Chapter 30: Planning, preparing

BIP…

BIP…

BIP…

In a dark room, various medical apparatuses made sharp noises while working, all connected to the figure lying on a hospital bed.

BIP…

The figure jolted in his sleep, "Huh?"

"Bad dream?" A familiar voice of a familiar cloaked man reached the figure, drawing his attention.

"I heard my brother's voice." The figure, even while in a vulnerable position and state, still had a presence to his voice that would make lesser men kneel. Thankfully, the cloaked one before him wasn't lesser in any sense of the word.

"Huh, I wonder why?" The man looked at a monitor on one of the walls, where a ragtag group of villains congregated in a hidden bar, "Maybe the time is coming."

"Maybe." The figure in the dark grinned, "Let's see if our little kings are ready for war."

The cloak-wearing man laughed, "Oh, they are. The world is the one that isn't ready for them."

"I couldn't agree more."

—

"Okay, ground rules, you animals." Shigaraki gave his troops a harsh glare, "I don't care what problems you have with each other. No fighting in the base. I don't care what your damage is; keep the place clean. And most importantly, I don't care what your tragic backstory is, no one underage is gonna drink. Am I clear?"

A series of half-hearted grunts was his answer. Satisfied, for now, Shigaraki went to the bar's counter and sat on a stow, "Gimme the usual." It was probably too early to drink, but the villain honestly needed it. A notion proved when Dabi sat beside Shigaraki on his own stow.

"For the leader of a villain group, you are surprisingly uptight on your rules." The burnt man propped his head with a hand, his elbow on the counter, "Why's that?"

"Because I like my stuff and I don't want you punks messing with it." Shigaraki shot him a glare, "That means no lighting things on fire."

Dabi raised his arms in surrender, "You're the boss." He leaned closer, "But tell me something then, what's the plan?"

Shigaraki snorted, "Which one? I have three alphabets worth of plans; you'll have to be a little more specific." He laughed at Dabi's surprise, that would teach the punk not to underestimate him. "If you're talking about the one for our next operation, then you better get comfortable."

"Why?" Toga, who had somehow snuck up on the duo, asked with a head tilt.

"First, don't do that! Second, simple." Shigaraki shouted over his shoulder, "Vanitas, how's our stock?"

The masked boy, leaning on a wall of the bar and brooding, huffed, "Why don't I put you to do it, Handsy?" He snapped, "It'll be ready when it's ready!"

"Does that answer your question?"

"Yes, but also no. Is that how you usually run things here?" Dabi wasn't expecting a shrug as an answer, but it was what he got.

Shigaraki just got his glass when the bar's doors opened, and from it, Giran strolled in, "How're my favorite customers faring? Ready for some fresh meat?"

Shigaraki took a sip from his drink and sighed in contentment, "The sweet taste of success. Now I know why Sensei always leaves the auto grind on." The villain chuckled; being prepared was fun, but being successful was also pretty nice.

"Look out!" Was everything Izuku could say before they fell. Luckily, Riku got enough time from the warning to activate Flowmotion and snag Izuku from the air before he could acquire his face with the ground.

They landed safely. Riku put Izuku down and sighed, "That was close." He ran his finger through his now short hair, still not used to it or the new outfit.

Master Yen Sid had provided all of them with new clothes for their Mark of Mastery exam, with Riku's being a white vest with a large black collar, a yellow back, and a black stripe along the bottom as well as around each armhole. It was closed with a zipper that closed just a bit below his collarbone and slightly above his belt. The back of the vest bore the Dream Eater Spirit sigil, something he realized both he and Izuku shared with the strange creatures that accompanied them. He also wore loose-fitting jeans and a black belt with a large silver buckle. On his feet, Riku had white hightops that were black on the bottom with a yellow stripe separating the two colors. His laces were also black with another pair of laces wrapped around his shoes at the ankle, tied into a bow. On his wrists, he sported thick black, cloth bracelets.

All in all, an upgrade from his old getup, and Izuku's were also good if plain, which was the norm for the green-haired boy.

Izuku patted the dust off his shirt and looked around, "Where's Cotton?" As if hearing his question, the Tama Sheep fell right on Izuku's head, which drew a chuckle from Riku.

The silver-headed boy glanced up to see if something was about to nail him in the head too, but thankfully, his partner knew how to fly, "Good to see you in one piece, Zula." He extended his arm and let the Komory Bat land on it, "We'll need help dealing with that thing." Riku shot the Hockomonkey Nightmare towering over them a glare. The floating simian monster answered with its own mean look and a roar.

"What are we waiting for? Let's beat that monkey up!" Izuku summoned his Keyblade and dropped to his stance, Cotton also getting ready by his side.

Riku chuckled, "You heard him." He summoned his own Keyblade, Way to the Dawn materializing in a burst of feathers and dark, "Let's go!"

Shoto was about to slip out of the house when his mother stopped him. "Shoto, you're leaving already?" Rei could see she startled him some, but her youngest relaxed the moment he saw it was her. She knew that the air in the house was still heavy and awkward, but the woman wished Shoto at least would say goodbye before going out.

"I'm actually late. Izuku needs Tenya and me on the workshop before class today. My costume didn't do… whatever Mei and he expected it to do, and Tenya's still busted from our fight with Stain." Shoto knew he should have read the full pamphlet that came with his costume, but he got roped up in training with his father and forgot to go back to it later.

Rei grimaced at the reminder her son plus his friends fought a serial killer. Seeing how he was past it already and they were all fine, she shrugged off the thoughts of what could have happened and smiled, "Okay, I won't keep you then. Oh, you are going for a sleepover with your friends, right?" She asked while accompanying him out of their house. Rei could at least see him out of the Todoroki estate.

Shoto tilted his head to the side and hummed, "I think it's more like Izuku's boot camp than a sleepover. Our midterms are coming, and our teachers are probably going to get back at us for all the…." He searched for the right word to describe the first semester of school that year, "Chaos."

Rei let out an exasperated sigh, "Should I be worried?"

"Probably."

His mother laughed and gave Shoto a hug, something the boy still wasn't used to but found he enjoyed quite a lot. With a last goodbye, the youngest Todoroki left his home and made his way to U.A. at a brisk pace.

On the train, he thought about how things changed so quickly. In only half a year, Shoto's whole life turned upside down; he now had friends, a complete family, and a new understanding of himself. The Light warming his heart crackled like the flames of a hearth, bringing back memories of a dream he now strived for again. Shoto's desire to be a hero and overcome his father now had a different meaning. Not one born of hate and spite but from the burning determination of doing right by his family and friends.

Izuku wanted to be the greatest hero, so Shoto was pretty sure that it was his job as a friend to make him work for it.

The train stopped at his station, and Shoto left it in quiet introspection until he stumbled into the scene of Izuku and Tenya arguing about something while Eri, who was on the first's back, wearing a U.A. uniform fit for her size and with her hair in pigtails, and Toru, who today was sporting yellow hair and eyes, watched in amusement.

"What?" Shoto wasn't even sure about what he was asking. He was just confused in general about the scene.

Toru approached the bichromatic boy and greeted him with a wave and an explanation, "Izuku complained to Tenya that his family's support company of choice shouldn't be allowed to give them crappy costumes made of things that would fold like wet paper on the first crash. He tried to defend them, or their agency? I'm not one hundred percent sure, to be honest."

Eri nodded to Shoto, not bothered that her ride was in a battle of words with Tenya, "Izuku has a point. If you're using armor, then it shouldn't break."

Tenya took that moment to direct his words to the whole group, "None of my family's costumes ever failed us!"

Izuku grumbled, "Tenya, the only reason it didn't turn into a crumbled tin can was that Mei and I switched its whole composition for Mithril! We would have to use a can opener to pry you free if you crashed, and you're terrible at curves!"

Tenya actually looked a little sheepish at the last point, "I'm working on it."

"You better!"

Toru decided to throw the poor boy a bone, "You said you were going to switch the materials for Ore-, Ori-" The now blonde struggled with the word until Eri chirped in.

"Orichalcum."

"That."

The group had fallen into step and were now walking side by side to the school. Izuku nodded and grinned, "Yeah, after all the Heartless me and the others beat on the Hosu Crisis, I have a bunch of better materials to upgrade our costumes. Mei is already working on some, and they should be ready before next semester."

Shoto hummed, "At least something good came from that mess."

"Yeah, shame there was no Orichalcum Plus. I could have used it for so much stuff. I bet Mei would have loved to work with it too." Izuku sighed, sad for the missed opportunity but perking up with a chuckle when Eri patted his hair. "Oh well, no use complaining about it now."

Shoto turned to Eri, "I forgot to ask, but what are you doing here?"

The girl perked up, "I'm joining the training, so Nezu let me attend school because then Izuku doesn't need to go back home to get me and go all the way back."

"Oh, okay." That honestly wasn't even weird by their standards anymore. What was, was what happened to Toru while he wasn't paying attention, "Why is your hair orange?"

The girl yelped and put her hands over her head before focusing and changing it back to yellow. She pouted, "I keep messing yellow when I'm not paying attention, and I still can't do purple at all." Toru groaned, "Why are colors so hard?!" Now was her turn to be patted by Eri.

Izuku chuckled and shook his head. He knew Toru wasn't actually mad, not while she could finally see herself whenever she wanted, "Keep working hard. I know you'll get the hang of it sooner or later."

"Aye aye, captain!" Toru saluted with a toothy smile, only to flinch when Izuku's eyes became unfocused. "Oops."

They all stopped and waited for Izuku to come back from his vision. Toru shuffled in place, feeling awkward for causing it, and almost jumped when Shoto's hand landed on her shoulder. The boy gave her a reassuring look, "It's fine; he won't get mad at you for it."

Tenya, even while pulling off his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose, nodded, "He is right. Izuku wouldn't blame you for causing another of his episodes when none of us has any control over them."

Toru let her head drop, "I know, it's just that every time I see his eyes just dim like that, it feels wrong." The three teens shared understanding glances; they knew too well how it felt to see one of the brightest people they knew just stopping like that.

"You shouldn't feel sad." Eri, still being held up by Izuku even while the boy wasn't fully there, tried to cheer her up, "It's just that Izuku's heart has to put his memories back together."

The teens blinked in synchrony, all of them taken aback by the little girl's words. Shoto turned to Eri fully and asked, "You know what Izuku's visions are? What is causing them?"

Eri pouted, "I just said it was his heart putting his memories back together."

Tenya tried to parse the statement, "So you mean that these visions truly are memories that Izuku has lost, and him remembering them is what causes…." He gestured at the catatonic boy, "This?"

Eri nodded, "Yeah. Izuku's heart was cracked real bad, but now it's better. It still has some work, though. There's a lot of stars leaking."

"Stars?"

The girl tilted her head to the side, "Is what I call these little things I use to make other things, like Izuku's scarf! When enough Light and Time mix, they turn into these other things that look like stars." She smiled happily, but her brows quickly formed a frown, "But Izuku's stars are leaking because his heart has so many cracks on it still, I tried to make the scarf to help, but it has another purpose." She didn't elaborate on what said purpose was.

Shoto and Tenya shared a meaningful look. They had to tell the others about this. Toru, in turn, tried to pry what she could from Eri, "Does Izuku know about that, the stars and the cracks?"

Eri shook her head, making her pigtails snap around, "I told Izuku about the stars, but he can't know about the cracks yet."

"Why?" Toru was sure she would like to know if she had cracks in her heart.

"The Other Izuku said bad things would happen if he learned too soon."

There was a collective record scratch in the teens' minds, "What?"

Tenya chopped his arms, then remembered they were dealing with a six-year-old and reined himself in, "What do you mean by 'Other Izuku,' Eri?"

The girl didn't see any problem explaining it to them, "He's the part of Izuku that still remembers. He showed up in my dream when Izuku dived into it to save me. He still shows up from time to time with Cotton and the Dream Eaters, but he's usually busy putting Izuku's heart back together with the others. He didn't tell me who the others were, though." The girl shrugged.

Toru traded confused and slightly concerned glances with Shoto and Tenya. Just when they were about to ask more, Izuku startled awake, looked from side to side frantically, then growled, "I'm gonna kill Luxord." He took a deep breath and let it out, "The next time someone asks for parley, they're walking the plank!"

Eri, the only one not shocked into silence by the sudden foul mood of the resident ray of sunshine, asked, "What's 'parley'?"

"Just a stupid pirate thing, don't worry about it." Izuku huffed, "But if someone invades your ship, punch them first and ask questions later."

"Okay."

"Izuku, don't teach violence to an impressionable child!"

As Tenya and Izuku descended into another discussion, with Eri watching it all as a funny show, Toru and Shoto traded a look and a nod. They need to tell the others and reach the bottom of the mystery concerning their friend.

—

"I still can't believe Eri is better at math than me!" Mina complained to the rest of the class. They were all together on the 1-A table in the lunch hall, enjoying their food and each other's company, even if Mina was still mad about being outdone by a girl who should be only starting school.

Eri just laughed and patted the pink girl's head from her spot on Izuku's lap, "Don't be sad; Izuku is just a very good teacher! And working on magic formulas is harder than normal ones."

Izuku was about to say it was Eri who worked hard and should accept the credit for her achievements when Danger Sense gave him a faint warning. He tilted his head forward just in time to avoid having it hit by a lunch tray, looking back to see an annoyed Neito clicking his tongue.

And a mad Itsuka chopping him on the neck.

The girl sighed and bowed, "Sorry about that, Izuku."

"No biggie, I know Neito still needs to work on his attitude. But hey, if Kacchan did it, he can do it too." Izuku shrugged with a smirk, knowing exactly what he was doing.

Katsuki looked up from his plate of extra spicy curry and glared at Deku from across the table. He pointed a spoon menacingly at the smug green-haired boy, "Your luck is that the Unicorn is here today, Deku. But you'll see, when the Princess isn't here to protect you, I'm gonna show you who has attitude problems."

"I feel like I'm out of the loop." Itsuka was sure there was a good reason for the six-year-old who was eating with her sister's class to be there. She just couldn't think of any or why it looked like most of them had been a second away from jumping at Neito for his stunt.

Mezo transformed one of his hands into an extra mouth to speak, as he already had two others eating, and explained, "One of the villains that's in the group that attacked us in the USJ is probably after Eri here for… some particular reasons." He wasn't sure even how to begin on the "Princess of Heart" business, so Mezo just skipped it altogether, "So we, as a class, decided to form a cult to protect her."

Yuga frowned, "Cult is such a garish word. We are merely our Princess's royal guard."

Mina pouted fiercely, even while still being patted by Eri, "I already told you all the name is '1-A Princess Protection Squad'!"

"Can I join the cult?" Setsuna's floating head sneaked up on the pink girl and made her jump with the sudden question, "Because that is just precious and must be protected." She tilted her head to the side, indicating the scene unfolding.

Dark Shadow, currently the size of a large cat, approached Eri with an apple in his claws. The girl, already long past her fear of birds and knowing that Dark Shadow wasn't a Heartless even while looking like one, accepted the offered treat and patted the shadow raven.

Tsuyu quickly snapped a picture and sent it to Mamadoriya. Satsuki and Eri were great friends, and they had some play dates, one of which the Midoriya matriarch asked Tsuyu to get any precious moments of her kids on camera for her. "While this is all nice, what about our study session?"

"Everyone in 1-B is going too. Even if it was a pain to get Monoma to agree." Setsuna supplied, now having her floating head patted by Eri too. She was definitely joining the cult.

Eri was having the time of her life, she loved when Izuku and their mom gave her headpats, so she decided to do that to others, and everybody was enjoying it.

Izuku, who was eager to fill some more journals with analyses of 1-B's quirks, smiled brightly, "Great! I'll make sure to wipe everybody into shape for our midterms!"

Itsuka cleaned her throat to get Izuku's attention, "Not to be a spoilsport or anything, but where are you going to fit forty, or forty-one, people?"

—

"I think this will do." Itsuka chuckled awkwardly while gazing dumbfounded at the ornate gates and expansive mansion before them all. The students of U.A.'s hero course were all just standing on the street of a high-end neighborhood if it could be called that, as it was more like various plots of land from rich families with a mansion or two scattered by them. All of them were shocked and speechless by the displays of wealth that just the gates represented, much less the household proper, except for Momo, who lived there and was more embarrassed than anything, and Izuku.

"I'm still not impressed. No offense, Momo."

"None taken." His vice president's voice came muffled from speaking from behind the hands covering her blushing face.

"Deku, how can you be focused on the gates when there's a mansion the size of a shopping center in front of you?!" Ochaco asked her friend, trying her best not to pass out from all the money being flaunted.

"I'm not, even if the gates here is a hard three at best. It's just that this place is fancy, but not grandiose like a castle, imponent like a fort, or intimidating like a dreadnought. 'Know what I mean?" Izuku didn't want to sound rude, but comparing the place before them to the most impressive constructions in his visions just had it falling short.

"No, and I am really glad I don't," Ochaco muttered fearfully, earning her some pats from Eri, who had been on Izuku's back again and also not seeing what all fuss about Momo's house being big was about.

Pony tapped Izuku's shoulder, making him turn to her, "I didn't get all of that. Is everybody also freaking out?" She asked him in English.

"Yeah, no need for it, though." Izuku turned to the group, "Okay guys, enough gawking; let's get moving!"

"Yes! I mean, please come in." Momo jumped at the chance to run from her classmates' stares. The heiress rushed to the gate, which opened on its own when she approached and hurried the others to follow.

"If you think this proves 1-A is better-" Neito was about to complain more when he got a slap to the head by a boy with short brown hair and oddly oval-shaped eyes with large pupils. The blonde turned back and barked, "What're you doing, Tsuburaba?"

"Shutting you up." The boy snarked back.

"Thanks, Kosei, but leave punching sense into people's heads to me." Izuku and Kosei traded a grin.

"That's mutiny!" Neito screeched and turned to Itsuka, "Look what going along with this nonsense caused!"

Itsuka was about to scold her class's troublemaker some more, but she was beaten to the punch by a boy with mid-length hair of beige color and a lipless mouth, which left his teeth exposed at all times.

"Man, you're the only one that wants to start a fight between classes. Chill out."

"Honenuki!"

Izuku traded a high-five with the lipless boy, "Good one, Juzo."

"Hey, I don't 'punch sense into people,' but I sure can call them out on their crap." Juzo was mindful of the laughing Eri on Izuku's back and watched his words, or else he would have a choice feel for Neito and the tiresome rivalry he constantly tried to start.

"As funny as it is seeing you all bullying Monoma, what's the schedule, chief?" Setsuna asked her fellow green-haired person. Izuku's answer was a worrisome grin and a notebook that came from… somewhere.

"I am ninety-five percent certain that this year's midterms will be much harder than previous years, so I made sure to make an extra special training plan too! I hope you guys are all ready to break a sweat!"

"I pity the poor kids." Yoichi commented blankly to Izuku, "Because that, that is the definition of cruel and unusual punishment."

'First, rude. Second, hi Yoichi! Third, where's Nana?"

"She's facing her own cruel and unusual punishment because of the stunts she pulled."

'What?'

"Don't worry about it."

Izuku just shrugged and focused back on the outside world, seeing the group was still a ways away from Momo's home and everyone was focusing on him now.

"What do you mean?" Setsuna asked him, "Why would this year be harder?"

"Because of me," Izuku said simply. He saw understanding dawning into 1-A as a whole, but his sister class remained confused, so he elaborated, "Since the start of the year, I stopped three Heartless attacks, helped repel the League of Villains on the USJ and Hosu, and the video of me yelling at a serial killer has gone viral. So yeah, if the first semester is any indication, things are only going to get messier." The boy sighed but perked up again right after, "Taking that into consideration, U.A. is probably going to throw us something so hard we'll want to cry."

Eri patted his head gently, "There there, don't cry."

Setsuna absorbed the information presented to her and reconsidered her definitions of insanity because that had just taken the spot, "It makes sense, but I really wish it didn't."

Kyoka snorted, "Breaching to the choir sister. In all seriousness, how are you alive, Green?"

"Because of two facts, he was born; and he didn't die yet."

Izuku ignored Yoichi meme-ing inside his heart and shrugged, "I just try my best."

Katsuki snorted, "Read sheer dumb luck, Earlobes." He jabbed a thumb in Deku's direction and laughed, "Deku has the survival instinct of a suicidal squirrel and the luck of someone that got hit by lightning twice on a sunny day, and somehow both cancel each other out."

"Hey! That's mean!"

"But true."

Izuku pouted, and Katsuki cackled.

Testsutetsu elbowed Eijiro, "Are things always like that?"

The redhead grinned, "Yup, pretty manly, right?"

"Yeah!"

Ochaco decided to defend her friend's honor, "You say that Kacchan, but you're just as bad as Deku."

Katsuki's head snapped to her, a smoldering glare burning into her eyes, "Don't call me that." Unusually, his tone was perfectly level. His internship with Best Jeanist sure was showing its worth.

Ochaco didn't back down, "I'm using my friend right to call you by a nickname." She smirked, "And it just happens that yours is Kacchan."

Everyone stared at Ochaco wide-eyed, except for Katsuki, who decided to enact swift revenge. He turned to Deku with a poker face that could have been carved from stone and said plainly, "Looks like we know who uses the pants in the relationship, right Deku?" The bomber watched the two dorks blush neon red with wicked glee; that will show them not to buy a fight with him when he has all the teasing ammo.

"It's not like that!" They spoke perfectly at the same time, looked at each other, then hastily turned away, not able to maintain eye contact.

Everyone laughed at them, but Eri's eyes went from Izuku to Ochaco and back. Huh, so it was like mom and Toshi; she would need to help Izuku, too then.

Unknowing of what future awaited him, Izuku rushed ahead to the lead of the group and hushed everybody. Momo decided to return the earlier favor and put order on the teenagers by setting down some quick ground rules to follow while inside the mansion. When they finally reached it, they all left their footwear by the entrance and surveyed the lavish interior with awe.

Izuku focused on the marble busts and chandeliers for a different reason than the others, "Hey, Momo."

"Yes?"

"Not wanting to be pushy or anything, but you should maybe do some redecorating. All these things are an armory and a half for a Possessor, or even worse, a Shadow Stalker." His words made the girl instantly pale, and the rest of 1-A wasn't far behind. They all made sure to keep up with Izuku's Bestiary (trademark still pending) to guarantee they would know what to do if they stumbled onto a Heartless, something that was practically a given considering their track record. Hence, every one of them had at least a vague idea of what the mentioned species were capable of.

Mezo sighed and created a mouth closer to Izuku to whisper to him, "Be honest, what are the chances of this place turning into a madhouse of horrors hellbent on killing us?"

Izuku shrugged, "I don't feel any Darkness, and Danger Sense isn't telling me anything, so we're safe now. I can't promise that won't change later."

A boy with long black hair spiked upwards and kept like that by a headband, tapped Izuku's shoulder, "Guys, hey, share with the class, or with our class at least?" His grey eyes displayed his annoyance at being kept out of the loop clearly.

"Awase could've been a little politer on how he asked, but I also agree. Please don't leave our class in the dark." A tall boy with a somewhat bestial appearance, thanks to all the brown fur on his body, spoke more diplomatically, adjusting his black glasses and nodding at Izuku.

"Yosetsu is fine, Jurota. I know how annoying it is when people talk about stuff you don't know and don't bother to explain." Izuku placated the two boys and turned to 1-B as a whole, "Sorry about that, guys. We're talking about how this place can become really dangerous really fast because there's a type of Heartless that can possess things and use them to fight. Believe me when I say it's not nice to have a burning chandelier dropping on your head, even if swinging on them is kinda fun."

Momo clapped her hands, "The potential danger of my furniture and new knowledge about Izuku's shenanigans aside, can we please start our study session?" Her begging face made everyone stop poking at random things and side talks to nod at the girl.

Finally, they could start on what they came for.

"Gun it!" Izuku shouted while revving the handle of his own lightcycle. Going back to Tron's world was nice, even if it apparently was the original one from the program Ansem the Wise copied, and the way his and Riku's clothes transformed to fit in was also a little nostalgic. Izuku didn't have the time to really stop and look at his friend's outfit, but his one was pretty cool.

His shirt had gone from a simple t-shirt to a long-sleeved and skin-tight one that even covered his hands, the green lines that crossed on the front and converged into the circle on the back were now neon blue, like the crossed belts at his waist, which was cool. His pants also had some glowing lines going down the sides, ending on his now black shoes with neon trimming on them. But Izuku's favorite part had to be the visor, a half circle of glass encased by sleek black metal that protected his eyes and connected to the disks over his ears.

Was it necessary? Not really. Was it cool? Absolutely. It also helped Izuku with keeping his eyes open while going at probably two hundred on his laser bike.

"Are they still chasing us?" Riku shouted over the raging wind to his right. Izuku looked over his shoulder and grimaced.

"Incoming!" Just as he shouted his warning, two other lightcycles reached them. While Izuku and Riku's produced a blue wall of light with its "wheels," the bikes of the two masked enemies that paired their vehicles at each of the boys' sides were orangish-red. The two offenders pulled electrified batons of the same color and closed in.

Riku decided to outmaneuver his adversary by breaking abruptly. Getting enough distance to not touch the reddish blade of energy from the enemy lightcycle, he pulled the trigger on the handle, making his lightcycle produce two floating disks from its rear wheel, which started to shoot laser blasts forward.

The projectiles impacted his enemy and made his ride explode in orange pixelated flames. Riku huffed and turned to Izuku's side of the battle to see if he needed assistance.

He clearly didn't.

Izuku, with complete naturality, threw his lightcycle at his enemy's, pulling the front part up until it left the ground and smashing it on the offending one, also making it explode.

The boy snickered, "Works every time."

Riku didn't want to know. It was best for his sanity that he remained blissfully ignorant.

Just as it seemed it was over, a giant Nightmare rushed by them. The boys traded a look before speeding up, chasing the Commantis.

The U.A. students found it mindboggling how all of them could fit at a single table, but apparently, Momo's house was just like that. They all, except the heiress and Izuku, could comfortably sit side by side with their textbooks, workbooks, and other things and there was still free space.

"Can I ask why you two are being the tutors?" Neito glared at the duo that instead of sitting with them, was standing in front of a blackboard, explaining the last subject of the day before they went to the physical part (or as Izuku called it, the fun part). The blonde then quickly turned to Itsuka, who was sitting beside him with her hand already up to chop him, "And don't you start! It's a completely valid question. What guarantee do we have that they are explaining it correctly?!"

Itsuka slowly put her hand down, "I'll let you have this one, but don't push it."

Izuku clapped to get their attention, along with the rest of the study group, and smiled, "Simple. Momo got a perfect score in the mock midterms, which not only put her in first place for our class but also for the whole first-year group!" He dramatically waved his arms at the blushing girl.

She recovered her composure and smiled shyly, "I just did my best."

Neito had to admit it was a very good reason to have her teach them, "Fair. But what about you?" He pointed at Izuku, earning him a slap on the hand from Itsuka.

"I got fourth place! And I have experience with teaching."

Neito smelled blood in the water and went for the kill, even if he knew he would probably get chopped again, "Oh, so the mighty leader of 1-A only got fourth place? How did that happen?"

Izuku only smiled and put his hands on his waist, puffing his chest, "I completely flunked law!" He answered without a hint of shame in his tone, causing many of his friends to break down laughing.

"Bro, how did that happen?" Tetsutetsu couldn't wrap his head around someone who was firmly in the 'smart people' group not getting a single question right on a subject. Even Tetsutetsu got half a dozen questions right!

"I just pointed out all the ways you could bend the rules to help people in the questions, but apparently, that doesn't count." The boy pouted, then he tilted his head, "And on that last one about saving three people or one person and you had to choose, I wrote 'save everyone or die trying,' but Aizawa-sensei just put 'problem child' on it." He shrugged, glancing at Momo, "Do you think it counts as a half right?"

"I'm pretty sure that one was a personal question that wasn't actually worth anything." The girl purposely left out how it was a way for the teachers to have an idea of the student's moral compass and how their line of thought worked aside. They all knew Izuku was on his own wavelength which could only be classified as insane by modern society.

"Oh, okay then. So, yeah, I only flunked law." He gave the shocked 1-B students a thumbs up. Clapping his hands again, Izuku asked brightly, "But back on topic. Did anyone reach an answer?"

Mina raised her hand quickly, "I got twenty-seven."

At the pink girl's side, Kyoka raised a jack, "I got thirty-two."

Beside Kyoka, Denki wrote down his answer and blanked, "I got… Napoleon?"

Everybody stared at him weirdly. Izuku blurred out of existence and back beside the electric blonde, leaning on his shoulder with an arm and reading the page, "Bad news is that you got the wrong workbook, but you at least got the question right."

Denki looked up at Izuku and shrugged helplessly with a grin, "Task failed successfully."

Eri, who was sitting beside Denki, patted his head, "There there."

"Oh, that reminds me," Izuku smirked before blurring back beside the blackboard. It was one of those two-sided ones that could be flipped, and that was what Izuku did. The boy grabbed the top with both hands and snapped his arms down, making the board spin so fast it blurred before he grabbed the side and stopped it, "Surprise Magic Quiz! What is the element of Balloon spells?" He pointed at the drawing of a colorful sphere on the left corner of the board.

"When did you draw that?" Momo asked, more confused about when Izuku had the time to prepare that than the interruption of the lesson. She had been with him the whole time!

The heiress's question went unanswered as Eri raised her hand, "Water!"

"Right! Now, what's the difference between Magnet and Gravity?" Now the Master pointed at the middle of the blackboard, where a purple sphere and a cerulean one with a bright orange and a dark blue one inside it were.

Eri had to stop to think for a moment. She cast the spells over her hands, and two orbs like the ones drawn materialized over her palms, floating gently, "Oh!" The little girl perked up, "Gravity only works one way, but Magnet spins the positive and negative charges to pull things!"

Denki tried to poke the Magnet orb, only to zap himself when his finger touched it, "Ouch! Yeah, magnetic poles, all right." He put his finger on his mouth, "Makes my natural static crazy."

Eri dismissed the magic and pointed at Denki with a serious face, or as serious as a six-year-old could look, "Don't touch spells if you don't know what they do."

The blonde put his hands up, "Sorry, my ADHD kinda goes haywire with glowy things."

Kyoka, who had just watched the show, blinked and asked, "You have ADHD?"

Denki nodded, "And a bunch of other stuff too. I'm pretty sure my dyslexia was why I grabbed the wrong book." He shrugged, "My brain is built differently to withstand all the electricity that passes through it, or at least that's what Izuku told me."

The green-haired boy in question finished deliberating and nodded, "Kinda simplified, but I'll consider it correct. We'll come back to it later though. Now, last question! What do you use magic circles for?" He gestured to the end of the board, to a circle with symbols no one could identify.

Eri smiled; that was an easy one, "To cheat!"

"Exactly!" Izuku clapped with a smile, "Very good!"

"Bro, you lost me there. Why do you need to cheat on magic? How do you cheat on magic?" Eijiro was pretty sure magic was a cheat on its own.

Izuku was about to answer when Eri beat him to it, to his immense pride. The girl picked her own little notebook and drew on it while explaining.

"To make a spell, you have to tell your magic what you want it to do, but that's hard in the middle of a fight or when the spell is too complicated. That's why we use magic circles; it's like if you note down everything you want your magic to do beforehand and just repeat it." She presented the page she was working on; Eri drew the matrix for Mercy with notes saying what each part said.

Everyone stared at it with wide and impressed eyes. That was almost a hundred commands in neat little blocks for each part of the circle.

Eri put her notebook down and continued, "That's good for really hard spells with too many parts, but not for simple ones because it's harder to change them. Changing what you say to your magic is easier than finding the right part of the magic circle and altering it without messing with the rest."

The shocked silence of the group at the girl's impressive explanation was broken by Izuku sniffing. The boy was crying with a big smile on his face, "They grow up so fast."

"Seventh was right; you do sound like a proud dad."

'Shush, let me have this.'

"Wait, back up a second!" Pony was having such a mindblowing moment she didn't even notice she was speaking in English; not that it changed much as Izuku was her focus and his Keyblade was a universal translator, "Magic is real?!"

Katsuki rolled his eyes, "Yes, that bomb was dropped ages ago. If you think that's nuts then wait until Deku tells you the time he went to space." The bomber cackled as the study group descended into chaos. Maybe now they could cut the crap and go directly to the fun part. He was itching to blow someone up.

"Why are we inside a whale again?!" Izuku glared at the fleshy walls.

"Don't ask me! I don't even know how you got inside a whale the first time." Riku walked past him, looking from side to side and trying to ignore the smell.

Izuku rushed to his side and punched the silver-haired boy's arm, "The time you went full turncoat and tried to kidnap Pinocchio, you mean?"

Riku let out a long-suffering sigh, "I'm never living that down, am I?"

"I had to fight a Heartless in a pool of stomach acid, so take a guess." Izuku's glare could have melted steel, and it was solely focused on the side of Riku's head. At the shorter boy's side, Cotton and Shiryu also stared at Riku.

The now sweating boy turned to his own companions, only to see Zula looking away. Worse than that was the skeletal fish floating by his side, laughing at his misfortune, "Keep laughing Fin, you'll see when you're gonna get another cookie from me." That made the Fishboné stop, his bony face a picture of panic.

Izuku punched his arm again, "Don't try to change the subject!"

"Bet she can make him use his quirk." Denki, sitting on the ground and stretching his legs, shot at Eijiro, who was at his side loosening his own joints.

The group was in Momo's backyard, which just happened to be a neat forest measured in kilometers and even then well trimmed. They had found a clearing and decided to use it as the main area for their physical training, so everybody was stretching and getting ready to start, except for Izuku and Eri.

The Master had pulled the girl aside for a test, a simple spar to see how she was progressing. Eri quickly accepted and picked up her sword, dropping into her stance and facing Izuku, who was also ready to rumble but had foregone the use of his quirk.

Eijiro hummed, raising his arms the fastest he could, "I don't know. Izuku would probably take a loss rather than risk hurting Eri."

Denki nodded but clarified what he meant, "I know, but I think Eri can push him enough for Izuku to use his quirk to block."

"Isn't that putting a little too much pressure on her?" Mina commented, not bothered at all by the perfect split she was doing.

"I'm a little more bothered by the fact he's putting a six-year-old to fight in the first place." Jurota wasn't the only one from 1-B to question it, but all the ones in the know explained it was fine. Even then, they still had some reservations about the battle about to occur.

Denki grinned, "Chillax. Eri could pass U.A.'s entrance exam if she wanted to." The electric blonde laughed, "Man, she can probably kick our butts!"

Mina and Eijiro agreed. Being trained by Izuku, a genius in magic, and an excellent swordswoman- if Mamadoriya's words were to be believed -left the girl overqualified, and even that was an understatement.

Katsuki barked, "Forget using his quirk. I bet she blows Deku up! My money is on Unicorn taking the win." He knew how Deku worked, the nerd for sure taught Eri how to be better than him, and the girl liked to go Plus Ultra at everything she did. Katsuki would bet his All Might trading card that Eri was about to make Izuku proud by making him beat the dust.

As the group's conversation went on, Izuku was waiting for Eri to make the first move. He had Heroes Rising in hand and was ready to start at any time, but the girl was taking her time.

Eri's ruby eyes went from side to side, her mind clearly formulating a plan. She looked at him, at which Keyblade he was using, at the side to where the rest of their friends were, then back.

"What's she planning?" Yoichi questioned. Not being really one for combat, he wasn't keen on the subtler aspects of it.

Izuku explained, eyes never leaving the girl, 'Eri is counting variables. When you fight, a lot of things impact it, and the more of those things you keep in mind, the easier it is to utilize them.' He gave his apprentice all the time she needed, having already done the same himself, 'The terrain, what weapon your enemy is using, if there are other people that may join the fight or that you have to keep the fight away from. All that is important to account for, and the more experienced you are, the faster you can note it and then use it to your advantage.'

Yoichi hummed inside his heart, "That makes sense; you're letting her get the lay of the land first. Did you teach her that?"

'I just commented on it in passing, but apparently, she took it to heart.' Izuku smiled brightly, happy that Eri was so observant.

"Proud dad vibes go brrrrr." Yoichi laughed, but it was cut short when Danger Sense blipped.

Izuku barely had the time to raise his left arm to block a wooden sword crashing into it. He locked eyes with Eri again, noticing the pale golden afterimage that dissipated from her original position. That was the start of a flurry of strikes coming from multiple sides and angles in a dazzling spectacle of afterimages.

Izuku had to Focus to block every single attack, accelerating his perception to react. There was a fraction of a second between Eri committing to a strike and it happening, one that Danger Sense gave the faintest of warnings and let Izuku know what she was going to do.

When the barrage stopped, Eri reappeared back where she started slightly out of breath, Izuku decided to instruct her.

"That was really good!" He smiled at the girl, earning one back, "But, there are some things to work on. As you're skipping Time to complete an action instantly, it leaves you on the exact result of the action you decided to do, meaning you can't change your mind mid-way and do something else." The boy waited for a second for Eri to process that before continuing, "Against someone that can react to you, that's dangerous. There's this little window between you deciding to do something and skipping, which makes countering you possible."

The girl nodded, memorizing the impromptu lecture for later. She would need to go back to the drawing board and refine her style some more. Even then, Eri smiled brightly, "I realized I wouldn't be able to hit you like that after you blocked the first one, so I also did this!" She snapped the fingers of her free hand, something she learned with Inko just to make her move look cooler.

Izuku blinked as Danger Sense blared a warning. All over his body, where Eri's sword touched him, dark yellow clock glyphs appeared. As one, they all ticked to zero and exploded.

The detonation was so violent it upturned the ground and threw up enough dirt to form a dust cloud. The sound wasn't as extreme, but it still made the group watching hold their ears and stumble back a step.

Katsuki snorted, not bothered by the sudden explosion, "Told you."

From the dust cloud, a battered Izuku came out while coughing… with Full Cowling on. He raised his head and smiled blindly, "That was amazing! You mixed Slow and Mine magic to make a new spell!" He dismissed his weapon and rushed at Eri, scoping the girl up fur a hug.

She laughed at her Master's enthusiasm, "Yes! I know that I have to fight smarter, then I made a spell that would surprise you. I call it, Time Bomb!" She proudly declared.

Yoichi facepalmed, "Oh god, she got your bad naming sense."

'We have a great naming sense, thank you very much!' He retorted internally while grinning at Eri, "Well, I think victory is yours then. If I didn't push Full Cowling up to the max, I'd be toast!" The girl threw her arms up, both laughing joyfully.

Katsuki huffed at the heart-melting scene, throwing a discrete thumbs up to Tsuyu, who was recording it. "Pay up, Pikachu!"

"Hey! We didn't set the stakes!" Denki protested.

"Not my problem, and I don't want your money. We're gonna spar later, so get ready to eat dirt." Katsuki let out a killer smirk that made the other blonde gulp.

"I think we should have been worried for different reasons." Jurata sighed, finally understanding that common sense didn't apply to 1-A.

"Okay, guys. Let's put this show on the road!" Izuku approached the group with Eri still in his arms.

"Yes, just be careful with collateral damage; I don't think my parents will be happy if we fill the area with craters." Momo sighed, seeing that not five minutes in and there was already one. Her parents were fine with them causing a little of a mess if it meant her daughter and her friends achieved good grades, but Momo knew how excited her class could get.

The record of most buildings toppled on a training exercise was a whopping forty-seven.

Eri's head snapped back, making her pigtails hit Izuku's face. "Sorry!" She told both him and Momo, then pointed her sword at the destruction she caused and scrunched her face in focus, poking her tongue out and squinting her eyes. The tip of the wooden weapon and her horn lit up with a pale golden glow, "Repair." A wave of light particles shot from her sword and swept through the clearing; when it died down everything was back in perfect condition.

Izuku blinked, his analytic brain breaking down what he had just watched, "You Rewound the location of the hole to before it happened, meaning it wasn't there in the first place." He turned his amazed eyes to Eri, "Effectively repairing it."

Eri nodded, "Yup. I tried to fix things with Mercy, but it didn't work, so I tweaked it a bit and made a new spell. Repair fixes things that are broken, and Mercy heals people that are hurt, so now I can fix anything!" And that way she won't have to panic every time she breaks something. The last time she let a cup fall, everyone ended up crying (it was because she cried, then Inko, and then Izuku, but the start of it all was still the cup).

Pony tapped Katsuki's arm and asked, both of them watching as Izuku started a mumble storm of proud comments to his apprentice, "Is that normal? Making new magic all time?" Her Japanese was still slightly broken, but she was improving.

Katsuki made a so-so gesture, "Deku says it's hard but not that hard, but Eri is kinda a certified genius." He wasn't kidding; Deku made a whole certificate and framed it. Damn nerd acted like a proud dad most of the time when the subject was Eri, but to be fair, every single one of them would commit mass murder for her.

Momo loudly cleared her throat to get everyone back on track, "It's good to see cleaning up won't be a problem. Let's start then." She clapped her hands, giving Izuku a meaningful look and making clear it was his cue.

He snapped out of his mumbling fit and nodded, "Yeah. First order of the day, everyone choose a partner and get a good area to start practicing." Izuku whistled, and in colorful puffs, the Dream Eaters manifested.

1-B, again, was surprised and shocked. Minus Setsuna, whose eyes landed on a certain Dream Eater. The girl instantly bolted and pounced at the Spirit, separating her torso so she could float up and hug the snout of the T-rex that just popped into existence.

"You're my best friend now." The girl coed while smooching her cheek against the red scales of the Tyranto Rex. The Spirit rumbled a chuckle that sounded like lava boiling and flames cackling on coal. She detached her head and glared at Izuku, "Why didn't you tell me you could summon a dinosaur?!"

Izuku shrugged, "You didn't ask. Hey, if you're going with Erik, bring Daniel with you. We don't need any forest fires." He glanced at the Skelterwild, the skeletal dinosaur nodding. He turned to the others, seeing they were getting chosen by the Dream Eater and not the other way around.

Melody guided Kyoka away while Tesla picked Denki up by the scruff of his shirt with his mouth and carried the boy to another side. Shiryu snatched Mashirao, and Ken, the Staggerceps, did the same to Eijiro and Tetsutetsu. The funniest was the entourage of frog Dream Eaters that escorted Tsuyu away.

Izuku put Eri down and glanced at Cotton, the Tama Sheep already hopping in place, excited to start. "What do you say, let's settle the score?"

Cotton gave a challenging cry and got ready; Izuku grinned and did the same. Both traded a nod and lunged at each other.

Eri sat down by a tree and pulled her infinite apple, watching as all her friends got into their shenanigans. It was funny seeing them all messing around and having fun, even while giving it their all. The warm feeling in her chest grew the more she watched.

Hope shone brightly for the future.

"Run!" Both Izuku and Riku shouted, turning tail and fleeing. They barely kept ahead of the bombardment of magic their enemy threw at them, one last spell sending the Keyblade Master hopefuls flying.

Izuku landed face first while Riku skidded to a stop on his shoulder by his side. "Ouch." They grumbled and picked themselves up, shaking the dizziness and pain away the best they could and getting ready for another round.

"Weren't we missing someone?" Riku made a quick count and saw that their new partners were nowhere to be seen.

Just as Izuku was about to check himself, a blur crashed into the Spellican and sent the avian Nightmare to the ground, where a mass of electricity promptly impacted it.

Riku saw the Halbird diving with a shrill cry and snorted, "I think we fed Dumont and Tesla a little too much." The Spirit bladed wings slashed at the Spellican, earning a pained cry.

"Yeah. Let's go help before they hog all the fun!" Izuku laughed and sprinted at the Dream Eaters.

"Kendo?" A girl with silver hair, blue eyes with tired bags under them, and a slouch interrupted the 1-B class president battle with the Kooma Panda that kidnapped her with a hug, dragged her away, and taught her how to upturn the ground and weaponize it.

"Yes, Reiko? I mean, Yanagi." Itsuka quickly corrected herself, but the other girl just shook her head.

"It is fine. I presume that Midoriya's friendliness will infect us all sooner or later. I came to ask for your help; Shiozaki stumbled onto Tokoyami and Midoriya's spar and is now having a little religious experience." Reiko didn't know how else to call her classmate state when she found her.

Itsuka sighed, "I'll handle it. Be back in a minute." She waved at her bear teacher, who returned the gesture and sat down.

The ginger followed the sound of generalized destruction and the flashes of green and black to another clearing, one made by having all the trees in the area completely obliterated. In it, she spotted Shiozaki at the very edge; the vine-haired girl had her eyes glued to the scene before her and was softly praying.

Itsuka couldn't exactly fault her. She knew a bit or two of the Christian religion thanks to Shiozaki and some odd pieces from here and there, so Itsuka could understand how the battle ongoing before them could look for a believer.

Tokoyami, his body covered in shadow and two black wings sprouting from his back, dived at Midoriya. The other boy had his usual viridian green aura now with splashes of golden yellow, a second Keyblade in his left hand that had a wings and crystal theme to it, which matched with the wings of light in his back.

Midoriya grinned and put his swords together, a green and yellow construct forming over them. With a wingbeat, the boy spun and swung the giant light blade at his adversary.

Tokoyami, instead of getting scared, laughed, "Do not think we will yield just yet!" He grasped his hands together, and from them a scythe made of the shadow substance covering him formed. The raven-headed boy used it to hook Midoriya's blade and divert it, capitalizing on the opening to approach.

"Right back atcha!" Midoriya's grin grew as he pulled the two swords in the construct apart, forming two shorter and one-sided blades of light over each weapon. With the smaller constructs, Midoriya's picture-worthy parry deflected the scythe and Tokoyami away. The green-haired (with blonde streaks, Itsuka just realized) boy used his wings to follow after his friend crossed blades first.

Tokoyami took a page of Midoriya's book and also split his weapon into two smaller copies, locking them with Midoriya's, "Thank you for the new trick."

"I wanted to ask, since when can you do that?" Midoriya nudged his head at the shadow scythes, not bothered at all by the aerial clash and resulting staredown that followed.

Tokoyami chuckled, "Since the moment we saw your venture on the Hosu Crisis. It still needs polishing, but I hope we can prove a challenge to you."

Midoriya's grin was as bright as his aura, "Only one way to find out, right?" Both boys took that as a cue to resume their air battle.

Itsuka shook her awe at the scene and approached her classmate, "Shiozaki, let's go; no need to bother their training or get hurt by a stray shot." She nudged the girl, to no response, "Shiozaki? Shiozaki… Ibara!"

Itsuka's yell finally got the girl's attention, but before she could say anything, the ginger started to drag her away. "Kendo, I think I just had a revelation."

"Save it for after today's training, and you better get to yours and not sneak back to watch Midoriya and Tokoyami spar." Her words were punctuated by a ground-shaking clash. Itsuka looked back and then at Ibara again, "For your own sake."

Izuku and Riku got ready to fight…

"Huh?" Izuku looked from side to side, trading an equally confused glance with Riku, "What?"

"What's the matter?" The condescending voice of their enemy taunted. Before the two boys, the younger self of the man who caused all their struggles smirked at them, "Having a little deja vu?"

Izuku frowned, then his eyes widened, "Wait, you looped us back to the start!"

"You're very perceptive. Yes, I have just reset the board." Young Xehanort waved his Keyblade, showing the arena was back to pristine condition.

Riku huffed, "Well, that just means we need to beat you again." He raised his Keyblade, "Never pegged you as a sore loser, though."

Izuku grinned and followed his friend's lead, "I'm not surprised. That's what- the third time we fooled Xehanort's plans?"

"I honestly lost count, but you can add one more to the counter."

Both boys ran at their foe, determined to emerge victorious, no matter how many dirty tricks he used against them.

Izuku calmly unrolled his scarf, then tied it on his waist like a sash. "Now my shirt won't roll up." He probably will need some new clothes soon; his old ones were getting tight (proof he was growing!).

"Don't get too comfortable, bastard!" Two blades coming from the arms of a boy with an insect-like head closed onto Izuku.

Izuku backhanded the flat of the blades, "Nice try, Togaru." He then headbutted the other boy, "But you'll need more than that to get me!"

"And who said Kamakiri was the only one gunning at you!" Yosetsu shouted, aiming a spinning fist at Izuku's head.

Izuku cocked his arm back, focused on the charge stored in Fa Jin, and grinned, "Nice of you to volunteer; I was itching to test my new move. Vacuum Cannon!" He punched, all the stored energy of Fa Jin overclocking the movement. From Izuku's fist, a wave of compressed air crashed onto Yosetsu, sending the boy flying back.

The aura-clad boy frowned at his hand, "That was too unfocused. I need something to help funnel the air…." His train of thought was once more interrupted by an attack.

Mezo tried to land a hit on Izuku, a very difficult task even with twenty hands, "Shouldn't you be paying more attention?"

Izuku danced between his friend's many arms with the help of Danger Sense, silently thanking him for the practice, "Shouldn't you guys be fighting other people too? This is a free for all, not an everybody against me."

"Think of it as a weird way to show our support to our class rep." Mezo made another pair of arms just so he could shrug, then made them join the hail of jabs flying at Izuku.

"I want to say that's favoritism, but I don't know if it counts."

Yoichi helpfully chipped in, "It counts as persecution, so think of it as a coup attempt. ¡Viva la revolución!"

'First-'

"That's me, yes."

'I also don't think that fits. Second, did you say that in French?' Izuku's universal translator worked even in his heart, thankfully, but the boy knew it had some exceptions to it, like names and terms, and Yoichi meme-ing probably fell into that.

"When you have as much free time as I did in these two hundred and change years, you learn a lot of things." The Vestige admitted, reminding Izuku of his age.

The One For All holders' conversation was cut short when Mezo stopped his barrage and stepped back, clearing the way for Shoto. The new challenger stomped his right foot, creating various ice spikes that shot up from the now-frozen ground.

Izuku countered by doing the same. Empowering his stomp with Fa Jin, which stockpiled some charge with all the dodging he did, Izuku's foot broke through the ice and the earth, upturning the ground and making sharp rock fragments pop up from the impact.

Shoto stumbled thanks to the localized earthquake. Izuku capitalized on it and punched the bichromatic boy square in the face, sending him stumbling back head over teakettle.

"Don't forget about me, Deku!" Katsuki's shouts and explosions announced his arrival. Izuku was about to sidestep the flying blonde when the bomber was suddenly struck by something invisible.

"And you don't forget about me, Katsuki." Toru appeared in a flash of prismatic light, something she did solely and completely for the cool factor, "If you're all ganging up on someone, nothing fairer than me offering a hand. Or a fist on this case." She poked her tongue out.

Izuku saw Kacchan cracking his now bruised jaw, and he knew his friend was about to kick things up a notch. He blurred beside Toru and offered her a fist, "Team up?"

"Team up!" She knocked her own fist against his. The girl felt a jolt when her friend's quirk empowered her; a buzzing over her skin made Toru look at herself and see her body covered by a fuzzy silver aura, "Oh, mama likes that."

"Shall we?" Izuku grinned.

Toru responded in kind, "Let's rock!"

They high-fived then vanished, and chaos ensued.

Izuku's Keyblade locked against his b̵͎͕̞͂̄́͘r̶̺̿͂o̵̙̺̺͚͂͜t̸̛̲̞̋h̴̢̟͆͑̚͝͠ę̶̡̬́ȑ̸̦̚ͅ'̵͓̲̺̭̍̈́̋͜s̷͈͗̒̕͠ dark covered one. He came face to face with the pitch-black helmet marked with the Nightmare's symbol. With a yell, the young warrior twisted and sent his enemy stumbling past him.

Riku took the chance his friend created and exerted all his talent in swordsmanship to attack the dark armor with everything he had.

Izuku didn't leave the Nightmare a single second to breathe, also joining the dance of swords and pushing against it.

In the lonely glass pillar in the void, the two key bearers proved their mastery in the battle against their foe. Izuku's Light cackled like a barely contained lightning bolt while Riku's newfound control of himself and his Darkness showed their might with a burning passion.

In a rare moment of synchrony usually reserved for another person, Izuku spoke in unison with Riku, "I don't know who you are, but give S̶͉͇̲͑ȯ̶̡̼̪r̴̥̠͎̾͆̃a̴͇̒̕ back!"

"It was awesome! First, we both turned invisible, then we went around sneak-attacking everybody, and it was so cool to be super strong! I punched Eijiro so hard he went through two trees!" Toru excitedly recounted her earlier partnership with Izuku and how his quirk strengthened her.

Mina whined, "That's so not fair. I want to go glowy and strong and send people through trees."

Toru shrugged and laughed, "Better luck next time." She leaned back until falling on her futon. The teens (plus Unicorn) were all camping in Momo's house's ballroom after Izuku rejected the idea of everyone getting their own guest room and sleeping alone. In his own words, "It's not a sleepover if someone doesn't roll over at least two people while sleeping." Which seemed oddly specific, but everyone just went along with it.

Now here they were, all in their sleep clothes and with their futons, ready to call it a day.

"Man, I wonder what my quirk would do being all juiced up like that. Think I can make a giant acid monster?" Mina had some ideas, but getting, as everyone that experienced it called it, plugged into a nuclear reactor that was plugged into a bigger, meaner nuclear reactor sure would help. The pink girl turned to her side, "And what about you, Tsu? Think you'll turn into a super frog ninja?"

The girl in question ribbited, "I'm not even gonna ask." She turned back to Minoru, who had a bunch of hair products in his hands, "Got everything down?"

He gave a strained chuckle, "'Sure hope so. Wow, I have a new respect for long-haired people." Minoru's plan to grow out his hair would take more work than he expected, but Plus Ultra, right?

"Note it down, the first few times gonna be hard, but you'll get the hang of it." Tsuyu assured him.

"Good idea; I'll ask Izuku for a page from his notebooks. Goodnight." Minoru waved the best he could with his hands full and walked to their class president, who was discussing something with Fumikage and Ibara while putting Eri to sleep.

Tsuyu was about to follow the little girl's lead when her eyes strayed to Katsuki, who was laying close to her on his futon, his hands holding a notebook over his face. The girl gave a curious ribbit, then decided to bite the bullet, "What are you doing, Katsuki?"

The bomber turned a page, not looking away even while answering, "I had an… idea. Deku said it was possible, so I'm working on it as a little surprise."

Tsuyu's normally inexpressive face became concerned, "Should we be worried?"

Katsuki's resulting low and menacing laughter didn't help her nerves. "I'm gonna explode, or I'm gonna make all bombs mankind ever created look like firecrackers, so… yes, you sure as fuck should." Internally, he quoted Deku.

May the stars have mercy on their teachers, because the Hero Course was going Plus Ultra.

D O N E! And before the New years too!

This chapter was a big setup, yes, but it was necessary. We saw a little bit of the villains' situation, got some insight into some things concerning various characters, and got a glimpse of Izuku's adventure in DDD.

If you're wondering, yes, Izuku teamed up with Riku the whole game.

Now with this note also done, Merry Christmas (late but the intention that counts) and a good New Year to everybody. See you all in 2023 with more chapters and adventures. Later!