Anyone else hate snow? I hate snow. I have a metric fuck ton out here.
Anyways, here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5
As Ochako told Deku about last night's events, a group of small-time henchmen had recently lost the trail of one of the Pro-Heroes. The four of them smirked, two of them even fist-bumped over the success of their heist and made their way back to their hideout. It was a private room above a pretty well known bar. The four thugs put their haul before their boss. Their boss was a blue-skinned, cyclopean brute of a man wearing a tattered, black sleeveless shirt, gray-brown pants, and a white belt strung across his chest like a bandolier. Surprisingly, this was one of the villains from the U.S.J incident who had managed to break out of prison. In fact, this whole gang was made up of U.S.J perpetrators. They hadn't been sent to Tartarus, however, as they were only low-level villains in comparison to people like Shigaraki.
"Good start boys," Minotaurus chuckled, looking over the haul, "We keep going like this, we'll be back to being an independent syndicate in no time!"
"Yeah, screw the League. Left us to rot behind bars," Tesla scoffed, "Least this way the goal's reasonable."
"And with Shigaraki rubbing shoulders with his new boyfriend Stain, we're chump change." Gorilla growled. "But we don't need no stinkin' league!"
"...well, I kinda WISH we had some contact." Steel Bulwark admitted. "I miss Kurogiri's warps. Made for easy escapes..."
"Shut it, Bulwark." Gorilla huffed.
"Well I have been looking into it. Heard about a crew who could help with that. Quirkless bunch of small-timers that run a chop-shop but, hey, we'd have a car at least," Minotaurus said.
"Guessing they don't come cheap though?" Gorilla asked.
"Not really...but I'm sure they could be persuaded."
"By the way, the getaway vehicle? Better be big...you know how these anchor arms are in. I get claustrophobic." Gorilla frowned.
"Oh, it'll be BIG." Minotaurus said.
"...you know it'd have to be big. Mino won't just fit in your everyday pick-up," Tesla said.
"Yeah, yeah..." Steel Bulwark said, as he noticed something up ahead. "Hey, what the hell?" Tesla looked forward to see a kid, standing before the four.
"Some sidekick, maybe." Gorilla said. "Blast him out of the way, Tesla."
Tesla nodded and grabbed hold of a radio he had on him. Activating his Quirk, he drained the radio of its charge and amplified it. With arcs sparking between his fingers, Tesla unleashed a barrage of electricity at the "side-kick." Imagine his surprise when the charge just entered the kid's body with no ill effects.
"...what the hell?" Tesla asked, in shock.
"You're former League villains...right? Attacked U.A?" the kid asked.
"Hey! Emphasis on former! We're freelance now!" Bulwark shouted.
"...good enough." The kid said as he rushed at the villains. With a large step forward, he delivered a right hook and then a quick left elbow strike on Tesla. "THUNDER BURST!"
Tesla was sent flying into the side of a building, dropping his loot as well.
"TESLA! Ohhh you messed up now!" Bulwark yelled. He charged at the kid, two hands raised above his head, ready for a downward hammer strike. The other two were reared back to deliver simultaneous punches. Bulwark was gonna deal four hits at once on this guy. Or he would've if any of the hits actually connected with the guy. Instead, Potential dodged all four of the hits with an energy-charged backstep.
"My turn," Potential smirked.
Potential flicked Bulwark on the nose...that simple flick of the finger was like being bunched in the face by some A-tier hero. Potential watched the man stumble backward, and fall down on the ground.
Potential's attention turned to Minotaurus and Gorilla. "Who's the next victim?" He said, tilting his head.
"Wait a minute...he's that kid that went toe to toe with Ben 10k last night...I saw the video before we did the heist!" Minotaurus grunted.
"And Ben 10k LOST?" Gorilla said.
"Yeah...crazy, right?"
"...so should I use the trump card then?" Gorilla asked, genuinely concerned.
"If you have a second dose...toss it to me," Minotaurus said.
"Just the one sadly..."
"Then use it well," Minotaurus lifted up a chunk of the ground and flipped it, sending out a wave of flying rocks at the opponent. Potential dodged between the rocks, and rushed at Minotaurus. The bigger opponent caught Potential's fist, and grinned.
"I'm faster than most people think, kid." Minotaurus said. He grabbed Potential's head tightly. "Come on, Gorilla! Take it already! I'm buying you as much time as I can!" He then spun Potential around before hurling them away. Potential was sent flying into the air.
The gorilla-armed villain quickly brought out a red covered syringe and jammed it into her right arm. She tensed up for a moment as the drug started to course through her system.
Potential managed to slow his fall by summoning up the energy construct wings he used during the fight with "Ben 10K' and glided to the ground.
"I won't be able to keep those creations for long...but at least I'll be able to manage them." Potential noted. He stared at Minotaurus, who was filled with confidence. Potential smiled.
"Let's see what more I can come up with." Potential spoke out as his hands began to glow. His hands were encased in bright yellow gauntlets. Potential sprang on all fours and charged at his opponent at full speed.
"THUNDER FRENZY!" Potential yelled, smashing Minotaurus' chest with a double fisted attack. Minotaurus felt his ribs SHATTER from the blow.
"MY TURN!" Gorilla shouted and slammed both of her fists into Potential's back, actually managing to connect a blow. The hit forced him to the ground and cracked some of the pavement.
"You wanna try that shit AGAIN?!" the anchor-armed villain shouted, her adrenaline pumping as a side effect of the Trigger dosage.
Potential looked at Gorilla- she had turned from a woman with massive Gorilla arms into...a straight up gorilla. Her form was massive, and that blow actually hurt.
"...sure." Potential said.
"Fine then! YOUR FUNERAL!" Gorilla roared, before bringing her fists down on Potential again.
"Gonna pound your bones to DUST SIDEKICK!" the amplified villain threatened.
"...Thunder Execution." Potential said.
Potential charged at the target, releasing a powerful blast of lightning from their fist, severely injuring and electrocuting Gorilla while also pushing them away with incredible force. Potential could hear something snap as they smashed into a wall.
Gorilla screamed out in agony from the impact. Something important must have broken, because she immediately collapses to the floor.
"...not even worth my time," Potential sighed.
...but Potential did have something important to ask Gorilla. He walked over, powering down to conserve energy.
"Hey," Potential said, getting down low. "You better answer this, or I'll break every bone in your body...where'd you get your supply of Trigger?"
"S-screw you! You...god...damn it I think you broke my leg!" Gorilla hissed.
"Huh. Sounded worse than that...now...tell me. Where did you get the drug?"
"And then...yeah, I had breakfast with Ben 10k...and then he left." Ochako stated. "That's pretty much it."
The story took a few seconds for Izuku to absorb. "That's a lot to take in. And here I thought Stain was intense..."
"It's my fault for not realizing his abilities sooner," Ochako grumbled. "I should have known something was wrong when everyone but Potential attacked Chromastone with energy attacks."
"There's gotta be some drawback to his powers..." Izuku said. "Did you notice anything off about him while fighting?"
"Well...there was a change in his personality. Before, he was...kind of a push-over. He'd snap back when the others poked fun at him, but when he got charged up, he acted like he was in charge. He even threatened Tachyon, his boss, for all the money they had. Then he just burned it."
"His personality changed, huh? More egotistical...there's a weakness. I know a lot of people will try and defend their ego before themselves." Izuku said.
"Oh, really?" Ochako joked.
"Potential was petty enough to ruin his boss's plan...so, it's safe to assume he's more focused on getting 'even'." Izuku guessed.
"So then why'd he let them go? I mean...he did put Pylon in the hospital. The other two were able to get out with minimal injuries."
"...well, you said they had a series of robberies going, right?" Izuku said.
"Yeah." Ochako nodded.
"...then they could have some key intel for Potential, maybe other places they could possibly hit up? He could destroy them before the boss could even get a chance to reassemble a team." Izuku said. "He wants to see him fail."
"You...seriously think so?"
Izuku nodded.
"Banks and raising his own reputation..." Ochako hummed in thought.
"He could very well become an A-tier villain if this destruction continues...but..." Izuku said. "I have a theory on his drawback. Obviously, they've used Potential in the past for distractions. And they gave him a small charge of energy...and it would wear off. I can assume that the more voltage or energy he absorbs, the longer the form lasts. Strength would be proportionate to the energy absorbed...Chromastone's energy can't last forever..."
Ochako watched Izuku mumble for a bit. ...he's cute when he does that. Ochako randomly thought.
"But he must know that. So maybe he's looking for a way to either extend the power boost, add more energy to his stockpile, or he's looking for a way to extend what energy he has left," Izuku continued.
"That's a good point...I just need to overwhelm him and maybe use up more of his energy. Then it'll be easier to take him down!" Ochako said.
"And, remember. He won't be able to absorb anything AS strong as Chromastone's blast. Any of his reserves won't be as strong as that." Izuku said.
"Right, right." Ochako nodded. "I can overwhelm him with a lot of my aliens, I just have to keep my distance. Big Chill can slow him down, but he can be electrocuted."
"Phase into the concrete for some more sneak attacks," Izuku recommended. "He can't electrocute the ground, since concrete can be an insulator."
"That means I can also use it for projectiles," Ochako noted. "I can toss chunks of it at him. His ranged attacks are pretty weak and-"
"A...am I interrupting something?"
Izuku and Ochako jumped. Ochako looked up to see Ghostfreak, poking his head through the ceiling. "B-ben!" Ochako yelled, looking annoyed.
"Did you not get my text?" Ben 10k asked, phasing into the room and returning to human form.
"N-no! I was...busy telling Midoriya...about how I got the Omnitrix..." Ochako pointed to Izuku, who waved at Ben nervously.
"Did you tell him?" Ben 10k inquired.
Ochako gave a nod. "He...figured it out from bits and pieces of film. He just assumed I was a secret sidekick to you."
"U-uh, congratulations on your pregnancy?" Izuku said sheepishly.
Ben grinned. "Thanks."
"So, what happened? You get some updates?" Ochako asked.
"Yeah, a big one." Ben nodded. "Potential attacked some criminals, and did a NUMBER on them. Nearly put one in a full body cast."
Ochako shivered. "Oh, crap..."
"Yeah. Third one he's hit today. He's interfering in a lot of crimes," Ben noted. "These guys were lucky...they weren't as badly beaten as the others."
"So he is losing power..." Izuku put his hand to his chin.
"Slowly but surely. It scares me how he's still so strong after absorbing energy nearly a full 12 hours ago." Ben said.
"So even if he didn't notice or care about the power drain before...he does now," Izuku said.
"Did anything stand out on the third attack?" Ochako asked.
"Two things. First, all the villains were involved in the U.S.J attack," Ben said, "Had their files on hand. Minotaurus, Tesla, Steel Bulwark, and Gorilla. Second, Gorilla actually had traces of Trigger in her system."
"Trigger..." Izuku said. "Even with that sort of boost, he still took her down with ease..."
"It's a powerful quirk," Ben nodded. "But, we're gonna set up a sting operation with some villains in return for lessened sentences."
"Wait, seriously? The commission's allowing that?" Ochako asked. With what Ben told her before, it sounded like they weren't really the type to negotiate unless the terms fit their system.
"Yeah. Some of the other former League villains are in on it too. Oxy-Man, Invisible Wall, Martial Hair..." Ben listed off. "The kid's a major threat, and it could cause some worry if we don't take him. The only reason the commission's even doing it is to make sure this kid gets taken down."
"Worry about the bigger threat and give smaller villains something that'd actually work for them..." Izuku muttered.
"The commission sounds really complicated..." Ochako said, rubbing her head.
"Trust me- politics are never a fun topic, kid."
"If...you don't mind me ask, how many heroes are being put on this?" Izuku asked.
"Sensitive info you're asking," Ben said.
"Oh, trust me, he'd never do anything malicious with it!" Ochako came to Izuku's defense, "If anything, it's because of his love of heroes. He knows a lot about the Pro Hero scene and some of their best cases."
"Just a few. Local ones, mainly power types that don't have any energy based quirks...and Ochako and I will be there as well." Ben said. "The operation is tonight."
"And I'll be ready for it. Promise you that," Ochako affirmed.
"That's the spirit," Ben said. "We need to do some prep work right now, but I'll give you the call when we're ready. I'll just leave the two of you to your...hang out."
Part of Ben wanted to say 'date' to tease the two, but he held his tongue. Ruby one-hundred percent would have said, though. Well, her or Yang. Either way though, with that out of the way, Ben turned back to Ghostfreak and floated through one of the walls, heading back to finish up the prep-work.
"Wow...it's incredible you get to work with him even more," Izuku said.
"Yeah...we're kinda like you and All Might!" Ochako joked. "Similar powers and everything..."
"O-oh yeah! Funny coincidence there!" Izuku said sheepishly.
"But...thank you for being cool about this," Ochako said. "I've felt awful about skipping out on stuff, and falling behind in school...I was worried that word would get out and everyone would freak out."
"It...it must be difficult to keep a secret like that under wraps for so long. It gets heavier the longer you keep it yourself, doesn't it?" Izuku asked.
"Yeah...it does. Funny, Ben said something similar to that before," Ochako said.
"N-not that I would know anything about keeping secrets myself," Izuku said.
"Well, yeah. You're an open book." Ochako said.
"Hahaha, yeah. Open book!" Izuku parroted nervously…
Ochako would soon learn his secret too, but that'll be for later.
Potential stood atop a building, looking over the city beneath him. They say as a person's power grows, their moral sensibility decreases. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely." But, Potential was always going to end up like this.
You can thank his parents for it.
Parents that place too much emphasis on grades and extracurricular activities diminish the value of social skills and compassion. As a result, they may be contributing to their children's inability to be well-adjusted individuals and contributing members of society.
Potential's parents had stressed out other kids before him to become heroes or scholars...and Potential was their 'problem child'.
He wasn't interested in either, nor did he particularly excel at anything. He wasn't bad per say, in some areas he was quite good, but "quite good" wasn't enough. "Quite good" needed to be "perfect," "top of the class," "best of the best." And, despite how much of himself he poured into reaching those heights...he just never managed to climb that high.
School pressure has been demonstrated to raise stress and anxiety in children. The most prevalent grounds for self-inflicted fatalities among Japanese students were because of family related issues. Potential never liked this idea- sacrificing his own life and happiness just for the opportunity to MAYBE get a taste of a good life. He was fine with putting in the work...but...
Nearly three years of being tormented by alleged "friends." No longer being able to cope with studies. The "psychologist" in charge of counseling him on what to do just offered alternate studies.
It was suffocating. And he was angry.
So, he ran away.
One's worth should not be defined by a simple letter on a paper.
It was maybe...what? a month or two as a runaway, alone and starving, when he met Tachyon. The villain ringleader had told him a sob story that mirrored his own. Pressured upbringing, running away, and eventually finding success as a villain. He even formed a crew. Potential wondered how much of that tale was true and how much Tachyon made up to win the young runaway over.
But Tachyon still got what he wanted: a new, gullible grunt to do all the low-work.
It was tedious- he ran away to escape the pressure. Suddenly he was the muscle for a group that stiffed him, disrespected him...he'd escaped one toxic environment into another one.
And now he was here. Free from both and able to take on the world. Well...for what time he had left. He was running low on the energy he absorbed from "Ben 10K" and he needed a boost. After another broken arm, Gorilla was more than happy to tell him where she got the little ace up her sleeve. It seemed a bit...old fashioned to him, given how most of these guys died out when the "Age of Heroes" started up.
"...if things go south, I'll use you." Potential said, pulling out a small case. "And I'll show everyone...this is me at my best."
But it'd be a last resort. He'd taken out a few villains sure and no doubt his name's been spread around a few interested circles. There was only one way left to get his name really out there.
He needed to take out a Pro.
Ochako was eventually called in by Ben- she met up with him at a nearby police station. The scene was very strange, with a few powerful pros in attendance. They were all talking over the operation with the police, meticulously going over every detail.
"Wow..." Ochako said, staying close to Ben.
"Yeah, operations like this have some 'top billing' to them." Ben said, looking around. "We got heroes like Cementoss and Crust on the case."
"What about Eraserhead?" Ochako asked. "He'd be perfect for stopping him."
"Eraserhead got tied up in some unrelated UA business, hence why Cementoss is here. We've got a bunch of plans on how to contain this kid," Ben said. "Trap him under concrete is our best plan right now. Like your friend said, he can't conduct concrete."
"Ben Tennyson!"
Ochako and Ben turned around to see Crust, making his way over to Ben. "It is an HONOR to work with you on this case!" He said, wrapping the alien hero in a tight bear hug.
"URK!" Ben said, trying to break free of his grasp. "I-it's good to see you again, Mamoru!"
Crust was one of the Top 10 Heroes in Japan. Crust was a well-built man with black hair combed backward, with a streak of grayish-white hair running down from the center of his hairline. The back of his right hand had a layer of 'crust'. His hero costume consisted of a black mask over his eyes, and attire similar to the armor Spartans would wear, including a green hooded cape and a black shirt that appears to be stitched down the middle with a red pattern.
He believed that while force can defend in an emergency, only justice, fairness, consideration, and collaboration can bring humanity to eternal peace. He had a high adoration amongst the Japanese citizens, wore his heart on his sleeve, and had little to no casualties in battle. When one person got injured because of his heroics, he made sure to pay for their hospital bills, no matter the cost.
...and he was highly, highly emotional.
Crust set Ben back down and took note of his sidekick. "Oh! You brought someone with you..."
"Oh, this is Spanner," Ben said. "She had a run-in with Potential, and wanted to help out."
Crust grasped Ochako's hand and began to shake it. "Spanner! You are truly honored to work under Ben 10k! Please do not waste this opportunity."
"R-right," Ochako nodded nervously.
"I trust you will keep an eye on your sidekick, Tennyson! My heart still cries after I heard what happened to your sidekick in Hosu!" Crust said.
Ochako nearly forgot about Manny- she had to wonder how he was doing.
"Oh, don't worry- Manny's doing better. He's getting a prosthetic soon, and I think after some training to get used to it...he'll be back on the field." Ben said.
Crust cried out. "THE DETERMINATION OF THIS GENERATION'S YOUTH IS CERTAINLY ADMIRABLE!" Ochako was oddly reminded of Iida.
"...is he always like this?" Ochako whispered to Ben.
"No, no...he's usually more emotional," Ben said. "I dunno if he's hamming it up, but...yeah. Probably didn't get enough sleep."
"I'm not shocked you'd join in the mission, Crust," Ben bemused.
"Because you want to stop people from getting hurt?" Ochako asked.
"Not only that- I've dealt with many cases like this," Crust sighed. "Not all kids like this are terrible. They are individuals, just like everyone else on the earth. And we must take our time figuring out who is who and what is what for each and every one of them who looks to be having difficulties in life. To help someone, is to understand them."
Those words hit hard with Ochako. More than she thought.
Ben nodded. "Same old Crust. Embodying the shield like always."
"The shield must always be able to endure all," Crust smiled.
Ochako was looking forward to working with a pro so devoted to his work.
The police chief took a sip of his coffee cup, and set it down. "Thank you all for being here today," The chief said, addressing the room of heroes. Ochako looked around- she didn't know everyone, but this was quite a big group to take down one guy.
"Let's quickly review what we know about our culprit here," The chief said, looking at a large screen behind him. It displayed the Potential's face from an old school photo. "His name is Kono Akio- a runaway from home, and was caught up with the 'Energy Company', a small collective of energy based villains who were able to pull off a HEFTY amount of robberies. Yesterday, Potential was able to absorb a large quantity of energy, and went on a rampage. He took down multiple criminals and destroyed multiple banks."
"Akio's quirk is based on 'energy absorption'. Hence why we have no 'energy' based heroes right now. We were going to catch him earlier...at least until some idiot villain managed to charge him back up with his quirk." The police chief grumbled. "Anyways, here's our ace in the hole- we lure him out with some villains 'robbing' a bank. Potential will come, and that's when we'll try to contain him."
Ochako raised her hand. "I assume we'll be using Cementoss' abilities to contain him?"
"Correct," Cementoss nodded. (He swore the voice behind the mask sounded familiar.) "I'll be containing a whole city block to ensure Potential is unable to escape, and reinforcing it."
"The hardest part will be trying to take him down," Crust said.
"And that's why I'm here," Ben 10k said. "I can tag him with a LOT of my aliens. This'll be a cinch."
"Now...let's get to our meetup point," The chief said. "This could be our only chance to nab him before he quickly becomes an A-tier villain."
Martial Hair and Oxy-Man were looking over the "hostages" for their little job. Invisible Wall was outside on look-out, while another U.S.J villain, Muscle Man, was stuffing stacks of money into bags.
"Anything?" Martial Hair asked into an ear-piece.
"Nothing yet. Know the alarm sounded...but I got nothing," Invisible Wall responded over the comms.
"I swear, this better get me out on parole..." Oxy-Man said, looking around. "I'm scared this kid's gonna either kill me or put me in the hospital."
"Can't you like, I dunno...use oxygen to mess with the electricity?" Muscle Man asked.
"...wow, you sure are living up to your name, meathead."
"That...that's not even remotely close to how that works..." Martial Hair sighed, before her earpiece beeped.
"He's on his way. Get into position, now." The police chief said.
"Showtime, assholes!" Martial Hair clapped, looking around. "Better give an Oscar winning performance!"
"Oh, like you needed to ask," Invisible Wall boasted and crawled along the wall, getting into position.
"Damn...almost like there's more in it for you than just parole," Oxy-Man rolled his eyes.
"Shut up, Aozora..." Martial Hair growled.
Ochako and Ben watched from a nearby rooftop. They were staying low.
"That kid is coming in hot," Ben said, looking down at a strange device.
"What's that?" Ochako asked.
"Energy tracker," Ben explained. "Someone was able to finally tune to this kid's energy frequency."
"How high is it?" Ochako asked.
"The kid could power a small power plant," Ben said. "Scary, huh?"
"They're...gonna be ok, right?" Ochako asked, referring to both the villains in the bank and the hostages.
"We've got medics on standby for them," Ben said, "The villains I mean. Two of them seemed genuinely repentant. As for the hostages, they're very used to this."
"...wait, what?" Ochako turned to Ben, completely taken aback.
"They're paid actors: the Help Us Company. Usually they're brought in for training exercises for up-and-coming heroes, but on rare occasions they're brought in for set-ups like this. That's why not all the heroes were assigned to an active part of the takedown. Some were assigned to evac the Help Us 'hostages.'"
"There's so many weird occupations nowadays," Ochako murmured.
"Tell me about it," Ben scoffed.
"10K," Cementoss called over the earpiece, "Walls are about to go up. Floor's yours."
"Thanks, Cement," Ben said, dialing up an alien. Considering Potential's power, energy aliens were out, but he had other options if he needed range. He slammed down on the watch and after a quick flash of green, blue moth wings unfurled from a cloak-like position, as Ben turned into Big Chill.
"Izuku mentioned you should launch attacks from below the ground, since concrete doesn't conduct electricity." Ochako said.
"I've got a bunch of moves like that- consider this your 'mentor in action' moment. I'll use the exact same forms you have right now," Ben grinned.
Ochako nodded, though internally she was excited to see what her forms could do in the hands of someone who had truly mastered them. Ben walked up to the edge of the roof, leaned forward, and fell. He turned invisible halfway down the fall and flew towards the bank.
Ben hid in the alley behind the bank, as Ochako suddenly noticed the street lights were flickering. Ochako immediately ducked for cover as Potential darted down the streets, and made a beeline for the bank.
Martial Hair gulped. Here goes, She thought. With a shower of sparks, Potential landed in the bank, his hands still fully charged with energy.
"More U.S.J. thugs," Potential sighed, "Getting tired of low-ranks...think you'll be the last ones. Then I move up in the world."
"Yeah...cute that you think that," Martial Hair said, aiming her hair at Potential.
"Target is in position," Ochako muttered into an earpiece. "The time to strike is now!"
With no small amount of effort, Cementoss threw his arms skyward, commanding the stone around the entire block to rise up and form into a dome. The thunderous sound of the dome sealing made Potential look over his shoulder in shock. These were low-ranked villains; they couldn't possibly have this much manpower or coordination...
Unless they had help.
"...this is a setup, isn't it?" Potential hissed.
"Oh, big time." Martial Hair grinned, as her hair turned into a spike and stabbed forward multiple times. Potential dodged the attacks, as he bumped into something behind him. Invisible Wall shoved him to the ground.
"We cut a BIG deal with some heroes," Oxy Man said, pointing his spear at the boy. "And let's just say that they're giving us one sweet gig."
"Can't even stay villains, could you? You had to go and make deals with the Pros," Potential growled. He rushed ahead, aiming at Oxy-Man. Martial Hair tried to stop him, jab at him with her spiked hair, but the charged-up villain simply dodged the jab with a spin. As he came back around, he then kicked the redemption-seeking villain in the arm, hard enough to send her flying into one of the teller booths. Without a second wasted, he moved right back to charging at Oxy-Man.
A spear would be much easier to deal with, after all.
Oxy Man stabbed forward, but Potential narrowly ducked under the spear. He unleashed a powerful uppercut that sent the poor villain through the roof and out of the bank. Muscle Man made a face.
"...oh no, bro." Muscle Man said, as Potential made a straight beeline for him.
Potential didn't even care about this one, simply grabbing the villain by the face and slamming him into the ground. He knew there was one more in here, but he couldn't pinpoint where exactly they were.
"Screw it," Potential shouted, sending a tremendous burst of energy into the air. All of the 'hostages' and the Invisible Wall were briefly shocked and knocked down.
"There we go."
The energy-charged villain turned his attention back to the money. He wasn't going to steal it, he was going to burn it. He was about to set fire to the first stack of cash, before ice suddenly encased the doorway. Then the entire building froze over, the temperature dropping. Potential gave a few breaths, seeing mist form in front of him, giving him a good idea about who was responsible.
"10K...back for another round, eh?" Potential asked aloud.
"Sure." Ben 10k snarked, before he dove into the ground. Icy spikes suddenly shot out of the ground. Potential was nearly skewered on a multitude of giant icicles.
He dodged out of the way, sending out a wave energy at the icicles that cut them in half. He was on guard now, scanning the frozen interior for any sign of the Necrofriggian. The smallest hint of movement would be seen by Potential as Ben, so he'd fire on whatever it was, just to be safe.
Ben smashed into Potential's back with another powerful ice spike that nearly pierced through his chest. "Surrender, kid. You're outclassed here."
Potential turned on his heel and fired out another blast of energy at where Ben had been. The only things he managed to hit were the ice spike, which shattered when the energy hit, and the wall behind it.
"Where the hell are you HIDING!?" Potential yelled.
"Please. Chillax." Ben said, his calm soothing voice unnerving the teen villain. "Too much stress isn't good for you..." Ben snuck up behind Potential and prepared to freeze him over.
"Actually... It keeps me alert!" The energy-charged villain spun around again and grabbed Ben by the wrists. Before the Necrofriggian could turn intangible, two powerful currents of energy surged from Potential and into Ben, shocking him to his core.
Ben yelled, as he collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily. "Oh...my god..."
"Yeah," Potential said, charging up his fingers. "And there's more where that came from- TAZER!" Potential stabbed his finger forward...
And collided against Chromastone's rock hard skin. He couldn't stop himself from unleashing energy.
The energy surged into Chromastone's body, powering up his own attacks and giving his body an almost radiant glow.
"Thanks for the charge-up," Chromastone smirked.
"Too bad you can't use it on me. I'll just absorb it back." Potential smirked.
"Cute." Chromastone said, standing back up. "Kid- I'll tell you a secret. You and me?" Ben suddenly grabbed Potential, and smashed him into a wall.
"We're two sides of the same coin powerwise."
The hell? Figures he could absorb -my- powers...but even that night, he couldn't really do ANYTHING to me, Potential thought to himself as he pried himself free of the wall.
"Won't...matter in the end. I overwhelmed you once, 10K. Nothing's saying I can't do it again!" The energy villain yelled.
"Please. You caught me at a bad time," Ben said, switching forms to XLR8. "And I won't let that happen again."
XLR8 ran forward at high speeds to strike the opponent out of the bank. XLR8 quickly ran circles around Potential, forming a tornado. It lifted Potential up into the air and dizzied him...and left him open to attacks.
While still suspended by the tornado, two large stone hexagons came flying at Potential, cutting through the winds XLR8 had whipped up. The first one missed thanks to Potential firing off a bolt to move himself out of the way. The second one slammed right into the energy villain's side, bouncing off of him, before the first shield looped back around and hit him again.
Potential suddenly found himself wrapped in wooden vines. They squeezed him tightly, so as not to let him move. Potential turned to see Kamui Woods, using his Lacquered Chain Prison move with stupid Arbor quirk.
"Stand down, child!"
"...you know...all it takes is one spark..." Potential smirked, charging up some of his own energy before letting off some sparks. He was gonna try and burn his way free!
Potential suddenly let loose a powerful explosion that sent splinters of energy all over the place. Crust blocked the fragments, as Potential dashed over to the overwhelmed Kamui Woods.
"Okay, newcomer! Let's fry you FIRST!" Potential yelled, unleashing another burst of energy...
That Ben got in front of. He immediately shifted to Chromastone, and absorbed the energy. The power gave Chromastone that iconic glow of his again. The boost let Ben grab hold of Potential by the wrist and then threw him over his shoulder. Sand then began buffeting Potential, catching him off guard.
Because of all things, why sand?!
The Sand Hero, Snatch, reformed around Potential and captured him. "Come now, boy. The fight is long over. Your luck has run out- you're not dealing with a bunch of 'rookies'!"
"10K, Snatch, Crust, even Kamui Woods...all for one guy. I feel honored," Potential smirked.
"Don't try it, boy. The sand'll just reconstitute if you blast it," Snatch said, guessing what the villain would try next.
"...then I'll just have to up the ante now, don't I?" Potential said, with a grin. He pulled something out of his pocket...and jabbed it into his leg.
"Wait, was that-?" Crust called out, before everyone saw the sparks and energy surrounding Potential's hands roar to life, almost entirely renewed. Like he'd just gotten a fresh dose of energy. His eyes glowed with that similar surge of power and he smirked, looking back at Snatch. The energy villain charged up and fired off a massive shockwave that actually managed to free himself entirely from the Sand Hero's grip and send the other gathered pros flying.
"He has Trigger?" Kamui asked, shocked.
His body started to turn red and black, as he began to sneer and grin. "Hmmm...now this is a fantastic power up!" Potential laughed, holding out his hands. "And I wonder..."
Potential zipped over to Chromastone, and grabbed his head. He began to suck that energy out of his body, as Chromastone struggled to pull the boy off of him.
"Let him go, boy!" Kamui shouted, trying to entangle Potential or, failing that, at least have him let go of Ben. Potential smirked and let out another shockwave with just a thought,radiating energy off of him, burning the roots that Kamui sent his way while still leeching energy from Chromastone.
"Round 2 is over." Potential said, tossing Ben away. Ochako watched in horror as Ben was thrown right back at their 'vantage point'. Ochako barely grabbed Chromastone's foot, and kindly set him back down on the ground. Potential had nearly crushed Chromastone's head in their grip.
"Ugh..." Ben groaned. "That hurt..."
"Trigger must have powered him up to the point that he can just absorb energy based quirks with a touch." Ochako surmised.
"And people...actually try to defend using that stuff," Ben groaned as he tried getting up.
The other pros weren't having much luck either. Kamui couldn't restrain him or he'd get burned, and Crust was now on the back leg. After throwing Chromastone, Potential charged right at the Shield Hero and started laying into him. Two small hexagonal shields formed on the pro's wrists and brought them up to block the energy villain's barrage of punches. The shields started to crack quickly under the assault and if they did break, the pro was able to reform them in an instant.
"Rest up," Ochako said, activating her own Omnitrix. "I'll tag in."
"What will you do?" Ben asked.
"I'll do anything I can!" Ochako replied as she leapt from the building and slammed her Omnitrix. Heatblast took her place and soared towards Potential. A volley of small fireballs flew towards Potential's head.
The villain tore off one of Crust's shields and used it to defend himself after kicking the shield hero away. The fireballs impacted against the shield, before Heatblast flew in and tackled Potential.
Ochako propelled themselves into a wall with Potential- they smashed into a building, and Ochako began to incinerate Potential's face with a flamethrower from her mouth.
Potential pushed through the flames and slammed his forehead into Ochako's, making the hero stagger back.
"God...damn it...bad idea," Potential admitted.
Ochako landed on the ground, and rubbed her head. "Ow." She said, shaking it off. Ochako put her hands on the ground, and looked back up at Potential. This move is a bit of a long shot- I haven't mastered it yet, but...it's worth a shot!
Ochako unleashed a powerful burst of flames into the ground, causing it to explode. Bits of debris and concrete went flying everywhere, with some pelting the still stunned Potential.
Potential endured the barrage of debris, shaking off the stun of the headbutt before charging up the energy in his hands. He put his hands together and fired off a massive beam in Ochako's direction. The Pyronite dodged out of the way, watching the destruction the beam wrought as it cut through wall after wall.
"...I really need to not get hit by that," Ochako said, shaking her head. Ochako looked over to Kamui Woods and Crust- how could she combo with them?
She was curious- were those shields of Crust...flammable?
Even if they weren't on their own...she suddenly got an idea. She raced over to Kamui and Crust, making a wall of flames to cover her retreat. Potential panted, exerted from that attack; he was letting himself recharge.
"Crust, Kamui...I need you to combine your powers. Make me a shield with some wood around it." Ochako said.
"What?" Kamui said.
"Of COURSE! Such a passionate display of teamwork may overwhelm him!" Crust said.
"...or we can make a cool flaming shield." Ochako said.
"That too! How big do you need it?" Crust asked, already starting to form a hexagonal bulwark.
"Big enough to where he'd have to dodge it. No deflections, just dodge or get hit. We use the opening the distraction gives us."
"...and take him out that way," Kamui finished, "Could work."
"Yeah. Make a BIG one. Then you'll wrap your vines around it, and I'll ignite it...and I'll have Four Arms toss it." Ochako said.
"As you wish!" Crust said, making a huge shield- his shields were usually about 2.5 feet in diameter, and weighed 12 pounds. This one...was six times that size, now the size of one of those inflatable swimming pools. Kamui's vines wrapped around it, and Ochako quickly set it ablaze. She morphed into Fourarms, and picked up the flaming shield with ease.
"No pressure..." She said to herself, as she grabbed it.
She wound up for the toss, gaining momentum steadily. Her focus was drawn to Potential when she heard another shockwave blast out, extinguishing her fire. The energy villain let out two blasts to propel himself forwards, anger and power welling up in his eyes. And at the right moment, Ochako threw the massive flaming shield at the villain, forcing him to dodge. With so little room to maneuver after the throw, he was easy to hit. Crust used his Quirk to form a larger shield that Potential slammed into, while Kamui used his roots to bind the supercharged villain to it.
Finally, Ochako quickly swapped to Gravattack, her body becoming red and more golem-like, before boosting the gravity and slamming both Potential and his new restraints to the ground and keeping them pinned. The boosted villain could have burned through Kamui's wooden binds, but the increased pressure kept him from focusing long enough to expel the energy. If Ochako could keep this up, she'd be able to hold him long enough for the Trigger to wear out.
"Come on, kid..." Ochako said, increasing gravity. Potential hissed, as his red electricity began to spark more and more. His eyes lit up as he channeled his electricity into the ground.
"DEMONIC THUNDER WING DEMOLITION!" The ground shook and cracked, as the sparks of electricity burst out of it.
Ochako upped the pressure, pressing Potential further into the stone floor, trying to break his concentration.
Potential yelled, nearly frothing at the mouth. THIS was something he was so focused on! He couldn't let go of his dream here. The world LOVED success, and he was unfortunate enough to get none of it. "LET THIS BE THE ONE THING...I'M GOOD AT!" Potential roared.
Kamui slammed his hands into the ground and had more roots crossover Potential's body, while Crust made ready to seal the energy burst away by forming up five more massive hexagonal walls.
"It's over, Potential! If you keep going like this, you might end up hurting yourself more than bystanders! Trigger's been outlawed for a reason!" Crust tried to reason with the kid.
Potential wasn't even registering Crust's passionate words. He gave his all- one more last PUSH!
And the ground EXPLODED beneath the heroes feet. The entire block exploded, actually. The attack shook the dome, forming some cracks in it...
Outside the dome, Cementoss gave it his all to reinforce the cement blockade. The cracks began to quickly spread, but the rocky hero quickly used his Quirk to repair the damage. Inside the dome, the pros were thrown off guard by the sudden surge of energy Potential released.
Though, it was not without its drawbacks.
Potential had really put his all into that attack- and because he released all that energy...
Ochako stumbled over to see Potential, face down in a crater. He was without power or energy now. "He's...he's down." Ochako said, breathing carefully.
"Is...is he still breathing?" Crust asked, noting the severe damage Potential had wrought with that last push. So much power, released in such a short time...he'd be surprised if the kid didn't suffer some kind of injury from it.
Ochako slid down, and put her hand to his neck to feel for a pulse. "His breathing...it's slowed."
"Drawback from Trigger..." Kamui said, joining Ochako in the crater. "Some variants of Trigger can reduce the activity of the neurons in the brain and spinal cord...he must have one of those versions."
"Cementoss," Crust radioed into his earpiece, "Potential's down, but it sounds like he needs medical care as soon as possible."
"Understood," Cementoss radioed back, dropping the dome and allowing light to reach the block again.
Of course, there was still one matter of note...being the U.S.J villains. Despite being thrown around like ragdolls, Oxy-Man decided...you know what? He didn't need a reduced sentence. He could just walk out of here while the others were all busy resting and dealing with Potential. A clean escape!
"And where the hell are you going, Aozora?" Martial Hair growled.
Ochako turned her attention to Martial Hair and Oxy-Man. She squinted her eyes.
That's the guy who led the attack on Midoriya, Sui and Mineta at USJ... The heroine realized. She held out her hand, and weighed down Oxy-Man to the ground so he wouldn't be able to even lift his foot up.
"I-I...I was...going to...get help?" The villain lied.
"May I?" Martial Hair asked.
Ochako looked at Martial Hair and gave her a once over, just trying to make out if she was genuine in this. Maybe against her better judgment, she eased up on the pressure for a moment.
"Thank you."
Oxy-Man suddenly felt Martial Hair's fist connecting with his face a lot harder than he thought she could manage.
Oxy-Man crumpled to the ground (also sort of due to Ochako's gravity) and he groaned. Martial Hair flipped her hair and sighed.
"Idiot..."
Ochako looked up at the building where Ben was resting. "Hold on. Be right back." She said, as she morphed into her planetoid form and hovered over to the building. Ochako floated back over to Ben, who was getting back up. Ben looked pretty proud of the girl.
"That...was pretty hardcore, Ochako. You stood your ground..." Ben said, as the girl reverted back to normal.
"Thanks." Ochako replied, returning her gaze to Potential. She was a little worried since he wasn't moving. Ben walked over to her side, and shook his head.
"It's a pity... I was hoping he'd simply give up or something." Ben remarked. "However, his desire to win was...overpowering him."
"He sounded serious with that last attack- he yelled 'let this be the one thing I'm good at'." Ochako stated. "...I wonder if Kono ran away because his parents stressed him out."
"Absolutely the case. Probably to do with school, too." Ben said. "Pushing some children through the same educational curriculum fosters conformity rather than resilience. Not every kid is gonna have a good time with it...especially the rebellious ones. Rage, tension, and anxiety...trying to force your kid into all of that can have some serious emotional damage behind it."
"I hope he gets some help." Ochako said, clutching her arm. "I...think he just needs some guidance." Ochako looked up, to see the concrete barrier going down. She and Ben were looking up at a sky full of stars.
He and Ochako stood in silence for a few seconds.
"You should probably go, kid," Ben said. "I can handle it from here."
"I'll...call you after my patrol tomorrow, then. Give me updates." Ochako said, as she turned to leave.
"...again. Good work," Ben said, eyes still focused on Potential.
"No problem." Ochako nodded, as she morphed into Big Chill and flew off. Ben watched her fly off, and took a deep breath.
Ben pulled out his phone, and scrolled to a contact. He tapped on it, and pressed 'call'. He put the phone to his ear, and let it ring for a few seconds.
"Hello?" A deep voice asked, as the line finally picked up. Ben could hear him moving around a bit, and the distant sounds of a baby in the back.
"Hey, Kev." Ben said. "We took care of that kid I was telling you about."
"Damn, that was fast." Kevin joked.
"...when do you think you could fly in and...maybe give him that talk?" Ben asked. "The...what did you call it again?"
"The 'Walk away from Satan' talk. It's like 'Come to Jesus' but I try to be a bit more...y'know. Me." Kevin stated. "But...I dunno, man. Might be a few weeks. Min and I are still settling in with Xander, y'know? I'm trying to be as involved in this kid's life as I can, and I dunno if I wanna even leave for a few hours."
"Fair, fair." Ben nodded.
"...something bothering you, dude?"
Ben didn't answer.
"You saw a bit of me in him, didn't you?"
"...yeah. I did."
Kevin took a deep breath. "Alright, I'll...check my schedule, and get back to you. I can tell this kid is gonna be a stubborn one."
"You were too, y'know." Ben snickered.
"...you're lucky I'm in Xander's room or else I'd be saying some choice words right now," Kevin scolded him. Ben could hear Xander's gibberish and babble in the back.
"Tell Min I said hi, okay?" Ben asked. "I gotta take care of this guy, and then do some paperwork."
"I'll give you deets when I can," Kevin said, as he picked up his kid from his crib. "Xander, you wanna say hi to your uncle Ben?"
Ben could hear Xander babble some more. Ben laughed a bit. "...it was nice talking to you, Kev."
"Nice hearing from you too, Ben." Kevin said. "Talk to you later."
"Catch you on the flipside," Ben said, as he hung up.
The next day, Ochako was going over some of the material for the next test in UA For the most part she had an actual good understanding of this. With Potential arrested, and being psychologically evaluated, the successor to the Omnitrix had plenty of time to catch up. Of course, what seemed like a normal day immediately turned weird again. Izuku texted Ochako and asked if they could talk at her place again.
Two days in a row is weird but Ochako accepted. Maybe he was just opening up socially a bit more?
Ochako did more of her work, biding her time until Izuku came by again.
"Glad to see you're okay- I heard about the raid on the news." Izuku said.
"Yeah...Potential spent all his energy on one attack, trying to prove his strength. Ended a lot faster than I thought it would." Ochako admitted.
"He must have overestimated his Quirk. But given everything it sounded like he already knew his limits."
"I...don't know how, but the other Pros said he had a booster on hand."
"I heard about that...an illegal drug that enhances your Quirk's power. All Might busted a few rings that dealt the stuff back in his younger days."
"You and your All Might knowledge," Ochako smirked. She noticed just how...serious Izuku looked though. Like he was trying to gather up the courage for something.
"Are you ok, Deku?"
"Uraraka. You let me in on...maybe the biggest secret of your life, that you were chosen to carry on the legacy of Ben 10K. Well...now it's my turn. You trusted me enough to know your secret, so I trust you enough to know mine."
The Omnitrix wielder tilted her head. What secrets could Izuku Midoryia have? He was pretty much an open book. Maybe his darkest secret was that he stole a candy bar when he was 7 or something.
But the next few words that came out of his mouth...shook Ochako.
"I'm All Might's successor." Izuku admitted.
Ochako froze. Whatever she thought she was going to hear, well, those guesses shattered like glass.
"Huh?" Ochako said, just trying to process it all.
"Yeah, so…this quirk I have. It's his. He gifted it to me some time before the semester started. Before that...I...I didn't have a Quirk."
Ochako stared at Izuku for a few seconds, stunned in silence. "...what do you mean the same quirk!?"
"About a year ago...I met All Might, and after saving Kacchan from some slime villain, he saw potential in me and trained me so I could receive his quirk." Izuku went on. "It's basically this quirk that grows when transferred and I'm like…the ninth person to have it-"
"And...and all this time..."
"Every time one of my fingers broke-during the entrance exam, for instance-that was me learning how to properly use the Quirk."
Ochako's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "T-that's one hell of a secret, actually."
"I know." Izuku said.
"And...now...we're in the same boat. The successor to All Might...and the successor to Ben 10K."
"Huge reasonability but...now I know how you felt after telling me. Someone else...actually knows and...now I'm not afraid someone's gonna find out by accident and out me."
Ochako shook her head. "I...I have so many questions! How does this power work? How'd you get it? Is this why we never see All Might around UA that much?"
"Well...last one, no, he's just busy. Second one is...uh...it's weird..." Izuku admitted, hoping he wouldn't need to explain.
"It can't be that weird." Ochako said.
"He had me eat a strand of his hair."
Ochako blinked. She stood corrected.
"Yeah...I don't get how that works either."
"Just...wow." Ochako said, dumbstruck. "I always knew your powers were similar, but...I never knew you shared the same quirk."
"The quirk's called All for One- but I just cover for it by calling it 'Superpower' on my transcripts. It's a bit nerve wracking to have to lie about all of this sometimes..." Izuku admitted.
"Believe me, know how that feels..." Ochako sighed.
"I figured...well, since you know what I'm going through...I should extend an olive branch to you. We have to share this bond together, don't we?" Izuku asked.
"We do. Should be a little easier to deal with it all. I can cover for you, you can cover for me. It all works out," the gravity hero nodded.
"Yeah...and if we have some sort of...issue, we can talk to each other about it." Izuku said. "Let's just hope this secret doesn't get out."
"Between the two of us, it shouldn't. Plus, I can still rely on you to help me with any material I missed if Ben calls on me again," Ochako chuckled a bit.
"That's good, that's good." Izuku nodded.
"And while I think the secret of One for All can stay between us...Ben said I should tell some people I trust about the Omnitrix," Ochako said. "So, you obviously know...but I think other people should know in case something happens."
"Like...Iida and Momo?"
"Probably, yeah. Given how much they're gone out of their way to help me, it only seems right to tell them."
"I...I guess that makes sense." Izuku said. "But, seriously. The thing about One for All stays between us."
"I can keep your secret!" Ochako said, faux saluting the boy. Izuku gave a nice sigh of relief. "But, one question? Who else knows about One for All?"
"Aside from you, a police detective, and...obviously All Might? No one."
"What about the guy you interned with?" Ochako asked.
"Oh...yeah, I guess Gran Torino knows. All Might did say there was a buddy on the police force who knew...and then there's Ben and a few of his friends." Izuku went on. "But that's about it. I did try explaining it to someone else, but I don't think he got it."
Ochako instantly knew who he told.
Bakugou watched the news with a dull expression. Ben 10k captures a rising threat known as Potential, The news headlined. Bakugo only saw snippets of some fights- some news crew managed to sneak in and grab footage of the raid. He scoffed.
"The newscasters are a bunch of idiots if they think THAT'S Ben 10k," He scoffed, before shutting off his TV.
Please leave a review~!