear sky with the brightest sun I had seen in a while." Jill answered.

"By the way, don't let his or his girl's look distract you, that kid is strong, We saw him go on a merry hunting trip in the desert and treat the beasts here like mere fruits to pick from a garden." L'Ubor said, looking at Izuku and Momo intently.

"That machine instead?" Clive asked, looking at Whitey.

"No clue, never seen anything like that before… Though be careful, that thing likes to strip naked whoever bothers that boy." The man answered.

"… What?" Jill, covering herself with her arms, asked in horror.

"It seems to think it is a proper way to discipline people." L'ubor answered, shrugging.

"We need to talk to him. There must be a reason why he can dispel Primogenesis." Clive said.

"there is something else you should know… Come." L'Ubor turned grim and serious, and signaled them to follow him to a small house in a side street.

"What?" Jill asked.

"You know how Petrification Disease kills whoever gets it, without a cure?" L'Ubor asked.

"Unfortunately, yes, we saw far too many people die from that." Joshua answered, looking away in sadness.

"Well, believe it or not… That boy can heal that." The man said, opening the door of the small house to show rows and rows of beds with people in them eating happily.

And at each bite of food, a new piece of stone would feel from their body to show healthy skin under it.

"What? How?!" Clive asked, rushing inside to watch the miracle unfold closely.

"Beats me. But no matter how bad the case is, he can still heal it… With damn food." L'Ubor said, opening his arms wide in a gesture of helplessness.

"I asked few people I know to study the dish, but besides telling me how good the food is, they got no clue."

"We need to take him back to our Hideaway." Jill said.

"We need to learn how he does it!" Joshua added.

"I asked to few other towns, nobody wants to talk, but it seems like there too the diseased all miraculously recovered… They clearly swore to keep the identity of their savior a secret. But they openly stated that green is their new favourite color." The man said with a meaningful tone.

"And I bet that if we overlap the towns that have mysteriously healed their cases of incurable disease…"

"It will very likely mirror perfectly the path walked by that boy." Joshua finished saying.

"We need to talk with that boy!" Clive said.

It was then that the world stood still, frozen in place.

"Dear Mythos… We are now hosting the Champion of another Deity. Please don't get in the way…" Ultima's voice echoed all around him, heard only by him.

"Ultima!"

"There are powers out there beyond your mortal comprehension and even beyond our reach. DO not get in the way, we do not want you to die because you keep getting in the way of things you don't understand." Ultima said while the sky darkened.

"What is happening?!"

"Our gift for The Champion. As a form of respect between Gods. Step aside and do not interfere, it doesn't concern you, Mythos." Ultima answered, and Time started flowing again just as a colossal ball of fire fell from the sky.

"The sky!" Jill yelled.

"It's Ultima! It knows that boy and it's sending a gift for him!" Clive said, and right after he said that the giant meteor reached the ground with a giant explosion.

"I don't trust that monster's concept of Gift." Joshua admitted.

What walked out from the smoke and fire caused the onlookers to be overtook by horror.

"BY THE GODS! A KING BEHEMOTH!" L'Udos yelled with wide eyes.

"Evacuate everybody! We will fight it!" Clive yelled, already charging at the still-dazed beast.

"Why would Ultima send one of those monstrosities here?!" Jill asked.

"It said that the boy is the Champion of another deity, Ultima either wants to test the boy or kill it 'by mistake' by sending him a gift stronger than what he can handle!"

"Not very subtle if a King Behemoth is sent!" Joshua commented.

"BOY!" Clive yelled as soon as they reached izuku and Momo.

"Yes?" The young Chef asked while studying the slowly advancing giant monster with narrowed eyes.

"You better hide, this creature is nothing a young man should face. We will take care of this." Jill said.

"You sure? I don't think that such a monster can be faced by three people only." Momo answered.

"Have no fear, Miss. We have sadly plenty of experience facing those walking catastrophes." Joshua answered.

"That thing? A walking catastrophe! Hahahaha! You are very funny, boy!" Shiro said with an amused laugh.

"… Your oet can talk that intelligently?" Clive asked, confused.

"Oh! Please! This Esteemed Taotie is no mere pet! Let me handle this, Partner." Shiro answered.

"You sure? I need that thing alive." Izuku answered, shocking the three.

"Nothing easier!" The Ancestral Taotie answered, elegantly lifting his tiny, fluffy paw.

"I praise the bravery of your small Partner, but-"

BOOOOOOM!

As soon as Clive started talking, Shiro playfully patted down with his fluffy paw, and an invisible force slammed down HARD on the King Behemoth and kocked it down on the ground so hard its massive body created a giant crater, instantly defeated and rendered unconscious, in a single attack.

"Done." Shiro said, proudly.

"…"

Clang!

Joshua's sword fell from his hand out of disbelief, and Clive could not for the life of him blame his poor younger brother.

Hideaway – Kitchens - a LONG explanation Later -

Clive and the rest of the group, and the assembled members of their Organization, were watching Izuku give the finishing touches to his latest creation, made with pieces of a massive rib he 'Borrowed' from the unconscious Behemoth before sending it away to his Restaurant Island where it will in the future cross-breed with one of the beasts already there to produce more delicious Ingredients for Green Cloud Restaurant.

"Here they are! My new creation! King's ribs! Made with King Behemoth rib meat and red gravy!" Izuku declared happily, and thanks to Momo several long trails of perfectly-made ribs went delivered to the tables.

"Wow! This stuff is good!" Somebody yelled in the background, attacking the food with feral hunger.

"So you are just a Chef in training. And Ultima knows your Sponsor for some reason," Clive said, and eating with more self-control.

"Yes. I stopped asking myself Who The System really is, considering how many strange people seems to know them and don't want to talk about it." Izuku admitted.

"I can't blame you, but as long as they act on your best interest without threatening others…" Joshua admitted, unsure.

"Up until now they really didn't do anything too extreme."

"Good. And congratulations, the food is fantastic." Clive answered, smiling.

"Thanks."

"Wonderful, there have been tales of Heroes eating Ancient Behemoth meat, but I didn't think it could actually be done for real." The Base's Historian said with a happy tone.

"Any way we could convince you to join us to fight Ultima, Master Izuku? Your abilities and the power of your Guardian Deity may be the key to our victory." Dion asked.

"I wish, but unfortunately I need to go. I did everything I was asked to do here, so new lands wait for me." Izuku answered, sighing.

"Hn! Curses… Luck is not on our side," The Prince muttered with a rueful tone.

"But at least he healed our wounded, you comprised." Clive said.

"True, we should celebrate any small blessing we can get at this point."

"Ah! A last thing…" Izuku said, collecting a new dish.

"This one is made for Joshua-san, specifically for you."

"For me?"

"Yes, I was told that this would help with your health problems." Izuku said, smiling and presenting him the warm plate of soup.

"Huhuhu… If only a mere soup could help me, but I appreciate the gesture." Joshua answered, chuckling longingly and still accepting the gift.

"Time to go?" Momo asked.

"Yes, we-"

"STOP HIM! DON'T LET HIM GO!" The Base's Healer yelled as she barged out of her Infirmary to march into the canteen.

"I saw him first! Do you know how rare it is to find somebody that has an actual skill for conversations?! I missed talking with actual smart people!" Vivianne countered.

"No! He saved my mother and sister! I will get him!" One of the Curse Breakers bellowed from the back of the room and already brandishing her sword.

"Back-off, hussy! He healed my father from Petrification! I'll get him!" Another Curse Breaker yelled in answer.

"Yes! Time to leave! BYEEEE!" Izuku yelled, grabbing Momo's hand to drag her away.

Jill and Joshua laughed hard at the daring escape of Izuku and Momo, Clive instead face-palmed and groaned loudly.

"This is very unprofessional…" He said.

"And yet a welcomed small moment of levity, Ifrit." Dion answered, patting his friend's back.

"True, but-"

"ARGH!"

"JOSHUA!" Everybody screamed in horror at seeing the young man grasp his chest in pain and roar in agony.

"It burns! It hurts so much!" Joshua yelled, blood flowing from his nose.

"Your medicine! Take it!" Jill yelled.

"I- AAAAARGH!" Joshua screamed in pain as the wound on his chest exploded in a small burst of blood and a shadowy something was forcefully expelled and shot away towards the giant floating crystal.

"What is happening!?" Jill screamed.

"Ultima… Whatever fragment of him inside me has been exorcised… But… But I thought that it would have killed me…" Joshua said with a wheezing, weak voice.

"I believe that Master izuku was not lying when he said that his gift would have helped you." Dion suggested once seen the half-empty bowl of soup.

"… He made sure Ultima would be expelled from you without killing you…" Clive muttered.

"I just hope that it won't hurt us." Jill said, worried.

AAAAAAAAAAAH!

An agonizing scream of pain, too loud to be human, echoed in every corner of the world.

"What was that?" Clive asked.

"LOOK! THE CRYSTAL!" Somebody screamed, pointing at the floating crystal that was rapidly crumbling to dust.

"What is happening?" Clive asked aloud.

"Hahahahahaha! Somebody robbed me of my shot at redemption by destroying Ultima before me! I don't know if I should feel offended or happy! Hahahaha!" Dion answered, laughing and crying at the same time, too taken by the absurdity of the situation to actually caring who got to kill Ultima, just that the monster was dead.

Halls of Primogenesis – Core -

Ultima was bleeding heavily on the floor, desperately grasping the deep gash running diagonally on his chest to try stopping his guts from spilling out.

"W-W-Why… Why you hurt us?" Ultima asked the empty room.

"The System is just answereing your question." The Entity said, unfazed.

"Our question? You forced us to fuse again with our fragments to then strike us down, to answer a question?" Ultima asked weakly.

"You wanted to know who killed the others. The System did."

"Great Adephagia… Why? And… Why striking you us down too?" Ultima asked, he needed to know.

"You remind the System of the others. Same foolishness and same delusions. We hate that." The Entity answered, and once again an invisible blade of distorted Space slashed down, only this time not as a gentle caress, but with domineering power that fully sliced Ultima and the entire crystal in half, and the sea under it all the way down to the bottom.

Killing that mad God at least helped The System calm down a tiny bit from the rage caused by yet another Sortie closing with a daring escape of Izuku from mad women.