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)

11. Chapter-10: Fallout

My Hero Association Chapter-10

Month 1: Week 3:

Fallout

---

A Quick Disclaimer by the Author:

Hey everyone! First of all, I just wanna wish you all a Merry Christmas! Second, I'd like to clarify that this chapter is technically incomplete, as I intend to go back and polish it up some more later, and to extend certain parts that are shorter and in need of more substance, or I have plans and ideas for them that I just haven't had time to type in yet.

At the same time, however, I really, really, REALLY wanted to get my next chapter released in time for Christmas, especially because I feel kinda guilty making you guys wait a little longer for Chapter-9 to come out, and how short it ended up being. So, for the sake of making up for last chapter's delay, and for the sake of giving you all a special Christmas present, I've chosen to bend my self-imposed rules and principles as a writer, and release this chapter now, even though it's not quite polished enough yet for my own liking. I wish I could've finished revising AND writing Chapters 10-through-12 before New Year's, but I've got other things in my life that demand my attention, plus I'm spending Christmastime with my family and stuff.

I promise to revise and add more to this chapter once I've got more time to do so. Until then, I hope you all enjoy my Christmas present to you! Thank you all so much for the support and encouragement you've been showing me! Merry Christmas, and GodSpeed!

---

Fragile Friends, Or Fragile Faith?: Midoriya, Todoroki, Bakugo

Midoriya had a LOT of experience waking up in a hospital-bed after injuring himself in a hard-fought battle. But for the first time in over a year, he was on the opposite side of the situation, rushing into the hospital completely unscathed to visit someone who'd been critically injured from hero-work.

The second he read the text-message from Sitch, Midoriya powered-up to 80% Full-Cowling, used BlackWhip to open up the slides to the balcony adjoining the common-room, and rocketed away with a combination of One-For-All and Float. He flew straight for the Hero-Association Hospital in City-Z, desperate to make sure that Kacchan and Todoroki were both alright.

320-Miles and 10-Seconds later, he landed at the hospital entrance, flashed his Hero-ID to the receptionist, and hurried to the room where his two friends were being kept.

Much to his relief, both Todoroki and Kacchan were still alive, but they were bandaged-up badly and lying in hospital beds. Kacchan's right-arm was in a cast, and he was completely unconscious. Todoroki on the other hand...

"Midoriya!" he shouted as he sat up straight in his hospital-bed, having just noticed his friend barge in. "What're you..."

"Todoroki, what happened?! Is Kacchan gonna be all right?! How bad is it?! Who or what did this to you?! How long will it take for you both to recover?!" Midoriya asked in rapid-fire secession as he rushed over to his friend.

Todoroki sighed. "We responded to a monster-alarm, and they wrecked us. An entire army of human-shaped creatures made of solid diamond. There must have been a thousand of them at least, and none of our attacks could hold them back. I passed-out at some point, and then I woke up here. I was told the creatures were defeated by someone else before any civilians were hurt, but nobody seems to know who it was."

He turned to Bakugo. "You should've seen Bakugo fight. He put up a way better fight than I did."

"He's gonna be okay, right?" Midoriya asked. Todoroki turned back to face him.

"The doctor said that the bones in his right-arm were completely broken, and his spine was cracked. They say he might be able to walk and move his arm again, with lots of rehab... but..."

"We... don't have time for that!" Midoriya said, his signature waterworks kicking in.

"There is an alternative, though," Todoroki told him. "You're forgetting that cyborgs exist in this world, among other things. I've been told they could easily replace all the bones in his arm, or even repair and reinforce his entire skeleton with something called Xenonite. Plus, there are other things that could enhance our performance. Muscle-implants, a nanite-serum to enhance our immune-systems and speed-up our healing, and cybernetic-eyes to improve our vision. Doctor Kuseno had already suggested that kind of stuff, and I was a little hesitant about taking him up on it, but after what happened today, I've made up my mind. I'm doing it. Bakugo hated the idea of getting stronger that way, but with his arm and spine broken that badly, he might not have a choice."

Midoriya looked down at his bare feet. After returning to Association-HQ from his day of training, he had showered and changed into his pajamas, and when he found out what happened, he was in such a hurry to get to the hospital, he didn't even bother to put any socks or shoes on.

Seeing his friends beaten so badly, not by some arch-villain, but by a random monster-of-the-day...

Midoriya clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. Why was he even surprised that this had happened? This world was dangerous! Every day, violent creatures rampaged through cities, threatening all human-life they encounter, some of them extraordinarily powerful, even for him. Why did he ever allow his friends to go out there into completely uncharted territory, facing enemies they knew nothing about, after he had sworn he'd protect them?

But it was too late for that now, he realized. The damage was done, and he knew there was no hope of convincing any of his friends to stop responding to alarms or going on patrols. Even after what happened to two of their strongest fighters, they were going to keep throwing themselves into danger, and sooner or later, they were all going to die. And it will be all his...

"None of this was your fault." Todoroki firmly insisted, snapping Midoriya out of his thoughts.

"Huh?"

"I know that look. You're blaming yourself, even though this had nothing to do with you."

"Todoroki..." But before he could think of what to say, Todoroki continued, now even more irritated.

"Stop thinking it's your job to shelter us from every single risk, Dammit! We're all in this together! We all entered UA, we all got Isekai'd here, we all agreed to join the Association, we all have been training to get stronger, and we all share in the risks! Just accept it already!"

Midoriya stood there in silence. Seconds ticked by, and after a long and awkward minute passed, he finally responded, with a melancholy tone, and refusing to look Todoroki in the eye.

"I'll go let the others know you're alright, and that you've decided to undergo modification-surgery. Call me and let me know when Kacchan wakes up."

Before Todoroki had a chance to respond, Midoriya left the room and raced back to the Association Headquarters in City-A. He filled his classmates in on what happened, and went to sleep.

Things were mostly the same as how their morning-schedule usually went. Everyone took showers, got dressed, and ate breakfast together, sharing any details they forgot to mention in their conversations last evening. Midoriya got a call from Bang, telling him he was going to speak to Tatsumaki like they discussed, and so he might be a few minutes late to arrive at the Dojo, but if so, they were to continue with their usual training, and to bring Uraraka along with them.

Midoriya got a text from Todoroki, saying that Bakugo still hadn't woken up yet, but he remained in stable condition. He also let Midoriya, and the Class know that he'd spoken with Doctor Kuseno and the Association Hospital staff about receiving modifications. Kuseno said he could begin the operation in his laboratory as soon as he was discharged, and that it shouldn't take longer than a single day to complete. The Class was relieved that Todoroki and Bakugo would be recovering from their injuries quickly, and even growing stronger in the process.

"They got lucky this time, though..." Midoriya whispered under his breath.

The Class all suited-up and headed out for another day's work.

---

The Source of Shame: Class-1A, Tatsumaki, Bang

Tatsumaki usually went to bed at 11:00 PM, but last night she fell asleep at around 8:00, after crying into her pillow for about an hour, until her tear-ducts were completely expended. As she slept, she experienced a horrible nightmare. Which was odd, since she never had any nightmares before.

She dreamt that she was dead, somehow killed in battle, and nobody mourned her. Nobody ever showed up for her funeral. Nobody even really remembered her as a hero. Someone else came along, and that person took her place, and everybody loved and admired and felt safe around that person. But not her. They were... relieved that she was gone.

Nobody ever loved her. They were afraid of her. She went out of her way to make them afraid of her. And those who weren't afraid; she'd make them despise her instead. She pushed everyone away. Even her sister felt nothing but envy and spite towards her. And Blast?

Blast never cared. And he never will.

Tatsumaki saw this play out, watched it like a ghost that nobody could see or hear. She believed that she really was dead, and that this was her time in hell.

She sorrowfully floated in front of her grave, an unseen and unheard spectre, looking down at her body's final resting-place. She was buried outside Hero-HQ in City-A's wasteland. Other graves would say things like, "Beloved Daughter", or "Beloved Wife and Mother", or even "A Great Hero", but not her grave. Her tombstone only read her name, and nothing else.

Suddenly, she saw Uraraka coming over to visit the grave.

"Uraraka?! What are you..." But the gravity-girl couldn't see or hear Tatsumaki's ghostly form, and was only there to obverse the tombstone, a cold and unreadable expression on her face.

"My friends and I are returning home now..." She said, speaking to the grave as if Tatsumaki could hear her, which in fact, she could. "I don't know what I did to offend you so much that day, but I'm leaving, and I'm never coming back. So, you won't have to worry about me bothering you again."

"What, NO! It wasn't anything you did! It was my fault! I couldn't... I just..." Tatsumaki stammered and cried out to Uraraka, but it was no use. She was a ghost, a fading memory that nobody wanted to hold on to. Uraraka walked away and never looked back.

Nobody had mourned the end of her life, because she had no life worth mourning.

DING-DONG!

Tatsumaki woke up terrified and shocked, her heart racing, lungs burning, and her eyes welling up. She looked around and realized that she was back in her penthouse, that she was still alive, and it was all just a horrible dream. She had never felt more relieved in her entire life.

DING-DONG!

The same noise that woke her up... It was the doorbell to her penthouse! Tatsumaki couldn't even remember the last time she heard her doorbell ring. Nobody ever visited her.

DING-DONG!

"Okay, Okay! I can hear you! I'll be there in a minute!" Tatsumaki shouted, and she flew out of bed and rushed to make herself presentable...

(24-Minutes Later...)

She opened the door to find SilverFang waiting outside, his posture slouched as always, and his hands patiently held behind his back.

Tatsumaki frowned. "What do you want, SilverFang?"

"I apologize for the unexpected visit," SilverFang politely stated. "But I heard that you recently expelled the young hero that you agreed to train."

"Yeah? What about it?" Tatsumaki asked him defensively. "I only agreed to do it for one week anyway, and I did it for TWO! Did Sitch put you up to this?!"

"No, he did not." SilverFang assured her. "I was, however, thinking of taking this Uraraka girl off your hands, and letting her join my dojo. But before I make any decision, I wanted to talk to you about it, and to understand why you chose to expel her, or why you even agreed to train her in the first place."

"That's none of your business!" Tatsumaki insisted, growing more defensive by the second.

"Hmm... Perhaps not. My apologies, I didn't mean to interrupt you. I'll be going now..."

SilverFang turned and headed for the elevator to leave. Tatsumaki's eyes widened.

"Wait, HOLD ON!" She shouted, and SilverFang turned back around.

"I have a few questions for you to answer! Like, why do you even care?"

"Hm? Well, because my students care." SilverFang answered.

Tatsumaki remembered from when she read Uraraka's mind. She knew about the two kids that were training under SilverFang. Midoriya, the green-haired boy whom Uraraka had a massive crush on, and Ojiro, the one with the prehensile-tail.

SilverFang continued. "Midoriya called me last night telling me what had happened. Uraraka and her classmates were all shocked by it. The poor girl doesn't know what she did wrong, and is uncertain of where to go next for her training..."

Tatsumaki was wracked with guilt and shame, but tried not to let it show. She looked away from SilverFang, her arms crossed, trying to act like her usual prideful self.

"She... didn't do anything wrong, exactly... I just... couldn't train her anymore." She said weakly.

"Couldn't, or wouldn't?"

"BOTH!" She shouted back. SilverFang closed his eyes in thought, before opening them and speaking again.

"Tatsumaki, I will not pry into whatever this is, but I do hope that one day, you will find the courage to let go of your feelings of shame."

"Shame? WHAT SHAME?! I'm not ashamed of anything! I'm proud of who I am!" Tatsumaki screamed in frustration. She couldn't stand it when SilverFang treated her like this, looking at her with pity, treating her like... some lost child.

SilverFang shook his head. "Tatsumaki, Pride is Not the Opposite of Shame, but its Source. And As Long as you Cling to your Pride, Your Suffering Will Only Grow Worse..."

The old man continued towards the elevator, pushed the button, and waited for the doors to open. He gave one last glance back to the Esper.

"There is nothing more painful, or more terrifying, than realizing that you need to change. And yet, whenever a person gives-up their pride and makes that painful choice they're afraid to make, they always end up happier than they were before, because they become free in the truest of sense. Believe me, I speak from experience. So whatever it is that's bothering you, you need not be afraid to talk about it. It's not a sign of weakness to admit when you're hurting..."

Tatsumaki wanted to retort, to insist that she wasn't hurting at all, and that SilverFang was just imagining things...

"So then why the hell don't I?" She thought to herself.

The elevator doors opened, but before SilverFang left, he made one last comment.

"You and Midoriya... You both have a similar weakness weighing you down. You both allow fear to dominate your lives, and it causes you to push everyone away, including and especially the ones who care most about you. But that is no way to live."

The elevator doors closed, and Tatsumaki was left alone in the hallway.

"Now what?"

She didn't want to keep living this way. She wanted to have what Uraraka had...

"But I can't. I can't rely on anyone. I can't go back..."

She went back into her penthouse, its size and spaciousness only exacerbating her feeling of smallness and isolation. SilverFang's words returned to her.

"It's not a sign of weakness to admit when you're hurting..."

"Pff! It is too a sign of weakness!" Tatsumaki muttered. "If you aren't weak, then you wouldn't be hurting! Stupid old man..."

And yet, she couldn't go another minute without talking to someone, anyone, about what she was going through. But there was only one person in the world that she felt safe opening up to.

Blast. She needed to talk to Blast.

She picked up her cellphone, which had been charging all night, and checked her list of contacts. She had less than 15, and most of them were just Association executives and agents. To even call them co-workers would be a generous description of their relationship, since she always treated them like dirt, and they didn't exactly work alongside her, only handling paperwork and political crap behind the scenes while she obliterated whatever monster they directed her towards.

Among those contacts was Sitch. Tatsumaki called and waited until he finally picked up.

"Tatsumaki? What can I do for you?"

"I need to speak with Blast! NOW!" Tatsumaki said, hoping she didn't sound too desperate.

"Oh, uh, well... We both know he's a difficult man to..."

"Don't give me that! There has to be something you can do! Some way you can contact him! Anything! I need to..."

Tatsumaki gritted her teeth and fought back her tears. When she first joined the Hero-Association, and was quickly promoted to Class-S, the agents and executives all told her that she could ask them for just about anything within reason, and that they would fulfill her request. Long before she was even made aware of the special-treatment that Class-S Heroes received, there was only one thing she ever wanted. To see Blast again.

She was told that Blast was a very busy man, and that he often went dark for long stretches of time, therefore the Association couldn't grant her request, and she'd just have to wait.

"I've been waiting, Sitch! I waited for Eighteen-Years! I can't wait any longer! I just can't!"

"I'll... See what I can do." Sitch answered.

Tatsumaki sighed. That was about as much as she could've hoped for.

"Fine. But please hurry."

Tatsumaki hung up, and groaned as she lied back in her bed, more depressed than angry. Why? Why was Blast always so busy? Was he busy? Or was he just avoiding her? She scrolled through her contacts and briefly considered calling someone else, but who? Basho? Jinzuren? Would they...

Tatsumaki gritted her teeth. "Dammit! This is so stupid! What am I supposed to do, just call up one of these people and ask them to be my friend? Ask them to listen to me cry about how lonely I am? How pathetic could I possibly be?!"

Then she spotted one name that wasn't just an Association agent. One name she would always be connected to by blood.

"Fubuki..."

She spent the next half-hour wrestling with herself, between calling her and not calling her.

"What am I even supposed to say? Will she even pick up? She hates me! I've given her every reason to hate me!"

At last, she decided to call her. The phone rang for a few seconds, and then she heard a click, followed by the voice of a young woman on the other end of the line.

"Tatsumaki?"

"Hey, Fubuki...I... I, uh..."

Tatsumaki felt her mouth dry-up. She had no idea what to say. She felt as if she had forgotten how to breathe. It had been so long since the two of them had a real conversation with each other.

Frozen with anxiety and indecision, she could only listen as Fubuki sighed in annoyance.

"Okay, what do you want now? You wouldn't call me unless you had some chore for me to do..."

"R-Right, I uh, well..." Tatsumaki racked her brain for something to say. She couldn't bring herself to admit why she was really calling, and in a desperate ploy, she made up a different reason.

"Well, see, there's this kid. Teenager, really, and she recently joined the Association. They asked me to train her for them..."

"But babysitting weaklings is beneath you, so you're dumping her on me. I get it." Fubuki said sourly.

"I knew it..." Tatsumaki thought. "It's too late for me. Even if I tried, she wouldn't forgive me..."

"Fine, whatever, I'll train her for you. What's her hero-name?" Fubuki asked.

"Uravity."

"Class and Rank?"

"Class-C Rank-3."

"She'll need to get promoted to Class-B."

"I know. I'll call Basho and recommend her. In the meantime she'll be training under SilverFang."

Tatsumaki felt an ache in her stomach. She really was just giving her sister a chore, and getting rid of Uraraka. All because she was too afraid to talk to anyone about what she was feeling.

She hated it. How could she be so strong, but still just as weak and cowardly as back then?

"Alright, if that's all you needed, I guess I'll be going..." Fubuki said through the phone.

"Wait, hold on!" Tatsumaki shouted anxiously "Before you hang-up, I just..." She paused, her face contorted and twitching in a blend of frustration, fear, and confusion.

"...What?" Fubuki asked.

"I just... wanted to say... Thanks."

"...Thanks?"

"Yeah," Tatsumaki said. "Thanks for, y'know, doing this favor for me. I didn't want to bother you, and I would've trained her myself, but I... Well... I think she'll be better off training with you."

There was a long moment of silence before Fubuki responded.

"It's no problem. If anything, you're doing me a favor, adding a new member to my group."

"Yeah. Alright then. Later, Sis."

Tatsumaki hung-up, and took a huge sigh of relief. That was one problem taken care of, at least.

She fell back into her bed, and mulled over some of what SilverFang had told her.

"Pride is Not the Opposite of Shame, but its Source..."

---

Healing the Ego: Bakugo, Todoroki, Kuseno

Bakugo woke up in an unfamiliar bed, staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling. His body was numb with painkillers, and his first immediate thought after regaining consciousness was, "DAMN IT! I lost another fight!"

He tried to get up, but he was still woozy and numb from whatever drugs were in his system. He couldn't even feel his legs. Then he noticed that his entire right-arm was in a cast, and groaned. There wasn't a small-fry nurse with a stupid Healing-Quirk to fix him up here, which meant he would either have to wait several months for his arm to heal on its own, or...

"Good, you're finally awake." A familiar voice said. Bakugo turned his head to the left, and saw Todoroki lying in his own hospital-bed, bandaged-up and plugged into an IV.

"How long have I been out?"

"Only about a day," Todoroki replied. "Midoriya came to visit earlier, just so you know."

Bakugo grunted. A year ago, he would've been far more upset about that news. The thought of Izuku seeing him injured and vulnerable, would've been excruciating. But a lot can change in one year. What really upset him was the fact he allowed himself to get injured so badly. If he had been just a little bit stronger, or if he had cut his losses and retreated while he had the chance, he wouldn't be where he was now.

The worst part was that he knew exactly how Izuku was going to react to this. He was going to internalize and blame himself for the whole damn thing, and use it as an excuse to double-down on his "Lone-Hero" bullcrap. He'd tell the Class that they were all too weak, and that he needed to protect them from everything, and that he needed to do everything all by himself.

They needed to prove him wrong, and FAST.

"How bad is it?" He asked.

Todoroki filled him in on what the doctors had said, how he might be able to fully-recover the use of his right-arm and legs after a lot of rehab.

"Damn it..." Bakugo grunted.

"There is another option, though." Todoroki added. He went on to explain the different kinds of modification-procedures that Doctor Kuseno and the hospital had to offer. Including a skeletal-reinforcement surgery that could not only fix his arm and spine, but make all his bones far more durable from then on, and even heal 10-Times faster.

"I know you didn't want to fall back on such things..."

"Don't patronize me, damn it!" Bakugo shouted. "I'd rather take the stupid bone-enhancements than lie in this bed watching the rest of you leave me in the dust!"

After a chat with Doctor Kuseno and the Hospital staff, Bakugo agreed to have his arm and spine reconstructed, his entire skeleton infused with Xenonite, and was eventually convinced to accept muscle-augmentation implants as well.

"The sooner I'm back in fighting-shape, the better." He told them.

"I also thought this would be a good time to upgrade your costume and gauntlets. One of them was destroyed in your fight yesterday, but I got a good look at the other one, and I can think of several ways I could improve the design." Kuseno noted. "Although, in order to make those improvements, you might have to say goodbye to the grenade-like appearance of your gauntlets."

"That's fine, I was never super-attached to the appearance of 'em, anyways. I care more about function than fashion." Bakugo conceded. He remembered when he first filled out the form for his original costume-design to the support-companies. He didn't have an exact image in his head of what he wanted his costume to be. All he did was explain what his Quirk was, what kind of color-palette and support-items he wanted, and then just wrote "Make me look INTIMIDATING!"

He gave a similar spiel to the Doctor, and Kuseno nodded his head in agreement.

"I can start the procedure tomorrow morning, once I've finished Todoroki's modifications."

"My procedure will be starting later this afternoon, once Doctor Kuseno has me discharged and we return to his lab." Todoroki informed Bakugo. "But I'll send the Class another text-message before they put me under. Is there anything you want me to tell them for you?"

"... Not sure..." Bakugo said. His thoughts suddenly turned to Saitama. The Bald-Hero who had saved their lives. He remembered how he effortlessly obliterated the entire horde of monsters, instantly shattering each of their diamond bodies with Just One Punch.

"Did that seriously happen, or did I just imagine all of it?" Bakugo thought to himself. "I mean, there's just no way that stupid Baldy could be that strong... right?"

Bakugo looked at his broken right-arm, and remembered how Izuku used to break his arms all the time when he used his power. He remembered how he stubbornly refused to believe that That Damn Nerd could ever possibly be as strong as him, much less far stronger, and how much it drove him insane when he was consistently proven wrong.

After silently thinking it over. Bakugo looked back over to Todoroki to give his answer.

"Actually, I was wanting to tell the Baldy thanks."

"Huh? You mean Saitama?" Todoroki asked for clarification.

"Yeah, who else?" Bakugo grunted. "Doesn't he have a number we can call? 'Cuz I never got to thank him, and I've also got a LOT of questions that need answering!"

"I don't think he even has a phone, but Demon Cyborg does, and I've got his number at least." Todoroki answered. "I'll let him know you're looking to talk."

"Yeah, good," Bakugo said. "Make it happen."

---

Need to Impress: Uraraka, Midoriya, Ojiro, Bang, Charanko

Uraraka followed Deku and Ojiro down to the garage, where the Association vehicle and chauffeur were both waiting to drive them to Bang's Dojo in City-Z. Uraraka looked out the window as they left HQ and traveled out into the wastelands. Until now, she had always been flown to her training-grounds by Tatsumaki, observing the landscape from high above, so this was her first time travelling by land in this Other-World. She quietly watched as they left the wastelands, passed through rural and suburban territories, until they finally reached the outskirts of City-Z.

Uraraka felt nervous about joining Deku for their daily-training, worried that she would do something to embarrass herself, but at the same time she couldn't pass it up. She noticed how shaken-up Deku was from Bakugo and Todoroki's injuries, and she knew him well enough to know what he must be thinking.

"He still plans on fighting All-For-One and Shigaraki by himself." She thought. It was frustrating how he still treated them like helpless civilians, instead of fellow heroes that he could rely on, but after what happened the day before, she honestly couldn't blame him. Todoroki and Bakugo were two of the strongest fighters in the Class, right after Deku himself. If THEY couldn't handle fighting a Dragon-Level Threat, then what chance did any of them have? What chance did she have?

Uraraka knew what she had to do. She had to impress Deku today at Bang's Dojo. She had to prove that she was getting stronger. A LOT stronger. She had to do something, anything, to change his mind and convince him that he didn't have to leave his friends behind, that it was okay to let them fight alongside him. To let HER fight alongside him.

"Is something the matter, Uraraka?" Midoriya asked. "You seem kinda tense."

"AAGH! IT'S NOTHING!" Uraraka shouted in a kneejerk-reaction, before immediately realizing how anxious and jittery she was acting, and willed herself to calm down.

"I mean... It's fine, I'm just kinda..." But her brain was too flustered to think of a response.

"There's nothing to be worried about. Bang's nothing like Tatsumaki, and I bet you'll be a natural at his fighting-style!" Midoriya promised, flashing his optimistic grin and making Uraraka's heart skip a beat. She turned away and continued to look out her window.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the foot of the mountain. Bang's Dojo was resting at the top, just like Midoriya had described to her. The three young heroes rushed to the top, each using their Quirks to get there faster. Charanko was there to greet them, and so was Bang.

"Hello, you must be Uraraka. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Bang said with a wholesome smile. He and Uraraka shook hands in greeting.

"The pleasure's all mine, Mr. Bang, sir," she said. "Thank you so much for allowing me to join you today! I realize it was very short-notice..."

"It was no problem really," Bang assured her. "I'm glad to be of help."

"Right! So, um..." Uraraka stuttered a bit. "What did Tatsumaki say? You went and talked to her earlier this morning, right?"

"Indeed, I did." Bang answered. "And although she wouldn't disclose her reason for why she expelled you; she wanted you to know that it wasn't anything you did wrong."

"Really?" Uraraka asked, blinking her eyes in confusion.

Bang nodded. "As I'm sure you're aware, Tatsumaki is very prideful. But that doesn't mean she's heartless. She's just too afraid to show her heart to anyone."

Bang put his hand on Uraraka's shoulder, and continued to speak. "Whatever happened yesterday, it forced her to acknowledge something about herself that she's been trying to ignore, and now she is struggling to decide what to do about it. Let's just give her some time, and focus on your training today."

They all practiced their basic-forms, and Uraraka paid close attention. The techniques and maneuvers demonstrated had a few slight similarities to her GunHead Martial-Arts, but the stances were different, and instead of judo-throws and armlocks, Bang's fighting-style was designed to break opponents rather than merely restrain them. Uraraka focused as hard as she could to learn and copy the moves, but it was far more difficult than she was expecting. She would often revert to her old fighting-stances out of habit, and struggled to remember the order in which the forms were meant to be carried out.

But the real problem was that every time she attempted to match what the others were doing, her gaze and focus turned away from herself and towards Deku. She knew that Deku was watching her, and that any mistake she made would just reinforce his belief that she was too weak, and the threats back home too dangerous to let her stay anywhere near him. The stress of needing to impress him and change his mind was making her sloppy and distracted.

Midoriya noticed that Uraraka still seemed rather anxious about something, and wanted to ask her about it... But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that Uraraka hadn't been very talkative lately. She was usually very peppy and sociable, but ever since they began training in this Other-World, she started acting rather... distant. At first, he thought she was just tired from all her training, and that might have been part of it, but even when she wasn't tired, she seemed to be a lot quieter, and more detached. Every once in a while, she would glance over to him, a pained look in her eyes mixed with...

"Is she angry at me?" Midoriya wondered. Uraraka wasn't the sort of person to be angry at anyone, and the two of them had always gotten along. He pondered what he might've done to upset her.

Once they finished practicing forms, Bang announced that they would spend the rest of the day sparring. The first match was between Ojiro and Charanko. The two disciples bowed in respect, entered their stances, and once Bang gave the signal, they began their duel.

Charanko had improved dramatically since Midoriya and Ojiro had first arrived. No longer did he slack-off or settle for the bare-minimum, and it showed in his performance. Both he and Ojiro were now able to generate the misty-blue streams of mysterious energy that appeared when channeling the Fist of Flowing-Water Crushing-Rock. The two clashed for over 15-minutes, and when there still was no clear winner, Bang declared the match to be a draw.

"Dang, Charanko! You've improved a ton!" Ojiro said after chugging down a bottle of water.

Charanko merely shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe, but the only reason I hung in there for so long is because you avoided using your Tail Quirk. Yeah, don't think I didn't notice."

"You said it yourself, using my Tail is basically cheating, and learning not to rely on it's been the focus of my training." Ojiro countered.

The next match was between Midoriya and Bang. Midoriya powered-up his Full-Cowling to 75%, and went on the offensive immediately. The two fighters were very evenly-matched. Midoriya had the edge in raw-power and versatility thanks to his Quirks, but Bang's superhuman skills and reflexes were enough to keep pace with his student's incredible speed, and was able to cancel-out, sidestep or rebound every attack Midoriya threw at him. Midoriya activated SmokeScreen, hoping to blind him and catch him in a sneak-attack, but Bang was far too competent for such a simple trick to be effective against him. When Midoriya activated FaJin and tried to rush him with a Pseudo-100% Manchester-Smash, Bang spun around and kicked him in the stomach, his big-toe stabbing an abdominal pressure-point and flipping him off like a light-switch. Midoriya's Full-Cowling vanished, and he fell to the ground, completely incapacitated by the Piercing-Fang Nerve-Strike.

"That was a good strategy in principle, but just like you with your DangerSense, not every opponent is quite so helpless when their vision is obscured. Furthermore, you left yourself open to a counterstrike. You must learn not to neglect your defense, even when going on offense." Bang said, providing constructive-criticism in regard to the young hero's approach. Using another technique, he undid the effects of the nerve-attack and a very humbled Midoriya walked back to sidelines, taking mental-notes of what to improve on for the next time they sparred.

Uraraka couldn't believe what she just saw. Deku and Ojiro had told her all about Bang and how strong he was, and she knew the martial-arts of this world were basically superpowers themselves, but seeing it with her own eyes was something else entirely. She and her entire Class tried to fight Deku all at once, and failed, but Bang was able to beat him all by himself!

"Alright then, now it's your turn, Uraraka." Bang said with his jovial smile.

"Wait... ME?!" Uraraka asked, as she willed herself not to panic. Bang chuckled.

"Don't worry, I won't go too hard on you. It's only your first day, after all."

His words were kind, but Uraraka was still nervous about sparring with Bang, not just because he was far stronger, but because Deku was watching. The last thing she wanted was to remind him of how weak she was. But she knew that if she didn't even try to fight Bang, it would look even worse.

"Okay!" she said, trying to hide her anxiety as she joined Bang on the mat and entered her fighting-stance. Instead of the one she learned from GunHead back home, she copied Bang's stance, hoping to prove that she was a quick study. Charanko gave the signal to start the match, but unlike the previous matches, neither opponent went on the offensive right away. Both Uraraka and Bang slowly walked in circles around the mat, maintaining their stances and eye-contact as they went.

"Bang's fighting-style specializes in defense and counter-attacks," Uraraka thought. "So making the first move would be a mistake. I need to force him to attack first, and when he does, I'll immediately switch to my GunHead Martial-Arts, and put him into an armlock!"

"A very clever strategy," Bang thought, having already deduced Uraraka's plan. "She's a far more talented and perceptive fighter than she lets on. Unfortunately, having a plan only gets you so far..."

Bang struck first, and the match was over within 3 seconds. Uraraka had attempted to intercept and counter him by switching to her GunHead fighting-style, but Bang was too fast, and had already switched his own tactics in response to her own. Instead, it was Bang who had managed to put Uraraka in an armlock.

"That was an excellent plan you concocted, Uraraka, but even the very best plans can be rendered useless if your opponent can read your intent." Bang explained to her. "The conditions of battle are always changing, and you must be able to adapt your strategy in response to those changes. Understood?"

"Yes, Master Bang." Uraraka said, bowing in respect before returning to the sidelines. She knew Bang was going to win, but she hoped, prayed that she at least did well enough to impress Deku.

---

RedRiot Versus Prison-Riot: Kirishima, DarkShine, etc.

Kirishima went down to the gym to train like normal, but as soon as he entered, DarkShine picked him up and put him on his back like a little kid, and hurried towards one of the metro-lines leading out of Headquarters and into one of the cities.

"Wait, what's going on?!" Kirishima shouted as he hung on for dear life. DarkShine may not be built for speed like some of the other heroes were, but he could certainly haul it when he wanted to.

"There's a mass prison-break going on in City-J. Local Class-As and Bs are holding the line for now, but they need reinforcements."

The two of them caught a ride on one of the metro-trains, and in half an hour, arrived on the outskirts of City-J, and made dash towards the prison. One of the guards was waiting for them near the entrance.

"Thank goodness you're here! The warden's being held hostage, and half of the heroes and cops were either killed or captured as well! They've already started making demands."

"How did this happen?" Kirishima asked.

"Well, we tried to keep it under-wraps," The Guard explained. "But there must've been a leak, and as soon as word got out that Puri-Puri Prisoner was killed, some of the more dangerous inmates decided to make a move."

Kirishima's eyes widened. So, this was the same prison that Tokoyami and Hagakure visited yesterday with ZombieMan!

"Puri-Puri was a creep and a weirdo, but at least he kept all the other inmates in check." The Guard continued to exposit; wiping sweat off his brow. "We were sort of relying on him, honestly. Now that he's gone, one of the other inmates stepped in and took his place. We literally lost control of the entire prison overnight!"

"This Inmate who took control, where is he now?" DarkShine asked, as the three of them walked into the prison.

"Last I heard, he was taking the warden and hostages to the execution-chamber..."

"Then we might be too late to save them!" Kirishima shouted, and immediately dashed through the prison hallways, the urgency of the situation propelling him forward as fast as he could. Until...

"Hey, kid! The execution-chamber's THAT WAY!" the Guard shouted, as he pointed in the opposite direction. Upon hearing this, Kirishima stopped and turned back around.

"Sorry! Guess I should've asked." He said with an embarrassed laugh.

"They're not going to kill the hostages until after their demands have been met," DarkShine explained to Kirishima "So we've still got plenty of time to save 'em. And if they have already killed 'em all, then they've already lost, because throwing away their leverage like that..."

DarkShine flexed his biceps to emphasize his next statement.

"...Just means we got no reason to hold back!"

"Damn! What a Legend!" Kirishima thought. He also took a mental-note not to go running-off without any directions like some idiot in the future.

As the trio advanced deeper into the prison, the atmosphere grew darker. Lights flickered overhead, and the once-sterile halls were smeared with scorch marks and splashes of red. The sound of sadistic laughter echoed through the labyrinth of corridors, punctuated by the occasional sound of a gunshot firing.

Kirishima gritted his teeth, his fists clenching. "Man, they've really done a number to this place."

DarkShine nodded grimly. "Prison riots are no joke. The inmates know they're in here for life, or even received the death-penalty, so they've got nothing to lose. This is going to get ugly, kid."

The Guard stopped at a cross-section, and pointed towards a reinforced steel door at the end of a long hallway.

"The execution-chamber's down that way," he said. "But the worst of the inmates have barricaded themselves in the cell-block in-between Death-Row and where we are now. If you want to reach the hostages, you'll have to clear them out first."

Kirishima exchanged a glance with DarkShine, then back at the Guard.

"Got it. Let's do this!"

DarkShine grinned. "Stick close to me. I'll handle the heavy-hitters; you focus on crowd-control."

The double-doors to the central cell-block groaned as they swung open, revealing a scene of absolute carnage. Flames flickered along the walls, casting a menacing glow over the chaos below. Dozens of inmates, armed with makeshift weapons, roamed freely, their shouts echoing through the cavernous space.

At the center of it all stood the leader. He was a hulking, monstrous figure towering over the crowd. His goblin-like features were grotesque, with charcoal-gray skin and abnormally long arms. Two curved horns jutted from his brow, and his eyes glowed an eerie red. When he opened his mouth to roar, a torrent of fire erupted, the flames licking the ceiling and scattering embers like falling stars.

DarkShine's eyes narrowed. "A monsterized inmate. Looks like he was waiting for the perfect time to reveal himself."

"Holy crap…" Kirishima muttered, his usually unshakable demeanor faltering as he stared at the creature. The monster's frame and feral grin reminded him of a nightmare version of a gargoyle, but its charcoal hide and hellfire radiating from its body made it even more terrifying.

The creature's booming voice cut through the cacophony. "Listen up, boys! With me at the helm, we run this place now! No guards, no heroes, no rules! And once the next stage of my plan is complete, the outside world will be all ours to plunder and violate!" His laughter was like a low rumble, shaking the very walls of the prison. "Pretty soon I will ascend to Threat-Level: Dragon, and combined with my brilliant criminal-mind, there's no way the Hero-Association can stop me!"

DarkShine stepped forward, his muscles gleaming as he clenched his fists. "Yer an ambitious one, ain't ya? But can you back it up?!"

The monster spotted the hero, his grin widening. "DarkShine! I've heard about you. Let's see if you're as unbreakable as they say!"

The two behemoths clashed, their hands grabbing each other and were now pushing against one another. The stone floor beneath them cracked like fragile glass, and the air was filled with the sound of thunder. As DarkShine and the monster tested their strength, Kirishima turned to face the dozens of prisoners looking for a fight.

"And who are you supposed to be? Aren't you a bit young to be picking fights with all of us?" one of the inmates said, a man with a shaven head, prison tattoos, and a vaguely Hispanic accent. In both hands he dual-wielded a pair of daggers, while several other thugs carried rifles and billy-clubs that were stolen from the guards they had killed when the riot first began. They all surrounded Kirishima, their mocking laughter and the scent of spilled blood filling the air.

Kirishima smiled, and charged headlong into the mob of inmates, his hardened fists smashing through their ranks like a battering-ram. Though he was outnumbered, Kirishima's strength and durability were blatantly superior, stomping out each of them like a hammer to nails. One of the inmates tried hitting him over the head with a crowbar, but the weapon harmlessly clanged off of him, and he retaliated with a devastating right-hook, sending his opponent flying across the room. Kirishima then blocked a swinging metal pipe from another prisoner with his hardened forearm, and slapped him away with the back of his hand. More prisoners attacked from every angle, and in response, Kirishima activated his Unbreakable form, his already rock-hard body becoming even more durable, and taking on a sharper, more aggressive appearance. Some of the inmates were so shocked and terrified by his transformation, that they turned tail and ran, but others were not so easily intimidated.

Several more minutes passed, and the fight had gone from exhilarating to exhausting, the sheer volume of attackers pushing Kirishima to his limits. For every thug he knocked out, two more rushed in to take their place.

"This is getting ridiculous!" Kirishima muttered, bracing himself for the next wave of enemies, but before they could reach him, a booming voice cut through the chaos.

"Alright, boys, that's enough!"

The inmates were startled, turning toward the source of the voice. Kirishima followed their gaze to see five large men pushing through the mob. They were dressed in matching gray prison uniforms, their builds hefty and imposing. They charged into battle, but much to Kirishima's surprise, they didn't attack him... They instead began to fight and incapacitate the other rioters.

"What are you doing?" Kirishima asked.

The biggest and tallest of the five prisoners grabbed and lifted two inmates off the ground with his bare hands, and slammed their heads together, knocking both of them unconscious. He dropped them onto the floor, and gave Kirishima a friendly smile. He had a big, bushy red mustache and spoke with a thick Texan-sounding accent.

"What does it look like? We're here to help."

"Help?" Kirishima repeated, blocking a knife that was thrown at him by another inmate. "But why? Aren't you guys a part of this mess?"

"We might be prisoners, but we don't want anything to do with this here riot. My brothers and I, we're construction-workers, not savages! We made some terrible choices, but we're acceptin' the consequences, and now all we want is to do our time. This riot's bad for everyone, including us."

Another member of the five brothers, a shorter man with a bushy auburn beard, chimed in.

"We're not gonna stand by and let all these guards be killed when we could do something'."

"So, what do you say? You wanna Team up, or you wanna keep fighting all these here lunatics by yer lonesome?" The mustached leader of the five brothers asked.

Kirishima glanced at the surging inmates, then back at the five brothers. He wasn't sure if he could trust them, but right now, he needed all the help he could get.

"Fine," he said, stepping back. "Just don't make me regret this."

"Promise!" The leader, stepping forward to stand at Kirishima's side. "The name's Brixx, and these're my brothers Monty, Cletus, Walter, and Duke."

"RedRiot, Class-B Rank-22." Kirishima replied.

The Brothers charged into the fray, their combined strength and teamwork quickly turning the tide. Monty, the second biggest after Brixx, tackled a group of inmates like a human wrecking-ball, his burly and muscular frame sending multiple adversaries flying. Brixx was by far the most formidable in terms of strength. A single punch from his massive fists cleared out an entire wave of enemies.

"All them years of haulin' steel beams have certainly paid off." he muttered, grabbing two inmates by their collars and slamming them into the ground.

Another brother, the one called Cletus, who was the lankiest of the five, had curly red hair, and wore rectangular glasses, weaved through the horde of enemies, swiping and dismantling their firearms and reconfiguring them on the spot, assembling himself a pair of mechanical gauntlets, one that functioned like a flamethrower, and another that fired spurts of non-lethal gunfire. The remaining three brothers also fought with improvised weapons, one wielding a guard's baton, another carrying a riot-shield, and another ripped a metal pipe straight out of the walls and swung it around as if he were MetalBat.

Kirishima, reinvigorated by the backup, pushed forward with renewed vigor. Together, he and his convicted companions formed an unstoppable front, completely obliterating the rioters' morale one punch at a time.

The monsterized leader of the prison-rioters roared, his charcoal-gray body glowing with heat as flames burst from his mouth. DarkShine walked through the column of flames, his indestructible flesh completely unscathed.

"Not bad," DarkShine admitted, brushing soot from his shoulder. "But it's gonna take a lot more than 'not bad' to break through these muscles."

The monster lunged, claws extended, but DarkShine caught him mid-swing, gripping his wrists with vice-like strength. The ground cracked beneath their feet as they grappled, the prison trembling from the force of their clash.

"Damn you heroes!" the monster snarled, his glowing eyes narrowing. "Do you have any idea who I am?!"

DarkShine grinned, flexing his muscles. "Enlighten us."

"Years ago, I used to be the biggest mob-boss in City-J! I was untouchable! I had money, power, respect, and best of all I was FEARED! But then a nosey little Class-B Hero ruined everything! Because of that damn witch, my criminal-empire fell apart just when I was about to expand into other cities, and she got promoted!"

"Aww, what a sad story," DarkShine mockingly told him. "Let me play a song for you on the world's smallest violin." The monster cackled in response.

"It was my lust for revenge that transformed me into a monster, after I was locked-up! But I discovered it was possible to suppress my true-self and retain my human visage. For the last five years, I've been plotting and building influence within the prison, awaiting the opportunity to incite this very riot, and finally unleash my monster-form upon the world! Puri-Puri Prisoner was the only one standing in my way of taking control of the prison, and now with him gone, the inmates will follow me! Soon I will command an even greater criminal-empire, a criminal-empire OF MONSTERS!"

With a burst of power, DarkShine hurled the monster into a concrete pillar, shattering it on impact. Before the creature could recover, DarkShine closed the distance, delivering a devastating punch to its gut. The force of the blow knocked the wind right out of it, and the monster collapsed.

DarkShine stood over his fallen opponent and flexed his biceps. "Thanks for the monologue, and the confession."

As the last of the inmates were subdued, the guards poured into the cell-block, securing the area and taking the prisoners back into custody.

Monty wiped sweat from his brow, grinning at Kirishima. "Not bad, kid. You've got guts."

Kirishima smirked, offering a fist bump. "You guys aren't so bad yourselves."

The guards approached the five brothers, handcuffs at the ready. Brixx and his brothers all raised their hands in surrender. As the brothers were led away, Monty called back to Kirishima.

"Hey, RedRiot! Next time you need a team, you know where to find us!"

Kirishima laughed. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind!"

DarkShine joined him, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "You did good today, kid. Held your own, fought smart. You're gonna make one hell of a hero."

Kirishima grinned, his exhaustion fading in the face of DarkShine's praise. "Thanks. Coming from you, that means a lot."

As they walked out of the ruined cell-block, Kirishima glanced back at the smoldering remains of the riot. It had been one of the toughest fights of his life, but he'd come out stronger, and with some unexpected allies to boot. However, there was one thing that was puzzling him.

"Hey, DarkShine?"

"What's up?"

"I was kinda preoccupied with the other rioters, but I noticed you and that monster-guy were talking as you fought. What did that guy say?"

DarkShine filled him on the monster's whole backstory, and Kirishima's eyes widened.

"You think maybe he was the guy who killed Puri-Puri Prisoner?" he asked.

"It checks out." DarkShine said. "He had the motive, and after fighting him, I can say he's got the strength to pull it off. I kept him alive so that ZombieMan could interrogate him later, just in case."

"And you said he monsterized inside the prison?" Kirishima asked. "And he was able to hide it for years and continue to pass for human?"

"Yeah, pretty scary stuff, but I've heard that it's possible. Some of the more cunning monsters who were once human can revert back to their human-forms at will, and pretend to still be regular people. Then when you least expect it, they turn on you. The Association calls them sleeper-monsters."

"Monsters that can transform back and forth... almost sounds like... My Hardening Quirk..." Kirishima thought, as he felt an uneasiness grow in his gut. "Will people start thinking I'm a sleeper-monster? And if such monsters exist... Who else might be one?"

---

Arsenal: Yaoyorozu, Drive-Knight

While Kaminari joined Lightning-Max on patrol for the day, Yaoyorozu stayed with Drive-Knight in his lab, continuing her combat-training with the bo-staff, and practicing with all her new gear.

Her tactical-visor was certainly much faster, more compact, and more efficient than her encyclopedia, though she still had to scroll through the many files on the heads-up-display, and read the specs and atomic-structures of each weapon and support-item. It also didn't help that Drive-Knight's many new additions were far more advanced and complicated than the items she had normally created as part of her standard arsenal, and thus it took more time and focus to comprehend and create them. Before they even began sparring, Yaoyorozu's first real exercise was training to scroll through and read the files within a small timeframe, and quickly conjure the new and improved staff that she would be fighting with from then on.

The staff in question was more than a staff, actually. Instead of merely being a solid rod made of pure tungsten, this weapon was composed of a far more durable alloy that didn't exist back home, and it had built-in circuitry that allowed it to carry and deliver a 10-thousand-volt electrical shock. Still nothing compared to what Kaminari could generate, but a potent increase to her staff's offensive-ability regardless.

What Yaoyorozu was most excited about, however, was this staff's modular design. It could break apart to become a pair of escrima-sticks, and then also morph into a pair of tonfa-batons as well.

"It's like I'm able to create three weapons for the price of just one!" she exclaimed upon learning of this new feature.

"Precisely." Drive-Knight responded. "The more utility and power that you can get out of a single use of your Quirk, the better. Therefore, when uploading and organizing the files onto your visor, I made sure to include a series of modular-weapons and multi-purpose tools. The utility-belt that I included to your new costume was also meant to minimize the need to repeatedly use your Quirk, by allowing you to already have a set of standard-equipment at all times."

It was true. The utility-belt on Yaoyorozu's new costume had nine pouches, and one holster for holding either a sidearm or a grapple-gun. The pouches could hold anything from a portable first-aid kit to various different miniature explosives such as flashbangs and tear-gas grenades.

After another hour of sparring with her bo-staff, Drive-Knight chose to spend the rest of the day testing Yaoyorozu's mobility and concentration. He took her to another gigantic chamber within the laboratory, which like the sparring-chamber was a sterile, empty room with smooth metallic walls. Drive-Knight went to a control-panel built into the wall near the entrance, and after typing in a series of commands, the walls, floor, and ceiling of the chamber folded open and began to form an elaborate obstacle-course.

"In a real battle, you and your opponents will not be standing in one spot the whole time, nor will the terrain be perfectly even and devoid of distractions. To better prepare you for combat, it is best for you to train in more dynamic environments."

Dynamic was a good choice of words, Yaoyorozu realized, as the obstacle-course in question was not a linear pathway rigged with traps and complications, but rather a winding series of platforms, ramps, walls and gaps, poles and bridges, something like a cross between a jungle-gym and a maze, with some platforms spawning drones that would attack her. Just as Drive-Knight had warned her, the course was not static, and half the platforms would shift up and down like an elevator. Drive-Knight was at the control-panel, programming new conditions for the course in real-time.

On her first attempt, Yaoyorozu barely lasted a single minute, and didn't even make it halfway through.

---

Flowing-Water: Midoriya, Ojiro, Uraraka, Bang, Charanko

The four disciples spent the rest of the day cycling between practicing forms and sparring with each other. As their sparring-matches continued, Midoriya wanted to go on patrol, but was told by Bang that he needed to stay and get more training in. Midoriya was hesitant to leave the city unprotected, but Bang was firm, stating that there were plenty of other strong heroes in the area, and that he was falling behind Ojiro when it came to learning the Fist of Flowing-Water Crushing-Rock.

Ojiro had improved tremendously the past two-weeks, seemingly having a natural gift for Bang's fighting-style. While practicing forms and sparring, his hands generated the same shining-blue trails that Bang did, and there was a similar gleam in his eyes and calmness in his posture, his movements having become more fluid, and becoming a little faster with each passing day.

Midoriya was shocked by this improvement. When they had first begun, he had to hold back his power to just 1.5% Full-Cowling whenever the two of them sparred, but now, a mere two-weeks later, Ojiro was pushing him to use 5%! Not only had he gotten faster, but he was also able to reflect Midoriya's punches and kicks back at him, so it almost felt like he was fighting himself. And unlike Ojiro, Midoriya still couldn't generate those blue-streams of energy, despite having memorized all of the basic-forms.

What was he missing?

(1-Week Ago...)

Bang was giving a lecture to his three disciples, explaining the spiritual and mental-state required to fully wield the Fist of Flowing-Water Crushing-Rock.

"Similar to how other martial-arts will train the fighter to imitate and channel the traits of animals, like with Ojiro's "Monkey-Style", my martial-art's power comes from achieving a state of mind, in which the wielder adopts the elemental and spiritual properties of either water or stone, and rapidly switches between these two vastly different states while in combat. By entering what is called the Flow-State, you will gain the fluidity, speed and momentum of a coursing-river, maneuvering around and between every attack and obstacle, like a river flowing downstream, loose, elegant, and free. Your body and mind must be like the coolest and clearest of water, and yet always in motion, never stopping and never growing stagnant or polluted."

To emphasize his point, Bang demonstrated another one of the forms, the shining-blue streams returning as he smoothly performed his techniques, eyes closed and breath calm and silent. Once he was finished, he opened his eyes again and completed his lecture.

"All three of you have learned the basic-forms, but only physically. The next step in your training is to enter the Flow-State while performing these techniques. As you practice the forms, you must clear your mind and visualize... Visualize the most beautiful, and most ferocious river imaginable. Visualize and take on the grace and power of Flowing-Water..."

(Back to the Present...)

Midoriya had been visualizing it. Every time he practiced his forms, he pictured a mighty river, its white-water rapids surging over rocks and never slowing down, its momentum dauntless, but its form fluid and smooth, swerving left and right, calmly weaving over and around every solid object that would seek to obstruct its flow, with long winding turns and sudden drops in altitude. He imagined the water being perfectly clear, without any pond-scum to corrupt its beauty. He imagined having that same clearness, that same rushing force, that same flexibility...

And yet, despite his efforts, Midoriya couldn't copy the blue water-stream lines that Bang, and now Ojiro, were able to generate and channel into their technique. He couldn't enter the Flow-State.

Once their sparring-match had ended, Midoriya and Ojiro returned to the sidelines to let Charanko and Uraraka begin their match. Midoriya paid close attention, both to Charanko's technique, and to Uraraka's own.

Thanks to all the arduous drills that she had endured under Tatsumaki, Uraraka's physical abilities and reaction-time had significantly improved, and her senses were sharpened like knives. This, combined with her GunHead Martial-Arts, was enough to keep her in the fight for a long while, but Charanko fought hard, and was just able to knock her out with the Perfect-Counter.

While watching the orange-haired disciple channeling those blue-streams, Midoriya started to feel sick. It felt like those shimmering-blue lines were mocking him.

What was he missing?

"Master Bang, may I ask you a question?!" He called out, his frustration with himself having finally reached critical-mass.

Bang, who had been silently watching the matches from the opposite side of the mat, turned to his disciple and smiled. "Certainly. What do you have to ask me?"

"Well, when I practice my forms, I've been visualizing a river like you instructed," Midoriya said, embarrassed with the fact he was the slowest learner in the dojo. "But I still haven't been able to channel it or enter the Flow-State, not like you and Ojiro can. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong."

Bang stroked his chin super-methodically, then stood up and walked onto the mat.

"Well, we do have time for one more match, so this would be a good time to fix that problem."

Midoriya stood back up and met Bang on the mat.

"When you visualize the river, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Describe it to me." Bang requested.

"Um, well... I imagine a massive river, surging rapids with clear water, rushing downstream..."

Bang started to chuckle. "Well, then that explains it! Your eagerness is causing you to skip past several important steps."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Midoriya asked, not sure what Bang was talking about.

"A large and powerful river with rushing-rapids... That may be what you are aiming for, but in order to get there, you must get there the same way that the river itself does."

Now Midoriya was even more confused.

"And... What exactly does that mean?"

Bang chuckled again. "Ask yourself this, Midoriya; Does the mightiest river begin the way that you described, or does it become that way over time?"

Midoriya thought over Bang's words, and his eyes widened.

"No, rivers don't begin like that! Rivers typically start from elevated regions with lots of rainfall, and always flow downwards because of gravity, and they're usually very small at first..."

"Correct. But as the river flows downstream, there are many other, even smaller streams, known as tributaries, that feed into the main-channel, adding to the volume of water. The river steadily grows bigger, stronger, and fiercer as it continues to flow." Bang said. "In order to enter the Flow-State, it is important to visualize and imitate the entire river, starting from where the river begins. Imagine yourself as the main-channel, beginning with a small and gentle current. Then picture all the tributaries flowing into you, your movements gradually accelerating and building-up energy, until you finally become a powerful river, coursing through the land, flowing and fierce."

Midoriya felt like his head was going to explode. It was so obvious! This entire time he had only been visualizing a part of the river, and didn't understand that entering the Flow-State was a process with several steps to it. But now that he knew what he was doing wrong...

"Let's see if you can get it right, now..." Bang said. The two of them bowed in respect, then took several paces back, entering their fighting-stances.

Midoriya closed his eyes, and began to visualize the entire river. He imagined that he was a gentle stream, calmy trickling down a rocky landscape. He imagined there were dozens, then hundreds of tributaries, hundreds of other streams flowing from every direction, all converging into him. He imagined the river growing and accelerating, surging through his soul like the blood circulating through his body. He imagined becoming water-itself. Loose, elegant, and free.

Midoriya opened his eyes, and was shocked to find that he and Bang had already started fighting. They were zipping across the dojo, blue-streams and green-lightning caught in a deadly dance.

"But... I don't even remember moving!" Midoriya thought, as he swerved out of the way of Bang's incoming palm-strike. In that fraction of a second, he noticed that his hands had smooth, glowing streams flowing behind them, just like Bang and Ojiro's... except his water-streams were White.

Then all of a sudden, the steams vanished, and Midoriya felt his nose getting smashed-in by Bang's fist, and was shot across the room and crashing into a wall. Somehow, Bang had also simultaneously unleashed the Piercing-Fang Nerve-Strike on him, instantly shutting-down all conscious motor-functions throughout his body, and temporarily paralyzing him from head to toe. Once again, Midoriya was soundly defeated.

"That was impressive, Midoriya! Most impressive, indeed." Bang commended him. "It appears that you've got a very high aptitude for my fighting-style, after all."

Charanko, Ojiro, and Uraraka were completely awestruck. It may have been brief, but for a few seconds, Midoriya had pushed Bang harder than any of them had imagined was even possible, harder than DarkShine or MetalBat could have dreamed.

"Deku's just so amazing..." Uraraka thought to herself. "How am I ever... Going to fight by his side?"

---

What's So Great About Always Winning?: Saitama, Bakugo

Later that afternoon, Bakugo was killing time in his hospital-bed by reading text-messages being sent by Kaminari and Kirishima. Then he was interrupted by the sound of someone knocking on the door, and found himself face-to-face with the man he'd been thinking about non-stop: Saitama.

"Yo!" Saitama said casually, holding up a plastic grocery-bag. "Heard you wanted to talk to me."

Bakugo straightened, though his right-arm was still in a sling. "Damn right, Baldy. I want some answers, now."

Saitama nodded, walking over and pulling a banana from the bag. Without a word, he placed it on Bakugo's bedside table.

"What the hell's this?" Bakugo asked, staring at the fruit.

"Hospital tradition," Saitama replied simply. "Whenever someone's hurt, I bring 'em a banana. Anyway, what's your question?"

"How The Hell Did You Get So Damn Strong?!" Bakugo shouted at the Bald-Hero almost accusingly. "You clean-sweeped those diamond-monsters like it was nothing."

Saitama tilted his head, as if debating how to answer. Finally, he shrugged.

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

Bakugo growled in frustration. "Why the hell not?"

"Well, I've already told a few people before, and they all thought it was bullshit. Guess they were expecting something else."

Bakugo grunted. "Fine, don't tell me! I'll just figure it out on my own!"

Saitama gave an exasperating sigh. "If you plan on stalking me to figure out some big secret, don't. I've had enough of that for sorta thing for one lifetime."

"No, you idiot!" Bakugo shouted, "I mean I'm gonna keep training and getting stronger on my own! I'm gonna get those stupid modifications, and then I'm gonna keep training my Quirk, upgrade my gauntlets, whatever it takes to reach my goal."

"Your goal? What goal is that?" Saitama asked.

"To Become A Hero Who Always Wins." Bakugo stated firmly.

He half-expected Saitama to laugh at him for having such an impossible ambition, or to tell him that there was absolutely no way that he could ever hope to surpass him, but instead...

"What's So Great About Always Winning?" Saitama asked him, his words completely genuine.

"Huh? What kind of stupid question is that?" Bakugo shot back. As grateful as he was to him for saving his life, it always annoyed him just how indifferent he was towards everything, except of course when it related to a sale going on at a convenience-store.

Saitama turned back around, adjusting his cape. "Anyway, I'd better be going. Oh, and make sure to eat the banana. Potassium's good for recovery."

Without another word, Saitama walked out, leaving the young hero alone with his thoughts.

For a long moment, Bakugo sat in silence, staring at the banana left on his bedside table.

"Stupid Baldy..."

---

Deliberations, Fan-Mail, Hate-Mail, and Promotions: Class-1A

All the teens returned from their day of training, but this time, there was something waiting for them all in the common-room. It was a box filled with envelopes, and a note was taped onto the box labeling it as mail they received from people they saved. Apparently, members of the Hero-Association will occasionally receive fan-mail and letters of thanks. There was a total of 15 envelopes in the box.

"Sweet!" Kaminari shouted. "Let's open 'em up!"

Three of the letters were actually hate-mail from anonymous civilians, calling them things like "monster-sympathizers" and "fake-heroes". It was a harsh reminder of just how different this world was, and yet at the same time quite familiar. Still, there were five more letters where they were both thanked and praised for their work. There was even a letter from a civilian that had confused Shoji for a monster while he was on patrol, apologizing to him and wishing him the best. So for every piece of hate-mail they had gotten, there were two more pieces of mail giving them thanks or apologies.

"Two out of three's not half bad, especially for the first three weeks and given our circumstances." Shoji commented.

"Hey guys, some of these letters are from the Association itself!" Kirishima said, as he passed them over to each person they were addressed to.

Midoriya had received a letter that had answered his request to have his Association hero-name changed. Instead of Green-Menace, it was now Green-Savior, which sounded equally on-the-nose, maybe even hokey, but at least it was more in line with what Midoriya's goals were.

The remaining five letters were also from the Association, and addressed to Ojiro, Kirishima, Bakugo, Jiro, and Uraraka. Each of them had moved up in the rankings. Bakugo had gone from Class-A Rank-16 to Rank-12, Kirishima went from Class-B Rank-22 to Rank-18, Jiro went from Class-C Rank-25 to Rank-15, and Ojiro went from Class-C Rank-35 to Rank-20.

"Hey Uraraka, how high did your rank go up?" Midoriya asked.

Uraraka just stared at her letter for a moment before replying.

"It… It says I'm Class-C Rank-1."

"Whoa, really! That's great!" Kirishima said.

"It also says that they want me to meet with the Association's Hero Review-Board at some room here in HQ, either tonight or tomorrow. Apparently, it's standard procedure for whenever someone gets promoted to Rank-1."

"Really? What do they want to talk to you about?" Tsu wondered out loud.

"It doesn't say. Whatever it is, I think I'll go tonight and get it over with, that way It won't interrupt my training tomorrow."

Following the directions given in the note, Uraraka headed for the room where the Association executives would be waiting for her.

---

Moving Up: Uraraka, Association Rankings-Board

The chamber that Uraraka's directions led her to was almost completely bare. The only things in the room were a desk, where three executives in business-suits sat behind, and then a single chair for herself. After she took her seat, one of the executives, whom she recognized from when they all took the physical-tests after first arriving, broke the silence.

"Hello Uravity, and congratulations on attaining Class-C Rank-1. I'm Basho, and this is Cyrus and Exma. The three of us here will be handling your interview."

"Umm, okay. What's this about exactly?" Uraraka asked.

"The top-ranking member of Class-C is given the option to be promoted to Class-B. However, should you wish to remain in Class-C, that's fine as well."

Uraraka's eyes widened. "Really? I can be promoted to Class-B?"

"That's right," Said Exma, the only female executive at the desk, with a smile. "So, what do you say, Uravity? Would you like to move up? Of course, if you do, you'll start out at the bottom of that class, but the pay is much better, and you won't have to worry about the weekly quotas anymore."

Uraraka brightened at the prospect of getting a raise in pay, but then remembered that this world's currency most likely wouldn't be worth anything back home, so she could forget about using it to help her parents out. Then she thought about Tatsumaki, how she had constantly berated her for being such a weakling, and how she needed Jiro and Ashido's help to defeat that giant bear-monster yesterday. She'd gradually improved, but it felt incredibly trivial compared to what else was out there.

"What if… what if I'm still not strong enough to be in Class-B? I'm just not sure if I'm ready."

"Tatsumaki seemed to think you are," Basho stated. "This morning when she called us, she said that she refused to train you any longer, but she also recommended you to be promoted."

"She… She did?" Uraraka was completely stunned. She couldn't for the life of her understand what was going on with the Esper. She always talked down to her and criticized her, she bailed on training her, but then at the same time she recommended her for a promotion?

"Did she say anything about why she thought I was ready for Class-B?" She asked Basho.

"Well, according to her at least, the difference between Class-C and Class-B is that Class-C Heroes can only defeat Wolf-Level Threats, but Class-Bs can at least hold their own, if not defeat Tiger-Level Threats as well. According to her, you were able to beat a Tiger-Level with a little help from two of your friends, also Class-C, and that your Gravity powers have already doubled in the short time you trained with her. She figured that would be enough for you to qualify."

"Of course, if you're still on the fence about it, you don't have to choose right away," Exma reassured her. "If you want, you can stay Class-C Rank-1 for a little while and then accept the promotion later."

Uraraka rubbed her chin in thought. If Tatsumaki recommended her, then maybe she was ready for it. Plus, if she moved up a whole class, and if she KEPT moving up, and the others did as well, then maybe that would be enough to convince Deku that he didn't need to protect them anymore…

"Alright! I'll move up to Class-B then!"

"Excellent. In that case, there's one more thing we'd like to inform you about…" Exma said.

"What's that?"

"Are you aware who currently holds the position of Class-B, Rank-1?"

"Uhh, no, no I don't." Uraraka admitted.

"Her name is Fubuki, also known as Hellish-Blizzard. She's also Tatsumaki's sister."

"Her sister… Wait WHAT?!" Uraraka shouted, a little louder than she intended. "I didn't know Tatsumaki even had a sister!"

"Well, she does," Exma elaborated. "And she's agreed to take over as your mentor, if you're interested."

Uraraka was floored. Tatsumaki's sister had agreed to be her new mentor? Just one Tatsumaki was already more than she could handle. Training under another would probably kill her! And besides, she was really looking forward to training with Deku at Bang's Dojo.

"Is... Is it possible for me to decline, at least for now? I was already planning to start learning some martial-arts under SilverFang alongside two of my friends."

"Yes, we are aware of that," Basho replied. "And we were contacted by SilverFang earlier today. He says he'd like to instruct you in the basics of his fighting-style for at least two weeks before passing you off to Fubuki. Does that sound acceptable?"

Uraraka thought it over, and ultimately agreed. The more people she could learn from, the better. She returned to the common-room and told all her classmates the news.

"Whoa, for real?! That makes you the first one of us to break into a higher-class!" Kaminari exclaimed.

"That's amazing!" Hagakure agreed.

"Indeed, congratulations." Tokoyami said with a quiet nod.

"Thanks, you guys." Uraraka said shyly. Having so many people praise her like this always made her feel a bit flustered and overwhelmed.

Midoriya also congratulated Uraraka on her achievement, but internally he felt his anxiety growing even worse. As much as he wanted to be happy for her, it terrified him that Uraraka would be deployed to fight more dangerous enemies than before.

"I need to get even stronger... Before anyone else gets hurt."

---

Some Author's Notes:

Most of this chapter was just characters reacting to and dealing with the fallout of what happened in Chapter-7, hence the title of this chapter being Fallout, and a lot of it was also set-up for stuff that will happen in the next two chapters. But I managed to include some stuff that will hopefully keep it exciting, and, again, more than just 'filler'. Now, to clarify some things in this chapter, since I'm sure some people will ask...

The fictitious super-material called Xenonite that is used for the skeletal-reinforcement surgery in this story, is pulled directly from the sci-fi novel Project Hail-Mary. And yeah, the procedure used to fuse that material into a person's skeleton is obviously inspired by Wolverine's Adamantium skeleton from Marvel Comics. Not nearly as indestructible, but still a significant durability-buff for Bakugo and Todoroki.

The Flow-State and the methodology behind it, was an idea that came to me while I was brainstorming an in-story explanation for how Bang's crazy superhuman martial-arts work. The general concept of the Flow-State is loosely based on Ultra-Instinct from DragonBall: Super, but also the "Free-Flow" and "Free-Flow: Focus" mechanics from the Batman: Arkham videogames, as well as the "Inner-Peace" abilities from Kung Fu Panda 2. Furthermore, it has a similar drawback to Free-Flow: Focus from the Arkham games, where if your opponent lands just one good hit, it kills your momentum and knocks you out of the Flow-State completely. And if you're wondering why Deku's water-streams were white instead of blue, that's because the Flow-State was synchronized/resonating with the energy-flow of One-For-All, which, once he truly masters it, will be a SERIOUS power-up and help to facilitate his own Quirk-Awakening. As things currently stand, however, Deku's only just starting to use this ability, and is still a long way away from reaching Bang's level of mastery with the Flow-State, which he can enter and maintain far more effectively, and the amp that it provides to his speed, agility, flexibility, evasion and deflection is far greater. You should also keep in mind that the Flow-State only covers the "Flowing-Water" half of Bang's fighting-style, so there's still another elemental-state that neither Midoriya nor Ojiro have even begun to enter and utilize just yet.

Bang's ultimate-move, the Piercing-Fang Nerve-Strike, is straight-up just the nerve-attack that Tai Lung uses in the first Kung Fu Panda movie, even having a blue ripple-effect. It's also where he got his hero-name from, as it's a technique with the word "Fang", and comes from another fighting-style he's mastered known as "Silver-Serpent Style", which is basically a more badass version of Snek's martial-art.

When Bang tells Tatsumaki that "Pride is Not the Opposite of Shame, but its Source", that line is pulled directly from the words of Iroh from Avatar: The Last Airbender, when giving some of his signature wisdom to Zuko. That proverb is just so perfect and so true, and so appropriate for Tatsumaki's own character-arc, I just HAD to use it.

Yes, those Five-Brothers who help Kirishima during the prison-riot are the Deconstructors from Chapter-5. I have a bit of an arc planned out for them as well, though some of it may need to happen off-screen due to how absurdly long this series is already going to be.

The charcoal-grey monster-inmate who led the prison-riot was very loosely based on the Green-Goblin from Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man comic series in terms of design and powers, but grey instead of green, of course.

I noticed that some people who posted reviews were very shocked that I killed-off Puri-Puri Prisoner in Chapter-7, so I think I'll just explain myself right now. Truth be told, Puri-Puri is one of my least-favorite characters, and on top of that, I just didn't have any ideas for him, but at the same time, I didn't want to just pretend he never even existed or anything like that, (I sort of already did that with another character whom I didn't feel like writing for, and switched out in favor of Shinsou, whom I find way more interesting.) So instead, I decided to treat Puri-Puri like the Comedian from Watchmen, with ZombieMan acting as Rorschach and SweetMask potentially being Ozymandias in that analogy. And of course, Saitama would have to take on the role of Doctor Manhattan, because Beware the Broken-Baldies! Now, does that mean Saitama's gonna kill ZombieMan? Nah, not really, but you can kinda see what I'm going for, right?

Just in case you were wondering, Brixx, the eldest-brother and leader of the Deconstructors, has an IQ over 250 and physically scales close to TankTop-Master, WITHOUT his mech-suit. And the other guy named Cletus, his abilities are based on the alien JuryRigg from Ben10, being a combination of mid-tier SuperSpeed and wild Super MacGyver tech-skills. So yeah, the Deconstructors are actually pretty tough. Not tough enough to avoid getting wrecked by Tatsumaki, but still.

When writing for the whole "RedRiot versus Prison-Riot" section of this chapter, I was heavily influenced by Batman: Arkham-Origins, especially since I've made it a personal Christmas-Tradition of mine to replay Arkham-Origins every December. Y'know, since it takes place on Christmas Eve? It's seriously underrated IMO.

---

Well, that's it for now. I hope I'm keeping you guys entertained and invested! I do read EVERY single review, so make sure to leave one if you've got any thoughts, suggestions, or want to comment on your favorite parts of my story! Next two chapters will have some big and important character moments, and Chapter-12 will mark the end of the First-Act! Merry Christmas, and GodSpeed!