Chapter 86 - 8-16

Chapter 8: Reminiscing about the past

Warning: This chapter occurs at some point during an eight year time skip. It's filler, and it requires knowledge of Jojo parts 1, 3, 4 and 5.

Vampire, mafioso and serial killer all sat in the kitchen. They ate in silence until DIO tried to starts a conversation.

"Since we are stuck here for a foreseeable future, I say we should get to know each other better. As long as kid isn't here to get more emotional trauma, we can be more honest about ourselves."

"What are you going to gain from it?" Kira deadpanned.

"I'll get entertainment, that's for sure. After spending so much time in that coffin, I loathe boredom."

"I've already told my story." Diavolo sipped from his glass.

"More like a brief summary of your story. Come on, I bet you met all sorts of interesting characters in your time as a boss. Spill it!"

DIO's flat mates looked at him with slight contempt.

"All right, since you are both so shy, I'll go first."

The buff blonde told them his story, from miserable childhood to an epic showdown with Stardust Carusaders. While this happening, he poured more and more wine in their glasses to make them more talkative. His life was bizarre, even by their standards.

"You fought Jotaro Kujo? That makes two of us." Kira's voice was angrier than usual.

"But he didn't steal YOUR ability!". DIO slammed the table. "And didn't claim it for himself!"

"That Enya woman." Diavolo tapped his head. "I think she is the one I sold most of my stand arrows to."

"So it was you who found them? That means our fates were intertwined even before we got here."

"You might be correct." Boss frowned. "By the way, why the hell did you do all that crap in time stop? Putting your minion inside a coffin, moving Polnareff downstairs? You should have just killed your enemies."

"First, because it's funny. Second, I wanted to throw them off for a bit, see if they can figure me out. Besides, once my secret was out, I went all offensive. Okay, who's next?"

"Let's just get this over with!" Kira rolled his eyes.

In sharp contrast to vampire's origin, slim blonde led the most mediocre and boring life imaginable. Never standing out, never getting anything above 3rd place, and never making connections. Even his murders did not pursue a greater goal; they were simply urges he couldn't control. The only interesting part was when he had to hide from Jotaro and the others.

"You had a stand that instantly kills even from range, and this is what you used it for?" DIO was furious. "This has to be a biggest waste of stand potential I've ever seen."

Diavolo nodded in agreement, while Kira shrugged.

"Not all of us are power hungry megalomaniacs. Some just want to live in peace with ourselves."

"You know, I was killed because of bullshit I couldn't possibly see coming." DIO continued. "But you? You held the victory within your hands, yet you dropped it. If only you stayed home and let Bites the Dust do its work."

"Yeah, that's practically a requiem in anything but the name."

"How was I supposed to know Hayato was that clever? By all accounts, he shouldn't have figured out a way to outsmart me. Besides, I was a lot closer to winning than you, even though I didn't have an army to throw at my problems."

"Whatever. Let's move to the Devil."

Diavolo told them about living with Doppio, erasing all traces of his past, ruling Passione and his encounters with traitors. He also mentioned his most memorable deaths from the loop.

"How could you do that to your own mother?!" DIO stood up.

"She was a liability, that's all." Boss took another sip.

"If it weren't for the rules, I would have killed you right now!"

"As if. My King Crimson would have foreseen and skipped over your pathetic time stop."

"No, The World would have stopped you in your tracks!"

"How can you stop something that no longer exists?"

"Calm down, both of you" Killer intervened. "We won't gain anything from bickering and yelling at each other. You aren't children for Christ sake!"

DIO gave Kira an icy glare before sitting down.

"You know, I think I might have seen you two in the loop." Diavolo suddenly told them. "Not in person, but the ways in which I died resemble your abilities. One time I tried to open a door and exploded; the other time I was sitting at the café veranda before seeing knives appear out of nowhere and fly towards me."

"That can't be right." Kira shook his head. "I can recall everyone I've ever killed, and you aren't in that list."

"May be it's just a coincidence then."

The villains finished dinner and went to their rooms. Their opinions of each other became worse.

Chapter 9: Sludge incident.

Thirteen year old Izuku was walking through the city. He wanted to meet Katsuki near arcade center. On his way, there were loaders carrying a giant mirror. Boy took a look at himself. His hair was long enough to reach his chest, with a bang covering his entire forehead. He was wearing a green turtleneck with a cut near the neck, as well as dark green jeans and sport shoes.

A crime scene occurred before his eyes. A big villain was wrecking havoc in the area. Thankfully, he was swiftly stopped by combined forces of Death Arms, Kamui Woods and Mt. Lady. Midoriya couldn't help but feel bad that the latter got all the recognition despite it being a team effort. No matter, he did not want to be late for the meeting. Since the street was blocked by police, Izuku chose to walk through the alleys.

It was a terrible mistake. A weird sludge dropped on him from above, covering his upper body. Opening his mouth to call for help made the situation even worse, as sludge began filling his mouth, along with other orifices.

"Don't worry, little one." An ominous voice came from the sludge. "I'll just hijack your body to get away from authorities. The pain will go away soon, I promise."

"Oh my God, we are going to die! I don't want to die! I like this life! If only you had Epitaph today…"

"We aren't going to die, you Drama Queen." Kira sounded disturbingly calm given their predicament. "Summon my stand and blow this cretin away."

Just as Izuku tried following that order, a loud scream resonated in his ears.

"Detroit Smash!"

Izuku woke up in the mind space. His guests surrounded his bead. They all had concerned expressions on their faces.

"I told you to be careful, you fool!" Diavolo scolded him. "You could have died!"

"I am sorry, Diavolo-san. I didn't think there'd be two villain attacks so close to each other."

"Anyway, you should visit a doctor and get yourself checked. Who knows what that sludge man could have done to your body?"

Green head rolled his eyes. The ex-boss could rival his mother in how overly cautious he was. It was kind of sweet of him.

"Kid, wake up."

Someone was gently slapping Izuku's cheeks. He opened his eyes, but couldn't believe them. It was number one hero, All Might, in the flesh. Boy even rubbed his eyelids to double check, but the man was still there.

"Oh my God! You are All Might! May I…"

"Get an autograph? Sure!" All might handed over Izuku's open notebook, with an enormous signature over his own page.

The boy was ecstatic. He couldn't wait to show this to Kacchan.

"I have so many questions!"

"And I have so little time. Sorry kid, but I'm needed elsewhere."

Number one hero jumped away. To his surprise, the boy managed to grab him with his pink quirk.

"Hey! I love my fans, but this is too much!"

All Might landed on nearby building before emitting a strange gas from his body. When the gas dissipated, Izuku saw a small human with skeleton like appearance.

"Oh my God! All Might, is that you?! Are you alright?"

"Yes, it's me. I have certainly seen better days." Skeleton coughed out blood.

"What happened to you?!"

"I won't go details, but here is the gist of it: several years ago I fought a powerful villain. I killed him, but he managed to brutally injure me." He showed a nasty scar on his side.

"My quirk has been running on fumes ever since. Midoriya!" All Might had a serious look on his face. "You must not tell anyone about this, not even your closest friends or family. Can I trust you with that?"

"Of course, sir!" Izuku nodded aggressively. "I know how important it is to keep secrets. By the way, how you know my last name, sir?"

"It was on the notebook."

Teen wanted to face palm at his own stupidity.

He was getting late. From being unconscious for 10 minutes, to climbing down from that building and getting back on track, the boy was an hour behind the schedule. No doubt, Kacchan would be furious. He ran as fast as he could.

The scene he saw near the arcade was horrifying. A sludge villain (was it the same guy?) captured someone. That someone was violently trying to fight back. Izuku saw explosions coming from victim's hands. No, it can't be! The villain took his best friends hostage! The nearby heroes stood in place doing nothing. Boy figured they didn't know how to approach this situation. But unlike them, he already came up with a plan.

He pushed the policemen aside and ran directly at the sludge, ignoring all the screams from behind. When Kamui Woods tried to trap him with his quirk, he simply destroyed the wood with Killer Queen. Finally, as the Sludge monster tried to hit him with a tentacle, teen dodged to the side and let his quirk touch that tentacle.

"It's over for you!" Izuku shouted at the top of his lungs. "Killer Queen has turned you into a bomb! If you don't let release your victim and surrender, I will destroy you."

The villain laughed as he tried to hit Izuku again. "Yeah, like I'd ever believe that. Besides, if you explode me, you will kill this guy as well." He waved Katsuki like a doll.

Midoriya let KQ pick up a nearby brick, put it near his face and press the switch. Half of the brick was gone, but the boy's face remained unharmed.

"See?" He laughed back. "I can be very precise with these detonations. I'll blow up every part of your body except those near the boy. I doubt even you can survive that."

After some thinking, the Sludge villain begrudgingly agreed. He let Bakugo go and didn't stop police from arresting him. His eyes were locked on the Cat quirk's hand. It was one thumb motion away from activating the switch.

Crowd cheered at the boy and his bravery, but policemen and heroes held a different opinion. They thought the green head was getting in the way of professional's work. One of the officers approached him for arrest. Izuku did not resist. He didn't regret his actions at all, plus he was hoping that Nezu would back him up.

Izuku was waiting in his prison cell. Principal promised to look into the problem, but warned that it would take some time. Boy wondered if he'll be late for dinner as well.

"That was incredibly stupid." Kira was annoyed beyond belief. "We are going to miss my appointment at this rate."

"Saving people is never stupid, sir." Teen argued.

Two men approached his cell. One of them opened it and went away, the other entered it. It was All Might in his weakened form.

"Hello again. Were you sent here by Mr Nezu?" Izuku was shocked.

"No, my boy. I came here to vouch for you."

"I am honored, but how did you know I was here?"

"I was nearby when the incident occurred. I couldn't help the poor boy because I was completely out of energy by that time."

"It's alright, sir. You've already helped so many people."

"It's not just that. When you grabbed me, the sludge container must have fallen from my suit. So it was my fault that you had to stop that villain."

"What are you saying, sir? If I didn't grab onto you, none of this would have happened. It is MY fault."

All Might chuckled. He did not expect to enter a blame shifting contest today.

"In any case, I would not want you to get into troubles for this, not after you saved that boy."

"Thank you!" The boy hugged the hero.

Once again, Izuku got away with only a slap on the wrist. All Might's influence must have been comparable to Nezu's. Speaking of whom, Teen tried to call the rat and tell him that help was no longer necessary, but instead saw a message.

Big Brain: Midoriya, come home as fast as possible. We have something important to discuss.

Kid never ran so fast in his life.

Chapter 10: Rigorous training

He finally returned home. His mother, his psychologist (Kinuyo Kisen), Pro Hero Midnight and Principal Nezu were talking in the kitchen.

"Izuku, I saw you on the news." Inko was sobbing. "You ran head first into danger! How could you?"

"Kacchan was going to die, mom." Boy tried to sound calm. "No one else could help him, certainly not heroes who just stood there. Besides, I've planned everything from the beginning."

"Your plan was too presumptuous, young Midoriya." Nezu sipped some tea.

"What? What do you mean?"

"You assumed that Sludge villain would not only believe you, but also not take any risks against Killer Queen. But what if he did? What if he believed your quirk was weaker than it really is? Would have you killed him if he didn't comply? That would have made your case a lot worse. You are not a licensed hero right now, and that clearly wasn't self defense, so the HPSC could have easily deemed you a villain. You are lucky you didn't have to go past verbal threats. That gives you room for plausible deniability."

Green head's heart skipped a beat. He was one step away from becoming a villain! And that's after receiving all the help from the rat and encouragement with his dreams.

"Sir, I wasn't going to kill him! It was just a bluff. If he refused, I would have scared him a bit more by blowing up a tiny chunk."

"That wouldn't have made much difference. You'd still be a villain for harming another person with your quirk without a license."

Teen frowned. He was getting angry.

"What was I supposed to do then? Let my friend die, huh?!"

"You could have at least called me first. I have numbers of every Hero in Japan. I am sure at least one appropriate specialist was close enough."

Izuku did not know how to counter that. He simply stared at the principal.

"Sorry, sir. I must have disappointed you."

"Try not to do that again, please. I have so many plans for you. Well, that's in the past. Let's talk about the future. Starting tomorrow, you will train for the entrance exam at the UA. Pro Hero Midnight and Doctor Kisen will look after you while this is happening."

"Can my friends join me? Specifically Mina and Katsuki. I promised them we will all go to UA together."

"Fine, but there is an issue with your classified abilities. You would need to train at least some of them, specifically mind control, time stop and time erasure. You either need to dedicate days to training alone or make them sign non-disclosure agreements."

"I trust them wholeheartedly, sir. I am sure they trust me just as much, so second option is a no brainer. But should I really train time erasure? You told me to only use it in emergencies."

"I have been running some risk assessment tests. My conclusion is that of you dedicate a specific time interval to training this ability, the world population will be able to adapt. Interval from 15:00 to 15:30 is our best bet. It's when most people in the world are asleep. Obviously, you also need to be predictable with days of week, unless my other theory holds true."

"What theory?"

"We know that your imaginary friends can be swapped when you are asleep, but perhaps we don't need for you to naturally tire out. My theory is that Midnight's Somnambulist can enable you to change quirks more frequently."

"SIR!" Inko tried to protest. "Are you seriously going to do that to my son? It has to be dangerous."

"It's not dangerous at all, honey." Nemuri patted the nervous mother on the back. "Boys at my agency were affected by my quirk dozens of times, and they are healthy like bulls."

"Still, as his mother, I want to ensure his safety. I will be observing the training process too!"

"Aren't you busy with work?" Izuku was surprised.

"To hell with work! I'll probably lose my mind without knowing how they are training you."

"Mrs. Midoriya, your worries are misguided. Mrs. Kayama has been a professional hero for more than a decade now, and she's already got credentials to teach at any hero school. She's one of the most qualified heroes for this task, I assure you."

Inko Midoriya was sad. For years it felt like she outsourced Izuku's upbringing to Nezu and Dr. Kisen. Her son never liked to bother her with his demons. She felt as if she failed him as a mother.

"Sir, I believe we shouldn't completely disregard her concerns. The boy's case is unique, so his mother would understandably want to be aware of his situation at all times. There has to be a middle ground." Kinuyo intervened.

"Very well." Nezu sighed. "I will provide Midnight with recording equipment, so she can capture the process and show it to you, ma-am."

Inko could only nod in silence. She was going to need professional help too.

Izuku went to his room to message his friends:

Green Devil: Mina. There is something awesome I want to do with you, but you and your parents will have to sign a non disclosure agreement.

Alien Queen: Are you finally inviting me to that love hotel? That's so unnecessary. You can come and play with my hands any time you want, my cute weirdo.

The boy cringed. This girl always knew how to press his buttons. He could hear voices laughing at his expense.

Green Devil: No, not that! Starting from tomorrow I'm going to receive training from a Pro Hero, and I want to do it with you.

Alien Queen: What's so secretive about it?

Green Devil: That's what NDA is for.

Alien Queen: Ok, Midori. I'll let my mom and dad know. See you tomorrow!

Green Devil: Kacchan, how are you?

Tsar Bomba: I'm fine, Deku. And you? I heard you were arrested for fighting that scumbag.

Green Devil: Don't worry about it, I've got it covered. Listen, I'm going to receive training from a Pro Hero tomorrow. If you want to join, you will have to sign an NDA.

Tsar Bomba: Let me guess, you impressed that hero with your kitty cat?

Green Devil: Something like that.

Tsar Bomba: Fine, Deku. I'll tell Hag and Geezer. Cya.

Izuku had to wake up at 6 AM, much earlier that he was used to. After eating breakfast and taking care of his hair, he hurried to Midnight's agency. His friends arrived shortly after him.

"I must say, you almost scared me, Midori. I didn't expect one of the most powerful people in Japan to knock at my door shortly after your message." Mind giggled.

"Yeah, what's your deal with that rat, Deku? Are you blackmailing him?"

"No, guys. He just saw great potential in me."

"There you are, kids." Midnight came from her agency's entrance. "Don't be shy, come in!"

One of the floors in Midnight's agency was a dedicated gym, with various complex looking devices.

"You three will receive general body training, as well training specifically designed for your quirks. I'll whip you up into future heroes in these two years. Now, I imagine you have questions."

"Yeah, why the hell did our parents sign NDAs? Are we going to do something illegal?"

"No, Katsuki." Izuku sighed. "It has to do with my quirk. It's time I'll tell you more about it."

"Oh, cool! Let me guess, you finally unlocked a fourth form, right?"

"No, Mina. Let me explain." He gulped.

Izuku decided to omit the head villains for now. He only mentioned previously classified abilities that he was going to train.

"Wow, Midori, you can control time!" She pointed at the clock on the wall. "Can you do that erasure thing now?"

"No. I'm only allowed to do it at very specific times, or during emergencies."

"Bummer."

Teens began their training. The general body course consisted of running, climbing walls, lifting weights and many other exercises. Mina had to adjust the pH of her acid for various materials, as well her precision when aiming her fluids. Killer Queen and Katsuki had to control the magnitude of the explosions they produced, as well as increase their maximum potency. When using King Crimson and The World, Izuku lifted weighs designed for super strength quirks and tried to catch bullets shot near him. Training time based abilities was as simple as using them frequently, although it was quite draining. For vampire mind control, boy had to increase how many targets he can handle.

Turns out, Nezu's theory was true. Forced sleep via Somnambulist or otherwise allowed Izuku to change his ability even in the middle of the day. This made the boy excited and his mother distraught. She knew the boy would weaponize his sleep if it meant being a better hero.

This was the big day. Izuku knew he would pass the entrance exam with flying colors. His intellect was admirable and his quirk controlled time itself. Surely, nothing could go wrong?

Chapter 11: Entrance exam.

The UA building looked magnificent. It has been years since Izuku stepped his foot here, so he still he felt a bit intimidated. People around gave him a confused look. A large cloak has been covering his entire body, as if to hide his appearance. The mask, sunglasses and gloves contributed to this feeling. The boy did not appreciate people staring at him like that.

"Don't pay attention to these insects, kid. You made the right choice by coming here with The World." DIO reassured him. "You will crush whatever obstacles come your way."

"Thank you, sir!" Green head smiled.

Suddenly, he noticed that a girl in front of him tripped and was falling.

"Gears, grab, grind… Just as I was taught."

Flow of time has been stopped. Izuku walked up to the girl, put her back on her feet and fixed her posture. He wasn't officially allowed to use time control outside of training, but it's not like anyone would notice. He went back to the starting position and walked past the brunette as if nothing happened. Izuku did not want to look her in the eyes. She looked around confused at what was going on.

"She is one of the girls from the hotel!" Kira was laughing out loud. "Imagine if you two end up in the same class."

"God, please, no." Izuku mumbled.

"Request denied!" DIO joined on the laughter.

"Ignore these clowns and focus on getting the job done, Midoriya." 

"Thank you, Diavolo-san!"

Everyone went to the orientation room. Present Mic tried to cheer up his audience, but everyone was too tense to play along. He began explaining the rules of the exam.

"The examination will consist of two parts: written test and practical test. Written test will last 3 hours and cover a wide variety of topics.

After a 30 minute break, practical test will be conducted in several UA battle centers. Your designated battle center is indicated in your tickets. The test itself involves stopping robots disguised as villains in an urban setting. Depending on the danger level of a faux villain, the points you get from subduing it range from 1 to 3. Subduing robots can mean anything: damaging them directly, hacking their mainframe or simply immobilizing them. The back of each robot also contains an off switch, but relying on it won't be easy as they tend to target the nearest candidate. Additionally, there will be actors simulating various disasters in the area, such as being stuck under rubble or in a burning building. Helping them will also provide you with points. You will have a total of 10 minutes for the practical test. Any questions?"

Someone raised an arm. It was tall boy with dark blue hair and glasses.

"Sir, you said that points for villains range from 1 to 3, but our tickets say that there 4 types of robots. You must have made a mistake, not fitting for his prestigious establishment."

"This guy is so pretentious, it's annoying." Mina whispered to Izuku.

"I'm glad you asked, boy! The fourth type of robot is a zero pointer, an obstacle designed to be avoided. You will recognize it from its enormous size. As the name suggests, stopping it will not earn you any points."

The tall teen with bowed down. "Apologies. I shouldn't have doubted UA's competency."

Izuku was sitting in the bus on its way to the Battle center A. His friends were sent to different centers, likely to prevent cooperation. He was still thinking about the written test.

"Most of those questions had nothing to do with school curriculum! I'm glad I spend so much time reading books with you, Dio-san! My score would be much lower without it."

"See? When I tell you to do something, you should DO it instead of whining."

"Excuse me, are you two brothers?" Someone interrupted green head's train of thought. It was a boy with a black bird head.

"What? I don't have any siblings." Bird head was looking at The World, who was sitting near his user while also being covered with a cloak.

"That's just my quirk. We both sun burn easily, so the cloaks are necessary support equipment."

"Wow, they are just like us!" A shadowy figure appeared in front of the boy. "Hi, I'm Dark Shadow, and this is Fumikage Tokoyami. We also don't like bright light. Nice to meet you!"

"Silence! I told you to not speak without my permission." Tokoyami was irritated.

"You are such a buzz kill!" Dark Shadow retreated back into the boy.

"I apologize on the behalf of my quirk."

"No harm done. I'm Izuku Midoriya and my quirk is The World." He offered his hand.

"What a powerful name. I hope we will see each other in the future." Fumikage said before accepting the handshake.

After hearing a signal from Present Mic, everyone rushed into the gates to get ahead of the competition. Robots were decently tough, but his quirk made short work of them. No, destroying the robots wasn't an issue. The issue was Izuku's lackluster mobility and range. He ran pretty fast, but needing to get within 10 meters of a villain often meant that someone with a ranged quirk would steal the points. Midoriya had to run to areas that he thought were less populated. Of course, he did not miss any chance extra points by rescuing the actors.

Suddenly, he heard buildings collapsing in the distance. It was the Zero pointer. Just as green head turned away to run, a cry for help reached his ears. The voice came from the same direction as the giant robot. Izuku ran towards the cry.

"The hell are you doing, kiddo? You won't get points for fighting that thing."

"I'm not going to. I just need to help whoever's in peril."

A girl was trapped under rubble. The same girl he saved from a fall earlier today. Zero Pointer and the kid were rapidly approaching her from opposite directions. He's too far! He won't reach her in time!. Unless…

"The World, do your thing!"

Robot has stopped moving. One of its "arms" was already near the girl, ready to flatten her. Just as time resumed, TW went upwards to push against the metal limb. It was quite painful. Even with its immense strength and durability, The World's arms started to crack under the pressure. Izuku's arms received the damage as well, which prevented him from lifting the piece of rubble.

"It's too late! Run and save yourself!" The girl tried to reason.

"NO!"

"This is fine. I just need to stall until time stop can be used again…" He was sweating down a river.

"So this is how Jotaro felt?" DIO thought to himself.

Seconds felt like minutes. Finally, the little vampire stopped time for a second time. TW quickly lifted the rubble and snatched the girl. Izuku wanted to ran away from Zero Pointer as fast he could. However, the alarm went off shortly after he escaped, indicating the end of practical test.

"You are safe now." Izuku was carrying the girl whose left leg looked terrible.

"Thank you. I knew you are a great guy, even though you are kind of weird." She rubbed her hand against his cheek. "Feeling better?"

"What? How did you know it was me?"

"I recognized a familiar voice." She smiled at him. "Plus, you generate this inexplicable aura of badassery."

"Thank you!" He let out a nervous laughter.

"Hey, I know I'm not supposed to ask your name as per agreement, but I'd really like to know the man who saved me twice in one day."

Green head's blush was conveniently obstructed by his cloak and mask.

"I am Izuku Midoriya."

"Ochako Uraraka. I hope to see you in the school, Midoriya-kun." She was nervous as well.

"I hope so too! Ha ha ha!" Kira sounded pleased.

After leaving Uraraka to the medics and explaining that he has super regeneration, Izuku left the UA grounds and headed towards home. On his way back he texted his friends.

Future heroes from Aldera

Green Devil: I am glad this is over. How's everyone?

Alien Queen: That written test was a nightmare! I might be rejected from UA because of it.

Tsar Bomba: You should have spend more time on studying, Horns! That's what you get for half assing.

Alien Queen: You are so mean, Kacchan.

Tsar Bomba: Only Deku may use that name and live.

Green Devil: Please, do not kill her, Kacchan.

Tsar Bomba: Fine. Did anything interesting happen in your practical tests? I basically flew through the area and blasted the villains away.

Alien Queen: No, I simply slid through my battle center and melted robots' legs. I hope that counts as immobilizing.

Green Devil: I had to save a cute girl from being crushed by Zero Pointer.

Tsar Bomba: No fucking kidding? How?

Green Devil: By almost being crushed myself.

Alien Queen: You said she was cute. Should I be jealous?

Green Devil: May be.

Tsar Bomba: Not this shit. I'm leaving!

Three weeks have passed. Izuku received a letter from UA. Unsurprisingly, he was accepted, with his written score in top 5 and practical score being second only to Katsuki. What did surprise him was the announcer. Apparently, All Might was going to teach at the UA this year. Green head wondered if it had something to do with his injury.

Chapter 12: Quirk apprehension test

Green head wanted to come early during his first day at the hero school. After having breakfast and saying goodbye to his mother, he hopped on the train to UA.

"Remember, Izuku, you must establish yourself as the strongest one in the group. The sooner others get this message, the better." DIO sounded more serious than usual.

"You sound like Kacchan, sir."

"Just be careful and don't do anything idiotic." Diavolo almost parroted his mother.

Midoriya arrived to the classroom two hours earlier than usual. The first thing he saw was Katsuki bickering with a tall boy from before.

"Get your legs off the desk this instant! You are being a disgrace to this school. Someone will use that desk in the future." Blue head waved his hand with a robotic motion.

"Stop getting on my nerves, Four Eyes! It's just a fucking desk!"

"Could you two please be quiet? I'm trying to read here." A girl with a raven ponytail asked.

"Screw you, nerd! You're not my mother!"

Students stared at Bakugo with contempt.

"This is a perfect opportunity." Vampire spoke again. "Tell the blonde to comply, that way people will know that you mean business."

Izuku frowned. He didn't like ordering his friend around because his brashness wasn't a big deal for him. Still, may be DIO had a point. Green head put his hand on Katsuki's shoulder.

"Kacchan, please, remove your legs from your desk."

"Uh, fine!" Bakugo pushed the hand away and pointed at the tall boy. "I'll deal with you later."

The student with glasses ignored the threat and instead bowed before Izuku.

"I don't know how you did it, but I am grateful. My name is Tenya Iida. I come from Soumei middle school."

"Sounds fancy." 

"Izuku Midoryia. I am from Aldera Junior High. Nothing crazy, just a regular school." He awkwardly bowed in response. "Katsuki Bakugo here is my friend. I know he can be rude but he is a great guy, I promise."

"I find that hard to believe." Iida shifted his view towards Bakugo.

Izuku looked at the class room. There were only 12 desks and 4 students at the moment.

"Why are there only 12 desks? Where are the rest?"

"There won't be the rest." The girl explained. "The Hero classes will only contain 12 students starting this year. This will ensure we get the best training possible."

"Good to know. Let's get to know each other."

She sighed before standing up.

"I am Momo Yaoyorozu, one of the recommended students. I went to the same school as Iida-kun."

"So are you two friends as well?"

He could see a hint of sadness in her eyes.

"No. We… were in different classes, and my schedule is very strict, so I never got a chance to know him well."

"Oh, ok. What do you mean by recommended?"

"Most people enter the hero course through the entrance exam, but a select few can get through a recommendation from a public figure or an organization. I was recommended by my parent's support company."

"That's cool!" Izuku was amazed.

"We'll have to ask the rat why he didn't recommend us."

"You mind if ask you about your quirk?" He pulled out his notebook from his bag.

"Sure. My quirk is called Creation: it lets me reshape lipids in my body into any inorganic object, as long as I know the object's chemical composition."

Izuku furiously wrote that down.

"What about you, Midoriya?"

"Well, it's complicated. My quirk is called Imaginary Friend and its form changes when I sleep. The current form is called King Crimson."

"Fascinating. I'll make sure to observe your quirk in action." She returned to her book. It was dedicated to various firearms.

Izuku turned to Tenya and asked him about his quirk.

"My quirk is Engine, just like with my brother, Pro Hero Ingenium. Although, my engines are on my calves. They let me run incredible speeds."

"Thank you."

Two boys entered the classroom. One of them had red and white hair, and the other one looked familiar.

"Tokoyami-kun! I'm glad you made it." Green head went to offer a handshake.

"Did you seriously come to this course for friendships? We are supposed to train and become heroes." The boy with dual colored hair said with monotonous voice. He took a seat without waiting for the response from his surprised classmates.

"He is just like Kacchan."

"He is an asshole!"

"I am pleased as well, Midoriya. It good to know that another Disciple of Dark has overcome those mechanical beasts." He looked behind his new friend. "Where is your cloak? You must know that sunlight will enter this room in the afternoon."

"I left it at home. You see, my skin's tolerance towards sun varies. Sometimes I burn in seconds and other times I'm no different from most people."

"Does it depend on your quirk's form?" Momo asked from afar.

"Clever girl." DIO was impressed.

"Yes, it certainly does."

"I beg your pardon?" Bird was flabbergasted.

"I'll explain everything a bit later, promise. In the meantime, do you mind telling me more about Dark Shadow?"

The quirk in question appeared and waved at Izuku.

"Hi! I certainly don't mind talking about myself. I am a sentient quirk that was bound to Fumikage since his birth. I am pretty tough and strong, and I can stretch myself up to 50 meters. Is The World sentient too? Is a he friend of King? Why are they named like that? Can I talk to them?"

"Like I said, I'll explain everything later. Thank you for your explanation, Dark Shadow."

Next batch consisted of two mutants: A very tall boy with multiple hands and a face mask, as well as a girl with wire-like jacks on her ears.

"Hello, I am Izuku Midoriya. Nice to meet you."

"Mezou Shouji. Nice to meet you too." He went straight for the desk.

"Kyoka Jirou." She plugged her wires into her phone as if they were headphones.

"I guess they aren't a talkative type"

The last four students arrived one minute before the beginning. He recognized Mina and Ochako. They were all laughing at something along with a third girl, who had bright green hair and deep green eyes. The fourth girl's hair had much darker shade of green, and her eyes were unusually large.

"Hey everyone!" Mina greeted the rest of the class with a smile and a hand wave.

"The class will start in less than a minute. Get to your desks immediately." A tired voice caught her by surprise. She turned around.

A tall and slender man was standing behind her. His clothing consisted of a black shirt, pants, a utility belt and a long white scarf. He looked like a homeless bum. Everyone sat down.

"It took you 10 seconds to get to your positions." He was looking at his watch. "I want you to cut this time in half by the end of this semester."

Iida raised his arm. "Sir, are you our homeroom teacher?"

"Yes. My name is Shota Aizawa, I am an underground hero and I will be your homeroom teacher for the next 3 years, assuming I won't expel you. Now, I know this is sudden, but I need you to put on your sport uniforms and meet me outside. Go."

"He sounds familiar." Diavolo was angry at something.

"You told me the same thing about Kacchan."

"Yeah, but this guy sounds like one of the traitors. May be has him as imaginary friend?"

Everyone gathered near the UA sports field. Aizawa was holding a tablet. Tenya raised his arm again.

"Sensei, shouldn't we be attending entrance ceremony?"

"That's just an empty formality. Here at the UA teachers are given more freedom in how they conduct classes. Right now I am interested in checking if you got any potential inside you. You know how exercises in other school forbid usage of quirks? I find that incredibly irrational and short sighted. Today we will conduct a quirk apprehension test. It will contain normal athletic exercises, but you are allowed to use your quirks in any way besides harming each other."

"Sounds like fun!" Mina got excited.

"You think this is fun?" Their teacher got agitated. "How about this: the one with the smallest total score will be expelled immediately."

Almost everyone's jaws dropped. Even Izuku was taken aback.

"He's bluffing, right?" Kira was wondering. "What's the point of those entrance exams if you're going to expel someone on the spot?"

"May be. I swear I know this guy from somewhere…"

The girl with bright green hair raised her hand.

"Sir, what if someone's quirk doesn't help with physicals at all?"

"Then you will have to try extra hard."

"That bullshit!" She almost screamed. "All your quirk does is disabling quirks of others! You'd be expelled if you were in MY place. That's unfair!"

"Disabling quirks? Right, this man must be Underground Hero Eraserhead!" Izuku came to a conclusion.

"Our world is full of unfairness. Get with the program or leave."

The girl started crying. Ochako and Mina tried to comfort her.

The first test required throwing a ball as far as possible. Katsuki was asked to perform the exercise first because he top scored during the entrance exam. His furthest throw in Aldera was 50 meters, but with the quirk it was 800 meters. This test would be a breeze for Izuku and King Crimson. His ball landed at 1 km mark. But the best result by far was achieved by Uraraka, who launched the ball into space by removing its gravity

Next was 50 meter dash. Green head wished he still had The World right now, but it wasn't time for regrets. He came up with an idea. King Crimson would throw him like a sack of potatoes and catch him on the other side. Landing was quite painful, but worth cutting down on seconds. He was still no match for Iida or Kacchan though.

For side steps Izuku tortured himself again. KC violently shook its owner from one side to another until he puked. Everyone gave him concerned looks over his performance. At least he got 1st place.

3 kilometer run was the first obstacle that Izuku conquered without his quirk. Continuous self launching would be too painful and inconvenient given the circular shape of the track. He was completely outmatched by all mobility boosting quirks, but still performed alright. Iida was ahead of competition once again.

In grip test Midoriya scored 400 kg, with Shouji not being far behind at 375 kg.

"Wow, you are so big and strong! I like that." Mina gave Mezou a wink, but was ignored.

Long jump meant Izuku had to cosplay a projectile again. He was beaten by Shoto (his name was announced by Eraserhead) and Katsuki.

Finally, sit ups and seated toe touches were dominated by Izuku and Tokyami due to their quirks' autonomy. Everyone else had to depend on their natural skills.

Eraserhead's tablet made a hologram and showed everyone's results*:

1st Izuku Midoriya 9/9/11/4/11/9/11/11 = 75

2nd Katsuki Bakugo 6/10/6/10/8/10/8/6=64

3rd Tenya Iida 3/11/7/11/6/5/9/8=60

4th Shoto Todoroki 7/8/5/9/4/11/5/7=56

4th Momo Yaoyorozu 10/6/9/8/9/7/4/3=56

4th Tsuyu Asui 4/7/10/7/5/8/6/9=56

5th Mezou Shouji 8/3/3/5/10/6/7/4=46

6th Fumikage Tokoyami 5/2/2/1/7/2/10/10=39

7th Mina Ashido 2/5/8/6/2/3/3/5=34

8th Ochako Uraraka 11/4/1/3/3/4/2/2=30

9th Kyoka Jirou 0/1/4/0/0/0/1/1=7

10th Tooru Hagakure 1/0/0/2/1/1/0/0=5

Kyoka let out a quiet sigh, while Tooru fell on her knees and started crying. Uraraka tried to calm her down.

"By the way, I wasn't going to expel anyone based on these results." Their teacher made a creepy smile. "That was a logical ruse to make you go Plus Ultra."

"Really?" Hagakure asked through her tears.

"Yes."

"Called it!" Kira grinned.

"It was obvious, no?" Momo asked the crowd. They stared at her with confusion.

"Don't get too full yourself, Yaoyorozu. I would have expelled anyone who had no potential. Thankfully, this class is free from such people."

He looked at Izuku. "Midoriya, principal has allowed you to reveal the general nature of your quirk and certain classified abilities to your class, the ones you already told your friends about. Do it quickly so we can go on."

Everyone bar Katsuki and Mina locked their eyes on him. After letting out a sigh, he mentally prepared to reveal parts of his secret to the audience. He could only imagine what kind of questions will fly his way.

Chapter 13: Q session

"Listen up, everyone. My quirk is called Imaginary Friend, and it has three forms. I can change these forms when I'm in deep sleep. You've already seen the first form, King Crimson. Another form is called The World. It looks like a yellow diver. Having TW also turns me into a vampire for as long as it is chosen. Being a vampire has many benefits: I am stronger and faster than a normal person, possibly immortal, and can regenerate wounds incredibly quickly. The drawbacks are that I need to consume blood and ultraviolet light burns me faster than any fire. Finally, there is Killer Queen, a quirk that resembles a human with some feline features. All three quirks possess varying degrees of superhuman strength, and they all have special abilities."

Izuku stopped talking for some reason. He was staring at the ground.

"Are you going to show us these abilities, kero?" Tsuyu put her finger near her lips.

"Huh? Oh right. Today I'll show you what KC can do. But first, promise not to laugh."

Students looked at each other in confusion before giving their promise. Green head put aside a strain of hair from his forehead, revealing a smaller face. He could see that some classmates could barely contain their laughter, which made him roll his eyes.

"This is Epitaph. It shows the nearest future."

The little face projected light on the ground. Eraserhead's phone started ringing and he had to pick it up. Shortly after, prediction became reality. Everyone gasped at the realization.

"Next is peak of King Crimson's might. This ability is officially classified. It's the power to […] Fascinating, isn't it?"

"What?" Students were dumbfounded.

"Did you just… say something?" Jirou asked.

"Yes, I just revealed King Crimson's ability to you."

"Could you please repeat?" Tsuyu sounded completely unimpressed. "I didn't understand you."

"Sure" Izuku made a devious smile. "Just make sure you're paying close attention. King Crimson can […] Got it?"

"What sorcery is this?" Tokoyami never spoke so loud before.

"I got it!" Tooru raised her hand. "Your quirk can affect people's memories. You erased our memories right after explaining what it does."

"Not quite." Izuku chuckled.

"No, it's something much more unsettling." Momo was holding her phone. "King Crimson erases time itself!"

Students looked at Izuku like he was Devil himself.

"Midoriya, is that true?"

"Yes." He gave raven haired girl thumbs up. "How did you figure it out?"

"Ever since this strange phenomenon began two years ago, I've been trying to monitor it. It's been way too consistent to be a simple coincidence. Twice per week, from 15:00 to 15:30 people and equipment would suffer from a strange feeling, as if they lost track of time. Simple alteration of memory couldn't do that. I figured a good way to detect its occurrence is to record. I started doing it right after your first skip. Video cuts out same way it did in my ears." She looked really proud of herself.

Izuku applauded at Momo's intelligence. He didn't actually expect someone to figure it out so quickly.

"I've been trying to minimize the annoyance I cause when training this ability." He scratched the back of his head. "I imagine you all got questions."

"That can wait. We are going to back to the class." Aizawa walked towards the entrance door. Everyone followed him inside.

The rest of the lesson was spent listening about curriculum and upcoming events. Intercom in the classroom made an announcement right before the class ended.

"Midoriya Izuku, come to Midnight's office immediately after the class. She wants to talk about your equipment." Nezu didn't even try to hide amusement in his voice.

Most of the boys (and some of the girls) have him a jealous look.

"Wow, is Midnight designing your costume?" Uraraka gasped. "I wish my costume was designed by a Pro Hero"

"Don't be silly. No one knows what your costume needs better than you do." Iida fixed his glasses.

"I guess you are right."

Izuku entered Nemuri's office. It looked surprisingly normal, unlike the room in her agency. He greeted the heroine and sat down.

"Hi, Izuku. We finally finished fine tuning those sleeping pills you requested. They'll knock you out almost instantly and they don't expire for a month. With that said, you should not overuse them. My quirk gas and its derivatives may be safe to consume, but the frequent act of inducing deep sleep and waking up is likely to damage your brain's bio rhythm. They must be used sparingly."

"I understand, sensei."

"Good. Now, I have a favor to ask you."

He blushed for a moment.

"This is going to be fun!" Vampire laughed

"Ask anything. You've helped me so much before."

"When you graduate, I'd like you to be my sidekick for a few years. It would be wonders for my ratings."

"You mean you want a young boy like me to follow you around and obey your every command?"

"Ha ha ha!" She wiped a tear from her cheek. "I'm glad you've adopted my sense of humor. To think you were once a disheartened child I met in that park. So, is that a yes?"

"Sure."

"Excellent. May be I'll even teach you how to attract pretty girls into your own agency. Or boys, whichever you prefer."

The rest of the day was uneventful, aside from the fact that even regular subjects like Math or English were taught by Pro Heroes. Midoriya wanted to answer remaining questions about his quirk, but half the class had to go home as soon as possible. Instead he decided to answer questions in a group chat so no one would miss out. Mina already happened to gather all the phone numbers.

UA Class 1A

Green Devil: Hi everyone, I can now answer everyone's questions.

Eternal Darkness: Me first! I was asking you first! Are you imaginary friends sentient?

Green Devil: Yes, but they don't talk. Not in the same way you do, Dark Shadow.

Eternal Darkness: Are World and Crimson friends? What about Killer Queen?

Green Devil: No! They always argue how one is superior to another. KQ just quietly sits in its corner.

Kero: So they are more like siblings?

Green Devil: No, Tsuyu. They are like room mates who hate each other's guts.

Rock star: It must have been tough growing up with them.

Green Devil: I got used to it. They are like a family to me now. A dysfunctional family, but family nonetheless.

Rock star: I think KQ and KC are named after and an old song and a band, but what about TW?

Green Devil: It's named after a tarot card.

Rock star: Who the what now?

Eternal Darkness: Your ignorance is astounding, Jirou-san.

Goddess of creation: It's a set of old European cards used for games and fortune telling.

U can't C me: Wow, what a username. Someone has an ego problem.

Goddess of creation: My ego is fine, thank you very much.

Green Devil: Does this mean no one has questions left?

Ingenuim: I have a question. Why didn't you name King Crimson after a card if fortune telling is its ability?

Green Devil: Honestly, no idea. I just picked the names that sound cool.

Handyman: Is KC your strongest quirk physically?

Green Devil: It's stronger than KQ and comparable to TW.

U can't C me: What other special abilities do you have?

Green Devil: I'll show them to you soon.

Kero: Could you please train your time erasure at another time? My little sister's favorite show goes live at 15:00.

Green Devil: I'm sorry, but the time was chosen by principal Nezu. You'll have to discuss it with him.

Goddess of creation: Are your other abilities as disruptive as time erasure?

Green Devil: Out of the ones I actually use, no.

Goddess of creation: That sounds ominous.

Alien Queen: I just noticed that Midori and Yaomomo have contrasting usernames. That's funny.

Goddess of creation: Yaomomo? Is that a nickname?

Alien Queen: Yeah, do you like it?

Goddess of creation: I don't mind it.

Alien Queen: Midori, have you had fun in Midnight's office?

Green Devil: I certainly did, Mina.

U can't C me: What were you doing there anyway?

Green Devil: She informed me about finalizing the design for certain support equipment.

Goddess of creation: You are going to carry her gas with you to change between Imaginary Friends at any moment?

Green Devil: Ok, you are starting to scare me.

Goddess of creation: I'll take that as yes.

Space Walker: Do you have plans for today's evening?

Green Devil: Right. Sorry guys, but I have urgent business to attend to. We can continue later.

Izuku had to go to the love hotel to please the serial killer's desire. He had already gotten used to it, but things would be different this time. Previously, the girls he played with were strangers that he tried not to from any emotional attachment to. This way he was able to mentally separate his usual self with his "Kira" self. But now one of the girl's would be a person he has to interact with outside of the ritual. This would definitely make things awkward.

Chapter 14: "Lovely" meeting.

Izuku returned home, where his mom was waiting for him.

"Pumpkin, you are back!" She went for a tight hug. "How was your first day at school?"

"It was great! Everyone was nice to me, and I got to show off King Crimson's power!"

"Yeah, I noticed."

"Sorry, I hope you weren't making a new account or anything." He looked her square in the eyes. "Mom, there is a problem. One of my classmates is a girl I visit in a hotel. I don't know what to think. How do I prevent this situation from being too awkward?"

Izuku hasn't been asking his mother for advice for a long time. The fact he did it now proves that he still trusts her judgement. Inko Midoriya could still be a good mother. She just needed to guide her son through the bizarre situation Kira Yoshikage had put him in.

"My son, the most important thing you should do is establishing boundaries. Make it clear that you respect her as a person, and that you will not let your urges get in the way of her education. Also, offer her to quit if she is too uncomfortable. I'm sure Nezu-san can find a replacement. I believe you can do it the right way, my boy." She hugged him.

"I swear, I'd strangle Kira if I ever met him." She clenched her first behind his back.

"*Sniff*. You know, kid, I almost envy you. Your mother is such a good parent." DIO was crying, something that was rarer than a finding a four leaf clover.

"Thanks for the advice, mom! I'll be leaving soon."

Izuku approached the love hotel. He was wearing a pink suit with a green shirt underneath, as well as pink pants and shoes. He only used this attire for the ritual, another way of separating himself from the situation and internally shifting the blame on the killer. After greeting the receptionist, he went to his usual room, where three girls were waiting for him.

First was Ochako Uraraka. She was wearing a white shirt, jean shorts and yellow sandals. Next to her was a red haired girl about the same age. She was sporting a short dark green dress, sneakers of the same color and a black jacket. Her hair was tied in a ponytail. She was one of Yohiskage's favorites because of her quirk. Finally, there was an exotic looking older woman. Her skin was sky blue, her long hair lilac, and her eyes featured black sclera with bright green pupils. Her navy blue dress was nicely complemented by a red jacket with black fur.

"Hello. Black Belt, Sensation, could you please leave the room for a bit? There is something I need to discuss with G-Force."

"Actually." Uraraka intercepted him. "I think Black Belt should stay. If my guess is right, then you'd have to talk to her anyway."

Both Red head's and Green head's eyes widened.

"Crap. Is she in UA too? I didn't see her today. She must be in a different class."

"It's a shame, really. I'd love seeing Black Belt every day." Kira snickered.

"Very well. Sensation, could you please wait outside?"

"You can't do this to me, Tiger! I'd be DYING of curiosity if you left me out."

Izuku sighed. The situation was getting worse by the minute.

"This doesn't leave the room, understand?"

"Of course, my dear. I read that document carefully before signing it. You can trust me with ALL of your dirty secrets." She winked at the frustrated boy.

"Black Belt, do you attend UA high?"

"Why are you asking me this?" She frowned.

"I am in class 1A of heroics course in UA. If we attend the same school, then we'll inevitably run into each other."

Black Belt began straightening her ponytail, even though it was already fine.

"Yes. I am in class 1B of heroics course."

"Goddammit!"

"Well ok, I suppose we can drop the codenames. My name is Izuku Midoriya." He looked at Sensation, who zipped her lips. "The thing I want to talk about is setting boundaries. Uraraka and…?"

"Kendou. Itsuka Kendou."

"Uraraka-san and Kendou-san, I want to make this clear: I respect both of you as individuals and hero students. I promise to not let our affair get in the way of your heroics. If you feel uncomfortable, you can leave before our contract ends without repercussions."

"That last part was unnecessary, kid."

Itsuka and Ochako looked at Izuku, then at each other. Finally, the brunette walked up to him.

"It's fine, Midoriya-kun. You've been helping me financially for the last several months. My parents are in a tough spot right now, so I'd prefer not to burden them too much. Letting you play with my hands is a small price to pay. Besides, you are kind of cute." She caressed Izuku's cheek.

"You know, I used to think you are weird." Kendo spoke. "But you are bastion of decency compared to that little shit in my class. You at least have manners and respect boundaries. Honestly, I'd much rather have you in my class than that guy. So no, I'm not leaving either."

"I'm glad we understand each other." Midoriya smiled.

"Since we are having a heart to heart, I'll confess too." The blue woman licked her lips. "My name is Kizuki Chitose, I'm a journalist. Don't worry; I'll keep this fun between us."

"I hope there won't be another situation like this." Izuku mumbled.

"And I hope there will be." 

"Kendou-san, would you please let me kiss your hand now…"

Chapter 15: Team battles Part 1

A new day at UA meant new heights to reach and new obstacles to overcome. Class 1A would finally have a heroics lesson. Just as Present Mic finished with English and left the classroom, a large man barged in at a supersonic speed.

"I am here". All Might proclaimed. "I'm coming in like a normal person!"

"Wow, we going to have Number One Hero as our teacher!" Hagakure exclaimed.

"This class rocks!" Jirou wasn't far behind.

"Does this guy even know how to teach?" Diavolo wondered. "I thought all he is good for is punching and screaming."

"He was hired by principal Nezu, sir. I am sure he knows what he is doing."

"Brace yourselves, my students! Today we will conduct our first practical exercise in the form of team battles!"

"Shouldn't we go over basic training first?" Momo raised her hand. "Aizawa-sensei's test showed a massive disparity in our physical capabilities."

"Afraid of losing, Nerd?" Katsuki grinned.

"I'm merely stating facts."

"Fear not, young Yaoyorozu. This exercise will put a bigger emphasis on teamwork and strategy instead of raw strength or speed. Your physical training will be conducted in future lessons. Now, your hero uniforms are in the changing rooms. Put them on and meet me at the entrance to Battle Center B. I'll be waiting there." He ran out of the classroom as fast as he entered.

"Hell yeah, time for some fun!" Mina was ecstatic.

Izuku's hero costume consisted of a classic all-black suit, dark blue gloves, black dress shoes, a utility belt and a crimson cape. It also included a black metallic helmet with green glowing eyes. Every piece of the costume included the UV absorbing layer on the outside. His belt included pistol bullets for ranged combat, sleeping pills, potent sunscreen and a few vials of blood.

"Midoriya, I've been wondering." Shouji asked while they were changing. "Did people ever freak out about your vampiric nature?"

"No, but that's mostly because I've been keeping the ugly parts under wraps. I receive blood donations from a certain hospital. Besides, if things go dire I can forego using The World."

"Don't even think about it, brat!"

"It must be nice to have that as an option!" Giant sighed.

"I feel bad for you, Shouji-kun." Little vampire thought to himself.

Students gathered in front of the Battle Center. Boys looked with surprise at a pair of floating gloves waving at them.

"Hagakure, is that you? Are you naked right now?" Iida screamed at the gloves.

"Only one way to find out." One of the gloves invited the blue haired boy in. The other slapped a lower part of Tooru's body.

"This is extremely inappropriate!" Tenya was red like a chili pepper. "Cease with this behavior at once!"

"Come on, don't be such a prude, Iida." Mina wrapped her arm around what should be the invisible girl's head.

Their argument was stopped by All Might's arrival. Hero started explaining the exercise.

"You will be randomly divided into six pairs and assigned a hero or villain affiliation. First, there will be a 10 minute preparation stage. Then a team of villains will need to protect a fake bomb for another 10 minutes, while the hero team has to defuse the bomb by touching the tiny screen on it. Alternatively, either team can win by putting on these handcuffs on both of their opponents. If you are cuffed, you are out of the game. The location will be a warehouse in the battle center. Everyone else will be observing efforts of current teams. Anyone got questions?"

"Yes, sir!" Iida karate chopped the air. "What's the point of villain teams? We aspire to become heroes, not oppose them."

"To beat a villain, you must be able to think like one. Exercises such as this one will teach you how to anticipate bad guys' moves and counter them."

"Understood, sensei!"

"Can we blow shit up?" Ash blonde smirked.

"Language, Bakugo!" Tenya got irritated.

"While collateral damage is sometimes unavoidable, try to minimize it as much as possible. Heroes often have to pay for destructions they cause."

"What a load of crap!"

"What if there is a power mismatch between teams?" Momo asked. "If two combat oriented students were matched against support quirks, the fight would be too easy for one side and impossible for the other."

"In real life, you may often get thrown into unfavorable positions, including a difference in power. The best thing you can do in these situations is leverage your strengths while playing around your weaknesses. You will be judged on how you approach the situation, so you may still get a high score even if your team loses."

With no more questions, students drew pieces of paper from a box.

"All right, first fight is team E as villains versus team C as heroes!"

Yaoyorozu and Shouji were assigned to disarm the bomb, while Midoriya and Hagakure had to stop them.

"Alright, Shouji-san. First things first, we need to understand each other's abilities. My quirk allows me to create any non organic object as long as I know its chemical structure. Time it takes to create something depends on size, complexity and my leftover energy."

"My quirk lets me grow many arms at once, not just six you see now. Additionally, I can grow extra organs on my arms to help with recon. My eyes and ears are exceptionally perceptive, so we shouldn't get jumped by the villains. Forgive me for asking, but is Hagakure actually naked?"

"No." Momo face palmed. "It's just a dumb joke that girls decided to play along with. Her costume is basically camouflage uniform that she makes invisible."

"She can do that?"

"Yes. The gloves she wears are to indicate her position without dropping invisibility. And to make boys sweaty, I suppose."

Mezou's quiet laughter did not escape her ears.

"MY costume is designed this way to accommodate my quirk. I don't care what you or anyone else says." Genius pointed a finger at the giant.

"I didn't say anything."

"Whatever. Back to Hagakure-san. I saw that she can make her costume and her body invisible, although it takes some time to kick in. She can't instantly evaporate. This makes me wonder: what are limits of her ability? If she can make the bomb invisible, she'll undoubtedly do it and try to hide a corner somewhere. We also don't know if she can move far away from the objects made invisible by her. May be there is a range cap?"

"Best thing we can do is track her down and interrogate her. Even if she's invisible, I can still hear her breathing and heartbeat, as long as there is not too much noise in the background."

"Good, now onto Midoriya-kun. We know what King Crimson does, and I've figured out Killer Queen's ability."

"How?" All of Shouji's eyes widened in surprise.

"I did my homework." Momo answered. "Two years ago there was an incident with a certain sludge villain. He was apparently coerced into surrender by a civilian whose quirk could turn objects and presumably people into bombs. Description of the civilian and the quirk align perfectly with Midoriya and Killer Queen."

"Remind me to never get on your bad side."

"If we win, I'll let you get on my good side." She smiled for a moment. "Anyway, we don't know what The World does. May be vampirism IS its ultimate ability, or maybe it's something else. It should be comparable to time erasure if World and King argue about superiority. Our best bet is to try and find the invisible girl, while being ready to fight off the devil. I'll make us some gear…"

10 minutes have passed and heroes entered the building. Yaoyorozu was holding a tranquilizer dart gun in her hands and looking around, with a strange looking blaster tied to her back. Mezou was multitasking like crazy: one arm was looking at a watch, another was listening for their opponents, two were holding steel sheets like shields, one more was holding a second tranq gun and final one had the second blaster.

"One is standing still on the top floor, and the other is walking near on the top of the stairs to the second floor."

"Great. We can avoid Midroriya completely by using a different set of stairs."

As they walked, Shouji got spooked.

"What? Impossible! He just teleported!"

"Are you sure? It might have been time erasure."

"No, the arrow on the watch didn't jump forward!"

"Calm down." Momo patted him on the shoulder. "How far did he teleport?"

"About 10 meters. I guess this is his ability. Oh no, he's walking towards the other set of stairs."

"Either he switches at random or can somehow detect us. Let's try to go through first stairs."

It was futile, as Shouji heard someone moving towards the original location.

"Ok, he can definitely track us somehow,"

"May be we should split up? I don't think he can catch both of us." Shouji suggested.

"Out of the question! We'll be easy pickings for him individually. No, we have to stay close. If he wants a fight, he'll get one."

Students approached the stairs; where two menacing figures looked at them from above. One of them sported yellow as the main color.

"You shouldn't have come here, heroes!" Izuku was doing his best DIO impression. "This is MY world, you are not welcome in my world. I am immortal and everlasting!"

"You don't scare us, villain." Momo remained calm. "We will stop you."

"Ho ho ho. Okay, let's make this interesting. If either of you can punch me within the next 10 seconds, I will surrender. If not, you will be in a world of pain."

"Get him!" The mutant rushed towards his opponent. Just as he almost reached his Izuku, he found himself at the bottom of the stairs.

"What the…"

"5 second left!"

Momo tried to shoot Izuku with a tranquilizer, but his quirk stopped the dart in midair.

"You won't get away with his!" Mutant cried and ran upstairs for the second time.

The result remained the same. Shouji was at the bottom of the stairs again.

"0! Time for pain, heroes!"

Suddenly he disappeared, and in his place a dozen bullets and a dart were flying towards Mezou and Momo. The giant barely managed to block the projectiles with his shields.

"He is crazy!"

"No, Shouji. He just takes his role way too seriously. I think I know what we need to do."

The heroes met Midoyia again on the stairs to the third floor. Even with a helmet, they could tell he was grinning at their misfortune.

"Now that you have tasted my power, you know you can't beat me. But I see great potential in both of you. Pledge your loyalty to me, and together we will rule this world!" He offered them a hand.

"Jesus, did he repeat this speech?" Mezou cringed internally.

Instead of answering they aimed their tranq guns at him.

"You still haven't learnt? Your puny darts can even harm me!"

"Care to test that theory?" Momo asked him with a smirk.

"Ha ha! You still think you have a chance? Fine, I will entertain you. Fire away!" Izuku stretched his arms to his sides and closed his eyes.

BANG!

Green head's left leg and his right arm were blasted off his body. He collapsed on the ground. Instead of darts, the guns shot something else, something that could harm a vampire.

"Impossible!" He screamed. "My suit…"

"Protects you from sunlight, but even it can't completely absorb high intensity UV rays." Momo aimed her gun at his head. "This was a gamble, but I'm glad it paid off."

"5 minutes left." Voice from the intercom informed everyone.

"Shouji, find Hagakure and make her show you the bomb. I'll make sure our King of the World doesn't stand up. Don't get close to him! Use different stairs."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Shortly after the mutant found the girl and the bomb near her. As he put a hand on the screen, the announcer declared hero team as the winners.

"Excellent!" All Might clapped. "When they come back, I want you to choose the MVP and provide feedback to the participants."

The rest of the students began discussing the results.

Chapter 16: Team battles Part 2

After finishing the exercise, Momo helped Izuku reattach his missing limbs and speed up his supernatural regeneration with a blood vial.

"My offer from before still stands." He smiled at the girl.

"HA! You'd have to join me, not the other way around." She smiled back.

All four students gathered and went to the monitoring room.

"Hagakure, I wanted to ask you". Midoriya turned towards the gloves. "How did you recognize Eraserhead? I mean, I consider myself a connoisseur of Pro Heroes, but even I struggled to put the pieces together until you revealed his quirk."

"As an aspiring Underground Hero," Tooru sounded proud of herself. "I look up to him as one of the best in the field. Or at least I did, before he almost gave a heart attack yesterday." Now there was venom is her voice.

"Never meet your heroes." Momo concluded.

"Don't be too hard on him." Midoriya patted the invisible girl on the shoulder. "He was just pushing everyone to their limits."

"Easy for you to say, Mister Number One." She pushed his hand away.

"Ok, I'll shut up now."

"Guys." Tooru's tone became mischievous. "Could you please not tell other boys about my suit? Iida's reactions are way too funny to pass up."

"Alright, but only if you tell me more about you quirk later!"

Momo and Mezou just nodded, with former face palming.

"Who wants to declare the MVP of the first round?" All Might asked his students.

"Obviously, Nerd was the MVP. She noticed that Deku got cocky and used his ego against him."

"Excellent, young Bakugo. Now, please provide feedback to others."

"What is there to say? Deku shouldn't have toyed with his opponents, while Hands and Gloves simply followed orders. They did all they could with their quirks."

"Eh, right. Anyone else has something to say?"

Frog girl raised her arm.

"I think both Yaoyorozu-chan and Midoriya-chan went overboard with violence. Throwing bullets and cutting off limbs seems excessive, kero."

"I knew Shouji would have blocked my shots. If you repeat the video, you can see that I aimed for center mass instead of spreading out my shots."

"And I didn't expect his limbs to fall off. My plan was to injure them. Besides, he told us that he can regenerate quickly."

"Well, I think the entire class can learn from this experience. Next up, Team A as villains and B as heroes."

Kyoka tried to formulate a strategy with Shoto, but he shut down her attempts at planning or even a conversation. When preparation time was over, she put her jack against a wall to scan the building.

"Both of them are at the top floor screaming at each other."

"Good. You might want to leave this place."

Heterochromatic teen put his hand on the wall. Suddenly the entire building got encased with ice. Jirou barely managed to escape before getting trapped.

"Holy shit, this guy can do THAT?" She was shocked at the spectacle.

After delivering the bomb to the top floor, Bakugo and Tenya began arguing. Blond insisted on him attacking alone, while bespectacled teen wanted both of them to defend the bomb room. As round began, their feet got stuck to the ground because of ice.

"L-l-looks like Two-Face is trying to s-scare us!" Katsuki was shivering.

"W-what a display of power! We n-n-need to do something." Iida was freezing as well.

"I have an idea."

Bakugo put his hands on the ground and released small explosions. After a while, he managed to break the ice and free himself. He freed his teammate shortly afterwards.

"Ok, new plan, F-F-Four Eyes." Blonde rubbed his palms to warm himself. "We need to strike Two-Face fast and h-hard. If we s-stall, he's turn us into icicles. It's much tougher for me to produce explosions at such l-l-low temperature, but I should collect enough sweat for one solid attack. How good are you at running on ice?"

"I am f-fairly decent at it." Iida ran in place to gain heat.

"G-good! If we are lucky, Two-Face thinks he's already won. We'll ambush him and take him down!"

"What about Jirou-san? We don't even know how her quirk works."

"Ears? She had the second lowest score on the apprehension test. Whatever her quirk is, it can't possibly be as dangerous as this ice. We'll deal with her later. Let's get moving."

"Of course."

Bakugo and Iida sneaked towards the lower floor, trying their best to not make noise. Todoroki, on the other hand, was taking a leisurely walk towards the stairs. In his mind, the ice and cold would perfectly counter speed and explosions of the villain team.

As he turned a corner, his opponents rushed him from opposite sides. He sent a wave of ice towards the screaming blond, only for it to get blown up. Surprised by this outcome, he increased the output of his quirk, finally trapping Katsuki's lower body. Just as he turned around to freeze his other opponent, Tenya got close and punched him in the head with all of his strength. Enraged Shoto grabbed the speedster to put him on ice, only to feel an explosion hit him from behind. Confusion and pain were enough of a distraction for Iida to put handcuffs on dual haired teen.

"F-f-f-fucking finally! That was the l-l-last of my sweat. Now run back to the b-b…"

"Hero team has emerged victorious!" Announcer surprised everyone in the corridor.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Anger momentarily dulled Bakugo's sense of cold.

Shoto melted all the ice on Bakugo before being escorted by robots to the infirmary. The remaining three students went to the observation room.

"I must say, your plan was ingenious." Iida praised the earphone girl. "Using Todoroki as bait and flanking us through your super hearing."

"It's nothing". Blushing Kyoka played with one of her jacks. "I figured that the guy who scored the most points on entrance exam wouldn't give up without a fight. I mostly went just in case you somehow managed to take Todoroki down."

"That asshole didn't take us seriously." Katsuki grinded his teeth. "Even when we jumped him, he only used one of his hands. He could have attacked the two of us simultaneously if the used both sides!"

"May be he has to focus on one hand at a time?"

"Or may be he needs to stop fucking underestimating us!"

"That was one hell of a spectacle!" All Might laughed. "Who wants to share their thoughts on the second round?"

"Me, sir." Momo raised her hand. "The MVP is undoubtedly Kyoka Jirou."

"WHAT?" Girl in question and the ash blond screamed in unison.

"That's bullshit! She just took advantage of Two-Face's importance."

"And her plan worked flawlessly." Momo smiled at Kyoka, causing her to blush. "She not only recognized that Todoroki-san's move will put a target on his back, but also perfectly utilized her quirk to avoid an undesirable fight. Bakugo-san and Iida-san spent the entire setup stage arguing and getting nothing done. While their on-the-fly thinking and coordinated attack are commendable, their tunnel vision and inability to cooperate without extreme circumstances hold them back. Todoroki-san suffers from the same issue as Midoriya-san: he was too confident in his ability to fight solo."

"I appreciate your thoughts, Yaoyozu-san! I will make sure we act better next time." Tenya bowed down.

"Next time I'll kick YOUR ass, Nerd!"

"I hope I won't have to fight Todoroki-san anytime soon, kero."

"With that out of the way." All Might grabbed everyone's attention. "Let us move to the final round. Team D are villains, team F are heroes!"

"So, Asui-san, let's get to know each other better!" Ochako picked up a rock and it went flying. "My quirk is called Zero Gravity. Whatever I touch with all five fingers loses it gravity. There is a mass limit to my ability, and using it on myself makes me want to puke."

"Call me Tsuyu, please. My quirk called is called Frog. It basically gives me attributes of frogs: strong limbs, sticking to walls, as well as a long and powerful tongue." She grabbed Uraraka, lifted her up and put her back down. "Its maximum length is 20 meters. I can also produce venomous mucus, but it's very weak so we can ignore it. My main weakness is that I am susceptible to sudden temperature changes, kero."

"Well, Asu… Tsuyu-chan, you can call me by my first name too! I think we can surprise them if we just…"

"So, Tokoyami, you mind if I call you Birdie?"

"Your attempts at humor are unimpressive, Ashido-san."

Dark Shadow emerged from the boy.

"He said he doesn't mind."

"Thanks, Dark Shadow! Now, what should we do?"

"My quirk has significant reach. I'll be patrolling the lower floor with her, so we know where they'll be coming from. If they are separated, I'll attack one of them and let you know who to expect, otherwise I'll return here for a 2v2 fight."

"HER? I didn't know DS is a girl! High five, sister!"

"Were you even listening to me?"

Frog was holding brunette in her arms and slowly gaining altitude. Once she reached the roof, Asui grabbed onto the fence with her tongue and dragged them there. Uraraka cancelled her quirk with a gesture.

"I must say, using your quirk on me was a great idea, kero. No other team attacked from above, so we have an element of surprise."

"Thanks, Tsuyu. Honestly, I only suggested it because you are strong and have good reach. This would have been way too risky with someone like Hagakure or Shouji."

"We should be quiet." Frog girl lowered her voice. "Let's carefully examine each room starting from the top floor."

Fate was on their side today. The first room on the top floor contained the bomb and lonely Mina guarding it.

"GET BACK! They are here!" She screamed into her earpiece.

"What? How did they get past me? I'm on my way!"

"Stay back!" Alien pointed at the heroes. "I have acid and I'm not afraid to use it."

Uraraka and Asui ran towards Ashido from different directions. Mina was throwing her acid like crazy, but girls were annoyingly good at dodging. Finally, she managed to injure brunette's leg, but before she could launch another portion of acid, Tsuyu extended her tongue and touched the bomb.

"Hero team has won!"

"Yay! Ouch!" Ochako went to hug Tsuyu before crumbling from the leg pain.

"Sorry, girl. I really did not want to lose."

"It's alright, Ashido-san."

"Just call me Mina."

"Excellent performance, girls!" Their teacher clapped. "Who wants to share their thoughts?"

"If I may?" Izuku raised his hand. "The plan by Uraraka-san and Asui-san worked great because the villain team was conditioned to expect their opponents coming from below. Not to mention, the way they forced Ashido-san's attention to split. However, we have never seen Uraraka-san quirk work on other people, only small objects. So similarly to Kacchan, I mean, Bakugo's team, they were outmaneuvered by a technique they did not know exists."

"I agree with Midoriya-san. If we were to repeat this exercise, Uraraka's opponents would know what to expect and react accordingly." Momo pointed at bird head.

"I am glad that all villain teams were defeated. It goes to show that heroes…"

"We were on a villain team, you moron!" Katsuki yelled at Tenya.

"Today was quite educational. You've got to know more about each other's quirks and personalities. Make sure you learn from this experience. See you later, students!" All Might ran away.

Girls' changing room

"Guys, do you have hots for anyone in our class?" Mina asked everyone while changing.

"W-What kind of question is that?" Yaoyorozu was caught off guard.

"Come on! You know what I'm talking about! Our boys are so fit and sexy and… you know."

"Well." Tsuyu scratched her head. "I think Bakugo-san is good looking when isn't screaming."

"So, basically never?" Pinky giggled. "I've known him for years, he's always been a loudmouth."

"What about you, Mina?" Tooru wondered.

"I think Midori is cute. His smile is like a ray of sunshine. Then there is our big guy Shouji. I want to him to crush me with those strong arms." She hugged herself.

"In my opinion, Todoroki is the coolest boy." Hagakure put on her school uniform. "Sure, he has a scar and is distant from others, but it gives him an aura of mysteriousness. You get it, right?"

"SHH!" Jirou put her index finger in front of her mouth. Her jacks were in contact with a wall.

"Isn't boys' changing room behind that wall?" Momo asked.

"Are you spying on them?" Asui was concerned.

"Oh my gosh, are they talking about me? Tell me, tellme tellme!"

"Shut up!" Kyoka whispered in frustration. "I think Midoriya-kun found a hole in the wall and wants to peek." She readied her jack to stab whoever looks through the hole. Ten seconds have passed and girl sighed in relief.

"False alarm. He changed his mind at told Iida to call for our teacher."

"Or perhaps he saw the jack with no one the wiser." Momo thought to herself.

"Maybe we could have used this hole for a bit…" Tooru caught a stinky eye from annoyed Kyoka.

Izuku and Mina were walking to doctor's room.

"Why are you going, Midori? It's not like you injured anyone."

"I just want to make sure Uraraka-san and Todoroki-san are ok."

"I'm glad her hands remained unharmed, he he." Kira smirked.

Inside the office they saw two of their classmates and a short, old woman.

"Hello, Recovery Girl."

"It's good to know that at least someone from younger generation knows me." She smiled. "Say, you are Midoriya, right? Do you mind turning others in your class? I'd be thrilled if students would heal off all the wounds on their own, instead of bothering me."

"I'm afraid principal prohibits me from raising a vampire army. Besides, blood expenses would be really high, especially for poorer students."

"What a shame." The medical hero shrugged. "Those two are almost fully recovered, you can talk to them. I'm going on a lunch break."

Shoto already stood up and went towards exit.

"Wait, Todokori-san!"

"Yes?"

"I would like to apologize on Bakugo's behalf. He shouldn't have hit you so hard."

"There is no need, Midoriya-san. This was the last time Bakugo-san managed to send me here, I assure you." He exited the room.

"Do you sense Déjà vu too?" One of the voices asked Izuku.

"Yeah!"

Pinky walked up to the girl on the bed.

"Sorry for burning your leg, Ochako."

"It's fine, really. Oh, Deku-kun!"

"Deku?"

"Yeah, that's how Bakugo calls you, right?"

"Yes, it's a dumb nickname he gave me because my quirk emerged a bit late. You call me that if you want."

"Thanks, Deku. Mmm." She looked away while blushing. "This is embarrassing. Mina-chan, could you please leave us alone?"

"What, no way! Are you two dating? I need to know!"

"Mina. Give us some privacy." Green head used his serious voice.

"Fine, but you better spill the beans later on!"

Pink girl walked away. Before closing the door, she turned around to see if they changed their minds.

"What did you want to talk about? Do you want to cancel our agreement?"

"No, opposite actually. Is there a way to work overtime?"

"What?!"

"Rent has gone up after recent destructions in the residential area. I can't afford my current apartment now. Can you please let me visit you more?"

A light bulb has sparkled in Izuku's mind.

"If that is your problem, you can live with me!"

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah, my house is too large for only two people anyway. I'll tell my mom you'd moving in."

"What if you mom disapproves?"

"Well, she doesn't mind our little mischief, so we'll probably be fine."

"Thanks a lot!" Uraraka hugged Midoriya.

"Jeez, his mom is ok with that? I guess weirdness runs in the family."