"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… REALLYSORRY?"
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?"