MyHeroAssociation

by PhineasFlash25

After a Mysterious-Cube falls from the sky, Class-1A finds themselves transported to a strange alternate-universe, and until they can return home to stop All-For-One and Shigaraki, they must train under the Class-S Heroes of this Other-World, and grow strong enough to win the Final-War that awaits them... (An Alternate Take on Lumpeistbark3's CYA: What Defines A Hero Series)

5. Chapter-4: Learning-Curves

My Hero Association Chapter-4

Month 1: Week 1:

Learning-Curves

---

Suit-Up: Class-1A

Shoji woke up in the morning and was surprised to find a new suit in front of his door, with a note attached to it. The note read:

If you are to continue with your hero duties, please wear this. It's a high-tech mesh that will cloak your arms or other duplicated appendages in a metallic shine. This will give civilians the impression that your Dupli-Arms are cybernetics, something they are more familiar with. It will also provide you with extra durability.

Shoji examined the suit. It was a silverish-gray upper body costume that was cut off at the neck. He tried the suit on and found that it fit like a glove, covering each of his six arms. He tried using his Quirk with it on, and found that it wasn't restrictive at all. The fabric stretched along with his extra grown arms, and just like the letter said, it made them look more mechanical than organic to the casual observer.

He tapped his additional appendage and found that it even felt mechanical. If the arms weren't directly connected to him, even he would've thought that they were made of metal instead of flesh. He then wanted to test other options besides his fists. He first attempted to use extra eyes, and was shocked that he could actually see through the metal. They took on the appearance of glowing-blue circles instead of human eyes.

He tried producing ears on the tips of his arms, to listen in and see if he could hear the same as before, and sure enough, he could. Feeling satisfied that he won't be impaired by the tech-suit, he put on his tank-top over it, and continued out towards the common-room with everyone else. He was surprised to see a similar tech-suit on Ojiro's tail. Approaching his friend, he asked about it.

"You received the same letter as well, I assume?" Ojiro took a glance behind him and saw Shoji in his tech-suit.

"Yeah, people here aren't used to guys with tails, so this was their idea to calm them down and avoid any misunderstandings." Ojiro shrugged.

"Any problems with flexibility?" Shoji asked.

"Nope, I can barely feel it, if I'm being honest. What about you? Won't it get in the way of using your Quirk?" Ojiro questioned.

"I thought it would, but the technology here is remarkable, it seems. No difficulty at all." Shoji replied.

Tokoyami came into the common-room with a helmet on that was shaped to fit his birdlike head, colored a metallic-black, with a non-transparent visor on the top near his eyes colored a dark purple.

"You're going for a new look Tokoyami? Ribbit." Asui commented. DarkShadow came out and tapped a button on the side of his helmet, and the helmet began to retract, opening up to reveal Tokoyami's face.

"Apparently the Association was concerned how civilians might react to my appearance, so they advised me to wear this for hero activities." he said casually.

"He likes it, don't worry." DarkShadow added.

"Well in any case, hopefully the public will eventually get used to us, so that this will no longer be necessary." Shoto commented.

The Mutant-Type classmates weren't the only ones to receive wardrobe upgrades, however. Both Yaoyorozu and Hagakure woke up to find new costumes as well, contained inside special suitcases and notes. In Hagakure's case, she found an ivory-white bodysuit, and her letter read:

Dear Hagakure,

I took the liberty of consulting both Child-Emperor and some of the other scientists for the Association, and using the data collected on your Quirk, they fashioned this new costume for you, which should synchronize with your biology so that it turns invisible along with you. This way, you can wear clothes without blowing your cover. To activate the suit's stealth-mode, simply push the blue button on the left wrist, and then push it again to deactivate it. If there's any technical issues, or if you have any other suggestions, feel free to tell me once we meet again for daily training.

cordially, ZombieMan.

Hagakure squealed in excitement upon reading the note, and immediately tried her new costume on. As promised, the suit immediately turned invisible along with her once she pushed the blue button. She rushed into the common-room and shocked everyone by deactivating the suit, revealing her new costume.

"I've waited SO LONG for this! I can finally use my Quirk without stripping bare!" she shouted.

"I see I wasn't the only one to receive a much-needed upgrade." Yaoyorozu said, entering the common-room with a new costume of her own. It was a bright carmine bodysuit with pure-white boots, gloves, and utility-belt, plus a matching red cloak and a stylized white 'C' logo over her heart. She also had a high-tech looking visor covering her right eye and ear, almost like a space-age monocle. It had the same red-and-white color-palette as the rest of her costume, and most notably, there wasn't any exposed skin from the neck down.

"Drive-Knight left me a note saying this suit would allow me to use my Creation Quirk without tearing the fabric," Yaoyorozu said excitedly. "Plus it's flame-resistant, and the cloak is made of a flexible alloy-fiber that provides defense against blades and bullets. And this visor can be used to perform tactical-analysis, and contains schematics and chemical-data on hundreds of different weapons and gadgets for me to create. This'll make my encyclopedia obsolete!"

"That's awesome!" Kaminari said, "Looks way cooler than your last costume! Especially now that you got rid of the bookshelf on your butt!"

Yaoyorozu's smile evaporated from embarrassment, and Kaminari got stabbed again by one of Jiro's Earphone-Jacks.

"You IDIOT!" Jiro shouted, "Don't you have any filter?!"

"But it was a compliment!" Kaminari said anxiously.

"It didn't sound like a compliment." She shot back.

The rest of the morning-routine was like usual, with everyone getting ready for their day of training with their Class-S Heroes.

---

Comparisons, and the Secret-Origin of Kyoka Jiro: Kaminari, Yaoyorozu

Once they finished breakfast, Kaminari and Yaoyorozu both left the common-room and headed down to the Association Headquarters' garage, where one of their agents would be waiting to chauffeur them in one of their black cars, back to Drive-Knight's lair. On their way down to the garage, Kaminari apologized to Yaoyorozu for his bluntness earlier.

"It's fine, you were right," Yaoyorozu reassured him. "It really was a poor design choice. I must have looked ridiculous hauling that book around, and it was horribly impractical. It's so embarrassing that I never even considered something like this visor."

"Yeah, but still, I'm not really one to talk. I mean, my costume's nothing too impressive." Kaminari lamented. "Plus there was that contest we had back home, when we all judged one another's dorm-rooms and stuff. Everybody made fun of how I decorated mine, so it's not like I have good taste..."

Kaminari thought back to that night, when the Class first moved into their dormitories at UA, and how they all compared each other's rooms to see who had the coolest design. He remembered when Jiro roasted him for his room, saying that it looked like the store in the mall she'd avoid.

The more he thought about it, the more Kaminari realized that he hadn't done anything impressive at all really. For every mediocre victory he might've achieved, Kaminari could think of several humiliating failures and screwups. And yet, nothing stung more than whenever Jiro berated him and called him an idiot or a loser.

He remembered what That Creature had offered him...

(5 Days Ago...)

Just like his classmates, Kaminari found himself standing in a dark, desolate space, and immediately he started panicking. He thought maybe the DarkCube was some kind of bomb, and that the second Midoriya touched it, the bomb went off and they all died.

"You and your friends are not dead; I assure you of that..."

It spoke directly into Kaminari's mind, similar to Mandalay's Telepathy Quirk. But this wasn't Mandalay; this was someone else, some thing else, and its voice sent shivers down Kaminari's spine.

A gigantic, looming presence came before him. It towered over him. It made him feel like an insect underneath the shade of an incoming boot.

"You have so much potential, Denki Kaminari. Or at least your Quirk does. But it's wasted on you. Electromagnetism is one of the greatest powers in the universe, a power that could rival One-For-All if you understood how to use it. But your feeble and foolish mind does not."

That Creature had offered to give Kaminari a small fraction of its own power, and to drastically increase his IQ, to make him smarter. And by doing so, his Quirk and his mastery of it would improve astronomically. He would finally be worth something.

The only reason Kaminari didn't accept the deal, was because Midoriya had convinced Blast to release him from that energy-ball first, interrupting him just in time.

They all found themselves in a completely different world than the one they knew, and yet, even in Another-World, Kaminari couldn't escape his own worthlessness, and Jiro still called him an idiot.

Because that's all he was. An idiot.

(Back to the Present...)

Kaminari and Yaoyorozu took the elevator down to ground-level, and the garage was just a short walk away. But halfway there, Kaminari suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Hey, uh, Yaoyorozu, there's something else I need to talk about. Something I need your advice on."

Yaoyorozu turned around. "What is it, Kaminari?"

"I just..." Kaminari's words caught in his throat. At first, he was only going to ask Yaoyorozu for advice on how to impress Jiro, but he ended up saying a lot more.

"Back when we were all in those ball-things and were offered the deal by... Whatever that was ... Everyone else said no, but I was going to say yes, BECAUSE I SUCK! I suck at everything, and I'm tired of sucking at everything, and JUST ONCE I wish I could do something to impress Jiro!"

Kaminari gasped for air after letting loose what he had to say, having raised his voice and gotten a lot more agitated with himself near the end. He hung his head down in shame and self-resentment. Yaoyorozu was silent, pondering what she was told. She had never seen Kaminari so upset before. He was usually always smiling and joking around, one of the most carefree members of the Class.

"What makes you think that you suck at everything?" She asked.

"The fact that I'm the stupidest one in our whole Class, the fact I haven't done anything worthwhile this entire time, the fact that I flunked the practical-test on our first-semester finals, the fact that I would've flunked the written-test even harder if it wasn't for you tutoring me, the fact that I did NOTHING during the Sports-Festival, and the fact that every single time I try to be helpful, I always screw it up somehow, and Jiro always calls me an idiot!"

Kaminari took a deep breath after his long tirade. It actually felt really good to finally say it out loud, the obvious truth that he'd been ignoring for so long.

"Kaminari, you're not the only one who feels that way about themselves." Yaoyorozu reassured him.

"Huh? I'm not?"

"No, of course not!" Yaoyorozu insisted. "I didn't do very well at the Sports-Festival, either! I didn't stand-out all that much, and Tokoyami beat me before I could even do anything. Plus I'm really not as smart as I thought I was. I should have thought of something like this visor by myself, but I didn't."

Yaoyorozu raised her hand and touched her visor, as if to emphasize her point, before continuing.

"Plus, don't you remember what happened with Iida just a couple of days ago? He just left for a whole month of special training, because he thought he was useless the way he was! So what if we both scored high on those written-tests? So what if we can, like, solve a few complex equations, or form a few decent plans? How much have we really accomplished?"

Kaminari was stunned, but Yaoyorozu wasn't done yet. She sighed a bit, and kept talking.

"I think a lot of us, maybe even all of us, we tend to compare ourselves to each other, and we just assume that we're less than them. I used to compare myself to Todoroki all the time. Bakugo's been comparing himself to Midoriya, and Midoriya's always comparing himself to AllMight. Maybe... I think maybe we're all being kinda stupid for thinking that way."

Kaminari gave it some thought. It never once occurred to him that Yaoyorozu and the others might feel the same way he did. He knew Bakugo was always competing with Midoriya, but he always saw that as just Bakugo being Bakugo, not Bakugo feeling like he wasn't good enough. He never could've imagined someone as smart as Yaoyorozu feeling inadequate, and he completely forgot about Iida beating himself up for allegedly getting humiliated by FlashyFlash. But still, none of them were stupid or insecure enough to ever accept That Creature's deal. Not like him... Right?

"Kaminari, why do you want to impress Jiro?"

That question shook Kaminari out from his thoughts.

"Huh?! Why what?!"

"Earlier, you said that just once you wanted to impress Jiro. Why?" Yaoyorozu asked.

Kaminari sighed. "Because I like her. A lot. But she... She doesn't like me at all. She hates me! She's always mean to me, always calling me an idiot, always calling me a loser, and it hurts. It hurts because I know she's right about me. I just... I don't even need her to like me back, I just don't want to be the kind of person she hates. That's all I can hope for."

"I'm... I don't really know how to help you with that problem," Yaoyorozu admitted. "But I don't think that Jiro hates you, not really. She probably just... doesn't understand."

"You think so?" Kaminari questioned.

"Yeah. But we should probably get going now."

Both Kaminari and Yaoyorozu continued to the garage and left for Drive-Knight's lair to begin their next day of training. Little did they know that for most of their exchange, someone else was eavesdropping on them.

Ever since she was little, Jiro had developed a habit of eavesdropping on people with her Quirk. She knew it was wrong, criminal even, but once she started she couldn't stop. Back in middle-school, she used to hear other girls talk trash about her behind her back, people she thought were her friends. She heard guys say the most disgusting things, talk about her in ways that made her sick, but only when they thought she couldn't hear them, then they'd act all friendly and respectful when they met face-to-face. It was enough to make her assume the worst of Kaminari when they first met.

One of the things she never told anyone about her Quirk, was that she could almost always tell whenever a person was lying. That was why she started listening in on other people's private conversations to begin with; she wanted to know the truth. She knew all too well how dishonest everyone was. How dishonest SHE was...

But when she eavesdropped on what Kaminari said to Yaoyorozu, she hadn't picked up a single tell to suggest that what he said wasn't his true feelings.

---

Field-Testing: Drive-Knight, Kaminari, Yaoyorozu, Stinger

Yaoyorozu and Kaminari returned to Drive-Knight's lair, proceeding towards the practice-area. As they entered, Drive-Knight was waiting for them.

"Good, you two have arrived. I hope the new costume and tactical-visor I had designed for you is to your liking, Yaoyorozu. If there are any cosmetic or practical issues, feel free to voice them."

"Thank you, Drive-Knight, this new gear is incredible!" Yaoyorozu told him. "I'm especially excited to use this new visor! I've scrolled through some of the weapons and items stored on it, and this'll definitely expand my arsenal!"

"I am glad to hear it. Since you are still uncertain about adopting cybernetics, I decided that a tactical-visor to replace your encyclopedia would be a good alternative. Unlike the cerebral-implants, you will still have to scroll through, read and memorize the schematics, but it will certainly be more practical and efficient."

The Cyborg then turned to Kaminari. "And what about you, Kaminari? Are you interested in upgrading and/or redesigning you costume as well? I am already working on a superior model for your Point-and-Shoot gauntlets, and there are several other weapons or tools I could design to complement your Electrification Quirk. If you wish to alter your costume in any way, now would be an appropriate time to do so."

Kaminari looked up in thought. "Well, now that you mention it, I have been thinking for a while that my costume's kinda lame, and Yaoyorozu's new costume is freakin' awesome, so yeah, I'm totally down for that... I just don't know what I'd want my new costume to look like."

"Understandable. Think about it for a while, and come back to me once you have an idea." The Cyborg suggested. "In the meantime, I have some new exercises that should improve your electrical-discharge. And as for you, Yaoyorozu, while going over numerous forms and techniques is beneficial, I would like for you to study under someone with true combat-experience, and join him out in the field today."

"What? Why does Yaoyorozu get to do the cool stuff?" Kaminari complained.

Just as Yaoyorozu was about to ask for details, there was a sound from behind her, signaling that someone had walked in through the door.

"That should be him right now." Drive-Knight stated.

A man entered the room. He had a suit that seemed to be made of black bandages, with a crown of dark spiky black hair. He carried a long, spear-like weapon at his side.

"YO! The name's Stinger!"

"He was the hero with the closest compatibility towards staff combat. While not entirely the same, you can learn a lot from watching him in action." Drive-Knight exposited.

"My Bamboo-Shoot Spear and I are pretty amazing. But we gotta go quickly, we already received our mission and we're gonna have to meet up with everyone else." he said while twirling his spear around for show.

"You should go now. Don't worry about your friend here, he will be perfectly safe, as you should be." Drive-Knight told her, looking at Stinger.

"Don't worry about it. Short of a Demon, this'll be a piece of cake." he said, twirling his spear in his hands. Yaoyorozu gave a quick glance at Kaminari, and he shot her a thumbs-up, signaling that it was cool. She nodded and both she and Stinger headed for the exit.

As they left the facility, Stinger decided to make some small talk.

"So, what's your name? Your hero-name, that is. No need to tell me your real name if you don't want to." he said, carrying his spear behind his neck.

"It's no problem at all, my name is Yaoyorozu, but my hero-name is Creation-Queen." She said stuttering on her new hero-name.

"Oh cool, going by what Drive-Knight told me, I guess your primary weapon is a staff? Well, I'm not one to judge, but you should definitely consider using a spear instead. Much more killing-power, you know?" he said casually, turning to look at her.

"Well I appreciate the advice, but I'll stick with the staff for now, and while the staff is one of the weapons I'm most proficient with, my main talent lies in my ability to create things." she said smiling and using her Quirk to make a titanium shield.

"WOAH! So that's where you're hero-name comes from! That's insane! What else can you create? Can you create things like money, or clones of yourself?"

"I can't create just anything, only non-living objects. I first need to know its molecular structure and how it all goes together, and while I technically can create money, that is very much against everything I stand for as a hero, so I don't do it." Yaoyorozu elaborated.

"I get it. Just because ya can, doesn't mean ya should." Stinger said. "Well then, you're probably wondering what the mission is, right?"

"Yes, yes I was."

"Well, some of the Association agents discovered a gigantic colony of monsterized fungus, basically a plague of giant mutated mushrooms that kill everything they grow on, and they're already spreading and multiplying. The Association wants us to go and wipe 'em out before they can reach a populated area."

It took Yaoyorozu a few seconds to process what Stinger had told her. Exterminating a plague of mushroom-monsters? He made it sound like this was just a common occurrence.

"What's the Threat-Level?" She asked.

"Nothing too big, at least not yet. They say that each 'shroom is only a small Wolf-Level monster, but collectively it could be a mid-to-high Tiger-Level Threat, with possible escalation to Demon-Level, which is why we need to hurry and stop them, before it comes to that."

"I only hope these monsters aren't sentient." Yaoyorozu thought to herself. "If not, then maybe it would be acceptable to resort to lethal force..."

Yaoyorozu scrolled through her Visor's inventory, and found data and schematics for a high-powered flamethrower. This might help in fighting off the fungus...

---

Of Mice and Monsters: MetalBat, Koda

"So, Doctor Doolittle, are there any limits to what kind of animals you can control?" MetalBat asked, as he and Koda were patrolling the streets of City-D.

"I can communicate with all sorts of animals, but some are easier than others." Koda said quietly while pacing behind his teacher.

"You have to learn to speak up more, say things with your chest! If you keep acting all quiet and timid like that, people are just gonna walk all over you!" MetalBat said as he looked over the shoulder at the timid teen. Koda shyly nodded, which only made MetalBat roll his eyes.

MetalBat had just dropped his little sister off at school, and now the dysfunctional-duo continued to walk through the streets, but nothing seemed to be happening today. They traversed the city looking for any signs of danger, but there wasn't any trouble until Koda spotted a woman being harassed by three men in an alleyway.

"Uh, MetalBat, there are some guys harassing a girl over there." Koda said.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Stop 'em." MetalBat said.

"Huh? Wait, you mean me?!"

"Yes you! Who else?!" MetalBat shouted. "If you can't even stop a few jerks in an alley, why even bother trying to be a hero?! Now go stop em!"

Koda nodded. He took a deep breath before dashing into the alleyway. He stopped at the entrance of the alley and shouted to get the villain's attention.

"HEY! Leave her alone!" Koda said with a no-nonsense tone. The three men turned to look at the kid, and began to laugh at him. They seemed to be nothing but common street thugs, with piercings, leather-jackets, and tattoos. Even in a vastly different universe, some things remained the same.

"Listen kid, given the outfit I'm guessing that you're a hero, huh? Probably just a Class-C nobody, given that I've never seen your face. But just for the record Mr. Hero, I have a Class-B Bounty on my head! I'm The Slasher! So, I suggest you better run off before I get mad..." the villain held out a pocketknife in front of him threateningly. Koda didn't move or budge from the threat, instead screaming down the alleyway with his Anivoice.

"Haha, what, did you scare him that badly?..." The villain behind Slasher was cut off as he heard movement scampering beneath him. He looked down to see several rats coming out from the gutters to bite at his ankles. Then an entire swarm of rats started coming from several directions.

All three men turned to run away from the mass of creatures, completely forgetting about the girl. Two of the three were overtaken, flailing about and screaming as the rats crawled onto and clawed at their bodies. The Slasher was faring much better than his accomplices. He was blur as his blade slashed through the oncoming rats, killing many at a time, but also retreating back to avoid being overwhelmed. After realizing what must've caused the rats to swarm them in the first place, he changed tactics and decided to attack Koda, who hesitated and took a step back, just barely avoiding a slash to his throat as he tripped over his own feet in fear.

The Slasher was above him looking down, about to stab him in the jugular while he was on the floor. Koda braced himself for the attack, but it never came, as the blade fell unceremoniously to the ground beside him. He looked to his right and saw MetalBat crouching next to him.

"I told you; you need to work on your own strength. Animals won't always be there to save you." MetalBat said as he stood up, tossing the unconscious Slasher over his shoulder before looking back into the alleyway.

"Hey, call them off!" he said, motioning to the rats in the alley that were still attacking the men, and some even started attacking the girl. Koda tried, but the rats seemingly stopped for a moment before another voice set them back into a frenzy and began their assault on the two of them instead.

"What?" was Koda's only reply, as a larger creature dug up from the ground. It was a large mouselike creature that was more than twice his height. It had messy gray fur and beady black eyes.

{Who is that making that incessant noise?! Who dares control my subjects?!} it shouted, anger in its voice. It narrowed its eyes at Koda, causing him to shiver from its gaze.

{YOU! You think you can control my subjects? They belong only to me, The Mouse-Master!}

The creature charged directly at him but was intercepted by MetalBat.

{Wait! I'm sorry for calling your subjects like that, I had no idea they already had a leader! But they're yours again! We can just leave and go our separate ways now!} Koda responded in his Anivoice, trying to prevent any more violence.

{You humans believe you are so superior, killing whenever you believe it just, and begging for mercy when you can't escape the consequences of your actions. But not me! For every one of my brood that has been killed, ten humans shall die in their place!}

It zigzagged out of MetalBat's line of sight and charged at Koda again, but was intercepted by MetalBat again.

"I don't know what you two were talking about, but it looks like it just made him angrier. Step aside, runt, leave this to me."

MetalBat drew back his bat, swinging with full force and knocking the rat-monster's head clean off, sending it flying across the alleyway. With the loss of their leader, the rats all began to disperse from the area, escaping back into the vents and sewers, away from the gathering crowd. MetalBat hefted his bat on his shoulder looking disappointed.

"Barely a workout..." MetalBat said dismissively, before looking back at Koda.

"You ok?" he asked the still stunned teen on the ground.

"Uh…yeah, guess so..." he mumbled. "You came back to help me?"

"Of course I did! I ain't gonna abandon ya, I just wanted to see what you're made of." he said encouragingly. Before Koda could reply, he was suddenly hugged by the woman he helped rescue.

"I don't know who you are, but thanks!" she told him.

"Just... doing my job." Koda replied.

"Well, things ain't too bad," MetalBat said. "You caught us a bounty with that stunt, along with the monster you managed to summon here."

"Bounty?" Koda questioned.

"Yeah, that guy said he was a Class-B Bounty. So, there's a reward for bringing him in. It's one of the best ways to make money besides fighting monsters directly." he explained, pointing to the unconscious Slasher he dropped on the ground.

"Well, that's one bright side to all this..." Koda thought. But there was a nagging thought that he inadvertently killed the Mouse-Master by summoning his brood here, and now those rats will be without a leader...

"If you're worried about that monster, don't be. Whatever it said, it was full of shit. If we didn't stop it today, it would have just rampaged another day and caused some serious damage."

Koda understood his reasoning, but it didn't make him feel that much better. Still, MetalBat was right about one thing; Animals won't always be around to save him, and in this world, they may not even be on his side at all, which was a first for him.

---

Combat Training: ZombieMan, Tokoyami, Hagakure

ZombieMan was waiting for both Tokoyami and Hagakure out in the Association Headquarters' garage. He had a sleek black car; the same one they rode in to visit the diner in City-D.

"I see that you both got those new costumes I ordered for you." ZombieMan said as he looked at his two proteges. Tokoyami nodded.

"Our appearances have caused quite a stir among the populace, so this was a smart move on the Association's part." he said indifferently.

As usual, Hagakure was much more enthusiastic, thanking ZombieMan for commissioning the new suit for her, how she'd long been wishing for a costume that could turn invisible along with herself. ZombieMan shrugged it off, saying it was the Association scientists she should be thanking.

"All I did was file the request."

They got in the car, and began driving off to their destination. Instead of returning to the diner, they drove to the outskirts of City-D, where there was a massive forest that was fenced-off from the rest of the world. They passed through a large gate, and a sign that read; CITY-D FOREST RESERVE.

ZombieMan parked his car and gestured for Tokoyami and Hagakure to follow him, as they continued the rest of their journey on foot.

"Where are we going, anyways?" Tokoyami asked as they walked through the dense forest, coming towards an open clearing with a single tree stump in the center.

"I wanted to take you someplace remote for combat training." He said, simply gesturing for them to stop as he continued forward. Taking off his trenchcoat, ZombieMan sat down on the tree stump with a desert-eagle firearm in his hand, making the two kids nervous.

"Relax."

He shot at the ground near the teens, revealing that the round he just fired was made of paint.

"I ain't gonna go hard on you two, I just wanna see how fast you are. Ready?" he asked.

The two teens looked at each other.

"I'm game for this!" she said, pumping her fist.

"As am I." Tokoyami nodded in return.

Both teens turned their heads back towards ZombieMan and nodded. He gave them the go-ahead, and they started their attack on the hero. DarkShadow began the assault, charging with full-force. ZombieMan waited for the shadow to reach him and knocked him aside when he got too close, dodging his claws as he passed. DarkShadow shook himself off and began to attack again. He enlarged his hand, attempting to crush ZombieMan, who still sat there on the tree stump. The hand came down hard, but the hero didn't move a muscle, instead extending his left-hand outwards and stopping the blow cold, earning a shocked gasp from Tokoyami. ZombieMan used his other hand to aim his desert-eagle, and shot directly at Tokoyami. He was too slow to dodge the bullet, and it hit him directly in the chest, forcing him and DarkShadow to fall backwards.

Hagakure noticed DarkShadow retreating back towards Tokoyami. She attacked next. Seeing ZombieMan raising his gun again, she tried using her Warp-Refraction to blind the hero as she closed the distance. She successfully landed multiple punches on his face, but it felt like she was attacking solid steel. It felt like she was taking more damage from the exchange than he was, as he didn't even try to hit her back. Then ZombieMan shot her in the leg, causing her to fall over and grasp at it in searing pain. Then ZombieMan kicked her away like a soccer-ball.

Tokoyami recovered and sent DarkShadow forth again, not to attack ZombieMan though, but to grab Hagakure and retreat. He was shocked that the hero didn't even have to move from his seated position to defeat them, but there was also the issue of his and Hagakure's Quirks being incompatible. Suddenly, ZombieMan left his stump, and before Tokoyami could block, he felt a strong punch to his stomach that completely floored him. ZombieMan walked back to the tree stump and sat back down, putting his jacket back on, and lighting a cigarette before ending the exercise.

"Okay, now I know where you're at."

The students were still recovering from the damage before standing back up to hear his points.

"I was kinda disappointed in your lack of teamwork. You two don't fight together very often?"

"Not really. Our Quirks are too incompatible to fight together. DarkShadow's weakness is light, so the flashes of light she can emit hurts him." Tokoyami said huffing.

"Yeah, and I'm not much of a fighter to begin with." Hagakure said.

"I noticed, but why not? Even if your Quirk is more suited to stealth, there are other ways you can make yourself a strong combatant. Try learning some martial-arts, so that when you do find yourself in a combat situation, you'll be more prepared." ZombieMan stated matter-of-factly.

"I... guess It's worth a shot." Hagakure replied meekly.

"And that light thing you did, where did that come from?" ZombieMan asked.

"My Quirk, aside from Invisibility, also allows me to manipulate light. I can reflect or refract it off myself to blind those around me."

"I see, so you're basically a living prism. I'll have to make a note of that. As for you, Tokoyami, I see that you mostly let your Quirk fight for you, but that's no excuse to neglect training your own body."

He let out a puff of smoke above him.

"Now that I know your weaknesses, you can learn to overcome them, starting now..."

He pointed at Hagakure. "Being invisible is certainly useful, but it's not an auto-win. I'll try to find a martial-arts teacher with the right fighting-style for you, and in the meantime, try experimenting with your light-manipulation more. For now, though, we'll focus on building your strength and reflexes."

They spent the rest of the day running through the forest, climbing and doing pull-ups on the branches of trees, and several other physical exercises. ZombieMan performed double the amount that Tokoyami and Hagakure were expected to, and yet by the end of the day, when the two kids were sweating and gasping for air, their mentor was hardly fatigued at all.

---

Learning the Basics Part-2: Bang, Charanko, Ojiro, Midoriya

Just as the day before, their training began with a 20-kilometer run around the base of the mountain that Bang's Dojo resided atop of, and just like before, Midoriya and Bang took off to go patrol the streets, having completed their run very early. This time however, Ojiro didn't have to antagonize Charanko to continue with his run. Charanko just followed behind him, and remarkably, by the halfway point, Charanko was actually pulling ahead. Once they finished their tenth and final lap, with Charanko just barely managing to finish first, the two of them then raced each other back up the mountain and to the doors of the dojo, running up the perilous stairs that were seemingly carved out of the mountain itself. Ojiro cheated a little by using his Tail to catapult himself forward. He bounded right over Charanko, smirking at him as he passed him by and reached the dojo first.

"That… that was... cheating… and… you… know it!" Charanko managed to get out between breaths.

"All... is fair... in love and war." Ojiro countered, panting slightly.

"Having an augment isn't fair. I wish I had a tail like that. How did you get that tail, anyway?" Charanko asked as he sat on the stairs.

"Well, I was just kinda born with it." Ojiro said, as he used his tail to wipe the sweat off his face.

"Huh, I guess that makes some sense. But what's with the metal stuff over it now?"

"Just something to make people think that it's all cybernetics. Otherwise, they might confuse me for some kind of monster."

"Oh, uh... I'm sorry." Charanko said as he looked at his fellow student's tail.

"Don't be," Ojiro said absently, "It is what it is."

After returning inside and rehydrating, both students began to practice the forms and counters of the Fist of Flowing-Water Crushing-Rock.

"So, I assume you want to be a hero?" Charanko commented, blocking the right jab from Ojiro.

"Yeah well, technically I already am one. Class-C Rank-35." Ojiro said, blocking an overhead kick.

"Woah, that's cool!" Charanko said grinning, jumping over a sweep-kick.

"Well, what about you? Why are you practicing martial-arts?" Ojiro asked, redirecting a roundhouse kick, but at that question Charanko froze.

"I just... Didn't want to feel like a wimp. Besides that... I don't want to just leave Bang all by himself, not after what happened."

Shortly after, Bang and Midoriya returned from their patrol, and they all went to their seats as Bang began to speak on what they will do next for the day.

"For today I would like to go over one of the primary techniques of my martial-art, known as AllSight. It is the art of anticipating your opponent's moves and visualizing their weaknesses. Combined with the Fist of Flowing-Water Crushing-Rock, you should be able to counter your opponent's attacks and pierce their defenses respectively." he lectured. The students nodded.

"We will split off into teams of two. Your opponent will be given a list of moves that they are allowed to use, and you must try to predict which ones they will use. We will rotate partners after some time."

The group split up into Midoriya with Bang, and Ojiro with Charanko.

Bang and Midoriya stood a few meters apart. Bang had given him a paper listing all the moves that Bang himself was allowed to perform, which were a right jab, a right roundhouse-kick, a left elbow-thrust, a left snap-kick, and a spinning hook-kick. After committing them to memory, Midoriya put the paper away, and waited for his teacher to signal for the exercise to begin. He did, and Midoriya instantly raised his Full-Cowling to 65% and waited for his teacher to make a move. He focused his vision on all the designated limbs, waiting to see which one he'd use. Or maybe he should be paying attention to his center of body instead? It would allow him greater chance of seeing all his movements besides staring at one specific body-part...

Before he knew it, Midoriya took a right jab to his face, and stared at his teacher.

"Don't overthink it. Strategy is important, but so is decisiveness. Too much thought can slow your judgment, which in turn slows your ability to act." he instructed as he got back into his stance.

Midoriya nodded and took his own stance again, staring at his teacher, wondering how he would strike next. There was a sudden flash of movement, and Midoriya held his guard high, only to feel a heavy hit to his gut. Bang performed a right roundhouse-kick to the stomach instead of another jab to the face like Midoriya was expecting.

"You didn't think I would use the same move twice, did you?" he said with a jovial smile.

The test went on like this for some time, Midoriya not being able to properly predict how Bang was going to strike next. Even with his DangerSense, he was struggling. Bang was somehow able to mask his intent. It went the same way for Ojiro and Charanko, neither being able to predict each other's attacks very well, at least not at first. But as they continued, Ojiro started blocking and evading more and more of Charanko's hits, and when the time came to switch partners, and Midoriya powered down to just 1.5% Full-Cowling to make the match less one-sided, Ojiro was doing surprisingly well against him. The exercises continued like this for the remainder of their session.

---

Booking an Interview: King, SweetMask, Shinsou, Aoyama

Shinsou and King were still practicing for the upcoming videogame tournament next week. He was struggling for a way for him to bring up the interview that Aoyama mentioned. He was reminded of the importance of the interview earlier that morning, when the more unique members of his Class were given special clothes to hide their mutations. He was also privately messaged by Aoyama, asking if he had asked King about the interview yet, to which he replied no, to Aoyama's dismay.

[Don't worry, I'll ask him now!] Shinsou texted in reply.

After closing the message app on his phone, Shinsou immediately followed through on his promise while it was still fresh on his mind.

"Hey, uh, King. I have a question for you..." Shinsou started.

"Shoot."

"How do you feel about live interviews?"

"Aw crap." King thought. Someone in the Association must've put him up to this.

"Does it have to be live?" King questioned.

"Uh, I don't know. Let me check." Shinsou sent another quick text to Aoyama, to which after a moment he responded.

"Sorry, seems it has to be live, SweetMask won't have it any other way." Shinsou said.

"SweetMask?" King desperately willed himself not to panic, or even sweat. SweetMask was always a bit shady in his eyes, he was far more ruthless than he let on. He had a real hatred for phonies, and King was the biggest phony of them all.

"Uhh… Tell him I'll pass."

Shinsou stood up from his chair and looked directly at him. He had a serious expression on his face.

"Please reconsider King. This is really important to me and my friends."

"Really? Why? What's the interview going to be about?"

Shinsou scrolled with his phone a bit and then showed King his screen.

King read the different news reports. Apparently, the media was spreading rumors about some of his friends, claiming they were actually monsters. And this interview was meant to set the record straight and explain to the public what was really going on. And they wanted him there to reinforce their credibility. Ironic, considering the fact that King had no credibility at all as a hero.

He weighed his options of what he should do. The thought of doing any live interview scared him. Even if he was just there for the sake of name-recognition, and SweetMask did most of the talking, there was a chance that the interviewer may venture off-topic and start asking him questions, and he won't be able to answer any of them. Not without digging himself into an even deeper hole, or exposing himself for the complete fraud that he was.

Then he remembered what Saitama told him. Regardless of how it came to be, he was a hero now, and that means he would have to help people in need. And this kid and his friends needed his help. And unlike fighting monsters, this was a heroic-act he could actually do. If he could help them to alleviate the public's worries, if he could actually be of use for once...

King smiled to himself. This didn't even qualify as a decision to be made.

Shinsou had already sat back down, looking somewhat dejected.

"Look, I get it. You barely know me or any of my friends, you don't have any obligation to..."

"Okay, I'll do it." King said, cutting Shinsou off, which made the teen do a double-take.

"Really, you will?" he wanted to make sure he heard correctly.

"Yeah, sure. I can brave it for you guys. If it'll clear things up for the public and stop them from turning on you, then I think I do have an obligation. Can't have my student or his friends getting attacked or mistaken for something they're not."

Shinsou let out a huge sigh of relief. He started to doubt that King really had any heroic principles, as he seemed far more interested in bunkering-up in his apartment and playing his videogames, but thankfully he was worried over nothing. He typed on his phone, telling Aoyama that King was down for the interview.

Aoyama was equally relieved after he got the reply from Shinsou. All he needed to do now was wait for SweetMask to return from one of his appointments. In the meantime, he was still practicing on the mirrors in the gym, managing to finally reflect his laser off of 3 of the 12. He was beginning to understand the trajectory of his laser more as he went. The door suddenly swung open, with SweetMask wearing his usual blue-and-white palette.

"Monsieur SweetMask, King has agreed to the interview." Aoyama said in a cheery mood.

"That is good news. I'm still finalizing the details myself, but I will let you know when a precise date is set. Now, I want to know more about you and your friends, and not just the stuff the Association told you to say, either. I need more information about you and your friends' powers." he rationalized.

"Well, it's classified, but my friends and I, are from an Alternate-Earth." Aoyama said.

"So, the Multiverse really does exist." SweetMask sat in thought, pondering the implications of such a massive discovery.

"How did you all get here?"

"That I do not know." Aoyama said, thinking back to the DarkCube, and how Sitch and Blast told his entire Class not to speak of it to anyone. Still, he had no idea what the Cube actually was or how it worked, so he wasn't technically lying when he said he didn't know how they got here.

"And in this universe, everyone has powers like you and your friends?"

"Most people do." Aoyama went on to explain all the different categories that Quirks can manifest as, and how the society in their universe worked.

"Fascinating, very fascinating. If I were so inclined, I would have liked to write a television series based on your adventures, but that is for another time."

Aoyama flushed, thinking of his life as a story, and then was incredibly saddened by his life as a story...

---

Strength-Training and Sugar-Pills: DarkShine, PigGod, Kirishima, Sato

Sato and Kirishima headed to their usual training-room inside the Association HQ. They were both looking forward to another day of strength-training, especially Kirishima, who was now deadset on becoming as strong and as tough as DarkShine one day.

"I also really wanna try out that VCS machine that Bakugo and Todoroki mentioned at some point." He said to Sato on their way to the gym. "They told me that it downloaded their memories of the Nomu, and other enemies from back home, so I could use that as a target to aim for."

The two continued talking as they walked towards the gym, opening the door to find DarkShine doing some light weightlifting before stopping and addressing them as they got into the room.

"Hey, I hope y'all had a good breakfast!"

"Yep, so what's the plan for today?" Kirishima asked.

"For now, just more of the same, more body-building. Have you guys figured out what body-shape you're going for?"

Both Kirishima and Sato had decided they would go for what was called a Mesomorph build, as it provided a good, even proportion of muscle-mass throughout the entire body.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask, when can we get a chance to patrol the streets and fight some villains? All this bodybuilding is great and all, but I won't see how much I've improved unless I go out there and do something in the real-world." Kirishima said, slamming two hardened fists together.

"Patrol? Oh, I don't normally do that kinda stuff. I mostly work as the bodyguard of the Association-Headquarters. I hold down the fort." Seeing the disappointment on Kirishima's face, he continued.

"I'm sure you'll get your chance, though. I can always convince MetalBat to trade students with me. For now, let's max-out your strength and stamina. Your muscles will thank you for it later." DarkShine said as he made it over to some of the workout machines. Their training routine was rather simple. The first half focused on bolstering the upper-body, while the second half would then focus on improving the lower-body, with a 15-minute break in-between. Then near the end of the day, they would run on treadmills for roughly 5-kilometers, which was by far the most difficult for Kirishima and Sato, because even after taking a 15-minute rest, spending three hours training their lower-body muscles, and then also running on the treadmill, was nothing short of agony for their legs.

Today however, Sato skipped the treadmill, and said farewell to both DarkShine and Kirishima as he exited the gym to go meet up with PigGod. Apparently he had some new training for him.

Sato headed to where PigGod had told him to meet up, which unfortunately for him, was around a kitchen where Sato would be able to bake him sweets. Mentally preparing himself for the chore, he stepped into the room to find PigGod, already having a whole palette full of sweets prepared.

"I guess this means no cooking for today?" Sato asked.

"Yup, today I wanna see what you can really do with that Quirk of yours. I even got the Association scientists to whip up something new for ya." PigGod said, still mostly focusing on his tray of sweets while throwing a small container at the teen, which he caught and inspected before opening.

"You told me you needed 10-grams of sugar to get your Quirk going, so I got the lab guys to create an easier way you can digest them. Carrying packets of sugar with you into battle can be tedious. Especially If the packets get ripped open and some spill out, or if you're not able to digest the whole thing in time." PigGod commented, munching on his sweets. Sato opened the pouchlike container. Inside were dozens of white pills, and it looked like the container fit onto his costume's utility-belt. He looked back up at the hero with shock on his face, surprised by his consideration.

"Thanks! Yeah, this will definitely help. So, how many of them do I have to take in order for my Quirk to activate?" Sato asked, curiously hyped by this new advancement.

"Just one." PigGod said casually.

"JUST ONE?! No way!" His mind was blown by that statement. Now he could activate his Quirk by simply popping one pill?!

"Yup, now follow me." PigGod said. He put down the now empty tray of sweets, and picked up a bag of chips before leaving the room. Sato quickly followed behind as the two of them walked through the halls of the Association. They came to another training-room, this one more suited for boxing if he had to guess, going by the ring in the center, punching-bags, punch-machines, and other machines around. PigGod continued to the ring as Sato followed.

"Alright, before we begin, I would like for you to ask you, what would happen if you were to eat multiple 10-grams of sugar? Does anything special happen? What if you were to eat 10-grams, activate your Quirk, and then eat another 10-grams?" PigGod asked.

"Well, for each additional 10-grams I ingest post-activation, I gain more time to use my Quirk. For eating more at one time, I'm not really sure, but I don't believe it has any added benefits."

"Interesting. That's something we're going to have to test. For now, pop one of the pills and let's see what you got." PigGod gestured to the container on his hip, which Sato gave a nod at and ingested one of the white sugar-pills. After he swallowed, he felt the power begin to course through his body, muscles began to enlarge and intensify, surging with power. He also felt that familiar numb feeling that was on the precipice of his mind. The feeling was very faint, at first, but it was there, and as he came to learn, it would steadily grow until he was overwhelmed by it. He slowly put the container down and got into a stance, but hesitated for a moment when he saw the rather relaxed pose his opposition was in, still eating on his rather large bag of chips.

"Oh, don't worry about me, you can start when you're ready." PigGod said. Sato nodded. Not having much time, he decided to trust the hero's abilities.

Sato rushed forwards, starting with a straight punch. PigGod didn't bother blocking or evading, and he quickly discovered why. When the punch landed, it didn't even make the hero budge. Sato's fist was completely absorbed by PigGod's stomach before stopping around his wrist. The Class-S Hero didn't even bat an eye.

"He's just like FatGum from back home." Sato thought to himself. He and Kirishima both speculated as much, but it was another thing to finally see it in action.

He performed another straight punch with his other fist to receive the same result. After pulling out both his fists, he backed up from the hero and, much earlier than he would've liked, resorted to his ultimate-combination-move, Sugar-Rush! The rapid sequence of blows still didn't faze the hero, but he decided to keep it up all the same. Sadly, he began to get slower and slower, as that numb feeling increased inside his mind. Before it could completely set in, however, he went back towards the container he left in the corner of the gym and quickly digested another one.

"Oh? Is your time-limit that short?" PigGod asked.

"Yeah, I managed to get it to around 10-minutes. Originally it was only 5."

"What happens when the limit is up? I saw that you were starting to slow down."

"Yeah, the closer I get to my limit I start to experience symptoms of hypoglycemia, or sugar-crash, whichever you wanna call it. I get lower-cognition, decreased-intelligence, and lethargy." he mentioned idly.

"Well in that case. I want you to see the limit all the way through this time, alright? Remember, I want to test if taking in multiple 10-grams of sugar initially would affect you in some way."

"Ah! Sorry about that." Sato said, rubbing the back of his head.

"No problem, let's see what else you got."

Sato once again charged at PigGod, releasing a flurry of blows that didn't affect the hero at all. The boy's attack-style reminded him of Puri-Puri Prisoner and his Angel-Rush attack, but it was lacking something that he couldn't pinpoint. He considered contacting him for advice, but decided against it, realizing it was a bad idea to let him anywhere near children. While thinking this, he absentmindedly tanked even more attacks from the teen, occasionally moving his bag of chips out of the way of an oncoming punch that threatened to hit it and cause a mess. And just like Sato said, after nearly five minutes had passed, he began to slow down more and more until he finally came to a full stop. His body was completely numb with his mouth agape, swaying from side to side. PigGod picked the child up, and waited for the teen to get his bearings, which took around 20-minutes' worth of time, and after a quick break, they were at it again.

This time in the ring, Sato ate two pills at once, but he didn't feel any stronger than he did originally.

"Remind me to get the recipe to make these things myself, they would be fantastic upgrades for hero work." Sato mentioned idly as he launched a punch at PigGod, which unlike before the hero blocked.

"No problem, I'll have the Association send me them and I'll get it right to you. It doesn't seem like you got any stronger than before, but that's alright, at least we tried. Just keep going, try to get a punch through." PigGod stated as he waited for the teen to attack, and Sato obliged him, launching into another flurry of strikes.

---

Fetch: WatchDogMan, Asui

Asui was back in the center of City-Q next to WatchDogMan's podium, feeling a gust of wind as WatchDogMan leapt from the podium and returned with incredible speed. Her face grimaced slightly when she saw that his paws were now filthy, no doubt with the blood of monsters he killed.

She didn't hate him for it, but he was obviously strong enough to merely knock them unconscious, and let them be picked up by the authorities. She decided to ask him directly.

"Why don't you ever just capture the monsters you face? Ribbit."

"Because they're monsters, and it sends a strong message." WatchDogMan said matter-of-factly.

Asui sat puzzled by the response. From how she always understood it, 'monster' was a very subjective term, defined more by feelings than facts. But the way it was used in this world, and from what she was told about this 'Monsterization' phenomenon, it seemed to be an objective statement.

"But weren't some of those monsters originally human? Don't you think there's a chance we can save them, or at least turn them back into regular humans again? Or something?" she asked.

She thought about Jordan down in that exhibit. She saw firsthand how crazy and unhinged he was, but surely, he wasn't completely gone, was he?

"There was once a time when many more people felt that way." WatchDogMan replied stoically. "Back when monster-attacks weren't nearly as frequent, many tried to capture and rehabilitate them as if they were human criminals, but they never could. And as monsters become more powerful, and attacks more frequent, it would be wrong to continue such a futile mission at the cost of civilian lives. To a certain point, mercy towards the malevolent can become cruelty towards the innocent."

Asui digested the brief history-lesson. It was a tough pill to swallow. Was killing really the only way?

"Why do you care so much?" he asked, slightly tilting his head while waiting for her reply.

"Well, I just think killing when you don't have to is wrong. Most of my friends think the same. Especially if the crime they commit is less severe."

WatchDogMan seemed to be mulling that over, then appeared to have an idea.

"If you can defeat and incapacitate a monster before I arrive, then we'll do it your way. Deal?"

Well, it wasn't what she expected, but Asui was happy to be getting anywhere in this conversation of sparing monsters. But then the reality struck her hard, when the hero dashed away in the blink of an eye, invisible to her senses, and returned to the podium just as quickly. She wondered how she would ever get to a scene before he did.

"That's not fair, you're so much faster than I am." she said.

"Just get faster." He replied, which ticked Asui off somewhat.

"Well, how did you get so fast?" Asui questioned.

"Training." was all WatchDogMan said in return. Asui nearly gave up with her line of questioning, but saw his body language subtly change. He began to raise his head, and his body began to tense. She never noticed this before, and figured this was him readying himself to charge out again into the city. She reacted quickly, shooting out her tongue and attaching to WatchDogMan's back. He launched off the platform and began to run, but Asui couldn't see where they were going, only feeling that familiar rush of wind all around her now, before suddenly coming to a stop sometime later. She let herself recover from the ride, and caught up to the scene that was happening in front of her.

There was a strange beast in front of the two heroes. It was like a large, dinosaur-like creature with horns, an extended mouth, large fangs, and claws. It had spiny dorsal fins on its back going down its spine. It had large, webbed toes and a long tail. The creature looked at them, and fear instantly grew on its face when it noticed WatchDogMan, who was calmy sitting down between it and Asui.

"I'll give you this one." was all WatchDogMan said as he sat completely still. Asui questioned what exactly he meant by that. Did he let her hitch a ride on him? Before she could ponder the thought any more however, the creature began to run away.

"I'll give you 10-minutes to try and reason with it." WatchDogMan told her. The frog-girl immediately hopped after the dinosaur-like creature. Its large bulk made it pass through the street slowly, and she caught up in no time, jumping in front of the creature and halting its progress.

"Please just surrender." Asui nearly begged. It either didn't understand her or it didn't care, as it charged forward, thrusting it's claw down at her, which she narrowly avoided. She crawled up the side of a nearby building and dropped down with a dropkick that hit the creature on the forehead, but her attack barely made it budge. Now up close, Froppy could tell that the creature was much bigger than she originally thought, at least 40-feet tall. She jumped away again as it tried to step on her, and activated her Camouflage. The creature roared in challenge.

"Please, you don't understand! I'm trying to save your life! Ribbit!"

She hopped out of range while her Camouflage was active. She was puzzled on what she could do, and racked her brain for some kind of strategy. Then she saw a blur of movement, and suddenly the monster's violet blood was raining down from the sky above. The large dinosaur-like creature was completely bisected by WatchDogMan's paws.

"Time's up."

After that brutal display of strength, he made his way down the street, leaving a stunned Asui behind.

She didn't know what to say, or how she felt about the situation. Whatever that creature was, it was different from what Jordan was. It didn't appear to be a thinking, self-aware being, more like a wild animal that was merely acting on instinct.

If that were the case, then it might be okay to use lethal-force on those types of monsters.

"But monsters that were once human, or who still have a sense of self like Jordan does, killing them on sight is where I draw the line." Asui concluded.

---

Heavy-Weight: Tatsumaki, Uraraka

Uraraka was once again in the training field between cities. She was going through her and Tatsumaki's usual training regimen, dodging stones and returning fire. Tatsumaki had also incrementally increased the weight of stones Uraraka was expected to lift, as well as the speed at which she threw them. Uraraka was determined to land at least one hit on her if she could, but every time she used her grappling-hooks to throw a boulder, Tatsumaki either stopped it in midair, redirected it or even blew it up. Then finally, at the halfway point of their fourth day, Tatsumaki didn't even bother to stop or redirect the boulders. She simply hovered in place, letting them hit the barrier she always surrounded herself with, and they all shattered on contact.

Uraraka groaned. These 'Esper-Powers' that she had were so strong and versatile, it was just unfair.

"Let's try to spice things up a little. You won't improve much if this is all you do." Tatsumaki said as the rocks around Uraraka dropped towards the ground. Uraraka shook off the dust that clung to her suit and steeled herself for whatever came next.

"What do you have in mind?" she questioned.

"This."

A green aura surrounded Uraraka, and she immediately fell to the ground, feeling an invisible, crushing weight pinning her down. She could barely even breathe. It felt like her chest was getting pulverized. She felt her bones quake under the strain, and her head was nailed to the ground no matter how hard she tried to lift it. She thought she heard Tatsumaki say something, but her ears had long since popped, muffling all the sounds around her as she struggled to take in air. The pressure suddenly faded to her utter relief. She tried standing up, but her knees buckled from the movement, and she was only able to flip around on her stomach, looking up to see a very dissatisfied Tatsumaki staring down at her.

"Really? Can't handle 10-Times-Gravity?!" Tatsumaki said with a huff.

"You… can… increase… gravity?" Uraraka said through a ragged breath.

"I just said that didn't I? Let me know when you're ready." Tatsumaki said, drifting away somewhat while in a relaxed position. Uraraka took a moment to catch her breath. Once satisfied, she stood up and turned to face Tatsumaki.

"Okay, I'm ready, but... can't you start a little easier?"

Tatsumaki rolled her eyes. She unleased her green energy on Uraraka again, and she felt the same feeling as last time, but thankfully much milder.

"How high... did you raise it... this time?" she asked, feeling the effects even on her mouth, as she had to use more strength just to form the words.

"Only 2. I was considering 3-Times, but might as well work your way up." Tatsumaki said, twirling her hand in an unimpressed manner.

"Thanks." Uraraka replied.

"Whatever. Just get ready. Don't bother trying to fight back, just worry about moving." Tatsumaki said as she levitated a bunch of small rocks around her, ready to attack.

"Wait WHAT?! You're not even..." the rest of her statement died in her throat, as Tatsumaki sent the rocks flying her way. Uraraka jumped to the side and felt herself pulled towards the ground much faster than she anticipated, barely avoiding the rocks behind her. She turned her fall into a combat roll and kept moving as Tatsumaki's attacks kept biting at her heels. She felt herself tire much more quickly than usual. As if that wasn't bad enough, Tatsumaki started using her telekinesis to completely change the landscape around her, raising and lowering slabs of ground in front of her, blocking off pathways, etc. It was far too much for Uraraka to handle at once, and she ended up getting hit a lot more than she was earlier. They continued to train like this for some time, before Tatsumaki halted her assault and picked the girl up, along with a few condensed rocks. She flew off with Uraraka and the rocks in tow, flying to another city to fight monsters again.

After a few minutes of flight, Uraraka was dropped down in the streets of City-B. The alarms were blaring again, with multiple Wolf-Level Threats being sighted.

"Deal with it." Tatsumaki said, and then left Uraraka alone again, flying off into the distance.

Uraraka was confused about where she should go. Everyone seemed to have already evacuated, and she couldn't see anything to indicate a monster was nearby. But then a large buzzing filled her ears. Eyes widening in realization, Uraraka spun around to see a massive stinger coming in fast, threatening to impale her. She successfully dodged it, but realized that the 2-Times Gravity effect was still on her. That meant Tatsumaki was either still close by, or her range of control was phenomenal. But she immediately drew her attention to the giant wasp in front of her.

She nearly yelped at the sight of the creature. It was nearly human-sized. She immediately cursed her luck as it separated her from the rocks Tatsumaki brought with her. The wasp flew at her again, diving right for her face. Using her increased gravity to her advantage, she ducked quickly under the attack and rolled back towards he weapons. She used her Quirk on the rocks and hefted them, but as she turned back around, she noticed 6 more giant wasps joining the one that she dodged.

Uraraka groaned. Of course there would be more of them. Wasps live in hives and travel in swarms. She threw her rocks at two of them, but they easily evaded and rushed in to attack her again.

This back-and-forth went by numerous times before she finally managed to land a hit on one, putting it down for the count. She began to run away as the others flew at her with renewed passion, trying to skewer her. She managed to dodge two of them while using her GunHead Martial-Arts to grapple the third and slam it into the ground, using one of her rocks to knock it out for good measure.

Uraraka barely got out of the way of another attempt by the wasps to impale her. She backed up to view her surroundings, and noticed that one of the bugs was missing, and quickly looked upwards just in time to see it diving down at her. She stepped back right before the wasp could hit her, and instead the bug crashed right into the street, its stinger lodged into the pavement, unable to move.

The 4 remaining wasps redoubled their efforts to kill her, but Uraraka continued to evade their stingers, and one by one, she managed to either trap or incapacitate them, until the final wasp turned and flew away in retreat.

Uraraka took account of the damage she received. Other than a few bruises and scrapes here and there, she was fine. That just left the question of what she was going to do about the captured wasps. But her thoughts were interrupted as Tatsumaki floated down next to her.

"Sloppy." she said as she floated down, with the one wasp that retreated caught her psychic grip.

"You let one get away! Do better next time! I won't always be around to clean up your messes, you know!" She twisted her wrist, and all of the insects were blended into a tornado of nothingness. Unlike the fishmen from the day before, Uraraka didn't really feel bad for them. They didn't appear to be sentient beings, just a mindless swarm of gigantified wasps. But she was still frustrated by Tatsumaki's attitude, and turned to address her comment.

"It flew away, what did you expect me to do? Float after it?" Uraraka reasoned.

"I expect you to be smart enough that you never give it a chance to fly away!" she yelled as she lifted her up, and the two of them returned to their usual training area in the wasteland.

---

The Real World: Child-Emperor, Ashido, Jiro

"You alright, Jiro?"

"Huh? Yeah, sure, why wouldn't I be?" Jiro asked Ashido as they both headed to Child-Emperor's lab once again.

"Well, it kinda looked like you were upset about something."

"It's nothing, Alright!" Jiro said, though her raised voice and agitated tone suggested otherwise. She half-expect Ashido to tease her for being a nervous-wreck, but she never did.

"Well, if that nothing ever turns into something, you can always just talk about it. I mean, we're friends, aren't we?"

"...Yeah." Jiro weakly answered.

She remembered that conversation the Class had at the beginning of the week, shortly after they had first arrived here. They each recounted what they had experienced while trapped in those energy-spheres, in the moments between Midoriya touching the DarkCube and them waking up in Another-World. Their stories had all lined-up with each other. Every classmate had found themselves in a dark void, they were all approached and offered a deal by That Creature in exchange for power, and each and every one of them had refused... Each and every one of them...

Ashido and Jiro returned to Child-Emperor's lab, only to be greeted with their items right away near the front of the door. They both began to put them on as they saw Child-Emperor approach them with a lollipop in hand, and wearing his backpack.

"Today we're going out on patrol. I want you two to get some real combat experience with your new items." he stated as he approached the two girls.

"Woohoo! We can finally go out into the world!" Ashido exclaimed, lifting her arms into the air.

"Don't you think it's a little too soon for that?" Jiro asked.

"It should be fine. Monsters usually cause some collateral damage after all, and you two need more experience in the field. This will also help with finalizing the Items." Child-Emperor said as he left the laboratory with Ashido and Jiro followed from behind.

The three of them took to the streets, but nothing dangerous or exciting was going on. At one point, Ashido was stopped by a random passerby, asking her what type of body-paint she used to get that color for her skin. Ashido was rendered speechless, and Jiro struggled to hold in her laughter. Another person asked what kind of contact-lenses she was using to make her eyes the color they were, and another asked about the horns on her head and even tried to touch them. Not liking all the attention, Ashido stopped them all, saying that she was 'just really into cosplay,' and then ran ahead of the group, rushing into a nearby alleyway to hide. Jiro let out another laugh as she turned the corner to see an extremely grumpy Ashido glaring back at her.

"We'll see if you're still laughing once I get my revenge." Ashido pouted as she crossed her arms in front of her.

"Calm down, we wouldn't want your body-paint to come undone from getting so worked up." Jiro commented with another snicker. Before Ashido could reply to the sassy comment, Child-Emperor interrupted.

"Something's about to happen." He said in a monotone voice while looking at a device in his hands, instantly drawing the two girls' attention. On the screen was an outline of the city from an aerial perspective. There was a blue dot, which they guessed signified their current location, and a red dot a little further away. Just as they were about to ask what it meant, they were stopped by an alarm ringing out, with an automated voice warning about a Tiger-Level Threat in a specific area. The two heroes believed that the red dot on Child-Emperor's screen was the area stated by the announcements, and their suspicions were confirmed as they made their way over to the zone, passing numerous civilians running away. They eventually got to the scene and were surprised at what was causing such havoc. There were a great many creatures, 50 large rabbits the size of large dogs. Their teeth were razor-sharp, and they were all foaming at the mouth, their eyes glowing red with extreme bloodlust.

"What are those?" Jiro said as they gazed upon the raging rabbits.

They seemed to attack anything around them, crashing through windows, biting, and chewing into car tires and much, much more. One of the creatures saw them and let out a massive screech, alerting the others to their presence. It rushed at them with surprising speed, but was then promptly cut in half by one of Child-Emperor's robo-tentacles, this one having a buzzsaw revving at the edge.

The rabbit's cry ended in a short screech of silence. The action shocked the two teens behind him as its split body passed by them, blood splattering on the ground in front of their feet.

"Likely someone abused them, turning into this, either that or they ate some kind of plant monster." Child-Emperor said, still sucking on his lollipop, before looking back at the two teens.

"Well, good luck."

The child-hero's backpack sprouted mechanical spider-legs again and jumped up and away, using his spider-legs to climb up a nearby building overlooking the scene, and sitting down. Jiro was about to rant at him for bailing, when the rabbit-monsters resumed their assault. Ashido used her gloves' pressurized nozzles to spray another rabbit that bolted at them, forcing it back and sticking it into the ground, unable to escape with Maximum-Adhesivity, an upgraded version of her Sticky-Acid: Maximum-Viscosity technique that the gloves now provided.

Jiro quickly found her footing and saw three more rabbits rushing in. Thinking quickly, she used her ultimate-move, HeartBeat-Surround. The sonic-attack halted all three rabbits at once, proving to be even more effective than Ashido's ultimate-move, by exploiting their large, sensitive ears. The rabbits stumbled back in pain before falling to the ground unconscious. Jiro turned to check on her friend, just in time to see one more rabbit sneaking up from behind Ashido. She was about to shoot it with a concentrated soundwave blast as it jumped, but before she could it was immediately killed by one of Child-Emperor's mechanical arms, this one having a drill on the end that bore a hole right through the monster's chest. She briefly shivered as the now lifeless body fell on the ground with a resounding THUMP, but turned her attention back in front of her. Only five rabbits were left.

She activated the ground-amplifiers in her shoes and the ones in her gauntlets simultaneously, unleashing another sonic-blast at the remaining creatures. The five rabbits all succumbed to the piercing noise, falling unconscious and concluding the fight. Ashido looked around suspiciously.

"Did we win?" she questioned.

"Looks like it..." Jiro replied.

"Seems like they work pretty well!" Child-Emperor said as he landed down with his spider-legs.

"What was that?! You just fed us to werewolf-bunnies!" Ashido shouted at the child-hero.

"I knew you two could handle it, and it's like I told you, this was a test. If I gave you too much support, then I wouldn't have been able to get the data I needed." he explained, sucking on his lollipop. Jiro put a hand on her friend's shoulder, calming her down as she went to speak next.

"What are we going to do with them now?" Jiro questioned gesturing towards the 9 rabbit-monsters they had successfully restrained.

"I don't know. I'm surprised you two didn't kill them, actually." he said.

"Can't something be done for them?" Ashido pleaded.

"Well, there are some people in the Association that have been trying to rehabilitate or cure monsters, but they've been at it for 20 years now, and so far they've got nothing to show for it."

"I have an idea; we have a friend whose Quirk lets him talk to animals. Let him talk to them, maybe he can calm them down. Then maybe they won't have to die." Ashido reasoned.

"She's right, maybe he could help and rehabilitate them." Jiro continued. Child-Emperor, seeing the seriousness on their faces, only sighed and retracted his weapons into his backpack.

"I doubt it will work, but sure, we could give it a try. At the very least, we could get some information out of it." Then he took out a phone and dialed the Association to come and pick up the creatures.

"Who are you calling?" Jiro asked.

"The Association. They can come and pick all of them up and transport them to a caging area."

As the Association picked up the phone, Child-Emperor watched as the two girls shared a high-five with each-other, celebrating their small-victory. The boy-genius just rolled his eyes.

---

Disordered Discharge: Drive-Knight, Kaminari, Yaoyorozu

After Yaoyorozu left with Stinger, Kaminari began his latest exercise/experiment with Drive-Knight. The goal was to close the wide gap and disparity between his electrical-discharge and generation, versus his absorption. Due to how he trained up till now, Kaminari could absorb 60-Times more electricity than he could generate or release, before frying his brain. Drive-Knight had developed a new training-method that, if correct, should eventually make it so he can generate and discharge the same amount of energy as he could absorb, and therefore greatly improve his attack-power, along with evening-out his abilities.

To that end, Drive-Knight built a gigantic super-battery, a black-and-golden box-shaped device, nearly twice the size of Kaminari himself. This battery was made to absorb and store exponentially more electricity than Kaminari could currently produce, and it was Kaminari's job to fill the battery up until it overloaded, and needed to release its energy into the local power-grid.

Before arriving in this Other-World, Kaminari remembered that his limit before frying his brain was around 5-Million Volts, and 5,000 Amps. But even though he's spent his entire life hearing people use those words to describe his Quirk, he could never remember what each of those units of measurement actually meant, or what the differences between them were. Drive-Knight did his best to explain it however, using a water-faucet as an analogy.

"In order for water to flow out from a faucet, it needs two things; first, the water itself, and second, enough pressure to make the water consistently flow. Electricity is very similar in that regard. Voltage is the electrical equivalent of water-pressure, whereas Amps are used to measure how much electrical current there is, or how much water there is inside the pipes. And finally, Wattage is used to measure the overall power being produced, which can be bolstered by either increasing the Volts or increasing the Amps, or increasing both."

Kaminari did his best to commit this lesson to memory. He wanted to get smarter, just as much as he wanted to get stronger. He spent the next couple of hours discharging his lightning to the super-battery, unleashed his highest amount of power for the longest amounts of time that he could possibly manage, but always stopping short of frying his brain.

He went on like this for some time before he heard the sound of the lab door opening behind him. It was Stinger and Yaoyorozu, back from their mission.

"As I promised, the girl is back safe and sound." Stinger boasted. Drive-Knight noted the band-aid on Yaoyorozu's left cheek.

"But not entirely unharmed, I see." Drive-Knight noted.

"Well, the mission was a little more difficult than we originally thought." Stinger said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Don't worry about it, it's fine. Nothing but a minor flesh wound. I doubt it'll even leave a scar." Yaoyorozu defended him.

"Unlikely indeed. I will fulfill my end of the bargain and transfer your payment directly into your account. You are dismissed." Drive-Knight told him. Stinger nodded and took his leave, saying goodbye to Creation-Queen before heading out.

"So, Yaoyorozu, what was the mission like?" Kaminari asked.

"It was pretty stressful," Yaoyorozu admitted. "We joined a group of Class-B and A heroes to stop a colony of monsterized fungus. Imagine a gigantic army of mutated mushrooms and mold just spreading and devouring a forest."

"Damn, that sounds gross! How'd you beat 'em?"

"With this..."

Yaoyorozu held up a large gun-like device she was carrying with her. She turned and pointed it out into the open training-room, and pulled the trigger. A bright yellow streak of fire blasted out of the front nozzle, crackling and roaring with heat.

"They weren't sentient beings, thankfully, just a really powerful and quickly-spreading fungus. I used this to burn away as much of it as I could, while Stinger and a few other heroes destroyed the larger mushrooms that were producing the spores. Demon-Cyborg also showed up to help."

"Whoa, really? Did you see Bakugo and Todoroki?"

"No, they were both training back at Dr. Kuseno's lab."

"Dang, I bet Bakugo's gonna be pissed when he hears he missed out on all the action."

"What about you, Kaminari? How was your day?"

"Nowhere near as exciting as yours, I just did the same exercises over and over again..."

The two teens continued talking as they exited the lab to return to Association HQ, leaving the Cyborg to examine the data he received from Kaminari's tests on his computer.

---

Deliberations: Class-1A

As was the tradition at this point, most of the Class met in the common-room after their day of training. Midoriya and Ojiro were early, but they were both surprised to find that Tokoyami and Hagakure were already there before them.

"Hi guys..." Hagakure tried to say enthusiastically, but her voice was strained.

"Greetings..." was all Tokoyami said before resting his head back down.

Ojiro noted Hagakure's exhausted voice and sat down next to her.

"Rough day, huh?"

"Yeah..." she replied.

"What happened?" Midoriya asked Tokoyami. But it was DarkShadow that answered for him.

"These two had to go through some extreme physical-exercise, right after having their butts whooped by a paintball-toting ZombieMan!" DarkShadow said, laughing at their expenses.

"You couldn't even make him move with your attacks, if I recall." Tokoyami mentioned as he glared at DarkShadow, who seemed bashful and retreated back inside Tokoyami.

"Our mentor wants us to increase our physical-strength and reflexes before advancing our Quirks." Tokoyami explained.

"OOH! That reminds me, OJIRO! Guess what?" Hagakure perked up again, rushing over to Ojiro, shocking him somewhat with her random burst of energy.

"What is it?" he said curiously.

"ZombieMan said that he would find a martial-art for me to study, so I can do better in combat!"

"That sounds great! Maybe you can ask to train under Bang with me and Midoriya!. That way we could all train together." Ojiro said enthusiastically.

"That's a great idea! I'll run it by him and see what he has to say. I just hope you don't get too mad when I can kick your butt!" she said as she mimicked his hand placement when he got into a combat stance, causing him to laugh a bit.

"Well, first thing's first..." Ojiro took her wrist, and moved her into a more correct position, then began explaining and showing her the right posture and footwork. Hagakure made sure to pay attention as closely as possible.

The others started to walk in one or two at a time. The next outburst was from Ashido and Jiro walking in and observing the room. Locking onto her target, Ashido immediately made a beeline towards Koda.

"KODA!" she shouted.

"Y-Yes?" the shy boy flinched somewhat from the sudden attention.

"Jiro and I fought these huge rabbits today! We were wondering if you could talk to them and find out what's wrong with them?" she asked.

"Um…. Sure, I can try at least."

"Thanks! With any luck we can save their lives, and I could get a pet rabbit while we're here!" she said off to the side.

"Was that the real reason you wanted them to be rehabilitated so much?" Jiro chastised.

"No..." Ashido said through a whisper, causing some folks to laugh at her antics.

Aoyama let them in on SweetMask's plan to announce them all to the public sometime next week, and ease the public tension, so they may not have to wear those additions to their outfits anymore.

"I'm curious though, why didn't Ashido get anything? She doesn't look exactly normal." Kaminari mentioned.

"Probably because she's a girl that's into body-paint and cosplay." Jiro mentioned, holding in a laugh from the inside joke, and causing Ashido to storm out of the room in annoyance.

Uraraka entered the common-room carrying her stone-cube again. This time the rock weighed roughly 175-Tons. Kirishima tried to lift it, but if his strength had grown at all in just two days, it wasn't enough to make a difference, let alone with an even heavier object. As for Uraraka, she had already vomited most of the contents of her stomach on the way over, and after slumping onto one of the couches and releasing her Quirk on the stone-cube, she immediately fell fast asleep, too worn out to even talk. Midoriya threw a blanket over her, making sure she didn't get too cold. Seeing her so tired... It made his heart ache.

"She's been working so hard..." He thought. "I just hope she doesn't break under the pressure..."

"Hey guys! I just got a text from Iida!" Kirishima shouted.

Everybody turned to check the message on Kirishima's phone. Apparently Iida's first two days of training under FlashyFlash were extremely difficult, but he was hanging in there. The Class was relieved to know that he was doing alright, but were anxious when they saw that Sero hadn't sent any of them a text yet.

"I'll call him right now," Kaminari said. "I'm sure he's just super-busy."

His phone rang for a few seconds, then Sero picked up, and he immediately apologized for worrying the Class.

"I've been seasick for most of the trip so far," He explained. "They say it'll be another day or two before we make it to the island. I'll be sure to text or call with updates from now on. How have you guys been doing?"

Kaminari switched his phone to speaker-mode and placed it down on the coffee-table so that the whole Class could talk to Sero. While everyone else was busy sharing their stories and wishing Sero the best, Jiro had quietly left the common-room.

"Well, I'm heading to bed now. Glad you guys are all doing well!" Sero told them.

"Goodnight, Sero! Hope you're feeling better tomorrow morning!" Asui said back.

Sero hung up, and everyone was mostly satisfied, and started turning in as well.

Kaminari found a surprise waiting for him in his room. Someone left an envelope on his bed. He picked it up and checked for any clue as to who it was from, but only found the words, For Kaminari. Intrigued, he opened it up and found a letter inside. Like the envelope, there was no signature, but what he did find completely stunned him. The letter read:

Kaminari,

You aren't the only one who was going to say yes to That Creature's deal...

Just the only one brave enough to admit it.

You're brave, and you're honest, so that's two things you have over me.

Kaminari was confused beyond compare. Who could've written this? At first, he thought maybe it was Sero, since they were both released from those ball-things at around the same time, but no, Yaoyorozu's the only one he ever told, just earlier that morning, so it must've been her... Right?

He started pacing around his room, reading and rereading the letter. No, Yaoyorozu never would've accepted That Creature's deal, and even if she would, he was certain she would've at least come clean about it, and told him in person. But she was the only he ever told about what he almost did, so who else could've... heard...

"No! No way! Not even possible!" Kaminari told himself, his thoughts now leaking out and becoming spoken. "Never in a billion years!"

Jiro was everything Kaminari wasn't. Talented, smart, fearless. No way this letter was from her.

She would never make the same mistake as him.