Ben 10: Hero Force

by DBZpower197

It had now been 3 years since Ben took a chance at a normal life. However, history had a tendency to repeat and life had a tendency to be unfair. With the news of someone person putting in a good word for him at UA, Ben would once again don the Omnitrix and face the challenges ahead all the while having one question in mind: "Could he meet the legacy of that watch once again?"

39. Chapter 38: Save! Test Run of Rescue!

Hi everyone!

Sorry for the delay as I've had exams, moved to a new place, and then flown back to my parents to have a vacation with them, all in the past month.

I'm thankful for your patience.

Now, without further ado, let's get into it. Chapter 38!

---

Ben 10: Hero Force

Chapter 38

Save! Test Run of Rescue!

---

As Class 1-A had brandished their hero costumes, they had taken a trip back to the USJ. Seeing the place once again had filled them with the same sense of wonder, and an eeries déjà vu.

"What!?" Mineta's jaw had hit the floor.

Tennyson however was very unsurprised, but Todoroki stepped forth, looking around curiously.

"That's right. The USJ is fixed." Eraser Head declared– before getting cut off by a familiar face.

"And that's not all!"

The class gasped and cheered at the puffy white jacket and black helmet walking towards them.

"Thirteen!"

"Well, well, now isn't this class a sight for sore eyes." She glanced at all of them, smiling underneath the helmet.

Ben had kept his arms crossed, but it definitely made him glad to see another faculty member recover.

"Nice to see you again, teach." He exclaimed while Uraraka raised her hand.

"Are you really okay, Thirteen-sensei?" She asked.

Tennyson raised an eyebrow. He genuinely wondered about the answer.

Thirteen shrugged. "Well… My back is still a little sore." She said. "But it was nothing compared to what your homeroom teacher went through."

Ben turned his eyes to Aizawa. Upon looking at him one more time, he really noticed how close the scarring was to his homeroom teacher's eyes, it reminded him of Midoriya's injury.

He checked on his friend as well, and couldn't help but mentally sigh. All this thinking about injuries thing certainly dampened his mood–

As if Eraser Head heard his thoughts though, suddenly his red eyes turned to him!

Ben looked away, whistling, acting like he wasn't just thinking about him!

So, Eraser Head turned back to face the class.

"There's no need to exaggerate." He stated. "We are all gathered so let's start the class, Thirteen."

She nodded, as he beckoned and walked down the stairs–

"Wait, we're just supposed to go back to class?" Kaminari opened his arms. " Like nothing ever happened here?!"

Eraser Head didn't react whereas Thirteen shrugged.

"Class IS class." She said. "Now follow me."

She followed Eraser Head down.

"Is this all we're getting though, as far as the elephant in the room?" Sato whispered.

Shoji responded to him. "They wouldn't want us to idle around one event forever." He said. "Since we're going to be heroes, they know we're going to see lots of sights like that…"

Asui joined them. "Ribbit, I agree."

Tennyson pursed his mouth, and Midoriya noticed it. His inner eyebrows raised, as he put a hand on his first scar, next to his eye.

"They're not wrong." He thought before taking note of the second one, the one he got against Todoroki which wrapped around his right hand. "There will be a lot of sights, but we'll make sure everyone pulls through. We'll save everyone…"

He looked back, and saw Iida walking with his head down. He was following the crowd from behind, wearing a grim scowl.

Midoriya nodded in sympathy.

"... as long as we also walk away from it."

---

Midoriya made sure to stick with Iida, as they were taken further into the facility. Going up a small range of man-made rocky highlands, they arrived at a unique section of the place.

With peaks taller than any other structure, and caverns darker and quieter than anywhere else, they arrived at a mountainous area. Shortly known as… the Mountain Zone.

Thirteen clapped her hands.

"So, let's start with a mountain-side rescue." She said. "At the bottom of this chasm, there will be three of you students. The scenario is that after an accident during a trip, all three of you have been trapped down there. One of you will be knocked unconscious, another will have a broken leg, and the last person is fine physically but really worried."

Kirishima and Kaminari made their way through the group, and looked down.

"What height!"

Tennyson palmed his fist. "Come on guys, it sounds simple enough."

Jiro confusedly looked over to him. "Yeah, real simple. *If* you can fly."

"Not really." Shoji remarked, raising an arm and transforming it into a mouth. "You have to remember, it isn't just flying out of a chasm."

"It's flying out with an injured person." Todoroki said.

Uraraka however pumped her fists up and down!

"Let's do this, let's save 'em, Deku!" She yelled as she went up to Midoriya.

He nodded.

"Y-Yeah!" He responded sheepishly. "Let's do this together. Iida, you too!"

Thirteen raised her finger. "The injured will be..!"

---

"... you three!"

With a dumbfounded expression, Tennyson, Uraraka and Iida found themselves at the bottom of the chasm, and Midoriya looked down at them.

"Well, nevermind." He thought.

---

Ben looked around, putting his hands on his hips. Iida was staying silent.

Uraraka sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "Guess we really prepared for the wrong thing, huh." She said.

"Yeah." Ben responded, and clicked his tongue.

"Well, guess we're victims." he shook his head. "So… how do we do this?"

Uraraka shrugged. "Guess we just wail our arms around, and scream?"

Ben cracked a smirk.

"Okay, that sounds fun–"

"We have to divide the roles." Iida suddenly declared. He looked at them both, seeing their eyes.

"There needs to be one unconscious, one with a broken bone, and one who is distraught at the circumstance for their friends."

"Okay…" Ben raised an eyebrow, relatively taken aback at seeing the class rep activating at times, as if someone suddenly switched him on and off.

But he could deal with that.

"Do you have a preferred role?" He followed up.

Iida… shook his head.

---

Eraser Head looked down, and made sure all three of them were playing their roles.

"So, if you chose those three, Thirteen…" His eyes rolled, before narrowing to a group of them.

"... you four heroes will be the ones to rescue them." He raised his hand, and pointed to Yaoyorozu, Todoroki, Tokoyami and Bakugo.

Bakugo stood aside with his arms crossed, while Yaoyorozu mirrored him. However, unlike the angry teen, she was more meek and a lot more unsure.

"You may use these objects for your operation." Aizawa gestured to the rope and mountain stretcher next to the ledge, and Todoroki took that in.

"Understood." He nodded for the group, and crouched next to the ledge. With his mouth clamped shut, he examined the terrain and…

"Help us! Please!" Uraraka was yelling from the bottom of the chasm. "There are injured people!"

His eyes narrowed.

"Well, Icy-Hot?" Bakugo then came up behind him and stood over.

The ice and fire teen's eyes narrowed, before closing briefly as he got up.

"My name is Shoto." He established first. "We need to decide on who'll be going down."

He gestured to the side of the mountain before looking at the creation girl.

"A pulley system would be our best bet, Genesis. By how it seems, we could then use the rope and the stretcher to evacuate the unconscious and injured, and have them tended to immediately." He said. "Perhaps, Tsukuyomi, you could be the one to go down?"

Tokoyami nodded. "I shall do as ordered."

His eyes then turned to Bakugo.

"After that, you'll fly down and grab the panicked bystander… umm… Unnam–"

"It's King Explosion Murder! And yeah, I know!" Bakugo groaned as the class who watched on could only have sheepish smiles.

"Wow, look at Todoroki being all considerate." Kaminari nudged Mineta, and the little student had the same reaction.

"Yeah, who knew…"

Jiro looked down at him, and kept her deadpan look. However she kept her arms behind her back and focused on Todoroki's expression.

Even though one side of his face was covered by ice, she could see that his eyebrows weren't as crossed, or his forehead wasn't as wrinkled.

Midoriya noticed it too.

"He's not pushing anyone out, making sure the work is divided on some part to all of them." He thought.

It made him recall the first battle trial, when Todoroki secured the weapon all on his own.

Midoriya put a hand on his chin–

"Is everything alright, Genesis?" Todoroki asked suddenly, breaking Midoriya's concentration.

"What is going on?"

Jiro's attention then slid to Yaomomo, who was creating the pulley wheels but a lot more apprehensively. The question resulted in her snapping out.

"Hm? Yes, however I… couldn't help but think that we're skipping over something rather important." She answered.

Todoroki raised an eyebrow.

"And what might that be?" Tokoyami asked.

Yaoyorozu went to the edge of the cliff, and dropped to her knees. She raised her voice.

"Please keep calm everyone! We will get to you as soon as possible!" She said, searching and finding the three students with her eyes. Iida, who was clearly the panicked survivor, Uraraka who was sitting up with her leg extended, most likely because she wanted to imply it was broken and…

… Tennyson, who was lying on the ground, eyes closed. She felt a cold sweat wash over her, but quickly the creation girl shook her head.

"Just hang on!" She shouted again, as Tokoyami nodded.

"I see." He said. "In a crisis, it would be most logical if we were to ease the terrified souls of the imperiled. It makes so much sense upon first thought."

She got back to her feet.

"I… wanted to do this lesson properly." Yaomomo said. "And so, I thought we should be presenting ourselves first. Saving someone extends beyond just rescuing from physical danger, but also reassuring them so that they're ready to be saved."

Todoroki's eyebrows went up, and his mouth faintly opened.

"Impressive…" Kirishima also uttered from the sidelines. "She's also a real natural at this!"

"Uh-huh…" Mineta nodded as he had also crouched… and was looking at her from below.

"Yes, very good." He said, wiping away the drool–

"BRO!" Kaminari yelled.

---

Via an assist from Bakugo and Todoroki who held the rope, Tokoyami was taken down to the depths of the chasm along with the stretcher.

"Sorry for the wait. The Jet-Black heroes* have arrived to your aid." He said.

"I never agreed to that name!" Bakugo's yelling came up from above the cliffside.

Midoriya raised his hand and placed it next to his mouth. "I don't think he was talking about you, Kacchan."

Bakugo growled in response while two sources of light peaked behind Tokoyami's robe, and a darkness surged claws outstretched and mouth open, Dark Shadow erupted out and took his place by his side!

"So cool…" Uraraka thought as Tokoyami stood on task and took a look at all of them.

"Okay, I see it would be the wiser choice for Tennyson to be escorted up first, seeing as he's unconscious."

Tennyson immediately opened one eye. "I mean, I'm pretty comfortable–"

"Tennyson." Tokoyami and Iida said exasperatedly as Dark Shadow crossed its claws.

"Would it really kill you to leave the glory-hounding to us for once…" He added, acting even more grumpy than the other two.

Tokoyami looked up. It must have been the additional darkness' effect.

"We should put him on the stretcher and then gently take him up..." He said, putting his foot down.

The quirk remained non-compliant. Dark Shadow rolled his eyes.

"... Dark Shadow." Tokoyami stated.

When everyone started looking at him, including Tennyson, he unraveled his claws.

"Fine! Whatever." His arms stretched and wrapped Tennyson and the stretcher from below.

Iida saw the smirk on Tennyson's face as he was strapped in.

"It's best for you to obey the rules, Tennyson." He said, in reaffirmation. "So that we may get this exercise done… quickly, if possible."

---

"Slowly." Yaomomo raised her hand.

As Todoroki and Bakugo pulled on the rope, she stood by the cliffside with the ice from which the rope was suspended from. The second Tokoyami would let go, due to reaching the border of the shadow, she wanted to make sure nothing could go wrong.

Iida watched on from below.

Pursing her mouth, Yaoyorozu narrowed her eyes– until she caught a glimpse of the stretcher.

Tennyson came into frame. With his eyes closed and hands on his stomach, he looked… ever so peaceful. She put a hand on her head.

It felt as though the view… started to get closer, and then further away… The sight was enough to make her feel nauseous–!

"You had what you wanted?"

She heard–

"Ponytail!" Bakugo called out, making her snap back to reality!

She shook her head.

"I apologize." She responded, feeling the nausea fade. "Looking down for so long… must have made me dizzy."

"I could take over if needed." Todoroki said, but Yaomomo shook her head. It was fine…

They continued pulling. When the stretcher arrived, she also grabbed the rope and pulled it close and… put him on the ground. Her hands couldn't help but still shake faintly.

Her mind recalled back to something her father had told… when she first confronted him.

…

"The police and heroes arrived." He had said. "We testified for the attack, however the barge had fallen off the waterfall and neither the hero… nor the villains… were found–"

…

Tennyson got up, and Yaomomo wasn't able to help herself but jerk back.

"Wow, now, is that uncomfortable." He exclaimed, rubbing behind his head. "It's like, the worst part of lying on a hammock…"

Ben paused.

"What's wrong, Genesis?" He said, tilting his head. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

She, in response, looked away and brushed her bang aside.

"I'm fine." She got up. "Let's pull up the next one."

---

One by one, Uraraka, Iida and then Tokoyami were all pulled back up. Bakugo and Todoroki both took a deep breath, and wiped the sweat off their foreheads.

Thirteen nodded in satisfaction. "Don't knock how it looks on the outside, everyone. One lesson everyone should definitely take away here, is that rescuing people can be *some* taxing work."

Though most nodded, Sero didn't miss his chance to jeer. "I mean, yeah, but is yelling and pulling a rope really all that taxing?"

A cross-shaped vein appeared on Bakugo's cheek, as he barely kept his mouth shut.

"It might not seem like much, Sero." Thirteen responded for him. "However what Bakugo's demonstrating is something big, even for the modern heroes of our time!"

"Huh?" He opened his mouth, and seeing his students so dumbfounded, Eraser Head took the word from his colleague to explain.

"Acting in a normal manner." He stated. "Even now, many pros desperately want their presence at a scene to be justified and so, force their quirk onto the situation."

Thirteen nodded.

"I agree fully. This only complicates matters at the least, or makes them outright worse. Remember, your quirk is only a tool in one toolbox." She said. "So instead, being able to see past yourself and be willing to work for the person who has the right quirk for a given assignment, is something you should learn."

Bakugo took another breath, before standing tall again and giving Sero a glare.

The tape hero, Cellophane, in question shrunk back into the crowd.

"I understand." he said… before nudging Shoji.

"A great hero with a not-so-great attitude? I don't know…"

Bakugo's eyebrow twitched however as he had caught the comment–

"Enough." Eraser Head said. "You all will form teams. You can show me if you *can* make a great hero or not. Sero, Sato and Ashido, you're up next."

Thirteen crossed her arms.

"Aoyama, Shoji, Koda, you will be the victims."

Sato leaned down next to Ashido's ear.

"Oh boy." He whispered.

"You're telling me." She responded.

The training on the mountain-side continued as the next set of students got to work, and other sets followed suit. It was made sure that everyone got to experience what it was like to conduct a mountain rescue.

---

"WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!"

Uraraka jumped off the side of the cliff, with one hand holding onto the rope.

Bringing her fingers together just in time, she made herself weightless just before landing. She put her hands on her hips and puffed her chest.

"You're the last one, Miss!" She said with a fake bravado… before covering her mouth and laughing behind her mouth.

An "injured" Tsu was standing before her, and she just remained deadpan.

"Thank you, Ochako." Tsu said–

Uraraka shushed, and Asui's eyebrows faintly went up.

"Oh, right, we're using our codenames."

Uraraka nodded before she took out a safety harness and wrapped it around her friend, after also wrapping a splinter around her "broken" leg.

"Alright. Tsu, this may feel a bit weird… but try not to freak out, okay?"

"Ribbit." Asui nodded as Uraraka then touched her shoulder and she started floating up.

Ojiro was firmly holding the rope, making sure she didn't accidentally swerve away while she was also attached to the safety harness.

"Let's do this, Midoriya. Last one." He said, and the green haired hero took a deep breath.

"I'll take care of it…"

Seeing Asui come up, he waited until she rose higher than him before extending his arms!

"Now, Uraraka!" He shouted and immediately a pink glow flashed around Asui as she fell into Midoriya's arms.

"Safe!" Midoriya shouted proudly… however Asui didn't let him enjoy the moment even for a second.

"Midoriya, put me down first, ribbit."

The greenette looked at her and tilted his head… before it hit him that he had her in a bridal carry.

"It's embarrassing even though my leg is bandaged–"

"R-Right, I-I agree!" He did as he was told, as Ojiro helped Uraraka get back up. The redness on Midoriya's face subsided. Taking a deep breath, he checked on Iida however the class prez wasn't talking unless he was spoken to.

He frowned–

"We rescued everyone!" Ojiro said.

"Excellent." Thirteen said while Eraser Head turned away.

"Then let's not waste time. It's time for you to attempt other zones."

However, with now a taste for the challenge, 1-A adapted quickly to this mere change of scenery. They didn't need to be told twice to survey the situation, come up with a plan, and then RESCUE.

---

Downpour Zone

EXERCISE GROUP FIVE! START!"

Gray weather loomed over the dome. Hail and gusty winds reduced visibility. Kirishima and his hero compatriots tried to make their way forth through the sidewalk as his arms hardened out of instinct.

"How are we meant to see through this thing?!" He yelled to try and communicate.

"Or hear." Jiro said from behind him. "It's hard to get a read when the wind's blowing in your ear!" She raised her hands. "Not to mention it's freezing."

Kirishima turned around and saw her purposefully crouching to hide herself more from the ice. His eyebrows crossed and he opened his arms to make himself appear larger– even though he had no shirt on himself.

This hail was no joke and unfortunately… he had no idea on where to start… as a plastic riot shield got in front of him.

"Try this instead, Red Riot." He potted Yaoyorozu, Genesis, by his side and created more of those shields as Sato held one over her.

"Normal umbrellas would not last." she stated before passing another one, and Kirishima passed the one he had to Jiro.

"We must get to lowland and open areas." Yaoyorozu stated as she got to her feet. "Let's split up and search the outsides of buildings. Our victims must have some cover, however not much. Remain in pairs as well, to watch out for any flash floods."

She strapped the shield to her forearm. It started to shake almost immediately, however she clenched her teeth and forced it to stop before turning to Jiro.

"Ambiance, you and Red Riot could become one." She spoke up again. "Sugar Rush, is it alright if we travel together?"

"You need only ask, vice prez." Sugar Rush clenched his fist. Yaomomo nodded in response, before turning to the rest of the team.

"Let's move!" She raised her shield and everyone went on their assignments.

In the meantime, the remainder of the students watched alongside the teachers by way of screens and cameras.

As Tennyson proudly grinned, Uraraka watched with an open mouth, surprised by the ordered… and collected nature.

---

Landslide Zone

Iida paced around the entrance slowly and methodically.

"Are there three victims, namely Sato, Ashido and Koda, Ambiance?"

Jiro, taking off her headphones, shook her head.

"Nope, there's four. Mineta's hard to see, but he's definitely not hard to hear." She massaged her temples. "Either he's too into the role, or he's afraid of the dark."

Kaminari made his hand into a fist. "Then we better extract them quickly. What's our plan, class prez?"

Iida shook his head.

"Set up a first-aid station here." He pointed behind him. "Start unpacking the items provided to us, It would be most logical if I'm the one bringing the victims here."

He put a foot forward and dug it to the dirt as he let his engines roar!

It dumbfounded Kaminari though.

"Wait, Iida, so we're just gonna stay behin–?"

As if the green light went off, the engine hero bolted forward!

Jiro and Kaminari watched after him.

"Guess so." Jiro opened her hands. "I'll be taking the box…" She left, and the rest of the class watched from the monitor room.

Eraser Head kept his arms crossed, as Thirteen kept a hand on where her mouth would be.

"I mean… It's a logical division for labor." She remarked.

"It is." Eraser Head reaffirmed. "And his decision-making was swift as well, however it is hazardous to go into an unstable environment without a partner."

"The victims could be in a time limit though." Thirteen retorted. "Bringing a partner could have hindered his movement."

"Still. It is a worthy risk." He said. "For this case, Jiro was given a faint idea of who to look for. But, in a real scenario, being so sure of a distant scan of the area, would only be a detriment for any survivors of the initial event… Anyone who survived by the stroke of a miracle."

Thirteen scoffed.

"For a guy who likes to bring up natural disasters and how unfair the world can be, you sure are optimistic, bringing up miracles."

Eraser Head put his hands in his pocket.

"I've said the world we live in is unfair, Thirteen." He turned around. "Doesn't mean someone else can't get lucky."

He sighed ever so silently, wearing even more of a grumpy expression.

"Remember everyone." He said, his voice covered with the thinnest of melancholy. "Heroes would be nothing, if they were to not have any hope."

"Understood!" Everyone repeated.

Asui looked at the screen. Iida was running with his helmet kept on. She tilted her head…descending ever further into thought.

---

Conflagration Zone

"Help! Somebody help moi!" Aoyama yelled and waved his hands from the top of a burning building, along with Sato.

Shoji immediately broke down the door to the building though. He unraveled his arms and turned all of his dupli-arms into ears. Closing his eyes, he listened through the crackling of fire and creaking of wood.

"There's two upstairs and one downstairs." He called behind him with two other heroes stepping forth.

"Be careful with the ice."

"No worries." Tennyson said. "We'll do this quick!" He fixed his sleeve as Todoroki put a hand on his left side. The ice that had been covering his left side as part of his costume was melting rapidly.

"We should." the fire and ice hero said. "For the sake of the people inside." He widened his stance, and fixed the cracks of his costume's ice.

"I shall provide the moisture Water Hazard needs." Shoto said as ice manifested under his right foot.

"No need." Ben shrugged. "I was looking to show off my new trick."

Todoroki felt his eyes widen, as within a green flash, a blue cowl and hood manifested around Tennyson. Once he turned, he could see glowing green eyes with lighter spots inside.

"Isn't it… *ice* to meet new people in this job… Shoto?" He said in a raspy tone.

Todoroki pressed his foot down, and Big Chill opened his mouth. As he had managed to extinguish the lower floors, Tennyson managed to tamper the flames with more control and then get rid of them. It made him narrow his eyes in wonder.

Shoji, seeing how the situation was being handled, went in while Tennyson unraveled his wings to grab and then bring down the people up top.

As Sato and Aoyama had their feet touch the ground, which they thanked them for and then moved on, Big Chill wrapped the wings back around himself and restored his cloak.

"Cool party…" He transformed back, and faced Todoroki. "What do you think?"

Todoroki's intense expression restored itself, but he still evaluated his thoughts.

"You had such control. How did you achieve it in a short amount of time?"

Ben… didn't know how to respond. "Dunno." He replied. "I just felt like I always knew."

Todoroki faintly and slowly nodded in acknowledgement.

"You also have flight… Something I didn't have." He stated.

"Intangibility too." He thought, but didn't say. There was a sinking feeling in him, that maybe it was too early to be playful with Todoroki… since he seemed to be in some uncertain ground ever since the sports festival–

"I also like the wings."

Ben raised his eyebrows. Todoroki faced the building they extinguished, which was now covered with ice and ash.

"I like how they form out of your cloak." He said, still with an uneasy tone but ultimately honest.

Ben smiled in response.

"Yeah, they make you wanna soar to new heights." He said, which Todoroki followed up with another nod, however this time, his gaze rose up the building.

Only Shoji's arrival along with the last "victim", Sero, and the instruction of the teachers could break him out of his thoughts.

---

"You have all done a great job for your first time!" Thirteen raised her hands, as the class had just finished partaking in five out of the six zones!

The sun outside was setting and now, they were standing before the last one.

A range of demolished buildings, torn up roads and wrecked vehicles; together, called the Ruins Zone.

"I agree." Eraser Head joined in. "For your first lesson here, you have all adapted to each of the zones well and kept a level-head."

Everyone felt their chest puffing up. All throughout the students, there was still an energetic and ecstatic air to do so much more–!

"However… " He said with his eyes glowing, forcing everyone back down to silence immediately. The glare felt as if it was staring into their souls. "The class isn't over."

"You have one final lesson." Thirteen raised her finger. "Unlike level one, the situations will be getting a little more realistic."

She opened her hands.

"Now, in any disaster you won't be having your victims in one concentrated area." Thirteen raised a finger. "They will be spread out, most likely numerous, and who knows what condition they'll be in."

"You can't count on them yelling for help." Aizawa summed up, before Thirteen nodded and continued.

"For this exercise, you will be hiding out anywhere inside this zone as bystanders. There will be an 8 minute time limit, and once that's up, five of you who will be heroes will become their rescuers."

Ashido hummed to herself, before looking up. Thirteen continued.

"On top of that, eight of the hidden ones which I'll select, will not be allowed to speak."

A light bulb went off in Ashido's head.

"Oh! So we're playing hide and seek!?" she raised her hand.

Aizawa huffed but Thirteen couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, you're right, it is 'almost' like hide and seek." She said. "However, with sort of a twist."

Everyone nodded… as did Ben. To him, this was just unbridled fun. What was there for Mr. Aizawa to hype this lesson up so much after the name picking?

"Okay." Thirteen cut in and assembled her hands. "The ones who will be seeking… are you!"

---

Almost instantly the students scattered, either with the help of their quirks or on foot to race all across the Ruins Zone and find the perfect hiding spot.

As announced earlier, Thirteen had chosen five heroes from among them, all of which were very well suited for the job.

"Alright!" Midoriya put his fist in his palm. "Let's start close and work our way outwards."

"I agree." Uraraka perked up.

Bakugo gritted his teeth without paying much attention.

"I mean, yeah, but is yelling and pulling a rope really all that taxing?" He was too busy thinking about what Sero said.

Ashido raised her fists.

"Understood, captain!" She said, stretching her arms. "You ready, Anima?"

"..."

Koda was nodding his head nervously.

*8 MINUTES TO HIDE ARE OVER!* Speakers across the entirety of the area blared and Bakugo's arms unraveled at the same time!

"There's no need!" He put his hands behind him. "Just follow me, garbage!"

With an explosion he bolted forward!

Midoriya shielded his eyes from the smoke, and the second it dispersed, he could see Bakugo flying away.

"Bakugo!" Uraraka yelled.

"Talk about rash!" And Ashido was right there with her, but Midoriya wasn't in the slightest bit fazed.

"It can't be helped. It's just us four. Let's start searching for the ones that can speak." He said. "According to the scenario, a lot of time has passed since the villain fight."

Ashido rested her hand on her hip, confidently as she listened, while Uraraka put her hand under her chin and looked up.

"Maybe we can take a page out of Genesis' book, and do a sweep in pairs?" She said,

Midoriya responded positively.

"Good idea." He said–

"I call Koda!" Ashido said and wrapped around the arm of the 6 foot rocky student. Both Uraraka and Midoriya tilted their heads…

"What?" Ashido asked them. "Me and Koda haven't been on a team before, and Uraraka and I always have the usual girl time."

Midoriya shrugged dumbfoundedly. "Alright…"

She started sliding on her acid. "Come on, Koda!" She beckoned with her arm.

Koda, after briefly being startled, followed after her.

"Don't just do searches from above Koda! This was an unexpected attack so people're more likely to be inside." Midoriya noted.

Koda returned a thumbs up over his shoulder.

"And be careful with the acid, Mina!" Uraraka yelled after her friend too.

Ashido, on the other hand, didn't.

Midoriya tilted his head, and shrugged.

"Let's go, Deku." Uraraka said, raising her fists and he nodded.

This was good.

They had a solid plan. If they were lucky, they'd probably find everyone before half an hour. And this exercise… would be over.

---

With motions that were much less still, Tenya Iida was pacing with his head down… from one end of the room to the other.

Inside the room he had chosen to hide, there was a busted up treadmill along with mats, a dashed sandbag and weights ranging from one kilo all the way to thirty.

It gave the resemblance of an old-school gym salon… a place of self-improvement.

He sat on the fancy wooden parquet, and put his elbows on his legs–

"Iida…"

His head shot up, and saw Froppy who was standing right at the doorsill with the broken windows positioned on her sides.

"Ah, Tsu." He got to his feet and stood up straight and rigid, just like his usual self. "I was unaware we had ended up in the same building during our attempts to hide from the heroes." He raised a hand.

However, Asui shook her head and closed the door behind him

"Yes, however this wasn't just a coincidence, as you most likely inferred." She stated.

The armored, speeding hero paused. His head hung down again.

"Yes." He put a hand on the back of his head.

"I came to say that I'm sorry for… what happened."

Iida turned around. His mouth pursed, as his expression was a grim one under his helmet.

"I appreciate your concern. However, he's merely in the hospital." He managed to reply to his friend. "The best medical science our country has to offer is working around the clock for his well-being."

She nodded.

"Yes, but that doesn't change that you're upset…"

"Yes." He said plainly, accidentally cutting her off. But when he saw Asui waiting with her mouth shut and usual expression, he gave the word back.

"I apologize." He said.

In response, she took a deep breath.

"It is deeply upsetting, however you have to be rational. The last thing your brother would want is for you to get hung up by his injury."

Her mouth pursed, adding a little of a pause between her words.

"He would ask you to move on."

Iida… felt his eyes widen. upon hearing those words.

"My apologies again, Asui." He raised a hand, turning to her. "But…" He uttered.

"How?"

…

"I wasn't sure if I wanted to say anything yesterday…" Tensei said. "But I… I can't feel my legs."

"What?!" Iida got up to his feet. "No way–"

"I think…" His brother said, averting his gaze and gritting his teeth. "I think… the pro-hero Ingenium might be finished."

He looked up but Iida noticed that the gaze wasn't on him for a second. Turning around, he spotted that a well-built doctor was watching from behind him. His face and hair was covered with surgical masks, but Iida could still see the long black hair and eyes. It was the third doctor he had seen around his brother after some unknown complications had risen with the first one, leading him to be indisposed. He walked away though once their gazes met.

"But only for me." Tensei said, pulling his attention back. His eyes were as open as the bandage on his head and the anesthesia would allow.

Iida shook his head.

"You… No, you still have so many people to inspire, brother! This can't be true!"

"I'm sorry." Tensei said, closing his eyes as he felt a sharp pain around his abdomen. So he relaxed, letting himself sink into the hospital bed even more.

"But I don't want it to end here… " he groaned. "That's why… I want you to take the name. Move on… for me."

…

Feeling tense, his hand shook ever so slightly before being frozen still.

"How is it… that you know my brother so well?" He asked with wonder but underlying frustration.

Asui bowed her head.

"Ribbit, I have siblings of my own." She said. "A sister and brother, and… that's what I would tell them if I was in that position."

Iida… took off his helmet.

---

Ben, currently in his Cannonbolt form, was laying down. For his location, he had chosen an abandoned arcade, surrounded with all kinds of atari machines.

However, just after five minutes, he found himself endlessly bored. He tapped the dial on his chest and transformed back.

"Huff…" He stretched his body before getting up. "Oh man, maybe I did too good a job to hide."

After all, he had rolled, bounced and ricocheted towards the end of the entire area. Even Bakugo at top speed would need a break to get to his hiding place.

He still got to his feet though and leaned on a wall with crossed arms. It was pretty fun to go around saving people… or being the one saved.

However his foot started tapping on the ground. One of his fingers started tapping on his arm as he closed his eyes a little.

Would it be too much to ask for… something to happen, maybe–?

All of a sudden, the shadows inside the building… wavered. He heard a heavy thud and Ben felt the air suddenly change.

"What the hell…" He muttered.

Because there was no mistaking it, that was a footstep but… no one in his class was that heavy–

He saw two orange eyes, shining from a muscular figure hidden away.

"Alright, tall, dark and not-so-sneaky…" He said, reaching for the Omnitrix as fatigue vanished from his eyes. If he wasn't wrong, the guy was over six foot and–

He suddenly vanished from sight. Ben slammed the dial.

The green flash went off, and he felt his body turn into pure energy… while a metal armor built around him–!

---

Asui opened her arms.

"It's like Mr. Aizawa said, heroes would be nothing if they were to not have any hope." She exclaimed.

"If my sisters were to lose hope in heroes, after I lose everything fighting a villain, I know everything I'd done would have been for nothing."

Iida looked down, clearly no longer seeing her, so she moved forward.

"Ribbit. Don't let him feel like that. Never lose hope."

Iida looked down, as his body tensed. He imagined his brother on the hospital bed again, and his expression became darker because of it.

He put on his helmet.

"I have no intention to." Iida replied solemnly. "I have hope… and that swift, proper justice will reach the responsible."

His navy blue irises were made dim, adapting as if he was pulled down from the turmoil-filled tides of the surface to the much quieter depths. The exhaust ports of his engines flashed on and off, humming ever so discreetly before booming and getting right into their full swing!

---

Meanwhile, Bakugo flew through the streets with roaring explosions from his hands. He dodged under a collapsed highway and cut the corner right by a helicopter wreckage in a building.

He landed on top of the building, and closed his eyes… listening.

There were no cries for help. Scowling, he flew down. As he saw a street light, he stopped the explosions,caught the pole, and spun, using the momentum to shoot himself forth.

However, it didn't make the scowl disappear from his face.

From the corner of his eye, he then saw Shoji sitting at the second floor of a half-destroyed building and a crashed car right by.

He gritted his teeth, dashed and spun around, gathering more momentum as..!

*BOOM!*

He bashed an explosion right at the car, and threw it just under the destroyed part of the building, giving him a step to go down.

"THERE! OCTOPUS ARMS, FOUND!" He yelled.

Shoji looked down, and noticed that the car was an effective enough step to get down.

"Thanks, Bakug–"

"That's *King Explosion Murder*!" He put his hands behind him and flew again as his teeth grinded together.

…

"I will leave you with this though." Eraser Head had said. "The name you give yourself is important. It is a wish, reinforcing your image now, and especially establishing… what kind of hero you want to be in the future."

…

"That IS my wish!" He thought, still continuing to soar before doing a three point landing on a sideways truck once he got far enough.

Once he got on his feet, he brought up his hand. He could feel that his palm was a sweaty mess under the glove just like he wanted it to be for his quirk.

However… an idea struck him.

"Hmph." He grunted.

Making sure that there was no one around, he took off the grenade gauntlet on his right side. And then… his glove. Feeling the cold, soothing air instantly rush to his palm, he quickly took a stance that outstretched his right hand and planted his feet.

His hand shook, almost outright spazzing as the light over the inside of his hand violently grew. He kept it front and center though, forcing it to not be blown back despite beads of sweat forming on his face, right before he let go. As if an oxygen tank was super heated, the creaking sound finally left its place for a burst and smoke as a decimating explosion roared forth.

It carved right through the asphalt, as Bakugo saw once the smoke cleared.

He felt his hand briefly tingling, feeling pins and needles, before he grunted and put on his glove again.

He clicked his tongue bitterly. "Can Ground Zero, or Incinerorar, do thi–?!"

Then came an aftershock. Normally, he wouldn't pay no mind, impacts were just as part of his explosions as fire and smoke were.

However this one rattled him… as it had taken too long to be his.

---

The small pebbles that decorated the larger wreckage of the city shook and clattered.

However, it all went unnoticed by the two heroes, who were just now getting into a heavy subject. Asui felt goosebumps.

"Iida, what do you mean?"

His hands tensed again, and he didn't reply.

"Iida–"

However, her ears perked up. All of a sudden, it felt as though the ground had split open as a thundering shockwave hit them!

All but faintly, they saw a black dot, launched from the city, and wobbled through the air.

"What is happening?" Iida opened his mouth, as Asui put on her goggles, shielding her eyes from the dust.

They saw it crash right to the dome and the lighting exploded before the concrete caved in and stretched before going through and letting the sunlight of the outside shine inside!

"Is that so!?"

Both Iida and Asui felt their hearts drop into their stomachs.

Unlike all the voices they heard during this school day, there was nothing familiar about this voice, and its timbre. It felt echoey as if it were being spoken from a gas mask–!

Suddenly the wall by his side bursted open, and from the rubble a muscular man emerged!

Iida and Asui immediately got on guard. This person pretty much had double their size and five times their muscle mass… wearing a black skin tight suit and an orange and gray, spiky mask.

"Even more unimpressive than the last..." The villain lowered his head, before starting to stretch his shoulder. "What a sad facade, that festival declaration was…"

"Iida, we need to get away." Asui could exclaim. However, Iida put a foot forward and dug it down firmly–

"Iida." Asui said.

The engine hero saw the villain vanish before his eyes. His head could then barely turn… and see a fist riled back.

---

Few Minutes Earlier

"Uraraka! Here!" Midoriya called out.

In the meantime, the rest of the appointed "heroes" were busy trying to do their job, saving all kinds of "civilians".

"Yes, Deku?" She ran by his side and heard the same voice.

"Help!.. Someone!.."

The voice came from a hole in the ground, where a manhole cover used to be. Looking down, they saw Ojiro.

"Found you!" Uraraka said.

Ojiro smirked.

"Nice going, Uravity and… Uh…" Ojiro nervously looked away, sweating. But Midoriya shrugged.

"You can say it, Ojiro. It's my hero name now."

"Okay…" He nodded his head. "Deku?"

Midoriya smiled, before seeing a collapsed and rusty long pole. He raised and checked whether it was durable. Seeing that it was, his mind got to pondering.

"If I use only a bit…?"

He closed his eyes, imagining One for All coursing through his hands.

"5%..." He thought, and when he opened them back up, the red energy veins had appeared just like he wanted.

Uraraka wore a frown as he did that. However, she didn't protest as he let it down.

"Grab on!"

Ojiro did as he was told, and Midoriya took a deep breath and pulled him up, while she looked away and spotted someone else. But before she rushed to them… she asked:

"Do you have this under control, Deku?"

Midoriya nodded his head as he fixed his grip.

"Hmm? Y-Yeah, I do." He gritted his teeth, and fully lifted the end of the pole as well as his friend outside.

"Thanks!" Ojiro said as Midoriya turned and looked at Uraraka.

"This limited amount… I can handle…" He set the pole down and looked at his hand. "But when I go over…"

She mentally nodded.

"How much is the limit?" she still asked.

Midoriya shook his head.

"8%..." he thought, but didn't voice it. The scars in his hand were evident, and Uraraka could very well remember how they looked underneath the gloves. He ended up not opening his mouth, and when Uraraka didn't either, the two… found themselves at a stand-off.

"Ummm, guys?" Ojiro snapped them out.

Immediately flushing with red, Uraraka perked up.

"Right! Rescuing people!"

She ran back to where she was originally. Now, she was sure she was hearing some rustling–

"Uraraka! Midoriya!"

The two turned, and saw Ashido sliding on her acid… wearing a desperate expression.

"Huh?.. Ashido–!"

"Get down!" She tackled her friend down. "Midori, Ojiro!"

The two managed to react swiftly as well, throwing themselves right in between the buildings– just as the ground tore open!

Washing them in a storm of dust and dirt, it felt as if a meteor had dropped from above.

Faintly opening her eyes from behind her helmet, Uraraka got back up.

"What?.." She muttered and Ashido let her go.

"It's a villain!" The acid hero said, and chills ran up Uraraka's spine. There was no way this would be happening again, however the figure emerging from the clouds confirmed all her fears… and struck at her worries.

"Tsu!" Uraraka shouted, seeing her limp body carried by the villain like a briefcase!

"It can't be! No way!" Uraraka stated, however Ashido shook her head and Ojiro showed his face from between the buildings first.

"He's already got one of us…" He said, with an angry expression on his face as Midoriya also got up.

"He must've slipped through the security system." He thought out loud. "And most likely hid until we got here."

A silent acknowledgement ran across all four of them… as the villain merely continued to walk, raising his chin up as if he enjoyed seeing them terrified.

Midoriya let a little wind kick up around him. "7%!" He declared in his head as the red veins appeared over only his arms and started to pulsate–

"Midoriya! We have to run to the exit." Ojiro tried to order, but Midoriya clapped back.

"I know!" He got into a fighting stance. "But not everyone knows that shockwave came from a villain!"

Ojiro's eyes widened, as Midoriya stepped forward, shrugging off any hand that Ojiro tried to put in front of him.

"Until everyone gets out, he needs to be kept in check–"

"No!"

A familiar voice had arrived in a rapid blue blur and a following cloud of smoke.

Iida, now standing beside Midoriya, talked while standing up straight. His once shining armor was now cracked, however his focus had remained ironclad.

"He needs to be stopped. And… she was under my care." He said, zeroing in on Tsu in the villain's hand. "I allowed her to be captured, so I apologize, I'm not running away."

Midoriya felt Iida's gaze from under the helmet and so… nodded with determination.

"Iida's right." He said. Midoriya raised his fists. "Anyone who doesn't want to fight, don't stay! You can still find the teachers!–"

"You kidding, Midoriya!?" Kirishima had joined them, with Koda and Yaomomo by his side.

That shockwave from earlier… it might have been terrifying to see, but it had served to alert his classmates.

Kirishima hardened his arms!

"Not a chance!" He yelled.

"Hell yeah, Tsu needs our help!" The stun gun hero also declared with sparks coming off his body. He was together with Ashido and Jiro–

Todoroki slid forward with ice emanating from his right side.

"And we need to be the ones to deliver it." He said with an old, familiar chill in his tone.

Midoriya nodded, and got into a fighting stance. Alone, maybe they were no match for this villain, but together… they could do this!

He saw the villain faintly turning his neck, just merely observing their increasing numbers and fighting stances.

"Good kids!"

Midoriya tensed up. After all, the villain had finally spoken up.

"But, just in case–!"

With a stomp, the villain sent a bone-chilling shockwave from under their feet and made the base of the buildings crack, before they crumbled and crashed to form walls out of streets!

"Now, the terrain is clear." The villain spoke again, glancing at all of them. "No one will sneak away, without MY say so."

Midoriya pursed his mouth. The adrenaline in him faintly died down. Sure, they all wanted to fight and get their friend back. But now, their backdoor was closed.

"Even we managed to rescue Asui– Tsu from his clutches… There's nothing that says he can't just take her back from us." Midoriya corrected himself in his own head.

They needed to fight, save, and… make a door.

Iida grumbled. From behind his mask, his seething voice hollowly echoed.

"How gracious." Iida's engines burned blue–

"AND… I AGREE!"

Midoriya's eyebrows went up as Bakugo dashed in a dark-green, black and orange streak. The villain managed to turn his head and raised his arm right as Kacchan hit him with an explosion!

"You…"

"YEAH, ME!"

Bakugo landed back.

"You lot can run away!" He declared to his classmates."I'll defeat him myself!"

"You have the gall to decide something like that yourself!?"

"I don't keep "murder" in my name for nothing!" Kacchan grinned before rocketing again, and clashing with the forearm of the villain.

Midoriya watched on warily, as the rest of the class did as well with surprise… right as the jet-black hero, Tokoyami, descended next to him with his partner, Dark Shadow.

"What is Bakugo doing?..."

"Showing off that's what!"

However, Midoriya wasn't so sure.

"I don't think so." He exclaimed.

…

"Acting in a normal manner." Eraser Head had stated "Even now, many pros desperately want their presence at a scene to be justified and so, force their quirk onto the situation."

Thirteen had nodded.

"I agree fully. This only complicates matters at the least, or makes them outright worse. Remember, your quirk is only a tool in one toolbox." She had said. "So instead, being able to see past yourself and be willing to work for the person who has the right quirk for a given assignment, is something you should learn."

…

Right as the villain threw a punch, Bakugo grabbed his arm and turned around, landing a point blank explosion to the face.

"He's doing what's most logical." Midoriya thought. If a villain like this were to spring up during a rescue operation, heroes that had combative capability should take the heat. He was doing just that! "But…"

As Kacchan was having to use both hands though, the villain was still only using one.

"... He still needs help!"

"Be careful!" Iida shouted, The villain waved the smoke away and reached forward!

With an explosion down close to the ground though, Kacchan propelled himself up, letting the blow's wind brush past the bottom of his feet. He leaped above the villain, spinning around midair, and firing off another explosion to both hit his opponent while launching himself back.

With the recoil also, he had skidded back right beside Jiro.

"HEY, EARS, RIGHT?" He yelled.

"It's Ambiance." She replied–

"Whatever!" Kacchan brushed it off. "Don't bother with warnings. Just use your quirk, and coordinate the damn weaklings to get out!"

Midoriya's eyebrows went up, but it was only for a moment. Even though he saw Kacchan's play and what he wanted to do, he couldn't turn his back! He knew he had to fight as well.

And…it looked like Iida wanted the same thing. The class prez's eyebrows knitted from afar and before Jiro could even respond, he did.

"Why…" He seethed. "How can you assume we're weaklings, Bakugo?!" Iida let his fists clench.

"Cuz you have to fight, save, AND make a door outta here, four eyes." Kacchan confidently stated… just like he had. Midoriya tilted his head curiously.

"Or can't you see that!?" Kacchan's attitude then flared up again. "So, you make the door, I'll fight AND save–"

"*We'll* fight and save." Midoriya interrupted the two of them. "Opening the door can come later!"

Bakugo rolled his eyes.

"Deku…" He seethed and Midoriya wasn't happy, but he persisted.

"Just this once, Kacchan." The self-proclaimed number one said. "You know it's for the best."

However, the disgust on Bakugo's face was painfully apparent. He looked at Midoriya's hand with such contempt–

"Incoming!" Kirishima warned them.

"Are you done getting your act together? Huh!?"

He raised his arm and kicked up air before that air got mixed in with rubble!

Bakugo crackled his palms, but Jiro took the lead.

"Step aside, Explosion Boy." The jacks plugged into her boots. "Counter-Balance!"

With a wave of sound, all the small pieces of rubble lost their momentum and fell down. But the big ones were still incoming– right as a blue laser hit them.

"Let me make your job easier, Mademoiselle Ambiance!" Aoyama put his hands behind his head and fired his laser to help out.

Midoriya nodded, and turned to Kacchan again. "Like Aoyama said–"

"Not another fucking word, Deku!" The explosion boy remained defiant.

"Hmph." The villain thought, right as he dodged a torrent of ice!

"Ahhhhhh! So close!" Ashido exclaimed.

"Indeed, it was." Todoroki confirmed, before looking by his side to other classmates. "Focus on restricting him."

He pressed his feet firmer on the ground and made the ice spike up! However, the villain merely just shielded his eyes… only to see the ice traveling around him.

He raised a fist, ready to smash the ground again–!

However he couldn't, as tape wrapped around his hand.

"Aha! No you don't!" Sero said with tape from both elbows on the villain's left hand. "Don't worry. We can still wrap it up for ya!"

Before he could then pull and rip it apart, Tokoyami appeared.

"Dark Shadow!"

The shadow monster shot out from inside him and wrapped its claws around the villain's other arm, which had the hand holding Asui.

"Now let's try once more…" Todoroki thought and sent out another wave, this time succeeding in freezing his legs!

"NOW!" Midoriya shouted and dashed forward.

Sato joined him as he downed a capsule of his sugar packs and held down Sero as Uraraka stayed by Tokoyami, making sure he held the other hand of the villain. Shoji and Ojiro joined Midoriya as they ran ahead. However, Iida managed to get ahead of all of them.

"FIFTH GEAR!" He shouted and struck the villain in the head. "Your devious activities end today, villain!"

Midoriya nodded, as the villain's head was actively phased back with the blow.

"He's vulnerable." He thought as his eyes were on Asui's unconscious body. One for All moved from his hands to his legs, making him run faster. "Keep hammering him!"

Kirishima then came up and punched him from behind. "RED GAUNTLET!"

"Shield bash." Yaomomo thought as she attacked from the side with her shield and staff in hand. Seeing the villain rattled,and catching his grip grow loose, she made a callout. "Deku!"

"I got her!" He leapt forth and transferred all the power to his hands! He crashed onto the villain's arm like a bug to a windshield and grabbed his fingers before easily opening the villain's grip!

Asui fell, but Midoriya grabbed her and ran off.

"Asui– Tsu is secure!"

As he ran away, Kaminari passed by him and ran towards the villain.

"Then it's time to finish him off!" He brought his hands forward, and electricity crackled.

Iida nodded in his head. "That's right! Time for… retribution." He cycled back around for a second barrage.

"CHARGEBOLT! 2 MILLION VOLTS!"

As if he were a beacon of light, yellow electricity covered the center of the battlefield. Iida lowered his head.

"This is it!"

Once it was done, a stupefied Kaminari appeared there however he was shortly picked up by Ashido who was sliding on her acid.

"Don't worry, Alien Queen's gotcha." She said. "But also don't drool!"

She looked back at the long range fighters as Todoroki had been gritting his teeth, trying to make the ice go up to the villain's waist while Jiro was in a similar situation, focusing her sound attack on the villain's upper torso, trying to keep him rattled.

Sero and Tokoyami were also struggling, trying to keep both hands stable. The villain however, still managed to shake his head.

Even though most of his body was covered by something… he still found it in himself to laugh humorously.

"IMPRESSIVE…" He could say. "BUT TOO LITTLE!"

He flexed and with one pull, tore off Sero's tape! Now with one hand free, he grabbed onto Dark Shadow's claws and threw him!

"Tsukuyomi!" Uraraka shouted and jumped up. Making herself weightless, she caught her friend mid-air.

Midoriya's jaw had almost hit the floor.

"We can't let him move at all!" He set Asui down where he thought was a fair distance, before trying to get back–

The villain unraveled his arms. The shockwave that followed the action shattered the ice and launched Midoriya and the rest of the close quarter fighters back.

"Everyone..!" Aoyama panickedly looked at them. "Jiro?" he turned to her.

However, she didn't reply.

"We gotta keep it up after them!" She stated.

"I agree." Todoroki's ice also surged and shot forward beside the wave of sound. Aoyama nodded, aimed his torso and fired his laser alongside them!

However the villain cracked his neck. He planted one of his feet back as he pumped his fist with tremendous power and countered with a shockwave, blowing them away!

"Owwww…" Midoriya groaned along with Iida and Shoji by his side. Even Jiro or Todoroki's quirks weren't able to fully cancel out the blow that time.

"THAT WAS… an impressive showing. I didn't expect all of you to attack me." The villain raised a hand. "You saved your friend… but now, I can fight unabated."

As everyone was down on the ground and smoke was surrounding him, he… still didn't look out of breath. Not one bit.

"I…"

All of a sudden, he felt a flash of heat and a muffled low rumbling noise– he barely tilted his head, as a green grenade gauntlet reached out!

Midoriya's eyebrow went up. "Kacchan!?"

"DAMN IT!" Bakugo spun around, sending another explosion only for the villain to bow and avoid it!

He landed back on the ground before the villain, only to see him raise his hand! Bakugo immediately put up his left hand and dodged right. "THE BIGGER THEY ARE, THE MORE PIECES THEY'LL MAKE!"

Gritting his teeth, he then sent an explosion from his right and as he was skidding to the side, he put both hands behind him and propelled forward again!

He leaped up and slowly extended his leg, coming in for an axe kick, however the villain blocked it with just his forearm! Bakugo huffed and lunged forward again, and yet again the villain just backstepped, constantly avoiding him!

"Kacchan!" Midoriya whimpered as it hurt to get up.

"This is dull." The villain said. "Facts are clear to me, there's no challenge for me here."

Iida groaned.

"This is so… vexing."

"HAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Bakugo swung again, however the villain twirled around and responded with an elbow!

Iida put both hands on the ground. Blue flames soared from his engines.

"However, I can't let the prospering of another evil-doer go unopposed." He took off his helmet as it felt too stuffy. "I can't let them hurt unopposed!"

He dashed forth from where he had laid with a thunderous roar! The villain could barely turn his neck–

"Your moment of terror ends here!" He saw Iida as his foot was raising up for a hook kick.

However, the villain… then really moved. The world around Iida felt as if it slowed down, as the villain raised his hand and caught him mid-air!

"What in tarna–!"

The villain turned around and threw him right on top of a Bakugo who was going to attack.

"HEY! FOUR-EYES!" Bakugo protested.

However, Iida just turned and spotted the villain's fist riled back at them, as his mask had a merciless glow…

"Say good night…"

Iida closed his eyes–

With a definitive boom coming from outside the hole of USJ, something whooshed in between them and kicked up smoke.

The villain merely raised his arm to shield his face, even if it was behind a mask– only for two green beams to blast out.

Just barely the villain raised his arms and blocked that…

"That was a warning shot!"

With the dust subsiding, it revealed the figure of Jetray.

"... And the next one, won't be." Jetray said. Just like with Bakugo, his expression was filled with contempt.

"What took you so long, bastard?!"

Jetray tilted his head. "I opened your door…"

Midoriya's eyebrows went up. He looked back, and saw a wide hole through one of the crashed buildings. Jetray clenched his knuckles.

"My road has to aim higher than Rome."

The words he wished he could tell Todoroki had come back to echo.

"...so that I could have you all to myself." He brought his hand towards the dial–

"Jetray!" Midoriya tried to shout. "We can't beat him hand to hand. I… I don't think even NRG could–"

"I know!" Jetray raised his voice back, surprising Midoriya. "He's just too strong. NRG even got blown away." He said, gritting his teeth.

"So… deep end it is!"

He slammed down the dial, transforming his crimson red smooth skin into a lighter shade shell, holes appeared from his hands, and the dial repositioned as his chest puffed up.

"WATER HAZARD!"

He ran ahead, and their fists connected!

"Water Hazard…" Midoriya pursed his mouth.

With his other hand. The alien hero attempted to spray water, but the villain just sidestepped– only to get hit by another explosion!

"Don't think you're sidelining everyone, Freak Show!" Bakugo called out.

"As long as you don't slow me down, Sparky!" He retorted.

Water Hazard then felt a grin come over him, as a cross-shaped vein manifested on Bakugo's head.

"Just like old times." Water Hazard thought before he engaged with a punch as Bakugo followed up with a kick!

Forming both hands into fists, Kacchan went for an upper strike with his right. The villain attempted to parry it only for Kacchan to catch the hand and hold onto it, right as Tennyson came with an elbow.

But the villain ended up catching them both instead and hit their heads together. Neither of them fell unconscious though, and blasted him together with explosion and water. The villain didn't flinch.

Iida could only watch… as the heaviest and most conflicted of hearts remained inside of him.

Witnessing all of that desperate assault, from a distance though, revitalized him from within. It made him restless from where he laid–

"We have… to prioritize evacuation…" He heard Shoji who had landed behind him, also groaning. "While Bakugo and… Tennyson can still hold the edge."

Iida bowed his head.

"By all accounts, that would be the correct action." He thought, only for the itch in his limbs to grow louder. Remaining there for a few select seconds, he tensely pursed his lips…

---

Water Hazard looked around while still in the villain's palm, and then raised his knee and hit him right in the funny bone!

The villain let him go as Bakugo then put both hands on the hand that held him, letting out two explosions and surging on up, free from the grip. Making a backflip mid-air, Bakugo made a three point landing. He glanced at Tennyson.

"Are you even doing anything?!"

Water Hazard dropped the visor, and replied sarcastically.

"Are you on my team?"

Bakugo rolled his eyes and bit down on his tongue. "Just represent, freak." He barked. "Ain't this the time where you'd switch to some other weak bastard?"

Water Hazard shook his head. "Can't exactly switch when I don't know what I'm switching for yet." He raised his hands, ready for another round of pressurized water–!

"Hmph…" Bakugo scoffed. "And you're supposed to be the Hero of Heroes."

Water Hazard turned to him, surprised.

"Do you really want to do this now..?" He suddenly saw a shadow cast upon him, only to see it was of the villain's–!

"Didn't you learn anything? Eyes on me."

Water Hazard fired but only got some success when Bakugo threw three of his grenades to help. The combined explosion from them launched the villain far back, however he laughed before landing by doing a backflip in the air."

"Make your own damn weaknesses." Bakugo showed his teeth. "Unlike some punk."

Water Hazard looked away, rolling his eyes–

"So I got a little too eager." The villain remarked to them, getting their attention with a mere word… and smoke emerging from his arms. "That's the weakness you're looking for?"

"I dunno, is it?!" Bakugo gave that non-answer.

Water Hazard's put his hand on his chin… before his slits for eyes widened with realization from behind the visor.

"No…" He stepped beside Bakugo. "...It's that you're not used to taking on both of us at once."

"So?" The villain opened his arms.

Bakugo however was a lot less expressive. He didn't immediately join in with the screaming, but… he still did ask.

"Yeah, so?"

Water Hazard smirked back at him.

"Follow our lead."

He slammed the dial!

---

"This… isn't great." Kaminari said, with his intelligence just now starting to return.

"Oh, you realized it just now." Jiro clapped back.

As Tennyson and Bakugo had put their full weight over the fight, the 1-A students were taking a brief second to catch their breath. Some of them had even gone to the point of overusing their quirk during the initial bout, and they couldn't afford to do that again.

"Now's our chance." Sato clenched his fist. "Let's try another capture attempt!"

"Yeah, but NOT without a plan." Kaminari said tentatively, with one hand resting on his head.

Uraraka pursed her lips.

"Deku?" She asked, seeing the green-haired hero sitting down and rubbing his chin with a frown.

"We need to think logically about this." Midoriya thought to himself. "This isn't magic… or aliens… This is a villain with a quirk, there has to be logic to it."

His eyes closed.

"So… where does his quirk come from–?"

"His muscles."

His eyes shot open. Immediately he saw Ashido looking back at him sheepishly, with Ojiro, Uraraka and Mineta also surrounding him. The other three then looked at Ashido.

"What?" She opened her arms to them. "We just saw it in action, didn't we?"

Midoriya had put a hand on his mouth, before looking down to dive deeper into thought.

"That's right." Yaomomo then took over the conversation for him. "However, we need to be more specific. How is he *specifically* emitting such force?"

Midoriya looked down as the conversation continued around him.

"Maybe he's emitting something to make his job easier?" Uraraka threw out the idea. "Like, he's sucking in the air and then shooting it out maybe?"

"Oh, oh, or maybe he was hardening his body or somethin?" Kirishima joined in. He hardened his arms too. "Someone from 1-B has somethin similar, so that's not far out."

Yaomomo nodded. He had a fully bodysuit, so maybe that served some function to hide the true inner workings of his quirk–!

"No."

She raised her head. Tokoyami stepped forward.

"I'm afraid his quirk doesn't have any deeper mechanisms." He said as he made Dark Shadow emerge from his torso. He gestured to his companion. "When he brushed us aside, Dark Shadow had his claws on him the entire time. And he felt no change."

The shadow monster bowed his head.

"He's a pure brickhouse, guys. No way around it, it's super strength with extra emphasis on super!"

"The moves are his power." Tokoyami finished it off.

Uraraka nodded, feeling a little desperate for an answer. "Alright so… we tried binding him." She said.

"However, he escaped our clutches." Tokoyami said.

"Just one flex for the ice, and then multiple for all the rest of us." Dark Shadow added.

Todoroki, seeing a brief moment of dread descend on the braintrust, joined them.

"So… how do you stop something like that?" Ojiro finally asked– only for a snap sound to ring through everyone's ears.

As a crash sound followed, Midoriya stood up.

"Relatively simply." He said.

A brand new determination ran through his face. "I believe we have a way… No, I KNOW we have a way to stop a person with a quirk like that."

All eyes gathered on him.

"You said it was the moves." Midoriya said. "So? We just have to get him to stop moving."

Ashido, and the rest to a lesser extent, narrowed their eyes.

"Uhhhh… Midori, didn't we just try that?"

"No! All the way this time." He said, as he only had his index fingers outstretched. "The joints…""He said as if the next part of the idea just came to him. "We have to stop him from moving any of his joints, so that those muscles can't move, as!.."

He stopped in his tracks again.

Kirishima felt the greenette's eyes on him. He tilted his head, as Midoriya really seemed uncomfortable.

He pursed his mouth. "As Kirishima…" He asked apprehensively. "What happens when joints are… obstructed?"

Kirishima's pupils grew.

…

"You little bugger…" Sir Morton had said, before landing a rear hook. Her head slogged to the left, as a left cross to send her head to the right! "Yer's still fine enough. The man at the top's not gonna mind whether I tenderize ya or nah!"

Blood trickled down from her cheek, and it only took a second for that wound to heal for her.

However, the swords of the knights stuck through her muscles… didn't. She could only shake and make a venomous face as the swords obstructed their path.

…

They had told Midoriya of the incident with the knights and Megawatts.

"He wouldn't be able to fight back…" He exclaimed like a breath.

Midoriya nodded painedly. "That's right."

The rest of the class found it weird, as the two classmates seemed really disturbed–

"However, we would have to be thorough." Hence Yaomomo took over swiftly, with one hand over her mouth as she watched the battle with knitted eyebrows. "If his stance is going to be broken, all of his joints need to be accounted for."

"One miss and he'd know what's what." Jiro crossed her arms, joining as well. "We'd not get that chance ever again."

Todoroki raised his hand and the misty ice swirled up again. "I could precisely freeze them."

He recalled the Sports Festival.

"However…"

…

"Hu– Hey, get off!" Tsunotori exclaimed as he had managed to grab onto the horns Pony was skating on. Both of them were losing altitude, and so Pony tried to stomp on his hands!

Todoroki tried to be resilient. Even though she kept hitting, he tried to stay strong–!

Pony lifted up her hoove again, only to have it impact some ice.

"Huh?.."

Ice crept up through the horns she skated on, to her left leg, and then extended to her entire body!

"Wha–?! How?!"

"It's not your fault. I've stuck to only using ranged attacks today. You didn't know I could do precision moves." Todoroki spoke.

He let go of Pony and landed on the ground on his two feet.

"Ow…" He rubbed his fingers, as his opponent crashed onto the ground, with everything but her face being frozen in a mass of ice.

…

"...I would have to get close." Todoroki said, only to find Kirishima shaking his head.

"Ice ain't gonna cut it this time, man." He said while Midoriya continued to ponder.

"If only we had something that could be set up early." The greenette rubbed his chin.

"Yeah…" Kaminari said, as Iida also joined them.

The electric hero opened his arms. "Like sticky fly paper. Something that the second he got caught, it wouldn't let go and–!"

A lightbulb went off in everyone's heads.

"Well…" Jiro said. "It's surely convenient that we have something like that."

The entire group turned to their shortest member. Mineta started whimpering.

"Wha– Why are you all looking at me like that!?"

"Midoriya?" Ojiro asked with a grin. He opened his hand. "You need anything else?"

"Yes." Midoriya shook his head as he kept up his calculating scowl. "Yaom– Yaoyorozu– Genesis, Sugar Rush, we need to grab some rubble."

"On it." Sato said and she gave a nod.

"I'll make sure it is taller than him." Yaomomo confirmed. The dread in the air, which almost demanded them to surrender got replaced with a hopeful roar. Everyone felt as though it was now or never!

"Grape Juice, go with them and set up the trap." He said.

"Wha– No–" He almost said, before putting his hands on his mouth. "Wait." He thought.

A cunning and perverse smile came over him.

"He's asking me to go with Yaomomo…" He thought.

So all that feat disappeared in an instant.

"Yeah, sure, Midoriya! Whatever you say!" He replied, standing tall and having an easy attitude.

"Great!" Midoriya replied with an oblivious enthusiasm. "Alien Queen, could you go with them too?"

The smile on Mineta's face vanished, as suddenly tensed up… before looking over to the pink girl in question. Unfortunately, she didn't seem even a little bit oblivious.

"The trap might need molding, so your acid would be really useful!" Midoriya continued and she replied enthusiastically.

"Leave it to me, Deku, I'll keep a handle on things." She said.

Mineta could swear he heard a threatening tone under that glee–

"Now, Uraraka, Tokoyami."

Both of the heroes perked up… as did Iida.

"I need the two of you to throw me towards the villain when I give the signal."

Iida clenched his teeth, and looked down. His fists started to shake.

"It doesn't have to be dead-on but–"

"Midoriya." Iida cut into their planning. He looked at everyone. "My apologies." He bowed his head. "But Tokoyami…"

Tokoyami and Dark Shadow looked at him.

"I understand Uravity will be making Midoriya weightless, however… could I take the role of throwing him from you?"

Midoriya opened his mouth, about to object. He could see that Iida wasn't in the right headspace. If he was, then Midoriya knew he could have been the better choice if the idea he had panned out–

"Of course." Tokoyami however didn't object and bowed out… before looking at him.

"If it is okay with your plan, Midoriya?" He asked.

Midoriya knew he didn't have the heart to say anything. So… he just let it happen.

"Yes…" He said. "I–I'm thinking about it now, and it may even work better with you, Iida."

Iida nodded to him, feeling thankful.

Midoriya huffed, trying to get this weight off his chest as Uraraka pumped her fist.

"Alright, Class A!" She exclaimed. "Let's ace this!"

---

"Echo Echo!" Tennyson split into more and more clones of himself.

"Both of your strikes are sharper…" The villain remarked.

"We know!" Bakugo yelled back. He rolled his eyes as Tennyson rushed at the villain but his clones kept getting tossed away or grabbed and slammed down one after the other–

"Is that–"

The clones suddenly started running to the left instead. Villain in question lowered his chin!

Bakugo's eyebrows went up.

"Alright, that's it." He thought before angling his hands down. "Explosive speed!"

Bakugo soared to the skies and heard Tennyson's clones' screams.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

They then tried running to the right only for the villain to remain right on their tail… until they turned around.

From under the helmet, the villain gasped before he saw three Echo Echo's before they screamed at him!

It pushed him back. Splitting up further, five Echo Echo's emerged and all lunged at the villain. Swiftly though, the villain grabbed them all out of the air and pressed them back. Echo Echo's all merged back together in response.

But… he heard moving behind him and then all around. Glancing around, he saw more and more Echo Echo's surrounding him in a circle.

The villain looked down at the single clone left in his hands, and all it had was a hardened scowl back at him.

"Echo. Chamber."They all said, right before he spotted a bright light above. Bakugo was hovering there, with three of his grenades held up.

"With a Shrapnel Strike, bastard!"

He threw them down and outstretched his hand, as the clones simultaneously opened their mouths. The combined blast dropped him on one knee with one hand on his ear!

"This won't stop me…!"

Even in the combination of fire, smoke and sound, he got up rather quick and threw away the clone before he clapped his hands.

Wind kicked up just like before and the ground under them crumbled!

Clones flinched before they opened their mouths wider, intensifying the sounds and barely managing to fully cancel it out, as did Bakugo… at the cost of wiping themselves.

As he landed down, he looked at his palms. Even with the glove, he could tell how jagged his skin was starting to feel. Tennyson's bastard clones were also in a similar shape.

"Had enough?"

The villain, somehow, still raised to his feet.

"What do they feed ya…" He thought–

"Not. A. Chance. Tough. Guy." Three different clones said as one made his hand into a fist and slammed the dial on his chest!

With a green flash, his white plastic-like skin turned into orange plates and the lines running through him changed patterns.

"CANNONBOLT!"

He got on four limbs and shook the ground as his foot slammed on the ground and clawed into it before dashing!

"HEY, WAIT BASTARD!" He flew after him.

However, no matter the explosions, he just couldn't catch up to Tennyson… unlike their race in the Sports Festival.

"I… know… I refined my technique! What gives here?"

Cannonbolt sped up even more, still staying silent. The villain however, leaned forward and raised a hand.

As if he had crashed onto a steel wall, Cannonbolt found himself no longer moving forward as after just a bit of skidding, the villain had managed to catch him!

Now, as he rolled, the only thing he was doing by rolling was digging a deeper hole.

"Not good enough." The villain raised a fist.

A green flash went off yet again, and Big Chill emerged! He went through and covered the villain in ice!

"Try this… on for ice…" Big Chill said with his raspy tone as he briefly floated above him before landing–

However, the ice immediately started to crack and then burst in an explosion!

Big Chill flinched back. The villain, as soon as he got free, dove his hand to the ground.

The creature opened his cowl and let his wings out to fly– only for the villain to rip out a power line and throw it to him, shocking him in his tracks!

Bakugo gritted his teeth as he was still left a little further back.

"Dammit… bastard going ahead!" He shouted.

The lights around the complex wavered, before the current stopped running through the cable and it fell to the ground.

Big Chill followed. As the cloak wrapped back around his body, he panted like never before, with the icy mist making the ground frost over.

"No matter how much you try…" The villain spoke. But, Big Chill didn't look up at him.

It though… almost positively shook up the villain more than any other attack thrown at him.

"Young Tennyson?" He leaned down–

"Now!"

And just then… the villain thoroughly flinched.

---

"Have you ever done this before?" Midoriya asked as he and Iida were standing across one another, holding hands and trying to be as far apart from each other as possible.

"With gear three, I'm afraid." Iida confirmed. "However, rest assured, the same principle should apply."

Midoriya nodded, before catching the villain leaning down.

"NOW!"

"Here I go!" Uraraka shouted, raised her hand and made Midoriya weightless. The second Midoriya's feet got off the ground, Iida let his engines kick in. Accelerating through the gears he spun his friend around until–

"Recipro Burst!"

He let go, and sent him flying towards the villain. As he was mid-air, Midoriya took off his glove and riled his fist back.

"Tennyson!" He shouted.

The villain looked ahead of him, and saw that Big Chill had phased through the ground!

Kacchan also changed direction as he also saw what's coming. Red veins ran up Midoriya's entire arm– right before he contained them back in his fist.

"Don't let it spread. Keep the damage to a minimum!" He riled back his hand. The villain crossed his arms in anticipation.

Uraraka tapped her fingers together. "Release!"

Midoriya's fist connected with the villain.

"One hundred percent, Detroit… SMASH!"

In a similar burst of air to the villain, an explosion occurred around them and fissures ran starting from under the villain.

Midoriya, even though had his weight restored, couldn't help but be blown away, only to be caught by Dark Shadow in the air.

However, the villain… wasn't in any similar sort of hardship. As the wind and force of the punch tried to push him back, he just kept his arms crossed and feet dug deep…

"He's resisting?!" Dark Shadow exclaimed as Midoriya gasped.

"It… wasn't enough." He thought.

The villain, grunting with every difficulty, opened his arms, negated the force–!

"LEAVE THAT SHIT TO ME!"

Midoriya turned his head, as Kacchan forced out another explosion to shoot himself forth! Steam was coming out from his palms.

"Weaklings should stand aside… as I'm taking him six feet under!"

He dashed and positioned himself right before the villain. The villain noticed him and tried to move, before seeing the intangible silhouette of Big Chill and ice covering the ground and his feet!

With one hand of his facing down, and another facing him point blank, Bakugo unleashed his blast and swept the villain off his feet!

Now, with the ground under him shattering and friction no longer on his side, he was launched back before he looked back and saw a bunch of debris piled on top of each other–!

"Trap team, go!" Midoriya shouted.

Yaomomo gave a thumbs up.

"Sugar Rush, I hope you're prepared." She said, before pondering to herself. "The trap is certainly tall enough."

"Leave the muscle stuff to me, vice prez!" he remarked.

The sugar hero was right behind the debris. As he had downed another sugar capsule, his job was to prevent shifting of a stack of debris… which had Mineta's sticky spheres placed on top of it.

The villain crashed just as expected, and Sato just barely flinched back, but when he tried to flex and bust out, just like how he did with the ice, he saw that it wasn't working.

The villain tried to raise his hand or open his hands, but all of his limbs were caught, while his fet were also not touching the ground! Just like Kaminari had said, it was like a fly getting caught on sticky fly paper.

"YEEEEEEEES!"Mineta shouted. "The plan, THE PLAN WORKED!"

A wave of relief hit the 1-A students.

"He has no leverage…" Yaoyorozu stated, and the villain's fruitless squirming only served to prove her point.

Ojiro ran to Midoriya's side and helped him get back down from Dark Shadow.

"Real nice work."

However, Midoriya had barely just started to recover from the adrenaline rush to his body and psyche.

"I'm glad…" he could only reply as his friend helped him out.

"How are you doing?" Ojiro asked. Midoriya shrugged as his hand was broken again… only for the spike of pain to make him wince.

"Fine?"

Uraraka and Jiro joined the two of them.

"We did it, Deku!" the gravity girl cheered.

"Impressive." Jiro also nodded.

Midoriya sheepishly tilted his head. "Thanks, it couldn't have been done without you though." He said to Uraraka.

"As well as one another…" Tokoyami said, with one hand in his pocket and yet another hand pointing forward.

Midoriya turned, knowing full well who that was in question.

"Yep." He said. "The one who understood the plan and blinded the villain accordingly… without even being there."

He saw the back of Bakugo as he was slowly but surely approaching the villain. Midoriya couldn't help but grin… but Uraraka raised a hand.

"You sure you aren't giving him too much credit?"

However before Midoriya could reply, Bakugo raised a hand towards the villain and let explosions out. "Now, it's time for the final touches..!"

"NO!" He shouted. "NO! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND–!"

"Oh, put a sock in it." Kaminari said. "You lost buddy."

"And unfortunately… you lost to us." Ojiro added as he helped up Asui, who was just regaining consciousness.

"Are you okay?"

"Ribbit." Asui nodded, before putting her hand behind her neck. She tilted her head, as even though she started lightly hitting that area herself, it didn't seem to hurt one bit…

"To him, specifically." Kaminari took the word from them.

With a sadistic aura around his entire being, Bakugo had raised a hand with the sparks turning into fully realized explosions in a second.

"Now… what was that about not being good enough, huh?!"

"NO! NO PLEASE!" The villain cried out. "I, I–!"

From among the crowd, Sato felt like he didn't really want to keep watching.

"I… think I'm going to be finding the teachers." He said and promptly left, while Koda immediately raised his hand and moved to join him as well.

"Oui…" Aoyama also tagged along.

---

Meanwhile, just a bit further away, Big Chill resurfaced from the ground. Looking ahead, he saw the group of people gathered around the villain. So… their plan had worked.

Still on his knees, a green flash went off from his chest. Once the light subsided, he found himself back in his green jacket and jeans. He looked at the Omnitrix on his wrist and in response, it only made a whimpering noise.

"Time's up, huh." He put one foot on the ground and shakily got back up–

"Woah!" Ashido caught him right before the strength in his legs vanished. "Careful now, 10k." She said cheekily.

Tennyson just spared a grunt though, but smiled back at her.

"Thanks." He said… as Todoroki came to check up on him.

Tennyson's mood soured.

…

"But my road has to aim higher than Rome."

…

"Are you okay?" Todoroki asked.

"Yep, yeah." Ben answered dismissively. He put his hands on his hips. "Things got dicey there for a sec, but–"

"Tell me about it!" Ashido interrupted him. Ben nodded. "When even you and Bakugo weren't leaving a mark on him… A-And when we were all tossed away the first time especially! It was nerve-wracking, period."

Tennyson smiled… though Todoroki remained stoic.

"Thankfully, Midoriya's plan worked."

Tennyson frowned.

"Yes… thankfully." He remarked, rather bitter–

"Oh, don't get jealous after just one save!" Ashido said. "You got us last time, next time it'll be me and… Point is your time'll come again!"

She skipped over to the rest of the crowd, Tennyson was left beyond befuddled.

"H–" He could utter as his brain still buffered. "Hey! What do you mean my time will come again?!"

Ashido laughed with a cheshire grin.

Ben pouted with his hands still on his hips.

"I could have saved you AND myself if I had another second!" He exclaimed salty, as Todoroki was left tilting his head, both feeling confused… and conflicted.

---

Tennyson and Todoroki joined Ashido with the rest of the class. They saw the villain continue to try to raise his head and free himself of the spheres.

"PLEASE–!"

"Shut up already!" Bakugo cut him off before raising his hand. "Annoying bastard…"

"YOUNG BAKUGO!"

Just with two words though, he stopped.

"Young Bakugo?" He repeated. The cadence of that was familiar, not just to him but everyone else around.

"That's enough!" They heard from a far away vantage point.

Looking up, they saw Sato waving at them with Koda.

"Look who we found, les amis!" He said, posing with his hand raised and sparkles coming off his costume. Next to the three of them, stood Aizawa and Thirteen, both unharmed.

"Aizawa and Thirteen…" Midoriya muttered. "Then this person must be–"

The villain pulled on the mask, but Bakugo tore it off–!

"I AM THE ONE HERE!" The blonde upstanding hair and the pearly white smile of All Might revealed itself!

Almost immediately everyone felt themselves turn white as a ghost.

"ALL MIGHT?!"

"Yes." Aizawa rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Your eyes do not deceive you, he is All Might."

The number one hero laughed.

"I WANTED TO SURPRISE YOU ALL AND HAVE A VILLAIN APPEAR FOR THE LAST SCENARIO…"

However, there was no sympathy coming from any of the students. They all looked at him, with shadows covering their expressions!

"W-WELL, I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED HERE LAST TIME AND IT WAS PROBABLY IN POOR TASTE… BUT YOU ALL DID GREAT!" All Might said as he continued to try and free himself. "THE WAY YOU COMBINED YOUR QUIRKS AND RESTRICTED ME HERE… JUST AS EXPECTED FROM CLASS 1-A OF THE HERO COURSE–!"

None of the expressions changed. A bead of sweat rolled down his face.

"HAVE I ALSO MENTIONED I'M REALLY… REALLY SORRY?"

Everyone snapped and waved their fists.

"YOU WENT FREAKING OVERBOARD, ALL MIGHT!"

As only a select few members went to stomp out All Might, who really couldn't feel the blows, the rest still wore their scowls on their faces.

"It was just like you said, Aizawa." Thirteen sweated from under her suit. And Aizawa didn't react.

"It can't be helped."

---

Yesterday

"Greetings." Toshinori wrote down.

As the night had enveloped the sky, some of the staff were still in their offices at the U.A. High School, working to manage the internships… raining down on their students.

"The air is warm here. I can feel the summer just around the corner. " Toshinori wrote as he pouted before sighing and actually straightening up. "I hope this letter finds you in good health, sir. In good health… and even better spirit–"

The door to the teacher's lounge suddenly opened. Eraser Head walked inside with a couple of papers and a cup of coffee.

"What are you doing here?" He asked suddenly.

"Phew…" The number 1 hero leaned back. "Trying to *not* freak out…"

He cracked a smile, looking up before tilting his head to look him in the eyes.

"It's still so good to see you without your casts again, Aizawa."

Eraser Head didn't react, still waiting for an answer and so Toshinori huffed..

"I've just going over the internship offers again." He raised his hand. "I thought there would be a disparity in the number each student got… but not to this extent."

Aizawa set down the coffee on the table and sat down.

"Unfortunately, that's what the competition for the number 1 spot looks like. It's a swarm of agencies putting in applications for whichever student creates the most noise." He scoffed. "...regardless of whether they have the facilities to fit the student themself."

All Might grumbled, before his eyes settled back down on his desk. He rested his head on his hand… as he looked at the pile of applications next to him.

"That is a new sight." Aizawa remarked.

Toshinori raised an eyebrow.

"I've never seen you brood before." Aizawa said. Toshinori undid his arms in response.

"I'm just thinking." He said. "Not necessarily brooding."

Aizawa's deadpan gaze didn't flinch however.

"I don't care." he said. "Regardless of whatever it is, it is compromising you."

He handed the papers to Toshinori. There was a list of more internship requests that were just submitted… all to students that he saw coming.

Aizawa then sat next to him. "What is it?"

Toshinori, in all honesty, felt surprised, however it only took a second for him to recompose as he set the papers down.

"It's actually the results of the Sports Festival." He said in admission, before assembling his hands and tilted his head. "The very thing I've been straining myself, preparing Young Tennyson and Young Midoriya for… I got a chance to look at everyone else's performance."

Eraser Head nodded urging him to continue.

"I probably don't have your eye for these things, Aizawa. However, I'll be honest, I think there were some notable differences between 1-B and your class."

The Erasure Hero's gaze went down, and so Toshinori's eyebrows went up.

"So, you noticed that too."

He rubbed his eye exhaustedly but Toshinori caught the faint nod.

"Young Bakugo, Todoroki… not to mention Tennyson. They have all pursued these challenges from a more individualistic front, whereas…"

All Might nervously assembled his hands.

"...whereas Class 1-B was more organized by comparison." He finished his sentence, before jumping by realizing what he did. "Sorry."

Aizawa threw a deadpan look his way and then continued.

"It was most evident during their approach to team building in the cavalry battle. While some of the 1-A teams came together based on strategy, the most prominent ones were still built haphazardly and relied on mostly the leader's powerset."

Tennyson's transformations, Todoroki's ice, and Bakugo's explosions.

"Yes." All Might agreed. "And the tournament that followed didn't do much to take away from that point."

All the matches showed depths of many quirks. Off from Toshinori's head, the ones which made an impression were Zero Gravity, and… Midoriya's One for All.

Thinking about it made him take a solemn breath, but there were others such as Big Fist and Engine as well which were used by people who were all collaborative.

However, that fact paled once the performance from the other three contenders were brought into question. Not only they facilitated the largest spectacles, two of them were also honored as the number 1 and number 2 of the event.

All Might raised his hand. "I'm afraid we might be sending the wrong message."

Eraser Head grunted in response. All Might narrowed his eyes in response. "Aizawa?"

"Sorry. It's that the irony of what you said wasn't lost on me." he said, catching the number one off guard. "If my memory serves me right, you were the one who asked to give Midoriya and Tennyson specialized training." Aizawa pressed. "You actively encouraged this, by giving them an advantage over their peers only to complain about the consequences now."

"I know." All Might didn't deny what he did. "And look how successful they've gotten–" He interrupted himself. "I mean, I don't think they became this successful *just* because of my input, these are hardworking and willful kids but–"

"What's… your point, All Might?" Aizawa extended his hand, interrupting the number 1.

Toshinori opened his hands.

"Now, I know I can't do what I'm doing with Young Midoriya and Young Tennyson one by one for the entire class. I know I can't. My body wouldn't allow it." He admitted. "However, that doesn't mean we can't make time for it."

Aizawa leaned forward.

"I was thinking of a unique class." Toshinori waved his hand. "One every so often, something we just sprinkle in between which is different each time, where not one quirk can solve the situation on its own. A class which requires collaboration."

Aizawa raised an eyebrow. "How would you make it *different* each time?"

Toshinori laughed.

"We could take turns coming up with them, Aizawa." he said. "What do you say?"

Eraser Head leaned forward, still skeptical. However, by how his eyes seemed to concentrate on himself… Toshinori had a feeling it wasn't on the idea, but rather himself.

"We're on the same page on this." He reaffirmed. "Class 1-A needs to learn to stand united, just like Class 1-B. They have to know that the Sports Festival's successes can't be how they try to approach their problems."

And Eraser Head nodded as he brushed a hand across his unkempt beard.

"Since you want to make it different each time, you may have to run the contents by the teacher council every time. Also we're going to have to tailor the hero courses to fit this unique class in, since we can't just elongate the school."

Toshinori shrugged. "Not a problem. Worst case scenario, I can do the tailoring myself and present it." he said.

"One last question then…" Eraser Head then added, tilting his head. "What are you thinking about doing for the first class?"

Toshinori couldn't help but smirk again wistfully, and crossed his arms.

"Do you think it has been enough time?"

Eraser Head tilted his head.

"Because I'm pretty sure there's one lesson left unfinished for Class 1-A."

Aizawa's eyes widened. "One lesson left unfinished… The rescue training?"

"I just need you to let me sneak in one surprise." Toshinori looked into his eyes.

---

"However, I was surprised that they would still stand up to him." Aizawa crossed his arms in the present day. "I thought it would be us, having to end this exercise."

"I understand where you're coming from." Thirteen nodded. "Honestly, I was uneasy just when you told me."

He nodded, however Thirteen then smiled from behind her helmet. "But it is a pleasant surprise to see the contrary. Wouldn't you say?"

"Yes… it very much is." Aizawa said, before looking back at them.

"I'M SORRY!"

"You were so cruel, All Might!" Ashido continued waving her fist.

Iida pushed up his glasses. "Midoriya had to resort to breaking his hand!" He waved his arm. "Don't you think that would make for a bad image for the school?!"

"Don't do it again!" Uraraka also pouted. "Right, Deku?"

Midoriya fell onto his ass, still smiling.

"Heh…" Unlike everyone, he let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad it was just a surprise, and not real." He laughed nervously, and the duo followed suit in response, and lost their scowls towards the teacher.

"It will always be a surprise."

The students turned as they saw Mr. Aizawa and Thirteen walked into their mist.

"However, whether it will be real or not… won't be clear cut." Thirteen said.

Eraser Head nodded.

"There will be unexpected challenges ahead of you. Be it during your internships or else." Eraser Head continued.

He threw a glance at All Might. His usual disapproving scowl was on his face, if only it was a little bit on the dismissive side.

"So, distasteful or not, we hope this gave you an idea for your role in a similar situation." He said.

Among them, Sero raised his hand confusedly. Thirteen nodded her head.

"I get what you're saying. But, , we're still first years, isn't it kind of early for this kind of crisis training?"

Eraser Head scowled, however Mineta perked up.

"He's right, Mr. Aizawa!" He raised his hand. "Like, what's the worst that can happen to us?"

Aizawa's eyes turned red at the remark. His student scaredly stepped back and hid behind the others, but Aizawa then closed his eyes. The sheer forceful ignorance had gotten to his nerves…

"Just hit the showers everyone." He stated. "An evaluation of your performance will be handed to you, both for the rescues… as well as the surprise."

All Might felt another wave of cold sweat washing over him–

"OH, RIGHT, THE SURPRISE!" The number one then remarked to himself in realization. However, the students were already starting to disperse.

"PSST! HEY, AIZAWA!"

The underground hero's ears perked up immediately of course.

"GET YOUNG MIDORIYA'S ATTENTION FOR ME, WILL YOU?"

The Erasure Hero rolled his eyes in response and faintly shook his head, but also complied.

"Midoriya!"

The greenette flinched, and looked back along with a number of his friends.

"You don't hurry off to home. Meet with me in the lounge after you get changed."

"Y-Yes, sir!" he managed to say.

Eraser Head then stared back at All Might.

"THANKS, AIZAWA…" He said from the rubble he was still stuck on.

As Midoriya walked away though, some of his classmates, namely Kaminari and Kirishima made sure to nudge him.

"Oooooooooooohhh…"

"I-I'm sure it's nothing!" Midoriya said, however, they weren't buying what he was selling in the slightest.

"Come on, man. Don't sell yourself short!" Kirishima said. "You caught Mr. Aizawa's eye!"

Ashido tapped her index fingers together. "Yeah Kiri… the jury is still out on whether that's a good thing."

Aoyama also nodded vigorously.

"Oui, my friend."

Midoriya felt his heart accelerating. Even if he could feel more comfortable now while staring down aliens or any other crazy stuff he got to be involved with, Aizawa still freaked him out whenever he got demanding like this.

It reminded him that his future in this school, next to his friends, was always in his hands…

"Why wouldn't it be?"

Midoriya tilted his head. Todoroki was the one who had spoken up.

"Mr. Aizawa isn't anything but prudent and logical. Scolding… wouldn't be logical." He stated, putting everyone at ease.

Ashido raised an eyebrow. "Huh…"

"He has a point." Shoji said. "Congratulations, Midoriya."

"Yeah, man, congrats!" Kirishima said, nudging him again.

"Thanks…" Midoriya replied, before hearing Kacchan groan.

With his arms assembled behind his head, he seemed to be bitter…

However, Midoriya shook his head. He didn't want to worry about that now, as his mind was solely on what he was going to hear after getting out of the changing room.

---

"Is one answer not enough for your order?" Stain gritted his teeth.

As the exercise finished, bright streets of Hosu were laid bare before a villain. The weather was humid and hot as it had just rained, but people were going about their business as cars roared by and heroes patrolled the streets on foot. Stain had been overlooking them. Crouched on one leg with one hand on his sword and the other under his chin, he had put the sun behind him and sat on a water tower on the top of a building.

His tongue was slightly outside and a scowl clouded his temperament, as his eyes caught advertisements for Endeavor, Best Jeanist and the alike. He caught a glimpse of a shine on the puddles of water near his feet. Feeling a shift in the air, he had quickly risen and seen two figures fade in.

He reached for his daggers. "Do not waste your breath. I've already let your group resume their goals, however confused they remain."

"Oh, no, that would not be our intention." Enoch responded as it was clear from the shifting of his armor, that he had assembled his hands. "If that were the case, they would have assigned someone else, I can assure you."

With the epaulets on Winston's shoulders shifting, Stain could tell he was looking back and forth between the two of them curiously. He didn't bother to react, knowing it'd only scare the young one.

He just let Enoch continue.

"Contrary to your presumption, I'm here to return the favor as it were." He reached for his gauntlet–

Stain showed his blade from its cover and turned to lean down for an attack. Enoch had simply paused as Winston reached for his belt. However, he stopped the boy with just a glare.

"It's alright." Enoch stated. "May I?" He asked before bowing his head slightly.

Stain took his hands off his own weapon, seeing as Winston did the same.

Enoch clicked on a button and the gauntlet stretched out, detaching from his wrist. He extended it forth. Stain, after taking a look at Enoch's mask, grabbed it from his hand.

Now, with it in his hands, he could get an even more acute feel of the smooth metal. However, it also felt durable–

"I've had it modulated similar to the Forever Ninja's capabilities. Any weapon you desire…"

As he pushed on a button, the gauntlet suddenly cracked into two and launched to his other wrist. Two shiny, blue energy blades then extended forth from them!

"... they shall appear."

Stain pushed the same button again and watched them retract.

The squire was nothing short of speechless.

"What's with this gesture, Sire?" He asked his superior as he barely kept himself from gawking.

With years of training under his belt, Stain eavesdropped while he kept pressing buttons and made it seem like his attention was on the gauntlet.

"Those gauntlet's are reserved. Customized based on years of a future commander's historical data."

Enoch however didn't flinch.

"I was a squire once as well, Winston." He replied. "You need not recount our past."

His head gestured forward towards him.

"Especially in front of the company."

Stain paused as he made eye contact with the commanding knight. He ignited the blade into a katana, and let it stop just shy of Enoch's chin.

"What's the catch?" he asked, with a bloodthirsty venom. However Enoch looked far from nervous.

"Only for your activities to continue, nothing more," he stated. "Your activities have caused quite a stir. My impression is that they won't be long for this world, unless I were to apply a little relief."

Stain tilted his head before looking back down at the gauntlet.

"One of those currently after you is named Kevin Ethan Levin. His power circumvents your own, as you may have noticed."

"I can take care of him as is." Stain pressed on one of the buttons, however the gauntlet didn't come off. He picked out another button– only for Enoch to extend his hand and get in his way.

"Perhaps." He said, and then lowered his hand. "However, chance isn't the reason for why I keep my rank."

His voice audibly softened.

"We are both in agreement in one regard, Akaguro Chizome–"

Stain couldn't help but hiss upon hearing his real name. Enoch gave a moment's respite, as his fist tightened.

"For martyrs, ideals need to be pure, but not actions." he said. "Our society needs leaders to show the festering rot, and that can't be done from behind bars."

Stain's gaze narrowed.

"And so, you keep yourself associated with that villain group. Is that your sin? Laid bare, all for a grander virtue?"

Enoch didn't react in response, and so Stain looked at his gauntlet again before taking his hand off from it.

"I shall keep your gift." He raised it up, before turning back around and crouching down to where he once was. "Though I am not without questions."

Enoch's fist loosened, though his fingers fidgeted ever so slightly.

"Name it." he ordered from between his teeth.

"Your conviction." Stain stated without missing a beat, and the light shifting metallic sounds clued him in on Enoch's movement. "What are the sensibilities which haunt your actions, commander knight?"

Enoch huffed from behind his helmet, turning his head away.

"Unfortunately, it's much less a sensibility, Mr. Akaguro." His arms crossed. "It's a struggle as all that I want is for the best for humanity."

He shook his head, as one of his hands raised up to his mask… but clenched into a fist instead.

"I don't want for my kind to not be a golden drop in this black universe."

Stain nodded, however raised his head ever so slightly.

"Your… kind?" He asked.

With the shifting of the armor, he heard Enoch assembling his hands behind his back.

"It's how our order's… endgame." The commander knight said as suddenly, a blinking sound came from Enoch's second gauntlet.

Stain could hear him clicking.

"Now, as for yours, I believe this will be of some use."

He looked over his shoulder, and saw a holographic projection off from Enoch's left gauntlet above them.

A trail was mapped out through the streets of Hosu, along with one mug shot of… a fake. Wearing a Native American outfit, the so-called pro was smiling.

"According to our intel, this supposed Pro-Hero, Native, has a book signing right here in Hosu in three day's time." Enoch said.

Stain gritted his teeth– making Winston, who was about to step forward, flinch. A damn book signing?!

"We have intercepted his path… as well as the vulnerabilities in their security." Winston said, getting over his fears.

Enoch clicked a button on his gauntlet. The hologram vanished, turning into some purple energy, and shooting over to Stain. Now, his gauntlet started to blink.

"Another courtesy. To you."

Stain narrowed his gaze. Enoch, on the other hand, straightened and puffed out his chest more.

"All for the sake of our missions…"

---

After everyone had dressed back in their school uniforms, they had gone back to class, safe for Midoriya… for a less than fun time.

"So, guys…" Ashido said as she slumped over and let her backpack on her shoulder hit the floor. The internship offers were about to spill over from her desk, and no one else was leaving.

"Could anyone help me out with all these offers?" She asked.

"I wish I could." Kirishima shook his head as his hand ran through his hair before flipping over to the second page. "There are over five hundred here…"

Sero shook his head. "And even just dealing with the forty they gave us is headache inducing." he remarked as Koda nodded.

"Yaomomooooo…" Ashido's voice peaked. "You probably chose, right? Could you help out?"

"Y-yes." Yaomomo instinctively got up to her feet. "It would be my pleasure to help."

Ashido undid the paper clip and spread it all out on the table.

"Let's see here." She put a hand on the desk. "Okay, what kind of internship are you looking for–?"

"Just pick the highest damn rank." Bakugo curtly replied, not even lifting his eyes up his offers. Jiro frowned at him, before she got up and walked next to Yaomomo. Her friend had a diligent look on her face, looking over Ashido's offers.

"If you mean to look into action, then I would recommend Yoroi Musha as they have had increasingly positive projections for crime response time. Plus if I recall correctly, they are looking to move into a larger office next year to house even more teams. An internship now could then provide you with a chance to work with them in the future. As for rescue however…" She leaned over the papers again and even picked up some of them. "My recommendations would be Kamui Woods or Wild, Wild Pussycats."

Ashido looked at the vice class president with wide-eyes.

"How do you know all this?" she uttered. Yaoyorozu tilted her head.

"My father is among their shareholders." She stated before putting a hand on her hair. "Or rather, he's technically on the board of a company who produces their support items, which then owns the agency."

Little did they know, Uraraka was feeling lightheaded as she heard that from three seats back.

"Uh-huh…" Ashido dug her head in the papers again and wrote down Yaomomo's suggestions on her number 2 and 3 sections. Jiro crossed her arms.

"You really took one look and recommended the perfect people for her."

Yaomomo's eyebrows went up. "Oh, it was just some suggestions on my part. I don't know whether they would be perfect…"

Jiro however, scoffed, not really indulging her about that.

"So." she said, grasping the strap of her backpack. "Did you find your own picks?"

The rich girl flinched and… averted her eyes.

"Not yet… No, I would say." She took one more glance at Ashido, and seeing that she had no further questions, moved back to her desk.

Jiro followed and saw as Yaomomo's eyes glanced over the choice form. She picked up a pen however… she just ended up tapping the end of it to the table, turning it on and off. Her other hand reached for her ponytail.

"Anything I can do to help?" She asked.

"I don't know." Yaomomo shook her head. "Most locations here are known for the names of their corporations as opposed to the heroes. And some, like Uwabami on the other hand, are high-ranking pro-heroes and well-known figures. But…"

"But?.." Jiro tilted her head before she saw Yaomomo's eyes glance over to one underlined item: The Magic Hero: Majestic.

She smirked. "Well, that answers my question. Now the new one's obvious. Why that one?"

Yaomomo huffed.

"His background is the most colorful out of most pro-heroes. He's a graduate from Shiketsu High…"

"The number two to U.A.'s number one?" Jiro asked.

"Yes." Yaomomo opened her hands. "After that, he attended a famous institute in Westchester, New York for higher studies before transferring to another…" Her eyebrows went up. "… 'location' in South Dakota." She said with her pupils moving, as if pieces were just now clicking into place.

However, she shook her head and brushed whatever thoughts she had aside. Jiro nodded.

"Well, whatever you think, you sure made your research about this one."

"He was the hero I was planning for." Yaomomo clarified as she opened her hands. "The way he uses his ring-shaped energy has been unorthodox in both rescue and combat."

She sighed and hung her head forward.

"Even though it's just been shown to become platforms, he has managed to utilize it in so many ways." She said. "I was hoping it would help me, with my creation quirk."

"And? To me it sounds like a done deal? What're you waiting for?" Jiro said.

As she looked at it, her mouth pursed and she felt herself tense up. She shook her head.

"It would require me to travel far in Japan… all the way to Hokkaido region." Yaomomo told herself and pushed that specific part of the list away before glancing at the desk in front of her.

Just like everyone else, Tennyson was scourging through the papers… with his Omnitrix out from under his sleeve.

---

Midoriya arrived at the teacher's lounge, but instead of Aizawa, he found All Might in his shriveled state and… most notably shaking.

"I-I'll get straight to the point with you, y-young Midoriya… You've received an offer from a hero who'd like to take you on." Toshinori said.

Midoriya nodded.

"Yes, I'm… aware?" He said questioningly as there were numerous offers to his name–

"N-No, you don't understand. This hero is different from the rest." Toshinori said as he had started to sweat. "He used to teach at this very school back in my day, but… only for one year… In fact, he was my homeroom teacher."

Midoriya's eyes almost shot out of his skull. A hero who had taught All Might back in the day?! And now that very hero wanted to teach him?!

"REALLY?!" He said with stars in his eyes. "WHO?!"

"His name is Gran Torino. And… he knows about One for All as well. So you won't have to put up a front either. Actually, maybe that's why he asked for you…"

Midoriya's awe only grew. He also knew about All Might's secret quirk!

"Oh man, this is so exciting! He seems like the coolest person ever–" Midoriya stopped himself. "B-But, wait, how did he learn in the first place? I thought your quirk was top secret."

Toshinori bowed his head.

"He… Gran Torino was the sworn friend of my predecessor, h-however he retired a l-long time ago!"

Midoriya just then noticed how badly All Might's shaking was, as his hero couldn't even look at him.

"A-Anyway I saw how many offers came for you, but h-he watched the festival and thought my training was inadequate. S-So i-it's my duty but I-I figured you s-should know, here's the address e-even if you don't pick him!"

Toshinori handed him a piece of paper… and as he looked up to do so, Midoriya saw the nervous sweat going down his face.

Midoriya's jaw dropped for the second time today.

"J-Just how scary is this guy?" he also couldn't help but stammer in his head.

"S-So?" Toshinori asked, and Midoriya immediately took the paper from him.

"Y-Yes!" He said. "I will intern with him."

No matter what the other heroes would offer, this was too unique of an advantage to pass up. Someone who would understand his quirk and teach him accordingly–!

However, once he opened the paper and read the address…

"He lives in Kansai?" Midoriya asked.

Toshinori nervously nodded. "He knows i-it'll be far but he agreed to let you stay for the two w-weeks… just like the other internships would."

Midoriya's eyebrows pursed. Staying there wouldn't be a problem but…

He put his hand on his scar next to his eye. Tennyson, and the rest of their mission came to mind. If he were in Kansai…

"What's gonna happen to us?"

---

And that's the end! What did you think?

So, yeah, I decided to adapt the first OVA as well. I hope I at least caught some of you out of left field with it. As for why, since I figured that the internships were going to separate Class 1-A, it'd probably be a nice send-off to have them working against a villain all together. I hope you've enjoyed it as changing up the fight and adding Ben to it has been so much fun.

Plus, there's the matter of where everyone's gonna go for their internship and I didn't want to cut to seeing that immediately after they choose their name. It's better to test those names first!

Anyway, as for the next chapter, I don't really have an idea as to when it'll come out. I'm on vacation right now so I have a good amount of time to write, but the process of getting it checked by the editor and then reworking it has drastically slowed. So, I don't have an estimate.

For example, this chapter got delayed by 2 weeks due to the editor and he extends his apologies.

However, until then, have a great day and I'll see you on the next release!

---

Reply to Guest reviews

Guest: Sorry I didn't get to this sooner, was away from my computer, mentally occupied with family matters, didn't think to read it on my phone, spending way too much time playing games on my phone while the Youtube app plays videos on the side, and finally, my phone somewhat perma-died while I was away and I have yet to put together a plan of action regarding that.

It seems like having Ben around has made almost all of Class 1-A better at the name game than their official canon selves (I just found out while typing this up that, *canon* is another name for the official material, and *cannon* is the big metal tube on wheels that goes BOOM). This may seem a little late to ask but who of the original Class 1-A did Ben replace when he got in? Because as I went through the chapter, it seems to me that everyone from canon is there, plus Ben, which makes 21 Class 1-A students, I don't know if I'm missing something here or if 21 is just how you want to play it, as the saying goes, "The more the merrier" you do you if you think you can. More characters in one story means more personalities, backstories, interactions, settings, and altered events to keep track of that need to fit cohesively, that is not always an easy thing to do.

Going back to my previous comment, if you want more readers to know that Wolfram is Forever Knight adjacent and not a Forever Knight himself, maybe next time you have him appear, make that fact just a little bit more clear. (The Ink Tank Youtube channel just released a video documenting pieces of information about Ben 10 the community thought were true but weren't, the Forever Ninja as the Ben 10 community at large knows it is never referred to as "Forever Ninja" in the show, it was never addressed by name in Ben 10 Classic and only years later in Ben 10 Omniverse being referred to as "Red Knight" but it looked like a ninja and nobody corrected that for many years, so the name "Forever Ninja" stuck) I wasn't able to articulate this last comment but here you go, the inclusion of X-23 felt like author wish fulfillment and I completely get it, you like this character from one IP and want to add them to your crossover of two other IP's to get your dream crossover story, I get it, I've done it myself in my currently-only-exists-in-my-mind crossover, it's fine that you did that, I'm sure you have a plan for her, I just don't have any emotional ties to her.

You're doing great, if you need to stop writing to take care of your real life circumstances that's fine. Your life is more important than the fanfiction story you write, God bless you.

DBZpower197: Yeah, no rush! I'm grateful to anyone who reads, no matter when it is.

Oh, Ben replaced Hagakure. No lie, I'm still regretting that in hindsight, since I love Hagakure's energy and there are some character interactions I'd love to do but can't, simply cuz she's not here.

As for Wolfram, I can clarify his position a bit more later. For now, the goal was to just get him in there and just plant the seeds for the fact that there's something between Wolfram, X-23, and Knights. As for the Forever Ninja, I thought about going with the Red Knight name instead, but even though the name's wrong, I'm just a bigger fan of that name instead of Red Knight.

In terms of X-23… Yeah. I do have my reasons, with it fitting the universe and whatnot, but all in all, it's basically my wish fulfillment XD. I won't overdo it though, I just want to push the needle with the references that the original manga made a tid bit further.

Thanks a lot for the review!

foras: I thought the cops and the teachers would make a big deal out of a student killing a villain, but there was barely a mention of it.

DBZpower197: Yeah, in universe, I'd say you can probably argue that the Nomu was not even human anymore due to its expressions and how Shigaraki talked about it. As for out of universe, I kinda just handwaved that away since it wouldn't mesh well with the Ben 10 side of the fic, since they do talk about killing in that show even if it doesn't happen.