Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The Baddest Ben Tennyson's Special Guide to Superheroics

「悪のベン・テニスンの特別なスーパーヒーローガイド 」

Chapter 1: "The Butler I Hired Recently is Suspicious."

第1章: 「最近雇った執事が怪しい 」

This story… didn't begin with an alien device that did what it did.

"... Mom, it's a meteor shower!"

It was somewhere in California. A campsite filled with camping vehicles like the Rust Bucket from Ben 10 . A 10-year-old boy, eyes wide with excitement, pointed at the night sky as he dragged his mother outside.

"Wow, isn't it beautiful…" Remarked the mother, wiping her hands with a towel. "We don't see it that often."

So, yeah, this must be the beginning of Ben 10. The story of how a boy named Ben Tennyson somehow got the Omnitrix… Or not?

The old Asian man lounging in an arm-chair nearby suddenly sat up and lowered his shades, muttering something in Chinese. Another elderly man, who is definitely not Chinese, widened his eyes as he looked up at the night sky.

"That's… That's a freaking bullet train!"

He wasn't wrong. It wasn't a meteor shower they were witnessing. A bullet train, descending from who-knows-where, curved its path in the sky and headed straight for the campsite.

"Run! Get outta here!!" "That thing is coming for us!"

As the people ran in fear, one brave, young, muscular man in a red-and-black tank top with an eagle symbol on his chest and military pants stepped forward. Instead of fleeing, he walked toward the incoming train.

"Hmph, I don't know why this is here," he said in a firm, masculine voice. "But I'm going to make sure everyone's safe!"

"Look!" The boy stopped in his tracks and pointed. "Top 55 Hero – American Tanktopper is here!"

Wow, are we in One Punch Man , now? No, this is still the world of My Hero Academia . This muscular man in the American Tanktop is a "Pro Hero," who goes by the name American Tanktopper .

His superpower is called Tanktopped Muscles. — whenever he wears a tank top, his muscles become exponentially stronger. But, of course, not strong enough to stop a freaking, flying bullet train from the sky!

Knowing the hero wouldn't be able to do sh*t, mother quickly dragged her kid. "Kenny, don't stop! We must run!"

Of course, that boy wasn't Ben Tennyson, lol. So this is not how Ben 10 started, perhaps.

Meanwhile, what's going on in the American Tanktopper's mind?

What the fk am I supposed to do? He cursed himself, glaring at the unstoppable train in the air, all while stopping his entire body from trembling in fear. How am I supposed to stop that fking train?! Give me a break! I'm here on vacation!

Gr, fk it, we ball!

At that moment, he enlarged his arm muscles and poured all his strength into the point they grew flaming red. He knew what he needed to do. But he wasn't going to be able to protect everyone at this point.

Only if Star and Stripe were here…

He prepared physically and mentally to crash himself into the train even if he wouldn't be able to stop it entirely. But…

It just flew overhead of everyone instead of crashing in anywhere at all. It happened so fast that the train disappeared in the horizon of the californian forests in a flash. All what's left on the scene was the American Tanktopper awkwardly standing, alone and speechless.

Nothing happened. But his day is already ruined.

Above all that, there was one question he forgot to ask due to all that embarrassment.

"What the fk… Just what the fk is that train?!"

It was Kenny's mother who muttered that necessary question. She didn't even care to avoid profanity anymore.

Ah, anyway, yes, like that, this story began with a flying bullet train that came from the stars, instead of an alien device that did what it did.

This world is somewhat unique and let me tell you why.

Its bizarre history began a few centuries ago when a baby that gave off light was born  in the Qingping City of China. It marked the beginning of the Quirks — unique "biological" superpowers people of this world now possess. Well, most do, but of course, there also exists the " Quirkless ". From the statistics, in this era, the Quirkless make up 20% of society.

Quirks vary in power, ability, feature and utility. Scientifically speaking, it's a bizarre form of genetic mutation, but don't sweat the details. No one really cares about its roots anyway. But you can make a guess what comes with those "superpowers".

" With great power comes great responsibility ."

Yes, a choice. It's all about choosing what you're going to do with those abilities you were born with. Are you going to be good… or evil? As such, it gave rise to a profession once found only in comics and fiction — those who use their quirks to protect others are called the Pro Heroes , whereas those who misuse quirks to commit crimes become villains. That said, most of the population here just pass their days as normal civilians. Hmm, so, correction to self, not all quirks are superpowers. Very often some quirks are less useful than expected. Sometimes they might be double-edged, and sometimes they might be lethal to the user.

Nature has always been tricky anyway. Except, social classes are bound to exist based on individual prowess. Quite obviously, the quirkless and those with weak quirks are now somehow at the bottom of the list.

At any rate, that's the summary of it — how this world works in general.

" Ladies and gentlemen, breaking news from New York, USA. In a shocking turn of events, the Statue of Liberty , an iconic symbol of freedom, has been reported stolen overnight– "

Yay, we began with such a graceful opening, all right.

"But how?"

Momo Yaoyorozu is a 15-year-old girl of a tall and somewhat mature physique. She looks pretty overall, no doubt, and her long black hair was tied neatly in a graceful ponytail behind her head.

She leaned forward on the sofa, her attention captured by the news broadcast. The newscaster had just reported the theft of the Statue of Liberty!

"— Authorities are baffled as the beloved monument has seemingly vanished without a trace. The unidentifiable criminal behind this audacious act has left investigators puzzled, with no immediate leads on the whereabouts of the statue. —"

How could a statue weighing over 200 tons simply disappear?!

Puzzled by the news, Yaoyorozu decided to grab some snacks from a plate in front of her. But just before she reached it, someone else picked it up and took it away.

"Milady, I believe you have already had enough," said a clear and calm male voice.

Momo Yaoyorozu was a bit flustered, if not much.

The voice belongs to her caucasian butler who somehow could speak fluent Japanese with any hint of American accent. He had emerald green eyes and brown hair that is properly combed back for once. A young man of athletic build, who looked so cool in that black tailcoat.

This butler is no other than Ben Tennyson , the titular protagonist of the story.

The rich, flustered young lady – Momo Yaoyorozu – decided to argue.

"No worry, Ben, I'm going to burn–"

"Milady, you don't have any training session today," the butler interrupted her calmly. "You're going to gain weight if you're not careful. Also, this snack is…"

He inspected the plate with a frown. "The calorie content is scary."

It sort of hurt her pride to hear that from her butler, because she had always especially cared about her health and diet. Honestly, a single meal out of order shouldn't even matter, but for some reason, Ben refused to NOT make a big deal out of it.

Momo didn't know whether Ben was concerned about her health or he just made a fuss on purpose.

"A friend– I mean, a classmate gave me those as a farewell gift."

"Farewell gift" is a somewhat big word for gift exchange at the end of the school year. But Momo Yaoyorozu is an "ojou-sama" through and through — a daughter from a wealthy background so her school was also of proper and strict manners.

"Were you being bullied?" Asked the butler without a hint of hesitation, almost sounding sarcastic.

"What kind of question is that?"

"Okay, my bad. Let me rephrase; are they bullying you?"

"How did you reach that conclusion?"

Momo glared at Ben in response as she lowered the TV volume with the remote control.

"I mean, these just look cheap," he was blunt. "Not something you would eat at all."

"Leave me alone!"

With that, Ben quietly looked back at the TV. The newscasters were wrapping up the news regarding the disappearance of the statue. "— We will continue to update you on this unprecedented event ."

Staring at her butler's back, the girl wondered how come she had decided to hire this boy as her butler. I mean, he's really skilled and … he has some crazy certifications in the "Butler Association" somehow. But sometimes I don't know what he's thinking.

Her family is wealthy and high-class, alright, but Momo Yaoyorozu is a growing, healthy teenager. For the past decade at least, she had always refused her parents' idea to hire a personal butler or maid for her. In Momo's perspective, it seriously made no sense. Having a personal butler or a maid around in this age and day would be lame, too! Yet…

She hired Ben Tennyson on a whim! It just happened. In fact, Momo Yaoyorozu doesn't even understand why she accepted him herself.

"Speaking of which, Milady…"

Ben's words broke the silence and snapped her back to reality, and her eyes quickly met his.

"... You are going to the U.A. High, right? For high school."

"Yeah. Through a recommendation, though," she shrugged. "Why?"

"Actually, I'm going there, too. To U.A."

For some reason, the girl felt somewhat happy to hear it from the boy, though she didn't express it. But it was the moment she also remembered another important question she should've asked much earlier.

What is his quirk again? Momo pretended to pay attention to the TV, stealing looks at her butler. It's not any mutation for sure. Maybe he has a powerful quirk? But isn't it rude to ask someone's quirk out of nowhere…

"Oh, maybe we'll even get into the same class," he jokingly said.

"That'd be great…"

The young lady's imagination went pretty wild for a good few while that she didn't even notice her butler giving her a weird look and then leaving the room to put away the snacks. From the conversation, she and the boy were going to go to the same high school, and Momo felt something nice about it for real.

But Momo, aren't you getting flustered too often lately? She reminded herself.

Correct, Momo Yaoyorozu had been feeling weird since she came in contact with this boy Ben Tennyson. She never could've told what had been going on in Ben's mind, but she could also never tell what she herself had been thinking lately.

Of course, she had to be careful about that, given her background as a dignified daughter. But unfortunately, she couldn't stop her creativity—

Yaoyorozu Momo, 15, Quirk: Creation ! — allows the user to materialize different objects, such as weapons and tools, from any part of her body .

— That's right. Because of her quirk, she especially trained her creativity and had to remember a lot of material structures and production methods. But it's now showing her side-effects!

"Milady, I brought you coffee…"

The footsteps alongside the calming voice of her butler snapped her out of thinking yet again. But she had prepared herself for something else. Unrelated.

"Ben, what do you say if I promote you to a "live-in" butler?"

This young lady just came up with an outrageous offer for a boy her age! This is what happens when Yaomomo loses her brakes. However…

Unfazed, Ben put down the fancy cup on the table and gave it a serious thought before returning an answer in the next five seconds.

"I'm not particularly against it," short and honest.

"So fast!" Momo, in fact, didn't expect that. "But a-are you sure?"

"Of course, I mean… surely living in this mansion should be much better than going back and forth. My house is a den compared to this, too."

Not to mention how big and fancy it was. As always, Ben's answer was blunt and factual without hesitation.

But it couldn't make Momo happier.

"Then I will notify the Head Maid about that and prepare a room for you."

Ben Tennyson was left puzzled but he just shrugged in response without complaints. "Sure."

Rich girls have rich problems, huh. Milady must have been so lonely without friends. That must be why she's trying desperately to get me attached. Sigh… I don't mind tending to her even more. The pay is good, too.

Whether he reached the right conclusion, though, who knows?

Now then, what's the U.A. High that Ben and Momo are going to attend?

In the first place, why would Ben even transfer from America? The answer wasn't that simple. With Pro Heroes becoming a globally well-respected profession, the so-called superhero of everyone, aka the Symbol of Peace — All Might — is the No. 1 Pro Hero of Japan. So you can make a guess how far Japan has set a standard in this profession on a worldwide scale.

On the other hand, U.A. High is the top superhero-training high school in Japan. In short, this must be one of, if not the main, reasons why Ben chose to transfer despite all the hassles. But there must be more to it than meets the eye.

Not very long after Ben moved into Yaoyorozu household for his "live-in" employment, U.A. High held its annual entrance exams for the upcoming academic year. Momo was already accepted as a student of U.A. through references and a special set of exams. No joke, the young lady was a diligent and outstanding student so it was quite natural.

But when the school invited her and other recommended applicants, she found a fact that even surprised her.

"... So this means you're also here through a recommendation?"

Turns out Ben's also an applicant referred to by some North American bigshot.

Normally, "elite" top scorers with strong quirk backgrounds are given reference by their respective middle schools or educational organizations to get accepted in the U.A. as an elite. But for some reason, Ben had references from a Pro Hero agency and it just worked!

Momo also recognized Ben's green jacket she had seen at least twice before. It was his main informal getup. Momo herself simply wore her middle school uniform as it was just a final interview after all.

"Yeah, I didn't tell you?" Ben said as if it weren't a big deal.

"You didn't!" Momo almost exclaimed before reminding herself that they were in public. She had no intention to harass her butler, and quite frankly, she needed to act calm and dignified. On the other hand…

"Oh, sorry, Milady, I really thought I did."

… Ben lied to Momo as naturally as he breathed. The duo even drew unwanted attention due to how he addressed his mistress.

"Call me by my name at school, and don't be so formal," she whispered, noticing the stares.

A recommendation, huh… Given his quirk, it's natural he would get one easily. Momo recalled what his quirk was. Unlike her own quirk, it is far more suitable in combat and much more flexible as much as she hates to admit. She had to work really hard to reach where she was, and there wasn't any doubt cast.

Ben respected that, though.

"Speaking of which, I didn't see you at the exam?"

Recommended students will also have to take a separate set of tests and interviews to assess their capabilities and strengths in various fields. Momo and the rest were also the top four highest scorers from said tests.

"Oh, that's because I took mine in America," Ben whispered, apparently not wanting others to hear. "Maybe I'm more like an exchange student."

"No, I don't really understand…"

Momo had just realized that Ben must have kept a lot of secrets from her. But their relationship was nothing more than employer-employee, if not friends. She couldn't just expect him to tell her everything about himself. Momo wished he had been more open, though.

"Oh, sorry for having you kids wait."

With that voice, a tall, muscular man with spiky short white hair entered the lobby. He wore an orange mask over his eyes, and a dark-red skin-tight suit with a white three-piece belt around his waist, accompanied by white gauntlets and over-the-knee boots. His left gauntlet was connected to the back of his neck by a thin white wire.

From this getup and appearance alone, one could guess this man was a pro hero and not a cosplayer.

"I'm Pro Hero, Vlad King," he said, looking at the students. "We don't have much time so let's be quick. We have all five here, hmm, Todoroki Shoto, Yaoyorozu Momo, Tenisen Ben , Tokage Setsuna, and Juzo Honenuki."

Todoroki Shoto…? Upon hearing that name, Momo stole a glance at a certain young man with his hair evenly split between white on his right side and crimson red on his left. She acknowledged him as another outstanding candidate, but there seemed to be more to it.

"Tenisen, follow me. The rest will need to wait for a moment."

Vlad King then ushered Ben into the meeting room and left. Someone was already in the room. As the door closed with a decisive thud, the chair swiveled to reveal the "interviewer," though the term didn't quite fit.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Tennyson," greeted the person in question. "I'm Nezu, Principal of U.A."

Nezu , a white, short-statured humanoid with mouse-like features, was impeccably dressed in a white shirt, a dark red tie, and a black double-breasted waistcoat and pants. Despite his unusual appearance, mutants like Nezu were not uncommon in this world. Yet, there was something more to him than mere mutation.

Quirk: High Specs. His Quirk grants him a high level of intelligence that surpasses that of humans.

"I summoned you here separately because I want to discuss with you about your reference letter… Please take a seat first," he gestured.

Oh, I thought it was a one-after-another interview . Ben took a mental note and obliged, settling into the chair before the desk.

"In short, I'm more than glad to accept you here, Mr. Tennyson," Nezu continued with a smile. "I also happen to personally know the one who referred to you so I have no issue with it. But… I do have a question."

"Hai?"

Nezu retrieved a document from the drawers and handed it to Ben.

"What did Mr Stark mean by… "just in case"?" Nezu's expression grew serious.

Ben skimmed the document, focusing on the remark that read "just in case."

Tony Stark may be someone who likes to joke around, but as a genius of similar level, Nezu knew better than to dismiss his words lightly. It was undoubtedly a message Stark intended for Nezu through Ben.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Sir," replied Ben, putting down the letter. "But he didn't provide specifics. He mentioned that you, the Principal of U.A., would understand."

Unfortunately, I do, which is troubling. Nezu kept his composure, masking his concern behind a calm demeanor. Just in case… Did Stark overestimate this kid? No, we're talking about Tony Stark here. If he considered Ben a contingency...

Discarding his frown, Nezu instead gave the boy a warm smile again.

"For the time being, you can leave. I'll be looking forward to seeing you as our student, Ben Tennyson."

"Uh, okay, sir. Then…"

As Ben took his leave, he couldn't help but ponder the relationship between Principal Nezu and Tony Stark, one of the top Pro Heroes of the United States. "Great minds think alike," he mused, remembering Mr Stark saying the Principal had a similar quirk to his own.

Nezu was now left alone in the room. He brought out another document that showcased Ben's quirk test scores.

" To fight a monster, you need a monster . Did you go insane, Stark?"

Meanwhile in the Director's office of the Stark Heroics in New York…

In the room, there were two people; a brown-haired young man clad in a skin-tight red-and-blue costume adorned with black web-like patterns all over his suit and a spider symbol on his chest, and a middle-aged businessman with black hair and a black goatee.

"Mr Stark, I've been thinking about this for a while now…"

"Hmm?"

Tony Stark the businessman set aside the documents he was reviewing and turned his attention toward his assistant, Parker.

Tony Stark, 55, Quirk: Brain Specs.

This quirk amplifies the user's cognitive abilities in any field. Thanks to Brain Specs, Tony Stark excels at anything he studies, making groundbreaking contributions to Quirk science and Pro Hero technology. He is the CEO of Stark Industries , the company that produces the finest support items in America and heads Stark Heroics , one of North America's top three Pro Hero agencies.

Tony himself holds the title of US Rank 16 Pro Hero, known by his alias, Iron Man .

"You readily agreed to provide Ben with a recommendation letter," Peter observed, a hint of curiosity in his tone. "It seemed almost... impulsive."

It wasn't really a complaint, but Peter Parker believed his boss wouldn't do something like that without a good reason. He was right, though.

Peter Parker, 21, Quirk: Human Spider .

Simply put, Peter possesses abilities closely tied with spiders. He can shoot silk, crawl and stick on the walls, etc. His hero codename is Spider-man. Simple, right?

Tony's lips curled into a knowing smile. "Perhaps it was. I had no reason to refuse anyway."

Peter arched an eyebrow, unconvinced. "With all due respect, sir, I don't believe it was just a whim. Frankly, I want to know your thought process."

Unlike Tony who relied on his quirk, Peter was a natural-born genius. The gap between these two was just simply too large for Peter to catch up, but even then he wanted to find out.

And Tony understood Peter more than Peter did himself. He leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers thoughtfully.

"Kid, what's the one thing Japan has that the entire world fears?"

Peter's brain ran like a computer, searching through his memories to find the right answer. His brows furrowed as he mulled over the question.

"All Might?"

Tony waved a dismissive hand. "All Might is a legend, all right, but the answer isn't quite it. He's the Symbol of Peace, too. I see no reason to fear him."

Spider-man continued to look for the answer in silence.

"I'll give you a hint," Tony typed something into his computer, after which a few images appeared on the monitor. "Who was that someone… who rivaled even the unchallenged strength of All Might?"

Peter's eyes widened in horror upon seeing the images displayed on the monitor. A city filled with ruins, as if it were an aftermath of a great war. But he recognized what it was.

"... All For One …?"

His smile disappearing, Tony nodded gravely and turned off his desktop in silence.

"He's still alive?" Peter's expression was also filled with fear. "Then why would you…"

"... send just Ben?"

In fact, Tony didn't really know whether All for One was alive or not. But according to his calculations, if every piece just fell into place behind the scene…

As the room became engulfed in silence, Peter understood something else from Tony’s smile. So that kid…

It kinda hurt his pride that his boss had put more faith in a high schooler than him, but he must admit he would hold no candle against the kid’s quirk.

“Pete, you know how much I trust my subordinates, right?” Tony put on a pair of glasses and picked up the documents. “You will become my successor in the future, so don’t feel too bad about it. Even if we’re not strong enough to face the foes, we can use our pieces strategically to protect others.”

"You trust him," Peter murmured, more a statement than a question.

Tony smiled, a glint of pride in his eyes. "With my life."

Is that so… If Mr Stark says so, maybe I should as well. Peter decided to cut off his overthinking and change the topic.

“Mr Stark… Did your eyesight get worse? I thought your quirk enhanced nerves in your brain, too.”

Tony exhaled a sigh. “In our body, our brain consumes the most energy among the organs. I’m 55, kid. My quirk and body are starting to wear down.”

Successor. Peter understood how dire it was for Tony. Even though he wasn't sure at all if he could maintain the connections and status quo across the world like his boss had done over the past few decades, it hurt more because his pride wouldn’t let anyone inherit the agency except for himself.

“Sir, I won’t let you down!” He declared out of nowhere, almost surprising his boss.

“What are you saying so suddenly?”

And so the first day of a new school year arrived briefly after those events.

"What are you doing, Ben?!"

It was a brisk 5:30 in the morning, and already the young lady was berating our protagonist. She had already changed into her school uniform whereas Ben was still in his butler attire for morning duties.

"We are recommended candidates, Ben. This means, we are considered elites!" Momo exclaimed with such passion. "We need to set an example for other students."

"But it's 5:30, Milady," Ben deadpanned. "That's setting an example nobody needs."

"Today's the first day of school," Momo retorted, tempering her tone. "Anyway, leave everything to the maids and change your clothes! We are leaving in half an hour."

"Excuse me?!"

This was how Momo and Ben found themselves arriving at school far too early at 6:15. Ben hadn't even had a chance to decline his mistress's offer of a ride.

The campus was next to empty, save for a few older students jogging around in the hallways. The canteen was even emptier. Ben couldn't believe Momo. She used to be a calm, dignified young lady and now, she always gets easily worked up over small things and tries so hard to act like a proper elite student. Perhaps it was probably that a delinquent like Ben couldn't grasp her mindset.

But Momo wasn't acting this way just for the sake of being an elite.

"Don't you think it's lucky?" Ben remarked. "We're both in Class A, Milady."

Momo had actually been flustered to learn that she and Ben had been placed in the same class. But she wasn't one to show it.

"It's not luck," she insisted, clenching. "It's fate."

Correction: Momo Yaoyorozu is already breaking character!

"Huh? — oh, look, the door is huge!" Ben casually deflected her words as soon as they approached their classroom.

He couldn't help but feel overwhelmed to see the door to their classroom, towering over 4 meters tall at least. But that was probably the least surprising thing about the school.

"Some people have size-shifting quirks," Momo mused. "That must be why."

"Oh, it makes sense," Ben agreed.

The duo stood in silence in the hallway before the door until Momo whispered something to Ben.

"Make sure you don't call me Milady at school."

"Understood, Milady," Ben shrugged.

"Seriously… let's go in."

They were greeted with a surprise as soon as they opened the double door. Someone else was already there!

It's 6:30, you bastards.

"Oh, he is…" Ben muttered, recognizing the half-white half-red hair of the boy already seated in the classroom.

"Todoroki Shoto," Momo whispered. "He's also a recommended applicant like us."

"It's kinda impressive. No, I mean, you guys are nuts," Ben nonchalantly commented as he strolled in.

Are all Americans like that? Momo was already annoyed.

The classroom had 21 desks. With a confident smirk, Ben chose the farthest seat from the whiteboard, close to the window, while Momo sat in front of him, conveniently beside Shoto. The half-white, half-red haired student didn't appear to mind at all.

"Now what?"

Having arrived too early in class, the trio had to wait over an hour for other students. Things got noisier as soon as they had more people in the room.

" Don't you think that's rude to the Senpai from U.A. and those who made this desk! "

This is the first day of school, and the class hasn't even started yet. An argument was already breaking out!

" What Junior High did you go to, you side character?! "

Momo secretly frowned at the scene until she noticed Ben giving her an alarming look. He himself casually observed the argument as if it weren't any big deal. In fact, it wasn't. They were just hot-headed high schoolers. Nothing serious could occur here, right?

"I attended Somei Private Academy," the kid with glasses gave away a serious answer. "My name is Iida Tenya."

This time, Momo was freaked out to see how intensely Ben was watching the two.

Iida Tenya … Tenya seemed to be a serious kid with a conventional attitude who took everything seriously. He got 6th place in the practical part of the entrance exam.

He was a tall young man with a wide frame, and his short dark-blue hair was so neatly combed that it reflected his personality, even. Not the type Ben could get along with immediately, but he wasn't that bad, was he?

At any rate, Iida Tenya came from a family of heroes. If I remember right, his brother is the Pro Hero, Ingenium.

"Somei? So you're a damn elite, huh?!"

On the other hand, Bakugou Katsuki , the top scorer in the practicals – he was… just a hot-blooded youth? Ben couldn't grasp his personality at all, but he certainly sounded disrespectful unlike the loud Tenya. No, Ben would claim Katsuki was the polar opposite of Tenya, which explains why these two were having an argument first thing in the morning.

Tenya was a bit taller and bulkier in comparison, but Katsuki still had an athletic build. That said, his voice was as spiky as his pale blonde hair.

"Looks like I'll have fun crushing you," Katsuki mockingly said.

Tenya on the other hand looked shocked. "Crushing? That's cruel! Are you really aiming to be a hero like that?"

We see all kinds of people at school. Ben internally sighed as he leaned back in his chair. That was when he noticed the young man hesitating to enter the room. He was somewhat short, his dark green hair was almost messy because of how fluffy and curly it was. He also seemed to be someone who would easily get flustered.

Hmm, if I remember right, he is… Midoriya Izuku … He passed the entrance exam just with rescue points. Got 7th, too, that guy is also nuts.

Indeed, Ben Tennyson had somehow taken a peek at the test results and the list of his gonna-be classmates. He knew it wouldn't hurt to try knowing his classmates ahead of time.

"You're…"

No sooner did Tenya react to Izuku standing at the door than everyone turned their attention toward the boy.

"Oh, um…" Izuku stammered nervously.

Without a second wasted, Mr Iida approached him to greet. "I am from Somei Private Academy. My name is–"

"Right, this is how high schoolers should act," Ben muttered under his breath, seeing how Tenya was already forging a friendship with Izuku.

This didn't go unnoticed by Momo.

"You should also make friends as soon as you get a chance," she nudged Ben. "You're a foreigner here."

Rather, Ben was being too critical and annoying lately, so the young lady wanted him to learn how to be nice.

"Not the only foreigner," he retorted, pointing at the blond gentleman seated close to the front door. "That guy's French."

"That's not the point," Momo shook her head in defeat.

"No worry, Mi– Yaoyorozu- san ," Ben replied with a thumbs-up. "I'm not anti-social. At least I know how to make friends."

Meanwhile there was a new girl who just arrived at the door and started bullying the Midoriya kid already.

"Oh, that curly hair! You're the plain looking one! You passed just like Present Mic said!"

Uraraka Ochako … Her auburn hair was as bubbly as her personality. She also ranked third in the practicals.

She seemed to be social and outgoing, dominating the likes of Izuku in seconds. Dude couldn't even talk back properly…

"Oh, well, um, it was thanks to you speaking directly to him that I, uh…" (Izuku)

"Huh? How did you know about that?" (Ochako)

"Oh, uh, that's because…"

Things are getting really noisy in the front. Ben gritted his teeth, almost as if their overflowing passion of youth was eating him away.

"I wonder if today's just the entrance ceremony and orientation? I wonder what our teacher's like? Are you nervous?"

This looks bad. Ben felt uneasy seeing that. She's overwhelming Midoriya–

His thoughts were immediately cut off by a gravelly male voice that came from outside. He couldn't see the owner of the voice though.

"Go somewhere else if you want to play at being friends. This is the hero course."

Students in front of the class were taken aback as they looked down at the source of voice, which was on the floor. Followed by the sound of a zipper.

"Okay, it took eight seconds before you went quiet," said the same voice. "Time is limited. You kids are not rational enough."

Oh, I can see him now . Ben's eyes were now set on the gloomy middle-aged man with long black hair, standing at the door as he came out of a yellow sleeping bag.

"I'm your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shota."

Aizawa Shota … How weird. He didn't participate in the entrance exam. Of course, he didn't. He's the homeroom teacher! Messy long dark hair and dark clothes, his facial hair is also stubbly and unkempt! His outfit is also all dark except for the bandage-like scart around his neck. Oi, oi, is it even okay to have this gloomy guy as our teacher?

"It's kind of sudden, but," Aizawa pulled out a gym outfit from his sleeping bag. "Change into these outfits and go out onto the field."

The U.A. P.E. uniform is a pair of dark blue pants with white vertical lines going up the legs and a dark blue short sleeve shirt with white lines that form the letters 'U' and 'A'.

Well, I'm getting sleepy here so… Ben yawned, stretching his limbs. It's better to do some physical tests in the morning.

For that, too, Ben had already made a proper research to prepare for what was coming. From his findings, Aizawa Shota was a difficult man who wouldn't hesitate to expel his students if he deemed them unsuitable. U.A. High's rules also allow that, especially because the Hero Course must be strict about qualifications. Heck, Mr Aizawa had a record of expelling the entire class.

Ben could only hope he wouldn't get caught up in some big mess just at the beginning of his high school career.

A few minutes later…

Now dressed in a short-sleeve gym outfit, Ben glanced at his wrist. There, a digital wristwatch-like device with a black square faceplate and two green stripes outlined an hourglass-like symbol. Momo’s eyes widened as she spotted it—the Omnitrix , Ben's support item. It looked sleek and unassuming, but she knew its functions were far more complex than one would expect.

"So now, we're gonna have a Quirk Apprehension Test ," announced Aizawa as soon as the class arrived on the field.

"A Quirk apprehension test?!" The class, most of it anyway, exclaimed in unison.

Some students including Ochako were the most shocked by the information.

"What about the entrance ceremony? The orientation?!"

"If you're going to become a hero," explained Aizawa-sensei. "You don't have time for such leisurely events. U.A's selling point is how unrestricted its school traditions are. That's also how the teachers run the classes."

Ben wasn't surprised at all since he had found out about it beforehand. Aizawa-sensei's quirk test consisted of eight parts. All of them were basic physical tests, but by letting them quirks, he could study how effectively the students could use their abilities as well as their immediate limits and weaknesses.

The problem wasn't the test, but Aizawa himself.

"You guys have been doing these since Junior High, right? Physical fitness tests where you weren't allowed to use your quirks."

Not to brag but Ben usually got above-average scores in such tests. The same could be said for Yaoyorozu Momo who has a private gym at home.

"Bakugou, you ranked first in the practical exam, right?" asked the teacher. "What was your best result for the softball throw in your Junior High?"

"67 meters," replied Katsuki Bakugou.

"Then try doing it with your quirk."

Aizawa-sensei handed Bakugou a softball and had him stand in a pre-drawn circle on the field as he gave him instructions.

"You can do whatever you want as long as you stay in the circle. Hurry up. Give it all you've got."

"Then, well…" Bakugou did a stretch and prepared himself.

Meanwhile our protagonist, Ben, was purposely hiding behind Momo, yawning. She wanted to smack him in the head, but decided not to.

" Die !" Bakugou spun himself a bit and threw the ball with all his strength, immediately using his quirk which exploded on the trail of the ball and boosted its momentum.

Bakugou Katsuki, 15, Quirk: Explosion . — allows him to secrete nitroglycerin-like sweat from the palms of his hands and ignite it on command, allowing him to create strong explosions.

"That is the most rational way to form the foundation of a hero," said Aizawa-sensei, raising his smartphone that displayed the numbers, 705.2 meters.

"705 meters? Seriously?"

"What is this? It looks fun!"

"We can use our Quirks as much as we want! As expected from the hero course!"

Kaminari Denki, Ashido Mina, and Sero Hanta. Ben recalled their names real quick.

Given how society works, no matter how amazing your quirk is, the laws restrict people from using quirks without license in public. Otherwise, with all these "super" powers, the world could've gotten even more chaotic.

" It looks fun, huh?" Aizawa-sensei interrupted them with a gloomy tone. "You have three years to become a hero. Will you have an attitude like that the whole time?"

Joining the hero course is like enlisting in a tamer version of the military. Ben mentally sighed.

Now Aizawa-sensei had a devilish smile. "Alright. Now whoever comes in the last place in the overall of eight tests will be deemed to have no potential and will be punished with expulsion."

"Huh?!" Everyone except a select few exclaimed in unison.

There he goes. Ben couldn't help but grin. If we don't do well, he's seriously gonna expel us. Though, I don't see myself in that position.

Ben Tennyson was feeling too big for his boots .

"Natural disasters, big accidents, and selfish villains," Aizawa-sensei went on and explained. "Calamities whose time or place can't be predicted. Japan is covered with unfairness. Heroes are the ones who reverse those situations. For the next three years, U.A. will do all it can to give you one hardship after another. Go beyond, Plus Ultra. Overcome it with all you've got."

Being a superhero is never easy. Ben recalled a certain old friend. I happen to know an idiot who did his hero work 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. It's all about resolve, I guess. People these days are nuts.

To Ben's surprise, Aizawa's words didn't gloom the class. In fact, he even motivated them for the better!

Since they're going to give it their best… he cracked his knuckles and walked out from hiding.

"All right! The demonstration is over. Here's the first—"

"Aizawa-sensei!" Ben called out.

"Huh?"

Not just the teacher, but the entire class turned to look at the brunet foreigner. As he had been purposely hiding his presence, he successfully surprised some students who hadn't noticed him earlier.

"Wow, he's a cutie," a girl with pink-colored skin commented quietly, which unfortunately made Momo want to smack her off-duty butler for some reason. But she resisted the urge and said nothing.

"Can I go first?" Ben asked. "I want as much time as possible before using my quirk again."

That kid… Ben Tennyson… Aizawa-sensei didn't show any prominent reaction but he recalled the information. He got a recommendation from some top hero agency from America. Maybe he has potential?

"Do what you like," he said in the same gravelly tone as he stepped back.

"Thank you, Sir."

"The first test is 50-meter dash. Get ready and stand at the start line. Hmm… since we have 21 students, Tennyson, you'll have to go alone."

"Fine by me."

Other students were rather impressed by how fluently Ben spoke Japanese. But no one just dared to interact with him right away as he was a foreigner. Even then they were curious about his quirk.

The most excited was Momo Yaoyorozu who already knew about his quirk. The variety it brought was just… entertaining?

There was a special camera set up at the place where the running test would be conducted.

"On your mark…"

With a proud grin, Ben walked over there and raised his left wrist to his chest. A tap on his wristwatch, and it summoned a circular hologram over it, displaying an array of non-human monster heads.

Aizawa was also intrigued.

"I wonder what his quirk is…" Midoriya thought out loud.

"I agree," Iida said, impressed by Ben's "support item".

Hehe, you guys are in for a surprise. Momo was staying composed, but deep inside, she wanted to enjoy so much how others would react when Ben…

Transform!

"Okay, I've found the right one for the job!" Ben exclaimed, removing his finger from the faceplace.

It slid down to the side, allowing something inside to rise up. Its green symbol was glowing bright.

" Henshin! " Ben cried out, pressing the device.

Even the usually aloof Todoroki Shoto covered his eyes as Ben was seemingly engulfed in several whips of bright green light.

I should've looked up his quirk beforehand . Aizawa regretfully thought as some supernaturally big orange dog replaced his student after a flash of light! This is intriguing!

" GRRRR!! " Roared whatever creature that replaced Ben.

"Get set," the camera declared.

It only took the big dog four leaps to successfully land over the finish line, and he just did it with ease.

" 2.32 sec. " — declared the robot.

That was when Ben immediately realized he fked up. Crap, I overdid it!

"Grrr?"

The big orange dog Ben transformed into didn't seem to have eyes, ears or nose. Heck, he didn't even have a tail. His teeth were very defined and his bottom jaw stuck out of his mouth. That said, he had three gill-like nostrils located on each side of his neck.

"What the hell is that even?!" Bakugou couldn't help reacting to what just happened.

"So his quirk is…" Iida muttered.

"... a transformation type!" Midoriya commented.

He reminds me of Hound Dog. Aizawa grinned, staring at the result shown on his phone. But he has so damn potential.

But there were some who would take this chance without fail, to interact with him.

"Hey, can I touch your fur?" The pink-haired girl didn't even hesitate as she approached him with her hand ready.

The orange dog that was Ben, nodded with a quiet grunt, then lowering his head to let the girl pet him.

Ashido Mino. She resembled a fantastical alien girl due to her light pink skin and two horns protruding from her hair. Her hair was colored a different shade of pink, but her eyes were also somewhat square-shaped eyes with black sclera and yellow irises.

"Wow… um, this is so fluffy. These parts are stiff though."

Okay, this is getting weird . Ben noted as Ashido touched one of his spines on his back. Is this even appropriate to show on TV? She's touching me there—

"Ahem," Aizawa intervened as people began to surround Ben the dog. "We don't have time. Let's move on."

"Hai…" Ashido's voice was deflated.

With his warning, there was a flash of green light and Ben was reverted to normal.

Tennyson Ben, 15. Quirk: Monster Transformation .

By sending waves of specific stimulation to his DNA, he can transform into one of the nine non-human-like "monsters". It's said that he gains a new transformation every year since his quirk was awakened, but he has yet to unlock his tenth transformation.

Developed by Stark Industries , Ben's support item, the Omnitrix , can directly introduce specific stimulation to his DNA at command. But from the records, his quirk has a limit. Using it frequently can make him lose control and go berserk. It's possible he won't be able to transform back to human form if the Omnitrix broke after transforming.

On that note, Ben also has a tendency to name his forms.

"So is it like, you became a real dog?" Ashido asked with curious eyes.

"I didn't," Ben deadpanned. "I couldn't speak in that form, but it's still me."

"I'd like a big and obedient dog too!"

"Yeah, that's becoming offensive, Ashida- san ."

That also reminds Hound Dog. Aizawa noted to himself. Though, in his case, he forgets human language when his emotions are intense.

That's the Monster Transformation quirk, huh.

But unbeknownst to the teacher, there were more surprises in tow than he expected.

Other students also took the first test in pairs, but the one who came close to Ben's record was Iida Tenya, with 3.04 seconds.

Iida Tenya, 15, Quirk: Engine. —  grants him car-like engines in each of his calves, giving him incredible running speed and extreme kicking power.

So Iida's quirk was supposed to specialize in this field, yet Ben bested him somehow.

"That was amazing, Tennyson- kun ," Iida's voice was so filled with passion and respect that it almost made Ben feel bad.

"You're pretty amazing yourself, Iida- kun ."

"Okay, the next test is… Standing Long Jump," Aizawa announced. "I believe you don't need any break?"

Ben shook his head. His "time" limit was already up anyway.

For this test, there was a sandbox prepared in the field. The students would have to do standing long jumps to assess their distances individually. As promised, Ben was allowed to go ahead of others.

Bakugou looked pissed about it, spouting random nonsense at the brunet who didn't even bother.

"Then I will just use the same form," Ben said, activating his support item — the Omnitrix.

"The same form?—"

Before anyone could catch on what he really meant, he yet again transformed into the big orange quadrupedal creature, only to be interjected by Aizawa.

"Tennyson, that wouldn't do," he said, scratching his head. "It won't be a standing long jump anymore if you do it on four."

The dog growled in response before quickly transforming back to Ben.

"So this is a problem…" he looked quite troubled. Aizawa-sensei, on the other hand, was trying to make a guess at Ben's limits.

That orange doggie can't just jump on its hind limbs…

"Couldn't you make it an exception for him?" Ashido spoke up.

Bakugou exploded upon hearing her suggestion. "Huh?! Why would we—!"

"No need. Also calm down," Ben exhaled a sigh. "I have no choice but to use my other forms."

"Another form?!" Ashido was excited. Clearly, she must be hoping for another fluffy creature.

Momo gently shook her head in disappointment. Does he like toying with people or something? He could've just transformed into another creature right away without any drama. Why did I even hire a twisted person like him?

"Yeah, my quirk allows me to use different transformations," Ben explained. "Every year since my quirk awakened, I gained a new form."

"Why are you explaining it to us?!" Bakugou growled angrily. "Hurry the fk up!"

"Okay, okay…" Ben tapped his wristwatch again like before. "Since I have no time… Henshin!"

To the students, Ben's quirk might have sounded like a big deal, but to Aizawa, it was barely anything impressive. There were several known quirks that allowed the user to assume non-human form in one way or another. Like the current Top 5 Pro Hero, Edgeshot, who uses his quirk creatively to transform himself. The Top 9 Hero, Ryukyu, can transform into a large western dragon.

But it was something else that smelled fishy.

" Bullfrag! "

ブルフラッグ ( Burufuraggu )

With that gravelly cry, standing where Ben used to be was a proud, tall, muscular gentleman in a bodysuit with the color scheme matching the U.A. gym uniform. He also wore dark green shades, the Omnitrix symbol glowing on his chest.

Aizawa raised a brow. This "monster" looked plain in comparison to the first fluffy dog. But there were some students who were astonished by the "manliness" of this form.

Kirishima Eijiro 's eyes were sparkling.

"Okay, you can jump when you're ready," Aizawa reminded Ben.

"Got it, sensei," Ben sounded weird: his voice was deep and infused with a Kansai dialect.

He bent his knees where he stood, pouring strength into his legs. As he unleashed more power in his thigh muscles, he jumped into the air as high as a good few dozen meters before landing some meters away from the sandbox. Overall, funnily enough, it was more like a vertical jump.

"So how was that, sensei?"

"Good enough," Aizawa said curtly. "Okay, next, hurry up."

"Bullfrag, is it?" Kirishima approached him. "Do you name your transformations? Man, that was so cool!"

"You think so?" Bullfrag gulped. He could only imagine how goofy he was in this form. "Thanks, man."

Kirishima Eijiro . Quirk: Hardening . — allows him to harden his body parts or even entire body.

Kirishima is a muscular young man of average height, his long hair dyed bright red and left in a spiky style.

"Does this one do heavy lifting?!"

"I-I’m not sure? Wait, let me transform back…"

With a flash of green light, Ben quickly canceled his transformation.

“Shouting the names is also so cool, so manly!” Kirishima excitedly commented.

"Then, then, what was the first one called? That big dog?!" Ashido chimed in.

"That one's Wildmutt ," Ben answered, proud of his naming sense.

"Wai… Wairudomatto? So cool!" (ワイルドマット)

Oi, stop, praising him would only send him over cloud nine!

"Next!"

In this test, those with quirks that could propel them forward got better results than Ben. It seemed Ben should've jumped forward instead of upward, but it was pointless dwelling it.

So naturally, Bakugou cleared the sandbox with the longest distance.

"Next up, long-distance run. Who wants to go first with Tennyson?" Aizawa looked at the crowd.

Silence and suspense took over. It wasn’t that no one wanted to compete with Ben. It was the opposite and that was the problem.

And the one who makes the first move takes the win.

"Sensei, me," a serious Iida Tenya raised his hand. In the 50-meter dash, he couldn't exert his full power since the path was too short. But this time… he wanted to see how he fared against the beast.

"Good, the rest watch here. Follow me, you two."

As they arrived at the start line, Ben transformed into Wildmutt once again. Iida activated his quirk, smoke bursting from his silver exhaust pipes in his calves.

“This time, I can use my full power,” Iida said with a serious expression.

Wildmutt only grunted in response as he stretched over the start line.

“Wait, don’t tell me…” Iida noticed something crucial about his opponent. “Sorry if this sounds rude, are you… blind?!”

Wildmutt shook his head desperately as he took a step back, knowing the position of the line from the smell of the paint on the ground.

“I mean, your eyes–”

Their homeroom teacher sighed as Iida suddenly became noisy again.

"Get set," declared the robot.

The two participants started running.

Wildmutt had a slight edge over Iida at first, but as Iida picked up higher speed and shifted his "gears," the result became apparent. Well, it wasn't a competition in the first place.

But Iida Tenya had something else troubling his mind.

Is this even a fair race? He thought. Tennyson-kun's blind in that form, right? How is he even running along the marks…

Exactly, Wildmutt, that was Ben Tennyson, was running along the marks.

Wildmutt was blind, that is, in a traditional sense. He didn't have eyes after all. But the paints of the markings on the field had a faint smell no one else could catch on. But Wildmutt, who had gills for nostrils with strong olfactory senses, could clearly follow those markings without difficulty.

"That was a good race, Tennyson- kun ," Iida grabbed Ben's shoulders before he could run away. "But tell me this one, is your Wildmutt form blind?"

"Wh-why do you think so?" Ben knew there was no escaping Iida's grip, though the latter didn't realize how threatening he looked right now.

"At first, I thought your eyes were hidden in the fur. But based on how you were acting…"

"Ah, okay, time out. Yeah, Wildmutt is blind," Ben sighed, trying to break free. "But I could sense my surroundings easily with smell and sounds, etc. It's my second transformation so I have a lot of practice with that one."

"I see. I'm sorry, Tennyson- kun . That wasn't a fair race."

"Are you even listening?!"

"It's not about being fair," Aizawa-sensei intervened. "It's to test how effectively you can use your quirks and grasp the respective weaknesses and strengths. Don't waste the time."

This teacher came prepared to be utterly disappointed. But so far, his new students have been doing well enough — it was unusual for him to see potential in each of them. Except one…

He wasn't satisfied at all with Midoriya's results in the previous tests. In short, that green head would have to injure his limbs to utilize the capacity of his quirk, which was obviously why he avoided using it in the tests. But of course, that won't do.

"Hai, I'm sorry, sensei!" Iida apologized passionately.

"If you're sorry, move out of the lane."

With that, Iida bested Wildmutt in the long-distance run, the latter still ranking 2nd in this test.

Later, Aizawa led the class into the gymnasium for other tests. For seated toe-touch and sit-up exercises, Ben didn't seem to have suitable transformations, so he did those tests in human form. He then did the repeated side-steps as Bullfrag, coming in second to a classmate named Mineta Minoru . He just bounced between the balls made with his quirk.

Now it’s time for the Grip Strength Test.

“Are you using a new transformation?” A blond-haired classmate asked, approaching Ben.

Kaminari Denki , 15, Quirk: Electrification . – his quirk would be pretty useless for most parts of the test. Ben couldn’t help but wonder how he could be doing by.

“Yes, I think this one will do well.”

“Good for you,” he sounds deflated.

Meanwhile a massive student with multiple arms used his three left arms to achieve a record-breaking grip strength.

“540 kilograms?!”

Shoji Mezo , 15, Quirk: Dupli-Arms. — grants him a set of tentacles alongside his arms. He can transform the tips of these tentacles to replicate other parts of his body (ex: mouth, ears, eyes).

Many students were amazed by his performance. Kaminari was looking down at his grip device in defeat before getting surprised by Ben’s bright green flash.

“Henshin! Four Arms! ”

フォーアームズ ( Fō Āmuzu )

“You must be kidding me!” Kaminari exclaimed, seeing the 10-feet tall red-skinned muscular humanoid beast Ben became. “You have four arms now?!”

Four Arms has four eyes and four massive arms, while he is bald without any prominent nose. Ben himself doesn’t know how Four Arms’ extra set of eyes help his field of vision. What's funny was Four Arms was simply wearing a modified version of the U.A. gym uniform.

"Oh, look, Shoji," Mineta remarked nonchalantly. "Your character's not unique anymore."

"Why?" Shoji didn't seem to mind at all.

"Also red skin," Mineta continued. "He also took over your character, Kirishima."

"Tennyson can't stop being manlier and manlier today," Kirishima clenched his fist. "I, too, must work harder!"

“I remembered I could use this one, too,” Four Arms grinned, picking up his gripper. “But I will just use one hand.”

Aizawa wanted to say something about it but he gave it a second thought and decided not to. If he wanted to know the power of two arms, he could just make a guess from one. At this point, Ben had already been given a passing grade—

"2500 kg?!"

Aizawa flinched as he heard Kirishima exclaim.

"I think you broke it already, the device," Kaminari said, inspecting what became of the gripper. "Sensei! Ben broke his grip!"

It seems we've already found an interesting kid. Aizawa grinned like a devil when he approached the group.

"Sorry, I thought I perfectly controlled my strength," Four Arms' apologetic look was almost creepy.

"No need," Aizawa said as he quickly typed something into the notes on his smartphone. "Okay, you guys, too, if you're done, prepare to get out on the field."

"Again?!" (Kaminari)

"We need to wrap this up before it's too hot outside," Aizawa explained.

"Ah, we still haven't done the ball throw," Kirishima remarked.

After finishing the tests in the gym, Aizawa led the class outside onto the field again for the last test — ball throw, which Aizawa-sensei demonstrated with Bakugou earlier.

"You remember that, right?"

"Yes, sir," Ben said, activating his support item as he stood inside the circle.

Meanwhile, spying on them after afar was All Might , hiding behind a nearby building. He was just worried about a certain student after finding out how harsh Aizawa was when handling the students.

From the looks of it, the first two transformations are not suitable for this test. Aizawa judged. So the best one to choose is the last one.

After this flash of green light, Ben had been replaced by a brown-skinned 12-feet-tall humanoid reptile, resembling a dinosaur. He was massive and muscular, with a long tail, his arm looking much stronger and bigger than his legs. He was effectively naked, except for a sash across his chest going from his right shoulder to the left side of his lower back. The color scheme of the sash resembled that of the U.A gym uniform, but connected to an Omnitrix symbol on his chest.

" Humungousaur! "

ヒューモンゴーソー ( Hyūmongōsō )

Humungousaur's voice was deeper and more masculine than Bullfrag's, though he didn't have any notable dialect.

"Should I ask him the secret to being this manly?" Kirishima muttered thoughtfully. "It takes more than courage to stand naked and proud."

"Ha, I don't think that's anything to do with it," Ashido sweatdropped.

"A new one again?!" Kaminari exclaimed. "I thought you were going to use that four-armed guy again…"

"Extra arms are kinda awkward to control," Ben quickly gave an excuse.

"He has a tail," Mineta whispered to a classmate with a tail. "He's threatening your character, too."

But Humungousaur's tail wasn't as flexible and prehensile as that guy's.

Ojiro Mashirao . A muscular young man with short blond hair… and a tail! His quirk was also that prehensile tail, that was built bigger than his limbs.

"Don't you get it?!" Bakugou yelled. "He's just showing off!"

Momo secretly agreed with that sentiment. She didn't have a strong quirk so she had to be creative when working around the tests. But Ben Tennyson here was just using different forms to "show off," no doubt. That's the kind of guy he was.

Logically speaking, each of his many forms would get different results in each test.

"I don't really know how to control my tail," Humungousaur admitted. "So can you move away?"

"Move if you don't want to get struck," Aizawa said as he himself took some steps back.

This is the fourth transformation . Aizawa made some quick calculations. Each form is vastly different from the other and they can provide different uses. The first two seem to excel in speed and agility while the previous four-armed one and this dinosaur provide strength.

" Booooomm !"

The ball Humungousaur threw broke the sound barrier, with the powerful whirlwinds blowing around him. The students were stunned into silence, the sheer power of Humungousaur's throw resonating in the air. Even Bakugou was speechless.

"1745.6 meters," Aizawa muttered, showing his phone.

"Whoa," Kaminari breathed, eyes wide with astonishment. "That's insane!"

It seems Young Man Midoriya's class has got a crazy strong kid. Even All Might was taken aback. Is Midoriya going to be okay?

"That's a super manly result!" Kirishima exclaimed.

Meanwhile, Bakugou could only click his tongue in frustration. Humungousaur's throw had more than doubled his own record.

"Ahh, are you even human?" Kaminari said, rubbing Humungousaur's knee.

"W-well…"

According to the logical explanation, Ben was supposed to transform on a genetic level whenever he uses his quirk. So Ben right now couldn't be called human anymore.

Though Ben's result was impressive on his own…

Uraraka Ochako , 15. Quirk: Zero Gravity —  gives her the power to nullify the effects of gravity on solid targets (living and nonliving) by touching them with the pads on her fingertips, causing them to become weightless and float. She is able to cancel the effect of her Quirk by touching her finger pads together.

So yeah, that's how Uraraka got infinity and beyond. Plus Ultra.

Ben recalled how she used her quirk to make her clothes light during the 50-meter dash. Her quirk was almost scary, but thankfully, she seemed to be a nice girl.

But now I can't help but worry about Midoriya-kun . Ben looked back at the green head who nervously moved into the circle. It's half-certain he's gonna get—

His thoughts were cut off as Midoriya's softball softly landed on the ground just a few dozen meters away from the boy.

"46 meters…" announced the robot.

— expelled…

"I…" Midoriya got even more nervous, looking down at his hands. "I was definitely trying to use my quirk right now…"

This is…

" I erased your quirk ," said Aizawa-sensei, his long hair and the scarf around his neck billowing dramatically in the air.

It was only then Ben remembered who their teacher actually was.

So this is… the power of Pro Hero: Eraserhead.

"The entrance exam was definitely not rational enough," Aizawa began his rant. "Even a kid like you was accepted."

"You erased my quirk?!" Midoriya the nerd also began channeling his nerdiness. "Those goggles! I see—"

Aizawa Shota, 30, Quirk: Erasure — the ability to nullify another person's Quirk by looking at the user.

"Eraser? Who?" "I've heard of him. He's sorta an underground hero."

"From what I can tell, you can't control your quirk, right?" Aizawa said with a pair of judging red eyes. "Do you intend to become incapacitated again and have someone save you?"

"Th-that's not my intention—"

Midoriya tried to retort but unfortunately, it wasn't a comedy sketch. Aizawa grabbed Midoriya with his bandage-like scarf and pulled him closer, shutting him up.

"Whatever your intention, I'm saying that's what those around you will be forced to do. In the past, there was an oppressively passionate hero who saved over a thousand people just by himself and became a legend. Even if you have the same reckless valor, you'll just be decked and turned into a ragdoll after saving one person."

Okay, sensei makes a good point. Ben nodded, sliding his hands into his pants pockets.

"Izuku Midoriya," the teacher continued. "With your power, you can't become a hero."

But then at any rate, he let go of Midoriya. "I've returned your quirk. You have two turns for the ball throw. Hurry up and get it over with."

So he still wants to give him a chance…

"This doesn't look good for Midoriya at this rate," Iida pointed out the elephant in the room.

Earning a yell from Bakugou…

"Of course not! He's a quirkless small fry, you know!"

"Quirkless? Are you not aware of what he did in the entrance exams?"

Ben somehow managed to get his hands on the entrance exam footage. He vividly recalled how Midoriya had single-handedly taken down a zero-pointer trap robot — a faux villain designed to be an "obstacle". That green-haired idiot had obliterated it with a single punch to save Uraraka Ochako, earning himself a well-deserved 60 rescue points in the process.

So he certainly wasn't quirkless. No amount of physical training is going to make you so strong that you could essentially destroy metal mecha that aren't even rusty.

"Huh?!" Bakugou seemed to be out of loop.

If that had come from anyone else, Ben would've ignored and moved on. But since it was Bakugou, it didn't sit right. According to the info he gathered, this hot-headed kid was not only Midoriya's childhood friend, but also a classmate in their last middle school year.

Is this a case of "late bloomer"?

No, it was still natural and convincing if Bakugou didn't know Midoriya's quirk. Quirks are supposed to be a form of evolution, so human bodies usually develop in the way they can contain the quirk capacity to a certain extent and make it functional. But from the looks of it, Midoriya's body was a case where he couldn't use his quirk without damaging himself. It's uncommon but not that rare.

So it would still perfectly explain if the kid didn't use his quirk as much.

"What do you think?" Momo whispered to Ben. "About his quirk."

"Yaoyorozu- san , I'm not a quirk specialist just because I have multiple forms. What I can say is… He's not going to have it easy."

"Stating the obvious."

"Please don't pry into their personal matters."

Ben the hypocrite, who had secretly researched each and every one of his classmates, had just said all that.

" SMASH!!! " — Midoriya's battle cry.

Ah…

All Ben could see was a series of powerful shockwaves and the ball flying out of Midoriya's hand. It soared several hundred meters through the air at an impressive speed until it landed on the ground.

"Grr, I missed it!! All because you distracted me!!" Ben looked frustrated as he didn't see how the green head threw the ball.

"Idiot…" Momo could probably never control this fool.

But at any rate, Aizawa seemed momentarily speechless as he looked down at his smartphone for Midoriya's result. The latter stood panting where he was.

"Sensei…" Midoriya gritted his teeth as he turned around. "I can still move."

"Midoriya Izuku… 705.3 meters," Aizawa announced with a devilish grin.

"His finger is swollen," Iida pointed out, only then did Ben fully grasp what had just happened.

"So Midoriya sacrificed his finger for that throw…" Ben muttered, which made Momo feel uneasy. Damn, it looks hella painful.

"Woah, that's pretty scary."

"I mean, broken fingers can be healed. —"

Wow, that Bakugou dude is looking really freaky right now. Even Ben flinched upon seeing the explosion boy's expression. But it didn't stop there.

Bakugou charged toward Midoriya with his quirk activated in his hands. Immediately in response, Ben tapped the Omnitrix, ready to transform in order to stop Bakugou, only to be stopped by Momo.

"Don't be rash," she said, grabbing his right wrist. "Look."

"Oh…"

Bakugou is now restrained in Eraserhead Aizawa's binding cloth scarf, while his quirk was also nullified effectively.

"These are capture weapons made of carbon fiber woven together with metal wire made of special alloy," Aizawa said. "Jeez, you problem kids, don't make me use my quirk over and over. I have Dry Eye!"

Finally something Ben hadn't known beforehand! A surprise!

Anyway, the dispute ended that way with Bakugou left frustrated and hella mad. Ben decided to keep an eye on him for the time being without intervening unless necessary.

But for real, Aizawa-sensei had earned Ben's respect on the first day for his ability to effectively stop any quirk fight with just a glance!

Soon after all students finished with the ball throw, the teacher turned on a holographic monitor displaying the assessment results. 21 students — Ben first, Momo second, with Midoriya at the bottom.

Well, that wasn't completely unexpected, though Midoriya did great in the last test.

Midoriya's getting expelled—

"By the way, I was lying about the expulsion," Aizawa nonchalantly revealed, before putting on his devilish smile again. "It was a rational deception to draw out the upper limits of your quirk."

"What?!!!"

Midoriya looked like his soul just left his body from the shock.

"Of course, that was a lie," Momo pointed out.

But it wasn't just Midoriya who had his soul leaving the body.

"You knew?!" Ben exclaimed.

"Hmph, it should've been obvious if you just thought it through."

"You should've… Hmm."

This time it was Ben who swallowed the urge to smack his mistress. Butlers do have a duty to set their master straight and need to use violence if necessary. But Momo wasn't completely wrong.

It was just, Ben had been so cautious that he relied too much on the information instead of giving it a rational thought.

What’s going on? Aizawa-sensei didn’t hesitate to expel his students.

"With that, we're done here."

Aizawa-sensei then handed a letter to Midoriya and had him visit the infirmary.

"Todoroki- kun got third place, and I can understand that," Ben looked back at Momo suspiciously. "But how the hell did you get second?"

"What, are you harassing me?" Momo barked back. "Sorry that I don't have an amazing quirk like yours. My quirk is all about cheating."

"Don't be like that," Ben tried to smooth his way out. "I was going to congratulate you, Yaoyorozu- san ."

"You two seem to be friends already?" Ashido chimed in. Unexpected?

Momo and Ben both realized they had become too comfortable with each other in public. Ben didn't particularly have any issue with it, but Momo couldn't risk letting others find out about their relationship. Only if they were lovers, it would be much easier to explain, but they weren't! Ben being her employee was just another level of scandal for her.

"Uh, yeah, our parents are friends so…" Ben calmly answered. But immediately, the two realized what went wrong.

Wait, aren't you an orphan?! Momo said telepathically.

Oh, yeah, I'm an orphan. Ben smiled uneasily. That's how the story went. Well, fk.

"Wow, you two are friends already. That's so good! Can I be your friend too?"

"Yeah." "Yeah, of course." The duo answered almost in unison.

"Hey, you guys," Iida reminded them. "We need to change our clothes. Come on."

"Maybe you should try befriending him, too," Ben suggested.

"He's kinda scary, but I'll try."

"I get it…"

Iida sometimes reminded him of Momo. They both were "elite" kind of students, but Momo didn't always show her passion and seriousness. She was the type who believed in "Show, Don't Tell."

The afternoon went down uneventfully.

"Going to the station?! Wait for me!!"

Uraraka Ochako caught up to the unlikely pair of Iida and Midoriya. Behind the trio was Momo and Ben.

"Do you want me to carry your—" Ben began.

"No, I'm not a little girl," Momo shot him down immediately.

"You should act like a real high schooler sometimes. Like that girl, Uraraka- san ."

"That's your image of an average high schooler?" Momo looked both annoyed and disturbed.

Ben liked to use unfunny jokes whenever he interacted with people around him. Momo believed it was half the reason why Ben was so unsocial right now.

"By the way, I have to go somewhere else, so can you go ahead?"

Momo gave Ben a suspicious look, but she had no reason to pry into Ben's private matters. "Alright. Don't stay out too late."

"What are you, my mom? Anyway, maybe… we should act like strangers at school after all."

However, Momo couldn't help but want to have some control over her butler even if it sounds illogical. But he was the kind of bird she couldn't land a hit even if she had a hundred stones.

He went back to the school building and quickly disappeared from her sight, leaving her alone and silent. But at the end of the day, she still had to act dignified and composed. She wasn't just an elite young lady with a wealthy background anymore; she was a hero course student.

While leaving the restroom, Todoroki Shoto caught a glance of Ben who hurried into a stall, but due to his aloof nature, he didn't really care. He did notice a sudden flash of green light immediately afterward.

The stall door slowly opened, unlocked, but there wasn't any Ben anymore.

In the lower stratosphere airspace of Japan, there was a fast unidentified object flying over the clouds at incredible speeds. It was red-colored and resembled a manta-ray-like shape, with two prominent golden protrusions on its front. The wings were wide and smooth, and it was almost like gliding rather than flying.

What's interesting was the glowing green hourglass symbol on his chest. This was who he really was.

Ben Tennyson, 15, Quirk: none; Quirkless. — wields a super-advanced technology called the Omnitrix that allows him to assume the form of one of a million extra-terrestrial sapient species of various shapes and sizes.

The Omnitrix also does more than genetic transformation. Furthermore, the thing about mishaps of the Omnitrix was also a lie. Perhaps Ben Tennyson had much more secrets than Yaoyorozu Momo expected.

"Hello, uh, Tony?" Now Ben was using it as a communication device.

"Ben? How was the first day at school?"

The one on the receiving end of the call was Tony Stark, the head of Stark Heroics.

"Nothing to note," Ben jokingly said. "How is it in the US? Need backup?"

To Ben, Tony Stark wasn't exactly a mentor. More like a collaborator. They had known each other for a few good years, and Ben even had a hand in making Peter Parker the future leader of Stark Heroics. All that while he himself was 15. But Tony had eyes to pick out talents.

"Everything's under control," Tony said. "The Statue of Liberty went missing, but public safety's going strong…"

The disappearance of the statue was an outright challenge to all the American police organizations and even pro heroes. But since it didn't involve any civilians in the way of harm, pro heroes didn't want to get involved either.

Heroes are supposed to protect people and not statues, after all.

"It might be a warning or some sort of symbolism," Tony continued. "Do you have any clue?"

There was a pause where Tony could only hear the noise of strong winds that Ben passed by.

"Nah, I don't want to bother."

Ben was never good with investigations anyway.

"... All right! Enjoy your school life and also look out for villains. That's all."

"Okay, Mr Stark."

The type of villains Ben would have to look out for wasn't any small fry, but the real big shots that were going to expose themselves to the public. Or that was what Tony predicted according to his "calculations".

No sooner did Tony hang up than Ben was already in Arctic airspace. Ben's manta-ray-like form was that fast. Oh, it's named Jetray . He glided down tens of thousands of meters all the way to the surface of the sea and then flew up and down parallel to the side of the ice mountains. Upon arriving at one of the biggest mountains in the region, he stopped in the air and assumed another form.

The new form looked more otherworldly, as if it were a hybrid between a winged dark blue moth-like humanoid and a phantom from hell. He had four wings and two antennae-like wing folds that can fold up into a hooded poncho-esque robe, with cyan patches that resemble ice chunks on his arms, legs and wings. This is named Big Chill .

As weird as its appearance was, Big Chill also possessed borderline otherworldly abilities. Like, now he had just phased into the mountain somehow by making himself intangible. With intangibility, invisibility and flight, he was essentially a phantom.

Soon suddenly lights began to glow bright, and revealed to be in the mountain was a large but somewhat empty facility built out of metallic structures housing machinery in the immediate surroundings. The facility was easily a few hundred meters high. There were several large monitors on the tall metallic walls that displayed the state of the major cities of the world in statistics and graphs alongside graphics.

Ben landed on the floor and reverted to his human form. As he approached the monitors, a long keyboard-like control panel stretching to the side of the room slid out of the wall. The panel device was filled with all kinds of buttons and switches arranged horizontally.

"No direct contact today either," he muttered, observing the ups and downs in the graphs though there didn't seem to be any significant difference. "They must be staying really low."

Even though he thought "it" would've stirred a lot in the villain community.

"Now I want to see someone come and try robbing my trophy…"

There was something really tall a few hundred meters behind him at the center of the facility. It was the "missing"... Statue of Liberty.

- To be Continued -

Chapter Text

第2章：「意外にも、ベン・テニスンが…」

If we're gonna have a nice little flashback, Tony Stark and I had worked together a few years at least but we were always opposites when it came to solving problems. It wasn't just the generation gap.

He was the visionary, always looking ahead with predictions and wisdom. I was the hot-blooded youth, tackling immediate issues head-on. In meetings, our vastly different approaches often led to heated debates.

But we had one thing in common: we both wanted to fight evil and protect the weak.

I first met him in the countryside of California.

I was a rebellious kid playing vigilante. I punched the drunktard who recklessly used his quirk in the diner. Stopped a robbery using my alien forms. I guess I had been pretty reckless myself.

"Superpowers aren't always a blessing," he liked to monologue. "Sometimes they're a curse. It's all about how you use them or whether you choose to suppress them."

Yet he himself was as powerless as Batman .

At first, I thought he was just an arrogant rich guy looking for a sidekick. But on our journey together, I learned how thoughtful he was about the "future." Ironically, he was the only one who could truly see it.

One fateful day last year, I was asked to have a private meeting with him. I tried to judge the situation based on his facial expressions and gestures, but nothing was off. However, even his close assistant, Peter, wasn't allowed to be in the room.

To be honest, it certainly got me nervous.

"Kid, I heard you've decided to attend the U.A. High for your high school."

"Yeah, sorry, I should've told you first," I said. "I missed the chance."

"No worries. I kind of saw it coming. But there's a little coincidence I want to talk to you about."

"Coincidence?"

I knew Tony well enough to know he was trying to kill two birds with one stone. He’s that kind of guy.

"Answer me this.

Are you stronger than All Might? "

Ok, that was an odd question, but I didn't NOT expect that. It came from Tony Stark of all people. Tony was the most unpredictable piece of my board and an incredible judge of a character thanks to his quirk. He wouldn't randomly drop a joke question now of all time.

I wanted to blink and asked "Excuse me?" and acted like I didn't hear it.

"Yes, I am. I'm stronger than him."

That might've sounded arrogant, but it was the sincerest I'd ever been. But Tony seemed to have known the answer beforehand.

"Then I'll be happy to write you a recommendation. I know their principal personally, too, so you know, you can be a messenger of sorts."

"Thanks, sir…"

I could’ve entered the U.A. through the entrance exams or an exchange program without Tony's help. I knew something was up, but I trusted him to handle it. If there was a problem, he’d know how to fix it better than I could.

"Let's say you're my nice little gift to Japan. I owe All Might a lot, too, so please… protect him."

Whatever he meant, I never asked. I knew there was some unsung drama to it, but I remembered him mentioning a Novel-Prize-winning scientist named David Shield .

But after all, he never said " Ben, you're going to marry his daughter ."

Back to Present, (switched to third person perspective)

"Oh, Aizawa, you're not napping today. What a surprise!" Present Mic shouted, almost obnoxiously, as he entered the faculty office. "Motivated in the early morning, huh?! That's so out of—"

Yamada Hizashi , Hero name: Present Mic , 30, Quirk: Voice , is a Pro Hero working as a teacher at the U.A. High. He sported spiky blonde hair that formed a spike, and wore a black leather jacket and a pair of sunglasses combo with a headset. Overall, not very teacher-like in appearance. The same could be said for Aizawa.

The friendship between these two is kinda like Kakashi and Maito Gai from Naruto sometimes except Aizawa is much gloomier and didn't receive a Sharingan from his friend. Yeah, there you go, a meta joke.

Yamada was actually genuinely surprised to see his friend all active and attentive in the early morning. The friend (?) in question, Aizawa Shota, the homeroom teacher of Class 1-A, was reading what seemed to be the documents about a certain exchange student from the United States.

"Yamada," asked Aizawa without looking up from the papers. "If someone can transform into multiple forms each with different abilities, would that count as multiple quirks?"

"Excuse me?! All of a sudden… Huh, I don't really know. Wow, it's not like you to take interest in your students! Let me see!"

Yamada grabbed one of the papers from Aizawa's table and took a look, only to be puzzled by complicated quirk descriptions.

Up to the last year, Ben Tennyson registered 9 different transformations. Each of them varies in not only shape and size but also battle power and utility they can provide. The list included a red four-armed powerhouse, a dinosaur-like humanoid, a form that could jump and move like a frog… Just in a good few seconds, Yamada understood why Aizawa was intrigued.

"Oi, what is this quirk?! This is seriously amazing!! Almost friggin scary though!"

As Yamada yelled and Aizawa sighed, in the background, the unlikely pair of the teachers: Cementoss and Midnight enjoyed their morning coffee.

Kayama Nemuri , Hero name: Midnight , 31, Quirk: Somnambulist , teaches art and history. She is tall, beautiful, curvaceous, with flowing dark purple hair. She was the one who convinced the anti-social Aizawa to become a high school teacher, so I must say she's quite impressive.

"What are you guys so impressed about?" Vlad King said as he entered the faculty room as well. "Remember, my class also has a kid with Copy Quirk. It's just that kids this year may have a lot of potential…"

Scientifically speaking, there are rare occasions that a quirk may give multiple abilities to its user, like one of his students, Todoroki Shoto . This quirk also reminded him of a third-year student who could use the abilities of anything he consumed. In general terms, Ben's quirk was a rare type, but nothing to be wary of.

"That's right, Aizawa," Kayama chimed in. "It's not like you to fear your own student. Isn't it even better that he's in a Hero Course instead of playing a vigilante or becoming a villain out there…"

After being completely silent for a few more seconds, Aizawa grabbed the papers from Yamada and put all the documents back into a folder.

"Yeah, you're right," he said. "Sorry."

And then he left the room.

Everyone else exchanged puzzled glances. "Did he just…?"

Yamada alone grinned. "But that's going to be trouble for Heroics teachers. Combat lessons will be a freaking headache! Ahaha!"

"Bro, you're part of the faculty, too," Cementoss reminded him.

"I don't wanna teach that kid, too…" the voice hero exploded. "I'm the English Teacher! And he's an American! How the hell am I even—"

"Yamada, shut up," Kayama said, deadpanned before downing the rest of her coffee.

"Hai, sorry, Ma'am."

Meanwhile, in the Principal's Office at U.A., Nezu was engaged in a rather diplomatic discussion with an old friend from overseas via an online meeting.

"To fight a monster, you need a monster? Have you lost your mind, Stark?"

Nezu was acting quite out of character. He didn't look angry, and he wasn't. Normally the epitome of politeness, Tony Stark was the one person who could unsettle him.

"Woah, woah, calm down, buddy. It’s not as crazy as it sounds."

Tony's tone was lighthearted, but the situation was far more serious than it appeared.

"For me, it is, Stark," Nezu replied, struggling to maintain his usual calm demeanor. "Children are the future we must protect, not the other way around."

"That's also one of the reasons I sent him there, Nezu," Tony said. "I'm entrusting him to you and your people. He wields the greatest power you have ever seen, but how things are in America. I can’t take risks with the future."

Tony’s words did get to Nezu. If he put it that way, it was almost like he believed in Nezu than in himself, even. But Tony Stark was nearing his retirement age.

“Also…” Tony broke the pause. “Even I don’t know everything about the lad. My theory is… he’s much stronger than he claims to be, and he holds back his strength to stay low and inconspicuous.”

Nezu couldn’t help but chuckle. “Didn’t he say he’s stronger than All Might? If he’s even stronger than that…”

“Right. That’s gonna be troublesome and that’s exactly why I need you and your school to keep an eye on him. On that note…”

Mid-sentence, Tony's tone grew serious. "I heard All Might’s going to teach at your school. How’s he doing? Is he well?"

The two geniuses fell into silence once again. Their superior brains couldn’t just take the amount of stress as they visualized the future of the world.

"It's unfortunate,” Nezu said. “We all should've prepared a long time ago for a world without the Symbol of Peace."

"You're right. Without him, society could fall into chaos. Japan's low crime rates are mostly because of him, but his influence is global and impactful against villain activities everywhere. It won't be easy for us either..."

But Nezu grinned mischievously. "However, I believe there will be a successor. I can't say for sure, but All Might knows himself better than anyone. I believe he already has a plan."

Tony chuckled lightly. "As always, you have faith in your colleagues, huh."

"It was because I trusted them that I recruited them to my team in the first place."

Those words reflected Nezu's true feelings. As the lone animal in the world with a quirk, and the man who poured his everything into the U.A. High, the level of trust he placed in his teachers was simply unrivaled.

"Then I won't have any regret sending my lad to your place. Maybe he will be taking even that Symbol of Peace position, who knows…"

"I'd love to see that future, heh."

With the meeting ending, Nezu sat back in silence, having a lot of things on his plate to think about. Though Tony and Nezu might retort to each other sometimes, the trust they had in each other was mutual. In fact, Tony was one of the first humans Nezu believed in.

At any rate, he must admit… the kid Tony sent, Tennyson Benjamin, has quite an intriguing quirk. He would love to personally conduct research on it if the opportunity came by. Who knows, maybe he might even find a lead in genetic manipulation technologies.

" Knock, knock. "

His thoughts were interrupted by a visitor knocking on the door. Nezu's mind ran through various possibilities, making guesses on who the visitor was; the cleaners? Hound Dog who just took a patrol on his personal request? Or…

"Please come in."

As he'd said that, the door swung open with a clicking sound to reveal the gloomy homeroom teacher of Class 1-A.

"Oh, Aizawa-sensei. What's the matter?" Nezu greeted as he jumped down from his seat. "You don't give me a visit too often. Please take a seat."

Nezu's guess was right. Aizawa must have come here for explanations regarding that American kid. If not?

"I remembered something about Ben Tennyson," Aizawa answered as he sat down on the sofa in the center of the room. "I believe I should inform you about it immediately."

The Principal blinked. For once, it wasn't what he expected. Instead of asking a question, Aizawa was handing in information instead. Intriguing.

"Care for a coffee?" Nezu asked, reaching for a kettle on a nearby table.

"No, thanks," Aizawa refused, not wanting to ruin his napping schedule.

Nezu gently put back down the kettle. "If you say so… Now back to the business."

And so perhaps on a fortunate streak, Principal Nezu gained another valuable piece of information from Aizawa-sensei.

Our protagonist hasn't made an appearance since the beginning, despite everyone talking about him constantly. But now, he will finally step into the spotlight!

Ben Tennyson, 15, Class 1-A, Student No. 21. Quirk: Monster Transformation .

It was the second day of his high school career. Two months ago, he got promoted from a part-timer to a "live-in" butler for Momo Yaoyorozu , a wealthy girl whose looks are as rich as she is financially. He didn't know what exactly was his role there, but after a series of events, he found himself living in the luxurious mansion where Momo Yaoyorozu lived.

But "live-in" was a double-edged trap. (He's already feeling trapped inside though.)

All food expenses were fairly reduced as he was given employee meals everyday. In fact, those meals had been tackling his taste buds, and he wouldn't enjoy peasant food ever again. Uh, it was a bit exaggerated, but it was good food. But since he and his Ojou - sama were going to the same school, there was a major problem.

" Bento ? I don't think I need to pack one." — Ben.

Bento ?! What is it? Bento is just packed lunch. Pretty often it's categorized differently as if it was a full column of different Bento traditions.

With an audible " Thud ," Momo placed an oversized, multi-layered bento box, neatly wrapped in a large cloth, onto the table, leaving Ben jawdropped.

"Um, are you seriously… uh, nevermind," he stammered.

How many layers is that… 4? He got rendered speechless.

Momo Yaoyorozu, 15, Quirk: Creation — grants her the ability to create things out of her body. But creating things out of nowhere is impossible? Yes, which is why she needs to eat a lot to replenish her fat cells. The bento box she brought was just for the first half of lunch, as combat training was scheduled for the evening.

"What? Anyway, this is some high-class bento, you know?" Momo proudly stated. "Wanna give it a try? I can tell the kitchen to pack you one–"

"Uh, Milady, I don't really need it that big."

Rich people are just built different?! Ben wouldn't want to have lunch in that conspicuously and obnoxiously large lunch box anyway. But he really questioned Momo's personal tastes sometimes.

"Still you could take a smaller one," she insisted before heading to the kitchen. She wasn't taking no for an answer today.

Momo Yaoyorozu is an unstoppable force.

And so, Ben ended up with a bento box at school. Although not as large as Momo's, it still contained enough food for two Ben-size meals. Moreover, it had the same contents as Momo's lunch. Yes, a usual anime cliche, but anyone seeing resemblance in their lunches would cause a huge problem.

Ben didn't know whether he had to be impressed or annoyed. But during lunch break, he decided to go up to the rooftop to have lunch in privacy, since he didn't want anyone to find out about his relationship with the rich girl.

"Wow, at least, this is commendable. No, do I even deserve to eat this?"

Made him question his own social class. As always, the meal that came from Momo's kitchen ran on par with food from some of America's top-class diners.

But his luck wasn't on his side anymore.

The door to the rooftop opened quietly, revealing his homeroom teacher in his signature banana sleeping bag. Aizawa's bored expression turned to annoyance upon seeing Ben. He tossed the sleeping bag to the floor with a loud thud.

Ben flinched but refused to turn around, sensing Aizawa's aura. It was only his second day, and he was already caught on the rooftop.

"You… The rooftop is off-limits to students," Aizawa said, not yet recognizing Ben. "You snuck up here anyway… I’ll let you go this time, so finish your meal fast and leave."

"H-Hai… sensei. I'm sorry."

"Hmm?" Aizawa somehow recognized him from his voice. "Ben Tennyson."

"Yes…" Ben replied nervously, turning to face his teacher.

Aizawa’s expression softened as he seemed to ponder something.

"That's good," he said. "I've got something to tell you…"

Ben smelled trouble in his words. He gulped and set down his lunch box.

"When I saw your Dino-man yesterday…"

"It's Humungousaur , sir," Ben corrected him.

"Whatever, when I saw it, I thought I'd seen it somewhere before," Aizawa continued. "Then I remembered. You were in Naruhata , two years ago…"

He paused, waiting for a reaction from Ben. The latter was dumbfounded inside, but stayed composed and pretended to be confused. Of course, a direct interrogation ain't gonna cut it with Ben Tennyson.

"Uh, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Heh, I know you'll say that," Aizawa chuckled, but clearly not in a good mood. "Those Naruhata vigilantes may have caused a mess for us heroes, but we knew they weren't bad guys. But you're different. The Crawler didn't know you either and the heroes said they never saw you."

Ben blinked, still feigning ignorance. But Aizawa was going to dig it further all the way.

"... That's why I couldn't write you off as another street vigilante of Naruhata . After the Crawler incident, I searched for witnesses… None came forward. I was the only one who saw you. Worked in your favor, huh…"

"Uh, sir, I don't understand…"

Aizawa continued his rant, his mouth curving into his usual devilish smile.

"A kid who transforms into monsters…," he glared, his eyes turning red with his hair and scarf starting to float around. "... walked into a dangerous battlefield full of heroes, without anyone noticing. And made a shockwave from a mere clap of hands that sent that giant skeleton stumbling… How do you have all those powers to pull that off?"

Ben knew a mere lie wasn't going to get him off the hook. I should've checked it more carefully…

But Aizawa was speaking of the truth. Ben meddled in a really big incident in some district of Tokyo two years ago. Since there were no witnesses, he thought he was safe, but now...

"Tennyson, Japan's laws prohibit vigilantism," Aizawa stated. "But that's irrational. I've witnessed the dark ground of us heroes and how commonplace needs those good-willed small-timers. Vigilantism isn't necessarily a bad thing. But you can't just come out of nowhere and play hero just because you have a good quirk."

The teacher then calmed down, his hair and eyes returning to normal. He picked up the sleeping bag and headed back.

"Remember, I'll be keeping an eye on you," he said before leaving. "No matter how powerful your quirk is, I will get you expelled if you try to do something reckless."

Aizawa Shota had a deep history with vigilantism, as he himself was an underground hero (despite being registered). However, from Ben's records, he had never been to Japan before. This contradicted Ben's involvement in Naruhata, and Aizawa couldn't help but cast doubt on it. Well, it was mainly because he knew nothing about the lad. But he decided to take time trying to understand his students.

With the door slamming shut, Ben turned back around and took a bite of the Karaage , lost in thoughts in silence. He just gotta be grateful that Aizawa wasn't making a bigger issue out of it.

"Whatever, now I can have my lunch in peace."

Good thing Aizawa left him alone, huh…

The afternoon brought with it the eagerly anticipated "Heroics" class. At U.A. High School, the Hero Course students followed a unique schedule: their mornings were dedicated to general subjects like Math and Literature, while their afternoons were reserved for specialized Heroics training, which was an exclusive class for Class A and B, the Hero Course students.

Ben was especially looking forward to this class because of the news of All Might becoming a heroics teacher at U.A. He had never met All Might in person — well, as Ben Tennyson, anyway.

" I am… Coming Through the Door Like A Normal Person!! "

The entrance wasn't flashy, but it was loud enough to jolt Ben back to full alertness after a post-lunch slump. The entire class buzzed with excitement, and Ben's attention zeroed in on the source of the commotion.

"It's really… All Might…" he uttered, completely astonished.

The Symbol of Peace in the flesh!! Right in his classroom!! Though, the costume was unfamiliar to him.

All Might — This 7-feet-tall massive gentleman is the Pro Hero who deemed himself the Symbol of Peace and lived up to his name — and is very well respected all over the world. His power was unmatched, and his history as a hero was legendary. One of the things about All Might was that his identity was effectively disclosed, which was why Ben didn't also know what his quirk was. Ben respected him for it, so he never attempted to breach his identity.

At one point, he had theorized that All Might's quirk might be Super Duper Strength or something along the line.

All Might was clad in his Silver Age suit, a form-fitting ensemble of red, white, and blue, accented with a golden belt and gauntlets, and completed with a red cape that added to his imposing figure. His iconic, wide grin beamed with confidence, and his eyes, shadowed beneath his pronounced brows, his blonde hair swept backward, with two distinct tufts sticking above his head, which even looked like a pair of golden horns.

"That costume is from the Silver Age, right?" a female classmate noted with admiration.

"Wow, is that so— That looks so cool," Ben couldn't help but admit it as All Might slowly took heavy, deliberate steps into the classroom, finally standing before them with his hands confidently resting on his hips.

"I teach Basic Heroics," he announced. "It's a subject where you train in different ways to learn the basics of being a hero."

With that, he struck a pose, flexing his muscles dramatically.

"Let's get right into it… This is what we're gonna do today!! Combat Training!" He declared with overwhelming enthusiasm, holding up a card that read "Battle".

Meanwhile, Ben Tennyson was already overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of All Might's presence and personality. Sometimes he wished he had met people like All Might sooner instead of teaming up with 24/7 serious-looking Americans.

"Alright, we're also going with these!!" All Might said, pointing dramatically at the wall with all his might. His sheer willpower made the wall open into sliding closets… or so Ben believed.

"Costumes made based on your quirk registrations and requests… After you change, gather in Ground Beta!"

"Yes, sir!!" The class replied in unison.

"Okay, that's all for now. You can see the changing rooms around here… somewhere, uh, yeah. See you in a while~"

With that, All Might exited the room as swiftly as he had entered.

"That was so cool!!" "Seriously, we're going to have a combat lesson!!" "Using our Hero Costumes!!" "With All Might of all people, no less!!"

As excited chatter erupted throughout the room, Ben smirked and made his way to the closets to retrieve his own costume.

"Okay, guys!! Let's keep this civil and organized!" Iida Tenya said at the top of his lungs, but apparently no one listened.

Ben found his box, labeled with the number "21," and left the room. He was soon followed by Momo, who carried the box marked "20."

"Hey, wait!" she called out, catching up to him.

"I thought we were going to act like strangers at school," he replied without turning around.

"I never agreed to that. Besides, you haven't made any friends yet, right? If you abandoned me, who else would you have?"

Momo Yaoyorozu believed her butler caught the "edgy teenager syndrome," which was probably the reason why he always acted cool and alone. But she didn't like that attitude a bit though she herself didn't have a slightest clue how to fit in.

"Me," Ben muttered.

"What?"

"If I abandoned you, I still would have me, myself."

That was kind of sad to hear, but deep inside, Momo exploded. That's exactly what the "edgy teenager syndrome" was about. Also, a very ungrateful thing to say, AHHH.

"Forget I said that," she sighed. "Anyway, I thought you were a big All Might fan. You didn't look that excited."

"I'm just kinda overwhelmed…"

And then Ben disappeared into the male changing room. Not that Momo could've followed him into it. As more classmates crowded the corridors, she quickly slipped into the female changing room.

"Ah…"

In the male changing room, there was already someone ahead of him. The elite student who got third place in yesterday's physical tests… Todoroki Shoto!

Oh, damn, just who is he?! Ben narrowed his eyes, turning serious. He just… He just has a lot of main character energy!!

Now that he noticed it, Todoroki sported a burn scar marked around his left eye, apart from his hair split evenly between white and red sides. In Ben's eyes, that was just so cool.

"Ahem, good afternoon," Ben greeted, extending a hand. "I believe we haven't introduced ourselves properly. I'm Ben–"

"Not interested," Todoroki cut him off flatly, continuing to put on his suit. His outfit was simple: a plain off-white shirt with matching pants and boots, accented by two gold-colored straps over his shoulders.

He then put on what appeared to be pieces of armor all over his left side, even wearing a mask that covered half his face with the eye socket glowing red.

Ben gulped in defeat. "Uh, okay, cool."

"Wow, you guys are already here," Mineta said, entering the room. "I wanna see what kind of costume yours is."

"Not so fast," Ben replied confidently. "Let me change first."

"We can see each other's costumes later," Kaminari suggested. "Ahem, I'm excited to compete with you guys though. Because my fashion sense is—"

Okay, let's skip the changing room scene. A couple minutes later…

"Tennyson, your costume is…" Kaminari began, struggling to find the right words to describe it.

"Call me Ben, yes."

"Right, Ben, your costume is, uh… Simple and fashionable. It's what I'd call art."

Kaminari Denki had just praised Ben Tennyson's costume, albeit awkwardly.

"Yeah, he's literally wearing a jacket and a shirt just like you," Mineta quipped, taking a jab at Kaminari. "I do question the practicality though, heh."

Mineta himself was wearing a simplistic costume: a purple shirt and mask with a yellow cape, boots, and gloves. His pants were white with lighter purple trim and stood out around his waist.

"But given his quirk, that makes sense for Ben," Iida commented, nodding thoughtfully. "Since he's going to transform and his hero costume just disappears?"

"Something along that line," Ben admitted.

Ben's hero costume was indeed simple. He wore blue jeans, a black T-shirt, and a green jacket with white stripes on his left sleeve and the number 10 on the right. His footwear was just gym shoes. It's probably more suitable for running around.

"Actually, I had them make two hoodies along with this," he said casually. "A black one and another one was white. So I can change my suit on site depending on my mood."

For what purpose?!! Since his costume wasn't going to help him in any way.

"What a confession," Mineta was humbled.

"What a waste of resources!" Iida remarked bluntly.

Iida's costume looked far more elaborate and practical in comparison. It consisted of various pieces of pale silver armor over a dark blue suit, a metal collar around his neck, and three thick metal pipes around his torso. Looks cool though. His head was also totally covered by a white gundam-like helmet with golden horns. Overall, his costume made him look like a knight.

"Okay, enough, you're gonna make me cry," Kaminari said, hiding behind Ben.

Kaminari himself was dressed in a plain white shirt under a black jacket, unbuttoned, with white lightning patterns, paired with black pants. It was all aesthetics.

"I don't think you need to stress about it," Ben said, looking at the rest of the boys. None of them had chosen an elaborate suit like Iida did.

And definitely not Midoriya Izuka whose costume was just a green jumpsuit that covered his entire body, even his face, with two additional features that resembled rabbit ears above his head. Or… are they supposed to resemble All Might's hair style?

"You're right," Kaminari stepped forward. "It's all about personal tastes. —"

"Wow, man, Kaminari, you look like a rocker!" Kirishima casually joined the chat. "Ben, though, hmm, it's something simple yet I feel like this is going to last long in memories once you see it."

No, Kirishima, I think yours is going to last longer . Ben mentally commented as he scanned Kirishima.

This lad left his chest bare, with dark red gear-shaped shoulder pads and pretty much that's it for the top — yeah, without sleeves. He also wore a wired guard around his face, reaching from just above his hairline to below his jaw, and really baggy black pants. A big "R" was carved on his belt, meeting the red half-cape with a torn hem around his waist, giving him a wild, rugged warrior vibe.

"Mm, you're giving a good comment for once," Mineta remarked nonchalantly before going into creep mode. "Ahhh, for me though, I just wanna take a good long look at the girls' costumes!! You know, female hero costumes can be quite—"

"By the way, the name's Kirishima Eijiro," Kirishima interrupted before Mineta said something outrageous. "Man, but I gotta say your Japanese is so good. You don't sound a bit like a foreigner."

"Well, thanks, you can call me Ben," the brunet said. "I invested some time in learning the language whenever I was free and all. I guess that paid off—"

"Okay, guys, I think we shouldn't waste time," Iida interjected firmly. "Everyone, if you are all done with changing, let's head for the Ground Beta!"

"Yeah!!" Everyone cheered in unison for some reason.

"Ah, wait, one of us is missing!!"

"If you mean Todoroki, he's already left," Ben explained. "He's, you know, kinda difficult to interact with."

"Shut up, foreigner," Bakugou growled angrily for whatever reason and stormed out of the room.

"Speaking of difficult…" Kaminari said. "Bakugou… - san is difficult, too, right?"

"He's like his quirk, exploding all the time," Kirishima agreed. "But I don't think he's a bad guy."

At any rate, later the students gathered at the Ground Beta, which was a mini city-sized training area.

"Okay, not unexpected, but," Ben gulped. "This is huge!"

"You didn't take the entrance exams, right?" Kaminari said, walking alongside him. "We took the practicals in replica cities like this one."

"Wow, as expected of U.A…."

From the looks of it, U.A. High clearly invested so much in such large training grounds that imitated the structures of the urban areas, filled with various sizes of buildings and streets. Just so they could put the Hero Course students through advanced-level combat simulations and prepare them for situations in populated urban areas.

Though it makes me wonder who's funding all these.

"OOOOh, yeah, Hero Course is the best," Mineta whispered in the background.

"Woah, girls also brought some nice costumes," Kaminari pointed out. "Look."

Encouraged by his classmate, Ben took a glance at the girls, his gaze meeting Momo's in the process. He immediately averted his eyes, his expression all stiff and serious as if he were holding back the demons.

"Hey, man, what happened? You're sweating buckets…"

"Nothing," Ben muttered. "Really."

UGHH.

That was probably why Momo had told him she wouldn't show her hero costume to him. It was just a high-collared, sleeveless crimson leotard, open in the front to expose her skin from her neck to just below her navel. She also sported two gold utility belts around her waist, which sort of made up a short skirt.

By the American heroine standards, that might be okay… in terms of marketing, but ahem, Ben Tennyson is still a grown young man.

Anyway, as a butler, Ben was going to give her a good scolding later.

"Wow, that Yaoyorozu girl is—"

Ben quickly intervened, pushing Mineta away before he could ogle his mistress.

"Let's see what you're made of, embryos!" All Might declared with such fiery passion. "It's time for the Battle Trial! "

Now that the suit-up Midoriya and All Might were out in the open, Ben could see the resemblance, though he wouldn't have imagined anyone would be crazy enough to take that heavy inspiration from the Symbol of Peace. The young hero's costume quite mirrored All Might's iconic design, and Ben could imagine while.

But now that he thought about it, Midoriya appeared to have developed his quirk very recently, but the way his quirk worked also shared common factors with All Might's mysterious strength. Uh, never mind, he must've been overthinking too much.

"This is a battle center from the entrance exams," Iida spoke up. "So will we be conducting urban battles again?"

"No!" All Might passionately explained, raising two fingers for emphasis. "We're going to move ahead two steps! Most of the time, fighting villains take place outside, but statistically, most acts of villainy occur indoors. Imprisonment, house arrest, the black market… in this hero-saturated society… Why?! Because any intelligent villains would be lurking in the shadows!!"

Well, that makes sense…

"For this test, we'll form hero and villain teams from you!!"

Following All Might's explanation, questions flooded from the students.

"So how do we determine—" "Is it okay if we just—" "Is there a threat of expulsion—" "If we're separating into different groups—"

" I can't hear you if you all speak at the same time!! "

Ben chuckled seeing All Might being overwhelmed by the students.

Basically, the combat trial was just a game with different objectives for the heroes and the villains. The heroes must either apprehend the villains using capture tape or touch the weapon (a faux nuclear device) within a set time limit, whereas the villains must protect said faux device until time runs out or capture the heroes using the same capture tape. Whoever's side that fulfills the conditions first wins.

"Additionally, your teammates and opponents will be selected by lottery," All Might explained, revealing a lottery box to the class. "Anyway, let's start this!!"

And then everyone started drawing lots.

"Man, I'm getting nervous," Kaminari confessed. "I'd rather not hurt big…"

"I heard the infirmary here is pretty good," Ben whispered back.

"Hmph, if you become a hero, you can't just run away from injuries," Mineta said something real for once.

Soon it came to Ben's turn to draw lots, but as he reached for the box, All Might interjected apologetically.

"Ah, sorry, Young Man Tennyson," he said. "This is only for 20 students."

"Sir?"

All Might flinched, not wanting to hurt the boy's feelings, so he decided to be real with it. Sorry, Eraserhead, gonna have to sell you out.

"Aizawa- sensei asked me to separate you to the last… Uh, no worry, you'll be participating in a battle anyway, heh!"

Ben blinked upon hearing Aizawa's name. So it was clear who the culprit was, but he didn't particularly have any problem with that decision.

That said, it was a pretty "roundabout" way to deal with an odd-numbered class.

"Fine by me, sir."

"Glad to hear that, Tennyson boy! Forgive my colleague too!"

"No, not gonna…"

All Might looked panicked upon hearing his response, especially because he was brand new to teaching and had no idea how to deal with rebellious kids.

"No, Tennyson boy, please forgive Aizawa- sensei! He really thought of the best for you, uh… I think…"

"Sir, it was a joke."

"Is that so… Hahaha, yeah, that's right!" All Might lectured, brushing away his embarrassment. "Sometimes, Pro Heroes need to have a sense of humor to light up the day!"

It's fine now. Why? Because I am here!

Except, there was a certain hero who would light up the day of everyone just by appearing before them.

"Alright, let's take a look at the results!"

With Ben being the only one who didn't belong to any team. All Might then drew the lots again to determine the participants of the first battle.

"Team B as heroes and Team I as villains…" All Might paused, looking at the students and then Ben. "... but with a twist! Young Man Tennyson will join the villains and one of the villains will join the heroes!"

How does that even work?! Ben pondered. 2v3 was actually a fine deal for him, but he suspected it must have been a spite match arranged by no one other than Aizawa-sensei!

"Sorry, Tennyson Boy," All Might whispered, leaning toward Ben. "Aizawa made me do it."

Aizawa-sensei, on second thought, I'm not going to forgive you, Grrr—

In fact, Aizawa's idea was further supported by Principal Nezu when proposed. There was no opposition. In fact, on top of the fact, after the entire faculty learned about Ben's quirk, everyone supported the idea.

"Actually, it's fine…"

"Thanks, you can choose your teammate at least. I'll give him (Aizawa) a good scolding later so…"

"Please do," Ben said without hesitation.

Team I, chosen to be villains, included Ojiro Mashirao and Hagakure Toru , though the latter was… absent? No, she was definitely there, just invisible.

"Dang, I even feel like a villain boss choosing his subordinate," Ben remarked, looking at Ojiro whose hero costume was just a plain karate gi uniform with a black belt and half of his collar decorated with fur.

Meanwhile he didn't know where to look at the invisible Hagakure, her costume being just gloves and boots — which also means she was naked! But at the very least, the invisible girl sparked an explosive idea in Ben.

"Hurry the hell up!! Don't make us wait, you damn foreigner!!" Bakugou yelled, snapping Ben back to reality.

All Might was going to cry inside. Again, he had no idea how to deal with rebellious kids. But thankfully, someone else did his job.

"You shouldn't be rude before the teacher, Bakugou-san," Iida intervened, only to earn a growl back from Bakugou.

"Sorry, sorry, alright, Hagakure…- san , please," Ben said, holding out a hand. The seemingly flying gloves reached for his hand, with Hagakure saying "Yayy!!"

Ojiro let out a sigh of relief, now that he wasn't going to have to team up with a girl in her birthday suit. In the background, Momo stared at Ben in disgust.

As his Ojou-sama , she was going to give him a good scolding later. Even if he was a growing teenage boy with raging hormones…!

"Okay, now the villain and the hero teams have been decided!!" All Might said, handing out building plans to the participants. "In this scenario, the villain team: Tennyson Ben and Hagakure Toru, are already in the building first. So you two, go inside the designated building and prepare your fortress."

"Yes, sir!" Ben and Hagakure replied in unison, then with Ben leading the way.

"Wait, wait," she said. "We should discuss the strategy first."

"Now isn't a good time. We can do it later without letting them know…"

"Okay! It seems I'm gonna have to rely on you anyway!"

Meanwhile back with All Might and the rest of the class…

"Alright, the heroes: Ojiro Mashirao, Todoroki Shoto and Shoji Mezu, you will have to wait about 5 minutes," All Might explained. "Let them prepare in the meantime. And the rest can go to the monitor room."

"The monitor room?" Iida asked. "Where is it, sir?"

"Downstairs," the teacher chuckled proudly. "You'll see the top-notch infrastructure! Hahaha!!"

The monitor room was just right underneath the buildings, well, underground. A large number of surveillance cameras had been set up in every floor of the buildings where the combat training would take place.

The students were then introduced to large monitors displaying whatever was happening on the battleground.

"As expected of the U.A.," Iida said. "I was a fool to doubt it!"

"Take it easy, Iida- kun ," Midoriya said, though he himself was taken aback by the monitors.

"Ahahaha, let's see what they're up to!!" All Might confidently tapped a few buttons on the control panel, which somehow shut down the entire thing. "Um, uh, what's going on?!"

"You're not doing it right…" interjected a gravelly, monotonous voice.

"Sensei?!"

With that, a familiar face stepped out of the dark, who turned out to Aizawa Shota, the Class 1-A's teacher, surprising everyone.

"I thought you didn't want to be here…" All Might said, his face still frozen in shock.

Also because All Might found it difficult to get along with Aizawa.

"I changed my mind," the eraser teacher replied, getting to the monitor. "There is a fight I need to oversee. Leaving you to your devices was a bad idea, right?"

Just with a few presses of the buttons, the monitor went back to normal, displaying the hero trio at the entrance of the building. The three seemed to be discussing their own strategy, with Todoroki taking the lead. Ojiro seemed to show disagreement at one point, only to get shut down by Todoroki immediately. Then it appeared both Shoji and Ojiro agreed to Todoroki's idea in the end.

That said, the monitor room couldn't hear any of their voices.

"Hagakure- san ," Ben said. "How long did we take to get to this floor?"

The villain duo had barricaded themselves in a room up on the fourth level, which, from Ben's math, was the furthest from the entrance. He already had a couple strategies and possibilities working in his mind, and given his past records as a vigilante, he wasn't going to lose— No, he couldn't afford to lose to Endeavor's son of all people.

Even with the handicap he set on himself, his pride wouldn't allow it.

"Hmm, maybe two minutes?" Hagakure answered, uncertain. "Forget it, what's your strategy?"

"No worry. Remember, I have a strong quirk, but this is a team fight. So we're going to work together and use every resource available."

"Okay? Though I'm not sure what you mean."

"Good thing we're villains, heh…" he smirked, looking down at the capture tape.

"Bravo, you lookin' like a real villain, right now!"

In terms of Aizawa's words, Ben's reasoning to choose Hagakure was quite rational. Ojiro has a tail quirk and presumably an experienced martial art background, judging from his gi outfit. But unfortunately, Todoroki was a bad match-up against Ojiro, leaving the latter with almost no win conditions.

In Hagakure's case though, she's just invisible. Quite frankly she wasn't a much better choice than Ojiro, which was exactly why she could be an element of surprise among Ben's pieces.

Yes, Benjamin Kirby Tennyson chose to play the intelligent evil… Otherwise with his handicap, it wouldn't be easy beating Todoroki Shoto… the elite kid with a strong practical quirk.

"Glad to hear that," Ben said. "The strategy is simple: the floor is lava."

"Um, what do you mean?"

"Make sure you grab onto me if I accidentally destroy the floor," he said with a reassuring grin. "I've already grasped the formula to victory…"

"I'll be counting on you, hehe!"

At the same time on the first floor, Shoji was using his Quirk, Dupli-Arms , to create multiple ears to achieve enhanced hearing and scan the entire building.

"They're on the highest floor," he said. "Both. The bomb must be in the same room."

"Are you really going to be okay to go alone?" Ojiro interrupted.

"You needn't worry," Todoroki said, releasing icy cold mist from his right hand. "It'll be dangerous for you two so stay out of this. I will finish this in no time."

Todoroki Shoto, 15, Quirk: Half-Cold Half-Hot . — Todoroki could create and command ice from the right side of his body. With every step he took into the building, he summoned icy coatings that quickly covered everywhere and grew into thick, firm chunks of ice.

"He's really planning to clear it alone…" Ojiro muttered as he stepped back in shock. "I wonder how they're gonna counter it."

"Maybe they won't," Shoji suggested with a shrug.

"Ahhh, I would like to see how they're doing from the monitor room!"

As Ojiro said that, in the monitor room, everyone was already glued to the screens, all while shivering in the cold resulted from Todoroki's ice from above-ground. Even All-Might appeared to be trembling comically, but Aizawa kept his cool, intently staring at the monitors.

"I better consider a winter version of this suit," Momo noted.

"But look, Hagakure- san is removing her gloves and shoes!" Uraraka pointed at the outrageous scene.

Meanwhile back in the battle trial area…

Todoroki successfully arrived at the place of villains, without an obstacle on his path. By now, the entire building had been covered in ice from his quirk.

Todoroki grinned as he witnessed the scene inside the room. Ben Tennyson, still in his human form, crouching on the floor and standing on all four. All his limbs were encased in ice, perfectly immobilizing him in an almost humiliating pose.

"I see you couldn't do anything…" he said, looking around. "I believe you won't dare to move with that ice."

There was no sight of the invisible girl — Todoroki couldn't see her either way, but he assumed Ben must've sent her for spying and she must've been trapped somewhere else. She was a non-factor in this fight, and the faux bomb was already in sight a few meters away.

But Todoroki Shoto had the decency to take a mental note to apologize to her later.

"You bet," Ben jokingly replied, but there was no doubt he was already effectively captured.

There was undoubtedly excited chatter in the monitor room.

"He didn't cause any damage to his teammates or the nuclear weapon," All Might said, still shivering. "And on top of that, he restrained the enemy."

"That's amazing, Todoroki- kun 's quirk!" Midoriya nervously remarked. "But how come didn't Ben use his quirk…"

"Maybe it was so damn useless!" Bakugou said angrily. "The ice came so fast, bet he didn't get to use his quirk fast enough to counteract!"

Midoriya went real quiet.

"... maybe he was in the middle of the transformation and the ice canceled it," Iida suggested, cupping his chin.

A lot of students began to agree with his theory, given Ben's weird posture.

"He must've been transforming into that fluffy dog, Wildmutt! " Ashido suggested.

"Damn, what a shame…"

Watching her peers feeling bad for Ben, Momo gently shook her head, unnoticed. She was the only one who came closest to the answer, perhaps because she knew him the best.

Aizawa also had a different theory in his mind.

"The gap between us is too big, perhaps…" Todoroki said as he passed by a half-frozen Ben to reach the faux weapon.

"You're forgetting something important, Todoroki," Ben said, chuckling.

"Huh?"

" We never said we 'd surrendered!"

With that, Todoroki was caught off-guard by an invisible kick in his face, which sent him flying. Not a big surprise, but the invisible girl Hagakure Toru had been standing on Ben's back all this time.

"Wh-what just happened?" It made Kaminari gasp.

But no one could answer him. They couldn't turn their eyes away from the sudden turn of events.

"Everything's according to the plan…" Ben burst out into a villainous laughter as Todoroki sluggishly stood up from the floor. "Hagakure- san , get ready!"

"Hai—" and it sounded like the girl jumped down onto the icy floor. "Oh, ah, this is so cold! Too cold! Help!"

"Do you think you can win?" Todoroki said. "I've already…"

There was a flash of green light that forced him to close his eyes. It shone upon them almost like the light of hope for the villains.

"You never used the capture tape on me," said the newly arrived voice. "Negative points for you, Todoroki."

It was a red ten-feet tall six-limbed humanoid — Four Arms !! He was now wearing an outfit that imitated his human-form hero costume, just with torn sleeves and the chest bare.

"How did you transform?" Todoroki questioned, while sending another wave of thick ice toward his opponents.

Thankfully, Hagakure clung onto Four Arms' neck just in time, but most of his body including his arms had been trapped in ice. However, he just flexed his muscles and shook his limbs a bit, making all the ice around him fall apart.

"Why would you assume I couldn't transform in the first place?" It was Four Arms' turn to grin in victory. "I'm a villain. I would use any trick to get you into making a mistake, wouldn't I…"

Todoroki gritted his teeth and unleashed another wave of ice, only to be shattered away by powerful winds the villain created.

Four Arms clapped his hands together with such great force that broke apart almost the ice structures and coatings in the room just by the sheer power of the shockwave. Even Todoroki himself almost lost his balance, stumbling.

"Tennyson- kun , you made it even worse!!" Hagakure grumbled. "It's getting even colder!!"

"Sorry!" Four Arms said. "A little more of this, and I would've destroyed a wall or two…"

Without a doubt, everyone in the monitor room had been overwhelmed. Even Bakugou was speechless.

"I don't know what's going on…" Kaminari muttered, rubbing his arms to battle the temperature drop.

"Same," Kirishima replied, unable to look away. "But seems the tables have turned…"

No, young men, this is something that only those with the greatest strength can pull off. All Might seemed to have caught on Ben's moves. The power to control the shockwaves through sheer physical strength… Are you watching it, Midoriya-shounen?

"An interesting kid, right?" Aizawa said, which All Might agreed with a nervous nod.

Back in the combat trial…

"Hagakure- san , we're going to stall him until the time runs out," Four Arms said. "Either that or…"

Unwilling to give up, Todoroki sent out an ice wave again, which in turn got canceled out by Four Arms' shockwaves.

"... or the floor will give out and we'll fall!" Hagakure exclaimed, seeing the cracks in the floor becoming bigger. It definitely wasn't a good sign.

Even then, Four Arms reassured her. "Good thing we're the villains. We don't care about this public building, do we?"

"No, we don't," Hagakure giggled in response.

"Don't get distracted," Todoroki reminded them, summoning large ice chunks toward the red giant. But all those ice chunks were instantly destroyed by a red blurring fist of the beast.

"Give it up, Todoroki!" Four Arms declared. "You heroes ain't gonna do anything!! Leave us alone so we can peacefully destroy the city with this nuclear bomb, HAHAHAHA!!"

This was the only strategy Ben could think of. He hated to run away, but he couldn't risk having his teammate captured or the bomb disabled. So the only way out of this mess was to fight head-on while protecting Hagakure.

"You're oddly fitting in the role, Tennyson- kun ," Hagakure noted. "Also, it seems… his arm's getting frostbite or something…"

Only when the girl pointed it out, Four Arms noticed how the right side of Todoroki's body appeared to be coated by a thin layer of ice here and there, unlike the fake ice on his left side. The boy's breathing was also getting frantic, his movements becoming more sluggish as he struggled to maintain control of his Quirk under the strain of the intense battle.

"Tch…"

Yet the pride of Todoroki Shoto wasn't letting him ask his teammates for back-up.

The teammates in question who he left behind right at the entrance, had nothing to do, for the better or not. So they decided to chatter.

"So you buy a whole load of shirts with the same kinda patterns?" Shoji asked with a hint of disbelief in his voice.

"Yeah, I don't know, but when I saw it, I knew it was made for me," Ojiro answered proudly. "Before I realized, I'd already paid for it. They were really cool though."

"Fashion has always been an issue for me," Shoji said, clenching and unclenching his fists. "It's hard to get everything tailor-made."

"I feel ya, buddy," Ojiro said, striking the ground with his tail. "But at least we're putting these into good use, right? By the way, sorry if this sounds intruding, but why do you always wear—"

Alright, enough, let's get back to the battlefield.

The "final" battle had been going on for a good few minutes, with what seemed to be a stalemate even though the villain side was obviously on the winning side. But at the very least, Todoroki was able to stop Four Arms from jumping at him, and on the other hand, Four Arms couldn't risk Hagakure getting trapped again in ice.

The poor girl had been completely naked in the cold. If Ben had another shred of humanity inside him, he would have knocked out the heroes as fast as possible and stopped her suffering.

He's obviously reaching his limits . Ben mentally noted. But this is turning into a pain. I don't wanna put up with this sh*t until the time runs out. I wanna pull some flashy moves, but using Heatblast will definitely set suspicions on me.

"Hagakure, change of plans, grab the weapon," the four-armed villain boss ordered. "We're fleeing the scene."

"Huh— okay!" The invisible villainess brushed off the confusion and reached for the faux weapon.

"No, you're not," Todoroki endured the coldness on his right side and sent out another wave of ice chunks.

" The floor's lava! "

This time, Four Arms punched a hole in the floor instead of hitting the ice, breaking the cement apart. And subsequently in the matter of seconds, he grabbed the faux weapon and presumably Hagakure and jumped down to the third floor, just before the ice reached them.

"Tch…"

Clicking his tongue in frustration, Todoroki built a slide made out of ice and went down to the third floor to resume pursuit. But a few seconds in and he found another hole in the floor!

The villain duo reached the second floor!

Todoroki jumped down to look for the villains, but no, without Shoji's help, the unfortunate reality was he wasn't going to find them easily. If it was a head-on loss, he would probably accept it and move on. But how the villains had been playing him around made him much more visibly upset.

"Hey, is it just me or did it get chillier?" Ojiro questioned, rapidly rubbing his arms.

Shoji formed some extra ears on his tentacle limbs and attentively listened into the building. Someone was running… Something quadrupedal… Todoroki was turning up the intensity of his quirk, even when suffering from his own ice covering him.

"You sure this not getting out of hand?" All Might said, trembling even more intensely.

Aizawa wrapped himself in his capture bandages, making him resemble a mummy. "Leave them be. This is the fight of the top two elite students."

"I wonder why Tennyson is running around instead of fighting him head-on," Iida commented. "It's not like he would lose."

The teachers didn't answer his question, but deep down, they knew the reason.

Tennyson boy is trying to stay rational and responsible with his out-of-the-world strength… All Might empathized. Even though he's supposed to be a villain, he's trying his best to not accidentally use too much force against the hero kid. Maybe he's actually too kind to play evil.

I understand, Tennyson-shounen. You're not a rebellious kid after all!

Secretly celebrating inside, All Might of all people could empathize with Ben because he had always been in the same position. The strongest man in the world, who could save thousands all on his own… Humans are fragile beings. It's all about choosing to help people or hurt them.

Aizawa didn't seem to think the same.

That's where you went wrong, Tennyson. This simulation is so you can think in the shoes of the villain. The criminals who are strong enough to beat up the Pro Heroes won't have any shred of kindness. What an irrational choice.

With the ideologies of the teachers clashing with each other, on the monitor, Ben had changed forms again.

Aizawa narrowed his eyes suspiciously. I knew something was fishy .

"I thought he said he had some kind of time limit?" Kirishima questioned. "How did he…"

According to his quirk registry reports, the doctors had advised Ben to use his quirk with moderation as his transformation is usually an unstable one, only stabilized by the device on his wrist that constantly stimulates his genetics. Since then, he had set a time limit on himself to stabilize his cells.

Or so the quirk registry said.

"Green light, there he is!" Todoroki noted, turning around as he immediately wasted no time to produce mountains of ice. Unfortunately for him, all his ice was yet again destroyed by another one of Ben's transformations.

Todoroki was suddenly struck by a powerful invisible wave that flung him across the corridors all the way close to the windows at the end, followed by the sound of the glasses shattering all over the place.

"What is this…"

It wasn't like a mere shockwave or winds produced by a clap of hands…

As the cold mist dissipated in the corridors, a chilling sight emerged—a gray humanoid werewolf-like monster with the recognizable Omnitrix symbol on his chest. Draped in a long black coat trimmed with vivid green accents, and sporting a matching black shirt and dark pants reminiscent of Ben's own hero attire, giving him a stereotypical badass look.

"Sound waves, idiot," answered the werewolf, his gravelly voice accompanied by slight, audible echoes. "The name's Blitzwolfer. I've been saving it for a surprise, but now it doesn't matter anymore."

The ice cold hero unsteadily rose to his feet, casting his gaze beyond Blitzwolfer, but the invisible girl and the nuclear weapon were nowhere in sight. I mean, he couldn't really find Hagakure anyway.

"My plan is perfect, hero . You're running out of time," Blitzwolfer grinned mischievously. "Now if I may give you advice, put your ego aside and call your teammates."

Not yet. Not a choice! Todoroki gritted his teeth and exerted his quirk even further, creating waves of ice that trapped the werewolf off-guard. Even if he was going to over-exhaust himself…

Now his only chance was to "capture" Ben and take him out of the board so he could do the business with the bomb. Ben being here also meant that Hagakure and the bomb were basically unprotected.

Watching Blitzwolfer's limbs completely trapped in thick layers of ice, Todoroki brought out the capture tape.

"This is the end!" He ran up to the werewolf, ready to take him out.

Oi, did you forget where the voices came from?

To his surprise, Blitzwolfer suddenly split his snout into four parts and unleashed a series of sonic howls he couldn't dodge in time. The sounds stopped just before Todoroki hit the wall and got seriously injured.

"Oi, what's that sound? A howl?" Ojiro remarked.

"Todoroki's still fighting," Shoji said, concentrating his hearing senses from multiple ears. "That must be one of Tennyson's transformations."

"No wonder he's been taking a long damn time."

"Maybe we should back him up," Shoji suggested, waiting for Ojiro's answer. The latter finally agreed to the idea with a reluctant nod.

"We can only back him up… I don't wanna fight that 2500kg Grip-Strength Bastard," Ojiro was unsurprisingly honest.

He might have disliked the way Todoroki belittled him, but if he didn't act, it would miss the point of the game. At the end of the day, Ojiro Mashirao was a realistic person.

"The sounds came from the second floor," Shoji said, looking up at the building. "We'll take a fast way up."

"Seriously? I think it's a bad idea."

"It is," Shoji's tone was sarcastic.

On the second floor, as while the ice cold hero was recovering, the evil werewolf freed himself from the ice using sonic howls under moderation.

The correct answer was yes. If Todoroki Shoto had decided to trap the entirety of Blitzwolfer in ice and hence sealed his mouth, it could've been a victory condition for him. Unlike the likes of Four Arms or Humungousaur, Blitzwolfer wasn't going to be able to bruteforce out of it. But too bad for Todoroki, his emotions got the better of him and made a mishap.

That was when the evil werewolf caught a glimpse of it.

Steam. It wasn't the icy mist Todoroki made when he used his ice quirk. He stood up to his feet, pressing his right side with his left hand giving rise to all the steamy mist.

Quirk: Half-Cold Half-Hot , left-side edition! — from the records, Todoroki Shoto could create ice from his right side and flames from his left. Ben guessed there must be a reason why Todoroki hadn't been using his left side, but now here we are.

He's proved to be a worthy opponent . He looked down at his right hand, judging if it was ready. I must elevate the intensity even more and—

"Man!! Are you all right!!?" It was Ojiro's voice.

The two climbed up from the window to the second floor only to find a rather beat-up Todoroki.

"Why are you here?" Todoroki asked, his expression stern.

"We are a team," Shoji said, taking a good look at Blitzwolfer through his dupli-eyes. "If you wanna blame someone, I suggested the idea."

"Oi, don't make me look bad," Ojiro said, taking a battle stance before his teammates.

All this while, Ben, as Blitzwolfer, had been looking at the trio like a classic villain from tokusatsu shows, waiting for his enemies to complete transforming. Todoroki looked at the two in silence and then broke the pause.

"If you have too much time on your hands," Todoroki took the command, "go look for the bomb."

Shoji briefly exchanged glances with Ojiro who then reminded them. "Uh, but how? He's sort of in the way…"

"I will stall him."

Todoroki Shoto finally decided to work with his team?! Sort of.

"Unfortunately, Todoroki…" the werewolf interjected, followed by a snap of his fingers and an announcement from All Might.

" Ahem, Young Man Todoroki Shoto has been successfully captured! "

"What trick did that bastard use again?!" Bakugou growled for no reason.

"This is nothing like a simple combat trial…" Kaminari said, having seen the whole thing.

"Todoroki fell for the same trick twice," Momo noted. "It seems the villains are taking advantage of his nature."

"I thought he was going to knock him out with the sound waves," said a female student with an earphone jack hanging from each of her earlobes.

Aizawa grinned behind the scarf that covered the lower half of his face. All Might was just thankful for the fact that he hadn't needed to intervene before the fight went out of hand. It could've been much more than Todoroki getting bruises from wall slams.

"What just happened?!" Ojiro exclaimed, looking down at Todoroki's leg, which now had a capture tape wrapped around it.

"You didn't notice it, right?" Blitzwolfer said, cracking his knuckles. "Hagakure was behind you all this time. While you guys were planning a strategy, she took advantage of it and eliminated him."

I had her stationed there just in case. Ben thought. But as expected of the invisible girl.

"Nothing personal, okay?" Hagakure said, jumping back to where the werewolf was.

The duo swung their fists in the air in response, thinking they might catch a Hagakure or two.

A naked girl… A completely naked girl just passed by my side… As a realistic man, Ojiro's imagination went wild and beyond for a moment. What does this mean? This means she's not wearing any—

"Don't get distracted," Shoji snapped him back. "Stay vigilant."

"Ah, yeah…"

Having been kicked out of the battle, Todoroki sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall close to the heroic duo. His entire body was aching here and there as if he had been beaten up over and over again. There was nothing he could do.

"You've already lost, heroes," Blitzwolfer said. "The game's over! The city's going to be destroyed! We won!"

"Yeah, yayy!!" Hagakure in the background cheered him on.

The tension between the heroes and the villains had grown even worse! I wonder which side will take the win…

"No, villain," Ojiro began, wanting to drop a cool line. "Your evil deeds will end—"

" Boom! Aha, sorry to interrupt you kids, " announced All Might. " But time's up! The villain team snatched the victory! "

That was anticlimactic. Everyone fell silent for a good few seconds they needed to take in order to recover.

"Well, that's a given…" Ojiro admitted defeat. "Not only are you strong, you made some good strategies."

"Why, thanks…" Blitzwolfer said, before pressing the Omnitrix and returning to human form. "You might wanna take him to the infirmary fast."

At least Endeavor isn't John Wick. Hopefully. Ben did smack his son pretty hard.

" Ah, the paramedics will be there soon ," All Might said through the microphone. " So, no need to take further actions. The rest of you, if you're uninjured, come to the monitor room after resting. "

Shoji raised three pairs of thumb-ups at the surveillance camera.

Ben took off his jacket and handed it to where he supposed Hagakure was. "Sorry, you must've been cold…"

" Mou , I couldn't just leave everything to you," she said, grabbing the jacket. "But I will take your offer."

I mean, on the contrary if I didn't recruit you, you would be chilling outside. Ben kept those thoughts to himself. At the end of the day, it was his selfish curiosity alone that put Hagakure into his team. In fact, it was all his fault that the fight was dragged out until the time ran out.

If Hagakure caught a cold, Ben would need to visit her home and personally apologize to her parents.

"Also, Todoroki, that was a good fight," he said, extending a hand, hoping the ice cold guy would take it.

Todoroki characteristically responded with a disinterested pair of eyes, which made Ben flinch.

"You're strong and all, but you made a lotta bad decisions," Ben nonchalantly continued, retracting his unfinished handshake. "You should've sealed my mouth when you captured me. You're too rash—"

"Do I need to hear it from you?" Todoroki interrupted.

Ben looked comically shocked upon hearing it, stunned where he stood. Shoji comically waved his hands in front of Ben's eyes, as if the latter had turned into stone.

"Uh, yes, you gave me a good fight," Ojiro tried to tackle the awkward atmosphere, offering a handshake to Ben. "You were hella cool."

"You weren't even in the fight at all," Ben retorted bluntly but took his hand anyway. "See you later."

With that, Ben, Shoji and Hagakure walked away, leaving behind the injured Todoroki and Ojiro, a faint flush of embarrassment coloring his cheeks.

"I'm still wondering how his quirk actually works," Midoriya muttered, rapidly tapping his palm. "His transformations have different shapes and sizes, each comes with their own advantages and potentially disadvantages. That Hyuumongousou and Fou Aamuzu seemed to excel into brute strength. But Hyuumongo is bigger, but he used the four-armed guy instead—"

"Um, Midoriya- kun ," Iida tried to interject. "Could you please stop it?"

" — because of the space! There wasn't enough room for the Hyuumon to move around so he used Fou Aamuzu instead. His quirk seems to transform him into different body compositions—"

Meanwhile Ben Tennyson, the man himself, and other participants from the first battle arrived in the monitor room. The second match participants had already been decided. Team J as the villains and Team H as the heroes.

"Okay, is he mumbling about… my quirk?" Ben said, frightened.

"Please don't mind him, Tennyson- kun ," Uraraka apologized on her teammate's behalf. "When he's excited, he's like that. He even forgot to be nervous about his battle next."

"Eh…"

Midoriya Izuku in the background continued his mumble rap.

"Who do you think did best in the trial?!" All Might asked the question so passionately he brought Midoriya back from Gaia Library .

"It must be Tennyson," said the girl with earphone jacks.

"Yeah, without a doubt," Iida agreed with her. "He performed great all around."

"If you think so…" All Might paused for the sake of suspense. "What I wanna say is… You're correct! In fact, while Tennyson boy did the best in this trial, Hagakure- san also played the role well. She's the runner-up."

"What about that half-half kid?!" Bakugou asked.

"He was decent," Momo explained on All Might's behalf. "But he cared little for collateral damage and abandoned the teamplay, and that ultimately led to his downfall."

"Uh, yeah, that's right!" All Might said.

"You didn't need to be that brutal…" Ben stared at Momo in disbelief.

And a few hours later, the combat trials ended without any incident… ah, on the better side of it. The first battle (Team B Vs Team I) and the third (Team A Vs Team D) were the most intense, but well, the third battle certainly was rough.

Midoriya seemed to have gotten even much worse injuries than Todoroki and got sent to the infirmary as well. There certainly seemed to be something between Midoriya and Bakugou, something more than being childhood friends.

Ben was often ticked off by how the explosive kid treated Midoriya even in front of other students, but at the same time, he wasn't interested in prying into private matters. On the other hand, it appears there must be some kind of connection between All Might and Midoriya more than being mere inspiration. But for the time being, Ben let the case sit around.

"Ben, wait," Momo said, grabbing her own bag. "Let's go home together."

He hesitantly looked around, but thankfully, no one seemed to catch that. He gave her a reluctant nod while taking a mental note to remind her not to call him recklessly in the classroom.

"Uh, okay, let's go."

Unbeknownst to the duo, Todoroki Shoto blankly watched them see their way out of the class. Uraraka and Iida in the background appeared to be planning to visit Midoriya at the infirmary.

Momo and Ben had a lot to talk about, but they both decided to save the actual scoldings for later.

"You're a sadist," Momo began, regarding what happened during the heroics lesson.

"Why?!" Ben exclaimed with an oblivious look.

"You toyed around and pushed him into the corner," she said, giving him a stare of disgust. "You're really despicable."

By him , she meant Todoroki.

"Ah, sorry, Ma'am, I got carried away, hehe…"

Ben could've ended the fight swiftly if he wanted. But he didn't mentally prepare to deal with the ice. Todoroki's quirk was simply so powerful that Ben had to use his " Thunderclap " over and over again just to not get trapped.

You're a formidable foe, Todoroki Shoto!

"Should we stop by McDonald's on the way home?" Momo suggested. But her eyes screamed it wasn't a mere suggestion. She really wanted to take a stroll without going straight home.

"Fast food is out of the question, Mi– Yaoyorozu- san ," her butler stayed firm. "Especially right after a serious practical exercise. If you want to eat something… Hmm, what about some ramen?"

"What are you, an old man?"

"Ramen isn't just for certain demographic groups!" The butler was unstoppable. "Ramen doesn't discriminate against anyone. Ramen's for everyone! You know how 65% of Japanese highschoolers choose to have ramen on their way home instead of heading to McDonald's ?"

"You're not even Japanese," Momo gave up. "Then, okay, let's have ramen, then."

Hell yeah, good thing I made up the numbers, and now she's in!

Momo just wanted to avoid her old man who was going to come home earlier today.

Benjamin Kirby Tennyson was impressed.

This morning when he and Momo came to school, they got interrupted by swarms of journalists sniffing around the U.A. It was 6:30 AM, but over time, it got worse. He and Momo had to help out Todoroki because he didn't know how to deal with journalists invading his personal space.

At least, thankfully, the sacred gate of the school — nicknamed the "U.A. barrier" — didn't let the unworthy inside. — meaning without a student card or staff card, it would gatekeep everyone else from entering the campus.

Ben absolutely agreed that it was completely rational.

"So… yesterday, All Might and I watched you kids fight," Aizawa- sensei said, as soon as the homeroom began. "I wasn't any part in evaluating you, but it's my job to relay the message to you kids."

Of course, he started with the most problematic kid.

"Bakugou," he called him out, making him flinch. "Stop acting like a 7-year-old child. You're wasting your own talent."

"And you," Aizawa's gaze turned toward the green-haired kid. "Are you always planning to destroy your arm, Midoriya? If you keep going like that, you'll never get terribly far. I've said it before. Don't make me say it a third time. Once you've cleared that hurdle, you'll be much more flexible, so I need to see some sweat out of you, Midoriya."

He actually gave some good advice! Ben was taken aback. Now I have no choice but to forgive him—

"Yes, sir!!"

As Midoriya passionately responded, Aizawa's eyes looked for Ben. The brunet was in the corner, the furthest from the teacher's desk.

"Ben Tennyson," Aizawa said. Even after preparing himself mentally, being mentioned by the teacher still sent shivers down his spine.

"You seemed to have a lot of experience with your quirk. I can't tell how much you trained in America, but I'd commend the way you're capable of controlling your strength almost flawlessly. You set a good model example in the class and made some good rational decisions in the trial. There were some behaviors I didn't like, but you're good overall. Sorry for singling you out. You did great."

"Thanks, sir!" I forgive you .

Hmm, it seems I don't need to sell out the entire faculty . Aizawa put down the records, deciding to move on to another activity.

"All right, people," he announced. "We need to pick a class president."

"Finally something school-like!!"

Pretty much everyone raised their hands and volunteered for the position, but of course, it wasn't like everyone could become one.

Ben didn't raise his hand. He was already singled out by the teacher on his second day of school. He wasn't going to try to stand out anymore.

" Quiet! "

The one who silenced the entire class with that cry was no other than the serious no-nonsense elite student, Iida Tenya!!

"This is a task laden with responsibility where you must carry and pull everyone else's weight!" He said passionately but also seriously. "Just because you'd like to do it doesn't mean you can!!"

There he goes again. Iida went on and tried to persuade people of how sacred the position was, with everyone settling for the voting in the end. Aizawa left everything up to the class and he himself took a nap in his signature sleeping bag. And so…

Tennyson Ben… 4 votes.

Midoriya Izuku… 3 votes.

Yaoyorozu Momo… 2 votes.

"You gotta be kidding me!! Who voted for Deku…?!" Bakugou wasn't even mad about Ben getting it.

Meanwhile, Iida, the man himself, was in despair, seeing no one voted for him.

"So it's decided," Kaminari commented, looking at the board.

No, it's not! Ben screamed internally. How did it even happen?! Who would even…

The young lady in the seat right before him gave him a smile and a thumbs-up. "Give it a try."

"I voted for you!" Ben almost yelled before keeping himself down with all the attention he was getting. "It would've been nice if you became the president instead."

"I personally think the same, but it seems there are people who want you as the president. Come on, they're expecting it from you."

No chance. Expectations are the very thing he was running from.

Just a peek at it, though. Who were those that voted for Ben?

The realistic guy, Ojiro Mashirao. If there hadn't been anyone, he'd have been going to vote for himself, but he gave it a second thought. He'd been given a choice, and he wanted to use it to push forward someone worthy. And then he'd written down Ben's name.

Shoji Mezo. Normally, he doesn't express himself so much. But this time, he saw something new. And so on a whim, he decided to vote for Ben. For Shoji, "whims" were worth so much as wishes.

Hagakure Toru. Frankly speaking, Hagakure fell in love with how delicate Ben had been while protecting her. The contrast between his delicate behavior and otherworldly strength was too " Moe " for her. It doesn't mean Hagakure is in love with Ben or anything!

Who was the mysterious last person who voted for Ben?

With an unwavering stern expression, Ben Tennyson stood in front of the class. Everyone wondered what he was doing and waited in silence.

"First things first, let me thank everyone who voted for me," he began. "The world is still beautiful, I get it."

He's giving… a speech?

"Electing me means people have expectations for me. That's really a good sign for me. I didn't have friends my age for half my life, so that's a big step far from my start line. But… a shame I will have to break those expectations. Let me respectfully decline."

"What?!!"

"Wh-what? For real?" Ojiro said, his eyes widened with surprise. He voted for someone and that someone is voluntarily quitting the game!

"Well, I didn't even raise my hand for it," Ben said. "Sorry, but it's not for me. Fortunately, we have those who have more votes than others, so yeah, we can still decide the candidates."

"We have no choice," Kaminari said. "With the top place quitting, the second and third places should take them."

"I second," Ben winked in the direction of Momo.

And so Midoriya became the class president and Momo became the vice-president. At first, Ben doubted if Midoriya wanted to take the position, given his humble and timid nature. But to his surprise, the greenhead gladly took it.

The case was solved. Now everyone's happy. With a growling Bakugou.

Ah, that said, the class in turn decided Iida was a better man for the job after the lunch break. Ben didn't know what happened exactly in the canteen, but Iida seemed to have actually won over people this time. He had no reason to oppose it anyway.

During the lunch break, as usual he had had his meal alone on the rooftop. Aizawa- sensei didn't come up to the rooftop. The teachers were occupied with something else.

"How stupid…"

The crowd of journalists marched into the U.A. grounds after somehow breaching the U.A. barrier. It wasn't the work of random commonfolk. Some lesser known no-brainer villain must have been involved in this mess.

Surprisingly for once in a long time, Ben Tennyson was genuinely enraged.

- To be Continued -

Chapter Text

Lesson 1 : A hero must know how to make use of the lies.

Chapter 3: "Diamond is Unbreakable!"

第3章: 「ダイヤモンドは砕けない！」

" And so the American Association of Heroes held their second conference of the year at Liberty Nexus Tower in New York. —"

As Yaoyorozu Momo approached Ben Tennyson's room, the sound of an English-speaking TV news program drifted out. Initially, she considered turning back, but halfway there, she changed her mind and knocked on his door.

"Ben?"

There was no response from inside; just the newsreader reporting about a recent big Pro Hero conference in America.

"... Every top-ranked Superheroes of the United States participated in the conference, where they discussed the matter regarding the theft of —"

She hated to interrupt him, but decided to give some knocks on the door anyway.

"Hello, Ben, you in there?"

"Correct, Mein Fräulein," answered a domineering and stern voice that clearly wasn't Ben's. "You may enter."

" — the Pro Hero and the director of CC Corporations, Captain Celebrity , has given his opinion on the case. To quote his official statement, he appears to believe that this particular act of villainy is either to haunt the world or to represent a certain symbolism — "

Momo thought something was off. She then opened the door and took a look inside first. No one was found on the couch, in front of which the TV was on.

"Turn your head around."

She almost jumped, but grabbed the top of the couch to calm herself and looked back at where the voice came from. In one top corner of the room hung a big orange crab-like creature upside down on huge, thick spider webs. It was staring freakishly at her through its large green eyes.

"Ben?"

"Jackpot, you're correct," answered the crab, its mouth frozen in a smile with exposed white teeth, without moving as it spoke. "You should've pinpointed my location just by tuning in to my voice from beyond the door."

"Do you think I'm a spy or something?" Momo angrily tightened her grip on the couch. "Also, stop speaking like a Kabuki actor. Cut the theatrics, you're starting to annoy me!"

It wasn't even a crab, but certainly a bizarre arthropod creature with a huge head, which was connected to a smaller lower body with a neck (?). Its hands with the pincers were connected to the top while the bottom body possessed six segmented arthropod legs.

"But I must suggest you exercise your auditory perception sometimes. It will prove worthwhile in your future heroics."

Speaking like a drama actor, his voice sounded so dignified and smart, almost like mocking Momo in particular. But not that it was in his control.

"I've never seen this one before," Momo said. "What is it called? Hugeheaded Spider?"

It made the "crab" raise its voice.

"The webs underneath my arthropod appendages were made of steel-strong silk produced from the Arachnichimp tail. And yours truly's name is Brainstorm ."

[ Arachnichimp = Spidermonkey's species]

"Such a basic name…?"

Upon hearing her remark, all kinds of classic insults and curse words danced on Brainstorm's mind, until she interrupted his overthinking before he could actually word out something harsh.

"Oh, almost forgot it," she said. "I know you're off-duty today, but the maids said you didn't come down for dinner. Come on, don't make your Ojou-sama personally come for you."

It was actually funny to see someone calling themselves an Ojou-sama . But Brainstorm didn't do much as chuckle.

"In layman's terms, I'm currently quite preoccupied with important matters," he said. "Therefore, perhaps please leave me alone for tonight."

Momo couldn't help but stare at Brainstorm's freakish smile for a moment. It was a smile, sure, but she knew it didn't reflect Ben's true feelings. His smile could send chills down her spine any time of the day, but she couldn't help it.

"Is that so? Then good luck," she replied, nodding. "I hope you'll reach the answer you need."

Yaoyorozu Momo was one of the few people who knew Ben Tennyson was much stronger than he claimed to be. It was at first meant to be a secret, but Ben let Momo know not just because he trusted her. In layman's terms, Momo was an intelligent and capable young lady who understood the professional boundaries between herself and Ben, no matter how they acted with each other.

She could never get closer to Ben even if she tried… So in the end, she made it a rule to not try to know Ben than she needed to.

" — no, the theft of this historic monument isn't just an outrageous challenge to the United States. It's a warning… to the entire world. It's like telling us up close to our ears! What if some great, overwhelming and unstoppable villain — "

The top side of Brainstorm's large skull split open in a freaky manner, revealing his pink brain inside. He looked pretty vulnerable right at that moment, but he really wasn't. A yellow string of electric sparks emerged from his brain and reached the TV, turning it off with a simple contact.

He closed the skull calmly and started concentrating even more seriously.

Ben Tennyson, who was Brainstorm at the time, felt the ironic childish anger inside him. The only thing that was keeping himself rational was Brainstorm's genius intellect. With a head that big, it should be obvious, heh.

Brainstorm wasn't nicknamed Brainstorm for no reason.

"Now I'm able to visualize the series of hypothetical events even clearly," his pincers clanged in harmony as he meditated, closing his eyes firmly. "So that appears to be the case."

The most reasonable theory Brainstorm could devise was rather complicated.

Reason 1: The highly advanced and strong fortress of U.A. High had been breached by someone. It wouldn't be insane to think it was all done by a single person, and it wasn't any of the journalists. None of them had such an insane quirk, according to his research.

It must be a villain.

Reason 2: Anyone capable of infiltrating the U.A. High and challenging its security must be formidable. Strong enough to antagonize Japan's top hero school. Additionally, All Might had begun teaching there this year. This couldn't be a coincidence. But what was their motive?

"It cannot be just a single villain… They must have other villains backing them up."

Reason 3: To challenge the strongest man ever, they'd have to be insane. Super crazy and completely messed up in the head.

For the time being, let's call them the League of Villains.

No, no, Brainstorm was just putting himself in the shoes of a crazy villain with a lame naming sense.

"Now everything's connected. I can see the ending of this route!"

Brainstorm laughed maniacally like a mad scientist, perfectly knowing that the Japanese villains were going to regret challenging the school of America's most wanted villain ! No, I will make sure they pay the price!

Surprisingly, this Ben Tennyson is childish and petty at times.

It was another lively day at U.A. High for Ben and his classmates. However, Aizawa-sensei seemed different today. Usually, his voice was laced with fatigue and disinterest, but today he looked more serious, although his gloomy aura remained.

Aizawa Shota, also known as the Pro Hero Eraserhead, preferred to stay out of the media spotlight. Yesterday’s mess with the journalists must've been bothering him.

"And so if you've looked at the schedule," he announced to the class, "you'll see that we're going somewhere for the afternoon Heroics lesson. You'll be supervised by a three-man team: myself, All Might, and another hero."

So Brainstorm's prediction was right. So Brainstorm's prediction was right. U.A. didn’t just let the security issue slide.

"It's a Rescue Training session," the teacher said, comically holding up a card that said "Rescue".

"Rescue Training sounds a bit difficult this time around…" Kaminari remarked.

"Totally!" Ashido agreed.

Most Pro Heroes used the offensive part of their quirks more . Ben mentally noted, judging from the comments of his classmates. For those without means to use their quirk for rescue, this agenda will be difficult.

But at the end of the day, rescue isn't all about saving or evacuating people. Very often that you must be equipped with a quirk capable of destroying modern infrastructure that might trap people inside during the disasters. Offensive quirk users can go with this method to back up the rescue and paramedic team.

One of such examples is Thirteen , a Pro Hero teaching at the U.A. From the looks of it, Ben was 90% sure the third teacher Aizawa- sensei mentioned was Thirteen.

"Don't get ahead of yourselves," the teacher interjected, silencing them. "This time, it's entirely up to each of you whether or not you wear your costumes. Some of your costumes probably aren't adapted to the task at hand, after all."

He then pressed a button on a device that seemed to be a remote control and made the closets slide out of the wall.

"Ah…" only then Ben realized All Might didn't just open the wall with his sheer willpower (in the previous chapter).

"The training area is fairly far away, so we'll get there by bus. That's all for now. Go get prepared."

Oh, by the way, Brainstorm also predicted Midoriya would be wearing his gym outfit instead. If you think Tony Stark's predictions are crazy, come see Brainstorm is even crazier.

On the other hand, Iida was even more hyperactive after accepting the class representative position. Blocking the entrance of the bus, he strictly lectured the class to get on the bus in an orderly manner, only to learn that they didn't need it at all. It was most likely a commuter bus, with some seats in the middle arranged in two columns facing each other, affixed to the inner walls.

"Then I'll be taking this one first, hehe…" Ashido said, sitting down in one of the middle seats.

"Me here, me here!" Aoyama Yuga, the blond foreigner kid, also took the place next to her.

Meanwhile, Ben went all the way to the back and took the furthest seat out of habit. But that didn't go unnoticed by the young lady. Half-sulkingly, Yaoyorozu Momo sat down next to him, shattering his dream of peace and quiet. But his downfall didn't stop there.

"Oh…"

Momo and Ben looked up at the imposing figure, who was giving them a death stare right in front of them. And then without a single word, he took the seat right next to Momo.

Of course, it was no other than Todoroki Shoto! The mere "dark" energy radiating from him could make Momo shrink, because nah, he was tons worse than her butler's "edgy" teenager syndrome.

"I see the recommended student outcasts are getting along, huh…" said a certain spiky-blond explosive kid.

Ben widened his eyes and got instant regret. He didn't notice Bakugou was sitting right in front of him. After having seen how Bakugou treated Midoriya, Ben decided to give him a piece of his mind—

"Are you in any position to call us outcasts?" His voice was unfaltering and confident, but also with a hint of mocking and insult. "At least we're getting along with each other."

"Grrr, I will explode you!"

"Bakugou- san , Tennyson- san …" Momo intervened with a tone of authority.

"Call me Ben," Ben replied, as hearing Tennyson- san was awkward.

"Yeah, as the vice class president," she continued. "I will have to stop you. Please don't taunt each other as you two are simply too danger—"

"Who cares?!" Bakugou turned back around and decided to mind his own business.

Yaoyorozu Momo let out a sigh of relief and relaxed, leaning back in her seat. Ben gave her a silent thumbs-up and closed his eyes, seemingly trying to take a nap on the trip.

"You've got it rough…" Todoroki muttered in a monotone, blankly staring at Momo before averting his eyes as he realized it was rude to stare at people for too long.

Momo didn't mind though.

"Well, I'm the vice president. Gotta do what I can."

It's not so often that Todoroki expresses himself. He was the prime example of a loner elite with twisted ideologies resulting from a miserable life. Momo used to lament Ben's "anti-social" tendencies, but look at this kid! His personality was aloof and cold, and detached — struggling in his life all alone and lonely. Unlike Ben, who had managed to make friends, Todoroki seemed to navigate life alone, with no one to rely on but himself.

Also that burn mark… Momo couldn't help staring at Todoroki for a moment. I wonder how he got it .

Meanwhile the middle seats just screamed fun with all the excitement radiating from chatter and noises from the crowd.

" Your Quirk reminds me of All Might's. "

The frog girl, Asui Tsuyu was the one who set Midoriya on fire.

"Is… Is that s-s-so!? Haha, but…"

There definitely was something behind it.

With Midoriya stuttering in the middle seats, Momo could faintly hear Ben snoring next to her. Todoroki gave the sleeping brunet a look of disbelief, like so this is the guy who beat me? So relaxed he's even fallen asleep!? Or something along that line.

But in Bakugou's eyes, the last row of the bus smelled like a love triangle, Ben and Todoroki with Momo in the middle. Wait, should I tell them that? Would I get punched if I told them?!

"B-but if we're going to talk about strong quirks…" Midoriya tried to divert the conversation. "Tennyson- kun 's Quirk is… definitely one, right?! It's also super versatile and super strong. I think he has a lot of uses for each of his transformations—"

"Stop, Midoriya- kun ," Kaminari intervened before it went out of hand. "You don't need to explain the details."

"Hmm, now that I think about it…" Asui cupped her chin, giving another honest opinion. "I think Tennyson- kun also has creativity when using his super strength and likes. It reminds me of how All Might can change the weather just by punching…"

"Asui— Tsuyu- san , you're also going down the spiral," Iida said bluntly. "Don't tell me… Are you a nerd like Midoriya, too?"

"I'm just being honest," Asui said. Her expression was always hard to read.

I'm saved… Midoriya internally sighed as the storm had safely passed.

"Yes, okay, I get it," Kirishima said, getting up from his seat. "Hey, Ben, come join us— oh…"

"He's asleep?" Kaminari looked puzzled.

"He really has no worries, huh?" Aoyama said with an unreadable smile. "People with fancy quirks…"

Unbeknownst to them, Ben Tennyson had to take a nap on the way because he pulled an all-nighter last night. Thankfully, he got enough time to prepare for what was to come.

"He's also keeping his cool all the time," Ashido added. "Speaking of Tennyson- kun , Hagakure- san , how does it feel to be hugged by his… that four-armed transformation?"

"Eh?" Caught off-guard, Hagakure shrank in her place. "I don't… know, it's just normal?"

Hagakure was the wrong person to ask. Her definition of "normal" wasn't quite right.

"It's Fou Aamuzu (Four Arms), Ashido- san ," Midoriya the nerd corrected the pinky girl.

"Ugh, wait, is it called "Four Arms" for four arms?" Sero Hanta, the tape guy, looked astounded. "Like, seriously?!"

"But it actually rocks," said Jiro Kyoka, the earphone jack girl. "Simple but still cool."

"Doesn't it sound cool just because it's an English name?" MIneta pointed out.

"But that orange dog must feel the best to touch," Ashido stated with a serious face. "Right, Hagakure- san? "

"Eh?" Hagakure sounded hesitant and confused again.

There was that one occasion during the battle trial where Hagakure had to ride Wildmutt to hide from Todoroki.

ARGHH , by then Ashido realized that Hagakure, while invisible, had sat naked on the back of Wildmutt. Embarrassed by her own imagination, she shut herself up and decided not to dig further.

The only other person who realized it was Yaoyorozu Momo of all people.

"Oi, foreigner!" Bakugou exploded, explosively waking up our protagonist. "Everyone's been talking about you and you're asleep?!!"

"Huh?... what's the time… Grr, leave me alone!!"

This time Momo only facepalmed instead of interfering, but the dispute was enough to turn their class president, Iida Tenya into a robotic busybody. He got up from his seat and rushed all the way to the back.

"Bakugou- kun , you don't need to be rude! He's just taking a nap!"

"Why're you even here, goody two shoes!?"

"Goody— that's the very thing I'm talking about!"

Some of the students looked at their teacher who sat in one of the front seats, hoping he would be help. But no matter how noisy and messy the class was, the teacher didn't utter a word. He was as quiet and calm as a meditating monk in the middle of a green forest.

Yes, that's right. Aizawa- sensei had plugs in his ears.

Soon they arrived at their destination for the day.

USJ - The Unforeseen Simulation Joint … a separate facility founded and managed by none other than the Pro Hero who specializes in rescue — Thirteen . From the outside, it was a gigantic dome — by gigantic meant it was really big. But the interior was even more impressive.

"This is just above and beyond…" Ben muttered, his eyes wide with astonishment as he entered the premises. "It's like an entire city's worth of disasters in one place."

"Yeah, it's definitely Plus Ultra," Kirishima agreed, his voice filled with excitement and a touch of nervousness.

The vastness and detail of the USJ left them all in silent awe. The realism of the various disaster zones was both impressive and intimidating. The air was filled with a mix of smoke, the scent of damp earth, and the faint, salty tang of sea water.

"Above and beyond" was an understatement to describe the detailed infrastructure lying inside that dome.

" Amazing, right? "

There was someone welcoming the Class 1-A — a Pro Hero in a white spacesuit like costume but with a puffy jacket, making her look like she was an inflated astronaut. Her voice also had a filter that made it sound like a synthesized radio-transmitted voice accompanied by a slightly metallic undertone.

"Welcome to the Rescue Training Lesson, Hero Course Students" she continued the intro. "There are different environmental disasters out there that heroes may face: flood wrecks, landslides, fires, etc. That's why I created this U.S.J. — Unforeseen Simulation Joint, the practical training area where we can simulate all kinds of accidents and disasters."

"It's the Space Hero: Thirteen, " Midoriya excitedly said as soon as he recognized her. "She's an angelic hero who does phenomenal work helping with disaster relief!"

[A/N: Sorry for interruption, and a little bit of spoilers. In MHA latest chapters, Thirteen is revealed to be a cute anime girl, lol. No offense. She's not even agender or anything. So if you're confused about my choice of her pronouns, that's the reason.]

Pro Hero: Thirteen , Quirk: Black Hole . — out of all the U.A. faculty including even All Might, Thirteen had the most interesting quirk, according to Ben. It allows her to replicate a black hole suction effect from her hands. But what's even more interesting is the way Thirteen uses her quirk for rescue purposes.

It's obvious that it's illegal to turn the villains into dust.

"I will be leading this session, with the help of your homeroom teacher and All Might!"

The students could see Aizawa whispering to Thirteen. Though Ben didn't overhear their conversation, he could guess All Might was late to the party.

This is bad… Immediately, Ben decided to keep up his guards and be even more wary.

"Okay," Thirteen held up their fingers and looked at the class. "Before we begin, just one thing… or two… or three… or four… I'm certain that you're all already quite aware, but my Quirk is called " Black Hole ", no matter what material may get sucked into its vortex, it will turn into dust."

"A perfect quirk to remove wreckage in disasters!!" Midoriya excitedly commented, which Uraraka wholeheartedly agreed by nodding rapidly.

"Yes…" Thirteen continued. "But it is also a power that could easily be used to kill. In that way, it's no different from the quirks of everyone here."

To sum up the rest of Thirteen's preface, with great power comes great responsibility . She explained to the students that they should use their powers responsibly.

"Your quirks emphatically don't exist to hurt others!" She concludes her speech. "Please leave this exercise having fully understood that your quirks exist to help people! That's all! You have my gratitude for listening so intently and patiently!"

"That was awesome!" "Bravo! Bravo!!"

So this is the hero who dedicated herself exclusively to saving lives. Ben had to commend her dedication and the speech she gave.

But unfortunately, it appeared they had some uninvited guests coming over…

Ben was the first one to notice it, having been watching that direction the entire time.

"Aizawa- sensei, " he called out, but even without his warning, the teacher had already seen it.

About a dozen meters away, a dark, ominous purple cloud formed out of nowhere, expanding rapidly until something emerged from it. The cloud morphed into a portal, a warpgate connecting this place to somewhere else.

"Huddle together and don't move!!" Aizawa- sensei shouted at the students, putting on his goggles. "Thirteen, protect them!!"

"What's that?" Kirishima said, staring at the newcomers. "Is this like—"

"Don't move!" Aizawa- sensei repeated. "Those are villains!!"

Within seconds, a good few dozens of "villains" flooded through the warpgate, including all kinds of weirdos and criminal lowlifes with weird fashion senses that advertised the fact ten times over.

Normally, Ben would consider it rude to assume someone was a villain at first glance. But in this case, it was obvious: trespassing on private property, crashing a hero course lesson, and blatantly unauthorized use of quirks. These people had already committed more crimes than Ben would expect.

" Eraserhead and Thirteen… "

A voice came out of one of the warpgates, with a pair of bright yellow eye-like structures while forming a humanoid form with its body overall.

"According to the teachers' curriculum we procured yesterday," said the Warpgate Man. "Mr. All Might was supposed to be here, and yet…"

"I knew it," Aizawa- sensei said. "So yesterday was the doing of you lots…"

" Where is he… "

This time, it was the villain in the center of them who spoke. He had creepy human-hand-shaped accessories holding him all over his body, especially one of them grabbing his face which acted like some kind of mask. Kinda cool, but in fact, creepy!

"... We went through all this trouble," he said. "And rustled up so many of us to bring along. You can't tell me All Might , the symbol of Peace, isn't here… I wonder if he'll show up if we kill the kids? "

So this confirmed half of Ben's, that is, Brainstorm's predictions. This gathering of villains came here to target All Might, so he suspected they would have at least prepared for an all-out war. They must've also brought some of their strongest guns ( villains ). On the other hand, the hero side had only two teachers who could officially fight the villains.

Sure, Aizawa- sensei had some great fighting skills even with his somewhat weak quirk. But he was greatly outnumbered, and Thirteen didn't specialize in fighting so Ben left her out of the equation.

But without All Might on the scale, Brainstorm's fundamental plan had been overthrown. Thankfully, he came prepared with a backup plan.

"Sensei!!" Momo asked Thirteen. "What about the Intruder Alarm Sensors!?!"

"Of course, we have some!!" Thirteen said. "But…!"

Well, they must've planned that far even if they're insane enough to take on All Might of all people. Ben quietly glared at the marching villains, his brain running hot like an overheating engine. Quite a number, but most of them are just good-for-nothing lowlife thugs. Eraserhead should be able to handle that much, but…

If they had planned to fight All Might, they must've also brought someone who could fight on that level… And Aizawa- sensei wouldn't win under most circumstances.

The situation didn't become better. The most important piece (All Might) on Ben's board was missing…

"An isolated space away from the school…" Todoroki tried to piece the puzzle together. "At a time when there's a class scheduled… It may seem out of the question, but they must have some solid objective."

"Bingo, Todoroki…" Ben said, checking the surroundings once again. "But whatever their motive, they didn't appear to hesitate killing us."

"Then—"

"Thirteen, proceed with the evacuation procedure!!" Aizawa- sensei said, interrupting them. "Try calling the school. These villains know how to get around the sensors! There's a chance there's an electrowave-type guy who'll try interfering!! Kaminari, you too! Try contacting the U.A. office with your quirk!"

"Sensei!? Are you gonna fight them alone!?" Midoriya suddenly spoke up, but with concern. "Even if you suppress—"

"Midoriya- kun , he knows what he's doing," Ben said, grabbing his shoulder. " You should leave it to the professionals."

"B-but…"

"He's right," Aizawa- sensei replied. " A Hero always has more than one trick up their sleeves. Countin' on you, Thirteen!"

With that request, Aizawa jumped down right into the battle, kicking one villain's butt after another. Ben could guess how much butt kicking experience this Eraserhead had. In fact, Eraserhead went much beyond Ben's expectations and professionally handled dozens of enemies at the same time. So he decided to leave the matter to the teacher for the time being.

Meanwhile, the students and Thirteen, who remained at the entrance, swiftly executed evacuation protocols. The strict laws governing quirk usage meant that even Hero Course students were prohibited from engaging in combat without a license. So here they could only let the teacher handle it.

Ben would love to "solo" the entire enemy team, but…

"Incredible…!" Midoriya couldn't help but watch his teacher fight, astonished. "I forgot—"

"Not a good time, Midoriya," Ben said, pulling him back. "Though we may even be—"

Too late…

The worst-case scenario unfolded. The same kind of dark-purple mist that the warpgates were made of, suddenly materialized in their path and shut off their escape route.

"I'm afraid I can't allow that," said the Warpgate Man, his voice calm and almost polite, but at the same time dry and emotionless.

"Shit, you can't, fker," Ben couldn't help but curse under his breath. How the heck do I even fight a guy made outta smoke? Use Terraspin and fan him away?

"Greetings," the Warpgate Man continued. "We are the League of Villains . I apologize for the presumption, but we took it upon ourselves to enter the campus of U.A., the base of Heroes…"

Slowly, his humanoid form was becoming more and more defined and prominent, with a neck-like structure alongside some sort of protective armor pieces appearing under his "head."

But what is Thirteen doing?! This is the perfect chance to get him!

"... In order to engage with Mr. All Might, the Symbol of Peace… We were wondering if we might be allowed the opportunity to extinguish him, you see. Was Mr. All Might not meant to be in attendance at this facility? Perchance, has something been altered? Ah well, setting—"

"Surprisingly polite for a villain, huh, Mister? " Ben raised his tone, just enough to tick the Warpgate Man for a second.

"Huh? —"

In that fleeting moment of distraction, Kirishima and Bakugou seized the opportunity. With swift coordination, Kirishima delivered a powerful kick while Bakugou followed with an explosive punch directly at the Warpgate Man's face. The sudden counterattack even caught Ben off guard.

"Bet you didn't think we'd take you out before you had the chance!!" Kirishima shouted triumphantly.

But to an even bigger surprise, the Warpgate Man was unscathed. I mean, he was just mist (?).

"That was quite perilous," he said. "To be expected, though you may be mere students, you are also the hero world's golden eggs."

"It's no use!" Thirteen yelled urgently to Kirishima and Bakugou. "Run, you two!"

"Running's no use either," Ben observed, scanning their surroundings. "We're surrounded."

Even as they realized it, they found themselves surrounded by the dark purple mist emanating from the Warpgate Man, ready to engulf them entirely.

"We have three seconds before we're warped," Ben stated firmly, his tone resolute. "Prepare yourselves!"

"Everyone! —"

And just as Midoriya called out, the mist devoured them all.

Crap, I'm stuck playing along with this messed-up game, aren't I?

The next thing Ben knew, he was plummeting alongside Midoriya and the others from a great height, with a body of water visible below.

"AGHH!!"

As Midoriya screamed his lungs out, Ben reopened his eyes and adjusted to the free fall as fast as possible, his fingers instinctively tapping his wristwatch.

He could already see a handful of villains lurking underwater, waiting to prey on them. As if he would let them get the upper hand…

You sure will regret it!

Ben slammed the Omnitrix and called out:

" Omnitrix! Henshin! "

"Eh?!"

Following the sudden flash of green, humongous hands grabbed hold of Midoriya, Asui and Mineta in mid-air, plunging into the water with a tremendous splash, which created gigantic waves, messing everything up. Nearby aquatic villains of the League , waiting below, got slapped away by the waves of unstoppable strength.

Alright, thank you Omnitrix. Humungousaur is what I needed.

Clutching his students tightly in his arms, the gigantic humanoid dinosaur swung his tail and legs in the water, swimming all the way up to the surface.

"Um, Ben, actually, it's a bit late for this," Asui spoke up. "I have amphibian properties, so I can stay underwater for a long time."

Asui Tsuyu, 15, Quirk: Frog — gives her a frog's physiology and allows her to do anything a frog can, giving her abilities including an extendable tongue.

"That's not the issue," Humungousaur replied, gently placing them on a nearby yacht he had spotted. "This lake's dangerous."

The waves made from Humungousaur's fall only got them so far — the villains were tossed aside momentarily, but since the U.A. students were the "kill" targets, they would certainly come back here. They must've prepared for this bigtime and Ben must expect all the opponents in this aquatic battle to have some kind of aquatic-related quirks.

This put the students in a tight spot. But Ben had already prepared for that possibility.

"They're coming back for us," Humungousaur stated firmly, steadying the boat. "Asui- san , we might not be acquainted enough to make this request—"

"Call me Tsuyu," the frog girl interjected.

"Okay, Tsuyu- san , please take care of these two!"

With that, Humungousaur turned around, ready to face his foes.

"What are you going to do yourself, Ben- kun ?!" Midoriya exclaimed, helping Mineta sit up. "They have advantages in both number and quirk, even if it's you—"

"So are you planning on just letting them kill you, Midoriya?"

Midoriya Izuku hesitated for a moment. What would a hero choose at that moment? Which choice would be closer to being "rational" that the Eraserhead always talked about?

"N-no, of course not… But you don't need to face them alone."

The villains closed in around the yacht, but thankfully, the dinosaur man was the only one still in the water.

"Thanks for worrying, but I'm not," he smirked, seizing the yacht's anchor chain. "What I'm gonna do is flashy and dangerous, that's why as a hero wanna-be, I need to protect you from them. Hold on tight, cuz I'm gonna launch this friggin boat!"

"... Hmm, wh—"

Without waiting for further protest, Humungousaur shattered the anchor chain, sending the yacht spinning and drifting several dozen meters away with incredible force.

"Cocky much?!" Several villains leaped out of the water to get Humungousaur. "Face the terror—"

" Thunderclap: Aquatic Edition! "

水の版 の サンダークラップ！

"What the—"

They had no time to dodge. No, even if they did, it was unavoidable at all. That one massive underwater tremor shook their entire bodies down into their nerves and subsequently; all of them dwelling in the lake were thrown out of it like ragdolls and scattered in all directions, rendering most unconscious.

The yacht rocked violently from the tremor, Ben's three classmates struggling to grab on.

"Hold tight! Mineta- kun! " Midoriya shouted.

Just as Midoriya and Mineta nearly slid off the deck, Asui's tongue wrapped around them, pulling them back while she anchored herself to the wall for stability. Waves surged over the deck like a miniature tsunami.

Thunderclap is a signature mid-range move of Four Arms and Humungousaur. This time instead with a bit of twists, Humungousaur clapped his hands together underwater, generating even more powerful waves than the shockwaves created with wind.

"Wh-what just happened?" Mineta gasped in surprise.

"Huff… my first time using it…" Ben, in human form, emerged from the water close to the yacht. "Asui— Tsuyu- san , please."

"Say no more," Asui responded, using her tongue to lift Ben out of the water and drop him safely onto the deck.

"That was amazing, Ben- kun! " Midoriya exclaimed, excitement quickly giving way to worry. "But where's the rest of us?"

Ben had already taken a look at the facility's layout the previous night.

"I only saw you three here," Ben answered, inspecting the surroundings. "This must be a flood simulation zone. The villains who attacked us had quirks suited for water combat, which means our classmates must be scattered across different zones, each facing their own enemies."

The ability of the Warpgate villain to warp multiple targets to different locations simultaneously was troubling. Brainstorm had taken a guess at it, but even he couldn't determine the limits of Warpgate Guy's powers.

"What should we do?! We're in big trouble!" Midoriya fretted.

"No worry!" Mineta exclaimed. "As soon as All Might arrives, he will send them flying like pow pow and save us!"

"Mineta- kun , I think they must've figured out some way to kill All Might," Asui said. "Otherwise going to that extent—"

"No, that's impossible," Ben interrupted. "They can't take down All Might just because they're a little crazy. All Might ain't the type to go down that easily."

His classmates fell quiet for once and looked around. At least Midoriya was ready for a face-off with the enemies, even if he wasn't sure how to proceed. Thankfully, Ben had eliminated the immediate threats they were facing.

Before them stretched a vast and varied landscape with fake mountains, zones filled with ruins, a flood zone with a raging river, a mock forest fire, a landslide area, and icy terrains with slick surfaces and crevasses.

"Ben- kun …" Midoriya began. "You know how to handle your quirk much better than we do with ours. It seems you also have the most experience out of us..."

"Do they train kids differently in America?" Mineta asked, rubbing his head.

"I trust Ben- kun , how about you two?"

"I agree with you, Midoriya- chan ," Asui said. Mineta just returned an approving nod.

"See?" Midoriya pressed. "That's why… lead us. Tell us what to do. We will support you and fight our way out of this!"

"No way! I won't be part of it!" Mineta exclaimed. "Tennyson has already taken care of the ones coming after us! We should be fine!"

"But we still need to help our classmates!" Midoriya argued, albeit out of good will. "We don't know if they're in worse condition than us! We have Ben with us so…"

Ben Tennyson looked at his classmates, seeing determination in their eyes. He crossed his arms and gave them a stern look that sent shivers down their spine. But there was something oddly motivating and fierce about it.

"No," he said monotonously.

"Wh– why?!" Midoriya panicked, as Ben's response was unexpected after his climatic build-up. "We need to—"

"Yeah, normally you would, but your training's not enough. Especially you, Midoriya… using your quirk hurts your body, right? How many shots do you think you'll get? If you injure all your limbs and get taken out, someone else will have to save you."

Ben was also speaking out of good will, simply hoping it would reach Midoriya.

"... even then… I still…"

Ben Tennyson wasn't reckless anymore. Well, he used to be—a delinquent who played the role of a vigilante, kicking the butts of random thugs in alleyways. But over the years, his experiences had changed him. He couldn't afford to lose, but more importantly, he couldn't stand to see someone get hurt right before his eyes.

Yet, he understood how selfish it was to make that decision on his own.

"Hold it, if you insist, you three work as a team," Ben said, after changing his mind. "You won't be assisting me. You… I mean, I don't deserve to lead you. Sorry."

"Ben- kun… "

"We don't have any time to waste," Ben said, tapping the Omnitrix. "I will drop you off at the nearest zone and you guys go help others."

"Wait," Mineta said. "I haven't agreed—"

The three teenagers closed their eyes subconsciously as the brunet was once again enveloped in bright green light, indicating his transformation.

"Eh?! A new transformation?!" Midoriya exclaimed as he witnessed the red manta-ray-like humanoid with golden horns standing before him.

"This one's called Jetray," the creature said. "Now if you don't mind, Tsuyu…- chan , please hold onto the boys."

"Leave it to me," Asui replied with a thumbs-up.

"What does this one do?!" Midoriya asked eagerly.

"You'll see…"

With Asui holding Mineta, Jetray grabbed her and Midoriya with his clawed legs, carrying the trio and flew up into the air.

"The flight's free," Jetray said, picking up some speed. "But open to complaints if the air resistance's too much!!"

"This is just about fine!" Midoriya over the rush of wind.

"Don't drop me!! Please don't drop me!!" Mineta clung tightly to Asui, his voice tinged with panic.

"Is that Aizawa- sensei?! "

Jetray decelerated quickly and overlooked the fights on the land. Aizawa- sensei was still handling the villains alone. In fact, some of the villains here seemed to be the leaders.

So this is the most problematic place…

"I will back him up later," Jetray said, flying away from the plaza. "I will drop you off in the landslide zone. You guys look for others and help them out!"

"Ah, okay—" Midoriya was cut off.

"Also, it's not necessary to fight the villains. If you can get away, just do it! You guys are still students! The best if you can leave here unharmed…"

"Ben- kun , you're talking like a teacher," Asui remarked sincerely. "But I understand you."

"Good luck for you, too, Ben- kun ," Midoriya said.

Jetray nodded before gliding all the way to the ground and slowing to gently release his grip on his classmates and let them fall to the ground.

"Thanks for that— ah…"

Before Midoriya could finish his words of gratitude, Jetray vanished into thin air as a red blur of flash.

"So he's been flying slowly for us?" Mineta commented, puzzled. "He's even faster than Iida—"

"Not a good time to admire it, Mineta- kun ," Asui reminded him. "Let's go."

"Wait, I haven't even agreed—"

Their guess about the students being scattered all over the place was correct. But particularly in this landslide zone, it wasn't the villains who had the upper hand.

The sole student who got sent to this area — the "half-and-half bastard" — had already effectively immobilized the enemies in his ice.

Todoroki Shoto, 15, Quirk: Half-Cold Half-Hot . — As the name suggests, his Quirk allows him to use Ice abilities from his right side and flames from his left. The embodiment of the clash between the political wings.

"At this rate, you guys will gradually succumb to death by necrosis," he said, his voice firm and emotionless. "But since I'm aiming to become a hero, I want to avoid doing horrifying shit like that as much as I can."

The villains couldn't even do as much as tremble as Todoroki himself decided to take a seat on the ground and interrogate them.

" What's the basis of your plan to kill All Might ? "

"Todoroki- kun! " A voice interrupted his thoughts. "You all right?!"

Todoroki turned, only to see three of his classmates — Midoriya, Asui and Mineta — hurrying down the mountains of ruins. When faced with an obstacle, Asui effortlessly carried the boys over it, landing them safely behind Todoroki.

"You're!... Unharmed?" Midoriya looked around and realized all the enemies around them were frozen and imprisoned in ice.

"He's like Tennyson, then…" Mineta remarked.

"Yo, I'm here, too!" A female voice said, surprising the group but Todoroki. It was Hagakure Toru, the invisible girl. "Though, Todoroki did all the job."

Todoroki didn't seem to be bothered, but at any rate, his interrogation was already ruined.

"Are you okay, too, Hagakure- san!? " Midoriya asked.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. No worry," the voice replied. "It's totally safe here."

"That's why Ben left us here…" Asui said, realizing it.

"Huh?" Midoriya looked confused.

"He dropped us off in the safest place," she clarified. "Ben's being too protective of us."

"So Tennyson…" Todoroki muttered, causing his classmates to flinch.

Initially disinterested, he now couldn't help but be curious about this particular American. Not that he considered him a worthy rival or anything, but it was the sign of a crack in his stone cold demeanor.

"... Was he with you?"

"Yes…" Midoriya confirmed. "Tennyson- kun kinda saved us from danger and handled all the villains."

"But Midoriya- chan insisted we'd help others," Asui added. "Yet Ben left us here instead of letting us fight."

Todoroki Shoto's facial expression remained inscrutable, but didn't seem to have that much of a reaction. After a brief silence he took time thinking, he stood up from the ground.

"I've dealt with the villains here so if you want to help, go and back up others. The Earthquake zone is just across the bridge over there."

Midoriya and Asui exchanged glances and nods of agreement.

"Thank you, Todoroki- kun ," Midoriya said, leading the way with Asui, followed reluctantly by Mineta.

Meanwhile Jetray just flew out of the Earthquake Zone where he "helped out" Bakugou and Kirishima. Unfortunately, it earned himself some explosive complaints from Bakugou so he took his leave shortly after.

Well, apparently, they were handling it fine so Ben didn't need to worry.

On the other hand, in the Mountain Zone…

"Uwa!!" Kaminari narrowly dodged a strike from some strength-based villains and met up with the girls. Trapped in this zone were himself and two girls — Momo and Jiro Kyoka, the earphone jack girl.

But it was nowhere close to a lucky perv encounter.

"That was close!!" Kaminari said, struggling to maintain balance. "Holy crap!! I saw death's door!! Who the fk are these guys!! And what the hell's going on!!?"

"Let's worry about the specifics later," said Jiro as the villains began to surround them.

There was no escape path, of course. Momo could also guess these all were going for the kills as they claimed to be, but she couldn't believe the League of Villains could gather this many bloodthirsty ruffians.

If Ben Tennyson were on duty, all these people trying to harm his mistress would have been turned into paste. Momo wanted to laugh out loud at that crazy thought.

"Jiro- san , take this," Momo said, producing a small sword out of her thigh. "We will have to defend ourselves."

"Thanks, and of course," Jiro gratefully sheathed the sword and held it in front of herself with two hands.

"Right now, we also need to focus on how to get out from under them!"

Momo also produced a metal pipe weapon for herself, ready to smash the skulls of her opponents.

"Wait, aren't you an electric kid?" Jiro said, mentioning Kaminari's Quirk. "Just fry them already!"

"Hey now! Didn't you see when we were a team—" Kaminari was cut off.

All of a sudden, something dropped right onto a villain that was going to strike the distracted Kaminari. What a save?

The trio cautiously took a step back, their backs touching each other's. Kaminari now couldn't avert his eyes from the cloud of smoke where the newcomer fell.

" Lemme tell ya somethin', you fkin' donut maniacs that are dumber than Joker from the Tales of the Great Batman! "

It sounded fierce and harsh enough to strike fear even in the roughest of the criminals. But despite that, the obvious foreign accent in his voice was somewhat funny.

" Now that Rath's here! Nobody's touchin' Rath's girl! Cuz if she's hurt, her dad will be seriously pissed! "

"What… what's that?!" Exclaimed one of the villains nearby — instead of an answer, he received a smack-down from the newcomer, which consequently dispelled the dust.

" Now who's up fkin' next! "

"Isn't that Tennyson's symbol?" Jiro muttered, taking a glance.

Okay, I kinda wish he didn't come in that form. Momo mentally complained, unable to bring herself to turn around and see it. It's Rath of all things!

The first thing Kaminari noticed was a glowing green hourglass symbol — of the Omnitrix on the newcomer's belt. He resembled a tail-less bipedal muscular tiger, with a broad chest and front limbs (arms) being larger than his hind limbs. With the skin color being orange, he had black stripes visible on his arm and elbow, with his hands from wrist down covered in black fingerless gloves, and one big black claw coming out of each wrist.

The creature also wore a black-and-green coat that resembled Blitzwolfer's getup, but nothing else underneath.

"Ah, that guy's an exhibitionist!" Kaminari shouted. "Girls, don't look this way!"

"What the heck?!" Jiro exclaimed, until she realized the creature didn't have any exposed privates. "Uh… makes sense."

Momo wanted to facepalm. For now, she should take a mental note to make Ben change his Rath's outfit.

" Lemme tell ya somethin', you blondie donut whose hero costume is plain as heck! " The tiger man shouted back. " Rath's no exhibitionist! But if you wanna throw hands! Rath's open to kick your butt! Rath will make you eat sushi all day— "

"Grr, you are too loud!!" A villain yelled out, swinging a large plank of wood right at the tiger man's face.

The wooden plank broke into pieces, but it didn't leave as much as a scratch on the tiger man, let alone hurt him at all.

"Ah… sorry?"

" So that's how you wanna play, huh?! " The tiger man slapped the perpetrator right across his face, sending him flying all the way into the lake of the flood zone.

" Where did you fking go, donut?! I'm not done punching yet! "

Some of the criminals, despite being rough-looking ruffians, began to feel the shaking in their knees. Wha, it seemed they had undiagnosed, underlying knee pain.

"Jiro- san , are you sure that's Ben? Ben Tennyson?" Kaminari asked, unable to believe it due to the contrast between Ben and Tiger Man "Rath".

"Yeah, I'm doubting it now…" Jiro said, lowering her sword as the tiger man was serially taking out their enemies.

" Lemme! Tell ya!! Some fkin' thing!! " Yelling angrily, Rath rapidly punched one villain after another, flinging them away like ragdolls. " You donuts!! For even thinking!! To hurt Rath's girl! "

"No one told me about this!! Aghhh!!"

One of the villains screamed out of horror and tried to run away using his quirk, only to get caught by Rath.

" Where do you think you're goin'?! " Rath grabbed him by his collar. " Oh, ya going to the floods?! Lemme give ya a free flight ticket!! "

"No, no, no, Aghhh, help!!!"

With that, Rath kindly flung him across the air, making sure he would safely arrive in the lake. — Hint: he did. There was no hint of sadness in Rath's eye: nothing but pure, growing rage. What a cruel world.

"I guess he's on our side," Kaminari Denki remarked hesitantly. "He better be… Cuz I don't wanna fly."

" Oi, you wanna fly?! " Rath's attention turned back toward Kaminari.

"I just said I don't!"

Rath, the Tiger Man, at that point, had already taken out three-fourth of the dozens of enemies surrounding the students. It wasn't just impressive; it was straight-up horror.

Rath is one of Ben's nine transformations. With a tiger-like appearance, Rath has anger issues and an ever-rising nigh-uncontrollable anger meter. Additionally, the angrier he gets, the stronger he becomes — but his rationality is questionable most of the time as his personality completely overwhelms and clogs Ben's voice of reason.

Jiro was right.

" Then lemme kick some more butts, will ya?! "

"Just do what you want!" Kaminari said. "Why're you even asking me?!"

" Huh?! You wanna go for a round?! "

"Sparky," Jiro elbowed the lightning boy and whispered a warning. "Don't provoke him!"

"You're on his side?!"

"No—"

" Polaris… Piledriver! "

ポラリス・パイルドライバー

The trio could only watch to not get in his way as Rath the Tiger Man took a few dozen seconds at most to take out and incapacitate the rest of the villains around.

"I wonder if he's the final boss here…" Kaminari muttered, seeing all the villains knocked out flat on the ground and scattered all over the site. "Also what does he mean by "My girl?" He mentioned that, right?"

That piece of… Momo gulped. Of all the words, Rath's choice of vocabulary was poor.

"Definitely… not me…" Jiro also couldn't help noticing how quiet Momo Yaoyorozu had been the entire battle. "Yaoyorozu- san ?"

"Huh, her?" Kaminari glanced at the young lady Momo with disbelief. "No, no, it'd be more believable if it was about you."

"What does that even mean?!"

" Now Rath's schedule's open… " Rath said, walking menacingly toward Kaminari. " Maybe wanna throw hands?! "

In a panic reflex, Kaminari accidentally activated his Quirk, sparks of electricity flying to Rath, only to be nullified by his thick fur.

" Grr, lemme tell ya somethin' — "

"Bad cat."

Rath stopped all his movements, his green eyes set on the young woman standing in his way. That courageous woman, namely Yaoyorozu Momo, gently pressed her index finger on Rath's soft furry chest.

"Yaoyorozu, you…" Kaminari gasped in shock.

" My… Yaoyorozu- san … You're unharmed."

It was almost like all of Rath's wrath was sucked away.

It was a flash of green light at the right time that confirmed that Rath was Ben's transformation, with himself being right there in the flesh. Jiro didn't seem to be enthusiastic about it but Kaminari couldn't be more clueless.

"Uh, sorry guys," Ben said apologetically. "I did something really crazy. That must've been annoying."

Momo retracted her hand and let out a sigh. "Yeah, it could've been a disaster."

"Ah, come on, I don't go berserk that bad."

"But you did," Momo deadpanned. "They better have insurance to cover the medical bills."

"Hello, Earth to Kaminari Denki?" Jiro waved her hands in front of the petrified Kaminari's eyes. "Okay, he's beyond hope. Anyway, what's the situation, Tennyson- san ? Since you seem to come from other sites…"

Hmm, she's pretty sharp.

"Call me Ben," he said. "Everyone's safe. Our class was dispersed like you guys here, but there was a group left near the entrance."

"Which means they couldn't evacuate…" Jiro remarked with a slight concern. Or annoyance? Either way, she seemed to be bothered a bit.

"No, wait, since we're isolated and the communication's totally cut off from the school…" Kaminari connected the dots. "Unless there's anyone who successfully reaches the school, we won't have any back-up!"

"Bingo," Ben said, he himself absorbed in thinking.

"Then you should go. You have that guy Wildmutt, who's faster than Iida—"

"No, I can't," Ben tried to look at the entrance, which was about a kilometer well away. "I can't leave this place."

"Ah…" Jiro seemed to have realized why Ben meant. Momo did so as well.

"What? Why?" Kaminari questioned.

"What about Aizawa- sensei? " Momo asked with concern.

"He's still fighting… I hope the backup will come soon. Ah, anyway, you guys leave this place and meet up with others. Landslide zone has Todoroki and the Earthquake zone has Bakugou and Kirishima. I also left Midoriya, and the other two there."

Yes, that's right . Ben raised his left hand and rolled up the sleeve. I can't waste any more time.

"And what about you?" Momo asked.

He merely placed a finger on his lips and shushed her with a grin. "I'll be an errand boy. Henshin! "

With that, Ben assumed the form of an Aerophibian — Jetray, and turned into a red blur, disappearing quickly from sight with blurring speeds.

That smile… But he's not playing around. Momo felt uneasy. Is he going all out?

"I can't wait for the back-up!"

With his enhanced eyesight, Jetray could see the Warpgate guy keeping the students and Pro Hero Thirteen at the entrance. Unfortunately, Thirteen didn't have much fighting experience. But Jetray had his hands tied to help out Aizawa first.

Initially, Aizawa had been overpowering the small fries with his experienced fighting skills, but now he was throwing hands with who seemed to be the leader of the villains. It wasn't going well.

If the most important piece isn't here… Jetray dived to the ground and pressed the Omnitrix, after which he seemingly phased into the ground, unnoticed by anyone on the battlefield, heroes and villains alike.

"We're finally here!"

Midoriya and co turned back from the earthquake zone and headed to the plaza where Aizawa- sensei was fighting alone.

"Shall we go there?" Asui asked. "Ben- chan isn't there yet…"

"What's he doing…" Midoriya muttered, feeling troubled. "Oh, no, sensei's caught!"

After beating dozens of villains, Aizawa Shota the Eraserhead was finally stopped by a creepy white-haired guy with hand-shaped accessories all over his body.

"We keep jumping around so it's hard to tell," the creepy guy said, grabbing Aizawa's elbow. "But there are moments when your hair falls over your eyes. It's whenever you complete one action. And the interval is getting shorter and shorter…"

As soon as Aizawa couldn't keep up his Erasure quirk, the creepy guy's quirk was activated, which turned Aizawa's sleeve into disintegrated dust. Before the effect spread to his arm, the teacher punched the creepy guy across his face and jumped back as a temporary retreat. Unfortunately, the standing small fries took that opportunity to launch a strike, now that Aizawa was injured for once.

It was the right moment.

Sensing something coming out of the ground, Aizawa changed his trajectory mid-air and rolled to the side. The concrete floor immediately shattered and opened, with a huge chunk of greenish blue crystal-like material emerging out of the ground — hitting and knocking out the villains.

What is this… Another villain? Aizawa couldn't let his guard down. One of his arms had been injured… Not a good time to face another enemy.

"What is that?!" The creepy hand man yelled angrily. "Who did it?!"

The crystalline pieces fell off the chunk, until a humanoid form grew more and more distinct. The transformation was almost artistic.

The newcomer stood tall and buff, with a rocky body — crystal-like greenish-blue arms and his torso, legs, and the back of his head composed of indigo-colored rock material. Four crystal shards jutted from his back, and his head had a sharp, angular shape with a protruding lower jaw and emerald green eyes, but no noticeable nose structure. He wore an unbuttoned black vest adorned with greenish-blue linings and a diamond-like symbol on the left side of his chest.

He is… Aizawa narrowed his eyes under the goggles. Not on their side?

The crystal guy transformed his right arm into a crystal blade with dull edges, while declaring, his voice masculine and deep, almost sounding like Tsuda Kenjiro. (A well-known JP voice actor).

" I'm the Righteous Vigilante from Musutafu — Codename: Diamond Knight! I apologize for arriving late, Eraserhead . "

A vigilante? Who?! Aizawa tried to recall if that guy was someone he knew. He had a lot of connections in the underground lawless sites of Tokyo. But he had never heard of any vigilante in Musutafu . U.A. High was just next to the city and there were a handful of active pro hero agencies around.

Aizawa Shota wasn't sure if he should be relieved or troubled for that. But at any rate, a helping hand was exactly what he needed.

"I won't thank you for that," Aizawa recovered and stood up. "I hate to accept assistance from a vigilante, but lives are at stake. So…"

"No need for formalities, Eraserhead," Diamond Knight replied. "All after seeing this all, it's too late for me to not get involved."

Diamond Knight was actually Ben Tennyson transformed into his petrosapien form — nicknamed Diamondhead. But with a few modifications in his outfit, of course, since he didn't want to give away his identity. He didn't include Diamondhead in the official registry.

This was his plan B — if All Might isn't here, just bring another big piece on the board.

Where did you even come from in the first place? Aizawa was naturally clueless. Forget it for now, I will question him later.

"So you decided to work with a vigilante…" the creepy hand guy said. "Don't you have any pride as a Pro Hero?!"

"Pride comes last when it comes to saving lives," said Diamond Knight on Aizawa's behalf. "That's why Eraserhead has been working as an underground hero…"

Okay, that's not why I became an underground hero but I hope he shuts up. Aizawa found trouble.

"Grrr… I don't want to hear it…" The creepy man ordered his minions. "Get them!"

Negotiation's out of the question, huh… Diamond Knight turned both of his arms into blade-like weapons.

But with his command, the small fries moved out of the way as if they left the job to someone else…

"Look out!!" Aizawa shouted, seeing a black humanoid monster charging at the vigilante.

But his alert was too late — no, this monster was too fast for Diamondhead to counteract against. Just what the heck is this?!

Diamondhead was slammed flat against the concrete floor, destroying a good chunk of it. Aizawa jumped back and activated his quirk on the monster though he was unsure what their quirk was.

The monstrous villain towered over even All Might, with a heavily muscular body and a large, exposed brain that had an eye on either side. His mouth resembled a beak, framed by thick beige-skinned lips and filled with monstrously large, jagged teeth.

What is this… Aizawa was taken aback. This thing… An instant villain ?!

No, impossible. The instant villain incidents had died down years ago since the last Naruhata battle! There were a couple other possibilities he could think of. But for the time being, he must focus on nullifying them at any rate.

The remaining stubborn criminal minions jumped on the opportunity to kill the "last standing" hero, Aizawa. Despite how much he tried, the monster's strength didn't seem to falter. Aizawa dodged to the side, avoiding a dagger strike, and then used his capture scarf to take down another villain, bringing both to the ground.

Damn, I hope that guy's not dead…

"Ha, you're so weak, aren't you…" the creepy guy said, approaching Diamondhead who had been "crushed" by the monstrous villain. "The bioengineered artificial human… Nomu … born to kill the Symbol of Peace! You stand no chance against it!"

Nice to know that… If my opponent's an artificial life form… I can go a bit further…

Unbeknownst to everyone around, Diamondhead was completely unscathed. The creepy man instinctively stepped back as Diamondhead eventually lifted the entirety of Nomu's weight and began to get up, striking the floor with his fist, which almost made Shigaraki lose his footing.

"... the hero's still alive? Huh… HuhUHHuh… How is that possible?!"

"Oi… use your brain…" Diamondhead said with a grin. " A little too late but let me say this before I roll… I'm fairly strong! "

What's he doing… Aizawa felt relieved to see his temporary partner still kicking, disregarding his cringe declaration.

" Nomu ! Crush him!" The creepy man shouted, acting like an even creepier mentally unstable mad man who walked out of an asylum.

Nomu exerted more strength into his legs and tried to push down the vigilante, but it was no use. Diamondhead didn't move an inch down — instead in the meantime, the shards on his back grew and formed an arch-like structure, which pierced through the monster's foot.

"Grrr!!"

" A Hero always has more than one trick up their sleeves. "

Diamondhead referenced the exact same phrase Aizawa said just before the battle, and overpowered Nomu's strength through his sheer will and crystallokinesis! A boulder made out of various gems like diamond, ruby, etc, emerged out of the floor, supporting Diamondhead as he pushed up the Nomu, causing it to lose footing and drop to the side helplessly.

The Nomu immediately recovered from the sudden change in the tide of the battle, and charged at the vigilante right away. However, the fight wouldn't go in their favor anymore. Unable to slow down, the Nomu slammed itself against a large crystal shield that suddenly erect from the floor, which was indestructible however strong the monster was.

"Unfortunately for you, I happen to have a lot of tricks," Diamondhead said, detaching his hand from the shield. "Maybe I shall call this move… Diamond is Unbreakable. (ダイヤモンドは砕けない) "

Is he really just a random vigilante? Aizawa questioned, slapping an incoming villain with his capture cloth. Or was that Anti-All Might too weak?

"How is that… How is that even possible?!!" The creepy man began scratching his face, experiencing an emotional outbreak. "How does… How does—?!!"

"How does a random vigilante even have the power to fight your final boss, huh?"

The cocky grin on Diamondhead's face vanished, replaced by a frown. "The answer is right in front of your eyes: you're just too weak!"

At his command, the shield crumbled into pieces, letting Nomu recover and lunge at him again. But it was just a very brief pause as the enlarged crystal fist slammed right into Nomu's torso, making it growl in pain. It was neither the fist nor the strength that hurt it. Nah, in fact, Diamondhead was too weak for that.

"What… Huhhuhuhh…" The creepy man widened his eyes in horror as the crystals pierced through the monster's body, emerging from its back. Just to make sure it was neutralized effectively, Diamondhead enveloped its torso and limbs in his crystals, incapacitating it.

The bioengineered monster, born to face All Might of all people, had gone into slumber at the hands of a street vigilante.

"Our plan…"

He asked Eraserhead if he had any pride as a Pro Hero… But now his pride as a villain leader had been crushed like this. This Nomu was his trump card.

" Kurogiri ! " His voice now had a bit of urgency. He must be calling for help…

"As if I'd let you!" Diamondhead called out and charged at the villain, with his fist pulled back ready to smack him in the face.

Aizawa took down the last of the remaining thugs and looked back at the vigilante. But he had no choice but to leave it up to him as the villain leader had proved to be more than he could handle.

Another twist of events in favor of the villain side.

Just before Diamondhead landed his punch, his hand went into a warp gate that appeared right in front of the villain. This is bad! By the time he realized it and retracted his fist, the warpgate closed on him, severing his arm.

"Crap!"

"Diamond Knight!" Aizawa called out.

"I'm fine! Don't come!" Diamondhead frowned, stepping back. "It's dangerous."

"So this is his arm…" the villain leader said, holding the amputated crystal arm that dropped from a warpgate. "... must commend you for that, Kurogiri. "

" Shigaraki Tomura… "

The two heroes immediately entered battle ready stance as the warpgate mist suddenly reappeared behind the creepy hand man, alongside the voice — slowly forming a humanoid shape.

So the hand guy is Shigaraki Tomura. Ben took a mental note. The Warpgate Man is Kurogiri… But for real, it did hurt quite a bit even if I can regenerate. Cutting through space itself… That’s a tough power to face, even for me.

Yet… despite his regenerative abilities, Ben decided to pretend it hurt more than it should, and pressed on the "wound" as he observed the villains conversing.

"If you're here…" Shigaraki questioned. "Does that mean Thirteen is dead? "

Both Diamondhead and Aizawa couldn't help but flinch upon hearing it, but Aizawa couldn't afford to look away and check on his co-worker. Especially after witnessing how Kurogiri cut off the arm of the vigilante who stood his ground against the Nomu that would even face All Might…

He didn't want to believe it, but it wasn't impossible at all. Did they fail to evacuate?!

"I've incapacitated him, however," Kurogiri answered, as politely as always. "I'm afraid the students who remained there impeded me… and he was therefore able to escape with his life."

"Huh… Huuhhuuuhhh?" Overcome with anger and frustration, Shigaraki activated his quirk, making the crystal arm quickly disintegrate in his hand. "Kurogiri, you… if you weren't a proper warp gate, I would've crushed you to pieces! If the back-ups come, we can't win against dozens of pros. It's game over. Man, it's so game over this time. Let's go home…"

Are they leaving? Ben couldn't afford to lower his guard despite that.

If he hadn't restricted himself to a single transformation, he could've easily handled this level of villains even if they were leaders or whatever. Shigaraki's fighting style was sloppy and inconsistent, while Kurogiri entirely relied on his mist-like physiology.

But he couldn't afford to blow his cover in front of his homeroom teacher of all people. He had no other choice but to let the villains go for the time being.

"... or not?!"

Shigaraki seemed to have changed his mind at the last second and lunged at something in the lake around the plaza. Diamondhead turned his gaze in that direction and immediately noticed Midoriya and co in the water.

"Kids… Get away from there!!" Aizawa shouted, activating his quirk to nullify Shigaraki's disintegration while charging in with his scarf ready to bind the enemy.

Kurogiri quickly got in the way to prevent Aizawa from using Erasure, only to receive a solid punch in his neck from Diamondhead.

"I've finally figured it out… Bastard!! Eraserhead, go!!"

But in the end, they didn't even need to act.

" Diiiiieee!! "

A loud battle cry followed by an even more deafening explosive sound and a flash of bright flames that forced the Heroes to cover their eyes. Without a doubt, the problem kid of Class 1-A had arrived.

"Shigaraki Tomura!!" Kurogiri exclaimed.

Met with the incredible point-blank explosion at his face, Shigaraki was blown away like a ragdoll, forcing Kurogiri to retreat and save him. On the other hand, Midoriya and Mineta also got flushed away by the waves, but Asui picked them up with her long tongue and leaped out of the water, landing back on an ice board that suddenly appeared in the lake.

"Thanks, Tsuyu- chan … And…!?" Midoriya recovered and looked around to see his saviors.

"Bakugou, Kirishima, and Todoroki, too," Aizawa grumbled. "This is going to be troublesome."

"As if you don't have your hands full already…" Diamondhead chuckled, regenerating his arm quickly, much to the surprise of Aizawa and the students.

"You could do that?" Aizawa asked.

"Well, I probably can't do it again in a while. Let's focus on this first."

Unlike Swampfire whose body is made of organic plant-like matter that could be easily absorbed from the environment like earth's, Diamondhead's body is made of an organic silicon substance. Regenerating an entire arm means he was also using other parts of his body to reform one. The density and durability overall should've been reduced as a result. The only way to renourish himself was to absorb the natural gems and crystals the earth had to offer, but currently, he was too busy to do that.

He wasn't sure he could face another foe as strong as Nomu right now, but fortunately, Nomu had been neutralized.

"So these are the ones who want to kill All Might ," Todoroki said, ice-skating toward the bank of the plaza. "They're not as tough as I expected."

Bakugou wasn't as calm.

"Now I will fking get you, Warpgate!" He growled and jumped into the air, aiming explosions at Kurogiri.

It was almost like his divine duty to protect Shigaraki Tomura. In spite of the option to warp away, Kurogiri got in Bakugou's path and took the explosion point-blank, letting himself be blown up.

It seemed Kurogiri, the main transport of the villain league, had been neutralized at the hand of a high schooler.

"Don't you dare fricking move," Bakugou threatened, somehow pressing Kurogiri on the floor. "The second you do so much as twitch, I will load you with a nice little explosion right here, right now!!"

"Now's our chance, Eraserhead!" Diamondhead said, to which Aizawa responded with a nod. Leaving Kurogiri up to Bakugou and Todoroki, the hero and the vigilante rushed toward Shigaraki Tomura who was lying on the ground, injured from Bakugou's previous attack.

The hand-like accessories covering the villain had fallen off, exposing his mental facial expression. He was a bloody mess, with random spasms and voluntary twitches which didn't make it better.

"You heroes are like that…" Shigaraki began, his voice shaky and weak. "... Violence is justified when you do it."

"It's all because you villains won't learn the lesson without violence!" Diamondhead shouted, halting and summoning crystal constructs from the ground, mirroring Todoroki's ice technique. The constructs formed a line all the way toward the villain, in order to hold him down before he could return a counterattack.

In harmony with his vigilante partner, Aizawa's scarf and hair began to float around, indicating he had activated his quirk so Shigaraki wouldn't be able to destroy the constructs.

"Kurogiri… let's go home for real…"

Caught off-guard, Aizawa turned around to look back at Kurogiri. It all happened in a few seconds when Kurogiri escaped from Bakugou's grip and appeared overhead of the weakened Shigaraki.

"Shigaraki Tomura…"

"... everything's in vain…" He barely escaped Diamondhead's constructs somehow and rolled into Kurogiri's misty warp gate. "... cheat codes suck…"

"... Maybe we'll get him next time."

"We will."

And so the warpgate disappeared alongside the villain leaders. Left exhausted and frustrated, Diamondhead kneeled down on the floor, restraining himself from profanity in front of the high schoolers.

"Fk that piece of shit!" Bakugou, however, didn't give shit to that rule. "Why did you let them go?!"

"Bakugou, calm down," Aizawa wrapped his broken arm in his capture cloth. "All villains here have been neutralized, right?"

The reason why they had been fighting was the kids. So the result was good enough. If he were a more sociable person, he would have to thank the vigilante big time.

"I hope everyone's fine…" Midoriya said, before realizing his homeroom teacher had been injured. "Aizawa- sensei! Are you okay?!"

"This can be healed so don't be so loud," Aizawa said as calmly as possible. "Seriously, you know. Instead, we need to make sure—"

"Sensei!!" Someone shouted across the lake, gaining everyone's attention.

"It's Yaoyorozu- san! " Midoriya exclaimed. "And others…"

Diamondhead stood up, holding a crystal cane he made out of nowhere. And then he created a thin bridge out of crystals, connecting all the way to the other side where Momo, Jiro and Kaminari were.

"Sorry, this is the extent of my powers," he said, looking back at Aizawa.

"It's good enough, thanks. You guys, gather here first."

With the teacher's instructions, Momo and co arrived at the plaza via the bridge, while Asui and Mineta were sent to check up on Thirteen and students who remained near the bridge. 

" BOOOMM!! "

The entrance gate of the U.S.J. opened explosively, creating big clouds of smoke and dust — with the arrival of a certain someone.

" Have no fear! " The man declared as he set foot in the facility. " For I have arrived! "

"All Might!!" The students excitedly shouted in relief.

All Might was wearing a shirt and yellow pants, with the yellow matching jacket taken off — instead of a hero costume. It was quite clear he came here rushing.

The only odd thing was he didn't smile or laugh like usual. His expression was all serious, showing signs of rage. But well, he was late to the party.

"Hmm? You guys… have defeated the villains?" He looked around, confused, until he found his injured colleague. "Huh, Thirteen!! Are you okay?! No, you're not clearly okay!! What about the students?! Where is—!"

"We can check it later," Aizawa said, raising his voice. "Could you please check up on the students in the other zones and bring them here? I can't quite move around, now."

"Aizawa- kun! You are injured, too!"

"Come on. This can get healed later."

All Might calmed down.

"Okay, got it, leave it to me," he said before disappearing in a blur. And then in the next few seconds, he brought Ojiro Mashirao from the flood zone over to the plaza.

"As expected of All Might!" Mineta said excitedly.

"By the way, where's that friggin' damn foreigner?" Bakugou questioned. "If he's so damn powerful, he could've done something here!"

Diamondhead flinched upon hearing Bakugou's remark. His absence here must definitely be suspicious. I should get outta here and change back!

Todoroki and Aizawa showed a slight sign of interest. The homeroom teacher would soon need to do a headcount. He didn't see Tennyson anywhere. Though that American kid was strong, he still needed to transform. So if the villains got him before he transformed…

"Uh, Tennyson? He saved our butts back in the mountain zone," Kaminari gave his testimony. "That tiger form of his, what was it called?"

"Rath…" Momo filled in.

"Yeah, Rath, that guy was really scary."

"He also helped us in the flood zone, too," Midoriya said. "Though he, like, knocked out most of them in one blow and no one dared to come after us."

Ben Tennyson's presence was here and there, so Aizawa supposed the kid ran around here and there helping others. That was better than facing the villain leaders here. Aizawa wasn't sure if Tennyson could handle something like this.

Leaving him aside, what about the rest? The homeroom teacher couldn't help getting worried.

"On second thought, I will go by myself."

"But sensei, you're injured!" Midoriya said.

"This is nothing…" Aizawa muttered, seeing the state Thirteen was in.

"I've found everyone, Aizawa- kun ," All Might said, carrying Aoyama on his shoulder. "No need to worry now."

Following him were the rest of the students from other zones and a big orange dog that was Wildmutt.

"Oi, foreigner, where did you go?!" Bakugou shouted as he angrily approached Wildmutt, who only responded with grunts.

Meanwhile, the entire faculty of Pro Heroes from the U.A. office made their entrance at the site, accompanied by Iida, who managed to go all the way back to the school and informed them. The police and the paramedics had also arrived.

The only one gravely injured was Thirteen though she still somehow maintained her consciousness. Aizawa needed medical attention but after replacing the binding cloth around his arm with a proper bandage, he decided to share some information with the cops and his co-workers first before going to the infirmary.

"Speaking of which, Aizawa- kun , you took down all those villains there," All Might asked, inspecting the thugs lying around either knocked out or incapacitated.

"No, I worked with the guy over there… Oh…" Aizawa muttered as he found out the vigilante Diamond Knight had disappeared. "Did you guys see that glimmering rock guy who was sitting by the lake?"

"Ah, yes, but I don't know where he went off to," Sero Hanta said. "Was he a Pro Hero?"

"A Pro Hero… A glimmering rock guy…" All Might mumbled, thinking. "Who?"

"The issue is he's not a Pro Hero," Aizawa said. "He called himself a vigilante of Musutafu, went by the name Diamond Knight ."

A tall, handsome man in a stereotypical detective long coat and a hat approached the heroes, accompanied by his trusted subordinate with a cat-like head.

"Diamond Knight…" he said, writing it down in a small notebook. "From my knowledge though, I've never heard of someone like that. I'll look into it later."

"Please do so, Tsukauchi- kun ," All Might said. "To think a vigilante is that powerful…"

"A vigilante, huh… How nostalgic," Tsukauchi the detective said, looking at Aizawa, who didn't particularly show any interest.

Nostalgic? To be precise, a vigilante almost stole his younger sister's heart. Tsukauchi Naomasa also had some real history with vigilantes.

"At any rate, students, please follow Tamakawa- san for check-ups just outside," he announced. "If further medical attention is needed, he will help you speak to the paramedics."

"Me?!" Tamakawa Sansa, the officer with a cat-like head, exclaimed in surprise. "Uh, okay, kids, let's go."

With Tamakawa leading the students out of the facility, All Might, Tsukauchi and Aizawa exchanged glances. They were soon joined by Principal Nezu and some Pro Heroes from the U.A. faculty.

The group went down to the plaza to inspect the handiwork of Diamondhead that captured and incapacitated the bio-engineered Anti-All Might monster — Nomu.

"This is a really tough material," Nezu noted, tapping the surface of the crystal construct. "Interesting."

"Tsukauchi- kun! " All Might looked concerned. "Is this really okay to touch?!"

"I don't think it would be a problem," the detective answered nonchalantly. "Any comment, Eraserhead- san ."

"This guy here was said to be an artificial bio-engineered being," Aizawa said. "They called him Nomu. It seemed this guy was also designed to kill All Might. "

"Kill…" All Might muttered, tensing up. Tsukauchi looked worried for his best friend, too.

"Well, I can't tell how strong he was," Aizawa said. "Diamond Knight took him down pretty fast and the rest is as you can see."

"That would be a problem," Nezu said. "We can't arrest our suspect if we can't destroy these structures. Care to give it a try, All Might?"

"Please not here," Tsukauchi said before calling in his officers to figure out how to excavate the entire thing and bring it to the police station.

And so the U.S.J. incident chapter came to an end without anyone finding out about Diamond Knight's identity. Speaking of which, apparently, the crystal constructs holding Nomu suddenly crumbled and disappeared that same night, except for the one in its stomach. Fortunately, the creature seemed to be in a deep slumber so there wasn't any resistance.

The truth behind it was… Ben somehow managed to sneak into the station that was holding the Nomu and took away the constructs in the safest way possible.

- [ Transition ] -

The moment had finally come. That bastard was frustratingly skilled at hide and seek.

Come to think of it, I didn't really need to go that far, but I did—maybe out of curiosity, or just plain old selfishness. Wonder if Mr. Stark would give me a round of applause for this.

It was that door. At first glance, just an ordinary closed bar. No customers had come or gone in the past 24 hours. Most would think it was just a place left forgotten.

Couldn't see a thing inside from out here. Either it's pitch black or they're good at hiding their lights.

Got to the door, planning to knock politely, then changed my mind. They're villains. No need to play nice. Scoped out my surroundings—no one around. This district's practically a ghost town anyway.

"Three, two, one…"

I teleported right into the place. It was just a dim-lighted and gloomy bar without any bartender on duty. Classic villain lair.

Found the Kurogiri guy in one corner, tending to a badly injured young man wrapped in bandages. Funnily enough, it looked almost like Shigaraki was on life support already.

But come on, at least remove your handy thingies when you go to bed. How attached can you be…

"Who are you, sir?" Kurogiri asked, still polite but cautious. "How did you get in?"

Let me show you something cool real quick, buddy.

I snapped my fingers, teleporting a wine glass from the rack into my hand — a magic trick that surprised both Kurogiri and Shigaraki.

"Teleporting… like you, Mr Kurogiri," I said, dropping the glass and letting it shatter on the floor.

"... interesting…" Shigaraki muttered weakly. It seemed Bakugou really roughed him up.

"Thank you, Mr Tomura Shigaraki," I grinned. "I go by Deejay Emcee . Let's cut to the chase. I want to collaborate with your… little league of villains."

Hook, line, and sinker.

"Is that so?" Shigaraki said. "But we can't just trust anyone who waltzes in our game. What's your deal?"

"Actually, you should know it. Just recently, I struck fear in people and made them question their own security and livelihood…"

Kurogiri exchanged glances with Shigaraki before saying. "Go on."

"Well…"

Another snap of fingers!? Hell yeah. This time, instead of anything else, I teleported myself and them thousands of kilometers across the world.

"This is… where are we?! Answer me!?"

Even Kurogiri, usually calm, started freaking out. As I expected, his quirk must have some kind of distance limitations and usage rules. When suddenly brought into an unfamiliar space, this was their reaction.

Shigaraki himself seemed to be astounded, until he burst into mad laughter.

"... This is the north pole," I answered, slipping away from Kurogiri's grip. "And if you're thinking about that , yes, you're correct. I stole the Statue of Liberty. "

- To be Continued -

Chapter Text

The scenery before me was breathtakingly beautiful—an expanse of sky brushed with faint orange by the setting sun, stars beginning to blaze, and the bright moon illuminating the world as day faded into night. The river beneath this bridge flowed with a tempting allure.

Clad in a black hoodie, I crouched on the railings, gazing into the horizon. Precisely at the edge of the river I could see. Oddly enough, the bridge and the surrounding area were too serene and tranquil, with almost no trace of people. The stillness hung heavy, broken only by the gentle rustle of leaves in the breeze. No vehicles had disturbed the peace... until now.

"There he is…" Lifting my left sleeve, I revealed the Omnitrix snugly fitted around my wrist.

Far from where I stood, something emerged from the calm surface of the water, completely out of place—a shark dorsal fin, unusually huge. If it had occurred naturally, it would have been a marvel of nature, as no shark had ever been seen that big.

Oh… As the big megalodon-looking shark rose from the little river, someone riding on the back of the creature became more and more prominent. Unsurprisingly, a familiar face, too. A welcome deal though.

"Ben Tennyson!!" A raspy voice coming from there yelled at the top of his lungs, almost a battle cry. "Today, I'll settle the score!"

Truthfully, that's actually a battle cry—something that had me grinning in excitement, though hidden in the shadow of my hoodie. The cry was a direct declaration of war challenging the greatest warrior of all time.

Aloysius Animo, alia: Dr Animo ; Quirk: none . A middle-aged mad scientist. Thanks to his genius intellect, he crossed over to some crazy side opposite of me and performed nobel-worthy experiments on the animals, enhancing their powers and all. In the end, aren't you just a hypocrite who weaponized animals and turned them into monsters…

"Not today, Animo," I scoffed, almost arrogant but truthful. "You'll leave here with nothing but defeat."

Defiance, determination and arrogance… None of them tasted sweet in my book, and Dr Animo right now possessed those things.

"But I'm not alone now!" He yelled back with confidence. "I brought some of your old buddies!"

"Hmm…"

That very confidence in his voice was troubling… I must make him know his place. But fortunately for him, a series of loud noises that came from elsewhere diverted my attention.

With a loud explosive Vroom, a high-speed motorcycle with a sidecar attached roared onto the bridge, carrying a team of three unique individuals.

"New client, new job!" One of them screeched.

To describe their appearance, all of them wore black! The bald, skinny rider wearing a mask handled the bike; behind him sat a massive, heavily muscled man with a weird piece of metal stuck in his otherwise bald head. Standing in the sidecar, battle-ready, was a pale-skinned young woman with tentacle-like prehensile orange hair.

"Let's mug 'em Tennyson!" The massive man shouted. "Show 'em who's the boss!"

As the vehicle closed in, the woman dangerously waved her orange prehensile hair in the air and attempted to swipe me with it.

Now that I couldn't just wait sitting on the edge, I jumped down to the sidewalk and crouched in time, avoiding getting hit.

" Circus Freaks …" I mumbled, dusting myself off. "You guys learned how to use your brain, huh. That's long overdue, though."

Meet the mercenaries; Circus Freaks Trio!

Acid Breath, Meta Ability: Acid Breath . — the masked dude steering the motorcycle. As his name suggests, he can breath out some gas and liquid with strong acidic, matter-eating properties.

Thumbskull, Meta Ability: Unnamed Strength Mutation . — the dude riding behind Acid Breath. He had some thumb nail gimmick to him, and no, not the thumbnails. It means the nail on human thumbs, etc. He's just a superhuman mutant.

Frightwig, Meta Ability: Hair. — the woman in the sidecar. Her quirk allows her to weaponize her prehensile hair. Hence, she had attached some weighted spheres at the end of the bundles of hair.

"Next is what? Zombozo?!" I laughed, the sound hollow and forced. But I guess I'd jinxed it.

As if on cue, a chilling laugh echoed from the shadows of the bridge. I turned towards the source, my eyes straining to pierce through the thick mist and fog obscuring the other side. And then…                                                                       

Emerging from the darkness, a figure clad in garish clown attire with a sinister grin stepped forward. Zombozo, with his twisted sense of humor and mischievous intent, had arrived.

"Guess the circus is in town," I muttered, my heart pounding. Adrenaline surged through me, but I couldn't let my excitement—or battle thirst—show.

This is real shit if five of my enemies teamed up against me… or even more?

Before I could fully process Zombozo's appearance, the water beneath the bridge churned violently. A massive, armored figure with a green tentacled head resembling an octopus burst forth, landing on the bridge with a thunderous crash and carving a large crater.

"Ben Tennyson," the newcomer's deep, menacing voice rumbled. "Your time is up. Today our ultimate alliance shall earn the victory of our fated battle!"

Vilgax, Quirk: Squidface . The former intergalactic warlord and one of my deadliest enemies, had joined the fray.

"Hey, I thought today was a usual Tuesday," I said, scanning my surroundings. "Didn't expect the war to be on, now!"

The motorcycle came to a halt a few dozen meters away, the Freaks jumping off of it. With Dr Animo ready in the water, I've been surrounded on all four sides. Isn't this a little too much?

But that's not all.

"Boss!" A female voice called out, catching Vilgax's attention. "We've brought them! The knights! And all we have!"

Oh, if it's not our resident female delinquent. Certainly an unlikely addition to the "army."

Rojo, Quirk: None. — a maroon-haired woman clad in a black full-body armored suit with a white skull symbol on her chest. She alone was an insignificant yet annoying pest in my way, but her leadership was to be feared even if it wasn't on Vilgax's level.

"Good," Vilgax remarked. "We all have gathered here…"

With that, more arrived on the soon-to-be battlefield—minions clad in silver medieval knight-like armor, and a horde of people, mostly women, wearing gothic fashion and riding modified motorbikes.

How exciting! This is just climatic! The climax!

"Did you seriously think the numbers would do it?" I asked mockingly. "Honestly, how many times have I defeated each of you guys? I didn't count…"

Rather I couldn't, because that's just too many!

"Today it will be different, Ben Tennyson!" Vilgax declared, catching the trident weapon that Dr Animo threw to him. "We will take you down and save this planet from your reign!"

"How unreasonable…" I muttered.

Zombozo frowned and readjusted his hat. "Be wary of his tricks. We can't sacrifice more than we must."

"We are the final line of defense!" Dr Animo said, pressing the buttons on his helmet. He summoned a horde of gigantic animal mutants in the water as well as several flying avian monsters.

How arrogant of them. That's fine. I will just remove all the rebels from my world.

"Omnitrix, it's time to wake up," I muttered, tapping the faceplate. "The greatest battle is here!"

The rebels shielded their eyes from the bright light as I assumed one of my many transformations, using the power of the Omnitrix.

"We'll go all out from the start," Vilgax commanded his allies. "Go! Go! Go!"

At his signal, everyone on the frontline charged toward me from all directions. Their strategy was clear: confuse and overwhelm me with numbers. It was their best bet. Since they're going all out, as a warrior, I can't just take it easy, right? Ahahahah…

" Open your eyes wide! Learn from me! Worship me! "

Ben Tennyson, the Tyrant of Tyrants, the Owner of the Earth. Yeah, that was me. With seemingly infinite power and ruthless nature, I had been able to overtake the governments of the world and turn it into my personal playground.

And today I shall cleanse the playground and remove the rebellious pests and problem children.

"This is…" Vilgax gasped, witnessing my brand new transformation. "I've never seen it before!"

Zombozo's eyes widened in shock while Rojo shouted in a panic. "Back down! Retreat! Circle—"

But it was too late for any new strategy.

A massive green explosion erupted where I stood, obliterating the small fries that had dared to close in. As the remaining rebels fell into despair, I emerged unscathed, hovering mid-air and glowing brightly like a god. Well, I was indeed a god at this point.

My new form radiated nuclear energy, with visible energy liquid tanks adorning my limbs and torso. With a smirk, I declared in a frighteningly mocking tone.

" Because this is my, the Baddest Ben Tennyson's Special Guide to Supervillainy ! "

Don't sweat it, people. The outcome of this battle had been decided long before it even began. There always was a winning side and a losing side — and no inbetween.

The battlefield fell silent for a moment, the rebels frozen in fear and disbelief. Then, with a roar, Vilgax charged forward, his trident crackling with energy. "We won't let you win, Tennyson!"

Chapter 4: "Yaoyorozu Momo- sama Wants to Believe…"

第4章:「八百万百様は信じたい…」

"Woah, my boy Tennyson, what happened?! You looked pale… and like, you've aged 10 years or something."

This masculine charismatic voice attracted all the attention from the kitchen.

It was Yaoyorozu- san who greeted Ben as he set foot in the staff dining room. He was especially taken aback because his boss doesn't usually visit these parts of the manor. By his boss, I meant the older man Yaoyorozu, the father of Momo and the head of the esteemed Yaoyorozu family.

So naturally, this man was one of the top in the country.

"Sir, sorry, I… kinda had a nightmare and…"

"Oh… take care," Mr Yaoyorozu said kindly, patting Ben on the shoulder. "I guess you do have your worries. Forget that I asked — speaking of which, didn't Momo- chan tell you to join us in meals in the main dining room?"

Yaopapa was a handsome and tall middle-aged man of average build, who sported a thin mustache. He usually kept his black hair combed back and neat.

"I can't possibly impose on you, Sir."

Moreover, making Ben "special" looked weird in the eyes of other employees. But the Yaoyorozu family hardly cared about it. On the other hand, Ben hated to stand out in his work place.

"Come on, don't be so formal," Mr Yaoyorozu grabbed Ben's hand. "You're off-duty today, right? I also heard from Momo- chan that you protected her during yesterday's incident."

"Uh…"

Ben specifically told Momo to not give him any rewards regarding what he did back in U.S.J., as it could trip the status quo between them. Yet…

"All the more reason to make you join us for breakfast. This is the least I can do to thank the guardian angel of my dear protector!"

Papa Yaoyorozu is not only a doting father, but also a scary and terrifyingly stubborn man. He's especially pushy toward Ben because the brunet happens to be his daughter's age and happens to attend the same Hero Course in the same high school!

"Th-then, I'll gladly take you up on that offer, sir."

"Good," Mr. Yaoyorozu said with finality, and with that, the kitchen staff witnessed the rather intimidating sight of Mr. Yaoyorozu whisking Ben Tennyson away for breakfast.

Meanwhile in the grand family dining room, Momo and her mother sat side by side at an expansive table, laden with a variety of nutritious dishes. Emphasis on nutritious.

To an outsider, the lavish spread might have seemed ostentatious, but for the Yaoyorozu household, it was simply routine. After all, their quirks demanded a substantial intake of food.

"Momo, you should also eat the lobster. Our head chef poured his soul into it. Show some gratitude," Mama Yaoyorozu instructed, her tone strict and upright, even as she indulged in an extra-oily, crunchy karaage . Hypocrisy at its finest!

Mama Yaoyorozu was, in essence, a grown-up version of her daughter, debatably even more beautiful and noble. Yaopapa, wisely, refused to choose sides when asked who was prettier between his wife and daughter.

"If you put it that way, it sounds like something straight out of a horror movie," Momo remarked, clearly annoyed.

"Does it?!" Mama Yaoyorozu exclaimed through a mouthful of chicken.

"Don't speak with your mouth full!" Momo scolded her mother as naturally as she breathed.

"Hai, Madam!" her mother responded, taking a quieter bite of her chicken.

Now the roles were reversed, weren't they? Deciding to interrupt them at that point was Papa Yaoyorozu who was standing at the entrance. Ben was close behind— and he was already used to the fact that Momo often straightened out her slightly goofy parents.

Though Papa Yaoyorozu appeared strict and upright in front of his daughter, he was quite laid-back when she wasn't around.

" Ahem. Honey and Momo…" he said, pointing behind him with a thumb. "Ben boy is here."

"Oh, is he here?!" The mother immediately sprang from her seat, placing down her chicken. "I must give him formal thanks."

"Ma'am, it's really fine," the brunet said as he narrowly avoided the approaching woman and hid behind the man.

Momo pulled the tray of lobsters toward herself and leaned back. "Mom, give it a break. It's really unnecessary."

He's annoyingly prideful and stubborn. She thought, tearing apart the lobster meat elegantly with her fork and knife. Who does he think he is?

"Yes, what Ojou said," Ben nodded. "Her father had already invited me to breakfast. So I guess it counts, haha…"

Papa Yaoyorozu seemed pleased by how the boy called him Momo's father instead of the formal "sir". Someone as capable and quick-minded as him… Yeah, it wouldn't be so bad if he became his son-in-law.

That particular thought unknowingly infuriated him though.

"Alright, now have a seat," the man said. "You can sit across from Momo. Right next to me."

"Thanks, Sir."

The man himself took his place at the head of the table and immediately grabbed a bowl of noodles, noticing Ben's silent stare.

"Oh, kid, help yourself. Come on."

"Uh, thanks…"

Yeah, Ben, you're already used to this . The brunet tried to convince himself. You've already grown accustomed to their meal traditions. Let's not feel so off—

"This is why I don't wanna touch this dish," Momo complained, munching on the last lobster. "Chef's so good, but once it gets to the good part, it's all gone in a blink."

That everything went into your stomach! Ben sweatdropped. How much did she even eat? In a short time, too, no joke. Yaoyorozu Momo is not for beginners.

"Momo, table manners," the father said before elegantly slurping down a bowl of soup.

When he put down the bowl back, there wasn't a drop left in it. The brunet blinked at the sight as he hesitantly poured some mayonnaise into his warm rice bowl.

"Did you check out the canteen?" The mother asked all of a sudden. "I heard they hired Cooking Hero: Lunch Rush there…"

"No, didn't get a chance to," the girl answered as she stabbed a lettuce roll with a fork. "I might get addicted to it. Also, papa, Ben's mixing mayo in his rice."

"Wha– how outrageous!" Papa Yaoyorozu got all worked up, making Ben petrified. "Kid, stop that. I will show you how to eat a proper mayo-gohan. "

"Excuse me?"

"Listen, kiddo," the man quickly poured mayo into his bowl as well. "Look, this is how you mix it. Thoroughly and… make sure you take in the smell as well."

Momo sighed in disappointment. Ben Tennyson didn't know how to react to the showcase.

"Ah… thanks, sir."

Breakfast with Yaoyorozus was bound to be noisy and chaotic. But for some reason, the boy felt like all his loneliness had been shattered away, even if it had been for a brief moment.

"Thanks for the meal." (ごちそうさま)

While this household ranked among the wealthiest in the country, the familial bond shared by the Yaoyorozu family was no different from any other. Ben observed the genuine affection Yaopapa and Yaomama held for their daughter. Despite their usual busyness, they had set aside today to share a simple, meaningful meal together as a family.

The recent villain raid had undoubtedly left the parents worried. Learning that Tennyson had protected their daughter brought them immense relief and gratitude. They wanted to show their appreciation with more than just this meal, but they hesitated, not wanting to unfairly burden him.

They must respect his requests, too, by all means.

"Then, I'll get going… because I have some matters to attend to."

"Oh, okay," Yaopapa said, nodding. "Sorry if we kept you here for too long."

"No, no need to apologize, sir."

As the brunet left the hall, the girl's parents turned their gazes towards the girl, waiting for a reaction. Momo Yaoyorozu immediately sensed what was coming.

"Momo… - chan ," Yaopapa was the first to break the pause. "I won't give my daughter to him."

"That's right, Momo," Yaomama added playfully. "I don't agree to your marriage."

Momo deadpanned, "What are you two even talking about? We're not in that kind of relationship."

The man facepalmed, embarrassed by his own words. "Sorry… I've always wanted to say that."

"Yeah," her mother nodded in agreement. "We got carried away. But… it’s good practice, considering we’re rich! It doesn’t hurt to rehearse our lines early!"

"What are you, drama actors?"

At that moment, the part-time butler Ben Tennyson arrived back in the room, much to Momo's horror.

"Wh-what are you doing here?!" She stammered, hoping he didn't overhear anything her parents had just said.

In fact, it would be an honor to be considered a spouse candidate for Yaoyorozu's daughter… especially by her parents of all people. Even as a joke, the thought was blissful. How embarrassing!

But truthfully, the brunet hadn't heard anything at all. The room was unexpectedly sound-proof.

"I just got this really nice idea. Please hear me out," he said, as if he were about to propose something significant.

Momo took her seat and tried to calm down, but the way her butler was acting weird didn't help her case.

"Ok, we're all ears," Yaomama said, opening her folding fan to hide her quiet giggles behind it. Yaopapa also nodded in agreement.

Momo's heart pounded in her chest, anticipating whatever the brunet had to say.

"If it's okay with you, please let me make your dinner," Ben Tennyson came up with a rather unique request. "As you know, I am—"

"Interesting, and approved!" Yaopapa interrupted without a hint of hesitation in his voice. "I will give the kitchen a call later."

"It's not everyday we get to taste the meals made by a prodigy," Yaomama stated.

Yaoyorozu Momo, the daughter, remained speechless momentarily. Thankfully, what she anticipated didn't happen, but it especially left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"A prodigy? What do you mean?" She questioned.

"Ben boy got a Ramsay Foundation Junior Award a few years ago," Yaopapa explained. "You didn't know that? Although you're the one who conducted the interview…"

The daughter pulled out her smartphone and made a quick online search. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked back at the brunet in disbelief.

"Eh? Ramsay whatever award is that important? Gosh, you could've told me about it."

"Well…" Ben played dumb as always. "You didn't ask the specifics. That was also a few years back. I haven't actually cooked any luxury meals recently."

Finally, Momo could calm down. She felt a bit betrayed, but it was half her fault for not making more effort to know him better. Unable to face the boy anymore, she glanced back at her parents.

This wasn't the first time Momo learned something new about Ben at an inconvenient time.

But as expected, her father didn't just let a rando become her butler, part-time or not. He must've had his people conduct a thorough background check and research on the boy as well. But it wasn't unreasonable or illogical.

"So what will you make us?" The mother asked, folding her paper fan.

"Hmm," the boy responded thoughtfully, until his expression turned into a grin. "I'm still thinking about it, but it's gonna be a secret either way."

"I'll be looking forward to it, son."

"Thanks, Ma'am. Thank you so much, Master, for approving my idea."

Deep down to Ben himself, it was more like a celebratory cooking session than making premium western meals as a thank you to the household. There was a lot to think about on his plate, and he believed that cooking would let him get away from all that stress.

Truthfully, he was conflicted inside about the outcome of the U.S.J. battle. He couldn't capture the leaders of the League of Villains — in fact, he had to let them escape. This is specifically why he had to deploy the secret Plan-A he had been pocketing all this time. On the other hand, he defeated the anti-All Might monster.

At any rate, the second plan had already been set into motion…

- [ Transition ] -

(A/N: The following scene mainly refers to the My Hero Academia spin-off manga, Vigilantes: Illegals. So you might be confused, but for the most part, it's canon to the main storyline.)

In Naruhata , Tokyo, there exists a unique "comfort" café, famously staffed by "monsters." Despite the ominous nickname, these individuals are beloved and respected members of the community. The café's employees are survivors of heinous experiments conducted half a decade ago, which left them with permanently altered, monstrous appearances.

But those people had learned to live with it, and turned a new leaf in this very cafe they together established.

"Customer, are you ready to order?"

The speaker was a middle-aged waiter with short black hair and a goatee, dressed impeccably in a crisp uniform that contrasted with his rough exterior. The customer, a striking woman with long black hair and glasses, gently cradled a white cat in her lap.

"You don't need to be so formal, Hotta- san ," she replied, setting the cat down gently. "I'll have a Lavender White Chocolate Mocha, please."

"Got it," Hotta Jirou noted the order on his device. "What brings you to Naruhata, Kayama no Nee-chan ?"

Indeed, the customer was Kayama Nemuri, otherwise known as Pro Hero Midnight , currently surrounded by an army of kitties waiting for their turns to be petted.

"Do I need reasons to visit a cat cafe?" She smiled and picked up another kitten, this time orange with white spots.

Indeed! The cafe-shop run by the "monsters" turned into a cat cafe a few years back. The juxtaposition of adorable kittens and the somewhat intimidating staff often startled first-time visitors. However, regulars knew that behind their fearsome appearances, the staff were just as human as anyone else.

The delicate chime of the doorbell echoed through the café, drawing the servers' attention. Hotta excused himself and went to receive the new arrival.

"Welcome, Mister… uh…" Hotta Jirou widened his eyes in surprise. "Eraserhead?!"

"Sup'," Aizawa Shota, Aizawa Shota, his right arm in a sling, greeted casually as he entered. "I see your business is thriving."

Even Kayama was caught off-guard. Her gloomy kouhai was the last person she'd expect to see in a cat cafe of all places.

"AHHH!! You abandoned us for a long time!!" Jirou looked like he was going to jump and hug Aizawa. Patrons in the shop had started giving them curious looks.

"... sorry," was all Aizawa said, pushing Jiro away from hugging him.

Jirou anticipated a harsh retort but Aizawa's uncharacteristic apology surprised him. Instead of reading too much into it, Jirou chose to believe that his old friend had grown emotionally over the years.

But Jirou was wrong. Aizawa's character development was almost non-existent over the past few years. He had always been like that — a difficult man who found it hard to convey his emotions.

"There's no need to apologize," Jirou tried to pat Aizawa on the shoulder, only then he noticed Aizawa's injuries. "Oh, man. What happened? You look… all beat up."

"Just my usual business. These are just light injuries."

"A broken arm is a light injury?!"

Pro Heroes are built different.

"Just show me to my table, will you?"

Despite Aizawa's antisocial tendencies, he regarded the Hotta brothers as "acquaintances," if not friends. If he felt indebted to Diamond Knight, he must also show some gratitude to Hotta cafe as well. Most of his operations in Naruhata when he worked in the district were based out of their little shop.

"Man, you promised to visit more often… How many years has it been?" Jirou said, guiding Aizawa to a table secluded in a corner.

"I've been busy," the man replied, picking up a cat nonchalantly. "How's the town? From what I heard, the vigilantes and villains are still very much alive and kicking, aren't they?"

"It's so so," Jirou said, handing a menu to Aizawa as the latter took a seat. "I'd rather it doesn't change than getting worse. This is what we call "we have it under control."

"Is the old man still around?" Aizawa asked, petting the kitty. "Stubborn as ever, I bet."

"Yep, and he's got new sidekicks now. He'll never change," Jirou laughed.

Just then, the doorbell chimed again, indicating another customer had arrived. Jirou attentively looked over at the entrance.

"Oh, what a coincidence, he's here."

Aizawa took a glance at the door with mild interest. "Hmm."

The new guest was a tall, skinny young man with wild spiky turquoise hair, wearing a perpetually annoyed expression. He scanned the cafe for a moment until he spotted Aizawa and headed over to the table.

"Yo, old man," he said, sliding into the seat across from Aizawa. "Woah, you are all beat up."

"These are light injuries," Aizawa gave the same answer.

Jirou looked between the two. "You two know each other?"

"I got his contact details from the detective (Tsukauchi)," Aizawa explained. "I'll have my usual."

"Didn't your taste change in years?" Jirou commented. "How admirable."

"I just like the coffee you guys make."

Aizawa's unexpected confession made Jirou skip a heartbeat. Comically, yes.

"Green tea for me," the young man added. "Let's get straight to the business, because I have a date arrangement after this."

Aizawa raised an eyebrow. Jirou chuckled, saying, "Oh, yeah, he's dating the old man's daughter, haha."

"You didn't need to mention that!" The young man growled impatiently. "Just hurry up with the drinks."

"Okay, okay, I'm gonna need to tell my brother about Eraserhead, though."

Jirou swiftly walked to the counter. Soon a man who resembled Jirou, except for his reflectively bald head, came out.

"Congratulations, I guess," Aizawa chuckled, almost mockingly. "That aside, Kugisaki , I have a few questions I need to ask you."

"Just get it over with!" Kugisaki snapped.

Kugisaki Souga, 28, Quirk: Spike . He's the new sidekick to the "old man" mentioned by the waiter. Formerly a delinquent, then a villain; currently one of the Naruhata's "guarddogs" — in other words, a vigilante .

My bad. Kugisaki is only 2 years younger than Aizawa, but the latter looked much older due to his characteristic fatigue and gloom.

"Hmm, you remember the incident five years ago, right?" Aizawa asked, his expression steady. "Did you have a dinosaur-like buddy that helped the Crawler ?"

Unnoticed by the duo, Kayama Nemuri crouched behind a nearby chair, eavesdropping. Her curiosity had gotten the better of her, wondering what could possibly have drawn the gloomy high school teacher out here.

"Dinosaur? What are you talking about?" Kugisaki replied, frowning.

"During the big fight against the villain. I saw him with my eyes… A large dinosaur-like man, with a tail, too. He clapped his hands together and made a massive shockwave."

Kugisaki thought for a moment before responding. "Oh, I remember you talking about it back then. No, I wasn't even on the battlefield."

"I didn't get a chance to ask the Crawler afterward," Aizawa said. "Did he ever say anything about it?"

"No, never heard of it from anyone else. You sure you weren't hallucinating?"

"I wish I were…" Aizawa looked disappointed. "Actually, one of my—"

"Yo, Eraserhead, you could've given us a call if you're coming!" The bald Hotta brother appeared with the drinks. "Here's your coffee… and tea. What are you guys talking about, anyway? You both look so serious."

"This is the face I was born with," Kugisaki retorted. "Mister Eraserhead here is reminiscing about that battle five years ago."

Aizawa gave the coffee a stir and looked up at the bald waiter, Hotta Ichirou. Jirou and Ichirou were identical twin brothers, the only distinguishing feature being Ichirou's bald head.

"You guys were away from the fight back then, too, right? Then there's no use asking you."

"Oi, that's rude," Ichirou said, annoyed. "Back then, you got all the information about Naruhata criminals from us! Show some gratitude, man."

"Is that so? Then, have you ever heard anything about vigilantes from Musutafu? "

"Musutafu vigilantes?" Ichirou repeated, scratching his head. "Never heard of any. It's mostly hero agencies around there, right?"

"Yeah, U.A. High and some big-name heroes," Kugisaki added, sipping his green tea.

Aizawa nodded thoughtfully. "I see."

So none of his underworld resources seemed to know about it at all. This makes things difficult.

He took another sip of his coffee, contemplating his next question. Kayama, still eavesdropping discreetly, leaned in closer to catch every word.

"This is confidential information. There was this incident at my workplace a while back," Aizawa continued casually. "Someone named Diamond Knight claimed to be a vigilante from Musutafu."

Ichirou and Kugisaki exchanged puzzled looks before shaking their heads simultaneously.

"Nope, never heard of any Diamond Knight," Ichirou replied.

"Yeah, doesn't ring a bell," Kugisaki added, furrowing his brows in thought.

Aizawa sighed inwardly, realizing it might have been a long shot. This was the second time unknown vigilantes had slipped through his fingers, leaving no trace behind. There were no records of them whatsoever.

For a moment, one of his students came to his mind. He was fairly certain the dinosaur-like figure was Ben Tennyson. Okay, that's one case done. As long as Ben became a licensed hero of the overworld, Aizawa didn't need to pursue the case. But that kid could transform into some weird monsters…

No, he didn't want to draw conclusions. But it would be irrational of him to dismiss the possibility that Diamond Knight might be Ben Tennyson. Aizawa could only speculate for now, lacking the evidence to confirm his theory.

On second thought, he could just leave it be. He never was interested in some vigilantes anyway.

"Well, if you do hear anything, let me know," Aizawa said, finishing his coffee.

"Sure thing, Eraserhead," Ichirou said with a nod.

Aizawa pushed his empty cup aside and stood up, adjusting his sling. "I've got to get going. Thanks for the drink."

"No problem," Ichirou replied. "Take care, old man."

Kugisaki took a look, seeing he had some time before the date with Tamao- chan . He took a sip of his tea and then glanced over at Kayama who had been spying on Aizawa since he arrived. But he didn't say anything.

He took out his smartphone and quickly dialed a number.

"Hello, yeah, it's me, Soga… Like you'd said, Aizawa just came and asked us about it… Yeah, I'm just returning the favor for what you did for Haiwamari ."

Ichiro walked away with an absentminded expression.

As Aizawa made his way outside, lost in his thoughts, he collided shoulders with a towering, muscular man. The man, a normal-looking salaryman on the surface with short dark hair, thick eyebrows, heavy stubble except for a prominent scar running diagonally down his left cheek, immediately apologized. His voice was almost gentle and polite — a typical Japanese man.

"Sorry about that," the man said gruffly, adjusting his briefcase.

Aizawa paused, feeling a flicker of recognition as he glanced at the man's scarred face. There was something familiar about him, but Aizawa dismissed it as unimportant.

"No problem," Aizawa muttered, continuing on his way.

Unbeknownst to him, the man he had just brushed shoulders with was none other than the infamous Knuckleduster — the night vigilante of Naruhata, known for his relentless pursuit of justice and his fearsome reputation among the townspeople.

As Aizawa walked away, Knuckleduster watched him go with a thoughtful expression. He then adjusted his tie and continued on his own path through the bustling streets of Naruhata, where shadows concealed both heroes and those who fought in the dark.

- [ Transition ] -

The day after the U.S.J. incident, U.A. closed the school for Hero Course Class 1-A to allow time for investigations and necessary follow-up actions. But it was more than a nice break for our protagonist.

The five-course French dinner Ben served the previous eve garnered naught but effulgent five-star accolades from the entire Yaoyorozu household. Yea, even the head chef and the scullery maids, seasoned in their craft, marveled at his culinary prowess. That wasn't unexpected, but it was certain that it would put Ben in a good mood for easily a week or two.

"Are you still mad?"

The Yaoyorozu's daughter was elegantly dignified and pridefully cool-headed for the most part, but knowing her normally unseen side, Ben Tennyson had understood how much of a pain she was to deal with should she start sulking.

They had even shared the same ride to school this morning and yet…

"I'm not," Momo asserted firmly, trying to quicken her pace.

"But you're running away," the brunet followed closely behind.

"I'm not."

"Is that so?" He furrowed his brows. "If you keep doing that, I won't make you that dessert from yesterday again. Your kitchen staff doesn't know the recipe either."

Those words struck Momo right in the sweet spot. A dessert? Did he think he could win over the "princess" with sweets?

Momo shot a disgusted look at Ben. She hated to admit it, but her butler was unexpectedly good—

"Hey, did someone mention desserts?" Their classmate, Sato Rikido, suddenly appeared! Accompanied by some of the gang.

Sato was a massive guy with a muscular and broad build, while not being as tall as the likes of Shoji Mezo. His defining features included huge, thick lips and short, spiked brown hair.

From Ben's prior research, Sato's quirk is called Sugar Rush — which allows him to increase his strength multiple-timefold for a few minutes by consuming a certain amount of sugar.

"You two seem close," Aoyama commented with an inscrutable smile. "Oh my, I'm jealous. Friends with a beautiful girl! Or is it something more—"

"Dude, that's over the line," Sero cut in. "Morning, you guys."

Aoyama looked like he was going to shrink.

"Good Morning," Ben greeted back warmly, then quickly offered a prepared explanation to the trio. "You can say I'm family friends with Yaoyorozu- san , haha. We've known each other forever…"

He had told Ashido before that their parents were good friends. Given Momo's status as a wealthy princess, it wouldn't be out of place for her to have foreign friends. She sighed in relief and returned the greeting.

"Good Morning. That's what he said," she confirmed.

"Are you interested in making desserts, Tennyson- san ?" Sato asked with a hint of excitement, then cut himself off. "Actually, I… sorry, never mind. The bell's gonna ring. Let's go, guys."

"Um, okay… You can call me Ben."

And so Sato led the group to the classroom.

Sato was indeed a huge dessert enthusiast. Given his quirk, his biology seeks sugary food and sweet snacks so he made himself familiar with preparing desserts and sweets as well as baking cakes. Yet at the same time, he seemed oddly embarrassed to discuss his hobby with his classmates.

When they arrived at the classroom, there were already a few people inside, including Todoroki Shoto.

"Hey… Morning," Ben casually greeted him, standing before his desk. Todoroki didn't give much of a reaction and turned his attention back to the workbooks he was reading.

Momo wondered for a moment if Ben had turned to bullying the quiet kids.

Midoriya Izuku, on the other hand, thought Ben was going to cry himself from humiliation, so he jumped in to save the situation.

"Good morning, Ben- kun !"

"Yeah, what a good morning, Midoriya- kun ," the brunet said before taking his seat.

As the students settled in, Aizawa Shota entered the classroom with his usual air of nonchalance, though his presence commanded immediate attention. It seemed most of his injuries had healed, except for his broken arm, which he supported with arm slings.

"Good morning, Class 1-A," he began, his gaze sweeping across the room. "I trust you've all had a chance to recover from the day before yesterday..."

The teacher paused, letting the gravity of their recent battle sink in before continuing.

"Wow, Aizawa- sensei , are you okay?!" Midoriya asked with concern.

"For the most part, there's no problem," Aizawa replied, his voice characteristically flat. "This is just a broken arm. The injury isn't that bad, but they wanted me to wear this for the time being…"

To be frank, he would have to thank that Diamond Knight vigilante dude. In the wild and wacky multiverse, perhaps somewhere out there, poor Aizawa might have been beaten so badly he ended up mummified in bandages, more of a horror show than a stern teacher.

"Well, you all are fine, too, right? Let's get started with the homeroom," he declared. "The thing with the villains aside, your battles aren't over yet."

"Eh? Wait, more villains?!" Mineta squeaked, eyes wide.

"More fighting, huh…" Ojiro mused, remembering how he had to fight the villains all by himself alone in the ruins of flames.

It was kinda impressive he stood ground against all that, given his quirk. It was more about skills than gifts, perhaps.

"I'm not scared of them if they come back," Kaminari boasted. "We could handle that level of small fries—"

"Wasn't it Ben who helped you guys?" Kirishima pointed out. "They were small fries, indeed."

"Yeah," Kaminari sounded deflated. "I'm more scared of Ben… Specifically, that tigerman dude of his."

"Uh, haha, sorry about that, Kaminari- kun ," Ben apologized. "Rath had no ill feelings."

"I doubt it," Jiro commented, siding with Kaminari.

"Grrr!! Bring them on!!" Bakugou growled, fists clenched. "I will roast all their butts! Every last one of them!!"

The homeroom teacher watched in silence before clearing his throat to regain their attention.

"Ahem. Be grateful it's not about villains this time," he said, his voice cutting through the chatter. "We're going to have our annual Sports Festival. "

A moment of stunned silence ensued before the room erupted into excited chatter, like water gushing out of a broken dam.

"Sports Festival!?" "It's a normal school activity!"

"Keep forgetting that this is an actual school!!"

It wasn't new information to Ben who did some spying beforehand, but it was no less surprising that U.A. wanted to push with the festival after what happened in U.S.J. What is the school board thinking…

"Since we're going ahead with the festival," Aizawa explained. "It means that the school is confident it has all its ducks in a row when it comes to its crisis control now. I hear police presence will be five times bigger than normal, for example."

So they really upped their game.

"What you should be thinking about is… What a huge chance the Academy's Sports Festival presents for you all. This isn't some event that'll be brought to a halt by the likes of villains."

"It's just an athletic festival," Mineta commented. "But well, we have Ben."

Oi, are you reliant on me already? Ben gulped, earning giggles from Momo.

"Mineta- kun , have you never seen the U.A. Sports Fest!?" Midoriya sounded surprised.

"Of course I have! That's not it at all—"

"Our sports festival is one of Japan's biggest events," Aizawa added. "In days past, the "Olympics" was the sports festivity that whipped all the nations into a froth of enthusiasm. But now, as you know, the extent and population have shrunk and it's lost a lot of substance. So what has taken the place of the Olympics in Japan is the U.A. Sports Festival. "

"The country's top heroes are all sure to be watching us," Momo added, making Mineta shrink. "It's because they'll be scouting for us!"

"What a nerd, heheh…" Ben whispered to Momo, unnoticed by anyone else. Momo glared back at him, looking all annoyed.

Though he cracked a joke, deep inside he was worried. No, not about his Ojou .

He wholeheartedly wanted to participate in this event. Showing off isn't his style — and he'd hate to be the center of attention as it was obvious he would be the flashiest player if he joined. He could hold back his powers for the sake of it? No, Ben denied those thoughts. He never was the type to step down when it came to the challenge.

Just in case, he took a mental note to inform Tony about it.

"I'm thinking of joining a Pro Hero's squad after graduating," Kaminari said to Jiro, who sat next to him. "And becoming a sidekick, ya know."

"But there are loads of people who get stuck as sidekicks forever," Jiro pointed out quite harshly. "And miss their chance to break out as solo heroes. And you seem like that kind of dumbass, Kaminari- san ."

The electric blond boy gasped in response, getting hit in the face with reality.

"Naturally…" Aizawa- sensei interrupted. "Entering a famous Hero's team will get you a higher status and more valuable experience. Also remember that time is limited. If you get noticed by a Pro Hero, that gives you a brighter future than otherwise."

Ben didn't have anything to worry about going Pro either. He could just go back to Stark Heroics and join them as an official hero after graduating — that is, if the thought of stationing in Japan never occurred to him. But it's still too early to make a decision.

At any rate, any offer from a Pro Hero would definitely boost his ego as well.

" This is the chance you'll only get once a year… For a total of three chances! If you aim to be a hero, this is an event you can't overlook. "

- [ Transition ] -

"Now I feel like the tension's flying sky high!!"

It was Kirishima Eijiro who couldn't help shouting, his eyes gleaming with fervor.

"If we put in effort and stand out a pro, it'll be a giant leap forward!"

The students were uncontrollable, especially most of the boys. The much-awaited lunch break had arrived, and hey, the classroom buzzed with an electric anticipation, the air thick with excitement, as they all looked forward to the Sports Fest.

"Even I'm feeling excited…" Ben muttered, watching the noisy, energetic class.

Dreams, huh… He wasn't sure if he had anything that could be called a dream. But he could feel their passion reaching out.

"Good for you," Momo said, looking more serious than ever. "... but there’s no room for complacency when everyone's giving it their all."

"That means you won't get it easy either."

"... I'll hate you if you underestimate me," she said, backed with all her courage.

What are you thinking, Ojou-sama? That, Ben knew. It was so in character of her to say that.

"I would never dare, Yaoyorozu- san ," the brunet said, pulling up his bag to take out the bento . "I've known you long enough."

That said, it wasn't like he could go all out and risk his mistress getting injured. And in the power department, he wasn't alone among the class.

The spiky-head who's currently glaring at everyone and mumbling inaudible curse words — Bakugou Katsuki. Class 1-A's unpredictable hidden beast — Midoriya Izuku. The Endeavor's kid who freezes — Todoroki Shoto.

And there also was Class 1-B , their main rivals who weren't to be underestimated. Ben couldn't help getting worried for his mistress.

"Oh, I'm going to go have lunch, so…"

As he stood to leave, lunchbox in hand, he glanced back at Momo. Her eyes were distant, lost in thought. She was always pushing herself, always striving for perfection. It was something Ben respected deeply, even if he didn’t always understand it.

As he saw his exit, Momo watched his back in silence, filled with a lot of thinking underneath.

Yaoyorozu Momo was a normal teenage girl, except for maybe her upbringing and her family. And maybe her exceptional beauty if that counts. While her family wasn't particularly strict, she had her own status to look back on every action. Her honesty and upright nature often came across as brutal.

But it wasn't as if she didn't envy Ben sometimes.

The boy is free-spirited, sincere and unbound (by rules). He has one of the most powerful Meta Abilities she had ever seen. He had the chance to befriend and interact with some of the most influential people in American Quirk Society without needing a social status like hers. In those departments, Ben Tennyson was her polar opposite.

"Wait, Uraraka- san! " Midoriya shouted, chasing after Uraraka Ochako who was leaving the classroom, followed by a curious Iida Tenya.

"Let me join you guys as well."

Meanwhile the American brunet kid had slipped away to the rooftop.

Pfft.

The wealthy daughter had always been incredibly ambitious. For half her life, no, for who knows how long, she trained relentlessly, pushed herself to the limits and did it over and over again.  People would often praise her quirk, Creation , calling it "God-like." I mean, the ability to conjure objects out of thin air? It seemed like an unstoppable power. But the sacrifice and blood and sweat shedded behind the scenes were usually ignored.

She envied Ben.

That carefree little soul, she wanted to know more about him. She had always been absorbed in her hard work, making herself the best version of her, and in the end she came to believe she must've made a lot of bad decisions, too. Her relentless pursuit of perfection often left her feeling isolated.

That's also why Ben Tennyson became someone she could be proud of. Despite all the praise for her quirk, she had long realized she might never reach the top alone.

But at the very least, she wanted to be part of it as someone who pushed Ben.

And her pride would be hurt really bad if he didn't give it his best. She wanted to share with the world that this kid, Ben Tennyson, was the most powerful they had ever seen. Or at least that was what Yaoyorozu Momo- sama believed.

"You're here again," Aizawa -sensei muttered as he stepped onto the rooftop, his gaze settling on Ben, who was seated alone, enjoying his lunch. The midday sun cast a warm glow over the scene, but Aizawa's expression remained as stoic as ever. "I did say the Hero Course wasn't a place to make friends. But you need to socialize."

Ben looked up, his cheeks puffed out with a mouthful of food. He quickly swallowed, giving his teacher a casual shrug.

"I'm doing fine," he said, his voice slightly muffled by his meal. "I just like to enjoy my lunch alone up here."

Aizawa glanced at Ben's somewhat extravagant bento box. From what he recalled, the kid used to live alone in Musutafu and had some part-time jobs. But he wasn't struggling financially by any means as from the looks of it, the Starks Heroics had been providing him with financial support. Recently, however, Ben had moved into the Yaoyorozu household for some reason.

Aizawa wasn't the type to pry into personal matters but he couldn't help but wonder what kind of relationship Tennyson and Yaoyorozu had.

"As long as you don't make it a pain to clean up," the teacher said, his tone softening slightly as he adjusted the sling supporting his arm. He moved to sit down, leaning his back against the wall and closing his eyes momentarily.

This rooftop was also filled with memories of Aizawa Shota's student life. He could clearly remember the days when he, Yamada (Present Mic) and one other friend had hung out here as students. And then the upperclassman Kayama- san (Midnight) joined their little circle.

"Then I'll get going," Ben said, breaking the silence.

Aizawa opened his eyes, watching as Ben made his way to the door. As it closed behind him with a soft click, Aizawa let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm a teacher now," he murmured to himself. "I shouldn't overthink too much."

- [ Transition ] -

"Yaoyorozu- san , let's go somewhere after school."

Yaoyorozu Momo had noticed Ben had been above cloud nine recently, for some reason she couldn't figure out. But she certainly didn't expect he would be so bold as to invite her out on an after-school date. If she were any other girl, this playboy could've made her heart skip a beat.

"I'll treat you," he added casually.

Not that it mattered. Yaoyorozu Momo was crazy rich and it wouldn't be exaggerated! Though she only had about twenty thousand yen in her pocket at the time.

"Sure—"

"Are you guys going out on a date? Whoa…" Kaminari, overhearing the conversation, looked flustered although he wasn't any part of it.

"No," Ben denied, inadvertently shooting a bullet through Momo's heart. "Oh, if you wanna join us, feel free to. I'm just in the mood to have dinner outside today."

The game changed and Kaminari suddenly became part of it. Disappointed, Jiro kicked him in the leg.

"Ow, what, why?!" Kaminari yelped in pain.

"Jiro- san , wanna join us, too?"

Ben asked, his sincerity so strong and crystal clear that Jiro thought she might fall for Ben if this was a different situation. But now she could almost puke blood seeing Momo's cold, stoic glare directed at Ben's back.

"No, I've got things to do," Jiro said nonchalantly. "And I will drag this moron away, too, so you two have fun!"

With that, Kaminari was quickly snatched away without knowing what was going on.

"Is that so? Then Yaoyorozu- san …"

"Whoa, what the heck!!"

Uraraka at the door exclaimed in surprise, interrupting Ben's grand invitation moment. Everyone else turned their gazes at the doorway and could only feel the same surprise.

"Whoa, whoa, what's going on?" Ben said, immediately standing up from his seat. "What a big crowd…"

"That's too many people," Momo remarked. "Must be here to check us out."

"Eh, the Sports Fest. It makes sense they would be curious."

"It's not just curiosity, you know," Momo corrected him. "I figure they'd even think of us as rivals. We're something of a celebrity class now after what happened in the U.S.J."

"Hmm. But no need to worry."

" It's pointless to try, so why don't you just fuck off, ya goddamn mob?! "

As expected of Bakugou Katsuki. The explosion kid was already handling it quite well. Ben would've given him points for that.

"Heh, this is getting interesting," Ben chuckled, slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

"Hey, don't think of doing anything stupid," Momo followed suit, with the intent of stopping him.

"No, I won't," he replied, but the mischievous smirk on his face suggested otherwise.

"I came to see what you kids are made of," a voice interjected from the crowd, stepping forward. "But I didn't expect such arrogance. Is this how all Hero Course students behave?"

Someone with indigo-colored hair and dark eye bags under his eyes. His name was Shinso Hitoshi . There weren't many students outside the Hero Course that Ben would take note of, but Shinso was one of them that he would be wary of.

"Huuhhh!!" Bakugou growled, clearly irritated.

"Many end up in General Studies or other departments after failing the Heroic entrance exam," Shinso explained calmly. "Based on the sports festival results, students can even be considered for transfers into Heroics, or vice versa."

"Things are heating up," Momo observed. She was more concerned with Ben the partycrasher, really.

"I don't know who's scarier," Mineta muttered.

"So hey, why don't I try pulling the rug out from under those Heroics kids while they're high on their horse? Consider it a declaration of war…"

" I understand your sentiment, but young man… "

A deep voice resonated through the crowd, causing everyone to cringe. Inside the classroom, a massive shadow loomed larger and larger until it matched the height of the door. Even Shinso, who tried to stay calm and collected, at least flinched as he stared at the giant.

A dragon? No, it's a dinosaur with a massive muscled body… How was this beast in Class 1-A?! They didn't hear about it at all!

"... Would you mind making a way for us? Or would you like to declare war right at my face? "

Heck, the guy was even taller than the door so he had to stoop to talk to the group, towering over them.

Momo facepalmed while Mineta stifled a laugh behind his hand because the sight of other classes immediately gawking in astonishment at Ben's massive Humungousaur form was just too funny. The sheer size of Humungousaur dwarfed everyone around him, leaving students from other classes with their jaws dropped and eyes wide.

"Oi, we don't need your interference, green-eye," Bakugou said, though he didn't sound as mad as before.

Also, green-eye… Was that meant to be an insult?

" No, I just genuinely need to go home… " Humungousaur said and turned back at the crowd, showing his backpack, which was small in comparison to his massive hand. " So, what's it going to be, folks? Just to clarify, I'm the top scorer among those who entered through recommendations. I'm all up for the fun. "

As if the situation wasn't intense already. Ben only added fuel to the fire.

" Also, if you came to check us out, you've seen enough of me, right? " Humungousaur added. " So isn't it fair you let me go home already? "

"How selfish!" Iida exclaimed.

"He's trying to escape alone," Kirishima said. "That's not very manly, Ben."

"I have a date after this," Humungousaur whispered back to his class. "Come on…"

If not for emotional regulation, Yaoyorozu Momo's face could grow beet red. But deep down, knowing Ben, it was just giving an excuse to get away instead of planning to go on an actual date with her.

"Now that's a manly reason," Kirishima corrected himself. "Go for it, dude."

"You changed sides too fast!" Iida remarked.

Bakugou looked back at Humungousaur, his expression a mix of disbelief and anger.

" To continue where I left off, " the dinosaur rumbled, turning his attention back at the crowd outside the classroom. " I get what you mean, totally. You're frustrated, feeling overlooked. But causing trouble here won’t solve anything. "

He leaned down slightly, making eye contact with Shinso. "I know it’s tough not being in the Hero Course, but you have your own strengths. Don't waste them on petty confrontations."

Shinso held his ground, though the slight tremor in his stance betrayed his nerves. "And what do you suggest we do instead? Just accept it and move on?"

Humungousaur shook his massive head. "No, I suggest you prove them wrong. Show them what you’re made of through your actions, not through pointless taunts. Gain respect by being better, not by dragging others down."

The crowd murmured among themselves, the tension slowly dissipating. Bakugou huffed, crossing his arms. "Tch, preachy much?"

Humungousaur glanced back at him with a knowing smirk. "Just trying to keep the peace, Bakugou- kun . Not everyone enjoys blowing things up as much as you do."

With the crowd dispersed, a single person remained standing. A young man — from his uniform seems to be a hero course student — with white hair and jagged eyelashes around his eyes. Ben recognized him as Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu , a student from Class 1-B.

"What do you want?" Humungousaur asked softly as he had no reason to intimidate Tetsutetsu. The student observed the jaggs and tough bony structures on the dinosaur man's outer skin before recollecting himself.

"Ah, man, your speech was awesome!" He said, his tone almost resembling Kirishima.

"Thank you?"

"I'm from Class 1-B," he added. "I just want to say you guys better not embarrass us during the main event! That's all!"

And the guy quickly retreated and ran back to wherever his class was. Ben then turned back to his human form and shrugged at Bakugou.

"Now everything's resolved, right?" He said. "What matters is who sits at the top in the competition, not to pick up fights. I'm sure you feel the same."

"Tsk..." Bakugou scoffed, slinging his backpack over his shoulder before storming out of the room.

Class 1-A remained silent, each member preoccupied with their own thoughts as they prepared to head home. In the end, Ben didn't get to properly invite Momo out, but it seemed he had already dismissed it already, much to the girl's double disappointment.

- [ Transition ] -

Today was the day of the Grand Event — the U.A. Sports Festival.

" Denwa ga Kita!! Denwa ga Kita!! Denwa ga Kiii— "

( The phone call is here! — All Might's phone ringtone)

Near the entrance of the colossal stadium, where Year 1 students were set to compete, stood a tall, slender man in a black well-made suit. His floppy, wavy blond hair framed his anxious face as his phone rang with a peculiar ringtone, drawing curious glances from the crowd around him. He quickly answered.

"Hey, man, where are you!!?" Present Mic's voice blared through the phone. "The event's gonna start!! You're our appetizer!!"

Yagi Toshinori winced at Present Mic's bluntness. Mic couldn't make it clearer about how important Yagi- san was to the event.

"Ah, no, I'm to receive some guests at the gate," Yagi replied, his tone humble and polite. "The Principal assigned me to this mission for some reason."

"What's he thinking… Who are these special guests that need you of all people to greet them?"

"They— Oh, they're here. I'll be there as soon as I can, Yamada- kun ."

And so Yagi Toshinori hung up. Present Mic exchanged uneasy glances with Midnight, who was going to be the host of the event. Mic himself, alongside his good friend Eraserhead, were to be commentators. But the opening act would be delayed if All Might didn't appear in time, as the media was the most interested in the Symbol of Peace who freshly became a teacher at the academy.

As Yagi waited, two individuals approached him from opposite directions. Their extravagant outfits caught everyone's attention, but it was the mutual hostility in their eyes as they exchanged glares that truly stood out.

"You are… Tsukauchi's sister, right?" Yagi asked, handing a business card to the attractive woman wearing a visor that covered her eyes. "I'm Yagi Toshinori, representing All Might's Agency."

"Thank you for going to the trouble of arranging the special ticket, Yagi-san," the woman replied, glancing briefly at the businessman beside her.

"No trouble at all," Yagi assured her. "Tsukauchi-kun has been incredibly helpful to me. It's also a surprise to see you here, Tony. I thought you weren't much of a fan of games."

Anthony Edward Stark, the businessman in question, smiled uneasily and leaned in to Yagi, whispering:

"Oi, Toshinori, you look pretty bad," with a distinct foreign accent, his expression shifting as fast as he spoke. "Are you even eating well?"

"I'm doing fine, thanks," Yagi said, pushing Tony away. "Let's chat as we go in. Come, Tsukauchi's sister, too."

From the looks of it, Tony and Yagi seemed to be old, close friends. But Tsukauchi Makoto wasn't just any ordinary woman. She was so capable and quick-minded that she became the manager of one of the (former) top heroes of America before finishing her college!

That's right. If Tony was a successful businessman, Makoto was a powerful negotiator.

"Oh, almost forgot it," Tsukauchi's sister interjected, pulling out her own card and handing it to Yagi.

Makoto Tsukauchi — General Manager, CC Corporation.

Tony glanced at the card in Yagi's hand casually, pretending indifference. "If I may, what is the representative of CCC doing here?"

His Japanese wasn't flawless but fluent. After all, he only learned the language in a few days with the help of his quirk .

Quirk: Brain Specs . — An incredibly powered brain that could process information and put out hypothetical experiments within a record-breaking short period of time. And hell yeah, Tony was also an incredible judge of character, and hence, knew right away why Ms Tsukauchi here came all the way from America.

And he was right, much to his annoyance.

"We're interested in a particular American student," Makoto Tsukauchi stated bluntly, a hint of personal challenge in her voice. "Our Corporation believes we can nurture him into becoming the world's greatest hero."

After all, there was no point in hiding her motives because she knew Tony had already figured it out, way before she even revealed who she was.

"And if the kid's already affiliated with another agency?" Tony countered.

"Last I checked, he's not officially with Stark Heroics anymore," Makoto retorted.

"The possibility is he'd rejoin his old agency, of course!" Tony argued.

"Not if I convince him that joining CCC is the better move!" Makoto barked back.

At this point, it was quite clear why these two wanted to see the Sports Festival by their own eyes rather than watching it on video media. Yagi sweatdropped, foreseeing the two were going to engage in a heated fight.

It was especially immature of Tony, considering he was double her age.

"Okay, okay, please keep your manners civil and follow me," Yagi said, sighing impatiently. "I have other important matters to attend to."

"Wait!" Makoto suddenly grabbed Tony's hand. "Mr Stark, so are you trying to recruit Ben Tennyson back into your company after graduation?"

Tony blinked, surprised by Makoto's boldness. Even he didn't reckon it, but he knew it was something else. Peerless confidence truly is a privilege for certain people.

"So what if I am?" he replied candidly. "I could let him grow as much as Skyline thinks he could."

He meant the CEO of CCC — Captain Celebrity , his civilian identity being Christopher Skyline.

"But if that's your plan, there's no reason to send him to Japan, right?" Makoto pressed. "There must be more to it…"

The look in Makoto's eyes suddenly seemed different. Yagi Toshinori could only wonder how he would break these two up.

In contrast, Tony Stark remained completely composed and unfazed.

"Even if I have my own reasons… Even if we have our own reasons, CCC and the world have nothing to worry about."

His voice was clear, resolute, and filled with conviction. Makoto, for some reason, felt satisfied with his answer and found herself unexpectedly reassured.

"I see your commitment," Makoto said, releasing his hand. "But we're not backing down. We’ll see Ben Tennyson recruited into our team."

"I'll be calling Skyline to have you learn some manners," Tony retorted.

Well, in the battle between the geniuses, there's always something going on behind the scenes. An underlying game of the brains, that is.

Tsukauchi Makoto, 28, Quirk: Polygraph — the ability to detect lies through skin contact.

This was something Tony didn't know, but whatever he said was pure truth, if not poetic. Or, perhaps he was too arrogant and self-absorbed to even tell a lie. Makoto thought of asking for more confirmations about it, but decided to trust the judgment of someone deemed to be the biggest brain of the heroics.

"So you guys have reached a temporary truce," Yagi commented nonchalantly.

All Might was undoubtedly the star of the show, but the media's attention was also riveted on a particular class—Class 1-A, which had recently survived a terrorist attack. In fact, many eyes from the entire school were set on them fiercely.

The students of the class in question were already in the locker rooms, changing into their respective gym uniforms. Hero costumes were not allowed for the sake of fairness, but hey, that made sense.

"Oh, man, I'm so nervous right now."

Kaminari confessed, his hand pressed against his chest as if trying to steady his racing heart. Ben grinned at his comment while tying the laces of his sneakers.

"Yeah, shit, this is so exciting!" Kirishima agreed, clenching his fist.

"Exciting is an understatement, my guy," Ben said, standing up and stretching his arms. "Well, give it your best, you all."

Kaminari glanced at him. "You seem pretty calm compared to us. How do you deal with it?"

In fact, Ben Tennyson was so excited he could sing a duet with Billie Eilish. But he could settle with singing a duet with Yaoyorozu Momo instead.

"Um, it's hard to say…"

"Oh, something's going on in the corner," Kirishima interjected, his eyes narrowing with concern. "They better not be fighting."

Kaminari and Ben turned their gazes toward the corner where Midoriya was being confronted by Todoroki for some reason.

"I believe I'm above you in terms of practical strength," Todoroki's voice was stern and serious, in fact as usual, but it surprised Midoriya. His words were also awfully straightforward even if it was truth.

Todoroki wasn't someone he had conversed with much.

"Um, yeah…" Midoriya stuttered, his eyes wide with confusion.

"Even then… All Might has his eyes on you, doesn't he?"

Oh, that… Ben swallowed his chuckle. I see where he's coming from, but All Might has his own reasons and so does Midoriya.

"Remember, I'm going to beat you," Todoroki declared.

"This guy…" Kirishima muttered, standing up to intervene.

But Ben was already at the scene, stepping between the two.

"I see where you're coming from, Todoroki- kun ," he said, cupping his chin. "But All Might doesn't have his eyes on Midoriya because he's the strongest, you know… There's no point in beating Midoriya- kun if you can't come to terms with yourself."

It wasn't even a question that Midoriya wasn't the strongest. And Ben was there, someone who defeated Todoroki. Everyone staring at the quarrel also knew that.

"It's none of your business. Stay out of this," Todoroki said, walking away.

At that moment, the door swung open.

"Attention, everyone!" Iida Tenya's loud announcement echoed through the locker hall. "If you’re done, let’s go! We need to set an example as Hero Course students! — oh, what… What's going on here?"

"I don't know what you were thinking when you said that, Todoroki- kun ," Midoriya said, breaking the brief pause. "But of course, you're better than me. I think you're more capable than most people… Looking at it objectively. You, too… Ben- kun …"

"Don't lump me together with him," Ben retorted, sliding his hands into his pockets. "Listen here, Midoriya. The idea of this world of heroes is only possible because we all rely on each other. It wouldn't have been possible if we all had just relied on one person who has the greatest power. It's not a simple competition."

"Are you always like that?" Midoriya asked, his tone suddenly shifting.

"Huh?" Ben blinked, caught off guard.

"I've always felt like we're worlds apart when it comes to heroism and philosophy. So I guess the western ideology is different from the eastern—"

"Okay, stop! It's good that you returned to your normal nerd self, but no, what I said are not ideologies. They're mere facts."

"But the way you think—"

"The way I think isn't that important," Ben cut him off. "The way you think is more important. Treat yourself better… I believe you already have it in you that will make you a good hero."

There he goes again with things that only he can understand… Momo facepalmed. What a motivational speech, dumbass.

"Thanks for breaking this up, Ben- kun ," Iida spoke up. "It's time to go, everyone."

Each with their own thoughts… Everyone was interrupted.

"Yeah, let's show them what we're made of!" Kirishima cheered, which everyone agreed with.

The Class 1-A marched out of the room in unison, without a single chatter. They all were undoubtedly nervous, but the burning spirit between us helped them overcome it.

Ben chuckled at his own childish imagination and followed closely behind.

"Hey! Pay attention, everyone! The high school rodeo of adolescence you all love—the U.A. Sports Festival—is about to begin! Are you ready?!"

Present Mic's fierce and booming announcement sent waves of excitement through the packed stadium. The crowd erupted in a chaotic yet unified cheer, all eyes fixed on the entrance where the participants would soon emerge.

" The miraculous new stars who overcame enemy attacks with hearts of steel! Hero Course's Class 1-A is here! "

With Mic's announcement, Class 1-A marched onto the field, Ben Tennyson taking his usual spot at the end of the group.

"Next, the second Hero Class! Hero Course's Class 1-B!"

Class 1-B emerged from another entrance, greeted by the same fervent applause.

"And now, the General Course: Classes C, D, and E! Followed by the Support Course: Classes F, G, and H! All of U.A.'s first years are here now!"

Toshinari Yagi disappeared somewhere, but Tsukauchi Makoto and Tony Stark decided to take two close seats in the special seating area of the audience. Though the two signed a temporary truce, their opinions would either be polar opposites or ironically in complete agreement.

"What's that kid thinking?" Makoto commented, noticing Ben behind others.

"He knows exactly what he's doing," Tony explained with a grin. "He's playing the crowd, making them underestimate him by staying out of the spotlight. And just wait—when he finally shows off his meta ability, they'll be in for a real surprise."

"Now I can see who raised him," Makoto remarked.

"In this world where everyone has superpowers, it's best if we don't judge anyone by their appearance," Tony stated proudly. "That's probably the lesson he wants to give us."

"That one's also from you, right, Mr Stark?" Makoto shook her head. "What did you even teach him?"

"Hmph… let's say, everything about everyone."

The lady rolled her eyes and turned her attention back at the center of the stadium. A stage was set up in the middle of the field, for the "Chief Referee" to oversee the participants and announce the rules.

"Is that really okay?!" Makoto exclaimed as she recognized the referee. "That's the R-rated Heroine Midnight! Her outfit is outrageous, too. Oh my god, this is a high school!"

"What? Why?" Tony said with a grin. "I actually appreciate the sight."

Tony Stark, 55, Quirk: Brain Specs — by enhancing the brain, he can also power up his vision. He couldn't do it consecutively for a long time as his body had deteriorated over the years, but he could strengthen his nerves long enough to "appreciate the sight!"

"I agree," Makoto nonchalantly said, pressing some buttons on her visor to zoom in.

Midnight's heroine costume was undeniably outrageous. She wore a skin-tight leotard that hugged her curves perfectly, layered with a breastless leather bodysuit, paired with black, thigh-high garter stockings—and handcuffs! The only element that seemed out of place was the small red mask around her eyes.

But what made Makoto change her mind was… how gorgeous the heroine looked in that costume! Well, that's just her natural beauty.

" Silence! " Midnight announced. " My tenure here is perfectly on the level! Now let's welcome the Player Representative to the stage!! Bakugou Katsuki of Class 1-A!! "

Ben let out a quiet yawn in the back of his crowd, watching Bakugou who without a flinch walked up the stairs to the stage and joined the heroine.

"Okay, say something as the player rep, kiddo," Midnight said.

- To be Continued -