Just A Machine [My Hero Academia / RWBY]

Summary: Her body was being puppeted and destroyed, and so they went to the one called Ambrosius to cure her. But the legend of the malicious Genie persists for a reason. She died, watching something that could not - should not - be her embrace her friends.

Then she woke up.

=-=-=-=-=

She’s unassuming. Easily overlooked. That’s the first thing Aizawa realizes about her - despite being personally recommended by Nedzu himself, this red-haired and red-eyed foreigner who stands a head taller than almost every other girl… fades away. The slump of her shoulders, the tilt of her eyes, the mechanical conformation of her student uniform… he looks at his entire class through tired eyes and she is the only one who doesn’t seem to care about being here in any way.

But that’s just a surface level observation. It’s unimportant. Today is the first day of a new year at UA and he has a new class of Heroics hopefuls; they squirm and wriggle in their seats like worms, nervous and new, some full of bravado and others terrified by his mere presence. His test will separate the chaff from the wheat and he will, hopefully, get a glimpse at what caught the inscrutable principles eye.

“Follow me and put on your gym uniforms. Orientation is a useless process; I’ll be putting you through your paces today.”

The process goes more slowly than he’d care for, but it’s to be expected. They’re young and full of energy and don’t yet understand their roles. It takes a few minutes before they all stand ready at the sports field and a few more for him to explain his expectations.

A test of their Quirks. They’ve all gone through physical tests while limiting themselves, but only now, here at UA, will they be able to discover what they can do when they put their minds and powers to the test. And along the way, he can decide which ones he feels have any potential… and which ones don’t. He’s got a good feeling for this class, so he takes it easy on them.

“The one with the lowest score will be expelled. Does that sound like a fun game to you?”

It’s amusing how loudly they panic at the idea, but he’s more interested in seeing the real response. Not the instinctive noise, but the focus. The decision making. The planning. Events progress roughly as expected. He reviews his notes on his students and their quirks, taking down times and numbers. He eyes the students who are excelling or falling behind. Yaoyorozu Momo stands out for practical solutions, Todoroki Shouto seems to be restricting his abilities, Midoriya Izuku is clearly faltering under the weight… he makes threats and applies pressure. Pushes them.

But his eyes return to the girl. The records provided to him are basic, almost to the point of non-existent. Her Quirk is seemingly deliberately obtuse in its description. Her attitude remains the least involved of all his students. In another context, he’d think this all the result of laziness and luck. Some kid with an easy Quirk expecting to coast through life with a Hero License without actually being a Hero.

Except every time her turn comes up, she smashes every expectation. In the sprint, she hits the ground hard enough to call up a dust cloud. In the ball throw, her form is picture perfect and her strength far beyond human norms. Her flexibility is unrivalled. And on it goes.

There are students who surpass her, of course. Iida Tenya is faster in a straight sprint. Uraraka Ochaco could’ve theoretically sent her ball flying into space. The invisible girl is able to “cheat” in her flexibility test. And Yaoyorozu Momo comes very close to the same average through the proper use of tools. But none display the sheer physical ability and skill that she does.

None look disappointed and empty with every test that passes, either.

In the end, however, he has to make a decision. Should he expel anybody today? He was certainly expecting to, and yet he doesn’t feel the urge. The worst student, the one he was sure he’d be tossing aside today, has shown an unexpected sense of determination. Certainly, breaking his finger was hardly better than shattering his arm and tanked his remaining tests besides, but… it also showed that when push came to shove he could learn. That was the most important part.

But some part of him hesitates. Those empty, glass-like eyes… he’s seen them before and he has no desire to see them in the Hero Industry. But as much as he feels like the only one who cares to ensure the next generation is composed of only those who can handle the rigors of true Hero work, he doesn’t have enough information to make that call. And he certainly can’t expel his top-scoring recommended student on nothing more than gut feeling. That would be… irrational.

“Congratulations. You all pass. I told you I would expel the lowest scoring student as a logical ruse, to ensure you all put your utmost effort into this task.”

“WHAT?”
“Ah, man, and I was freaking so hard!”
“I knew he couldn’t be serious, it just wouldn’t make sense.”
“Ahahahaha! If that wasn’t so funny, I think I might be crying!”

It’s strangely uplifting to hear all these cries of relief, but as he leads the students back to his classroom, his focus is on the conversation. Most of it is mere repetition of what was said earlier, but there’s one subject he’s particularly interested in at this moment….

“But man, did you see how fast she was? And that throw! Wham! It was crazy!” Kaminari Denki, Quirk: Electrification. Smarter than he seems.

“I know! And she’s so cool about it too, like ‘yeah, I just beat everybody, no big deal!’ I wish I was that confident! I couldn’t even tell what her Quirk was!” Mina Ashido, Quirk: Acid. Probably the most socially competent of the class.

“It is rude to speak of your classmates behind their backs! If you wish to complement our fellow classmate, it would be best to do so directly!” Iida Tenya, Quirk: Engine. Too rigid and straightforward, but clearly willing to learn.

The group turned to the subject of their conversation and Aizawa slowed his pace just a little, letting his attention focus.

“Yeah, yeah… hey, I never caught your name, but you were super awesome out there! Was all that crazy stuff your Quirk!? I didn’t even see you do anything, you were just like wham! Done!”

There was a long pause and then his most worrying new student spoke up.

“Salutations,” she responded, the first words she’s said all day. Her voice was like a dry twig, ready to burn to ash.. “My name is Penny Polendina. My Quirk is Weapon.” There’s a hitch in her introduction, something too abrupt to be called a hiccup. “I am a weapon.”

Aizawa Shouto, also known as Eraserhead, doesn’t stop in place. But that voice only confirms his fears.

He’s heard tones like that before.

=-=-=

He had to improve.

Todoroki Shouto approached UA on his second day with that in mind - Endeavor, for all that he hated the man, had taught him a great deal about being a Hero. Most of all was the importance of keeping an eye on your fellow Heroes, to measure yourself against them and find inspiration within them.

In that respect, Eraserheads unusual orientation was efficient and useful. It identified all of the students that Todoroki Shouto would have to keep an eye out for very effectively - from the high-utility but low-potency Yaoyorozu Momo to the high power but low potential Bakugo Katsuki. But most of all, the foreigner.

Penny Polendina.

He knew very well that a simple fitness test accounting for Quirks was no true accounting of their potential as Heroes, but the fact that he’d been overshadowed by many of his classmates nonetheless proved there was room to grow. Perhaps if he had… but no.

And his thoughts kept returning to the girl. Most of his classmates were full of energy and life, wasting away their Quirks and power on frivolous socialization. Except her. She was focused, razor-sharp. She reminded him of Endeavor - not the Endeavor that trained him or raged against All Might, but the Endeavor that was perfecting his work or in the middle of pitched battle. Everything about her spoke of absolute focus… except her eyes.

Her eyes were familiar, but he couldn’t say why. He couldn’t tell how. It shouldn’t be important. It wasn’t important. She was nothing but a stepping stone on the path to showing up his Father. She was a measuring stick. Her incredible physical abilities and clear skill; they were similar enough to All Might that he could place himself in the same role. If he could beat her, then he was on the right track.

Determined to follow through on that course of action, he stepped up his stride.

Only, as he walked through the massive gates of UA, he found himself beside her on their path towards the Support Department. There was something he needed to double-check about his costume but he wasn't certain what reason she or anyone else would have for heading there so early. Minutes passed in silence and he kept expecting her to split off for some other errand, but no, they both remained in lockstep all the way to the office of the Head Teacher for the Support Department - Power Loader. He had to fight the urge to look at her, focusing instead of the Excavation Hero. Instead of the excavator-themed helmet he wore as a Hero, the unusually small man was wearing… a normal suit. No tie, but he supposed he shouldn’t expect significant formality from a man who normally walked around shirtless.

"Ah, Nedzu warned me you'd be by, but I'm afraid I'm still getting a few things ready. Hm? Todoroki-san as well, hm? I've actually got some comments on your costume if that's what you're here about. Give me a few minutes and chat in the meantime, would you?”

And just like that, they were ushered out of the room, the door closed behind them, and left to wait. Todoroki felt irritated at the abrupt dismissal, but he supposed it was reasonable given there'd been no specific appointment and the early hour. Even Heroes needed time to actually prepare things like lesson plans, he supposed. Before he could get too deep into his thoughts, however, Pollendina stepped in front of him and stuck her hand out rigidly.

"Salutations. My name is Penny Pollendina. My Quirk is Weapon,” she hiccupped. “It is my hope we will learn a great deal together during our time here at UA."

Todoroki looked up from her hand to her face, which seemed almost bored with his existence. Something in him bristled and he deliberately crossed his arms. "I'm here to become a Hero, not make friends." Her head quirked at a disturbingly precise angle, alongside most of her body. It was so exact that he felt a brief sense of disorientation, as though he needed to tilt alongside her before he fell, but he resisted the urge in favor of tightening his grip on his arms.

"And yet we have been ordered to wait here and communicate. It is my understanding that Japanese social etiquette requires a formal introduction to be reciprocated. Is that wrong?”

...what? "I - yes?” He paused, reconsidering his answer. “I mean no.”

They stood there in complete silence for several moments. He looked back down to find her hand still extended, directly pointed at his chest and, now that he thought about it, rather uncomfortably close. He looked back up to her face - and her eyes.

He’s struck by that deep sense of familiarity again. It’s her eyes, he realizes. Something about her eyes reminds him of something… from a long, long time ago….

“Todoroki Shouto,” he finally blurts out. He’s not sure why, but if he’s saying one thing, he might as well keep going. “My Quirk is Half-Cold Half-Hot. I’m going to win.”

The foreigner finally retracted her hand and straightened her head, her eyes scanning him up and down in a very deliberate manner. “Win at what?”

“Against you.”

The girl nods. “I understand. This is a challenge. How and when do you intend to contest me? I am combat-ready.”

Todoroki hesitated. He hadn’t really thought this through, but he supposes if he’s gone this far. “Our teachers will likely have us conduct combat exercises or we could request the use of a gym or simulation area for one.”

“Then we will test our mettle at the earliest - “ She cut herself off, turning her head towards the door in time for it to open up and reveal their Support Department Head once more. The two are invited back in and soon separated, as whatever purpose Pollendina came for apparently required privacy.

Todoroki can’t help but go over the odd interaction once more. Movies and shows made things like this sound a lot more… dramatic than they’d turned out to be. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, hadn’t even intended to “challenge” anybody like that in the first place, but that surely wasn’t it.

He turns his head towards the room Pollendina was currently within, idly wondering what she’d need the heavy-duty semi-automated workshop for this early in the morning. Perhaps her Quirk relied on Support Tech to some degree? If so, he’d have to keep an eye out for it. Support Technology was immensely valuable and useful, augmenting Heroes in any number of ways, but also proved a point of vulnerability. It was for exactly that reason that Endeavor refused to regularly utilize the more powerful - and bulky - heat management devices support companies often offered him.

Of course, his costume would be offering the opposite service. So long as it was designed to his specifications, which he’d already had to argue about, hence his presence today. His mind returned to the design he’d made for his costume, all thoughts of rivalry forgotten for the moment.

=-=-=

“AND SO! WE BEGIN YOUR TRUE FIRST DAY OF HEROICS WITH SOMETHING BOLD AND VALUABLE!

A TRIAL OF HEROISM!”

Todoroki looked up to All Might, for all that the mans appearance gave him mixed feelings of resentment and frustration. Here was the man who Endeavor destroyed his family to beat. Here was the end goal of his existence.

But he couldn’t let himself get distracted. He changed into his costume as quickly as he could, though theory and practice were two different things. Fitting the ice-sculpted armor over his left side, he discovered, was difficult given how little there was to counterbalance it on the right, and he immediately found himself determined to continue discussing its design with the support department.

But he’d deal with it. The important part was that it both protected his more vulnerable side and provided heavy heating systems to help ensure he didn’t fall into hypothermic shock from overusing his Quirk. In addition, it was about as opposed to his Fathers style as you could get.

A few minutes later and the entire class stood in what seemed to be some kind of security or observation room, looking up to All Might in his Silver Age costume. The titan of a man was in full Hero Mode, a massive grin that inspired billions in full bloom and every statement said boldly and with accompanying sharp and dramatic motions.

Somehow, the actions that made a man stand out and inspire on battlefields and in disaster zones was… a little embarrassing to watch in a classroom.

“SO! I told you this would be a Trial of Heroes, did I not? I DID! And what that involves is the core aspect of any Hero! RESCUE! Of whom and from what, you may ask! Why, these!”

So saying, he pulled a robot from a nearby locker. Unlike the combat robots that had been a slight nuisance in the recommended exam, this one is shaped like a person with the only deviation being wheels for legs. The word, “CIVILIAN” was stamped in bold on the chest.

“THIS is a Rescue Bot! You will be progressing into a simulated urban environment outside these doors filled with them! It is designed and programmed to simulate common civilian behaviors, from orderly evacuation all the way up to and including panic and interference with HEROIC DUTIES!

“AS FOR THE WHAT - YOU!” He moved to another table and grabbed a box on it, flipping it around to reveal the word Lottery. “You will be separated into teams of four, one Hero, one Villain! The most public villain attacks are those that take place in open streets and wide areas, but the truth is that the most critical of Heroic duties and most vile of villainous crimes, statistically speaking, take place indoors! And so the villains of each exercise shall fortify and defend a large building full of unfortunate civilians, with the goal of utilizing hostages as ransom! Meanwhile, the Heroes are to infiltrate and combat the villains with the goal of rescuing all civilians!”

The Iida heir, his body fully garbed in a suit of armor that combined the plates of a medieval knight with the sleek lines of a race car, augmented by the massive engines sticking out the back of his calves, stuck a hand straight up at a rigid angle. He didn’t wait for a response. “Teacher! Is it truly appropriate for us lowly students to be engaging in a combat exercise without any formal training? Moreover, how are we to conduct ourselves as villains?”

All Might visibly cringed, clearly nervous, and glanced at a sheet of paper in his hand before answering. “Good question, young Iida! The truth is that there are things that can only be learned through study, and things that can only be learned through experience! It was my belief that you, my students, would be able to apply the theoretical lessons we give you better if you should have a practical experience to relate them to! And our dear Principle Nedzu agreed with me, after some modification! Hence, the exercise!

“As for acting a villain, in practical terms, there will be very little difference between the two in this exercise! The Heroes must direct civilians to escape the building held by the villains and avoid wanton destruction, but the Villains must ensure that the key hostages are not unduly harmed or relocated and excessive collateral damage can be as dangerous to themselves as it is to the Heroes!

“Now, please form an orderly line and select your lots!”

Todoroki didn’t pay much attention to the others as they selected their slips and discussed who they’d like to be teamed with. None of it would matter until he knew which team he would be a part of and which team he would be facing. Moreover, most of the students here he was reasonably sure he could defeat without any trouble. Their Quirks were situational or simply underpowered compared to his.

It took a few minutes for everybody to acquire their cards and find the matches. On his team were Tokoyami Fumikage, Yaoyorozu Momo, and Sero Hanta. The bird-headed man with an intelligent Quirk known as Dark Shadow, which he quickly explained was weak to light but hard to control in the dark. The other Recommended student alongside himself, who had the Quirk to transform her own body fat into any inanimate object she understood the construction of. The last of their team was capable of producing long and strongly adhesive bands from his elbows.

After grouping together, they were informed of some of the rules of the exercise. It would take place over the course of fifteen minutes; nobody was allowed to move more than twenty meters away from the building it took place within; the primary way to rescue a Civilian was to place them within a “safe zone” at the front; the primary way to mark an opponent as eliminated was to complete a circle around any part of their body utilizing equipment known as Capture Tape (“I apologize, Sero, but your tape doesn’t count for that purpose”.) Win conditions for the Heroes were the elimination of all Villains or retrieval of all Civilians. Win conditions for the Villains were to last until the end of the time limit or eliminate all Heroes.

“And now, we shall see who our Villains and Heroes are!”

HERO TEAM B - Tokoyami Fumikage, Todoroki Shouto, Yaoyorozu Momo, Sero Hanta!
Vs
VILLAIN TEAM D - Penny Polendina, Midoriya Izuku, Bakugo Katsuki, Asui Tsuyu!

Todoroki looked to the other team and found them looking back - with her stare the most intense of all. He hadn’t really expected that “challenge” to bear fruit so quickly, but if he got the chance to prove himself then he wasn’t going to waste it.

“Man, that’s a real scary line-up,” Sero remarks. When Todoroki looked back on what he’s seen of all involved, he can agree - Bakugo has a literally explosive Quirk, Penny was the top scorer in the Quirk Test, and Asui seemed to have a strong Mutation-type.

At least they had a weak link in the form of Midoriya.

“Ironic, that the powers of darkness rest on the side of Heroes.” Todoroiki turned to Tokoyami, a little startled by the non-sequitur.

“Man, I feel kind of underpowered compared to you guys,” Sero remarked, tape slipping in and out of his elbows.

“Well, your Quirk shows a large amount of versatility as well, Sero-san,” Yaoyorozu comforted him. “In any case, we likely need to come up with a plan.”

“We go in and I freeze them,” Todoroki interrupted. “You two take care of the robots. Tokoyami is strong enough to help hold them off.” He’d freeze the whole building if they didn’t have to worry about “hurting civilians,” but as is taking on the villains while the weaker members of his hero team evacuated the civilians would give him the most freedom to let loose.

“Hey, man, that doesn’t seem like such a good idea,” Sero interjects. “Their team seemed pretty scary. The plain kid and Bakugo especially.”

Yaoyorozu seemed to take motivation from his support, giving her own opinion. “In addition, I think I have an idea….”

Todoroki grimaced, but when Tokoyami speaks up he knows he’s lost. “Dark Shadow would be especially weak to the explosions the other team is capable of utilizing, and so I believe I would be better suited to rescue in this case. Yaoyorozu-san, you said you have an alternate plot for success?”

The woman seemed to perk up at the deference, her skin shining as she produced something from her arm using her Quirk. Todoroki sighed, resigned to his input being ignored. They were underestimating him, but whatever idea they came up with, he’d go along with it for the moment.

“Well you see, I thought that maybe….”

 

Bakugo Katsuki prowled.

Shitty Deku could waste his time talking to the extras, he already knew exactly what he was going to do. Like hell he was going to wait for the “Heroes” to make the first move - four people at once, especially the IcyHot brat, was gonna be tough, but he could take them if he played his cards right.

And that meant he had to know exactly where they were coming in. If they split up, that’d make things so much easier. If they stuck together, he didn’t have to hunt any of them down. Either way, the very first thing he had to do was find all the windows.

The building they were supposed to hole up in like a bunch of cowards was a five-story replica of some kind of office building, consisting mostly of hallways lining the exterior with small rooms in the center. The pattern was broken up by what were clearly fake meeting rooms and cubicle farms. Idly, he tested his new gauntlets on one of the fake cubes - it was some kind of cheap plastic garbage. But the gauntlets themselves, oh boy.

They were exactly what he’d asked for, and the rest of the costume was just as badass as he’d hoped. With gear like this, he wouldn’t be getting outshined by some loser villain or any extras barely worthy of his attention. He didn’t have to hold back his explosions nearly as much with the proper support, and he could build up enough sweat to destroy this entire building if he wanted to.

The sound of voices caught his attention and he stuck his head out a window, grinning widely when he saw that it was the ponytail bitch and flat-face. Just who he was looking for. The girl couldn’t make shit on the fly and flat-face had a garbage quirk.

Taking a moment to scan for the other two and satisfied that they were already headed somewhere else, he primed his gauntlet and punched straight through the window, throwing himself outside before the glass had so much as hit the ground. As the wind hit his face and he fell three stories down, his grin widened dramatically and he twisted his body as he descended towards the pair.

With a pair of blasts, he corrected his descent and slowed himself enough that instead of snapping his legs in half he slammed a hammer kick straight into Ponytail. Turned out she’d already had time to create some kind of buckler shield, so instead of taking her out his foot slammed into solid metal and sent her to the ground. He grunted, using another couple of blasts to get himself steady and on his feet, only for a strip of tape to wrap around his extended arm.

Growling and twisting his head, he found the tape coming from Flatface, who yelped and yanked on it. It only took a second for him to blast the tape into ashes, but by that point Ponytail and Flatface were presenting a united front - Ponytail didn’t just have a shield but some kind of staff. Given she was coming at him while Flatface circled, it looked like they were trying some cheap double team tactic.

“LIKE THAT’LL SAVE YOU!”

He went straight for her face, giving her a combo of one explosion that’s loud and flashy to blind and startle her before he brought up his other fist to slam right into her gut, releasing the second explosion right on impact. She choked, breath and breakfast driven from her body, but before he could pummel her into the ground she slapped him in the face with her shield.

Letting out a gargled yell and lashing out blindly, more tape wrapped around his arms. He didn’t have time to shake off the disorientation from the strike to his skull, so he reached for his left gauntlet and let rip, pointing in the last direction he saw motion.

The explosion that followed wasn’t one of his best, he hadn’t been building up long enough, but it’s loud and blinding and he can hear Ponytail scream something. All of a sudden he felt cold as hell and a massive shunt of ice had slammed him into the side of the wall and was covering his entire body, restricting his movement. Throwing his head every way he could, he couldn’t see where the Half Bastard was attacking from - until he looked up and found him sliding down the side of the building on a pile of ice.

Bakugo grit his teeth and redoubled his efforts, explosions lashing out from his hand with enough force to send shockwaves of pain through his wrists and arms - but also sending chunks of ice and vaporized water flying everywhere, alongside blasting a hole through the wall. Bakugo glanced behind him at the expanding gap and grinned as an idea came to him.

Only then a powerful burst of wind knocked him on his ass. Bakugo looked up and found something inside him straining to the limit as Deku in his shitty handmade pajamas sans the jacket jumed down from the second-floor window, something pink wrapped around his waist and his hand stuck out like a fake gun. The two extras around him were struggling to their feet and the Half-and-Half guy was rolling to a halt on another pile of ice, but while they did that Deku landed, grabbed Bakugo by the collar, and was suddenly reeled back in through the window like a fish on a line.

Inside, the building had gone through a dramatic transformation - the floor was frosted over and random boulders of ice littered the ground, sometimes piercing through walls and sometimes the remains clearly smashed into pieces scattered everywhere. Frogface was wearing Dekus pajamatop and shivering on the floor, but when he looked around he couldn’t see the Dollheaded freak or the Birdbrain.

“DEKU! The fuck was that for!?” Bakugo struggled to rip off the remaining bits of tape even as he shoved his way into Dekus face, pissed as hell and blood boiling.

“Kaachan, I was just trying to help -” Of course, the fucking nerd didn’t even have the grace to look him in the face, staring down and holding onto his busted ass hand like a wimp. Bakugo grabbed him by the collar and brought a fist up, ready to blast him into next week for interrupting his fight, only for the Frogface to grab his arm.

“Bakugo, we’re on the same side and need to work together to win.”

“Just stay the hell out of my way!” Seething, he changed his mind and tossed Deku to the ground before marching away and slamming through a door to the room where their hostages were supposed to be. “And where the hell is Dollhair! Ain’t she supposed to be watching the scrap metal or something!?”

“Polendina-san!” Deku yelped, as though he’d only just noticed that the chick wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Bakugo scoffed and looked back outside, followed shortly by the other two, and grinned when he saw that the reason they hadn’t yet been followed was that the Dollheaded chick was down there getting her ass kicked by the three extras.

Grinning maniacally, he threw himself through the window for round two.

=-=-=

Toshinori Yagi, better known to the world as All Might, felt an uncharastically nervous expression settle onto his face. The rescue trials yesterday had gone as well as he supposed could be expected, with only a few hurt feelings and some unfortunate injuries. Mostly on the part of his young protege, Midoriya, but to be honest he wasn’t yet sure how to handle the young mans penchant for destroying his own limbs.

That wasn’t what brought him here, in any case.

He sat on a very comfortable sofa and tried not to look at himself. Though all the staff had become familiar with his emaciated form over the past few months, it was never something he himself could truly adjust to - perhaps that was why he pushed himself to take on his former glory so often, even for trivial things. But here, now, waiting for the Principle of UA to finish preparing a cup of tea, all he could do was look down at his hand and think of how thin and sickly and skeletal it looked.

“Here we are,” the Principle interrupted his thoughts, placing a saucer full of tea on the small table in front of him and then taking a seat himself. Truth be told, Toshinori was ambivalent about tea and had to keep careful track of his diet regardless, but he took a cup and carefully sipped at it regardless. It was extremely good tea, of course. He’d expect nothing less from UAs’ genius of a principle.

Though looking at the strange little bipedal creature that seemed a mix between mouse, bear, and dog, he didn’t think he’d ever stop worrying about finding stray hair in anything served to him.

“Now, All Might, what brings you to my office?”

“Ah, well you see, I understand I am very new to being a teacher and I may be overstepping my boundaries or simply worrying over something unnecessarily, but… there is a student that concerns me.”

“Oh?” The inscrutiable Nedzu merely sipped at his tea, scarred visage calm and patient. All Might hoped for a moment that he wouldn’t have to fully explain his thought process - he could save a thousand people from trouble or handle even the most volatile of fans, but this was… a delicate subject for which he had little training. But no such luck.

“I have noticed that one of my students, Polendina Penny, seems rather… troubled. I know I’ve only held two classes with her thus far, and as a hero candidate she’s done an exceptional job, but… her behavior around her classmates, some of the things she said… I fear she may be going through a rather turbulent time at the moment and I was hoping for some advice.”

“Mn. I had a sneaking suspicion you’d come to me or one of the other teachers for advice about a student, but I must profess I was expecting you to ask after young Midoriya first.”

Toshinori coughs, surprised. “Ah, I must confess that whole Midoriyas... troubles with his Quirk concern me, it was not entirely without precedent. I’ve discussed the matter with Recovery Girl already, though of course it will be an ongoing process.”

Nedzu merely looks at him, his whiskered nose twitching curiously. “Hm. So long as you’re aware of your duties, I suppose.” The animal principal took another long sip of his tea.

“Y’know, you’re actually the fourth person to report concerns about Polendina.” His thoughts derailed at that fact and Toshinori turned his attention back to Nedzu, who had somehow produced a small stack of papers with the young womans name at the top of each page. “The second teacher, and there were a pair of students from class 1A.”

Then perhaps this was more serious even than he’d thought. “It does UA well to have such attentive students. What brought her to their attention?”

Nedzu spread the papers out and revealed they were transcriptions of conversations between himself and the staff - except for one, which indeed held the names of two of his own students. A surprising pair, in fact. He’d seen young Asuis concern for Polendina, in fact their conversation had been part of what caught his attention, but Mineta as well?

“Aizawa-sensei reported that she showed signs of recent heavy trauma. He advised we have her begin regular sessions with Hound Dog. Then just this morning a pair of your students came to Yamada-sensei with their concerns regarding young Polendina. Some choice quotes they gave are that they ‘believe she hates herself’ and ‘has no pride as a woman,’ in fact. I’m curious as to what your take is, hm?”

Toshinori Yagi - no, All Might hesitated. He’d been concerned, yes, but this sounded much more serious than even he had believed. And moreover, for Nedzu to probe at his own perspective like this… the situation might have been more complicated than a young woman in the throes of troubled youth.

And then he remembered that Nedzu was the one to recommend her in the first place. Somehow or another, he must have already known the state she was in. Right? Toshinori hesitated, looking over at the strange creature. Most everyone knew that he had intellect to match and surpass any human, and the days where he’d been subjected to inhumane experiments under the justification that he was not human were long past. But nonetheless, in this moment… he could not help but feel a flicker of doubt as to how well he truly understood - truly trusted - that Nedzu held the wellbeing of his charges in high regard.

But he shook the thought away and ordered his thoughts.

“There was something she said during the Rescue Trial a few days ago, and some of her behavior since has been concerning. I believe she forgot her microphone was on, but….”

=-=-=

Asui Tsuyu shivered, struggling to ignore the lethargy that wanted to creep in and force her eyes closed. She’d expected that fighting a student who could create large glaciers of ice would be troublesome, but even she hadn’t expected to slow down so quickly from such a brief encounter. Todoroki Shouto had only passed them by momentarily, ice rushing both ahead of and behind him to clear the path outside, and yet the cold had deeply penetrated her costume.

She’d need to speak to the Support Department about improving its ability to warm her up. Currently it looked to serve as a very effective wetsuit and the goggles on top were both cute and made for great spotlights, but given she was now relying on Midoriya-chans jacket to pick up the slack, it was inadequate for truly significant temperature changes.

Midoriya-chan leaned his head through the broken window and looked at the battle below, which had become more of a chaotic free for all than any kind of structured defense like he might have hoped for. He looked back to Tsuyu, face flushed but expression focused and serious. “Ts-Tsuyu-chan, what should we do?”

Tsuyu brought a finger up to her chin, walking beside him and considering the battle below. “We can’t leave the hostages behind, but we’ll be overwhelmed if Bakugo and Polendina lose. Since you can’t move up and down as fast as I can, I think it would be best if I go down and help them fight while you remain here to guard the hostages. Kero.” So long as she could avoid direct attacks by Todoroki, she was confident she could provide support.

Izuku smiled widely, impressed with the calm under fire logic. “Good idea, Tsuyu-chan!” So saying, he retreated into the central room they’d selected as their fallback point and ‘prison,’ glancing back and forth for the last member of the enemy team before closing the door behind him. The sound of “panicking” robots beating against walls or loudly proclaiming their willingness to bribe the villains away was distracting. Tsuyu took a deep breath, slapped her cheeks to get some feeling back in them, and then jumped down to join the battle.

The first thing she noticed was that Bakugo was facing off against Todoroki alone while Penny fought both Sero and Yaoyorozu. Oddly enough, Penny seemed to be handling herself very effectively, one hand wielding a sword - where had that come from? - and the other utilizing a roll of capture tape like a miniature lasso. On the other hand, the fight between Bakugo and Todoroki seemed much more even.

Looping her tongue around Seros waist, she threw him at Todoroki and landed beside Penny, the two-on-one quickly reversed. Yaoyorozu was wielding some form of shield and a staff, so Tsuyu kept her tongue at bay for the moment. Penny didn’t seem to have any such reservations, immediately darting into close quarters combat and pushing Yaoyorozu back with punishing attacks that visibly dented her shield.

Tsuyu hopped her way to Yaoyorozus flank and started swiping at her staff and head with her tongue, forcing the larger woman to defend against multiple different directions. She kept backing away for several moments until the two of them finally stopped tag-teaming her. Penny immediately turned, a sword sailing from her hand like an arrow and her body following behind it, heading straight towards the Todoroki fight, but Tsuyu remained in place.

“Sorry, Yaoyorozu-chan. You put up a good fight.” The poor girl looked pretty confused until they all heard All Might over the radio and loudspeakers.

“YAOYOROZU MOMO HAS BEEN FORCED OUTSIDE THE LIMITS OF THE RESCUE TRIAL AND IS ELIMINATED! PLEASE RETURN!”

Looking down at her feet, she glared at the tape that marked their boundaries. Tsuyu couldn’t afford to give her any more thought, however, turning around and hopping into the rapidly increasing ferocity of the battle between Penny, Todoroki, and Bakugo.

Unfortunately, it looked more like a free-for-all than a proper battle. Both Bakugo and Penny seemed to prefer close range which made them well suited against Todoroki, but Bakugo kept throwing blasts that forced Penny to back off and Todoroki was using them against eachother in that way, forcing them to work around his ice and eachothers’ bodies. Penny would jump, run or be flung by her swords - which now that she was looking, did indeed seem to lead back to her body on some kind of thin wire - before being forced back by ice and explosions. Bakugo would blast his way through all barriers before being inevitably forced to over-commit or back off by a particularly fast eruption of ice. And Todoroki was in an odd state of constant motion broken by suddenly rooting himself to the ground and throwing out larger barrages.

Tsuyu could see that the fight only grew more intense as moments passed, Penny using her wire-led swords to swing an icy boulder like a mace only for the massive thing to abruptly start melting, leaving only a few snowballs and a lot of water to splash fruitlessly against Todoroki. Seeing as to how that was the case and there was very little she could do against Todoroki directly without hurting herself unduly or being frozen into hibernation… she nodded firmly, hurled out her tongue….

And felt it thrown off course as a strip of tape suddenly wrapped around it and stuck it to the floor. Tsuyu struggled to yank her tongue away only to feel an abrupt pain. Twisting her head, she saw Sero had recovered and struck at the perfect moment. Now she could barely maneuver her tongue and had to account for it in order to move at all. Even as she watched, he approached with the capture tape in hand.

She jumped away, using her tongue as a pivot point, but he only shot out more tape from his elbows, further attaching her tongue to the ground and limiting her ability to move. Looking over at the chaotic battle between the three juggernauts of their teams, she sighed and waited for Sero to approach, holding out an arm and letting him wrap the tape around her wrist.

“ASUI TSUYU HAS BEEN ELIMINATED! PLEASE RETURN!”

“I don’t suppose you can get the tape off of my tongue?” It was lucky she had so much practice talking with her tongue out of her mouth.

Sero rubbed the back of his head, seemingly embarrassed. “Ah, yeah, sure, I gotcha. I always keep an antiadhesive spray on me.” So saying, he pulled a small bottle from one of his pockets. “Although, uh, it tastes pretty nasty. Might want to get some water.”

Tsuyu took a few moments to work feeling and movement back into her tongue after liberally spraying it down, swinging it around before slipping it back into her mouth. The taste was unpleasant, true, but she’d dealt with worse and her body responded to things a bit differently from most anyway. More importantly, she’d like to watch the last part of the battle.

Todoroki had clearly taken some hard hits from both Penny and Bakugo, but they in turn weren’t completely clean either. Bakugos costume was dripping with water and shredded chunks of ice, to the point he looked like he’d been playing in the snow, and Penny had several scorchmarks adorning her costume and a few singed hairs.

Sero jumped into the fight, tape lashing out and forming barriers between glaciers of ice. Bakugo and Penny found themselves even more bogged down than they had been before, having to blast or cut through the tape in their way in order to get anywhere. After a few more moments of this, Penny seemed to reassess and turned away from Todoroki, immediately bringing to hand a second, a third, and then a fourth sword, all of which launched from her hands like bullets and lodged themselves into the ground around Sero, boxing him in.

Before he could find a way out or through the impromptu cornering, Penny was yanked into melee range, her stance rigid and uncompromising even as her feet left the ground and yet another sword found its way into her hand. Without hesitation she swung it, blunt-end first, into Seros head. Sero went down, hard, and it took her only a moment to wrap capture tape around him.

She didn’t even wait for All Might to announce his elimination, immediately turning around and sprinting back into the fight. While she’d been distracted, however, Bakugo had managed to dodge a larger glacier and reach melee range, throwing Todoroki to the ground and releasing an explosion straight into the two-toned students face.

Even as Todorokis armor shattered around him, ice and smoke exploded from him and forced Bakugo away. It served as little reprieve, though, for as soon as he got to his feet Polendina was in his face and swinging her sword at him. He raised an arm that swiftly accumulated ice to fend it off, only for her to swipe it aside and bring her other blade to bear.

Todoroki raised his other arm, eyes wide -

“AND THE BATTLE TRIALS ARE OVER! VILLAIN TEAM WINS!”

They both froze in place. Bakugo ground to a halt a few meters behind them, looking around wildly. Smoke, steam, and flames sputtered and died in Todorokis hand. Polendina lowered her swords, bringing them to her back where they folded up and slipped into some kind of panel.

Tsuyu let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding.

Then Bakugo slammed inbetween them, shoving Penny away where she fell onto the ground, getting into Todorokis face screaming.

Tsuyu ignored the two of them for the moment, as Todoroki, while wide-eyed, seemed to be handling himself perfectly well. Instead she approached the prone and stationary Penny and bent over to look her in the eyes.

“Kero, that was impressive. Are you alright?”

Penny looked up at her from the ground. She didn’t look hurt, but her body was completely rigid and as she remained there on the ground, looking up at Tsuyu, her expression… twisted. Tsuyu kneeled further down, tempted to hug the young woman who looked like she was about to cry.

Before she could, though, Pennys expression flattened out and she stood up in a quick and acrobatic motion, her feet thudding into the ground with a loud thump belying her size. “I am perfectly fine, Asui Tsuyu. I have suffered no significant damages in this combat simulation.”

“I’m not sure you understand what I’m asking,” Tsuyu insisted. Before the conversation could continue, however, Bakugo finished yelling at Todoroki and approached the two of them, seeming unable to decide who he should insult first.

“Why the hell did you have to get in my way?” Ah, he seemed to have decided on both.

“I disagree with your assessment, Bakugo Katsuki,” Penny replied, seeming more confused than anything by his anger. “Neither I nor Asui Tsuyu placed ourselves in your path deliberately, and Todoroki Shouto utilized our lack of teamwork to his advantage.”

The explosive blonde grinded his teeth, palms facing outwards and little pops expressing his frustration. “I didn’t need your help to kick his ass! You’re all extras, stepping stones, you got that?” His piece said, Bakugo stomped off.

“ALL COMBATANTS PLEASE RETURN TO THE OBSERVATION ROOM TO REVIEW YOUR CONDUCT!”

Tsuyu looked up at the building… which seemed to have a few new holes, now that she wasn’t distracted by fighting. She wondered how things went with Midoriya? She’d find out soon enough, she supposed. Given the number of holes, she judged he’d probably broken quite a few trying to fend off Tokoyami. But in the meantime….

“Please, Polendina-chan, call me Tsu-chan. I hope we can be friends.” She smiled at the younger girl.

Penny Polendina froze in place, the smile that had previously graced her face - in defiance of Bakugos hostility - fading away as her bright red eyes bore into Tsuyus own. Her voice was quiet when she finally responded.

“You should be friends with a real girl, Asui Tsuyu.”

 

Mineta Minoru was small. He’d been small all his life and he knew that he was going to remain so. It was something he’d accepted and embraced, and in some ways he was grateful - it helped inspire his idea of becoming a Hero after all. He couldn’t be a cool ladies man looking the way he did, but if he was a Hero, then people would like him, right?

But that wasn’t any excuse to give up in the meantime. All he had to do was keep going at it and refine his approach. Combined with becoming a Hero and he’d definitely become the kind of guy women would throw themselves at, even if he wasn’t the best looking person around.

So it was that today, during lunch, his third day as a student at UA, he considered and weighed his options. He’d barely scraped by in the Quirk Apprehension Test and he’d spent most of the Rescue Trial playing it safe and trapping doorways. This was his third chance to make an impression, so who should he talk to? He’d spotted a few fellow gentlemen of culture, but there were also so many fine ladies at UA to introduce himself to he was spoiled for choice. Should he start with a Business or General Ed girl first, maybe, since he was already in Hero Studies? Or did he have a chance with one of the cool and sexy chicks in 1A or 1B?

By the feel of his guts and the stickiness of his hair, he decided… Polendina. She was all elite and foreign, he bet she found Japanese men all kinds of cute and new. Scanning the cafeteria, he found her sitting alone in a corner without any food. Kind of weird, but he wasn’t really into mukbang anyway.

Scooting a tray of Lunch Rushes world famous instant five course meals (slightly abridged for the sake of the lunch period) onto the table, he leaned towards her and gave her a big grin. Now that he’d taken a closer look, Polendina Penny was definitely a feast for the eyes - she didn’t have a particularly impressive chest, but the UA uniform made up for it, and her skin was so clear and clean-looking, those freckles so exotic, that ribbon made her hair stand out even more than it already did….

“Excuse me, how may I help you?”

Minoru broke away from his girl-induced stupor to poke her in the upper arm. “I just wanted to introduce myself to a fellow classmate. I’m Minoru Mineta, yeah? But you can just call me Mineta-kun. My Quirk is Pop Off, my IQ is 143, and I don’t currently have a girlfriend.” He did a little eyebrow wiggle at that, watching her to judge her reaction.

...which was none. Huh. Usually his introduction got anger or embarrassment or something. Instead Polendina stood up and gave a traditional bow of greeting. “Salutations,” she started, tone very even. “My name is Penny Polendina. My Quirk is Weapon.” There’s a hitch in her introduction, a hiccup. “I am a weapon.”

Minoru paused, considering. She’d hiccuped the other time she’d introduced herself as well, hadn’t she? That was kind of weird, wasn’t it? And her introduction was so bland! Not girly or sexy at all! What kind of girl didn’t want to show off their cool or cute or sexy assets!?

“C’mon, your introduction is way too boring!” He complained. “Tell me something good! Like, what’s your favorite kind of guy, or what color panties you wear, or your three sizes!” He leered at her, already imagining what was underneath that skirt.

Her expression darkened, but rather than get angry, she just seemed… tired. “I don’t want to talk about boys,” she muttered, sounding sullen. Kind of like a little kid, actually. Minoru paused, focusing back on her face, which had finally broken its doll-like stillness to form a frown and squinty eyes. “In addition, I do not wear panties and I do not know which three sizes you are referring to.”

“Let me look,” he immediately demanded, already ducking his head in the hope that she would turn and show him her Holy Lands. Instead of doing that, though, her eyes just bored into him. Completely flat, her eyes empty and focused less on him than something past him. Somehow, despite the wondrous sight that was surely awaiting him… he wasn’t as excited as he would’ve expected.

“I believe it is against student regulations to expose or actively attempt to view beneath a students clothing.”

He hesitated even more. “So you… don’t care that I want to see?”

Her eyes bored into him, almost glowing. “I… I have no personal feelings. It doesn’t matter anyway. I’m….” She went silent, turning away and staring down at the table.

Minoru paused, watching her. For several moments she was entirely still, and it was in that stillness that he realized how unnatural it was. There was no fidgeting, no blinking, not even breathing. He suddenly realized that if he’d walked past her on the street or seen her in another situation, he could’ve easily mistaken her for some kind of statue or doll.

A suspicion churned inside his mind.

“Polendina-san, you said your Quirk was Weapon, right?”

“That is correct.”

“So that means that your Quirk lets you create and move those swords you were using, right?”

“...that’s right,” she said, hiccuping again. Minoru narrowed his eyes, going in for the kill.

“Your three sizes are the precise measurements of your bust, waist, and hips, your vital statistics.”

“Ah, in that case, they are - “

“Nevermind that,” Minoru shook his head, some inner voice crying out. “I want to see underneath your skirt. I want to see bare flesh and everything you have. What does that make you feel?”

She raised her head to look at him, eyes growing slightly wide, and he watched them carefully. Her eyes weren’t quite human baseline, he realized. Whatever her real Quirk was, it gave her widening eyes a slightly… mechanized effect. He met her hesitation with unerring focus.

“I… it doesn’t make me feel anything.” She hiccuped, her eyes going even wider and something in her bearing growing agitated. “I - I mean, I can’t feel anything.” Another hiccup. “I, I - I’m n-not -” Another hiccup.

And then she fled.

Minoru didn’t bother following her, focused instead on the information he’d gathered. This was a conundrum. Honestly, part of him wanted to just ignore it all and go hit on a girl that wasn’t a freak. But… as he looked up and saw the frog girl approach with eyes focused directly on him, intent and a hint of annoyance in her bearing, he couldn’t help but think of another plan.

When Asui Tsuyu approached the table he’d chosen, he didn’t let her get a word in before he started talking.

He’d need her help, after all.

=-=-=-=

He was known as Nedzu. He even thought of himself as Nedzu, most of the time. A wonderful thing, those.

Thoughts, he meant. Not just the ability to calculate, but the ability to ponder, to conceptualize and in doing so comprehend the act of thinking, in and of itself. He could remember the days when he wasn’t able to do that. His Quirk had set him aside from all others of his species, to be certain, from birth, but that didn’t mean he was born with the mind of a supercomputer.

Far from it. He had to work for that.

As he looked over a coffee table built for humans by human hands, watching a human who had fought to save human society for all its flaws and foibles, he considered that work. So much work needed to bring himself to this point, today, where he was not only considered an equal to any human, but in many cases their superior. An authority figure. A guiding light. A mentor.

Such a strange world, he lived in. And stranger it would grow.

“Tell me, All Might,” he said, as most things he did being very deliberate. People thought his Quirk just created intelligence out of nothingness, or that it merely granted his brain the potential to think more and he utilized that potential to its utmost. Nonsense, of course.

“What did you think when I was first declared worthy of the same rights as any human?”

All Might hesitated, of course, and Nedzu consciously decided not to ponder his hesitation further. He’d attempted to tune his neural patterns, to optimize his mind for the dissection and study of sapient behavior before. He’d had thoughts of applying the same brainpower that could calculate the exact ballistics of a thousand falling stones to the task of psychology or therapy.

Rarely were the results… agreeable.

He sipped his tea. A ghost of the Nedzu that he could be was conjured and dispelled.

“To tell you the truth, when I first heard of it, I had few thoughts. It seemed interesting, and I was glad to see justice done, but I knew little about or of your case.”

“And then?”

“And then you became a Hero, of course. It was clear to me that you were worthy of respect - more than the basic respect any living being is worthy of - if you could turn the pain of your past into reason for saving others.” All Might - Toshinori - seemed hesitant, confused, but earnest. Such a good man. Surprisingly naive for his importance, but the sheer idealism and strength of will he showcased protected him from most of the dangers that assailed a good man in such a public position.

“What if I were to tell you that my intentions in being a Hero were selfish?”

“Then I would trust that no matter how self-interested they were, they were just and righteous nonetheless.”

“Mn. The truth is, while I of course believe everything I say about being both a Hero and an educator, the core intention behind becoming one rather than any safer position or even simply idling away outside the public eye is fame.”

“Fame?”

“More specifically, the power that fame grants. If people see me, an animal who was experimented on, an animal that has every right to hate and fear humans, instead choose to devote his life to saving them? To helping them, teaching them, guiding them to be the best people they can be? It not only ensures that I am secure in my position, that it is that much harder for those who do not recognize my personhood to target me, but that should for any reason there be more like me… that they will have a much greater chance than I do.”

All Might seemed to stare deep into his tea for several long moments, before taking an anemic sip and focusing his intense blue eyes on Nedzu. It was always interesting, seeing the sharp intellect and focus behind those eyes - everybody admired All Might, many seemed to almost deify him, but few realized or considered the sheer forethought that went into his work.

It took more than a powerful quirk to be the Symbol of Peace.

“If it is as you say, then my respect for you can only be raised. You look not only towards your own future, but the future of everyone around you - even to the future of those who you may never know. However….” He slouched forward, thready yellow hair framing his face in shadow. “I fail to see what relevance this has with Young Polendina.”

Ah, but he does, Nedzu mused. Oh, he wasn’t at all certain and his vague, grasping conclusions would all be off-base for the moment, but the seeds are there. And that is all that Nedzu needs.

“To tell you the truth, I see something of myself in Young Polendina. Oh, undoubtedly she is vastly different from me in the most important ways, in her personality and abilities and background, but we share a single trait which I find strongly resonates with me.”

“Hm. And what is that?”

For the first time in the conversation, Nedzu allows the cheerful tone of his voice to lower and the deliberately crafted innocence and approachability of his face to waiver. Most of his selves find it amusing how quickly the cute, soft-looking animal that so many criminals underestimate can scare even hardened villains out of their wits with but a little showing of teeth.

“You see, we have both - at certain points in our lives - been told that we are not people. That we do not deserve the rights that others enjoy, that we do not have that integral spark that makes one worth considering, worth holding empathy for. And that is true of many people, some of them already students within our fine school. But the difference between, say, a young child suffering at the hands of mutation prejudice and what myself and Miss Polendina have experienced is… nuanced, shall we say.

“Tell me, All Might. What do you think it would do to a childs self esteem were they to not only be told, but scientifically, rationally, and completely without malice shown - seemingly without a shadow of a doubt - that they are, quite literally, not a person? That they are nothing but an object, a tool with slightly greater independence than most, and a failed one at that?”

All Mights eyes burned intensely even as his entire body seemed to sag with the weight of what Nedzu was telling him. That was quite all right, of course. Though All Might had already found his successor, it was part of his training to learn when to take a step back and allow children to learn lessons by themselves… and when to step forward and protect them as his own.

“...her Quirk is listed as Weapon,” he whispered, the horror of the situation filling him in full.

UA had very few teachers who took an empathic approach. All Might would serve that role very well, and what Penny Polendina needed at this moment - more than anything else - were people who cared more for strength of character than strength of arms.

Now all there was to do was wait and allow the heroic tendencies of his newest staff member and some very surprising students to take things where they may.

=-=-=-=

Todoroki Shouto hadn’t been expecting to interact with her the next day. To be honest, he hadn’t been expecting much of anything - from her or anybody else. He could barely focus on his classes and his usual session with Endeavor had been even more of a slog than normal, ignoring well-worn jabs about using his fire and growing up and running himself into the ground even as he went over the rescue trial over and over again.

The entire thing had been a joke. Fumikage was the only one of them that ever even saw the fake hostages and the “villain” team had been more concerned with fighting than anything else. But that wasn’t what mattered to him, not really.

He’d used his fire. Not just because he saw Bakugo and Polendina coming at him, one serene and focused, the other a manic grin and rage, and he’d felt a twinge of fear - he didn’t know these people, he didn’t know where they’d stop, he couldn’t predict them the way he predicted Endeavor - but also… because he’d lost.

The round had been declared over before their fight had truly been decided, of course, but he knew that he’d lost. It was only by pitting them against eachother that he’d lasted as long as he had, and without their terrible teamwork… they were a match for him. Maybe even better than him.

He’d never expected that. He’d never expected anybody else could beat him. As much as he hated Endeavor, the power of his parents’ Quirks and the years of training, practice, study - they’d all instilled within him the knowledge that he was better. That his skill and his parents’ Quirks placed him head and shoulders above active Pro Heroes even in his first steps as a Hero Student.

And then he’d fought Bakugo and Polendina. He’d expected them to be tough, he’d expected them to be driven, he’d expected them to be skilled… and yet he hadn’t expected them to win. To meet his every counter with their all and keep on pushing him. He’d panicked. He’d failed. He’d broken his vow to never use that mans fire, to throw his mothers suffering in the old mans face.

So when he turned a corner only to narrowly avoid hitting Polendina, who immediately set her head on a swivel and focused intently on his face - his scar itching - he bristled and snapped.

“This isn’t over. As an obstacle, I will defeat you.”

Unlike the previous morning, Polendina didn’t immediately respond. Indeed, at her silence he took a moment to look her over - and though she looked much the same as she had, there was… tension to her body. She looked back at him and rather than calm and focus, her eyes were intense to a disturbing degree. She didn’t look like the same person.

Whatever he’d seen yesterday, whatever had tried to drag him into her orbit, it was gone. He couldn’t say what he saw now in her eyes, but it made him want to leave.

So he did.

He strode away, barely paying any more attention to his surroundings, struggling to listen behind him for how she would respond. All he heard was silence. It wasn’t until he approached the cafeteria doors, the noise within penetrating their wide frames, that he finally heard her oddly loud footsteps continue on their way.

It was a relief to know she was gone.

 

Midoriya Izuku still couldn’t really believe it.

He was here! At UA! For most of his life it’d been a vague dream, some off chance aspiration - impossible, but still something he had to at least attempt to do. Then, so much had changed. All Might had bared his greatest vulnerability - albeit by accident - and then given Izuku the chance to prove himself worthy of being a Hero. Of holding not just a Quirk, but the Quirk.

One For All.

But it was more than the Quirk, of course. It was the personal tutelage of his idol. It was the way Kacchan seemed to ignore him, ever since that day they’d fought the Slime Villain together. It was the way the people here, the Heroes in Training, looked at him with respect in their eyes - to the point somebody had even voted for him! And now he was Vice President!

And it was the way his brain shut down when a pretty girl told him she wanted his help.

Still, he didn’t want to abandon his new friends (!!!), so he made sure to inform Uraraka and Iida that he had to go help Asui Tsuyu with something, and they’d happily waved him away. It only took him a couple minutes to find the Frog Hero (in Training) sitting at a table near the edge of the cafeteria, alongside the short boy with the sticky hair quirk. It only took Izuku a moment to go through his memory of their introductions and find his name was Mineta Minoru - and how he’d officially introduced himself as not having a girlfriend. He wasn’t really sure how to interact with that kind of confident person….

Still, he didn’t let his hesitance get the best of him, approaching the table and giving a small bow. “Hello! Asui-san, you asked me to come here so I could help you with something?”

The frog girl finished sipping from her tea, her tongue peeking out from her lips, and focused her wide-eyed gaze on him with something he thought might be annoyance. “I told you Midoriya-chan, call me Tsu-chan.”

He blushed, averting his gaze at the idea of addressing her so familiarly. Still, he obliged her. He didn’t want to be annoying or anything like that, after all, not when it must have already been so frustrating to work with a teammate who broke his fingers during their rescue exercise two days before. “Tsuyu-chan, then.”

“I don’t see why we need this guy in the first place,” Mineta broke into the conversation, looking up at the standing Izuku with a suspicious glare. “I mean, has he even talked to her at all?”

Izuku furrowed his brows, looking between the two of them. Her? The only girls he’d talked to in his class that he recalled were Asui, Uraraka, and… Polendina? She’d seemed kind of quiet and nice, but her Quirk and her skill in fighting were completely amazing! It’d been hard to keep his focus on fighting Fumikage when he could hear Bakugo, Polendina, and Todoroki outside - and he already knew that they were all ridiculously impressive. Watching the review tapes had only made that more obvious.

“I think he’ll get along with her better than you,” Tsuyu bluntly told Mineta, and Izuku couldn’t help but wince. Mineta seemed to take it in stride, however, merely shrugging. It was at this point that Izuku decided to sit down across from the two, trying to figure out his place in the matter.

“Are you two talking… about Polendina-san?”

“Yep,” Mineta replied while Tsuyu nodded.

“Is there something wrong?”

They glanced at eachother before Tsuyu took the lead. “We believe that Polendina is having a difficult time and want to help her. She said I shouldn’t be friends with her.”

“And I asked if I could see her panties and she said she isn’t supposed to care before running off.”

Izuku goggled for a long moment at the blatant admission of sexual harassment.

“That’s why I don’t think she’d get along with him,” Tsuyu added on. “However, you’re very cute, you’ve been taking detailed notes on everybodies’ Quirks, and you got the most Rescue points of every student.”

Cute? She’d just called him cute?

“So we thought you might have better luck talking to her and maybe finding out what’s bothering her.”

Was he cute? He thought he was pretty plain, but maybe he was cute after all? Wait, this didn’t matter! She was talking to him! It wasn’t cute at all to be annoying and ignore a girl talking to you!

“YES!” He snapped out, eyes wide and body ramrod straight as he accepted his mission. Wait, what mission was that? Right, talking to Polendina. Wait, something was bothering Polendina? He dragged his attention to the topic at hand and couldn’t help but glance around the cafeteria, trying to find the redheaded girl. “But, uhm… I’ll be happy to help, of course, but what exactly are we helping with?”

“Mineta and I were thinking that you could - “ Before Asui could finish her explanation, an ear-piercing noise ripped through all conversation. Everybody flinched as a ringing bell suddenly sounded, growing louder for several seconds before lowering slightly as the intercom speakers crackled.

A calm, vaguely familiar voice sounded over the PA system. “A Level 3 Breach has been detected. All students please evacuate calmly and promptly.”

Silence reigned for several moments, then well over a dozen students - some of which Izuku recognized as higher grades who’d done well in previous years of the Sports Festival - activated their Quirks and took their leave, phasing through walls or flying out the windows to escape. Their less experienced compatriots, or those from the Non-Hero classes, seemed to take this as their cue to follow suit and there was a sudden exodus towards the doors.

What started as brisk, purposeful strides became mixed with people using Quirks to enlargen themselves or shove aside other students. Some sped up in an attempt to pull ahead of the pack, while others tried to climb the walls or find windows they could open.

Izuku turned to Tsuyu and Mineta, only to find that the short boy wasn’t anywhere in sight and Tsuyu was already on her feet with a hand wrapped around the arm of a clearly frantic business student.

“-truder on the grounds. I’ve never even heard of that happening! We have to find the teachers!”

Tsuyu nodded in thanks, her grip releasing, and the student immediately sprinted for the hallway outside. She turned towards Izuku, who couldn’t help but feel the familiar press of anxiety closing in on him as he looked to the closing press of students. He needed to get out, he needed to know his friends were safe, he needed to know where All Might was, he needed -

“Midoriya-chan,” Tsuyu broke his descending focus and almost unconscious beginnings of a jog towards the cafeteria exit, grabbing his arm and dragging him out of the way of an older student whose tendril-like hair was nervously writhing in a large area around her. “We need to stay calm. The other students are panicking. Somebody is going to get hurt.”

His wrist tensing under the touch of another person, her hands strangely cool and her wide, soft fingertips sending an almost buzzing sensation through him and the still-sensitive flesh of his recently-broken fingers, he looked between her placid, calm expression and the loud, frantic movements of the crowd. Something inside him wrapped tight and he felt the energy of One For All begin to writhe, seeking release, but all he could do was press it down and struggle to find a way he could help.

All Might would be able to make everybody calm. He would arrive with a big grin on his face, yell, ‘I Am Here,’ and everybody would cheer and realize they were safe. That’s who he should be, but he couldn’t. He wasn’t All Might, nobody thought he was worth anything. But looking at Tsuyu, her hand still on his wrist, he remembered that morning.

Somebody trusted him. Somebody thought he was worthy to lead their class.

He nodded, forcing the widest grin he could on his face. It felt fake and hollow and not good enough, but he ignored those feelings with memories of shining blue eyes in a gaunt face. “You’re right, As - Tsuyu. But how do we calm everybody down?”

She pressed a finger to her chin, seeming to think about it for a moment. “We need to get their attention, but I’m not very loud.” She seemed to quirk her head at him, before adding, “I don’t think you are, either.” He couldn’t help but deflate at that a little. But something in his mind sparked - it didn’t have to be them who got everybodies’ attention, right?

“Tsuyu, can you lift me above the crowd?” It was a bit of a long shot, he was sure pushing somebody above her was a lot harder than lifting them from beneath, but if she could… He yelped slightly as her tongue wrapped around his lower stomach, lifting his arms so it could continue making circuits over his chest. Then, bracing herself against the table, he felt himself lifted several meters in the air, allowing him a clear view of the entire cafeteria and everybody within it.

“Found her!” He shouted, and within a moment he was back on the ground and sprinting for the person he’d spotted.

He couldn’t speak up. Not loud enough to make himself heard. But the discussion he’d been brought for, that had brought his mind on one person in particular, and while he’d admit he didn’t know her very well yet, he knew that she was a natural Hero.

So when he grabbed her by the shoulder, turning her from the cafeteria exit she’d clearly been headed for, he knew exactly what to say.

“Polendina-san! If people keep panicking this way, somebody is going to get hurt! Do you think you could get everybodies’ attention?”

Polendina seemed to look down on him for a moment, her bright red eyes intense and almost seeming to flicker in place, before she looked at the crowd around… and a small smile graced her face. “I am capable of this task, Midoriya Izuku.” So saying, she stepped back and… crouched down? Izuku furrowed his brows, trying to understand why she was taking off her shoes, only to realize that her feet looked… kind of -

And then flames erupted from their bottoms, scorching the tiles beneath her and sending a wave of heat battering against him and Asui. He flinched, stepping back as she floated several meters into the air before orienting herself towards the core of the crowd. Then she opened her mouth and….

She didn’t cup her hands around her mouth. She didn’t yell or scream. For all the world, it was like her voice had changed volume. Like somebody was playing with a television remote and it only worked on her. But through whatever means, her voice became loud - loud enough to cut through the ringing alarms, loud enough to grab the attention of everybody still in the room and struggling to get through the doors.

“Students of UA. Please calm yourselves and direct your attention to Midoriya Izuku.”

What felt like a thousand eyes suddenly turned themselves onto him and Izuku choked, struggling to breathe at the sudden attention. But looking at the crowd, and back to Polendina, who was floating above them all waiting calmly, he took a deep breath and tried his best to raise his voice. There were already people taking this moment to tend to bruises or pick themselves off the ground - if it was this bad inside the cafeteria, with so much space, there was no telling how many people had gotten hurt inside the far more cramped hallways.

“P-Please, everybody, we have to evacuate slowly and carefully! I k-know you’re worried, but no matter what’s happening, we’re at UA! The Heroes are here!”

Several people ignored him and Polendina, heading back through the various exits they’d been heading towards, but the majority of the crowd seemed to have taken the moment of relative quiet to calm themselves and look around them. People started filing out at a slower, safer pace, deactivating panic-fueled Quirks, and he saw several students find their friends or the battered and bruised, breaking what was once a mob into single persons and small groups careful not to take up all available space.

Polendina lowered herself to the ground, stepping aside to check the scorchmarks she’d made in the tiles with an oddly sorrowful expression. “I did not mean to cause property damage,” she commented, her voice back to its’ normal volume.

“It’s alright, Polendina-san,” Asui told her, raising a hand and resting it on the girls’ shoulder. “The staff will understand we were just trying to help keep things calm. But we should get going.”

“You are correct, Asui Tsuyu.”

And so they went. Izuku fidgeted in silence for several moments, getting drawn into the pull of the crowd but still remaining right beside Polendina and Asui. He couldn’t help but wonder exactly what had caused the alarm, why Asui and Mineta had wanted him of all people to talk to a girl, and… his face lit up as he realized that there was a topic totally free of stress for him to talk about!

“Polendina-san!” He excitedly called out to her. She turned her head towards him and he gestured at her feet. “I didn’t know your Quirk let you fly! I thought you had some kind of Mutation Quirk that let you manipulate metal parts of your body because of how strong you are and your swords, but expelling flames with that degree of control could almost be called a different Quirk entirely! Why didn’t you use it in the Rescue Trial?”

Polendina looked at them, walking precisely without looking where she was going, and it was only now that Izuku realized she was still holding her shoes in one hand. “While I am capable of unassisted flight, the task is power-intensive. My… Quirk… has many uses which are theoretically within my grasp, but would require too much energy for me to use at liberty.”

Izuku smiled excitedly, leaning in. “You can do even more!? Ooh, does that mean your Quirk is like Captain Celebrities’, with a defined field that you manipulate around your body? Or do you mean energy literally and you have a reservoir within your body like the Enginium heroes fuel their engines with different kinds of food and drink? Do you have to eat or drink something, but no, if that was all you needed you would have something during exercises and wouldn’t worry so much about using energy up - “

He descended into muttering, theorizing about the possible limitations of her Quirk, until she interrupted him with a poke in the cheek. When he looked back up, there was a smile on her face and her eyes seemed brighter, somehow.

“I generate a great deal of energy which powers many combat functions within my body, but past a certain point of energy usage my ability to produce new energy is greatly slowed and I lose many basic functions.”

“Oh, so if you use too much at once, you get really tired! That’s fascinating! Most Quirks I’ve heard of that have a limited amount of power output only have a limited number of ways they can output that power, but you seem to be able to fly and move really fast and pull on those swords! Speaking of, those are Support Technology, right? But where were you keeping them? I saw they folded in half, but your combat outfit didn’t look like it had a backpack or anything that could’ve held them all.”

“My swords are a part of my body. I manipulate them using wiring which, when sufficiently powered, can be manipulated at will. At my current low-power settings I primarily use them as an assistive mobility device - during the review of our Rescue Trial, you may have seen me eliminate Sero Hanta by reeling myself in?”

“Kero, I thought it was more impressive when you threw Todorokis’ ice back at him,” Asui added, and Izuku flushed as he realized that he’d been almost completely ignoring the girl.

Penny shook her head, though. “Todoroki Shouto is an impressive opponent!” She boasted. “It was a mistake to attempt to use his own abilities against him. Despite the power concerns, I believe I would have been best served remaining at range - it is my specialty, after all.”

Izuku boggled at the idea. Asui seemed to echo the direction of his thoughts, speaking his questions aloud. “With how strong you are, I assumed you were best fighting in close.”

“Oh no,” she happily replied, “I am weakest at close range. However, utilizing my abilities to their fullest extent at range is very power-intensive. I have many other weaknesses, such as history, science, Japanese literature, social studies, and - “ She paused, her bright eyes visibly dimming, some indefinable quality within them winking out underneath a tide of dull red. Her mouth seemed to mechanically smoothen itself out into a neutral expression.

“- and weaknesses which make me feel bad.”

Izuku felt panic bubbling up in his gut and tried to recapture whatever it was that got her smiling so much in the first place. He blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “I work really hard at history, Polendina-san! Maybe if you have any questions, we could meet up sometime, or you could ask me questions about it? And your formal Japanese is really, really good and precise! I bet you know more about it than we do!”

“I’m pretty good at social studies, Kero, and I could use some help in math. Maybe we could form a study group?”

“Hey, count me in,” a voice interrupted. Izuku jumped as he realized that Mineta had somehow entered their small group without him even realizing it. “Sex education is an important part of anyones’ school experience.”

Before he could comment on it, Penny nodded, some of that spark seemed to return at the mention of a study group. “That sounds wonderful,” she responded. “How may I contact you?”

Izuku pulled out his phone, cheeks abruptly bursting into flames at the thought of exchanging LONE contacts with a pair of girls, but determined not to let his embarrassment get the best of him. Asui had already pulled out her own, and after a short delay Polendina followed.

...except they had to show her how to navigate her phone.

“I’m unfamiliar with this type of communication device,” she admitted without the slightest apparent inkling of how odd the comment was. Izuku couldn’t help but share a look with Asui that went right over the foreign girls’ head. How could such a powerful and skilled Hero student have never used a cell phone before?

...also, why was Iida hanging off of the ceiling?

=-=-=-=

Maijima Higari, also known as the Excavation Hero Power Loader, considered himself a pretty successful guy. He’d gone through the UA Support Course, gotten a transfer to Hero in his third year, and split his time between his two passions ever since. He knew that a Hero needed good equipment to do their best - but also, good equipment was worthless in the hands of a subpar Hero. He’d seen a lot of what the world had to offer, good and bad.

But his boss was something else entirely. Case in point - his new best friend. He couldn’t help but frown at the bad joke - Penny was a sweet girl and the most fascinating work of technology he’d ever seen, but just looking at her made him feel upset sometimes.

True, fully sapient AI was still a dreams’ dream throughout the world. UA used plenty of robots that pretended to have their own personalities, but he and Nedzu had done the tests - she was the real deal, or so close any distinction was philosophical.

Not that they could convince her of that.

“You’ve got a big day today, y’know that?” He asked her. Of course, no, she didn’t. The USJ trip was being kept a nice surprise, after all. But no harm in teasing.

Penny Polendina, arms outstretched against a grid and her body running through diagnostics, couldn’t physically respond - but she still verbally replied. “Of course, Maijima. It is my duty and my honor to attend UA Academy so that I may one day help as many people as possible.”

“Yeah.” He flipped a switch. “Try connecting now.”

“I apologize, Maijima. I can detect the signal, but not connect to or interpret it. Perhaps we should build an adapter?”

“I told you already, no mods. You may understand your schematics, but I’m working from day one here, I don’t want to hurt you.”

“My body is built with a degree of modularity. We could easily prototype modules to improve my ability to interact with your technology without undue risk to my systems.”

“Any risk is undue risk. I’m still pissed Nedzu approved the classes in the first place. We can’t exactly throw you at Recovery Girl like, who wazzat kid? Midori?”

“Midoriya is a capable combatant. It is not his fault that his Quirk damages his body.”

“Yeah, yeah, he should’ve learned how to use it without breaking himself by now. Or commissioned something to help with the blowback. Mn, speaking of - last week you mentioned people in your world having, what was it called? Sen-bulance? Ever heard of one hurting the user like that?”

“Semblances, yes. While superficially similar to Quirks, I believe they are of a fundamentally different nature - the expression of ones’ soul versus a biological adaptation inherited from ones’ parents. As for self-harming Semblances, while I do not have access to databases, I believe I recall anecdotal mentions of Semblances which utilized self-harm as a form of catalyst for potent attacks.”

“How about this frequency? Or maybe if we hook one of your swords up?”

“Maijima, my swords do not function in that manner. I have told you before, they cannot connect to anything that does not utilize the proper Dust-based electronic signal loop.”

“And I still don’t understand how that works. Dust this, Dust that. Gibberish to me. Gimme a battery and a bit of copper wire anyday.”

“I apologize, but I must respectfully disagree. While this world does appear to lack Dust, on mine it is the most potent and common resource available with which to base our infrastructure on.”

“Yeah, yeah. Wish I could go there sometime. Trying to figure out how to translate all of… this the slow and manual way is just too boring. I can see an entire world of possibility before my eyes - for the both of us - and yet so far all I’ve got is a fancy way to make skirts.”

“I am still uncertain how anti-upskirt technology is so primitive in this world. It seems so simple.”

“I mean, before you came along, I never would’ve even thought of it. But c’mon, that’s hardly the most impressive thing you’ve shown me. Those sword lasers are ridiculous and amazing.”

“The technology that went into my project was considered some of the greatest Atlas had to offer, yes. During my tenure as the Guardian of Mantle, there was a recorded twenty three percent reduction in casualties due to Grimm.”

“Gotta say, kid, you’re really something. Your whole world sounds… crazy, really. Incredible, but also really scary. Puts things into perspective when I think about it… getting anything?”

“Negative. My body was not designed to receive any form of signal that was not based on common means of Atlesian code or predecessor alternates, and rewriting my own software was not a significant priority in my education. This challenge is unprecedented. My Father would have been delighted to see the progress we are making!”

“Y’know, every time you talk like that, I can’t help but wonder if your old man was some kind of alternate universe version of one of my students. She’s crazy and goes through inventions like a shark through water, but she’s proud as hell about every single one - calls them her babies.”

“She sounds like a phenomenal young woman. I would love to meet her.”

“Uh uh, no way that’s happening on my watch, kiddo. If anybody is gonna figure out what a beautiful work of art you are, it’d be the support kids. I got enough on my plate without them demanding to know how I cracked the secret that’s been bumming every computer engineer for the past two hundred years. Especially when all I can tell them is that you’re one of a kind.”

“...yes. Penny Polendina was her Fathers’ proudest creation.”

“What have we told you about that? You are Penny.”

“I am her body.”

“More than that.”

“I… I cannot be more than that, Maijima.”

“Then prove it. Nedzu says you haven’t even tried.”

Maijima turned around and looked Penny in the eyes, ignoring the feelings of unease in his stomach. Nedzu told him to be respectful, to take things slow, but he couldn’t. Not when she spent every day making herself miserable before she’d even shown the proof she seemed to think was self-evident. She averted her eyes.

“I… I cannot.”

“Why?”

“...”

He sighed, abruptly frustrated. “You know what? Nevermind. I’m sorry I pushed. But, just - us here on Earth, there’s a saying. ‘We cannot justify treating a sentient nonhuman as our property, as a resource, as a thing that we can kill and use for our purposes.’ A teacher named Francione said that, and as far as I’m concerned? You’re just as smart as any of us.”

Silence reigned as their daily attempt at bridging the gap between Remnant and Earth technology concluded. Still no luck on direct connections, but he was getting good data and she was learning more and more about how to use Earth tech directly. Her body relaxed as it was let down from the platform she was standing on. He turned away to file his latest notes into his computer.

“I… thank you for that, Maijima. But you have not met my Father. He gifted… me… with his Aura. It was killing him. And… that’s not who I am anymore. Ruby and my Friends have the real me. I’m just… extra.”

“Doesn’t seem like it from this side, kid.”

He looked at her, through the reflection of his monitor screen. She was watching her hand. Staring at it intensely. He stilled and waited, breath held. Her hands dropped back to her sides and she left the room without a word.

He sighed.

 

Today was a special day in her education at UA. Today she was going on a field trip! She had heard much about field trips from her friends and her research. They were very fun and interesting and you got to do the things you enjoyed with your friends while still becoming better and better. UA was a very interesting place, Japan was a very interesting country and Earth was a very interesting world with a very beautiful night sky.

[AURA INTEGRITY TEST HAS NOT BEEN PERFORMED FOR NINE HUNDRED, EIGHTY THREE HOURS. PERFORMING AUTOMATED AURA INTEGRITY CHECK]

[ABORT]

She sat in a seat near the back of the bus. Asui Tsuyu had chosen to sit next to her. She liked Asui Tsuyu very much, but she did not want to sit next to Asui Tsuyu. Unfortunately, she was unable to determine the optimal method of excusing herself or requesting Asui Tsuyus’ presence be removed without the potential of harming Asui Tsuyu emotionally or physically. She turned her head to Asui Tsuyu and attempted a subtler approach.

“Asui Tsuyu, do you not wish to sit next to Izuku Midoriya?”

She watched as Asui Tsuyu turned to look at her. Asui Tsuyu’s physical features were a varying eight to forty three percent match to several identifying Faunus traits, causing minor personnel recognition and emotional analysis errors. Asui Tsuyu responded: “Midoriya-chan is busy discussing class representative things with Yaoyorozu and Iida. I wanted to ask how you feel about rescue training.”

She cycled as she considered her potential responses and settled on saying: “I am nervous. I have prior experience and training in combat and evacuation settings, but disaster relief is not a skillset I am prepared for. I look forward to learning more about it!” Her research and Nedzus’ tutelege indicated that this world was disproportionately safe and prosperous in comparison to Remnant. It would be important for her to adapt to the lesser lethality, lesser civilian preparation for disaster, and greater emphasis on protection and securing of civilians from natural and urban hazards.

“Yes, I do too, kero. I’m especially looking forward to water disasters. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten to really challenge myself while swimming. I think it will be a lot of fun.”

“I do not believe I will be very effective in a water-based natural disaster. My body is very dense and I am not built to operate well under water.”

“Pssh, you’re probably gonna beat us all anyway, and you can hardly get worse for water than being a living battery” a new voice interrupted. She turned her head and identified the new conversationalist: Kaminari Denki.

“That is untrue, Kaminari Denki. There are several students fully capable of surpassing me given what I have observed thus far, and you all have wonderful abilities that make you invaluable members of any team.” She observed his face carefully, filing his sudden flush into her emotional analysis and recognition folders. She identified his response as embarrassment and humility, and smiled.

“Nah, she’s just saying that,” another new member stated: Mineta Minoru. She did not like Mineta and chose not to look at him. Penny Polendinas’ Father had once said that people who were mean were best ignored if possible. “Bet you anything Midoriya is gonna fail the entire class. His Quirks’ useless for rescue stuff.”

[EMOTION CORE PROCESSES HAVE NOT UNDERGONE REVIEW IN NINE HUNDRED, SEVENTY SIX HOURS. SYSTEM STATUS UNVERIFIED. PERFORMING AUTOMATIC WELLNESS CHECK]

[ABORT]

“Did you even see his fight against Tokoyami, man? His Quirk is nearly as crazy as he is. I fry myself a little when I use mine, sure, but that just makes me loopy for like an hour.”

“Yeah, so? What’s he gonna do, throw a civilian at the rescue helicopter and hope they’re half as broken as his arm?”

“That’s unfair, Mineta,” Asui Tsuyu chastised: “Midoriya-chan is working hard to control his Quirk and we’re all students. It’s okay for us to make a lot of mistakes.”

She nodded happily and pointed to Midoriya, who had gone quiet under the increasingly loud argument regarding his ability to perform well. “Midoriya Izuku is known to have achieved the high number of Rescue Points of any student this year during the Entrance Examination.”

Mineta Minoru turned his gaze aside: “Pfft.” All participants appeared to take his response as withdrawal from the conversation and turned their attention to her.

“But man,” Kaminari started: “You’re definitely gonna ace all of this, Polendina. You beat the Class Rep and Todoroki, the rest of us can barely compare to that.”

She responded: “In both instances I had the assistance of others. Asui Tsuyu was a capable partner in confronting Yaoyorozu Momo until she was disqualified by removal from the premises. Bakugo Katsuki was an extremely capable combatant and clearly well understands the importance of applying pressure in a combat situation.”

Asui Tsuyu: “He spent as much time attacking you as he did Todoroki, though, kero. I think you might have been better off fighting by yourself.”

She shook her head in refutation. “Though our teamwork was ineffective and counter-productive, Todoroki Shouto is a strong opponent and was fully capable of fending us off alone assuming his fire manipulating powers are as strong as his ice manipulating powers. Please recall that when Sero Hanta interfered in our battle with his tape, the battle turned in his favor very quickly.”

Sero Hanta appeared to notice his inclusion in the discussion at the mention of his name, leaning backwards from his seat further up in the bus and speaking up. “Yeah, but you beat me in like five seconds. I barely even realized you were attacking when you got me right upside the head. If it weren’t for Recovery Girl I think I’d still have a headache.”

“My apologies, Sero Hanta. Since coming here, I have often misjudged how long it takes for people to recover from injuries.”

Asui Tsuyu placed a finger on her chin: “I noticed that too. Todoroki only uses his ice in classes, and didn’t make any fire until you and Bakugo had nearly beaten him. Given he is Endeavors’ son, wouldn’t you expect him to use his fire more than his ice?”

“Maybe it’s like a self imposed challenge, or some kind of training?” Sero Hanta questioned: “I mean, he’s got a really weird, like, double Quirk. I’m sure his dad has taught him all kinds of stuff about using his fire, now he’s trying to focus on his ice?”

She shook her head. “His abilities with his Quirk and practiced use of it did not seem to indicate any inexperience or hesitance regarding the use of the ice side of his powers. Perhaps it would be best if you ask him directly?” She posed the possibility and ended her question by pointing towards the front of the bus, where Todoroki sat alone directly adjacent to the door. He appeared completely oblivious to everyone around him.

Kaminari Denki: “Ehhhh… I dunno, I feel like he’d set me on fire if I ask him too many questions. He’s a really cool guy but not approachable, y’know? Guess he’s taking after his dad like that. The distant, silent type.”

Mineta Minoru appeared to find ground upon which to enter the conversation once more: “But it’s not like that tanks his popularity. There are all sorts of chicks who love the Number Two Hero ‘cause he’s got that, like, tough dad vibe, y’know?”

Sero Hanta laughed: “C’mon man, Endeavor’s popular because he’s got the highest hero record around. I don’t think even All Might spends as much time running around solving crimes as Endeavor does.”

“Kero, it’s important to be cute as well,” Asui Tsuyu interrupted: “Many of the top heroes are cool, but there’s also cute ones like Mirko and Wash.”

She queried her records and found that her research on major popular figures in the country of Japan had left her ill-informed of those particular two heroes, and the focus of the discussion on popularity is outside her context. Though Principal Nedzu had informed her of the corporatized nature of Hero work, which appeared a slightly more formalized equivalent to the mercenary nature of Huntsmen, she found the focus on marketability curious. She questions: “Wouldn’t the most effective Heroes be the most popular?”

Kaminari Denki: “Well yeah, I guess, but the best pro heroes need agencies and stuff, right? And if people don’t know who they are, then how is any villain supposed to be afraid?”

Mineta Minoru interjects, his gaze focused on Asui Tsuyu: “You think Wash is cute? I mean, he’s a great hero, sure, but he’s kind of for little kids, y’know?”

Asui Tsuyu tilted her head: “Of course. Wash is a Rescue Hero with a great deal of appeal to younger audiences and an educational focus. I aspire to be similar to him, with an aquatic focus, of course.”

“Bah, he makes a lot of money off that edutainment stuff, but - “

“Quiet down,” Aizawa Shouto interrupted the conversations aboard the bus, speaking over everybody: “We’re here. It’s time for your special Rescue Training.”

As she stood and began to follow the group outside of the bus, her triage processes noted trace amounts of blood upon one of the seats. Comparing it to her records, it was the seat that Todoroki Shouto had used. Examining his person, she found his hands were fisted tightly and his jaw was locked.

She wondered how she could assist with whatever was causing him emotional turmoil.

[CRITICAL REVIEW PROCESSES HAVE BEEN ON STANDBY FOR NINE HUNDRED, SEVENTY FIVE HOURS. PLEASE RESUME OPERATIONS TO ENSURE LOGICAL COHERENCY IS MAINTAINED.]

=-=-=-=

He liked to be polite. Ill manners and an unkempt appearance did little but give off the impression of a common thug. Few people expected a Villain like himself to conduct himself like a gentleman - but more importantly, he wished to provide a good example for Tomura. The young man was so aggressive in his youth, he often forgot the lessons they tried so hard to teach him, but that was no matter. As Sensei said, they would try as many times as it would take to let him learn and grow.

There was no use being impatient. That was the way Kurogiri thought. All things would come in time. So though he had reservations about facing All Might, even with a fairly well structured plan, he didn’t let those concerns bother him too much. He checked the time, double checked he had all of his locations correct, and opened a set of Warp Gates - all leading to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint.

Ah, Heroes and their marketing schemes. Looking through his gates, he was happy to see that their landing zone was brightly lit and with plenty of space. All good indications that their ambush was just as much a surprise as it was meant to be. As the flood of fodder criminals and Tomura himself filed out into the field, Kurogiri focused his eyes on the crowd of Heroes and Heroes in Training at the entrance of the building.

The lights and other electrical appliances within the building stuttered and dimmed as their designated jammer villains did their work, ensuring that the Heroes could not easily contact assistance. Out of all of the villains they had gathered together for this excursion, Quirks and support technology capable of proving effective countermeasures against UAs extensive security measures had been the most difficult to anonymously collect. But no matter.

The head teacher, whose goggles and the schedule they’d purloined identified as Eraserhead, quickly recognized their presence and appeared to be shooing off all of the students as well as Thirteen, the Space Hero - though some students were clearly lagging behind. However, their target, All Might, was nowhere in sight. Strange and unfortunate.

As Tomura focused on Eraserhead, Kurogiri took on his assigned task of ensuring the lesser heroes were unable to escape - and warped himself into their path.

“Greetings, young Heroes in Training. My name is Kurogiri, and we are the League of Villains. I am sorry to have interrupted your scheduled training, but we have come to kill All Might… who I notice does not appear to be here. Was our information incorrect?”

Of course the adult placed themself in front of the students, Thirteen doing a fine Heroes’ Duty. How unfortunate that her students were so rash as to abandon that very protection - two appeared to have run after Eraserhead, perhaps intending on fighting, while he found himself assaulted from three different directions. Ice erupted from the ground and two students approached to assault him personally, breaking their teacher’s line of fire.

He let them attack. It passed through his body like so much mist and would only make things easier. Their teacher protested, but it was already too late. He swept out and captured them all in the black mist that was his body.

It was time to do his job. All Might or no, these children would be a screaming wound in the underbelly of the Hero Society that his ward and his mentor so hated. With a thought, they were scattered to the four corners of the installation that now belonged to the League of Villains.

“My apologies… but today is the day you die!”

=-=-=-=-=

Eraserhead wasn’t the kind of guy who enjoyed the spotlight. It wasn’t in his nature. He was a technical fighter, he specialized in ambushes. If you looked at this fight logically, then the choice should have been obvious - Thirteen could fend off a hundred opponents at once, weak or strong, without even seriously harming them, but every enemy he took on was a dozen that had the potential to slip past him.

She was a Hero who could stand against the tide of the world alone. He fought at the edges of the crowd.

But she had a fraction of his combat experience. She was a Rescue Hero, not like him. She knew how to fight, for sure, no Hero that UA would employ wouldn’t, but it wasn’t in her nature. Protection was. Helping corral and reassure the panicked and the afraid. Right now those students needed to follow every order they heard and he couldn’t be the one to be sure of that.

These were criminals truly deserving of the name Villains. These were murderers. They couldn’t be anything else, to attack UA on its’ own grounds.

He could fight, it was what he spent most of his Hero career training for, as his Quirk let him handle most criminals. But Thirteen was the one who handled people, and if one of their Quirks countered hers, or if they got clever...

So he ordered them to run. To get help. And he strode forth to meet the enemy.

Of course, with a warping Quirk and the preparation he’d seen at hand, it was obvious this couldn’t be all of them. But he could tell just by looking - the man with the severed hands that covered his body… the giant whose Quirk exposed his brain… and the Warp villain, who had already departed somewhere else… they were the leaders of this operation. The lynchpins.

He just had to take them out.

But before he could do that, he had to pass through the trash. They approached cockily, baring weapons or Quirks, cracking knuckles and laughing at the idea of slaughtering a Hero. He picked one, two, three.

His scarf loosened around his neck. The best piece of Support Technology he’d ever gotten his hands on - perfectly suited to his high agility combat style. Weapon, mobility, and shield - all in one.

A woman raised five barrel-studded fingers to fire on him - and when they didn’t fire, she looked down in confusion. Away from him. That was all the opening he needed to break her skull on the concrete floor. Then his scarf wrapped around the next opponent, somebody with a mace, and he twisted his body, combining momentum and power to launch him into the air - and straight into an oversized bullman.

They were talking, chattering like worthless rats around him. They recognized him and thought that gave them the advantage, that they could overwhelm him with numbers and heteromorphic Quirks.

But as yet another mutant-type charged him, expecting to crush his body with overwhelming power, he deftly ducked beneath a clumsy swipe and swiped the legs out from under the massive woman - before jabbing his elbow straight into her throat. He couldn’t rest idle, however; tendrils swept out to wrap around him, forcing him to jump away and counter them with his own scarf, grabbing hold and constricting the tentacle villain before launching him like a half-turned sling.

What these mutant-type villains never seemed to realize is that a real Hero knows how to deal with somebody bigger and stronger than them. That power made a difference, but never as much as skill and support.

He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, revelling in the briefest moment of caution afforded to him. And when he opened his eyes once more, tracking the most dangerous and volatile Quirks in front of him, he found their eyes weren’t on him. They were tracking behind him, faces bearing grins and frustrated snarls.

He heard a noise that made his heart sink into his stomach and his eyes burn.

“I will politely ask you to leave. There is no reason for you to hurt anybody here.”

His head snapped around, almost against his will, and he saw exactly what he’d hoped was a lie - some kind of trick inspired by a Quirk he hadn’t Erased. But no, standing there, a series of swords floating in place around her body, was Polendina Penny, looking for all the world like a Pro Hero asking unruly civilians to go home.

But she wasn’t. She was a child, barely a week into training, clearly traumatized by something, facing murderers and villains and Quirks she didn’t know or understand. He whipped his back around, his eyes tracing over every villain present and snapping any Quirks they may have been preparing into inactivity, but he opened his mouth and spoke up.

“Polendina! I told you to evacuate! UA won’t tolerate students putting themselves in unnecessary danger!”

The villains began to approach again and he tensed, ready to fight, only for a pair of swords to lodge themselves in the ground at their approach. Polendina stepped up beside him, the swords yanked back into her orbit.

“I see nothing unnecessary about this, Eraserhead.”

“Ah, so cool, Eraserhead.” As the mob backed off a little, their leader stepped down from the fountain, arms spread theatrically. “So cool. Willing to fight all of us to protect your students, you really are a Hero. Would All Might cry more if he saw you or his students destroyed? Until he shows up, I guess you’ll just have to show me.” The Villain turned towards his lackeys.

Eraserhead didn’t give him the chance to order them into action. He leapt forward like a bullet and pummeled one metal-coated woman on top of the short little bastard behind her, giving an extra stomp to make sure he shook her brain around beneath all of that iron skin. Even as he curb stomped the villain beneath him, his arm sent out a tendril of scarfing to smother the face of the nearest villain.

And to his left a girl nearly half his size wielded two swords expertly. She struck with precision and power exceeding her body, swords sweeping through defenses like they weren’t even there. They were unpredictable, being swung as much by those near-invisible wires as by her own hands, and each blow was crippling.

She fought like an experienced Hero. He already knew this. He knew this.

But she was just a child. All of the experience and skill in the world didn’t make up for an overwhelming opponent or simple bad luck.

“Run! Now! Or you’re expelled!” It was a weak threat, given she was already facing potential maiming and death. Whatever she was going through, it didn’t inhibit her ability to judge danger.

“That is an outcome I am willing to accept,” she responded, jumping back from a heteromorph with four arms and an excessive amount of metal in his wrists. Eraserhead swung a stray chunk of concrete straight into the mans’ head and she followed up by sweeping out her arms, a trio of swords swiping like a fan through the outer layers of his legs.

He turned his gaze, rolling away from a kick that went too high, and took another glance at the injury - it was well-made. Crippling, but not necessarily lethal. She wasn’t going for fatalities. The kicking villain followed after him and he slipped on a stray piece of debris, launching himself upwards to recover only for a chain to slam into his ribs.

He grunted, the bruised-maybe-cracked part of his chest twinging, but used his scarf as a fulcrum and aimed himself towards a water-manipulating villain. She raised a shield of liquid that rained down on her as he Erased her Quirk, her face permanently mangled and providing a strong enough foundation for him to launch himself into a short grapple with the next nearest opponent.

“Eraserhead,” Polendina spoke up, barely sounding winded. “I believe we are being combatted through attrition.”

He stepped back from the narrowing crowd of villains, coming shoulder-to-shoulder with his student and feeling the strain of his Quirk burning in his eyes. “I know,” he snapped, glancing back at the only two villains that had remained uninvolved thus far - the man with the hands and the one with the exposed brain. “I told you to leave.” They were watching the fight, examining their opponents, picking out weaknesses. He needed to save something for when he took out enough of the fodder to break through, but he couldn’t survive and win by holding back.

He thought back to security footage of the panic in the cafeteria. She refused to stand down, and they would be having words if they survived, but if she was going to be here anyway he would make use of her talents. He swung his scarf out in a biding motion as Polendina mirrored him with her swords. “Can you attack their leader without warning?”

“Affirmative,” she replied, dashing towards the thinnest line of the villain crowd - away from the leaders - and swinging a suddenly appearing fan of blades to clear a path. He twisted in place and skid along the ground, focusing his eyes on her path to give her the leeway she needed, and then -

She soared. Fire erupted from her boots and she launched upwards like a rocket, twisting in midair to spear straight towards the two in an Immelmann worthy of applause - which ended abruptly as four swords created the four points of a square surrounding her body. Thrusting her arms out, Eraserhead had only the slightest of attention to spare wondering what was she doing -

Blinding light burst from the tips of each sword. His eyes snapped shut instinctively, painfully, but he forced them back open and used her distraction to slam another three villains into one big ball of pain.

Memories told him what to say, but he kept his mouth shut even as the voice sounded as loudly and clearly as it had for a decade.

It’s all right! You’ve got what it takes! You can do it!

He had to turn away, had to focus on his own fight, but he’d spent over a decade turning himself into the best combatant he could be. Everyone always thought that he needed his eyes, that if they could take his eyes he would be easy prey, but his other senses were just as important. He’d spent just as much time training them to hone in on every detail possible.

What they told him now was failure.

The searing of flesh, but no accompanying thuds or grunts. The smell of something deep inside the human body, quickly fading. The fading power from the jets at his students’ feet and the crack of her heels against concrete. He spun, avoiding an attempted grapple and affording himself a single glance.

The villain with the exposed brain stood tall and proud, a visible dent of cratered and burnt flesh in his chest, white and red intermingled - but writhing for that hundredth of a second that he could see but wasn’t looking. A regeneration Quirk on a heteromorph that big… he’d fought mutants like that before.

He’d won. But the hospital bills usually got high.

Polendina didn’t seem phased. “Please surrender. My teachers would be disappointed if a student had to resort to lethal force.”

The big one didn’t even move, but the hand-covered villain stepped out from behind him, slouching and arms extended. “Ahhhhh, that doesn’t sound like a hero thing to say. But you must have seriously grinded to hurt my Noumu. Don’t you know it’s not fair to handicap the boss before the cutscene is over?”

He was fast. While the huge villain - Noumu - remained still, seeming to ignore the gaping wound in its’ chest, the hand-villain was a darting blur that Eraserhead could only keep half an eye on as he struggled to put down the remaining thugs as quickly as possible.

His heart pounded in his chest. His lungs burned. The eyes watered. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen, the students were supposed to be safe, he had to get into that fight before Polendina was hurt -

“SMASH!”

He recognized that voice and it was one of the last possible things he wanted to hear right now. The pounding of his heart in his chest and the jeering of the villains he was beating into the ground were interrupted by the sound of an impact echoing through the entire building and a rush of wind.

An arm snapped as the body it was attached to attempted to separate itself from his scarfs’ grip. He turned to look once more and could make out, through dust and smoke, four figures in front of the fountain.

Two were far too small, and one far too large.

 

He knew it was reckless and stupid. Aizawa-Sensei - Eraserhead - told them to evacuate with Thirteen. There was no reason to ignore that order, he trusted Eraserhead, he really did. But when Polendina had turned around without a word, checking only that they were all leaving, and he was the only one who noticed… he didn’t think, he just followed. He couldn’t just abandon her!

But he couldn’t fight, either. Not when all of these villains were so much larger than him, not when the words of his teacher kept echoing in his skull telling him how useless he’d be after one shot, phantom pain flaring through all of his limbs and fingers and telling him over and over and over again that he wasn’t worthy, that he couldn’t save anyone the way he was.

So he hid and he sat and he waited.

And it was amazing. It showed him how far he had to go. Eraserhead was a whirlwind, scarf reaching out like a living thing all its own moving people three times his size in ways Izuku could barely comprehend. There had to be fifty villains surrounding him and yet he was expertly managing their numbers, darting into and out and taking them down in seconds.

And Polendina was no different. She didn’t move, didn’t swing and jump and throw herself through their ranks like Eraserhead did. She simply took position and then let them come, responding with mechanical precision, swords flicking out to swipe and cut and stab in a way that would leave Izuku crying and screaming if his stomach wasn’t already wound so tight it felt like it had paralysed him.

Honestly by the time she started spraying lasers he had gone so far into awed and impressed that he couldn’t get any more shocked. But when the villain - the villain named Noumu - responded to a gaping hole burnt into its chest, bones and organs visible, with little more than a shrug?

That was when the awe faded and the dread came back twice as strong. That wasn’t any normal Quirk. Regeneration Quirks didn’t get that strong, it just - it was possible, of course, but he’d have heard of it, he’d know that there was an immortal villain strong enough to stand upright after taking a lethal blow and having their Quirk Erased. Right? Wouldn’t he have?

And then the other villain walks out, a severed hand covering his face and mocking Polendina, and Izuku just - there’s just this intense feeling of danger, this overwhelming sensation that something is wrong and if he wants to survive he needs to run.

But Izuku wasn’t who the villain was attacking. It’s Polendina. Polendina, who is standing there, who admitted that her abilities weakened after heavy use, Polendina who isn’t even orbited by swords but rather holding them in her hands what if she’s in danger he has to -

It’s just like before. He’s moving before he even realizes it, acting without having decided to move. Like doing math in his head, counting a number in an instant and knowing that one plus one plus one equals three without needing an equation, without needing to think about it. It’s fact. It is. There are three people on that raised platform, one of them is Polendina, and the other is a villain.

“SMASH!”

He didn’t hold back. If he had only one shot before he was useless - if he had only one chance to stop this all right now - then he had to take it while he had surprise on his side. So he feels that power rush through his body, concentrate in his arm, and explode outwards - the power of One For All, the concentrated power of a Quirk eight generations in the making.

And his fist stopped dead. There was an explosion of noise and the passing of his fist sent the very air into such a fervor that he could barely see at all, pain lanced through his knuckles and fingers, and for a moment he thought that maybe he’d done it - that he’d just won. But the victorious, desperate grin that pulled at his lips was torn away as he realized - his hand was still pressed against something. Something warm, something that felt smooth and unbroken. His sore, unbroken hand.

The dust cleared from the air and he felt tears prickle his eyes as he looked up and up and up, inhumanly black flesh broken by a cauterized, gaping wound in the chest and a set of massive, jagged teeth set in a beak with teeth that seemed to leer down at him. A pitch black limb marked by massive, jagged scars almost lazily reached out and grabbed hold of Izuku’s arm. Tears formed in his eyes and he struggled to pull himself away, incoherent noise sounding from the back of his throat like a trapped animal, but that hand was completely overpowering.

“That smash… an All Might fanboy, huh?” The voice of the thin, hand-covered villain sounded out. It grunted and suddenly Izuku can see the hand villain and Polendina fighting, just past Izukus’ captor. The hand villain was fast and seemed to use an open-palm fighting style, batting each sword that Polendina swung at him away with quick, precise movements. He kept retreating, barely avoiding serious injury, before he seemed to just… give up. “Noumu,” he called.

And all of a sudden the hand villain wasn’t the one fighting. Izuku choked out a noise as his hand was freed and the noumu disappeared, suddenly launching Polendina a dozen meters in one strike and continuing on. Izuku fell to the ground, heart beating so wildly in his chest that he suddenly wondered if he was going to die from his own terror before the villains could kill him, but his eyes were glued to that battle - which seemed a horrible reversal of before, Polendina using her swords to cut away at fists that seemed to throw her dozens of meters even as they sent fountains of blood gushing everywhere.

And then Noumu’s wounds started closing. Izuku turned to look at Eraserhead, horrified and scared of what might have happened to the hero, only to find himself staring at a pale, grey hand, the smell of some kind of chemical overpowering and burning his nose. The hand villain was right in front of him, five fingers outstretched toward Izukus’ face, and he saw pads on the ends just like Uraraka but he didn’t know what they did he didn’t know how to fight his strongest attack had been blocked like it was nothing and they got closer and closer and he couldn’t move -

“DIE MOTHERFUCKER!”

Kaachan! The hand-garbed villain was forced to dodge as Kacchan unleashed a sudden volley of explosives and a stream of expletives. Izuku hesitated, glancing between him and Polendina, only to see that Noumu had suddenly frozen in place as a massive glacier of ice overcame his body - Todoroki and Yaoyorozu had joined Polendina! Glancing down at his fist, Izuku felt a determination wash over him - he wouldn’t let terror come over him. He had to repay the trust that everyone had given him.

He looked into the fight between Kacchan and the Villain, waiting for his moment, and when the Villain reached out to grab Kacchans’ gauntlet with those fingers outstretched… he leapt forward, teeth gritted and power focused into his fingers. Pain arced through his hand as his middle fingers’ insides turned into little more than mulched meat and blood leaked out from the shredded skin of it, but he was used to this by now - he knew how to deal with this level of pain.

And as he watched the villain drop to the ground, body twisting and beaten against concrete for several meters before finally rolling to his hands and feet, Izuku knew it was worth it. The villain was bleeding now, skin scraped raw and bruises already forming from the powerful hit, and while Izuku breathed deeply to recover his stance - he didn’t need to perform the follow up.

“I DON’T NEED YOUR HELP!” Kacchan yelled, throwing himself forward and following up for Izuku in attacking the villain, who was forced to leap out of the way and swipe a hand at Kacchans’ arms even as he grunted in pain. Izuku took another moment to recover, then dug his feet in and charged forward. Only… the breath left his chest.

“All Might… All Might… All Might….” The villain exploded into motion, hands reaching for Kacchan and his gauntlets’ evaporating at a touch, the villains’ eyes wide and manic and enraged. “I came here to kill All Might but all of you stupid mobs keep getting in my way! You’re not players, you hear me! You’re NPCs, and you’re pissing me off! Noumu! KILL THEM ALL!”

Kacchan screamed something, but Izuku felt a sudden rush of wind and some animal instinct screamed for him to duck. His face scraped against raw concrete, but he saw half of the villain named Noumu fly overhead, propelled by a single arm with gore and bloody shredded meat and ice trailing it like some horrific meteor. Kacchan attempted to dodge only to be struck with titanic force and go flying, barely correcting his trajectory in mid-air with a series of explosions. Izuku struggled to his feet - he needed to find a way to defeat both villains before Noumu could recover from its pounce. If it could move that quickly and powerfully while torn in half, then there was no telling how he would be able to survive both it and the Hand Villain once its’ Quirk allowed it to heal from its massive injuries.

Only, before he could do much more than scramble to his feet, something struck the Hand Villain. An entire, massive body with eight spider-like limbs was sent sailing through the air and smashed directly into the Hand Villain, rolling past and groaning in pain with most of its limbs cracked, broken, and bleeding.

Izuku turned in the direction it had come from and felt hope fill his soul as he saw Eraserhead return to the battle, finally finished with the mob of villains whose whole purpose seemed to have been to distract him.

“You kids have done well,” he said, scarf billowing out around him, hair waving in an unfelt wind as he strode in between the students and their tormentors. “You’ve surpassed my every expectation. Bakugo, Midoriya, check on the others. It’s my turn.”

Izuku smiled widely and nodded. Kacchan seemed frustrated, but also turned to find Polendina. The both of them converged with the other group, who had already been making their way to the fight. Izuku looked them over, worried that they’d been injured, but they seemed to have the same line of thought - Yaoyorozus’ eyes zeroed in on his injured finger and went wide.

“Midoriya, your hand!” He winced at the horror in her voice, but shrugged and forced his smile wider.

“It’s okay! I’ve had worse, really!”

“Nonetheless, allow me to assist.” So saying, light began to shine from her arm as she pulled a small roll of bandages that smelled of alcohol from it.

He grit his teeth and stuck out his hand, giving her a small thanks as he focused on the others. Todoroki was shivering and his skin was pale, but he seemed uninjured. Polendina didn’t seem to show any signs of exhaustion or pain, but as he watched her, he noticed… her hand was being held behind her back. Her right hand. “Polendina-san, are you okay? Is your hand injured?”

She gave him a smile. “I have suffered minor injuries only, Midoriya Izuku.” She hiccupped. “Please focus on your own recovery.”

He glanced at Yaoyorozu, who was focused on binding his finger straight with a deeply disturbed expression. His own stomach lurched as the pain and sensation of his finger resembling a raccoon he’d once seen run over by a delivery truck overwhelmed him, and he did his best to retrain his focus on Polendina again.

“No, Polendina. We all need to be at our best. Show me your hand.”

She hesitated, before revealing her right arm. Midoriya sucked in a hissing breath as he saw that it was gripped tightly around a clearly broken sword, with the hand crushed into a permanent grip and her entire wrist visibly bent. Sections of skin had been sheared off, and some sort of thick green liquid slowly dripped from it. It looked less like a human hand that had broken and more like a machine that was crushed beyond repair.

“Polendina, your hand….”

“Looks worse than it is, I assure you.” Hiccup. “My Quirk renders my biology substantially different from a normal humans.” She hiccupped once more. Izuku went over what she’d told him just a few days ago - she’d certainly implied that her body was a Mutation-type of some sort, but to see this degree of alteration while still holding a Quirk expression of the transformation type… or was it? The more he found out about Polendina, the more confused and concerned he became.

“You’re a shitty liar,” Kacchan suddenly interrupted. “Get the fuck out of here. You’re useless if you can’t even swing those stupid swords of yours.”

“I assure you, Bakugo Katsuki, I am capable of recovering from this and remain combat ready. You are worse off than I am” As if in demonstration, another sword took up place near her shoulder, seemingly floating in place. Izuku twisted to look at Kaachan, who looked at confident as ever… but his half-disintegrated gauntlet was dripping blood, and now that he looked closely the explosive teens’ breathing was shallow and the metal struts over his collarbone was subtly warped and bent.

“Polendina, Bakugo,” the Class President replied, “I am afraid I must insist - Eraserhead has already told us to retreat twice now. We really should go as soon as possible. All three of you are seriously injured.”

“Hah? I ain’t running like a coward, and besides, that misty shitter is still guarding the -”

A bone-chilling laughter broke their concentration and they all turned back to the fight, horror etching itself onto their faces as they witnessed Eraserhead falling through one of the shadowy Warp portals that had brought the villains in the first place. And then he fell from another, several meters above, only to drop into the first again. And on, and on, and on, rapidly reaching terminal velocity even as the space between the two portals grew closer and closer together, turning him into little more than a mist-obscured blur.

The hand villain laughed maniacally, gesturing dramatically as Eraserhead struggled to find an anchor. “You sure are a noob killer, Eraserhead, but look at you now! Kurogiri. You killed Thirteen, right?”

Izuku felt his breath catch in his throat.

“No, I’m afraid several students interfered, Tomura. Most have been scattered, but Thirteen is only injured and two escaped. This class is concerningly capable….”

The crazed villain’s - Tomura’s - laughter died out and he began scratching at his neck viciously, watching Eraserheads endless fall. “You… you… these damn NPCs… and no All Might, with all of UA sure to arrive any minute… if I didn’t need you, I’d turn you to dust. It’s game over.”

Somehow, those words failed to reassure Izuku in any way.

“But… these damn hero wannabes have pissed me off. Even if I can’t kill All Might, I think I’ll kill the rest.”

Izuku felt his stomach clench and he channeled One For All into his body. He knew what was coming next. He didn’t dare look away and he knew that the others were just as aware of the impending violence - could hear and feel their readiness beside and behind him.

“Kurogiri. I want to kill the one with the swords first.”

And so saying, he reached out an arm - which immediately went through a black circle of mist. Izuku felt a deep sense of foreboding overcome him and twisted his head around to see Polendina - to see Penny - twisting backwards, swords crossing to block a single hand erupting from thin air.

Five fingers clenched tight.

=-=-=-=-=

Bakugo didn’t let his pounding heartbeat or the pain lancing through his arm or the seizing of his chest slow him down. He overpowered it, opened his eyes wide, and focused. He drew on the rage and the pride and the knowledge that he was the best, that he was always the best drive him.

The background characters of his life were standing around talking about retreating, about running away like cowards, but he knew why this had happened. It was an opportunity, it was his chance to show that he was superior. That even with some freaky hidden Quirk or a bunch of fancy backgrounds nobody could compare to him.

They’d come for All Might, but he was going to show those shitty villains that he was more than a match, more than worth the attention. So he didn’t let himself be distracted. He didn’t let himself think about things like medical attention or letting the adults handle things. The only way forward was to push through, and he watched, and he waited. And when the shitty hand villain talked to the warp bastard, he knew what was coming next.

You didn’t just have to beat your enemies. You had to destroy them. You had to make them admit that you were better. How else would everybody know who the winner was? Who the Top was?

His hand was moving before the portal appeared. Sweat glistened on his palms, that lifelong burnt stench stronger than ever. A hand appeared from the portal, directly in front of the Dollhaired bitch, so close and quick that even her quick reflexes weren’t enough to block it.

But she wasn’t as good as he was. He clamped his hand on that arm and felt his Quirk go off. All of the sweat he’d gathered erupted at once and he didn’t let go, even as he felt flesh burst and tear beneath his grip, even when the concussive force threw a pair of desiccated, preserved hands away, even as he felt the arm pull itself back.

And then a tiny voice in the back of his mind screamed and he let go to duck.

A massive, pitch black fist struck the ground in front of him and created a crater so large that he actually fell forward into it. But he wasn’t like the others, who panicked and screamed, oh no, he was Bakugo Katsuki. He was the Hero whose name would be screamed by all of Japan. He’d used up the sweat in his off hand, but that still left a perfectly intact gauntlet that’d been building up enough of a charge to break his arm in half.

If he was a moron, anyway. He used a little bit of boom to correct his fall, got his feet underneath him, and braced himself right beneath the big bird-brained bastard who thought he was anywhere near All Mights’ level. All it took was a single pull of the pin and he felt his shoulders pulse and pound with the explosive force he’d just unleashed.

But he wasn’t going to hurt the bastard like that. Smoke and dust exploded out from around them and he threw himself aside, even as he felt the birdbrain smash more concrete, but he’d seen enough of Noumu to take his measure. The thing was all brute force and straight lines. Bakugo would crush him, but he needed to hit him where it hurt.

And that started by disrupting vision. He’d fallen in front of the birdbrain, then jumped to the right, and the pack of extras had been standing a few feet that way, so….

He burst from the cover of smoke and dodged a reflexive shard of ice thrown at his face, looming over the Icyhot fuck and taking in the crowd. Deku was sitting around being useless as normal and Rich Bitch was making some garbage toys, but Dollhair seemed to be gathering her swords together, at least.

“Icyhot, gimme mist, fog, whatever the fuck you can.”

“Why?”

Before Bakugo could tell the moron off, a portal appeared above them and dropped both the hand villain and the Noumu on top of them. He immediately dropped backwards and threw another explosion at them, while Deku and Icyhot responded with their own attacks, but it barely did jack shit.

“GET ME FOG RIGHT NOW!”

He punched forward and threw another explosion at the handfuck but instead of doing anything it just got swallowed up by a portal - which served as cover for the villain to get in close again. Bakugo swore under his breath even as he engaged the villain, throwing out explosions left and right, ignoring the steadily growing pain in his arms and shoulders and the pulsing of his chest, doing everything he could to keep that hand off him.

The hand fuckers’ left arm was basically gristle, but he was still taller and faster, and Bakugo wasn’t exactly doing too well himself. More importantly, he’d already gotten a good look at what those hands could do. So he adapted.

Punch, jump, explosion, he got himself a bit of height - and then he used his Quirk to give himself a mid-air spin and hammer kicked the villain from above. Bakugo wasn’t an adult yet, but his legs were more than long and strong enough to give him the reach he needed.

And then a staff whipped out and swept the villains’ feet from underneath him before the Rich Bitch dropped a fucking bag of flour and a smoke grenade on the dumbass. He rolled back to his feet in record time, but now it was two against one and for once, Bakugo didn’t mind a bit of help. The rich ponytail chick took up a combat stance as what seemed like half a dozen different objects started forming from her skin.

Bakugo was tempted to laugh, but he needed all of his concentration right now. He took the briefest glance to check on the others and found Dollhair and Deku trading blows with birdbrain while Icyhot thrust his arms into the fountain at the center of the square. When he returned his attention to the hand villain he saw Ponytail dodge a swipe of a hand trailing out from the smoke only for it to grab onto her namesake - which promptly turned to dust.

So much for the flour interfering with his Quirk. Bakugo would admit it was a clever idea. Before no-longer-Ponytail could become Headless, he pounced to get in between them - only to go flying through a portal that threw him in the path of Birdbrain, who was currently missing a leg. He tried to duck only for an arm to wrap around his throat and yank him out of the way.

His chest screamed and his fingers slipped when he tried to pull it off of him, but she let go anyway - quickly stepping in front of him to reveal Polendina. And then he heard a massive sound of rushing air and twisted his head to see that Icyhot had stuck his arm in the fountain and a massive bank of fog was rapidly spreading, smothering everything around it.

It was what he’d asked for, but goddamn he wished that it had happened faster and that he had an actual way to see through the fog. But better if everybody was blind than having to deal with the Warp fucker pulling any more petty tricks.

He lunged forward and grabbed onto Dollhairs’ shoulder, yanking himself beside her. “Point me where the hand villain is,” he hissed, looking around and struggling to see any sign of approaching danger through the steam. It was hot and muggy and he instantly felt his body ramp up sweat production. Rubbing his fingers together… he grinned. He was already breathing heavily, fuck the pain in his chest, but he’d be building up sweat real fast like this. The extra firepower would be useful.

Dollhair pointed behind them. “Bakugo Katsuki, this is not a sustainable fight.”

“Like I don’t fuckin’ know that, dumbass!” He yelled back, already sprinting through the fog. His first hint that he was getting back into the fight with the hand-covered creep was the muggy steam surrounding him becoming mixed with throat-choking grey and black smoke. The second was abruptly having to dodge underneath a long polearm.

“It’s me, Ponytail!”

“- Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you were -”

Squinting heavily and focused more on his ears than his eyes, he shoved past her and threw an explosion at chest height. A growl escaped his throat as smoke and steam cleared in a small circle only to reveal nothing there - and then a hand wrapped around his elbow.

He didn’t scream. Pain bloomed and the air burned and his hand felt like it weighed as much as a truck, but he didn’t scream. He brought his other hand around and used it for the opportunity it was - that hand was wrapped around his elbow?

That just made it a good target. Sweat poured into his palm from his gauntlet and he let loose an explosion right on the back of the creepy fuckers’ hand, roaring out his hate and his fury and his pain as his arm swung from the force of it. But he didn’t stop there, oh no. He kept pushing, even with one arm useless, and when a charred-looking hand swept out with startling accuracy to block the swing of his arm he aborted the motion and just threw himself forward, slamming face first into something mushy and smelling of antiseptic and grinning at the sound of breaking bones.

The next few seconds were a blur. His head pounded and his chest was screaming and his arm wasn’t moving. Somebody wrapped a hand around his shoulder and he tried to blast them but his arm wasn’t working right and his legs tried to fall out from under him.

He blinked, then realized his eyes were closed and opened them.

They’d escaped the smoke and the steam, somehow. The warpy bastard made of Mist was glaring at them with two bright yellow slits and Eraserhead was barely visible in his loop of perpetual falling and the hand bastard was on the ground with blood pouring from his face, staring at a bent and broken hand beneath him.

“...enough,” he muttered.

Bakugo tried to lunge forward but the hand gripping his shoulders tightened and he realized that Ponytail was halfway wrapped around him. When he glanced up at her, blood was pouring down her face and her hair had gone somewhere.

“Stop, Bakugo,” she whispered. He struggled to place her expression. He struggled to escape her grip. He struggled to ignore the pain assaulting him from all sides. He struggled to lift his arm more than a few inches.

He struggled.

“I’m done,” the villain muttered petulantly. “This was supposed to be my triumph, my time to kill All Might,” his voice grew louder and more hysterical as he stared at the broken remains of a severed hand. “But these small fry and NPCs and mobs just keep ruining everything and All Might isn’t even here! I’m done! I quit! This is just some stupid random side quest that got in my way!”

His manic eyes turned towards them, and he seemed to lurch in place before stilling, unwilling to abandon the hand. “You even broke Father.... Kurogiri.”

“...Tomura. We should leave.”

“Kill them. I don’t care how many guts you get inside you, kill them all right now or I’ll kill you myself, no matter how important you are.”

“...yes, Tomura.”

The villain finally stood. Bakugo felt little pops and cracks in the palm of his hand, but the other arm…he couldn’t feel much other than pain. Something in his head swam at the thought. He straightened up, and Ponytail at his side seemed to do the same. It felt strange to stand against somebody like this. It made him feel weak.

But like hell he’d be on his knees for a shitty, weak, pathetic freak of a villain.

A swirling portal opened up beneath Bakugos’ feet and he felt himself drop, but he remained standing, even if he had no idea where his legs were. Beside him he could feel Ponytails’ breath hitch and her heart pound, but she was standing too.

Because of fucking course she was.

He glared at the villain in the eyes and dredged up all the focus he had. He opened his mouth -

“If you do not release my classmates and teacher safely right at this moment, you will die.”

His head swerved towards the mist villain - only to find Polendina had him pinned with six swords, all surrounding that stupid metal collar of his. The only part of his body that was solid. Smoke and mist still trailed her body from where she’d escaped the cloud cover, but as he turned his head to see where she’d come from, he spotted Deku and Icyhot coming out as well - looking beat as hell, but Noumu nowhere in sight.

And then, with a loud, booming thud a voice that he’d listened to every day of his life called out to announce its presence. The rush of wind that overtook the room in that moment was strong enough to clear the field of all smoke, of all steam and fog, and as they all - without voluntary thought - turned their attention the Symbol of Peace, Bakugo felt tears form and trail down his cheeks at the sight of over a dozen Heroes.

“FEAR NOT, FOR WE ARE HERE!”

 

[CRITICAL DAMAGE DETECTED IN FLOATING ARRAY ARMAMENTS NUMBER THREE, EIGHT]

[CRITICAL DAMAGE SUFFERED IN DEXTRAL LIMB: MOTOR FUNCTIONS COMPROMISED]

She did not breathe. Only people had to do that. She did not cry. Only people had to do that. She did not feel pain. Only people had to do that. She did not… she did not….

She could not feel fear.

Bakugo Katsuki had interfered with the attempt to directly assault her frame. She had not expected the portal to open one and a half feet from her face and was unable to compensate for her damaged functions or respond quickly enough to ensure that she would not suffer contact, which had a deleterious effect on matter.

But it had given her the warning she needed to avoid the following attack by the adversary designated Noumu. Observation indicated physical abilities equivalent to high end Grimm, some manner of nullification effect rendering any physical attack delivered above a variable speed or over a wide enough area ineffective, nearly instant regeneration of wounds after a short delay period.

She calculated the amount of time it would take to recover from striking the concrete ground, noted Bakugo Katsuki attempting angle to attack with her aural sensors, adjusted her approach to coincide opposite the Noumus’ body, and evaded the second strike it made with its’ still-regenerating fist.

Smoke and dust exploded into the air as Bakugo Katsuki created a short-lived obstruction of vision, so she switched to thermals and used the opportunity to trail the adversary and place her blade along its’ spine.

[ENERGY LEVELS SEVERELY DEPLETED. COMBAT FUNCTIONS INHIBITED.]

A laser spewed from the end of her blade within the spine of the adversary and it roared in agony. Tactile senses reported abruptly altering atmospheric content and pressure; she pulled the blade from the adversary and watched as it fell into a portal, before shifting her body to scan the environment for the location of it’s depositing.

Thermals detected two large sources of heat falling from directly above the signature she tracked as belonging to Bakugo Katsuki. She approached rapidly, assessing the situation and determining that combatting the regenerating adversary was the highest priority to achieve mission objectives.

So she jumped.

One blade penetrated the shoulder, the other was deflected by a swing of its’ arm. The majority of its’ under half had fully regenerated and so it employed its partial legs to leap, performing a spinning motion that strained her physical limits.

[AURA INTEGRITY TEST HAS NOT BEE-]

[ABORT!]

She slammed into the ground and used her damaged arm to ablate most of the impact, further weakening its’ system but ensuring the damage was localized. She did not need a fully functional arm to protect people. As the adversary fell she spent a cycle reviewing her aural records and surrounding environment: Bakugo Katsuki and Todoroki Shouto had a significant interaction, yet Todoroki Shouto was not currently mobile.

She abandoned her location of interception with the adversary and approached Todoroki Shouto. Atmospheric alterations warned her of a forming portal - she slid beneath it and encountered Todoroki Shouto who was attempting to approach the falling adversary. She grasped him by the harness around his back, calculated his weight and shape, then threw him towards the fountain in the center of the building. “Please obscure vision!”

Resuming course interception with the adversary found Midoriya Izuku preparing to punch at full power. She tapped his elbow out of alignment and took up combat stance as Midoriya Izuku yelped in surprise. “Midoriya Izuku, your direct attacks will not do significant harm.” The adversary landed on the ground, immediately pushing itself to its fully regenerated feet. “Finely concentrated force or pressure over time are the only means by which you can harm it.”

So saying, she pressed her feet into the ground and allowed her swords to merge, using her limited energy reserves to lift a single blade and brace it against her right shoulder while using her left arm to align the second sword with it. Therefore, when the adversary made a focused charge it impaled itself directly on her blades. Unfortunately, their length and her strength were insufficient to fully halt it in place and she found herself grinding through the concrete at her feet, digging a divot into the ground as her motor functions strained themselves and slowly lost rigidness.

Which is when Midoriya Izuku leapt on the back of the adversary and, energy visibly crackling around his arms, began applying pressure to its’ neck. Midoriyas’ arms were insufficiently lengthy to perform a choke hold, but the sheer force he applied nonetheless began to tear and twist the adversaries’ throat. Penny prepared to step within its range of motion only to lose her balance as it abruptly grabbed hold of her blades and twisted them to throw her aside. Penny disconnected them from her Floating Array and caught herself on the lip of the fountain.

[FLOATING ARRAY ARMAMENTS FOUR THROUGH SIX, TWELVE THROUGH SIXTEEN DISCONNECTED. MODERATE DAMAGE DETECTED.]

Launching her sword into the target and using her reeling systems to pull herself in, she kicked the ground to change course as she detected another portal opening in front of the adversary. She disconnected the sword to prevent its wiring from interfering with her motion and slid beneath the adversary, leaping to pull the victim from its intended attack course.

Body shape and thermals indicated Bakugo Katsuki. She stepped in front of him as steam exploded throughout the area, obscuring vision. She reviewed her options to resume visual capacity - thermals would not be able to differentiate between human signs and the hot steam filling the area, she’d have to rely on secondary and tertiary sensors.

A fist was placed on her shoulder and Bakugo Katsuki demanded information: “Point me where the hand villain is.” She cycled to review her knowledge of the surrounding area and location of all participants in the battle and pointed in the appropriate direction to indicate the requested adversary and ally Yaoyorozu Momo.

However, before he could pursue his target, she warned him: “Bakugo Katsuki, this is not a sustainable fight.” His response was noted by her tactical systems as a minor priority and flagged for later social review: She shifted her attention to Midoriya Izuku and reassessed how to subdue the largest immediate adversary.

Pulling up her data on the area around her allowed her to intercept the adversary before it could get fully outside sensor range and she used her limited power reserves to activate her jets, thrusting herself forward and giving her enough strength to remove one of its’ legs again. Sensors detected Midoriya Izuku still holding onto the adversary, but now utilizing his [Semblance-redesignate-Quirk]-assisted grip to dig his fingers into the ribcage. It attempted to fall backwards to crush Midoriya Izuku, but instead a large spike of ice erupted as a makeshift strut, forcing the enemy designated Noumu to move forward, keeping Midoriya Izuku safe. Todoroki Shouto now appeared to be circling, using the steam and fog as well as several barriers of ice to keep himself out of view of the adversary.

Penny would love to see them at a Huntsman Academy.

[AURA INTEGRI -]
[ABORT!]
[ABORT!]

She used another jet-assisted lunge to cut off the other leg. Before she could pass the Noumu fully, she twisted in place and swept her blades towards its head. They bit into an arm instead, but even as she pulled them free Todoroki Shouto grabbed hold and the arm froze at his touch, turning to solid ice. She pulled on her dwindling reserves and split her blades, sweeping an arc of six towards its head.

Its brain was disturbingly tough. The first glanced off. The second bit only half an inch in. The third, fourth, and fifth pushed their way far further than what would have killed a normal human being. The sixth… the sixth was halted by its other hand. Midoriya screamed and reached out an arm to grab hold of the blocking limb, his arms visibly destroying themselves even as he provided Penny the opening she needed. She readjusted and -

[WARNING!]

And then she was sent soaring through the air. Her sensors rapidly lost track of everything around her, but as she exited the obstructing cloud of steam and fog she found herself looking upon a critical situation.

Bakugo Katsuki and Yaoyorozu Momo were both sinking into a portal while staring at the now less-handed adversary. Both displayed signs of moderate to severe injury. Aural sensors detected threats to their lives being made by the adversary now designated Tomura.

She scanned her surroundings. Her options were limited to ensure optimal reduction of casualties. She centered on the adversary designated Kurogiri. The results of an immediate death as it interacted with his [Semblance-redesignate-Quirk] were unpredictable and, even in the optimal scenarios, would result in the maiming or potential death of Eraserhead.

Penny hesitated. Kurogiri noticed.

She moved.

All of her remaining charge was expended as she activated her jets, slamming into the ground directly behind the adversary and swinging as many blades as she could bring forth to within an inch of his neck. Small portals opened up beneath her feet, around her arms, but she didn’t give them time to capture her.

“If you do not release my classmates and teacher safely right at this moment, you will die.”

She pitched her voice to carry, eyes focused not on the villain in front of her but on his hostages. Yaoyorozu stood strong and tall, even with blood caking her face and tears in her eyes. Bakugo was as defiant as ever, pupils bloated but staring his captors dead-on. And Eraserhead… she’d already seen the man's unyielding will.

She didn’t want these people to die. They were Heroes. In another world, they would have been Huntsmen and Huntresses. Penny was sure of it. The portals at her limbs shivered. She considered how she would escape without further injury. Perhaps Tomura and Kurogiri would acquiesce to her demands, but that still left her in a startlingly vulnerable state. She could feel the portals at her edges. Prepared to separate her into multiple pieces. It was a known risk of many types of transportation Semblance.

[AURA INTEGRITY TEST HAS NOT BEEN PERFORMED FOR NINE HUNDRED, EIGHTY FOUR HOURS. PERFORMING AUTOMATED AURA INTEGRITY CHECK]

[...]

She considered letting it complete. She considered activating them herself. The thought had returned, over and over and over again, ever since she found herself in this world. She had the means to confirm whether or not she was still Penny in her systems and the only thing that held her back was fear.

Everyone could see it. She had never been designed for deception. For secrecy, yes, but not deception. She was afraid, so, so afraid. Every time she remembered her friends, remembered Cinder, remembered Father and Ironwood and Atlas and Mantle and Salem and everybody and everything -

She was terrified. She had to deliberately suppress her systems just to keep them from settling into lockdown, into self analysis routines and assistance directives and a dozen other things her Father had built for the express purpose of having something to rely on when the weight of the world felt like it was crushing her.

And right now, she felt every ounce of that fear. Because they would have wanted her to do everything she could to stay alive. To help people. To be herself.

But if she was Penny…?

An echoing crash resounded throughout the entire area. Penny’s motor systems were jarred as enough wind to simulate a hurricane whipped through the cavernous building around them, her feet slipping further into a waiting portal. Her blades were jarred from their place, her empty power stores unable to hold them strong.

Even as the Symbol of Peace and the staff of UA announced their presence, Kurogiri made his move. Her swords clashed together, slicing through steel and flesh, but not fast enough to prevent him from disappearing from view altogether, evaporating into thin air and surrounding her entire body with a portal that deposited her straight into the waiting arms of Tomura.

In an instant she found her remaining blades severed from her control and a single hand, the flesh charred and cracked and bleeding, the fingers twitching with adrenaline and agony, a mere inch from her face. It was a horrifying mirror of when Cinder had attacked her a mile in the air.

[DAMAG -]
[FLOATING ARRAY DISCON -]
[DEXTRAL LIMB -]
[RECCOMEND -]

A barrage of warning and notices were swept away. More wind swept through the building, a sickening crack resounded, shadowy mist pooled around their bodies. She scanned the area and took in a single, horrified hiss of air. Aizawa had crashed into the ground at terminal velocity and now sat in a pool of his own blood, bones visibly shattered and piercing through the skin. The other students had approached, no further harmed than they had been, but struck dumb by the horrifying sight. And All Might stood in front of her, a terrifyingly tall titan with an unrecognizable grimace upon his face.

The hand on her face shook. A single pinky finger remained lifted, visibly trembling with the effort. She could feel and hear the pounding heartbeat of the villain that held her. Blood dripped down upon her skull from where she’d injured Kurogiri.

“Villain.”

This was not the voice of the teacher who fumbled his way through lessons with passion. This was not the voice of the man who referenced his decades of experience only after checking small notecards or pamphlets.

"All Might."

There was no fear in the voice that answered him, just anger and petulance. The two of them were half sunk in shadowy mist now and Penny struggled to think of a way through this. The rate of decay she’d seen would render her primary cognitive functions non-functional before she could accomplish anything of significance unless something happened to distract Tomura.

“I hear that you came to kill me. Yet here I stand and you’ve done nothing but attack students. Aren’t you going to do what you came for?”

The hand around her face tightened. “I had a plan, All Might. It was perfect and it would’ve destroyed you, would have made everybody fear the name of the League of Villains. We’d have the monopoly on violence and fear then. But you couldn’t even show up to protect these brats, could you? So now you’re going to watch them die. Congratulations, All Might. You win. You get to live another day.” He laughed, a long and dry thing without an ounce of humor. “All it took was abandoning children when they needed you most. That’s all Heroes are good for, isn’t it?”

All Mights’ teeth ground in place. The other teachers could be seen gathering students together behind him, while Recovery Girl approached Eraserhead with a small honor guard. “Anything you believe you’ve suffered is nothing compared to the pain you have inflicted today, Villain. Let my student go.”

“So you can take me out like some common mob? Nononono, you and your mobs have harassed me far too much for me to accept anything like that.” He leaned closer in, until Penny could see his cracked and bleeding lips, his manic eyes, his scratched neck in the corner of her eye. “Kid. Raise your right hand.”

She hesitated. The pinky lowered closer to her face, but she couldn’t pull herself away from it. All Might looked her in the eyes and nodded, a large grin growing on his face - as if to say that she would be alright, that nothing was wrong. She pressed her lips tight and nodded. She… she was running very low on viable options. It was best to cooperate until All Might or she found a viable way to handle the situation.

She couldn’t let All Might think it was his fault that she died, at the very least.

She raised her right hand. The crushed and shattered fist held only a fraction of a handle now, the rest of the sword fully lost. Preliminary damage control systems had halted the flow of vital fluids, but green still stained everything.

And then Tomura grabbed hold of it.

Wind buffeted them, but Tomura retained a tight grip even as All Mights’ fist disappeared into a portal directly in front of their faces. His cracked face grinned wider than ever as the three of them watched Pennys’ fist began to evaporate into dust. First skin, then steel, then the complex and interlocking system of machinery that made up her inner workings. And as they watched her hand turn to dust, Tomuras’ face went from manic glee to shock.

And then to rage.

“This… entire time… that’s not a Quirk. You’re not even real. You’re some kind of pay-to-win fake Hero tin can.” His fingers followed her disintegrating arm and she could do little more than watch as more and more of it fell to the ground as a pile of dust and small drops of green fluid.

All Mights’ reassuring smile broke in favor of horror and he pulled his arm back only to pause as Tomura shook her head violently, his voice growing louder.

“THIS ISN’T EVEN REAL! WHAT GAME ARE YOU PLAYING, ALL MIGHT!? YOU’VE BECOME WEAKER, SO YOU’RE THROWING TRASH AT US?”

Her entire forearm was gone now. All Might stared at her with horror and confusion and despair on his face. She shook her head to him. She shut off the warnings blaring in the back of her mind. She ignored the steadily growing weakness in her system. “All Might, I assure you that everything is all right.”

“What are you saying, trash?” The hand on her face yanked her back into his chest and he moved his other hand up to her shoulder. The upper half of her right limb fell to the ground, little more than a fist-sized clump of metal. She stared down at it and felt no pain at all and closed her eyes.

Because she wasn’t real. Because she was a fake. The voices around her went fuzzy.

It was better if she was a fake. It was better if she wasn’t real. Maybe she couldn’t be a Huntress or a Hero, but… so long as she was nothing more than a weapon, so long as she was nothing more than a machine….

That meant that the Winter Maiden still stood with Penny Polendinas’ friends. That meant that the - the thing she’d seen in those last moments was the real her. Her Soul, her Aura. The metal, down there on the ground… it wasn’t important so long as the real Penny was there to fight Salem. To save Mantle and Atlas.

If.

An important word. A word she’d ignored. A word she was so, so afraid of.

She was nothing but metal and dust. She had to be. If she wasn’t… if she was more….

She was nothing but metal and dust. It was for the best that she be useful. That she fight to save people. That she sacrifice herself. She was built to save people. That was the important thing. What General Ironwood always called the big picture.

That’s who you are, our friend.

The hand on her shoulder was tight, even as the metal beneath warped and broke into dust. And then… and then it stopped.

What are you doing? My life doesn’t matter!

Tomura pressed his hand harder on her, staring All Might in the face… and unable to see what was happening right under his nose.

I just want my daughter!

[AURA INTEGRITY CHECK COMPLETE.]

[AURA AT 100%.]

[POWER OF THE MAIDEN DETECTED. TACTICAL OPTIONS EXPANDED.]

It was for the best that the body here, in this world, be nothing but metal and dust. But her friends and family would have never accepted the possibility that she would die without trying everything she could to survive.

Tomura finally looked at his hand, confusion and rage crossing his features for a bare moment. He didn’t get the chance to question what was happening.

Penny was missing an arm. All of her weapons had been severed from her control by the portals that even now threatened to rip her into shreds. Her core needed time to produce excess energy for use in her tertiary systems.

But she didn’t need any of that to create an opening.

She grabbed hold of the villains’ charred hand, ignoring as a mere touch began to burn through her Aura, and swept him over her shoulder and spewed flame from her feet. For a moment they were a burning wheel - and then she slammed Tomura into the ground with all of her might, flaming eyes glaring down at the shocked villain as she felt his arm fracture, his ribs shatter, his skull painfully imprint itself in the concrete.

She glared down at him with burning emerald eyes, every protocol she’d ever learned demanding she eliminate the threat immediately and decisively. Every feeling she had told her to make him hurt.

Instead she turned around, watching as All Might slammed Kurogiri into the ground with enough force to shatter the metal collar that kept his flesh safe. Then she looked across the central plaza, where she saw Noumu crippled, frozen, and broken. Its [Semblance-redesignate-Quirk] no longer fully functional, the bleeding, gaping wounds in its body only slightly more healed than they had been.

She looked out at all of the people around her, some hurt, many scared, but all alive and receiving the attention and care they needed. She’d done everything she could - not just to save herself, but to save everybody around her and defeat her enemies.

Finally she looked down at her right side, where nothing but emptiness greeted her. Her Aura flared and damage control systems did their work, cutting electricity to halt stray sparks, locking down fluid valves to prevent further loss of liquids, the healing light of her soul doing what it could to restore who she was.

But she’d still lost her arm. And as she looked upon the glowing green sheen that struggled to piece it back together, she knew she’d lost so much more.

Penny Polendina was in a whole new world… and she would never be able to get back to the one that needed her.