Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Normal talking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Thinking: 'Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!'

Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

All Might Speaking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

All Might Thinking: ‘Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!’

All Might Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

Sound Effects: *BLAM!*

AIs/Computers: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Speaking Another Language: {"Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"}

Tokyo was on fire. A massive monster, a red lizard creature with horns and fiery breath was raining destruction down upon the people fleeing. A shaky phone camera captured the beast as it spat a massive fireball at a helicopter before switching to footage from a news copter.

It turned to the fleeing civilians and raised its head high into the sky to unleash a massive roar to the heavens.

“GRAAAAAAAAAAWGH!!”

The beast turned to attack the nearest office building, but before it could, the lizard vanished, and in its place were five floating metal eyes, each one the size of an SUV and placed where its limbs and tail should have been. The four that behaved like talons had massive metal blades on the underside while the "tail" was covered in spiked armor. High above them all, where the head should have been was a similar orb, only this one had a pair of mechanical jaws and plasma cannons. Piloting the vehicle was a curious figure. It was a man, in a scaly green suit, boxy brass colored gauntlets and boots, a purple cape with eye clasps, and an opaque acrylic dome helmet.

Within the dome, the figure was panicking, pressing switches and buttons in a panic.

{Whoops, looks like ol’ Mysty’s having technical difficulties!} a cheerful voice spoke in English, the speaker emerging into view. He was a man in red & blue spandex with a web design and silver tear-drop shaped eyepieces, and hanging from his shoulder was a boxy device on a strap, an adhesive label marked SPIDEY'S JAMMING DEVICE helpfully explaining what it was.

The hero, Spider-Man, turned to the News camera. As he spoke, a translation appeared in the news feed.

{Don’t worry about Mysterio here, your friendly neighborhood Spider-man, on loan from good ol’ New York city, can handle this!}

With a salute and a distinct sounding *thwip!* from his webshooters, the man swung off the copter to fight the villain.

The video continued playing on loop in the background, not that anyone was really paying attention to it. The children near it were too busy focusing on their tour guide, to watch the footage.

“-and while the masked hero Spider-man, real name Peter Parker, fought many Japan-based villains back in the pre-quirk era such as Dakon and the Silver Samurai, his confrontation with the Quirkless supervillain Mysterio, real name Quentin Beck, remains among the most well remembered for the scope of the battle and for being the last time the two clashed before Beck died of brain and lung cancer.”

The museum tour guide recited the speech with mildly bored disinterest, as she had repeated it to plenty of other tour groups before, probably hundreds of times.

The children were still enraptured by the story though. After all, in a world where everyone was born with powers, hearing about how a young man got his by mere happenstance was fascinating. After all, if a quirkless boy could get his powers through radiation and a spider, why couldn’t it happen again?

This point of fact was especially noteworthy to a young 7-year old boy with red shoes and green tinted black hair, young Izuku Midoriya. The boy listened in awe at the tour guide’s words. Hearing the exploits of one of the men who laid the foundation for the world he lived in was inspiring. Especially with the news he had been hit with at the doctor’s office… three years ago?

Had it really been that long?

Three years since that appointment with Dr. Tsubasa?

Three years since he was diagnosed as Quirkless?

Three years that doctor said he couldn’t be a hero because of it?

Midoriya forced those thoughts out of his head. He may have been born Quirkless, but there must have been a way he could get a Quirk! That’s why he was here on this school trip. To learn about Spider-man, and see if there was any new information he could get about how he got his quirk.

“And here, we have the original pod used in the villain attack.”

Pulled from his thoughts, Midoriya looked up at the next exhibit. Once upon a time, this machine was an advanced vehicle from which a Quirkless man brought Japan to its knees. And even though there was a chunk of the side missing and the plexiglass was shattered, it was still an impressive vehicle.

“Stupid vehicle! Looks like that dumb bubble-face ripped off Dr. Eggman!”

At least, to most people.

The derisive comment was spoken aloud by a boy with ashy blonde hair and a confident smirk. Katsuki Bakugou, preening from the snickers from his classmates, smirked as the tour guide continued on as if he had not shouted.

“I-I think it’s cool…”

Midoriya had spoken before he could stop himself. Bakugo looked over with a sour look marring his face.

“What’d ya say, Deku??”

Ah yes, deku, Bakugo’s favorite insult to Midoriya ever since he learned that his once best friend was quirkless. Midoriya idly wondered if Bakugo came up with it as a response to his own nickname of Kacchan, or if he would ever get sick of deku, but kept those thoughts silent. Instead, he turned to respond to the boy and explain himself.

“We-well, Mysterio, a quirkless guy, was able to do a lot just with some technology, smoke and mirrors, and-”

“He still got his ass whooped in less than three minutes by Spider-man!” Bakugo interrupted, keeping his voice quiet.

“B-but if a quirkless man could keep someone like Spider-man at bay with just his brain and gadgets, then maybe I could-”

“Quiet in the back!” their homeroom teacher spoke up. Midoriya fell silent, not able to meet his snickering peers’ eyes. It was always the same. Bakugo would get away with interrupting the lecture, while midoriya was silenced. After all, how could the glory child with the amazing and strong quirk be in trouble? Midoriya knew it was unfair, but he kept silent and his face down. If he hadn’t, he might have noticed the ugly scowl on his ex-best friend’s face.

Not long afterwards, lunch break came. Most of the students were packed in the cafeteria, either eating lunches their parents had packed or overpriced food that was available at the counter. Most of them were, that is. Two students were in the bathroom… and it was not for using the toilets.

“Where do you get off thinking you can be a hero?!” Bakugo snarled, his hands popping with small explosions.

Midoriya was against the wall, shaking as he clutched his open backpack. “What?! I-”

“You’re a quirkless deku! You can’t be a hero! If you tried, you’d be squished like a bug!” Bakugo interrupted, slamming his palm against the tile. With his other hand, he reached into Midoriya’s notebook, filled with childish sketches of gadgets and costumes to help him imitate All Might. “You saw how that Mysterio loser fared against someone with a quirk! His dumb gadgets couldn’t help him for very long, and neither would any help against you!”

“But- I could-!”

“You’re weak deku, useless! And I'll keep reminding you of that until it sticks!”

Bakugo reached for Midoriya’s throat, and at that moment, Midoriya panicked. Instead of taking it like he usually did, Midoriya chose to act. He dodged Bakugo’s hand and barreled past him, his skinny legs running faster than before. He sped out of the bathroom and ran down the hallways. He thought of running to the cafeteria, but Bakugo’s friends, for lack of a better term, would be there to help him hold Midoriya down. So instead he ran back down the hallway the class had just visited.

“Deku!! Get back here!”

Midoriya quickened his pace. But the open layout of the museum, done to show trophies of past hero exploits, offered little in the way of safe havens. Taking momentary shelter behind a statue depicting All Might’s debut to catch his breath, Midoriya glanced around, the gears in his head turning.

Bakugo was approaching fast, so the simulation room was out. The hallway to the next area was too far away. The All Might statue was too big for him to climb. The diorama of Wolverine fighting Silver Samurai wasn’t too far, but one quick look would easily reveal him to Bakugo or his minions. The hologram of Fredzilla’s monster avatar was just out. Same with the mannequin of Sunfire. That only left one place to hide.

Mysterio’s robot kaiju head.

A quick look around showed no one was watching, so young Midoriya ran to the pod, ducking under the stanchion with little effort, and jumped into the cockpit. The inside was spacious, even with the mannequin of Mysterio in the cockpit. The once bright buttons were unlit, a colorful sprawl that once commanded great destruction. Midoriya held his breath, forcing himself to calm down, but upon hearing loud footsteps approach, Midoriya realized his mistake. The pod, left unrepaired, was still missing its side, exposing him to Bakugo, who, by some act of mercy, had yet to notice him.

Quiet as he could, Midoriya slid under the cockpit’s control panel, backing up against the inside of the floor space with his open backpack to his chest when something small bumped up against the back of his head. That sensation gave way to a quiet *click* , followed by a small *thud*. Looking behind him, Midoriya was treated to something he had never expected. A loose panel had fallen in the side wall, and within it was an empty space. Curiosity getting the better of himself, Midoriya quietly moved the panel away.

Behind where the panel once stood was a small cavity of long since rusted wires and cables. Nestled between them was a thick rectangle of sealed plastic. Pulling it out, Midoriya looked over it. It wasn’t heavy by any means, not much heavier than his textbook, in fact. Gently opening the seal, Midoriya pulled out a thick green notebook, well used judging by the scratches on the edge of the cover and faded english text. Confused, Midoriya flipped through it, only to find that all the pages, despite having been bent, torn, and dog-eared through repeated handling, were seemingly blank.

“What in the-” Midoriya muttered, when a massive fist grabbed him and pulled him out screaming. Dropping the notebook, he flailed in panic, only to come face to face with his very angry teacher.

Looking around, Midoriya saw a smirking Bakugo and two security guards glaring at him. Then Midoriya remembered where he was and what he had done in full sight of the building’s security cameras.

“...s… sorry…?” he whimpered.

It took many apologies from his teacher and three weeks of detention, but Midoriya was let off the hook for his transgression… though he was not allowed back at that museum again. Midoriya was just glad that Bakugo was satisfied with what happened and wasn’t going to pursue him again.

That night, his mother Inko Midoriya berated him for his foolishness, and sent him to bed early with no more hero merch purchases for a month. Midoriya was silent throughout it. It had been another bust on his mission. Midoriya was frustrated, and in that frustration he tossed his backpack on the floor with a solid *thud*.

Wait.

Midoriya looked at his backpack again. That wasn’t the right noise. Being that there had been a field trip that day, his backpack only had his hero notebook, pencil case, and an All Might model he had bought at the gift shop. So why did it sound like there was something heavy in there?

Actually, now that he thought about it, his backpack had been heavier than it should have been on the way home. He had been too preoccupied with Kacchan’s words and the anger of his teacher and mother to really think about it, but now that he had…

Midoriya went to his backpack and unzipped it. Inside was what he expected, his pencils, an eraser, some crumbled up scraps of paper, a bent trading card depicting Endeavor’s original outfit, and his two notebooks.

Wait, two? He only had one on him, so where did the other..?

Midoriya froze. The notebook from the exhibit! Security must have thought it was his and put it in his bag! Midoriya took out the notebook, looking it over. ‘It was so weird,’ he thought. ‘The book showed plenty of use, but it was blank from front to back. And yet it had been so well hidden inside that kaiju robot head. Why? And who would put such a thing inside of Mysterio’s -'

Mysterio’s…

Mysterio.

With this revelation, Midoriya began muttering, trying to logically reason out the unexpected circumstances before him.

“Mysterio’s kaiju scheme had been his last major appearance before his death, and the villain was notorious for being motivated by fame and glory. Since he was diagnosed the year prior, Mysterio must have known he was dying. Therefore it stands to reason that he would leave something of his behind.” Midoriya muttered rapidly. “The notebook must be how he wanted to put down his final notes and thoughts, but why leave it blank?” Midoriya sat on his bed, puzzling over the paradox, until he glanced at an old poster of the Fantastic 4. More specifically, he glanced as Susan Storm-Richards. “Unless he didn’t! He must have used invisible ink to hide the writing! It makes sense, it’s an old spy movie cliche, and Mysterio loved old movies like that! But how to make it visible?”

Checking his cell phone, Midoriya looked up ways to detect invisible ink and quickly found one involving heat. Going to the bathroom and grabbing his mother’s hair dryer, Midoriya bolted to his room, plugged the dryer into his wall socket, turned to the open journal…

And paused.

‘This… this isn’t mine.’ he thought. ‘This is museum property, technically. it‘s a part of hero history, I can’t just… ruin it like this! It should be turned in, given to.. to someone! A pro hero, or the police!’

Midoriya bit his lip. Reluctantly, he put the hairdryer away. He was about to close the window on his phone when he spotted a U-tube video.

BLACK-LIGHT DIY FOR CHEAP!!

‘Well… it can’t hurt to at least look… take a few notes. A black-light won’t hurt the book or ruin it, so if I’m careful, it should be okay, right? And, it’s not like the museum was aware of it, anyways.’

It took an old LED flashlight, a blue sharpie, a purple sharpie, and some All Might-endorsed All Stick tape, but Midoriya was able to whip up an improvised black-light. So, under his bed, wearing a cheap painter’s mask and his mom’s dish gloves, Midoriya settled down, and activated the light.

Lo and behold, upon the cover of the notebook (currently resting on a plastic garbage bag) was Mysterio’s infamous eye symbol, gazing upon him as if it had awoken from an ancient slumber. In a way, it had.

Midoriya couldn’t hold back the gasp as his excitement shot up. He was right! It was the late Mysterio’s notebook! Ideas flooded through his head, images of super suits, gauntlets, animatronic monsters at his beck and call, him using the illusions to scare bad guys into surrendering, him commanding a legion of robotic monsters to save children, and him, flying above them on a cloud of smoke, his helmet under his head, laughing in joy to the in awe civilians.

‘Do not fear, for All Mystery is here!’

Midoriya eagerly flipped open the cover and flipped the book open to the first page.

Then to the next page.

And the next.

And three more times, each flip making his smile fade.

In his excitement, Midoriya had forgotten one simple issue with his discovery. One that set back his daydreams by a good amount.

Mysterio… was American. And thus spoke English.

Which seven year old Midoriya could barely read.

Thank All Might for the Internet.

It had taken him the better part of two months, three weeks, and five days of painstaking translation, with detentions and classes thrown in but eventually, he did it.

Midoriya had translated the entire notebook to Japanese.

It wasn’t a perfect translation. He was sure he got several words and his grammar wrong, but he was able to get the gist of Mysterio’s words. Not that much of it was really usable. Mysterio apparently wrote the majority of the book with details of his early childhood in Riverside, California, his attending the Stan Winston School of Arts as a young man, his work in Hollywood as a Special Effects Artist, and his career fighting Spider-Man, sometimes alongside the notorious Sinister Six.

All Might above, this man hated Spider-man. He admired Spider-Man’s genius in creating his gadgets, especially after Peter Parker was outed to the world following America’s SuperHero Registration Act, but wow this man hated Spidey. Entire pages were filled with rants against him and his “Accursed sixth sense” to quote the notebook.

That being said, some of it was helpful to Midoriya. The man detailed his chemical formulas for his various gases, the circuitry lining of his domes, and even an improved form of latex that moved seamlessly with the face to create a perfect disguise.

The craziest part though was that in the back of the book, right before he detailed a plan to “put himself in the history books for good,” was a hand drawn map. A map that, after some comparisons between a modern map and a map from that era, showed a lair hidden in what was now Mustafu.

Needless to say, Midoriya was in shock.

This… this had to have been a mistake. The chances of that should have been impossible! But… if it wasn’t…!

But if it was…

Midoriya had to check.

So, one weekend, he packed his bag. Midoriya filled it with everything he thought he’d need. Money, his third hero analysis notebook, some pencils, his cellphone, a packed lunch, and last of all, the notebook, sealed in a new plastic ziplock bag. Midoriya had debated on leaving it home, but he didn’t know if there had been a code or passphrase or something that he needed to use to safely enter a villain’s lair. Throwing on his favorite All Might brand hoodie, Midoriya left his room.

“Mom, I’m going out for a few hours!” he shouted as he went for the door.

“Wait, where are you going??” she asked.

“The Woods!” he said with practiced ease. It felt bad to lie to her, but it was the only thing he could think of. It wasn't unreasonable. Only months ago he had gone with Bakugo to search for bugs to catch. Unfortunately, after that Bakugo had started to distance himself from Midoriya, not that he had told his mom that.

“Fine, just be careful!” she shouted back.

Midoriya left and made it to the train station. Pulling out his phone, Midoriya looked at the picture he took of the map. It wasn’t as simple as whipping out the paper and following it, since street names had changed and buildings remodeled, but with the internet, he was able to follow the map to his final destination: Korellia.

Like most cities, Mustafu had its slums and “bad neighborhoods.” Turns out that Mysterio had chosen one for his lair, though if it had been a slum when Mysterio put his base here, Midoriya had no idea. But as it was, the X of Mysterio’s map led to a small street in the heart of the Korellia neighborhood.

Looking around, Midoriya saw nothing that immediately screamed hidden evil lair. ’Then again, if it had been obvious it wouldn’t have been a very good evil lair.’ Midoriya mused to himself. Still, Midoriya had been hoping for something that would have helped. All he could see was a run down apartment building, a boarded up DVD store, a filthy convenience store that had one person working the counter, and what looked like it had once been a family owned Korean store, now being used by some Burakumin as shelter. A few of them gave him some looks, curious about the unfamiliar boy walking on his own, but they didn’t move from their spot, so Midoriya didn’t feel too threatened by them.

Midoriya stopped to check his map for the fifth time. Seeing that he was indeed in the right spot and that there had been no other indicators about where to go, Midoriya sat on a cement bench, biting his lip in thought. The Map had been accurate, he was sure, but there was nowhere else to go, so one of these buildings had to be it. So for now, Midoriya thought about everything he knew of Mysterio. The man was proud. He was basically a magician. He loved old movies. He had a cousin who became Jack o Lantern. He once tried to drive Daredevil-

Wait. Movies.

Midoriya spun around to the DvD store and went to the front door. A few tugs proved it had been locked, same with the front window. Midoriya shook his head. ‘Too obvious… I should try the back door! ’ going around the back, Midoriya sidestepped a napping old woman and went to the back door. It was locked, but on the doorframe, in the bottom corner, was an eye carved into the wood. Mysterio’s eye.

Midoriya smiled, he was on the right track!

But how to get in? Midoriya looked around, patting the walls, and tugging on the doorframe when he found it.  On the wall near the doorknob was a hidden panel with a speaker, rusted over with age, but the button beneath flickered on. A good sign, he hoped.

Leaning forward, Mysterio stopped when he realized he had no idea what to say, so he hoped that there was someone else on the other end.

“Um, hello? I… found a green notebook? Written in invisible ink?”

No response, though it was possible that whoever was there was waiting for a password. So, recalling what little Midoriya knew of old movies, he tried the first phrase that came to mind.

“Um… Klaatu, barada, nikto?”

Nothing, though Midoriya thought that made sense. He had been very lucky so far, but there was no chance he’d get it on the first try.

“Open sesame.” he tried again.

Nothing.

“The world is quiet here?”

Wasn’t that either.

"I come in peace?"

No response.

“Walt sent me.”

Nope.

“Swordfish.”

Zilch.

“Alohomora?”

Nada.

“.....password?”

The speaker made a sound suspiciously similar to a raspberry being blown, but otherwise did nothing.

Midoriya sighed and sat against the wall. Nothing he knew worked, so he returned to his favorite source of help, the Internet. But tapping the wall in specific spots didn’t help. Nor did attempting to speak in Parseltongue. The boy was starting to get frustrated, but refused to give up. Thus, Midoriya decided that now was time to be smarter, so he pulled out the notebook, covered in sticky notes that translated the English words, and skimmed it. There weren’t any passwords or phrases written down, and Midoriya was about to give up when he thought of something.

Mysterio was a fan of movies, so he must have had favorite directors. And seeing how Mysterio was putting him on an Indiana Jones style treasure hunt for his lair, he’d want the right kind of people to find it. Not superheroes, that much was obvious, but not supervillains either. He was very clear on his opinions of people who would "take up his act" without his permission. So, Midoriya thought of only one kind of person that could have gotten his blessing: Movie buffs.

So, with that in mind, Midoriya looked up the films of Stan Winston, Jim Henson, Roger Corman, Ray Harryhausen, and Peter Jackson, all of whom Mysterio mentioned in his notebook at one point or another. On that last one, he struck gold. Standing up, he went to the door, pushed the button and spoke with confidence.

“Mellon.”

For two seconds, nothing, but then the door swung open. Shocked that he finally got it, Midoriya immediately ran into the building and shut the door behind him. It looked to be the backroom, near the offices and storage, but now empty of anything besides dusty furniture and webs. Snorting at the irony of spiders in Mysterio’s home, Midoriya looked around and quickly spotted a shelf of DVDs. Genre savvy enough, Midoriya dragged an old chair to the shelf and climbed atop it to reach the top shelf. Scanning the movies, Midoriya spotted the movie Get Smart and, recalling the movie’s intro with the secret doors, pulled it down. With a rumble, the bookshelf moved aside and the wall slid open, revealing a spiral staircase.

Midoriya gulped, and looked back. This was his last chance to back out. He didn’t know what he’d find down there. It could have been a death trap, a mechanical monster, or a gaming room for all Midoriya knew! But he had come this far. So, pulling his All Might hoodie closer around himself, he carefully walked down the steps.

After a few minutes, Midoriya exited the stairs. Before him was a doorway, with three locks on it. Connected to it was a screen and keypad with three questions upon it.

In Jim Henson’s greatest work, what was Chamberlain’s true form’s name?

In They Live , money talks. What does it say?

What do I consider to be the greatest trick done by Ray Bradhaus?

Rolling his eyes, Midoriya did a quick internet and notebook search, and typed in the answers:

SilSol

This is your God

The Wall Crawling Demon

With a hum and a groan, the door opened up, and the room beyond lit up.

He entered a room big enough to hold his elementary school. At one time, it might have been a tunnel to reroute floodwaters, but it had since been repurposed. The stonework reached up high, and hanging from the pillars were metal disks depicting Mysterio’s eye design. All around him in sealed glass cases were disassembled robots and costumes of every kind. Heroes, villains, aliens, monsters, knights, pirates, dinosaurs, all were here, half assembled, the latex peeled back to show the inner workings. Hanging above, suspended from the ceiling were various monsters and machines, ranging from Chinese dragons, robotic animals, a stone Mayan warrior, and a lifelike Hulk. Under glass protection were dioramas and models of various Mysterio battles and schemes, including a carnival with a tiny spider-man, an elevator shaft depicting screaming people in hell reaching out to grab Daredevil, and a burning Symkaria with drones shining red light at three small figures of Spider-Man, Black Cat, and Silver Sable. Computers and notebooks, covered in plastic sheets, aligned a side wall, and on the other were laminated sketches for new monsters and equipment, pinned against a corkboard with now outdated blueprints of Tokyo’s museums and banks. In the back of the room, behind glass cases, several costumes, all of which Midoriya recognized from the notebook as Mysterio’s various suits, stood at the ready. All of the villain's costumes had been recreated, labeled, and backlit. Lastly, in the middle of the room was a massive stone chalice, surrounded by candles and strange runes.

Stepping forward, Midoriya didn’t see the laser tripwire on the ground, and so yelped in shock when holographic fireworks suddenly burst out of the fake candles as the lights glowed neon purple and green. From within the stone chalice a pillar of smoke billowed out, and within it, spectral and see through, was a familiar figure. With a crackle of hidden speakers, the ghost of Mysterio spoke.

{Bwahahahaha!! Congratulations, intrepid fan! I, the ghost of the great Mysterio, applaud your intelligence, imagination, and resolve! You have deciphered the means of entering this secret lair, and thus, all of Mysterio’s earthly possessions are yours! His armor, formulas, technology, all yours! Now, step forth and receive your...} the spectral figure, a hologram, Midoriya realized, stopped his  monologue and looked around in confusion. At the same time, several security cameras in the room lit up and moved about until it finally spotted Midoriya, hiding behind a mannequin in a zombie costume.

{...are… are you kidding me?!} It shouted in anger, all grandiose posing lost. {A mere child solved that complex labyrinth of puzzles!?}

“Yo-you’re him…? Mysterio??” Midoriya asked, staying behind the zombie in fear.

{Oh, right… Japan. One moment.} the hologram muttered, before suddenly speaking in Japanese. “How’s this?”

“Yo-you can speak Japanese???” Midoriya asked in shock.

“Well of course. This IS Japan. Chances were, the fan who uncovered my lair was going to speak the local language.” it quickly explained. “But to answer your question… technically yes. I’m an AI modeled after a brainscan of the original Mysterio, made by Dr. Octopus as a favor to the late Quentin Beck. You may call me Tsuburaya, after the man who brought Godzilla to life.”

“Oh…!” Midoriya’s eyes lit up in wonder as he stepped out from behind the mannequin. The hologram floated over, inspecting the boy who stared at him in awe. After a moment, the AI spoke up.

“So… you found Beck's old lair. Mind telling me the year?”

“Oh, it’s 2123!” Midoriya said proudly.

“What?! It took that long for a fan to find me?!” the Mysterio-shaped hologram proclaimed.

“Yeah, but, uh… what… are you?” Midoriya asked. “Doing here, I mean.”

“I told you, I’m an artificial intelligence based upon the late Quentin Beck, made just before his rampage in the Kaiju machine. My function is to watch over this lair, maintain the equipment via drones and robotic proxies, all until either the world discovers this place or the next Mysterio comes along. Oh, real quick, how did the robot kaiju scheme turn out, by the way?” the hologram asked Midoriya.

“You, uh… lost. Spider-man beat you on national TV…” Midoriya admitted. Seeing Tsuburaya slump in sadness, Midoriya thought of something that could cheer it up. “But the robot’s head is in a museum! It’s where I found this!” Quickly digging through his backpack, Midoriya pulled out the notebook.

“Mysterio’s memoirs!” the AI cried out joyously. “I knew a fan would find it!”

“But… I'm not a fan.” Midoriya admitted without thinking.

“What? But… then… how’d you get past the security?! Only a dedicated fan of Mysterio and cinema classics should have been able to get through!” it stuttered in confusion.

“I used the internet.” Midoriya said with a shrug.

“...god damn it.” Mysterio’s AI grumbled, crossing his arms in annoyance. “I knew Beck should have contacted Beckhart’s grandkids.”

“But I did wanna talk to ya!” Midoriya stated, sitting in an old office chair.

“Oh, came to learn the secrets of Mysterio to continue the legacy??” the Mysterio AI asked, perking up.

“....kind of…” Midoriya began, before launching into a spiel. He explained to the AI construct the world he had activated in. How years after his death, super powers, or Quirks as they came to be known as, became commonplace, even moreso than the Mutants and their X-gene, and how heroism was a paying job. He told him how he wanted with all his heart to be a hero, to save people with a smile on his face, but also how everyone, even his own mother and former best friend, told him he couldn’t due to lacking a quirk. But since he was a genius, he thought Mysterio could have some advice for him, since Beck was a Quirkless man who had fought heroes with Quirks. Tsuburaya held on to each word, but due to his lack of a visible face, Midoriya couldn’t really tell what he was thinking. At least, until he spoke up after a minute of quietly studying Midoriya’s hero notebook.

“....nice story. Really builds up the world, with a decent premise for conflict, and a relatable protagonist with nice, if simplistic motives. But you forgot to mention something important, boy.”

Midoriya tilted his head in confusion, which the AI took as its cue to continue.

“Why should the audience, IE me, care about any of that?”

“Wha-what?!” Midoriya stuttered out.

“You’re not a fan of Beck, and you don’t look interested in being the next Mysterio, so why should I help you with your pipe dream?” The AI remarked bluntly.

“But… I wanna help people!” Midoriya said.

“Does this world have police officers? Doctors? Fire fighters?”

“Y-yeah, but-”

“Then go to firefighting school. Unless I see something in this that’ll help my function, which I don’t, then I don’t see why I should help you.” With that final statement Tsuburaya turned away, its back to Midoriya. “Oh, before you leave, do you mind hitting the reset switch? It’s hidden on the pillar to the left of my original suit? I want to give the next person who finds this place a proper welcome. Maybe they’ll be worthy of my service.”

This wasn’t good, not good at all! Midoriya hadn’t considered that Mysterio might not want to help him. He was lucky that the AI didn’t seem upset that a wannabe hero had found him, but otherwise things looked dire. But this was his only chance to become a hero as great as All Might! Surely there was something he could do to convince the AI. But what? Money wouldn’t be of much help since he had so little, and Midoriya wasn’t one to blackmail, and he doubted the ego-centric construct would be intimidated by a chi- wait.

His ego!

“If… if you help me, I’ll be able to become a hero!” Midoriya said. “A FAMOUS hero!” he emphasized.

“....so?”

“Well… if I become the world’s only real quirkless hero, then everyone’s gonna wanna know the source of my gadgets and powers.” Midoriya said quickly, but carefully.

Yes, Tsuburaya was looking at him! Seizing his chance, Midoriya went for the real meat of his argument.

“A-and, well…. I’ll have to tell them of the legendary villain who stood toe to toe with the great Spider-man, despite lacking his own powers. The v-villain who inspired a hero will be great, legendary! I-I-I mean, Doctor Octopus and the Green Goblin are famous baddies, yeah, but neither of them have any really memorable descendants modeled after them, so people only recall them as relics of the past!”

Struck with a sudden idea, Midoriya quickly spun another speech. “And… it’ll be like those remakes of old movies! Where a once clearly evil villain is now much more complicated, or an anti-hero! Lemme be your remake!” For a good minute, the AI was silent. Midoriya held his breath in anticipation, not daring to interrupt the AI before him.

“....you’re good, kid.” Tsuburaya finally spoke up. “However, I know exactly what you’re trying to do. You’re playing on Beck’s ego. Trying to tempt me with fame and prestige so I’d hand you my secrets on a silver platter.. ”

Midoriya’s smile faded, to one of fear… until the hologram burst out laughing.

“But that speech! That was truly wonderful! ‘Let me be your remake!’ How creative!” he clapped his hands. “It seems you ARE what I was looking for after all!”

“What?” Midoriya asked.

“Quentin Beck was not an armorer! He was an artist! He used his imagination and creativity to craft magnificent illusions that made Avatar ’s special effects look like a kiddie’s paint program! I was not going to give any old person his equipment! They had to prove themselves to be equally talented and creative! Your notes show you have the brains for this, and your speech… well, it wasn’t perfect, but you have that spark of imagination that Beck did!”

“So… does that mean…?” Midoriya asked, his smile slowly returning.

“Yes, you’ve convinced me, kid. I’ll help you become the next hero… inspired by Mysterio!” the AI proclaimed while Midoriya let out an excited cheer.

And so, the work began. Every weekend, Midoriya would hop on a train to Korellia, and would study Mysterio’s designs under the AI’s tutelage. He would spend hours studying the compounds Mysterio used to form his masks and various gases, and with him, found safer substitutes that didn’t risk giving the young boy cancer. Midoriya learned how to disassemble, and maintain the Mysterio suit. Though the gauntlets were large for him, young Midoriya was able to eventually, with Tsuburaya’s guidance, make a small one that fit his hand. The pride he felt at creating a hologram of All Might would stay with him for years.

But it wasn’t just latex masks and engineering. As Tsuburaya told the young boy, Mysterio was fond of cinema, so once a month Tsuburaya would do some… questionably legal video downloads and show Midoriya the movies that the original Mysterio took inspiration from. Films worked on by Ray Harryhausen, Stan Winston, William Castle, Jim Henson, and plenty more were watched, studied, and memorized. Midoriya took notes on the animation techniques, the methods they used to project scale, and the way they seamlessly blended it with the actors. When asked why he didn’t just use CGI, Tsuburaya explained that "unless they had a massive budget, a team of computer artists, a portable green screen, and time, realistic CGI couldn’t work in a 3D environment, due to the “uncanny valley effect.”

Though secretly Midoriya guessed that Mysterio, and thus Tsuburaya, just didn’t like CGI, not that he would bring it up.

This all went on for seven years. Seven long years of chemistry, animatronics, and learning English. This last one was so that Midoriya could not only understand more movies in their original language, but so that he could encode his notes better. Seven years of learning acting, basic fighting stances, how to take a hit and keep going, and the importance of prep work. There were some bumps and disagreements, like when Midoriya admitted his reluctance to use hallucinogenic gas on people until Tsuburaya assured him that the gasses had no long lasting side effects once out of the person’s system.

For seven years, Tsuburaya would occasionally question if being a hero would really be the best route for Midoriya. Each time the boy reminded him that this was the best route to making Mysterio famous again, which silenced the AI. Though Midoriya knew Tsuburaya still had his doubts. Nevertheless, he directed all his power into helping Midoriya with learning the tools of his trade, while also finding a way to obtain funding. In a legal way, at Midoriya's insistence.

And every day, for seven long years, Midoriya would pour his strength and brains into making Mysterio a hero.

Seven years of prepping to be the world’s first Quirkless hero…

Which changed the day he met someone.

Someone… mighty.

Chapter Text

Normal talking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Thinking: 'Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!'

Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

All Might Speaking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

All Might Thinking: ‘Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!’

All Might Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

Sound Effects: *BLAM!*

AIs/Computers: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Speaking Another Language: {"Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"}

Midoriya, now fourteen years old and excited for the next year, stood in the street among the crowd. The pro hero Backdraft was using his quirk to create a fence made of water to keep civilians away from a villain with a size changing quirk. A power line fell, but was deftly caught with a pair of massive arms belonging to the Punching Hero, Death Arms. All of which, Midoriya took notes on. Glancing up, Midoriya spotted the new hero Kamui Woods do battle against the villain. Midoriya gasped, and remembered his newest edition to his intel gathering. Reaching to his lapel, Midoriya pressed a hidden switch on his All Might pin, activating a hidden camera that streamed all the footage back to Tsuburaya. The AI had always stressed the importance of gathering footage for further study.

“You never know when you might have missed something vital.”

After all, if Midoriya was going to be a master of disguise and illusions, he needed to study the people he was copying. And Midoriya had been eagerly waiting to see Kamui Wood’s special moves.

“PREEMPTIVE BINDING-”

“CANYON CANNON!”

But he’d have to wait another day, it seemed, for without warning, a shapely young woman as big as a building suddenly appeared over the train tracks and drop kicked the massive villain in the face. Midoriya blinked in shock, but moved to a new page to sketch the new hero as she introduced herself to the ogling crowd.

“Today is my debut! Pleased to meet you all! You may call me Mt. Lady, and this bum won’t bother anyone else!” the heroine exclaimed while striking a pose that emphasized her figure. Several lustful civilians and reporters immediately took several pictures while Kamui Woods complained about the intrusion on his battle, taking the spotlight away from him.

Midoriya himself didn’t really care about Mt. Lady’s form and sketched her only to have a reference. Sure, he didn’t really need to with all the footage he had, but it was an enjoyable pastime and kept his artistic skills sharp.

Finishing up the basics, ‘I can add the details later,’ Midoriya put away his notebook and clicked off the hidden camera, making his way to Aldera Junior High. Midoriya privately wondered why Japan had so many references to Star Wars. A good series that was still popular to this day, though Tsuburaya disliked the sequel series and later remakes and additions, citing the inclusion of several ''Darth Fakers'' as “derivative and boring.” Midoriya personally thought they were okay, but then again, he wasn’t a cinema purist like his AI mentor.

School went… well, it went. Same classes as always. Math, Japanese, History, Writing, Art, Science and English, the last two were the subjects Midoriya excelled the most at nowadays. Physical Ed wasn’t too bad. Midoriya had gained some light muscle from sparring with Mysterio’s different robots, commanded by Tsuburaya, though he still wasn’t in the top of his class. That honor went to Bakugo.

No, the real issue was homeroom, near the end of the day. Specifically, when their teacher decided to make an announcement.

“Now, officially speaking, I need to pass out these career forms so you could write down the job you’d like to have once you're finished here…” he began, hefting up a pile of papers, only to toss them into the air a second later. “But why bother?? It’s clear you all want to be heroes!”

The class cheered in joy, Quirks on full display to accompany their shouting. Midoriya, however, stayed silent, focusing instead on his notebook. Within it were sketches of various heroes, their costume’s design, and their Quirks. Midoriya took special care to note the way they moved, the weight & posture of the person, even the noises they made when moving or using their quirks.

Midoriya ignored Bakugo, as usual proclaiming his superiority over the class as he took notes on Mt. Lady. While he doubted the need to disguise himself as the new Pro Hero would ever come up, observing the way she moved at giant form would help with selling the realism of some of the larger illusions Tsubaya was helping him develop. Midoriya was focused in his own world, not bothered by his noisy classmates. At least, not until his teacher made what to him, was a casual statement, but to Midoriya, was the equivalent of cutting open his hand and dangling the bleeding appendage over a shark tank.

“Oh, Midoriya was also planning on going to UA High, right?”

Finally stopping, Midoriya looked up, biting his lip. The other students around him snickered, brushing him off and dismissing him like usual. It upset Deku that he was underestimated, but it wasn’t anything he wasn’t used to. The real problem though was Bakugo, who turned to him with an ugly glare that Midoriya did his best to ignore.

Once the bell rang, Midoriya packed his bag as quickly as possible, hoping that if he was just fast enough, he could escape from his ex-friend’s anger.

No such luck.

“What the hell do ya think you’re doin’, Deku??” Bakugo snarled, slamming his hand on the desk. “You know that I’m the only person in this shitty school meant to be someone special!”

“Kaachan…” Midoriya pleaded, not out of fear, but out of a vague hope that Bakugo would be lenient. Instead, Bakugo grabbed Midoriya’s hero notebook and derisively flipped through it.

“You think your shitty drawings and notes are enough to get you into UA?!” he sneered, tossing it to his sycophantic minions. Midoriya refused to call the kids who hang out with Bakugo friends. A better word would have been parasites, but Midoriya wasn’t that mean. The two collectively leered at his drawings of Mt. Lady and Midnight as if it was a dirty magazine.

“He even wrote the way they walked! What a creep!” one of them snorted.

“Please give it back…” Midoriya said calmly, thinking of his latest creation. It was in his backpack. He just had to reach in and slip it on. Then Bakugo would see how he could use his brains to get into UA. But… the projector was still in beta... and if the rest of it didn’t work… Midoriya would just be mocked, laughed at… and so he pushed those thoughts away.

“No, deku, I won’t.” Bakugo snatched the notebook back from his minions, and crossed over to the window, overlooking a small koi pond. Midoriya’s eyes widened and he charged forward, but the two sycophants grabbed his arms and held him back. “You can’t even break free from them, Deku! I doubt even Shiketsu’s GenEd course would accept you! All because you’re a shitty pebble for greater people to step on!” Before Midoriya’s pleading eyes, Bakugo lit the book aflame with his quirk, and tossed it down to the pond.

“NO!” Midoriya shouted.

“And I’ll remind you of that fact no matter how many times it takes.” Bakugo said, turning to the boy with a horrible smile. “But don’t worry… I know a way you can get a quirk: ju-” Bakugo suddenly.stopped, as if choking on his words.

"Kachaan? What’s wrong??" Midoriya asked his classmate.

"None of your damn business, and even if someone did need help, your worthless ass couldn't do anything!!" Bakugo shouted before storming off, his minions following behind him.

With that awful statement, Midoriya was left with behind to wallow in the boy’s cruel words. Midoriya wanted to lash out, he wanted to prove to Kaachan he was capable, Quirk or no Quirk… but he stayed silent. Instead, Midoriya hurried out of the classroom and looped around the building to the pond. Shooing away the nibbling fish, he retrieved his burnt, but thankfully still eligible notebook. ‘Thank you, waterproof notebooks.’ he thought sadly to himself, shaking off the water remnants.

Exiting the school, Midoriya went along his usual path home. It wasn’t far, so he didn’t need to use the train. Midoriya briefly thought of heading to the Studio, the name Tsuburaya insisted that Midoriya call the underground lair when out in public. “To prevent unworthy thieves and heroes.” he would proclaim. Midoriya thought the AI was being paranoid, but complied with his wishes anyway just to be safe. It would be a good place to test Midoriya’s prototype, but that day had soured Midoriya’s mood, so he chose to head home instead. 

Besides, the boy reasoned as he moved under an overpass, he wasn’t sure it was 100% functional. For all Midoriya knew, it could blow up and leave him with burns on his arm. Showing it off to Tsuburaya only for it to explode was the last thing Midoriya wanted to happen. Once he got home he could test it on the female mannequin arm he dug out of the trash. The look on his mom's face when she found it while cleaning under his bed was a memory he wished he would forget.

Speaking of trash, though… What was that awful smell?!

Behind Midoriya, a manhole cover rattled, and a mass of foul smelling sludge emerged, a pair of eyeballs and a mouth full of sharp teeth suspended within it. In seconds it spotted the now frozen in place Midoriya. 

“YES! A skinsuit perfect for the taking!” the sludge, a villain! Midoriya realized in horror, shouted and shot towards the boy, enveloping him in its form before he could do anything. “Thanks kid, you’re my hero!” the criminal shouted, forcing itself into Midoriya’s mouth and nose.

Midoriya struggled, reaching for his backpack. His only hope now was his untested gadget. Even if it blew up, maybe it would take out the villain! But the sludge was thick, viscous, more akin to tar than slime, and the fact he couldn’t breath didn’t help either. His hands struggled against the backpack, even as his vision began to blur. But then, the manhole was rocketed into the air.

“HAVE NO FEAR! WHY??”

The Slime Villain and Midoriya looked back to the now exposed sewer entrance, one in fear, the other in hope. Standing before them, carrying a bag of groceries, was a mountain of a man. He had no hero costume on, only green cargo pants and a white t-shirt that threatened to come apart at the seams, barely able to contain the man’s roaring muscles. But neither of them needed the man’s costume to know who this man was. Everything from the smile to the distinctive V-shaped haircut told them that this was THE man- no, THE Legend. He was admired like no other, considered the number one Hero by the entire world. A renowned Symbol of Peace with few who could dare hope to match the strength, charisma, and hope he radiated. A Legend whose fights were almost always over in a near instant, a Legend who saved people from natural disasters, villain attacks, and hostage situations with 99.99% success. A Legend whose smile meant safety to the boy, and inevitable defeat to the villain. A man the masses knew as known other than…

All Might.

“BECAUSE I AM HERE!!!”

“No, NO!” The villain squirmed, even as the hero raised his fist. He was no less than ten meters away from the villain, so his fist couldn’t connect with the slime.

Not that it needed to.

“TEXAS SMAAAAAAAAAAASH!”

As a roar of thunder shook the street, Midoriya’s world went to black.

When Midoriya woke back up, it was from a man smacking his cheek.

“Hey-hey kid, wake up!”

Midoriya’s eyes shot open and he sat up. It wasn’t just some random passerby waking him up, it was his idol, All Might!

“Allmight! Ohmygoshyousavedmefromtheslimevillainbutwhathappenedtohim?!” Midoriya spat out without pausing for breath.

“Haha! You’ve got quite the lungs on ya, kid! But have no fear! I’ve got him safely sealed away!”

All Might held up a 2 liter bottle of soda, now filled with the Slime villain’s material, eyes, and teeth.

“OhmygoshthankyousomuchAllMightsircouldyoupleasesignmynotebook-” Midoriya scrambled for his backpack and pulled out his notebook, only to find a previously blank page filled with a massive signature. “OHMYGOSHYOUALREADYSIGNEDIT! ISWEARI’LLTREASUREITALWAYSI’LLEVENMAKEITAFAMILYHEIRLOOMANDKEEPITSAFELYLOCKEDAWAYINAVAULTTOMATCHTHEMONALISA’S!”

Midoriya’s quick ramblings amused the hero, who laughed heartily as he wiped the corner of his mouth. “I’d love to stick around and chat,  young Midoriya, (OHMYGOSHALLMIGHTKNOWSMYNAME!!!) but I’ve got to take this baddie to the local police station! Farewell!” The man pocketed the villain’s bottle in his pants pocket and prepared to leap, not seeing Midoriya scramble over to him.

“Wait, I still have QUESTIOOOOOOOOOOOOONS!!!”

Looking down, All Might flinched in shock, seeing the boy clinging to his pants leg and screaming. “Kid, I love my fans, but this is a bit close for comfort, please let go of me!!” he shook his leg, which only made Midoriya scream even more and cling to his leg tighter.

“BUT IF I LET GO I’LL FALL AND DIE!”

“Oh, right.” All Might ceased his leg shaking and looked around, spotting a building with roof access that he could land upon. With a destination in mind, he landed with a quiet grunt while Midoriya let go, shaking in fear and exhilaration from the ride. Seeing the man turn away from him brought him out of the state, though.

“All Might, wait! I have a question for you!”

“Sorry, but I have to leave now. Don’t worry, if you knock on the door long enough, someone will come by and let you in.” the Pro Hero turned and stepped towards the rooftop’s edge, trying to hide how desperate he was to leave.

“CAN I BE A HERO EVEN WITHOUT A QUIRK???”

All Might froze. His face held his usual smile… but now there was a weight to it, and his words, as he turned to the boy looking at him with hope.

“Without… a Quirk?”

“Yes sir!” Midoriya responded. He was so overjoyed at having his idol’s attention, he blocked out the rest of the world. “All my life, people have doubted me. They told me I couldn’t be a hero. But if the Pre-Quirk heroes could do it, why couldn't I?? So I’ve pushed myself, studying harder than ever! I've even gone under another man’s tutelage to build gadgets and gizmos that I know can put me on par with heroes, but people still doubt me! But I know, I know that I can be a great hero who saves people with a smile on their face, just like you!”

Midoriya finally looked up, hoping to see his idol smile and give him a thumbs up, maybe even a word of encouragement…

But instead got something that shocked him to his core.

Instead of the massive, muscular powerhouse he had been expecting, standing before him was the exact opposite! He wore the same clothes All Might had been wearing, but they were far too large for the thin, sickly looking man with gaunt blue eyes and disheveled blond hair with two parts that fell past his face, hunched over in the cloud of steam that seemed to pour out from his form. The skeletal man held no smile, just an annoyed, and slightly sad frown as his blue eyes observed Midoriya…

Who did not take the sight too well.

“WAAAAAGH! Who are you, what happened to All Might!? Are you one of Tsuburaya’s tests?!” Midoriya screamed, looking around for All Might, or maybe a hologram projector.

“Calm down kid! I am All Migh- BLARF!” the man proclaimed, only to vomit a mouthful of blood that served only to freak Midoriya out more. The skeletal man sighed, annoyed more at the circumstances than the boy himself. “Look, ya know how guys at the pool are constantly sucking in their gut and flexing to look tougher than they really are? It’s like that.”

“Bu-but you can’t be! All Might is a mountain of a man with muscles and a fearless smile!!” Midoriya rambled, while the emaciated man sighed in exasperation.

“Trust me kid, there’s plenty of fear behind that smile.” the man said, sliding down the roof’s railing to a sitting position. “Listen, since you already discovered my secret, I’m going to show you something, so I’m trusting that you’re not going to blab about this online.”

The man lifted up the left side of his shirt, and Midoriya gasped in horror, hands covering his mouth. Upon the man was a massive scar, purple and sick, that covered almost half the left side of his torso, with the worst of it centered on his stomach. The fact that it didn't look fresh was only a small comfort to the boy.

“Pretty nasty, right? I got this in a bad fight about five years ago. I lost my stomach and part of my lung. The surgeries and therapy needed to recover from the fight messed me up badly, and nowadays, I can only be a hero for about three hours. The rest of the time, this is me.”

Midoriya stared at the man. Working with Tsuburaya, Midoriya learned how to read people. He could tell when they were happy, sad, angry, or lying. This was to help him with learning how to imitate people and mimic them better. And every lesson he learned was telling him the same, horrible truth.

The man before him, against all possibility and logic, WAS All Might.

Biting his lip, Midoriya drew upon his extensive knowledge of All Might to ask his next question, mainly to keep his mind off the world shattering truth he had just witnessed. “Five years ago… was that the fight with Toxic Chainsaw?”

“Huh, you really know your stuff, kid.” All Might said in surprise. “But no. That punk got a few good hits in, yeah, but he didn’t do this. The fight that led to this was never made public, at my request. I mean, I'm the guy who's always smiling, right?” All Might shut his eyes, steeling himself for the next part of his speech. “The truth is… I smile, not just to assure everyone else… but to fool the fear within everyone, even me. If people saw this... Saw what being a hero could do to the Symbol of Peace, someone believed to be impossible to hurt?” he sighed, before looking at Midoriya apologetically. “You wanted to know if a Quirkless kid could be a hero, like in the Pre-Quirk era? I’m sorry, but in my honest opinion, kid…” he took a breath, and reluctantly continued. “I don’t think you can.”

Midoriya froze. He didn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe it. All Might, the man who coined the phrase “Go Beyond! Plus Ultra!” that became UA High’s motto, didn’t think he could do it.

“Gadgets or not, kid... This job is dangerous.” All Might said sadly as he stood up. “Maybe in the past, when villains weren’t as dangerous or common, or also relied on technology, but not these days. All the equipment in the world isn’t enough to handle some of the worst villains alive. That’s not to say you can’t do good. Plenty of heroes need support equipment, or you could be a police officer. It’s not glamorous, I know, but it’s still helping people.” Reaching the door to the rooftop access, the man turned one last time to the boy. “It’s important to have dreams, kid… but they have to be realistic… I’m sorry.”

With that, the man, the idol to Midoriya, left through the roof access, hating himself for telling the boy something so heartbreaking. But if it spared him from what he had to go through five years ago… then it had to be said.

Right?

The words, though clearly meant to be encouraging, had the opposite effect on the boy. Midoriya felt as though each counter argument and alternative was a smack to the face. A participation trophy for the person in last place. Confirmation that Midoriya was never going to fulfill his dreams.

Midoriya sat on the rooftop, wanting nothing more to cry, frustration welling up in him. His mother, his best friend, and now his idol said he was chasing a dream. Even Tsuburaya had expressed doubt on him being a hero, and tried to suggest he’d have better luck being a villain! Maybe…

Midoriya would have continued wallowing in his misery, but a nearby explosion quickly put a stop to that. Midoriya’s head shot up. It wasn’t far, and right now Midoriya needed a distraction, more than ever. Flinging his backpack on, he ran down the roof access.

There was already a crowd of civilians around when Midoriya arrived. The pro heroes Death Arms, Kamui Woods, and Backdraft were already there, but weren’t fighting whatever villain had appeared. The first two were more focused on keeping the crowd back, while Backdraft was containing the flames that consumed the surrounding buildings. Mt. Lady appeared, but stayed back, unable to enter the confined space, it seemed. Midoriya clicked on his camera pin, but couldn’t get a good view of what was happening.

“What’s going on??” Midoriya asked a passerby, a young teen with three fox tails.

“Some kind of slime villain! He’s holding a schoolboy hostage!” he responded before turning back towards the scene.

“A… slime villain..?” Midoriya asked in horror. He quickly shoved his way to the front of the crowd, where his worst fear was confirmed.

It was the same villain from under the bridge, only now it had someone struggling within its folds. Who it was, Midoriya couldn’t see. But how did it get out?! All Might had it captured! Unless…

Midoriya’s eyes scanned the ground, and sure enough, there was the soda bottle All Might had imprisoned the villain in, the cap knocked loose only a meter away. “It must have fallen out while I was hanging onto his leg!! That means… this is my fault..!”

“Why isn’t anyone doing anything!?” A bystander shouted in worry. More voices joined in, from civilians and pro heroes alike.

“He has a kid hostage!”

“Damn it my quirk isn’t compatible here!”

“The fire’s getting out of control!”

“I can’t help, the space is too narrow for me to safely enter!”

“Where’s All Might!?”

All around Midoriya, voices from onlookers, Pro Heroes, and firefighters mixed and mingled together, a chorus of blame that Midoriya was forced to listen to. A disaster he caused, and a cursing, exploding schoolboy who-

Wait, exploding?

“GET OFF OF ME YOU SHITTY VILLAIN!” Bakugo snarled through a mouthful of muck, his explosions useless against the villain’s malleable body. All his attacks did was set the surrounding on fire, worsening the already dire situation. Seeing Bakugo, Midoriya's personal symbol of Victory struggling, looking around in angry desperation, had an immediate effect upon the green-haired child.

In a blur, Midoriya shot past the barricade, reaching into his backpack.

“Kid!!/What’re ya doing?!/Stop!!”

The shouts did nothing to slow Midoriya down, who dug through his pack and slipped on a pair of bulky-looking sunglasses lined with circuits, tiny cameras, and wires. From the sidelines, All Might, thin and weak, watched, horrified. He was unable to do anything now that his limit had passed, and because of it a young boy who he told earlier today couldn't be a hero was going to die trying!

The shouts drew the slime villain’s attention, who upon seeing Midoriya, recognized him and snarled.

“YOU AGAIN!” The villain lashed out a tentacle, but to everyone’s shock, Midoriya dodged with barely a flinch.

‘Tsuburaya’s animatronic Spider-Man was quicker.’ Midoriya thought as he kept digging through his bag.

Dodging the villain’s next tentacle, and finally retrieving the last of what he wanted, Midoriya used the momentum of the dodge to fling the backpack into the villain’s face. The pack was too light to do any real damage, and even though a few pencils managed to hit the eyes, it was a momentary distraction at best.

Fortunately, that moment was all Midoriya needed.

Midoriya slipped on a beat up leather gardening glove, attached to which via velcro and plastic ties was an old smartphone, a tiny projector, a palm-mounted emitter, and a long plastic tube connected to a small metal tank of fluid. Pressing a switch, the prototype Mysterio gauntlet sprayed a cloud of fog that lingered just above his height. Midoriya didn’t bother with a hologram, since the smoke and ash would have made it an obvious fake, but even without it, the fog was thick enough on its own to fill the alleyway and hide him.

“What the hell?! Where are you, brat!?”

The Sludge villain swung its limbs through the smoke, unable to see the boy. Midoriya, unhindered thanks to his prototype’s sonar, quickly made his way to Bakugo, who was glaring at him despite everything happening. Pressing a few key spots on the smartphone, a thin but hot laser shot out from the palm of the glove, burning away the thickened parts of the villain enough for Midoriya to pull Bakugo free.

“What the shit, Deku!?” Bakugo managed to choke out, tendrils of dark green slime receeding from the hot laser.

“I saw you… and I just had to move, to help you!” Midoriya shot back, blasting away the last of the slime holding onto Bakugo.

“I didn’t need you!” Bakugo snarled, coughing up the slime still in his mouth.

“Kaachan, for once in your life shut up!” Midoriya snapped, grabbing his ex-friend’s arm as he ran through the dissipating fog. “I’m not going to let you be smothered by this Blob wannabe, not when you need help!”

“THERE YOU ARE!” the Villain snarled, whipping out a tentacle that Midoriya, without even looking, dodged. Bakugo was not so lucky, and fell, the slimy limb latching onto his leg to drag him back. Midoriya stopped, turned around and grabbed his arm. “Give up kid! I found a better skinsuit than you, and if you run I might actually spare you!”

“NO!” Midoriya shouted, firing his prototype’s lasers. They burned away all approaching tentacles, but Midoriya saw, thanks to his glasses, that the gauntlet was quickly losing power and intensity. “I won’t let anyone die, not even you, Kaachan! If I have the power to do something, then I will, NO MATTER WHAT!”

The last laser shot out, barely scorching the slime villain’s skin now, but still Midoriya stood his ground as they came for him, raising the smoke storage tank as his only means to protect Bakugo…

Only for nothing to hit them but a familiar rush of wind.

“I truly am a fool…!”

Midoriya’s mouth fell open in shock. There before them was All Might, muscular and gritting his teeth as he grabbed hold of the villain’s appendages in one massive hand, even as blood tickled from his mouth.

“I spouted off words to you, but didn’t put what I said into practice!!” With a mighty pull, the slime appendages were ripped away. “I forgot the most important lesson of all heroes…! To push against the odds and save everyone, even when the odds say otherwise!”

Midoriya stared in shock, dropping the tank. Behind him, Bakugo stared in wonder, matching Midoriya’s expression for the first time in years.

“A HERO MUST FIGHT TO SAVE EVERYONE, EVEN WHEN HIS OWN LIFE IS IN DANGER! NOW LET A PRO HERO END THIS DISASTER!”

The villain didn’t even have time to beg for mercy when All Might reared back his fist.

“DETROOOOIT SMAAAAASH!”

The punch that followed was unlike any other anyone in the crowd had seen in person. It obliterated the Slime Villain, turning him into little more than chunks of goo along the alley walls and the buildings behind it. The bystanders were kept from joining the villain thanks to Mt. Lady blocking the wind with her own arms. For a full minute, a whirlwind of pure power, towering over all the buildings in the area, whipped around the boys and hero, sucking out the oxygen that fueled the nearby flames, only to vanish as suddenly as it began.

Bystanders, Pro Heroes, schoolboys, and civil workers alike were silent, the only sound being All Might, steam flowing from his form, his breath panting from exertion. He took this opportunity to quickly wipe away the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, but that was the only movement anyone did. The silence continued even as the sky around them darkened and a drop of water landed. Then another, then another, and several more. The once clear sky now poured rain as people slowly realized the implications.

All Might had changed the weather.

With a single punch.

Like a dam breaking, that realization led to a mighty roar of cheers from civilians, while the Pro Heroes and civil workers began the arduous task of gathering up the villain’s remains and putting out whatever small fires remained. All Might smiled at the crowd and raised his fist to the sky, even as he nearly stumbled over. A crowd of reporters ran over, eagerly demanding statements and quotes. As for the two schoolboys who found themselves in the middle of the scene?

Bakugo was praised for his bravery and powerful quirk. Despite that he stayed silent, even as he was inspected by some paramedics for any issues. Only a few minutes later, Bakugo was released, with the Pro Heroes offering internships once he made it to a Hero School. Throughout it all, an unreadable expression was on his face.

And what did Midoriya get?

“What were you thinking young man?!”

“You could have gotten yourself or that boy killed!”

“Did you even get a license for that thing?!”

“You’re lucky you didn’t use a quirk or you’d have been arrested for vigilantism!”

Yeah, Midoriya wasn’t given much else besides a stern warning from the cops and pro heroes, not that Midoriya really cared. He was more focused on the gauntlet, now being taken away by the police as evidence of his “meddling.” Although annoyed that he couldn’t take it apart to find out why the power was drained so fast, Midoriya stayed silent. He had the blueprints at home, he could rebuild it and find out later.

Eventually he was let go after promising to never do that again, and Midoriya made his way home through an empty and quiet residential district. He  knew Tsuburaya would have been watching the news, it was how he spent his free time these days, so he was expecting a phone call any minute now, probably to berate him for doing something so dumb or ask him about the first gauntlet prototype Midoriya had made without his guidance. And if he didn’t, his mother certainly would call him, her words probably filled mostly with tears of relief and worry.

Surprisingly, neither of them were the first people to contact him.

“DEKU!”

Midoriya spun around, seeing Bakugo running over to him. Some small part of Midoriya hoped that this would be the moment where Bakugo would finally acknowledge his capabilities… but the rest of him, more realist, knew that it was as unlikely as Midoriya being bitten by a radioactive arachnid.

“Ka- Kaachan!” Midoriya stuttered out. “Ar-are you okay, do you need me to-”

“Where do you get off thinking I needed your help, HUH?!” the explosive boy interrupted, his hands popping. “I didn’t need you, or that shitty fake Iron Man glove you used! And guess what?? It did nothing to help! YOU did nothing to help! You just got in the way, you shitty deku!”

“Wha… what…?” Midoriya stuttered, as the other schoolboy stood only a meter away.

“I didn’t need you or your crappy junk, YA HEAR ME?!” he snarled. “I could’ve gotten myself free if you hadn’t interrupted! I’ll never need you or your shitty support items!! DON’T YOU EVER FORGET THAT!”

With that, the angry boy stormed off down the street, hands in his pockets. Midoriya stared after him for a good minute or two, before eventually deciding it wasn’t worth dwelling over any more.

‘He was right, though… the gauntlet wasn’t useful for very long… I’ll have to look into finding out the power issue. Maybe Tsuburaya can recommend something.’

Midoriya gave himself a small smile at the thought, and turned around to continue on… only to be interrupted yet again.

“I AM HERE! WALKING DOWN THE STREET LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!”

“Ah! All Might!” Midoriya yelped, having not expected to encounter All Might yet again. “What are you doing here, what happened to the reporters!?”

“HAHAHA, LOSING THE MEDIA IS NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER!! WHY?? BECAUSE I AM ALL- BLAAAAAARF!”

All Might quickly turned back into his weaker form, vomiting up blood much to Midoriya’s horror. “Oh my gosh you need to get to the hospital!”

“It’s okay! It just happens someti- blegh!”

All Might’s assurance was interrupted by another cough of blood, which only horrified Midoriya further, to All Might’s annoyance.

“Kid, seriously! I’m okay! This just happens when I push myself too much.”

“Bu-but then… shouldn’t you be resting??” Midoriya asked nervously. The man wiped away the last of the blood, then turned to the schoolboy.

“I will, but not yet. I needed to see you again, young man.”

Midoriya looked at him, surprised. “But.. why?”

All Might straightened his posture and stuck up three fingers. “I came here for three reasons! Firstly, to apologize. Earlier, I told you that you couldn’t be a quirkless Hero, all because I had undergone a bad experience. Whatever I had been through in my life should not have been an excuse to shoot down your dreams. But I did do that, and because of it I became a hypocrite.”

“But… i-it was thanks to me the slime villain got out… an-and I got in the way of your work to bother you...” Midoriya muttered, looking down in shame.

“And the second reason I came here was to thank you.” Midoriya’s head shot up fast.

“Th… thank me?” Midoriya whispered out in shock.

“Earlier today, you told me how everyone else would underestimate your abilities and skill, and that no one else believed in you. But while everyone else was too scared or occupied to do anything, you ran ahead, armed with little more than homemade gadgets and sheer determination.” All Might proclaimed. “Your actions reminded me that heroes aren’t born from power, but from heart and drive. Had we not met earlier, I would not have realized what was staring at everyone in the face! What I saw inspired me to act, to push myself to save you!”

“Where others saw foolishness or stupidity, I saw a spark!” the man exclaimed.

“A… a spark?” Midoriya asked, eyes slowly widening with cautious hope.

“Yes, a spark, that made your legs move without thought, that gave you a drive to save that young boy! Nearly every great hero has a similar story, of their legs moving without thought, without regard to the consequences, only that someone needed help!”

Midorya’s head fell, tears in his eyes. His world was blocked out, as the memory of moving without thought, only instinct, came to him.

“I thought so…” All Might said softly, a small smile gracing his gaunt features. Midoriya could only nod in response, so All Might continued.

“And now for my final reason, to make a declaration!” All Might aimed a frail, thin hand to the shaking boy before him. “Young man, whether or not you use gadgets, you too can be a hero!”

Midoriya fell to his knees, tears overtaking his vision. At long last, he heard it. Someone truly believed in him, 100%. Someone told him with no more doubt that he was able to be a hero, to fulfill his dreams. All Might wasn’t finished however.

That day, All Might had made two different shocks to the veridian haired boy. The first had been the reveal of his true form and that his power was declining. The second was his belief that Midoriya was unable to be a hero. Learning these two things had shaken Midoriya, but he thought that he was done having his world rocked.

He was wrong, for All Might had one more perception shattering bomb to drop.

Throwing his arms open as if to embrace the heavens, All Might proclaimed “I deem you worthy of my power! My Quirk is yours to inherit!”

Midoriya stared at the Pro Hero in shock, unsure of how to respond.

“....your… Quirk?”

“Yes, please tell!”

Midoriya & All Might jumped, the latter looking around in shock and fear. “What- who said??” Steam poured from his muscles, but he didn’t inflate any larger.

“Don’t bother trying to shift to your muscle form, I already saw it.”

That’s when Midoriya realized two things. The first was that he had left his ringer off on his phone, through which Tsuburaya was now speaking.

The other was that he had forgotten to shut his Pin Camera off once the Slime villain was defeated.

Oops.

Chapter Text

Normal talking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Thinking: 'Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!'

Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

All Might Speaking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

All Might Thinking: ‘Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!’

All Might Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

Sound Effects: *BLAM!*

AIs/Computers: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Speaking Another Language: {"Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"}

“Who… who is that?!” All Might asked, fearful of the secret onlooker.

“That’s…. Tsuburaya, my mentor, I guess you could say.” Midoriya admitted, pulling out his phone to show the hero the call taking place. “I'm so sorry, he-he must’ve called me when we were talking.”

“If you’re worried about me spilling your secrets, don’t be. I’m incapable of it.” Tsuburaya muttered, annoyed at the sidetracking.

All Might narrowed his eyes. “And why not?”

“He’s…” Midoriya hesitated.

“I serve you, mantle bearer. I follow your script and yours alone.” the AI reminded him.

“...he’s an AI I… inherited, I guess you could say.” Midoriya admitted. “He’s programmed to listen to me and obey my orders, so he won’t reveal any of this conversation to anyone.”

“You… have an AI??” All Might was shocked. AIs weren’t commonplace. Creating one was strictly regulated, and allowed to be done only by specific support companies, and said AI’s capabilities were limited to prevent one from following in the footsteps of the omnicidal robot Ultron. To this day, only a few heroic ones, such as Jim Hamond, Vision, or Cerebra were still active, the first two teaching at Avengers Academy, the latter at the Xavier School for Gifted Youths, while others could be found maintaining I-Island or guarding imprisoned villains with quirks that would affect organic people. For a boy like Midoriya to possess one, fully sentient with a personality, yet obedient to him, was nothing short of astounding.

“Yes, but you’re getting off track. You were saying something about giving Midoriya your Quirk?” Tsuburaya asked.

Straightening up, All Might coughed. “Right, right… I suppose you have a right to know as well, being Midoriya’s mentor. I should make it clear that I’m not going to force anything onto Midoriya. If he chooses to accept or decline, then I’ll respect his decision, but I think he’s worthy of my Quirk!” All Might dramatically pointed his finger to the boy, shouting “SO DO YOU WANNA ACCEPT MY AWESOME POWER OR NOT??”

Midoriya only stared at the man before him, so Tsuburaya decided to make a suggestion.

“Perhaps you should explain what exactly you’re talking about?”

“Oh, that’s… probably a good idea.” All Might admitted. He cleared his throat, and began his speech. “Journalists always guess about the nature of my quirk, usually claiming it to be super strength, or some kind of invulnerability.”

“That is correct. In interviews you would make a joke and dodge the question.” Tsuburaya noted. “But I take it that isn’t the truth?”

“No, it isn’t. I’ve never revealed the truth of my quirk, for the world must believe that its greatest hero came about through natural means, like anyone else! But I’m not…”

“You’re... not?” Midoriya asked, hanging onto every word, his mind racing.

“No, I’m not.” All Might confirmed. “My power did not come about naturally! I wasn’t born bearing this power, but given it…! It is a sacred torch, passed down to me from someone else!”

“It was… given to you?!” Midoriya was in shock. For the fourth time today his worldview had come crashing down. “That’s… that’s impossible!”

“But it is! And I can give you my power, for I believe you are worthy of inheriting it!”

“Hold on, this is a lot to process!!” Midoriya began, before throwing open the floodgates with a long stream of words detailing how the internet and world at large had constantly theorized about All Might’s power, wow it was considered one of the great wonders of the modern world, why such a thing had been unheard of since power was meant to be unique to each individual and no one else before then was able to just give powers to another individual in such a way, and such a quirk would have been seen as world changing were it to become public knowledge, such a thing would have changed the way quirks or other powers were viewed, maybe even the nature of powers itself-

“Geeze, kid, quit overanalyzing this!” All Might interrupted, Midoriya snapping out of his tangent.

“Sorry, Midoriya does that sometimes. Usually it takes a sharp poke to snap him out of it.” Tsuburaya commented. Despite his humorous tone, though, the AI was also analyzing everything he knew. Having Quentin Beck’s memories, he had seen plenty of types of powers. Super geniuses, men who could break worlds, the supernatural, magic, men capable of manipulating the fundamental forces of existence, aliens that could mimic the powers of others, just to name a few… but transferring one’s power? No such ability had ever existed to his knowledge. The closest thing, in Tsuburaya’s memory banks, had been the X-men member Rogue, who could siphon away one’s vitality and powers. But from what data he had, Rouge couldn’t retain the powers without killing someone, and as far as Beck knew she had not been able to give that power to anyone else.

Focusing back on the scene before him, Tsuburaya watched All Might thrust out his arm, a firm glare focused upon the boy in front of him. “You’ll have to adjust your reality and accept this new truth! I can transfer my power to another person, and that’s just one aspect of its powers!” He clenched his fist, then opened it, and from within the palm a bright light surged, brighter than the sun but with the strength of a bomb, yet it did not hurt any of them.

“The true name of my Quirk… is One for All!”

“One for All…?” Midoriya repeated. Though it was a simple phrase, it felt like he was learning the true meaning of existence, or like when he found that map which led him to the path of being a hero, Quirkless or not. Now, a new path had come before him, one he didn’t ever dream was possible.

“Yes, my boy!” All Might proclaimed to the boy and AI. “One Quirk, improved by one person, then passed down from generation to generation, with each new wielder adding their own power to make it stronger than the one before! This cultivated power is what has allowed me to save thousands of lives and stop those who would do them harm! The truth behind my strength!”

“...but… why would you choose me to give me a gift like that? What if I can’t live up to it?” Midoriya asked.

“I’ve been on a long search for a worthy successor… but then, I watched you jump into action without hesitation to save that boy, even while others stood idly by.” All Might looked down at the boy. “You may be a quirkless fanboy with homemade gadgets, but you tried to save him anyways! You acted like a hero!”

Midoriya could feel himself tear up again. To hear All Might reaffirm his belief in him, despite all the trouble that day, meant so much to him that he just couldn’t help himself. All Might chuckled at the sight.

“Seriously kid, you’ve gotta stop crying so much if you want this quirk!” All Might said, but looked at him with a smile, certain the boy would immediately respond.

“If I may interject…”

Midoriya looked at Tsuburaya. “Wha-what’s wrong?”

“I feel the need to remind you of the… theme of your gadgets and support items.” Tsuburaya said, subtly gesturing towards the musclebound hero. Midoriya understood. He trusted All Might, but he knew that some people would be reluctant to trust anyone associated with villains.

“What’s wrong??” All Might asked, confused at the AI’s interruption while Midoriya felt a growing sense of dread as he thought about what Tsuburaya was saying.

“The inheritance from which Midoriya obtained me came with the condition that Midoriya would honor the legacy of the man who created me. That man wasn’t a super strong one, so he relied on gadgets and technology to keep up with super powered peers.”

“I see… you think that if Midoriya gains my quirk that voids his inheritance?” All Might asked. “Why do you think that?”

“If Midoriya were to suddenly gain a quirk, then he’d no longer require the gadgets that I helped him develop. He needs to use the equipment as part of his persona, or else he forfeits his inheritance, and thus the resources at his disposal. My creator was very specific about that part.” Tsuburaya explained solemnly.

“Wa-wait, is that true?!” Midoriya asked. Quirk or no quirk, Midoriya had worked hard with Tsuburaya for years. He wasn’t going to throw it all away just because he had a quirk, he had made a promise! But if Tsuburaya thought that this violated the agreement..!

“Oh, there’s no problem, then.”

“What do you mean?” Tsuburaya asked. Midoriya looked at All Might, confused.

“As it stands, Midoriya can’t use my Quirk as he is now.” All Might began, only for Midoriya to interrupt tearfully.

“Bu-but you said I was worthy!!!”

“Geeze kid, calm down!! I was talking about your body!” All Might explained. That quieted Midoriya, so All Might continued. “My quirk holds the power of seven other people in it, eight once you take it. The combined strength of all that power swimming around could ravage an unprepared body. Imagine a single party balloon trying to hold an entire tank of helium, or your limbs shooting off like rockets!”

Midoriya promptly did, and screamed in horror. “SERIOUSLY!?”

“Horrifying, but how is that relevant?” Tsuburaya asked.

All Might didn’t like how dismissive the AI was towards the idea of Midoriya exploding, but continued. “To safely contain my power, you’re going to have to build up your body’s muscles to a certain point, but even then you’d have so much power that you probably won’t be able to safely control it at first. A single punch would probably shatter your arm from the backlash alone.”

Swallowing down the bile that came from that mental image, Midoriya quickly latched onto what All Might was suggesting. “I get it…! Until I can learn to safely use my power, I’ll have to rely on gadgets to supplement my  combat and rescue missions, and the illusions could help me get into the right position to use my power! And even if my limbs are damaged, I could use the gadgets as cover to escape!”

“Precisely!” All Might said. “Plenty of pro heroes use support items to help them out with any problems their quirks might have! Also, it would be better if you don’t model yourself too much after me.” Seeing their confused looks, All Might suddenly froze. He nearly let something important slip! So thinking quickly, he explained part of his reasoning, stumbling over his words a bit. “It’s just that… if someo- people notice your power is like mine, they’ll start questioning why that is and might look into it, and if word gets out that the world’s strongest Quirk can be given away…”

“Chaos and villains scrambling for that Quirk..!” Midoriya realized with a shudder.

“Hmm…. the reasoning is sound.” Tsuburaya spoke up after a minute of silence. “The gadgets and suit will act as support, your power used for direct combat, and the costume will distract people from questioning the source of his new Quirk… I find this to be a beneficial arrangement, and within the parameters my creator set, and thus acceptable.”

“Perfect! So with that all taken care of,” All Might turned to Midoriya. “Do you accept this power as your own?”

Midoriya stood up, a smile on his face. “I do!! I’ll use your power, and that of Mysterio’s, to become a hero!”

“No reluctance! I knew you would be like that, fanbo- Wait, did you say Mysterio?” All Might asked. Midoriya froze up again while Tsuburaya just sighed in exasperation.

So, yeah, Midoriya admitting that the source of his inheritance was a Pre-Quirk era villain was probably not the best way to gain All Might’s trust. That’s why, to show All Might that he wasn’t going to be a villain, Midoriya offered to take him to the Studio the next day so he could see what Midoriya was working on. He would have taken him there that night, but the sun was already setting, and Inko Midoriya had waited for her son long enough. So the boy and All Might exchanged numbers, the latter revealing his real name as Yagi Toshinori, and parted ways for the night.

The next day saw Midoriya waiting outside the DvD store, hands in his pockets. As he had expected, his mom had been worried out of her mind, and it took ten minutes of apologies and promises to “never be so reckless again”  before she calmed down enough to let him out of her sight. She asked why he hadn’t come home yet, which led to Midoriya having to tell a white lie that the police had kept him longer than expected. Midoriya had another chance to tell his mom about Tsuburaya, about the Studio, about the source of his amazing gadgets… but he couldn’t.

It wasn’t brought up often, but Japan wasn’t friendly to families related to supervillains. Midoriya had remembered this one kid in his class some years before, Maro, who had been popular with his classmates, especially Bakugo because of his own powerful Quirk, until a rumor started that his uncle had been a villain. The rumor had spread like wildfire, and within a month the boy’s popularity plummeted, his friends had ditched him, no one wanted him at their table during lunch. Bakugo had openly called him out on it in public, which only made things worse for the boy. Eventually things got so bad that he had to be transferred to another school. The worst part was that Midoriya was certain that the rumor was false, or a mistake, but that didn’t change how others had treated Maro.

Midoriya loved his mother, but even she had warned Midoriya to keep his distance from Maro, even though Midoriya was certain that he wasn’t a villain, even if his uncle had been. So every time he thought of telling her the source of his gadgets, he couldn’t help but see his mom, begging him for it to not be true. Once, he had a nightmare that she kicked him out onto the street when she had discovered it. He knew his mom loved him, but that didn’t change his fears. Hopefully if things turned out well with All Might, Midoriya could finally muster up the courage.

“You’ve got that look on your face again, Midoriya-kun.”

Midoriya looked up, a small smile on his face. The old woman, the same one from years ago, was there again, dressed in her yellow kimono and calmly eating a bento bun while wrapped in a thick blanket, a worn duffel bag behind her.

“Hello, Miss Yashida-san! Are the blankets warm enough? The weather’s been getting colder in this area.” Midoriya asked kindly. Once Midoriya had become a regular to the area, the people there had warmed up to him, especially since he began bringing them old clothes and the occasional bit of non packaged food and toiletries, though only if they requested it. Midoriya would have done more, but they all assured him they could take care of themselves.

“Oh yes, they’ll work quite well.” she said, but her expression shifted to a more serious one. “But don’t change the subject.”

“Sorry, ma’am.” Midoriya apologized. “I was just thinking about telling my mom about… well…” he looked back at the DvD store. As far as Midoriya knew, none of the Burakumin in the area knew what was inside. Tsuburaya had assured him that he’d have known if anyone unauthorized had gone inside.

“Your little workshop, yes?” she asked, a small smile on her face.

“Y…yeah.” Midoriya admitted.”It’s just… I don’t know if she’d approve of what I keep in there… and she worries about me constantly, I don’t want her to think that I’m some kind of.. Of…”

“Delinquent?” Miss Yashida asked, Midoriya nodding. “I think you’re overthinking this. Perhaps she’ll be upset with whatever you show her, but chances are she’ll be happy knowing that you do have a plan to become a hero… but I think the best way to expose her to this is to ease her into it. Start small, perhaps show her that friend you mentioned, Tsubuya?”

“Tsuburaya, Obaasan.” Midoriya tentatively corrected. The woman was kind, but something told him that she was one you should show respect to at all times. Maybe it was her rambling stories of being a Yakuza princess, or just the wild look she’d get when excited, but no matter what, she was one you didn’t ignore or insult. Not unless you wanted trouble. “But… maybe you’re right.”

“I’m always right, Greenie!” she exclaimed with a cocky smirk. Their conversation would have continued, but at that point Toshinori Yagi, wearing similar clothes as the previous day, had appeared. Before he could say anything, Miss Yashida spoke up. “If you’re looking for Ikagawashī, he’s the next street down in the alley by the adult store.”

“Excuse me…?” Toshinori asked, confused.

“Oh, no Mr. Yagi’s here to, er, evaluate my workspace!” Midoriya rapidly explained, hoping that his idol wouldn’t be insulted once he realized what the old woman had insinuated.

“Oh, I see. My apologies.” Miss Yashida said, her mood now cheerful. “Carry on.” She turned back to her lunch, happily tuning out the world.

“Sorry about her… Miss Yashida has a bunch of crazy ideas in her head.” Midoriya quietly apologized, leading the pro hero around to the back of the store.

“It’s fine, but why are we here, exactly?” Yagi asked the green haired boy. Midoriya didn’t respond straight away, instead pressing his hand to the hidden panel’s handprint scanner, installed only the previous year. With a quick flash, the door opened up. Midoriya wiped the panel clean with his sleeve, and stepped inside.

“You didn’t think someone like Tsuburaya’s creator would be glaringly obvious, right?” Midoriya asked, holding open the door. In the years since accessing the building room, Midoriya had slowly converted the backroom and office into a sort of private recreation and relaxation room. His hope was to eventually turn the whole place into a proper hero Agency one day, hopefully boost the local economy, but for now he was content with a simple private hideaway.

“Given his reputation… kind of?” Yagi admitted as he stepped in, shutting the door behind him, the door automatically locking itself.

“Wait until you see the studio.” Midoriya said with a smirk, going to the shelf of DvDs. Pulling down Get Smart opened up the door to the secret staircase. Midoriya smiled at All Might’s dumbfounded expression. “I know, cliche, but it has a charm to it.”

Yagi chuckled and followed him downstairs. Reaching the door, Midoriya answered the three questions and finally entered the studio. Yagi stepped in, his sunken eyes wide in amazement.

The Studio hadn’t changed very much over the years. Aside from there being less dust and tarps, the biggest differences were the workbench and art station. Adorning the former were blueprints for Mysterio’s suits, schematics for his gauntlets, and various chemical formulas to improve upon the gasses and latex substances Midoriya would one day be using.

Upon the latter were sketches and notes. Each one depicting either a Pro Hero or some kind of fantastical monster to be used in an illusion. Notes about the minute details of each hero surrounded the drawings. Materials, movement, Quirk and support item observations, even their posture and personality! Close by, crumbled up wads of paper in a small trash can were overflowing onto the floor, likely from scrapped ideas or rejected monsters.

Off to the side, near an express elevator, were a few crates, each one bearing a vaguely familiar logo of a stylized W, M, and H with a circle and diamond in the center. Said crates being loaded onto the service elevator by… robotic copies of Fourthkind, Colossus, and Endeavor. Yagi blinked, but continued on.

Artwork by me @deviantArt

Not far from the strange sight was a table, with hologram emitters projecting an office building, with people in either gray, blue, yellow, or red, with a single green figure on the bottom.

“What.. what is all this?” Yagi asked, picking up a model of Gigan sitting upon a model city-scape.

“Methods for which Midoriya shall be an Illusion hero.” Tsuburaya said, a hologram depicting an older man in a brown suit with a silver goatee and mustache appearing in a “teleporting in” effect Midoriya was pretty sure came from the original Star Trek. “Since being a tech based illusionist is not as simple as snapping one’s fingers, Midoriya has to study the locations he’ll potentially be stopping crime at, and plan out the show, you could say.”

Yagi blinked at the AI, surprised at the appearance of the hologram. “So.. you’re Tsuburaya?”

“In the holographic flesh.” Tsuburaya confirmed with a flamboyant bow. “You’re quite lucky actually. You’re the first person aside from the locals and Midoriya to see me in my Dr. Ludwig Rinehart avatar.”

“You have more than one form? Why?” Yagi asked, a hint of cautious suspicion directed at the AI.

“We thought that an avatar of Mysterio would send people the wrong impression, once we went public.” Tsuburaya explained. Noting that Yagi had not relaxed all that much, he continued. “Rest assured, I mean neither you or Midoriya any harm. He discovered this lair and has what Quentin Beck was looking for in a successor, and thus is entitled to everything here, including Beck’s fortune, investments, and financial accounts… even if the original money was given away to charity.”

That last part was grumbled out in annoyance, a glare directed at Midoriya, who crossed his arms and returned the glare.

“You know I was uncomfortable with using a villain’s fortune, even if it was for good.” Midoriya looked at Yagi and elaborated. “I had Tsuburaya patent a few support items, based on old villain tech and some of Mysterio’s creations, and used the money to fund us legitimately. It didn’t feel right to be using money that was originally stolen.”

“Midoriya used those funds to legally purchase the building above us about 4 years ago, with me acting as his online representative for the sale. Though I should clarify that on paper we’re listed as a support company called Wondrous Might and Heroism .” Tsuburaya continued for Midoriya, gesturing at the crates, being loaded with Support Gear; some kind of directional gauntlet in one, and a spiked turtle shell-like shield in another. Yagi nodded in understanding. It wasn’t uncommon for support companies to have their mainland facilities use aliases or be kept hidden from the general public. This was to prevent villains from breaking in to steal their products, and other similar security concerns. However, one part of Tsuburaya’s speech caught his attention.

“You have villain tech here?” Yagi asked. Most villains nowadays just used their quirks, with support items being either homemade or bought on the black market, but with very rare exceptions, none of them stood up to Pre-Quirk era machines like Dr. Octopus’ arms or Justin Hammer’s Titanium Man armor. To hear that the Studio contained blueprints or even original models was a shocking development to the Pro Hero.

“Quentin Beck took notes on everyone he knew. When the criminal community needed a fake to take the fall for a crime, to fake a death, or Beck just wanted to throw people off during a scheme, he'd be commissioned to build robotic replicas. They were no Doombot or LMD, and sometimes the personality core would malfunction, but they got the job done.” Tsuburaya explained. “The Sinister Six would often share their notes on their equipment and powers to make their robotic duplicates more realistic, though it was never as good as the originals.”

“I’ve been working to incorporate some of it into my hero costume, but there’s only so much room…” Midoriya bit his lip as he looked over his current design for his suit. It was covered in scrawled notes, some of it crossed out or extended past the edge with sticky notes since there wasn’t any more room for the information. The suit itself was large and bulky, to Midoriya’s distaste. All that weight would throw him off and make it harder to move around quietly. Chances were he’d have to scrap the design and start again.

“So.. what’s with the model building?” Yagi asked, coming over to inspect the hologram while Midoriya focused on his costume woes. Poking the green figure, he realized he could manipulate it and reposition it to new spots.

“A simulation to help Midoriya visualize how he should place his hologram emitters and any robots or drones he might have with him.” Tuburaya explained. “In this specific scenario, a group of thirteen villains with randomly generated, yet still dangerous Quirks have broken into an office building to steal bail bonds, and have taken hostages in the process. The Pro Heroes he may team up with are also randomly generated, but they’re kept outside the building at the start. Success is calculated based upon observed personality profiles, Quirk types, and the illusions Midoriya implements.”

“I see…” Yagi said, ”Wait, isn’t this the premise of an old movie?”

“ Die Hard, initially released on July 12, 1988 at the Avco Theater, then en masse on July 15, 1988, starring Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman as the protagonist and antagonist, respectively. The sequels and remakes were not worth the drive space needed to hold them, but the original is a masterpiece.” the AI confirmed. “I have an extensive knowledge of cinema upon which we can draw upon for inspiration.”

Yagi quietly nodded. It was clear to the boy and AI that he was impressed… but the worry the Pro Hero felt was still obvious. Despite all the assurances from the two, he couldn’t help but worry about all the villain technology being used. Yagi knew that it was just tools and they held no will of their own, save maybe Tsuburaya, but every time he glanced at the holographic figure, he couldn’t help but feel his stomach turn. Metaphorically speaking. Sensing the unease, Midoriya put aside his suit blueprints and spoke up.

“Look… I know there’s a stigma against villains, and people who are related to them in some way.” Midoriya sighed. “But I know Mysterio’s tech can be used for good, and if something good can come from something evil, then it deserves a chance to prove it, right?”

Yagi blinked. Unknowingly, Midoriya had brought to mind an untold aspect of One for All. For a moment, Yagi briefly thought of telling Midoriya the origins of the Quirk. About the original wielder, sick and helpless yet with a strong sense of justice. The world which gave rise to such power. And the man, the self proclaimed Demon King, who made said Quirk to control another, only to accidentally form a tool for justice…

But no. That… man was dead. He was gone, and to tell Midoriya of such things would only be adding to the boy’s worries. If, heaven forbid, He returned, then yes, All Might would tell Midoriya. But this wouldn’t be that day, and he prayed such a day would never come.

“You’re right.” Yagi looked at the two. “You’re willing to place your trust in me, and I’ve already placed my trust in you. If you’re positive that these items can be used to make a hero… then the world had best be ready for the newest Illusion Hero, Midoriya!”

Midoriya smiled in joy. A massive weight had been removed from his shoulders. If All Might had faith that Midoriya could redeem the name of Mysterio, then he would put in his best effort to be not only the strongest hero, but the cleverest one as well.

And maybe, just maybe, his mother would see things the same way.

“So, with that out of the way, how exactly do you plan to make Midoriya ready to accept your Quirk? A gym trial? Sparring with you or one of the machines here?”

“By cleaning up Dagoba Beach!” All Might proclaimed, bulking up in his excitement.

“…”

“...pardon?”

“Hahaha!! Oh, the look on your faces!” All Might steadied his breath and turned the hologram. “Could you please look up the beach online and bring up the images that you find on a screen?”

Midoriya nodded to Tsuburaya, who started typing on a keyboard that suddenly appeared. Surrounding the three were images of a trash covered beach. Mountains of garbage, from microwaves and rotting tires to stoves, refrigerators and even entire cars were left there to rust.

“There’s… so much trash!!” Midoriya sputtered out.

“That’s correct! I did some research last night and found that part of the beach was once beautiful… but the ocean currents let anything that’s dropped into the waters flow onto the beach, making it a favorite spot for illegal trash disposal. Because of this, all the locals avoid the area.” All Might explained, a hint of sadness in his tone. “So, to inherit my Quirk, you’ll have to clean up that beach!”

While Tsuburaya could not see why All Might would go this route instead of the gym or a training course, Midoriya immediately picked up on All Might’s way of thinking.

“I see… by cleaning up the beach I not only get a workout, I’ll be doing the public a service!” Midoriya said, his eyes sparkling in eagerness.

“Got it in one, fanboy! Heroes these days are more focused on stopping flashy villains. A noble cause, but that’s still only a single aspect of being a hero! In the old days, before quirks made powers commonplace, serving the public was what mattered, no matter what form it took!”

“That’s true… I recall reading how while people like Captain America or the X-Men focused more on international criminals or terrorists, every day Spider-Man could be found doing anything from finding stray pets, giving directions to people, or plugging leaks in water towers.” Tsuburaya noted. “Most street level vigilantes and heroes gained public favor by following his example.”

“He’s not wrong! I figure that if you clear away this part of the beach…” All Might spun his finger around an overhead view of the beach, but nothing happened. Turning to the AI, the Symbol of peace awkwardly asked “Um… Could you, uh… highlight the area I circled?” A moment later, that area lit up red. “Thank you. As I was saying, I figure that if Young Midoriya clears away this part of the beach, he’d be ready to inherit One for All safely!”

“Are you sure??? That seems like quite a lot of garbage for Midoriya to handle on his own..” Tsuburaya muttered, quietly running the numbers in the background.

“No, he’s right!” Midoriya spoke up. “I wanna get into UA’s entrance exam, but it’s only ten months away, so I need to get ready fast! They’re the best hero school in the country, but also the toughest to get into!”

“And that’s why I made THIS!” All Might pulled out a packet of papers. “My handy dandy Aim-to-Pass All American Dream Plan! Follow this outline, and you’ll be ready in no time!”

Taking the stack, Midoriya looked it over with Tsuburaya observing to archive it. It wasn’t just workout routines and meal plans, either. Study sessions, rest days… “Even my sleep is scheduled…!” Midoriya whispered, just now comprehending the scale of the task he would have to undertake.

“I’ll be honest with you two. This will be a pretty extreme task, but it’s necessary if you want to safely inherit my Quirk.” All Might admitted somberly.

“Add that to Midoriya’s schoolwork and gadget building…” Tsuburaya noted, a pair of spectacles appearing on the bridge of his nose. “The odds are slim... but it should be possible with only minimal adjustments made to these plans.”

“I don’t care how hard this will be, I know I’ll have to work harder than everyone else just to get in.” Midoriya admitted, but looked up with a steely resolve at his two mentors. “But being a hero has never been easy, so I’ll give it my all!”

“Glad to hear it!” All Might proclaimed. “I’ll see you at the beach tomorrow morning, fanboy!”

And so, just like that, ten months of absolute hell began for Midoriya. For most of the week, Midoriya would train at Dagoba beach. The different kinds of trash strained different groups of muscles in Midoriya’s body, thus ensuring all parts were being worked on. For the most part, it was just him and All Might. Sometimes Tsuburaya would come by, watching Midoriya train using a drone, but not always. Tsuburaya spent most of the time testing different materials and equipment to add to the suits. He devised and scrapped no less than 6 different Mysterio suits in the first month alone.

Midoriya was often left exhausted, but he pushed himself. Even on days he was supposed to be rested he worked out, even if it was a simple grip trainer used in his non-busy hand while he took notes in class. The other classmates took notice of his efforts, but unless they heard him muttering they were content to do little more than gossip. Bakugo had been oddly quiet. One part of Midoriya had wondered if him loosening up on his bullying was an indirect way for him to thank Midoriya, while another, more embittered part of him figured that he just didn’t want to risk getting into an incident that would keep him out of Hero School. Either way, Midoriya wasn’t complaining. No bullying meant he wouldn’t have to worry about missing a workout day to recover.

After school, Midoriya would head to the Studio to either review the blueprints he and Tsuburaya drew up or spar, the AI taking command of robotic duplicates of various Pro Heroes from the modern era and Pre-Quirk Golden Age. Midoriya wasn’t the best at fighting, especially since he tried to copy All Might’s aggressive powerhouse fighting style despite Tsuburaya’s insistence that he do otherwise. Despite this, he never gave up. Eventually, he managed to last long enough in combat against the robotic avatars of Fourthkind and Gunhead teaming up to satisfy the AI. So Midoriya changed his focus to memorizing the different formulas and how to combine them to achieve the effects he desired for different scenarios.

At home, Inko was shocked at her son’s sudden change in lifestyle. When he was eight he had asked her for a healthier style of eating. ‘To help me become a hero!’ he’d said. But he’d usually make time for the occasional hanami dango or pocky, but now it seemed he would eat nothing but healthy food, and he’d wolf it down like he was starving, and still ask for seconds! The exhaustion that seemed to build up as time went on also had her worried. His grades were still good, so she didn’t think it was something to bring up just yet, and thus she let it slide.

The biggest shock had been when Izuku came to her one morning and showed her that when he was young he had obtained an AI! An actual AI that was subservient to her boy’s wishes, even if he was made by a villain from the past. Izuku had confessed to her how he had obtained it, even showing her the original notebook, kept in a new plastic sleeve to better preserve it. She had yet to visit the Studio as they called it, but Izuku had shown her pictures, talking on end about how he was going to use those resources to become a great hero. The passion in his words talking about being a hero was the only thing that made her certain Izuku wasn’t being manipulated or, heaven forbid, manipulating her.

Inko was, of course, upset with her son withholding this information from her for years… at least, until she learned why. It had been a long time since she had thought about Maro Jōgo, the boy everyone treated like a plague when that awful rumor had started. Even she was guilty of pushing that belief onto Izuku, just because she was just scared for him. Hearing how this memory had made Izuku scared of her reaction broke her heart. She knew he would never be a villain. His heart was too pure and kind for it, even if she thought he was a bit unrealistic at times. Still, with these resources and that nice trainer Mr. Yagi’s help, Inko was now positive that her son would be able to be a great hero. She just wished that she had a way to prove to her son that she was going to support him, no matter what. A way that showed him she was sorry for ever doubting him, for not supporting him when he needed her to, all those years ago. One night, while taking away a lukewarm mug of coffee and some empty energy bar wrappers that surrounded her passed out son, she glanced at Izuku’s open sketchbook… and found a way.

Eventually, seven months had passed. Autumn had arrived, and Midoriya was jogging down a tree lined pathway, struggling to keep up with All Might, the latter riding a segway in his thin form, a massive coat draped around him like a cloak. Hearing a grunt and thud, All Might stopped, looking back at his chosen successor, the latter laying on the ground, panting heavily, the garbage he was hauling dropped beside him.

“Hey, hey! You’re not going to give up that easily, are you?! Just going to flush away all that hard work??” All Might was going to continue his berating, but took notice of something else. Midoriya was shaking, far too tired considering the amount of exercise he was doing. “You’re overworked. The Aim to Pass American Dream Plan was created with your body type in mind. It was fine tuned by Tsuburaya to make sure your progress was swift yet manageable. That means…”

Yagi’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You haven’t been following the plan Tsuburaya and I laid out! I know you’re eager to get in, but overworking yourself is just going to do more harm than good!”

“It’s not enough… to just get in…” Midoriya groaned out.

“Hm?” Yagi glanced down at the boy, who weakly looked up at him.

“It’s not enough… to just get in… I want to excel…!” Midoriya panted out, shaking as he struggled to get up. “Everyone else thinks I can’t do this… that I can’t be a hero…! I need to prove otherwise..! Prove that I can be… the greatest hero in the world!”

All Might stared at the boy, on his knees and hands, and could only think of how much though he put into the future. With a smile he inflated to his muscular form and stepped off the segway.

“You’ve got a lot of fighting spirit, fanboy! That’ll serve you well!” All Might proclaimed, lifting the limp child up by the neck of his workout jacket. “That being said, overworking yourself won’t do you any good!  “Don’t you worry, fanboy! I’ll speak with Tsuburaya, and these two old men will adjust the Dream Plan so you’ll be at the top of your game come the entrance exam!” 

“You’re not that old…” Midoriya muttered out as the Pro Hero gently put him back on his feet.

All Might simply laughed and raised his fist to the sky, Midoriya mustering enough strength to look up. “Don’t you worry, Young Midoirya! When the time comes, you’ll be able to truly Go Beyond, PLUS UL-”

“Midoriya! It’s Tsuburaya!”

Midoriya sighed, annoyed that the moment was ruined, and pulled out his phone. “What is it?”

“Someone unauthorized is attempting to access the Studio!”

The handprint scanner was nothing, and the secret entrance to the hidden stairs were obvious, so why was this door being so mean?!

The girl threw back her hair. It was getting long, she noticed, but not long enough to require a haircut. But for now she focused. The obstacle before her, a door with an annoyingly specific, randomized question lock was giving her a surprising amount of trouble. There hadn’t been any visible screws to remove the panel so she couldn’t hook up her decrypter, and she was sure that lasering the lock off would have been seen as rude, so she was stuck trying to answer movie trivia questions of all things!

“‘ Who played the first Dracula?’ Gary Oldman, right?” She typed it in, only for the lock to reject the answer and make a loud buzzer noise. She was starting to get frustrated, she would admit. She just wanted to talk to the person who had made that amazing gauntlet that showed up on the news seven months ago! Was that too much to ask?!

Okay, yeah, maybe looking him up online, learning what school he went to, following him from a distance once he was let out, and breaking into his secret lab was a bit far, but as a fellow genius she just wanted to share some ideas and maybe team up to build some amazing-!

“Who the heck are you?!”

Spinning around, her smile widened. At last, the one she had come here to see! Along with a hologram of an older Englishman and some… living skeleton? Whatever, the boy she had spent months tracking down was finally in front of her! So caught up in the moment, she said the first thing that came to her mind which, as always happened due to her excitement, probably was not the most tactful of statements.

“My name is Mei Hatsume, and I’m here to make babies with you!”

“...”

“...”

“...WHAT?!” Midoriya shouted.

Chapter Text

Normal talking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Thinking: 'Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!'

Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

All Might Speaking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

All Might Thinking: ‘Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!’

All Might Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

Sound Effects: *BLAM!*

AIs/Computers: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Speaking Another Language: {"Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"}

“B-b-b-b-babies?!”

Midoriya had gone into the human equivalent of the blue screen of death. Who could blame him? He had come to the lab expecting some thugs, or worse a Pro Hero, not a teenage girl with pink dreadlocks, yellow crosshairs in her eyes, and a large pair of 'GOGGLES! STARE ONLY AT THE GOGGLES!! FOR THE LOVE OF ALL MIGHT DO NOT LOOK DOWN!'

While Tsuburaya was one to indulge in schadenfreude, he knew now was not the best time, and instead cleared his throat. Well, he made the noise, at least.

“And by “babies you mean..?”

“Gadgets! Machines! Gizmos! Thingamabobs! Dinglehoppers! Support items!” the intruder elaborated on, either not noticing the green haired boy’s distress or just not caring. “I saw his amazing device on the news and wanted to share notes!”

That explanation did slightly calm Midoriya down. Not enough to even begin to relax him, but now he could think clearly without… images appearing in his head.

“Perhaps we should discuss this upstairs?” Tsuburaya suggested. Midoriya was immediately in agreement, but a quick sniff made him rethink his eagerness.

“Actually… mind waiting while I shower off real quick?”

“I’m fine with waiting!” Mei agreed, pushing past Midoriya and going upstairs as if it was normal for her to break into a private building and talk to the owner and their AIs. With little other choice, Yagi followed her, Tsuburaya shut off his projection, and Midoriya went to the Studio’s shower room. Before he could even begin getting undressed, a shocking thought had entered his head.

‘HOLY CRAP I TALKED TO A GIRL!’

Settling down on down on a couch in the backrooms, Mei pulled out one of her inventions and began fiddling with it, humming a tuneless noise as she worked. 

Rising from the ground in a zombie-like state, Tsuburaya shuffled towards Mei with a snarl, although aside from a quick glance upwards, she didn't really seem to care about the walking corpse. Toshinori, already used to Tsuburaya's pension for theatrics,  got to work picking up the DvDs Mei had thrown aside while attempting to enter the hidden staircase. Seeing the general lack of a reaction, Tsuburaya tried a more standardized approach.

“I think introductions are in order. That's Mr. Toshinori, Izuku Midoriya's personal trainer, and my name is Tsuburaya. May I ask how exactly you found this location?” Tsuburaya asked, restoring his avatar to a proper human form.

Little did he know of the avalanche he’d be experiencing in only a moment.

“Nice entrance! Did Greenie design that intro animation?? Oh, wait, you asked me a question! Well, after Greenie showed off his neat smoke gauntlet and glasses in that villain attack, I just knew I had to see him! So I spent a few months writing up an algorithm to track his online profile down, but that didn’t work, so I had it check the schools in the area and two months ago it found him, so I tried to get his attention, but he was always in a hurry so I couldn’t get to him in time before he got home! Since it’s super rude to bother people at home, I decided to try and find him somewhere else, so I followed him for a few weeks, but still wasn’t able to catch him. Then I realized he was intentionally being confusing, most likely to hide his lab, so I rewrote my algorithm to instead track the trains and streets he used, and last week I triangulated the location of the store, but some creepy lady would be watching me whenever I’d approach the store, which usually wouldn't deter me, but she had a really nasty looking bokken sword at her side, so I stayed back until this morning, when she left for I think one of those public bathhouses? Anyways, I knew that was my best chance to get in, so I threw together a baby to get past any security and came here! I managed to find the panel easily enough thanks to the micro-seams in the wood being visible to my Quirk, and there were scuff marks in the carpet that let me know that the shelf moved, so I pulled down DvDs until I found the right one! That door lock stopped me from going any further though, and I was getting super frustrated until Greenie and the hospital patient found me!”

Mei Hatsume had spoken all that without having stopped to breathe, and looked at the two observing her with a large smile. Yagi and Tsuburaya could only stare, the former having picked up only every other word said by the motor mouth inventor. Tsuburaya didn’t have that problem, but even he had been stunned by the sheer energy the girl had. Taking a moment to process everything, he spoke up again.

“You thought… that visiting Midoriya at home was rude, but you were okay with breaking into private property?” Tsuburaya questioned incredulously.

“Oh, is that Greenie’s name?” Mei asked. “Too long, I think I’ll call him either ‘Dorya or Greenie! But yeah, I got excited to see him. Great inventors hold conversations through their inventions! By beating his security, I knew that he would be impressed and would let me join him in making babies!”

“...I.. think I understand...” Tsuburaya muttered after a moment of thought. Before he could ask more questions, the shelf of DvDs, now refilled, moved to the side and out emerged Midoriya, clean and sporting a green jacket over an All Might t-shirt and green cargo shorts. After that relaxing shower, Midoriya was certain he could handle the hyperactive girl who tried to break into his workshop.

“'dorya, make babies with me!!!” Mei immediately shouted to the teenage boy.

Nevermind.

Midoriya just stood there, paralyzed in shock, a strangled noise escaping from his throat as his brain attempted another reboot. Yagi sighed, and came over to Midoriya, shaking his shoulder until he snapped out of it.

“She tracked you down because she wants to work with you, kid.” summarized Yagi to his apprentice.

“O-oh!” Midoriya recovered. “You want to work with me?”

“Yeah! Your gauntlet and glasses were amazing! You built a fully functional alert system and a portable support item out of garbage! You’re the kinda guy I wanna be making babies with!” Mei stated, again not caring how her words would be taken out of context.

Thankfully, Midoriya only flinched at the words instead of locking up. “You… you were impressed? It wasn’t anything special, I just dumpster dived for most of the materials, and I couldn’t even get the holograms working earlier that-”

“HOLOGRAMS??” Mei interrupted in excitement, sitting up.

Midoriya leaned back, unused to being given so much positive attention by people his age. “Ye-yeah.. The gauntlets are supposed to emit a special fog that made holograms look more solid, since the requirements to give the hologram’s continuous form retention-”

“-Is limited by computing power AND space on the gauntlet!” Mei finished, eyes dilating in joy. “But if you add microcircuitry to the glove, you’d have more than enough processor power to keep the holograms stable, no matter how much light or material passes through it!”

“I… I know…” Midoriya admitted. “The problem is we don’t yet have the equipment to build micro circuitry in a cost effective way.”

“And ordering such items to this location draws the wrong kind of attention.” Tsuburaya added. Indeed, the whole reason the Dr. Rinehart form had been created was that the delivery men that dropped off materials needed to develop Mysterio’s suit had insisted upon retrieving signatures on their tablets, threatening to call the police if it wasn’t done. Midoriya had only been ten, none of the robots in storage looked human or were dexterous enough to believably hold a pen, and Tsyuburaya was still using the Mysterio look, so neither of them could have done so. It was only thanks to Miss Yashida’s timely appearance that the delivery men didn’t report the area as a possible spot for villain activity.

“Oh, is that it? I figured out how to do that in my first year of junior high!” Mei bragged.

“Wait, you can make microcircuitry?!” Midoriya couldn’t believe his ears.

“Yup!” Mei pointed to her eyes. “My Quirk, Zoom, lets me see a mouse from up to five kilometers away in great clarity!! What’s more, I was able to build so many amazing babies by focusing on the inner workings! It’s also how I discovered the seams along the hidden panels, and the signs of the passageways in this building!”

“That… that’s amazing!” Midoriya came closer, pulling out his Quirk analysis notebook, much to Mei’s amusement. “Just how good is your Quirk’s magnification on an object sitting before you??”

The two went on and on, discussing her quirk and the various inventions the two had worked on. All the while, Tsuburaya was watching in silence. He had been uncertain of how to categorize the girl with pink dreadlocks, but now he knew that she was a potential threat, should she choose to be. While she did not seem to have any intention of revealing the Studio’s location, she was an uninhibited, shameless person, especially when presented with “babies,” so the chances of her spilling the Studio’s location to the public before Midoriya determined they were ready was simply too great. If only there was a way to ensure she’d keep quiet. Killing her was right out. Midoriya would have refused to allow such a thing, not to mention he would have been very upset with Tsuburaya, and they lacked the means of effectively hiding the body, so that idea was discarded almost instantly. His attempt at scaring her with the zombie showed that she was not one easily intimidated. Banishing her was no good, since she was able to breach all but the last line of defense, and it was only due to luck that she didn’t manage to do so. Moving locations was also unfeasible, since they lacked the time, manpower, and means to get everything out without drawing attention, to say nothing of locating and/or modifying a new space that would fit their needs. In addition, the girl had shown to be dangerously clever and not above bending the rules when she thought the situation called for it. He could threaten her, but again, Midoriya would have disapproved. With all this in mind, Tsuburaya came to what he believed to be the best option, as much as he felt it was one that held its own risks.

“Miss Hatsume, how would you like a job?”

That got everyone in the room to look at him. Midoriya was gaping like a fish, Mei's smile grew to Cheshire Cat levels, and Yagi was in shock.

“A-a job?!” Midoriya stuttered out.

“Ooooh… you’ve got my interest, Hologram!” Mei smirked while Yagi stood up.

“Hold it, Mei is only a child, she could-” he started, glaring at the AI.

“Actually I’ll be sixteen in April, so legally I can start working now!” Mei interrupted, a manic gleam in her eyes. “LEMME AT THE BABIES!”

“But.. Midoriya-” Yagi tried again.

“Is fifteen, the legal age to be working, and as the legal owner of this... Property, he is within his rights to hire anyone that he so chooses.” Tsuburaya countered.

“But…” Yagi searched for anything to dissuade the AI. “Mei doesn’t have an official Support Gear license yet! She needs to get through Hero School first!”

“Which is why she will not be working on the larger projects directly.” Tsuburaya clarified. Ignoring the pout Mei was giving him and Yagi, he continued. “Instead, she will be acting as a consultant and making the individual parts of the items, which is perfectly legal, and those parts will be assembled by myself, commanding machines, into the completed Support Gear to be sold. It’s a legal loophole that we’ve exploited before, back when Midoriya and I were coming up with the means for funding his ambitions.”

“And I don’t mind working for a guy younger than me!” Mei added, practically vibrating in excitement. “With funding I can afford proper and bigger materials for my babies and gain some workplace experience!!”

Tsuburaya raised his hands in a placating manner. “Hold on, before we can officially employ you, some things need to be… clarified.”

Though visibly annoyed, Mei sat back down on the couch, arms crossed. Midoriya swallowed his spit and turned to Tsuburaya and nodded. Seeing this as permission to continue, Tsuburaya explained himself.

“This location is meant to be private. Behind the door downstairs are devices that need to remain confidential, but I calculate that you are not one to be driven or bribed away. In addition, your skills have proven to be a potentially useful resource for us, therefore I believe our best option to ensure your silence is an employment contract, starting with an NDA, or a non-”

“Nondisclosure agreement so I can't tell anyone, I know! Lemme have it so I can sign it” Mei said impatiently. Tsuburaya nodded, and from a printer in the corner of the room, the document was formed. Mei practically ran to the printer, snatched the paper, and quickly scanned it. Though excited, she was still careful to read it multiple times and think it over. Her mother didn’t raise a fool, after all. Once she finished making sure the NDA was acceptable, she ran past Yagi, grabbing a pen from a Godzilla mug and writing her name and signature down on the bottom line. “Done, so whatcha working on?”

Tsuburaya scanned the document before nodding in satisfaction. “This place is the secret location of the Support Item Company, Wondrous Might & Heroism.” Mei’s eyes widened, and a huge smile appeared upon her face. “I see you know who we are.”

“Of course! You guys are small, but you’ve got some of the most effective babies on the market!” Mei said excitedly.

“Thanks… though admittedly we can’t really take all the credit for inventing some of those items…” Midoriya said, rubbing his neck nervously.

“Why not??” Mei asked, before gasping, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Hang on… you didn’t steal them?!”

“NO, NO, NO!” Midoriya immediately threw his hands up, panicking. “It’s just that-”

“The inventions we sold are either copies of, or derived from non-patented technology used by Pre-Quirk Era villains.” Tsuburaya calmly explained, a holographic cloud of smoke surrounding him until he was standing before the three in his original Mysterio avatar. Mei’s jaw dropped as he continued. “This technology was unclaimed and out of public usage,  thus within our legal right to use as we saw fit, including to allow the new Mysterio to be a hero.”

Mei fell silent, her jaw closed. It seemed that for once, she had been rendered silent. Not wanting her to get the wrong idea, Midoriya quietly spoke up. “I know the rep that people related to villains get, so if this makes you uncomfortable, then we can-”

“ARE YOU KIDDING??”

Everyone jumped back as Mei leapt up, the fire of eagerness within her eyes. “A reputation for taking the babies of baddies and reworking them to be used by the heroes of tomorrow??” standing on the couch, she threw her fist into the air and proclaimed to the shocked trio “THIS COMPANY’S REP WILL GARNER SO MUCH ATTENTION, I BET THAT WE’LL BECOME LEGENDARY!!”

“We…? So.. you mean..?” Midoriya asked.

“I’m onboard, new Mysterio!” Mei pointed to him. “We’re gonna be so famous! Or infamous! Either way, people will notice us and our babies! I just wanna know when we’ll go public!!”

Midoriya fell silent, silently debating, before coming to a decision. “The UA Sport Festival. Everyone will be watching, and people will see that we’re not afraid of salvaging villain tech to build a better tomorrow.”

“OH, THINKIN' OF ATTENDING UA TOO??? ME TOO! IT CANNOT POSSIBLY GET ANY MORE PERFECT!” Mei turned to the AI, who was still in shock at how unbothered Mei was. “DRAW UP AN EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT, AND I PROMISE YOU MY BABIES WILL GIVE US ALL THE ATTENTION WE COULD EVER WANT!”

And thus, an unexpected, but welcome new member had been added to Team Mysterio. Tsuburaya got to work on a contract, promising Mei full rights to her creations despite being an open hire, so she was free to go to any other business that caught her eye or start up her own business. Mei said that it was unlikely that she would leave Wondrous Might & Heroism for another, but accepted the terms. She began work that very day. Within a week, she had solved many of Midoriya’s suit’s problems, and suggested new additions to the items. In a month, she and Tsuburaya built the skeleton of Midoriya’s costume. She spent her free time tinkering and experimenting in the workshop, though she had to be moved to a side room after one of her “babies,” a modified vest version of the Scorcher’s armor, nearly set a Mysterio costume on fire.

It was only a few days before the UA Entrance Exams. Toshinori drove to the beach in an old pickup truck, Tsuburaya’s drone in the truck’s bed. The two were expecting Midoriya to be hard at work, clearing away one of the few piles of appliances that were left.

Instead, as they pulled in, they heard a scream. Toshinori hurried out as Tsuburaya took to the air, both concerned… but instead they became still, amazement overcoming the two of them.

The entire beach had been cleared out! Even outside the designated areas, the scrapped remains of various appliances had been removed! The only sign of it was a tall pile, upon which stood Midoriya, screaming his lungs out to the rising sun, his sweat covered chest bare for the world to see.

“He… he actually did it!” Tsuburaya stuttered out, shocked. So shocked, that he activated his Dr. Rinehart hologram just to properly convey his shock, even dramatically throwing off his spectacles in amazement.

“Holy… stinkin… SUPER CRAP!”

Midoriya, limp and exhausted, fell from the pile. Tsuburaya wasn’t concerned. As he predicted, only microseconds later, All Might rushed forward and caught the boy, a look of immeasurable pride radiating from his smiling face.

“You did it, young Midoriya, and with only a few days to spare!”

“I… cleared everything in sight… did I… do enough?”

“Indeed you did, mantle bearer!” Tsuburaya hovered over, and generated a hologram of Midoriya from the previous year, before generating another one. “This is you, 10 months ago! And this is you as you are now!”

While Midoriya wasn’t scrawny before he met All Might, his new self, compared to the old version, looked like a small body builder! Clearly chiseled and defined muscles lined the boy’s torso and arms, marking the completion of his journey to bearing the strength of All Might’s great power.

“Am I…?” Midoriya asked the muscle bound pro hero.

“You are!” All Might said, gently setting Midoriya down. “You are ready to inherit this great legacy, in addition to the other mantle you plan to bear!”

“But.. are you sure..? I just met you through luck…”

“Ahahaha! Still doubting yourself, fanboy??” All Might asked. “Lemme tell you something MY mentor once said! There is a difference between being lucky and being deserving. One is happenstance, and the other is a reward! Never get them confused! And speaking of rewards…!”

The giant of a man reached up to his signature hair and pulled out a single strand, clenching it between two fingers. “You worked your backside off, studied hard, and poured all your skills into making it here, young Izuku Midoriya! I promise you, YOU ARE WORTHY OF THIS AWESOME POWER!”

“NOW…” All Might leaned to Midoriya, who with tired, Quirkless hands, reached forward to claim his prize.

“EAT THIS!”

“...”

“...”

“…huh?”

“...I… think my audio sensors glitched, did he just tell you to-?”

“He did…” Midoriya confirmed, looking at the hair in slight horror.

“Ahaha, I guess I forgot to mention that you had to eat a bit of my DNA to inherit my quirk.” All Might explained sheepishly.

“Um, yeah!! Why do I have to eat this?!” Midoriya asked, disgust welling up.

All Might rolled his eyes and shoved the strand towards Midorya’s mouth. “Well it was either this or I spat in your mouth, now eat! Eat! EEEEEAT!”

“WAAAGH!”

The next few seconds were blocked from Tsuburaya’s memory, by his own choice, but when his vision was restored, a thoroughly unhappy looking Midoriya was covering his mouth and All Might was looking down at him.

“It tasted like… hair gel and regret…” he whimpered out. The next few minutes were spent with All Might loading his truck with all the trash it could carry; since some of the junk pile was too big for his one truck to haul on its own. Midoriya, meanwhile, decided to clean himself off in the beach’s nearby shower stalls. After exiting the showers, while putting his shoes on, something occurred to Midoriya that he had been wondering about, but never got the courage to ask. “Hey All Might… if I have your Quirk now, what does that mean for you?”

“That is a good question… does that mean you are unable to be a hero now?” Tsuburaya asked. Midoriya immediately began to tear up in horror at the implications. Before the waterworks, unrelated to the shower, could begin, All Might deflated to his weaker form and held up his hands placatingly.

“Calm down! I’m not out of the game yet!” That calmed Midoriya down enough for Yagi to continue. “While it’s true that I will eventually have to stop being a hero, I do have some… Residual embers within me, I guess you could say. That’ll be enough for me to continue heroing for two years, maybe even three if I don’t push myself.”

“But.. that means… it’s my fault you-” Midoriya whimpered out before All Might pointed at him.

“None of that, Midoriya!” he shouted. “This was going to happen whether or not I had found a successor! Truth be told… I should have retired after my injury. But now I can rest easy knowing that the next Symbol of Peace has been found and hatched!”

“Does this mean we’re going to start work on my Quirk?” Midoriya asked, brushing aside All Might’s choice in words.

“Well, once the hair finishes digesting in three hours, yeah.” Yagi explained, Midoriya shuddering at the memory of the experience. Turning to the stairs out of the beach, Yagi continued. “Tsuburaya and I ordered some equipment we can use to help you gauge the full output of your power, and we had Mei clear up the front of the store to act as a training area.”

“What did you tell her it was for?” Midoriya asked, following behind his flesh and blood mentor. Mei was a part of WMH, yes, but she was not made privy to who Yagi truly was, or that Midoriya had been Quirkless the whole time he had known her. When she had asked about his Quirk, Midoriya said that he “had anxieties about using it.” She didn’t appear to believe him, but for once, respected his desire for privacy.

“We said that you experienced a Quirk awakening and that you were concerned with how it would affect your Support items.” Tsuburaya explained, dismissing the hologram while the drone folded itself up for Midoriya to carry in his lap. “Since we need to see how your equipment would handle the Quirk anyways, it seemed like a reasonable explanation.”

“Yeah, I can see that…” Midoriya admitted as he climbed into the truck. “So… since Mei is probably going to be there, I should probably ask how to use One for All now.”

“Good idea.” Yagi agreed, before remembering something. “Oh! Real quick, lemme send a message first.” He pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

Midoriya sat in the passenger seat and wondered who All Might would have been calling. “Sir Nighteye, maybe? No, not likely, they had a falling out years prior. Maybe it’s All Might’s own mentor… or a previous One For All user. It’d make the most sense, since they had experience using it, even if it’s gone from their bodies...”

“Okay, good.. I’ll see you there.” hanging up, Yagi turned to Midorya who stopped his mental tangent. “Chiyome will meet us above the Studio, in the testing area.”

“Who’s that?” Midoriya asked.

“The Nurse at UA, you probably know her as-” All Might began.

“The Youthful Heroine, Recovery Girl!!” Midoriya finished, excitedly. “Wait, does she know about…?”

“One for All? Yeah, she helped me out when I first got it, and also was involved in the surgery following my injury.” Yagi explained. “Since her quirk immediately heals most injuries, she’s our best bet to handle any… accidents that might come from using One for All.”

“So… how do I use it?” Midoyira asked.

Yagi raised his left fist. “Well, you clench your buttocks tight-”

“What?!” Midoriya yelped.

“And yell “Smash” from the bottom of your heart!” Yagi stuck his arm out the window of his truck to punctuate his statement. Pulling his arm back into the cabin of the truck, he continued. “At least, that's how it works for me… the power manifests itself differently depending on the person.”

“You mentioned months ago that Midoriya would not be able to handle the full output safely. What is the most likely result of this, and how do you plan to rectify it?” Tsuburaya, speaking through Midoriya’s phone, asked.

“Well, first Midoriya will have to use the power. That way he can get a feel for how a 100% power up feels, then we can work on adjusting his output to something more manageable.” Yagi said. “Though that means Midoriya will probably end up breaking an arm-”

“Which is why you called Recovery Girl to sit in.” Midoriya added, though he still looked uneasy at the idea of intentionally breaking an arm, even if it was going to be fixed moments later.

“Yeah, exactly!” Yagi confirmed.

“Does she know about my… inheritance?” Midoriya asked.

“She knows you have an AI and a workshop, but not the source of those items.” Yagi assured the boy, who visibly relaxed in his seat.

Three hours and a few trips to the junkyard later, they reached the Studio, Toshinori parking his truck close by. While he fed the parking meter, Midoriya climbed out, Tsuburaya’s drone under his arm.

“Morning Midoriya!” Miss Yashida called from her favorite spot, eating a bit of tempura shrimp in a Styrofoam container.

“Morning Obaasan!” Midoriya cheerfully called out. “Listen, I’m going to be… testing some things here, so don’t be concerned if it gets a bit loud. Oh, and if an old lady comes by asking for us, can you direct her around the back?”

“Of course!” she said happily. “Have fun testing your toys!”

“Come on, kid!” Yagi called. Midoriya followed him into the back of the store, then to the front, now cleaned up and remade into an impromptu gym. Mei was already there, getting a pressure plate hooked up to her homemade laptop. She was so immersed in her work that Midoriya had stepped inside and set down Tsuburaya’s drone in its charging station before she finally noticed him.

“‘Dorya!” Mei greeted the boy happily from her spot while Tsuburaya appeared as a mummy emerging from a sarcophagus before the bandages fell away to reveal his Dr. Rinehart avatar. Ignoring the hologram’s need for theatrics, Mei continued. “You said you needed help making sure your babies could handle your Quirk’s new output, right?”

“Ye…yeah… I… got a sudden quirk awakening and gained an increase in power, but now I can’t really control it, so I wanted to make sure my support items would be fine.” Midoriya nervously lied. If Mei suspected anything she gave no indication, just smiling eagerly as she brought over a small box labeled TEST BABIES!

“Well we can’t have you breaking your babies! What was your previous output?” she asked, getting in real close to the veridian haired boy. While Midoriya had gotten somewhat used to the pink haired genius, he still found himself getting uncomfortable with her at times.

“Er… well…”

“A little under 4,000,000,000 Joules.” Yagi stated without hesitation. Mei turned to him in shock, before immediately running to her laptop to plug in the numbers.

‘Thank you.’ Midoriya mouthed to his mentor, who just subtly nodded. Midoriya dug into the box, picking out a prototype Mysterio Gauntlet. It was a boxy thing, with hidden panels holding small dice-size holocubes and plastic vials of various chemicals used in Mysterio’s fog. Sewn into the palm of the golden glove was a flat, eye-shaped pattern hiding an offensive laser and hologram projector. The metal was unpainted and a few wires were exposed, secured by zipties, but it functioned and was capable of doing anything that Mysterio would require of it. Besides, they weren’t testing the gauntlet’s aesthetics. Slipping the gauntlet on, Midoriya activated it, the small plexiglass screen on the back lighting up with statistics and a command menu, not that Midoriya was going to actually use it.

“Alrighty, we’re all set for the test! Just go to the dummy and punch with all your strength!” Mei called up. Beside her, Tsuburaya focused on the scene before them, ready to record the results.

Midoriya nodded, stepping forward. Recalling the stances Tsuburaya showed him, Midoriya raised his arm. A surge of energy poured into his limb, a red glow radiating from the arm itself, and, with a mighty yell of “SMASH!” Midoriya punched the dummy-mounted pressure plate.

The effect was like a massive cannon firing against a football. The dummy snapped off its secure housing and was sent flying into the back wall, the rubbery material that made up the dummy flattening from the pressure like a cheap toy while the plate itself cracked almost in half, and the air force… Had Tsuburaya not accounted for the wind pressure in designing the test, Midoriya’s attack would have easily torn not just through the reinforced concrete wall, but at least five other walls beyond it before slowing down. Thankfully he had, and instructed Mei to place several directional tubes with mesh covers on the wall, so instead the wind was channeled up into the air where nothing was damaged save perhaps a few eardrums belonging to some now irate pigeons.

Needless to say, Mei was stunned. Midoriya had said he had a super strength type quirk, but that was like comparing a domesticated kitten to a fully grown tiger! Already her mind began calculating what would need to be done to get the Mysterio suit capable of withstanding the pressure, the materials and possible methods they could use, but her brain skidded to a halt when her laptop showed her just how much power she would have to account for.

“Holy…! Your output was just over 231,816,000,000 joules of energy!!” Mei shouted excitedly.

“231 Billion?!” Midoriya yelped, holding his punching arm, his face contorted in pain. Mei glanced down at the limb and immediately felt sick. She was no stranger to injuries. When her babies blew up in her face, she would usually treat her own wounds when she could, since hospital trips were both expensive and usually a waste of time. But even she had never experienced an arm breakage as horrible as the one her boss had.

His arm was covered in a giant bruise, spreading up to his elbow, clearly shattered from the sheer output of the punch. Midoriya’s fingers trembled, twitching uselessly in angles that they shouldn’t have been in. Midoriya was tearing up, not that she blamed him, only conscious through his sheer force of will, though it was clear that the pain was far worse than anything he was used to.

Clinging to his arm, but only barely, were the remains of the Mysterio gauntlet. Only now it was a warped piece of fabric, metal and plastic. The actual glove had surprisingly remained largely intact, only tearing along the edges where it had been attached to the metal, but the laser and projector were in pieces, the bulletproof screen for the controls was cracked and darkened, and the circuit boards had shattered like cheap glass, falling to the ground in pieces with every movement. The metal frame and panels had peeled back like a banana, or those ancient American cartoons involving the devious rabbit and the hunter with the plugged guns. It stayed on Midoriya’s broken limb only because it was otherwise in one piece, though Mei wasn’t sure how much longer it would stay that way. Secretly though, she was relieved that none of the pieces had torn into Midoriya’s arm.

No wonder he didn’t like showing off his Quirk, if his previous usage was anything like this!

“...that was…a lot more power than I was expecting…” Tsuburaya stated, a tone of worry leaking through his otherwise calm words as he observed Midoriya painfully pull off the remains of his Support Item to place on the folding table where Mei’s laptop was.

“You said it, Tsubu…” Mei said, ignoring Tsuburaya’s glare at the unwanted nickname.

“And what were you expecting to happen?!”

Everyone immediately turned to the backdoor. Standing there, leaning on a cane stylized to look like a massive hypodermic needle, was a short old woman in a doctor’s coat with her hair done up in a bun, glaring at the group with an intense gaze. Yagi came over, trying to placate the upset healer.

“Re-Recovery Girl, I can explai- agh!”

Judging by how she was hitting him with her cane repeatedly though, it looked as if explanations weren’t going to be enough.

“I’m sorry…!” Midoriya whimpered out, trying not to move his arm. “I-I-I wanted to s-see how strong my new po-power levels were, so I-”

“Got excited and decided to do something reckless!” Recovery Girl interrupted with a sigh. “I swear, one of these days you people will be the death of me… well, stay there and let me make it all better.”

Approaching the young man, she puckered up her lips, stretching them out far until she covered a good chunk of his arm. A soft green glow emanated from Midoriya’s arms, and in mere seconds the bones reconnected, the bruising faded, and all the parts snapped back to their original places. Recovery Girl pulled back, not surprised to see the now fully healed young man had grown visibly exhausted.

Yagi ran over with a folding chair, catching Midoriya just before he fell to the ground.

“Thanks…” Midoriya breathed out, wanting nothing more than to take a nap.

“Why’s ‘Dorya so tired?” Mei asked.

“It’s part of my quirk, dearie.” Recovery Girl explained, handing Midoriya a bit of candy which he gratefully popped into his mouth. “My Quirk can heal your body in seconds, but it uses up your own stamina to do so. Major injuries like this can exhaust you, and if the damage is too severe I’d have to either wait for you to get enough stamina, do surgery beforehand, place several smaller kisses over a period of time, or some combination thereof. Of course, that’s only in extreme cases done by idiots and dunderheads!”

That last comment was directed at Yagi, who gulped and shuffled away like a frightened schoolboy. Mei figured that comment was related to Mr. Yagi’s sickly appearance, but decided that it was probably rude to pry, so instead she chose to focus on what she was qualified for.

“Well… it looks like Tsubu and I have our work cut out for us!” she proclaimed, snapping her laptop shut and putting it on her back.

“Please do not call me that.” Tsuburaya asked her, though Mei didn’t respond, focusing instead on gathering the pieces of the ruined gauntlet in a plastic bag.

“I’m going to head downstairs and study the data we got, see if I can’t find a way to keep your babies from breaking!” Mei cheerfully called out, heading for the lab. After Tsuburaya gave them the signal that she was gone, Yagi turned to Midoriya.

“So, now that you got a feel for One for All, can you describe it?”

Blinking away his tiredness, Midoriya tried hard to put into words what the sensation had felt like. “Ye-yeah, it was like a… buzz, or “ka-pow” or… oh, I know! Like an egg in a microwave that’s about to explode!”

“Ha-ha-ha, that’s a pretty lame analogy kid, but what the hey, if it works!” Yagi laughed, ignoring Midoriya’s embarrassed look. “So, now that you’ve discovered how it feels, you can change the output, or to use your analogy, regulate the wattage to a point that the egg cooks without bursting.”

“Okay… I think I understa-and…!” Midoriya yawned, rubbing his eyes.

“For now get some rest, dearie.” Recovery Girl said gently, settling down into another chair nearby.

“But… my mom…” Midoriya tried to get up, only to fall back down in his chair, eyes half lidded.

“I’ll contact her and let her know about your sudden development, and handle the paperwork for your quirk.” Tsuburaya promised.

“Thanks… Tsu…bur… aya.” Midoriya fell into a nap only moments later. Smiling softly, Yagi laid Midoriya’s favorite All Might hoodie on him like a blanket.

“You certainly picked a unique successor, Toshinori.” Recovery Girl remarked.

“I know…” Yagi said, a proud smile on his face. “He’s going to be like no other, I’m sure of it.”

Chapter Text

Normal talking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Thinking: 'Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!'

Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

All Might Speaking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

All Might Thinking: ‘Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!’

All Might Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

Sound Effects: *BLAM!*

AIs/Computers: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Speaking Another Language: {"Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"}

At long last, the day of the entrance exams came. To say Midoriya was nervous was like saying that the surface of the sun was kind of warm. He was pretty sure he was going to vomit from nerves alone. It didn’t help that he had been unable to come up with a way to regulate his new Quirk’s output, even with the help of the people around him. Visualizing it did nothing, and All Might, for all his efforts, wasn’t exactly helpful when he asked.

“In my case I had almost no trouble at all! Of course, I was in better shape than you… also much bigger.”

His mom had nearly fainted in shock at the video of his Quirk in action, though whether it was from the joy of her baby finally manifesting a Quirk, horror at the sight of his ruined arm, or some hybrid of the two emotions, Midoriya was unsure. Even when he assured her that it had only been like that for about a minute, she fretted over his arm, checking for any bruises or scarring. Shortly thereafter she made a large bowl of katsudon to celebrate his ‘’emergence,’’ and calmly listened to Tsuburaya explaining, or rather, lying, about how Midoriya had always had a quirk, but that due to the severe backlash, it hadn’t emerged sooner for Midoriya’s safety, and that his workouts with the retired pro hero Yagi Toshinori allowed him to finally unlock it. Recovery Girl had even provided paperwork, including her professional diagnosis, to back the story up, which Midoriya was grateful for, though he still felt bad about lying to his mother. At least now she wouldn’t be feeling guilty over his quirklessness.

Mei, meanwhile, was unable to draw up a feasible, or safe, method of keeping the gauntlets intact, but she at least was able to create what she called “a way to keep the babies from exploding and being useless!” She was supposed to meet him and drop off his completed equipment, but he had been standing at UA’s gate for an hour and there had been no sign of her.

Oh, yeah, he was also at UA! His dream school!

He’d worked so hard to get there, but now that he was, was he even worthy? He was using a villain’s mantle, and a Quirk that wasn’t his own! It felt like he had cheated his way in, that he was shaming the heroes who came before him.

“Doriya!”

Midoriya was brought out of his storm of doubt by a cheerful shout. Riding over on motorized roller skates, swiftly weaving through the other applicants, was Hatsume, carrying a black backpack with the Wondrous Might & Heroism logo displayed proudly on the flap. Skidding to a halt, Hatsume removed the motorized skates and slipped them into her own backpack, filled to the brim with tools and more gadgets than Midoriya could hope to count.

“Sorry to keep ya waiting, boss! I was up all night working on your babies and I finally finished them!” She handed over the backpack. “Your gauntlets, headset, and Illusion-O Spex are in there, fully charged along with a few drones, gas tanks, the suit, and the paperwork for them. Oh, regarding your Quirk, I ordered a few things online that should hopefully help with absorbing the backlash, but they wouldn’t arrive until next week, so for now there’s just a simple “breakaway” feature that should keep your babies alive!”

Midoriya quietly noticed a few people staring at them with a mix of confusion and horror before hurrying inside to get away from Pinkie Pie’s mad genius reincarnation.

“Thanks Mei, you’re a- ...wait. Did you get any sleep at all last night?!” Midoriya asked after Mei’s words finally registered to him.

“Nope!” she admitted with a pop to her words. “But it’s fine, I slept three nights ago, so I’ll be okay!"

"The fuck is this?!"

Mei glanced over, staring at Katsuki Bakugo, who looked as though he'd stumbled upon a scandal of some kind.

"K-Kacchan! This is Mei Hatsume, she's a friend helping me with my gadgets!" Midoriya explained while Mei waved hello.

"....tcch, as if that crap you build will do any good." Bakugo dismissed. Had he bothered to look at Midoriya's friend, he'd have seen her, with an uncharacteristically angry scowl on her face, following him.

Midoriya, seeing her reach into her backpack, stopped her. "Forget it... it's not worth it... and the best way to dispute his claim is to win with these gadgets." he reasoned to his employee.

"...you're right!" she relaxed. "Nothing proves people wrong better than a demonstration!"

"Best of luck, Mei... I know you'll make it in." Midoriya said with a smile.

"See ya after the exams, boss!” she called back to him as she stepped onto the school grounds.

Inside UA, Higari Majima, better known as UA’s licensed Support Gear Developer and the Excavation Hero Power Loader, was relaxing in the teacher’s lounge with a cup of coffee before he had to test the prospective new students. For once he wasn’t wearing his bulky excavator helmet, so his hair was free to hang over his face unimpeded. Lightly blowing into his favorite mug, decorated with a hot rod and Iron Man, he decided it was cool enough and lifted it to his mouth. But right as he was about to take a sip, he felt a horrible chill down his spine. Barely able to save his drink, he looked around, but no one else had felt that awful chill.

It was as if something horrible had entered his life.

Something that would haunt him for years to come.

Something… nightmarish.

Watching Mei leave, Midoriya looked at the gauntlets in his bag. They were a more professionally made and streamlined version of the gauntlet he used ten months ago, with cloth and velcro straps to secure the control screens to his arms. A tank of holo-fog, as Mei dubbed it, much to Tsuburaya’s ire, was hooked up to the gauntlet’s sprayers, along with a few drones the size of American silver dollars. The rest of the ensemble was underneath these items, but Midoriya knew they were there.

All in all, a simple setup at the core of it all. Nothing that stood out from anyone else’s quirks, the origins and tech aside, of course. And yet…

Despite Mei having modified them for the Entrance Exam, the designs, the programs, the intent, the devices’ very souls had been made by him. He made them. He planned this for years. Maybe he did have a quirk now, but Midoriya knew that just having a quirk wasn’t enough to get him in. Nor would the Support Items on their own. But together… he had a chance. So he took a deep breath, slung the backpack over his shoulder, and stepped forward…

…before promptly tripping over his own leg.

‘Whelp, I guess I’ll just die.’

But he suddenly stopped. Hovering above the ground, Midoriya wondered if Tsuburaya had actually disobeyed him and followed him to school, saving him with a cloaked drone.

“Hey, sorry about using my quirk on you!”

Midoriya snapped out of his thoughts and looked up to his savior. His brown haired, rosy cheeked savior. Her hand was on his shoulder, and a quick glance at her other hand showed pads, one covering each fingertip, probably where her Quirk was emitted from. With a gentle push she easily righted Midoriya and set him down on his feet.

“I just think it’s bad luck to trip and fall on the first day.” She apologized. Once Midoriya had regained his balance, she pressed the pads of her fingers together and sighed in relief. “Are you okay? Your face looks a little red.”

Midoriya, who had been staring at her, swallowed and shook his head. “N-n-no! It’s perfectly fine! Thank you so much!”

“No problem! Well, good luck on the entrance exams!” she waved goodbye and ran up the steps to the door meant for the Hero Course.

“Ye-yeah, you too!” Midoriya waved with a forced smile. ‘Holy crap I talked to a girl! AGAIN!’

With a slight bounce in his step, Midoriya went to the front desk, eyes wide in excitement when he saw who was manning it. ‘The R-Rated Hero Midnight! She works here? Oh god, is she gonna be my homeroom teacher?!’

“Hello there…” she said with a smile, looking the boy over. “What course is a strapping young man like yourself hoping to apply to?”

Midoriya froze for a moment, but quickly gathered himself. Quietly thanking Mei for getting him used to…. strange comments, he handed over his Support Gear registration. “I’mmmmm h-h-oping to apply to the hero course, M-miss Midnight!”

She looked the papers over, nodding and filing them away before handing him a packet. “You’re in exam room 2-1. Please leave your support gear and any removable electronics in the getaboko before the written exam begins. When you’re done, you can take it back out.” she stated.

Midoriya, though surprised at how quickly she changed her tone to that of a professional one, nodded. “Th-thank you… um, if it’s not too much trouble…?” he handed her his notebook. “Could you… sign this?”

Apparently she wasn’t expecting that judging by she blinked in surprise, but she smiled kindly and signed beneath the sketch of herself. Before handing it back, she told him. “Great likeness… though I’ll have you know I’m not that scrawny.”

Midoriya, fighting to keep the red off his face, just nodded and hurried away while some other hopefuls behind him snickered. Midoriya quickly found a free locker, placing his bag and phone inside before continuing on past a nice Caucasian man sweeping the floor.

“Good luck, true believer!” he waved at the boy, who didn’t respond.

Midoriya was too nervous to respond. He was so nervous that he felt it was a miracle he found the right room and his seat. Beside him was a girl with horns and a short muzzle, muttering to herself in English with a hint of an accent. Texan, if his memories of studying different dialects and accents with Tsuburaya were correct.

{“Is something the matter?”} Midoriya asked in English with what he hoped was a friendly smile. She looked at him in surprise, but smiled in gratitude.

{“Oh! Yes, I’m having trouble understanding this word…”} she muttered, pointing it out on a registration form regarding her health and Quirk needs. Midoriya leaned over to look at the word, Kōtai.

{“It means Alteration, or Change, in English.”} he explained before elaborating. {“It’s basically asking if you were artificially altered in some way, like Captain America.”}

{“Oh! Well, no worries about that.”} she muttered, checking off the NO box beside it. {“Thank you so much! Now I can finish turning in my application paperwork!”} the girl leaned back in her seat with a sigh. {“I only came here a year ago, and I still have trouble grasping the local language.”} she admitted sadly, before extending a hand. {“I’m Pony- oh wait, it’s reversed here, call me Tsunotori!”}

{“Izuku Midoriya. Call me Midoriya, and I understand. I still have trouble with English sometimes.”} Midoriya admitted, happily shaking her hand. Once he let go, he froze up. ‘ Oh crap I just talked to yet another girl!!’

Thankfully he was saved from awkward questions by the arrival of their instructor, the eerie hero Ectoplasm.

“Welcome to the UA Hero Course Entrance Exams.” he spoke to the people observing him in awe. “This twenty minute test will test your knowledge of law, hypothetical scenarios a hero may encounter, and what it means to be a hero in your own words. Please use only the provided pencils and scratch paper. When you’ve finished, please hand it to me, return to Miss Midnight for your handout, and make your way to the auditorium for the introduction to the practical examination.”

Midoriya looked down at his sheet. These questions… they looked hard, but he steeled himself. He spent his whole life preparing to get into the school of his dreams.

He can do this!

“Best of luck to you all… and begin.”

The written exam was challenging, but not maliciously so, as expected of the number 1 hero school in Japan. Tenya Iida had been nervous, but knew not to let it be shown. This school and his family had a reputation, after all, and he would honor both of them! Once he handed his test packet in, he went straight to the auditorium, taking the best seat from which he could see the screen and the instructor. He briefly wondered who would be commentating, but the most likely candidates were the gentle but straightforward Concrete hero Cementoss, or the stoic duplicator Ectoplasm. Well, either way, he knew they would be the quiet, serious instructors he had imagined since hearing about the school.

Slowly, the auditorium around him began to fill with students. He glanced around at the people who might become his classmates. There was a boy with a self assured smirk on his face, chatting up a young girl with horns on her head. A few rows down, a girl, split into pieces, was chatting with a boy whose head resembled a speech balloon. A frog girl speaking with a tired looking boy with purple hair, and two boys talking quietly, one with a gasmask sticking out of his bag and the other fiddling with some kind of red pen?

None of them held themselves as the professional heroes they were striving to be, but it was possible they were just trying to relax, so Iida held his tongue and turned back to his packet to study it. Tensei always stressed being prepared, even in situations you think you know. The background chatter of other students was a light distraction, but nothing he couldn’t handle. Still, it was starting to get annoying when that green haired boy showed up and kept muttering to himself. Sure, he was several seats away, but it was going to distract other students! Thankfully, the lights soon shut off, silencing everyone. Clearly their instructor was about to appear. The doors opened up and in walked… wait, that can’t be right!

“WELCOME PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS TO THE UA ENTRANCE EXAM!! CAN I GET A YEAAAAH ??” yelled out Present Mic, the Voice Hero and radio DJ, to the excitement of the Green haired boy, who started muttering about it. No one actually responded to Present Mic’s request, thankfully, but he kept his composure and continued. “Keepin’ it mellow, I get it! That’s cool with me! Anyways, I’m here to discuss the practical portion of the exam which you rockin’ hero wannabes are gonna be undertakin’!”

Him?! But he was one of the least professional heroes! Surely they could have found someone who took this more seriously, like Cementoss!

Focusing back on the part time DJ, Iida noticed the man was now pointing to the now lit screen. Onscreen was an image of some stout man in a red shirt, cap, and overalls travelling to one seven different areas, labelled A-G. “As it says in your packets, you and some of your peers are going to designated testing areas, where you’ll fight in a mockup battle of a hip urban city! You're allowed to bring whatever ya want too! Just make sure you check your handout to see which bus ya need to get on so you don't fall behind!” Well, that part made some sense. Why they were using an ancient video game character was beyond Iida’s comprehension, but he was sure there was a good reason for it. Without glancing down, Iida recalled he was going to area B. He wasn’t sure if any of his Somei classmates would be there, but from what the Green Hair boy was muttering loudly, probably not.

“Your objective is real simple: DEFEAT AS MANY ROBOTS AS YOU CAN WITHIN TEN MINUTES!” on screen, the video game character was facing some kind of.. Walking mushroom, a red figure in a white mask, and a yellow turtle with a hammer appeared, numbers 1, 2, 3 popping up above their heads when the overalls-wearing man destroyed them with fireballs. “Each enemy has a different point value, based on its typing and threat level! But keep in mind that attacking your fellow examinees and other unheroic actions aren’t cool! Anyone does that and they’re out! Ya dig??”

Wait… it can’t be!! Iida immediately spotted something wrong. He could forgive a lot, but this?! “Excuse me, sir, I have a question!” he shouted, standing up to gain Mic’s attention.

Smiling Present Mic pointed to him. "Lay it on me, listener!"

"On the screen there are three enemies listed, but the handouts we’ve received all state there are FOUR enemy types! If this is a mistake, then this is a blemish on the record of such a prestigious school!” And since he was talking and had everyone’s attention, Iida decided to rectify another issue, and pointed behind himself at the green haired boy. “And you, with the green hair! Please cease your constant muttering! It is distracting your fellow students and unbecoming of a Pro Hero!”

“Isn’t shouting at the top of your lungs more distracting?” the boy shot back, before clamming up when realizing what he did. Iida was taken off guard and upset by that. Didn’t that boy see that he was only looking out for his fellow examinees, while he had been distracting everyone else with his inane chatter, yet the boy said that Iida was distracting?! He was just asking for clarification, not constantly making noise!

“Alright, settle down you two!” Present Mic called out placatingly. “But to answer your question, examinee 7111, yes, there is a fourth villain, BUT HE’S WORTH A BIG FAT ZERO POINTS!!” Onscreen a massive, snarling face on a jagged stone block dropped down, attempting to crush the Overalls man, who… grabbed a leaf with eyes and flew away in obvious fear while dressed as a tanuki.

Iida would never understand video games.

“That guy’s just there to be an obstacle, and there's only one in every battle center! That’s not to say you can’t defeat him, but you won’t get any villain points for it so there’s no real reason to!” the Pro Hero explained to the audience. "I'd recommend avoiding him if you can help it. Think of him like a storm or an earthquake if it helps!”

Aaah! That made sense! “I see, I apologize for my interruption!” Iida quickly bowed low and sat down, ignoring the snickers and stares of his peers.

“Now, before you go to your designated buses, one final thing to bear in mind: The great Napoleon Bonaparte once said... 'True heroism consists in being superior to the ills of life.'“

Tensi blinked, having not expected such a profound statement to have been stated from the otherwise laid back teacher. Perhaps he truly was a professional hero full of valuable wisdom and dignity.

“NOW GIMME A PLUS ULTRA!” the DJ hero shouted, but again, got no response.

…or not.

One bus trip & change of clothes later, Midoriya stepped out to the front of the mock city. His base outfit consisted of a modified green one-piece jumpsuit with steel toed boots and metal capped leather gloves with eye-shaped palm projectors. Over that he wore his touchscreen controllers, the straps attached to one end looped around his middle fingers while other straps secured the device to his sleeves. Attached to the screens were his smoke dispensers, hooked up to the gas tanks, which were secured to his back via a black harness and belt with the WMH logo. After securing the wires and tubes to special latches on his sleeves, Midoriya slipped on his one-piece goggles and headset. One second of darkness, then Midoriya could see in ultra high definition. Status screens, transparent yet visible only to his side of the lens, gave Midoriya alerts and scans of everything around him. The headset blocked no sounds at the moment, but would alert him to anything dangerous approaching. A prototype tech-based “spider-sense,” Tsuburaya called it.

‘Fog and Smoke sprayers pressurized. Hologram programs online. Palm Lasers at full power. Drone controls connected. The Illusion-O Spex’s Augmented reality HUD coming through clearly. It works better than ever, thank you Mei.’ Midoriya silently mused to himself as he fiddled with the strap around his middle finger so that it wasn’t twisted. It looked as though the strap was secured to the screen with ordinary Velcro, most likely Hatsume’s way of keeping the device from shattering by breaking off when he used his Quirk.

All around him, people stared, either in confusion or in contempt, and gossiped, likely mocking the student who felt his Quirk was so inadequate he needed so many support items. It was quite the opposite, but Midoriya had been hoping to not have to break an arm to pass the exam.

Looking around, Midoriya quietly analyzed the students who would be joining him. A posturing boy with a silver belt, the smirking blonde staring at him derisively, a larger boy with a jagged rock head petting a pigeon, and- oh!

That nice gravity girl who stopped him from getting a bruise on his face! And she was talking to Tsunotori!

Midoriya approached the girl who saved him, hoping to properly thank her for saving him from falling over, when his view was blocked by that boy who called him out earlier. “I hope you’re not planning on distracting those two when we should be getting ready.” he looked down at Midoriya. “We’re here to be heroes and yet once again you’re distracting your peers with those gadgets of yours.”

Midoriya looked up in shock and a bit of anger. Why was this guy so focused on deriding him?!

“Actually I was going to thank her for keeping my nose from breaking.” Midoriya said, matching the glare. “And these gadgets are here for a reason.”

"And START!"

Present Mic’s words drew everyone’s attention towards him, the doors opening. Midoriya, quickly realizing what was going on, pushed ahead as fast as he could.

“There's no countdowns in real life! GO GO GO!” the Shouting Hero exclaimed as students ran forward.

The moment he stepped in, Midoriya sent out three drones into the air, cloaking them and sending them to find what he was looking for. A 2-Pointer lunged at him, but the Midoriya it attacked dispersed into a hologram. Reappearing on the other side of the machine in a cloud of smoke, Midoriya took aim and fired a laser from his palm, taking the robot down. A virtual 2 appeared in Midoriya’s view, and the boy continued on, dodging and hiding from the robots until one of them alerted him to the one robot he needed.

Midoriya immediately ran there, skidding in front of the 3-Pointer hiding in an alleyway. It lowered its missile launchers at him, but Midoriya covered himself in a thick cloud of green smoke to hide the machine’s view of him. He drew out a silver drone from his pocket, taking direct control of it via his left gauntlet's screen. From the minute he was learning that they were going to be fighting robots, he had formed an… unusual plan in his mind. He wasn’t sure if what he was doing was really allowed, but then, as a wise man once said. “Are you really going to let ‘implied’ rules stop you from saving people?”

Things were going wonderfully!

Neito decapitated a 1-pointer with an arm blade, and sped off towards another using that pretentious boy’s leg engines. It looked like he chose his three copied quirks well, since he quickly found a three pointer with the aid of one kid’s echolocation quirk. With it, he quickly took it down, bringing his points up to 15!

He spotted a 2-Pointer and ran over, but before he could, the robot was blown up by a missile!! Who-

“MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Neito, and every other student in the area, including the pretentious boy, turned to the source of the laughter. Standing proud atop a 3-Pointer surrounded by green fog was that green haired boy in his support gear! On the robot’s head was a small silver disk, most likely the source of the boy’s control. From several hidden speakers around him, Saliva's Ladies & Gentlemen began blaring as the boy commanded his new robot.

“Flee before me, mechanical worms! FOR I AM YOUR GREEN DESTRUCTION!” he cried out in vicious glee as he typed on invisible buttons in midair, the 3-pointer launching missiles at several distant robots. The other teens could only watch in shock and amazement, unsure if they were allowed to attack the boy’s robot before resuming their hunt for more machines. Neito also turned away, but he had only one thought, and it was to not let that boy sideline him!

In the control room, several teachers, hidden in shadows, observed the scene before them. Present Mic was rocking out to the song, while a man with a large scarf just observed, unamused.

“We’re supposed to focus on more than just the flashy ones.” he grumbled to his coworker.

“But ya gotta admit he’s got great taste in retro tunes!” Mic said to his grumpy friend. “‘Sides, the kids should have a bit of fun before we put them through the ringer!”

“Musical preferences aside, the kid is doing very well.” A man in a gasmask and cowboy hat commented. “He’s usin' the available resources at hand, observin' the area around him through those drones of his, and watching out for his fellow examinees. Of course, the others are doin' just fine with their own skills.”

“Like that boy with the engines, letting him move fast between his targets.” a woman in a puffy spacesuit commented.

“That boy with the shapeshifting arms is making good use of his Quirk for gathering intel.” Ectoplasm noted.

“There’s also the one who exudes confidence and a clear head, letting him be focused in spite of the chaos.” Midnight pointed out to a boy firing some kind of Navel laser.

“‘Course, there’s a lot to be said about pure destructive power.” the gasmask man noted, watching Bakugo stand tall upon a pile of destroyed robots with a feral grin.

“The ones who rank highest are those who can use some combination of these traits.” a short, rodent-like figure said, a cigarette held in one paw.

“I agree… although I admit there is something vaguely familiar about his support gear..” a woman’s voice commented in a pleasant, polite tone.

“Indeed there is, which we’ll have to question him about later.” noted the rodent-like teacher. “But I think now is the time to see how they all handle a party crasher! Present Mic, would you kindly do the honors?”

“Aw YEAH!!!” Mic shouted, slamming his fist on a red button. “Lets see some kids wet their pants at our lil’ “Thwomp!”

From his corner, Toshinori Yagi watched the screen. ‘I know you can handle this, young Midoriya.. But good luck all the same.’

Midoriya was having way too much fun. Turns out, if you give him a chance to stand out, preferably while wearing his gadgets, “be onstage” as Tsuburaya would put it, Midoriya was a total ham. He indulged himself in every cliche villain quote, blared metal and rock from the invisible drones around him, and just allowed himself to let loose in over the top fun. He was still careful not to hit any other examinees, instead using his robot’s missiles to blow up a robot sneaking up on a short boy with balls on his head, and he made sure to leave several robots for the others to take down, but otherwise, he was having fun in this exam.

Because now that he gained control of a robot, something he wasn’t even sure was possible when he made a plan to attach one of his drones, Midoriya was acing this exam! Already he had 15 villain points total!

.:Two minutes left, examinees!:. Present Mic shouted over some hidden loudspeakers. .:Also, to the kid blaring music, you’ve got good taste! No, I am not displaying favoritism, Midnight!:.

Midoriya allowed himself to smirk. He could relax, the teachers weren’t calling him out for his trick with the robot, and no one was daring enough or willing to try and smash the robot under his command. There was no one to mock him, no one to doubt him or his mission. Just a robot under his command, some enemy drones, dozen bystanders, a robotic kaiju, and the fresh-

WAIT, WHAT?!

Snapping his head back around, Midoriya saw the towering robot, easily two thirds the size of Mysterio’s fake kaiju, rolling down the street on tank treads as it crushed some cars and light posts in its path. Immediately commanding his drones to stop playing music, Midoriya considered his options. The robot was way too big to find the central processor, so he couldn’t take control of it. Present Mic said it was just a an obstacle, so surely he could just ignore-

“Help!”

Midoriya turned to the voice. It was that gravity girl again! Her leg was caught under some rubble! Worse, the 0-Pointer was moving towards her with no time for her to get free, and no one stopped to help her!!

.:One minute left!:.

Midoriya didn’t even think. He kneeled down, a red glow manifesting around his body, and he leaped off the 3-Pointer hard enough to destroy it, getting its points in the process. Midoriya didn’t care, instead he just grit his teeth, threw back his right fist, charged all his power into his arm, and when he was close enough to the giant machine…

“DETROIT SMAAAAASH!”

The blast from the punch was enough to cave in the 0-Pointer’s head, despite Midoriya being well over six meters away. The machine toppled backwards, crashing to the ground, thankfully not crushing any other examinees. A glance at his wrist showed Midoriya that Mei’s breakaway system worked. When the shockwave of the impact hit his control panel, it only ripped away from the Velcro on his glove, staying attached to his sleeve around his elbow, and didn’t damage the device itself…

But his arm was still shattered, and judging by that awful pain, so were his legs.

Also, he was really high up in the air.

Without any drones strong enough to carry him.

Crap.

Midoriya promptly began falling. His goggles, kept on his face by an elastic strap, kept his eyes from watering. Midoriya tried to think of something, anything! He still had one arm left! Maybe he could punch the ground at an angle and send himself tumbling! But if he didn’t have enough villain points, he’d be unable to grab more-

*smack!*

Midoriya felt a sting across his cheek, bringing him out of his whirlwind of thoughts. He was still facing the ground, but he was suspended in midair. Confused, he looked towards the person who saved him. It was the gravity girl, crawling atop a floating chunk of the robot, once again saving him from a painful kiss with the ground!

“And… hnnnk, release!” she muttered, pressing her pads together, dropping Midoriya and herself to the ground.

“Th… thanks…” Midoriya whimpered out through the pain. She gave him a thumbs up… but then started vomiting a literal rainbow off to the side. Midoriya winced. ‘Must be a side effect of overusing her quirk.’ he thought to himself. He started crawling away. Actually, that’s the wrong word. He dragged himself along the ground with his one good arm. “Maybe, If I’m fast enough, I can grab enough points to pass-”

.:Aaaand times up!:. Present Mic shouted, Midoriya slumping down in pain. .:If anyone doesn’t feel well or has any injuries, just chill! Our medical staff will be comin’ by to help you get back into your groove!:.

Midoriya glanced around him, seeing the students come over and staring at him in an expression that had not been directed at him for a good long time.

Awe and amazement.

Midoriya’s eyes watered from the pain, but he still smiled, glad that people were noticing him, no longer underestimating him. A sigh made him look up at the disappointed looking Recovery Girl.

“All this from just using your Quirk…” she shook her head, then kneeling down, pressed her lips to his arm. In seconds, his legs and arm repaired themselves. Midoriya felt himself pass out, the last thing he heard being Recovery Girl offering some nausea medicine to the pretty gravity girl…

Wait.. what was… that last…?

All around, the students chattered, looking at the boy laying on the ground, triumphant yet broken.

“Did you see that?/He took out the 0-Pointer with One Punch!/Who is this guy, Saitama?!/Poor guy…/Why was he using that gear if he had such a strong Quirk?/Can't you see his legs and arm?!"

All of them, chattering away in confusion, making theories and comments. All, but the boy who had confronted Midoriya before the start of the exam. He too was deep in thought, but he chose not to vocalize them. Not until he could confirm it with the boy himself.

Needless to say, Inko had not been happy to hear that her baby boy had broken his limbs in the test. Yes, she knew that hero work was dangerous, but three shattered limbs?! In one exam?! Before he was even enrolled?! Sure, he tried to play it off as necessary to save that nice girl, but she was hoping that he could have relied on those gadgets of his and not his quirk. According to Izuku himself and footage from the drones, her son was planning to only use those, at least until he could handle his Quirk, but that mecha had changed things. She could only thank Thor that Recovery Girl had been at that specific site, as if she had known something like this would happen.

Tsuburaya had not given any commentary on Izuku’s injuries, only admitting amusement in Midoriya’s choice of musical accompaniment. Sometimes she wondered if the AI really cared about her son, or only saw him as a means to an end. He had been made by a villain, after all. But then, that kind of thinking led to her boy hiding things from her… so she kept that thinking to herself. But if that AI did prove to be a threat, Thor help him because she would do whatever it would take to destroy it in retaliation.

But since that day, there was nothing. No messages from the school. Izuku’s personal trainer, Toshinori Yagi, was busy at All Might’s Agency, according to her son, so he couldn’t help him train or relax. That girl, Mei, showed up a day after the Entrance Exam to announce that she got into the Support Department’s classes, much to Izuku’s joy, but there was no news on his own status.

At least, not until a week had passed.

Midoriya had received a new toy, an American action figure of Mysterio from her husband Hizashi, and was debating with Tsuburaya (in his Dr. Rinehart avatar via a drone on Midoriya’s bed) and Mei on whether he should keep it in the packaging to preserve it, or open it to battle his action figure of All Might. That very important discussion was promptly tabled when Inko ran in, a bulging envelope in her hand.

“It’s here!!” she shouted. Everyone immediately sat up. Midoriya accepted the envelope, but he didn’t open it, only staring at the letters upon it in fear.

“What’s wrong, ‘dorya? Open it!” Mei prompted.

“....what if… what if it’s bad news?” he asked quietly.

“Whatcha talkin’ bout?!” Mei snapped, actually sounding annoyed for once. “It’s obvious you got in! All of The Support Department examinees I talked to were going on and on about that kid who took control of one of UA’s robots without using a quirk, then caving in its big sister's head!”

“But… what if…?” Midoriya asked.

“You won’t know for certain unless you open it.” Tsuburaya reasoned.

Midoriya bit his lip, nodded, and tore open the envelope. Dropping onto the desk was, not a letter, but a device Midoriya immediately seemed to recognize.

“Is… that a-”

“I AM HERE! TALKING TO YOU THROUGH A PROJECTION!”

“Whagh!” Midoriya yelped. Shining before them was a hologram, depicting the number one hero in a banana yellow suit, smiling eagerly at the camera.

“...Mysterio’s holograms are better.” Tsuburaya muttered proudly. Midoriya hushed him while Mei began scheming ways to improve on said holograms for the school.

“First off, I want to apologize for not talking to you sooner, for I had a lot of paperwork to deal with. Secondly, you’re probably wondering why I am here, talking to you instead of, say, Present Mic? Well, that’s because you are looking at UA High’s newest Hero Course instructor!” he proclaimed.

“What?! You get to be taught by him?! Lucky!” Mei teased with a smile. All Might, meanwhile, was distracted by someone off camera.

“What? No, I am not going off.. Wait, HOW MANY MORE OF THESE DO I HAVE TO DO!?” All Might balked, before clearing his throat. “Anyways, you scored extremely well on the written exam, a near perfect 99%! But as you well know, just brains alone is rarely enough, so we come now to the practical portion of the exam! Sadly, you only scored 18 villain points, which is only enough to get you in the General Education course…”

Seeing the results screen, Midoriya sagged in his seat. He failed… Even with his robot and gadgets, he spent too much time posturing and not enough hunting down the machines. Inko came over, ready to comfort her son.

“At least, if that was all there was to it, WHICH THERE ISN’T!”

Midoriya’s head shot up at that. Inko turned back to the hologram in shock.

“I apologize for leading you on like that, but you're not the only hero with showmanship! There was more to the test than simply smashing robots! Before I explain, take a look at this clip!” the hologram changed to a recording, where the nice Gravity Girl (Mei & Inko slyly noticed Midoriya was focused on her with a very light blush) approached Present Mic.

“Excuse me, Mr. Mic, sir? I… have a request… in the exam, that boy who saved me, the plain looking one with green hair and freckles? Is there a way to give him some of my points? He didn’t seem to get that many, going by what he said... at least the ones he lost from dealing with saving me…! Please!!”

"No worries, female listener! that kid will be just fine." Present Mic assured her. The recording stopped there and returned to All Might.

“What makes a hero? The willingness to protect others and inspire greatness! And you not only protected this girl, you inspired her to help you! What kind of a Hero School would we be if we rejected someone like that?? Which is why we have a panel of judges review the footage to assign RESCUE POINTS, AND GUESS WHO KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK??”

More screens appeared, shots from hidden cameras of Midoriya saving his classmates with the 3-Pointer and him destroying the 0 Pointer.

“Holy Newtons!” Mei exclaimed. “Hearing about it is one thing, but DAMN, ‘DORYA!”

You’ve said it…!” Tsuburaya muttered in shock.

“You have 18 villain points, and 63 rescue points, putting you at 81 total points, the Number 1 spot on the ranking list!” All Might proclaimed. The ranking list suddenly revealed the Rescue points, and Midoriya’s name shot up to the first place, above Bakugo’s placement to accompanying party horns and fireworks. “Congratulations my boy! You’ve made it to the hero course! Enclosed are your costume, uniform, and Quirk registration forms. Welcome, my boy, to Your Hero Academia!”

He…. he did it!

Midoriya slumped back in his seat. His family and companions looked at him. He started laughing.

He did it.

He got in.

HE GOT IN!

And not only that, but he EXCELLED! He managed to honor the legacy of both Mysterio and All Might on his terms! He was going to be a hero!

“Oh, and… Principle Nezu would like to talk with you regarding your support items, specifically the… company that made them...” All Might muttered apologetically before the hologram shut off.

That comment immediately made everyone in the room freeze up in fear.

Nezu… wanted to talk with them… about Wondrous Might & Heroics ?

Nezu… one of the smartest people on the planet… wanted to talk to them… and chances were, he’d figure out the source of Midoriya’s gadgets…

And his connection to Mysterio.

“...gulp.” Tsuburaya muttered.

Chapter Text

Normal talking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Thinking: 'Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!'

Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

All Might Speaking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

All Might Thinking: ‘Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!’

All Might Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

Sound Effects: *BLAM!*

AIs/Computers: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Speaking Another Language: {"Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"}

Impossible.

That’s all Katsuki Bakugo could think as he sat on his bed, staring at the ranking chart, Deku’s name mockingly shining at him through the darkness.

Taunting him with its improbability.

At first, it was going well. All Might appeared, introducing himself, announced his new teaching position, (fuckin’ A!) told him that he killed that written exam, and that he had the highest kill count of villains in the practical!

Okay, so he didn’t put it THAT way, but still! Bakugo did exactly what they said! Go out there and kill robots! He took down more of them than anyone else! Even when that 0-Points fucker showed up and made all the extras crap themselves in fear, he just focused on taking down villain robots! By all accounts, he should have won!

But no, the universe said “Fuck you, Bakugo! Here’s a fucking curveball!” Shortly after All Might revealed his second place spot, he revealed some stupid hidden requirement that let weaklings move up on the charts!

Rescue points… what kind of bullshit was that?!

'Well... not all heroes are focused on combat...' a voice spoke up in the back of his mind, one sounding just like his younger self.

So what?! Only the weak heroes like Thirteen or Backdraft focused on that, and that’s because they couldn’t cut it as a real hero! Real Heroes were all about winning and being at the top of the charts, like All Might!

But no, this stupid surprise rule cost him his deserved place as number one. He might have put up with it had it been someone who actually seemed like they'd be good enough for him to challenge and overcome, but no!

It went to fucking MIDORIYA?! The quirkless deku who had to use homemade gadgets and shit?!

Bakugo’s eyes narrowed. He’d be going back to school soon… there, he would confront the lil’ deku, and make him tell him how he cheated his way in.

The house had been meticulously dusted, the floors spotlessly scrubbed, and the dishes cleaned until they sparkled. Midoriya brought over a pile of paperwork, all of it related to the company he was the sole owner of, along with his blueprints and plans for his Mysterio suit.

Inko worked hard in the kitchen to prepare several mugs of tea. She couldn’t lie, she was scared. She was scared for her son. She knew he was a hero at heart, but with how so many people, including her, treated people even possibly being related to villains, she worried for her baby boy. If he got into the school of his dreams, but got kicked out because of how he got such a high score… she was scared how Midoriya would react.

Nearby, Tsuburaya hovered in the nicest Mysterio Drone he had. No propellers to spread dust, or jets to spread exhaust and fumes, just basic magnetic coils for lift. All weapons had been removed, though the manipulator arms, modeled after the tech used in the octobots, were kept on. Midoriya had stressed to him how important this meeting was, so Tsuburaya resolved to be on his best behavior. Honest, but polite.

Mei had come over, despite both Midoriyas protesting. But, as she explained to the green haired family, as the only other employee of the company, she was obligated to give her thoughts and opinions to Nezu. She was taking this affair with an unusual level of seriousness, for once wearing something that didn’t smell of burnt cloth and engine oil, her hair tied back. She did bring along her proudest babies though, the ones she made in the workshop.

The knock at the door was loud, surprisingly so, as if the visitor had metal hands. The four glanced at each other before going to greet their visitor. All in all, the four hoped that they were ready for whatever transpired next.

“Thank you for seeing us, Midoriya-kun! Am I a bear, a mouse, or a dog! The truth is… I’m the Principle of UA!”

The speaker smiled brightly at the group before him, who were silent in surprise at the sight. Sitting upon a woman’s shoulder was the hyper intelligent Quirked animal Nezu, smiling brightly. That wasn’t what grabbed their attention though. It was the woman who was acting as his perch, mainly due to the fact that she clearly wasn’t human, but instead a feminine-build android with white, plastic skin, professionally tailored clothes with red crosses sewn upon the arms, and a kind, simple metal face, round with joined black eyes in the center. Thin black lines surrounding the eyes evoked eyelashes, complimenting the feminine appearance. She had no mouth, but she still seemed to be smiling at the people inside. Latched onto her back was a red and purple jetpack? made of metal. By her side was a metal suitcase with the UA High logo emblazoned atop.

She wasn’t as famous as her ancestor, or rather, original model, but everyone recognized what AI line she had been born from. After all, the original model had been a member of the most famous Pre-Quirk Japanese hero team.

“Greetings, I am Professor Baymax model 11.7.14, soon to be Midoriya-kun's Hero Ethics teacher. Please call me Baymaxima Hamada.” she spoke, her voice soft and pleasant sounding.

Izuku nodded, excited to meet the latest incarnation of the veteran hero, but too scared to speak up, so Mei took over. “Please come in, sensei!”

Nezu smiled and climbed off his coworker, the two walking in, though not before Nezu wiped his bare feet off with a bit of cloth and Miss Hamada removed her shoes. “I must say, your apartment looks lovely!” the Quirked animal stopped and sniffed the air, his smile growing wider. “And you even made us some tea! Chai, unless I’m mistaken! How kind!”

“Er, yes…” Inko said, shutting the door behind her. “Thank you, Nezu-san?”

“Please, we are guests here! Just Nezu is fine.” he interrupted as Midoriya and Hatsume led him to the couches. “Hatsume-chan! I take it you’re involved in today’s discussion?”

“Er, yes, kōchō sensei… I helped Midoriya out with his babies, but he designed them! I just built them! I mean, I built the parts that were assembled together separately to make his babies!” Mei quickly explained, her hands, capable of working on dangerous and uncomfortable machines without even an errant twitch, were now trembling in worry for her boss and friend.

Miss Hamada followed Nezu to the couch and sat, looking around quietly until she spotted the drone in the corner. “May I ask who that is?”

Midoriya nodded to the drone, which floated over, summoning his Dr. Rinehart avatar. For once he chose to forgo his usual over the top introduction animations, instead just standing tall with a calm disposition. “You may call me Tsuburaya. I’m the “face” of Wondrous Might and Heroism , at least for now.”

“Oh? And who do you plan on taking over your position?” Nezu asked, accepting a mug from Inko, who carefully filled the cup until he nodded at her to stop.

“Once he’s gained some attention in the heroism business, Midoriya will publicly take command. On paper, he is the current owner, but as he is focused on being a hero, he has allowed me to handle the business side of it.” Tsuburaya explained, summoning a holographic tea cup, much to Nezu’s delight.

“How else do you aid Midoriya?” Nezu asked.

“My main function is teaching him the tools and methods that his predecessor originally used.” Tsuburaya explained after taking a sip. “I handle financing these efforts, and can provide aid, but I am limited in how much I can do.”

"In what way?" Nezu asked.

“For starters, I cannot take any action without clearing it with Midoriya first, unless it's either an emergency, an extension of a preexisting command, or it threatens my purpose of teaching Midoriya.” Tsuburaya continued, stirring his cup. “Secondly, I am forbidden from attacking anyone without permission. If Wondrous Might & Heroism is in danger, I can activate the defenses, but until it's breached, I may not fight. Third, I cannot help him cheat on his homework or help with any tests. I can provide pointers, but he must come to his own conclusions. Lastly, I cannot hack into computers without Midoriya's direct command.”

“I see..” Nezu nodded, taking a drink. “Oh, this is a wonderful cup of tea! But may I ask how Hatsume-chan fits into this?”

“I got employed there a few months ago.” Hatsume began. “‘Dory- Midoriya caught my eye with the sludge villain incident, do you recall it?“

“Ah yes! One of our other students, Bakugo-san, was involved as well.” Nezu nodded after only taking a moment to think. Mei continued her side of the story while Izuku Midoriya sat on the couch, not moving aside from his trembling. Inko meanwhile, brought her kettle over to the other teacher, who had yet to interject.

“Excuse me, miss.. Hamada, would you like something as well?” Inko asked the gynoid. She politely shook her head, and Inko sat down beside her fidgeting son.

Unfortunately, that act seemed to have set something off, because her son immediately blurted out in worry, “Am I in trouble???”

Nezu & Miss Hamada looked over, confused. “Whatever for?” the principal calmly asked, not a trait of anger or accusation in his tone.

“You ha-have an intelligence Quirk, High Specs, right, kōchō sensei?? And my gear was already si-similar enough to… to another’s that you’ve already guessed its origins, right??” Izuku asked, his breathing growing more rapid. “I… I wanna be a hero, so bad, but…!”

“Please calm down, Midoriya-san.” Miss Hamada calmly instructed. “You are experiencing a panic attack. Breath in for five seconds, hold for three, then release for five. Repeat.” Midoriya followed her instructions, continuing until he calmed down. “There we go, much better. Rest assured, you are not in any trouble at the moment.”

“I.. I’m not?” Izuku asked, tentatively raising a tea cup to his mouth.

“Not at all!” Nezu asked. “We just wanted to know how exactly you obtained Quentin Beck’s technology.”

And then everyone visibly panicked, Midoriya coughing up his tea, much to Nezu’s amusement.

“You did that intentionally, Principal.” Miss Hamada muttered, annoyance audible in her words.

“I did!” he admitted shamelessly. “I’m sorry, I enjoy messing with humans too much… but I assure you that you’re not in any legal trouble, and your place in our school isn’t being questioned either.”

Izuku looked up. His biggest fear wasn’t so? “It… it isn’t?”

“Not at all! People show their real selves when faced with overwhelming adversity, and you proved you had the heart of a hero when you saved young Ururaka-chan from the 0-Pointer.” Nezu explained, though the green haired boy only focused on one minor part of that explanation.

‘Her name is Ururaka?’

“I simply want to know how such resources were obtained, so that I may make sure that it’ll be adequate for young Midoriya-san’s education, and of course, to address the concerns of the few doubters in my staff.” Nezu explained as he brought the mug up to his muzzle for another sip.

Izuku nodded. “I… I understand…” The boy reached into the pile of papers he brought over, and pulled out an old notebook. The one that began his journey. “It… started about 8 years ago…”

And so Izuku told them the story. He tried to keep Kacchan out of the beginning, but Miss Hamada detected that he was lying and he was forced to admit that the boy had chased him to the robot head. Inko had not known what Bakugo did, but knew that now was not the time to confront him over this. Nezu quietly nodded along to the story, only rarely stopping for clarification. When he asked for the notebook to see the map, however, Izuku had him swear to look at only that part.

“Why is that, Midoriya-san?” Nezu asked politely.

“It… it’s just that…” Izuku didn’t know how to put it into words. For years he held onto the notebook. Even when he showed his mom it, it was only a few pages of Mysterio’s story and the map in the back. The rest, though… the equipment, the formulas, the recipes for realistic latex masks… Izuku didn’t know if he felt shame at keeping the deceased villain’s notes to himself, or some kind of adherence to a silent promise he made to the dead man he never met. A promise to only allow those worthy to see Mysterio’s secrets gaze upon its contents.

“...if you can assure me that there is nothing harmful in that book, I’ll give you my word.” Nezu said after a moment of thought.

Midoriya bit his lip. “There… there are a few things… just some diagrams of the suits, a few animatronic schematics, and the chemical formulas that caused Mysterio’s cancer.” he admitted, before quickly adding “but Mr. Beck had them labeled as dangerous, a-and Tsuburaya and I found safer substitutes so I won’t get sick, or make anyone else sick!”

“As long as you share these new formulas with Miss Hamada before using them at school, I think you’ll be fine.” Nezu said, turning to the robot teacher for confirmation.

“I think that is acceptable. Rest assured, any dangerous chemicals and schematics I keep off drive and hidden in case of thieves, whether they be of the old fashioned methods or newer ones.” the robot assured them.

Izuku nodded, then carefully handed over the notebook and a blacklight pen for them to see the notes. The two studied the notes, skimming through Mysterio’s autobiography section to the rest of it.

“This is the map?” Nezu asked, Izuku nodding in confirmation. “And this location is the base of Wondrous Might & Heroism ?”

“That is correct. It also houses the bulk of my memory software. I myself am modeled after the brain scan of Quentin Beck, converted into an AI by Dr. Octavius shortly before his own demise.” Tsuburaya added. “I laid dormant, waiting for a successor to find me. I admit, when I first saw Midoriya I was unimpressed-”

Mei snickered, while Izuku looked down in shame.

“But he proved himself to have what Quentin Beck wanted in a successor: creativity, a sense of theatrics, and intelligence.” Tsuburaya continued, unbothered by the interruption. Nezu looked over, surprised.

“Neither you nor Mr. Beck cared that his successor wanted to be a hero?”

“People forget that when Mysterio first appeared, he was acting as a hero.” Tsuburaya reminded everyone. “Yes, his attempts were done by framing Spider-man, but he planned to be a proper hero afterwards. Spider-Man exposing him led to him being distrusted and disliked, so he decided to just play to the public’s perception and act like a villain. Even up to his final scheme, all Beck cared about was people remembering him, his methods, and the persona he made. Midoriya using Mysterio’s equipment, and eventually his name, is enough for us.”

“And this equipment… where did it come from?” Nezu asked as he gazed at the diagrams of the equipment in question.

“Beck stocked his lair with all his greatest disguises, machines, costumes, and models of past exploits. I used these to train Midoriya. He also has access to Beck’s fortune, which Midoriya used to start up Wondrous Might & Heroism. Once we were financially stable and had reached a specific amount, Midoriya gave back the equivalent of Beck’s fortune to various charities that the hero All Might endorsed.” Tsuraya shifted in his spot, while Midoriya leveled a tired glare at him.

“You disagreed with Midoriya’s actions?” Nezu asked, carefully observing the AI’s response.

“Not the morals of it, only the lack of pragmatism.” Tsuburaya clarified. “That money could have gone to furthering our facilities or improving Midoriya’s suits.”

“It was dirty money! It should have been given back!” Midoriya snapped.

“All money is dirty money in some way. You think your Mysterio toys were made by Americans in air conditioning?” Tsuburaya shot back, Midoriya falling silent, though he didn’t let up his glare.

“Ahem, if it’s not too much trouble, I would like to see Wondrous Might and Heroism’s facilities. I will, of course, accept signing a nondisclosure agreement beforehand.” Nezu smoothly interjected.

“I would like to come along as well.” Miss Hamada said. One quick draft of an NDA being written up and signed later, the whole group piled onto a UA school bus driven by a kindly old Caucasian man with a bushy mustache and sunglasses to head down to Korellia.

“Wait here for a bit.” Nezu instructed the driver as he climbed out the passenger side.

“Thank you, Mr. Lieber!” Midoriya told the driver.

“Anythin’ for a True Believer!” he said cheerfully.

“I swear I’ve seen that guy before…” Inko muttered to herself.

“Come to think of it, me too.” Midoriya muttered, looking around. ‘Huh… I guess Miss Yashida is somewhere else today.’

Shrugging it off, Midoriya took them inside. Touring the DvD store took only 10 minutes, so the group made it downstairs fast.

“A Question Lock?” Nezu asked as Midoriya typed in the answers. “Surely there’s something more protective available.”

“Maybe, but it’s randomized, and only two of the questions used involved American movies, both are always from or before Mysterio’s time,” Midoriya explained. “The last question's always about Mysterio himself, and one that usually isn’t public knowledge.”

“It’s also really hard to break into the hardware…” Mei muttered. “After I found this place, I helped upgrade the control panel so that you need to type in a specific command before inserting a tool to open up the back for repairs, otherwise knockout gas is sprayed in.” she gestured at a recently added gargoyle leering down at them from above the exit. “The same thing happens if you get too many questions wrong on the door. Five, I think. Oh, and we made sure the gas didn’t have any long term effects.”

Nezu nodded, impressed. “What’s to stop an intruder from going through the walls?”

“Beck made the surrounding walls, ceiling, and floor out of a carbon-fiber/lead mesh layered in a titanium-based resin and concrete.” Midoriya explained as he finally opened the door. “It’s similar to the armor the first Rhino had.”

“So unless you were someone of Magneto’s power level, it’s very hard to break in.” Tsuburaya stated in pride, hovering inside to dock his drone into the charging station and switch to the room’s hologram projectors. "Beck spared no expense in making sure his legacy would remain safe."

“I’m glad you took so many security measures.” Miss Hamada complimented as she stepped inside The Studio.

“Welcome… to Wondrous Might & Heroism!” Midoriya said with a dramatic sweep of his arm as the chamber lit up.

“How long have you been waiting to reference Jurassic Park?” Mei asked with a smirk as Nezu, Inko, and Baymaxima looked around in amazement at the studio's robots, workspaces, and machines.

“Finally! A retro movie you know!” Tsuburaya threw up his arms in glee.

“Hell yeah! I loved Chris Pratt’s performance in the trilogy!” Mei said with a grin.

“...” Tsuburaya slowly lowered his arms and turned to her with a glare. “....I will not miss you when you’re gone.” Mei just smiled in return.

“Truly amazing!” Nezu looked around, inspecting the various models, blueprints, and chemical formulas. “I can see that you truly are dedicating yourself to being Mysterio.”

“I made a promise.” Midoriya responded. Nezu nodded in understanding, but then Miss Hamada spoke up.

“Why didn’t Tsuburaya become Mysterio?”

Izuku looked over. “What do you mean?”

“Your AI, Tsuburaya-san, could have been the new Mysterio.” Miss Hamada restated. “He is effectively immortal, he has control over several robot bodies, knows all of the original Mysterio’s tricks, and could have been the one to take the name to infamy. And yet you didn’t. Why not?” she asked the AI, currently using a Rhino android to pack up a crate of electricity-storing gauntlets.

Inko’s eyes widened, having never thought this, and looked at her boy and the AI for an explanation.

“I asked him that question once.” Izuku said, sitting in an office chair while he fiddled with an Endeavor sculpture. “He told me ‘I cannot, and will not if I can help it.’ ”

“Why is that?” Nezu asked the male AI.

Tsuburaya stopped, considering the best way to explain it. It took him a few minutes, but he came to a conclusion. “I lack creativity.” Everyone stared at the AI, who, realizing this wasn’t enough, continued. “My programming comes from the mind of a human, but I myself am not one. I hold the memories and knowledge Mysterio did, but I cannot craft my own schemes or plans, and I have difficulties in problem solving. For a demonstration, would you kindly craft a simple hero scenario for me and Midoriya to solve?”

Nezu smiled and sat down on a stool. After only a minute of thought, he spoke up. “Very well. In the Kessal district, working under the All Might Agency under a provisional license, you hear rumors of Trigger manufacturers establishing themselves. You investigate, using the same gear Midoriya took with him to the Entrance Exam, and for the sake of argument, you possess the same ‘’Super Power'' Quirk.”

Izuku sat up, listening intently.

“You come across a warehouse being used by the gang you’ve been investigating. The place was once used as a factory used for crafting lightweight racing bikes, but is since in disrepair, and appears to now be their newest drug lab. They had only recently moved in, so many of the racing bikes are still there, and the crates are still sealed. There are only three visible Villains in the warehouse itself. One shoots steel spikes from his fingers whenever he makes a gun gesture, with the same speed and ammo capacity of a 6-chamber revolver. After six shots he needs a moment to regrow his ammo. He is the dealer, recognizable thanks to police sketches, and described as a sharpshooter, but with tunnel vision when emotional. Another is a man who can ingest anything and convert & combine the base components into different creations that he can then spit out offensively. He’s the lab technician and main producer of Trigger, but is cowardly and short sighted. Lastly is the leader, a man with a Quirk that lets him convert his skin completely into diamond, though he still has nerve endings and pressure points that can be triggered if the shell is broken through. He’s smart, wanted for thirty counters of murder, but is extremely cautious. Outside are a group of thugs, all of whom are animal-types. Everyone carries no weapons aside from pipes, sledgehammers, and knives. How do you take them down without killing them or damaging the evidence?”

Inko stared at the principal. ‘...that’s what he thinks is simple?!’

Izuku thought long and hard, while Tsuburaya was silent, but eventually spoke up.

“....I fill the room with fog. Moving fast, I take down the diamond skinned leader before he can activate his quirk, which would leave me unable to fight him. I go for the Spike Shooter, waiting out his attacks until he stops, then I knock him out with my drone’s electric shocks. The lab technician is the weakest one, due to his cowardly nature and all the chemical containers sealed up. I go to him last and make him confess, before knocking him down and subduing the others with my drones. They can’t fight back since my drones use ranged attacks and are forced to surrender.” Tsuburaya stated.

“No.. no, that’s wrong.” Midoriya got some stares aimed at him. “The lab technician is the biggest threat, not the leader.”

“But the leader has diamond skin.” Tsuburaya reminded him. “That’s the hardest material on this planet.”

“Diamonds are the hardest, but not the toughest, so they’re brittle. A sharp point and enough force is enough to break through, exposing him.” Midoriya explained. “Also, this takes place in a disused racing bikes factory, right? That means the main two ingredients for thermite, aluminum powder from the racing bicycles’ frames, and iron oxide on the rusted warehouse walls or pillars, are there. It’s entirely possible the lab technician could ingest those and spew thermite, or some other dangerous material thanks to the chemicals all over. His short sighted and cowardly nature would make him attack the hero without regard to any other x-factors, maybe even leading to the factory blowing up.”

Nezu’s smile grew with each word. “Excellent deduction! So how would you take them out?”

“Er, well… I’d first have the police distract the men outside. While the noise has the three Villains’ attention, I’d sneak in and take down the lab technician immediately, then I’d let the gunman shoot at me before shrouding the room in fog, cloaking my form long enough to take him down while his tunnel vision keeps him focused on a decoy. While in the smoke, I’d distract the boss with the hologram decoy so I can grab the spikes the last guy shot. Since the boss is probably full diamond at this point, he’ll have trouble with flexibility. I use the spike, along with O-my Quirk to hit the required pressure points in his body… assuming that, as a pro hero, I had enough training that I can regulate my output enough to not kill him.” Midoriya suggested. Inko & Mei stared at him, shocked that he had been able to come up with a workable plan almost as fast as the AI who tutored him.

“Hm… not bad. Although both scenarios risk alerting the men outside, the one picked by Midoriya-san is the better course of action between the two… but you both fail.” Nezu said cheerfully, shocking the boy, his mother, and the AI next to them. Next to him, Miss Hamada narrowed her eyes in annoyance at the smiling rodent.

“What?! Why?!” Mei demanded from the table holding Support Items being loaded up into crates.

“Neither of them checked to see if they had permission from All Might’s agency to move in.” he said simply, but with a shit-eating smirk across his muzzle.

“...he did mention that we only had provisional licenses.” Midoriya muttered in shame.

“You know that throwing mental curve-balls is not the point of this, right?” Miss Hamada muttered.

“True, but it’s something good to remember!” he said happily. “But I understand your point, Tsuburaya-san. You have trouble with lateral thinking.”

Getting over the results of that fake scenario, he nodded. “I cannot create anything original. Any training course or plan I make comes from another source, like a movie.” With a pillar of smoke, Tsuburaya changed from Ludwig Rinehart to Mysterio. “Mysterio did not consider himself a common criminal. He saw himself as an artist, a writer, and a film director all at once! He would not merely rob a bank with a pistol like some common lowlife! He’d fake an invasion from the Savage Lands, have a horde of raptors run in, perhaps make them ‘’maul’’ a few actors, while lizard men held spears at the people’s throats to distract them while Mysterio himself clears out the main vault, then move onto yet another bank! That is how he would act!”

Izuku took that time to speak up. “Mysterio did, in fact, once pull off that exact scheme, only to be defeated by the visiting West Coast Avenger Doreen Green, Hero Name the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, not five minutes later! A surprisingly not-undignified defeat, seeing as the girl had bested Dr. Doom in her first ever outing.” he recalled from memory, impressing the two teachers while surprising his mom and coworker.

“You see? I cannot imagine something that creative without input from another source.” Tsuburaya admitted. “In addition, Mr. Beck, and as a result I, don't want to play the role of Mysterio forever, otherwise I could end up like Arnold Schwarzenegger.”

“Who?” Mei asked.

Tsuburaya visibly clenched his fists in frustration, but continued on. “Mr. Schwarzenegger, best known for his role as the disguised form of robotic assassin the Terminator, was continually called back to reprise the role. Even when he was in his sixties and well past his prime, he continued to return. I admire a man committed to a franchise, but there comes a point where one must stop. Sean Connery (“Who?” asked Mei, oblivious to Tsuburaya’s growing annoyance.) gave up the role of James Bond after growing to hate how it affected his life. If I were to continue Beck’s role as Mysterio, I would surely find myself in a similar situation.”

“An interesting perspective…” Nezu said, rubbing his chin in thought. "So Mr. Beck chose not to hoard to himself that role, but instead find a successor to continue his creation, and that is where Midoriya-san came in, and where we find ourselves now."

“H-hai, kōchō sensei!” Midoriya confirmed.

“...well, I think it’s safe to say that there is no threat to be seen from you, your AI, or Wondrous Might & Heroism !” Nezu proclaimed joyfully. “Thank you for your time, and we’ll be seeing Midoriya-san and Hatsume-chan when the new school year starts!”

“...just like that?” Midoriya asked. “I don’t need to, I dunno, sign anything?”

“Nope!” the Principal confirmed happily, Miss Hamada nodded in agreement.

The collective relief was visible from the four, glad that all their worry was unfounded. But as Midoriya led his soon to be teachers out of the chamber, a thought came to him. The past few days have been filled with worry over the Principal’s visit that he had not concerned himself with a certain temperamental blonde who threatened him to not get into UA.

The same blonde whose coveted position as number one he took by accident.

Crap.

It was the end of the school year, and Katsuki sat in the principal's shitty office. The man himself was even shittier, not once doing a thing to raise his voice against Bakugo, even when he pushed the limits of what the school would allow him to do. The man was little better than a supporter for Bakugo’s own glory, like he was doing now…

But Deku shouldn’t have also been partaking in that glory! The spineless cowards words were unimportant, as if anything else about this shitty school mattered now that they were gone. All he was doing was waiting to catch Midoriya before he left this shitty school for the final time.

He wanted nothing more than to wring the truth out of Deku since he received his acceptance… hologram? Whatever! But when he voiced his complaints at breakfast the day after the exam, his hag of a mom pointed out to him that it was better he waited until the school year ended. After all, if he caused an incident over this, it wouldn’t look good on his record. He doubted this shitty school would care, but UA would definitely want to investigate why one of their hopefuls was injured the day before orientation. Even if he was a cheating little escape artist. Of course, he wasn’t going to take her suggestion of a “civil confrontation” into consideration.

Katsuki Bakugo didn’t do “civil.”

Bakugo did occasionally get angry enough that he ignored his mom’s advice and tried to confront Deku early, but he had become an unusually slippery little bastard ever since the exam. Whenever class ended, the minute the bell rang he was out the door first thing. Sometimes Bakugo would be right behind him, but the Deku always seemed to find a way to just vanish! And if Bakugo thought he caught the worthless little Deku, Bakugo would spin him around and see that no! It was someone else with similar hair and rabbit features! Even when he made those extras who leeched off of him try to cut the Quirkless loser off, that green haired bastard would always slip past them, and it was seriously pissing him off!

…guess that was one thing he could be thankful for from this extra.

The chance to finally confront Deku.

The minute the bastard FINALLY shut up and the bell rang, Bakugo threw an arm around Deku and pulled him in closer. “Move away and I’ll kill you.” he snarled quietly, pulling Deku towards the exit. The minute they were outside, Bakugo directed him to the back of the building where almost a full year ago, he threw the loser’s notebook out.

Bakugo thought he had finally broken through to him back then, but it looked like Deku was not going to stop being the pebble in his shoe.

That’s fine. He’ll just do it again and again until the truth is drilled in and sticks.

“How did you do it?!” Bakugo snarled.

Midoriya kept his eyes down, and what little of his expression that was visible was kept neutral.

Bakugo growled, hands popping. “I know you cheated, Deku! Tell me how you did it! Did that pink-haired girl you were talking with hack the computers or some shit?!”

“....no.”

Bakugo froze. Midoriya had never spoken that way to him before. “The fuck you say, deku?!”

Deku looked up, a glare that didn’t belong anywhere on the usually friendlier, upbeat boy, directed at him.

“I didn’t cheat to get in, nor did my friend Mei.” he said calmly, defying the boy he once called his friend. "I got in by my merits and gadgets, nothing more."

“That’s a lie!! Tell me what you did, you bastard!” Bakugo had to bite back a shout to avoid drawing attention. “There’s no fucking way you should have gotten into the hero course, let alone ABOVE me!!”

“....I’m not telling you anything, because you wouldn’t believe me or like the answer.” Midoriya clarified.

“So you DID cheat?! I KNEW IT!”

Deku, already growing frustrated with this talk, decided that he may as well get it over with. He didn’t want to tell him anything, but he’d rather not have Bakugo spread a rumor of him “confessing” to cheating. “No, Kacchan, I used my Quirk.”

Bakugo froze. He swore the world had ground to a halt. There was no fucking way. If that bastard actually had a quirk, then he would have gotten it years ago, when they were just little kids!

“....bullshit.”

“It’s true… my body wasn’t ready for it yet because it was so powerful! I had to build up my muscle for months to be able to use it without damage. I was exhausted all the time because I was working out!” Midoriya told him.

'That's right... Midoriya was looking pretty exhausted over the past year. His grades were still good, but sometimes he actually fell asleep during English class... so he must have been working out!' the voice of his younger self realized.

“...then show me, prove you’ve got one.” Bakugo demanded. He still doubted the validity of Deku having a quirk, but he wasn't going to let this claim go unchallenged.

“No.” Midoriya shot it down with the same air of a father telling a child he can’t have a cookie. “I don’t have control over it yet… I wasn’t even going to use it, but a- someone was in danger…”

“Then how’d you plan on getting in, running around, hitting shutoff switches or some BS like that?!” Bakugo questioned.

“With my gadgets.” The deku slipped on a leather glove, the fingers capped in metal, and typed on a screen attached to the back of the wrist. Bakugo’s eyes were drawn to the boy’s bag, from which a drone emerged. It was a small thing, with a wire-like body and propellers. There was a camera-like device on the front, but Bakugo didn’t see any weapons or actually useful shit upon it. It floated high enough to reach the second floor, but didn’t do anything else.

Bakugo scoffed. “That’s your gadget, some cheap drone?!” He looked back at Midoriya and reached for him. “I knew you were- what?!”

Deku was still there, his face passive… but why did his arm go through like the green haired bastard was a ghost?! Then the image suddenly started fading away into wireframe and pixels like some kind of Digimon shit!

.:Sorry Bakugo… but I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until UA to see what I can really do.:. Deku's voice projected from the drone, the source of what was now obviously a hologram. .:I’m long gone now. See you in a month.:. The drone fell silent, and suddenly vanished, hidden in a new hologram.

Bakugo grit his teeth. “It doesn’t matter, you cheating bastard! Even if you’ve got a quirk, WHICH YOU DON’T!! I’ll still beat your ass into the ground!” the boy stormed off, hands in his pockets. He pushed his way past that annoying rabbit student and left the school grounds.

The rabbit boy watched Bakugo leave. Once he was certain his classmate was gone, the student reached under his uniform’s collar and pulled off his rabbit face, really an advanced latex and fur mask. “Thank you Beck… and those amazing masks of yours and the Chameleon’s.” Midoriya panted out. Bakugo was not going to be happy with him the next time they saw each other, but right now, Midoriya was fine with putting it off.

Midoriya glanced down at the mask in his hands, a flurry of emotions within him. He wanted to tell Bakugo everything. He wanted to show his former friend what he worked so hard to do. He wanted to prove that he was worthy of Bakugo’s respect, using everything he had gained from both Mysterio and All Might.

…but he couldn’t.

He came so close to admitting the truth, but he can’t tell Bakugo. Not yet… if ever.

So, hiding his mask and his prototype drone in his bag, he left his middle school for good, not even sparing Aldera Junior High so much as a glance back.

Chapter Text

Normal talking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Thinking: 'Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!'

Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

All Might Speaking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

All Might Thinking: ‘Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!’

All Might Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

Sound Effects: *BLAM!*

AIs/Computers: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Speaking Another Language: {"Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"}

The day after Nezu came to his home, Midoriya met up with Toshinori within the DvD store. Tsuburaya appeared in a phone booth that emerged from the ground with a crackle of electricity.

“Congratulations, young Midoriya.” Toshinori said with a smile. “I knew you’d make it in. Oh, and don’t worry, while I was sitting in on the results, I wasn’t a judge, nor did I tell anyone about our training.”

“I should also clarify as well that I had nothing to do with your entrance.” Tsuburaya added, “I did not hack into the school systems, tamper with the results, or alter anything on file. You got in because you earned it.”

“Th-thank you..” Midoriya said. He hadn’t wanted to cast suspicion on the AI, but it did sometimes have trouble understanding morals, especially if it involved furthering their goals.

“Also, I’m sorry I didn’t talk sooner. With great power comes… lots of paperwork.” Toshinori said.

“Oh GOD, please don’t quote that Webhead’s catchphrase.” Tsuburaya grumbled.

“Still bitter over how he beat you?” Toshinori asked.

“No, I am just sick of hearing that phrase… even a parody of it.” Tsuburaya explained. “I swear, everyone and their grandmother quotes it endlessly.”

“It’s a classic for a reason, Tsuburaya.” Midoriya said with a smile, before adopting a more serious look. “But I'm still having trouble with controlling the output.”

“Honestly, I’m not surprised… What kind of advice is ''clench your buttocks?!''” Tsuburaya asked, aiming a glare at Toshinori.

“In my defense, this is my first time being a teacher…” he mumbled. “But I think I have a few ideas about how to make sure your Quirk doesn’t break you again.”

Midoriya looked up at the gates before him, a massive logo with a UA atop it.

“I’m here… finally…” he muttered to himself. Eight plus years of hard work, blood, sweat, tears, and a lot of chemistry brought him to the highschool of his dreams. It felt… surreal. Like that time he accidentally sprayed himself with Mysterio’s suggestibility gas and thought he was in a Korean zombie pirate apocalypse romcom.

Thank goodness Tsuburaya had an antidote nearby.

“‘Dorya!”

Izuku looked over, Mei skating over. “Hey Mei! Are you as nervous about going in as I am?”

“Yup!” she said with a smile. “But I’m sure it’ll be fine! I went to bed at 2 in the morning!”

“That’s not a healthy sleeping habit…” Midoriya sweatdropped as they walked in.

“It’s fine!” Mei brushed off with a shrug. “See ya after school, bossman!” She ran off towards 1-H, leaving Izuku to stare after her.

‘Never change, Mei… actually, maybe change just a little.’ Remembering where he was, Izuku ran into the building, searching for Class 1-A. ‘Holy crap this place is massive…!’ Finally reaching the classroom, he was surprised at how large the doors were. ‘I guess when you have people with mutations that can make them larger than normal, you need large doors.’ Izuku mused to himself as he opened the door. ‘I just hope that Bakugo or that stiff glasses guy aren’t here-’

“Take your feet off the desk! You are disrespecting school property!”

“Don’t tell me what to do, glasses!”

Midoriya froze. ‘Thor Almighty, why does fate hate me??’

Before him was Bakugo, leaning back in his seat with his feet up, and the blue haired boy from the entrance exam, who Midoriya could see had some kind of engines sticking out of his legs. ‘A boost-based Quirk, most likely, I wonder if it’s like a real engine with different gears.’

“Look, let’s start again…” the glasses-wearing boy tried again. “I’m Tenya Iida, I went to Somei Private High, and you are?”

“Somei, huh? So you think you’re better than me?? I’ll kill ya!” Bakugo shot back, uninterested in being civil.

“Kill me?!” Iida stared at the boy in shock. “Are you sure you’re in the right place?!”

“Oh, it’s you!”

Midoriya looked behind himself to see the gravity girl, Ururaka, looking over with a smile… and wearing a cute schoolgirl uniform that showed off her really nice- ‘Stop it! She’s your classmate!’

“You’re the boy who saved me!” she added. “Thank you so much!”

“It… it was nothing!” Midoriya stuttered out. “Just… trying to do what a hero should do…!”

“Oh yeah, you’re the guy that was blasting music from atop the robot, right??” another student, a girl with purple hair and headphone jacks for earlobes, asked. “Interesting tastes.”

“My, uh… Trainer was American, and liked old music.” Midoriya mumbled.

“You!”

Midoriya shot up, straight as a board. The glasses boy, Iida, immediately walked over and… started bowing?

“I apologize for the way I treated you during the UA Entrance exam!” Iida shouted. “It’s clear that you saw something that no one else did! Though I disapprove of how you acted with little seriousness, I cannot deny that you were capable of seeing through to the true test!”

“You’ve got to be shitting me…” Bakugo growled, glaring at Midoriya.

“Wait, you’ve got it all wrong!!” Midoriya said. “I didn’t know about the rescue points either! I just saw someone in trouble and my legs moved on my own to help!”

“I see… then you are going to be an amazing prospective hero!” Iida started bowing again, which Midoriya immediately started denying.

“If you’re here just to socialize, you can just leave.”

Everyone turned to the doorway, freezing in shock at the homeless looking man in a yellow sleeping bag staring at them without any visible emotion.

“Twelve seconds, that’s how long it took for you to settle down. That won’t do.” he muttered, taking out a drink pack and draining it dry in a moment. Ignoring everyone’s confused stares, he crawled inside like an inchworm. “My name’s Shota Aizawa, and I’m your homeroom teacher.” He made it to the desk and unzipped his sleeping bag, his costume a simple black jumpsuit and a massive gray scarf around his neck.

Midoriya stared at the man intensely as he stood up. The boy had always prided himself on his knowledge of heroes, even obscure ones, but he couldn’t place the tired looking man before him. ‘He must be an underground hero, but which one? The Darkdevil? Yokai Biker?’

He was brought out of his musings by Aizawa pulling out several gym uniforms from his sleeping bag. “Put these on and go outside to the field. Don’t make me wait.”

Without another word, the man left, ignoring the stares the students were giving him… before collectively realizing what he said and scrambling to get a uniform in their size.

Midoriya ran out of the building, slipping on his control gloves over his arms. Making sure his favorite All Might badge was on, he joined his classmates in the back in time for them to hear that they were going to be doing a Quirk Apprehension Test.

“But… What about Orientation?” Ururaka asked the teacher, who glanced over with an apathetic expression.

“If you want to be a hero, then you don’t have time to waste on pointless ceremonies. Here at UA, we aren’t tethered by tradition, which means that I get to run my class as I see fit.” Aizawa stood up straighter, looking at the students with the expression of a butcher inspecting meat for any faults.

“Standing Long Jump, 100 Meter Dash, Seated Toe Touch, Sit Ups, Repeated Side Steps, Ball Throw, Grip Strength, and the Endurance Run. In the past, your schools forbade the usage of Quirks in these tests. The education administration’s dragging their feet, trying to make it seem like you were all born equal. It’s irrational. Bakugo.”

“Yes, sir?”

“You got the highest villain points in the Entrance Exam. What was your furthest throw in middle school?” Aizawa asked, pulling out a softball with a sensor embedded within it.

“56 meters, sir.” Bakugo said, hoping the teacher was saying what was implied.

Aizawa nodded and tossed him the softball. “Step into the ring and use your quirk to launch the ball. Anything goes, just don’t leave the circle.”

“Hell yeah!” Bakugo stepped forward, but before he could go, he was interrupted.

“Excuse me!! But are we allowed to bring support gadgets into this test?? Using them would defeat the purpose of assessing our Quirks, would it not??!” Iida shouted, drawing attention to Midoriya, who looked away, fighting an angry blush of embarrassment.

“Silence. Midoriya, why are you wearing support items?” Aizawa calmly asked. Midoriya looked at everyone around him, seeing their curious stares, and with a dejected sigh, explained.

“...my… my Quirk only appeared a-a few days before the Entrance Exam… and I ha-haven’t got a handle on it quite yet… my original plan to get into UA was originally going to be me using my support items to help me.”

He got several looks of shock and sympathy at everyone, along with a scoff from one particular boy, no name required. Aizawa himself, meanwhile, just narrowed his eyes at Midoriya, his expression unreadable.

“....fine… but I want you to use your Quirk at least once.” Aizawa said.

“Ye-yeah sensei!” Midoriya nodded, while Iida looked scandalized.

“But… it’s-”

“My test.” Aizawa said, turning to Bakugo and nodding at him.

Bakugo smirked, and, with a scream of “DIE!” launched the ball with his Quirk. While most people were either freaking out over his distance or shocked at his choice of words, Midoriya watched the ball fly away, his mouth dry.

“This is the most rational way to find out about your abilities.” Aizawa said, holding up his tablet to display a distance of 705 meters.

“Whoa, that looks like fun!”

“We get to use our quirks openly and freely?? Hell yeah!!”

“I wanna try!!”

The cheers were interrupted by Aizawa looking over. While he was giving off a sadistic smirk, Midoriya could tell that secretly he was not happy with his class.

“So this looks ''fun?'' Alright, then let’s make it a game.” Aizawa straightened up. “You’ll all compete in these eight events, and be assigned a ranking. Whoever doesn’t score high enough or fails to impress me is expelled on the spot.”

Predictably, that led to many cries of anger and disbelief from the majority of the class.

“But that’s not fair!” Ururaka protested, only to shrink under Aizawa’s glare.

“Fair? Are natural disasters fair? Are accidents? What about villain attacks? Was the Chitauri Battle of New York ''fair?''” Aizawa shot down her protests. “Heroes fight against unfair odds every day, and it’s my job to make you ready to face it. If you thought that any of this would be easy or fair, then I’ll just expel you now.”

No one protested.

“Good… now get ready… you’ll have to go beyond. Plus Ultra.”

The 100 Meter Dash

Tenya Iida was, without a doubt in Midoriya’s mind, the best at this, even with his self criticism. Behind him was Shoto Todoroki, releasing ice from his right side to slide along the track, like a Japanese Iceman. The perky pink skinned Mina Ashido released acid from her feet to slide along the ground. Following behind her the French/Japanese Yuga Aoyama launched himself backwards with his Navel Laser… though he had to excuse himself to use the restroom afterwards. Poor guy.

Midoriya stepped beside Bakugo, who smirked back at Deku. “Get ready to eat dirt, Deku!”

“Not today, Kachaan.” Midoriya muttered back.

The starting gun went off, and Bakugo blasted off, certain of his victory, but looked back and nearly stumbled!

Instead of running, Midoriya had seemingly summoned a drone, the size of an ottoman and far more advanced than that puny consumer model from last month, and was riding it like some kind of rocket chair!

Bakugo still won, but only by a second. Turning to Aizawa, he immediately voiced his grievances. “That’s cheating!! He didn’t have a drone a minute ago!”

“Well yeah, it was cloaked.” Midorya explained, typing onto his glove’s screen. Immediately a second identical drone, flanked by a swarm of smaller green drones, appeared above him in a cloud of pixels, making several of his classmates back up.

“Are those armed?” Aizawa asked with the casualness one used when asking about the weather.

“Only rubber bullets, air pulse cannons, and tasers, Aizawa-sensei, but I can disable those if you’d prefer.” Midoriya answered.

“....just don’t use them on your classmates.” Aizawa shrugged, Midoriya nodding in understanding as he joined his classmates, well aware of the stares they were giving him.

‘Who is this kid??’ the other students thought collectively.

Grip Strength Test

The top two winners were Shoji, who used his multiple arms on the device, and Momo, who created several clamps that maxed out the score.

For the grip strength test, Midoriya again summoned his drone. Holding out the device, the robot grabbed one end with a clawed tentacle and squeezed as hard as it could.

356 kg

‘Not bad… I hope.” Midoriya looked to Aizawa, who, once again, said nothing to Midoriya about his use of a drone.

Bakugo watched, with a glare at the cheating little Deku.

Standing Long Jump

The clear winner of this test was Tsuyu Asui, whose natural frog abilities let her clear the pit in a single bound. Behind her was Ururaka, using her Quirk on herself to become weightless, though her technique needed improvement. Bakugo, of course, used his explosions to propel himself, and Todoroki used his ice to push himself. Midoriya wondered why the son of Endeavor didn’t use his fire, but it was possible he didn’t have the same level of thrust as his father.

Midoriya, once again, used his drone to fly over the dirt pit, though this time he elected to hang on from underneath the drone by its tentacle arms and drop down once he was at a certain height, even landing on the ground on one knee and fist. Midoriya smiled at everyone, but that was mainly to keep a single thought out of his head.

‘Oh Thor, that landing was hell on my knee!’

Repeated Side Step

This time, Midoriya chose to use both drones to move him, basically by playing tug of war with him as the rope. It looked absolutely ridiculous, but it got him points that were matched only by that kid with the purple spheres on his head, Minrou Mineta, if memory served him right.

The Ball Throw

The other students, feeling the need to show off, came up with some insane methods to pass this one. Hanato Sero used his elbow tape to swing the ball around his head before throwing it like a meteor hammer. Tenya Iida jumped up and kicked the ball out of the field with his engine-enhanced legs. Koji Koda asked some pigeons to carry it a mile away. And Momo Yaoyoroza… created a freaking bazooka to launch it?!

But none of them surpassed Ochako. Simply using her Quirk on the softball, she threw it up… up… and away.

“Infinity?!” everyone yelped when Aiazawa showed them the score on his phone.

Midoriya soon stepped forward, summoning one of his drones to the circle. Once there, Midoriya took out the softball, intent on using the pulse cannon to launch it.

“Not this time.”

Midoriya looked over at Aizawa, the drone following his gaze. “E-excuse me?”

“Did I stutter?” Aizawa asked. “I want you to use your Quirk this time. No help from your gadgets or drones.”

“Bu-but my Quirk-” Midoriya started, only to fall silent when Aizawa glared at Midoriya.

“No. Gadgets.”

Midoriya quickly nodded and, with great reluctance, dismissed the drone to hover off to the side with the others.

“Finally, those drones aren’t exactly fair for the rest of us.” Kaminari muttered.

“Why’s he so reluctant to use his quirk?” a boy with a tail, Mashirao Ojiro, asked.

“Cause he doesn’t have one!” Bakugo snapped. “He’s just a useless deku with holograms and drones and shit!” Bakugo got stares, but not ones of realization like he was expecting. No, instead they were just confused and disbelieving.

“But then how’d he destroy that Zero-Pointer?” a boy with dyed red hair, Eijiro Kirishima, asked.

Bakugo froze. He had recalled some of his classmates talking about a post someone made, discussing how one of those mechas from the Entrance Exam had been taken down by some weird nobody, but he never paid attention.

‘There’s no fucking way that was Deku! It must have been some kinda illusion shit!’

‘But…. then what about Aldera? He said he had a Quirk.’ the voice of his four-year old self questioned before being shoved back down.

Midoriya heard all the words they muttered. All the questions they posed. The doubts they expressed. The dismissals of his reliance on technology. Midoriya turned to the field. Recalling the various baseball pitcher poses he recalled seeing, Midoriya wound his arm back, and with a yell of “SMASH!” threw the ball…!

46 meters

Midoriya stared at the ball. At the last moment, his power had vanished, and the ball went less than sixty meters?! Midoriya stared at his unhurt arm and tried to summon One for All again, but nothing emerged.

“What…. But I…. Why…?!”

“I erased your Quirk.”

Midoriya turned to Aizawa, who now looked like one of Mephisto’s own demons. His hair and scarf floated around him, and his eyes, unblinking, glowed bright red as he glared at the boy. Midoriya, however, was drawn to the other object around the man’s neck.

“Yo-your goggles…! You’re the Underground Pro, Eraserhead!” Midoriya stammered out.

“You think a few drones are enough to get you into the hero course?” Aizawa growled out. “Or a limited supply of fog and intangible holograms?”

“N-no sir, I-” Midoriya was interrupted when Aizawa’s scarf seemed to shoot out, wrapping around his limbs and restraining the boy. ‘His scarf…! It’s so strong!! It’s like trying to rip apart one of Mysterio’s fake Spider-man webs!’

“Your gear is impressive, but its ammo will run out, or it will be discovered and destroyed, or turned against you by some tech-savvy villain. To fight some of the most dangerous villains alive, you need to have more than just tricks to rely on.” Aizawa continued. “And if you’re going to use that ''I just got my Quirk'' excuse again, don’t bother. You shouldn’t have come here, especially if you don’t have control over your power yet. Power you cannot control is a liability that threatens everyone else. You’re just proving how utterly foolish you are trying to chase a dream that is impossible for someone like you, and I refuse to indulge it if it means you’ll be risking the lives of yourself and others.”

“...I know…”

Aizawa raised an eyebrow, and loosened his grip so that Midoriya could look at him. The boy looked up, no longer scared or nervous, but glaring with a determined fire. “...I know the odds are against me… but I just need a chance to prove that I belong here, sensei. A chance to prove that I won’t let my late start hold me back.”

Aizawa said nothing, only blinking and releasing Midoriya. “I returned your power to you. But it’ll take more than a Shonen Jump protagonist’s speech to convince me.”

Midoriya nodded, and grabbed another ball from the bucket.

From behind a nearby building, All Might and Tsuburaya observed the students, the latter watching through the hero’s phone’s camera.

“....do you think Midoriya would be upset if Aizawa went missing? Hypothetically speaking?” Tsuburaya asked.

“Yes.” the man muttered. “I was worried about this the moment I read Midoriya’s file… Aizawa doesn’t like seeing students put themselves at risk. He’s expelled entire classes enough that the teachers started a betting pool over it.”

“Then Midoriya needs to think of something fast…” Tsuburaya muttered to himself. His programming was simultaneously telling him to interfere, yet he couldn't. It was, quite frankly, maddening for the AI.

“He’ll think of something… I know it.” All Might insisted, though he was unable to hide his own worry.

Midoriya looked at the ball in his hand.

‘All Might had suggested trying to lower the percentage… I’m still having trouble with maintaining it… but maybe..!’ Midoriya threw his arm back, gripping the baseball, and took aim. ‘Remember the egg in the microwave…! Hold it…. Hold it..!’

“SMASH!” Midoriya shouted once again….

Only this time a massive shockwave shot out, launching the ball and blowing back everyone’s hair. Midoriya, teeth gritted, watched the softball fall back towards the Earth, landing in the distance. “Sensei…”

Aizawa looked over, and for the first time that day was pleasantly surprised. Midoriya raised his arm, the limb unharmed save for a single broken finger. “I’m…. not useless! I can still fight!”

‘So, he held off on using his power until the last possible second, when only the tip of his index finger was on the ball..’ Aizawa mused, giving off the first genuine smile of the day. “This kid.” he muttered, holding up the tablet to reveal a distance of 724 meters.

“Holy crap!!”/“That was super manly!”/“Too bad about his finger though..”/"I guess that's why he has the support items, kero."

Everyone was praising him, chatting excitedly and muttering… save for one.

“DEKU!”

Midoriya jumped, Bakugo snarling as he stormed over, hands popping. “Ka-Kachaan, I-”

“TELL ME HOW YOU GOT A QUIRK OR I-” Bakugo was stopped by two drones getting in his way, green lasers shining on his chest. The boy raised his hands, but his explosions didn’t appear. “What, why isn’t-”

“Stand down, Bakugo.” Aizawa growled, his Quirk active. “Midoriya… why are the drones taking aim?”

“S-sorry sensei! I must have forgotten to disable the automatic defense protocol!” Midoriya apologized, typing a command into his glove. Immediately the drones deactivated their targeting lasers and hovered away. Midoriya looked at his classmates, who while concerned, thankfully didn’t appear to be scared by how quickly his drones were to threaten Bakugo.

“It can’t have been a real Quirk!!” Bakugo snarled. “He’s a Quirkless little-”

“Whether or not he was Quirkless is irrelevant, Bakugo.” Aizawa interrupted with a tone not dissimilar to a disciplining parent. “This isn’t a place for you to fight one another. Now get back with the other students before I get dry eyes.”

Those words were an unspoken threat strong enough to make Bakugo stand down and storm over to the other students.

“Midoriya, go see the old lady-”

“I can keep going, sensei!” Midoriya interrupted. “A little pain can’t stop us when people’s lives are at risk, right?? I’ll just be very careful!”

Aizawa stared at him for a moment before sighing. “Fine. Sato, your turn.”

Seated Toe Touch

Midoriya didn’t need his drones for this one, since part of his training with Tsuburaya involved learning escape artistry and contortionism, which left him plenty flexible. The only ones who matched him were Ashido and Asui, whose bodies were naturally limber, much to the delight of the ogling Mineta.

Midoriya made a mental note to keep an eye on him.

Pull Ups

Midoriya also did fine in this task, having his cloaked drones help him out when his muscles started to give out. Despite his robotic assistance though, the MVP of this exercise, from the sound of it, was Toru Hagakure, however Midoriya suspected that she was cheating… mainly due to the fact that she was completely invisible, once she shed her gym clothes. Trying to ignore the implications of this, Midoriya focused on not aggravating his broken finger.

Endurance Run

Seeing as Yaoyorozu was riding on a motorized bike, Midoriya chose to use his drones again, but only once he started to feel exhaustion from running. By the second hour, Yaoyorozo had run out of gas, and Iida was panting heavily, while Midoriya sat comfortably atop his drone.

“How much longer will its battery last?” Aizawa asked when Midoriya approached on his 58th lap.

Glancing at his wrist screen, Midoriya responded “Another hour, I think.”

Aizawa grunted, but didn’t tell them to stop until the two of them did.

At long last, the results of their Quirk Apprehension Test were ready for display. The tension was so thick among the classmates that it could have been cut with a knife.

Aizawa looked at them all over lazily, before typing into his tablet. “It’ll take too long to talk about your performances individually, so I’ll be going over your scores all at once.” A hologram formed beside him, and everyone scanned the placement to find their name.

1. Momo Yaoyorozu
2. Shoto Todoroki
3. Katsuki Bakugo
4. Tenya Iida
5. Fumikage Tokoyami
6. Mezo Shoji
7. Mashirao Ojiro
8. Eijiro Kirishima
9. Izuku Midoriya
10. Mina Ashido
11. Ochako Uraraka
12. Koji Koda
13. Rikido Sato
14. Tsuyu Asui
15. Yuga Aoyama
16. Hanta Sero
17. Denki Kaminari
18. Kyoka Jiro
19. Toru Hagakure
20. Minoru Mineta

Midoriya released a gasp of relief he wasn’t aware of holding.

“What?! But that shitty Deku only did so well because of those stupid drones, not because of his Quirk!” Bakugo shouted indignantly. Aizawa turned a glare at him.

“That wasn’t the point of these tests.” while the class stared at him in shock, Aizawa explained. “It was obvious enough in the Entrance Exam that you’re all physically capable to some extent or another… but just being able to fight isn’t enough to be a hero. You also need to know how to use your resources creatively, whether it’s your Quirk, or support items. Midoriya was reliant on his drones, but he’s got the smarts to prove that he won’t let them or a newly emerging Quirk be a crutch, and with them, I’m sure he’ll be able to get his Quirk under control in time.”

“No!!! I can’t believe I’m going to be expelled before I get a girlfriend!!” Mineta yelled, falling to his knees as tears flowed down his face.

Everyone turned to stare at the diminutive boy with purple orbs. Some in sympathy, a few in confusion, but most of them, especially the girls, were disturbed and frankly a bit disgusted.

“Oh, by the way, no one’s getting expelled.”

Everyone snapped back to their teacher, who had the biggest shit eating grin on his face.

“That was just a logical ruse to get you to all push yourselves.”

‘Does all of UA use logical ruses and trickery?!’ Midoriya asked himself while everyone else looked scandalized.

“Oh, sorry, should I have said something?” Yaoyorozo innocently asked. “I thought it was fairly obvious.”

“YES!!!” Mineta stood up, overjoyed. “I’ve still got a chance to feel a girl’s-” his cheers were interrupted as Aizawa’s scarf suddenly wrapped around him as if possessed.

“However, that doesn’t mean any of you are off the hook.” Aizawa continued, his expression once again serious and ignoring Mineta’s struggles. “You can’t sit comfortably where you are if you want to be a hero. You’re going to have to keep pushing not only your bodies, but minds and quirks to their limits if you want to be heroes.”

“What is this scarf made of?!” Mineta yelled out, his words muffled.

“It’s not a scarf. It’s a capture weapon made of a carbon fiber and vibranium weave.” Aizawa explained, before turning to the boy wrapped up in said capture weapon. “In addition, the principal is well aware of your history, Mineta. The only reason you were allowed here is because he thinks that I can change your bad habits, and I’m keeping you only because you’ve shown creative use in your quirk, so you do have potential.” Aizawa’s eyes glowed red and his hair hovered around him once more. “But if I don't see any progress in changing your attitude, I will kick you out, skills be damned. Is that clear?”

Mineta nodded rapidly, a whimper heard through the material. Aizawa retracted the material then pulled out a slip of paper. “Midoriya, take this to the old lady to get fixed up. When you’re done, join your classmates in the homeroom. You’ll all find your syllabus there.” he turned to leave, but stopped and looked back at everyone.

“Oh, and welcome to UA.”

“A logical ruse? Don’t make me laugh!”

Aizawa sighed, and turned to All Might “Hello All Might. I’m surprised you managed to pull yourself away from the spotlight.” He glanced at the man’s suit pocket, his phone sticking out of it, in the middle of a call. “Is that the Problem Child’s AI?”

“My name is Tsuburaya.” the phone responded in a clipped tone. “And what makes you so certain my successor will be a ''problem child?''”

Aizawa stared blankly at the phone. “....do you want me to list the reasons in alphabetical order or in risk levels?”

“Be that as it may, you can’t deny the boy impressed you!” All Might interjected before Tsuburaya could shoot back. “That’s the only reason you didn’t expel him, isn’t it??”

“So you were observing the test, then?” Aizawa asked, All Might freezing up, while Tsuburaya stepped in.

“I wanted to make sure you would treat my protege fairly in spite of his inheritance, and since none of my drones are allowed on campus without permission, I asked All Might to stream the tests to me.” Tsuburaya explained.

“I don’t care if Midoriya was the cloned child of Dr. Doom and Sinthea Shmidt created by Nathan Essex.” Aizawa bluntly responded. “Judging one solely by their predecessors is irrational. I do judge people by their merits and potential, however, and Midoriya… has a non-zero chance of progressing.”

“What if the other students do judge him that way?” Tsuburaya asked.

“We’ll handle it.” Aizawa said simply.

“Plenty of Midoriya’s past teachers have ''handled'' similar cases when he was being bullied. By which I mean they did little more than raise their voice to the aggressors. If they caught them doing something.” Tsuburaya shot back, somehow managing to convey cold fury despite lacking any visible indications. Aizawa shifted uncomfortably, but straightened up after a moment.

“I won’t let him be bullied.” Aizawa insisted. “And I would also like the names of Midoriya’s previous teachers forwarded to my desk so that I may investigate them and their school.”

“Good.” Tsuburaya said. “I’ll compile a list and have it sent to you by next morning.”

“Also, if I learn that you once again overrode Midoriya’s drone controls to threaten another student, I will have Nezu write up a firewall to keep you out.” Aizawa added before leaving.

“....duly noted.” Tsuburaya muttered.

Midoriya left UA, looking over his now healed finger. He had received quite an earful from Recovery Girl, though he couldn’t really blame her. Breaking himself to pass a test was too extreme… but he didn’t know what else he could have done. He was resigned to walking to the train station alone, like usual. He had hoped Mei would join him, but when he saw her, she was angrily muttering about some “child prodigy who got in early” and chose to stay in to work on her babies.

Midoriya knew better than to pull her away when she got this driven, so he left her there and prayed for Power Loader’s sanity.

“Deku!”

Midoriya looked up, Iida and Uruaka waiting at the front gate for him, much to his surprise.

“Wha… why’d you call me that?” Midoriya asked.

“Isn’t that your name?” Uraraka asked innocently. “That’s what Bakugo was calling you.”

“No, it’s just a nickname Bakugo made up to mock me…” Midoriya mumbled. Seeing their looks, he reluctantly chose to elaborate. “My name’s Izuku, you see, and if you alter how it’s spelled, you get the word for useless.”

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Uraraka apologized. “I thought it was a nickname, because it kind of sounds like ''dekiru,'' or ''you can do it!''”

“Oh… well, you can use it if you want!” Midoriya said happily.

“I would advise against it! Just because she likes it doesn’t mean that she should have to use it if it makes you uncomfortable!” Iida said, his arms chopping with each word.

Giggling at how uptight Iida was, Uraraka turned to Midoriya. “Well, if you’re okay with that, you can call me Ochako!”

“Re-really??” Midoriya asked with a slight blush.

“Yeah, we’re friends now, aren’t we?” Ururaka, no, Ochako asked with a smile. “Want to walk with us to the train station?”

“Um, sure!” Before Mei, Midoriya had never had any friends. Tsuburaya was nice, but he was sure the AI saw him more as a student at best, an investment at worst.

“I do have to ask, Midoriya… where’d you get such advanced drones?” Ochako asked Midoriya after a minute of walking. “I’ve never seen any with weapons or cloaking… which sounds silly now that I say it out loud.”

“I admit I was curious as well.” Iida said.

Recalling what his current cover story was, Midoriya took it in stride. “I’m connected to a friend, Mr. Tsuburaya, who runs an independent support item company. He was the first who saw my potential in being a hero and helped me learn who to use support items to stand alongside my peers before my Quirk emerged.”

“Really? Which support company?” Ochako asked.

Taking a moment, Midoriya debated telling them, before reaching a conclusion. “ Wondrous Might & Heroism .”

“BULLSHIT!”

Midoriya jumped in fright as Bakugo stormed over. “Ka-Kachaan!”

“There’s no way you’re connected to someone that useful!” Bakugo snarled. “Where’d you get those drones and that stupid Quirk of yours?!”

“I-I-I told you Kachaan, it wa-was a late awakening!” Midoriya stuttered out in fear.

“Quirks don’t awaken this late!” Bakugo shot back. “Did you get yourself mutated by radioactive waste or some shit like that?!”

“Hey, Kachaan, just leave Midoriya alone!” Ochako interrupted, not backing down even when Bakugo turned his rage onto her.

“The FUCK you call me, round face?!” he snarled. After staring into her defiant glare a minute or so more, he evidently decided that fighting his classmates over this wasn’t worth it, and stormed off.

“...you didn’t get mutated or anything, right?” Ochako asked Midoriya, who shook his head no.

“It’s a Quirk, I swear! Eraserhead’s power doesn’t work on non-quirks!” Midoriya stated truthfully.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound offended.” she apologized, visibly upset by how she must have come off.

“N-no, it’s a reasonable assumption.” Midoriya admitted. “But I did get my Quirk late…”

“Wait, so you thought you were Quirkless your whole life and planned to get in using gadgets?!” Iida asked in shock.

“If Iron Man could be a Quirkless hero, why not me?” Midoriya asked.

“He’s rich, though I suppose you have a point…” Iida conceded “still, a very risky idea!”

“I’m well aware…” Midoriya said, the trio continued their walk to the train station, chatting away about nothing important.

Chapter Text

Normal talking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Thinking: 'Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!'

Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

All Might Speaking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

All Might Thinking: ‘Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!’

All Might Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

Sound Effects: *BLAM!*

AIs/Computers: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Speaking Another Language: {"Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"}

One Month Ago…

“Good afternoon viewers. I’m your host, Jitsu Fuhai , here with special guest Makato Supīkā of the 51 Alien Restoration Insistence Agency.” The TV hostess, a woman with pointed ears and an excessive level of studio makeup, began.

“Glad to be here, ma’am.” The man nodded. He had blue skin, short red hair, and green eyes, wearing a professionally pressed suit.

“So, tell us exactly what your group’s mission is.” Fuhai asked, a smirk quickly forming on her face. “Also, maybe you can tell us why you call yourselves 51 ARIA instead of AREA 51?”

“That was an issue with copyrights…” he muttered through gritted teeth, before clearing his throat and speaking up. “Well, put quite simply, my group believes that the existence of extraterrestrial life has been covered up. I know, it sounds ridiculous, but when you look at the evidence, it’s surprisingly solid. Take for example Thor, a founding member of the Avengers. Nowadays, people think he’s just an early sign of Quirks emerging in humanity, except that his powers don’t match early Quirk users! High strength, endurance, flight, manipulation over the weather and electricity, a hammer unlike anything else? What about his enemy Loki? Control over illusions, shapeshifting, mind manipulation, conjuration, a noted immunity to ice? In modern times, not impossible, but back then? These people could not be human!”

“Except that not long afterwards, Quirks started showing up en masse, and similar abilities have been achieved either by genetic alteration, the M-Gene, or technology.”  Fuhai countered, fighting to wipe the smirk off her face.

“Look, you can check this all out for yourself! Plenty of families have irregular DNA that, even with Quirks thrown in, prove that at least 19% of Earth’s population has SOME alien DNA, especially in the United States! I myself have Centaurian ancestry!” Supīkā explained, doing his best to be heard over the snickers and laughter of the audience.

“Wouldn’t that mean you should have the bottom half of a horse?” Fuhai teased, to laughter from the audience.

“No, I’m not a centaur!” the man exclaimed, growing increasingly frustrated at the woman's disbelief and the audience' laughter.

In the Midoriya household, Tsuburaya's drone observed the TV as it finalized a deal with Nezu the latter had propositioned shortly after their meeting. Midoriya was tuning out the television, instead staring at his notebook filled with details of his private tech in frustration, and Mei was trying to help him with the same problem.

“It never ceases to amaze me regarding what time will do to the truth.” Tsuburaya commented from his drone, watching the man be metaphorically torn apart by the hostess and the audience.

“Wait, so aliens were real?” Mei asked, looking up from her notes.

“Oh yes. Thor, Loki, Asgardians, the Chitauri, Symbiotes, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Skrulls, the Kree, Direwraiths, ROM the Space Knight…” Tsuburaya listed off. “All were real and were from space.”

“But… why don’t people believe in them anymore??” Mei asked. “There must have been some kind of government record!”

“Quirks emerged soon afterwards, and any alien incidents were thought to have been done by people taking advantage of their new powers, or faked by people like Mysterio.” Tsuburaya explained, turning away from the man on TV storming offstage in anger. “Doesn’t help that almost every official record of alien contact had been lost during the Quirk Emergence… probably destroyed by the Skrulls during their last infiltration around that time. Also, most aliens tend to reside in America, due to the efforts of Carol Danvers making that country the most alien friendly, though you won’t find any aliens confessing to their real nature, not unless they want to be mocked like that poor man.”

“But… but what about footage?! Pictures! Eyewitness accounts?!” Mei asked in frustration. “SPACESHIPS HOVERING IN THE SKY?!”

“9/11 conspiracies, Holocaust deniers, Fake News, Andrew Wakefield believers, and Flat Earthers.” Tsuburaya responded, anger clear in his digitized voice. “ Any modern sightings get dismissed as people with Quirks or photoshop. Same thing happens with magic, the new Ghost Rider, and any witnessed demons, from what I hear.”

“HELL EXISTS?!” Mei shouted, throwing up her arms. “So those rumors about that Al Simmons guy-”

“Guys, please, can we focus??” Midoriya interrupted.

“Right, sorry…” Mei apologized, though not without muttering “just getting my view on reality shattered here.”

“I know, it’s crazy, but we need to solve this problem.” Midoriya muttered.

“What’re you talking about, ‘Dorya??” Mei asked. “You have a solution! Just use a robot!”

“Mei, I can’t just carry around an entire robot modeled solely to act like me.” Midoriya reminded her. “I need to be able to move fast and set up my plans quickly, but I can’t do that if I have to lug around a huge LMD!” he turned back to his notes, looking over the blueprints of his drones. “Maybe I could- urgh, no! Holograms are immaterial and not capable of handling objects! I could use something similar to Mysterio’s kaiju robot, have four orbs suspended in a hologram to act like limbs- oh, but if a villain uses an extra sense or even just grabs my arm, the farce would be exposed! ARGH!” he slammed his head on his notebook in frustration.

“Izuku?”

Midoriya looked up at his mom watching him from the doorway. In her arms she carried a gray bag. “Hey mom… sorry, I’m just... having trouble with my costume.”

Inko bit her lip, but came over to the couch, sitting beside her son. “Listen… I… know you’re feeling frustrated… but I want you to know, I do believe in you…” he hands shook as she spoke to her son, tears in her eyes. “I haven’t always been supportive.. I know that… and I made you scared for the wrong reasons… but I promise you, I WILL support your efforts from now on!”

*sniffle*

Izuku’s eyes were already watering, and he hugged his mom. She held him back. No words were exchanged. There didn’t need to be.

Pulling apart, Inko gave Midoriya the bag. “I, uh… actually worked on something. A few months ago, I saw one of your suit designs in that notebook and I finished creating it…” she looked at the sketch of Mysterio’s costume, bubblehead and cape circled. “But I guess this wouldn’t work with your current plans.”

Midoriya looked in the bag. Inside was a dark green jumpsuit with a simple gray pattern, neatly folded up. It was made with love, but like his mother said, it wouldn’t work for his current Mysterio suit. Unfolding it, Midoriya thought it looked like it would hug his frame tightly, leaving no room for anything save for some light padding. Definitely no electronics.

‘Mom worked really hard on this, but it wouldn’t last long in a real fight…’

Midoriya’s eyes widened, and he leaped up in joy, reached down to his mother, and hugged her tightly. “Thank you so much, mom!”

Inko looked at her son in shock. “What for??”

Midoriya looked up, a huge smile on his face. “I figured it out! I’ll need to make some adjustments, but I know how to get more prep time!”

The Present...

The most shocking thing about the hero school was, put simply, how normal so much of it was. There were English classes taught by Present Mic, Art History was by Midnight, Mathematics by Ectoplasm, and Literature by Cementoss.

Save for the fact that their teachers were pro heroes, any one of these lessons wouldn’t be out of place in a normal highschool. The only two exceptions were Hero Ethics, taught by Professor Baymaxima, and the class everyone was excited for, Foundational Heroics.

“Who do you think is going to be teaching us?” Kirishima asked Bakugo.

“Who cares as long as they’re a pro?” he dismissed.

“Wait a sec… didn’t All Might say he was a teacher starting this year?” Sero asked. Before anyone else could consider this point, the door was thrown open.

“I AM HERE…! COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!” All Might shouted.

“No way!”

“Whoa, he really is teaching!”

“I haven’t seen that costume before…”

“That’s his Silver Age costume, kero.”

“Welcome, students, to Foundational Heroics! Think of it as Heroing 101!” All Might greeted the students warmly. “Today we’re going to move you ahead a bit!” reaching into his belt, All Might pulled out a card reading Battle Trials.

“Yeah, fight training!” Kirishima cheered, while Bakugo’s face broke into an eager grin.

“All Might-sensei, isn’t this kind of activity advanced for our first lesson?” Iida asked, his arm raised.

“Not at all! I believe that the best teacher is experience! But before you go, you won’t be complete without…!” All Might gestured flamboyantly, aiming a small remote and clicking the button. From the wall emerged 20 metal cases, each one numbered and labeled by the student. “YOUR COSTUMES! Each one created in accordance with your Quirk Registry, Equipment Request Forms, and personal design requests!”

The entire class stood up, eagerly going to their cases and removing them from the wall. Midoriya took his, an unusually bulky piece. He, like the other students, was excited. The culmination of years of blood, sweat, tears, and hallucinogenic gasses laid within this case. Redesigned, built, and scrapped by himself, Tsuburaya, and Mei more times than he could count before he got to his Alpha suit. Within his backpack he had brought a few last minute items for his suit, including the most distinctive piece, one that, despite the silliness of how it looked, he would wear with pride.

But despite all that, he had a fear… a fear that had persisted when he saw Maro be shunned for that rumor. A fear that appeared in his nightmares as his peers leering at his costume, rocks and trash thrown at him, people writing him off as a villain who faked being a hero.

“Deku?”

Midoriya looked at Ochako, who was staring at him in concern. “What’s wrong?”

“....I’m just… worried I’ll look ridiculous.” Midoriya partially admitted.

“Well, I bet you’ll look awesome!” she said with a smile that immediately brightened up Midoriya’s mood.

‘So cute- NO! BAD!’

At Ground Beta, standing before one of the mock cities used in the Entrance Exam, All Might calmly waited for the students to arrive. He wasn’t surprised they were taking a bit of time to emerge. He remembered being in a similar position, his Superman inspired outfit having felt ridiculous when he first put it on. It had taken Gran Torino threatening to “train” his classmates personally for another twenty minutes to get them to come out. Needless to say, it worked. Drawn out of his past by the students arriving, All Might gave them an encouraging smile and a thumbs up.

“They say the clothes make the pros! And looking at you all, students, I must say you are the proof!”

The costumes before them were as varied as the Avengers. Some were simplistic, like Mashirao Ojiro’s karate gi, or surprisingly detailed, like Bakugo’s military styled outfit with grenade-shaped gauntlets. Some ideas were original, while others took inspiration from heroes of the past. But all had been designed by the students themselves, and made by one of several contracted Support Companies. Though some ideas were not as good as others.

“Ha! The fuck’s that supposed to be?? A diaper??” Bakugo laughed at Mineta, who turned to the taller teen angrily.

“It’s a bowl! I’m supposed to be a bowl of grapes!” he explained indignantly. Which didn’t change Bakugo’s attitude at all.

“Sure, and my gauntlets are just pineapples!” Bakugo snarked back, to Mineta’s growing frustration.

“Yeah, I have to agree with Bakugo-san.” Kirishima said, adjusting a gear-like shoulder pad he was wearing. “You do look like you’re wearing a diaper.”

Mineta growled in anger, crossing his arms.

“Wow Momo! You look great!” Mina complimented her classmate. Yaoyoroza was wearing what looked like a lightly armored red bodysuit with knee-high red & white boots attached via small straps, a yellow belt secured around her waist, and matching red gloves, with a small touchscreen computer built into the left one.

“Thank you… I was originally going with a design that had more exposed skin and a bookshelf on my lower back.” Yaoyoroza admitted. “But the new support company UA signed up with, Wondrous Might & Heroism, told me how dangerous having a heavy book on a rigid shelf would be if I landed on it wrong, and suggested a wrist computer instead. They also recommended DNA-integrated fabric to let me create objects without having to expose too much of myself. I wasn’t even aware of such technology!”

(Mineta silently cursed whoever owned that company for doing such a thing.)

“You too??” Jiro asked, adjusting her glove. The suit was inspired by a punk rocker, but sewn into the lining of the jacket was a quilt-like pattern that, according to the company, was meant to protect her from impacts of all kinds, including bullets and other shockwaves. On her arms were narrow gauntlets with ports to plug her earjacks into, along with dials to adjust how focused the shockwaves became. Similar devices adorned her boots, along with a small box of earplugs. “They gave me these gauntlets that they claim can make my quirk's output shatter concrete. I think they’re overkill, but if I need to fight someone with an invulnerability quirk, then I guess they’d be useful to have.”

“Oh yeah, my costume was made by those guys too!” Ochako ran over. Her hero costume consisted of a black, full-body suit with a pale pink design down the middle of her torso, topped with two black semi-spheres on her chest, pink stripes at her midsection, a deep pink choker, and two-toned pink sleeves. On her arms were matching gauntlets with handles, large knee-high boots with small air jets on the back heel, and a two-piece belt with a round buckle around her midsection with pouches containing medicine and rescue supplies. Under her arm was some headgear with a tinted visor. Tinted pink, naturally. “They got rid of the heels in my original design and suggested miniature air thrusters to help me move while weightless and internal gyros to help me stay upright!… though I wish I was more specific.... it's so tight…!”

“Oh, cool!” Toru spoke up. She was wearing a dark blue unitard with red shoulder-pads and a silver belt with a dial built into it. “That studio also suggested some changes… after telling me that my original idea for my costume was… ‘‘just wrong.’’”

“Why? What was your original idea, kero?” Asui asked.

“Shoes and gloves.” she said simply.

Everyone, even All Might turned to stare at her.

“....your costume was just shoes and gloves?!” Jiro yelped in shock, her earjacks shaking like tiny arms in frustration.

“Well, I can’t afford DNA-integrated fabrics or unstable molecules!” Toru protested in embarrassment, arms crossed.

“Then what did you go with?” Jiro asked.

“This!” She said proudly, twisting the belt’s buckle like a dial. Immediately her outfit vanished, leaving her completely invisible.

“Whoa! You’ve got an invisibility belt???” Mina asked excitedly.

“No, it’s something called “Chameleon Cloth.” Toru explained. “It’s a fabric that can change its shape and color to anything that was preset into the belt, including invisible fabrics. It’s also got a few disguises loaded in, but it’s limited by the amount of fabric onhand, and I’m not sure how useful the disguises will be, what with my invisibility and all.”

“Hey, are your support items and costumes from Wondrous Might & Heroism too?” Kaminari asked. His costume was a black jacket with white lightning bolts over a white shirt, pants matching the jacket, and a headset with a mounted scope that he currently wasn’t using. Built into the jacket was a harness covered in metal and wires, with a small breaker-box like device attached to the belt, which attached to his boots. “They gave me some suggestions for improving my costume after I mentioned a few problems with my Quirk!”

“Yeah! They asked really concise questions about my Quirk, like how it worked and any limitations it might have had.” Ashido mentioned, the last of the students, Todoroki, emerging from the tunnel.

“Ah, but none of your costumes are as magnifique as mon bespoke outfit!” Aoyami proclaimed, showing off his knight-inspired armor, which sparkled in the light. “Try not to be blinded by my dazzling!”

“You all look amazing! And now that you are… all…” All Might stopped, looking around. “Hold it, where is young Midoriya?” 

.:I am here, invisible to you all!:. Midoriya’s voice came out, crackling through an unseen speaker.

“Whoa, we’ve got another invisible student??” Kirishima asked, looking around in confusion while Hagakure grumbled about him “stealing her spotlight.”

.:Actually I’m cloaked, not invisible. I just thought that I should warn you all that my choice of hero costume is… unorthodox, to say the least.:. Midoriya explained.

“I’m sure whatever you had made would be just fine, deku!” Ochako said cheerfully. Midoriya was really glad he was invisible, because her outfit left very little to the imagination.

‘Not that he was complaining- NO! Bad brain! Bad!’

.:Okay… just… please don’t freak out or anything.:. Midoriya fell silent, then, a plume of green smoke rose from the ground, clearing away to reveal to his classmates Midoriya’s hero costume.

Midoriya’s armor didn’t deviate all that much from the original Mysterio outfit, aside from being made with his body type in mind. It was a full body suit, covered in green scales. Secured to Midoriya’s front was a pair of clasps, each designed to resemble an upside down Eye of Providence to hold his purple cape in place. Upon his arms were a pair of golden gauntlets, with red trims upon them. Similar trim was upon his golden boots, which rose up to his knees, with crescent moons upon them, the points facing up like a smile. A similar, smile-like moon was adorning a gold belt Midoriya had around his waist. Lastly, Midoriya’s helmet was, like the original Mysterio, an opaque silvery blue bubble helmet, secured to his suit by a neck brace-like collar with a smile-esque design upon the front.

The biggest physical difference was the mystic-themed armor plating upon his chest, shoulders, and knees, acting as an extra layer of defense, and the cape’s high collar that rose behind the helmet in a V shape to mimic All Might’s infamous haircut.

The first reaction that was heard, thankfully, was not fear.

Though Bakugo laughing so hard one would think he encountered the hero Ms. Joke wasn’t much better.

“The fuck’re you supposed to be?? A gachapan!?” he snorted, holding his gut in laughter.

“Ha! And you guys were giving me crap over my costume!” Mineta snorted.

“Why the bubble helmet?” was all Kaminari asked. Before responding, the helmet turned clear, showing Midoriya’s face.

.:It’s difficult to render a believable face in holographic form, but spheres are much easier.:. He explained, his voice crackling out of the speaker hidden in his collar. Before anyone else could comment, however, an indignant voice cut through.

“How dare you!”

Everyone turned to the boy in full armor, Iida, judging by the leg engines. “You dare to wear the visage of a villain in this institute for heroes?!”

“Wait, a villain??” Mineta asked in shock, backing away from the now fearful Midoriya.

“Yes! That’s the outfit first worn by Quentin Beck, the American villain Mysterio!” Iida proclaimed, his glare at his green haired classmate not relenting. “You should remove that costume at once and apologize for disgracing your alumni!” And with that, Midoriya’s worst fear started, accusations and fear pouring out like a flood from his classmates.

“Is he actually a villain?!”

“What were you thinking?!”

"Are you crazy?!

"What's wrong with you?!"

“How could you even think of such a thi-”

“That’s enough!”

All the student protests were silenced by the giant of a man looking at them in disapproval.

“Young Midoriya’s outfit was previously evaluated by our teachers and approved. If he chooses to use that identity, and accept the stigma that comes with it, then he will.” All Might stated, a tone of disappointment leaking out from his words, which made the other students back down in shame. Well, most of them.

“We’re here to be heroes, and he’s disgracing the heroes who came before us by wearing the suit of a villain!” Iida protested.

“Plenty of Pre-Quirk heroes were criminals or vigilantes before the laws were passed, like the Scarlet Witch, the X-Men, or even Mysterio’s archenemy Spider-Man.” All Might calmly countered.

“But… Mysterio was a villain all his life!” Iida continued.

“Oh please! Like the gachapan has the balls to try and be a villain!”

Everyone turned to Bakugo, shocked at how he was, in his own way, defending Deku. “That nerd’s wanted nothing but to be a hero all his life, so I really doubt he’d change his mind and become a fucking villain!”

.:And I want to redeem the name.:. Midoriya spoke up, drawing everyone’s attention back to him. .:I’m well aware of how people could see me… but I want to show everyone that anyone can be a hero, no matter where they come from. Even if it comes from someone originally a villain… or Quirkless.:.

"So manly..." Kirishima muttered, admiration in his eyes.

“…a beacon of light, born from darkness.” Fumikage Tokoyami, a boy with a raven’s head, spoke up. “Looking to bring hope despite an having an origin rooted in evil.”

“It means he likes it!” his sentient Quirk, Dark Shadow, spoke up.

“And you’re all forgetting something!”

Everyone turned to Ochako, including Midoriya.

“Midoriya’s highest score wasn’t in Villain Points, but Rescue Points! He even broke his arm and legs to save me! So I think we should give him a chance to prove that he’s here to be a hero!” Ochako continued.

‘....Ochako-chan…’ Midoriya thought, his heart making a leap.

“Well I for one am willing to trust Mysteriya!” Mina piped up, everyone staring at her.

.:...Mysteriya?:. Midoriya asked after a moment of confusion.

“Yeah. Midoriya plus Mysterio!” she explained with a smile. Midoriya fell silent, shocked that he had no less than three different classmates who supported him. And Bakugo.

“Now that that’s all settled, listen up you zygotes!” All Might shouted. “Where do the worst crimes take place??”

“Outside, right??” Kaminari asked.

“Sorry, but that’s wrong! Those are just the ones that make the news!” All Might explained. “No! The truly evil and devious do their crimes indoors! Arms deals! Illegal gambling! Smuggling! The truly devious do their horrible deeds out of public view, which is exactly what we’ll be doing today!”

All Might paused for a moment, pulling out some cards labeled Battle Trial.

‘Wait, is that a script?!’ the class collectively thought.

“The scenario is this: ‘Villains have holed up inside of a building with a nuclear weapon! The Hero team’s objective is to go inside and either take down the villains or grab ahold of the weapon within the time limit! The villain team wins by either capturing the opposing team or keeping the heroes away from the bomb for fifteen minutes!’” All Might read off.

“Sensei, how will matchups be determined?” Iida asked.

“Are we going to be expelled if we fail??” Ochako spoke up.

“Are there any other conditions we need to be concerned about?” Momo asked.

“How much can we hurt the other team?” Bakugo asked, to everyone’s worry.

“Do I not look magnifique?” Aoyama preened.

“I wasn’t done talking yet!” All Might interrupted, before taking out a few boxes with holes in the top. “The matchups will be determined by lottery! You’ll be split up into teams of two, with half as villains, the other as heroes.”

“Sir, is that really the best way to create our teams??” Iida asked, his hand raised.

.:No, it makes sense. Many heroes have to team up on the spot, and they can’t pick who they’re working with. This is probably meant to simulate that.:. Midoriya helpfully explained. Iida looked at him quietly, but didn't respond.

“Young Midoriya is correct!” All Might confirmed. “Oftentimes, a Pro Hero would be lucky to get even one person as backup!”

“I see. I apologize for the interruption, sensei.” Midoriya slumped at how cold Iida had become towards him.

“As for any other conditions: try to keep collateral damage to a minimum, and remember that this is a training exercise: if I feel that any of you are going too far, I will end the match there and both teams lose. In addition, UA has a 2 strikes rule. Any attack that could have severely injured or potentially killed a student is a strike. Do it again, and you’re expelled from the Hero Course.”

Everyone turned to Bakugo at that, who just scoffed and turned away. “I know my limits.”

“That being said, you should treat this as a real battle. We have the best healer in the country on standby, so don’t be too afraid to inflict injuries. Also try to embody the ideals of the team you’re on, which means that the villains should try to embody villainy! And no, you won’t be expelled if you fail, though each match-up will be recorded and sent to your homeroom teacher for evaluation, so no slackin’ off!”

Everyone gulped at the idea of Aizawa evaluating their performance and criticizing them.

“Everyone, step up and pull out a ball. Whatever letter you get determines your teammate.” And once they were picked out, All Might displayed the results on a screen.

HEROES:

Team A: Ochako Uraraka & Izuku Midoriya

Team H: Toru Hagakure & Minrou Mineta

Team F: Denki Kaminari & Kyoka Jiro

Team G: Fumikage Tokoyami & Hanta Sero

Team J: Tsuyu Asui & Shoto Todoroki

VILLAINS:

Team E: Katsuki Bakugo & Mina Ashido

Team I: Rikido Sato & Tenya Iida

Team B: Koji Koda & Momo Yaoyorozu

Team D: Mashirao Ojiro & Mezo Shoji

Team C: Yuga Aoyama & Ejiro Kirishima

With that done, All Might pulled out two different boxes, shook them up, and dug inside.

“And the first matchup is…” With a flourish, All Might pulled out the balls, raising them high for everyone to see. “Team A as the heroes vs Team E as the villains!” All Might proclaimed before realizing what exactly that meant, and judging by the eager grin on Bakugo’s face, he knew it too. ‘Oh crap… I’m so sorry, young Midoriya.’ Hiding his nervousness, All Might continued. “The villains will get ten minutes to make a plan of defense, while the heroes have five to study the building and come up with a plan of attack. After that, you have fifteen minutes before the bomb goes off. Good luck!”

‘You’ll need it, young Midoriya.’

The inside of the suit was amazing, if Midoriya did say so himself. The suit was designed to fit over his clothes quickly and easily. All over his suit were smoke dispensers, hidden within the armor. The gauntlets contained hidden stores of his holocubes that would drop one into his palm with a specific hand twitch, while on the back were panels that would open up to his computer gloves, giving him realtime information on his suit and drones.

And the helmet. While it looked to be simple glass, it was actually an incredibly strong polycarbonate-based material with circuitry built within it that allowed Midoriya to not only see the status of his suit and drones, but locate other people via sonar and heat signatures, or get a direct video feed from his drones. There was a program that allowed him to see where each drone was placed in an area, so he could direct them and the illusion as he saw fit. The helmet gave him readings of everything his drones could detect, from chemical storage levels to items of interest.

In addition, the whole suit was airtight so that he wouldn’t be affected by his own gasses, and best of all, there was a built-in temperature control so that Midoriya would be comfortable within it no matter what the weather was or how long he was inside.

It was a suit that would have impressed both Tony Stark and Quentin Beck.

…and yet all that was on Midoriya’s mind was ‘Bakugo is going to kill me.’

"You gave suggestions for our costumes, didn't you?" Ochako spoke up as they studied the building’s blueprints, waiting for the timer to go off to signal the Heroes Entrance.

Ochako's observation broke Midoriya out of his thoughts. .:Wha-what?!:.

"The way my costume supplier's email was written reminded me of your muttering." she explained. "And I remember you mentioned you knew the person running Wondrous Might & Heroism."

.:I'm... sorry?:. he said, unsure if she was upset or not.

"Don't be! I'm glad you helped our friends out!" she explained. "I'm just surprised that you didn't bring it up with the others when we were talking."

.:I can't:. he explained. .:I signed an NDA, so I can't say much more than "I intern for this company's CEO.":. Seeing as he owned the company, he could technically say what he wanted, but he wasn't going to admit that just yet.

"Oh...." she said, nodding in understanding, before she spoke up again. “So… I really need to ask. Why did you pick Mysterio?”

.:Well, it was either this or Loki, and there was no way I’d be caught dead wearing his horns.:. Midoriya joked. ‘Wait, since when do I make jokes?!’ Even more amazingly, Ochako laughed! ‘She’s so cute when she- NO! FOCUS!’

“I guess we should talk about our strategy…” Ochako muttered. “You know that my Quirk is removing gravity. I can lift up to three tons, but I get sick if I use it on myself. I know you have super strength and illusions… I think Ashido has acid… and Bakugo has his explosions… what do you think?”

.:Bakugo will come after me.:. Midoriya stated simply. .:No offense, but he won’t consider you a threat.:.

“Hmmph!” Ochako crossed her arms, annoyed, before a question came to her. “How do you know him so well?” An excited smile quickly formed on her face. “Ooooh… is this one of those ''fated rivalry'' things??”

.:Something like that, yes.:. The illusion tech user said. .:I know how to keep him occupied, so I can get him off your back while you deal with Mina… her acid may be an issue, since it'd be perfect for traps, but I can have my drones carry you over any puddles and trails.:.

“What, you don’t have any flight tech in that costume?” Ochako asked cheekily.

.:I do have the tech in my drones, but not in my suit. There was room for it, but not for a dedicated power source.:. Midoriya grumbled. .:The most I could do was an electromagnetic crash cushion.:.

“Oh. Sorry to hear that.” Ochako sympathized. “But what about Bakugo? What if he catches you or takes you out of the fight?”

.:He won’t.:. Midoriya stated simply.

“Why not?” Ochako asked. Before answering, Midoriya popped his helmet off, revealing his nervous, but smirking face.

“I have a trick planned.”

.:HERO TEAM, YOU ARE FREE TO ENTER!:.

Midoriya cleared his throat. “Code phrase: Genre Shift.”

Chapter Text

Normal talking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Thinking: 'Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!'

Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

All Might Speaking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

All Might Thinking: ‘Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!’

All Might Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

Sound Effects: *BLAM!*

AIs/Computers: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Speaking Another Language: {"Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"}

Noting the paper mache bomb in the center of the room, Mina tried to strike up a conversation with the Bomberanian. “So… my quirk lets me create acid of different intensities from my body, from super strong to almost non corrosive. I can spray it from almost anywhere, and-”

“Do you think Deku has a Quirk?” Bakugo interrupted, giving no indication he had even heard the girl. “Or was it an illusion?”

Mina blinked. All Might said that this was the time to be working on the strategy, not gossiping!

“Well, yeah! You saw the ball throw! I don’t think his drones were strong enough to launch it that far, so it can’t have been an illusion.” Mina said. “Why’s it matter? He got into the hero course, so he’s worthy of being here either way, right?”

Bakugo didn’t say anything, he just clenched his fist tighter.

‘What an edgelord.’ Mina quietly thought, before deciding to try and get him back on track. “So… you got a plan, cause strategy isn’t really my best-”

“Here’s the plan, Raccoon Eyes: You stay here and guard the bomb. I’ll go down and take out that gashapon-faced deku!” Bakugo stormed towards the stairs, ignoring his partner’s protests.

“Bakugo, wait, what about his partn-”

Bakugo was gone before she had finished talking. While Mina had been expecting their partner to be abrasive, she didn’t expect him to just ignore the partnership altogether! Sighing, Mina looked around the cluttered room. She might as well try to do SOMETHING to prepare.

“So who do you think is going to win?” Kaminari asked Jiro. Realizing the electric boy was talking to him, Jiro sighed resignedly.

“....I think Bakugo holds a clear advantage, but Mina’s acid is good for setting traps and being used offensively.” Jiro said after a moment of thought. “That being said, illusionists can be tricky to deal with, so assuming he’s smart about it, Midoriya could get to the right spot and use his quirk to take out Bakugo.”

“I don’t think Midoriya will have as big of an advantage as you think.”

Everyone turned towards the Yaoyorozu heiress.

“Why do you think that, kero?” Asui asked, tilting her head at the girl.

“The original Mysterio did pull off some amazing illusions, I’ll give him that. But that took weeks, sometimes months of preparation work.” Momo explained. “In addition, illusionists are usually defensive, non confrontational by virtue of how their powers, or technology in this case, are immaterial by nature. Their powers make them best suited for ambushes, setting traps, and hiding things which, if Midoriya was playing a villain, would be an advantage. But in this scenario, with Midoriya and Uraraka having to search for the bomb, Midoriya will be at a disadvantage since he didn’t appear to bring any robots or drones with him. Plus, Bakugo is likely to just ignore whatever illusions Midoriya can create and head straight for him. You all saw how he was during the Quirk Apprehension test, so I doubt he'd let something immaterial get in his way.”

The class nodded, following along with her reasoning.

“Also, and this is just from what I know of her, Ochako doesn’t seem to carry any weapons or other offensive items onhand.” Momo admitted. “And since her quirk requires touch while Bakugo and Ashido’s quirks have range, she wouldn’t have much of an advantage, even if she negated their gravity, since they could still hit her from a distance.”

“Now, now, do not underestimate your classmates, Yaoyorozu-san!” All Might spoke up. “Just because a quirk or support item doesn’t seem useful to you doesn't mean there isn’t a way for someone to use it to their advantage!”

“Of course, All Might-sensei!” Momo bowed her head in forgiveness, though All Might waved her off.

“Teams, your prep time is up! Let the match begin!” All Might cried into the mic. ‘And best of luck, young Midoriya. You may be my successor, but for this test I must remain impartial. Show them why you can redeem the legacy you’ve chosen to adopt, and how you’ll be an amazing hero!’

Bakugo ran down the halls, bearing a grin akin to a starving dog smelling a juicy steak. At long last, he was going to do it! He was going to find that shitty deku, plow through his useless illusions, and kick his ass so hard that he would have no choice but to leave! Yeah he may have had some kind of super strength quirk, but he knew it was fake or some kind of mutation! Most likely it was just another illusion he made! And if it wasn’t, he’d beat the truth out of him! But no matter what, he’d win!

'Hell yeah!' his younger self cheered, before quickly falling silent.

He turned the corner, and there he was! That gashapon headed deku with that rosy cheeked girl! He wasn’t concerned with her. He was certain that even that Invisible Girl could handle her.

“DEKU!” Bakugo leaped at the suit, grabbing hold of it by the chain joining the eye clasps. “Ha! You didn’t even make a stupid illusion!!”

.:Oh, the illusions are just starting, Kachaan.:. Bakugo was startled. Not because Deku’s voice came out of the suit through some kind of hidden speaker, that much he expected. It was because the boy’s voice no longer sounded scared or shy, but instead focused and confident. Before Bakugo could reply, a thick, vaguely familiar green fog started pouring from the suit, and the environment around him started to morph. The smoke seemed to reform the walls, the floor, the roof, that rosy cheeked girl, even the light itself! It took only a few seconds, but it looked as though everything around Bakugo had been altered. Instead of the plain, empty hallways of the test building he was in some kind of ancient stone temple. All around him primitive torches ignited from above, the sun shone through a distant hole in the roof, and the air became thick with humidity and an ancient, moist smell.

Crap, he could actually SMELL the temple?! What the actual shit?!

Bakugo was so shocked that he dropped Deku, who hit the ground and shattered into a swarm of green-furred, purple-winged bats that flew up at his rival. Bakugo instinctively threw up his arms, ready to blast the sky-rats away should they try to bite him! But he felt nothing. No pain, no fuzzy fur, not even their bodies when they flew into him.

Of course. Holograms. They were fake. Just like the temple around him. Angry he fell for something he knew had been coming, Bakugo turned around and shouted to the air.

“I know this isn’t real, deku!” Bakugo shouted out. “Stop hiding like a coward and face me!”

*click!*

A quiet click drew his attention to the stone tiles on the floor, and with a groan a massive boulder on a rope swung down from the ceiling towards Bakugo, who upon noticing it just scoffed. “Another illusion?! I want you to actually hit-”

Bakugo couldn’t finish his sentence because the moment the boulder made an impact, SOMETHING large, too large to be Midoriya’s fists, impacted him and sent him flying into the wall.

Bakugo hit the ground, rolling for a bit before standing. It wasn’t a boulder, he knew that from the lack of surface texture, but something had hit him! “Im… impossible!!”

.:Nothing is impossible at the hands of MYSTERIO!:. Deku called out, everywhere yet nowhere at once. As he spoke, music started playing, Master of Puppets by that ancient American band, if Bakugo remembered right. An ugly scowl broke out on his face at the implication.

‘Was that weak ass gashapan seriously calling him his puppet?!’

.:I don’t need to fake everything. With my skills and support gear, I can make the material unreal, and the dream a reality! But which is which? Unless you have a spider-sense, I very much doubt you’ll figure it out.:. That voice, lined with a snarl, drew Bakugo’s attention to a jaguar, green with purple markings and eyes the same silvery blue as that stupid dome. It ran towards Bakugo on all fours, but the boy stood his ground.

“That’s obviously another fake! There’s no way you’d attack me with an actual-” The rest of Bakugo’s words died out when the jaguar morphed into Midoriya, dressed as an Aztec warrior in the jaguar’s skin. Bakugo’s shock was replaced with fury and he immediately lunged forward, but the warrior grabbed his right arm and flipped him onto the ground! By the time Bakugo recovered, the fake? Midoriya had vanished into the green smoke that seemed to appear from nowhere.

.:You don’t know anything about me anymore, Kacchan, but I know everything about you, because I’ve spent years studying you!:. His voice called out from the ground beside Bakugo. A green and purple viper with Midoriya’s eyes lunged at Bakugo, but he rolled away and scrambled to his feet as the viper spoke, Midorya’s words on the reptile’s tongue. .:I cataloged it all in that notebook you destroyed, because in spite of everything you’ve done, I’ve always thought you were amazing! But now I can stand alongside you, and I CAN beat you!:.

With a snarl, Bakugo smashed the talking viper with his boot, the snake, of course, exploding into green smoke that dissipated. There was a crunching sound this time, but it did little to cool Bakugo’s rage. Turning away, Bakugo ran down the hallway, leaping over a pit with his explosions, choosing not to gamble on if it was real or not, all the while trying to find where that cowardly fake villain went! Because NO ONE humiliated the future number one hero, especially not a shitty, gashapon-faced little DEKU!

And would that FUCKING SONG JUST STOP ALREADY?!

The control room was stunned. Midoriya, with barely any time to prepare, that they could see, made an entire jungle temple appear indoors, complete with traps, animals, and costumes?!

“I… I thought you said he wasn’t able to do this!” Mineta yelped. “That he needed prep time or something!”

For her part, Momo looked just as confused. “I… I thought he couldn’t! The time needed to set up something that complex was far too long!! So how-”

“Holograms.”

Everyone turned to the speaker in surprise. After all, this was the first time Shoto Todoroki had spoken up since school began. With everyone’s attention on him, Todoroki continued to explain. “Midoriya must have brought some hidden drones with him, probably with preinstalled programs, and released them to create that illusion. Mysterio was well known for more than just special effects. He created incredibly realistic holograms that have been said to fool even those with enhanced senses such as the Wolverine or original Daredevil.”

Everyone stared at the boy in surprise at his knowledge of an American villain from the past, before turning back to the screen when Kirishima asked “Hey, what’s going on with Ashido?”

Mina was finished. She looked around the room tiredly, but proudly. Even though she had been unable to move some of the boxes and furniture out, she was positive that coating the stuff in acid would be enough of a deterrent to keep anyone from approaching the bomb, which had a thick layer of acid to protect it.

The acid wouldn’t cause any permanent damage, of course. Mina may have been a ditz on occasion, but she was well aware of how dangerous her Quirk could be, so she made sure to study everything she could about chemistry to get her control over the substance to be as perfect as she could.

Also, it sounded like Midoriya was having fun downstairs, if that music blaring was any indication. She didn’t recognize it, but it had a nice beat, even if it wasn’t something she could dance to. So now that the prep work was done, she felt she too could relax and have a bit of fun. After all, All Might-sensei told them to embody villainy, right?

“Mwahahaha!! Now let’s see those nasty little do-gooders try and obtain the bomb now! Once Sparky Sparky Boom Man returns with greenie’s head, WE WILL RULE THE WORLD!” she proclaimed in her best evil villain voice.

“Snnrt!”

Mina spun around. That was definitely a snort of laughter, coming from the window! “I know you’re there, hero! Show yourself or face the might of… the Alien Queen!”

After a few seconds, Ochako leaped in, weightless, diving straight for the bomb like an action hero! But Mina was closer and swifter. Skating on a trail of acid secreted from her feet, the horned girl snatched up the bomb and took it to the other side of the room. Setting it down, Mina turned to the space girl, smirking triumphantly.

Ochako glared at the pink girl, cheeks puffed out in anger. “Dang it…!” She settled down on the wall, but never took her eyes away from Mina, despite the angle.

“You’ll have to try better than that!” Mina taunted, keeping up her villainess act. After all, why does Midoriya get to be the only fake villain here?

Ochako reached for a chair weaponize, but stopped short when she realized what was coating it. “Acid?!”

“That’s right! This whole room is covered in painful acid! Your Quirk relies on touch, right? That’s why you were putting your hands on your clothes yesterday!” Mina explained proudly. “Face it hero, you’re in trouble!”

“Oooh, she’s in quite the bind now, isn’t she??” All Might asked the class as if he were a wrestling commentator. “How can she secure the bomb if she can’t even touch it??”

Before anyone could offer up a suggestion, a cry of pain drew everyone’s attention back to the screen where Bakugo was now… fighting a horde of clowns?

This is fucking ridiculous!!

One minute he was dodging poison darts in a hallway, the next he dived out of a jungle-themed funhouse and into some kind of carnival with killer clowns?! With toy laser pistols that actually hurt?! And Deku’s face?! And now it was night?! What the actual fuck?!

And that fucking song WAS STILL GOING!

.:Ten minutes left!:. All Might spoke in the earpiece. Bakugo was sorely tempted to smash the earpiece, but knew better and chose to focus his rage on that cheap evasive bastard.

“Be fucking consistent you little-AGH! FUCK!” Bakugo, in his anger, turned to punch a clown, only to impact the wall of the building he was still inside of. He held his aching hand, gritting his teeth. This wasn’t working! Deku wasn’t coming out, but he was somehow attacking him from within the illusions, but Bakugo couldn’t see him, especially with all that fog covering the ground- wait!

That’s it!

Bakugo turned to the carnival, and, glancing at his gauntlet’s storage levels, smiled viciously, which only widened when he noticed an unseen figure moving through said fog. “You think you can hide from me forever, you damn deku?! Well guess what, you can’t! Cause you may know how I fight and how my quirk works, but that’s only because I had a limited amount of sweat at any time!”

With a sneer, the explosive teen pulled back on the arm of his grenade gauntlet, a firing pin popping out. The figure moving in the smog stopped. “But what happens if I had a lot of it, huh?? Can your shitty notebooks tell you that?!”

Yes! The figure was frozen in fear. It didn’t matter if he could see Deku’s stupid face or not, the blast was sure to be large enough to hit him, or at least stun him!

.:Bakugo, stop! If you fire that directly at him you’ll kill him!:. All Might commanded. But Bakugo was too focused to care.

“He’ll be fine thanks to that costume’s armor!” Bakugo snarled, though at the last moment he did tilt his arm away from Deku almost impulsively.

*tink!*

The sound that followed the deceptively silent noise was massive. A huge *BOOM!* like a cannon shot out of the gauntlet, a fiery trail of destruction chasing after it and smashing through everything in its path without mercy. All the fog was pushed out the way, several invisible objects exploded into sparks, and the holograms flickered and fizzled before vanishing, the building now back to normal.

Upstairs, the two girls stumbled as the building shook. Ochako ran ahead to try and grab the bomb, but a handful of acid in her path blocked her in time for Mina to get back in between her and the bomb. Putting her hand to an ear to her ear, as if receiving instructions, Ochako decided now was the time to be aggressive and ran at Mina.

The students in the control room recovered quickly, but they were all shouting. Some in anger over Bakugo’s actions, a few defending it, while others focused on his target, currently obscured by the explosion’s black smoke.

“Sensei, you’ve got to stop the fight!” Momo protested. “Midoriya could be severely hurt!”

All Might grunted in agreement and reached for the microphone, but was swiftly interrupted when a voice spoke up.

.:It’s okay, All Might! I’m fine! I figured he’d use those gauntlets at some point, so I baited him into wasting his shot... though I admit the blast was larger than I expected.:.

All Might sagged in relief. Midoriya was alright. He didn’t even sound hurt, just out of breath.

“I’m glad to hear you’re unharmed, Young Midoriya, but I’m still stopping the test. Bakugo could have killed you!” All Might insisted. The other students, hearing Midoriya was alive, relaxed slightly.

.:But he didn’t! And villains never hold back, so why should he?? Sensei, please, let me finish this!:. Midoriya protested. .:I NEED to prove to everyone that I can do this, even if I don’t use my quirk!:.

All Might bit his lip. Deep down, he knew that as the class’ teacher, he needed to call off the test. Bakugo had used a move so dangerous it could have killed someone, and didn’t even care that the teacher said no. By all accounts, he should be kicked out, or suspended at the very least.

…but then All Might remembered earlier that day. How so many in the class gave him looks of distrust and suspicion. How some looked incredulous that he would even think of using a powerless villain’s identity, that he could use it to be a hero. Midoriya had spent his whole life being underestimated and ridiculed for one reason or another, and even after making it to the high school of his dreams, he still felt like he barely belonged.

He… he needed to win this. His way.

With a deep sigh, knowing Aizawa, Nezu, Baymaxima, and Recovery Girl were probably going to put him through the wringer for his next words, spoke into the microphone. “Very well, against my better judgment, I’ll allow this fight to continue. But if Bakugo uses that move again, I’m suspending the match and both sides will lose! Is that clear?!”

Midoriya gave his confirmation, while Bakugo just grunted in annoyance.

“Good. And you have five minutes remaining!” All Might finished.

“Hey, the smoke’s clearing up!” Toru said, pointing to the screen.

Bakugo huffed, smirking. That blast destroyed the stupid carnival illusion, silenced that fucking music, and took out a whole wall! He knew his gauntlets were kick ass, but he didn’t realize just how awesome the guys at Wondrous Might & Heroism had made them! He was momentarily worried that Deku couldn’t have dodged, but then he saw movement in the explosion’s smoke and knew he had survived. The shitty pebble never knew when to lie down and give up.

Bakugo reset the triggering mechanism and walked closer. With the smoke clearing, he saw that he had been half right. Deku was indeed alright, but it looked like he wasn’t able to get completely out of the way. Instead he was half buried under some rubble from the wall, his legs and right arm pinned. Annoyingly, that stupid bubble helmet didn’t even have a scratch on it, though the green suit had torn open to reveal some kind of rough gray armor underneath the scale-like material.

.:You’re re-really lu-lucky that di-didn’t hurt me!:. Midoriya stuttered out, his suit’s radio crackling with static. Good. That meant he was shaken, so he just needed to finish the fight, then he’d finally accept how utterly worthless he was. He tried to dig himself free with his left arm, probably to escape to the nearby stairwell, but Bakugo pinned the limb down with his boot.

“Feh… I knew you wouldn’t have died… you’re too stubborn.” Bakugo leaned down, glaring into his reflection in the stupid fishbowl. “But now you’re outta tricks, and I’ve got another to take down.” He raised his gauntlet to the helmet, small explosions crackling from his excitement.

.:Bakugo..! If you fire that large blast again..!:. All Might warned him from the control room, as if he hadn’t heard the Number One hero the first time. Bakugo gritted his teeth. Hearing the disapproval in All Might’s tone pissed him off, but looking back, he did realize that perhaps firing such a massive attack in a small area had been overkill for the training exercise.

'We could have killed him if we had directly hit him!' the younger voice said, only to shut up again.

“Calm down, teach, I’m not gonna use the Full Tank Blast at this range! I’m not an idiot!” Bakugo… “assured” All Might, for lack of a better word, before turning back to his former friend. “I want you to see us as we should be. Me standing tall, and you shaking beneath my boots!”

.:You’re wr-wr-wrong…:. Midoriya stuttered out, still struggling to free the arm pinned by the rubble.

“What’d you say, you damn nerd?!” Bakugo snarled, grabbing the suit by the tacky cape clasps, determined not to let him slip out again no matter what shitty trick he pulled this time. “I’m greater than you! I beat you! Your best magic tricks weren’t enough to stop me, and you’ve got nothing left!”

.:Well... I d-d-d-do have one la-last..:. Midoriya stuttered out coyly, before the suit depressurized, the costume fell limp in Bakugo’s grip, and the helmet went clear to show that the suit was empty, and the nerd was gone! But still, Midoriya’s voice came from the suit, transmitted over the damaged radio! .:T-t-trick.:.

Bakugo jumped back, but before he could turn around a muffled gunshot was heard, and he was suddenly pinned to the wall! He struggled and his hands popped with explosions, but he was unable to free himself from the… web?!

“What the shit?!” Bakugo shouted, struggling.

“Oh, that’s my “Web Net” gun, modeled after the original design Mysterio used when he was starting out.”

Bakugo stopped struggling, eyes widening in disbelief as the air shimmered, and Midoriya was revealed. Only he wasn’t wearing that gaudy green outfit with the cape! No, what he was wearing was a dark green jumpsuit, tightly hugging his frame, covered in dark gray eyes, a black belt and gun holster secured to his waist with that eye design Mysterio was so fond of adorning the buckle. That same eye was found on Midoriya’s new collar, from which a hologram of Bakugo’s own face glared at him intently before shutting off to reveal the real Midoriya, wearing a stylized visor, as well as a headset with a microphone, his face matching the hologram’s expression. On the back of his wrists, attached to the sleeves, were two touch screens showing the suit’s data and camera feeds from his drones, such as the four small ones, shaped like the domed suit's eye clasps, hovering above him.

Midoriya lowered his arm, tightly clenching what resembled a dark green flare gun, with the same Mysterio eyes inlaid on the barrel in red, before replacing it in the holster. “I told you, Bakugo… I’m not trailing behind you any more… Now I’m on equal footing! Now I can beat you!” Midoriya quickly retrieved the original suit and, without another look back, ran upstairs, leaving his classmate stuck to the wall, screaming in rage.

“THIS DOESN’T COUNT YOU DAMN NERD! YOU DIDN’T EVEN USE YOUR WORTHLESS FUCKING POWER!” Bakugo yelled at him, struggling to free himself from the webs pinning him to the wall.

Those words made Deku pause for a moment… but he didn’t look back, even when he responded.

“....I know.”

With that he left, Bakugo seething in silence.

Reaching up to his headset, Midoriya gave his partner a message, trying his hardest to keep his words level. “Ochako, it’s time. End this.”

Inside the control room, everyone was going nuts at the reveal.

“He has a second costume?!”

“Mon dieu, how devious!”

“Sensei, is that even allowed?!”

All Might kept his laugh to himself. While he didn’t doubt his successor’s capabilities, he was worried about how the suit would fare against Bakugo, especially since Midoriya still needed to get a grip on One for All. But it looked as though Midoriya had everything well in hand.

“Why wouldn’t it be allowed? Plenty of heroes have secondary costumes for different purposes!” All Might explained. “I myself have a Rescue costume designed by David Shield, from back when I studied abroad in America!”

“That’s right! The trend was made popular by Tony Stark, the Pre-quirk hero Iron Man!” Iida proclaimed with a repeated chop punctuating his words.

All Might smirked, then returned to his microphone. “Two minutes, teams!”

Back with Mina and Ochako, the former continued skating around, moving the bomb while dodging Ochako’s attacks. She had eventually gotten frustrated enough to grab ahold of one of the larger boxes despite the acid and throw it like a baseball, but Mina swiftly dodged it, sticking her tongue out at the other space-themed girl.

“Might as well give up, hero! You can’t reach this bomb in time!” Mina taunted. She hoped Ochako would buy her words, since her palms were starting to burn.

.:One minute remaining!:. All Might warned.

“Heroes never give up!” Ochako put a finger to her earpiece, smirking. “And who said I was trying to catch you?” Ochako asked with a smirk.

Before Mina could express her confusion, Ochako reached over and grabbed one of the larger crates in the room, ignoring the acid despite seeing and hearing it sizzle, and, activating her Quirk to render it weightless, threw it at the other girl. Mina panicked, but she had run herself into the corner so she couldn’t dodge! Acting quickly, Mina painfully summoned and threw a handful of acid at the crate, hoping to at least weaken it… but the globs went right through, the crate and the smirking Ochako fading into pixels!

Realizing it was a distraction, Mina tried to find where Ochako was, but it was too late.

.:THE ENEMY WEAPON HAS BEEN CAPTURED! THE HEROES WIN!:. All Might announced over the building loudspeakers.

Mina was understandably confused. “What?! But Ochako is-”

She looked at the bomb behind her… and the now visible Ochako hugging the top of the bomb, hovering in the air, secured by a massive drone secured to her like a jetpack by some metal tentacles with claws. Surrounding her were several smaller drones, no thicker than a few yen coins stacked adopt each other, no wider than the top of a soda can, and all of them adorned with Mysterio's Eye.

“And… release!” Ochako muttered, deactivating the quirk on herself, the drone lowering her to the ground… where she promptly vomited rainbows.

“Oh, lemme help ya!” Mina ran over and held back Ochako’s hair, patting her classmate comfortingly. “You were amazing!”

“Never had… to use that quirk so long on myself…!” Ochako whimpered out. Mina patted her back comfortingly.

.:Would young Midoriya please free Bakugo from his net? And will both teams please report to the control room for the post-match analysis?:.

The girls left the room, the drones following them. On the way out they saw Bakugo storm off, covered in something thick, sticky and white resembling dried silly string. Mina would have made a joke about that, but she valued her life, thank you very much.

“You did great, Uraraka!”

The girls glanced up to see Midoriya, his original suit under one arm and his helmet in the other as he came over. Flanking him was a swarm of mini drones, identical to the ones that accompanied Ochako. A couple were carrying broken mini drones and dice-like plastic cubes, gripping them with claw-like legs made of thin metal. Bringing up the rear was a drone that looked identical to the one Ochako had following her.

“What the heck are you wearing, Mysteriya??” Mina asked, enjoying how Ochako was trying not to blush at the form fitting outfit their classmate wore.

“I’ll tell you with the rest of the class.” Midoriya said, unfolding his original suit and pulling aside the cape to reveal a hidden metal and plastic backpack with charging ports and holders sculpted upon it. “Code phrase: And that’s a wrap, people!”

The drones immediately convened on the back of the suit, pouring into their designated spots with robotic efficiency. The only exceptions were the broken drones, which Midoriya deposited into the pack itself along with some broken holocubes. A glance inside let Mina see that it mainly held medical supplies, a diver’s tank of oxygen, and chemical containers hooked up to thick plastic tubes that fed into the suit.

“You’re ready for anything, huh?” she mused to the boy, who just shrugged.

“Prep work is a vital part of my persona.” he said simply. And with that they went to the control room, where the team, or rather Midoriya, was immediately bombarded with questions, mainly about just how he did everything. Seeing All Might gave him permission to explain, likely because he was curious himself, Midoriya cleared his throat.

‘Well, Uraraka and I knew that Bakugo was most likely going to come after me, so I had to keep him distracted.” Midoriya began. “I had my minidrones spread throughout the building, spreading a few holocubes around to create the environment I needed, which, combined with my suggestibility gas-" ("That Recovery Girl and Baymaxima examined and approved of beforehand." All Might interrupted before anyone could speak up.) "-Made the environment ultra realistic." Midoriya continued. "The minidrones then followed Bakugo around, playing loud music, and releasing the appropriate smells and noises to distract and disorient him. Meanwhile, I sneaked around him, commanding my cloaked combat drone to provide the physical element of the illusions, like the air pulse cannon to simulate the boulder on a rope, or using the mini drones to shoot air that simulated darts. Of course, when Bakugo blasted my suit, I knew it was time to stop messing with him, so I took him out.”

In the corner Bakugo, finally clean of any remaining webstrands thanks to Kirishima’s help, scowled.

“At the same time, Uraraka used my second, cloaked combat drone to carry her to the top floor so she could sneak in and steal the weapon. But since she got caught, I needed a few minutes to come up with a new plan, so I had her stall until we came up with driving her to a corner.” Midoriya finished, before stuttering and proclaiming “O-of course, I’m not saying you were at fault for anything Ochako!! It was an honest mistake that anyone could have made!”

Ochako tilted her head in surprise. It seemed that all the confidence in him had been left behind when the trial ended. Strange.

“But you didn’t face him in a real fight at all!” Kirishima complained. “Not a very manly method!”

“If “being manly” means getting a face full of explosions or breaking my limbs to win a class competition, then I’m perfectly happy to disappoint you.” Midoriya countered, a slightly angry edge to his words that everyone was taken aback by, Midoriya himself included.

“S.. sorry bro, didn’t mean to upset you.” Kirishima apologized, clearly feeling guilty over criticizing a teammate’s preferred methods and Quirk.

“No, I get it…” Midoriya said, forcing a smile on his face. “I just wanted to win on my terms.”

“Wait, you were playing music?” Jiro asked, partially to disspell the tension in the air. “May I ask what?”

“Master of Puppets by Metallica.” Midoriya explained, latching onto the subject change. “My… trainer was into retro American, and I needed something that would keep Bakugo angry and focused on me, and it seemed like my best bet to provoke him.”

Jiro nodded. “Good pick… we should trade music sometime.”

“Count me in!” Kaminari cheered.

Midoriya immediately started stuttering in shock while Ochako felt… annoyed? That’s weird, why did she-

“So what exactly do you have on right now, since you did not seem to be wearing it earlier today!” Iida exclaimed, determined to get the conversation back on track.

“A-actually, I WAS wearing this outfit, just underneath my Blockbuster suit.” Midoriya quickly explained. Seeing their confused looks, he explained. “My dome-headed suit is called the Blockbuster because it’s big, has a noticeable design, and has the majority of my flashier tech in it. It’s meant to grab your attention, like a summer blockbuster, and it has internal motors so it can move around on its own.”

“But this suit, that I’m wearing right now, is in many ways, my real hero costume.” Midoriya continued. “It’s called “the Sleeper Hit!” I designed it so that I could give myself some prep time while my Blockbuster suit had everyone’s attention, or disguise myself if I had to do some Underground Hero work.”

“Wait, how does this suit disguise you? It’s still pretty eye-catching.” Mina asked. Instead of answering, Midoriya just typed a few commands into his right glove, and in a flash of light another Mina appeared before her, striking a pose with a peace sign.

“Check it out, I can become anyone I want!” “Mina” said in a perfect copy of the original’s voice. The other students gaped at the disguise, virtually indistinguishable from the real article, whose eyes were wide in amazement.

“We’re like twins!” She reached over to feel her doppelganger’s horns, but found her fingers passed through it, a few pixels briefly displaced around where she tried to touch them.

“It’s still just an illusion… I can’t imitate quirks or extra body parts without some other items that I need to craft beforehand.” “Mina” explained as the disguise was shut off. “Also, I have to know how someone looks, acts, and sounds before I can do a proper imitation.”

“That’s a shame, if you could solve that problem you could totally fulfill any guy’s fantas-'' Mineta began before Jiro’s earjack jabbed him in the neck. “OW!”

“Finish that sentence and it’s your eye next.” she calmly threatened.

“Settle down, settle down!” All Might commanded, continuing to speak over the class’ groans and complaints. “We need to get to the analysis of the fight! Who can tell me who the MVP of this match was?”

“It was Ashido-chan, All Might Sensei.” Momo explained to everyone’s surprise.

“What?? But the Heroes won!” Sero protested.

“Indeed they did! And yet Yaoyorozu is correct! Can you explain why?” All Might asked the would-be heroine.

“Well, Bakugo didn’t even attempt to make a strategy with his partner, choosing instead to focus on a personal grudge against Midoriya, even using a dangerous move despite your instruction.” Momo began. Bakugo said nothing, but instead of glaring or snapping at her, he just looked down in frustration. “Midoriya made a good plan to occupy Bakugo, and proved the versatility of his equipment.” Midoriya smiled at this.

“But, as he admitted, he didn’t take this seriously, choosing instead to string Bakugo along with weak attacks until he used his gauntlet’s hidden triggers. Had this been a real fight, he could have gotten bystanders in danger, or worse yet set off the nuclear device. Also, he refused to use his quirk to take down Bakugo, though I understand that he didn’t want to break his arm or fingers again.” Momo elaborated, making Izuku’s smile fade.

“I… didn’t consider that…” Midoriya mumbled in shame. Ochako patted his arm comfortingly, but she definitely did not blush when she felt his muscles. Nope.

“Uraraka came close to being the MVP, since she caught the weapon and didn’t let the acid slow her down, but her giggling kept her from sneaking up on Ashido.” Momo continued. “Ashido, however, used her quirk to her advantage, rendering the environment hazardous. Had this not been training, she could have made the acid very dangerous. The only criticism I have is that she was also not taking this seriously, though unlike Midoriya, she didn’t let this keep her from the objective.”

“That is correct!” All Might said. ‘Crap, she mentioned nearly everything!’ He cleared his throat and turned to address the four students. “You all did well for your first time, but remember that you must be careful when you give it your all to defeat villainy! Even the smallest actions can have large consequences.”

“Yes, All Might-sensei!” the four bowed.

“Now, onto the next matchup!”

Chapter Text

Normal talking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Thinking: 'Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!'

Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

All Might Speaking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

All Might Thinking: ‘Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!’

All Might Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

Sound Effects: *BLAM!*

AIs/Computers: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Speaking Another Language: {"Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"}

Now that the class had gotten enough answers from Midoriya regarding his suit, the sixteen students not taking the test sat down in their seats. Midoriya made sure that his suit’s cameras were active and recording the fights so that he could take notes not only on his classmates abilities, but also see how their costumes and support items worked in the field. After all, he wanted to make sure that the next items his classmates requested would be up to par.

Fumikage Tokoyami & Hanta Sero vs Koji Koda & Momo Yaoyorozu

The fight started off in favor of the villain team. In the time to prepare, Koda had summoned an army of pigeons and rats to carry several flashbombs Momo created, rightly believing that such intense light would weaken the sentient Quirk.

However, the Hero Team did fairly well all things considered. Hanta managed to slow down the swarm by using his tape in a way similar to flypaper to trap the animals long enough for him to pull Tokoyami along. Unfortunately, the two were eventually overwhelmed by the sheer numbers, especially when Momo started coating the animals in animal-friendly soap to counter the tape, allowing the villains to claim victory by capture.

Tsuyu Asui & Shoto Todoroki vs Rikido Sato & Tenya Iida

To call this matchup a fight would have been generous. The minute the test began, Todoroki froze the entire building over, and walked inside past the shivering forms of Sato & Iida. Tenya had managed to free himself by using the heat of his engines, but by that time, Todoroki had claimed the weapon. Asui was incapacitated by the cold, so she stayed outside, although Todoroki didn’t seem to care beyond a warning he gave prior to his attack.

The whole thing took only four minutes, not that Todoroki appeared happy about it.

Toru Hagakure & Minrou Mineta vs Yuga Aoyama & Ejiro Kirishima

Once the clock began, Ejiro ran off, eager to confront the two in a head on match. Unfortunately, a hit and run tactic led to his defeat when Toru tricked him into running into a stairwell filled with several of Mineta’s purple balls, trapping him long enough to get capture tape wrapped around him.

Aoyami fared a bit better, though initially he was caught off guard by Mineta scaling the outside walls with his balls and coming in through a back window. Regardless, Aoyama defended the weapon admirably. Mineta dodged the beams by tossing several of his orbs around and bouncing off of them like a pinball, though he was eventually hit by the laser, it did give Toru enough time to grab the weapon.

Needless to say, everyone was surprised at Mineta having been the one to suggest the strategy.

Denki Kaminari & Kyoka Jiro vs Mashirao Ojiro & Mezo Shoji

Ojiro, aided by Mezo, set up several barricades of furniture and crates to try and hold back the opposing team. Mezo returned to the room with the bomb, his arms transformed into various eyes and ears, using his radio to guide Mashirao.

Upon entering, Jiro directed Kaminari, who ran ahead to attack Ojiro. Ojiro did his best to keep his distance and slow down Kaminari, but the latter surprised him with a pair of barbed darts on wires that shot out of his sleeves and latched onto his uniform, zapping him like a stun gun.

With Ojiro down for the count, Kaminari joined back up with Jiro, who was having trouble with Shoji. The many-armed student had ambushed Jiro from behind a door. Jiro in turn had been so focused on weaponizing her earjacks that she neglected her hand to hand, and as a result was suffering for it. The gauntlets she wore threw off the balance of her arms and made the larger teen able to pin her down. It took a minute, but Jiro was able to knock him away with a blast from her gauntlets, and reached the bomb in time while the newly arrived Kaminari used his electricity to keep Shoji back.

Midoriya sat with his classmates, observing each battle and dutifully taking notes in a notebook that everyone else is sure he pulled out of thin air. Bakugo sat in the corner, silently watching the matchups with a scowl. The most reaction anyone saw out of him was a jaw drop from Todoroki’s match, but otherwise he was silently stewing in his anger.

Thankfully, no one required immediate medical attention, save Asui, but a heated blanket and hot water bottle created by Momo helped the poor frog stay conscious enough to observe the rest of the matches.

“Good work everyone!! No major injuries have been made, and you all took this test seriously! Regardless if you won your match or not, you all did very well for your first training session!” All Might proclaimed.

“Kero, to have such a proper class after Aizawa-sensei’s class… it’s kind of anticlimactic” Asui muttered.

“We’re free to have proper classes as well!” All Might assured them. “You should all get changed back into your uniforms and head back to your classroom. NOW WATCH HOW A PRO HERO EXITS!” Without another word, the Number 1 pro hero took off, running off down the hallways.

‘Maybe I should look into giving him a holographic disguise belt or something.’ Midoriya thought to himself quietly as the rest of the student body stared at their retreating teacher in awe.

“You were amazing in battle, Kaminari!” Midoriya complimented. He, like the rest of the boys of class 1-A, were changing out of their hero costumes and back into their school uniforms.

Kaminari smiled bashfully as he returned his hero costume back to its storage case. “Thanks, but really it’s due to my costume. If I tried attacking without that built in power… dispersal… thing, I’d have shorted out my brain.”

“Is your brain shorting out dangerous for you?” Shoji asked the electric boy, using a mouth that appeared on one of his arms, which he seemed to prefer over speaking normally.

“Nah, but I act stupid for a few minutes while my brain reboots,” he admitted.

“In the middle of battle? That could cause trouble.” Ojiro said thoughtfully.

“I know, that’s why I was glad that the guy who responded to my email suggested the support items.” Kaminari said.

Midoriya stayed silent. He had, like Ochako questioned, worked on designing many of his classmate’s costumes and support items. He thought of admitting it to them, but a glare from Iida at his Blockbuster suit kept him silent. After all, Midoriya didn’t know how they would feel knowing that their support items had technology derived from several villains of the past, including the Sinister Six.

“Hey Guys! I found something amazing!”

Mineta’s excited shout drew everyone’s attention to the wall, where the shortest classmate had pulled back a poster. “Some heroic upperclassman drilled a peephole into the girl’s locker room!”

“Mineta, I demand that you put that poster back!” Iida immediately shouted. “We need to alert a teacher at once!”

“Oh come on, one little peek wouldn’t hurt!” Mineta protested.

“Mineta…” Midoriya’s voice held an edge to it. “Don’t do it or you’ll regret it. Remember what Aizawa-sensei warned you...”

“Well as long as no one tells Aizawa-sensei, then it should be-” Mineta’s protest was cut off by him looking through the peephole, only to scream when a stringy haired ghost girl jumped through with an inhuman screech mixed with television static.

*SKREEEEEEEEEEEE!!!*

“WAGH!” Everyone jumped back in fright.

Well, everyone but Todoroki and Midoriya, the latter of whom just sighed. “I told you you’d regret it.”

“What was that?!” Mineta cried out, shivering at the still ghost. A moment later, the ghost, or rather, the hologram, vanished.

“Sadako from the Ringu films.” Midoriya clarified, going to the peephole and digging out a very small holocube with a long, thin tool from his belt. “I found the hole while changing, but didn’t have the means to properly fill it in, so I left one of my holocubes there as a plug.”

“You jerk!” Mineta shouted as he got up. “Why’d you pull a nasty trick like that?!”

“Are you seriously pulling the victim card after you tried to peek at the girl’s locker room?” Midoriya countered. “The girls deserve to feel safe.”

“He’s got a point, dude…” Kaminari said, the first of the other boys to recover from the fright.

“You wanted to look at the girls too!” Mineta shot back.

“Yeah, but I wasn't going to be a sicko about it!” Kaminari defended.

“...sicko?” Mineta asked. Midoriya was about to shout at him when he realized Mineta wasn’t kidding or being sarcastic.

“...do you seriously not realize that what you did was crossing a line?” Midoriya asked.

“It’s not like I was groping them, I was just looking!” Mineta defended himself.

“That’s not the point!” Midoriya snapped. “The girls have a right to privacy, and you’re violating that privacy!”

“No one’s getting hurt!” Mineta protested. “Besides, you see how they all dress, in skintight outfits that show off their luscious curves, if they didn’t want to be stared at, why would they-” Mineta began before Midoriya cut him off.

“Do you actually want to save lives, or are you just here to stare at women like a creep?!” Midoriya stormed out, angry, while Mineta himself was silent.

“...are you sure Mido-bro wants to be a villain?” Kirishima asked Iida, who had also fallen silent.

From the other side of the wall, Jirio removed her earjack from the locker room wall. She had already discovered the peephole and alerted the other girls, while deciding to set up an ambush for any boy, *coughMinetacough*, stupid enough to try and use it. While she was ready to jab her earjacks through, she was surprised to hear that one of her classmates already took care of it and chewed the purple haired boy out for his gross behavior.

“...I think it’s safe now.” Jiro told the other girls. “Midoriya took care of it with a hologram thing.”

“Oh, phew…” Toru sighed. “That was too close.”

“Why do you care, kero? You’re invisible.” Asui questioned, her tone as blunt as ever.

“That’s not the point!” Toru cried out indignantly.

“You’re right, sorry.” Asui amended. “You should feel safe too, kero.”

The girls resumed packing up their costumes, making idle conversation about the fights when Mina spoke up. “...hey, why do you guys think Midoriya picked Mysterio for his identity?” Everyone turned to Uraraka who, put on the spot, struggled to come up with a decent answer.

“He didn’t tell me the reason for picking Mysterio specifically.” she muttered. “But… he said he thought he was Quirkless for most of his life, and Mysterio was from the Pre-Quirk Age of Heroes, right?”

“Kero, you think he might have felt a kinship with him, since both didn’t have powers?” Asui asked.

“I don’t know…” Uraraka admitted. “But I do think Deku’s here to be a hero, no matter what identity he takes up.”

“But then, why not someone like Iron Man?” Momo questioned. “He didn’t have a Quirk or Mutation.”

“I thought he did have one? Extremis, right?” Mina questioned.

“No, Extremis was an attempt at recreating the Captain America formula.” Jirio explained. “Tony Stark took it to save his life and got the ability to psychically communicate with electronics. At least, for a short while.”

“The Pre-Quirk era’s so confusing…” Toru muttered, the other girls voicing their agreement.

“I hope you realize just how fortunate you are, Bakugo.”

Bakugo didn’t look up at his teacher, instead just quietly glaring at his desk while his homeroom teacher continued.

“If your attack had directly hit Midoriya, that would be grounds for suspension at best, and jailtime at worst.” Aizawa said. “As it is, you’ve got one strike on your record. Do something like this again, and you’ll be expelled on the spot. Are we clear?”

“....yes, sensei.” Bakugo muttered.

“Good… the rest of you did decently in your battles, but decent isn’t enough.” Aizawa said to the students, who sat up in attention. “By tomorrow morning, I’ll have written up a comprehensive report of your battles, areas you need to work on, and suggestions for improvement.”

Midoriya relaxed in his seat. He had been concerned that Aizawa would call him out for not using his Quirk in the Battle, but it seemed that he understood Midoriya’s desire to not shatter his bones again.

The rest of the classes went by silently, though Midoriya noticed some of his classmates, mainly Mineta and Iida, were more reluctant to speak with him. Even those that did talk to him still gave him looks. Not ones of suspicion, thankfully, but questioning. In some ways it was worse than outright fear. At least with fear, Midoriya knew how to present himself as a hero to assure them. But with questioning, Midoriya didn’t know how to act so they knew he was sincere.

This continued for the rest of the day, up until it was time to leave. Midoriya headed for the front gate, where Mei was waiting for him.

“Deku.”

Midoriya looked up as Bakugo approached him.

“Ka-kachaan!!” he yelped. “Is everything alright?? You’re not experiencing any side effects from the gasses I used, are you, because I’ve only tested it on-”

“Why didn’t you use your Quirk in the fight?” the boy asked him, ignoring his questions.

“I… I already said why… I didn’t want to break my bones again.” Midoriya said, confused.

“I used a massive attack on you, and all you did was spray that crap on me! You didn’t even use the capture tape!” Bakugo interrupted. “Do you not think I’m worth going all out on?!”

“Of course you are!” Midoriya shot back. “But I wanted to win on my terms! Strength I can’t use is a liability, like Aizawa-sensei said, so I used my brain! And it was just a test, it didn’t need-”

“Just a test?! It was a fight against me!” Bakugo shouted.

“Not everything is about you!” Midoriya shouted back before he could stop himself.

Bakugo stared at him, his expression unreadable. Before Midoriya could say any sort of apology or explanation, Bakugo changed the subject. “How did you get powers? A super soldier serum? A deal with some villain? Exposure to radiation?”

Despite the tense tone, Midoriya didn’t detect any of Bakugo’s usual explosive temper. Weirdly enough that just made him more concerned that the explosive teen was going to go off in anger.

“I… I can’t tell you, Bakugo. But this power I was given is a Quirk.” Midoriya said. “Aizawa couldn’t have blocked my power during the Quirk apprehension test otherwise.”

Bakugo was silent, quietly considering the words in his head. “....get that power under control, Deku. Because the next time we fight, I wanna beat you at your strongest. No bullshit illusions or robots, got it?”

Midoriya gulped but nodded, watching the boy exit the school in silence. Catching up to Mei, he smiled and greeted her. “Hey Mei. How was class?”

“It was amazing! We made so many babies!!” she proclaimed, as usual not caring about how she sounded.

“Ba-babies?!”

Midoriya looked over, seeing the incredulous look on Ochako’s face, while next to her, Mina just smiled deviously as if she heard some juicy gossip. Midoriya, for his part, just sighed.

“Mei, phrasing. Remember that discussion you and Tsuburaya had?”

“Oooooh, right, right.” Mei said before turning and bowing in apology. “Sorry for offending you, I call my inventions babies, since they were made from my efforts and are all but my children!”

“Oh… I get it.” Ochako said, her frustration slowly fading away.

“Aw, so you two aren’t dating?” Mina pouted. Midoriya was about to explain when Mei began roaring in laughter, even grabbing her stomach from the effort.

“Me?? Date ‘Dorya? No thanks! He’s got a great mind, but I don’t think I could ever bring myself to be attracted to him.” Mei explained bluntly.

“I feel so wanted…” Midoriya muttered dryly.

Ochako giggled, feeling relief from Mei’s explanation. “So if you two aren’t dating, how do you know each other?”

“Mei helped me develop my suit!” Midoriya explained as the girls joined the two inventors in walking toward the bus stop.

“Oh, really??” Mina was surprised at how casually Midoriya admitted this. “And you don’t mind working on.. Well…”

“A persona with a history behind it?” Midoriya suggested.

“Well, yeah…” Mina said. “A lot of people might see it as untrustworthy.”

“So?? It just means more attention for us and our babies!” Mei reaffirmed. Midoriya smiled, glad that his friend was still behind him on his endeavors.

“Your babies?” Mina asked. “How many have you two made?”

"Together? Almost a hundred different projects." Mei stated proudly.

“Oh, is this all stuff you made for Wondrous Might & Heroism ?” Ochako blurted out before she could stop herself.

“Wondrous… wait, you made our class’ costumes??” Mina asked, surprised.

“No, but I did give some input on the designs of about nine of them.” Midoriya half admitted. It was technically true. He had not worked on the costumes themselves, that having been Tsuburaya. 

“So THAT’S why that email’s writing felt familiar!” Mina said with a smile. “Thank you for helping with our costumes!”

“Oh, no problem…” Midoriya said, a small smile forming on his face at the gratitude the pinkette showed him. “I… I hope your support in my choice of persona didn’t make you… unpopular or disliked.”

“Hey, it’s fine!” Mina brushed off. “I’m a girl with nonhuman features who sprays dangerous substances from my body! If I can’t handle a few stares or dirty looks, then I wouldn’t have picked being a hero as my choice of career!” After a moment, the pinkette’s expression became thoughtful. “Although, now that you mention it… I do wanna know why you picked Mysterio.”

Midoriya stopped, thinking quietly about how to best put it without revealing everything. “....I… originally stumbled into the Mysterio identity, you could say.” Seeing he had the attention of Mina and Ochako, Midoriya continued. “It’s a story I’m not exactly fine with sharing just yet, but… I think my choice in being Mysterio was solidified when a classmate of mine had to leave my middle school over a rumor about having a villain for an uncle.”

“Oh, that’s awful!” Ochako cried out. Mina remained silent, but her expression was enough to show that she agreed with the rosy cheeked hero student.

“Yeah… it got really bad for him.. I don’t know what happened to him after he left, but that event... it’s always stuck with me.” Midoriya admitted. Mei looked over, now more interested. Even she had not been made privy to that fact. “I mean… my Quirk came in late, so I know what it’s like to have people see you as lesser… but even I didn’t have it that bad… all over a rumor that I don't even know if it was true.”

“So… I decided that if I could take Mysterio’s name and persona, redeem it… maybe I could show people that being connected to a villain doesn’t define who or what you are.” Midoriya finished, rubbing the back of his neck in embarassment. “...I probably sound really cheesy, like those old Captain America films, huh?”

“I think it’s admirable!” Ochako protested.

“It’s a little cheesy… but then so is All Might.” Mina reminded them with a shrug.

“Yeah… oh, that’s our train!” Mei pointed to the approaching train.

Midoriya yelped and sped ahead. “See you guys next week!”

“Bye, Deku!”

Mina watched her classmate enter the train, then turned towards Ochako, a smirk on her face. “So… deku, huh? Already laying a claim on him, huh?”

For a few seconds Ochako stared at Mina, not understanding what the pink girl had said. The moment she did, however, Ochako immediately blushed and covered her face, hovering for a moment. “It’s not like that!”

“Sure it isn’t…” Mina said with a coy smile while Ochako shut off her Quirk and landed with a quiet grunt. She knew the sight of a crush when she saw one, and Ochako was definitely crushing, even if she didn’t know it yet. To be fair, she could see why someone would go for Midoriya. He was like a scared little puppy that somehow could also kick your ass if you weren’t careful. She herself wasn’t interested in a relationship with the green haired boy, but she was more than happy to play matchmaker.

“I gotta go, see ya!” Ochako said in a single breath, running away to a different train. Mina just watched the girl leave.

Oh yeah, she was definitely going to enjoy this.

“Hey Tsuburaya, we’re back!” Midoriya called out as he and Mei entered the workshop, carrying their inventions in their backpacks.

An electric orb of blue energy appeared for a moment, dissipating to reveal Tsuburaya, who stood up and adjusted his suit. “I saw you had fight training today. How did the Blockbuster hold up in combat?”

Midoriya, carrying his broken drones and holocubes in a sandwich bag, looked over. “Well, the helmet withstood a direct blast from Bakugo’s gauntlets at full tank, so that new helmet material is definitely a keeper. Gonna need to repair the refractive scales, some of the drones, and a couple of the holocubes, though.”

Tsuburaya nodded, but made a face like he just ate a sour lemon. “I still do not understand why you designed something so dangerous for Bakugo.”

“It’s what he requested,” Midoriya explained as he deposited the broken drones and cubes into a Scraps bin. “Besides, Bakugo, for all his faults, wants to be a hero, and I’m not going to deny him that over something as petty as some strained history.”

“Even if he plans to use that against you… so illogical.” Tsuburaya muttered.

“Well it’s a good thing I know exactly what he’s capable of.” Midoriya countered. “He doesn’t know I made those gauntlets, and I didn’t give him any suggestions for improvement, so I can control just how dangerous he is.”

“Makes sense to me!” Mei piped up from her workbench, having immediately begun working on a new support item once she set her stuff down.

“Oh, is that the jetpack inspired by the Buster Hero, Airjet?” Midoriya asked, setting down the Mysterio suit on a worktable.

“Yup!” Mei confirmed with a smile. “This is one of the babies I plan on using in the Sports Festival!”

“That reminds me, I received word from Nezu regarding your use of support items in the Festival.” Tsuburaya spoke up, printing out the notice. “Unfortunately, as he is in the hero class, Midoriya can only bring one non-required support item with him into the games.”

“Aw, what?!” Mei pouted while Midoriya retrieved the notice to read over. “That’s lame! What if you were like Ironman or something??”

“I guess they would have to make due with a model of MKI armor or something.” Midoriya muttered, biting his lip. “...well, I still have a few ideas to help us show off our gadgets.”

“Such as?” Tsuburaya asked.

“I’m only allowed to bring in one support item… but Support Course students can bring as many gadgets as they can carry.” Midoriya reminded the two with a smirk.

Mei looked up with a smile. “Oh, how devious!”

“But we’ll still be limited by what Mei can carry.” Tsuburaya pointed out.

“True… but I have a plan for that. I just need a bit more detail about it first.” Midoriya brushed off. “For now, just focus on making the drones. Prioritize the SFX Drones, but make sure we have plenty of Scenery models. Load them up with various programs and scenarios. Since the first part of the Sports Festival’s all about thinning the herd, we’ll need drones with speed, evasion, and shields as the priority.

“The second bout is always a team based exercise, so for those we’ll need some drones armed with nonlethal takedown methods, so equip the guns and launchers with concussion missiles, rubber darts, and capture foam sprayers.” Midoriya continued. “Make sure we have enough Scenery Drones to cover the stage. Lastly is the one on one competition…” Midorya stopped to think. “I might forgo the use of drones in that one… show everyone that I can use my quirk and that I’m not too reliant on my technology.”

“Oh! Maybe we could implement the new Actor models we developed!” Mei suggested with a smile.

“Hm… we COULD…” Midoriya said. “It might be overkill, and I doubt we'll need too many of them... but I think it should be fine, as long as we’re careful. Add a few dozen Actor models to our group.”

“I fail to see how Nezu will approve of any of this.” Tsuburaya stated bluntly, though he still commanded the assembly stations to begin work on the drones. If nothing else, they’d be able to test the models for any defects or problems.

“I just need to convince him with the right argument…” Midoriya said.

“And that argument is..?” Tsuburaya asked.

“....I…. haven’t thought of it yet.” Midoriya admitted. “I mean, I still need to work on the speech I’ll be giving to everyone.”

Tsuburaya sighed. “Then we best work on that before something else interrupts us.”

She was tired.

She was hungry.

Her mouth felt dry.

Her head was throbbing.

She had cuts and bruises.

Her bare feet ached.

But she didn’t stop.

She had to keep running.

She could hear that the bad men weren’t far behind her.

It was only through either pure luck or divine intervention that she was able to escape. A car accident while the men transporting her allowed her to get out, with miraculously only minor injuries. Unfortunately, the guards recovered fast and followed her.

Worse still, she didn’t know where she was, and the area looked abandoned. Not one person had emerged, not even to check on the wreckage of the crash.

‘That’s because no one wants to help a cursed child.’ That… man’s voice muttered in her ear. ‘They’d just give you back to me, and I’d be forced to punish you…’

She ran up the stairs of a structure with glass ceilings. It looked like she was at a building one of her books showed her… a train station, if she was remembering it right.

“Hello child.”

With a yelp she looked up. There was a young woman there, with bright red hair and pupiless eyes of yellow that glowed like the glowing orb in the sky, the sun, if she remembered right.

“Why not take the train? You’ll get to where you need to.” she said with a smile that was trying to be kind, but came off more than a little scary, like when the bad men were trying to get her to calm down and cooperate before cutting into her.

Before the girl could refuse, she heard a shout from the bad men. They had spotted her! The woman held out a small slip of paper to the child. “Give this to the man who asks for tickets, and get off at Mustafu.”

Not seeing much other choice, the girl snatched the paper and ran onto the train just in time for the doors to shut. The men, wearing variations of a plague doctor’s mask, ran up just in time to see her train pull out of the station.

“Shit… the boss is gonna be so pissed…” one of them said.

“Hey, I’m not exploding over this! You drove into that van!”

“I told you, the brakes failed as we approached the intersection!”

“Everyone, shut up! We’re not dead yet! We can still get her at the next stop! Shiro, find out what that train’s schedule is!” the leader interrupted. Quickly the men split up, not one of them having seen the woman the little girl was looking at despite being only a meter away from them.

“I’ll be seeing you soon…. Eri.” the woman said with a smirk before vanishing from the spot.

Chapter Text

Normal talking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Thinking: 'Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!'

Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

All Might Speaking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

All Might Thinking: ‘Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!’

All Might Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

Sound Effects: *BLAM!*

AIs/Computers: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Speaking Another Language: {"Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"}

The girl, Eri, got off the train at Mustafu station, like the lady with the red hair and yellow eyes told her to. She looked around, and spotting no one wearing a plague mask, ran down the steps of the beat up station. The area she was in was run down and filthy, but there weren’t any of the masked men around, at least as far as she could see, and none of them had a Invisibility Quirk that she knew of, so it looked like she was safe for the moment.

Come to think of it, there weren’t many people around at all. She saw an old apartment complex, tall and closed off, but with a gap in one of the windows that was just large enough for her to squeeze through. It took some effort and sucking in her narrow frame, but she managed to get inside. The room was almost as filthy as the outside had been. There was rotting furniture strewn about, graffiti covered the walls, and the front desk looked as though someone with an addiction had taken up residence there previously, if the old needles with bent tips and pungent residue scattered around were any indication.

It looked like the perfect place to stay, at least for now. No one to report her back to the men, and no one for her curse to hurt.

So, going upstairs, Eri found an old tarp, and curled up under it, shivering but satisfied that she found someplace safe.

“What’s with all the reporters?”

Midoriya looked up from his notebook at Mei’s question. Like the Support Student said, there was a crowd of reporters hanging outside the gate to the highschool, demanding to be let in.

“You don’t think they know about… my persona?” Midoriya asked. He didn’t think any of his friends would babble about his choice to the media, but that nagging fear tugged at his brain. It flared up the moment the reporters spotted them and immediately ran over, microphones and cameras taking aim like daggers and guns.

“You there! What can you tell us about All Might as a teacher??/Is he a good teacher or awful??/What does his curriculum consist of??/Is his Teacher’s suit part of the Zelinsky Line??”

Although Midoriya was trained by Tsuburaya to handle the media (one cannot be Mysterio without being in the spotlight after all), the forceful means by which the reporters asked him overwhelmed the poor boy and he found himself stammering. “Er, well, I-”

“My students need to get to class. Move aside.”

Midoriya sighed in relief. He never thought he would be so happy to see Aizawa’s grumpy face leering at someone. Muttering an apology, Midoriya quickly followed Mei and Aizawa into the school, secretly relieved that the reporters were just fishing for a story about All Might. Behind him, he could hear Present Mic trying to quell the upset reporters.

“Yeesh, if this is what you’d have to go through to be a hero, then I don't think I’d ever have the stomach for it.” Mei muttered as she walked onto the grounds.

“Why not?” Midoriya asked his friend.

“I dislike crowds asking questions, unless we’re talking about stuff I like.” Mei admitted. “Mom thinks it’s ‘cause I might be neuro-divergent, but I’m not sure… never got diagnosed for it, and I keep putting it off.”

“You could go underground, like Mr. Aizawa or Daredevil.” Midoriya suggested. “They don’t usually deal with the press.”

“Hm… maybe…. Eh, I think I’ll stick with designing and building support gear.” Mei shrugged after a moment of thought. Neither of the two students paid attention to how agitated the crowd behind them was growing, nearly reaching a boiling point of hunger for gossip.

“Hey, we’re reporters! We have a right to know the truth!” The woman who shouted stepped forward towards the school, but a barrier rose up from the ground, blocking her. “What?!”

“Oh, that's the UA defense barrier.” Another reporter explained. “It keeps out anyone who isn’t a student, staff member, or lacks a visitor’s pass. No way to get inside.”

"Couldn't we just climb or leap over it?" another asked.

"I heard there's hidden turrets with rubber bullets, and I'm not that eager to find out if it's true." a fourth responded.

The first reporter huffed and stormed off, bumping into a young man in a black hoodie that she didn’t even bother to apologize to. The boy’s fist, save for a single finger, clenched. He wanted to dust that hero glorifying NPC for daring to bump into him, but doing so would mean failing the stealth mission he was entrusted with. So he held himself back, though he longed to scratch at his neck in its place, but he couldn’t afford to attract too much attention. Not yet, at least.

The idea of what would be coming from this brought a smile to the boy’s chapped, cracked face.

‘Mission start.’

“Settle down, class.” Aizawa  muttered as he entered the classroom, which was almost immediately silent. “Eight seconds, getting better.” Aizawa walked up and down the rows, handing back various graded homework. “Present Mic will be with you shortly for your first lesson. But first, we have to take care of something that will determine the future of your hero careers.”

Immediately everyone tensed up. What was it going to be? An all out brawl?? A fight against the teachers?? A HARD TEST?!

“You need to pick out a class representative.” the Underground hero continued as he went back up front.

The class slumped in relief, glad that it was just normal school stuff. Of course, just because it was ordinary didn’t mean it was important. In most schools, the title held little actual meaning or relevancy, but in Hero Schools, it was much more important. Being Class Representative meant that you were a capable leader, that everyone in your group looked up to you. It was a cap in one's feather, a great way to show you would be an excellent choice for a sidekick to any hero on the lookout for a potential recruit.

So, of course, everyone started arguing about who would be the best pick to lead them.

“I should be in charge!”

“I’m better than all of you extras! I’m in charge!”

“Why would we pick you? You’re a jerk.”

“THE FUCK YOU SAY, RACCOON EYES?!”

“Why not put it to a vote?”

Everyone turned to the green haired boy, who was also the only one who hadn’t thrown his hat into the ring. “Putting it to a vote seems like the most fair way to choose who should get the spot.”

“Oh, you just want everyone to vote for you!” Mineta accused the illusionist, who just shook his head.

“Actually, I’m not entering this race. You can vote for whoever you want, just not me, please.”

“You’re not? How come? You’re going to get a lot of attention, and wasn’t Mysterio an attention seeker?” Jiro asked, but fell silent at the unintended accusation she had made. Thankfully, Midoriya didn’t seem bothered by it.

“The original was, yeah.” Midoriya admitted. “But like you said, I'm probably already going to get a lot of attention just for being a villain persona user, so there’s no point in being the class representative, since that just means I’ll be getting more responsibilities for little benefit. Besides, I’m busy enough without having to organize the classes.”

Everyone stared at the surprisingly thoughtful response to the boy. Even Iida, who still had severe misgivings about Midoriya’s choice in personas, had to admit he could see the points his classmate was raising.

“Wait, what’s to stop everyone from just voting for themselves?” Mina asked.

Iida looked down in thought, contemplating this, before reaching a conclusion “Well, in that case, if one person still ends up with more votes than the other, then it just means that they’ve earned the rest of the class’s respect! Is this acceptable, sensei?”

“Do whatever you want, just get it done by the end of the day.” Aizawa said dismissively as he climbed into his sleeping bag for a nap.

“...kay then, I guess we’re voting.” Sero piped up.

“...well, if anyone else wants to step down, I guess now’s the time to speak up.” Momo spoke up.

After Toru and Koda both stepped down from the running, the class wrote down their votes on slips of paper and gave them to Jirio, who gathered them in a cup and wrote the results on the chalkboard.

“So… it looks like we have Tenya Iida as class representative and Momo Yaoyorozu as the vice representative.” Jirio noted. Indeed, while almost everyone else had voted for themselves, there were four votes for Tenya and three for Momo.

“The fuck?! Why didn’t anyone else vote for me?!” Bakugo snarled in anger. Midoriya just rolled his eyes, and went back to his notebook, where he was looking over possible upgrades for his hero costume, namely the cape.

“Now that that’s settled, get your English books out.” Aizawa mumbled from his bag as Present Mic walked in.

“Who’s ready for some English style sentence structuring???”

“I still can’t believe we’ve got a pro hero cooking our meals for us!”

Ochako listened to Midoriya, who was talking between bites of katsudon. Ever since he had learned that the rescue Hero Lunch Rush worked at this school, Midoriya couldn’t help but be in awe over it, even if it had been barely half a month into their school year.

“Yeah, he’s really good at it too! I haven’t had tempura this good in ages!” she agreed with a smile.

“Hey, ‘Dorya!” Midoriya looked up, spotting Mei approaching their table, carrying a bowl of ramen with an energy drink. “Mind if I eat with ya?”

“Go right ahead!” Midoriya said with a smile, moving over so his friend could sit beside him. “This is Ochako Uraraka, remember her?”

“Nope!” Mei admitted shamelessly as she dug into the noodles. Midoriya sighed while Ochako puffed out her cheeks in annoyance, an act Midoriya definitely did not find cute. Nope. Not at all.

“Sorry, Ochako, Mei… doesn’t really have the best memory for names.” Midoriya apologized for his friend, who had taken out a magazine depicting the latest invention from Parker Industries and was reading it as she ate.

“Well, to be fair, we only met once a while ago…” Ochako admitted. “And you don’t usually come here for lunch.”

“Mei prefers to eat in the workshop.” Midoriya explained. Of course, he didn’t mention that this was only when Mei could be reminded to stop and eat. Back at Wondrous Might & Heroism , there were times when Mei actually ate AS she worked, or fell asleep while making her babies, even if she was in the middle of welding. The number of fires and crumbs Tsuburaya had to deal with would have made the AI go on a murderous rampage if she wasn’t so good at her job.

“Yup, and I was planning to do it today as well, but I found that one of my classmates was working on her project for the Sports Festival.” Mei explained after a drink. “She likes listening to J-pop as she works, and it was getting on my nerves, so I left to hang out with you instead.”

“Is this the exchange student you met?” Midoriya asked, remembering Mei having grumbled about someone who got on her nerves.

“Yeah, she’s a super genius who got moved a year or two ahead of her old school.” Mei confirmed through a mouthful of ramen. Thankfully the girl swallowed before continuing. “She said she wanted to be in the hero course, but couldn’t enter it legally due to her young age, so she’s sticking to the Support Course for now and switching over once she can. But that’s not the crazy thing!”

Midoriya raised an eyebrow. It took quite a bit to grab Mei’s attention, especially since Mei was usually so unflappable about surprises. “What’s the crazy thing?”

“Her name’s P-”

A shrill alarm rang out, interrupting their chat. Everyone in the cafeteria sat up, muttering in fear and panic as a siren started blaring.

“What’s going on??” Midoriya asked, an upperclassman responding as they ran past.

“Someone’s breached the school! It hasn’t happened here in the three years I’ve attended UA!”

Everyone ran out to the hallways, panicking. It was a stampede, and there was a very real danger of someone getting hurt in the process.

“It’s the news!”

Midoriya looked over at his pink haired friend, who had been pressed up to the window with Iida. “What??”

“It’s just the reporters from outside! They got in somehow!” Mei elaborated before she was separated by the tide of panicking students.

Midoriya thought quickly. There was no way he was going to get everyone’s attention, not with the crowd shoving and pushing too much. He didn’t have his drones with him, although Ochako was near him… but then he saw Iida nearby, and thinking quickly, Midoriya came up with a plan.

“Ochako, use your Quirk on Iida!” he shouted.

Ochako looked up, confused, but wasn’t able to ask for an elaboration before Midoriya was separated from her, so, putting her faith in her friend, the gravity girl made her way over to Iida and desperately slapped his back.

This did the trick. As Midoriya had predicted, with his gravity removed, Iida was able to rocket up to the ceiling and get everyone’s attention. With only a few words, he explained the situation and calmed everyone down.

So it was that the students, most of them feeling embarrassed at how they had reacted in a crisis, went back to their classes in an orderly fashion.

“Man, that was so crazy!” Kirishima said. “How’d the press get inside??”

“No idea… they must have used a Quirk to get past the barrier.” Midoriya theorized.

“Midoriya…”

The boy in question looked up, to see his vice representative walking over. “Yes Iida-kun?”

The bespectacled boy removed his glasses and rubbed them with a cloth before speaking. “You told Ochako to send me into the air, even though you were closer… why?”

“I’m not good with crowds unless I’m in my persona.” Midoriya admitted. “I don’t think I could handle speaking to people like that, even in a crisis… and you have the strength of personality to do it better than I ever could.”

“You… you had that much faith in me?” Iida asked, touched and confused. After all, he had at least twice now made accusations against Midoriya for not wanting to take heroism seriously, and yet he still picked Iida to get the message out?

“Well yeah… why else would I vote for you as the Class Rep?” Midoriya said with a smile, to the Speedster’s shock.

“...thank you, for that.” With that, Iida walked away, deep in thought. It was clear to him that, in spite of his choice in personas, Midoriya was, at heart, a good person. Although he would still have to try and deter him from being Mysterio, for now, Iida was eager to get to work as the Class Rep.

Nezu looked at the remains of the security gate, Baymaxima, Ectoplasm, and Power Loader alongside him. The impressive metal barrier had been reduced to mere dust and rubble, with only scraps of metal remaining.

“Do we have any ideas what caused this?” the Principle asked, sipping a bit of tea as he sniffed the air. His senses were stronger than that of his fellow humans, which allowed him to notice things most other people couldn’t. Unfortunately, the crowd of cologne and makeup wearing reporters overwhelmed any other scent that the intelligent mammal could have picked up.

“Scans indicate that the molecular bonds in the metal were disrupted by an outside force.” Baymaxima muttered, inspecting a remaining piece. “As I detect no residual energies, chemicals, or heat, I theorize this to be the work of a Mutation or Quirk, Emitter Class, most likely one that restructures objects or neutralizes their bonds, much like Anan-san's Quirk does.”

“So it wasn’t melted or eaten through by acid…” Power Loader muttered, picking up a jagged shard from the ground. Placing it in an evidence bag, he turned to Ectoplasm. “Did the reporters say anything?”

“Plenty, but nothing that would help.” the divider hero grumbled. “The only useful thing they said was that it was near instant, but none of them were paying close enough attention to see the culprit.”

“Hm… perhaps we require an outside perspective.” Nezu muttered, pulling out his phone and dialing up a recently added number.

“Thank you for calling the Monkala Aquatic Pets Store, this is Taro Sato speaking, how may I help you?” a voice spoke up.

“Oh, I thought this was “Dorin’s Costume Supplies.” Nezu responded with a smirk, while Tsuburaya just sighed and spoke normally.

“What do you want, you overgrown oppossum?”

“Not my species, but a good guess.” Nezu responded brightly, before his tone became serious. “However, I’m not calling you to play around. Have you seen the news?”

“All I do when not working is watch the news.” Tsuburaya grumbled. “So I’m guessing this is about the reporter's break in at the school?”

“Somewhat, yes.” Nezu admitted. “The reporters were let in because someone destroyed the gate by disintegrating it down to dust. We believe this was caused by a quirk user, or possibly a mutant. None of the reporters have abilities that match this power type, so I wanted to hear the perspective of someone… in the know of the underworld, just in case it’s something to be concerned with.”

“....you assume that just because I’m made from the mind of an American villain, one from several generations ago might I add, that I know every current villain in Japan?” Tsuburaya asked bluntly, earning an amused chuckle from Nezu.

“Not at all! But I was hoping you would help with researching any possible villains who could do something of this caliber. I’ll be going through official channels, but you know how villains think and where to look in places heroes don’t.”

“Again, I am based on a villain from the past. I doubt that I will be much help…” Despite this, Tsuburaya’s next words were thoughtful. “Regardless, this could potentially have ramifications for my successor, so I see no reason to turn down this chance to protect Midoriya.” Tsuburaya admitted to the principle. “Give me everything you know, and I’ll take a look on the dark web, see what rumors have been cropping up.”

A few days later, Aizawa came in and announced the class was going to go on a trip that day. Once everyone settled back down (with some help from Aizawa’s Erasure Quirk) he elaborated, pressing a button on a remote to bring out the cases containing the students' various costumes.

“We’ll be going to an offsite campus facility for Rescue Training. Whether you wear your costumes or not is up to you.” he said, watching the students pick up their cases and return to their seats. “Some of you may find that something about your costume hinders you, or perhaps part of it doesn’t work well for rescue training. These are factors you need to consider when you redesign your costume the next time.”

“Excuse me, Aizawa sensei?” Midoriya raised his hand as he walked back to his desk. When Aizawa grunted at him, the boy continued. “Am I allowed to bring my drones?”

“Yes, you may bring whatever support gear you want.” Aizawa said dismissively.

“Thank you, sensei…” Midoriya pulled out his phone, ready to send a command, when a thought came to him. “By the way, do you have the coordinates for the training grounds? I was thinking I could summon a few more drones to join up with me when we get there.”

“Wait, you’ve got more??” Jirio asked.

“How many drones do you have?!” Sato yelped as he went back to his desk. Before responding, Midoriya ran the numbers in his head, and gave off a rough approximation.

“About fifty Scenery Drones, another fifty combat drones, forty five SFX generating drones, and a dozen or so Actor models, but those are new and in the testing phase.” Midoriya listed off. “Oh, and about a hundred holocubes, but those aren’t going to be too useful here I think. Then again, maybe I could modify them to act as beacons in case I have to go someplace that’s hard to navigate...”

While Midoriya descended into a mutter storm, everyone else stared at the boy who had casually admitted to being able to summon a small army with a text message. Even Aizawa didn’t know how to respond to this revelation beyond a frustrated sigh.

“A horde of invisible specters, ready to appear at the master’s beck and call in any form he desires.” Tokoyami muttered in awe.

“You said it, bird-bro…” Kirishima nodded in agreement.

The bus drove down the path, the students chatting amicably among themselves. Up front, Aizawa napped in his sleeping bag while Professor Hamada sat in a seat, quietly reading some ancient manga called Gurren Lagann . Midoriya was relaxing in his seat, wearing his full Mysterio costume save for the helmet, which was sitting in his lap. Resting his arms upon said helmet, the boy was fiddling with a Scenery Drone, the circular device’s inner circuits exposed to the boy. Holding a Iron Man endorsed utility knife, Midoriya tightened a few connections until they were satisfactory.

“Dang, that’s some advanced tech, bro!”

Midoriya jumped, looking up to see Kirishima looking over his shoulder. “Oh, um… thanks?” He was about to get back to work when he heard Asui speak up from close by.

“Hey Midoriya?”

“Yes, Asui?” Midoriya asked the frog girl.

“First of all, call me Tsu, but after hearing about your army of drones, I think I speak for all of us when I ask: ‘where did you get so much tech that advanced,' kero?” Froppy asked. Almost instantly most other conversations stopped, looking over. Midoriya realized that they were all questioning him.

“I…. I spent a long time studying it.” Midoriya mumbled nervously, resignedly setting aside his drone to work on later. “I have this mentor, Tsuburaya, he helped me understand the technology Mysterio used, and later on, he helped me build it with further help from a friend of mine in UA’s support course, Mei Hatsume.”

“They don’t mind working on villain tech?” Sero asked.

“N-no, Mei didn't care once I explained what I was going to use it for.” Midoriya said, nervous, but choosing his words carefully. “But Tsuburaya... he.. he wanted me to go a… different route than being a hero, but he supported my choice to use it this way, in the end. Because, I mean, at the end of the day… there’s no such thing as an evil quirk or piece of technology, just people who use them for evil, right? Nitroglycerin is used in medicine, but it’s also an explosive that can hurt people. Likewise, before my Quirk came in, I decided to use this technology to be a hero and save people.”

Those words, like the few others who heard it before, had an effect on the greenette’s classmates. They had never thought about that perspective before. Even Iida, who still felt conflicted, found himself listening to the boy only a few rows behind him.

“Speaking of heroes, I gotta ask, your Quirk’s a lot like All Might’s-” Froppy began, while Midoriya went VERY still in fear. 

‘Don’t tell me they’ve figured out the secret of One for All!’

Thankfully, Kirishima unintentionally provided a lifeline to distract everyone from the vague possibility. “Yeah, but All Might doesn’t break bones when he throws a punch, Asui.”

“Yeah, I know that, but there is a similarity between Midoriya and All Might’s Quirks, kero, and I wanted to know why he stuck with Mysterio instead of All Might. No offense, kero, but super strength quirks don’t exactly match up with illusions, and we know you’re an All Might fanboy because of that pin you wear, kero, so why stick with an identity people would find controversial?” Asui explained, before turning to Kirishima. “And I said to call me Tsu, kero.”

“Oh, right, right, sorry Tsu.” Kirishima said with an embarrassed smile.

“But yeah! We wanna know, so spill the beans!” Toru exclaimed, her costume’s sleeves indicating that she was waving her arms in excitement.

“Guys, if Midoriya doesn’t want to share his secrets, we shouldn’t pressure him into revealing it!” Momo spoke up, trying to reign her classmates in.

“No, it’s fine.” Midoriya assured the creation girl. “Everyone’s gonna bug me about it when I go pro, so I guess I should get used to telling this story.” Midoriya sat up. “But first… Kachaan, do you remember that museum we visited? The one with the kaiju head from Mysterio’s last scheme?”

“The one that banned you for climbing inside the stupid thing?” Bakugo asked pointedly. “‘Course I do.”

“Oh, that’s the one in Tokyo, right??” Sero piped up. “I went there, once! I wanted to see Spider-man, since my fighting style is gonna be similar to his.”

“Why’d you climb inside the exhibit?” Sato asked Midoriya, who blushed and rubbed his neck.

“I was hiding from some bullies who picked on me, because of my apparent quirklessness…” Midoriya muttered. “But anyways…”

So Midoriya told the enraptured classmates an abridged version of how he found Mysterio's lair. He still kept some things to himself, like where the lair was, and Tsuburaya’s status as an AI tasked with watching over the Studio. Midoriya was sure that he caught glances from Baymaxima and Aizawa listening in, most likely shocked at the idea of a relatively infamous villain having been hiding a secret lair under everyone’s noses for several generations.

The reactions from his classmates were… Mixed, to say the least. Most of it was in disbelief at the idea of the lair, until Midoriya showed a few “safe” pictures Tsuburaya had selected in case Midoriya wanted to show prospective clients the workshop. There was some nervous glances, but most of the class seemed more curious than afraid.

Throughout it, Bakugo seethed silently. He didn’t know whether to feel relief or anger at how Midoriya skipped over his involvement in discovering the notebook, since, yeah, learning he was a bully definitely wouldn’t help, but hearing the deku brush over him like he was nothing wasn’t much better either.

Still, part of him wondered why exactly Deku didn’t mention his involvement. It would have been the perfect moment for revenge, but instead, he said nothing, why?

“Dang… that sounds like something out of a comic!” Kaminari said in awe after Midoriya finished his story.

“And you were training hard to be a hero since you were eight?? Without a quirk?? So manly!” Kirishima said in awe.

Midoriya blushed and looked down. “Yeah… and, back to what Asui-”

“I told you to call me Tsu, kero.” Asui interrupted calmly.

“Right, sorry, back to what Tsu was saying, yeah, with my super strength, I could easily use a different persona. Heck, if I hadn’t discovered Mysterio’s notebook, I’d probably be dressed up as an All Might inspired rabbit or something!” Midoriya admitted, his blush growing brighter when Ochako giggled at the image. “But… I’ve spent years learning everything about how Quentin Beck, the original Mysterio, did his illusions and tricks… so… I kinda feel like I have to see this through… it’s weird, I know.”

“Nah, I get it. There were times I thought of giving up and doing something more practical with my quirk, like being in my parent’s construction company.” Ochako admitted. “But yeah, you wanna stick with something you dedicated your life to.”

“So manly…!” Kirishima muttered.

“Is that the only adjective you know?” Mina asked with a smirk.

“It’s the only adjective I need .” he answered with a matching smirk.

“Oh my gosh, it’s the Rescue Hero Thirteen!” Ochako practically squealed in delight as the class exited the bus. They were standing outside the building where they were going to be running the training exercise, a massive white dome called the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, or USJ for short. Unbeknownst to everyone save for Midoriya, there was no less than sixty drones hovering above the gathered students, hidden via cloaking tech. Midoriya thought it might have been excessive to bring so many, but then, the School’s Motto was Plus Ultra, and there wasn’t really a rule against helping his classmates, was there? Besides, he still needed to field test the Actor drones.

“I see I’ve got a fan!” the woman in the pseudo spacesuit acknowledged, bringing a smile to Ochako’s face.

“Where’s All Might? He was supposed to be here.” Aizawa questioned, an annoyed glare on his face.

“Nezu messaged me, apparently he’s reached his limit and will show up only at the end, after Nezu gives him a very stern talking to about punctuality.” Baymaxima muttered, subtly holding up three fingers to the other teachers.

‘Yup, definitely going to make a hologram belt for All Might.’ Midoriya noted, his suit picking up the whispered conversation with ease.

“That man is the height of irrationality.” Aizawa muttered with a tired sigh while Thirteen turned to the students.

“Hello everyone, and welcome to Rescue Training! I’m Thirteen, and I designed this facility.” She said with a friendly wave. “Now, before we begin, there’s one thing I’d like to go over first… or, maybe two things… five? A dozen?” the rescue hero muttered, well aware of the incredulous looks she was receiving. It took Baymaxima clearing her throat to snap Thirteen out of her musings. “Right, anyways, does anyone here know how exactly my Quirk functions?”

Ochako immediately spoke up, her hand raised. “Oh, it’s Black Hole! You can generate a powerful suction from your fingertips that can break up matter down to dust with ease! You’ve used it on several rescue operations to save countless lives!!”

‘Huh… so this is what being on the receiving end of a fan infodump feels like.’ Midoriya quietly mused to himself, though he couldn’t bring himself to be annoyed by it.

“That’s correct, I can use my quirk to easily destroy a mountain of rubble in only a few minutes…” Thirteen said proudly, before her tone shifted to a more serious, somber one. “Or kill in just a few seconds.”

That made everyone stiffen in fear. Well, most of them, though Bakugo did turn to listen to the teacher.

“When you first came here, you saw what your quirks can do when you went all out. In your first battle trial, you used them in a combat scenario for the first time.. But now you need to consider just how dangerous your quirks could truly be.” the rescue hero continued.

Indeed, many of them stopped to think about what could happen if they truly wanted to hurt someone. Momo could create any weapon or poison she wanted, Mina’s acid would dissolve bones at the right intensity, Rikido Sato could snap a man’s neck in a sugar high, Sero’s tape or Mineta’s balls could cut off airflow if placed onto the mouth and nose, Iida could potentially kick someone's chest or head in, and Bakugo…

Even the boy had to admit that he was more than capable of killing someone if he wasn’t careful, as the battle trial proved. And as much as he didn’t like how it lacked fighting, Bakugo realized that yeah, this lesson might be something worth listening to.

“That’s part of what we’re going to be practicing today.” Thirteen continued, distracting the students from the horrible possibilities their powers could be used for. “We’ll be showing you how to carefully use your Quirks in a safe environment so that, once the time comes a real disaster occurs and no other hero is around, you can save lives too.”

With that, the group was led inside, and they all gasped in wonder. All around them were 6 areas, two of them in their own domes, that simulated different environments. One was a peaceful looking lakeside with a boat and a waterslide-like feature, another looked like the ruins of an urban city. One looked to be a mountainous region with trees beneath it, to the right of which was a simulated landslide, burying the remains of trees and a few buildings. Lastly, the two domes had a flame symbol and a stormcloud, respectively.

“Welcome, to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint!” Thirteen cried out, sweeping out her arms as the last of the students went inside the building and the doors shut. “My personal project to help train the future generations in-

Before she could continue, an alarm rang out from Midoriya’s suit.

“What now, problem child?” Aizawa muttered tiredly while Bakugo, already annoyed that there wasn’t going to be any fighting, glared at him.

Midoriya checked the readings on his gauntlet, expecting it was just a power issue or something minor, but instead found a prelude to something bad. “Something’s wrong… my suit’s long range signals are being jammed! I can’t contact anything outside the building!” Midoriya was inputting every command that he could think of, but he couldn’t even access the drones directly outside, despite being less than ten meters away!

“Wait, are we doing rescue training already?” Kaminari asked, eyebrows knitted in confusion while everyone else murmured in worry.

“No, that’s not part of it- AAGH!” Baymaxima fell to her knees, grabbing her head while her voice distorted for a brief moment.

“Hamada-Sensei, what’s wrong??” Ochako and Momo ran over, supporting their AI teacher.

“My backup drive… I can’t connect to it! I’m stuck in this body!” she looked at her fellow teachers in horror as the lights above them started flickering.

“Mido-bro, please tell me this is just a messed up joke you’re playing…!” Kirishima asked in worry.

“No, it’s not me!” Midoriya looked around, spotting something forming in front of the plaza fountain. Midoriya quickly pulled on his helmet, the device lighting up and flooding him with warnings and messages about what was forming beneath, which Midoriya quickly realized was a portal made of black miasma.

The first thing through the portal was a severed hand, grasping the face of a young man with silvery blue hair wearing a black jumpsuit. Beside him came a hulking monster with an exposed brain, blank, unblinking eyes, and a yellow beak over jagged teeth. On the other side several people emerged, led by someone short with what looked horrifyingly like blood moving across a black jumpsuit and mask with a vaguely spider-like red symbol on his face and chest. From there, more and more people emerges, some unfamiliar, some Midoriya recognized vaguely, and some wearing costumes belonging to people from the Pre-Quirk era… but all of them, even the portal generator, who turned out to be a humanoid apparently made of the black miasma with only his yellow eyes visible, were clearly one kind of person.

“What’s going on?? Who are they?!” Mineta whimpered out, hiding behind Jirio in fear.

.:...villains… real villains…:. Midoriya spoke aloud in horror.

Chapter Text

Normal talking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Thinking: 'Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!'

Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

All Might Speaking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

All Might Thinking: ‘Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!’

All Might Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

Sound Effects: *BLAM!*

AIs/Computers: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Speaking Another Language: {"Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"}

“Real villains…!?”

While the students around Midoriya were quietly panicking, save for a few, Midoriya forced the bile that threatened to rise up from his throat down, and brought up his command screen. The suit was fully operational in spite of the jamming signal, thankfully, but unfortunately he was unable to send out anything more than very short range communications, and only to the drones he had on him. Regardless, Midoriya summoned a few of them, commanding them to be cloaked and to get over to the villains.

“Problem Child…” Aizawa growled quietly.

.:Just gathering information, Aizawa-sensei.:. Midoriya assured his homeroom teacher. .:It looks like most of these villains are Quirk Users with Emitter and Transformation Quirks being the most common, with only a scattering of Heteromorphic types and X-gene type Mutants. with almost no support items beyond basic aiming tools and melee weapons. All of the ones I can find in my suit’s database have charges ranging from theft to murder, but aren’t highly ranked, C-levels at the worst. However, my suit isn’t able to identify the four in the back.:. Midoriya quickly reiterated what his drones were telling him to his teacher, who gave the boy a grateful nod.

“Thank you for the information, Midoriya… but for now stay back.” Aizawa put his goggles on, then turned to his fellow teachers. “Baymaxima, Thirteen, stay here and protect the students. See if you can find a way to contact Nezu.” Seeing their nods, Aizawa turned to Kaminari and Midoriya. “Midoriya, Kaminari, see if you can use your quirk and support items to break through the jammer. I’ll handle the villains.”

“Yessir!” the electric boy said, pulling down his earcom and adjusting it.

.:But Aizawa-sensei, your quirk won’t work on all of them! And your fighting style is more suited to hit and run tactics or ambushes, not a prolonged battle like this!:. Midoriya protested, while the other students looked at their homeroom teacher with shock and concern.

“It’s like I told you, Midorya… no hero can rely on one method alone.” Aizawa calmly refuted, and without another word, the man leapt into battle. Naturally, the villains closest to him raised their hands, but out of them only one was able to use their power, a Mutant who fired an orb of metal at Aizawa.

Aizawa wrapped his scarf around his arm, the orb hitting it and simply losing momentum upon impact, falling lamely, while Aizawa tackled the Mutant.

“What’s going on?! Why aren’t I shooting-AGH!” a thug’s questioning was interrupted by the Homeroom teacher launching a right hook into the man’s jaw.

“You idiot! That’s the Underground Hero, Eraserhead! He can erase our Quirks just by looking at us!” another shouted, running forward with a sword. Aizawa dodged, grabbed the blade in his scarf coated hand, and struck the man in his throat, sending him sprawling to the ground, gasping for air.

“Yeah, but I doubt he can stop a Heteromorph like me!” A villain with four extra arms charged forward, ready to pummel the pro hero, who quietly tossed out his scarf, the material wrapping around the villain’s head. “I can’t see, hel-!!” his protests were cut off by Aizawa pulling himself in and kneeing him in the face.

This pattern continued, the villains and thugs trying to fight Aizawa, but each one being quickly taken down, whether it was due to their Quirk failing them at an inopportune moment, or their own hubris combined with inexperience.

“Urgh… it sucks when the heroes live up to their reputation.” the man with the severed hands on his body muttered.

“Tell me about it.” the blood-covered villain muttered, his voice surprisingly young. He couldn’t have been older than the students they were attacking.

“Are you going to step in, Blood_Spider?” the man asked, scratching at his neck in annoyance.

“...nah. I’ll let the help weaken the heroes, then make my move.” ‘Blood_Spider’ admitted. “Your sensei won’t be upset by that, will he, Tomura-kun?”

“These are just trash mobs. We’re the only real elites in this group.” the hand man, Tomura, dismissed. “Still, it took a lot of convincing to get sensei to let me bring you in… I wanna see if you are a pro or just a newb talking big.”

“Trust me… I’m worth it.” Blood_Spider insisted. “I’m just saving my strength for the real boss, once he shows up.”

“Yeah… why the hell isn’t All Might here?!” Tomura complained, scratching at his neck. “All this grinding and party building, and he doesn’t even have the courtesy to show up!”

“Then we’re just gonna have to grab his attention.” Blood_Spider turned to the students up on the staircase. “Hey Kurogiri, how about you send a couple of the Hero students to some of the people we’ve got waiting, make ‘em earn their money’s worth?” Kurogiri turned to Tomura, who nodded.

“Do as he says.” Tomura commanded the portal creator.

“Very well, Master Shigaraki.” Kurogiri nodded, and opened up a portal for himself.

Thirteen looked contemplative for a moment, before turning to Baymaxima. “We need to send a message out to the school, help me get to the doors-”

“I’m sorry, but I cannot allow anyone to leave just yet.”

The way was blocked by the cloud of miasma that had initially brought the villains there, and the Quirk user, his face shrouded within the substance, turned to the students. “We are the league of Villains. I apologize for this intrusion, but I was under the impression that All Might was supposed to be here. Was there a change in the schedule?”

“Stay back, students!” Baymaxima threw her arms out, and with a shout of “{ARMOR OF HERO, ACTIVATE!}” in English, her red and purple backpack shifted. Quick as lightning, her delicate, inflated plastic-skin fell limp as several plates of purple and red metal formed over her and her suit, secured in place by dozens of small, black robots. Upon her right arm was a pair of cannons, hooked up to tubes that led into the android’s body. The right hand was massive, made of those same black micro-robots forming an almost cephalopodic appendage. Clutched tightly in her smaller, normal left hand was a katana hilt, from which shined a blade made of blue plasma that hummed like a lightsaber. Sculpted upon her stomach was a three-eyed monster face, mouth turned down in a snarl. Her boots expanded out, a pair of yellow wheels forming upon the ankles, the edges thin enough to cut into the concrete upon the ground. Lastly, a purple helmet with antennae-like ears clamped over her head, a bulletproof visor protecting her face.

A suit, designed by her, to invoke the lineage from which she came, and to honor the original team’s powers though technological recreations. The whole transformation, despite being incredibly detailed, took only a few seconds to complete.

“BAYMAXIMA HERO 6, READY TO PROTECT!” she shouted triumphantly, raising her fist to the heavens.

“How needlessly dramatic.” the Warp Villain muttered, clearly unimpressed. “But we are not the riff-raff that’s constantly bested by the likes of you. We are here to kill the symbol of peace.”

“LIKE HELL YOU WILL!”

Baymaxima looked up in shock, seeing two of her students leap forward. “Bakugo, Kirishima, STOP!!”

“When a villain’s right in front of us? NO WAY!” Kirishima grinned and, his skin becoming hard and jagged, attacked the cloud. The air was filled with explosions as Bakugo repeatedly fired his quirk at the cloud, who hadn’t moved from his position.

Biting his lip, Midoriya knew better than to charge in and join the two in attacking the villain, but he could at least help his classmates do some real damage. So, activating his suit’s scanners, Midoriya checked the readings he got.

Tsuburaya had instructed him in fighting all kinds of enemies. And the one before him reminded Midoriya of two different Spider-Man villains, both of whom had very malleable, nearly indestructible bodies… but they held a similar weakness: a centralized point storing their true selves.

.:Aim for the neck! There’s something solid there!:. He called out to his teammates.

“Don’t tell me what to do, Deku!” Bakugo shouted, but he aimed higher, just under the eyes, and was rewarded with Kurogiri shouting in pain. The clouds parted just enough to show that the spot struck was some kind of metal neck brace, possibly the only physical part of the villain.

“A technology user…. Damn.” Kurogiri turned to Midoriya. “We can’t have that.” Beneath Midoriya, a portal formed beneath him, and Midoriya nearly fell through, had it not been for his classmates.

“I’ve got you, Midoriya!” Ochako assured him, but only seconds later, she fell through her own portal, as did several other students, including Bakugo and Kirishima.

“Oh crap!” Kaminari’s voice was the last thing Midoriya heard before he fell into the inky blackness.

“NO!” Thirteen cried out in despair, too late to save the students from the now shutting rifts.

“You will pay for this!” Baymaxima shouted, dashing forward, katana out.

Midoriya tumbled through the darkness. He couldn’t tell which way was up, and no light shined through the fog surrounding it. He did his best to analyze the situation, but his panic made it difficult. 

‘Okay, this isn’t going to be easy, but I need to focus… Mysterio’s never encountered something like this, and Tsuburaya never trained me for this scenario… still, I could draw some comparisons to another villain Beck was friends with: Jonathan Ohnn, villain name the Spot, a D-lister villain and Altered who could create portals from the black spots adorning his body. Spider-man often defeated him by using his spider-sense to locate the portal closest to Ohnn, so theoretically…!’

.:Suit! Scan the environment! Locate the energy signature of… Kaminari!:. Midoriya commanded, at the same time reaching behind his back for his combat drone, activating it. Curling up like an acrobat, Midoriya placed his boots atop the drone, and stood up. The drone stabilized Midoriya, allowing him to finally get his bearings in the inky void. And just in time, since his suit located Kaminari immediately.

.:He’s not far, good! Sonar, activate! Cloaking, activate!:. Midoriya commanded, his suit’s speaker immediately shutting off. According to the sonar, the environment around him was… strange. It almost seemed like he was in some kind of bubble, but with nothing solid. Navigating through it was… difficult, but not impossible, and Midoriya quickly emerged in some city ruins.

Beneath him, he saw several villains converging on Kaminari and Jiro, the two using their support gadgets effectively to blast back the tough looking thugs, though it was clear they were getting overwhelmed by the superior numbers.

‘Hm… looks like these people haven’t detected me. I can use this chance to pick up my friends… but first I’ll need a distraction.’

Trying to think of a distraction, Midoriya spotted a ruined billboard for a travel company. The image had a plane taking off, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Midoriya remembered an incident in his childhood, where to win at a game of Quirk Dodgeball, Maro had used his Quirk, Wind Cannon, to kick up a small dust storm to blind the opposing team, much to the younger Bakugo’s anger. That memory made Midoriya smile. Even if he wasn’t allowed to participate, he had enjoyed watching the Quirks on display, especially since the after school game was one of the few times they could use it so openly without consequences.

But more importantly, it gave Midoriya an idea.

“Keep going, lightning dolt!” Jirio panted heavily. The minute she and Kaminari showed up, they were attacked by several villains in hiding. Thankfully, despite their fierce demeanor, it was clear that their attackers had little, if any, training in combat, instead letting their quirks do most of the work.

Kaminari would have been having the time of his life had it not been for the very real danger. Still, he couldn’t help but feel some level of pride as he tossed out lightning bolt after lightning bolt at any villain who approached.

Unfortunately that pride cost him, a villain vomiting out a paste-like substance that trapped the electric boy. Worse still, the glue seemed to resist his electricity.

“Kaminari!” Jirio cried out in distress, her distraction opening her up to an attack from a Bull-type Heteromorph, who approached the fallen hero students, pulling out equally massive knuckledusters, his hair whipping about in the wind.

Wait… they were indoors, how could there be…?

“Guys, dust storm!”

The entire group looked to the right, and indeed, a massive cloud of dust and dirt was rapidly approaching.

Jiro covered her eyes and grabbed Kaminari’s hand, the dust cloud quickly passing over the two. When it cleared away, the two students had vanished.

“Where’d the brats go?!” a man with very long legs asked everyone.

“How should I know??” responded the bull angrily. “You’re our lookout! Why didn’t you warn us about that dust cloud sooner?!”

“Hey, all I saw was a giant cloud of dust that appeared out of nowhere!” the long legged man shot back grumpily.

“Must’ve been one of those kids’ quirks!” a woman with squid tentacles piped up.

“Everyone, shut up and spread out! They can’t have gotten far!” the apparent leader, a man with fly features muttered, taking off into the air. The others grunted, but spread out to search for the missing students.

From the ruins of a nearby minimart, Jirio listened intently to the retreating footsteps, sighing in relief when she heard them leave. Nearby, Midoriya, his helmet clear, was freeing Kaminari from the paste with a yellow-tinted smoke sprayed from his eye clasps.

.:And here I thought Tsuburaya was just being paranoid when he insisted upon the adhesive dissolving spray.:. Midoriya muttered to himself.

“Well, I’m not complaining!” Kaminari admitted with a smile, pulling free from the glue. “I hope this stuff comes out in the wash…”

“That’s not our biggest concern.” Jirio muttered in disdain. “I can hear about six villains in this place, looking for us.”

“Hey Midoriya, can’t you just create an illusion or something to take them out?” Kaminari asked, only for Midoriya to shake his head.

.:Not without a LOT more drones. I have maybe a few dozen on me, but most of them are just SFX and Scenery-types, and maybe two Combat-types. With them I could maybe take out two of the villains, but then they’d be discovered, smashed, and we’d be exposed.:. Midoriya explained. .:I’ve got more than enough combat capable ones outside the USJ, but with the jamming signal still going there’s no way for me to command them to help. I could try to contact my friends through the drones I do have, but that doesn’t change the fact that there are still villains outside, and it would take time for our friends to get here, and that’s assuming that they aren’t dealing with their own villains.:.

“Then we need to find a way to take all the villains outside down quickly and fast.” Jirio muttered. “Kaminari, do you think you could take them all out at once?”

Kaminari raised his hand in a so-so gesture. “If they were tightly grouped around us, then maybe, yeah. If my Quirk’s too spread out it won’t do any real damage. But that paste guy’s Quirk resists my own, and fly-guy’s been keeping his distance ever since I started throwing bolts.”

.:So we need to gather them in one spot…:. Midoriya bit his lip, a hand upon his chin. Or, well, the underside of the dome. After a few moments, he flipped open the left gauntlet, and typed in a command to the drones. .:Okay, I think I have an idea, but I’ll need some help from you both.:.

“What do you need?” Kaminari asked.

.:How good are your acting skills?:. Midoriya asked, pulling out a studio makeup kit from his backpack.

“I… did a play in elementary school where I was a tengu!” Kaminari offered.

“I’m used to being on stage, but I don’t actually have acting experience. Why?” Jirio looked at Midoriya, who opened up the case, selecting a guide booklet labeled HORROR .

.:I know the Obon festival isn’t until August… but I think we can still get some scares.:. Midoriya said, holding up some latex patches and smirking.

Toshinori sat in the Principal's office, nursing a mug of tea as the strange mammalian chimera observed him with a deceptively friendly smile.

“Your, uh, fur looks… extra glossy today, sir.” Toshinori tried.

“Thank you. The secret is keratin.” Nezu happily supplied. “But flattery will not get you out of our discussion.”

“I know…” Toshinori sighed in defeat.

“You are a teacher now, Toshinori.” Nezu said, visibly calm but with a forceful air usually reserved for disobedient students and self entitled parents. “You have responsibilities to your students, especially your chosen successor.”

“I know… but there were villains attacking-” Toshinori began.

“All of whom were being handled by several, equally capable heroes.” Nezu sighed. “It was like my mentor Rocket Raccoon said, ‘this isn’t just about yourself anymore, but the ones under your charge. You need to think about the effects your actions will have in the soon, not just the now, or else you’ll only become a hindrance.’”

“I suppose…” Toshinori muttered, but paused. “Wait, how do you know-”

Nezu and All Might’s discussion was interrupted by their phones simultaneously going off. Toshinori pulled his own out and, seeing the caller, answered. “Tsuburaya, what’s-”

“Midoriya’s signal is offline!” Tsuburaya interrupted, panic clear in his voice.

“Signal? What signal?” Toshinori asked.

“Midoriya’s suit emits a GPS tracking signal that I can detect in case he needs more drones at his location, but right now it’s been cut off!” Tsuburaya hurriedly explained.

“Perhaps he simply shut it off?” Nezu suggested, but nonetheless brought out his tablet to try and contact the teachers for confirmation.

“Not likely! He only keeps it off if he needs to remain completely hidden from anyone with extrasensory abilities!” Tsuburaya explained.

“And Midoriya’s class is just doing rescue missions…!” Toshinori muttered, his eyes widening. Nezu was about to speak, only to frown when he saw there was no connection to Aizawa, Thirteen, or Baymaxima’s teaching tablets, nor could he directly contact the android herself.

“Once is bad luck, twice is happenstance, three times is enemy action, and four is a pressing matter.” Nezu stood up, sending out a priority alert to the teachers. “This is Principle Nezu. I need all available faculty members to report to the Bus Storage Facility. We have reason to believe our students are in danger.”

“Principle, I…” Toshinori began.

“Go. Save your students.” Nezu said with calm, but fierce acceptance.

“Is this really wise? I saw the news, All Might has used up most of his allotted time for the day. I calculate that he won’t be able to hold his massive form for more than a few minutes, and that’s if he doesn’t do anything serious.” Tsuburaya muttered as the man left, inflating to his massive size with visible effort.

“Tsuburaya… right now there is an attack on UA’s teachers and students, one of whom is the boy Toshinori has grown to care for personally.” Nezu looked at his phone, unshaken faith radiating even through the small device to the AI. “Minutes are all he’ll need.”

The villains fled into the alleyway, chased by something they had never thought would happen.

It had started out so easy, the group heard screams of terror and immediately they all converged to the source, a collapsed office building. The two brats they had been fighting stumbled out, the electric kid grabbing his bleeding arm, blood leaking down his face as he looked at the villains desperately.

“PLEASE, HELP US!” the earlobe girl begged, dirt and tears covering her face.

“You gotta get us out of here!” the electric boy added, gagging and coughing.

“Save you? You know we’re villains right?” a woman with kangaroo-like legs and tail sneered, rubbing her nose. “We’re here to kill brats like you.”

“PLEASE!! Something’s happening, some kind of villain with some kind of biology altering Quirk, and-” the electric kid’s speech suddenly stopped, a red foam pouring out of his mouth, his skin turning a sickly gray, and his eyes a sickly shade of white. *Hrrrrrkk…!*

“The fuck’s up with-” the Long-legged man’s words were cut off when the boy tackled Jiro, who screamed and struggled against her classmate.

“You assholes, save m- AGH!” The Ear girl’s words cut off into a wet scream, the undead electric boy biting into her neck, blood spraying everywhere. Before any of the villains could speak, a series of snarls and groans caught their attention. A massive crowd, drawn by the noise and made from a mix of the students and villains that hand guy had brought, but all of them had white eyes, gray skin, and missing chunks of flesh. The group, zombies the villains realized in horror, shuffled forward. A few broke off, swarming the earlobe girl, and a wet, tearing sound gave the villains all they needed to hear before they took off, followed by more zombies.

“Fucking Zombies?!” Bull man shouted, panting.

“This can’t be real, this can’t be real!” The paste villain muttered, rubbing his irritated nose.

The Long legged villain, unfortunately, found himself tripping and falling. Before he could get up, he was tackled by the zombies, his body pinned down. They didn’t even hear his scream when the sounds of tearing and crunching filled the air, compelling the five to run faster. Unfortunately, they quickly found themselves surrounded, several of their fellow villains and thugs, now shuffling zombies, approaching from the other end, leaving the only available spot to hide being an alley that turned out to be a dead end.

“Nuts to this, I’m out!” the fly villain muttered, taking off to the air.

“Get back here you cowardly bug!” the woman with squid arms shouted to him as the zombies swarmed the remaining four. The fly looked down, horrified at the sight straight out of a Zach Snyder film, when a voice cut through the growls.

“INDISCRIMINATE SHOCK! TWO MILLION VOLTS!”

A loud *BZZ-ZAP!* of electricity erupted from the alleyway, blinding the Fly Heteromorph. Before his vision could readjust, he heard a muffled gunshot and found himself pinned to the alley wall by a massive web.

“I seriously can’t believe that worked.”

The fly-man looked down, his jaw dropping as the horde of zombies, now still as statues, vanished in a cloud of pixels, the only two remaining being the electric kid and the earlobe girl, both of them covered in blood but unharmed. Nearby, the villains he had been assigned to laid on the ground, twitching in pain. So confused and angry, the fly villain could only shout “What the fuck?!”

.:Put simply, you were played, bug man.:.

The fly looked up, and hovering down was a young man in a scaly green suit with gold armor, a purple cape, and a silvery blue dome helmet. He turned toward Kaminari, his voice cheerful, as if he wasn’t standing before a pissed off villain who had been trying to kill his classmates a short while ago. .:How’d your live performance debut work out?:.

“It was awesome!” Kaminari said, his mouth stained red. “That “blood foam capsule” thing worked like a charm! And when the holograms popped up, I slipped over here without issue!”

“Yeah, the bite pack was neat, too!” Jirio admitted, peeling off a hidden fluid sprayer attached to her neck and mouth. “It was actually almost fun. What was that sound effect though? The one where I was being bitten.”

.:Just celery being twisted combined with bell peppers getting crushed, with an overlay of wet gravel being grinded in my hands. Oh, and the bloodier noises were actually just wet grapefruits being squished.:. Midoriya explained, smirking through his now clear helmet. .:I spend like, two hours a day just breaking, tapping, scrapping, hitting, and squishing stuff to make the sound effects I need. It’s tedious, but necessary:.

Kaminari snorted in laughter. “Dude, you used celery to make some villains wet themselves! That’s awesome!”

“Wait, what about the zombies?” Jirio asked, securing the villains with some cable ties. “How’d you make so many, and so quickly?”

.:My drones scan everyone they meet so I can create holograms of them, and I have a program that can alter them as needed.:. Midoriya explained, demonstrating with a hologram of himself that he turned into a zombie, a punk rocker with a mohawk, a cyborg, a Spider-man variant, a goblin, an old man, an anthro rabbit with green fur, a blue-skilled alien, a young woman, and a demon. .:That being said, it doesn’t really work as well without the suggestibility gas to nullify the uncanny valley effect and it’s less effective the closer they get to someone, which is why I put the makeup on you.:.

“I don’t know what that is… wait, why’d you bring a makeup kit to a class on rescue missions?” Kaminari asked, wiping the fake blood off his face and arm with a wet wipe.

Before Midoriya could speak, he was interrupted by an indignant “Let me out of here, you little shits!”

Midoriya looked up at the wall, dismissing the hologram. .:Ah, right… you.:. Midoriya floated up and over to the trapped villain, Kaminari and Jirio joining him on a nearby fire escape. .:Listen, Stockman, we just wanna know who your leaders are and what they’re planning.:.

“I ain’t sayin’ nuthin, punk!” the villain spat on his helmet, the glob sizzling lightly without damage.

Midoriya blinked, a cloth hanky appearing in his hand as he calmly wiped away the villain’s goop. With a calm, serious expression, Midoriya’s helmet turned opaque once again as he spoke gravely. .:Then you leave me no choice.:.

Midoriya made a series of twitches and gestures with his left hand, raising it up to the Fly heteromorph, the eye on the palm lighting up in purple and green.

“You… you’re not gonna hurt me! You’re a hero!” the Fly muttered, but he didn’t seem so sure.

“Mid- Mysterio…” Jirio said, her tone concerned. Midoriya said nothing, but twitched his hand… and a small puff of mist sprayed out, inciting the fly villain to start coughing and hacking. Jirio was about to protest when she caught the scent of the mist. “...Peppermint?”

.:It’s a strong smell that I use to hide myself from people with heightened senses… and it just so happens that flies HATE the stuff. It won’t hurt him, but he’ll feel miserable.:. Midoriya calmly explained. .:Now…. Are you going to talk?:.

“It’ll take- *cough!* *hack!* more than that get me to talk!” the fly muttered between bouts of coughing. “That punk… *cough!* *cough!* with the hands is scarier *cough!* than you!”

Midoriya calmly sprayed more peppermint oil into the Fly-heteromorph’s face, making him cough and hack. .:I made a believable zombie apocalypse happen with only five minutes of prep time and you idiots searching for us.:. Midoriya calmly typed a new command into his gauntlet, keeping the glowing eye in the villain’s view. .:I can get scarier if I have to. I can even make you see what you fear the most.:.

“I *cough!* seriously doubt-” The fly man’s speech was interrupted by the Mysterio helmet bursting apart, bits of glass falling to the ground as, growing out of the now limp costume, was a massive Venus fly trap monster with a dripping maw. Behind the student, Kaminari and Jirio had also morphed into plant monsters, a yellow trumpet and a cape sundew respectively, hungrily slithering over to the flytrap. The Midoriya-plant monster reared back, its jaws wide open, corpses of other insects and humans within the void of its mouth, and lunged forward. “WE’RE HERE TO KILL ALL MIGHT!” the fly man cried out, the massive plant monster stopping just short of chomping down.

.:What do you mean?:. The flytrap monster asked in Midoriya’s voice, moving back only by a meter.

“That guy with the hands, Shigaraki! He’s got some plan to kill the Symbol of Peace! He spread a ton of cash around and hired a bunch of us to act as muscle!” the fly man elaborated, visibly sweating. He was certain it was an illusion, but every time he looked at the plant monsters, he couldn’t help but get a feeling of fear. A primal one that had stuck with him ever since he had watched Jumanji in his youth.

“But All Might’s the toughest hero around! How’s a bunch of dumb thugs supposed to take him out?” The pale pitcher plant asked in the electric boy’s voice.

“That muscly guy he’s with, Nomu! He kept bragging about it being “mini maxed” or some shit to handle All Might!” the Fly explained. “The guy kept using video game terms, so I didn’t really get what he was saying beyond that!”

“What about the other two with him?” The sundew monster spoke in the girl’s voice, two barbed vines slithering over and pointing at the Fly threateningly. “The portal guy and the blood guy?”

“I don’t know! I hadn't seen them before I met Shigaraki! I just know that they go by Kurogiri and Blood_Spider!” the Fly explained.

.:You don’t know anything else?:. Midoriya asked, another plant monster, this one looking like a demonic red spider lily, slithering towards the fly man, sap dripping like drool from its teeth-like stamens.

The Fly racked his brain for anything that might have been helpful. “No, just, uh… Oh wait, that Nomu thing! He said it was engineered somehow! Gamma radiation and extra quirks ‘n crap!”

“What about the Quirks of your comrades?” the female plant monster asked.

“I’ll… I’ll tell you what I know.”

Ochako dodged the blades thrown by the villains. For five minutes she’d been in the mountain zone, and from the moment she arrived she had encountered peril and danger. Thankfully she wasn’t alone, but since it was Mineta with her, she wasn’t too sure about how she felt.

“This sucks! I’m with one of our class’ beauties and I can’t enjoy it!” the boy whined, throwing his balls at a mole-like villain that popped out of the ground a short distance away. The cluster hit the man in the face and sent him down, immobilized.

“I’m starting to wonder if you even want to be a hero.” Ochako muttered, lobbing a boulder at the villain that tried to attack with blades. The boulder shattered on impact and knocked him out, but there was still a good number of the thugs around.

“Of course I do! But I don’t wanna fight bad guys this soon! Only a crazy person would want to fight villains a few weeks into hero school!” Mineta shot back.

In the Fire hazard zone, Bakugo sneezed.

“You okay, Baku-bro?” Kirishima asked his classmate, throwing aside a man with molten yellow skin.

“‘Course I’m fine!” Bakugo shot back, taking out a chameleon-like villain who tried to sneak attack him. “If all it took was a sneeze to weaken me, then I would have no place as a hero! So don’t even insinuate that I’m that weak, got it Shitty Hair??”

“So Manly…!” Kirishima smiled, his sharp teeth a manic grin. “Hell yeah, man! Heroes need to be tough and able to overcome any obstacles that get in their way!”

“Yeah, I just said that, dumbass.” Bakugo muttered flatly, but Kirishima just laughed.

“I think that’s the last of them.” Ochako muttered, panting heavily. Her stomach felt like it was a balloon animal, but the villains around them had all fallen, either immobilized or knocked out by thrown objects. Ochako was really glad Midoriya had suggested adding ginger pills to her costume’s storage pieces, since they helped with the feeling in her stomach.

Before she could suggest they try to find their way back to the plaza, the ground exploded behind her, and a man wearing a skull-shaped helmet popped out and grabbed her arm.

“Try anything and the girl fries, runt!” the villain, Tesla, spat at Mineta, his other hand sparking with electricity.

“Let go of me!” Ochako tried to grab him, but a zap from his hands sent her to her knees, not that the weight impaired the villain much.

“It’d be so easy to kill you all, but in case things go south, it’s good to have some insurance.” The villain sneered, looking at the diminutive boy, “‘course, I only need one hostage, so if either of you try anything again-”

The man was interrupted by a large rock hitting him in the back of his head. The rock, which seemed to have been hovering, was raised again, but a blast from Tesla’s hands shot out and hit the invisible girl carrying it, the light warping around her for a brief moment.

“Toru!” Ochako tried to get up, but her muscles were still spasming from the electricity.

“Oh, you’re dead-” Tesla’s insult was cut off by a smaller rock beaning him on the head.

“EAT MY BALLS YOU FUCK!” Mineta ran forward, clutching a circle made of his balls like a shield, his forehead leaking blood into his eyes. Whether that was the cause of his tears, or just the situation in general, Mineta was crying hard as he ran forward. The villain shot out a stream of electricity, but the orbs, rubbery by nature, protected the diminutive boy, who tackled the man shield first. “Go to hell you sick bastard and rot there you sick fuck!!” Mineta was ripping off his balls and pressing them all over the villain’s body, his arms, his helmet, doing everything to keep him from moving. “Fuck you fuck you fuck you-”

“Mineta! He’s down.” Toru grabbed the boy’s arm. “Dang, I didn’t think you had it in you.”

“He’s a villain! I couldn’t hold back!” Mineta, panting and sobbing, looked up at Toru. “And you couldn’t have appeared sooner when all those villains were attacking us?!”

“I don’t have any combat experience! I was going to be an underground hero!” the invisible girl shot back. Thankfully, her outfit was apparently lined with something like rubber that protected her from the worst of the electricity. Unfortunately, her costume now had a burn mark that rendered her suit partially visible.

“Guys, enough!” Ochako shakily stood up, her hand still twitching, but her face set. “We need to get back to the plaza and see if we can get help. But first… remove that guy’s helmet.” Mineta looked at her like she was crazy, but Toru had no such objections and obeyed. Before the villain could do more than open his mouth, Ochako stomped on his face, knocking him out. “Okay, let’s go.”

“....why are there so many scary people in my class..?” Mineta whimpered, following behind them. At the exit to the mountain zone, a beep caught their attention. Hovering over, one of Midoriya’s Scenery drones decloaked. “Oh great, now Midoriya’s going to kill us.”

“He does not intend to, nor will I.” a calm, American-accented voice spoke through the drone.

“Who’re you??” Toru asked, but Ochako stepped forward.

“You’re Tsuburaya, Midoriya’s trainer, yes?”

“That is correct. And I’ve come here to gather you all to the exit. Save for you, Miss Uraraka. Midoriya needs your help with something.”

Three minutes prior

Midoriya left the alleyway with his classmates. The hypnosis glove had worked like a charm, and the suggestibility gas enhanced the effects of the hologram. He wasn’t sure if the Fly man would have reacted to the sight of carnivorous plants, but his gamble had thankfully paid off. Once he had gotten what he wanted from the Fly man, he sprayed him with knockout gas, and used his web net gun to secure the other villains.

.:Okay, so this Shigaraki guy has disintegration powers and speaks in gaming terminology… the Nomu is super strong and can tank hits… Kurogiri has to know the GPS location to open a portal at a spot… and Blood_Spider-:.

“I can’t believe that guy insists on an underscore in his name.” Kaminari interrupted.

“Tell me about it.” Jirio muttered, before pointing ahead. “Oh, Midoriya, what do you wanna do about that guy?”

Spotting the knocked out long legged man, pinned down by a massive web, Midoriya approached him with some extra strong cable ties. Quickly binding him, he turned to speak with his classmates, but then his suit flashed a notification to him. Checking it, Midoriya couldn’t help but let out a whoop of joy, his helmet even turning clear to show his joy.

“What? Are we saved??” Kaminari asked.

.:Not yet, but whatever’s been jamming the signals is gone, and a friend’s contacted me!:. Midoriya immediately responded, putting the suit on speaker.

“Midoriya, there you are! What’s going on?!” Tsuburaya’s voice was panicked, a surprise for the usually stoic AI.

.:Tsuburaya, call for help! Villains have infiltrated the USJ! Aizawa is fending off most of them, but one of them had a warp Quirk and he separated me from most of my class!:. Midoriya hurriedly explained. .:I don’t know where most of them are!:.

“All Might is still about five minutes away, but the other teachers are on their way now.” Tsuburaya assured the trio, who allowed a sigh of relief to escape. At least, until Midoriya remembered what the fly villain had told him.

.:Wait, Tsuburaya, you’ve got to stop All Might! The villains have some kind of monster made to kill All Might! I’m sending over the information I’ve gathered now!:. Midoriya quickly explained, typing in the command.

“That’s not good… but shoot, the man left his phone behind, so I can’t call him, and I doubt he’d stop until he got there.” Tsuburaya muttered, analyzing the data. “You’ll have to stop this monster on your own somehow.”

“What?!” Kaminari yelped. “If that thing was made to… to kill All Might, what good are we going to do?!”

“Yeah, let the teachers handle this!” Jirio chimed in. Midoriya was about to agree with them, but then a thought struck him.

‘They don’t know about All Might’s limit… if he comes here, pushing himself, that could have devastating long term effects on his quirk and body! I need to stop the Nomu before All Might shows up, but what can I do to convince them…?’ Midoriya quietly mused, before getting an idea. .: Guys, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from training as Mysterio’s successor, it’s that brawn is not everything. If it’s made to fight All Might, that means it’s most likely been specialized to deal with someone like him, but not people who fight differently from All Might.:.

“That’s not going to help much if it crushes us before we can take it out.” Jirio pointed out.

.:He’s not going to crush us because you two are going to hang back.:. Midoriya explained. .:I’ll handle the Nomu… but I need you guys to remove any students or teachers that have passed out just in case.:.

“Are you insane?! That thing will crush you!” Kaminari looked at Midoriya like he was crazy.

.:He can’t crush me if he can’t see me.:. Midoriya reminded him. .:Look, every minute we spend arguing is another chance for our classmates to die! We need to at least buy enough time for help to get here! We’re here to be superheroes, right?? Well the only difference between a superhero and a normal hero is just how far they’re willing to go to face down unfair odds, and I’m going to fight, with or without you!:.

Jirio and Kaminari looked at the boy before them. When they first laid eyes on him, they thought he was just a quiet, odd boy with a habit for quiet muttering and a fondness for drones. The battle trial showed that he was a devious, creative young man with a showman’s streak and a willingness to play dirty, even when he claimed that he wanted to be a hero.

But now they saw a fiery passion in his eyes, a glare that showed he was completely serious about being a hero. And what’s more, he believed that he could pull it off, no, that he knew that he could do it.

It was so strong that, for a moment, they also believed it.

“Okay… what’s the plan?” Jirio asked.

.:First… we’re going to need some help from our classmates, especially you, Jiro.:.

Baymaxima dashed towards the portal user, Kurogiri, he had called himself, her energy katana slashing the air in front of her with a distinct hum. The villain dodged, opening up another portal for the blade to go through so it would damage its wielder. But Baymaxima knew better than that and shut off the blade the moment she perceived the portal appearing. She turned towards the villain, flames spewing from the monster face on her torso. The Portal Villain warped away before he could be hurt, but was visibly annoyed.

“So you live up to your lineage, robot.” Kurogiri muttered.

“I am an android!” Baymaxima retorted, the nanites surrounding her hand extending out into several tendrils that shot forward. Even when Kurogiri tried to redirect it, the nanites simply went around the portal and jabbed him in the neck brace. The villain screamed in pain, the attack dazing him for a moment. Thirteen took this chance to step in, the caps on her fingers opening up to suck the villain in.

Retracting her nanites and letting her systems cool down from the unending assault, the android hero looked down at the plaza, where her friend and coworker was still fighting the horde of villains. Many of the villains had already been taken out, but Baymaxima was still worried, because Aizawa was starting to tire out. She could tell even from the top of the stairs. The time between each one of Aizawa’s Quirk’s Tell was shortened. At first it had been by mere quarter seconds, but then it became half seconds. Full seconds. Three seconds.

Then all of a sudden, the villain beside the man covered in hands moved forward, tendrils of blood emerging from the suit. Aizawa turned to glare, but a spray of blood to the eyes blinded the Pro-hero, and the tendrils dug into Aizawa’s chest, before growing bigger and retracting.

Baymaxima wanted to help, but the momentary distraction allowed Kurogiri to damage Thirteen with her own Quirk. She wanted more than anything to help Aizawa, but she couldn’t leave her students alone with this villain either.

Down below, Blood_Spider used his tendrils to lift Aizawa off the ground, the man pale and tired-looking from the sudden blood loss.

“Mind if I kill this guy?” Blood_Spider turned to Shigaraki. “I could use more ammo.”

“Go ahead. That scarf would make for some great loot, if the rumors about it are true.” Shigaraki said with a smirk.

*SHATTER!*

But before Aizawa could go to the great cat cafe in the sky, the glass ceiling burst open, and from it, a massive figure leaped down, laughing.

“Have no fear, students, for I AM HERE!” shouted All Might, wearing his teacher’s uniform, a massive smile on his face.

“It's about time….!” Blood_Spider muttered, dropping the Class 1-A Homeroom teacher, who fell to the ground with a grunt.

Shigaraki laughed. “Finally the raid boss appears! Nomu, kill All Might!”

The Nomu… to say it dashed forward would have been too slow. It was closer to teleportation with how fast it appeared and punched All Might. The hero was sent backwards, but recovered enough to get his bearings and unleash a volley of punches. Shigaraki wasn’t concerned, however, in fact, he felt quite cocky.

“Don’t bother trying to fight, Symbol of Peace, ” the young man spat out the title like it was an insult. “Nomu has been minmaxed specifically to deal with you, and his creator even got some DLC installed just to be even tougher!”

“SO WHAT?? I WON’T LET THIS VILLAIN BRING HARM TO MY STUDENTS, EVEN IF YOU MAXED OUT ITS STATS!” All Might proclaimed, dashing forward and socking the monster in the jaw, who barely reacted. “What?! My punch did nothing?!”

“Of course not! Nomu has Shock Absorption!” Shigaraki bragged.

All Might ran forward, landing blow after blow upon the monster, who barely reacted to them. The monster returned the hits, but All Might, the mountain of a man, didn’t even flinch in response, and kept moving around, not staying in one place for more than a second. One blow did manage to knock the monster’s leg out of place and twisted it almost backwards, sending it to its knees, but that leg quickly snapped back into place.

“How..?! I thought you said that its Quirk was Shock Absorption?!” All Might shouted, aghast at the sight.

“I did… but who said that was its ONLY quirk??” Shigaraki laughed, spreading its arms out. “It’s the bioengineered anti-symbol of peace, made solely to kill you! And it’s also got Super Regeneration, so even if you COULD damage it, it’ll just heal right back up in an instant! Nothing you can do can harm it! Even your strongest blows aren’t enough to stagger it!!”

Blood_Spider laughed. Things were going just like his friend had predicted! All Might was fighting the Nomu, the heroes were down, the students were spread out among the villains in waiting, and their hypocritical, favoritism spewing school was going to suffer dearly for- wait…

Blood_Spider’s eyes narrowed. All Might was moving fast, kicking up dust, but something was off. The way the dust moved, it looked off. It wasn’t sticking to the Symbol of Peace, but why…?

Blood_Spider gathered a ball of blood in his hand and, with a swipe, threw it towards the two giants fighting. The blood splattered harmlessly on Nomu…. But it passed right through All Might like he wasn’t there! Instead it splattered onto something, or rather someone, invisible.

“Oh crap…” the fake All Might muttered.

“The fuck is this?!” Shigaraki yelled. “Nomu, clear the air!”

Obediently, the monster smacked its hands together. The dust around them shot out, coating several hovering drones, hidden by holograms like the one from the fake All Might, who promptly vanished in a cloud of pixels. At the same time, the invisible person appeared in a cloud of smoke, and….

You had GOT to be fucking kidding.

“Who the fuck is this griefing hacker?!” Shigaraki screamed in anger, scratching at his neck.

“Whoever they are, they’ve got a fetish for Mysterio.” Blood_Spider muttered, Shigaraki looking over incredulously.

“Wait, that nobody American villain who attacked Tokyo?? And someone in the hero course is using their costume?” Shigaraki almost laughed, but the sheer idea of it made him want to gag. Like when a game remake locked content the original had behind a paywall, or added loot boxes.

.:Well, it seems my farce has indeed been uncovered.:. The hero student suddenly spoke up, before he bowed low in a flamboyant manner, his drones hovering over to join him. .:I am indeed Mysterio, and I intend to redeem the name from that of a vile villain to that of a hero who heralds hope! But for now I’ll settle with clearing out some low tier villains from my school.:.

“Low tier?!” Shigaraki snarled, turning back to the student. “No one else has broken into USJ! No one else managed a successful stealth mission to get info about the teaching schedule for All Might!”

Mysterio simply shrugged. .:Perhaps… and yet, All Might chose not to show up. I suppose he had something more important to do than play with a noob manchild and his one decent unit.:.

Shigaraki screamed in anger. “Then let’s raise my level by killing a few- What?!”

Blood_Spider followed Shigaraki’s gaze. Behind them, the area had been cleared of villains and heroes. Even Aizawa, who had been little more than a meter away from the blood user, was gone!

.:Oh dear… it looks like the NPCs’ loot table has a limited time for collection before expiring. Oh well.:. Mysterio said with a shrug.

“NOMU! KILL THAT MODDER!” Shigaraki screamed. Nomu immediately charged forward, punching Mysterio in his stupid helmet, but the figure shattered like glass, and the cracks spread far beyond the fake villain, spreading past Nomu, cutting him off from the two villains. The cracks continued to surround the two, the chunks of air falling out of place like shards of glass, revealing a dark void filled with purple smoke behind it, the ground now  platform suspended over nothing. “What the fuck is this?!” Blood_Spider didn’t respond, instead just gathering blood around his hands and back to form claws.

.:This is MY world…!:. Mysterio rose up from the void, easily twice the size of Mt. Lady at full height, hovering atop a cloud of green smoke. .:And here, I’m in God mode.:.

“It’s just an illusion, Tomura-kun! His powers are about as dangerous as a cartoon!” Blood_Spider tried to assure his friend, but a massive fist appeared from a runic circle and punched him to the ground. The fist vanished into green smoke, but the impact had been real and had driven the blood manipulator to the ground. Shaking, Blood_Spider rose, supported by four tentacles of blood sprouting from his back.

.:Tell me, little spider… did THAT feel like a cartoon?:. The giant Mysterio growled. Smoke rose up from his feet and formed new figures. Several smaller copies of Mysterio stepped forward, some wielding laser pistols, others had scimitars, and some were creating circles with arcane runes within them.

Not far away from the villains, Midoriya, wearing only the Sleeper Hit, took several deep breaths. He was glad that he had sent out the Blockbuster on its own with Tsuburaya piloting it, in case his hastily crafted illusion was found out. It had only taken four minutes for that, but Midoriya was still able to glean plenty of information from the battle with Nomu.

For example, he had already obtained a copy of Shigaraki’s voice and added it to his mimicry program to try and take control of the Nomu. However, it seemed that whoever made it considered this a possibility, and the Nomu had ignored his words. Midoriya wasn’t sure how it knew he was a fake, but either way, that left the simplest option unavailable to him.

Another one was that, unless it interfered with an order, the Nomu was content to ignore anything that hit it. While sending the All Might illusion after it, he had commanded his drones to attack with lightning, lasers, air cannons, and even ramming themselves, which temporarily took out a leg. But the monster gave no indication that it felt anything, just staring ahead with its blank, unseeing eyes. Problematic, but it also meant that Midoriya could set up for his plan without interference from the Nomu.

However, he wasn’t focused on that at the moment, but rather, some words his classmate had said only a short while ago:

“If my Quirk’s too spread out it won’t do any real damage.”

When Kaminari had said it, he was referring to his own power being used externally. But, as he was applying the fake wounds to the electric boy and Jirio, Midoriya realized that the same philosophy could apply to his own quirk. Though he had to use a… different analogy to help with visualizing it.

‘Imagine the taiyaki spread out evenly in the microwave…’ Midoriya thought to himself like a mantra. It was a strange sensation, trying to call up little more than five percent of his power… but by letting it flow constantly throughout his body all at once, he felt the power stabilizing within himself without damage. He opened his eyes, now glowing bright behind his goggles, green lightning flashed across his body without harming his electronics or costume. The sensation... It felt like he was covered in a cloak and a cowl… so it only made sense to give it one name.

‘One for All: FULL COWLING!’

Midoriya wanted to run forward, enact the next part of his plan immediately, but instead he moved slowly, carefully. Despite the ongoing crisis, he couldn’t move fast, not yet. This power just appeared, and Midoriya couldn’t risk hurting himself, not at this point.

“Oh my…”

Midoriya looked over. Nearby, Jirio stood with Ochako and Momo, the latter staring at the lightning emanating from his form in awe.

“I had… a revelation about my power.” Midoriya said simply. “With it, and your guys’ help, we can make things easier for the heroes when they arrive.”

“Jirio said that.. thing was made to kill All Might, though…” Momo muttered, nervous.

“Which is exactly why we need to take it out of play.” Midoriya said firmly, but gently. “I’m under no impression that we can kill it, but maybe we can get rid of it.”

“What do you need?” Jirio asked, adjusting her gauntlets to their highest settings.

“First… Momo, I’m going to need a lot more web formula.” Midoriya said, pulling out his Web Net Gun and handing her the casings for the ammo. “And you’ll need your own gun.”

Things weren’t going well for Baymaxima.

In fairness, she wasn’t specialized for combat, but rather rescue and disaster, so a prolonged battle like this was going to wear her down fast no matter what. At least now her backup drive was reconnected, and she could tell that the pro heroes were on their way, but it was going to take time for them to get here.

Not helping matters was that the Portal Villain wasn’t afraid to attack the students to distract her, as Sero found out while trying to patch up Thirteen’s costume with his tape. Sato was able to keep him safe, thankfully, but it showed that the android heroine couldn’t let up in her attack even once.

However, the one comfort she could take away from this was that even if she was wearing down, the Portal Villain was unable to aid the villains. She had initially been ecstatic upon hearing All Might’s booming voice, but a quick scan told her that it was just a swarm of combat drones, and that Midoriya was trying to fight the villains on his own.

If she wasn’t angry at how reckless it was, she would have been in awe of his bravery.

As it was, she decided to at least make things easier for him by keeping Kurogiri away from the leader. Shoji and Sato had taken to trying to pry the doors open for the students to escape through, and they were close to succeeding.

But a single slip-up in her attention sent her torso-first into a portal, which Kurogiri immediately cut off with a loud *CRUNCH!*

“BAYMAXIMA-SAMA!” Tenya screamed as her legs fell to the ground.

Baymaxima’s top half fell to the ground nearby, sparks, nanobots, and oil spilling out of her torso. “I-I’m a-a-alive..!” she stuttered out, her systems glitching, before her body fell limp.

“No! Sensei!!” Tenya shouted, sobbing.

“Finally.” Kurogiri focused on the students, ready to warp them away to the rest of the villains in waiting.

“DIRECTED SHOCK! TWO MILLION VOLTS!”

Kurogiri spun around in time to see a massive bolt of electricity hit him in the neck brace, sending him to the ground, a good chunk of his smoke-covered form vanishing as a result. Before he could get up, he was pinned down by the muscular boy, Sato, who grabbed some tape from his classmate and started binding the warp villain’s hands together. Close by, Kaminari appeared, resetting his costume’s circuit breaker, walking beside a drone shaped like an upside down Eye of Providence and a... hovering burn mark carrying Eraserhead?

“Toru! Kaminari! Thank god! Where are the others??” Sero asked from beside Thirteen, his classmate Tenya standing by Baymaxima’s upper torso protectively. Shoji took Aizawa off Toru's hands, supporting their passed out teacher with several extra limbs and carefully laying him beside Thirteen.

“Midoriya, Jirio, and I were in the Urban ruins zone, and I encountered Tsu and Momo leaving the Water Rescue. Ochako, Mineta, and Toru were leaving the mountainous regions.” Kaminari paused and took out a small tablet marked with Mysterio’s eye, tapping it before continuing. “According to Midoriya’s drones, Bakugo and Kirishima are in the Fire Zone having the time of their life, Mina and Tokoyami are in the Downpour Zone- oof, that’s gotta hurt… but they're fine, though I think Tokoyami's in a bad mood.”

“And Todoroki is… pretty much handling the entirety of the landslide zone by himself, but Ojiro and Koda are near him, unharmed.” he finished up, much to the relief of the group.

“What about Aoyama?” Shoji asked, prompting Kaminari to check, but it took him several seconds to locate him.

“...huh, he’s hiding out in the Ruins.” Kaminari muttered. “Poor guy’s probably scared out of his mind.”

“Hold on! Why haven’t Midoriya, Jiro, Momo, and Ochako joined us up here?” Tenya asked. “We need to all escape from here and alert the teachers!”

“No worries, they’re already aware and on their way.” Tsuburaya spoke up from the drone beside Kaminari. “So you’re Ingenium’s younger brother? Hm. I hope he likes those zero friction soles I designed for him.”

“Who is this???” Tenya asked, chopping his arms and glaring at the drone in suspicion.

“...my god, Midoriya wasn’t exaggerating about how stiff you were.” Tsuburaya muttered. “ I’m Tsuburaya, Izuku Midoriya’s mentor, and I’m here to help.” Hovering over to the door, a thick laser shot out of the drone’s ‘pupil,’ slowly melting through the door’s locks. “The heroes are on their way, but in the meantime, I imagine you’d all prefer to get to safety. Oh, and don’t worry about Baymaxima. The jamming signal is gone, so she’s reconnected to her backup drive and waiting to undergo transference to a new body.”

“But our classmates-” Tenya protested.

“They’ll be fine. I’m keeping an eye on them and making sure the villains don’t hurt them.” Tsuburaya calmly interrupted. “Midoriya has a plan to weaken the head villains, so right now- Wait, GRAB THE PORTAL USER!”

Sato turned to the villain he had been guarding, but it was too late. He had vanished into a portal, the tape binding him cut with a shard of metal obtained from his fight with Baymaxima.

Shigaraki was about ready to ragequit.

It seemed like there was no end to the waves of Bots being summoned by that surprise boss! Every time he disintegrated one, two more would appear, and sometimes they weren’t even real! A decoy so that a camper could strike a blow!

Of course, he and Blood_Spider were more than sure that they were just in an illusion, not actually suspended over a void, so naturally they tried leaving, but every single time they approached the edge of the platform, that hax spammer’s massive hand would appear to backhand them back inside! It was like an invisible wall, but more mocking!

It was clear this Griefer was just kiting for this team, but that didn’t make it any less annoying! He would have been scratching at his neck, but it was already red and raw, too close to bleeding from the day’s annoyances.

He’s tried calling for the Nomu repeatedly, but for some reason his Tank wasn’t accepting his summons! Thankfully, a different party member showed up.

“Tomura Shigaraki, I apologize for the delay.” Kurogiri formed beside them, but Shigaraki wasn’t in the mood to hear his apology.

“Finally! Just get us out of this stupid illusion!”

Hearing his friend, Blood_Spider, swaying slightly, ran over and leaped through the portal, Tomura beside him. They emerged right outside a pixelated dome, surrounded by drones shaped like upside-down pyramids with eyes on them, which was evidently the source of the illusions.

Tomura wasn’t focused on that, but rather the small party of hero students attacking his Nomu!

A girl in a red outfit was firing a riot gun that shot what looked like webs all over Nomu's body, cocooning it, and reloading with more ammo that formed from her body. On the other side, a girl with elongated earlobes was pummeling the Nomu with concentrated sound blasts from her gauntlets, aided by several more drones. He didn’t see why she was bothering, since Shock Absorption would nullify it, but the fact that she even tried was an insult to him!

Behind the girl was-

“Him…!”

Shigaraki looked over. He was surprised at the sheer venom in his friend’s voice. Whoever that Green Haired boy was, Blood_Spider HATED him. Without another word, the blood controller ran forward, claws out.

The green haired boy looked over, gasped, and fell to the ground like a Matrix character. Blood_Spider flew past him, but upon landing, he stood right back up. The earphone girl looked over with concern, but the green boy shouted to her “No, keep going!”

That voice… why’d it sound familiar?

“Kurogiri, free Nomu!” Shigaraki ran forward, but found himself knocked down. Before them, a swarm of drones decloaked, and Mysterio reappeared.

“Midoriya, over here!” a new voice, American accented, spoke from the suit, flying over to the green haired boy, who must have been Midoriya. While more drones kept Blood_Spider busy, Midoriya pulled off the suit’s helmet and- wait.

Where was that griefing fucker with the hax?!

Midoriya, without stopping, quickly climbed into the suit, pulling it over like it was a set of one piece pajamas, snapping the helmet back into place.

Oh… that motherfucker.

“You don’t deserve to be here!” Blood_Spider screeched, slashing at the faux-super villain, who deflected the blow with a swipe of his arm, and punched him in the gut, sending Shigaraki’s friend flying back by nearly a dozen meters. If it hadn’t been for the cushion of blood on his torso, it might have been five times that distance.

.:Ooooh.. That is so much better.:. Midoriya… no, Mysterio sighed in relief. He turned back to the villains. .:Ready for the REAL boss fight, noob?:.

Forget killing the Symbol of Peace, Shigaraki would be satisfied if he just killed this cocky Griefer!

“Nomu! Tear his limbs off! But keep him alive so that I can kill him!” he shouted, scratching at his neck.

Nomu, finally close enough to hear his commands, roared, and shifted within its cocoon. Whatever those webs were made of was strong. Stronger than steel cable, but slowly, surely, Nomu shifted forward. The girl in red, panting tiredly, fell to her knees, her riot gun supporting her. She looked thinner than a few minutes ago, and it looked as though she was finally out of ammunition.

“Midoriya, I don’t think those webs are gonna hold much longer!” the earlobe girl shouted, her arms shaking in fear even as she continued doing scratch damage against the party’s tank.

.:That’s fine! I think I can handle the rest!:. The boy shouted. Handle what? Nomu was unstoppable! .:Keep Kurogiri from interfering!:. The girl nodded and turned to Kurogiri, shooting soundwaves at him alongside the drones already griefing the portal creator.

Nomu finally managed to break free, charging at Mysterio, who wasn’t fast enough and was punched in the face. The webs slowed its arm down enough that the blow wasn’t lethal, but it did shatter part of the helmet, his green hair sticking out of the hole created. Undeterred by the battle damage, Mysterio threw himself forward, lightning forming around his body, he threw blow after blow against Nomu, each one not doing anything… at first. 

But very quickly, Nomu started reacting to each blow, until it was actually stumbling back!

“How…!?” Blood_Spider, weak from blood loss, gasped from his spot. Without relenting, Mysterio responded.

.:You said his power was Shock Absorption , not Nullification ! Meaning that all it took was enough repeated impacts to overload Nomu’s power, leaving him open to my REAL plan! NOW URARAKA!:.

From above, hanging from a drone that had cloaked itself and its passenger, a girl in a pink and black suit smacked the brain of Nomu. Without wasting a second, the drone pulled her away while Mysterio ran forward, grabbing Shigaraki’s tank, his MVP, by its ankle and flipped him onto the ground as if it was made of cardboard! But he wasn’t done! No, next he chose to use a super move, spinning himself around, dragging Nomu along the ground, lightning shooting off his body! Shigaraki ran forward, trying to stop the cheater, but another drone blasted him back, and he could only watch helplessly as Mysterio sped up until, when the two of them were a blur, Mysterio belted one final one liner before releasing Nomu.

.:NOMU, CONSIDER YOURSELF BANNED FROM THE SERVER!:.

Nomu flew through the air, out the top of the dome and out of sight in mere moments. Mysterio stood there, swaying from the spinning and panting heavily, sweat clinging to his hair, visible through the broken helmet.

Shigaraki just stared, his legs close to giving out beneath him. It was impossible. It wasn’t fair! He maxed out Nomu’s stats to take on the Symbol of Peace! A man who could leap tall buildings in a single bound and defeat any foe with one punch! How could a nobody hero student, wearing the costume of an ancient Quirkless D-lister loser, defeat his Nomu?!

“You…. YOU!!!” Shigaraki screamed, incapable of clear thought, instead charging with his arm outstretched towards the boy, who turned, ready to face the oncoming threat. Before he could grab ahold of him, the doors to the USJ exploded inwards and a gush of wind followed behind it.

“DO NOT BE AFRAID STUDENTS! BECAUSE I AM HERE!”

That phrase was followed by a sound like a thunderclap, and suddenly All Might… the real one, knocked Shigaraki away with a punch. The man, the super boss he had risked so much for, grinded for so long to kill, was finally here, and he was helpless to face him.

.:All Might, be careful, he can disintegrate anything through touch.:. Mysterio warned the Symbol of Peace, like an annoying tutorial guide. The Symbol of Peace just nodded, glaring at Shigaraki, for once not smiling, but instead scowling in cold fury. But before Shigaraki could attack, or All Might could strike, a cord of red liquid latched onto Shigaraki's shoulder and pulled him back.

Blood_Spider, panting and sweating, grabbed his friend and fled towards Kurogiri, stumbling as he did so. “We’re leaving, NOW!”

Without protest, the portal user created an exit for the young man, before vanishing himself.

The next ten minutes were a blur for All Might. He wasn’t sure what he was going to find when he got to the USJ, but thankfully, the students were largely alright, though understandably shaken.

Behind him, he could hear the teachers run in. Each one quickly went to the zones, clearing out the villains who, upon realizing their boss’ plan had failed, quickly surrendered. Tsuburaya helped with his drones where he could, administering medical supplies and helping escort the students out. Baymaxima’s bisected body was a startling sight, but she contacted Nezu to assure her students that she was alright in her backup server, and was awaiting approval to transfer over to her spare body.

All Might could feel himself being drained by keeping his hero form active, but he had to reassure the students, and pushing it a few extra minutes without doing anything strenuous wouldn’t hurt too badly.

However, watching his successor speak with Detective Tsukauchi, he couldn’t help but feel conflicted.

He was proud that the boy was able to overcome sheer adversity. He had demonstrated bravery, quick thinking, leadership skills, adaptability, and strategic prowess worthy of both of the legacies he had inherited…

But that didn’t change the fact that he had actively sought out the four most dangerous members of a group of killers for a fight. Even if he thought it was for a good reason, it was a foolish, reckless thing…

But All Might couldn’t help but feel that, if he was in a similar situation, he would have done the same thing.

‘Thor All Mighty, is being a mentor supposed to be this hard?!’

Blood_Spider stumbled through the portal into a well lit bar, dropping his friend on the ground before collapsing into a nearby booth. Kurogiri wasted no time, using his portals to summon several blood packs and a transfer kit for the villain, who jabbed the needle into his wrist, sighing in relief as it flowed through him.

.:I take it things didn’t go well?:.

Blood_Spider looked at the TV screen. Upon it was no image, only static, but words spoke through it nonetheless. The voice belonged to a man that Shigaraki had only referred to as his Sensei. Blood_spider, still exhausted from overusing his power, said nothing, and seeing as Shigaraki was taking out his anger on his third bar stool, Kurogiri chose to spoke up in his steed.

“Blood_Spider performed admirably in the circumstances, and is the reason Tomura Shigaraki is not behind bars, but the mission was a failure. Our forces were arrested, the Nomu is gone, and All Might lives.”

“And Nomu didn’t even get to face him in battle!” Shigaraki whined, reaching for his fifth stool. “Some nobody with a Mysterio avatar appeared and sent him out of the building, like an admin banning a player!”

“His name’s Izuku Midoriya.”

Shigaraki and Kurogiri looked over at Blood_Spider, now looking like he could sit up straight. “I once went to the same middle school he did, Aldera in Mustafu.”

“You knew that griefer?!” Shigaraki hissed, only for his friend to shake his head.

“Not personally. He was a year below me… but he was the only Quirkless kid in school, and the school’s resident hotshot liked pickin’ on him.”

.:...you said he was Quirkless?:. Sensei asked, his voice sounding contemplative.

“Yeah, but now he’s got lightning and super strength or something… although... it might’ve been one of his illusions, but it felt pretty real…” Blood_Spider muttered.

.:Awfully late for a quirk to appear…:. A second voice muttered from the TV. The Doctor, if he remembered right.

.:Agreed…:. Sensei sounded… not quite happy, but eager, as if he had finally figured out the answer of a puzzle.

“Well I want that deku destroyed, and I’ll do anything to get it done!” Blood_Spider stood up, ripping off his mask. "A Quirkless little shit like him shouldn't have gotten into Shinketsu's hero course, let alone the best Hero School in the world!"

.:....hm…:. The Doctor's voice was contemplative, considering. .:It just so happens that a contact in the States recently offered a batch of DNA samples of some Pre-Quirk era heroes. They weren’t of much use to us, so I turned it down, but… well… what better way to stop a Mysterio, than with a Spider-Man?:.

.:Excellent idea, Doctor! In the meantime… perhaps our little… investment at the school can make himself useful to us and plant a few seeds of discord against the boy.:. Sensei suggested, and Shigaraki could practically hear the evil smile in his words.

At home, Midoriya was looked over by his mom, who was alternating between holding her baby boy in relief and shaking him in rage over his actions.

Midoriya was halfway through an explanation of what exactly he had done when Tsuburaya’s house drone activated.

“Midoriya, turn on the TV to the news, NOW!”

Shocked by the urgency in his voice, Inko grabbed the remote and obeyed. When she saw what was displayed, her anger and worry was replaced by fear, for the news was depicting a picture of Midoriya, in his battle damaged Mysterio outfit being tended to by a paramedic, with his hair poking out, with a caption beneath it.

UA HIGHSCHOOL ENCOURAGING STUDENTS TO BE VILLAINS?

Chapter Text

Normal talking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Thinking: 'Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!'

Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

All Might Speaking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

All Might Thinking: ‘Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!’

All Might Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

Sound Effects: *BLAM!*

AIs/Computers: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Speaking Another Language: {"Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"}

Toshinori was in his apartment, quietly eating his simple dinner, hoping to unwind after the stressful few hours he’d had. Classes had been canceled for the next few days to allow the students time to recover from the ordeal at the USJ. This event would likely serve as a wakeup call for many of the students who thought being a hero was an easy way to fame and glory, though Toshinori had hoped to wait until the internships had started for the students to encounter villains. Still, many of them appeared alright, though Toshinori would be the first to admit that he sometimes had trouble reading the subtler emotions in the room. That had always been Hound Dog’s specialty, and Toshinori knew when to leave things for the professionals, so he had left early for the night to recover his strength. Thankfully he could feel that he only lost about ten minutes of his total time, but that was still ten minutes less than the world needed of All Might. Perhaps he will take up Midoriya’s offer of that hologram belt. Oh well, something to think about tomorrow, the pro hero thought as he put his now cleared away plate in the dishwasher.

He was about to turn in for the night, maybe with a nice book, when he heard his phone go off. Oddly, the phone that was ringing was his personal cell phone, not the one he used for Hero Work. Checking the ID, he blinked in surprise.

‘Mirai?? Why’s he calling me at this hour?’ Toshinori couldn’t help but hope that his former sidekick was hoping to mend some bridges. The last time they had talked was when he was telling Mirai about his choice in a successor for One for All, almost eleven months prior. That conversation had, like many others since his injury, dissolved into an argument between the two. Mirai had insisted that he had found the perfect person to take on One for All, a third year U.A. student named Mirio Togata. A day after meeting Midoriya, Toshinori had met with Togata in his emaciated form.

He could immediately see why his ex sidekick had picked him. Mirio looked and acted much like All Might was believed to act: kind, selfless, always joking, doing good for its own sake instead of any reward, and even better, his body was already in the perfect state to receive that power, meaning he would have had plenty of time to train him!

Toshinori, however, had turned the boy down. Not only because he had promised this power to young Midoriya, but because Midoriya not only had nearly everything Mirio had, but he also possessed something that Mirio and even Toshinori himself had lacked: perspective.

Midoriya was a Quirkless boy who had been taught by a supervillain. His mind was sharp, and his heart was fearless, if a bit reckless at times. Good traits any hero needed, but his mind gave him the ability to do more than just punch his way out of problems. He was a planner, he could think and read situations far better, and even perhaps talk down his enemies. Sure, the boy needed to go through hell just to be able to contain the power, but already he had been making progress in controlling it, explaining his Full Cowling the minute he had been able to speak freely.

Toshinori was not afraid to admit that he was ashamed for not thinking of such a method when he saw how Midoriya’s limbs would break. He was sure that Gran Torino would have kicked him in the face if he had learned about it. But that ultimately proved why Toshinori wanted Midoriya to be the next bearer of his Quirk. Put simply, while Mirio would have been a good fit, Midoriya was a better fit. He was even more certain after he met up with the boy at the Studio. So, hoping for the best, Toshinori answered.

“Moshi moshi-”

.:Are you insane?!:. Mirai cut him off, barely restraining the anger in his voice. .:You gave the most powerful Quirk in history to a Quirkless Supervillain?!:.

Immediately Toshinori’s hopes had been dashed, replaced with righteous anger on his successor’s behalf. “Mirai, what are you talking about?! Midoriya is not a supervillain, where did you even get that idea?!”

.:The news report that just came in on Plastic Beach News:. Mirai respondent curtly.

...what?

Opening up his phone’s web browser, Toshinori quickly checked PBN’s website and nearby coughed up blood in shock when he saw the image of Midoriya in full Mysterio costume, but with his green hair visible, being lead out by Hound Dog and Present Mic.

“What’s Midoriya doing on the late night news?!”

.:So you admit that is your chosen successor??:.

Toshinori didn’t respond to his former sidekick immediately, only looking through the article posted with the picture. Thankfully, it seemed that the news article didn’t actually drop young Midoriya’s name, only Mysterio’s. So at least he would be spared from harassment at home. That didn’t stop the article’s writer, one Jitsu Fuhai, from spreading gossip and baseless accusations that the boy had been the one to let the villains into the school, or suggesting that the thing had been set up by Midoriya to garner attention by acting as the one hero able to save the day while the teachers had been rendered helpless.

“So what if he is? And you just assumed that it was my successor despite the lack of a name?”

.:No, I made an educated guess based on their body type and hair color, along with your propensity for being shortsighted.:.

“Midoriya is a good fit for this power, Mirai!” Toshinori growled, the hand not holding his phone clenching tightly.

.:But he’s taken up the identity of a villain who attacked Japan and plagued one of the most respected Pre-Quirk era heroes! Your successor needs to inspire peace, not hatred or fear!:.

“Midoriya’s actions will prove that he is a hero!”

.:But he won’t be good enough to be the next Number 1 hero!:.

“Not everything is about the charts and polls, Mirai!”

.:Well you can’t hand your Quirk out to some random child with a sob story, it has to be to someone who can use it the right way and is worthy of your legacy, and Midoriya is not that person!:.

“That isn’t your call to make, Sasaki!”

The phone fell silent, Mirai most likely seething quietly on the other end. Toshinori took a deep breath and continued.

“Midoriya is more than aware of the scorn that persona will bring. He’s already had to face it from classmates, but he wants to prove to the world that anyone can be a hero. He has a drive unlike anyone else I’ve met, and the determination to get it done. He may not be the next symbol of peace, but he will be a symbol of hope and redemption.”

.:....your idealism can be so infuriating sometimes.:. Mirai muttered. .:I just want you to look at this pragmatically! The world can’t lose All Might-:.

“But it will.” Toshinori said quietly. “Even if, tomorrow morning, I woke up with the body in the state it was in when I debuted in Japan, Quirk at full power, I’m not going to be around forever. The world has learned to live without Steve Rogers and Peter Parker, and soon it will need to learn to live without Yagi Toshinori.”

.:Then why aren’t you picking Mirio?! He’s the perfect choice to be the next All Might!:.

Toshinori sighed, rubbing his temples with his free hand. How ironic, a sad part of him noted, that his friend who could see into the future couldn’t see past what was right in front of him, what All Might had just told him.

“I’m sorry Mirai. But I’ve made my choice.”

.:....Damn it, Toshinori.:. And without another world, Mirai hung up.

Toshinori rubbed his temples. He thought that the worst of the day’s stresses would be over, but it looked like it was going to continue well into the week. What’s more, it was clear to the Symbol of Peace that whoever had taken that photo obviously had an agenda. He doubted it was the entire reason the school had been invaded in the first place, that Shigaraki person had made their mission of killing him abundantly clear, but they obviously capitalized on the opportunity to hurt UA.

Only now, they were setting everyone else after his apprentice.

BREAKING NEWS: VILLAINS ATTENDING UA HIGHSCHOOL?

“Good evening Japan, this is Jitsu Fuhai of Shoowaysha News, here with a followup report to this afternoon’s top story. Earlier today, we received shocking news that UA High School, the number one hero school in Japan, was infiltrated by a group calling themselves the League of Villains. Thankfully, no serious injuries were placed upon the students, although the rescue heroes and UA teachers Thirteen and Baymaxima Hero 6 had received injuries that required immediate care.

“But only half an hour ago, an anonymous source sent in photographs taken from the site of the students being led out by the teachers, which clearly depict one of the students in a costume. Why is this so disturbing? Because the student in question was dressed as the Quirkless villain Mysterio.”

“For those of you unaware, Mysterio, real name Quentin Beck, was an American villain who most often opposed Spider-Man, real name Peter Benjamin Parker, back in a time when Quirks didn't exist and powers made up only twenty five percent of the planet’s population. Despite lacking powers or mutations, however, Beck was notorious in his home of New York City for his use of advanced illusion technology and robots, his final scheme sending him to Japan, where he used a giant robot disguised as a kaiju to cover up the robbery of several buildings by Beck’s men. Spider-man had stopped the villain in his tracks after only thirty minutes, but his rampage is still remembered by many to this day, so the idea of a student in a hero school was dressed as this man is disturbing to say the least.”

“In addition, given that the late villain was well known for illusions and deceit, this reporter cannot help but wonder if the attack on UA and a boy dressed in his outfit is merely a coincidence… or perhaps the events are correlated somehow. As of yet, we’ve received no comment on the villain student from UA’s principle Nezu.”

The day after the story was dropped was intense for Tsuburaya. Thankfully, the news didn’t appear to know who it was in the Mysterio costume, but the fact that the picture was taken at all disturbed Tsuburaya. Especially since he noticed that the news stations and websites that seemed the most determined to put the story out were the ones that were owned by Shoowaysha Publishing and Feel Good Inc, two groups which Tsuburaya had suspicions about the activities of, but could find no concrete evidence about.

Either way, that picture had spread like wildfire online. Various Hashtags such as #VillainofUAHigh, #NewMysterio, #SpiderManVillain, #FakeHero, #QuirklessVillainy, #USJPublicityStunt, and more had been trending on various media sites. Accompanying each one were various commenters describing fear, outrage, disgust, and in some extreme cases, death threats against the boy for his perceived involvement in the USJ attack. Tsuburaya made sure to report those particular cases and flag them as spam to be removed from the sites hosting them, but that didn’t stop them from appearing.

The only silver lining was that Midoriya tended to avoid Social Media sites in general due to an aggressive cyberbullying campaign one of his Aldera classmates had started. (A student that later found herself getting her cyberbullying, Anti-Mutant hate comments, and online harassment publicly exposed and reported to the police by an AI hacker who shall remain anonymous.) The result of which was that Midoriya was thankfully not directly exposed to the worst of these detractors, though Midoriya was still made aware of them. Tsuburaya wasn’t going to list any more of the comments, articles, and chatrooms being made to discuss this, but it seemed his classmates were still texting him questions regarding the exposure. One good thing about this ordeal was that it seemed that Midoriya had at least earned the trust of his classmates, since none of them were accusing him of evil acts, though Tenya Iida seemed to be more insistent upon Midoriya changing his identity now more than ever.

“How’s the new project going?”

Brought out of his brooding, Tsuburaya focused on Midoriya, who was at a workbench, tinkering with a new model of combat drone, one designed to defend, rescue, and protect civilians during a villain attack or disaster.

“Project…. Urgh, SNUFFLEUPAGUS is still in the planning stages, but I calculate that it will not be ready for some time now. Most likely by summer break.” Tsuburaya turned to Midoriya, unsure of how to talk about what he had shared last night. “....how are you taking… you know?”

Midoriya stopped working for a moment, fiddling with his utility tool as he tried to put his thoughts into words. “...I’m worried.”

“Well, naturally, the fact that you’ve been outed prematurely before you could garner a heroic reputation must be-”

“About my classmates.” Midoriya clarified.

“...I beg your pardon?”

“That picture only shows my green hair, but lots of people have green hair, like Tsu from my class.” Midoriya turned to look at his AI mentor. “I’m scared that people will harass them, thinking that they’re Mysterio, or just because they know me, a “villain.” I’ve already seen it happen before.”

“....you… don’t care about how you will be treated?” Tsuburaya asked, not expecting this outcome from his apprentice.

“Of course I do, but I’ve spent most of my life as a second class citizen in all but name, bullied for trying to dream about being a hero, and no one knew of my choice in persona.” Midoriya pointed out. “I was already expecting to be disliked. It came earlier than I had hoped, sure, but I’m ultimately ready to face the backlash. I’m just worried about how it’ll affect anyone around me.”

“...an interesting perspective. Perhaps you should talk to your classmates? Help them through the experience of the USJ, and they, in turn, could help you with this slander and libel?” Tsuburaya suggested.

“That’s not a bad idea…” Midoriya nodded, setting aside the tool. “Maybe I could invite my friends here?”

“What?? Are you sure?” Tsuburaya asked. “This place is kept secret for a reason, and bringing more people in makes it more likely to be exposed.”

“I’m not inviting everyone, just a few people.” Midoriya explained. “And hey, this act might show them just how dedicated we are to the Hero business.”

“...very well. Though I’m going on record by saying that I feel that this is a bad idea.” The AI muttered. “Who do you want me to send the invites to?”

STYLO NEWS DISCUSSIONS BOARD

FangsfortheMemories: Can you believe this!? A Villain at UA!

EndeavorisNumber1: And he’s Quirkless too!

Pelicanteloupe: @EndeavorisNumber1 What makes you say that?

EndeavorisNumber1: ‘cause the og Mysterio was Quirkless

H0gf4th3rizRe4l: Doesn’t mean he’s quirkless, just insensitive

RaptorLocksmith: @H0gf4th3rizRe4l He shouldn’t be using a villain persona at all!

DeadpoolsUndies: Maybe he’s there to infiltrate d school?

AntMan&theWombats: @DeadpoolsUndies Hey yeah, that makes sense! He helps villains infiltrate the school, helps fend them off, and looks good in the process!!

Ochako was upset.

No, wait, that’s not right.

Ochako was SUPER FUCKING PISSED OFF!

Much better.

She wanted to go “Hulk smash!” on those idiots who were calling her friend a villain because he chose to dress up as a villain that wasn’t even native to Japan! All morning, Ochako had read article after article, discussion board after discussion board, and each one was talking about how her classmate, the one who went up to the villains on his own to keep them distracted while she and the others moved the unconscious Aizawa away, was somehow involved in the invasion. Each time she read one such article, she had to resist the urge to place all five fingers on her phone and send it after that softball from the Quirk Apprehension Test.

But that wasn’t the main reason she was angry. Oh, it was a big part of it, but it was only a part of it.

The main reason she was angry was that she had felt so useless during the whole attack. Her only way of fighting was touching boulders and throwing them like baseballs at the villains chasing her. An effective tactic, maybe, but more than once she ran out of things to grab, or she encountered a villain who simply endured or knocked away her projectiles, leaving her to have to rely on Mineta to stop them. She had many times tried to flee by taking to the air, but several had been fast. Far too fast for her to dodge even without gravity holding her down.

Then there was that scumbag who had grabbed her, deciding that she was an easier target over her diminutive classmate. Ochako was more than well aware that if it hadn’t been for Toru, she likely wouldn’t have gotten away on her own, the man’s electricity a near perfect counter to her touch-based quirk. She wasn’t strong or fast enough to do anything to him.

Even when Midoriya said he needed her for his plan, it basically amounted to “hide until I say so, then just smack the bird guy in the face and run.” Sure, she didn’t know what else she could have done against Nomu, but she felt like, had she been more prepared, she could have at least helped Midoriya against Blood_Spider. She could have taken him down so that the villains in charge would have been arrested instead of escaping. But she couldn’t, and that lit a new fire in her heart.

All her life, she had admired Rescue Heroes. People like Thirteen and Baymaxima, who went out to rescue people in situations that couldn’t be simply punched through. It made her feel better about her own Quirk, which, while useful, was so limited and would cause her issues if used too long.

But fighting in the Mountain Zone, and seeing Thirteen and Baymaxima’s injuries while she had been getting medical attention incurred an epiphany in the young girl. Much like the Water Hose duo, her teachers focused more on Rescue Operations or teaching rather than close combat, and suffered dearly as a result. In this particular case, it had caused near fatal injuries to both of them.

Ochako would still focus on being a hero who specialized in Rescue Missions… but she would also be one who would be strong enough to fight any villains who would dare to hurt anyone she saved, and fast enough to get people out of the way. So that’s why when internships started up, she was going to seek out a hero who specialized in close quarters combat.

Still, that electric villain had moved fast, and she wasn’t exactly Quicksilver while in the air… so how could she possibly get faster?

She was brought out of her musings when her phone chimed.

Ochako blinked in surprise as she read the message. It only took a few seconds of thought before she sent her reply.

GreenFishb0wl: Hey Ochako, Toru, Mina, it’s Midoriya! Want to hang out at a safe place, away from the reporters?

MillennialFalcon: Alright! Hey, is everything okay?

GreenFishb0wl: It’s… tough. But I can’t let them get to me. So I thought I could invite a few friends over to my workshop.

FreakaChu: O hey wher u hanging? Can I com 2?

GreenFishb0wl: Sure, but fair warning, it’s in Korellia.

\v/e\v/ill|2ock`/ou: Korellia?? Isn’t that place dangerous?

GreenFishb0wl: No, just has a lot of burakumin, but don’t worry, they’re friendly.

\v/e\v/ill|2ock`/ou: Oh. Alright, then. Mind if I come too?

GreenFishB0wl: @\v/e\v/ill|2ock`/ou Not at all!

Shinkansen: @GreenFishb0wl Midoriya! I cannot condone you attempting to abscond with your classmates in such a manner! What if something goes wrong?! You’re already on thin ice with the media!

InvisiBelle: Did u seriously text “abscond”? LOL

GreenFishb0wl: @Shinkansen Why do you think I mentioned the district in a group chat that the teachers could read? I can’t get more specific than that though.

LeapFrog: Why not kero?

GreenFishb0wl: It’s a secret to everyone. ; )

GreenFishb0wl: But actually it’s because it’s at WMH, and I can’t disclose the exact street without you guys signing an NDA first for legal reasons.

LeapFrog: Ah. Makes sense kero.

FreakaChu: @LeapFrog Y u put a kero in ur txts?

LeapFrog: It’s part of my hero brand kero.

CrimsonFryIt: Committing to a theme! SO MANLY!

AlienQueenTakesBishop: @CrimsonFryIt XDXD

AlienQueenTakesBishop: @GreenFishb0wl Sadly I won’t be able to go. My moms are acting a bit clingy after everything that happened at the USJ.

InvisiBelle: @GreenFishb0wl Ditto on my end.

GreenFishb0wl: Aw, okay. I understand though.

InvisiBelle: @GreenFishb0wl Also, love the mask u made 4 me Midoriya!

QuothTheDraven: Our illusionist friend has crafted a visage for our invisible comrade?

QuothTheDraven: Lemme see! Lemme see!

QuothTheDraven: Sorry, Dark Shadow got ahold of my pho

QuothTheDraven: DS here! Tokoyami won’t let me make my own account! >:(

XxGodExplosionMurderKingxX: @InvisiBelle The fuck you need a mask for?!

InvisiBelle: I don’t, but sometimes I wonder what my face actually looks like.

Ochako was distracted from the rest of the group chat by an email sent by Midoriya. Going to her school supplied tablet, she opened up the email.

Hey Ochako! This is the NDA you need to sign. Please make sure to read it over first before signing. Tedious, I know, but this will help when we become heroes. Once you’re done, send it back to me, and I’ll email you the address.

Beneath the short message was a document that she opened up. After a quick read through, Ochako wrote her digital signature and sent it back. Only a minute later, she got the address back.

Jiro sat in the train, her headphones plugged into her phone, partly to listen to some music, but mainly to hide her distinctive earjacks.

Being the daughter of a relatively successful musician meant that she was used to hiding her Heteromorphic trait so that she’d be left alone by fans, but with Midoriya’s picture being online and her own contribution to getting rid of that Nomu, she wasn’t going to risk being harassed, whether for knowledge on Midoriya, by any wannabe villains wanting to make a name for themselves, or simply for being a Heteromorph. At least none of her classmates gave her crap for it. Even the worst one, Bakugo, just tended to put everyone down in general instead of focusing on anyone or their traits in particular.

Thinking about her classmates got Jiro thinking about the one that was making the news. Unfairly so, in her opinion. Midoriya was a weird kid, but then, she didn’t mind that. He seemed flippant on his attitudes, swapping between socially awkward dork to passionate enthusiast to devious hero, but she figured that it was due to his illusionist and acting skills influencing him. Her dad behaved totally differently onstage than offstage, after all, so she could get Midoriya acting differently depending on the situation.

Pulled from her thoughts by the train slowing down, Jiro glanced at the prompter and, seeing it was her stop, got off the train. The earjack heroine-in-training exited the train station, looking around the neighborhood of Korellia. She had never been to this neighborhood herself, but her middle school classmates would whisper about it, saying that it was a seedy place that was a wretched hive of scum and villainy matched only by the Kessel district in Hosu. A place that you were likely to be robbed unless you joined a gang.

But honestly, it just looked sad.

It was mostly several old buildings, cracked sidewalks, and a couple of dirty stores along her path. She did spot a few Burakumin wandering around, but none of them bothered her. She eventually made it to Jacen Street, where she saw Kaminari, Ochako, and a girl with pink dreadlocks she had seen around UA approaching her.

“Hatsume!” Ochako called to the girl, who looked up from a sketchbook she had her nose in, having been startled by the gravity girl's voice.

“Oh! ‘Chako, right?” the girl, Mei said, snapping her notebook shut. “Is this everyone coming?”

“You know her?” Kaminari asked, tossing an empty hamburger wrapper in a nearby trash can.

“Yeah, Mei Hatsume is one of Midoriya’s friends, and she helped make our costumes.” the gravity girl explained.

“Oh! Awesome! That circuit breaker thing is awesome, by the way. I’d have been useless and probably dead several times over without it.” Kaminari told the girl with a smile, who just smiled  slightly and muttered “glad you like it” before looking away. Apparently this was unusual, because Ochako looked at her in surprise and a bit of concern. Before she could vocalize her thoughts, another voice spoke up.

“Ah, good, four of you showed up.”

From behind a boarded up DvD store a Caucasian man with white hair and a goatee appeared, rubbing his glasses on his brown suit before replacing them on his face.

“Hey Tsubu.” Mei said simply, returning to her notebook without so much as an upward glance.

“You’re Tsuburaya, Midoriya’s trainer?” Kaminari asked.

“Among other things.” he said with a shrug. “Anyways, Midoriya is expecting you all. Please, follow me.” Without another word, he led the four around the back of the building. “Miss Yashida.” he nodded to an older woman in the alleyway, who looked up from her ramen cup and hummed in response.

After only a moment’s hesitation, the four students followed him to the back door, which swung open on its own as he approached. Jiro blinked in surprise. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting to see in the building, but a nice, if plain rec room wasn’t it. She thought that she was visiting a support company, not a clubhouse.

“Is that a gym in the back??” Ochako asked, looking past the room to where the main area of the store would have been.

“A testing ground.” Tsuburaya clarified, but turned to a shelf filled with DvDs and- wait, it’s a hidden door?? It must have been, because as he approached the shelf swung wide open, revealing a hidden staircase, right out of a murder mystery novel.

“Whoa, it’s like something out of Lupin III!” Kaminari gasped with a smile. Tsuburaya nodded, and gestured for them to follow him down the flight of steps. They made it down, the modern comfort from the ground floor transforming into something out of a fantasy styled dungeon. The next door, under the watchful gaze of a stone gargoyle, opened up as Tsuburaya approached it, and Jiro could feel her jaw drop at the sight.

“Whoa…!” Kaminari muttered.

“Is… all this..?” Ochako asked, looking around the chamber in awe at the costumes, animatronics, wax statues, and models that filled the chamber.

“The Japanese lair of the original Mysterio…” Tsuburaya said… before a swarm of pixels enshrouded him, and emerging from it was a man in Mysterio’s original outfit. “And my originator.”

“You’re an AI??” Ochako asked, hands on her cheeks in shock. She started to hover, but Jiro caught her and pulled her back down. Fighting an embarrassed blush, Ochako restored gravity to herself.

“I am.” Tsuburaya? Mysterio? The AI confirmed. “I was made by Dr. Otto Octavius from the brainscan of Quentin Beck, here to guide the next Mysterio to take up the mantle.”

“And that would be me!”

Everyone looked over, Midoriya stepping out from behind an animatronic Doctor Octopus. The green haired boy was wearing a casual t-shirt with the kanji for “kimono” written across it, cargo shorts, and his favorite red sneakers.

“I thought… I thought you said we were gonna be at Wondrous Might & Heroism!” Kaminari said, not offended so much as in shock.

Heh, shock.

“You are.” Midoriya explained. “Wondrous Might & Heroism is how I funded my Mysterio persona, and it all started here.”

While Midoriya explained to his friends the history behind his legacy and company, Tsuburaya vanished, reappearing next to the only true employee of Wondrous Might & Heroism. “What’s wrong?”

Mei jolted from her spot, hunched over her notebook. “Wha- nothing’s wrong!” she insisted, a smile plastered on her face. Tsuburaya only gave her a hard glare for a few seconds before she relented. “I’m… I’m scared for Midoriya. Barely twenty four hours ago he was fighting off villains- REAL villains, and only survived because he got lucky and figured out that new technique of his and All Might showed up to scare away the remaining villains!”

“I am aware.” Tsuburaya said calmly. “But he got through it with only minor fractions in his arms, which Recovery Girl healed up instantly.”

“I know, but… it’s just…” Mei looked down. “...Midoriya’s my friend… The only friend I’ve ever really had… and I wasn’t there to help him.” Tsuburaya raised an eyebrow. He knew that Mei was considered an outcast, but he had never expected her to have been that lonely.

“I mean… before I met him, I was fine with being alone. Gave me more time to make my babies, ya know?” Mei said with a small laugh. “I thought I didn’t have time for friendship, that it was a distraction at best and an annoyance at worst… and even if by some chance, I did make friends, they’d all be in the Support Course, away from danger. Why be concerned with the Heroes when I’m not gonna be involved beyond making gear for them?”

“But then, you made a friend in the Hero Course, and you realized how close you came to loosing him.” Tsuburaya finished for her.

“Yeah! I don’t wanna lose my friend!” Mei said, tears in the corner of her eyes. “I wanna be beside him… making sure that no more Nomu or jerks put him in danger again!”

“How do you intend to do that? You’re in the Support course.” Tsuburaya pointed out. Mei stopped to think, her fingers twitching compulsively as she tried to think of something.

“...if a student in a non-combat course wins the UA Sports Festival, we can be considered for entrance into the Hero Course!” Mei said, her eyes widening, before she saw the obvious problem. “But I’m not that strong or tough… how could I possibly do something like that?! Maybe I could make a baby to train my body as I slept.”

“If I may make a somewhat saner suggestion…” Tsuburaya brought up a hologram of a prototype device, one that was an improvement on a bit of older villain tech. Scooping it up in his hand, he presented it to the pink haired tinkerer.

“....didn’t that drive the original crazy?” Mei asked, looking at the device warily.

“The original device was made on a limited budget using only the technology that was available at the time, and was untested prior to its use. I’ve since improved upon it, and this device is far safer, with countermeasures against any… damages.” Tsuburaya assured her.

“.....you just want Midoriya to make a new Sinister Six huh?” Mei said with a small smirk.

“What?! How DARE you!” Tsuburaya gasped in faux-offense, putting a hand to his mouth dramatically. “I would NEVER suggest a Sinister Six to the heroic Mysterio!” the AI then smirked at the girl. “But a SAVIOR Six, on the other hand…”

“Um…. ‘scuse me?”

Tsuburaya and Mei looked over, Ochako standing behind the two patiently. “You’re making support gear out of villain tech, right?”

“....and if we are?” Tsuburaya calmly asked, dismissing the hologram in his hand.

“.....can I get something too?” Ochako asked.

For the first time that day, Mei had a genuine smile on her face.

Those bastards!

Bakugo was angry, pissed off, and severely annoyed.

Unlike his classmates, who had been terrified or scared of the villains, Bakugo had a blast at the USJ. He got to fight against real villains! He thought that wasn’t going to happen until he got his provisional license, but hey, this just proved how badass he was!

And hey, he made a friend! Kirishima was a dumbass, but he was able to take anything Bakugo could dish out and return it! Both figuratively and, as a few attacks done “in the moment”  by the two proved, literally. The only thing that bothered him about the incident was how the heat eventually started to get to him.

But when he got out, escorted by one of that gashapon-faced Deku’s drones of all things, he learned that Deku had already taken out the toughest villain there! He did something that let him overpower the villain and send it flying!

Bakugo was supposed to be the one who proved his strength, not Deku! Deku was a shitty pebble who had to rely on illusions to compliment his shitty fake quirk’s backlash! Instead, he pulled off some illusionary gambit shit and unlocked a technique to power himself up at the last minute like some fucking Dragon Ball Z protagonist!

He got to be the hero of the day!!

The only other person who seemed even close to being annoyed was IcyHot! And even then he just huffed and moved away!

‘But then… why is no one acknowledging Midoriya’s actions?’ that voice of his younger self would ask.

That, honestly, pissed him off the most. The school was attacked and instead everyone was wasting their energy spreading bullshit rumors about deku. He didn’t like the loser, yeah, but he could admit that Deku was ultimately doing something good. Hell, his advice to aim for that smoke-faced fucker’s neck actually helped, though Bakugo would never admit it out loud.

But no, everyone just cared about that fucking costume he wore. It’d been a long time since Beck died, and anyone who had lost someone to the Quirkless bastard would have been dead at this point! Besides, heroes used the names of Dracula and the Black Knight, two villains from the past, and they didn’t get shit over it! Why do they have to be so focused on something so stupid?!

‘But we did something similar in the past.’ the young voice, Kachaan he couldn’t help but think, said in the back of his mind. But wait, who the hell did he talk about? At Aldera and earlier, Midoriya wasn’t being put down for being a villain, so who the hell was he thinking-

Oh.

Maro.

Bakugo remembered that older kid he used to hang out with, the one many thought would be a great hero one day. It wasn’t because Bakugo wanted to ride his coattails or anything, Bakugo was more than capable of getting popularity on his own. Bakugo had gone to Maro for help with training his own Quirk. Maro’s quirk, letting him blast hot wind from his hands, seemed weak but he had trained it to the point that it would have been devastating to fight against. So naturally, Bakugo thought he’d be a good teacher to improve his own power since, at the time, his explosions barely had the strength of a cap gun with only light sparks. Maro had helped him train his power, taught him how to store up the sweat he needed in his palms, instead of just blasting what he had immediately.

And Bakugo betrayed him.

He had heard from his lackey, a winged boy named Tsubasa, about Maro’s uncle being arrested, supposedly for illegal Quirk usage. When Bakugo had heard about it, he ran into the crowded hallways to confront the boy, screaming about it at the top of his lungs.

Needless to say, everyone had heard about the supposed Villain nephew and avoided Maro like he was radioactive. Some of the older kids even started to bully Maro, leaving insults and threats on his stuff.

Not long after, his parents pulled him from school, only the three had died in a surprise villain attack a few weeks later. Bakugo had attended the funeral. He hadn’t said anything, but… he silently regretted ever opening his stupid mouth in that hallway.

If he could change one thing in his life… it’d be fixing the moment where he unintentionally killed his first real mentor.

The worst part, in all honesty, was that Bakugo couldn’t even remember if that rumor had been true or not.

‘You haven’t done right by Maro…’ Kachaan whispered to him. ‘But you can still do right by Midoriya.’

A ridiculous idea. Deku belonged in the business or GenEd courses, at best! He didn’t have what it takes to be a hero!

‘But isn’t that what people thought about Spider-man? That he wasn’t a hero?’ Kachaan asked Bakugo. Which... Okay, yeah, everyone underestimated Spider-Man… and… did it really matter if Midoriya’s power was a Quirk or not?

Wait, of course it does! Quirks are everything!

‘But then why is he at the top of the class and we aren’t?’

“OY, BRAT! I’M GOING TO THE STORE, YOU WANT ANYTHING???”

Bakugo, stirred out of his thoughts, snarled and turned to the doorway, knocking a few nicknacks off his desk in the process. “JUST MORE CHOCOLATE!!”

Bakugo turned back to his computer, annoyed that his train of thought had vanished. The school had given notification that classes were canceled so that the students could properly process and heal after everything they had gone through. Bakugo didn’t need that! He was just fine! He saw villains, he kicked their asses, and got out without any wounds that were worse than what he’d get from sparring!

…then again, hearing voices that sound like your childhood self pointing out your innermost flaws and mistakes probably warranted a trip to a therapist. 

Maybe he should bring this up, if he ever decided to visit Hound Dog, the school guidance counselor.

Tcch.

Not likely, though.

So instead Bakugo got off from his desk and went to his bed, almost tripping on a strange meteorite he had found years ago in the woods.

Chapter Text

Normal talking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Thinking: 'Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!'

Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

All Might Speaking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

All Might Thinking: ‘Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!’

All Might Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

Sound Effects: *BLAM!*

AIs/Computers: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Speaking Another Language: {"Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"}

‘Midoriya has a sweet thing going on.’ Kaminari thought to himself. The (wait, what is this place exactly? His Dungeon? Chamber? Basement? Company? Lair? Eh, that works) lair was massive and full of cool stuff. Kaminari was admittedly bad with his knowledge of history, but he was at least somewhat familiar with Spider-man and Mysterio (though that was mainly due to having done a report on the villain Electro when he was in fifth grade). He was initially unsure of what to make of Midoriya’s persona, but now he knew the guy was pretty cool. He would be an awesome friend. Huh, just like the original Mysterio and Electro.

Speaking of, he admittedly didn’t know what to make of Midoriya being taught by Mysterio’s ghost, but hey, the guy was alright for a former villain. He seemed pretty chill about having a bunch of hero students in his lair, and would happily answer any questions they asked of him. The AI even gave them all a tour of the workshop, pointing out the robots, makeup, costumes, and animatronics used in his various schemes, many of which were reenacted in models. The guy didn’t even sound bitter over Spider-Man (Sure, there was some anger, but it didn’t linger for long).

“Oh guys, check this out!”

Midoriya came over, carrying… some kind of miniature purple gargoyle/imp thing with green eyes, wearing gold armor similar to Midoriya’s Mysterio outfit. It was looking around curiously, muttering to itself. (Was it a weapon? Looked kinda small to be one. Looked like something out of that American show, the Muppets?)

“Lotsa heroes… so scary…”

“This is Henson the Homunculus! I made him out of one of Mysterio’s old robots that he used in a scheme of his. See, he was faking being a sorcerer crusading against technology, so he used these lil guys to act as his summons.” Midoriya said happily. “I finished making him just a few days ago, and I’ve been itching to show him off.”

“Henson?” Jiro asked, looking the lil’ guy over, who tilted its head at her.

“After Jim Henson, whose work with puppetry in cinema and television was revolutionary…” Midoriya said with a blush.

“It’s so cute!” Ochako came over, petting its head. Henson rumbled happily and leaned into it.

“You built an AI?” Jirio asked, impressed at the lil’ guy, who was muttering to itself.

“Well, it’s not a true AI, since it’s not capable of independent thought. It’s more like an assistive operating system with personality and pre-programmed responses.” Midoriya admitted with an embarrassed shrug. “I lack the capability to make a smart AI.”

“Henson not dumb! Henson smarts!” the robot in question protested.

“Yes you are!!” Ochako cooed, lightly scratching Henson with two fingers, who cooed and nuzzled her hand.

“...did you seriously build a cute animal mascot, Midoriya?” Jiro asked, smirking a little.

“Well, when I eventually get the merchandising deals, I’m gonna need something to corner the kawaii fandom.” Midoriya responded cheekily. “To say nothing of the anime adaptation of my life, and the toy lines I’m planning. Maybe a breakfast cereal while I’m at it.”

Kaminari snorted in laughter. Yeah, he was definitely enjoying hanging out with Mysteri-bro.

“Oh, Ochako!” The pink haired girl, Mei, came over, varying some blueprints under her arms. “I found some stuff that should be suitable for what you requested!”

“Requested?” Kaminari asked.

“I wanted to see if Midoriya could help with support items to improve on a few flaws I noticed in my fighting style… namely that I’m not all that fast when I lack gravity.” Ochako admitted.

“We still have to discuss payment.” Tsuburaya grumbled, while Ochako went VERY still in fear.

“Tsuburaya…” Midoriya muttered.

“Midoriya, I know you want to help your friends, but we’re a business. We can’t just give away tech because you're friends with the person!” Tsuburaya protested.

“I know… but there’s other ways we can get a profit besides cash.” Midoriya said, before turning to the gravity girl. “Ochako, would you be willing to act as an advertiser for Wondrous Might & Heroism during the Sports Festival and your Internship to work off the payment?”

Ochako’s eyes widened. “But Midoriya… there’s no way that’d cover the cost of even basic support gear!”

“Hm, good point.” Midoriya said, tapping his chin with a thoughtful look, before shrugging. “Well then, I guess you’ll have to just advertise for us for the next decade, oh, but in that time we’ll need to provide you with our best upgrades. For free, naturally. Gotta show everyone what we’re capable of, after all.”

Jiro, Mei, and Kaminari stared in shock at the green haired boy, the same thought on each of their minds:

'....did he seriously just give Ochako free stuff and make it sound like a sales pitch?!

“You have GOT to be joking.” Tsuburaya responded flatly.

"Henson like!"

Ochako simply fainted into the arms of a Spider-man animatronic.

Red.

That was all that was around him, leaking out from the body of this… pretender that laid before him. He, like many others before him and currently, wore a mask and cape, not to do the duty of heroes and save people, but to reap glory, money, toy lines, and movie deals. It was sickening.

The blood almost fixed the scene. It was dark and beautiful, fixing the false hero and his ornate facade. Red upon gold. Honest Filth marring Deceptive Beauty.

The victim had been a false hero by the name of Gilder Midas. His quirk allowed him to temporarily turn anything he touched into gold, even living things. People were unharmed, but in stasis. A man bleeding out would have been safely brought to the hospital to be stitched up. Granted, there was complete sensory deprivation and lack of movement from those converted, but it would have been able to save lives. Yet despite how useful it was, Gilder Midas spent more time advertising for businesses and marketing his own merchandise, including his distinctive gold smile mask.  Despite the emphasis on his wallet, however, he had proven to be surprisingly dangerous. It would not have been much of a stretch to imagine that the False Hero would have won this bout, had his killer not managed to lick the blood off one of the knives he kept on his person.

It had been a long time since he’d used his Quirk. When he first began, he was weak, unskilled beyond basic sword stances and knife throwing. Encountering Knuckleduster was a life altering experience. When he first began crusading, he had targeted only those who had power but no conviction, but then he was enlightened by the vigilante’s words. Now he knew to target only the source of the corruption. False idols that fell short of true heroism.

His phone went off. No one was calling, but a new threat had appeared in the HeroForums he frequented. Pulling out his phone, the man’s eyes narrowed at the sight of the boy in the costume, being treated for wounds after surviving an attack. The rest of the article was biased filth about how the boy didn’t fit their focus group approved definition of heroics. Still, he would have to look further into this boy.

Chizome Akaguro adjusted his scarf, in the process covering up the tattoo on the back of his neck, one depicting a stylized yellow lion’s head and brown mane overlaid upon two crossed spears in black ink. It was the symbol of the men and women who taught him how to rely on more than his Quirk. The symbol of a man who fought a hero that many had hated when they were alive, but history looked upon the latter favorably in spite of his glaring flaws. But the clan was not involved in this. They respected Chizome’s territory, and the prey within it.

Yes, prey such as that fake hero Ingenium, and this… Mysterio. He would have to keep an eye on this… possible false villain. Such brazen displays of a villainous persona could be a sign of either arrogance… or a statement. Chizome would wait and see. His masters had taught him to be patient, to watch for the signs before leaping into action, lest his prey escape early, or worse yet not be his target.

But should the new Mysterio be another false hero?

The Hero Killer Stain will have to start a new Hunt.

Jiro looked around the room, done up to resemble a town from an American Western film, complete with animatronic horses and a saloon. She walked through, her jacks ready to plug in at a moment’s notice.

*BANG!*

A shot whizzed past her, and Jiro turned to the rooftop, an animatronic gunslinger taking aim with a paintball gun. Jiro took aim and blasted it with her gauntlets, the focused shockwaves sending it flying back. Another gunslinger appeared, and Jiro took him out too. A third animatronic appeared, but she stopped herself from attacking. It was a kindly looking old lady with a cane hobbling down the road… who promptly spun around, her other arm raised with a revolver, and fired a paintball into Jiro’s chest, knocking her down. A buzzer sounded.

“And you’re dead.” Tsuburaya appeared, resetting the projectile training course.

“How was I supposed to know that the old lady was a threat?!” Jiro spat back.

“You mean aside from being completely calm and collected while a gunfight was happening around her?” Tsuburaya asked. “You need to take context into account.”

Jirio opened her mouth, but shut it after a second. “I wasn’t expecting that from an innocent… especially in training.”

“Take it from an illusionist: The more innocuous something looks, the more dangerous it can be.” Tsuburaya told her. “You need to be aware of the little things. The sweat from a man lying to your face… a man with a gun glancing at his next target… a quiet child wearing long sleeves and turtlenecks to hide bruises caused by daddy…”

“That’s… really dark.” Jiro muttered as she got back up.

“Reality is a messed up place.” Tsuburaya said with a shrug. “If it wasn’t, there wouldn’t be so many horrible people.”

“Well, before I get back to your reality, I think I’m going to get a drink of water first.” Jirio said, exiting the shooting gallery. On the way back, she passed by Midoriya, wearing a smock, protective goggles, a respirator around his neck, rubber gloves, and carrying… was that a bucket of blood?

“Hey Jiro.” Midoriya said casually as he passed by.

“...um…?” Jiro looked at the bucket tepidly.

“Oh, I’m just about to test a new material for my costume.” Midoriya explained. “See, Blood_Spider found me by splattering some blood against my suit, and I realized that I forgot to make my suit repellent to liquids, so I’ve mixed up some realistic stage blood to see if the new coating will work at keeping the liquid from sticking to me. If not, I’ll have to try the Teflon-based adhesive, which will cause its own litany of issues-”

“Midoriya.”

Midoriya blinked and looked up, seeing Jiro was staring. “Oh, sorry.”

“Nah, it’s fine.” she said with a shrug. “Though I gotta ask… why don’t you just use that adhesive dissolving stuff you used to free Kaminari from the glue?”

“The Adhesion Dissolvant Spray is designed to chemically break down adhesives found in glue, tape, webbing, and other stuff so that it's brittle and easy to tear off, but dried blood clings to the suit and would require a lot of scrubbing with chemicals to remove, which takes time that I might not have... although I could try to mix up something to add to the spray to hopefully solve that issue…” Midoriya muttered to himself before he was interrupted.

“...hey, uh, Midoriya… do you know anyway to... Break the ice with your AI?” Jiro asked, wrapping her earjack around a finger nervously. “The guy’s been acting… Intense.”

“Yeah… he’s protective of me, and not many people know about this place.” Midoriya admitted. Thinking about what he knew of Jiro and Tsuburaya, Midoriya thought of something that could help. “Tsuburaya makes music in his spare time.”

“He does?” Jiro asked, surprised.

“Yeah, apparently Beck released an album when he was alive, and Tsuburaya makes new pieces when he gets bored.” Midoriya explained with a shrug. “I think he’s trying to write up the soundtrack for a Mysterio movie or video game.”

Jiro smirked. “Well, I’ll see if I can help him with that.”

“Awesome! Best of luck!” Midoriya said, continuing on to the workshop upstairs.

Jiro smiled, then went back to the training room, where Tsuburaya was... sitting at a desk, typing ALL PLAY AND NO WORK MAKES TSUBURAYA A DULL BOY over and over again on an old fashioned type writer. "Hey, I feel like switching to hand to hand. Got any Japanese Rock onhand to get into the spirit?"

“I can’t believe this, Gentle-sama!”

Danjuro Tobita, alias Gentle Criminal, looked over from his chair, setting aside a tea cup. “My dear La Brava, what has gotten you so worked up??”

Manami Aiba, alias La Brava, looked up from her phone with a large pout on her face. “This “Mysterio Student” has gotten more views and comments in the past half day than you have since you started your escapades, and you just uploaded a video exposing Koca~Soda’s falsified ingredients!”

“Yes, it seems that the controversy around the child has eclipsed our us and our exploits…" Gentle Criminal stroked his goatee in thought. "but worry not, my dear La Brava, for I have a plan to put us back in the spotlight!”

“Really???” La Brava looked up, her anger forgotten at her partner’s assurances.

“Oh yes! However, I fear that the Gentle Criminal may not be able to do this on his own. He’ll be needing a helping of bad luck. For his enemies, that is.” Danjuro explained. For a moment, La Brava was confused, when it clicked suddenly. All that training he had her do, that strange equipment he had her purchase from Wondrous Might & Heroism, it all made sense now!

“I get to debut alongside you?? EEEE!” the diminutive woman squealed in joy, but a sudden thought cut across her mind. “I just hope that Detective Knight guy leaves us alone… he nearly caught us in those bandages of his. And worse, he had the audacity to mock you!”

“Don’t worry. We won’t be anywhere near Korellia this time.” he assured her. “Are you ready for your first costume fitting, my dear Black Cat?”

.:Okay, try lifting your right leg!: . Mei called from the testing room.

Ochako nodded. She was wearing a protective full body suit, upon which was a basic exoskeleton. The idea was to see which addons would work best for Ochako before building her a custom support item. Right now she was testing Iron Man-based power armor for movement and flight capability. She tried walking forward, but despite the suit being matched to her size, she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable at the way the suit moved.

“I dunno… this feels too unwieldy…” Ochako muttered. “Maybe I can try something a bit lighter??”

.:Can’t you just cancel out the gravity of a heavy object?:. Mei asked.

“Doesn’t make it any less clunky or hard to maneuver with!”

.:...fair enough!:. Mei exited the room, pushing a cart covered in various gadgets. Jet packs, hover boots, grappling hook launchers, mechanical wings, and some kind of extending boots were strewn across the top, each one unpainted and bare looking.

“Alrighty, so you want something that’ll get ya moving quickly??” Mei lifted up a pair of boots. “Try these Electric-Powered Coil Boots based off the tech used by the villain Leap-Frog!”

“I dunno… I think Tsu might be annoyed if I copy her.” Ochako mused.

“Tsu? Oh, the frog girl, right??” Mei asked after a moment of thought.

“Yeah! Wait, you know her?” Ochako asked, surprised that the girl actually remembered someone's name

“Well, no, but I helped design her wetsuit’s heating system, and 'Doriya says I should try to remember the name of my clients.” Mei explained. “Don’t wanna offend them by accident, ya know?”

“Ah… Midoriya gives great advice, huh?” Ochako said with a small smile.

“...you like him, don’t you?” Mei said with a knowing smile, which only grew larger when the gravity girl’s expression turned to one of shock.

‘Wha-wha-what?! No!! I-I mean he’s a good friend, but-but we’re trying to be heroes and he’s busy with all this other stuff and-!!”

“That’s a load of bunk.”

Ochako blinked. “Ex…cuse me?” she asked.

“It’s a load of bunk.” Mei repeated with just as much bluntness. “You like him, he likes you, so just date. Plenty of heroes date. The Water Hose Heroes were a husband/wife duo. The Fox Witch is happily married to her wives, Sunspot and Spider-Sakura. Heck, Midnight’s got a romantic partner.”

“Really? I thought that was just a rumor.” Ochako admitted.

“No, I overheard Hijima-sensei talking to Cementoss about them. I'm pretty sure it’s the Hazard Hero, Toximax. You know, the one that came out as non-binary last year? I think they’re keeping it subtle to avoid a ‘Gwen Stacy’ scenario.”

“Oh yeah.” Ochako admitted. The death of the original Gwen Stacy was used as an example of the dangerous of being open with one's identity. Many Japanese heroes like Endeavor and Uwabami didn't usually follow this philosophy of heroing, but the incident was still taught to heroes in training both as a form of opsec, and to warn about the unforeseen effects that being a hero could have on one's life. The fact that Gwen was brought back to life via a clone who became the Ghost Spider did nothing to diminish the impact her death had on Peter Parker, and most people didn't come back to life. “But… they’re all professional heroes, and we’re still learning.”

“And I’ll say again: It’s a load of bunk.” Mei insisted. “Look, I’m not saying you need to throw him onto your bed and make babies on the first night-”

Ochako choked at the words, mainly due to the fantasy that followed.

“-just do something small.” Mei continued without stopping. “Invite him to get a boba tea or something. Or coffee. ‘Doriya runs off the stuff.”

“...can we just get back to the support items???” Ochako practically begged, her face still red from the fantasy.

“....fine.” Mei said with an eye roll. “Honestly, why’s this such a big deal…?”

“David, I don’t know if this is a good idea.”

“Sam, All Might’s school was attacked under his watch. If we could recreate the Captain America serum, we’d be able to jump-start a new generation of even greater heroes! Imagine All Might with the Super Soldier Serum within him!” David looked up from his computer, bags under his eyes that did nothing to hide his determined gaze.

“I know that, but trying to create it with the Globulin Green Serum as its base?! If we’re not careful, we could end up with a monster!” Sam sighed, rubbing his temples. “Don’t you think that we should focus on developing the Quirk Enhancer instead?? It’s far more stabilized and we know that it works.”

“No, this is the smarter option. The Quirk Enhancer could be stolen from All Might and then any villain could instantly rise to the top of the S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted lists. Besides, it’s not JUST the Globulin Green. I’m using data from the Captain America blood sample that Stark Industries provided us to fix any potential flaws.” David insisted. Sam barely bit back a growl. This was definitely going to put a damper on his scheme. The super soldier serum would certainly be valuable to the right people, but if it wasn’t made properly… testing on rodents was all well and good, but his clients needed to know for certain, lest they come after him with an assassin! Oh, but how could he get that bleeding heart David to agree to human test subjects?! He’d never risk creating something so dangerous as another Green Goblin!

'Unless… Yes…!' Speaking up, Sam sighed in apparent resignation. “Well, if we’re going to do this, we should at least find a volunteer for human trials. After all, we don’t want All Might to become the next Green Goblin.”

David stopped as the mental image appeared in his head, a cackling, muscular All Might with horns and skin the color of bile tossing bombs from a glider. Shaking his head in disgust, he turned to his lifelong friend. “You’re right, we can’t risk something that dangerous… but who’ll volunteer?”

“I have a friend, a former field medic and a good man. He works with Parker Industries.” Sam suggested. “He was recently in an accident that made his healing Quirk unusable beyond minor injuries, but the serum could help him recover.”

“How soon can he arrive?” David asked.

“The Expo, I think.”

“Well, at least we’ll be able to show off something new and amazing to the investors.” David muttered.

Kaminari looked around in awe. A few minutes ago, he had been talking with Quentin Beck about various films he enjoyed watching, and the AI offered to show him something awesome. (He had been hoping it was something cool like a gaming room. This was even better)

Beneath the workshop, the training area, and a garage, was a massive museum, dedicated to the props, costumes, and set-pieces of cinema, all secured behind airtight bulletproof glass. “No way, is that the original Gojira suit?!”

“Yes. Well, most of it. It was falling apart when I obtained it, but I managed to restore it to the point that it's nearly identical to the original article.” Tsuburaya admitted. The suit in question was posed, in the middle of smashing up a model of 1950’s Tokyo while puppets of Mothra and King Ghidorah fought above it. “I have an entire collection of suits from various monster films, as well as Super Sentai, Kamen Rider, and Ultraman .”

“Really?? I figured you’d be more about the American stuff.” Kaminari admitted.

“Cinema is an artform that goes beyond nationality… though admittedly most of this stuff is from American movies.” Tsuburaya explained, leading him through a section meant for action/adventure films. Kaminari marveled at the original Terminator endoskeleton prop, Rambo’s M60 Machine gun, Indiana Jones' costume with the treasures of each film in the matching sets, Francisco Scaramanga’s Golden Gun, 1989’s Batman batsuit (and it was posed against the Joker, Penguin, and Catwoman outfits, all of them in mannequins depicting a fight scene in Gotham streets), a rainbow of lightsabers from every Star Wars movie with Luke’s original lightsaber prop at the forefront, chunks of fake Kryptonite from the Christopher Reeves Superman films, and so much more.

“And now for what’s admittedly my personal favorite section… the horror films.” Tsuburaya led the electric hero in training into the room, gesturing with a robotic claw to each prop. “The original Freddy Kreuger Glove, the chainsaw from the first Texas Chainsaw Massacre , the Necronomicon ex Mortis props from the original Evil Dead trilogy, and lastly, the crown jewels of my collection:” Tsuburaya floated over to a wall, where sealed behind a three inch thick pane of bulletproof glass was a film reel, a VHS tape, and a DvD. “ London After Midnight , the original 1927 silent film reel beside two copies I made when it was transferred over to other mediums by yours truly for watching. A film starring Lon Chaney Sr, the film was originally lost to history due to a fire at MGM’s studio vault in 1965. It is the holy grail of horror film collections… though admittedly the film doesn’t hold up to the likes of Nosferatu or Dracula .”  

“...wait, if it was lost to history, how'd you get ahold it? Kaminari asked the AI.

“Oh, well, Dr. Doom was doing this plot where he traveled back in time to 1871 to investigate this time anomaly so he could exploit it, so he hired Scorpion, Sandman, the Black Knight, and I to act as muscle and keep away any local heroes like the Phantom Rider. Instead of cash like the other guys, I asked Dr. Doom to pay for my services by taking me to when these artifacts were about to go missing or destroyed and I saved them.” Tsuburaya said this with the air one said when describing how he fixed a toaster.

“…wait, you stole these ?!” Kaminari looked at Tsuburaya, who just rolled his eyes.

“No, I saved these priceless treasures from being lost to history by people who couldn’t see their true value!” Tsuburaya insisted. “I mean, did you know what Universal Studios was going to do to the pipe organ from The Phantom of the Opera silent film starring Lon Chaney Sr?! They were going to demolish it, the oldest surviving set piece in the WORLD, for a fucking Harry Potter ride of all things!”

“Well, then, why not set up your own museum?? One you owned and ran, so that other people could see it?” the electric boy suggested.

“And risk the bloodsucking lawyers of the film industry coming to “reclaim” these items in spite of the statute of limitations having long since been passed?” Tsuburaya sneered. “No thank you! I’d rather keep it down here, where it can be appreciated by those who truly love cinema, like us.”

“....then why isn’t it on the first floor with the rest of your gear and props?”

Tsuburaya took a long moment to think before answering. “...to keep thieves from seeing it. I have plenty of Mysterio suits, I don’t care if they’re taken, but these are too valuable to be seen by anyone I cannot trust!”

“....you just wanted Mysterio to be the first thing people saw, huh?”

“That's Slander! You insult me, Kaminari!”

*Crash!*

Shuichi Iguchi fell against the trash cans, but he didn’t get up, despite what the men in the alleyway were telling him.

“Come on, freak! At least make this interesting for us!”

Shuichi knew it had been a bad idea to step out. He should have just stayed home… but he was running low on food, and he was sick of ordering meal deliveries. He thought that he could just go outside, grab some cheap sushi and head back home, maybe play the new League of Legends 3 Expansion pack. But no. Instead, he tried to cut through an alleyway, and ran into a small group of thugs, all in plague masks, that he was sure belonged to the Creature Rejection Clan, given how they referred to him in such derogatory terms.

The men had quickly cornered him, attacking with lead pipes, Quirks, and a katana sword he was certain one guy had summoned from thin air. His scales blocked the worst of the assault, but if he didn’t stitch up his side soon, he’d be in serious trouble. One advantage of being a lizard, he supposed: quicker healing.

“I bet this crocodile’s with that Mysterio kid… lettin’ in villains to hurt some kids.” one man sneered, the apparent leader of the gang.

“Please… I just wanna go home.” Shuichi mumbled. He knew it was hopeless. People like this had always plagued him. Harassed him. Spat on him. It was the curse of being a heteromorph. But some small part of him still wanted things to be different. To make a change.

“Listen here, freak. You’re a monster, you’ll always be a monster. And us? We kill monsters.” The speaker approached, his arm swelling up, when something silvery embedded itself in the arm. He screamed in pain, staring at the projectiles, each one silver and resembling… crescent moons?

“How disgusting…'' A British accented voice growled out above. The five thugs and one Heteromorph looked up to the rooftops, where standing on the ledge like a gargoyle was a figure, wearing  bandages over a black skin tight suit, a white hooded cloak, and a half black half white mask. Emblazoned upon the chest was a crescent moon made of a silvery metal. “Nearly 200 years and people still find stupid reasons to hate each other.”

Then suddenly, the vigilante… started speaking in different voices.

“Dese guys make me sick!/I say we should kill ‘em!/Spector, no! We’re the good guys!/Yeah, we’re real boy scouts.” the man argued with himself, swapping between a hoarse Brooklyn accent, a gruff Chicago accented voice, and two different Japanese accented voices, one sounding like an upbeat city local, the other more snide and rural. The vigilante, having apparently settled the argument within himself, leaped down, landing on a man in a way that felt a lot like a certain caped crusader from some American comics.

“Oh shit, it’s that insane vigilante!” Katana yelled, swinging at the man, who blocked with a pair of moon blades that appeared from nowhere.

“The name’s Moon Knight.” the vigilante shot back in the Chicago accent, before he spoke in the voice with the British accent. “Wait, Spector, I thought we were Mr. Knight?”

“No, Grant-sama, we’re Moon Ninja!” The vigilante repeated in the Rural voice.

“But Twice, I wanna be Doctor Moon…” The City voice muttered.

The man, Moon Knight, continued to hold an argument with himself, arguing in the voices of at least five people, all the while dodging and flipping around the plague-masked villains. “Look, Jin, can we talk about this later!? We’re in the middle of something!” the Chicago voice, Spector, shot back while grabbing a pipe and breaking the attacker's kneecap

If anyone else thought the clearly unwell man’s conversation was weird, they said nothing, instead focusing their efforts on beating him down, not that it was going well. Quite the opposite in fact. After only two minutes, Moon Knight was standing over each man as they struggled to get back up.

“Guys, we can take him if we go all at once!” The leader shouted to the others as they got back up.

“Oh, you think so??” Moon Knight shouted in the voice of Grant. He threw out his arm, and from it a thick, mud like substance appeared flowing out of his hand, then reformed into another man, wearing an identical mask to the Moon Knight, but this one was in a white suit with a necktie, secured with a crescent moon tie clip.

“Mr. Knight, here to fight!” the newcomer spoke in Grant's tone of voice as he drew out a pair of curved daggers with moon symbols on the hilts.

With another slurry of the mud-like substance, the man’s Quirk in action, Shiuchi realized, a third man appeared, wearing the same mask as the other two, but this one was dressed like a ninja with moon-shaped sickles connected to the bandages wrapped around his arms.

“How long have you been workshopping that?” the third person, who Shiguichi assumed was Twice, or Moon Ninja, muttered.

“What the shit is going on?!” Katana yelled, swinging at the ninja.

“I think his quirk lets him summon his other personalities as people or some-” one guy, with metal spikes emerging from his knuckles, was knocked out with a fist to the nose before he could finish speaking.

The three men moved fluidly, Moon Ninja was the swiftest, though Moon Knight, or Spector, seemed to be the most tactical, taking down each person with a level of precision Shuichi has only seen in videos of soldiers and master martial artists. With only three moves he disarmed Katana of his weapon, sending it clattering near Shuichi, who could only watch the scene before him, still laying in the garbage where he was pushed into.

It had never happened before. Someone was stepping in to save him! And they weren’t even a Heteromorph or a mutant like he was! 

“You… diseased freaks!”

Glancing over, the Heteromorph saw the lead thug stumbling to get up, supporting himself on a nearby trash can. He swept his right hand down, a gun barrel emerging from a thin slit over the end of his wrist. “I won't go down easy!” The man growled, taking aim with the gun barrel arm, a light appearing within the barrel.

Shuichi didn’t know why he did it. He didn’t know the vigilante. He had never attacked anyone in his life. He had never even told anyone off before, even though there were days where he just really wanted to lash out at the people who hurt him. But he was raised differently. His dads never approved of violence to answer their problems. They thought that words and ideology were more important, that you should rely on them and stick to enforcing them. Violence was the absolute last resort, and it should be left to the Pro Heroes.

But then, his adopted dads never saw their savior about to be shot in the back.

So Shuichi grabbed the fallen sword and, remembering the stances from his favorite video games, swung the blade upwards. Unfortunately, he wasn’t in the best of shape, nor were video games a good substitute for actual training, so his attack did little more than lightly cut into the thug leader’s arm. Thankfully, it was enough. The upward swing knocked the blast away from Moon Knight, instead hitting Mr. Knight in the chest, who bled that mud which composed him, and promptly dissolved into a pile of that same substance.

Quick as a flash, Moon Knight spun around and leaped onto the man, pushing him against the wall while grabbing his forehead with both hands. Glaring deep into his eyes, he then spoke, but it was in the voice of someone… new.

“IN THE NAME OF JUSTICE, I, KONSHU, GOD OF THE MOON, CONFISCATE YOUR GIFT.”

A white glow surrounded the thug’s head, flowing up the vigilante’s arms and into his eyes, which glowed like stars. Shuichi’s jaw dropped, for the man’s gun barrel turned to dust, the hole it emerged from sealing up. Moon Knight got up, and much to the shock of Shuichi and the thug, his bandages unraveled on their own, and a near identical gun barrel emerged from a slit on the back of his wrist.

“You… you stole my Quirk?” the thug’s bravado was gone, replaced with a thousand yard stare and a voice that barely broke above a whisper.

“It’s what you get for trying to hurt someone for being different. Well now you are different.” Moon Knight, Spector, dismissed, before knocking him out with a blast from the man’s former Quirk.

“Phew, that was close!” Moon Knight spoke as Jin, turning to Shuichi. “I mean, we’re fine if we’re in one of our Doubles and it breaks apart, but if our main body gets hurt… I don’t even wanna know!”

“Jin, shut up!” Moon Ninja hissed in anger, but promptly dissolved into mud.

“Just ignore them, these guys are killjoys.” Moon Knight as Jin muttered. “But either way, thank you for the help.”

“Um… no problem.” Shuichi said quietly. Unsure of what else to say at the man staring at him, he tried to think of an ice breaker. “So… you’re… Moon Knight?

“Actually I’m Doctor Moon.” Jin explained, his outfit morphing into a Doctor’s coat with a badge reading “Dr. Moon” and a hospital logo of a green moon within a red cross secured to the lapel. “But there’s also Moon Knight, Mr. Knight, Moon Ninja, and, uh… what name did Jake choose, again?”

“Detective Knight.” the Brooklyn voice, Jake, muttered. “And stop tellin’ 'im our secrets! We don’t if if dis guy can be trusted!”

“Whoa, whoa, I’m not going to say anything!” Shuichi yelped, backing away in fear. “I just wanna get home and play video games! I won’t tell anyone!! Just don’t hurt me or steal my Quirk!”

“Great, now he’s scared of us.” Steven/Mr. Knight muttered in annoyance. He looked ready to begin another argument with himself.

“Um…”

But a voice, a young girl’s, cut through the air. Glancing down the alleyway, the Heteromorph and vigilante saw the speaker was a little girl with a single horn, clutching the crushed remains of Shuichi’s dinner, her eyes wide with cautious hope.

“You can… remove my curse?”

.....damn it, Shuichi had just wanted some sushi!

The five UA High students left Wondrous Might and Magic, unaware of the events that had happened only a few streets away. The day had been filled with fun, growing closer together, training, and hopefully, tools that will help with the challenges that were ahead of them all.

Chapter Text

Normal talking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Thinking: 'Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!'

Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

All Might/Powerful Beings Speaking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

All Might/Powerful Beings Thinking: ‘Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!’

All Might/Powerful Beings Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

Sound Effects: *BLAM!*

AIs/Computers: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Speaking Another Language: {"Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"}

Baymaxima sat in the teacher’s meeting room, shifting within her backup body. It was identical to her old one, but its lack of use made its joints stiff and creaking, despite the maintenance she and Power Loader put into it. She would have swapped between her bodies at will, making sure it had seen plenty of use like her original, but she knew better than to risk it. AI transference between bodies without legal permission would have garnered serious consequences, throwing away all the work she had undertaken as an activist in AI rights.

But sadly, she could not dwell on the injustices that faced artificially created beings. Right now, something more pressing required her attention. Almost every teacher of UA had gathered in the meeting room with Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi, the only exceptions being Power Loader, who was giving their systems a complete overhaul to purge any potential malware and spy programs, and Thirteen, still recovering in the hospital. Recovery Girl was also not there, currently doing her best to heal the space-themed woman.

“And what did Tsuburaya have to say about the villains?” Vlad King, Class 1-B’s homeroom teacher asked Nezu, a look of distaste clear on his face. The man had made his distrust of the Villain-derived consultant/Support Item developer quite clear.

“Unfortunately, Tsuburaya, while having more experience with the dark web and criminal communications, has been equally unsuccessful in discovering any information about these… Tomura Shigaraki, Blood_Spider, and Kurogiri people.” Nezu admitted.

“Are we certain he’s not holding back information to aid these criminals?” Vlad King questioned, ignoring the glares sent to him by the other teachers.

“Tsuburaya is a morally flexible person, but he also prioritizes Midoriya’s safety.” Aizawa spoke up. The man had been lucky when he got out of the USJ, his worst injury having been severe blood loss caused by Blood_Spider. “I highly doubt he was involved in the villain’s plan on the attack.”

“You know he’s made from Mysterio’s brain, right? Deception is his specialty!” Vlad King growled, only to be silenced when the newest teacher spoke up from his seat.

“I’ve spoken with Tsuburaya constantly over the past year.” Toshinori began. “In that time he has seen me in my weakest form and was well aware of my time limit, among other secrets that would be profitable to a man with less morals. However, he has not spread this information, or sold it to any party, let alone a villainous one.”

“If we can get back to the topic at hand…” Snipe, third year teacher, spoke up before Vlad King could retort. “What was the AI able to tell us?”

Tsukauchi cleared his throat and looked over the report printed by Tsuburaya. “Well, he was thorough in compiling a detailed psychoanalytical profile on the three, though he admitted that a good chunk of it was speculation and limited due to the circumstances.”

“To summarize, he doesn’t think any of them were the brains behind this operation, since Shigaraki was an immature manchild, Kurogiri was submissive and lacked any form of initiative beyond protecting Shigaraki, and Blood_Spider quickly grew impatient waiting for the chance to in hurt people… although he noticed that Blood_Spider recognized Midoriya, calling him by an insulting nickname that came from his middle school, deku.”

“A former classmate?” Cementoss, Modern Literature teacher, speculated.

“Perhaps, but there’s no record of anyone with a Blood manipulation Quirk.” Tsukauchi looked over the notes. “However… there is one similarity to a cold case I noticed… but I don’t have all the details yet, and I’ll need to follow up with young Midoriya for any possible leads.”

“Speaking of Midoriya though….” Midnight, the Modern Hero Art Teacher, spoke up, unusually somber. “Someone leaked that photo of that student to try and set people against us.”

“Do we have any idea about who actually took that photo?” Present Mic, English Teacher, spoke up, shedding his upbeat persona for a more serious one.

“No. No one had a camera out, or a quirk that could function as one.” Ectoplasm, Math Teacher, noted. “However, I admit I was distracted by making sure our students were alright to really notice if anyone was taking pictures.” The other teachers muttered, agreeing with the mathematics teacher.

“So how will we address this to the public? The longer we stay silent, the more rumors and slander will appear.” Baymaxima noted.

“I will speak with Young Midoriya regarding this after our students return to school.” Nezu said softly. “I already have a few ideas on what path forward we could take, but each one comes with its own risks. I just hope that things don’t continue to deteriorate.”

Tsuburaya hovered in the now empty Studio. He felt a strong urge to follow his student home. He had considered doing it in the past, but decided it was unnecessary at the time, not to mention creepy. However, with the leak of Midoriya’s choice in persona, Tsuburaya felt that some extra caution would be needed to prevent harassment. He knew that Midoriya didn’t like it when he did such things, but Tsuburaya was never one to allow things to be beyond his control if he could help it.

However, before he could send out some cloaked minidrones, he heard a clatter. The AI sighed audibly. “Look, they were just here to hang out. It’s nothing you need be concerned with-”

The drone froze in its position. Sitting upon an empty table was a centipede. A massive, evil looking centipede with an unnatural glow to its eyes. The sight of it made the AI go very still. Few things could make him afraid… but this was one of them.

Tsuburaya, in the time he had been teaching Midoriya, had told his successor many stories of the man he was based on. His time growing up in Riverside, California. Meeting his own idol, Ray Bradhaus, and surpassing him. Joining up with the various incarnations of the Sinister Six. Using his special effects mastery to convince J. Jonah Jameson that he was in hell being tortured by a Devil shaped like Spider-Man. Being hired by Harry Osborne to plant false memories of Gwen Stacy having a relationship with Norman Osborn in her friend, Mary Jane Watson. Shattering a mystical tablet that made him a virtual god, only for Spider-Man to team up with three of his counterparts from other worlds to defeat him. Discovering a world where Spider-man had died and a new one, a young boy, took up the mantle in his place. The time the Sinister Six nearly destroyed the world until his archenemy Spider-man convinced him to turn on Octavius. Observing Daniel Beckhart and Francis Klum, two people who had taken up his mantle, fight over the right to bear it, only to both be bested by Spider-man and a third party. Learning that he was pivotal in causing an apocalyptic bad future by tricking Wolverine into slaughtering the X-men, and the villains who wanted him to recreate it in spite of his own wishes. Accidentally becoming a bearer of the dark god Cyttorak’s power, at the cost of his android daughter’s life.

Horrible deeds, some he regretted with the benefit of hindsight and a clearer head. But all of them he admitted to his protege when the boy asked. (Though he was sure to leave out the more… awful details until he was certain the boy could handle it.)

But one story he had never told his apprentice was the one about the first time he was dying of cancer. When he grew so desperate for a theatrical end he manipulated Daredevil, real name Matt Murdock, in a gambit to make the Man without Fear kill him. A scheme that had failed horribly, with Daredevil deviating at the most important moment, leaving him free to mock him, call him a hack and a human Xerox machine. The man deconstructed his grand swan song, calling it little more than a cliche-filled B-movie plot that had been done before, and by better men than him. So he left Beck on the ground, alive, so broken that the illusionist had taken a gun to his head, only acknowledging how he was copying Kraven’s own suicide.

Of course, people had assumed that Beck faked his death and gone into hiding. Not unreasonable, he had successfully pulled off that act several times prior. So naturally, Midoriya had asked about the circumstances around his time fighting Daredevil… but Tsuburaya would always change the subject. He’d always pretend he didn’t hear it, or plant a false text message from the boy’s mother to get him to leave.

Not because he was ashamed of the story itself. He had long since accepted that he had been a horrible person in life. The acts he committed to try to drive Matt Murdock to madness were, honestly, just another pound of flesh on the scale of his sins, with the suicide being a cherry on top. No, he didn’t talk about it because it wasn’t a trick. He had indeed been that depressed and broken, so he just tried to end it all. The act had ensured his damnation, though at that point it had been little more than a rubber stamp of confirmation.

So naturally, he had gone to hell… and when he arrived, he found himself recruited by a new boss. A boss that, even though he was long gone, Beck, and Tsuburaya, feared defying again.

The centipede crawled off the table, joining up with a thousand more identical creatures that seemed to morph and fuse together, becoming a zombified figure in a hood, trench coat and bandages.

“Hello Beck.” the centipede hissed out, its voice echoed several times over by its fellow anthropods.

“Im… impossible! You died!” Tsuburaya backed away, feeling terror on par with the attack on the USJ.

“Oh, Kindred is dead, unfortunately. He was quite the entertaining pawn to torment Spider-Man. But he was just the middle manager. You can think of me as the CEO.” the legion of hellish centipedes hissed out. “This form is simply to make sure you take this conversation seriously.”

“....then… you’re-” Tsuburaya floated backwards, the Ludwig avatar fearful and shaking.

“Mephisto…” the demon confirmed.

“But Quentin Beck cleared his debt to you!” the AI protested. “And even if he hasn’t, he should already be in your realm!! I’m just a copy of Beck! I’m not actually-”

“As fascinating as it is to discuss the philosophy of mind-born AIs and if they count as their own being with their own souls, that’s not why I’m here.” The demon dryly interrupted. “We need to talk about your apprentice, and the man who wants to kill him.”

“The Shigaraki punk? What about him?” Tsuburaya asked. “And since when did you care about what humans do outside of the deals you make with them?”

“I don’t, normally.” Mephisto admitted. “But that mortal is in service of someone dangerously powerful, and I cannot risk exposing myself to his master, or any other ‘heroes’ that have appeared.”

That gave Tsuburaya pause. From what he saw of the hand-covered villain, he was an immature brat who expected things to go exactly as he planned, only to throw tantrums at the slightest hurdle sent his way. Not the kind of person who would plan out an invasion with that amount of precision and skill. So naturally, Tsuburaya had figured that the young man was little more than a pawn for another, more dangerous person, a theory that was shared with All Might and the detective in charge of the case. But to hear that even one of the most dangerous demons of the afterlife was concerned?

“....how powerful are we talking about?” Tsuburaya asked, dreading the answer.

The mass of centipedes chattered and clicked amongst… themselves? Itself, seemingly debating how much it should tell the AI, before it eventually spoke up again. “Your society knows him as a boogeyman from the dawn of Quirks… a mythical thief whispered about in the dark underbelly of society, who can take away Quirks and give them out at will.”

Tsuburaya’s hologram had nodded. He, like many other villains from the early days of Quirks, had heard the rumors of the Shadow King of Japan. A villain who had amassed enough power that it took the entire JSDF, The Avengers lead by Thor, the X-men lead by Wolverine, and several vigilante groups to take his forces down. It was an admirable fight on the Shadow King’s part, but he was soon arrested, though the prison was later destroyed in a mass breakout, no body of that man had been discovered. However, it was quite clear from reports that the non-quirked heroes held an advantage, as shown when he tried to take the power of Wolverine, the Hulk, Dr. Strange, and Thor at different times, and received only retaliatory strikes for his efforts. In the end, the man was considered little more than a wannabe Doctor Doom. A threat that had a lot of power, but had already been dealt with.

“I’m assuming he took a Quirk that made him long lived, and he’s behind the USJ attack?” Tsuburaya asked, mostly in a rhetorical sense. The Demon nodded, but Tsuburaya still had a question. “But so what if he can take Quirks? If he can’t take the powers of mutants, nonhumans, magic users, or Altereds, he shouldn’t be a threat to you, so why are you so concerned?”

“Because ever since he battled that “All Might” mortal, he’s undergone treatments to improve himself, growing stronger not just in physical power, but in capability. So now? He may only be able to take quirks… but now he can copy non-quirk powers.”

Midoriya approached UA High. As he had feared, some people on the train he had taken to school were eyeing him in suspicion. Though he wasn’t the only green haired person the people around him treated with suspicion, Midoriya couldn’t help but feel guilty. If he had just dodged the nomu’s attack, he could have avoided causing such a huge uproar among people, and now his peers were put into the crosshairs for it.

Still lost in his worries, Midoriya entered the school. As he walked down the hallways, he saw that several people, none of them a part of his class, were watching him in suspicion and fear.

‘I don’t know how much longer I can take this.’ Midoriya sidestepped a large student who gave him a dirty look, but his distracted thoughts caused him to run into another student. “Oh, I’m so sorry!!”

“It’s fi- Midoriya?”

Midoriya looked at the speaker. “Ts-Tsunotori?” It was the American girl from his Entrance Exam, wearing a Hero Class uniform and watching him with concern. “I, I didn’t hurt you or anything, did I??”

“No…” she said, her Japanese better than it had been the last time he saw her, but she avoided his gaze. “...listen, you should be careful around 1-B… some of my classmates have been getting riled up by our teacher.”

“Because of the Mysterio picture?” Midoriya asked.

Tsunotori did a ‘so-so’ gesture. “Somewhat… but I think it’s mostly because it’s been barely into the school year, and already your class has media attention on it.”

“Really?? I thought everyone was going nuts over that picture.” Midoriya asked.

“Some are… but my class doesn’t really care besides the extra attention. And I don’t get why people are up in arms over the photo.” Tsunotori rolled her eyes.

“Huh… no offense, but I thought you would be upset by that.” Midoriya admitted, but when she looked at him confused, he realized that he should probably clarify. “B-because you’re American, like the original Mysterio was.”

“I suppose, but he was based in New York. I’m a Texan. Outside of his state, most people barely give Quentin Beck or his successors a second thought outside of when they talk about the Sinister Six.” Tsunotori pointed out. “It’s weird, but Japan has been the most vocal about Mysterio in general.”

Midoriya hummed. “Yeah, I don’t know why people obsess over him, either.”

“Really? Huh.” Tsunotori stared at him, her expression one of analyzing. Before Midoriya could ask what was wrong, she stopped. “Here’s my classroom. Have a good day.”

“You too Tsunotori!” Midoriya said with a wave and smile, the latter of which she nervously returned before going inside.

Midoriya made it to his classroom, where almost everyone was gathered around, chatting excitedly to a girl with light colored skin, caramel colored hair, and green eyes, but no body beneath her neck. "Hey Toru! Enjoying the mask?"

The girl, Toru, looked over, smiling brightly, happy that people could see that she was doing so. "I love it!"

"Dang, that looks so much like real skin...!" Ojiro commented, poking Toru's cheek. "It even feels like the real thing too!"

"Well, yeah. If it looked fake it wouldn't be a very good disguise, would it?" Midoriya pointed out, only to be tackled by Toru, who gave him a big hug. Ochako glared, but her joy for Toru outweighed and anger she felt, so instead she worked to revive Midoriya from his affection-induced coma.

Some small talk was made, people updating each other on what they did during the impromptu break, sympathy was given to Midoriya and Tsu, two people harassed over the photograph, all of which ended when Aizawa entered. He looked a bit paler than normal, but otherwise he was as he always was. The class immediately fell silent, earning a grunt of approval from him. Then, he made an announcement that surprised a good chunk of the class.

“We’re still doing the sports festival??” Kaminari asked.

“But shouldn’t it be canceled because of the USJ??” Jiro asked.

“That would be the most rational thing to do, but the board of directors and HPSC want to prove that everything’s fine and reassure people, so they’re going ahead with it.” Aizawa grumbled, disapproval clear in his voice. “However, as a precaution we’ll be doubling the security and calling in any off duty pro heroes to patrol the stadium grounds.”

“What’s more, the Sports Festival is important for your career as heroes.” Aizawa continued. “This is a chance to be seen and to make an impact on the hero community at large. It will be seen by every pro hero in the country, and thus will be instrumental in attracting attention for a pro hero looking to gain a sidekick.”

“I dunno…” Sero muttered. “Still seems kinda soon-”

“Come on guys…!”

Everyone turned to Ochako, shocked by the intense aura the normally bubbly girl gave off. “We took on a horde of villains! We can handle a few sporting events!”

‘...I’m both scared and attracted right now.’ Midoriya thought to himself.

“Any questions regarding the Sports Festival?” Aiazwa asked, unperturbed by the girl’s eagerness.

“Are we allowed to bring in support items?” Iida asked with his hand high in the air, and immediately several people turned to Midoriya with a knowing look, which he nodded, blushing, knowing exactly what they were thinking.

“Yes, each Hero student may bring in one nonessential support item.” Aizawa calmly explained, and when he saw Midoriya raise his hand, he growled. “No, entire costumes do not count. The support item can only perform one nonessential function, so I recommend you think carefully about which one you choose to bring in.”

“Actually, I was going to ask what would count as ‘nonessential’ support gear?” Midoriya explained, to which Aizawa quietly hummed before answering.

“The UA Sports festival will allow Hero Students to bring in only items that can do something you’re capable of better.” Seeing several confused stares, Aizawa sighed. “For example, if Bakugo was to submit his costume’s gauntlets for the Sports Festival, they’d be rejected because of their capability to store his sweat, which Bakugo cannot do on his own." 'To say nothing of how destructive they are.' "However, if he brought in gloves that helped him with aiming, or focusing the blasts to be smaller, that would be acceptable since, with enough training, he could do that on his own.

“Oh… So then... Koji could bring in a mask that amplifies his voice, and he could more easily summon his birds to help out in the festival?” Midoriya suggested, the boy in question going very still at being called out like this. “It doesn’t do anything but make his voice louder, so that would count, right?”

Aizawa stared at Midoriya in suspicion before answering. “....yes, Koji could use his mask to summon his animals for help instead of shouting.”

Koji’s eyes widened, having never thought that getting his animal friends to help him would have been allowed in such an event that was all about their physical strength.

“Thank you for clearing that up, sensei!” Midoriya leaned down, doodling in his notebook.

“....are you trying to sell us more support gear?” Mina asked with a teasing smirk.

“Perhaps. Are you interested?” Midoriya responded without looking at her.

“Midoriya!! Please do not use class time to sell your company’s wares!!” Iida shouted, his arm, as always, chopping with each word.

Aizawa groaned in response.

Soon, it was time for lunch, and the students got up, eager to get some food. Unfortunately, they found a large crowd outside their classroom.

“Excuse me! Could you please clear the way for us?? We would like to get some lunch!” Iida proclaimed, pushing his way forward.

“So this is the infamous class 1-A.”

The speaker stepped forward. He was a tired looking student, with visible bags under his eyes, and messy purple hair that looked as if he woke up without attempting to comb it.

“What’s going on??” Kirishima asked his classmates, while Bakugo scoffed and moved forward.

“Isn’t it obvious? They’re here to check out the competition.”

“Partially!” Another student, blonde with blue eyes and a smug smirk upon his face, stepped forward. Midoriya recognized him as one of the examinees from the entrance exam. A power copier, if his memory was right. “Some of us want to see if the hype regarding your class was merited! From what I’ve seen so far I’m disappointed!”

“You haven’t even been here a minute.” Midoriya spoke up before Bakugo could, already finding himself disliking the blonde copier.

“And in that minute, I’ve only seen a bunch of selfish spotlight hoggers! Why, even that photo leaking has brought more attention to your class!” the boy snidely dismissed.

“You jerk! It’s not like we wanted villains to show up!” Ochako spat at the boy, who only laughed.

“Be that as it may, your time in the spotlight will soon be over, for now everyone else will be gunning for- HRRK!” A massive hand had chopped the boy in the back of his neck, seemingly paralyzing him.

“I apologize for Monoma.” The hand’s owner, a girl with orange hair tied up in a ponytail, muttered. “I’m Itsuka Kendo, Representative for Class I-B, and I take responsibility for Monoma’s behavior. He’s been acting insufferable ever since those photos leaked.”

“He’s not the only one…” Pony muttered, appearing beside Kendo.

“He’s not wrong, though.” The purple-haired boy spoke up again, his expression unchanged. “See, the entrance exam doesn’t account for all types of powers. Some quirks aren’t effective on robots, so potential heroes slip through the cracks. But the Sports Festival gives those people a chance to prove themselves, and take a seat away from a hero course student that doesn’t do as well.” He smirked. “So watch yourselves. Cause you may find yourselves kicked out of the hero course.”

Bakugo looked to speak, or rather, shout in response, but Midoriya beat him to it.

“Challenge accepted!”

The purple haired boy looked over, shocked. “Excuse me?”

“I was concerned that some people wouldn’t be able to make an impression, so hearing you guys have a chance to get into the hero course is great!” Midoriya explained.

“Even if you lose your spot?” another student asked.

Midoriya shrugged. “It would suck, but hey, that just means I wasn’t meant to be here.” But then Midoriya's look became more determined. "But make no mistake. My classmates and I won't just be handing over our spots. You want a seat in our class? Prove that you deserve it, first."

"So manly!" Kirishima cried out, at the same time a boy with silver hair did. The two took notice of the other, and immediately started pointing to one another.

“....hm. Maybe you’re not all that bad, Green.” the tired looking boy said, ignoring the two students accusing each other of being copies.

“Thanks Purple.” Midoriya said with a smirk, extending his hand. “Izuku Midoriya.”

“Hitoshi Shinso.”

At the end of the school day, Midoriya entered Principal Nezu’s office.

“Ah, young Midoriya, thank you for coming.” the mystery mammal beamed at the illusionist.

“Is something the matter?” Midoriya asked.

“Not quite. I just wanted to discuss the upcoming Sports Festival.” Nezu reached into his desk and pulled out a small red, white, and blue armband with the UA crest sewn onto it. “Whenever UA gets an illusionist student, we always have them wear these tracking devices during the Sports Festival so that we can accurately get a read on their location. We can’t have you stay in one spot while your illusions do all the work, you know!”

“I understand.” Midoriya said, reaching into his bag and pulling out some blueprints. “I finished up work on the Support Gear I’m submitting to the festival.”

Nezu took the papers and looked it over, his grin widening. “Excellent work…! I think this will be perfectly fine, if somewhat massive.” Nezu set the blueprints aside in a pile for other approved Sports Festival Gear. “Planning to overwhelm your classmates, are we?” The mammal didn’t sound disapproving, only curious, which made Midoriya internally shudder.

“Actually...” Midoriya paused, shuffling nervously. “I designed it that way because... well, I had…. Some ideas for it I wanted to do in the Sports Festival, but only with your permission.”

“Oh, like what?” Nezu asked, head tilting in curiosity, his face unchanging.

“Well… what if we added something new to the games?” Midoriya asked. “Namely… extra challenges during each event.”

“That would depend on the challenges.” Nezu pondered. “In addition, we would have to be careful with how this is presented. We cannot show favoritism, after all.”

“True… but we also want to reassure people that we’re capable and strong, yes?” Midoriya asked, receiving a nod from the principal. “Well… nothing says capable and strong like overcoming unfair odds.”

Nezu smiled, his sharp teeth making Midoriya uncomfortable. “Tell me more.”

Midoriya reached into his bag and pulled out a Data Drive. “I made a list of possible challenge scenarios based upon the events done in past Sports Festival games. When you’ve approved them, I’ll get them ready.”

Nezu nodded. “I’ll look them over and send the results tonight. But aren’t you concerned with people connecting this to the Mysterio picture?”

“About that… that's the main thing I need to talk to you about.”

“Good afternoon! This is Jitsu Fuhai here with an exclusive interview with the Symbol of Peace himself, All Might!”

“Glad to be here!”

Within a TV Studio, before a live audience, All Might sat in a yellow pinstripe suit, finally speaking up to Japan, and possibly the world, about the UA incident and what happened.

“So All Might, recently your students were attacked under the watch of the most prestigious Hero School in the country.” Jitsu Fuhai spoke with a bit more sympathy than normal for the woman who thrived on jeering and mockery. “Now, thankfully no one suffered serious injuries save for the Hero Teachers, who are expected to make full recovery within a week, but I think I speak for everyone when I say that event has everyone shaken to their core.” The audience in the room yelled their confirmation and words of agreement before falling silent. “So, for the sake of everyone at home, do you think you’ll be willing to answer some questions?

“Why, certainly, as long as it’s not about world history!” That got a few chuckles out of the audience and Jitsu Fuhai.

“Well first… reports state that the villains there were attempting to kill you, but you had arrived late. Did you find out about their plan early on?”

“As much as it shames me to admit it, no, I was unaware of the plot until after the majority of the crisis had passed.” All Might looked down, bowing his head low. “To the families of my students, I deeply apologize for not being there to protect them. I swear I will never again allow such a thing to happen while I am their teacher.”

“So what were you doing, if not trying to bait them out?”

“As embarrassing as it is to admit this, I had neglected the more… organized side of my teaching position, and stayed behind to finish up my paperwork. As the class in question was a rescue training exercise headed by two teachers with much more skill in that area than what I possess, I thought the class would be fine without me. It was only when Nezu failed to contact the teachers that I realized what had happened and rushed over there. I wish I could give a better reason, but alas.”

“Alright, next, what is your Quirk?”

“It’s called ‘Fawcett Follicles!’ It grants me the ability to constantly have luxurious hair, all without product!” All Might laughed heartily. The audience, used to the Pro Hero’s deflections, chuckled politely.

“Now, regarding the villain student-”

“None of my students are villains.”

Shocked by the interruption, which All Might had never done in an interview before, the reporter/talk show host could only stutter out “....I-I’m sorry?”

“I think you heard me quite clearly.” All Might was no longer smiling, instead he had a stern expression as he faced the cameras. “To be clear, yes, we have a student who was dressed as Mysterio for his hero costume. However, that does not make him a villain by default. Only his actions and reasons would do so, which they don’t. Prior to his official enrollment, Nezu visited the student’s home, questioned him about his reasons for being a hero and source of his technology, and found the answers to be satisfactory. What’s more, in all of his classes, including my own, the student in question has shown himself to be a dedicated student who truly wants to help people.”

“But… your student is wearing a villain’s persona-”

“For reasons that I will not disclose without his permission, nor will I say who he is unless he chooses to reveal himself.” All Might interrupted once again. “I may be new to teaching, but I take the subject of my students VERY seriously, and hearing all this slander and libel has, in all honesty, sickened me.” He noticeably glared at the woman doing the interview, who felt even smaller than normal beside the man.

“But picking this persona could be seen as offensive to people whose families suffered at the hands of the villain.” Jitsu Fuhai tried to counter, only for All Might to have his own counterargument ready.

“Quentin Beck lived in another country, and only one scheme brought him to Japan, and that was just before the Dawn of Quirks. Anyone alive in that time would have died by now, as would their children have. Plenty of heroes have used controversial names and personas in their line of work. I see no reason why this student should get more attention than others.”

“But… why would someone wear the costume of someone so notorious?” Jitsu questioned. “Surely he’s aware of the massive dislike people have towards the Pre-Quirk villain?  Didn’t you try to dissuade him from choosing it?”

“Trust me, he and I are both more than aware of this country’s attitude towards this specific persona. But he is dedicated to being a hero, if not even moreso, as he is to redeeming the name of Mysterio.”

“I’m sorry… ‘redeem?’”

“My student believes that someone’s origins does not define who they are, whether they were Quirkless or related to a villain. He wants to prove that even someone with villainous powers, or in his case, villainous technology, can do good.”

Shigaraki watched the interview on his TV, scratching at his neck in anger. “That bastard… not enough people are talking about our attack! They’re just focused on that bubble-faced griefer!”

“I thought that was what you wanted?” Kurogiri asked as he wiped clean some dirty glasses.

“I wanted that griefer to be kicked from the server, but instead he overshadowed us and our raid!” Shigaraki whined.

“Doesn’t matter.” Blood_Spider sat on a stool, using one of his blood tendrils to hold up his drink. “Once I get those spider powers, Deku’ll just be another blood bag for me to suck dry.”

“Not until Sensei steals his Quirk.” Shigaraki reminded him.

“Assuming it is a quirk and not some kind of Alteration or Mutation.” Blood_Spider shot back.

"Have faith. The Master will make sure you get want you want and more." Kurogiri spoke, then shifted in his spot. “Blood_Spider. The Doctor is ready for you.”

“Kickass.” Blood_Spider downed his drink and stood up, walking through the portal that the Warp Villain generated.

On the other side was a portly doctor with a bushy mustache, standing beside an operating table and an IV drip with a large bag of blood labelled K. Parker. "Ready to be improved, young man?"

"Hell yeah. Upgrade me, Eggman!" Blood_Spider said, laying on the operating table.

"Hmph... as if I haven't heard that one before."

Chapter Text

Normal talking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Thinking: 'Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!'

Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

All Might/Powerful Beings Speaking: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

All Might/Powerful Beings Thinking: ‘Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!’

All Might/Powerful Beings Over Radio/Speaker: .:Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!:.

Sound Effects: *BLAM!*

AIs/Computers: "Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"

Speaking Another Language: {"Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!"}

Toshinori sat in his apartment, looking over the latest news articles. As a result of the interview he did only a day ago, a majority of the people making hate comments had backed down. Unfortunately, many people on the Stylo Discussion board had made suggestions that he had been brainwashed into being supportive, so there were still naysayers. Aside from that, there had been an update in the hunt for the Bullseye killer. But before he could dwell too deeply into this, there was a knock at his door. “Toshinori? It’s me, Tsukauchi.”

“Come in.”

The detective entered, shuffling nervously while carrying a locked briefcase. “I’ve got an update in regards to the villain, Nomu.”

“What is it, did it break out??” Toshinori sat up, relaxing only when his friend shook his head.

“No, it’s been docile ever since we picked it up from the woods.” Tsukauchi assured the Pro Hero. “It seems that without its master to command it, Nomu goes into a kind of… standby mode, for lack of a better analogy. However, it won’t react to any outside stimuli. It ignores questions, threats, poking, burns, nothing. One of my men was startled and unloaded his rifle into it, but the creature didn’t even flinch. Thankfully, this also means that it didn’t fight back when we took some DNA samples for analysis.”

“So what’s the update you have for me?” Toshinori asked.

“....we found a match to its identity, kind of.” Tsukauchi reached into his case and pulled out a photograph. The picture was a police headshot of a man with thick lips and olive green hair. “This is a report from a missing persons case ten years ago. The man was a low level thug who mostly worked for bigger gangs before vanishing off the face of the earth. The nomu appears to have been made from his corpse, with the DNA of four other people in there, along with trace amounts of Gamma radiation.”

“....Midoriya said that Shigaraki claimed it possessed multiple quirks…” Toshinori whispered, Tsukauchi going very still in response.

“...do you think… he’s still alive?”

“...No.” Toshinori looked up, his gaze hard. “I smashed his head in. That… monster’s head was little more than a shattered egg on the pavement. More likely, these people were remnants of his organization who discovered Nomu and tried to do one last attack against-”

“Yeah, I’m going to stop you right there.” Toshinori looked down at his phone in surprise, a call active, with the WMH logo upon its screen.

"Tsuburaya?! How did you access my phone?!" Toshinori coughed up some blood in shock. "I didn't even answer a call!"

“I hacked it. But more importantly, I’ve also recently obtained information regarding the Nomu creature. Or, well, its creator.” Tsuburaya said this with a tone that was barely hiding anger behind it. “I can confirm that its creator, All for One, is indeed still alive.”

Tsukauchi and Toshinori gaped at the AI, the latter being the first to speak up. “How?! He was dead!! I killed him myself!!”

“Oh please, death means nothing if you have the right connections or technology. Trust me, I should know.” Tsuburaya muttered.

“How did you find this out??” Tsukauchi asked, opting to ignore Tsuburaya's comment for the moment.

“I honestly doubt you’d believe me.”

“My Lie Detector Quirk can work on AIs. Try me.” Tsukauchi shot back.

“....fine. A demon from hell told me, and that is not me being dramatic, or figurative, or symbolic, or poetic, or metaphoric, or any other fancy method of speech. He was Mephisto, a literal misery spreading demon from the fire and brimstone-filled Christian hell. One who Quentin Beck, my originator, was in the service of for a while, and he appeared before me in the form of a zombie with centipedes within him and told me that All for One is alive and trying to become more powerful than ever. Powerful enough that he was worried about him getting strong enough to challenge his own vast power.” Tsuburaya explained, making sure his words were clear and concise.

Toshinori stared at the AI. “...that… that has to be a lie, right, Tsukauchi? …Tsukauchi?”

Toshinori looked up at his friend, who had grown very pale in terror. His friend looked at him, and could only say “Truth.”

Toshinori’s eyes widened, and he had to hold back a stress induced coughing fit, blood spraying onto his fist. “Whe- *COUGH!* *COUGH!* *HACK!* Where is he?? *COUGH!* Where is All for One?!”

“Mephisto was, unfortunately, not willing to divulge that information.” Tsuburaya grumbled. “I’m not actually sure if he just wants me to suffer for Quentin Beck’s failures in life, or if he actually doesn’t know, but more importantly, the potentially most dangerous man alive since Doctor FUCKING Doom is going to be after MY APPRENTICE!!”

“Tsuburaya, please calm down!!” Toshinori tried to placate the audibly angry AI, who wasn't having it.

“Calm down?! CALM DOWN!? You’ve put a child, one that I actually care about, into the crosshairs of a maniac who can steal Quirks and who knows what else at this point?!”

“I know, I know, and if I had known he was still alive I wouldn’t have done it, but what’s done is done.” Toshinori pointed out.

“You need to tell him and his mother about this immediately.” Tsuburaya insisted, though he was no longer shouting.

“I will, but right now young Midoriya needs to focus on the Sports Festival-”

“ARE YOU SERIOUS?!” Tsuburaya interrupted, back to shouting. “Midoriya’s going to be on national TV!! It’d be easy for All for One to send an assassin to off the child!!”

“All for One won’t do that. The man wants to steal my Quirk first, and I'm certain that he knows Midoriya now has it.” Toshinori explained. “In any case, he’s always preferred to wait in between attacks to lick his wounds and gather up more resources. He’ll take this chance to study Midoriya, see what he is capable of. What's more, Midoriya needs to build his connections and support if he’s going to be a successful hero.” Toshinori sighed. “Besides, he’s not a soldier or a hero yet. Midoriya is a child, and he deserves to have some levity before I tell him and his mother what danger he’s in. But I will tell them, after the Sports Festival.”

“...you’d better.” Tsuburaya growled, hanging up afterwards.

Toshinori sighed and leaned back in his seat.

“..what am I going to tell the chief?” Tsukauchi muttered, still freaking out over the revelations.

“....tell him an underground informant told you, and he got his information through unknown means.” Toshinori suggested. 

Tsukauchi remained silent, before finally speaking up. “....Hell is real. It’s an actual place with demons.”

“I encountered an alien once. Guess it was only a matter of time before we learned to add demons to that list.” All Might admitted, trying to bring some levity to the situation.

Tsukauchi just groaned, cupping his face with his hands.

“So, Mei… what do you think of Octavius’ arms?”

Mei Hatsume lowered herself from the obstacle course. Strapped around her waist and chest was a harness, a headband covered in wires wrapped around her forehead like a crown, one that sent commands to four telescopic arms ending with claws. Arms modeled after that of Dr. Octopus.

“They’re amazing, Tsubu, but with these arms I have no room to carry my babies!” Mei complained. “I could use these, but I don’t wanna just use one baby! I wanna use my skates, my jetpack, my laser rifle, my shields, all of them! So many babies, and I can’t fit them onto me because these arms get in the way! If I had a way to carry all I wanted at once, it would be perfect!” She turned to the worktable, muttering to herself. “Maybe I could create some kind of super baby that would let me have them all at once… oh, but that’d be so heavy and cumbersome…!”

“....well, there is an option for that.” Tsuburaya said after a moment of thought. “A project that was worked on by an old friend of mine shortly before his passing. Blueprints were drawn up, but he had yet to implement it in any of his projects, although I did use his notes for building parts of the new Actor robots.”

“Really? What is it??” Mei asked, unclipping the harness.

Before Tsuburaya could share his idea, Midoriya entered, wearing new gauntlets and his Illusion-O Spex. The gauntlets were identical to his old ones, save for a set of vents on the side, and slightly larger gloves with armor on the back of the golden fingers.

“‘Doriya! How do the new gloves feel?” Mei asked.

“They fit great!! The impact gel barely impedes my movements!” He wiggled his fingers to prove it. “But I’m not too sure about the compression sleeves in the suit. Might impede the robotic skeleton’s movements.”

“We can replace the joints’ areas with something less cumbersome.” Tsuburaya suggested. “Also, I’ve received the emails for the Sports Festival Support Items and have begun construction on each device.”

“And you’re not sabotaging them, right?” Midoriya asked pointedly as he approached the impact reader.

“As logical as it would be to do so, no.” Tsuburaya confirmed, though his annoyance was clear. “Nor will I be showing you or Miss Hatsume the devices themselves.”

“Good.” Midoriya said, facing the impact plate as he removed the prototype gloves. “Doing the control test first. Starting out at my highest output without the gloves, 5% Full Cowling.”

“Scanners are active.” Tsuburaya announced.

Midoriya focused, green lightning of his quirk appearing around him. Reeling his fist back, Midoriya screamed SMASH and punched the pressure plate. The device moved back, warping slightly, as the readings came onto the screen.

“Okay, we have a baseline of what I can do without protection.” Midoriya noted. He flexed his fingers then came up with an idea. Midoriya swapped out the warped plate for an intact one. “Going to try and strain myself with a ten percent charge, see how that affects me, and if I can manage it, I’ll try a punch.”

“Very well, but be careful! Recovery Girl isn’t here to heal you.” Tsuburaya warned Midoriya, who nodded and turned to the pressure plate.

Midoriya focused, green lightning arcing around him as if he had gone super saiyan. Unfortunately, he found that ten percent was too much for him to handle. “No good! I’m going to keep lowering it by one percent until I can handle it!”

“Understood!” Tsuburaya called back.

Midoriya focused, but nine, while less of a strain, still felt too much for now. Thankfully, eight percent was doable. “Looks like I’m stuck at eight percent for now!”

“I imagine that you’ll be able to gradually increase your output over time.” Tsuburaya noted, his hologram stroking its goatee in thought. “Now how does the punching feel?”

Midoriya turned to the pressure plate, and with another shout of "Smash!," the plate was warped even further than last time.

“As expected, there was an increase of output by approximately three percent.” Tsuburaya said after running the numbers. “Now let’s see that same percentage, but with the new gloves added to the equation.”

Midoriya nodded, swapped out the plate for a new one, and slipped on the prototype glove. “SMASH!”

“Must you say it every time?” Tsuburaya asked as the plate once again warped and cracked from the impact. “Interesting. There was an approximately 13.67% increase in damage inflicted with the new gauntlet design. How did they feel? Any pain upon impact?”

“Amazing!!” Midoriya said, moving his fingers without issue. “I couldn’t feel anything! Even on impact, it was like I was punching a tough, cool pillow, and I could feel the pressure vents blasting the worst of the shockwave away from me!”

“Good. Mei’s idea to add Herman Schultz’ shockwave absorption and redirection technology was a massive boon.” Tsuburaya spoke aloud as he took some notes. “It would help if we had some Vibranium to absorb the majority of the blowback from your Quirk, but I was unable to obtain any, and I predict that we will not be able to do so for a good long time, unless we made friends with Wakanda or bought some on the Black Market. Still, I think this design will work for now.”

“We’ll make due with what we’ve got, Tsuburaya.” Midoriya assured the AI.

“I’ll get to work adding the gel and shock absorbers to the other parts of the costume!” Mei proclaimed from her corner of the room, where she was adjusting a pair of what appeared to be rocket skates. “It should be ready by your Hero Internships!”

“Perfect! So what’s your plan for the sports festival Mei?” Midoriya asked.

“Sorry boss man, but that’s a secret!” Mei responded without looking up.

Midoriya smiled. “Glad to hear it.”

Tsuburaya watched the two student joke and chat. Against his instincts, he had refrained from tell Midoriya about his encounter with Mephisto or what he had learned about from the demon. He would respect All Might's desire, but if he deviated from his promise to the AI...

Well, the man had better hope it wouldn't come to that.

Midoriya and Mei soon left the DvD store, chatting amicably as they made plans for the upcoming games.

“So ‘Doriya, are you going to tell everyone that you own Wondrous Might & Heroism ?”