U.A. High School, Principal's Office.
No. 3 Hero Hawks explained why he was at U.A. He was tracking that hawk.
According to the Hero Association's investigation, there was a high chance the bird was the second animal in the world to awaken a Quirk after Principal Nezu. It had a similar past to Nezu too. As a highly intelligent animal, it had been abused and hunted by humans.
Principal Nezu's story was pretty inspiring. He became a principal with his High Spec Quirk.
But this hawk was a completely different story.
Before Hawks even went after it, the bird had already used its Quirk to kill dozens of people. Later investigations showed those people were all illegal hunters, and the hawk had probably been captured by them in the past.
Before Hawks, other heroes had tried to catch it too. None succeeded. Some got hurt. In worse cases, their whole hero careers got ended.
The Hero Association rated its strength at around a No. 15 level Hero.
The reason they hadn't gone public with this yet was that animals with Quirks were extremely rare. Over several decades, only Principal Nezu had shown up. If the news leaked, everyone would try to grab it, and villains might exploit it too.
So the Hero Association trusted Hawks, with his flying ability, to capture it secretly.
"That's why I need everyone at U.A. who saw it today to keep quiet," Hawks explained.
"Got it. I'll make sure they don't talk," Shota Aizawa squinted and muttered. "But I never thought something like this would show up after all these years."
"Then I'm out." Hawks didn't stick around. He turned and left. He still had to figure out how to catch that fierce bird.
Another animal with an awakened Quirk had appeared. Even as one of the fastest flying hero in the world, the No. 3 Hero Hawks felt the pressure. He'd seen that hawk weave through countless cars on the road with his own eyes. Its speed, agility, and ferocity were just better than a shark cruising through the ocean.
After Shota Aizawa got back to the classroom, he immediately told Class A not to talk about the bird.
That same evening, Arthur used the Yaoyorozu family's intelligence network to search for the bird's location. He had to find it.
A few days later.
The students of Class A were riding on a bus, heading to the USJ indoor training facility. Same place where Arthur, Shoto Todoroki, and the other special admission students had their test. This was the second time the whole class had put on their hero costumes since All Might's combat training class a few days ago.
"Momo, your boyfriend seems pretty happy today." Mina Ashido nudged Momo's arm with her elbow and whispered in her ear.
Momo glanced over and saw Arthur sitting in a single seat on the right side of the bus. Inasa was, as always, loudly chatting with him and the other students nearby. But Arthur, unlike usual, didn't look annoyed after Inasa's loud comments. Instead, he had a small smile and was resting with his eyes closed.
"Why is that...?" Momo couldn't figure it out. A few seconds later, she suddenly reacted and blushed, denying it. "No, that's not it! Ashido, don't talk nonsense!"
"Hehehe~?" Mina and the other girls gave her playful, teasing grins, totally unaware of the danger coming.
USJ Indoor Simulated Accident Training Ground.
All Might, who was supposed to lead the hero class, hadn't arrived. Instead, it was Thirteen, wearing a spacesuit, with an age and gender nobody could tell.
"All Might has something urgent to handle, so he'll be a little late," Thirteen explained.
"Space Hero Thirteen!" Just like when he'd freaked out over Hawks a few days ago, Izuku Midoriya excitedly shouted like a walking encyclopedia. "A hero who's shown incredible performance at disaster relief sites!"
"Wow! I love Space Hero Thirteen!" Ochaco Uraraka excitedly clenched her fists.
Without anyone noticing, Thirteen signaled Shota Aizawa. After a quick self-introduction, he led all of Class A into the USJ training room.
"Oh, oh, oh! Isn't this the place from our special entrance exam?" Inasa shouted excitedly.
"Unlike All Might's combat training class last time, today I'm going to teach you how to use your Quirks to save others. Your power doesn't exist to hurt people. It exists to save them. I hope after this class, you'll understand that."
Thirteen's standard hero speech made the pure-hearted kids like Izuku and Ochaco's eyes light up with wonder.
Normally, Arthur might have jokingly shot back with something like, "If there were no villains, why would we need heroes?" But right now, he wasn't in the mood for that.
"Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on..." Arthur kept repeating those words in his head.
Thump.
Just as Thirteen was about to officially lead everyone into the center of the training room, the ceiling lights suddenly shut off automatically. The fountains, electrical appliances, and other running stuff around them also stopped.
And right in front of the fountain, in the very middle of the venue, a black and purple spatial vortex appeared out of nowhere, expanding into a door.
Shota Aizawa's expression changed. He didn't notice the flash of excitement on Arthur's face standing next to him. He rushed to the front of the group as fast as he could, turned his back, and shouted, "Thirteen! Protect the students! Everyone group up and don't scatter!"
Aizawa's attitude made everyone get serious. This time... it didn't feel like some planned surprise test.
A pair of eyes appeared from the black shadow gate, and a voice that could've been male or female said, "Eraser Head... and Thirteen?" Mid-sentence, the shadow's tone got confused. "What's going on? According to the schedule I got a few days ago, All Might should be here too."
"Did these guys cause that alarm earlier?" Shota Aizawa said warily, tearing off the special bandages wrapped around his neck. Even he couldn't imagine villains would just walk straight into U.A.
As the shadow spread, villains emerged one by one, all wearing twisted, excited expressions like they had some grudge and came for payback.
"Oh, oh?~ I see some familiar faces. You guys here to thank me?" Arthur stepped forward, faking a surprised tone, and shouted from his spot on the steps.
The few who just looked up saw Arthur and their faces completely changed.
"W-why is this guy here!?"
"He's a U.A. student too!?"
"No way! How did U.A. accept such a messed up kid!"
Looking at the terrified villains, Shota Aizawa and the rest of Class 1-A all stared at Arthur with confused looks. Only Momo Yaoyorozu secretly turned her head away, totally embarrassed. She recognized those guys below. They were the delinquents Arthur had dealt with ten months ago during their first "training" outing.
"You idiots, what are you scared of!?" A villain who hadn't seen Arthur before stepped out from behind. "Our target is All Might! What's a kid like that even matter?"
"B-but, but, but, that guy..."
Over a hundred villains came out of the black shadow at once. About a third of them had been beaten down by Arthur and Momo before. Remembering how they got nearly killed last time, those guys had already backed off.
Bang!
Suddenly, at a speed too fast to see, three cowardly enemies who Arthur had used to train Momo got sent flying hundreds of meters away.
Right after that, a monster slowly emerged from the shadows. It wore a mask, had a beak like a parrot, and its muscular build was no joke compared to All Might. Its brain was visible through a clear dome on its head. Shota Aizawa's expression got even more serious as he watched. "What the hell? I didn't even see that guy's speed just now."
"Useless bunch. Getting scared of some brats. How are you supposed to handle All Might then...?" The last one to come out of the portal was Shigaraki Tomura. He was scratching his neck, shaking his head, and said in a hoarse, crazy voice, "Don't embarrass the League of Villains, you idiots!!"
Shota Aizawa tightened his grip on his capture weapon. So that's the main force?
Clap! Clap!
Then the sound of applause from the side made Aizawa look over again.
"Okay, okay, okay! Nice work. Congrats on showing up. Your timing's perfect." Arthur's expression and words stunned everyone from U.A. Why did he seem happy at a time like this?
"I wouldn't mind sitting down and having a drink with you all, but I'm not in the mood. And you're probably worried about other U.A. heroes showing up, right?" Arthur spread his hands, grinning. "Come on, the heroes are right here. Hurry up before All Might gets here. Let's go."
"What's with that guy...?" Shigaraki Tomura said coldly. "I don't know why, but just looking at him pisses me off."
"Arthur. He's a key observation target from the mission briefing." After releasing Shigaraki and Nomu, Kurogiri returned to his human form and whispered to Shigaraki. "Be careful. According to our intel, he's different from normal students. He already has a ton of combat experience."
"Don't do anything stupid, Arthur!" Shota Aizawa put out a hand to block him. "Leave with the other students at full speed and get the other teachers for backup!"
Izuku Midoriya shouted anxiously, "Is sensei really going to fight that many villains alone? Even if he can erase Quirks, with that many..."
"A one-trick pony who can't do anything else won't become a hero!" Aizawa cut him off, bent his knees, and leaped straight into the middle of the enemy ranks like a ninja.
Boom!!
Responding to its master's call, [The World] instantly appeared next to Arthur.
"Arthur, you're going to fight?" Momo instantly understood what he was planning.
"The guy covered in hands, the one with the beak and sunken cheeks, and the mist guy. Just avoid those three, and you'll be fine," Arthur said to Momo with his back to her, then instantly appeared right in front of Shigaraki Tomura.
"Hey." Arthur's smile showed undisguised killing intent. He grinned and said, "Come at me like you're actually trying to kill me. If you don't have that kind of resolve, I'll kill all of you."
Is this guy seriously trying to be a hero? Shigaraki thought to himself, a dangerous, crazy grin spreading on his lips. "Ah you're right. From the first time I saw you, you've really pissed me off."
...
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