Chapter 10: Dark Clouds Forming
Mikumo's body felt like it was moving in slow motion.
His hand stretched out, reaching for Hagakure.
The pale man laughed, a cold, cruel sound, his fingers wrapping around the invisible girl's face.
"No, Hagakure!"
The crumbling girl looked to Mikumo, her invisible skin falling away to reveal her very visible muscles.
"Why didn't you save me?"
Mikumo's arm surged forwards, his hand grasping empty air.
Hagakure was dead.
The pale man laughed again, turning to look at Mikumo. "Pathetic. You actually thought a quirkless loser like you could save her? That you could be a hero?"
Mikumo dropped to his knees. "I-I failed."
The pale man reached out again, this time aiming for Mikumo.
"Akatani."
Mikumo looked up at the pale man.
The pale man gave a sinister smile. "Akatani, wake up!"
Mikumo jerked awake, sitting up.
Looking around, Mikumo saw he was on the floor of the development studio. The stool he had been using before he fell asleep was on its side next to him.
"Finally, I thought I was going to have to go and get Present Mic so he could wake you up."
"Mr. Maijima!" Mikumo started, before looking up at his workbench. "No, I fell asleep, I didn't finish it."
Mikumo reached out, desperately trying to pull himself up.
Power Loader hooked a hand under Mikumo's arm, helping him to stand. "It's fine, kid."
Mikumo paled, the half-completed costume for Hagakure was gone.
"W-Where is it?" Mikumo looked to Power Loader, before his eyes flicked over to where Dusty hung on the wall.
Power Loader chuckled. "Calm down, Hatsume saw it and the plans when she came in this morning, she finished. In fact, she's running the safety checks, at my insistence, in the Testing Studio right now."
Mikumo breathed a sigh of relief, standing his stool up and sitting down on it.
I'm so used to doing things by myself it's still weird to think I have a partner to work alongside.
Pulling up a stool of his own, Power Loader looked at his student.
"I take it you were here all night?"
Mikumo nodded, not saying a word.
Power Loader sighed. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"
Mikumo shook his head.
"It doesn't have to be me, Akatani, if you'd be more comfortable talking to another teacher, or maybe a student, Hatsume or Midoriya for example, then it can be arranged."
Mikumo looked up. "I'm fine."
Power Loader placed one of his large hands on the teen's shoulder. "We both know that isn't true."
Mikumo clasped his hands together.
I could tell him, couldn't I? About that man, what he's making Hagakure do. Mr. Maijima would help, right?
Mikumo gave a small nod, looking Power Loader directly in the eyes.
"There is something I need to tell you, it's about-"
"I'M FINISHED!"
Hatsume burst into the development studio, wheeling a mannequin in front of herself, the costume for Hagakure displayed on it.
Power Loader sighed.
Damn, Hatsume, could you have picked a worst time to burst in?
Mikumo jumped to his feet, taking in the sight of Hagakure's completed costume.
"Thank you for finishing it, Hatsume!" Mikumo bowed to the pink-haired girl.
Hatsume gave a smug smile. "I know, I'm just that great! Besides, what are partners for?"
Despite the stress he felt crushing down on his chest, Mikumo returned Hatsume's smile.
Power Loader patted Mikumo's shoulder. "You still have an hour before homeroom starts, how about you go and get some breakfast from the food hall, maybe a shower too."
Mikumo nodded, still smiling.
Don't worry, Mr Maijima, I'll tell you soon.
I trust you.
"Oi, nerd!"
Izuku sighed, stopping his progress towards the Class 1-A homeroom.
Turning to face Bakugo, Izuku watched as his former friend slouched up to him. The green-haired boy had hoped that after yesterday things were going to be at least a little better between them.
Bakugo looked directly at Izuku. "Those stupid quirks you got yesterday, you'd better fucking learn how to use them for the Sport Festival."
Izuku frowned.
Was Kacchan, acknowledging him?
"If I'm going to surpass All Might as the Number 1 Hero, I need a strong-ass rival to fight along the way." Bakugo paused. "I'd rather it was you than Daddy Issues."
"Daddy Issues?" questioned Izuku.
"The Half-n-Half Bastard."
Bakugo saw no recognition in Izuku's eyes. "You know, Captain Canada, Candy Cane, Where's Wally, IcyHot-"
"You mean Todoroki?"
Bakugo grunted in affirmation.
"How could you possibly know he has daddy issues?"
Bakugo shrugged. "He's the son of Endeavor who never uses his fire powers, what else is it going to be?"
Izuku smiled. "You know, sometimes all your yelling and shouting makes me forget just how perceptive you are."
Bakugo exploded. "What do you mean 'yelling and shouting', you fucking nerd!"
Izuku slowly raised his eyebrows.
Bakugo shrugged, realising Izuku's point. "Tch, whatever, just make sure you're nice and strong, so I look all that more impressive when I beat you."
With that, Bakugo pushed past Izuku, stomping down the corridor and towards the classroom.
Izuku shook his head slowly, still smiling.
Bakugo, neither of us can change our pasts, but we can have a better future.
"You said that out loud, you fucking nerd!"
Izuku jumped, before racing off after Bakugo, the two entering the classroom seconds apart.
"Deki!"
"He lives!"
"Midori, looking good!"
Izuku beamed, before nodding his head. "Thank you."
I could never have imagined this, they actually care. Thank you, All Might.
Iida walked over to Izuku, his face as serious as ever.
"Midoriya, I am most glad to see you well."
"R-Right, thank you." Izuku rubbed the back of his neck. "I-I'm sorry was so useless-"
Iida interrupted him. "Midoriya, we all have our weaknesses, mine is carbonated drinks, they make my engines stall, yours are crowds."
Izuku sighed. "But I think crowds are going to be more of an issue as a Pro Hero than soda."
"Perhaps. Perhaps not." Iida chopped his arm, angling his fingers at Izuku. "Suppose someone were to offer you a carbonated drink as thanks for saving them?"
"You could say no?"
"Preposterous! By refusing their generous offer you would be insulting them."
Izuku nodded along, if he tried to argue this it could go on all day. "S-Sure, it would have been fine if my glove hadn't gotten snagged and pulled off."
Iida looked down to Izuku's hands, both were covered by gloves, one his normal black, the other sparkly white, covered in sequins.
Izuku shrugged awkwardly. "It's from an old Halloween costume, it's all I had."
"Fear not!" Iida reached into his blazer, producing Izuku's other black glove. "Hagakure found it after the incident yesterday, she passed it to me for safekeeping."
Izuku accepted the glove, swapping it into the place of the white sequined glove. "Thank you, Iida."
The engine teen nodded. "Now, if you'll excuse me I need to inform Tokoyami about the proper usage of a desk."
"Sure?"
Turning his body slightly, Izuku bowed to the invisible girl. "Thank you, Hagakure!"
Hagakure laughed and struck a pose. "You're welcome, Green Akatani!"
Taken aback by Hagakure's nickname, Izuku barely noticed the tap on his shoulder.
"Shacho."
Izuku turned to see Yaoyorozu. "Shacho? Right, I'm Class President, aren't I?"
Yaoyorozu raised an eyebrow. "Did you sustain a head injury yesterday?"
"No, I mean, probably, I can't really remember, so maybe?"
Yaoyorozu hid a laugh, before handing Izuku a piece of paper. "We were supposed to select Class Officers yesterday, after lunch. However, since you were injured we decided to hold off until this morning."
Izuku nodded, reading the list.
Yaoyorozu spoke again. "I enlisted Iida's help to draft a proposed list, we started by picking from those who made it to the second round of voting."
"Hm, Uraraka as Treasurer and Ashido as Events Manager look like good choices. Same for Sero as Historian. But Discipline Officer and Sergeant-at-Arms?"
Yaoyorozu made an expression of displeasure. "Bakugo and Mineta were the last two who made it to the second round we hadn't found a role for, we were kind of stuck with them."
Izuku frowned. "Bakugo should be Sergeant-at-Arms, not Discipline Officer. He may have gone too far in the battle trials but that was a one off, normally he's all about safe training."
Yaoyorozu nodded. "I'll take your word for it, you have known him a lot longer, but Mineta as Discipline Officer sounds, dangerous. He'd probably implement some disgusting rule like skirts have to be 30cm above the knee."
"I see what you mean, but why didn't you choose Iida?" Izuku turned his head to look at Yaoyorozu. "He's the only one from the second vote that didn't get a position."
"Iida insisted since he was involved in creating this list, him getting a position would be self-interest." Yaoyorozu paused. "So Iida as Discipline Officer, and Mineta doesn't get a role?"
Izuku gathered his confidence, seeing his out. "No, I'll be the Discipline Officer."
Yaoyorozu frowned. "You can't be, you're already the Class Representative."
"I'm going to nominate you to replace me as Class Representative and Iida as your Vice Representative. I'll take the Discipline Officer role."
Izuku paused. "You can assign someone else to that role other than me later if you and Iida want."
"Midoriya, you can't." Yaoyorozu placed a hand on the green-haired boy's arm. "The class put it's trust in you as Class President, not me."
Izuku shook his head. "I can't represent the class's trust if I don't trust myself."
"Midoriya-"
"I voted for you, Yaoyorozu, in both rounds of the vote."
Words abandoned Yaoyorozu, leaving her in shock.
"Midoriya, Yaoyorozu."
The two teens looked round to see Aizawa in the doorway, the rest of the class moving to their seats.
Aizawa walked over to his desk. "The Class President and Vice President will now be assigning the Class Officers, just have it done in five minutes."
"R-Right."
"Of course, Mr. Aizawa."
Izuku and Yaoyorozu moved to the front of the classroom, standing in front of the blackboard.
Swallowing his nerves and leaning on the confidence of Bakugo's quirk, Izuku stepped forward.
"W-We'd like to announce the Class Officers, but before that there's something I wanted to say." Izuku looked at the faces of his classmates, staring back at him. "Iida proved yesterday he has what it takes to be a leader, a real leader, not just one given the position. That's why I want to announce-"
"To announce that Iida will be joining myself as a joint Vice President."
Yaoyorozu stepped forward. "He will have the responsibilities of both the Discipline Officer and leadership of the class should Midoriya and I be unavailable, with the backing of the class of course."
The class cheered, especially Ashido and the others who had seen Iida's calming of the crowd the day before.
"Yeah, I'm all for Emergency Exit Iida!"
Iida looked taken aback, his mouth moving but no words coming out.
Finally finding his voice, Iida stood. "I accept, I aim to fulfil the duties of my office to the best of ability, no, even better than that!"
Yaoyorozu nodded, holding the class officers list out to Iida as he marched up to join them. "If you would be so kind, please announce the officers of Class 1-A, Iida."
Izuku watched on with shock, his head slowly turning to look at a rather smug Yaoyorozu.
"Do you enjoy my suffering?" Izuku questioned, quiet enough that only Yaoyorozu could hear.
"You were wrong, the class put their trust in you because you are a natural-born leader, under all that nervousness. You showed that in the battle trials." Yaoyorozu gently bumped Izuku with her shoulder. "Besides, I trust you, why else would I have voted for you yesterday?"
Izuku started in shock. "You voted for me?"
Yaoyorozu smiled. "You just need a bit more confidence, that's all."
Izuku returned her smile. "Thank you, Yaoyorozu."
"Please, if we're going to be working together like this, call me Momo."
"Then call me Izuku."
"Deal."
Aizawa sighed and rolled his eyes from his place on the floor, cocooned in his garish yellow sleeping bag.
Iida chopped the air. "The selections of the Class Representative and Vice Class Representative are final."
"But I think moi would make a perfect fashion officer." Aoyama struck a pose.
"The position of fashion officer does not exist." Iida aimed his hand at the blond boy. "Besides, what kind of job would that be?"
Aoyama flicked his hair. "I would ensure that everyone's costumes were in the height of fashion, like mine."
Ashido laughed. "Like you? I saw that red visor of yours, talk about clashing colours."
"Clashing colours? Have you seen your costume, mademoiselle . It is made of clashing colours."
"It's supposed to look like that!"
Iida placed his thumb under his chin, finger bent over, pressed against the front, deep in thought. "Perhaps the position of fashion officer is more viable than I first thought."
Ashido and Aoyama's argument continued to rage on, Kaminari cheering them both on.
"Enough." Aizawa stood, folding his sleeping bag away. "Your five minutes are up. Midoriya, Yaoyorozu, Iida, return to your seats."
The three teens followed the instruction, Iida bowing to Aizawa as he did.
"Now, let's get on with today's announcements."
Izuku knocked on the door.
"Come in."
Sliding the door open, Izuku stepped into Recovery Girl's office.
"Recovery Girl, Mr. Aizawa said I was to come here for a check-up during lunch."
"Yes, yes." Recovery Girl turned her chair to face Izuku. "Take a seat."
Izuku sat down opposite Recovery Girl.
"So, how do you feel?"
"Er, okay I guess, I was really tired last night but I've been fine today."
"Good, good, open up." Recovery Girl placed a thermometer in Izuku's mouth. "Quirk Exhaustion is a serious deal, even for people with multiple quirks like you."
Izuku nodded, unable to speak.
"Hm, a little high, but nothing to really be concerned about." Recovery Girl made a note on her computer, before removing the thermometer from Izuku's mouth.
"Do you know how quirk exhaustion affects people like me? With multiple quirks?" Izuku queried nervously.
"Well, I've not treated many people with multiple quirks like yourself, but from what I've seen each quirk has a separate limit for quirk exhaustion." Recovery Girl paused.
"However, what you did yesterday was overtax Quirksmith, the parent quirk of all the others you have copied, as well as One For All. It's why I told you not to use any of your quirks overnight."
Izuku nodded, taking in Recovery Girl's words, storing them for writing in his notebook later.
Recovery Girl stood. "However, for now, you have a clean bill of health, just don't end up back here any time soon."
"Right, I'll try that."
"Now run along, do whatever it is you kids do these days."
Izuku bowed, thanking the nurse, before leaving.
Walking down the corridor, Izuku made his way back to the 1-A classroom. The class had been told to meet there at 12:50pm for more hero training, but Aizawa had given them no further details.
Slipping into the classroom, Izuku made to his desk with seconds to spare, Kirishima and Kaminari racing in after him.
Aizawa stepped through the doorway, moving to his podium as he had during homeroom that morning.
Looking out at the class already sitting in their seats, Aizawa nodded. "Two seconds, better."
The class released a collective sigh of relief.
"For today's basic hero training there has been a change of plans." Aizawa paused. "As I'm sure you are all aware, U.A. suffered a security breach yesterday."
Murmurs came from the class.
"Therefore, I will be joining today's basic training. It will be led by All Might and one other." Aizawa raised a hand, silencing the class.
"Additionally, two students from the Support Department will be joining us today to test a new piece of equipment they've built. Please enter."
Izuku looked to the door as Mikumo and a pink-haired girl walked in, both dressed in their gym uniforms, the latter wheeling a case almost as long as she was tall.
The pink-haired girl's eyes scanned all the students, before she spoke. "I'm Mei Hatsume, I look forward to testing my babies with you."
Mikumo jumped forwards, he was holding a smaller case, with the number 16 stencilled onto the side.
"She means her inventions! I'm Mikumo Akatani, by the way."
The class stared at the support duo, before Ashido spoke up.
"Cool, are you Midori's brother or something?"
Izuku suppressed the urge to wince.
Sato shrugged. "Nah, he said his last name is Akatani, must be Midoriya's cousin or something."
Mikumo shook his head. "W-We're not related, to the best of my knowledge."
The class slowly turned to look at Izuku, who started when he realised he had their full attention.
"I-I, um, well-"
Sero spoke up. "Mr. Aizawa, what are we doing today exactly?"
Izuku breathed a sigh of relief.
"Today we'll be preparing you for disaster situations, from floods to forest fires."
Aizawa drew a white card, holding it out to class. 'Rescue' was marked on it in bold, in a green-blue colour gradient.
"It's Rescue Training!"
"I'll be right at home in a flood, kero."
Kaminari groaned. "Rescue Training? Sounds like another hard day."
Kirishima banged him on the head. "Oi, this what being a hero is all about!"
"I wasn't done." Aizawa didn't raise his voice, but everyone listened.
Drawing a remote, Aizawa pressed a button, the costume racks rolling out of the wall.
"It's up to you whether you wear your costumes, some of them will be ill-suited to this sort of activity." Aizawa paused. "A review of the costumes was held after the Battle Trials on Monday, some of you will find your costumes have been altered."
Izuku hardened his resolve.
Rescue training, this will help me on my way to the great hero I want to be. The great hero I know I can be!
"The training facility is somewhat remote, so we'll be going by bus." Aizawa tucked the remote back into his clothes. "That's all, get ready. Meet at Side Entrance B."
With that Aizawa left, the students moved to grab their cases.
"Huh, mine's not here." Hagakure tilted her head, a blue bow in her see-through hair.
"H-Hagakure!"
The invisible girl turned around to see Mikumo, holding out the case he'd carried into the classroom.
"I, well Hatsume and I, finished the costume upgrade, Power Loader signed off on it this morning."
Hagakure took the case. "Cool, thanks, Mikumo!"
The invisible girl bounced up to Mikumo, hugging him.
The black-haired boy blushed madly. "Y-Your we-welcome, Hagakure."
Hagakure broke away from Mikumo, striking a pose. "I'd better go get changed, no peeking!"
Mikumo's cheeks somehow got redder. "I w-wouldn't, I would n-never-"
Hagakure laughed. "I was joking, I'm invisible, remember?"
"Oh, r-right." Mikumo rubbed the back of his neck. "It's would b-be super gross to do something like t-that anyway, y-you'd have to be depraved to do that."
On the other side of the classroom, Mineta sneezed.
Hagakure giggled. "See you at the bus!"
Mikumo nodded, smiling as Hagakure joined the other students, heading for the changing rooms.
Izuku and Momo stood a short distance away from the bus, watching as Iida organised the class.
"Well, he's certainly taking his role very seriously." Momo glanced over at Izuku.
Izuku smiled. "Iida takes everything seriously."
"True." Momo paused. "I thought your costume was repaired? I saw Bakugo return it to you yesterday, with his usual personality ."
Izuku self-consciously brushed the shoulder of his gym uniform. "Yeah, he did. But it's not strong enough to handle my quirks."
Momo nodded. "I see."
"A support company that works with U.A. is making me a new costume from scratch. But I did buy a new one of these." Izuku tapped his mouthguard.
"I took your advice, I had a zipper added to my costume."
"Boo!"
"Quiet, Mineta! And line up!" Iida chopped his arm, forcing Sero to duck.
Izuku looked away from the rest of the class, back to Momo. "I saw, and that you got your shorts."
Momo nodded, black shorts appeared from below her belt, made from the same material as the rest of her costume, white lines running down the outsides of her thighs.
"I did, apparently the support company broke costume regulations so the Support Department made them instead."
Izuku bobbed his head, smiling at Momo.
"Can I ask you a question, you don't have to answer it if you don't want to." Momo looked uncertain.
"It's fine, go ahead."
"Why do you want to be a hero?"
Izuku frowned. "I guess, All Might, really."
"All Might?"
"Yeah, the first memory I have of him is a clip from that disaster, the one where he saved over a hundred people."
Izuku paused.
"I've watched that video thousands of times, I still have it saved on my phone, something about the way he just climbs over that bus, holding all those people, smiling and laughing. I guess, I wanted to help people like that."
Momo smiled. "I thought so."
Izuku's head span around. "W-What do you mean?"
"You want to be a hero to help people, to save them." Momo looked over at the green-haired boy. "No ulterior motive, you're not looking for money or fame, are you?"
"W-Well, not really, but don't you?"
Momo sighed. "I didn't really get a choice, my family has been heroes almost as long as there have been heroes, or quirks themselves. Todoroki is the same. Look at Bakugo, he wants to be the number one hero just to prove he's the strongest."
"Oh, I see, I'm sorry if I insulted you."
Momo shook her head. "Don't worry. You didn't. I guess I just wish I could be more like you. You want to be a hero purely to help others, for me it's more of an obligation, a burden. A legacy to continue."
Izuku reached his hand out. "Yaoyorozu, Momo, being a hero-"
"Midoriya! Yaoyorozu! It's time to get on the bus!"
Izuku sighed, of all the times for Iida to interrupt. "We're coming!"
Momo adjusted her costume, readying herself. "Well, we'd better get going."
"R-Right."
Izuku and Momo took their places in Iida's perfectly organised queue as the bus doors opened, Aizawa leaning out of them. "It's time to go."
"Everybody file in, remain in numerical order!" Iida indicated for the class to enter the bus.
Iida sagged his seat, his head in his hands.
"All that, just for nothing. How was I to know it would be this kind of bus?"
Ashido patted the navy-haired boy on the shoulder. "There, there."
Izuku gave Iida what he hoped was an encouraging smile. "It's okay, Iida. You couldn't have known."
Tsuyu tapped Izuku on the shoulder. "I'm generally pretty straight forward, so I just say my mind, Midoriya."
"Oh, okay, what is it, Asui?"
"Call me Tsuyu." The frog-like girl paused. "That strength quirk of yours, did you copy it from All Might, it resembles his quirk."
"W-What? Really, I guess I never noticed how similar they are-"
Kirishima interrupted. "Nah, can't be, All Might's quirk doesn't injure him, so there's at least one difference."
Tsuyu tilted her head, before nodding. "I guess you're right."
Izuku breathed a sigh of relief as he raised his head.
Todoroki was looking at him.
No, Todoroki was watching him, examining him.
Kirishima spoke again. "Man, what I wouldn't give for a strength-enhancing quirk like that. You could do a lot of cool stuff with it."
The students listened to Kirishima intently, watching as he raised his arm and activated his quirk.
"My hardening, it means I'm good in a fight, but it's not very flashy."
Izuku copied Kirishima's motion, calling on his copy of Hardening. The quirk only affected up to his wrist, instead of his whole forearm like Kirishima.
"I think it's pretty cool." Izuku leaned forward to look at the red-haired teen. "It's more than strong enough for you to go pro, especially with a bit more training."
Izuku called on the power of One For All, except manifesting in the Hardening quirk instead of his actual body.
The hardening effect massively increased, his entire arm and most of his chest took on the signature crenulated texture.
"Wow, that's way more than I can do! How did you manage to do that?"
The connection between the two quirks snapped, allowing the hardening effect to return to normal.
"The power amplifier quirk I copied, it allows me to supercharge the effect of other quirks I've copied." Izuku shuffled nervously, realising he had half the bus' attention. "I can only do it for a few seconds at most, it's pretty draining."
"So cool." Uraraka beamed at Izuku, from where she sat next to Momo.
Aoyama struck a pose. "Pro Heroes have to grab attention, my quirk is the perfect combination of flashy and strong."
Ashido frowned. "I thought it made your stomach explode if you use it for more than a second."
Aoyama slumped.
"Now if you wanna talk strong and flashy, Todoroki and Bakugo are where it's at!"
Tsuyu placed a finger to her bottom lip. "He'll never be popular, he's too unhinged."
Bakugo growled. "I'm fucking sat right here, you know that, don't you, you damn frog-face?"
"Huh."
Tsuyu tilted her head, puzzled at Bakugo's muted, for him, reaction.
Kaminari laughed. "Man, we've only known Bakugo for like three days and it's already clear he has the personality of a flaming trashcan seeped in sewage."
This broke what little composure Bakugo had left. "Fucking say that again, you Pikachu-looking motherfucker!"
Momo shook her head. "This conversation, so vulgar."
Uraraka nudged the dark-haired girl, laughing. "Come on, this is fun."
"I didn't think Bakugo's mouth could get any fouler." Kaminari didn't look very bothered by the explosive teen's outburst.
"Hey, Kaminari."
Kaminari looked over to Jiro. "Yo."
"What's with the ear gear?" Jiro pointed to the large white earpiece on the right side of Kaminari's head.
"It's a communication device, actually it's basically just a phone." Kaminari pulled a slip of paper out of his jacket. "It's got a phone number and everything."
"A phone number?" Jiro questioned. "Just, why?"
Kaminari grinned. "It's so I can give it to all the cute girls I save."
"Wow, just, wow. Kaminari, you have reached a new low."
Kaminari held the paper out to Jiro. "Go on, you know you want to take it."
One of Jiro's ear jacks poked Kaminari's wrist, hitting a nerve and making him drop the paper.
"Hey, what was that for!"
Izuku leaned down, picking up the slip of paper.
The class turned to look at the green-haired boy.
Izuku flushed red. "N-No, i-it's not like that, I j-just thought it might b-be handy to have it. Sorry Kaminari, y-you're not my type."
Kaminari raised an eyebrow. "Because I'm a guy?"
Izuku shook his head. "Because you're loud."
"I-I'm loud?" Kaminari looked around the bus at a sea of nodding heads.
Uraraka piped up. "So what is your type, Deki?"
Rubbing the back of his neck, Izuku desperately looked for a way out of the conversation, short of jumping out the window. "Well-"
"Is it the silent, broody type like Todoroki?" Uraraka bounced in her seat. "Or someone calm and confident like Yaomomo?"
Izuku and Momo blushed the same shade of red.
Todoroki continued to stare out the window, ignoring the other students entirely.
Iida perked up, seeing their destination out the window. "We have arrived, everybody, please prepare yourself to disembark."
"Shut the fuck up, four-eyes!"
"Bakugo, please act in a manner befitting of the institution you attend!" Iida chopped his hand rapidly.
"Yeah, get him Iida!" Uraraka cheered loudly.
Class 1-A looked around themselves as they entered the massive building, gathered together on a raised platform. Below them they could see an array of areas, ranging from flood to ruins.
"Woah, it's like Universal Studios Japan!" Kirishima exclaimed, pumping his fist.
"Conflagration Zone. Flood Zone. Landslide Zone. Every accident and incident you can expect to encounter as a Pro Hero. I built this place myself."
A person in a large astronaut costume appeared from the stairs, joining Aizawa and the class on the raised platform.
"The Unforeseen Simulation Joint."
Uraraka jumped up and down in excitement. "It's the Space Hero Thirteen, they're my absolute favourite. They're super cool, they do their best work in rescue scenarios!"
Izuku was slightly taken aback that, for once, he wasn't the biggest hero nerd in the room.
"Look, Uraraka is going full Midoriya!" Ashido pointed to the brown-haired girl, who was rapidly bobbing her head.
Aizawa moved to join his fellow hero, lowering his voice so only they could hear. "Where's All Might? He was supposed to meet us here."
Thirteen shifted awkwardly, before holding up three gloved fingers. "About that, Aizawa…"
Izuku's eyes honed in on Thirteen's gesture, noticing that it matched All Might's three-hour limit as well as the current absence of the No.1 Hero.
Aizawa sighed, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Let me guess, he used up all his time on his way to U.A. this morning, right?"
"Pretty much." Thirteen said. "He's in the staff room, he said he's going to try and join us for a few minutes at the end."
Aizawa sighed. "Fine, whatever, this exercise was originally planned for just two of us to run it. Let's just get started."
Thirteen nodded, raising their voice so the class could hear. "But first I would like to say something."
The gathered heroes-in-training watched as the Space Hero raised a single finger.
"I just have one thing to say." Thirteen paused. "Well, actually it's more like two things. Or three maybe? Four? Five?"
Izuku frowned.
That's a lot of things to say.
"Anyway, as I'm sure you're all aware, my quirk is called Black Hole. Like its namesake, anything that is sucked into it is torn apart by the gravitational forces."
Mikumo tilted his head.
That's not really how black holes work.
Excited murmurs rippled through the class, before a look from Aizawa silenced them.
Izuku spoke. "You've used your quirk to save people in loads of different disasters."
"That I have. However, my quirk could also be easily used to kill. I'm sure many of you here are the same."
The atmosphere in the class grew apprehensive, unsure of where Thirteen was going with their speech.
"In our society, the use of our quirks is heavily monitored and restricted, it may seem stable. But all it takes is one wrong move with an uncontrollable quirk for people to die."
"I read your quirk descriptions. Bakugo, for example, could injure civilians with his explosions if he didn't check his surroundings. Todoroki could easily freeze or burn someone to death. And, Midoriya, you quirk has the most danger, you could easily copy, accidental or otherwise, a truly uncontrollable power."
Mikumo watched as Thirteen spoke, it was a strange sensation. His entire life Mikumo had desperately wished for a quirk, anything, no matter how useless.
Just for once, just for a few seconds, Mikumo was almost glad he didn't have a quirk, that he wasn't a walking time bomb.
Almost.
Thirteen spoke again. "In Aizawa's physical fitness tests you got to see the hidden potential of your quirks. In All Might's battle trials you got to see the danger your quirk can pose to others."
Thirteen struck a pose. "Today, this class will give you a new perspective. Today, you will learn how to save lives using your quirks!"
Mikumo looked away from the Space Hero, down towards the water fountain in the center of the facility.
"I hope you leave today with the understanding that your quirks are meant to help people." Thirteen bowed. "That is all, thank you very much for listening."
The class clapped politely, Uraraka somewhat more enthusiastically than her peers.
Mikumo's eyes widened as he watched a purple mist begin to swirl at the base of the fountain, down in the main plaza.
Aizawa turned to follow Mikumo's line of sight, observing as the mist grew in size.
"Huddle up and don't move!" Aizawa ordered, holding an arm out. "Thirteen, protect the students."
The mist continued to grow larger and larger, Mikumo couldn't take his eyes off it.
Figures emerged from the mist, more and more coming, flooding in with each second that passed.
Kirishima raised a hand to block the light as he looked at the figures. "Woah, are those battle robots like the entrance exam?"
Aizawa unravelled his scarf, moving it to a fighting stance. "Stay back, those are real villains."
Mikumo reached into his pockets, pulling out a collapsible visor. Unfolding it, Mikumo put it in place, a silver metal unit on each temple, a blue plexiglass visor connecting them.
Activating the zoom function, Mikumo honed in on the center of the mist, a pair of yellow eyes appearing in it.
"Just Thirteen and Eraserhead, then?" The mist spoke. "That staff schedule I received the other day said All Might should be here."
"So the break-in yesterday, that was you." Aizawa raised his goggles into place. "Scum."
The mist spoke again. "We've come all this way, brought so many playmates, and All Might, the pathetic Symbol of Peace, isn't here?"
Mikumo froze in fear, he knew that voice, the same one that had haunted his dreams.
The pale man.
Tomura Shigaraki appeared from the portal, his face and body covered in severed hands.
"I wonder…"
Shigaraki grinned maniacally.
"...will killing some kids bring him here?"
Chapter 11: Evil Unleashed
Mikumo was frozen in fear, unable to look away from Shigaraki.
Three more figures appeared from the portal, all of them as tall and muscular as All Might, but more akin to monsters than men, with beaks and exposed brains. The first of the trio was the shortest, its off-white skin covered with bark-like armor. The other white monster lumbered next to it, its hands replaced with meter-long claws.
The final monster had pitch-black skin, red scars covering its shoulders and arms. It was the tallest of the three, its beaker longer, dressed in tan trousers, with skull-shaped knee pads.
"Villains, here?" Kirishima questioned. "But this U.A., there can't be villains."
Momo looked to Thirteen. "Doesn't the USJ have some kind of intruder sensors?"
Thirteen nodded. "It does, they must be jamming them somehow."
"Are they just here? Or have more of these villains appeared in the rest of the campus as well?" Todoroki wondered aloud, before glancing at Momo. "One of their quirks must be the one jamming the alarms."
A wave of villains began to spread out from the fountain, the majority heading towards the raised platform where the students and the two Pro Heroes were.
Todoroki spoke again. "These villains aren't stupid. This place is far from the main campus, at a time where only a few people are here. This is a well-coordinated operation, this isn't just some wild attack, they must have some kind of objective."
"Thirteen, begin evacuating the students." Aizawa moved to the top of the stairs. "One of the villains must have the electric-type quirk that's blocking communications. Kaminairi, try using your quirk to contact the school."
"G-Got it."
"Hatsume, Akatani."
Mikumo was jerked out of his paralysis, allowing him to deactivate the zoom on his visor.
"See if you can make his work." Aizawa reached into his jacket and drew his phone.
Mikumo caught the device. "Mr. Aizawa-"
"If you get through, call Principal Nedzu."
Aizawa prepared to launch himself down the stairs.
"Sensei!" Izuku called out. "You can't fight them all alone, your quirk can't affect them all."
Izuku thought back to his hero notes.
Notebook 5, page 27.
"Eraserhead's fighting style is characterised by erasing the opponent's quirk and rapid binding using his capture scarf."
Aizawa sighed. "You really are a hero nerd, aren't you, problem child. Remember this, a hero cannot afford to be a one-trick pony. Thirteen, take care of them!"
Wrapping each end of his scarf to both the handrails of the stairs, Aizawa pulled, flying into the air, towards the approaching villains.
At the bottom of the stairs, three villains lined up.
"Shooting Squad, form up!" Yelled a man with a helmet-like mask and gun barrels for fingertips.
"You're not my fucking boss, Finger Guns." A woman with grey dreadlocks glared at the back of the man's head. "The intel Shigaraki gave us said it was supposed to be Thirteen and All Might, who's this loser?"
The third member of the Shooting Squad, a large, muscular man with white horns and a strange gas mask stepped forward. "I think I've seen him before, Meduza, dunno what his quirk is though."
Finger Guns aimed his hands at Aizawa, grinning. "I don't give a damn about his quirk, Lighthorn. He's gonna be a dead loser, soon. FIRE!"
Meduza raised her palms, plasma gathering as her dreadlocks began to float. Next to her, Lighthorn clenched his fist as the two barrels in the mouthpiece of his gas mask began to glow.
Aizawa's eyes glowed red beneath his goggles, his hair floating around his face.
Finger Guns' barrels clicked uselessly, Meduza's hair fell limp, the light from Lighthorn's gas mask barrels faded away.
"Wha, my quirk's not workin!" Finger Guns looked down at his hands.
The two ends of Aizawa's capture scarf shot out, one wrapping up Meduza and Finger Guns, the other binding the far heavier Lighthorn.
The three villains were lifted into the air, the scarf twisting in on itself and slamming their heads together.
Aizawa landed in the middle of the other villains, the shooting squad falling to the ground unconscious.
"What the hell was that?"
"You idiot, that's Eraserhead." Said a villain with bandages wrapped around his head. "He can erase the quirks of anyone he looks at!"
A villain with four arms and rock-like complexion tilted his masked head. "Erase, you say, Azubaz?"
Aizawa looked to the four-armed villain.
"Stonehenge, don't try it!" Azubaz warned.
Stonehenge ignored the call of his fellow villain, charging at Aizawa. "Let's see if that trick works against us with a Mutant-class quirk!"
Aizawa glared at Stonehenge. "No, it doesn't. It only works against Emitter or Transformation-types, or active parts of a Mutant-type quirk."
The capture scarf lashed out, wrapping up Stonehenge and lifting him into the air.
"However. Statistically, mutant quirks tend to focus on close-quarters."
Aizawa pivoted on one foot, pulling on his scarf to slam Stonehenge into two other villains, one with gorilla arms and the other with a snail head and metal claws for hands.
"Which is why I have countermeasures for you and your quirk." Aizawa recalled his scarf, staring down the circle of villains that surrounded him, weighing up his options.
Shigaraki watched the fight from a distance, scratching at his neck. "His hand-to-hand combat is impressive, with those goggles of his making it hard to see who's quirk he's cancelling, no wonder he's tearing through the fodder like this."
One of the villains, with prehensile hair, gasped as her quirk vanished, before a kick from Eraserhead sent her flying.
"I hate Pro Heroes, ordinary people don't stand a chance against them." Shigiraki glared at Aizawa.
Aizawa's scarf shot out, wrapping up a worm-like villain, yanking him towards the hero and punching him in the chest.
A villain, covered in teal-coloured bonemold armor, charged at Aizawa, forcing him to use his scarf to pull himself out of the way.
"You can call me Kalzium." The villain's voice was muffled under his bonemold helmet.
"I don't care." Aizawa launched a kick at Kalzium.
The villain blocked Aizawa's leg with his armored forearm, forcing the hero backwards.
"You'll regret disrespecting me, hero!" Kalzium grew spikes on his armoured hands and forearms.
Aizawa's eyes flashed red under his goggles, the bonemold armor falling away from Kalzium.
The trap was sprung.
A blue, one-eyed villain with large horns charged at Aizawa's back.
In one fluid motion, Aizawa sent his scarf out to bind the cyclops, adding to his momentum with a pull and stepping to the side, allowing him to crash into Kalzium.
Izuku watched as his homeroom teacher launched himself back into the fray, the rest of his class racing towards the exit.
Eraserhead is good, but I can already see him slowing down, just slightly. He can't go on forever, he's unsuited to one-versus-many fights, no matter how many tricks he has up his sleeve.
"Midoriya!"
Izuku's foot lifted off the ground, he wasn't thinking, he was just moving.
"Class Representative!"
Iida's shout broke Izuku's focus, making him look at the taller boy.
"The class needs you."
I'm sorry, Mr. Aizawa.
Izuku sighed, before nodding. "You're right, let's go."
Iida and Izuku turned, running after their classmates, the former using his engines, the latter tapping into his new speed quirk. They quickly caught up, Izuku trailing a few seconds behind Iida, both of them slowing to jog alongside Uraraka and Sero.
Further up, Mikumo looked across to Hatsume, her pink dreadlocks bouncing with every footfall.
"We need to deploy!" Mikumo called.
Hatsume glanced at her partner, the large case still on her back. "Alright, this is the ultimate field test for our baby!"
"Hatsume, we're running away from the villains, not fighting them." Mikumo fell back, lining up behind the pink-haired girl. "Authorisation Code: Alpha-1986, Configuration A, In-Motion Deployment."
A light on the case flashed, before a panel opened up.
Two metal devices shot out of the case, hitting the ground in front of Mikumo and opening up, allowing him to slip his feet into them as he ran. The metal panels wrapped around the boy's lower legs, forming a set of boots with repulsor soles.
His footsteps now heavy and metallic, Mikumo pushed himself forwards, placing both hands inside the case.
Like his prototype gauntlets, titanium alloy plates arranged themselves around his forearms, creating his gauntlets. Finally, a chestplate shot out of the case, hitting Mikumo's chest and securing itself, panels sliding together to form light back armor.
The whole process took less than fifteen seconds.
A soft, mechanical voice spoke in Mikumo's ear.
"SHTR system online. Model Alpha-I ready for use."
"We're going to have to drop the deployment speed for the chestplate." Mikumo winced. "That's going to hurt in the morning."
"Wimp." Hatsume replied.
Mikumo rolled his eyes. "Just a beacon of support, aren't you?"
"Yep."
Suddenly, purple mist appeared in front of the doors, blocking their exit.
The yellow eyes glowing from within the mist. "Greetings, I am Kurogiri, we are the League of Villains, and I'm afraid we can't allow you to leave."
The class came to a screeching halt, Thirteen prepared to use their quirk.
"Forgive our audacity, but-"
"Shut the fuck up, misty fucker!"
Bakugo launched himself at Kurogiri, forcing Thirteen to stop their quirk.
"Bakugo! Stop!"
A massive explosion engulfed Kurogiri, blocking him from the view of the class.
The dust began to clear, Bakugo was standing, breathing heavy, glaring at Kurogiri.
"Impressive, just a student and you actually got close to hurting me." Kurogiri reformed. "I guess that's to be expected from the best of the best."
Bakugo growled. "You're not going to get a chance to kill All Might, I'll take you fuckers down myself!"
Thirteen called out. "Bakugo, get back!"
Kurogiri laughed, before swelling in size.
"Begone, hero brats."
The purple mist engulfed the students, swallowing them up.
"Writhe in torment, until you breathe your last."
The number you have called cannot be reached at the moment. Please try again later.
Toshinori sighed, lowering the phone from his ear.
That was the fourth time he'd tried to call Aizawa, as well as the three attempts he'd made at contacting Thirteen.
"They may have had good reasons, but my actions this morning were foolish." Toshinori sighed. "I put hero work ahead of my teaching, but maybe I can show up at the end…"
Toshinori trailed off.
No, that does it!
Toshinori stood, his body swelling as he assumed his muscular form.
"Hold on."
The door to the staff room opened.
"Am I a mouse? A bear? A dog? Who knows! All you need to know is I'm the principal!"
"Nedzu!"
Turning his head, Toshinori took in the sight of Nedzu, as well as a tall, green and yellow-haired man standing behind him.
Toshinori barely managed to stop himself from vomiting blood as he suddenly deflated in shock.
"M-Mirai?"
The tall man pushed his glasses up his nose, his eyes glinting dangerously. "Hello, Toshinori."
Toshinori gulped.
Momo hit the ground hard, followed by the sound of two more bodies landing next to her.
Pushing herself up, Momo looked to see she was with Jiro and Kaminari. They had been warped to the Mountain Zone, judging by their surroundings.
Kaminari stood. "We're still in the USJ, aren't we?"
Momo nodded, helping Jiro to her feet.
"Are you okay, Jiro?" Momo asked.
Jiro nodded. "I'm fine, I just landed a bit funny, that's all."
"Can you fight?"
Jiro placed her foot down, testing it.
"Yeah, I can. But I could do with a weapon."
Momo held out her arm, the hilt of a sword appearing from her wrist.
"Thanks." Jiro pulled on the hilt, drawing the sword from Momo, before testing its weight.
"Can I get one of those?" Kaminari gave a thumbs up.
"Can't you just shock any villains?" Jiro questioned, as she tested the weight of the sword.
Kaminari raised an eyebrow. "Weren't you paying attention during the battle trial? I can charge my body up with electricity, but if I discharge it I can't control it, like Todoroki's ice."
"Kaminari, use this."
Momo's skin lit up, a katana protruding from her shoulder, which she then held out to Kaminari.
"A katana?" Kaminari wondered as he took the blade.
Momo smiled. "Like you said your quirk only allows you to charge your body with electricity, not discharge in a targeted manner."
Kaminari nodded in agreement.
"That's why you used Mineta's spheres to conduct your electricity into Jiro and Iida. That weapon, its hilt is partially metal, connected to the rest of the blade."
Kaminari realised what Momo was staying, grinning as he did. "Awesome, nice idea, Vice Rep!"
"There they are!"
The three heroes-in-training turned to see a crowd of villains coming for them, thirty-five by Momo's quick count.
Momo held out her hand, creating a staff, gripping it tightly as she steeled herself, getting ready to fight.
"They're just three kids, we can fucking take them." One of the villains said, his lips entirely made of metal, holding a spiked club in one hand, a knife in the other.
The villain charged directly at Momo, prompting more to swamp Jiro and Kaminari.
Ducking a swing of the spiked club, Momo spun her staff around, bringing it down on the villain's wrist.
The villain dropped the club, recoiling.
"Shit, you fucking b-"
Momo smacked the villain in the face with the end of her staff before he could finish his sentence, before kicking him in the chest, sending him flying back.
"Nospe!"
Another villain, a long, wide buster sword strapped to his back moved to help Nospe up.
"I'm fine, Halz." Nospe pressed his hand to Halz's shoulder, his hand glowing red.
Nospe pressed his metal lips together, forming a thin slot.
The slot whirred, before a lifesize 2D version of Halz was printed from it, holding a similarly 2D copy of his sword.
Nospe grinned as both Halz and Paper-Halz advanced on Yaoyorozu.
Yaoyorozu flicked her wrist, creating two kunai, both of them rocketed at Paper-Halz.
The photocopy knocked one kunai away with his sword, the other ripping through his shoulder, leaving a tear.
Halz swung his sword at Yaoyorozu. The teen dodged to one side, Halz's weapon cracking the ground, the force augmented by his strength quirk. Yaoyorozu recovered herself, before jamming a taser she'd created into the villain's neck, taking him out of the fight.
Paper-Halz launched himself at Yaoyorozu, who quickly ducked to one side and swung her staff, crumpling his sword. Tossing the ruined weapon away, Paper-Halz swung a fist at Yaoyorozu.
Yaoyorozu didn't move, the punch hitting her shoulder, leaving a long, shallow papercut.
Nospe laughed. "That was a mistake, girly."
Yaoyorozu smiled. "No, it wasn't."
Fire engulfed Paper-Halz's arm, a lighter in Yaoyorozu's hand.
The photocopy stumbled away, the photocopy was swallowed by the flames.
Nospe glared at the dark-haired girl. "No matter, I can make him again."
Another Paper-Halz was created, stalking towards Yaoyorozu.
Yaoyorozu's thigh began to glow, before a large flamethrower was created from it.
Grabbing the flamethrower, Yaoyorozu raised it and fired, burning Paper-Halz to a crisp.
"No. No. No!"
Nospe created another photocopy.
Yaoyorozu burnt it.
"No!"
Photocopy after photocopy was created, burning up in seconds as Yaoyorozu slowly approached Nospe.
Stepping over the ashes of another photocopy, Yaoyorozu slammed the side of the flamethrower into Nospe's temple, knocking him out. Dropping the spent weapon, Yaoyorozu turned to take stock of the battlefield, only for a brown-haired villain to charge at her, hands raised.
Dust fired from the villain's palm, enveloping Yaoyorozu and leaving her unable to see her surroundings.
Suddenly, the dust began to explode like firecrackers, leaving Yaoyorozu disorientated.
A fist struck the teen across the jaw, sending her sprawling.
The villain loomed out of the dust, holding his palm out, ready to fire again.
A wave of sound blasted the dust away, slamming into the villain and exploding.
The ear jacks disconnected from Jiro's amplifier boots as she held a hand out to Yaoyorozu. "Need a hand?"
Yaoyorozu allowed Jiro to pull her up. "Thanks for the save."
A villain with pale green skin rocketed towards Jiro's back, propelled by a mini-cyclone in the palm of each hand. Before the villain could reach his target five long, steel spikes shot out of Yaoyorozu's palm, pinning the villain to the rock wall.
Jiro smiled. "Thanks, Yaomomo."
"That one is catching on, isn't it."
"You can blame Ashido and Uraraka for that." Jiro fired another sound wave at another villain, with the body of an iguana, slamming him into the rock wall.
The two heroes-in-training split apart, Momo launching herself at a large villain, wearing clothes of dark red fur, while Jiro engaged a villain wearing a grey trenchcoat.
Jiro ducked the swing of Trenchcoat's sickle, firing a pulse from her left boot, knocking the weapon from the villain's hand. A pink-skinned villain dived in, slicing his knife towards Jiro. The purple-haired girl disconnected one of her jacks and wrapped it around the pink villain's wrist, squeezing tight and forcing him to drop the weapon.
The pink villain grabbed Jiro's wrist, holding her in place, leering at her.
"Cickle, get her, now!"
Trenchcoat had retrieved his sickle, swinging it at Jiro. Kaminari was suddenly in the way, blocking the sickle with his katana.
"Looks like somebody's in for the shock of lifetime. Indiscriminate Shock, 100,000 Volts!"
Both Kaminari and the katana lit up with electricity, through the sickle and into Trenchcoat.
"That was a terrible one-liner." Jiro sighed as she slammed a fist into the pink villain's temple, knocking him out.
Kaminari shrugged. "I thought it was pretty good."
"It s-sucked." Trenchcoat gasped, before collapsing.
A toad-like villain jumped at Kaminari, from all fours, his strong legs giving him the momentum to slam into the electric teen, the katana falling from his grip.
"I'm gonna enjoy this." The toad villain's tongue shot out, wrapping around Kaminari's neck, choking him.
Kaminari grinned, making the villain nervous. "Do you know what happens to a toad when it's electrocuted?"
The toad villain frowned.
"The same thing that happens to everything else."
Kaminari lit up with electricity, shocking the villain and forcing him to release him.
Pushing the unconscious villain of him, Kaminari retrieved his katana and stood.
"I've always wanted to use that line."
A red-haired villain suddenly swung a fist at Kaminari, sending him stumbling back.
Readying himself, Kaminari raised his katana and charged it, as well as himself, with electricity.
"Burn, kid." The villain grinned. "Sc o rch!"
The second the 'o' sound left the villain's lips a cone of fire burst from his mouth. Kaminari raised his arm to protect himself, the heat singeing his costume.
As the fire burnt out, Kaminari yelped and dropped the katana, glancing down to see it was a puddle of molten metal on the ground.
"Fuckin' burn, y o u brat!"
Dodging another burst of fire, Kaminari came face-to-face with a massive villain, twice his height, wearing a silver helmet, bearing down on him.
Kaminari screamed, before ducking a swing of Silver Helmet's huge fist, turning on his heels and running towards Jiro and Momo.
"Have you seen this guy, I seriously think I just saw the River Styx!"
Jiro blocked the sword of the iguana villain with her own, before kicking him away, while Momo batted away a villain's arm, in the form of a large spike, with her staff. The blue-skinned man stabbed his other three arms at Momo, forcing her to take a step back to avoid being impaled.
Kaminari rejoined Jiro and Momo. "These guys are crazy!"
"Worry about that later." Jiro replied, the three teens regrouping as the villains did the same. "Right now we need to figure out how to get away from these villains, we can't win, they're just toying with us."
Kaminari turned to look at Momo. "A villain melted my sword, could you make me one again?"
Jiro spoke before Momo could react.
"You're the electric guy, right? Just get up close and shock them with your quirk."
Kaminari shook his head, starting to panic. "I can't discharge with any sort of aim, I'd fry you two as well! It's like Todoroki's quirk! And I can't even call for help thanks to whichever one of these villains is jamming communications! Right now, you two just can't rely on me!"
Jiro rolled her eyes. "Stop whining. You should have asked for something to aim your quirk with when you asked for your costume."
Silver Helmet charged again, forcing Kaminari to jump back.
"Kaminari, charge up your body!" Jiro planted a foot in the small of Kaminari's back and pushed.
Yelling in fear, Kaminari flooded his body with electricity just as he stumbled into the large villain, lighting both him and the flame villain next to him up with yellow energy.
Kaminari turned his head to look at Jiro. "Look, it's working! I'm strong, you two can count on me!"
Jiro sighed. "You are way too happy-go-lucky."
"Stop messing around, kid!"
A villain with a yellow jumpsuit and white visor charged at Jiro, his right arm a long, black cable, at its end was a number of rocks, fused together into a single boulder.
With an overarm swing, the stone villain brought the boulder down towards Jiro.
Without even blinking, Jiro plugged both her jacks into her boots, firing a continuous blast that obliterated the boulder back into its individual parts and fired them back at the stone villain.
"What the- oof!"
The stones smashed into the villain's gut, dropping him to the ground.
"You say your quirk is strong."
A deep voice caught Kaminari's attention, turning his head to see a tall, thin villain, wearing metal gauntlets.
"Then why don't you try using it on me!"
The villain flexed his thin arms.
"That's Yowai Armstrong! The Stretch-Arm Villain! Don't run in fear yet, you're facing the technique that's been passed down in my family for generations!"
The villain released a mighty yell as his arm stretched, his metal-covered fist weakly hitting Kaminari in the face.
Yowai Armstong yelled out in pain as his body was filled with electricity, unable to pull his hand away.
A villain in a grey boar mask jumped over the mass of his electrified comrades, a knife in each hand.
Momo flicked her arm, a capture net firing from it and wrapping up the boar villain, his loss of momentum dropping him into Kaminari's electrification effect.
"Both of you should be taking this more seriously." Momo returned her staff to a two-handed grip.
"Sorry, I thought it was a good idea at the time." Jiro said, her tone almost bashful.
At the same time, Kaminari's quirk gave out, the yellow energy dissipating, the four villains caught in its effect crumpling to the ground, their bodies smoking.
Jiro activated her quirk again, her boots firing the amplified sound of her heartbeat at the villains, the sound waves crashing over five villains.
They screamed, covering their ears.
A villain with a white mask and long, black hair jumped down from the cliff above Jiro, a tomahawk in each of his hands.
Jiro dodged, freeing the villains from her sound waves. Before the villain could swing again Momo delivered a double-footed kick to his chest, slamming him back against the rock wall.
Momo landed. "It's done."
Jiro looked to her classmate. "What's done?"
"This."
A large, white blanket burst from Momo's back, tearing a hole in her costume as it unfolded and landed on top of herself and Jiro.
"Larger creations take more time." Momo explained, before peeking out of the blanket. "Kaminari, this blanket is an insulation sheet a hundred millimeters thick."
Kaminari grinned, giving the dark-haired girl a double thumbs up. "I see."
Electricity sparked through Kaminari.
"In that case, I can go all out! Indiscriminate Shock, 1.3 Million Volts!"
Yellow energy burst from Kaminari's body, jumping from villain to villain in less time than it took to blink.
After ten, long seconds the lightning ceased, leaving every villain smoking and shocked.
One by one the villains collapsed, until only Kaminari was standing.
Momo raised the blanket to look out, seeing they had won. "We should join the others as quickly as we can, I fear they could be in grave danger."
"Yaomomo, your costume!" Jiro pointed to the dark-haired girl.
Momo examined her outfit, the back had ripped open, but thanks to the added support of the zipper it had stayed together, replacing it would have cost a portion of her lipid stores she didn't really have to spare.
"It's fine, Jiro." Momo smiled, before throwing the blanket aside. "Kaminari, are you okay?"
The teen in question had moved, his hands still giving thumbs up, his expression vacant.
"He must have overloaded himself or something." Jiro offered in explanation.
"Hello? Hello? Kaminari, can you hear me?"
Jiro frowned. "Is that-"
"Izuku." Momo reached out, taking the communication device from Kaminari's ear, placing it on her own.
"Momo, it's great to hear your voice."
The dark-haired girl blushed slightly. "Likewise, Shacho, are you uninjured?"
"I'm fine, I'm with Asui, I mean Tsu, and Mineta in the flood zone, they're fine as well."
Jiro's lips pressed into a thin line.
"I actually could do with a favour, Fukushacho."
The purple-haired girl rolled her eyes. "God, you two are such a couple."
"W-What, no, no, I mean-"
"A-A C-C-Coup-ple?!"
Jiro grinned, she could actually picture Izuku's blush, idly wondering if his cheeks might actually set on fire.
The two teens eventually recovered from the heart attacks Jiro had given them.
Momo spoke, unable to stop her blush. "What was it you wanted, Midoriya?"
"A-Ah, right, Yaoyorozu, I need the chemical formula and structure for Disperse Red 9."
"Disperse Red 9?"
"Y-Yeah, it's a dye."
Momo frowned, before taking the dictionary from her belt, opening it and flicking through.
"Here it is. Disperse Red 9, chemical name 1-methylamino anthraquinone, chemical formula C 15 H 11 NO 2 ."
"Thanks, Momo."
"You are welcome, Izuku. We've taken out the villains in our area, we'll come to you."
"O-Okay, see you soon."
"That you shall." Momo lowered the communication device as the line went dead.
"Drop that, or your friend fries."
Momo and Jiro turned around to see a tall, muscular villain in a white skull mask holding a still dazed Kaminari in the air with one hand, electricity sparking in the other.
"Hands up, and no using your quirks."
Both Momo and Jiro hesitated.
The villain's hand sparked again. "Do it, or else your friend dies."
Kaminari's distant expression suddenly became very worried.
"He got us, we completely let our guard down." Jiro said. "An ambush after we thought we got them all, I should have seen this coming."
The two teens followed the instruction, raising their hands, the communication device still in one of Momo's hands.
"I told you to drop that." The villain warned.
Momo let the device fall to the ground.
"Now kick it to me."
The dark-haired girl did just that, the communication device coming to a halt at the villain's feet.
An armoured boot slammed down on the transceiver, turning it to scrap. "Good, we can't have you calling your boyfriend again."
Momo resisted the urge to reply.
The villain spoke again. "I don't want to kill an electric type like me, but I guess I'll have to."
"Electric type, you must be the one jamming communications."
"Right you are, ponytail." The electric villain began to walk towards the two heroes-in-training.
Jiro glanced down, before speaking. "You and Kaminari are a couple of born winners then, aren't you?"
"Huh?" The villain stopped in his tracks.
Momo looked across, worried at what the other girl might say next, before spotting an ear jack creeping down Jiro's back.
"Well, even if you weren't a hero, there's plenty of industries that would be clamouring for you. You'd be in high demand, it's just a thought I had."
Jiro paused.
"I was just wondering, why would someone with a quirk like yours would become a villain?"
The villain's hand sparked again. "Stop that, or I fry the kid."
Jiro froze.
"Did ya think I wouldn't notice?"
The ear jack returned to its normal position.
"If you don't resist, I'll let this kid live." The villain began to walk towards them again. "If you do, I'll fry him and then you."
Momo steeled herself. "Do it."
The villain stopped mid-step. "What?"
"Do it." Momo ignored the look of betrayal in her classmates' eyes. "Fry him."
"Fine, but his blood is on your hands."
The villain pressed his hand to Kaminari's chest, flooding the blond teen's body with electricity.
"FRY, KID!"
After a few seconds the attack ended, Kaminari's clothes looked a little singed, but his dazed expression was gone, his body crackling with lightning.
"Kaminari, use your quirk!" Momo snatched up the discarded insulation sheet and pulled over her and Jiro.
"Right, have a taste of your own medicine, Skullface! Indiscriminate Discharge, 800,000 Volts!"
Electricity burst from Kaminari's body, making the villain spasm and drop him.
The villain grunted as the attack ended, before keeling over backwards.
"Woah, Yaoyorozu, how did you know his quirk wouldn't kill me?" Kaminari asked as Momo and Jiro climbed out from under the sheet.
Momo smiled. "You must have some kind of immunity to electricity since you charge your entire body. It was clear he didn't have any immunity since he assumed you didn't as well."
"Nice idea, Yaoyorozu!" Kaminari smiled and gave her a thumbs up.
A massive burst of wind blew through the area, the scattered, unconscious villains suddenly piled up not far from the three teens.
"We're saved!" Kaminari exclaimed, throwing his arm up into the air. "That was totally All Might!"
Momo and Jiro breathed a sigh of relief.